It's snowing....I'm going home....to make snow ice cream....wish I had Kahlua

this is my boss Diane

Everyone stay safe and warm

ilym

X Games Update Edit

last year was a pretty tough year for my family, three of our clan passed, but with each passing our family came together and our bonds were strengthened...

two of the cousins, Caleb and Colten Moore, have competed in the Snowmobile part of the Winter X Games. Last year after a horrible accident Caleb lost his life.  Colten will be back competing tonight!.  You can read this very heart warming and heart breaking story in the links below... if you'd like.

http://xgames.espn.go.com/events/2014/aspen/article/10303834/colten-moore-prepares-return-x-games-aspen

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/sports/dizzying-heights-and-a-death.html?_r=0

• THURSDAY, JANUARY 23
  2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ETESPN3	Men's Snowboard SlopeStyle Elimination
  7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. ETESPN3	Men's Snowboard SuperPipe Elimination
  9 p.m. - 11 p.m. ETESPN,WatchESPN	Men's Snowboard SuperPipe EliminationSnowmobile FreeStyle Final

We have a big family...each and everyone are special in their own way... here are some photo's I love!

this is Colten, He's been practicing snowmobile tricks...

tricks like this

which sometimes turn out like this

all of us do a lot of praying

Colten Moore Will Be Sentimental Favorite at X Games Aspen 2014

Even if Colten Moore doesn't win a medal in Aspen, he's made a major statement just by taking part.

Last year, Colten's brother, Caleb, crashed attempting a backflipduring the Snowmobile Freestyle finals, with his snowmobile landing on top of him. Although he was able to walk off with help, he died a week after the accident. It's the only time that an athlete has died in the history of the X Games.

You could excuse Colten if he wanted to take a year off, but that's not something he's prepared to do, as he is in the field for the 2014 Snowmobile Freestyle finals. Moore said, per ESPN.com's Devon O'Neil:

"I think going back to X Games is going to be a little nerve-racking but I've dealt with it throughout the year. And I'm going to have a lot of family and friends there to help me, keep me calm. I'll pray to Caleb, and I know he'll be there with me. And everything should be good."

 This is  Uncle Charles, Calebs Grandfather and Caleb in 2011...Uncle Charles is in Aspen this year along with a gathering of other family members.

Caleb and Colten

Five of these girls are family...daughters, nieces and cousins - I think this was in 2012

Wade and Michele

Caleb and Coltens parents

my cousins

This is what Love Looks Like

the whole family 2005, love looks like this too.

We'll all be watching and praying and just loving one another

RIP Caleb

this show's for You

ILYM

 

 

 

• Michel fauquet  noticed that I had a new profile picture up.  Actually it's an old picture
• about 20 years old.
•  Lordy where does the time go.

• .
• anyway,
• these are  our twins,
• Anna and Sarah and me.

this is a recent photo of Anna and Sarah

we were at weddings both times.

While I was going through photographs

I came across more that are favorites in the before and after scheme of things

that's me on the far right with my sisters and cousins

 probably from the late 60's

 nieces and nephews

I'm thinking the late 80's here

Great nieces and nephews and grandson

last summer at Mom's house

Our family is filled to the brim with GREAT Peoples

I think it must have  something to do with playin in the mud =)))

this is just a reminder to look up to the heavens

the moon and jupiter are dancing

it's been a glorious day here...

one of those crystal blue sky days without a cloud in sight

reminding me of a favorite scripture:

Psalm 66:5

 Come and see the works of God,
Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men.

Life is Good

in fact it's just GREAT

murisopsis posted a painting by her favorite artist a few days ago, and suggested I might do the same, van Gogh is probably the first artist I ever noticed, this is my favorite of his paintings and below a note to his brother...

"This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big," van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, from France. Rooted in imagination and memory, The Starry Nightembodies an inner, subjective expression of van Goghs response to nature. In thick, sweeping brushstrokes, a flamelike cypress unites the churning sky and the quiet village below. The village was partly invented, and the church spire evokes van Gogh's native land, the Netherlands.

ilym

There are many things I enjoy about being a grandparent, one of them is being able to watch Fairy Tales without someone thinking I'm just weird

( although I have been known to be a bit weird).

One of my favorites right now is :

"When the kingdom's most wanted, and most charming, bandit Flynn Rider hides in a mysterious tower, the last thing he expects to find is Rapunzel, a spirited teen with an unlikely superpower: 70 feet of magical golden hair! Together, the unlikely duo sets off on a fantastic journey filled with surprising heroes, laughter and suspense."

Rapunzel, locked in a tower after being kidnapped by an evil old woman who wants to be forever young, watches these paper lanterns floating in the air every year...and is awed by the sight.

