So Auntie Lauren brought a fun craft for all the cousins to work on....ROCKS to paint!!! Did you know its a "thing" now, to hide painted rocks for others to find? Yup! Plus, its totally great entertainment! FOR HOURS........ You'll need flat stones, home depot or lowes have bags of them, acrylic paints in different colors, brushes and sponge brushes are fun, paper plates, paper towels, and a paint pen if you want to do any kind of writing or tiny detail work. We have some good artists in the family! Who KNEW?! ;) So we've been talking about doing this so long, and now its done, and it was a BLAST. We'll do another batch as soon as we have some time to get supplies. We are calling it, "RV Oilers Rock"! Hahah, get it, ROCK? No really, like a stone......from the RV Oilers......painted and hidden....... An RV Oilers rock. Ok, ok, we hope you think we ROCK, too! ;) We are putting #rvoilersrock on the backs in hopes that people will find them, photograph them and share to social media with our hashtag. We can hide stones ALL OVER the country as we travel!
Eeek, so fun, right?! I hope one of YOU finds one someday! :) Hugs, T
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Many, many Florida trips ago, a tradition was started.... Saturday morning breakfast at the local Amish restaurant, Der Dutchman. Amazing breakfast buffet with all the fixins: biscuits and gravy, grits, mush, oatmeal, hashbrowns and hashrown casserole, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, french toast, pancakes, fruit slush, fresh fruit, muffins, homemade donuts, Are you drooling yet? Here are some pics from years ago: So when Saturday rolled around, we knew this was an important memory maker, even if dad wasn't feeling 100%. Chad and Lauren were still in town for the weekend, so it just seemed like the right thing to do, to all go and enjoy our tradition. Somewhere over the years, a photo tradition was started, on Der Dutchmans sweeping staircase. I had to keep telling myself, surely this wasn't the LAST chance for a staircase photo, so I wouldn't burst into tears. We took cousin pics BEFORE food, while they were unloading Papa from the car, and saved the big family one for AFTER. I can't find them all, but I unearthed a few staircase pics.... If love could keep someone alive, this guy's living forever. And less we get too serious, we had to take a silly photo too. Love these goofballs so much!
Hugs, T Hey guys! Did you all have a good Thanksgiving? We enjoyed a nice day over at Drea and dad's house, eating, cooking and eating some more. We decided to set out a bunch of snacks at 11 and eat dinner at 4 or whenever turkeys got done. There was SO. MUCH. FOOD. We attempted not one, but TWO turkeys this year. A traditional roasted one doused in butter and fresh herbs and veggies..... Auntie Lauren, who is usually quite squeamish, got right in there! ;) Turned out beautifully! Second turkey was done outside by my step sister Ashley's boyfriend...check it out! Oh man was it ever GOOD! Destiny and Avery requested REAL whipped cream for the pies, so I put them right to work on that. A chilled bowl and beater, a pinch of cinnamon and some vanilla and we had ourselves some GOURMET whipped cream....... It was nice enough to eat outside, so we filed through the line then went out to the lanai. There is much to be thankful for...... Hugs, T
We have settled into our life here in Florida. The RV park is stunning and has an incredible pool, putt putt mini golf and like I said, is so super close to dad and Drea's house. What a blessing! We do school in the morning, go say hi to dad sometimes, eat lunch, swim at the pool and head back over for family dinner.... The kids just like to be near him.....they read or color quietly. The tears come at bedtime, when they process the day. I am thankful they allow those tears and emotions to flow out, its healthy for them and we know the Lord bottles those tears up in Heaven. Papa loves having his head rubbed with fractionated coconut oil and essential oils. We use frank, copiba, peppermint, lime, white fir and lemongrass with great results! One day we took the kids out to eat fresh sea food and see the sunset. It's amazing what walking and sitting on the beach can do for your weary soul..... I needed to be reminded of a Creator who loves me, who loves my dad, and who wants the best for our family. Who wants to see dad prosper and live a long life on the earth...... What an incredible artistic Father we serve. The author and the finisher, the beginning and the end. Thank you, Jesus! Hugs, T
We are soaking up every moment with dad as we adjust to our RV life again. It was way smoother than I imagined it would be after being in the apartment so long. We are all so happy and settled and every single one of us, at one time or another has said, "I am so happy we are back in the RV!" My brother Chad, and sis in law, Lauren came down kid free and spent the weekend down here. It was so good to see them! Papa is joining us for dinner each night. He is such a trooper! Everyone knows that when the door is closed to Papa's office, its time to be quiet and let him rest. He sleeps a lot, and that's good, that's when his body can knit and heal. So we play games and read.....and enjoy the nice weather! Grammy took us to this HUGE, amazing library! Oh how we love paper books!!! Playing games with Aunt Torrey and Uncle Daniel At night we hang out on the lanai and chill by the fire. The weather couldn't be more perfect! Good byes are never easy..... I had to snag this photo of Chad and dad holding hands and just visiting a bit before he left to go back. I knew he wouldn't love his posture, so I told him to stand up straighter and I'd take it again. Chad being the goofball that he is.....delivered! Laughter is really good medicine.....
