Yo...Christmas Tree

The 2011 Hackney tree is up.  Aaron and I made a quick run to Wal-mart for some new lights to brighten up the tree.  He picked out the LED icicle lights.  When we got them out of the box I thought they would have stretched out a bit more.  So this is what we ended up with.

Sitting on the couch & enjoying the decorated house together, Dusty says, "those lights make it look like Rambo."  Note to self....time to get more LED lights.

Thanksgiving time

We're back from a 3 day excursion to Illinois on the annual Thanksgiving Tour of Grandparents Home.  First up Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dad's.  Rachel had a special thank you note that she had written in school.

Brutus the sweet potato fed everyone.  Yes, one sweet potato filled the entire bowl.

Rachel and I were the Thanksgiving morning Racko champions

While the loser was....

Dinner was served on my great grandmother's wheat dishes

Of course after a big meal there's always dishes to wash

Post-dinner entertainment....riding the lawnmower around the house

or practicing driving skills

With my brothers and parents

On Friday it was off to Dusty's parents for some Dimaggio's pizza and fun with Makenna and Carson.  And what's more fun than a bath in the sink?  :)

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving....now it's off to get the house ready for Christmas! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Zzzzzz

1 fun photo shoot with an 18 mo. old + day 6 of Operation Christmas Child collection = one person in need of a nap.  And despite the Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, and a large iced coffee that some wonderful friend brought me I slept for 2 hours this afternoon. :)

SHOEBOXES!

This week has been all about shoeboxes.  It's nation collection week for Operation Christmas Child.  Our church, Hope Community, in Brownsburg has been selected as a relay center for the Brownsburg area and I am blessed to be able to serve as the coordinator this year.  We are receiving boxes and packing them into shipping boxes to head off into Indianapolis and then to North Carolina, and then to the far reaches of the globe.  What a priviledge and joy to be part of such a great ministry.  Samaritan's purse delivered over 8,000,000 boxes all over the world last year.  Some of the children receiving boxes had never received a gift of any kind before.  Most important, every child received the message that God loves them!  It's still not too late to pack a box - visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/  for more info.

The pathetic blogger...

...and that would be me.  My blogging has been slim to none lately.  Not that there hasn't been stuff going on, just haven't gotten around to posting anything.  So for my 2 readers - here you go.   This year I'm serving as a volunteer for Operation Christmas Child.  I'm the coordinater for the relay center our church is hosting.  Last Tuesday I was asked to photograph a OCC packing party for 40 St. Vincent's NICU graduates that was also sponsored by the Indianapolis Colts.  Mom and Dad were here for the week, so I tossed Mom a volunteer t-shirt and off we went.  Had a lot of fun and got to meet a lot of great people including some Colts players - Donald Brown, Dan Orlovsky, and Drake Nevis.

With Colts running back Donald Brown #31

At work - on the left is a crew from Boone, NC filming footage for next year's Operation Christmas Child promotions

OCC volunteers and Colts Donald Brown & Dan Orlovsky

Dad tackled a list of home repair projects while he was here.  I may have to have him and his tools back soon! :)  And since yesterday was 11/11/11 we had to have some fun.  Found a clock online with the local time and caught it at exactly 11:11:11 PM on 11/11/11.  Silly?  That's how we roll!

So I'll try to be a better blogger in the future....I know all 2 of you are on the edge of your seats! :)

Happy Halloween

.....and the rest of the weekend's activities.  Be prepared we were busy this past weekend.  Lots of pics.

Halloween 2011 - Rapunzel and Minecraft Creeper (it's a video game thing)

Saturday, the youth praise band, Reality 3:16 participated in "Battle of the Bands" to benefit Sheltering Wings.  The kids rocked it out and took 2nd place

Sunday evening was a costume party at the Bohrer's with EVERYONE participating.  Dusty was a little more than excited to go as one of his heroes....Walker, Texas Ranger!  Meanwhile, I tried to channel a bit of my inner rock star.  Complete with some blue hair.

We also squeezed in some pumpkin carving

Then today it was off for our yearly run through the subdivision.  Fueled by Papa Murphy's pizza the kids were ready to go.  We sent the big kids off and then trailed the little kids as they set out to get to as many houses in the shortest amount of time possible.

This year's motley crew included:  Darth Vader, Goth Girl, a whoopie cushion, a pioneer girl, firefighter, ninja, witch, minecraft creeper, Rapunzel, and a musketeer.

There was plenty of candy for all....and to all a good night!