Ramblings

Well, I managed to get all the new bushes and trees in yesterday. I don't mind saying it was quite a chore. The biggest tree was my biggest challenge. But with a little ingenuity I managed to get it in the ground. Of course, I had to remove a half ton of rock to do it, but it's there! Once we get the sprinkler system set and the mulch down, I'll post some pictures. Today, we have a nice gentle rain so that's great for the new plants and will also help the new grass I recently put down in various areas of the yard.

This weekend is Alice's "Girls Weekend". She was saying the other day that this will be 22 years in a row they have had girls weekend. What a pocket full of memories they all share from those years. And I'm sure there are more to come.

For me, I was planning to take my NC Concealed Handgun class, but with all the other expenses and the fact that mulch will be delivered early Saturday, I suspect it will have to wait for another time.

We don't have any pics of Clay and Sam playing football, but I do have some photos of our nephew Jake and his sister Rylie during their football season. Pretty cute! The first is Rylie and her dad Ray. The second is the QB Jake under center.



Our brother in-law Allan returned recently from a missions trip to Africa. The church he and Shirley attend sponsors a village there and they went down to do some work, offer some assistance with school and clothing needs, and simply attempted to live the gospel.

Also, our dear friends Paul and Virginia Nurmi returned recently from another trip to Africa mentoring with new pastors and their families.

Hope this update finds you well.

Norm & Alice

October Update

Well, here's the latest from the MacDonald Clan.

Mom has made it back from Hawaii. She and her friend Sharon arrived back in the Tri-Cities on Tuesday, Sept. 30th. They had a wonderful time but were very glad to be home. She says that pictures are on the way, but I'll see how that goes.

Both Clay and Sam injured their knees in football. No official word yet on the "damage" but it happened on the same day, same game. One before halftime and one after. Go figure!

As many of you know, Alice works in a very volatile business...housing. So far things are holding their own here and we hope that continues, or gets better. They are currently looking at additional financing to start some new communities, but with the financial market the way it is, she's not sure how all of that will flesh out. So we keep praying and believing in the good. If things turn south, we may be looking for a double-wide somewhere in the hills, growing our own vegetables (corn)and raising cows, pigs and chickens. What a hoot that would be!

The traditional "girls weekend" is coming up soon so she is looking forward to that. Which obviously means there's a "boys weekend" at the same time which Eli and I are looking forward to! :)

We are doing some fall yard work. Hoping to get grass were there ain't none and at the same time, we decided to redo the front bushes. Below is a picture of the "before", as it looks now. We'll let ya know when we have something green in there. That should be late this week or first part of next. The objective is to make a more gradual slope from the house to the yard and add some smaller and more colorful items to accent the front. Based on what we've selected, it should look nice.




Well, we'll keep ya posted.

Love to All

Alice and Norm