Every Body Has A Story

How Special are YOU?

I am sitting here tonight posting this for everyone to read in the morning. If I knew how to do that time thing I would do it. But I don't. Well I don't think I do. I am going to try it and see if I do!!! But I was watching a movie tonight and it got me to thinking about my friends who blog. You see, I have moved away from my town of 30 years, left behind any and all friends I had there. I had three special friends for most of those 30 years, one who lives in Nebraska, Linda J, one here in Sapulpa, Jill P and one that is in Heaven now, Cathy O. Those have been the three people that have been in my life for either all my life (Jill) or most of my life (Linda) or special in my life (Cathy). Jill is my cousin. She is five years younger, and when she was little I HAD to hang out and play with her. Then as we grew up I really got to where I liked hanging out with her. She was in my wedding, so pretty, I was 19 and she was 14. Her mother had died about a year earlier and her dad had already remarried. We have continued to be very close as the years have gone by. We have been there for each other through more than thick and thin but have never lived close to each other in our adult years till now. She is very special to me.

Linda has been my friend for 30 years. Ever since I moved to Enid and started church at 8th and Maine. We had babies together even. Her next to youngest son and mine are just a few days apart. And when she was having her last son I was in the hospital right across the hall from her. But I was sick with my pregnancy not having a baby for a few more months. She had a very difficult time after giving birth to Daniel and I kept track of her and her progress through her family as they came to be with her and to check on me. She moved away to Nebraska and we remained dear dear friends. She has one of the most loving families you will ever meet. Hardship has not been a stranger to that family, but through their love and God's gentle hand they have survived. I have drawn strength through them. Feared that when I divorced my husband that they would maybe disown me. (we were Church of Christ and you probably understand that comment if you are familiar with them.) It was a very scary time in my life. To lose my husband and then to lose my dear friend was a lot for me to deal with. But Linda and Gary both assured me they loved me. They were sad for me, but they loved me and knew this was a difficult time in my life. They did not judge me, they comforted me, loved me, and welcomed me in their home. What a Christ like example they were to me when I was already so down on myself.

Cathy and I shared a special bond with many things. She had three girls a few years older than my kids. So she went through the parenting things before I did and she was able to share experience, advise and Godly wisdom with me like none other. We lived in the same town, then they moved. They moved back and spent a lot of time together and then they moved. (they went to TEXAS!) And even with them moving to that foreign land we still remained very close friends. Till the cancer came and took her away. It is still too painful for me to discuss, but the cancer caused a distance between us and then more than anything, it took her life. Just like her girls needing her I needed her. We were still solving the worlds problems, we still were going to wedding together, sharing grandchildren stories, we had so much left to do together. We wanted to go to Alaska together, but it didn't happen. With all three of these friends I have so many memories. I have so many funny stories and good times. They have been my light in times of darkness. They have been my humor in times of gloom. They have been my rock in times of weakness. They are very good friends. And I count myself so blessed to have had them in my life. My children love them dearly and we talk of them often.

Now I have new friends. The reason for this post was I got to thinking about Debbie. Tomorrow she will embark on a new journey. She said she is a little bit nervous. I wish I could be there to give her a hug. A hug of calmness, of strength. I wish I could be there after she gets off work to just see what she thinks of her first day. That would be a good friend. She is dealing with so much. She has a really special story in who she is. I like that.

Then there is Marge. She is retired like I am and loves to travel. ME TOO. But she just lost her mother. There is a sadness in her spirit right now. Not something normal for her, it is just a heaviness that lives in her heart while her normal readjusts. She too has grandchildren, and has raised foster children, adoption, what does this tell us??? She has a lot of love in her life and she loves to share it with others. She has a really special story in who she is and I like that.

What about Hallie? Well she is different alright. She is outspoken, funny, sick, weird, fierce, and a strong love for family and life. She loves to play hard, she loves her man, is very dedicated to him, and her then her sons as well. Pride just spills out of her postings when she talks of her sons. Who appear to me to be quite different from each other. She loves her dad, and she counts her blessings each day he is with her on this earth. You can hear the love between them as well. Then she has lots of friends and values them immensely. Plus she loves to educate people. I don't think she has a true degree in education but that does not stop her for one minute trying to inform and educate those that who are brave enough to read her blog. She has a special story in who she is and I like that.

Memaw's Memories is Shirley. She made me a pair of tea towels that are beautiful. Ok, she didn't make them just for me, but I won them. On April 1st and it was no joke. She lives in Arkansas, has three children, two girls and one son. They are now all close to her in proximity and she LOVES having her grandchildren near her. We share that bond, grandchildren are truly a gift from God. It is the pleasure we get from not killing our own children when they were teenagers. She sews better than anyone I have ever seen (except maybe my Aunt Peggy) and I am in awe over her talent. She makes peach preserves too, plus had a tough life picking cotton if I remember right. She has a special story in who she is and I like that.

Mental p Mama has one of the funniest sense of humor. Between her cows, her ducks, her special sayings and her beautiful photographs her blog is very unique. She has two beautiful youngins'...twins. And after next year she too will join many of us experiencing the "empty nest" stage of life. She loves life, she loves her friends, has an eye for signs and reads them carefully. Studies them, shares them and encourages us daily. She has a special story in who she is and you know I really like that.