Hugs, T It's amazing how one call can alter your whole day, week, plans...all of it. Tuesday, we got a warning call from my sister in law, that my dad wasn't doing really great. She said, just be on stand by, in case you have to jump and run. She was sweet, but real with me. I was at lunch with my family and two friends, and hung up bawling. It's so hard to be far away from your loved ones when things aren't good. If you recall, my daddy has been through ALOT this past 3 years. Fighting successfully lung cancer, brain cancer and then spine cancer. He has beat 5% odds and walked out of the hospital a medical miracle more times than I can count. He is using essential oils to support his body during this process and he is a picture of health! Very active. We love traveling with him and my step mom and he even stayed with my kids for 2 weeks in Kansas while we were at convention. We have made several tearful trips to Florida, thinking it was a good bye, when it was a miracle show. Like from ICU to home in 3 days, overcoming 5% success rate and more, from lung surgery, to massive saddle pulmonary embolisms to brain surgery. God is still in the miracle business and daddy is living proof! We had been spread out in the apartment with plans to stay through Christmas, so to pack the everything back into the RV, do laundry and gut the fridge in less than 3 hours, was nothing short of a miracle. We had friends and family come over to help make it happen. So thankful! RIGHT as we were standing out in the road loading the last laundry basket, Dale gets a call, and goes white as a sheet. He turns to me with tears streaming down his cheeks, and says we have to go NOW. My step mom, Drea, called him bawling. Things were not good, she was scared we weren't going to make it in time. We RAN into the house, shut off lights and our precious friends gathered in a circle around and prayed over us. I am SO SO blessed to have these kind of people in our lives! (Thank you, we love you all!) We were pushing hard to get down in time, so after 2 long hard days without stopping, it was time to stretch our legs. The travel morale greatly improves when we do this! Georgia has a really nice rest area, so we pulled over and enjoyed some fresh air. The leaves were STUNNING! So the trip down was not without troubles, and we found ourselves on the side of the road after a giant BOOM! I thought something was coming through the floor of our bathroom. For the first time in almost 3 years, we blew a Coach tire..... Miracle of miracles, we were quarter of a mile from a tire store. Second of all, instead of paying $1000 to have it fixed on the side of the road, we were able to limp in. And even bigger miracle, they had not one but TWO, new tires to sell us. Most of the time, tires like this run $400 plus EACH. (When you replace one tire, you replace two or they are uneven, due to tread difference, who knew? Not me!) Proof the Lord is always with His children, the tires they sold us had been on another truck for ONE WEEK, so they sold us BOTH for $400 and threw in some extra parts for the busted airline, We continued on our way and realized about Gainsville Florida, we had a problem. When the tire blew, we must have also blown one of the air ride air bags and we were VERY VERY crooked the rest of the trip. I took this shot once we got to the RV park, and had dropped the trailer off in parking, and unloaded car.....no wonder we felt like we were in one of those crazy houses at the state fair! :) Another miracle, is that this beautiful RV park just a few miles down the road from Grammy and Papas house, had an opening. As you know, its peak season here in Florida for snow birds! We quickly set up and jumped in the car to go see Papa. Lo and behold, he was out on the porch getting some Vitamin D and fresh air. Oh, it was SO good to hug his neck! So let me catch you up, 3 weeks ago, on the way to dinner with friends, dad couldn't speak. He tried but nothing came out. Drea recognized the symptoms right away and had him pull over and took him to the hospital, where they determined he was having multiple seizures.
