Sunday, Dec 16

Good News!!! We have found a young lady who will be caring for our animals while we are gone this Christmas. She and her parents are members of the church. Thank you for your prayers in this matter. With so many animals, including a very elderly dog, this was a big concern.

We went to see the Nutcracker ballet last night. It was a performance put on by ballet dancers from several counties in Georgia. Not a professional performance, but very enjoyable.

Only 2 more school days left, a day of packing and then we head to the airport to try and find seats available. Flying stand-by may be a real adventure!

Here are some photos from recent events:

It's Friday, Dec 7

I am making progress on getting Christmas gifts done in time to have them mailed to Oregon where we will be celebrating this year. But I still have a lot to do.

I have managed to get just a little bit of organizing done in the garage yesterday. (I needed to find something and it was easier just to move some things around.)The basement is at a stand still for now. Most of it is done, but that last couple of stacks of boxes is still there. Maybe this weekend???

Please pray that we will find a house/pet sitter for the time we will be in the PNW for the holidays. Our animals are very accustomed to being around people most of the day, that being alone will be very stressful for them. The people we were hoping would be able to care for them will not be moved back into their house until the end of January. (They had a house fire in late June and the insurance adjuster wasn't doing his job, so reconstruction was delayed for several months.)


We had a nice St Nicholas celebration. Denise made a great pork dish with rice, beans, and tortillas (thanks for the recipe Ranee) and also sparkling juice. Then we opened the gifts. Denise is enjoying her new slippers, JonPaul is now singing all of Larry's (Veggie Tales) silly songs, and Naomi has more beads to make some jewelry.

Here's a great link to information about this saint, especially for families with children.
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19981101/SAINTS/nicholas.htm


Have a great day, and hopefully the floods have receeded.

Nov 29, 2007 Thursday

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been busy trying to finish the basement rearranging, working on sewing Christmas gifts, and preparing a class Jonathan and I will be teaching on Saturday. (This is for spouses of recruiters at an annual training conference.)

There are only 2 1/2 more weeks left in the school semester. We have our stand by passes to get to the Pacific Northwest for Christmas. If things work out, we will be arriving very early in the morning of Friday, Dec 21 in Seattle. We will be able to visit with friends there before we head down to Oregon to spend time with Becky's parents. Jonathan's parents will be visiting(from Sacramento) for a few days there too. It should be a wonderful time.

Jon Paul will be marching with the Boy Scout troop on Saturday in the local parade "Light Up Senoia". They will also have a booth to sell fried Twinkies. This must be a Southern thing as I've never heard of it before. I think I'm glad I will be in New Orleans and won't have to try one.!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a time to reflect on their many, many blessings.

(PS- I haven't forgotten I promised to post more photos. I will get them done-- sometime. I still have an annual family newsletter to write and several embroidery orders to do before we leave for the Christmas holiday.)

Happy Thanksgiving

We would like to wish all of our family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving! May you know God's blessings! The Landon family

Honor Chorus Concert

We are just getting home from the Honor Chorus concert. This was a regional chorus, that included students from 28 middle schools- including Naomi.

All of the kids did a wonderful job. Wish you could have been here to hear it. We did video some of the concert with our new camera, but I haven't seen it yet. And unfortuately, I don't know how to post a video-- sorry.

Reorganizing house

Usually it takes me about a year after a move before I start to rearrange all of the furniture- but Denise and I are trying to reorganize the basement and living room, after only 3 months here. Jonathan and I bought a treadmill and now it's up to Denise and I (since we are the ones at home during the day) to work out a place to set it up.

The basement was only partially unpacked from our move. So things need to be finishing being organized, put into storage, etc. Which means also having to straighten things out in the garage to make room to store the Rubbermaid boxes. The living room part comes in because we want to move the TV to downstairs and set up a desk upstairs for homework.

Anyone want to come and help??? The hardest part is figuring out how we want to rearrange things- without a lot of chaos and clutter.

Drill Meet 3 Nov

Jon Paul and Jonathan traveled to Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday for the JROTC's first drill meet. The team took 2nd place (out of 35 teams) in the Inspection & Standard Drill. This is when the uniforms and basic knowledge are checked and the team performs a set of standard marching moves.

Once I get the camera downloaded of the photos Jonathan took, I'll post some. (Still have to post one from the Halloween party too.)

All Hallow's Eve Party

Christ the King church held an All Hallow's Eve party/festival last night. There were carnival type games, costumes, hay ride, face painting, candy (LOTS) and a short worship service. I will be posting some photos later. Everyone had a great time.

Please remember those christians who are in places where it is dangerous to meet and worship.

Recommended Book

I just finished reading a book that I would like to recommend to you. It is "Eve's Daughters" by Lynn Austin, published by Bethany House, 1999.