Michelle is a new reader friend of mine. She has recently moved to Florida, her life is changing with a new exchange student shortly. She has a daughter that has dedicated her life to the military (following mom and dad's footprints) and misses her daughter like all of us do when our children leave us behind. She has a special talent too. She is a black belt in karate. Who would have ever figured that? She loves her dogs (me too) she has the short stocking kind...bulldogs. A breed that I would love to have as well. She works still, and hard but takes time to visit her friends everyday in the blog world. She has a special story in who she is and I like that.

Then I have met Kristin at we are That family, and Beth from the Funny Farm. Both of these ladies have a special place in my heart. Beth loves horses, so do I. She lives in the country with her horses and beautiful flower gardens. Converted a dairy farm into a wonderful home for her three children. Her SON rides horses with her, and her girls are really not that interested. She loves her husband and misses him when he is gone. AND she has a great relationship with her in-laws who come to stay with them every summer. They spend time with the grandkids and Beth grows closer to her in laws as each year passes. Oh to be so lucky, to have such a relationship with our in laws family. I want that too. Kristin is a very strong Christian writer. She has a desire to blog, to teach, to guide, to inform and entertain. She is so funny watching her raise her three beautiful children. Some of her stories are so funny I just laugh so hard. She is one of the most positive people you will read. She will inspire you to be the best you can be, to be happy with who you are, and to see the good in everyone that you can. She is truly one of my favorite blogs to read each and every day. She and Beth both have a very special story in who they are and you know what? I like that.

Then I have met Kim,Joni, Tonjia, Lisa and Amy. Oh and the Park's Wife too. Look at all these new friends I have met in just a short period of time. Amy with two beautiful boys and a handsome husband that is a police officer too. Tonjia is a nurse and works really hard, too hard if you ask me. Kim is funny and loves life. Joni has a quiet spirit about her. She too is full of love with a kind spirit. And Lisa just lost her step mother. She had told her she loved her just hours before she unexpectedly died. They had been visiting and had a great time together, man that is so awesome. And she loves chocolate. You know right there she is a great girl if she loves chocolate!! They have very special stories in who they are and I like that. The Park's Wife is incredible. She takes care of animals, her two boys, a husband, garden, house and I am soooo jealous of her future home being built on a beautiful piece of land. Her talents are many.

I know this is really long and if you are still with me I just want you to know you are each very special. You have a story to be told. How valuable you each are and I am only getting to know you. I feel so blessed to have you in my life even if it is through a written form known as blogging. How do we connect? We share, we understand, we support, comfort,and laugh with each other. How can life get any better than this. So if I should die tonight, my life has been very full getting to know you. The priceless Mona Lisa???? She has nothing over each and every one of you.

Not Much Here

In More Ways Than One

Not a lot of excitement going on here in my neck of the woods and that is ok. We spent yesterday talking to the insurance people about the car and getting it fixed. We went out to eat at my favorite place El Chico having a cup of tortilla soup. UMMMM good. We drove 20 minutes just to eat there, no refills on drinks, never came and picked up our change and we were there after 1:00. So her tip was not too big. I'm funny about that. I wonder if she was getting off work at 2:00 and she had to clean her section before she left. But the food was good. Then we headed back to Sapulpa and went to the grocery store. As I am walking in I decided that I need to get a few movies so we go over to that section first and pick up four movies! Wow, have not done that is FOREVER. Then we go to the bank and cash a couple checks that had come in the mail, that way to have a little spending money on hand. I used to never carry cash, but now I try to always have just a little. Then we go through the grocery store, my least favorite thing to do is grocery shop. I just do not like it. I have my list, do pretty good, but just don't like taking the time trying to find things, check prices, I just don't like it. Our little grocery store is pretty nice, never overly busy, well not when I go, the people are always friendly and helpful. That is the nice thing about small town USA. And the prices are good for they are a big grocery food chain store. Sweet, double bonus! So we were able to get some movies, bank at our Bank of Oklahoma bank get groceries, and if my husband wanted to, he could even get me flowers (not likely). We did not find our peach yogurt we wanted, but that's ok, we will live with out it. I will get it when I go to Wal-mart next. And I try to stay out of there as much as possible. I love small town living next to the big city, sure makes things nice and easy.

I think about the good ole days when people went to town via the horse and buggy. It might not have been that far, but think how long it would have taken them. They went probably once a month, bought all the items they needed, made a big day of it and then home again before dark to feed the livestock, milk the cows, and do all the other chores. Unless you were the unfortunate kid that got left behind to take care of it all. I think about the simple days when if you wanted to talk to someone you went to church. Or rode over to their farm to sit a spell. But who time to do that. The chores and kids had to be tended to. Laundry was a huge ordeal. Heating the water, scrubbing each item by hand, rinsing them out, hanging them to dry. They would not be soft and smell good like our are today. And today I throw a load in and do something else in the cool of my air conditioner home. How lucky we are. Pop food in the microwave and poof it is ready. No heating the house with that oven trying to fix some nourishing food for the family or hungry hands there to help. How lucky we are today. I was born way to late in life. I would have been a happy person then. The simple things in life. No, I think I am ok just where I am. I am 48 and still alive and pretty healthy. Life was not so easy nor so long back then, so today is good, I was born at just the right time. Man I am one lucky person. I sit here watching the breeze blowing in my trees outside my window, have electricity to keep my house cool, to have the computer to talk to all my friends, and have a full and rich life. I am one lucky person. No not lucky, just very blessed. Thanks for being a part of my blessings. Today is a good day.

