Easter Sunrise

We wanted to share how we do the sunrise in NE. No beautiful beaches... instead we meet in a pasture, that had donkeys in it this year! We could hear them braying, but they didn't come over the hill. They did however leave us reminders of themselves, so we had to watch where we stepped!

Being on the western side of the central time zone, we didn't have to start until 6:45. What a beautiful time to worship our Risen Lord. The sun came over the hill as Tom was preaching.




We had about 55 people attend sunrise, then we went back to the church where the men served up pancakes and sausage. Breakfast was followed with our regular worship service at 9:00.











This year we did a treasure hunt using Bible references as clues. The kids had to look them up and figure out where the next clue was. We used verses with words like boats, ice, branches, flowers, eggs, etc. We made Resurrection Baskets with items that reminded us of the Easter Story.

Happy Spring! We have about 10 inches on the ground and are expecting several more tonight.







Yes this is the same trampoline the girls were jumping on last Friday.

Happy Birthday Drew!

Drew is 1 year old today, March 20! Can you believe it? Have you seen him walking? Check out the video...

We are going to celebrate with a party this coming Saturday. We will send more pics then.



1 year ago today!

Today is Mattie's Birthday! We call her our Mattie O' Pattie. She had some friends over and they played dress up and did Karaoke.
Thanks, Brianna for the great idea of making beaded bracelets! We tried it too!





We finally used our almost 17 year old wedding gift cake plate. I'm sure it won't take that long to use it again.








Mattie loves her jewelry box that Pop Pop made her! She has already started filling it up! XOXO to Grandmom and Pop Pop!








The girls went on a treasure hunt for a pot of gold, (chocolate gold coins and party bags) and finished up their time jumping in the tramp.






The boys weren't used to being outnumbered by girls, but they had a fun time too. They were the wild indian type attackers outside of the trampolene!

Archery Practice

This was Jesse's first time shooting a bow.









Mattie is enjoying the nice March weather.









Remember this Bow, Rob?


This is Toby's first time shooting my old bow. He is shooting it at 26 pounds. He needs to be up to 40# before he can take his test. He is hoping to Bow hunt next fall.



















Sam is relearning to shoot. Although he is left handed we discovered that he is right eye dominant. So he is hoping to shoot right handed. This will afffect a gun as well. Up until now he has only shot left handed.

All the kids competed in a Tae kwon Do tournament. They competed in Sparing and Forms. This is mattie recieving her medal after her Forms Competition. They all enjoy this and are doing well. Mattie is a Yellow Belt, Sam & Jesse are green and Toby is Red.



December Trout Fishing.

We caught 5 or 6. Sam caught the first one






















Toby's first wrestling meet. Junior High PE consists of competition in 4 sports. Football, Basketball, Wrestling, and Track. Every student must practice and is stongly encouraged to take part in the games. After a year of worrying about wrestling, Toby learned that he really likes wrestling and may give up on
Basketball. He pinned this wrestler during the second period. A match is three 2 miniute periods. In his second match Toby lost a 3 - 2 decision. He found out that while he has been playing basketball for years other kids have been doing wrestling. Yet he almost won anyway.

Update On Stephanie

Because of continual pain from scar tissue due to four c-sections, Stephanie had a full hysterectomy yesterday, January 25. The surgery went very well with no complications. While in a great deal of pain still, she is doing very well. The nurses have forced her to sit up in a chair twice already. We expect that she will return home on Saturday. I will be Mr. Mom for the next six weeks. The ladies in church will be doing much of the cooking but I will get a chance to make my favorite dishes as well. I do believe that the crock pot is the greatest invention known to man. Thanks for your prayers.

Tom

Fixed?

Now I feel better!

The beginning

This is not the first time Brian was hairless. It was even worse that this, but I didn't think I would see it again until I was old enough to not trust my eyes. Now all you writing to encourage him--remember He likes this, he did this to himself. Don't be writing him to tell him how cute this new "do" is.

