What a Christmas Present!

Here he is. Couldn't wait a year for his first Christmas, he had to come on Christmas Day! Here are a few photos thanks to Grams!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2007 will be one to remember for the Ramsey's!
Not only did we have a great family gathering, here are all the kids, but wait...we are officially missing one!

Yes, that's right! Jackson Douglas came into this world 2:30am Christmas Morning!
I don't have any pictures yet, but will get some soon!

The day was packed, first Santa had to visit the home front, and CRAZY thing, he left Matti a new puppy!

So now Nike, you will have a new, nice friend! We'll have to schedule a play date!
Then off to Grandma's! Almost everyone was there and it was so nice. And Chris...we thought of you, and here are some pics.



And last, but not least...

Who ever said Uncle C didn't make a good impression?

I'm dreaming of a WHITE Christmas!

It's Snowing! The kids were so excited! And it was a total white out at times.


The kids, all 4 of them :>), went sledding? I'm not thinking this is the idea of sledding I had in mind since we do have a nice little hill in our back yard. Oh well - dad had just as much fun as the kids. And amazingly enough, no broken bones!

P just dumped T in this picture. I could hardly take the picture cause P was laughing so hard it was making me laugh. Ahh they had a good time.
Anyone up for some sledding? Call us up!

She's 2! She's 2!

Our little neice turned 2 on Saturday and she is such a blessing! She wasn't Uncle P's friend at first, but she's finally warming up to him. She is going to have a little brother any day and we can't wait. So happy birthday little lovebug!

He's a SUPERSTAR!

Tuesday night was G's Christmas Program at school.
Just in case you can't find him...he's the curly haired blonde with the Snowman Sweater his Moma asked him to wear! :>)

This is what we do...

I had to use Lila's title just because this weekend we did what we love to do!
Friday night we had BUNCO!! If you don't know what BUNCO is, well, I'm sorry! No, No, just kidding. It is just a dice game, but the funnest part about it is the fellowship with all the other ladies. We have so much fun together!
Here is Tracy - and yes, she looks like a dork, but it's an inside joke, to long to explain!

Here is Lila with her "I AM MRS NEW YORK" attitude!

And here is most of the group with a few subs of coarse.

Saturday was the wonderful Dance Recital. My girls are inspired by dancing. They absolutely love it, and so, that's what they do.
Here is Mrs Clause.

I didn't get any pictures of T, and if you were there you knew why. She is just all over the place and changing costumes so fast it's not even funny.
Sunday morning I had the opportunity to sing with a group of ladies, and I had a blast. I love to sing, not by myself of coarse, but I love to sing in a group and we sounded so pretty. Here we are: Ara, Cari, Me, Tracy, Ann, & Nicole.

Wish I knew how to upload the music for you, but until I figure that out, you;ll just have to trust me when I say "We were GREAT!"
Sunday evening was the Children's Choir presentation of "Bethlehem Gulch". The kids did an outstanding job!

T was a choir character, G was a shepherd, and M was a sheep. They were just too cute!

It's Melting, It's Melting!

OK I know, I know, I haven't blogged in awhile, but for good reason. A storm comes and you just as well not have any ties with me for awhile. Yes you bet it, CLAIMS! We haven't had too many BIG claims, most people are just dealing with clean up and concern for heat due to loss of power. Ken was working a claim yesterday and a HUGE branch came crashing down on the hood of his truck. Not good. And believe it or not, it wasn't a ficus and his insurance still covered it!! :>) Like a good neighbor.... Ok that might have been a stupid insurance joke, but maybe some of you got it. The heat of taking the claims is pretty much over now, so Ken says he is dealing with Post dramatic stress syndrome, I told him I was glad he had the disease - I think I'm just plain TIRED!


So while I was out this morning, I thought I would catch a few photos before it melted. This was the fence line at Grams & Gramps this morning. All I could think about was running my hand down the line and breaking all the icicles. LOVE TO DO THAT!!


This was just a photo outside the office. The sun was shining and everything was just glistening.
And then...



it started melting! I don't know if you can see here or not, but the icicles were just crashing down everywhere. You can kind of see the line in the street where the danger zone occurred. We were out today and you had to be careful for all the falling ice, but this is GOOD!!!

A little Christmas here & there

This weekend we had our Sunday School Christmas Party. I was so excited because I don't get to associate with these people on Sunday morning, due to the fact that I teach in the Youth. We had a blast, and I do want to say Thank you to the youth who watched our children while we played! Thank you to the Bakers, the Naylors, and the Coopers for opening their homes to have us all stop by. The only thing that would have made it a little better was if MU had won.This is dessert at the Coopers. I think Marlene was enjoying the desserts. This group does look like they could have a few get rowdy.
Don't worry Al, you left early, but I had these two totally under control. We just won't tell you about the gift she had originally opened for you! If you need anymore details, you'll have to get them from Kevin.