What Hit It?

Before!!!!

After

This is looking from above .

What hit it??? not a deer, not a dog, nor a cow or horse. But rather a pig. Just kidding...It was my son who is a police officer so that was police humor. The last two pictures are not very good, they were taken with a cell phone. But my son got into a fight at work the other night trying to arrest a drunk driver. TJ was dodging a blow to the head with a closed fist, and was then shoved. It caused him to gain momentum down an incline and slam into his brand new police car back passenger door. TJ was very sore the next day, but the man was tazed during the incident to arrest, so I hope he was sore too.

Sometimes people ask me why I am so against alcohol. I am not against people having a drink. What I hate is what alcohol makes people do. I can not tell you how many times, how many incidents I have seen due completely to the affects of alcohol. I can not tell you how many families have been ruined, destroyed, how many young childhoods altered , affected directly to the use/abuse of alcohol. I can't tell you how many rapes I have worked, holding the girls hand while she is sitting upon the exam table going through another violating incident to her rape, the exam for evidence. I have seen women beaten because of him coming home drunk. Jobs lost, lives lost, future and dreams lost all because of one thing.....alcohol. I have seen parents lose a child to death because the child was drinking and driving. I have seen people lose their careers in the military because I arrested them for DUI. (Vance Air Force Base is located in Enid). In teaching the DARE program I can't tell you how many children are affected in their school work and their little innocent lives because of the affects of alcohol, either their parents/friends drinking, or how it affected their in uterus development that they will pay for the rest of their life. Trust is destroyed, gone, to be regained will take a long time if ever. Suicide often follows the use of that festive fruit. Hate alcohol??? I hate it! It is the curse to many of mankind.

TJ, I'm glad YOU are ok son, thank you for your service to that community. I pray you will be safe everyday. I am proud of you.

She's Gorgeous!

Happy 7th Birthday Caleb

Oh the surprise was WONDERFUL. We pulled it off really well. Please indulge me while I tell you how it went down. .... His theme for the party is Pirates.....so I made a map of his house. His instructions were that I had hidden his gifts in different rooms and he had to find them in order, 1, 2, 3, and then #4 he would have to be blindfolded at the kitchen table. So he looked the map over and saw gift #1 was in his room. He went to his room but did not know what he was looking for. So I gave him a hint.

It was on his top bunk, wrapped in really cute birthday paper. He opened it to find a package of "tennis balls" . The look on his face was so cute. "Grandma, I don't play tennis. " Oh Caleb, you don't? " No." I'm so sorry, I thought you did. Well, lets go find the other gifts. So he started hunting for number two. ( I have noticed I did not make the pictures very large on the setting, sorry about that. They aren't that good of pictures so use your imagination please!) Gift number two was in sisters room hiding in the rocking chair. It is a book about puppies and how they grow. We sit together when we read, with him in my lap. So hence the book in the chair. Too bad he won't understand the meaning behind all the clues!!!! So map on the floor, he opens the gift, no big deal, grandma always gives books for presents....ALWAYS. "oh grandma, thank you it is about puppies." Where's the next one. So much for "treasuring" the moment!












Gift number three was hiding in his parents room, actually in their bathtub. He jumps up on the bed and opens the gift.......what? it is dog biscuits. "Caleb, isn't it Scooby snacks like you like?" No grandma its dog food. "Oh, darn it Caleb I am so sorry". Maggie (cousin living there for a couple months) says, it's ok, we will take them back to wal-mart and get what you want later. He is ok with that and jumps down and says, "Now can we blind fold me for the next one?" Are you ready? "yes, let's go!"

So now I start to blind fold him and have his momma finishing it up. I go outside and get Chris who is dieing in the heat with the puppy to keep it quiet (plus to pee pee!). They come into the laundry room where we put a bow around her neck and place her gently in the box that has already been wrapped and decorated. So he is blindfolded and we bring the box in. He starts to open it while he is blindfolded and I tell him, no he can take it off. He has already torn the ribbon off, I am trying to make sure my camera will record this as a video and it is not cooperating, I am getting worried I will miss it, take two little shots of video and think I have it going ok now. so here we go.

He opens the box and this rowdy, loud, outgoing, hyper kid is the quietest I have ever seen, he looks in the box and says ever so gently," it's a puppy, and she's GORGEOUS. " Ok, I teared up. It was the sweetest reaction and I NEVER expected that. He just kept saying "she's gorgeous, she's so gorgeous." Oh, mission accomplished!
(Be sure to turn off my music on my sidebar so you can hear what Caleb has to say! )

After he took her into the living room, a few mintues went by and he looked at me and said, the dog treats aren't for me, they are for her! But what about the tennis balls? I told him they were for her too, so he ran and opened the can, got one out and they started playing. He is a little scared of her for she bites with those sharp puppy teeth. But he was the kindest thing to her and asked a million questions...when will she big, how much does she eat, is she a momma? will she quit biting me? can she sleep with me? where is her cage (we don't have cages, we have exercise kennels and will teach him to change the word to kennel!) He had so many questions, but it was as great of a moment as I had dreamed it would be. I am so glad he is happy, and we got to share this PRICELESS moment, wonderful memory with Chris and Sarah. It means a lot to me. I can not tell you how much it meant to me. My life is pretty darn good right now.

After he got her out of the box, he took her to the living room, all he could say was she is gorgeous, it is word he does not ever use, don't know where it came from, but it was so cute. I did not get all the video that I meant to, but I was proud to have some!

