The September 21st, 2004 version...
There is a wonderful chill in the air that can only mean fall is on the way. The leaves are starting to turn. The days are still warm but Tom is tempted to turn on the heat at night (no way!!!!)We've dealt with quite a few floods this past month between a broken sump pump (ending up with several inches of water in the living area of or basement) and leftover rain from the hurricanes in the South. We THINK we're ok now, after record rains they do have to stop sometime, right? Last Friday was one of the worst, with record breaking rains for the entire Pittsburgh area, with the most rain in one day since they've started recording it. Here are pictures of our own experiences.
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This is the water towards the beginning of our "flood". That's a creek expanding its boundaries. By 11 pm it was 20 feet further including several feet of driveway covered, as well as expanding all the way around our house on 3 sides. A few toys floated away... to be returned by the nice guys over in the yard you can see there. We were grateful it didn't make it into our basement, and even if it had, the important parts of our lives were safe and dry, asleep in their beds upstairs. And hey, we still have a house to live in. With a roof, even!
Oh, and this is Benjamin and Nathanael indoor puddle jumping. The water came in so fast it formed puddles in the basement, which still hadn't dried out completely from the last flood. The kids had a blast for a little while. We fought the water with shop vacs til late, when the rain started to subside. We have been blessed.
Baby 6 delivery problems are solved! At least we think so, we're going to be local and found someone closer to oversee these last 4 months. For more info click HERE. Baby is wiggling and making his/her presence known. We did find out the gender, well, at least we saw the gender, noone told us. Hehe, pictures are still on the baby's site.
Let us know if you have some volunteers for a big temple trip for baptisms... we have over 100 ancestors we want to get baptized before we split up the names for the rest of the work. We're working on getting our branch youth to go.
We are still busy busy busy with our branch! Young Women are getting used to me as president, activities are going fine, and I have a counselor! Tom is still busy with the branch presidency, but all is going well.
Tom is working hard, and his job is going well! He has plans on how to be eligible for promotion while doing the best he can with the great stores he has. We have been blessed. The only frustration we have is that commission is taxed very high, and is not eligible for exemption or reduction... ah well, so we see our taxes again in February/March hehe. Summer is slim on commissions, as well, so we look forward to breathing easier come Fall, Winter, and Spring. (October!!)
We love our new area!
I am just busy being the Mom! I love learning with my 4 wonderful kids. It is so rewarding to be a mother, and with them almost all the time. I love it! I still find time (lately) to scrapbook, play viola and violin, and maybe sew, too.
Oh, and of course read
.My new calling is keeping me very busy at least 2 days of the week, in addition to prep time.
Michael is almost 8 years old. He is very excited about getting baptized in 3 months and we've been bugging him about what color scriptures he'd like for his birthday. (not a surprise present). He can read very well, is starting to put more effort into his writing, and loves learning any topic. He has some of his Mom's genes, obviously, showing up particularly last month when he had a permanent tooth coming in behind his baby tooth. He ended up having to have the baby tooth pulled last week. I'll post the picture on the New Pictures page. He still loves Harry Potter and his Star Wars interest has been rekindled a bit with the DVDs coming out TODAY. (we haven't bought them yet, but he sees the advertising around stores and Tom and I have talked about it). He loves the Harry Potter computer games, DVD special features, Trivia games, and would love for us to find some Harry Potter Legos or figures. He loves to create new things, new artwork, and new ways to do things. He has just been moved to the older class in Primary and is enjoying the challenge. His page is here.
Benjamin is less than 2 weeks away from turning 6. He hasn't really thought about it yet, as he is learning months and September is just too long. I keep reminding him and will probably do a countdown for him when we're 10 days away. He is reading more and more every day, but when he can't read something Michael, Mom or Dad are always there to help him figure it out. He also loves Harry Potter, and yes, Star Wars. He likes being the bad guy still, and Draco Malfoy is one of his favorite characters (almost as much his favorite as Ron). He plays Harry Potter trivia with Michael and does his share of winning and getting the right answers. He has a loose tooth but it has a ways to go before it comes out. He also loves Primary but has a great deal of trouble staying still. He does learn a lot! He has quite a few of his Articles of Faith memorized. His page is here.
Emilie is 4 1/2 years old. She is completely girl, all female, and all princess. Of course she fits right in playing Harry Potter as Hermione. She also loves Disney princesses, anything dress up, jewelry, dresses, looking nice, and being a good girl. She loves reading books with Mom or Dad and helping with Nathanael. She wants the new baby to be her little sister. We haven't broken the news to her yet. She loves drawing, coloring, and using the computer to make cool pictures. She doesn't like scary parts of movies at all, but that's ok! One of her favorite things to do is help Mom, with whatever Mom is doing. I know she will be so good with her baby sibling, when he/she gets here in January. She also loves Primary and helping there. Her page is here.
Nathanael is 18 months old now, and loving being mobile. He runs! He likes making animal noises, the most recognizable being for a sheep but his favorite being for a dog... also roaring for a bear or tiger or lion. He doesn't say much else, though he has recently come up with "car-car". He also knows most of his body parts. He can also sign "eat". He is growing so fast. We got new pictures taken of him today, which are now on his page. He loves books and will bring one to you and grunt until you read it. He sleeps well, naps after lunch, and runs the rest of the day. He likes Blue's Clues and Pooh Bear and anything his brothers and sister are playing with. His new love is CARS though, and trucks too. His page is here.
I hope everyone else is doing well too!
Have a great day!
Please come visit us! We are about 3 hours from just about anywhere. Call, write, or email. HUGS!
Tabitha, Tom, and family
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