Sale Day

Ok- It was a while back, but did I tell you about the Sale the girls had?

We had been taking bags of items to the Goodwill up the street most of the summer. Emily asked me why we could nto have a sale. I told her it was too much work. The two of them promised to so all the work, so I starting putting the bags of clean out items in the attic.

They did all the work. I was gone to Orlando and they did all the prices and set up. They sold the items and I thought, if they made $40 total, they would be happy. They made over $120.

Way to go girls! My saleman spirit is with you.

We will do better this year !

K A T I E

Wow! This girl is one of a kind.

This photo says it all.

She is really doing so much that is just her. For a while we kept saying, oh Sarah did that when she was .. or ... I can see Emily thinking that. But lately she is doing everything KATIE style.

I was in Washington DC two weeks ago.

The flowers were in full bloom.

It rained a few days, but I loved being in the city.

Ty and the Camera

Ty was going shopping with Emily and I and had to have his own basket.

He had so much fun with it.

Then on the way to the pool, he had the camera in teh back seat. YUP! Yale you can be proud. These are the two photos he took. Pretty good for a 3.7 year old.

Blog Again

Here is a drawing by Emily Dillehay of our family.

I am going to try to blog again. There is so much happening. Fun summer stuff on its way.

We Are Back

Hey Guys,

We are back.

What a trip. Things we will never forget.

I am sure I will write more Monday and Tuesday. Then on Tab's Wordless Wednesday, I will upload a few more photos.

Just to list a few... Tiger's game, Hershey Chocolate Factor, 4th July picnic, family reunion, Frankenmuth, Jonathan's breakfast, Hot air balloon watching, water slide, talent show, Loud's Ice Cream in Jackson, Baltimore, Daytona, 3 days of conferences, Canton Library, camp fires (actually one that continued burning for 4 days), Dad's ER trip, American Girl Doll store, Church Camp, Bundon Tuesday Night picnic, Dillehay Family Reunion, Capture the flag (where Sarah and I got hurt) and much much more.

There are lots of stories to tell, but lots of emails I should get to.

Love you all. Talk to you soon.

Mark

Heman's Camp

3149 Van Dyke

Come over from Saginaw on 46.

Turn north (left on Van Dyke Road)

go past the small village of Hemans, pass the post office.

You will pass cross streets of Moriarity, Mushroom, and Downing.

Slow Down

the large open field on the left is the last marker.

The camp sign is small and the trail unseen on the LEFT.

If you get to East Deckerville Road, you have gone too far.

I know these are like Pappaw's directions, but it is what my dad read to me:)

Your free GPS 'Mark'

My Father

There is a man I would like to be. He hasn't the most money and we haVe not a patent from him. He lives each Day for Christ. little eyes look to him to guide our home. He is always our exaMple of how you should live your liFe. If I can be just like him, I will be the best man I ever knew.

Happy Father's Day DAD

Cosmic Catch

Hey Team,

This is a new game that we have. You each get a hand band of a different color. The ball has a brain in it. There are four different games you can play. One is hot potatoe (Emily won this tonight). The other one is where you have to pass it to the color the brain says. You get 3 to 4 seconds to do that. Even Ty played:)

Have you ever watched the movie "Martian Child"? Ty looks like the actor boy did at the pool with his head cover on:) He did take it down after lunch.

Mark

June - July Goals

Taylin,

I will be glad to show you yet another list of mine.

Family, do you remember the list (minute by minute) plans for Taylin's graduation trip to Arizona and California? That was one of my better list:)

-----------June and July Goals (50 days to act)-----------

[1] Get 'Summer Time Goal Blog List' posted - There done!

[2] Morning Runs -Get that out of the way, right Christy?

[3] Read more Bible - look at the pictures and maps less.

[4] Go on a date with each child.

[5] Pass out 57 church door knockers to our neighborhood.

[6] Make 1 work of art -Clay on wheel or another idea I have.

[7] Replace swing set with new one with stairs not ladders.

[8] His list keeps going on and on....Learn to count. LOL

[8] Complete Guitar Hero -Beginner songs.

[9] Paint the trim on the exterior of the house windows.

[10] In honor of the TEN Disciples (Now they will post comments)!