We went out to eat at Rib Crib and had a nice visit. By that time Scott and I were starting to get really sore from our car accident and felt we needed to get on home. It was a nice birthday. Chris' birthday is two days after Caleb's so the dinner was for both of them. We did not do cake since his big "party" is today. We won't be there for the pirate fun, wish I could be, but we felt we better stay home since we were both hurting, Scott much more than me. It was such a great time....And the best part???? Caleb hugged me and said, Thank you grandma, this is the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!" Can I get another puppy next year for my next birthday? You've gotta love them!

Somebody is not too happy about the new puppy. But they will become best friends like.....tomorrow. They both have so much personality, Sarah will have her hands full, and I have already been told, when I take the kids for the weekend....I get ALL THREE!!!!

OH YES! COME TO GRANDMA!

Update

Update for Friday!

Don't be alarmed, but Scott and I were in a car accident today. We are ok, but sore. Tomorrow we will be MORE sore. It could have been so much worse, but this is my first real accident. We were at a stop light and was hit from behind. In my new car. My first new car. Oh well, it is just a car, we all have insurance, and we all walked away. Bless his heart the guy that hit us just kept saying he was so sorry, just so sorry. I told it was going to be ok, that's why they are called "accident's" otherwise he would have been arrested for ADW...Assault with a Deadly Weapon. He just looked at me. Later he asked me what I did, I had told him we had just retired and moved here. When he asked me what I did for a living I asked him if he really wanted to know? He said yes?! I said I am a retired police officer. Oh. Nothing else was said. Bless his heart. I took Scott to the hospital to be checked out for his neck was hurting, I did see him go flying even with his seat belt on. But he is fine. Just pulled muscles. Tonight I am starting to feel it, but I can't whine about it. I made some comment about how big of babies men are! Dang it!! Should have kept my mouth shut!

I will try to post about the puppy present to Caleb (yes we still delivered that puppy!). I got a short video clip of it and it made my eyes tear up. It was very sweet. But for tonight, give me drugs and a soft pillow. And with no puppy, a full nights sleep! Good night all.

April 1, 1991

No April Fools Joke!

(Rated T---Tragic)

April 1, 1991, I had been on the police department, lets see, five years, 2 months, and a few days. I had been assigned to the mid-watch shift which means I was working 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. My days off were Sunday, Monday and I loved that. Of course after working Saturday night/Sunday morning I hardly ever got off on time. You could pretty well count on getting a DU I every Saturday night, the bars close at 2:00 so by 2:30 you could find, or they would find you, DUI. Then it would take about 2 or 3 hours to finish that call from the stop, arrest, impounding the car, breath test, and of course the paperwork. That makes you getting home around 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning and of course you have to wind down before going to bed. Needless to say Sundays are tough days because you can't sleep all day like you are used to because you need to sleep that night on your day off. Then you hope to go bed half way early on Sunday night and sleep pretty soundly. The phone rang Monday morning, early. I don't remember what time it was. My husband, a juvenile detective answered the phone I heard the conversation, but I was tired and I was used to him getting phone calls about work all the time. I usually had to wake him to answer the phone. The momma in me heard it on the first ring. He on the other hand had to have it ring a few times to wake up. "I'll be right there" I hear him say as he hangs up the phone getting out of our water bed. He goes to work on Monday mornings, this is just a little earlier. But I remember the date, April 1st. April fools day. People at the police department are ALWAYS playing jokes on each other and I figure this is another one of those days. We ( I mean they) have been know to call someone in the middle of the night to ask them if they needed to pee!!?? Just to wake them up. Silly I know, but I tell you police officers are just weird people, do weird things, and used to be a very strong brother/sisterhood. ( I don't feel it is that way now, certainly not at the department I worked at!) So as Tim got up and got ready for work I figure he will get there and they will say "April Fools" but since he is already at work, he might as well stay! It was only like a couple hours early. I don't remember even asking him what the call was about, I didn't really care, it just means I have to get up and get the kids ready for school instead of him taking care of that.

I roll over, go back to sleep, I have a few more hours till I have to get up. And go back to sleep I do. The phone rings....I grab it with a weak hello and it's Tim. I once again figure an April Fools comment is coming, I am not really in the mood, and I hear him say, Mike killed his wife and the kids were there with him!! Mike? Mike? I know three Mike's at the department and I know Mike A has been having troubles at home but I can't believe this. Then I hear him say Lisa, Mike killed Amy! Amy? That's not Mike's wife's name. Her name is Linda, what is he talking about? My head is starting to clear a little and the names are starting to come together. I say to him, this is not funny, don't kid about stuff like this. And he says to me in a serious tone," I'm not kidding." I start to believe him as the sleep fog is lifting. "There is an arrest warrant out for him and if he comes out there to get his boat or anything, you have to arrest him!" Mike, boat, Amy, crap, I know who he is talking about..... my husbands dear friend, Mike who is going through a horrible divorce but got out of there with "his boat" and parked it at our house for safe keeping. No, this is not funny you guys, Mike would not do this. This is NOT a funny April Fools joke.