They saw cancer on his chart and chalked it up to brain surgery several years ago, and told us we were lucky it hadn't shown up before this. They sent him home. It just didn't add up. Why would this just FLIP so suddenly? Several times they ended up in the hospital, and several times they got sent back home, as all tests came back clear. He's had headaches since this past summer, just not this bad. They amped up to the point of curl up on the floor, rocking and holding his head and violently vomiting bad. Brain scans came back clear and all this continues to be a mystery. A week later, his motion has declined to the point of a cane or he tips over, and his speech is quite slurred. At times he forgets what he is saying, or gets frustrated because the right words don't come out at the right times. He is such a joyful communicator and keeps us in stitches with his funny remarks and stories when we are together. I know this is hard on him. Now we have morphined up Papa, and no answers, We are in the Lord's waiting room asking for a miracle! Will you join me? Hugs, T Meet Uncle Daniel and the future Aunt Torrey.....these 2 sweethearts got engaged recently! We had all been praying and hoping for a LONG time it would come to pass. The girls kept asking, NOW can she be Aunt Torrey? YES! :) We were so honored when they decided to do the wedding while we were still living in Florida. That meant like 3 weeks to plan! They were so chill, no problemo! The wedding was to be held at Dad and Drea's country property we live on, with food in the barn and a dance floor under the open shed roof. It was to be an "I Do BBQ" and super laid back and fun! They asked the kids to bake and decorate the cake they would cut. Boy were they excited! (Mommy was nervous, but okay, we can do it!) The days leading up to the wedding, also happened to be our final week in Florida, so we had a business training dinner, a community class, lots of wedding prep to get done AND pack up to leave! (its amazing how spread out we get after 4 months of parking) I bought some white and gold sugar crystals to help hide all of our decorating problems, and read some articles about a crumb layer of frosting, so little red flecks of cake didn't get in our pretty creamy icing the next day. Once it was frosted, we went outside and threw sugar ALL OVER IT! Super fun! Probably the boys' favorite part ;) Finishing touches. Now, to keep it safe until wedding time! The open shed was decorated SO beautifully!!!! People would sit here for both the wedding and reception after..... Showtime! The beautiful bride (and Flokie) ready for the FIRST LOOK: I was busy running around trying to keep everyone on schedule, so I didn't get many photos. SHAME ON ME!!! I am thankful Drea shared hers to facebook while we wait for the photographer to share hers! Ty got to drive the bride up to the barn! :) And Destiny sang her down the aisle.... After a brief ceremony, we ate southern BBQ, which was tucked away in that cute barn we celebrate Christmas in, listened to some amazing toasts, and then danced the night away. There was even a s'mores station out back on the patio. Everyone had a great time! The bride and group left surrounded by sparklers..... Here is a slideshow of my remaining cell pics: The red velvet cake was a bit dry, shhh don't tell my precious cake bakers, but the frosting was divine and the cake was BEAUTIFUL! So proud of them! Eating a big slice of it was the perfect ending to a perfect night.....Congratulations Daniel and Torrey! We are SO excited for you all and the amazing life together to come. One last service at our AMAZING Florida church, a quick breakfast with Uncle Chad and his crew, and then it was back on the road again. We needed to move some things and get ready for the builder at our home sweet hub before April 1st! I'll be honest, we are missing Florida ALREADY! It just kept getting colder and colder and colder as we drove further north and west. A highlight of the trip home, was that our Nana got to ride home with us! 2 - 12 hour days later, she still loves us (haha) and we all had a great time reading, playing games, watching movies and hanging out on the LONG drive back. She was also a FANTASTIC school helper! 'Bout broke my finger off, thankfully the ring gave before my bone did. OUCH! Who knew the hardware on a kitchen cupboard could do so much damage?! One more thing on the "TO DO" list when we get home, fix my band! Waaaah! My finger is black and blue! OUCH. We were so glad to get home and see for ourselves that our shed was still standing, despite the fires! More to come on that later......
