Double Adoption 12/21/05
By John & Cheryl Schmit
For the past several months, at the request of Heidi and Allen, we have been exploring the adoption process. Having Heidi home for Christmas allowed everyone to be present at the same time. Papers were signed at the attorney's Tuesday afternoon for presentation in court. This morning we finalized the adoption of Heidi by Cheryl and Allen by John. Both Cheryl and I are honored by this display of love!
Enjoy these pictures from the adoption.
Dateline Pembine 12/15/05
By Roger Schmit
On Saturday, December 10th, Grace Lutheran Church held their first annual cookie walk. I guess first annual means that they plan to do it again next year. It was a big success with many varieties of cookies to choose from. You would buy a box for $4 or $7 dollars and then walk around the table making your selections while the
"Men Of Grace" filled your boxes. All the cookies were sold within 2 1/2 hours. Next year I will fill my boxes before the door open. The event was a fund raiser for the building committee. Pictures are posted in the usual place.
Roger
Going Home Soon !!!! 12/12/05
By Frank Bingham
Finally, the day has almost arrived where I return home from this
consulting job. I will leave Texas on Thursday to go back to the
warmth
of Palm Springs. It has become quite cool down here in Lufkin with a
good deal of frost and thin ice every morning. I walk in the mornings
early so it has been slow as I need to watch where I am stepping all
the
time.
Click here for the rest of this story.
Putting Up The Tree 12/11/05
By Susie Devries
Today we put up our tree. It's the artificial one that Bill has had for 30 years I suppose. He bought it at a garage sale when he was married to his first wife. The tree is up and when my kids and family come over on Friday they will get to decorate it. We have the lights on the tree now, and that by itself is pretty.
We got a really neat gadget at Lowe's. It's a little brass Christmas tree shaped thing, called Christmas Tree Lights Touch Control. You plug the main part into the outlet, plug in your lights into the outlet at the bottom of the plug. Then there is a wire that you attach to that, and it attaches to a little brass tree. there are 5 settings, 7%, 30%, 70%, 100% and off. No more trying to get to the plug to turn off the lights on the tree for the night. Some how in our house we always seem to have the tree in front of the outlet and of course once all the presents are under the tree, it's next to impossible to get to the outlet. This allows us to turn the lights on with just a touch, and we can have them 100% or as low as 7%. I think the thing cost like 10.00, and to me that is well worth it. The little brass tree looks like an ornament and blends in with everything.
That's about it from here. No snow, a little cool but not even close to heavy coat time. Today it was 55 and I was in and out all day in just my T shirt and slacks. I was not even wearing shoes! Of course, I tend to not wear shoes when ever possible!! Talk to you all later. Hope you got the pictures this time and can possibly put them on the web site.
Love ya,
Susie
Check out the Christmas pictures here.
The Wedding 12/11/05
By John Schmit and Barbara Lawrence
Approximately 35 family and friends were there to see the wedding of Jan Cason and Daryl Lawrence. The afternoon cermony was blessed with perfect weather and the Mount Vernon Gazebo in the Square made the picture perfect wedding. Daryl and Jan were wed by Zach Tunnel, the brides prospective son-in-law. The wedding group was caught up in the spirit of the moment and congratulated the happy couple with kisses and hugs. Afterwards, a reception was held at the bride and grooms home.See images of the wedding here. Meet the many family members who attended by viewing these pictures.
Sunday Morning 12/11/05
By John Schmit
Sunday morning with filled with sightseeing and picture taking. Barbara, Cheryl, John and Allen drove all around Mount Vernon as Barb described the many significant views in the area. While our tour was short, we did manage to get out and had many photo opportunities. Enjoy these selected pictures from our tour.
Flying, Shooting, and a Party 12/10/05
By John Schmit
Our day started out with a flying tour of the area as Daryl took Doug, John, and Allen for a ride in the Priefert corporate plane. It was fun to see Daryl's property from the air.
