WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
UNCLE JOHN

PLEASE WISH VICTOR AND SHERRY A HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEXT WEEK.
UNCLE JOHN

Memories & Photos of Lucky Requested

Please share any photos and good memories you all have of Lucky. They would be much appreciated.

In Memory

Lucky Dog passed away 12/25/2008. She was some kinda dog. We will miss her. Love you Lucky!

Lucky Dog & Eliora. Aren't they both so cute!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FROM UNCLE JOHN

Need some Family prayers for Lucky Dog!

She is in the doggie hospital. They put her on an IV today to re-hydrate her and try to make her better. Please keep her in your thoughts for the next few days.

Our New Puppy!

Well, yesterday we picked up our puppy that you all heard about at Christmas. He is a black great dane named "Tank". He is 7 1/2 weeks old. From what I can tell so far, his favorite activities are eating and sleeping. But he has played around a little and has been a lot of fun. He is starting obedience school in January and we are currently working on potty training! What a handfull!!! I am going to try to upload some pics for you to see. Shaina

Merry Christmas Card

Ashland University does a Christmas card that you may have seen from someone, but I think it is beautiful so I wanted to share it with all of you. Watch above the M in Merry Christmas for instructions. If you have speakers there is beautiful music and later the Ashland Choir sings, if you don't have speakers it's still a pretty Christmas Card!

http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html

Get Better Soon

Barb, sorry you're having knee problems. Hope you can get fixed up soon. Be very careful going out in this snowy, icy weather.

More Pictures!

Here are the last of the pictures! Sorry Eliora the ring pics were fuzzy.... my camera stinks on close-ups! Hope everyone had a great time. I did! Ate way too much but it was all so good!

More Pics later....

You all will have to wait for more pics. My knee got the best of me today finally. I am laid up for awhile.

Pictures from Family Christmas Weekend

As promised here are some pics from the weekend! I will continue to post more until I have all the good ones up on the site. Be sure to check back often!

Hey Family!

I had a GREAT TIME! Too much fudge, lots of great treats from everybody, fantastic chili and pizza. Loads of fun watching the "youngsters" playing Trivial Pursuit for the 90's! Glad Mark could join us on Sunday. (Sorry you all didn't have a chance to meet him) Can't wait to see the pics from this weekend! Thanks John and Cindy for letting us all invade and camp out. Oh, and great job on the traditional "cousin's pics" kids, we elders appreciate it. Hope to see you all again for the next big family doin's which will be Max's Eagle Award, followed by yet another big family doin's, Eliora's wedding. Only two of the grandkids left to marry off!

Fudge Time!

Well, Shaina reports that she has made her pan of fudge and also some brownie cookies! Umm! My pan of fudge is ready too, along with some cashews, chocolate stars and of course chocolate covered cherries! Hope everyone has been abstaining from chocolate for a while to get ready for this chocolate fest! I heard that Cindy and John have been preparing the chili! Gotta have some REAL FOOD in there somewhere! Can't wait to see what goodies Barb has planned, she mentioned bringing some treats too! It'll be a food filled weekend!

Rhylee

Just FYI, Rhylee's b-day is today. Dec 11th. Happy birthday sweet baby! Grandma loves you!

EVERY ONE REMEMBER TO WISH RHYLEE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 13TH.
UNCLE JOHN

I'm feeling the season! Merry Christmas Everyone! (Turn up your speakers!)
http://www.mesasoftware.com/merrychristmas.htm

Christmas Get-Together

Well, more news!

On other family news, everyone has been asking if Eliora is bringing Mark so that we can all meet him before the wedding. I still don't have an answer yet, I guess we will just have to wait and see. You all have been asking for details of the upcoming event and that is still in the planning stages too. So far this is what is known, date is set for March 14, 2009 so mark your calendars accordingly. They still have yet to secure a minister. Eliora is sporting a pretty ring which I am sure she will be flashing for everyone to see. Hopefully Mark will be able to accompany Eliora and meet the family.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!!!
shaina

Rawlings Christmas

Here's the Skinny!
I visited with the elders, (Aunt Gerry & Uncle John) and Christmas will be at ElDorado on the 13th at Uncle John & Aunt Cindy's house. Fudge will be provided by Auntie M and Shaina. Hope to see as many as possible there. Safe travel to all. Live long and prosper!