It is the story of four generations of women- their struggles, their crisies of faith and their triumphs. For the book's summary- -"Yearning for love and dignity, four generations of women must come to grips with the choices they've made. And those their mothers made before them. But breaking the cycle that has gripped their family over the decades will prove more difficult than they have ever imagined." (Read that to mean it is a great story, but have a box of tissues handy.)

Article about the shortage of chaplains

ABC News recently aired a story about the shortage of chaplains in the military. Here's the link if you would like to view it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3737124

Tuesday, Oct 23

Today was "Take Your Parent to School" day at the middle school. So for the first 3 1/2 periods of Naomi's school day, I was in class with her. I must say it was an experience!
There are (very unfortunately) some very rude and disrespectful students in the Chorus class. I have had several occasions to meet with the choir director and he's very nice and a good voice teacher. It's really a shame that a few students cause so much time to be wasted rather than being able to improve their singing.

Crazy kickball is indeed a crazy game. Seems like almost total chaos- but this was a very rainy day with 3 PE classes in the gym at the same time.

The social studies teacher actually had the parents also take the pre-assessment test on the American Revolution. I am not looking forward to seeing what my grade will be :) (It's been awhile since I've taught American history and it was never my strong subject.)

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This afternoon I will take Jon Paul to pick up his new suit. We ordered it on Saturday, but the pants needed hemming and the jacket sleeves to be lengthened. It's navy blue and I will try and remember to post a picture of him wearing it.
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This weekend Jonathan and I will be in Raleigh, NC. This is the first of the Annual Training Conferences that each battlation holds in the fall. I will also go to the one in Florida in 2 weeks as that is immediately after the Provincial Convocation being held in Selma, Alabama. We have gotten permission to drive our own car on this trip. (Which means we won't get stuck in the Panama City Beach airport again!)
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Denise has a couple of leads on possible jobs. Hopefully one or both will work out. The first one is as scorekeeper for the local softball leagues. The playing fields are just 5 minutes away from the house. The second one would be at a KFC. This is a store that is still being constructed and will open around the first of the year. One of the company managers attends our church here and said he would make sure she knew when the applications were being accepted.
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Plans still continue for the consecration of the rector here as auxillary bishop. Fr. David has been selected to cover for Bishop John Holloway. Bishop John suffered a major stroke in June and has had a number of set-backs since then. In fact, at this point he has been released from the hospital after having his leg amputated above the knee. He is at home, but under the care of hospice personnel. Please keep the Holloway family in your prayers.
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Jonathan will be chanting the litany at the consecration service. He even wrote out the melody for the chant as we didn't have music. It's been quite awhile since he has been able to play around with the electric piano. I wish he did have more time, it's enjoyable to hear him play.
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I guess that's all for now. All of us here in Georgia are thanking God for the rain. It has been such a severe drought for a number of years. We are getting a steady rain since yesterday and the forecast is for it to continue for most of the week.
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God bless you all ~ Becky

TGIF Oct 19

It's Friday and the end of a somewhat stressful week. I had a medical procedure yesterday to make sure everything was okay. (My sister had some problems earlier this year and those kind of problems tend to run in families.) The doctor says everything looks fine, but that I should increase my fiber intake. (most Americans do)

Jonathan arrived home last night for a trip to Columbia, SC. He was able to visit a number of recruiting stations. It was a productive trip for him. Next week he will probably have to go to Tampa Bay, FL. And next weekend the two of us will travel to Raleigh, NC for the first of many Annual Training Conferences. (Well, many for Jonathan, I will only go with him on a few.)

Jon Paul has the opportunity next week to go watch the Marine Silent Drill Team. The Marines use a 10 1/2 pound fully functional M1 Garand Rifle with Fixed Bayonet.They perform a 10 minute routine without any verbal commands. Here's a short video:
http://www.marinecorps.tv/clips/Silent%20Drill%20Team.wmv

Report cards came out this week. Both Jon Paul and Naomi are doing well. A couple of classes have room for improvement, but nothing that is causing worry.

I guess that's all for today. I need to go embroider 5 pull over windbreakers for the church softball team. Need to deliver them on Monday. And tonight Jonathan and I are going to a dessert social at another chaplain's house. Should be a fun evening. It is so nice to have Denise here, with a driver's license. She is great about cooking and chauffering.

News Update

Naomi did not make the soccer team. There were lots of really experienced players, of which she is not. So she is hoping she can use the time after school to meet with a math tutor and improve her grade.

She also did not make the All-State chorus, but we did not expect that as she has only been training for 2 months. Her teacher told us she got a score of 31. This places her right at the mid-way point. Not bad given her lack of experience! In fact, she was the only one of 11 students from her school who even showed up for the audition. She has been selected to the Honor Chorus. This is a regional chorus, no auditions and less travel to the performances.