Angie - I knew you injured his shoulder, but what happened to his face?
Here is Kim trying her hardest to avoid the photo shot, but no, I still captured her and MR SCROOGE. This was only part of the crowd, but as you can see everyone had a fantastic time.
Just for you Grace, I had to post this precious picture. This is Nathan portraying Joseph and K portraying Mary. Aren't they just the cutest! If you want to see this live, you'll have to attend the Children's Choir Program on December the 16th.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

No one can say Bah Humbug anymore! Thanksgiving is gone and now pressing forward to Christmas. I captured a couple pictures of our trees - yes the monkey's in front of them are mine too. :>)

This tree is our "fun" tree full of snowmen ornaments and red beads and balls. The pictures are not doing them justice.
This is our "FORMAL" - "Don't touch this" tree - no I'm not that frantic about this tree, but it is very pretty. Mostly gold ornaments only.
Like I said these photos do not do them justice, you will all have to stop by some evening to enjoy how beautiful they really are.

Thanksgiving, MU, & What's that!

We had a terrific holiday celebration!
We started our celebration at P's parents. P's mom is such a wonderful cook, I think we could have all just ate and ate. And then...it was time for pictures!

As you can tell, little Miss had other plans than taking a picture!

Aren't they just adorable!

And here we are...I know shocking my kids actually smiled! :>)
I did take a picture of PaPa and Grams, but I think my camera ate it. But they were there and we all had a fantastic time. These girls had a wonderful time playing at grandmas!And these boys are two peas in a pod - they are the bestest of friends and I hope they continue to be! And here we have M and Uncle Sandwich - Why she calls him Uncle Sandwich I have no idea, but it's a thing they have going on. And M plays with Uncle Sandwich ANYTIME he's willing.

And then...it was my turn. I was actually quite calm until I took the lid off the turkey and it wasn't the picture perfect golden brown. My mom showed up a little early and she thought it looked wonderful. In the back of my mind I was thinking...how much pizza am I going to have to order? Anyways we let it sit out to continue cooking and cool down, and then we started carving. And the taste test, taken my uncle chuck proved that it was delicious. Anyways, nothing fancy but we did have the fixin's. Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade bread, gravy, corn casserole, deviled eggs mmmm it was so good! And to top it all off, we had desserts!! (Not all desserts are shown) We had a yummy Reese's ice cream dessert, pies, pumpkin strudel, cranberry strudel. Then we celebrated Ab's Birthday and M was entertained with the box that her gift came it. After all that we got to sit down and watch the BIG GAME! And I'm sure we all know who the WINNERS were!!! GO TIGERS!

Now I am going to have a little GUESS WHAT THIS PHOTO IS game.
Study this picture real hard, and let me know what you think it is.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm a little behind, I know, but I did want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving meals are not until tonight and tomorrow, so our Thanksgiving was spent decorating the Christmas trees and we did have P's mom and dad and grandma up for supper. I am a little nervous, this will be the first year I've ever "hosted" Thanksgiving - that means first time I've had to have enough table seating for 18 - first time to bake a turkey - oh my oh my! Anyone have any pointers?
Well I am thankful to have such a loving and close family, cause even if we do have to order pizza, their gonna love me anyways!
Along with my family's thanksgiving meal we have THE BIG GAME!!! For those of you who don't know MU vs KU. Well there's going to be a rivalry at our house. My cousins are attending KU and well most of the rest of us are MU fans. GO TIGERS!!! So no playing football in the snow and cold, we'll just stay inside and watch!
On a different note, I'd like to say to my blogger friends I am so thankful to have such wonderful people like you in my family's life! Each one of you hold a special place in our hearts - even those of you who read and don't comment! :) Yes Carol that means you! :) I have the most WONDERFUL friends a person could ever need. Thank you to all of you!

HEROS

I look at my husband and I see the man that swept me off my feet, I see the wonderful father he is to our children, and I see the love he has for God, family, and friends. I see P. But he is so much more...he is a hero. A couple weeks ago my husband was selected out of several Northwest Missouri Law Enforcement and First Responders to receive a Life Saving Award. Many of you know that last Dec a couple of children had fallen through the ice into a pond near our home. P was the first responder on the scene and saved a little boy that day. Unfortunately the other child was found a couple hours later and did not make it. My husband was devastated, I can remember the look in his eyes...he almost felt as if he had failed. We and several others knew he was taking it hard, and we helped him through it. HE WAS A HERO! Last night he was recognized as that hero! P and I and several officers and firefighters from Cameron attended a banquet to recognize law enforcement officers and first responders who have went above and beyond the call of duty. The little boy was there and thanked P for saving him, and he also thanked the crowd for praying for him and his recovery. P was glowing! I could see last night that P finally understood, he did do his job, and he was a hero. And the neatest thing about this night of valor, was that P was not the only hero out there that was recognized. Andy was recognized for his call of duty above and beyond as well. I am so proud to know these men that are willing to step up to help others before thinking about themselves first. We are PROUD of you!