New Haircut!

Hey Everyone

Beware! Scrolling down may induce great laughter. Those with heart conditions may not want to continue reading. Today, I shaved my head! After asking permission from Becca, which she so graciously extended, we decided that this would be the best time for it. I probably won’t see Becca for about 4 weeks, I’ve been at work for enough time that people there won’t think I’m a total freak, and there aren’t any big photo ops like weddings or holidays coming up. The pictures show the progression from precut to buzzed to bicced. Enjoy!
Maybe I should’ve been named Tom Jr. This way Becca sees what’s coming in a few years:

I got rid of the scruffy beard too:

Dads late Christmas Present

This is the ebay present we were waiting for. We told you we were getting a smaller tree next year. LOL. The leg ornament is from Shari and TC, right out of "The Christmas Story." Most of Christmas is cleaned up but still some more and the outside lights to go. Made reservations to Ft. Meyers on jan 26. Make sure you see our Christmas pictures, they are great but we will have to save until next Christmas to be able to afford prints.

Christmas 2005 Pictures

Chip and I have posted pictures from Christmas in NJ. You can see mine here. Here are Chip's... 1 and 2

Grandmom sees BEBO

Hi this is New Year's Eve and I am finally learning to use this blog. Chip is trying hard. Tune back in to see if I can really do this after he leaves.

Happy Birthday Rob

Happy Birthday to my "Little" Brother



BTW. Chip and Rob took a green hill after posing for the picture.

Pheasant

On Sunday afternoon the boys and I went hunting. I shot two rabbits and Toby and I together shot a Rooster pheasant. I knocked it down when it flew out of a plum thicket. It landed near Toby and tried to hop off. Toby then finished it off. We are still debating over whose Pheasant it really is. For now we have decided to share it equally. I am still deer hunting but have not seen any deer to shoot.

Toby scores again

Today was Toby's first muzzle loader hunt. We had 5 inches of new snow this morning on top of Monday's snow. It was about 16 degrees. We were very cold.

After lunch we left this area. This is where Toby shot his buck 3 weeks ago.

Those cows would make good prime rib.








Cold, very cold.

Toby is holding his .50 cal hawken he got for his 12th birthday in May. It is loaded with 80 grains of powder and a patched round ball.








Button Buck.

We saw this deer from our truck. After a short walk and a 10 minute sit we saw two deer. We were set up on the field edge about 30 feet above these deer down on the creek. After moving several times to get a clear shot as the deer slowly walked, Toby was able to take a 70 yard broad side shot just before the deer jumped the creek.

Uncle Lee. This deer is within 30 yards of where you shot your deer.

My tree stand is about 20 yards to the right.

Blizzard 2005

It is now 2:00 on Monday Nov 28. We have been under a blizzard warning since 4:00 yesterday. I have no idea how much snow we have because of the winds. It has been blowing 35 -50mph since yesterday. Out side of town you can't see more than 20 feet at most times. Florida sounds real nice about now.









The drift in front of my pickup is about 10 feet high. It completely blocks our road. There is a stop sign next to the power pole but the drift is covering it.












Another earlier view of the road.

No community left behind

We'd like to share how God is using Tom's talent for His purpose. Our pastor has been doing a series title "No Community Left Behind". This series has been about how we can impact the community beyond our church walls. Tom has had the opportunity to serve as the designer for this campaign. So now to the story. Tom met with the pastor this afternoon to go over the next series. Pastor Tim told him a women who recently moved to the area came to church on Sunday morning for the first time and when asked how she found out about our church, she replied "because of the billboard you have up."

This entry is not meant to be boastful but to show how God can use our talents for His purpose in reaching out to people. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.

The Cartys

A Bountiful Harvest

I shot this doe on Wednesday.
















Toby shot his first deer Saturday morning 10 minutes after the season opened. It ran about two hundred yards after a lung shot.

Don't you think mine is bigger? Toby doesn't agree of course.