Anna's Baptism Invitation

We are happy to announce that Anna will be baptized on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 2pm at 904 Old 63 South, Columbia, MO. She is very excited. All are welcome to attend.

Classic Wes

These pictures are from September 2010. They are classic Wes.

Back temporarily

Wes is back temporarily. They are done recording music for the album. He played guitar. Here is a link to their songs http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/2175584 He will be home for a little while. He will return soon to Iowa so they can practice for a New Year's concert.

When he came home tonight he surprised the girls. He wanted to surprise me but I found out a hour and half before he got here because I called to tell him about a holiday concert the girls and I were going to go to. He told me he was on his way home so I decided to skip the holiday concert even though it was going to be at the beautiful MO Theater.

My birthday

For my birthday this year the girls wanted to buy me some presents but Wes was out of town. Last Friday (day before my birthday) I had a meeting and my mom watched the girls. I asked my mom to take them shopping. Anna and Rebekah planned to get me chocolate with their money. My mom helped them get more. When I came back from my meeting they surprised me by jumping out from behind the chairs. They had made a cake with my mom's help. They bought me flowers, chocolate, and a gingerbread house kit. Apparently, my mom wanted to get me roses but Anna insisted on Gerber daisies. I love daisies more than roses. Anna and I had been talking about making a gingerbread house this month. Friday night we went downtown to the living windows display. It was fun to see the different shops put on mini Christmas plays in their store windows. The girls loved touring Poppy and the Candy Factory. The girls love to make things and love art so they were in heaven inside Poppy. We will go back to Poppy sometime when it is not so crowded. At the Candy Factory they were fascinated by the amount of candy. They each got some Harry Potter jelly beans. One of the banks had Santa so we stopped to take pictures. There were college students in front of us in line. One of them had their stuffed Garfield sit on Santa's lap and took pictures. We finished Friday night with carriage ride. On Saturday I took the girls to MU Faculty and Students Holiday Brass concert at the MO United Methodist church. The church building is old and gorgeous. We met some friends there. Anna sat with them and loved, loved the concert. I sat with Rebekah the first half trying to convince her to sit in the pews. She did not feel very good and wanted to go home. The second half we spent in the hallway listening to the music while Rebekah looked through a basket of kids books.

Some pictures ...

One of the three flowers


Slackers Living Window


Poppy's Living Window


Rebekah was fascinated by this person's instrument.


Another Living Window


Candy Factory


Garfield and Santa


Girls and Santa


Carriage


Rebekah reading books.

Greater

The task ahead of you is never as great as the power within you.

Realize the great and wonderful things that you can accomplish.

Be grateful for who you are and for the circumstances you have been given.

Live with a smile on your face so you will find joy and happiness each day.

Wes gone again

Wes got a phone call on November 15 that his brother needed him to come to Iowa to record music. Apparently, Wes is the best slide guitarist that his brother can find. He left a few hours later. He needed to leave immediately so they could practice the songs. It is good thing I have become patient with Wes' last minute spontaneity. :) They recorded 5 songs at a studio in Omaha, NE on November 19. Their next studio time is December 10 (I will let you do the math on how far that is away).

At this time in our lives we cannot afford for him to travel back and forth from Iowa so he stayed there for Thanksgiving. Also, the girls and I stayed in Columbia for Thanksgiving since it would be too expensive for us to go to Iowa. Our suburban is too expensive. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family the Sunday before Thanksgiving at my parents house. For Thanksgiving day my parents invited us to join them at Golden Corral. We had never gone to Golden Corral for Thanksgiving. It was actually only the third time in 9 years that I had even eaten there. I was amazed at how many people were there. Their parking lot was full so we had to park in a lot across the field. We waited for 30 minutes in a line that went out the door and two rows back in the parking lot. Crazy.

I will probably not see Wes until around Christmas. Rebekah told me last night she missed Wes really, really, really, really, really, really, really a lot. She said she wanted a daddy hug and kiss. Break my heart. This summer our dog Rosie (Weimaraner) stayed with Wes but this time she has stayed with us. Almost two weeks later Rosie is still looking for Wes. Anna misses Wes but understands why he needs to be gone. She also has had a hard time with Wes depression over the last few years. She wants him to be happy.

I pray and hope that Wes and Scott (friend in Columbia) can find a drummer and bassist for their band. It is fun for Wes to play with his brother but Wes needs his own band. They need people who are committed to playing. I hope Wes and Scott can find venues in our area. It would be very nice if he could get paid to do what he loves. It is fun for Wes to play with his brother but it is not good long term. Iowa is not a good place for Wes long term.

Wes and summer playing

This summer Wes spent 9 weeks in Iowa minus one week we went on vacation together. He spent the time in Iowa and Nebraska playing guitar and singing with his brother's band. We went up to Iowa for fourth of July and the girls and I went back home on the 5th. Mid-August the girls and I met him in St Joe so we could go down to Ridgedale for a vacation. He briefly returned to Columbia after our vacation to help a friend with their air conditioner. Then he left again until the beginning of September. He had a great time playing music. He returned to Columbia because he missed us and being in Iowa comes with a price.

The girls and I missed him lots. All Wes wants to do is play music so I was okay with him being gone. It was hard to have him gone. At the same time it was easy because Wes has been miserable for so long. He has been trying to create his own band in Columbia but cannot seem to find a drummer. They do not want a drummer who can just keep a beat but they want someone who can do artistic drum techniques. Wes can play the drums really well but he does not want to play them. He would rather play the guitar. It was nice for him to play with his brother's band but it is not his band.