Hugs, T After leadership retreat was done, we loaded up the car and headed back home to unpack and move into the RV again. A week in a condo is SUPER fun, but we are SPOILED. We are so accustomed to taking our home and comfort items with us, its a pain in the rear to have to pack and un pack now! Our good friends we met from the 4 little Ferguson's blog, Ray and Kristina, and their two kiddos, met us down south for some fun in the Florida sun. They just bought their first RV and brought it to Leadership. SO FUN! They are on our doTERRA team and we are blessed to have such great business partners! They had never seen the beach, so we were super excited to experience that for the first time with them! Though I was in awe of the beautiy around us, my heart was heavy for those back home...... Massive wildfires were surrounding our neighborhood, our hub and our community! Our thoughts and prayers were with them constantly! It almost didn't seem real! I know it will hit us more when we are at home and actually survey the burned neighborhood! Despite all that was going on in Kansas, we had fun showing the Vissers around and taking them to all our favorite places to eat! We even got to eat out with Grammy and Papa too, since we were in their neck of the woods. After this, we traveled 2 hours north back up to where we live for the winter, and hung out there for a few days. I love how the Lord brings us friends from all over the USA! These guys are so fun, and our kids love being together. We hung out at Papa's place and even got to go see Tim Hawkins at church. He is hysterical! Then it was time for our friends to go, and time for US to get ready for our final weeks in Florida! See you soon in Kansas! Drive safe...... It was time to get down to business, we had a family wedding to help plan, AND the final business training and community class for our Florida Dorothy team.
Ready set GO..... Hugs, T For the second year in a row, we were privileged to travel to Orlando for some MAGIC, no no, not the basketball team. MAGIC. Some team building, tear jerking, soul strengthening, awesome Leadership training at doTERRA's Leadership Retreat MAGIC. These kind of events just get a fire burning in your soul, to change lives, empower people to take back their health, and to change their homes with financial blessings as well as health! Plus, we get to stay in a HUGE condo for a week! Ok, ok, maybe in my former life, I wouldn't think a condo was HUGE, but now that we live in an RV? H U G E. You guys, I kept losing my people! I spent MORE time wandering around trying to FIND THEM. Seriously. I often would find Ty reading a book in "his room", Destiny on the porch enjoying the view, Avery in the kitchen baking yet another something and Pax? That kid was either playing pool the whole time, or trying to get me to let him watch TV. Crazy kid! Here is our porch breakfast picnic Avery worked so hard on: Take a tour of our condo in this slideshow: The kids wanted to use our HUGE dining room for a "Fancy Dinner"! Oh, we had SO much fun, fancy accents and all! ;) I also got to have a condo essential oil class while we were there, before all the festivities started. We had such a nice time! It felt good to connect as a family, and like I said, spread out a bit. Then it was down to business with 3 days of solid learning from doTERRA. First day was DIAMOND day! What an honor to eat breakfast and learn from the leaders of this company! The next 2 days our teams got to join us. We originally were going to have 5 leaders come. I made them each a secret recipe, custom roller bottle of as a gift. Dorothy and Mr. Dorothy THEN, we had a record breaking MONTH and several more qualified as Silvers. We added 5 more leaders at the last minute!!!!! WOAH BABY! Each day was jam packed with incredible learning from the owners and leaders of doTERRA, who love to teach about giving back and living debt free so you can give more freely. We were blessed to be asked to speak on a Gold Panel during break out sessions: Evenings are not without their fun. DoTERRA hosted one heck of a Super Hero party too! They had tons of amazing food stations, funky orange couches, comic themed everything, and a rocking dance floor. They even had artists their to draw your super hero portrait! Pretty sweet, right!? Slide show below Unfortunately in all the late nights and early mornings and thousands of people around us, I caught a yucky bug! I am SO thankful for oils, because I could fight and win from the comfort of our condo, without trying to find a dr in a strange town. Here are the recipes I used to KICK IT TO THE CURB: After a week Orlando living, it was time to head back south. I cannot WAIT for Convention in September, 6th through the 9th, which is in Utah! That event is for everyone, and it is UNBELIEVABLE. Let's go!
