Happy Birthday Allison!!

Allison Rae is 11 years old today!!! Allie, or Allie-Gal, or as her Dad calls her, Al, is one bubbly, giggly (not so little) girl. I had the honor of being present when she was born - on my 60th birthday! What a gift.

She likes to play soccer and also swim. Her favorite game is Apples to Apples and she loves to bake. Here we are making pie crusts for our Thanksgiving pies this past November.

Two new things have recently happened for Allie. She was accepted at Oaks Middle School for next year, which was very exciting for her. She'll join sister Kate in middle school and sisters Lauren and Jordyn and dad in the high school. It will be a Dewey Family car pool, to be sure!

The second new "happening" is that she recently got braces. Those Deweys "love" to pay ortho bills. NOT!

Allie and I write letters back and forth. It is such a fun surprise to receive a letter from her in the mail. I love communicating with her this way and I'm saving everything she writes! She enjoys art and so most every letter is accompanied by a drawing. Precious.

I'm excited to be able to celebrate our birthdays together this year!!!

Allie, I pray this verse for you ...

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."

James 4:7-8a

Love ya" Sugar Plum!!

March Madness Reading Contest

Katelyn called me last night with the results of the March Madness Reading Contest at her school.

She was so excited to say that she placed in Category 2. Category 1 were the top three winners, who read 6,000 pages or more in the month! WOW!  Katelyn read nine books for right around 3,000 pages - in a month!!! All of this reading in addition to her academic load! BRAVO!!! She really loves reading the Maze Running series. She loves mystery and action.

Her prizes - now THIS was exciting for her!!

* a free snack at break - a mini-meal from the cafe

* a free dress day - a day where she doesn't need to wear school uniform

* a free ice cream treat at lunch

and - drum roll please ----

* a free In 'n Out lunch! -- gotta LOVE it!!! (closest thing to that here in Kansas is Five Guys)

So proud of you, Sweetie! Keep up the good work!

MCC Run for Relief

Today was the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Run for Relief - 5K Walk/Run. Brett, Esther, Moira, Audrey, Isabel, Maeve and I joined about 300 other participants in this great fundraiser.  It was a chilly morning - about 38 degrees!!!! A chilly morning made for a fast race. Think we were thinking about getting warm!!!

Personal best:
Brett - 30.28
Esther - 24.32 (she received a medal for 3rd place in her division!)
Moira - 27.05 - (she received a medal for 3rd place in her division!)
Me - walked it in 52.26 - last year I did it in 57.56, so everyone very excited for my time! Guess my walking for exercise (not shopping!) up/down aisles at Wal-Mart have paid off! :)

Audrey and Isabel - don't have their times but they had a great time running together.

Maeve - don't have her time either, most likely under 50 minutes.

Maeve and I ready to roll! We ran together for several yards, hand-in-hand then I told her if she wanted to run ahead she could, just stay on the path. She was off like an arrow! Every once in a while I could see her ahead of me, looking back, then she got so far that she was out of sight until the turn-around. As she began to lag, I'd yell, "hurry if you want to beat me!" She'd take off running again.  Beat Grandma - a strong motivator! HAHA!! Esther came out to run with her about the last half mile and she finished strong. She was very proud to have run her first 5K!

Finished off the morning at the MCC sale where we had Russian pancakes (crepe with cinnamon sugar) and New Year's cookies (really a doughnut ball with raisins).

Great morning! Great memories!

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Last Sunday I hosted an Afternoon Tea for the gals on our Mom2Mom Leadership Team. It was my thank you gift to them for an awesome year of ministry.

I can't say enough about these women! All serve with passion, using their God-given gifts and talents to the max. They are caring, sensitive, creative, wise, beautiful, Godly women!

It was so fun to use wedding gift silver, my mother's silverware, napkins, depression glass platter, and American Fostoria. She was truly on my heart this day! The menu consisted of egg salad sandwiches on flower cut-out bread, chicken salad sandwiches on heart cut-out bread, cucumber sandwiches on tea cup cut-out bread, blueberry-orange and cherry-almond scones, lemon curd and strawberry jam, and fresh fruit salad. Of course a tea is not complete without sweets so there were chocolate covered strawberries, sugar cookies and brownies cut in heart, butterfly, flower and tea cup shapes. Oh, yes, tea and coffee too! It was such fun for me to prepare new and old recipes!

Mary Ellen, Deb, Debby, Marilyn, Janice, and Helen.

Ellen, Debbie, and Rosemary. MyrtleLoy joined us later. We have five other gals on the team, but schedule conflicts didn't allow them to come. It's so hard to get everyone together, so we just had to go with this group. Most of us are also in Bible study together, so our roots go deep!

I have stepped down from this ministry as Rich and I contemplate a return move to California. Nothing is for certain, but I needed time in my life as Rich and I pray and research our options. M2M has given me a real purpose in our time here. It's a place where I have experienced considerable personal growth as I used the gifts and talents God has given to me. It is bittersweet to step away, to be sure.

Pray for M2M as the team seeks new leadership. Pray for Rich and me as we seek God's direction.

Katelyn!!

Probably the most exciting day in the life of a young teenager is the day they turn 13. March 15 was that happy day for Katelyn. Of course we remembered her birthday but my head just hasn't been in the blogging mode since the first of year, so alas, no "happy birthday blog" was written for her.  So very sorry about that, sweet girl. So here and now I want to share some things about this lovely 13-year old granddaughter!!!

I had the honor of being present when she was born!!! What a thrill to welcome this precious grandchild into our family! So thanks go to Jeff and Caroline for that privilege!

This vivacious young woman is now a seventh grade student at Oaks Middle School. She joins her dad who teaches at the Oaks High School and older sisters who are also students there, as well as her mom who works part-time on campus. It was great fun to join her there on Grandparents' Day last November. In addition to her academic classes she also is in dance, which is a great fit for her. She has taken gymnastics classes for several years so being on the middle school dance team is a good fit for her.

In February, Katelyn and her mom joined other students and staff members on a short-term mission trip to Guatemala. This was to follow-up on work done by a team that went there last year. Their work included building a playground and table and chairs at a hospital. They also did the very practical work of cleaning patient rooms and bathrooms there. They spent time at an orphanage, where in addition to playing with the children, which they really enjoyed, they painted a mural and made a garden. With a little sight-seeing, it was a very busy week of service and an awesome cultural experience.

This little gal is quite a cook and baker! My earliest memory of her cooking is when she must have been 6-7 years old. She had pushed a chair to the stovetop so she could stand on it to stir a pot! It scare "the wits" out of me. I was so afraid she'd get burned. I should have known better. She was perfectly in control and hasn't stopped (without the chair, of coure!). On a recent visit there we had "Kate's pasta" for dinner one night, a tasty dish of penne pasta with Italian sausage-spicy, of course, and yummy sauce. She makes a delicious turtle pie, also!  YUMMO!!

And yes, you can wear a sleeveless top while hanging Christmas lights - in California!! :)

Katelyn, you are well-loved!!!  It will be exciting to watch you grow into a Godly woman.

Love you, Sweetie!!!