Ryan Dontae

As I am sure most of you know by now, Ryan Dontae has made his arrival. 6 lbs 15 oz, 18 3/4 inches long on Wed Jul 21@ 2:50pm. I am waiting for Mom and Dad to be the first to post pictures, then I will be flooding the site with photos.
Everyone is doing well. I got home late yesterday (Saturday) exhausted of course, but everyone is doing fine. Justin is so very proud to be a Daddy and he is handling most of his first time Dad duties just fine. He even bragged yesterday about his "Daddy Badge". The little guy had spit up on his shirt, and he was quite proud of it.
We love to watch our family continue to grow, and are anxious to share the new precious little bundle with everyone.

Good times and Bad

Life is full of surprises, some good, some bad. WE are still eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby JMIKE, none more eagerly than J & K I am sure. With a few false alarms, we are pretty sure the next one will be the real thing. :) The two boys have joined them for the summer as well, and are very anxious to meet their new baby brother. It is a house full of laughter, love and joy.
On Thursday this week, I found out that Haldex is closing it's doors for good in Iola. They have decided to move the contents to Mexico, to consolidate. It looks like a whole lot of people are going to be looking for another job. I am not sure what I will do at this point. I am better off then most, as our house is paid for. Just pray lots and see what opportunities come my way.
My Mom is in the hospital once again, with an infection. She is improving steadily, and hope she recovers completely this time.
My younger brother had double knee replacement and is coming along great. :)
Who knows what tomorrow will bring. But it doesn't matter. I am loved, and I know God has a plan for me. I am not saying it is going to be easy, but we have been in a lot tighter spots, and after all, I am a Marine. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I will try to keep everyone posted, a little better than I have been.

Arizona Flowers

They say the desert in bloom is a thing of beauty. I have to agree. The colors are so bright they hurt your eyes, but you cannot look away. I am not sure my photos do them justice, but I hope you enjoy

Greetings from Arizona

Hello to all. Sorry I have no pictures yet. I have been just a little busy since I got here. Mom's operation is a success and now the real work begins. I am so very proud of her. She is in a lot of pain, but she is doing everything that she should. Dad is doing OK as well, now that the surgery is over. I am getting pictures, so I promise to try to post something, but you may have to wait until I come home. The weather here is awesome...It has been in the 80's and today it got to 90. It is nice to swim (only once so far) and the sky is blue.....Oh and the flowers. They got lots of rain here in January so everything is blooming. The cactus are beautiful. I will try to keep in touch as best I can. Take care all and keep us in your prayers

Exciting News

I just wanted to share all kinds of exciting news with everyone. First of all, I have a new daughter in law, Kat. Her and Justin went to Las Vegas this weekend courtesy of Justin's boss, since the company had a banner year. They called us Saturday night with the happy news. Our family is growing by leaps and bounds.
Just a few minutes ago, I got a call from my older brother Dave. I am a great Aunt, and he is a grandpa for the first time. The newest addition to the Dubey Family is Kayden(sp) Christopher. 7lbs 13.9 oz and 19 inches long. He was just glowing. What an amazing week. I think this one is going to be a hard act to follow. I will post pictures when I get some. :)

A visit with the newest addition

Grandpa, Steve and I went to visit with the newest addition to the Michael family last weekend. Nicole looked tired, and we could tell she was missing Sedric. Taking care of a little one by yourself, (even with Grandma and Grandpa) can be pretty tough. I could not get over another girl in the family having a baby. It seems like not too long ago, all our children were playing together with each other. Nicole is a beautiful Mom, and Grandpa really enjoyed getting to see his 12th great grandchild. Thanks Nicole for letting us share your joy.

Frozen in time

I am sure everyone is glad things have finally begun to melt. But there was magic in the air with all the frost and snow. We had lots of snow, and then a very hard freeze.
When I walked outside the beauty of it took my breath away. I tried to capture some of it for you. I hope you enjoy. My favorite is the close up of the pond. That is frost falling off the trees, it looked magical. I think the fairies have been up to their tricks again. :)