Jon Paul's drill team did well at the homecoming. And we trounced the oppostion in the game. Score was 37 to 6.

Haven't gotten anymore done in organizing the garage, but I did get the taxes filed before noon today. (Deadline was midnight.) We will get a nice refund. Not as much as last year, but that's because most of Jonathan's income was non-taxable because he was in a combat zone.

I intend to not file an extension for 2007. Need to be able to file and Federal financial aid form for Denise. The sooner that is submitted, the more likely she will be considered for getting money. She is planning on applying to 2 dental hygience programs in Washington. Don't know if she will be selected for this fall, but she has to start with the application. :)


We are working on our travel plans for Christmas. Right now we are waiting on approval or not of Jonathan's leave request. Once we know that and get our tickets, we will let everyone know.

God bless from a cooler Georgia. Autumn is not usually my favorite time of year, but I am sure enjoying the "nip" to the air we are getting in the mornings. Will have to start back to taking the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood in the mornings.

Website is back online & other news

Jonathan was able to fix the problem with the website and it is back up and running. I can mostly use my email program again, but it still has a few hiccups. However that's normal for me. I am totally convinced that computers have gremlins inside them that do all kinds of things just to drive the user crazy.

Naomi has had tryouts for the soccer team yesterday and today. She was not excited yesterday. But she thought she had done very well today. She even got to play goalie for a short time. (this is her preferred position.) The coach will announce on Monday which students made the team.

Jon Paul is at the homecoming game tonight. The JROTC color guard is performing during half time.

Jonathan, Jon Paul & Naomi finished putting up the shed while Denise and I were in North Carolina. So now the lawn mowers are out of the garage. And today I moved the many boxes of Jonathan's professional books out of the garage and into his office area. Now to finish organizing everything else that's stored in the garage.

Tomorrow will be Naomi's first choral audition for all-state choir. And I still have to file our 2006 taxes.

Our website is down

For some unknown reaason, our embroidery website is down. Jonathan is waiting for a response back from our host server to hopefully work on getting things back up and running.

The really frustating thing about all this for me is that my EMAIL is routed through our site. So with the site down, I can not receive any email messages. I can send some, but only through an old email account.

Sometimes I really hate computers!!!!

Jon Paul 2007-10-05

Jon Paul standing next to the front door. Do you think he'll end up taller than the door someday?

Naomi & Bruce 2007-10-04

Here is Naomi holding her new kitten- Bruce. He's growing into a very nice cat.

Denise & Josie 2007-10-06

Denise and her friend Josie, in front of Jonathan's new PT Cruiser. These were taken at the Univ of NC-Pembroke where Josie is studying Chemistry.

Naomi's concert photos

Naomi at her middle school choral concert. Click on photo to go to site with other photos, then scroll down the page.

Photobucket Album

Naomi's concert

Naomi performed in her first choral concert. The 8th grade Chorus performed two pieces:

"Beauty & the Beast" and "We Go Together" (from "Grease"). Then the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade groups combined to sing several selections together.

The concert went well. Our little girl is sure growing up and developing a very nice voice. Her first audition for the all-state choir is on Saturday. (Please pray that she will be able to do her best. The teacher still has not given her the accompaniment CD, so she has not been able to practice her solo at home.)

trip to North Carolina

Denise and I have just returned from a 4 day trip to North Carolina. We left early on Friday morning. Along the way we stopped at a wholesale fabric warehouse. We bought some pretty pink brocade with lavendar flowers. Denise intends to make a semi-formal dress with it. We also bought a variety of fabrics (18 lbs @ $1.50). Next time we will be better prepared and make sure we have more time to look.

We went to NC to visit some long time friends. We had a wonderful time. It is good to be home though. Now it's bed time.

Oh, I did manage to get the expense/income reports finished for 2006. We would have been within $3 of breaking even, if you don't take in the cost of the heat press, transfers, & shirt package I bought from the liquidation store. Not bad for being in business for only 2 years!

Denise on riding lawn mower

Here's the first time using the riding mower. It is a lot different than driving a car!

New Home

This is the front of the house where we live. It is in a small subdivsion, but the lot is almost 1/3 of an acre. Glad we were able to get the riding lawn mower fixed!!

Welcome

Since we have moved 3000 miles away from home in the Pacific Northwest, I decided to follow the example of a couple of friends and start a blog. I use email often, but I think this will be a better way to keep in touch will family and friends across the miles. (Hopefully I will remember to update it on a somewhat regular basis.)



I hope to post news, photos, and just ordinary happenings here in the Landon home (aka Zoo). Thanks for taking the time to visit and read what I have to say. God Bless You.