Mike had about 17 years with the police department, several years with the military, and several tours in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot I think. He had been my husbands partner at work and they liked to fish together some as well. When we had our babies we got each other gifts, if someone needed something or help, we were there for each other. Mike had worked about everything there was to work at the police department and now he was assigned to the DARE division. He worked with kids of all ages and loved it. And more than anything else, he loved HIS kids. He had two sons from his previous marriage, he had adopted Amy's daughter from her previous marriage, and then they had a daughter together. Mike LOVED his kids more than anything. But as most police marriages, theirs was going south real quick. It was becoming pretty violent, Mike would call Tim and say that Amy was breaking up his stuff. She would call and say Mike was hitting her, or he was breaking her stuff. It went back and forth. Tim finally told them to not call him, but to call the department and report it if it was such an issue. I don't remember what all they ended up doing, but they went to court, they were getting a divorce. And it was NOT a pretty divorce. Court ordered home evaluations, children interviewed and evaluated, blah, blah blah. Mike did a lot with his children, honestly, probably more than a lot of dads. He took them fishing, and to the lake, they hunted, they spent a lot of time together so this divorce was very hard on him.

Sunday Jessie had called and asked her daddy if she could go to church with him. He said she would have to ask her mother, but it was fine with him. She was only five but she could use the phone and call daddy. He liked that. She ran in to ask her mother but Amy said no. I don't know why. Maybe she had other plans, maybe she didn't want to get her ready, maybe she didn't want Mike to have her even for Church. I don't know but she said no. Did it anger Mike? I don't know that either, but I would say yes. He went to church without her.

What happened next is really hard to explain, really hard to grasp, and really hard to talk about. This is not just "a case" to work. Where you detach yourself and work it.

In the night, rather very early morning, Mike broke into the house. He had cut the phone line and I don't know if he had a key or broke the door. He was not suppose to have a key, but he had kids that lived there. The boys had moved in with Mike, the adopted daughter had even moved in with Mike. It was just Jessie and Amy that lived in the old familiar home of several years. In a quiet neighborhood where not much happened, the houses were pretty nice, middle income families, hard working people lived there. And they lived on a nice little cul-d-sac. That is where they called home. But not Mike. He had not lived there now for several months, the divorce was coming to a head, the fight for the kids was fierce, and word was that Amy was moving back to the Northeast to hook up with her ex-husband. Word was that he was into drugs and Mike was not going to stand for it. He was not going to let Amy take their five year old daughter out of the state, to a life of who knew what. Well Mike knew. He worked police work long enough to know. He worked juveniles detectives long enough to know what kind of life little Jessie was getting ready to embark on. But not if he could help it. Mike was one of the kindest men I knew. He was funny, soft spoken, a good cop, a great DARE officer, a good dad, son, and friend. But not that night. No, that night Mike was someone/something none of us knew. He became a murderer. I don't know what happened. I don't think anyone knows. But what I think, feel, believe is Mike went to the house to have it out with Amy. He cut the phone line so she could not call the police. I think he went into her bedroom to maybe tell her how it was going to be. Maybe not, maybe he went into the bedroom to kill her. And kill her he did. He shot her multiply times. That is a sign of overkill, anger, pent up emotions. Maybe he wasn't going to talk, maybe he was just going to take care of her leaving with the kids, maybe take care of her not letting the kids be with him, maybe he was taking care of her being in control, not any more. He shot her something like nine times, in the bed. Jessie was in the other bedroom, he walked in there and picked up his sleeping princess and took her to his suburban. He drove her back to his house. His little house that was not the like the house he had just left. The house that he had spent years saving and working to buy for his family. No, it was not near the house of years gone by. But it had three sleeping teenagers in it. One son was on the sofa. That is where he slept. He laid Jessie down with him, leaned over and kissed her. Then he told his son, I hope you can forgive me for what I have done. Then he was gone. He got in his suburban and drove away. He called the assistant chief and told him what he had done. He had shot and killed Amy. Turn yourself in Mike he was told. No, you know what they will do to me in prison, I can't do that. Speculations was he was probably going to run to Mexico. Live there for the rest of his life. I knew better. Mike was not going to Mexico. My friend was going to El Reno. His favorite place to hang out. His, well Amy, family had land there. Mike knew it well. He had hunted that land for years. He knew it like he knew the back of his hand. I knew that is where he was. We were all told that if we saw or heard from him we had to call the PD right away. We were told to try and convince him to turn himself in. I don't remember all the details, I was not privy to all the details, but it seems Mike went to El Reno like I thought. He was hiding back in the woods and a highway patrol plane flew over the site. Really, every one knew it was a very likely place for him to go. The plane radioed the county deputies where Mike was. With an arrest warrant in hand they crept in to make the arrest. Seems it was late evening when this all occurred. So as the sun was going down, setting in the west, the police officers moved in, guns drawn, rifles loaded, shotguns in ready position. This was not a police officer they were arresting, this was a cold blooded murderer. As the officer approached the truck, Mike lifted the gun, and fired one shot. Mike died of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. It was over.