I have tons more to catch you up on, I have gotten SO behind on blogging! I plan on getting us all caught up this week, so stay tuned..... Hugs, T I have to tell you a story! Something happened today, that stopped me in my tracks and totally made me get teary......I am pretty sure it was an AH HA moment as well for me mentally. So, Dale was driving to the RV park office, following a guy in a golf cart who lost a shirt from the back of his ride. Dale snatched it up and followed him to his spot and gave it back. As he pulled away, he notices their car has a huge DoTERRA label on the back of it. He backs up, "You all do doTERRA?" They get to talking and eventually, the man's wife comes out.....they continue to chat a bit, and she says, You were in the Leadership magazine with your RV behind you, right? I can't believe you are here! We have that photo right beside our vision board. We loved your story and want to do the same! We met up with them at the pool a few days later, hit it right off. In fact, we even got to meet some new friends of theirs, also staying at the RV park. I tell you what the Lord just knows how to bring His children together. And we all are working with successful MLM's!!! So cool! We made plans right then and there to get together the next night for a Mexican Fiesta! This is my favorite dip and it's tasting even better with some yummy doTERRA cumin, cilantro and lime oils! Do you remember it from the 4 little Ferguson's blog days? Here is the recipe. If you have doTERRA oils in your home, do Cumin in the spicy sour cream, Cilantro toothpick in the beans and salsa mix, Lime in the guacamole. If you don't have doTERRA oils in your home yet, you are missing out!!!! Where else could you cook, clean and use medicinally, the same product!? I can help. Just message me. :) Www.4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/amazing-7-layer-dip/ There was a TON of food! How does that always happen!? We split up the list so nicely. Well, at least no one went away hungry. And if they did, it was their OWN FAULT! ;) Oh these families are just precious! All believers too, of course. The Lord always knows how to bring His kids together. :) We had a ball!!! I am so mad I didn't get pics of the guys playing shuffle board, the kids playing around and Shelly, Elisha and I talking it up in the hot tub for hours. Elisha got some shots she shared on FB, along with some beautiful thoughts....... We are already planning on when we can see these guys again! The Lord is SO good to lead us together, at the same RV park, with a lost shirt to start it all. We had to head 3 1/2 hours south the next morning at 5 AM> I NO LONGER GET UP EARLY, so this was super duper duper unusual and no fun. Bleh. Papa was great to come play with the kids for the day, and take them to enjoy the Putt putt, play ground, hot tub and pickle ball all over the RV park. Even though it was a long and early drive, I was SO excited to get to teach a class in Hollywood for a school! It went great!!! The preschool plans to start to utilize oils, diffusers and even natural cleaners in their school. How WONDERFUL for those kids and teachers to move away from chemicals, and towards a healthier environment for learning! Afterwards, Dale and I went out to eat lunch, and wandered along the awesome shops on main street, while we decided what we wanted. There were several very fancy shops with amazing hollywood style clothes, like silk jump suits, long gowns, mermaid dresses and those jackets with the big stacked ruffles around the arms like the First Lady wears. I have never seen anything like it. I told Dale I wanted to go IN the next store and actually walk around a bit....next one up was a High Fashion Paris store. Ummmmm, Oh My Goodness?! We sure didn't linger long, haha! Plus the food next door smelled fantastic! Tea and stir fry with my love out in the warm sunshine, before we headed home to FREEZING cold Sarasota, and out to dinner with Papa and the crew. We wanted some all you can eat Amish food at the Der Dutchman. We were hoping to get to the beach, but alas, it was not so. It has been just plain COLD for the past few days, like boots & beanies cold, but we still had lots to do and keep busy with school and play, family walks and game nights. So long, Sunshine! Will we see you again soon? Good thing there is always amazing things to do, see and eat around here! Tomorrow, we hope to take the kids to the John and Mabel Ringling Estate, as in Ringling Brothers Circus. There is a museum, art gallery, and estate you can walk through for free on Mondays, and then the forecast is all SUNSHINE again until we go home.
Can't wait to share more.. Hugs T Sarasota has the most beautiful, white sandy beaches and is a truly a year-round paradise! We have loved our time here so much! The highlight of this area, has to be Siesta Key beach, with sugary-white sand that remains cool to the touch and crystal clear blue water. I took SO. MANY. PHOTOS. It was fun to have my big camera out again. I will put them in a slideshow form, for ease.... The water was COLD and I never took my sweater off, but that didn't stop the kids from going right in and riding some waves. They did so good! Near by where we put our chairs, was a BIG sand castle creation. We decided to add to it's magnificance........ We all pitched in for walls and pirate skulls, moats and pools. Super fun! :) Slide show below: TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All done :) As if they hadn't had enough water, we headed back to the RV resort to warm up at the heated pool. It's amazing how much warmer it is when you get away from the ocean breeze.