- - - - - - Learn the Apostle's creed. - - - - - -

1.I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: 2.And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: 3.Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary: 4.Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: 5.The third day he rose again from the dead: 6.He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: 7.From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: 8.I believe in the Holy Ghost: 9.I believe in HIS church: the communion of saints: {changed 'catholic' with HIS} 10.The forgiveness of sins: 1l.The resurrection of the body: 12.And the life everlasting. Amen.

There it is. Now I am accountable. Mark

New Job

Hey Readers,

I wanted to let you know I got the new job:)

I do not have any photos as of yet, but will soon.

I have a hard time picking the photo I want to send? You can vote if you want.

[photo 1] The cake Tab and the kids got me. Ty thought it was our wedding and creamed my face with frosting he grab off the cake. Don't worry, when I took the kids to the local library the next hour and they asked if I would answer a few questions for the 6 O'Clock ABC news "Summer Read Program", I remembered I had it on my face and said no.

[photo 2] Me on the phone discussing one of the many projects I will be doing. no photo needed, just image the way dad would pace back and forth through the common walking paths in the house (multiple by it by 3 times the speed).

[photo 3] A photo of the new, slimmer, more high powered computer I will be getting to do more memory work. Yeh, that photo will not be happening, since that PC will not be happening either :(

[photo 4] A building just 5 miles from SeaWorld, Universal, Disney, Water Mania, and all the Orlando dinner shows. I will be traveling to the VLC about twice a month to work on projects. If you are mistaken, they do not say "Orlando...The happy place on earth". They do say Disney.

[Photo 5] Me in a tie. It happened before, don't laugh.

The girls think we should get SeaWorld passes this year, since we'll be going to Orlando more often:)

Thanks for all your support and prayers on the new job:0 Mark

Wordless Wednesdays !

Car-Box-Blokus

Hey Gang,

I had the second rounds of interviews for the position I was thinking about with FLVS. I should hear from Jill Monday or Tuesday. I think I would be happy either way.

My computer took a hit last weekend, so I sent it up to Orlando Tuesday night. I still have not gotten it back. I am using the old silver laptop. Tabitha has loads of the photos on here, so we need to copy them to an external or CD's and get this thing hoppin. Ok, I also have 600 songs on it for my ipod, and a good serious from T.D.Jake if you want to Amen it.

So, I took Katie to Walmart this morning. This is a tradition I have had with each of my 4 children. It allows Tab to sleep in. We look through the greeting cards. Do you know how much time you can spend reading the cards. And I don't read that slow :)

We got a two-man (but it is for Emily and Sarah) blow up boat for the beach. I also got the blow up car unit. When we were there Thursday two other girls had one. They only had one adult with them, and I think they drifted out too far, but I am going to be there with them for this.

I got Ty a car. They have two of them at the "Pump it Up" in Fort Myers. Ty loves them. This one is for inside the house right now, but I assume it will make its way outdoors. At that point, it becomes an outside toy.

We got Rain today! We needed it soo bad. It did change our plans however. We were going to weed, re-mulch, and plant tonight. We will put it on another day.

Earlier this morning, Tabitha took the two older girls to a wedding. Our assistant Pastor's daughter. They were telling me all about it. I took the two little kids to North Fort Myers. I was at the doorstep of the Lee Civic Center. There was a local graduation, but I did not get the best chance to go in. Ty was missing a nap, and it was too hot for me to stroller it around outside until I knew it would be safe to go inside. I got the Senior boy a card in Spanish. No I don't speak Spanish, No he does not speak Spanish. I just thought that would be funnier than any of the cards they had created for the Graduates. LOL

So you know how they say buy a box. The kids play with the box more than the toy that came in it. It is true. This is Katie. She is still army crawling, not normal crawls. She pulls herself up lots, and stands if you hold one of her hands. I think she will just go right to cruising and walking.

Speaking of blocks. This new game Sarah is playing is great. We four play each night that we put the two little ones down. Emily won last night :(

Love talking to you all. Give me a call when you can.

Mark

Roller Coaster Boy

Hey Gang,

Here is the photo of Ty on the roller coaster. The first time he loved it and laughed. The second time with Tab he did not want to get off. He pulled the bar back down when the ride was over. The third time with me, Ty kept his hands up for much of the ride. I am sure that soon he will ride the monster coasters I am too old for. T.Mark

Coin Slot

Don't waste your entire day, but I got 155.

