Congratulations to my Wonderful Friend Kelly and her Family!

Congratulations to my dear friend Kelly and her family on receiving their PA to adopt their new daughter. They haven't decided on a name yet, but I know one thing for sure...she will have a pair of red maryjanes, I'll be seeing to that! Their family blog is 'truly blessed'. It is password protected, so please leave your wonderful comments here for her to find!

Welcome to the Saturday Morning Chat Group!

Good Morning! It's been a long time since I've had the Saturday Morning Chat Group, but if anyone is out there and would like to drop in and say hello, I'm here. I think I'll get our house decorated for the holidays today!
The Saturday morning chat group has closed. Thank you for a wonderful morning and enjoy the weekend!

Christmas Card Exchange...Please Sign Up.

I have received a lot of e-mails regarding the Christmas Card Exchange. Now, I want to protect everyone's privacy, so please leave a comment here if you want your address added to the list that will be distributed to our friends here in blogland. E-mail your address to me and I will add it to the list. If you do not leave a comment on this post, I will assume that you only want me to have your address. Also, my apologies, but to protect everyone's privacy, I need you to reference your blog before I will accept your address. My e-mail is timnkim@gmail.com. Please get your address to me before 12/9. I will distribute the list on 12/10 to give everyone plenty of time to get their cards in the mail.

Merry Christmas!

Thank You Secret Buddy!

As you all know, I LOVE my Secret Buddy. This months gifts are just wonderful and Sophia will enjoy them when it's sleepy time, a Hippo Lovey and Chinese Lullaby's. Thank you so much for always lifting my spirits and sending me the most thoughtful gifts. You are so appreciated!

I am sending out my Christmas cards!

I have started addressing my Christmas Cards. I already have several of your addresses from baby showers and mailings. If you would like to exchange Christmas Cards, please e-mail me at timnkim@gmail.com Also, if you think it would be a good idea to compile a list of addresses of the people we know here in blogland who have given their permission to participate in a Christmas Card swap, let me know that too.

Please Join Me in Praying for Ava Who is Having Surgery Tomorrow.

This is one of the first families that I saw united when I started my blog. This little girl is very special. Please pray for her as she goes into surgery tomorrow and pray for her mother Liz who I am sure needs our support right now. Their blog is 'My Red Thread to Ava Grace Yahan'. Please leave kind words and spiritual support for Liz. She is a wonderful friend and mother.

Interviews with the past...

All of my grandparents are still alive except for one. I cherish the time I can spend with them, so afraid that I may not get home again in time to see them one more time. This year when I lit the candles on All Saint's Eve and thought about family members who had passed on, I wished that I had something more for my children. I wished that I had photos and stories to share to make these loving and wonderful people more real. When I was home over Thanksgiving, my Aunt and I decided to start a family history album, each of us has one.

I interviewed my grandparents and learned amazing things.

These are my great great grandparents Joseph and Tina Michaels. The baby girl on the right is Viola Jane who my Aunt Pamela Jane is named for and who Sophia Jane will be named for.

My great grandmother Anna Marie Fisher was the youngest of five children when her mother died. All of her siblings were passed to relatives in Denmark. No one would take her, so her father brought her to America. When World War I began they lost contact with her siblings and never spoke with them again. My Grandmother showed me the actual stitched patch that was sewn to her coat with the address of her Aunt in America, so that she could get there if she became lost.

My great great great grandmother on my Grandpa LeRoy's side was a full blooded cherokee woman. Rumor has it she was very homely in the face but had beautiful hair. She married a fur trader.

My grandpa Jim was a tailgunner in fighter planes in World War II.

We collected many many photos and stories. We are putting them into scrapbooks. Next year for All Saint's Eve I want to have a photo and story for each person we light a candle for.

For me, I want to hold onto whatever I can from them. Some day this will be priceless.

Introducing My New Car...Yes, it's a minivan, but I'm not going to start wearing jumpers.

Well, the Yukon engine was pretty trashed, so we had little choice but to buy a new vehicle and get ourselves home. We loved our Yukon XL, but decided that we should choose something that can still fit all of our children, but provide us with the gas mileage that our commutes need. So, here it is: Our new minivan. minivan, minivan, minivan I swore I would never drive a minivan. But here it is. My minivan. Mine is white, but I couldn't find a white picture. It has the tv, sunroof, leather and a navigation system with a sultry mans voice. He's been named Jeeves. Someone tell me I still have it going on. minivan, minivan, minivan.

We made it home safe and sound at 5:30am. I am going to crawl into work in an hour or so being that I have no vacation time left for the year.

STILL in Des Moines...and it's not looking good.

Ok, it's day 3 in Des Moines. The dealership said that there are no catalytic converters (don't know how to spell that) in the city and that one will have to be overnighted which means another day here. We're looking at at least $900 in car repairs and a third day of food for 6 and hotel accommodations. Not good when I still have Christmas gifts to buy. Oh well, what can we do?