More fun to come... Hugs, T Today on the RV oilers blog, we continue on our Southern Florida trip.... Dale's precious Grandparents come down to winter in this part of Florida, so we spent some time with them Sunday afternoon, and went out to eat with them at Anna Maria's Oyster Bar on Monday, for some all you can eat shrimp and fish. Kids meals were a penny an inch. WHAT?! For real. They measure your kids when they first come in and write their height on the kids menu. You mean I only have to pay 58 cents for my almost 10 year old to eat? THAT. IS. CRAZY. AWESOME. Tuesday was cooler since a front had pushed down, so we decided instead of the beach, we'd go to Manasota Beach to hunt for some shark teeth...... We walked the beach a long time, looking for sharks teeth and found some awesome treasures! Have you heard about the Red Tide? Apparently its an algae that really makes you cough and cough. It literally took our breath away. We really oiled up when we got home! YIKES! Slideshow: After all that, plus BLUSTERY winds, we were so wind weary, we just headed home to veg out and curl up for the night. Thank goodness, I had put chili in the Instant Pot before we left. Yummmmmm! And we grabbed some corn bread and fresh shredded cheese at the awesome little Amish shop on the way home.
The next few days were nicer, so we planned a trip to the oh so beautiful, #1 beach in the USA, Siesta Key! Oh my goodness, the white powder sand is AMAZING!!!!! I'll get the photos together soon.... Hugs, T We drove about 2 hours further south to one of our FAVORITE Rv Park, Sun N Fun. We were blessed to even get a spot! Their 1300 spot Rv park fills up a year in advance!! Fun fact, this now HUGE RV park, used to be not so big. I know because when Dale and I were courting, my parents brought him down here over Spring break in our RV, to drop him off with a traveling ministry team for 6 months. This was back in like 2000? I think. Cool, right?! Wish I had access to my photo albums, I could show you some pics. We were just babies back then! ;) Sun N Fun has a wood working shop, huge indoor and outdoor olympic sized pool, water park, shuffle board, kids playground, putt putt golf, glass working shop and loads of fun activities. Last time we were here, they had a residents prom. SO STINKING ADORABLE! Anyhow, while Dale was setting up the RV with boards under the jacks {because of the soft grass we parked on, borrrrring} we stayed up front and played shuffle board. These kids were SERIOUS. It was like Shuffle Board WAR!!! We planned to kick back and relax for the week as a family. A little down time from all the classes and trainings we have been doing! We went for a family walk before bed, it was gorgeous out! Next morning, we met Papa and Grammy at the Der Dutchman, our favorite breakfast joint in the area with homestyle Amish cooking. We take a picture on the stairs EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. This one was no exception! With the sun shining and rain in the forecast, we packed up and hit the beach! We finished the weekend out with some AMAZING rocking worship at Coastlife Church! More to come...we have another week down here!
Hugs, T We are already South for the winter, hallelujah! But we made the decision to go further south to get some beach time..... RV parks in southern Florida are VERY VERY full, so we were fortunate to even be able to park at all. The spots are small most of the time, so no room for our big 24 ft pull behind trailer. We left it at dad's and hit the road, that meant no garage for our car, or bikes. Time to drive! 2 hours later, I was thanking the Lord I don't always have to follow behind our rig. 3 hours later, I was calling Dale to tell him I was never following him again. Haha, that man does NOT slow down for yellows! Or give me warning when he exits! Thank goodness we made it all in one, well, 2 pieces. First stop, to see our friends and team members at the oh so awesome, Bay Aire Rv park! That place is the most precious little town of lovely people you ever did meet. And of course, we got to see our beloved Mr & Mrs. B!!!!!! We hung out, did classes, swam, went for walks and just enjoyed our time with them. The RV park provided us with free tickets to the Tampa RV show, the largest in the USA! We met dad, Drea and Miss Harley there for a day of fun. Dale and I have always loved to walk through RV's, even when we were courting, we'd go and dream of someday. :) This thing is a big deal. The lines to get into the fairgrounds to park was a mile in every direction and the ticket line over an hour wait. We were sure thankful for our freebies so we could walk right in! There were musicians, magicians and all kinds of neat things to enjoy! Even a sneaky bush man scaring everyone that walked by..... According to my phone we walked, 10,000 steps that day! Phew. Felt good to sit and rest. I DID find my dream RV, now to save up for it..... ;) A Foretravel with a gorgeous layout and theme. Funny, its the color scheme of our apartment. LOL! Guess I really like that look! And those FLOORS!!!! Totally drool worthy......and the drool won't even show! ;) OR dirt, or stains. RIGHT, PAXTON CLAY?!!!? Case in point, the carpet vs. Paxton and the applesauce. It's safe to say the Paxton Applesauce team won. Sigh. Gotta love it! Anyhow, after a long hot day in the sun, we decided to stop at our FAVORITE restaurant in the area, Frenchy's. Holy cow, are their Fire Island Shrimp Tacos AMAAAAAAZING! We leave TONS of Trip Advisor reviews on our trips, so that when we are in the area again, we can remember what we liked and what we didn't like. This place is so super cute and delicious too. Great atmosphere! HUGE portions. And just like that, our time in Palm Harbor was over. Thank you, Mrs. B for the pool pictures and RV pictures! Love you! Can't wait to see you all at Bay Aire RV again. We had a wonderful time! To be continued....
