Happy Halloween!

What a great night the kids had tonight! We broke old tradition! Mikayla suggested a scavenger hunt this year instead of trick or treating! The rest of the kids were in agreement so we got some candy and "prizes" and instead of a scavenger hunt, Jason mowed a path down at the north of the property and we put the candy and prizes along the trail for the kids. They had a BLAST!!!! Colby just thought what we did tonight was the greatest thing since sliced bread. They had their little Halloween flashlights (remember we live in the country so it is VERY VERY dark outside) and they did their best to follow the path as Jason and I walked behind them picking up the empty buckets. Next year we will have to try something different to make it a little bit easier for them but overall they really had a good time and said that they wanted to do it again next year. It sure does save on the expense of a costume and all that. My SIL suggested that they be the 3 blind mice and Briana be the farmer's wife, I thought it was a great idea (thanks Jodi) but Briana just couldn't be talked into being a farmers wife so....we talked about it at dinner one night and that is when Mikayla made the suggest for the scavenger hunt. We did a trail hunt instead! Anyway...I hope that you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Cathi

The pumpkins we carved tonight! Can you guess which one is Jason's????? :-)



The kids before we headed down to the north end of the property!


Looking around for their "stuff"


Hunting for their "stuff"


At the end of the trail! The kids and their "stuff"

Happy Birthday!

TO ME!!!!! I love it when the day is all about ME!!!! Just kidding! I did enjoy my day today, hard to believe that another year has come again! I am 34 today but I will stay this age from here on out! I will no longer age or grow older (hee,hee)!!!!! Anyway....here are some pics! Enjoy!

Cathi

Don't even ask!!!!


Looks are deceiving!!! The cake looks good but the only good part of it was the frosting! The cake itself was not very good!!!!! :-(


Thankfully Jason was thinking and bought me cupcakes (NASCAR ones no less just in case my cake didn't turn out) what a guy!!!


Opening gifts with the kids!


It was a great birthday! Now I must go to bed! It has been a LONG week! I have been battling a migraine for a couple of days and today was the first day all week that I felt like a human being again! I need to change something in my diet! UGGGG!!!! Anyway.....have a great evening!

Cathi

The cake!

Okay so here is how the cake turned out! We will have to wait and see how it tastes!!! I will keep you posted! This is a yellow cake recipe and w/ buttermilk frosting, yum,yum!!!

Cathi

Old Fashioned yellow cake before baking!


Cooling on rack after baking!


The finishing touch! Frosted cake! YUMMY!!!!!

Husband's experiment

We decided to stay home from church today because it is VERY COLD and the wind is blowing at about 50 mph so it is hollowing in our house. Jason decided that he was going to try a new bread recipe (I tried one yesterday and it doesn't even look good so I haven't even tried it to see if it tastes good, if it looks bad than in my opinion it won't taste good). So his bread looks good we will see if it tastes good! I am also baking a cake this afternoon. We are experimenting as my birthday is coming up this week and I am still on the look out for a great homemade recipe. We will see if this is the one or not. Anyway....enjoy the pics!!

Cathi

Praising God!

For friends who know how to stick it to me!!! :-)

I have been in a bottomless pit this past week and thanks to God and a few wonderful women in my life, I have realized that I can no longer be there. I am reaching up and taking God's hand and asking for Him to lift me out, inch by inch, one day at a time. I have a way of pushing everyone I love out of my life when I get into these ruts. Thank you to my wonderful friends (Missy, Amy S. and Jolene and my mother) who either called or emailed me, God used you to touch the depth of my soul and remind me that I AM NOT ALONE!!!! I laid Keara down for a nap and I got down on my knees and cried out to the Lord for comfort. It has been a long while since I have been in that position and it felt great to be in the presence and comfort of my Lord. I have been praying as of late in the sleeping position so I haven't really gotten all of my prayers out that I have wanted before falling asleep. I will be back in full swing very soon with my blog and my life! Step by step inch by inch God hasn't left me and neither have my family or friends no matter how hard the enemy tries to convince me otherwise!!!! I love you all!

Cathi

Where I have been.....

I am sorry for not posting recently! Life has been a struggle lately! I am finding it hard to find my way and what I should be doing. I am struggling and fighting with God daily over some of the little things. I realize that we are here on this earth but for a little while, our time is a vapor, here today gone tomorrow but even still......there are days. I am resisting what needs to be done and what I want to do. I know what God is telling me but......again I am resisting, I only want things my way! Who doesn't want things their own way????? I need to be still and rest in His arms. Everyday is a battle and everyday I must surrender to Him all of it! I am glad that I have tomorrow off, a day to regroup and refresh myself. It seems as though I have been everywhere and anywhere but home. I have been of lately the Mr/Mrs./dinner server/laundry doer/shower giver/put to bed person/make sure all of the homework is done of the household and that has been very frustrating and has also put a bit of a strain on the marriage front. I am only being honest here. I love my husband dearly but something has to give. So I apologize with not posting more but really how wants to read a post about nothing fun only compliants???? I sure wouldn't, so things are moving forward and in a different direction we will see which way it goes and how it goes. My husband is suppose to be around in the evenings more now so that should help with the load of everything else. I still need to seek my Father about His will for my job, my life and my kids. But for now....I am around, I am alive and I am seeking! I love you and will try to post more often, if I don't.....well that just means that life has gotten the best of me again. God's blessings on each and every one of you!