Five Smiles

Tab, I will take you up on your challange. Every man will smile when he has a large screen T.V. (ask William as of last week), but the photo is here to show you the 32 mini replica NFL helments around the Kitchen shelf. I love the sacrifices my wife made to allow me my geeky decoration. It comes down in May:) Once you remove my teacher folder, you will find my second reason to smile -SLEEP. Here you can see Psalms 34:1-11. (12-22 are on the living room wall) I loved it that Tabitha wrote these out and all four of us memorized this passage of scripture. My heart smiles knowing we focused on his Word. It is not so much the wall of fame that makes me smile, but what it tells me about Tabitha and my folks. Tabitha loves our children and wants to share their beauty with others. My parents came down for 8 days. I kid you not, my father work the entire time 7am to midnight converting our old living room in to two bedrooms for Emily and Katie. My Parents will do anything for my kids:) Photo Not Missing ! That is right, YOU do not see the last thing that makes me smile! But if YOU come to my house, for a dinner or a weekend, YOU will see me smile. Mark

Happy Mother's Day

Mom, Thanks for all you do. Thanks for all you have done. We will bring the coffee cup, but not the plant. It says "I love You". Emily did that half and Sarah did the other half. Emily did the inside too, but you can not see that. Love Mark

Cedar Point - Ready

Great, Great! Things look great for Cedar point. The reduced price for getting a group rate, has passed us by, so everyone is on their own for picking up tickets for their family. I confirmed with Kari that her family will arrive at Mammaw’s Thursday May 15th evening to sack out on the floor. I will have blankets laid out and ready for sleeping. Kristy, if you family is joining us that night, please call me (239)834-4452. We have plenty of room. Friday morning we will be eating breakfast (full farmer’s hand special) at 6:30am. This will allow us to leave Canton Michigan at 7:15am. When you add in the time Yahoo calculates, and the soda stop, gas stop, diaper stop that we traditionally make, it puts us at the gate at 9:45am. I have my own directions, and you are welcome to follow me. I go at my own speed, so you might want to get your own directions or use your own GPS. Since we have a pleothra of desires and ride interests in the park maybe we should plan on meeting together for lunch. Emily wants to get a Cedar Point shirt, so we will be doing some stopping by the gift shops. The Fudge and Needle ride is a must for us 6. We will plan to do that just before dusk. When you mention the big ferris wheel, Tabitha explains her plan on staying on the ground with Katie and Ty. Honestly I am asking for one brave soul to go with me and my two girls. I am a little afraid as well. Dad, thank you for the arrangements for the motel. Oh, Yeah. Bring a Camera. "God, I pray for Travis. Guide him to yourself. I pray for his safety each day at school and home." Mark

Free Stuff

I have been checking Craig’s list each morning. Today I found something. I told the girls it might be great, it might be nothing. To make a short story long, here goes….. The internet post said, manicans, shelf, and other items. We went to the bridal shop near Pizza Hut. For those of you out of town, remember America’s most wanted and the story about the two girls held at knife point to get in a black SUV and leave there baby, then found out they were all illegal aliens? Right next to that store. The window said 10am-5pm, but was locked. I told the girls it could be nothing or something? They opened a little after ten. We went in. Ty , Emily , Sarah, and I went in. This lady did not know exactly what her boss was wanting to give away. It is a bridal store moving to Cape Coral, so …… She handed Emily a pair of earrings, then Sarah, Then she went to the children’s maid of honors dresses. Did I tell you that the girls just got done watching “America’s Prom Queen”? So we left with a pair of shoes, 3 dresses, bracelet, purse, vail, and the two earring sets. She has my number and has told me to come back tonight. I have their number too, so might call them near 3pm. Anyway, Mammaw, we might have some dresses that are too big. Could you do any sewing for us? ”Dear God, I come to you today asking for your safety while Keela and William return from PRico. Jesus, you said that you would send the comforter, I ask that you guide this spirit to William today. Having your father’s heath questioned is nothing taken lightly, and I pray that you would fill his mind and heart with peace.” Mark