Mike could have killed himself in Enid. At the house. But he could not do that. Jessie was there, she would have found it. His fellow brother officers would have had to work it, and we all know the pictures, and the way investigations go. No, Mike could not do that to his family. Mike left also to make sure that if anyone was going to shoot him, it would not be one of us. You know that I do not know any of this for sure. This is what I think, what I feel, what I believe. It was over? No, not yet. There were four children left behind. I did not go to Amy's funeral, but I went to Mikes. It was not an honorable funeral. The casket was closed of course with a picture of Mike sitting on it. We were all there and I was pretty close to the front. In came the family. In came the children. The boys, young adults were sitting there and Jessie came over to the oldest one. He lifted her up, sat her on his lap and there she sat. There she looked up into her brothers eyes and said, Mikie, where's daddy? She reached up and gently patted Mikies face with her little hands, her little five year old hands that had colored pretty pictures, played with play dough, that had gone fishing, that had folded in prayer, gently patted her brothers face as she softly says once again, I could hear hear her say it, Mikie, where's daddy? I cried. There would be no 21 gun salute to honor her daddy, a war veteran, and a wonderful man that served that community for so many years. No, we were there to bury a man that had robbed these children of not only their mother, but also the daddy that they all loved so much. He robbed them of a life of they will never know. It was over.....in the mail two days later, Mike received a letter. He was recommended to get custody of the children. Over? You decide.

Tomorrow I will post a new police story!

And it is a sad one, sorry , I can't think of a funny one right now. But maybe by tomorrow it will change!

But today you will have two or three postings of puppy pictures. That is where my heart is right now!!! So be sure and check all the pictures, there are two posting of pictures I think!

Other pictures

I got your back!

Ok, Is there any milk there? No? Nope!

Is there any milk there??? NOOOOO!!!

Is there any milk there??? Good grief, where is my milk?

Picasa2 will only let me post about four picture at a time if I am lucky. That is why there will be more than one posting today.
Oh well. Hope you enjoy all the pictures.

This little girl is really smart. For only being five weeks old (grrrrr! Don't ever get a puppy that young, its not good for them!) But she already will go to the door to go pee pee or poop. She has had a couple accidents in the house, but one was this morning at 6:00 because I did not get up quick enough to let her out. She is getting up between 2:00 and 3:00 to go outside then back up again at 6:00 so I am a little tired. Good thing I love my grandkids! This morning I was really tired and left the backdoor opened so the dogs could all just come and go. Thinking they would keep an eye on her. I dozed off on the sofa and when I woke up they three big dogs were all in the living room sleeping too. So I jumped up and went out side to get the puppy. I could not find her....no where!!!!! I was calling, whistling, getting ready to go get my husband out of bed to help me find her. Oh my gosh I could not believe I had lost her! As panic was setting in, I went back into the house and for some reason something caught my eye. She had come into the house, crawled between the love seat and the end table and gone to sleep. Now remember she is not bigger than a minute, I have brown carpet, she blended in so well I could not hardly see her. I 'bout had a heart attack! I need to attach a gps to her and activate it!!! I am so enjoying having a puppy around, but I will tell you, like grandkids, I will be glad when she goes home!!! And that would be tomorrow night. We are having a quiet little birthday get together with Caleb to let him get his puppy. Then Saturday afternoon he will have the big family party with all the hoopla. They can all meet the puppy then, but I want to have our time with him getting the puppy from his parents and us. That way I can hopefully get pictures, and just enjoy the moment without having to share all the excitement with 50 people. Selfish? Yes, but this is a moment I have waited for for a very long time. I don't want to miss a single second of it, and I want to get pictures without everyone else's head or arm or body in it. Plus then Caleb can play with her without having to go open other gifts or share her with everyone during the day. It sounds like a really good plan to me and I am truly thankful that Chris and Sarah were willing to indulge me. It will be a tearful moment for me, for some reason this is just a tremendously emotional event for me...any ideas why? I am not a big crier, but this one sure gets me. Pass the hankie Scott!!!!

She Is Too Cute

Just a little update:

Practicing her hunting skills in the backyard, this little one does not know she is little.

Callie doesn't know what to think of her either. She wants to play but realizes she IS little.

But don't tell her she is small, look, she is taking on the two BIG dogs.

Tag! You're IT Rudy! Notice how quickly Callie was able to jump out of the way there!

Caleb's Birthday Present

Here She Is!!!
Nothing like taking time to stop and smell the flowers!

Not positive about the name so I just call her "girl".

She doesn't hold still for very long!

Here is Rudy, my male, playing and being protective over the new little darling.

My girls were in the house watching all this through the backdoor!
You know, let the "guy" watch the kid for a while!

Birthday Gift

No Pictures!

Today I would love to post some pictures of Caleb's birthday gift, but I don't have any yet. Last night was my last night of photography class and although I am not "really good" yet, but I am getting better. I have enjoyed taking the classes and think this fall I will be taking some college classes just to continue my education, and for the socializing part of it as well. So having said that, I just have not had time to get any pictures unless you count 5:30 this morning while we were outside taking care of business! I don't think so.

Yesterday you remember we had the grandkids. The plan was to return them home and make a switch. Well that went pretty good, not quite as early as I had thought, but by about 1:30 we were on the road again! So we took Caleb and Allie home. As I was getting ready to leave their house for Scott and the gift were in the car, I was giving my kisses goodby and Caleb starts crying. He did not want grandma to leave, or why can't he go with me! Then Allie starts crying, then I start crying. It just tugs at my heartstrings to hear my grandbabies cry for being unhappy. Especially when it is something so simple to fix. I told Caleb we would see him this weekend for his birthday, and he was like .....sob, sob, ok, sob, sob, ok I guess, sob, sob. Poor little guy. He is a very sensitive little guy, but then so is my husband. They both cry at the drop of the hat. It is actually funny at times. We will be watching a movie, like even a cartoon or something and my husband will be over there crying. Not out loud, but tears coming down his face. At first it was endearing, now it is just funny to me. I like a sensitive man as well as the next girl, but I don't want a sappy hubby. I am not a big crier, except when it comes to my grandbabies, and when I was taking pictures of the new baby with her family. Then I teared up pretty good. It was just soooo sweet. Ok, enough of the crying stuff.