This is P with his Fire Chiefs and the little boy he saved.

Andy and P with their awards.

I'M IT!

Ok - so now I am considered the tagee I guess, and here you go. I really didn't know what to share, but here are 10 things I am sure NONE of you knew about me!

#1 I've lived in Cameron my entire life (except for the one year of college dorm life). I haven't ever measured the distance, but I'm sure I haven't lived over 15 miles from the house I grew up in.

#2 I've worked for the same company since I was 16! I have went from pe-on to "Office Goddess"! I love State Farm - I couldn't go anywhere else! Been here 14 years and plan to stay another!

#3 I have a bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from Missouri Western State University. I always dreamed of being an actuary, but didn't get it done.

#4 My favorite food in the world is Chocolate Covered Raisins - and yes Lila - I agree that if heaven is truly made of what we love here on earth - then there will be a chocolate covered raisin fountain.

#5 Anymore, I don't open myself up to really close friendships -- the reason is cause all of you MOVE away just when I can't live without ya! Trisha, Tracy, Marianne, Kara, Rhonda, Cindy - I would love for ANY of you to move back!
And Kim, Grace, Lila, Michele - I don't want ANY of you to move away, EVER! :>)

#6 I hate to admit this one, but I'm a Stephanie Plum adict. Every year when the new one comes out, I just can't WAIT to read it. This series is written by Janet Evanovich - thank you to Sheryl B for getting me hooked.

#7 I strive to be like my dad, but I can't even compare. I would love to grow older - no offense dad - with wrinkles that define my smile! No - I have dark circles and those worry lines between my eyes - like I have just ate a sour pickle. Any of you who know my dad understand those smiling wrinkles!

#8 I think I've had 4 concussions all BEFORE I turned 16. So any of you who ask me about my childhood, I really don't know. My mom usually fills in all the blanks for me.

#9 I remember the beginning of my Senior year in High School - declaring that I would go directly to college, never look back at Cameron, forget having a boyfriend, never have kids, be successfull, yada yada yada. Well one year later I was back home and MARRIED and NOW I'm still here in Cameron with 3 kids! God had his own plan for me!

#10 My favorite Holiday is Christmas! I love to decorate the house, make cookies with my dad and kids, give gifts, go sledding, drink hot cocoa, celebrate the birth of Jesus, you name it, I think it's GREAT. In fact, I started decorating last weekend. :>)

Generation to Generation

This weekend was a big weekend for all the deer hunters of Missouri. I remember as a kid when deer season came, my brother and sister and I were not allowed to play in the field or the timber, in fear that someone might accidentally shoot us. We never had any AVID deer hunters in our family. My uncle might get one every now and then, but I don't think he "showed it off" per say, unless it was a "BIG ONE". The opposite side of that spectrum is that P was RAISED a deer hunter. I even think he would skip school to go deer hunting. Now, I will not let my son do that FOR SURE, but P has been able to pass down the sport to G. They went out this weekend and as you can see, G was so proud of his dad, and those two were able to spend some time with each other. As I sat back and thought about this, I thought: P and I come from two different backgrounds, (I mean REALLY different) but the one thing that we have in common, is that our families taught us our spiritual beliefs. God brought us together, God has a plan for us, and we know that God will take care of us through EVERYTHING. P and I have had ROUGH times and I mean ROUGH, but it makes us stronger, and it makes our relationship with our Lord so much stronger. My point is that our kids see that, and we are passing this trust and belief down to our children, and it comes from the BOTH of us. So as I share these photos, which some of you think is disgusting, I know, I've been there, you eventually get over it - remember we all have things that we pass from generation to generation and this is one of ours.

Is it going to be Summer yet?

Yesterday, M asked me if we could open the pool cause she would really like to go swimming. Well M it's winter and we can't do that cause it's FREEZING outside. No it's not, she proceeds to argue. The sun is shinning and I'm warm. And then she says I really only want to sit on the side and soak up the sun. I try not to laugh, because it hurts her feelings, but she is so darn funny! I tried to bargain with her that she was more than welcome to go outside and lay in the sun, but she could not wear just the swim suit. As many of you know M has wore a swimsuit 24/7 for a couple years now and I was hoping that she had grown out of that stage since starting kindergarten, but NO! She was back in her swimsuit last night just like the years before. My only saving grace this morning, was that this summer when we visited with her teacher, she told her she could not wear her swimsuit to school. Whew! Thank you Mrs. J for that comment - it stuck in her head! But I'm thinkin' it will be back on as soon as she gets home!

I know it's only November, and we have a long winter ahead of us, but I thought I would post a few photos just to let us all feel a little warmer! AHH can't you just feel the warmth?