Hugs, T We are adoring our winter home in sunny Florida! The weather is nice enough to wear leggings and quarter sleeve shirts, and even tanks and shorts somedays. Evenings are cool enough to open up or sit around the fire comfortably....HEAVEN! :) Now that Grammy & Papa have a fun porch area, thanks to some hand me down outdoor stuff from Uncle Chad's, we have an AMAZING place to do school, read and relax, or eat. We are so thankful to be able to use Papa & Grammy's apartment kitchen, right next to where our RV parks, for some REAL home cooking in a REAL full sized oven. So comfort foods, favorite casseroles, baking and beirocks have been on the menu! https://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/easy-bierocks/ We get together with Uncle Chad, Auntie Lauren and the cousins, once a week for family dinner. Mostly at their house, but once in a while, we head out on the town for some yummy Mexican or something. Our team here is growing and blossoming and it's such a JOY to work with these beautiful, empowered and pumped up ladies. They are all teaching and doing classes just fine without help, but since I am in the area anyhow, we decided to try a "Host A Table" event. This event is where each local builder hosts a table full of her friends and family, and passes oils around while I teach from the front. Everyone benefits and its fun for us all to learn together. Teaching gives me such joy and energy, I just LOVE my "job!" We offered Slim & Sassy, metabolic blend water, info on our awesome Trim Line, and then on the counter, a whole tower of Peppermint Infused Milk Chocolate Brownies, and Wild Orange Infused Dark Chocolate Brownies. What?! We figured they'd balance each other out? We had 40 attend and a lot that joined our team. YAY, Team Dorothy! :) Next event is planned for February 4th!!!! I love that work never feels like it! :) So, Grammy came to town with a bag of goodies....CROCHET stuff! It's so pretty and happy colors await us!!! We aren't very good yet, but we are all working on that. Drea is a good teacher! My first attempt was not so hot. Apparently you have to carefully count stitches and I was mindlessly doing it and talking. Oops! We turned it into a little outfit for Flokie the dog. We were doggy sitting for Uncle Daniel and Torrey. He looks good in pink! The kids enterain themselves SO well each day. There is lots to do, like tether ball, riding bikes, badmiton, and helping Papa around the place. The girls have been SUPER into "baking" in their fort and bringing their goodies out to sell at the countertop.... This quickly lead to an idea, a Poke Cake Bake off, just like the Food network kids baking tv show they got to watch recently. Each girl had to find her recipe, make a grocery list, go to the store to help me get the ingredients and then we turned them lose in the kitchen. The rule was, no adult help and I needed to not be able to tell they had even been in the kitchen, it'd be so clean, when they were through. Avery went back and forth and settled on a Chocolate Caramel Rolo Cake with caramel cool whip on top. Destiny knew right away she wanted less sweet, so she went with a Lemon Berry Poke Cake. It had a raspberry puree and homemade whipped cream. Both were garnished beautifully! I was so proud! We compiled a panel of judges to taste and rated them on: *Their verbal presentation of what they were serving us, and how they prepared it *The appearance of their dessert *The TASTE It was hard, both were SO good, but such different flavors.....our judges had their work cut out for them. Can you believe the girls TIED? They both ended up with 78 points. It was time to bring in some other opinions....Papa, Grammy & Uncle Chad & Auntie Lauren, all had a go at it. You are not going to believe this..... Still a tie. So we brought in the nephews......
