PENNSYLVANIA POST

I haven't had time to get pictures posted but maybe later. We went to Matt and Ali's wedding yesterday. The festivities lasted until 10:00 o'clock last night. Nora took a nap about 8:00 and then woke again and enjoyed the rest of the party. It was a beautiful wedding and everything went well. I'm picking up Kim's bad habits and forgot my camera. I'm hoping someone will send me some pictures to post on the blog.

Nora is loving all the attention she is getting. We had a cookout on Thursday and she ran off playing. Del and I hardly saw her all evening. Uncle Jim watched her and another older girl play. They ran all over the place picking flowers and playing hide and seek. They also had a great time with the hammock and the foot bridge over the creek (only a trickle of water but the girls loved it). Some of Del's high school friends were there. He hadn't seen them in years. We hope they will be visiting us sometimes soon.

While the wedding rehearsal was going on Friday Del's mom took us out to eat at a really good restaurant. It was a very nice evening and very relaxing and pleasant. Nora has loved being here. We seem to be eating all the time and eating is Nora's favorite pastime (ha ha). Nora has always enjoyed food.

Nora got to visit a play ground earlier on Friday. She had such a good time and cried when it was time to go. She hasn't wanted to leave anywhere we've been except the wedding ceremony. She was ready for that to be over but she was very good.

We will be leaving in the morning for home. It's hard to leave everyone but Nora has told us several time she wanted to go home. That is usually at bedtime. I guess everyone wants their own bed at bedtime.

TRIP TO GRAMMA'S

We are going to visit family in Pennsylvania. Nora's cousin Matt is getting married. This will be Nora's second wedding to attend. I'm not looking forward to trying to keep her quiet and still for the wedding but we don't want to miss Matt's wedding either. I know Nora will love the dancing afterwards. We will also get to visit Gramma, and aunts and uncles and cousins. Because of the wedding we hope to see some relatives we don't always get time to visit while there.

Nora told me today she isn't going to go on a trip. I told her that Daddy and I are going we would like for her to go too. I added that she could swim in Uncle Jim's swimming pool and slide into the water. She then said "and play with dogs". Jim, I sure hope the dogs are ready for her.

I hope to post some pictures while we are gone but it will depend upon the hotel Internet connection. I don't know if they use wireless or DSL. Our last trip the wireless reception was spotty and not good at all in our room. We're staying in different place this time so I guess we'll see.

Fran, June, Jim and Gramma we can't wait to see you all!

THE BYRDS' VISIT

The Byrd family spent Saturday with us. The girls had such a good time. They are all growing so fast. They were only gone for a couple of months. It's hard to believe that the next time we see them the girls will all be several years older. They will all change so much and we will have to see it all on blogs. We will miss Greg and Kim and Lottie and Emma while they are serving as foreign missionaries (serving in Mexico), and they plan to make this a permanent move. Greg was our pastor for the past five years and Kim and I have been friends since we met. Lottie and Emma were Nora's best friends and Nora loved playing with them at church and at home. It will be odd not having them live just a short distance from us. I'm going to have to get better at communicating by e-mail and blogging. I've never been very good at that but maybe this will cause me to try harder.

NORA SINGS (and dances) "SUPER SPY"

FORTH OF JULY

On the morning of July 4th. our family met at our house to celebrate the birth of our country. We celebrated by attending a TEA Party at the courthouse square first and then we came home and cooked hamburgers and hotdogs outside. Later in the day we made homemade ice cream and then shot off fireworks. We all had a great time. Nora actually enjoyed the political protest. She sat in her stroller with a sign that read "BIG PEOPLE, LITTLE GOVERNMENT". Everyone got a kick out of that.

Nora with her sign

Del and my sister Lisa with flag with Nora looking on

Nora with my sister April taking a break from the sun

My parents with signs (you can't see my mom only her sign)

My sister Angela with her husband Dale

Del, Lisa and my brother-in-law Dan in the back

NORA WITH FLOWER IN HER HAIR

Nora has taken an interest in Tinker Bell.

DRIVING LESSONS

When Nora got her little car her cousin Cody was here and they rode together in the car taking turns driving. A few days ago when she started to drive her car she said "Mama, something miss". I asked what was missing and she patted the seat next to her and said "Coey" (Cody). Hop the bunny is filling in until Cody can come and play.

