I can't believe I am actually posting something! We had a Relief Society lesson on Sunday about gratitude. The teacher asked us to start a "gratitude journal" just listing things we are thankful for. I thought it was a great idea...when we are feeling down, we can look at our gratitude journal and realize how blessed we are...so my challenge to all of you is to take the time to write a list of things you are thankful for. I know that we are all so blessed..it won't be hard to do! Here are some things on my list...

1. I am thankful for my testimony of the gospel...and especially for our Savior. I can't believe that He took my pains and my sins upon him, but I'm so grateful that He did. I know that he knows us by name and loves us in a way that we can never comprehend.

2. I'm grateful for my family...I am so blessed to have 8 healthy children and 11 of the cutest, sweetest, and smartest grandchildren! I don't think they will ever know how much I love them. I have a husband that works hard for us and honors his priesthood...I am blessed!

3. I am grateful for wonderful friends...they make me happy! I have great friends!

4. I love my calling...teaching Seminary. I have 10 great students and I learn so much from them. I am in awe of a group of teens that come to church every morning at 6 am. to study the scriptures...we have such fun!

5. I am grateful that I have been given the gift of accepting others as they are and empowering them to improve their lives. I love my job and the people I have been able to work with...I never thought this LDS housewife could "hang in da hood" and have fun!

That's a few of the things I'm thankful for...

Jayla and Jordan

I just got some new pictures of Jayla and Jordan and wanted to share them. Jayla will be a year old in October! She is such a cutie and has been walking since she was barely 9 months old! Jordan and Lacey say she is a sweet girl who is very curious and into everything! Sounds like a typical one year old! I wish I could see her more often. They are planning a trip here for Christmas so we are excited about that. Little Jordan is a very special guy. Lacey and Jordan are wonderful examples. Tragically, Lacey's sister died a couple years ago and they stepped up and took guardianship of little Jordy. They are doing a great job of raising him. He is very into sports now and loves every team that Jordan loves...namely Ohio State and the Bengals. He loves school and is a smart young man. I spend my days working with people who need to step up to the plate as parents and I am reminded of this family who are doing it despite Jordan being in a grueling doctorate program for the next 3 years. You guys are awesome...Lacey is a great mom and a great daughter-in-law...we share a love for garage sales and I miss her especially on Friday and Saturday mornings! Love you guys!

Ike Hit Ohio!

Can you believe it? Hurricane Ike hit Ohio! We have been declared a state of emergency. We were hit with 79 miles per hour winds, which knocked out electricity everywhere. In fact, my workplace- Dept. of Human Services is still without power, so here I sit at home blogging and getting paid!! You know I hate that! We were lucky, we only lost power for about 7 hours. My mom and sister are still in the dark. Mom lost her carport too. Derr road, if you've been here, looks like a disaster area. We had sent lots of our electricity repair people to Texas to help out there so we are shorthanded here. I can only imagine what it must be like in Texas and my prayers are with those people. I have never seen wind like I saw on Sunday. I know the importance of 72 hr. kits and many of the ward members are having to put them to use.

Sadie's Day at the Pool!

We had a fun day a couple of Saturdays ago. Splash Zone, our local water park had closed for the season, so they took all the chemicals out of the pool and invited everyone to bring their dogs for a swim. Sadie, our Springer Spaniel loves nothing more than swimming so we took her! What a riot! There were dogs everywhere! It was a lot of fun and none of the dogs fought...they just swam and played. One even went down the kids slide again and again. As for Sadie...well the swimmer is getting old and arthritic. She jumped right in the deep end and then couldn't get her hind legs up so she dog paddled around and almost went under...I had to pull her up! I took her around to where the steps were and she swam there so she could walk out. She is one crazy dog!

The Houseman's

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

35 Years of Married Bliss...ters!

Guerry and I have been married for 35 years! We celebrated in Chicago by attending the temple marriage of one of my best friend's daughters. Whitley Staller was married on August 15th in the Chicago Temple. We attended the wedding which was beautiful... a beautiful sunny day, a beautiful bride and all of her brothers and sisters in attendance. Then we did a temple session, ate lunch and went back to our motel and slept! I guess that's what old people do on their anniversary! We had a great relaxing time. On Saturday, we headed to Indiana to attend the reception. It was so great seeing our old friends from the Huntington Ward. We laughed and reminised and showed pictures of all of our kids and grandkids! We enjoyed our trip. Poor Justin dog sat Sadie for us and she got sprayed by a skunk!! Nasty, to say the least...we are still trying to get the smell out of her. Back to work tomorrow!

I have a really good recipe for fruit salsa and cinnamon chips I wanted to share.

3 peaches, peeled and chopped

1-2 apples peeled and chopped (sprinkle w/lemon juice to keep from browning)

1 qt. strawberries, chopped

1 pt. raspberries, halved

Put chopped fruit in a bowl.

Combine 2 T. brown sugar; 2T white sugar; 1/4 c. jam (any flavor; I used peach)

Mix with fruit. Serve with cinnamon tortillas: Spread flour tortillas with melted butter; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar; spray with pam. Cut into wedges. Bake @ 350 for about 10 min. Yum!

35 Years of Married Bliss...ters!