In the end, Destiny's berry cake won by ONE vote! They are already planning their next one. YUM! Hugs, T I turned 35 this August. 35 just sounds so OLD. So GROWN UP. So ADULT. I decided to do something nice for myself, something daring. Something I had always wanted to do.... Get my nose pierced! Yup, good little Mennonite, Bible belt raised, me has always wanted some kind of piercing. Nose or eyebrow was what I was always thinking, but in the end, I decided NOSE for the win...... And then I chickened out. Again and again and again. Almost 6 months later, and still no nose piercing. Sigh. Maybe it was never meant to be..... So Christmas has passed and we are in the lala land between it and New Years, and we decide to go downtown to see the lights and grab some supper at this little teeny amazing place in the square. It was awesome! We are just walking around enjoying the lights, in sandals mind you, which feels odd while looking at lights.....when what do we walk by but a piercing and tattoo parlor. Oh jeepers! Here we go. My heart is RACING! And of all things, its OPEN. My step mom, Drea and future step sis in law, Torrey, go in to see if they have an opening. I am on the sidewalk, as far away from the door as possible, deep breathing, and half praying they don't, and secretly wondering if they do, so I can just DO THIS THING ALREADY! They come out, she has an opening RIGHT NOW. Are you ready? O holy nose...... Ready or NOT, here we go! Never been in a tattoo and piercing parlor before, it was pretty and colorful! And loud. While I signed papers, doused myself in essential oils and signed my nose away, a lady was shrieking and screaming from the back. This is comforting. NOT. Applied more oils like 3 times. Thank the LORD for Balance and On Guard!!!! Stress city for a germaphobe. And I hate needles, eeek! It hurt, bad you guys. Not have a baby bad, which by the way, I told the lady before hand that I'd rather have a baby again instead of face her needle in my nose, but BAD. Like punch you in the face with a hot poker bad. But short and quick, then dull throbbing. Thank goodness Torrey let me squeeze her hand super tight. They would only let one other person in with me and she was nice enough to volunteer. The job was done, and now it was time for Lavender to the rescue!!!! My hot lip, red nose and puffy cheek, quickly went back to normal, thanks to it's awesome super powers. And I carefully cleaned it with melaleuca and on guard oil to prevent unwanted bacteria. It's healing up nicely and actually feels like I have always had one......kinda sassy and fun! Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to me.....FINALLY! ;) I hashtagged this photo on the RV oilers instagram page with #diamondboogers, and who KNEW that was a THING?! There are lots of posts with that tag! WHAT?!
Who "nose" what else is out there in the hashtag world..... ;) Hugs friends, T We had our second annual Horse Barn Christmas and I loved it. Such a humble little structure, so simple. No gifts, just a babe in a manger, surrounded by 2 Charlie Brown Christmas trees.... Good fun, amazing friends came to visit, and family; loads of fun! We actually celebrated Christmas eve instead of Christmas day....Drea always buys me the BEST stuff to decorate the barn with!!! Loved the theme and colors again this year! Dressing Christmasy is HARD when its a very warm 84* out, but we did our best! ;) I had the HARDEST time getting a shot of the boys...... I just don't know WHAT was going on?! s Ornery Papa!! Praise the Lord he is feeling SO good! And back to his mischevious ways ;) Because we were having a feast later, we made a bunch of appetizers for an easy snack lunch, while we made all the supper preperations. It was fun to have our new friends stop by and enjoy with us, then it was off to the breathtaking candle lit service before dinner.... It just doesn't feel like Christmas until we can go to one of those...... Then it was home to finish dinner prep and out to the barn we went.....all these photos are from Drea. I got my big camera out and then didn't even take ONE pic. Jeepers! I am fired! I had a slide show uploaded here, of all the great photos Drea took, but the website is SUPER grumpy and not letting me post!!! The next morning we attempted to sleep in, ha, and then had a leisurely breakfast and just chilled the whole day, reading and playing games. Super nice! Well, thats enough photos for one day, hope you all had an amazing Christmas and Happy New Years!!!!
Back to life and back to reality....UGH. My kids have had a HARD time getting back into our school routine. Who am I kidding, this MOMMA has had a hard time too! Can't we keep living in the Lala land between Christmas and New Years, and keep eating all the leftover amazingness, and watching Christmas movies in our jammies? NO? Darn. Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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