So out in the car was Scott and the new gift. I was not too happy of a camper when I heard that the breeder sold my step-daughter and sil a puppy that was Not EVEN five weeks old. She is five today. But I was furious! That puppy should not have been taken from its home till about 8 to 10 weeks. But the rest of the story is....she is one of 11 puppies born c-section. There were twelve but one did not make it. I feel the puppies are just a lot of work for the owner and she was ready to get them gone soon as possible. But the kids drove three hours to see these dogs, paid a pretty penny for her and then come to find out she has no shots, and is so very young. I was not happy. Soon as I got into the car and took her from my husband I gave her a good look over. She is PRECIOUS. She is very healthy looking, nice size, and very social. She is just already so smart, I see a very special puppy here that I just can not even begin to explain. She is playful, yet calm. She listens, then will respond. I told her I was her grandma and she just started little barking, whining like talking to me saying...oh, it is nice to meet you grandma, then leans up into my face and gives me a kiss. I swear to you, how can this little dog already be so sweet? We have had no accidents (or purposes!) in the house. She goes outside and pee pees. She goes outside and potties, comes back in the house and plays a little and sleeps. She went to bed last night about 11:30 in the kitchen in an exercise kennel without crying. My dogs were in the living room when I went to bed, don't know if they stayed there or not. Then at 5:30 my dog came to the door to get me up, and the little sweetie was in the kitchen crying. I took her outside and she took care of business. Now just like all babies she is a lot of work, but I have told Chris and Sarah they have the potential of having one heck of a little dog here if they take care of her right. Spend the time now and they will have a wonderful life with this dog.

I told Sarah we need to have Caleb's birthday Saturday. We were going to wait and celebrate on his birthday which is a week from today. But I fear if we wait that long I will get way too attached to this puppy. I am hoping that when Caleb comes to visit that they will let her come too. That way she will get used to being at my house with my dogs and they will all get along and play well together! If they need to go out of town she can stay here and if I need someone to watch my "kids", they will be comfortable with her.

I just went outside to take her pictures, so I will get them posted here in just a little bit! Stay tuned!

I'm Home and SURPRISE!!!

Short Weekend! Or long, depending on how you want to look at it. I left Friday morning to meet up with a friend of mine so we could ride together to see my son. Lance was going to Tyler to test for the police department there and I wanted to see TJ. So we met up at the Henryetta Police department, left his car there and off we went. It was such a nice drive. We did not push it all, in fact, stopped four times. We had to make two pee stops (for me) one stop for lunch, and one stop for gas. It took longer than it should have, but we just were not in a hurry. We also stopped by the hotel so Lance could check in before going on down to TJ's house where I would be staying. I can not NOT believe I did not take one picture. It was honestly a very quick trip, yet relaxing, but I did not even get my camera out of the bag. Amanda (my dil) is such a beautiful girl and I should have taken tons of pictures of her, but we just did not get energetic enough to do anything!

As of right now Lance stands in second place with the written and physical agility testing being done. He got sick after doing all the running outside, he really pushed himself to put on a good showing for the officers there. But he may have over done it. The boy guy wore long pants (that is what he runs in at home) in Texas, in July. Yes, he got over heated. I just hope he does good enough with everything else to get hired. He truly wants to be a police officer and he will make a GREAT one, just hope he gets a chance to prove it. Keep positive thoughts in your head and heart for him if you will. I have known this young man since he was in the 7th grade, I was his DARE officer and since then I have known him from High school, friends with my son and daughter, taught him in college classes and even in defensive driving school. He is a really neat person and I wish him nothing but the best.

All weekend my husband's daughter was calling me on a hard mission to find something specific for her son (my grandson!) for his birthday. HE WANTS A PUPPY. But not just a puppy, a boxer puppy like our Zoe.
He loves my boxers and those dogs are so good
with kids and family that it is unreal. His birthday in July 29th, right around the corner, and she does not put stuff off till the last minute. Never has, probably never will. She is very organized, a list maker, and a very focused person. There would be a new puppy NOW. But we want to keep it as a surprise for Caleb since he has requested a puppy with a bow around it's neck, in a box with lots of food. All day Saturday she was trying to figure out how to make this happen and I was in Texas of no help to her. So on my way home today (Sunday) we decided if she could get the kids to me I would keep them tonight while she and her husband drove three hours away to go get a puppy. So when I got home I had a great surprise. My grand kids drove up about 10 minutes after I did. Grandpa had gone to get them at the "meeting place" and both of them acted like they had not seen me in years!!! I just love it when they are smiling and running to see me. Caleb was screaming Grandma!!! He has no idea why he is here with me. I asked him and he said, he didn't know why, his mom and daddy just wanted to get away from him for a while. I laughed and said no, mommy and daddy just wanted some alone time. He laughed and said ok, how long can I stay? 10 day!? (oh my!) Allie didn't say much, she just reached out her tiny little arms and grunted for grandma. That's enough, I know what that means....I love you grandma, please take me now!~ So I did. She just laughed and wiggled in my arms. Oh she is such a sweet baby girl. But tomorrow I think they are going home, I will then sneak a puppy out of the house and bring it back with me (and my three dogs) take it to the vet to get it checked ( I am NOT happy with the lady who sold this dog to my kids, she misled them on several things and they have paid her some really good money for this dog.) So I am going to get it to the vet first thing. And then I will keep it till his birthday when "Howlly"(Hallie) or "Stella" has a bow tied around her neck, placed in a big box with lots of food and one little boy begins his life long dream of owning his first puppy.
My one and only little of boxer puppies born on January 13, 2005 c-section in my living room!

