update

I guess it has been awhile since I have updated this blog. For the sake of those who don't know where I am, I have re-located to Washington State, Longview to be exact. With Jeremy's orders to move to Fairbanks in October, I decided to return to the Northwest and get out of tornado alley. Longview is a lot like Ketchikan but not quite as much rain but it is green and there are mountains everywhere, something I missed in Oklahoma and Kansas. I have rented a three bedroom house for the time being and have enjoyed having the third bedroom for when people come to visit. While I don't have either Josh or Jeremy in the near vicinity, I do have a niece and nephew here in town and a cousin about 25 miles from here that I visit frequently because he has a place in the country with cows, donkeys and chicken and it is peaceful away from the city. I also have an assortment of other cousins in Oregon that I still have to locate but all in all, I have enjoyed coming back to this area.
I have been attending Calvary Chapel here, although I haven't quite decided if that is where I will finally settle and still have been visiting other churches off and on to find my niche. I keep busy with work as usual but also have been doing quite a bit of quilting and have met a number of new ladies through the local quilt shops. There is a beautiful lake two blocks from my house which provides a wonderful walking, running, biking path, which is very popular and I go workout at Curves three times or more a week as well. I am still actively going geocaching (if you don't know what that is, look it up) and have enjoyed exploring the new and unusual places that it takes me to as well as meeting some local geocachers at meet and greets held in the area. So I manage to keep busy.
Sometimes I wonder why I have been re-located to any given area, but recently I was able to minister to my cousin who had a triple bypass surgery. Folllowing his surgery, they came to stay here for a week so he could relax and recuperate before heading out to the farm. I was able to take care of his dog while he was in the hospital and prepared some meals for them as well. So I am thankful that I have come to this area even though I miss the grandkids like crazy.

Jeremy has been deployed once again, this time to Afghanistan for a year. Lisa is holding down the homefront with the kids in Fairbanks. I am hoping they will be able to come down again perhaps in August for a visit. Josh and Kendrie are still in Memphis and Josh is still flying for Mesaba Airlines. Laila is two and growing up so fast. Very cute too.

So the Mutart family is alive and well

PHISHED

Well it finally happened. I have been phished. That means someone got into my email or I inadvertantly clicked on something. If any of my friends or relatives receive an email from my hotmail account stating that I am in England or any other country and my wallet has been stolen and I need money, please disregard. IT IS NOT FROM ME. I am at home in Oklahoma trying to recover my address book and other information stored in my folders. I am usually very careful but I guess it proves it can happen to anyone. Above all, please DO NOT SEND MONEY TO WHOMEVER THIS PERSON IS IN ENGLAND OR WHEREVER THEY ARE.

Other than than, I am fine, the family is great and pretty much all is well with the world. Christmas is creeping up on us and I am trying my best to get a jump start. I have four quilts to finish before Christmas and a table runner or two, and jammies for all the kids. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it all. I guess I will be burning the midnight oil.

I would appreciate my friends and family to send me emails so I can re-built my address book just in case I am not able to re-capture the information from hotmail.
My new email is vrmutart@firehousemail.com.

Merry Christmas to you all in case I don't get around to updating again before Christmas.
Veta

UPDATES

Time flies when you're having fun and so much time has gone by since the last update. Our baby chicks aren't babies anymore. We hope the hens will start laying eggs soon. The roosters are going through puberty or something. They puff out their chests and fluff out their feathers to one another. We have heard they will start fighting so I suppose we will have to make a decision as to which one we will keep and see if we can find a home for the others or they may end up in the soup pot. Our original 20 became 18 as a result of a couple of mishaps, one drowning and one that the dog managed to capture. Then Jeremy acquired 10 more Jersey Giants, but we found out chickens don't handle the heat very well and the older chickens like to pick on the younger ones and keep them away from the food and water source. So we lost 5 all in one day. The rest seem to be doing ok and are holding their own against the teenagers. It's called the pecking order.

It has been quite hot here with some days over 100 degrees. The water is too hot to touch coming out of the hose so we have to let it run before we can even water the garden. Speaking of the garden, we have been picking tomatoes and squash almost daily. We have also had beans, some basil and cucumber. The lastest produce tonight was our very first watermelon. It is in the fridge chilling so we haven't actually sampled it yet. Hope it is good. We are still waiting on cantaloupe, okra, and peppers. The gardening is fun but a lot of work.

I will be visiting K-town again this summer so I am looking forward to taking a little break from the hot weather. I miss the mountains and even that low tide smell sometimes. The sunshine has been nice here but I could go with a little cooler temperatures. The wind always blows as well. Somedays it is kind of creepy with that mournful howling sound.