OUR KITCHEN

DADDY'S BOOTS

Nora has pretty pink rubber boot with yellow and green butterflies on them but of course Daddy's boots are better. Nora is having the time of her life in the new house. She loves having so much space to run around. She is much more content to play alone than she was at the old place. I don't know why but I'm grateful because I have time to do things around the house. We have a very large yard to play in also and that is a lot of fun. We try to go outside every afternoon. We have had a lot of rain so sometimes we don't get to go out.

We had Nora's birthday party on Saturday. Everyone had a great time. It was our first time to have people over and we all had fun. Nora's favorite gift was bubble wrap. Aunt June sent her a gift in the mail and when the box was opened she yelled "BUBBLE WRAP". It was hard to get her to open the other gifts after that.

We still have a few boxes in the garage that haven't been unpacked. We are about to be finished with the move. I have some things on the walls but not everything. When I'm finished I'll take time to post some pictures of the house.

BIRTHDAY FUN

LEARNING TO DRIVE

TURN THE RADIO ON

THAT'S SO FUNNY

I LOVE CAKE
I WANT THE PIECE WITH MY NAME ON IT


DORA CAKE

EASTER VIDEO'S

MOVING DAY

We finally have a moving day. The house should be finished this coming week. All the work should be done by Wednesday and we will be moving the week after Easter. Our move in day is April 16th. It will take two days to pack, one to load and two to unload. The thing I like least about moving is packing. Having people come into our home and put everything in boxes is stressful. We have moved several times in the last 25 years and though I don't mind moving I still don't like the turmoil that comes with packing. I don't mind unpacking. I can only hope Nora doesn't mind seeing things packed or unpacked.

Nora is very excited about the new house. We have talked about moving all our things to the new house but I'm not sure she understands it all. She knows our beds, chairs, tables, television, toys and refrigerator (a very important item to Nora) will be going to the new house so we can stay there. She also knows her backyard play set will be moved to the new backyard. I'm not sure how she will feel about seeing the old house empty. I guess we will soon find out.

NORA GLENYS

I got a comment from Rambling Mother because she has a daughter named Glenys. It isn't a very common name. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to share how Nora's name came to be.

We wanted Nora to have a name that would remind her of her heritage so we chose a Latin name that is also an Irish name if you spell it differently. NORA is the Latin word for menorah, the Hebrew word for light. The name GLENYS is Gaelic and works well with our Irish last name. We chose it for it's meaning. It means beautiful and holy. The name NORA GLENYS means beautiful and holy light when you put it all together. We like the sound of the names together and hope that Nora will one day appreciate the meaning.

GONE FISHING

Nora's first fishing trip was a great success. Gaffer is her best buddy now. She loved the water and she did catch a fish. She wants to spend all her time at the pond now. She did not like having pictures made however. She wanted to go back to the pond. Nora loves the outdoors.

OUR HOUSE

I'm posting this for those who have asked for a picture of the house. It now has a new roof. The drywall repair is done and the painting should be finished within a week. The new counter top is being installed on Friday. Then the floors will come next. After the floors are finished the kitchen appliances can be installed and bathroom plumbing can be finished. Then it will be moving day. We will worry about landscaping after we move. There are ten acres so it may take a while.

Nora's Valentine

Daddy's gift to Nora on Valentines day was a Tiger. Nora thinks the tiger is wonderful. He's too big for her to carry and she drags him around by the tail.

DAD'S BIRTHDAY

We celebrated Del's birthday last weekend. We all ate too much seafood and loved it. Nora loves to eat anything but fish is a favorite.

PEANUT BUTTER LIPSTICK

I gave Nora a snack of peanut butter and bread sticks. While I was getting something from the pantry she informed me she had lipstick. When I turned around this is what I found.

OUR LOSS MEXICO'S GAIN

Our pastor is going to Mexico as a missionary. We will miss him and his family very much but look forward to hearing about their experiences.

Nora with Mrs. Kim

The Byrd Family
Lottie, Kim, Greg and Emma

Kim and Greg will both be keeping blogs. If you are interested in following their blogs let me know. I'll be happy to share the blog-sites.

CATCHING UP

It's been a while since we posted anything on the blog. I don't have much to tell. Nora and I have been very busy working on the house. We now have new heating and air and a new security system. The plumbing is working but not completed. The rest will come after the floors go down. Our electrical work is done. The walls and ceilings should be started next week. Nora and I meet with someone next week about the kitchen renovation. Then it's floors and roof and we're done. We are still several weeks from completion but things should start looking better once the paint goes on the walls.