I remarked to my girls that I was in awe of the lanterns myself, wouldn't it be grand to float mini hot air balloons in the air, but I seriously didn't think they would work in real life.   Well guess what I got for Christmas....yup...a whole box of them.

the very funny instructions say to have one person hold up the lantern, which is made of tissue paper glued to a very light weight metal frame, and have one person light a wax covered block that is attached to the metal frame under the lantern, the fire heats up the air in the lantern and soon it is air born.  We lit this one Christmas Night,  making a wish we watched in amazement as it floated up and up and up until the fire burned out and it floated back to earth as free as you please.  Just like in the movie...it was just awesome!!!

Anyway...my plan was to send some up as the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve...only all the kids had already gone home and Barry fell asleep on the sofa about 10:30.  I figured no problem and lit a big candle and sat that on a stand in the back yard and held the precious lantern above it and caught the wax block on fire....so far so good...the lantern filled with hot air and floated about 15 feet in the air and then the wax block fell off the metal frame and down to the frozen earth it fell, followed gracefully by the lantern...hummmm.....so I snuffed out the still burning wax and attached another fuel source to the lantern and lit that, but I guess I bent the metal frame somehow and the tissue paper caught fire and burned slap up.

I was going to get another lantern  and start over but paranoia struck and I started thinking...Here I am out in the cold with guns shooting off everywhere and what if the lantern loses it's fire over someones house and the house catches on fire...or over the farmers hey stack...or... well you get the picture....

so I went back in the house and drank some very fine wine that our daughter and new son in law had graciously left.  It was a very nice New Year....and I'll wait until I have another person to blame, I mean help, light the lanterns next time.

It's cold here....colder than it's been in more than 30 years.

speaking of grandchildren

our great grandson Braylon is doing great....

He looks like his dad and our grandson,

Reece

who left on the 29th for Boot Camp at Fort Benning.

( that's his sister and our grand daughter Mara with him)

Life Is Good - It's all Good!

ilym

Does nature know what’s in store for the 2013-2014 winter? Some people believe that nature has a way of telling us if a harsh winter is just around the corner. They turn to the behavior of plants and animals to determine how much wood will need to be chopped or if this is the winter to buy a snowblower. There are countless ‘Old Wives Tales’ that have been past down from generation to generation to help determine the veracity of a approaching winter. Here are 20 of the more widely known indicators.

1. Thicker than normal corn husks
2. Woodpeckers sharing a tree
3. Early arrival of the Snowy owl
4. Early departure of geese and ducks
5. Early migration of the Monarch butterfly
6. Thick hair on the nape (back) of the cow’s neck
7. Heavy and numerous fogs during August
8. Raccoons with thick tails and bright bands
9. Mice eating ravenously into the home
10. Early arrival of crickets on the hearth
11. Spiders spinning larger than usual webs and entering the house in great numbers
12. Pigs gathering sticks
13. Insects marching a bee line rather than meandering
14. Early seclusion of bees within the hive
15. Unusual abundance of acorns
16. Muskrats burrowing holes high on the river hank
17. “See how high the hornet’s nest, ‘twill tell how high the snow will rest”
18. Narrow orange band in the middle of the Woollybear caterpillar warns of heavy snow
19. The squirrel gathers nuts early to fortify against a hard winter
20. Frequent halos or rings around sun or moon forecast numerous snow falls.

I have observed

2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 19 and 20

 I am an "Old Wife"

I do know that we have had more cold, really cold, weather this year than I can remember in a long time!

Also the hubby and son cut and split 3 pickup truck ( long bed) loads of firewood New Years day,

that hasn't happened in a long while either....

I don't know about you but I'm bundling up!

How do you predict a harsh winter ahead?

Have a Great Weekend!

ilym

Just a short meteor- info-blog before I go home...

We had a great Christmas with all the kids home and a really quite New Year with all the kids celebrating elsewhere.

I'm pretty sure the Quadrantids will go unnoticed here in NW Georgia...it's overcast and cold =/ but maybe you can catch a falling star or two!

The Quadrantid meteor shower is always the first meteor shower of every new year, and 2014 is no exception. The shower comes each year in early January and favors the Northern Hemisphere because its radiant point is so far north on the sky’s dome. In fact, the Quadrantids might be the strongest and most famous major meteor shower that you’ve never seen. That’s because, although it can match the meteor numbers (50 to 100 meteors or more an hour) of the better-known August Perseid and December Geminid showers, the Quadrantids’ peak is very narrow. The peaks of the Perseid shower or Geminid shower persist more or less for a day or more, allowing all time zones around the world to enjoy a good display of Perseids and Geminids. Meanwhile, the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower lasts only a few hours. So you have to be on the right part of Earth, the part that’s in nighttime – preferably with the radiant high in your sky – during those few hours of the shower’s peak, in order to see the most Quadrantid meteors. Follow the links below to learn more about the Quadrantids in 2014

What are the peak dates for the Quadrantid shower in 2014?

Who will see the Quadrantid meteor shower best in 2014?

What time should I watch the Quadrantid meteor shower in 2014?

Where is the radiant point for the Quadrantid shower?

The Quadrantids are named for a constellation that no longer exists.

Hope your New Year is filled with peace and joy!

ilym