Cathi

What do you think?

I have made my blog pretty haven't I? This was an effort in itself! I am happy with how it looks! This is how it will stay for the time being! Beware, I love change so don't be surprised if you come back someday and find it different again! Happy Monday!

Cathi

7 1/2 weeks

Thought I would post some pics of our kittens! They are now 7 1/2 weeks old, aren't they the cutest things? They still don't like the dog but hopefully that will change but for now not the case! They love to be in the chicken coop and don't bother the chickens and the chickens don't seem to mind them! We are enjoying the day off from school! It is cool here today and that is always a welcome for me! I really enjoy the changing seasons! We are gearing up for Christmas! I have already started my shopping and my goal is to be complete by Dec. 1st! We will see if I accomplish that or not! Anyway...hope you are all having a wonderful Columbus Day (unless you live in South Dakota then I hope you are having a wonderful Native American Day).

Cathi

All over with!

We are about 2 hours outside of Sioux Falls! Our trip was uneventful and full of fun! The riverboat dinner cruise last night was great! We had an awesome time. The food was great and the entertainment was funny as all getup! Todd Oliver, he is a vantrilliquist (I am sure that I didn't spell that right), anyway....him and his "talking" dog! It was very funny! Jason and I both highly recommend anyone that has never been to Branson, to take the time and go! We only wish that we had had more time to check out more sites! The only thing that I really wanted to see and do was go down to Table Rock Dam and take pictures! We drove by it last night on the way to the boat but it was dark and pictures wouldn't have turned out! We also didn't get a chance to see the fish hatchery! Oh well, next time! Here are some pics from last night! Enjoy! It is going to be a quite week at the Bottelberghe household so don't be surprised if I don't post again until this weekend unless something changes of course! Have a great week!

Cathi

Our time here.....

has been great! Hard to believe that we will be heading home tomorrow! We have talked to the kids daily! That has been good for all of us! We saw a show last night that was AWESOME!!!! It was a group of 6 brothers. They sing but not only can they sing, they also make all the music (drums, trumpets, etc.) using only their voices! It was the craziest thing but so worth our 2 hours! We only wish that the kids could have been here for that one! Today we went to historic downtown Branson, had lunch and walked around. Nothing real note worthy. Now we are just hanging out in our hotel room. Our night ends with a dinner cruise on the Branson Belle. We are both very excited for this one. Jason's parents went on the Belle a few years ago and said it was a good time. That will hopefully be our highlight of the trip. We had some good laughs yesterday! We went to the Titanic, and the funny thing is.....
we drove right by the big ship and didn't even see it until we turned around and drove back to the spot that it sat. Right on the corner and we didn't even see it that made us both crack up into laughter!!!! Who can miss a gigantic boat on a corner of an intersection. Here are some pics from that.


That burned up about 2 hours but well worth the time to read about the titanic and what happened. Definitely a history lesson! Then it was off to the Hollywood Wax Museum, that was good also but kinda creepy, they looked so real! :0)



So that is it in a nutshell! We have had a great time being away from the kids and just spending time together and reconnecting, sometimes we need that in our marriages! Next week it will be back to reality for both of us and back to work full weeks again! Pray for us as we travel home tomorrow, it will be a long day as it is a 9 hour drive back to Garretson and that we will arrive intact and not mad at one another! Thanks for being on this journey with us! It is a blessing to have you all in our lives and sharing in our experiences with you!

Cathi

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today is me and Jason's 10th anniversary! We are enjoying our time here in Branson, MO. We are not sure what we are going to do today but that is okay, there are plenty of things to do. If anything else we will just take a walk around the area and maybe do some shopping! Jason's idea of a good time, I know! :0)
I hope that you all have a great day and a great weekend! Tomorrow night we are going on the Branson Belle for a 2 hour dinner cruise, we are looking forward to that! We talked to the kids last night! Poor Mikayla she is not used to us being gone and she is struggling! I think she is okay as long as she doesn't talk to us! You can hear it in her voice that she wants to cry! But grandma and grandpa are there and that helps! Usually if we have things we got going on, she is usually at the other grandparents house and not at home. That won't work this time because my parents live to far away! But they will be okay! Well I suppose I should think about getting ready for the day! Have a great day and a great weekend!

Cathi

We are almost there!

Hey everyone, I am sitting in the car listening to Jason talk to himself (and sometimes he speaks a spanish word or two) anyway.....we are almost to Branson, MO. We should be there within the hour! We stopped in Carthage, MO and went to the Precious Moments Chapel (and for those of you who may not know this, I collect Precious Moments), it was the most amazing thing! (For the record Jason is now talking about the Cobra Mustang but I digress) :-), anyway.....the chapel and hearing about Sam Butcher drove me to tears! He is a very talented gifted man. I took pictures but I can not post pics right now, that would be to much work! As it is this is alot of work for me to type and watch that my husband stays on the road! He can be a crazy driver somtimes especially since we are coming into some traffic! I will try to post pics this weekend, but I don't think that I will post anything tomorrow. Ya know it is our 10th anniversary and I hold the key to Jason's happiness (he,he) just kidding! He is telling me that I am not a very good navigator right now and that I can write my story later! So I better get off his computer and be the good dutiful wife and be his navigator! In his words,
"peace out"

In my words, Have a wonderful Thursday!



Cathi