We have had winter weather here in Oklahoma and actually it was very welcome. Our office was closed for part of Monday afternoon, all of Tuesday and half of a day today. Other than the horrific condition of the road coming home on Monday afternoon, it was a welcome respite. The kids were stuck in Independence with Mandie, so we missed them, but yesterday was just quiet and uneventful. Not a lot to do in a small apartment, so I did laundry (even washed my bedspread), slept when I felt like it, and just whiled away the day. I was relieved today to get back to work, even though I enjoyed being "lazy" yesterday. The sun is shining on the iced trees outside my office window and it is a beautiful sight. The ground is pretty much covered with white something, sleet, snow or a mixture of both! God is such an awesome artist!

We got word on Monday that everything is a go on our new house, so we are anxiously awaiting its arrival in about four weeks. We were waiting to see if our land appraised for what the mortgage company wanted it to, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it has almost doubled in value since buying it in 2002. Please pray that the remainder of what needs to be done can be accomplished before time for our house to be delivered.

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Florida kids, probably the last of February. We will be so happy to spend more time with them. Also, this weekend Bev, Wayne, Robyn and Payton will be flying in from Florida to spend the weekend with family back here, so we will have a Hazelwood Family Day on Saturday, Lord Willing. I am really excited about that. Nothing could be better than having a "big sister" living close to me (Becky) unless it was to have both of my "big sisters" around! I am so blessed to have such great sisters!

I better get to work and sign off for now. Everyone have a good rest of the week!

My precious grandson!

25 things about me!

I was tagged on Face Book for 25 things about me, and as some of you know, I just don't really get the FB thing, so I am putting it on here!

1. I am a Christian.
2. I am married to a man who is totally an enigma to me even after 27 1/2 years of marriage, however, he still can make my heart race and it gives me comfort to know that he is by my side.
3. I have four remarkable kids~all different~all special~all loved with all the mother's love that I have
4. I have a wonderful son-in-law who is from a "foreign country" (Just kidding, Scott, I know that Idaho is in the USA!), one on the way and I love them both dearly!
5. I have the most beautiful baby grandson in the whole world (my opinion, I know!) and I can't describe the fierce love I have for him! It's so different than loving your own child~this little guy is a product of a product of Manuel's and my love!
6. I speak Spanish, read and write it some.
7. I have lived in Mexico for about 16 years and loved it.
8. I have two sister's who are the best!
9. I have a really special cousin who is like a sister to me.
10. I like all kinds of sea food~unless it is too spicey!
11. I think that my husband is one of the best cooks I know.
12. I am a minister/missionary's daughter.
13. I am the Administrator for SUPRA Home Care of Tulsa, as well as being an RN.
14. My favorite colors are sage green and peach
15. I live in Ramona, Oklahoma.
16. I lost my home on December 5, due to a fire in the family room.
17. We had a great Christmas anyway.
18. I love to read.
19. I love flea markets, but only buy things that are truly fascinating.
20. I went to Independence Bible School for 11 years and graduated.
21. I graduated from Pittsburg State University in 1982 with my BSN.
22. I am a certified ICD-9 Coder for Home Care medical diagnoses.
23. I am outspoken to an extent, but tend to withdraw from rejection.
24. I try to "walk in the other person's shoes" before making judgement.
25. I feel that I have enough to do to keep myself and my family on the right track, without taking time to criticize others or gossip about them. (Do whatever you like, that's just my philosophy)!


Okay, did you learn anything about me that you didn't know?

Thanks for the nice comments and especially for your prayers. Yesterday was a very hard day, after all, and I know the Lord was the only one who helped me get through it. I remember something that Cheryl Mahan said, a long time ago when we were on the mission field: "The battle is not your's, it's God's. Let Him fight it!" That has been a help to me on many occasions. We'll just have to have an open house when we finally get in one! Or maybe a pajama party, depending on the status of my clothes! I have several robes I can loan out! (Just kidding!) I really am doing fine with my clothes, just being silly and a little whinny! I'm fine! And, Binky, I can't wait for you and your little family to get here! Yes, definitely you and your sisters can help me decorate, when we find out what we have left to decorate with! I had to pick colors by myself yesterday, because Mandie was working in Independence and of course Dafne was at school. Manuel was pretty much agreeable to whatever, but did have some unintrusive opinions. I hope I did okay. It's kind of scarey to pick out everything alone! I should have called Becky to come help me, but didn't think of it in time! Oh, well, if we just get it set up and get our furniture back, I'm sure we'll be fine.

On another note, we still have our two puppies who are pictured on an earlier blog. We chose to keep them home, with Manuel driving back and forth every day to feed them and keep an eye on the house. Of course he also is working to get the house ready to pull off the foundation. Anyway, he forgot (?) to put the puppies in the pen the other evening and the next day the little lab (Chocolate) was gone. We looked and looked for him and Jazzy, the little cocker spaniel was very lonely without him. Yesterday the neighbor lady stopped Manuel as he drove by and said she had found Chocolate and gave him back! All of us were happy about that. Annie, our big dog whom we have had for over four years, feels her responsibility, I think! She is big stuff, guarding everything, the puppies and the kitties! Isn't it funny how a family gets attached to their pets, even if they are outside pets!

Okay, I need to stop rambling! Love you all!

We signed the preliminary papers for our new house today. That was a little scarey, but we are trying to walk closely to God's will and we are trusting Him to lead us. If everything goes through as planned, and we were assured that it will, we should have our new house in about six weeks. We also got more clothes back from the restoration company today. Again nothing of significance for me! I now have a total of four or five robes ( I rarely wear more than one of them) and not much else, except for the things that were in my dirty clothes hamper the night of the fire. I took it with me and hoped for the best. I am trying to recycle, rotate, match, rematch. . . well you get the picture! I don't want to buy clothes because I have plenty, somewhere! Wow! We also got four of our Christmas stockings back today, so I guess I could wear a robe tomorrow and a couple of the Christmas stockings??? Hmmmmm! Or not! We are excited about getting back into a real house, although we appreciate that God is helping us right now! He is so good to us! Manuel is taking Noel and heading to Mexico today, for the rest of the week, back Sunday, Lord Willing. He wants to see his mom and also build a memorial on his father's grave. It doesn't seem possible that it has been almost a year since my father-in-law went to Heaven! I'll write more later.

So, as you can see by the following pictures, we have had a busy Holiday Season; some of it a bit tramatic and a lot of it fun; all of it blessed! God has been so good to us! We appreciate everything that has been done for our good and we are just trying to follow God through the "red tape" of getting our home back in order (actually another home!). Keep praying for us!

Christmas Party at Ochelata Church

The Ochelata Church has a Christmas get together every year and everyone exchanges gifts and brings snacks and just has fun! You can see Becky working away, some of the people who came and some of the kids playing basketball. We had a great time.

Silver Dollar City

Someone was sweet enough to give us tickets to Silver Dollar City for Christmas and we had a lot of fun! Here's a picture of Dafne and Mandie sharing a pickle; one of my sweet and patient husband holding my bags while I shopped and just other candid shots!

Ochelata Christmas Program

Noel was in the Ochelata Church Christmas program. Dafne had a conflict with her deputation schedule, so wasn't in the program this year. We thought he did well!

Our temporary home!

More pictures of our apartment