Gone Visiting !

Good morning everyone,
I am in Texas visiting my son and dil. I drove here with a friend yesterday and it will be a very short trip. I will stay and visit today, then leave tomorrow morning after my son gets home from working the night shift. We have a friend that is testing for the police dept. here and he wanted to ride out with TJ one night to see how he likes it. His test is this morning and then his ride out is tonight. So I came down to see Amanda for the day. I will see if I get any pictures any where and will post them after I get home. But for now that is all I can tell you. Have a great weekend and will check in on everyone when I get home.
Bye.
Lisa

My Thursday Project

This is my friend with her new daughter.

We have been wanting to take pictures and it

seems I didn't have time in the last couple weeks.

Well tonight...we made time, spent about two hours

with this beautiful family.

Little Miss Shae was so good.

She truly is "A Gift From God"

This is her daddy, one proud guy!

A New Gift

I got so tickled with Daddy. He said, " I have not been to a tanning bed this year!"

"I have a FARMERS TAN!! " I laughed at him and said, Shae won't care.

I think it looks adorable!

This is his first child and he is already a GREAT daddy!

Mom and dad are both so proud of the new addition to their family.

Just another picture of this new little addition.

This little lady is about six weeks old but still is quite tiny.

I had a lot of fun...after I got out my second camera. I was ready to throw the first one out the window and stomp on it!!!! But I pulled out my old standby and we then really started having fun. I hope there will be a picture in the group of about 75 that they can use for their birth announcements. If not, there will be at least some pictures to be put in her baby book!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma Style

Discoveryland Presents:

OKLAHOMA

The dinner bell is ringing, time to go and eat some grub.
They dish up some pretty good fixins' too.

Baked beans, potato salad, corn, and of course a beef sandwich.

There is a tepee for the kids to play in.

The Indian dancers were not there Tuesday, darn it!

Pony rides for the children on some of the prettiest horses.
This is my husband's brothers and cousins.

Starting left, brother David, Raleigh, husband Scott, cousin Bobbie/husband Dale

The wives to the two brothers had slipped off somewhere and I did not get their picture.

Sorry girls.

This is one of the desserts you eat at the show! Strawberries and ice cream overflowing .God Bless America. We all remember!
The girls who "Can-Can" can ....sure entertain.
The pre-show cast singing,

we are in an outdoor theater.

It was very comfortable.

The show starts with Auntie churning her butter!

Curly comes riding in to woo his girl.

Of course Oklahoma involves lots and lots of singing!

This young man is from Canada.

Dreaming of the Surrey with the fringe on top.
He will take both his gals to the box supper if only he could.

(Anyone out there remember the real box suppers?

I do! And my grandpa was the auctioneer for them at my school! Oh so much fun!

You decorate a box, fill it with a dinner, and whoever buys it gets a fine dinner. But in the play whoever buys it gets dinner with the gal who fixed it! Kind of like a blind date!)

This guy could sing and sing and sing...and he did.

Bringing in the horses and wagon for MORE people to go to the box supper.
This cowboy Will Parker won $50.00 in Missouri roping at the fair.

Now he can go marry his girl.

Her pa promised!

And he bought her a saddlebag full of gifts!

Oops, he was suppose to bring her pa the $50.00.

That's going to cause problems later.

The horses are beautiful! And Awesome!!!!

Laurey and AdoAnnie singing.
Ali Hakim is a wandering Peddler who has asked Ado Annie to go to the "ends of the earth" with him. Now she thinks they are going to travel, he is thinking a one night stand! She thinks he means lets get married, he thinks he has gotten in over this head!!!
Will Parker learned how to dance down in Missouri while earning that $50.00.
But she is torn between who she wants to marry. Will talks awful purtie to her, but the peddler man is a smooth talker as well. And oh so handsome!
But the peddler man does not fool Aunt Eller. She has him pegged pretty good.
Ado Annie just "Cain't Say No" when a guy asks her for a kiss.

But her pa with his shotgun has different ideas. She will marry the man of her dreams!
So who does she end up with? Peddler man or Will Parker.
How about Curly and Laurey do they get together?
This is a love story filled with drama,
and violence (to some extent!). The villain Jud is in love
with Laurey too. But he is only a field hand, big, tough, rough, and a loner.
He lives in the smoke house while he helps Aunt Eller and Laurey run the farm.
When Curly comes a callin for Laurey he does not like it. He wants to kill him to keep him away from his girl.
This show was outstanding. Caleb enjoyed it as well.
There are no more play pictures for it got too dark and you can not take flash photography.
But....
After the play we were able to go down and take pictures with the cast.
Caleb loved all the cowboys!

Now the girls.....that was another thing.
They loved him, but he was not too sure about that closeness thing.
Oh grandma! Not again, but they are PRETTY!
We are going to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers next.
Same cast and another great show.
But it is Oklahoma after all, and we are all about the
COWBOYS!