The latest creature sightings have been turtles. They just seem to want to cross the roads all the time, but for some reason some of them stop in the middle and can't get going again and usually end up.... well as road kill. These are quite large, some the size of large dinner plates.

We have also taken up geocaching. If you don't know what it is, look it up. It is quite
entertaining and the whole family participates. It is the thrill of the hunt more than the actual treasure you might find. Jeremy is official now with his new cap with geo cache logo. I will be looking for the caches in Ketchikan when I go there in a few weeks.

Kyran looks all grown up now with his new permanent teeth taking up the wide gap after loosing his front teeth. Kaylin will soon be four and she is the little princess. Kegan is just enjoying being a little boy and loves playing Indian Jones on the Wii. Both boys played T-ball this year so that was quite entertaining to watch. Kyran's team actually came in second place in the tournament. Laila is 6 months old now and trying to learn how to crawl. Wow, kids grow up so fast.

FARM HAPPENINGS

The latest news of note is that Jeremy and family are, I believe, officially farmers. They have acquired 20 baby chicks today to be added to the 2 dogs and more recent addition of Cami the cat. Jeremy has been pretty much opposed to having any more animals even though they have 2 1/2 acres for them. That is until today. So guess who is in preparing the little darlings for their new home with water, feed and heat light? Yes sir that would be him. He has even gone back to check on them a couple of times to make sure they were settling in. We haven't got him talked into the goats or donkey yet but you just never know. Are we farmers yet???

Springtime in Oklahoma

Wow three months go by fast. Well it is spring in Oklahoma. They trees have all leafed out. The daffodils have already bloomed and faded. It would seem that the most notable sign of spring here is the wind. There is rarely a day that passes without the wind. We are not just talking warm gentle breezes here. Oh no, it is more in the neighborhood of 40-50 mile an hour gales. The wind whistles around corners and into cracks. It is no wonder the pioneers moved west. They wanted to get away from the wind. I don't even think we have entered the thunderstorm and tornado season just yet. I believe that comes in a few weeks but we have already had a couple brief thunderstorms and some tornado activity east of here.

The other sure sign of spring here seems to be ticks. It is pretty much a daily routine to check the dogs, the kids and ourselves for the annoying creatures that want to suck our blood. Ok I have even got in on the act by pulling them off or out of the dogs. It is rather gross to say the least. So far, none on me. Thank goodness.

We are all alive and well. Josh and Kendrie were here for a visit and little Laila is now three months old. She is beautiful and we are enjoying her so much.
Jeremy is hard at work as per the usual. He is due to have a surgery done on his chronically sprained ankle. The ligaments are all stretched out and he hopes to get a good result from this procedure so that he can go on more road marches or whatever the Army has planned for him next. Lisa is continuing to homeschool the munchkins. Kyran recently lost his two top front teeth, bring his total loss now to 6. Kegan of course is still waiting for his first loss. Kaylin is just the little princess and trying to keep pace with the boys, although in the running department I think she is faster than the boys.

I am still working daily for the hospital and spending time with the family. When time allows Lisa and I manage to do a little quilting as well. Now that spring I think has finally come, we will also be tending to a garden and enjoying some good tomatoes and other veggies. I recently "adopted" or captured a barn kitty to be compnay for my aging Bitty. It is amazing to see how she has come to life, chasing the little dickens around the house. Little kitty, Patches, was pretty wild for the first week or so but she has settled right in and has turned out to be a very nice addition. There is a whole bunch of cats, all wild that live in the barn down the road from my apartment and I began to feed the little ones once in awhile and one day, when my door was ajar, the little kitty walked in and now she is spoiled and enjoying the good life of three squares a day.
So that is what is going on in our life right now Oklahoma style.

Laila Celine

I haven't seen this baby in person yet but I can hardly wait. Until then, here is just an appetizer.

Yule Baby

Welcome to the world little one. Laila Celine was born today weighing in at 6lb 13oz and 19 1/2 inches long. The proud parents, Kendrie and Josh are doing good and all is well.
It is hard to believe I have five grandchildren and I wish I could be with them all. Children are truly a gift from God and I love each one of these precious children. I feel so blessed. I hope to be able to see her soon.
There always seem to be this issue with having a birthday around Christmas time but what a great time to be born! It is the season for joy and happiness and what better time is there to celebrate the birth of a new baby? After one has waited for nine long months to finally meet this new little person, any time is a good time.

Welcome Laila!