When we got back, Daryl brought out the firearms and many took a turn shooting at the paper targets. From semi-automatics to shotguns and pistols, we had a wide range of guns to choose from. Later in the evening we had a wonderful dinner and party. Everyone enjoyed the good food, drink and stories that were shared. Check out this selection of pictures from the day.
We've Arrived! 12/09/05
By John Schmit
Hello East Texas! It's been a long day but well worth it as John, Cheryl and Allen arrived at Barbara's before 9pm. With a transfer in Denver, our flight to Dallas was very smooth and on time. On the way out of Dallas, we stopped for a quick hello with Vanna and Dean. It was so good to see them again.
Arriving in Mount Vernon we found Daryl, Jan, Deanna (Jan's daughter), Doug, Joanie and Barb just having a good time. Of course, after we arrived, the beer flowed and there were many stories told. It was a great introduction to Jan and her family.
There are many plans for the weekend, so, stay tuned as we bring you more of our family fun.
My New Slippers 12/07/05
By Daryl Lawrence
Good Morning All 12/05/05
By Frank Bingham
It's Monday morning here in Lufkin and I am tired from driving.
Yesterday I went up to Bobbie's house in Mount Vernon for a day visit
and
had a great time. I left here at 3 A.M. because it is about 160 miles
up
there but on small roads with many small towns to slow one's travel
speed. The trip was nice as there was no one at all on the road that
early on Sunday.
I got to Bobbie's about 7:15 or so and was so sleepy that I had to take
a
30 minute nap. After than however we were off like a shot doing
things.
Bobbie had sent off for and received a Bear Cat scanner. It is small
but
the number of things it will do is mind boggling if you can ever
decipher
the manual that tells you what is available. The radio works well but
it
is very far from "automatic" which is what she thought she was getting.
I also brought my new laptop computer to play with. I got it the other
day on sale at Best Buy and have enjoyed it since. My old laptop was
just getting to the point where it will still do what I need but has no
capability to do DVD's and only has one access port for plug in items.
Aside for that it has Win 98 which has become limited in itself.
We went over to Daryl and Jan's house mid morning and had a nice visit.
Daryl has redone the living room area and it looks so nice. Later on
Bobbie and I went to have lunch at a Old fashion restaurant -- the kind
where they actually cook the food rather than opening pre-done frozen
stuff and microwave it. It was tasty and plentiful. A nice lunch
indeed.
I left to return to Lufkin about 3 as I was concerned that it would
take
me a good deal longer to get home on Sunday afternoon/evening than it
took to come in the morning. Bobbie had given me a tip about getting
around "Tyler" Texas by taking a loop road. That was such a big
savings
in time as traffic in Tyler was jammed. The loop was busy but moving
right along. In all I got back here in about 4 hrs and 30 minutes.
It was a long driving day but I had a wonderful time and was so happy
that I got to go as I am going home in another week or so and this may
have been my last chance.
I case I do not get to say this again ------- have a Merry Christmas
and
a great New Years.
Frank
Frank Visits 12/04/05
By Barbara Lawrence
When I talked to Frank on Fri. evening, he told me he would like to drive up here today from Lufkin and would get here early in the morning. We talked last evening and he told me he planned to leave about 3 a.m. this morning. He got here, at my house, at 7:15 and we had a good time just talking and working with his new laptop computer and my new police scanner. We went to Daryl's and Jan's a little after noon and stayed for about 45 minutes just yakking and checking out Daryl's handiwork in Jan's living room. Jan hadn't been feeling well this morning so Frank and I went to lunch by ourselves at Hubbard's. We came home and yakked some more and he left at 3:15 p.m. to go back to Lufkin. As he said, he realized it might take him much longer to go back than it did coming because he didn't have ANY traffic this morning - he was practically the only car on the roads. Frank is leaving Lufkin on 12/15 to go back to CA so wanted to make sure he got up here to see us before he leaves. He got to meet Jan and see Daryl again which he wanted to do while he was here. Of course, after he left I remembered I hadn't taken a picture of him while he was here.
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