DUNCAN IS OFF! (FOR NOW)

Hey Gang,

Aunt Gerry, with technical difficulties, just called and told me that Duncan Christmas is off for now. Max will have all his worked completed in time for the event, however, the paperwork that goes to the National headquarters will not get there and be processed in time for his Eagle award to get back to Duncan in time for a celebration on December 13th. SOOO. . . . Here is what Aunt Gerry suggested. That we have Christmas still on that weekend but have it here instead of there. What do you all say to this? Has anybody made reservations in Duncan yet? Can they be cancelled? Do you want to go ahead and do Christmas there? Or would you rather do Christmas here and then later go to Duncan for the Eagle ceremony? Aunt Gerry didn't want everyone to have the expense of coming to Duncan for Christmas then again inviting everyone to return later for the Eagle ceremony. Aunt Gerry is thinking that the Eagle ceremony will take place in February now. OK, everybody please respond cause I told Aunt Gerry I would monitor responses and let her know what we think since she can't get to the blog at this time.

Duncan Hotels

Here's the scoop I could find on hotels in duncan.
The Hampton Inn - new one in Duncan - 580-255-1700 $ 109.00 + tax per night.
The Chisholm Suites - place we all stayed last time - 580-255-0551 $80.00 + tax per night.
The Days Inn - stayed there once long time ago DO NOT STAY THERE!
Hearthstone Inn Bed and Breakfast - 580-736-0100 $74.00 to 119.00 +tax per night. Depends on how fancy a room you want there. Never been there don't have any personal experience to pass on.
May the force be with you!

Tidbits

Hi everybody,
It's me again. First, hope Cindy's eye thing went well! Second, hope Barb has a safe trip! Third, my toes are toasty! & I have Schwan's Chocolate Chip Ice Cream! TTYL!

Christmas

Hi folks,

Aunt Gerry says the new hotel, The Hampton Inn, is opening November 14. It is not possible to make online reservations at this time. You must call the hotel direct at 1-580-255-1700. I tried calling today and just get busy signals. I checked with Hampton headquarters and they can't do online reservations either. They suggested trying during the week at normal business hours as the hotel is not open yet it is not manned on the weekends or evenings. I will try again on Monday and let you know how it goes. They will have an ihop restaurant too! Good news for us late nighters! Aunt Gerry feels that this hotel is going to be far better than the one we had used in the past. For Uncle John, Duncan has a new golf course called "The Territory" which is rumored to be fantastic. It seems that Duncan is experiencing a growth spurt with several new businesses. I sure hope Aunt Gerry is able to resolve her technical difficulties soon. Perhaps she needs an appointment with Aunt Barb, the family computer guru!

Rawlings Christmas Gathering

I'm posting for Aunt Gerry cause she is still experiencing technical difficulties. I visited with her this evening and Max will be celebrating his Eagle Scout promotion at a ceremony on December 13th. There will be a supper provided. So, Rawlings Christmas Gathering will be in Duncan this year. Aunt Gerry is to get me names and numbers of hotels in Duncan, the one we usually stay at in addition to a brand new one that is just opened. I should have them tomorrow or next day and will post as soon as I get them. I will be attending this event. Eagle Scout is a very important accomplishment. Having made that statement I do realize that it may be impossible for the entire group to attend due to various committments. That is ok. Life happens. Please take the time to send a card congratulating Max on his goal attained.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Be sure and wish Chris a happy birthday today!

Christmas Get Together

Have we come up with a place yet?

HEY EVERYONE REMEMBER TO WISH UNCLE MIKE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY.
UNCLE JOHN

THE RAWLINGS CHRISTMAS GATHERING

SO FAR SHERRY AND BARB ARE OPEN FOR FAVORING THE 13TH & 14TH
OF DECEMBER. THAT ALSO WORKS FOR ME. HOW IS THIS FOR
EVERYONE ELSE? LETS BE HEARIN, THE TIMES GETTIN NEARIN.
UNCLE JOHN (POET)

HEY EVERYONE, THIS FRIDAY THE 10TH OF OCTOBER IS AUNTIE "M"'S BIRTHDAY. BE SURE TO SEND HER AN EMAIL OR CALL. UNCLE JOHN

Christmas

I haven't heard from anybody about Christmas, what say ye clan!?!

HEY, EVERYONE REMEMBER TO WISH SHAINA A HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON SEPTEMBER 12TH.
UNCLE JOHN

New Address

Hi Everyone,
Grant and I are moving to a new apartment tomorrow. After 2 years we need some more space, so we are renting a 2 bdrm. We are excited to be getting a bit more room and wanted to let everyone know our new address. So here it is... 2029 N. Woodlawn #917 Wichita 67208. Hope everyone had a great summer! Shaina

Congrats!

Congratulations to Matt and Sarah! Great Job!

Pool Time is Here!

It's pool time! Woohoo summer is close! Come down for a swim!

What a Day!

Well, just an update on things going on with Grant and I. I finished the semester strong and glad to know that I'm still in the program! We bought tickets back in March for WWE Monday Night Raw in Kansas City. So we decided to make a day of it. We left early on Monday to go to Worlds of Fun. Until yesterday I had never been, but Grant had a few times. We rode several rides including the Mamba.(Which I was very proud of myself because that thing was a MONSTER!) After a long day at the amusement park we went to Kemper Arena for the show. It was a fantastic time and Grant even got to see one of his favorite wrestlers up close before the show. After it was all over we started the long drive home. By the end of the day we were both exhausted, somewhat sunburned, and had pounding headaches; but we couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces because it was all worth it!

Check it out...

Follow the link to my page to see some pics of our finished landscaping project and marley's haircut!

Horses

Hi Everyone

You all know I love horses, so when the Clydesdales arrived in Hutch I just had to hang out and watch. They weigh about 2300 lbs, stand 6 ft tall at the withers, their collar and harness weigh 130 lbs, and the driver has a constant tension weight of 75 lbs when holding the reins. I watched them parade, stand for pics, and get unhitched and loaded on their trailers. They have two trucks just for the horses and one for the wagon and supplies. There are five hitches, four that travel and one that stays put at Orlando, FL. The harness and collars for a eight hitch team cost $70,000. They travel with a team of 9-12 people. Yes there was one woman on their team. The dog for this team is named King. The wagon is an old restored wagon and is all wood with the exception of the steel springs. Boy did I have a great time! I found my friend Janell there and I said this would be a great career for someone that had no ties, loved horses and had a CDL. Wait..., that's me! Maybe, just maybe I've found a new career choice!! Janell was laughing pretty hard by then, guess she doesn't think I could do it. Probably am too old, but everyone needs a dream. Anyway, I had a blast and they sure are beautiful animals.

Welcome

Hearye, hearye,
Aunt Gerry is now amongst us! Thanks to Uncle John she has been able to access and read the family page. Hopefully soon she will be posting too. I advised her to get up to speed by reading all the old stuff as well as visiting various other blogs of family members, so she may be reading for a while! Don't know if the boys are reading the blog or not, hopefully they are.

Rascal is doing much better, wearing a collar again, and his hair is growing out. He has decided that he wants to be a house dog. That's something we discuss often, usually everytime I open the back door to let Angel in or out.

Angel is doing fine, found a variety of her favorite toy in Wichita so I picked up a bunch. She is loving that.

Eliora is busy preping for finals and the big move home next month. She is looking at her summer school options but no decisions final yet.

Shaina is still loving dental stuff. Cleaned my teeth and it was a chore. I'm a gagger and it took 45 minutes just to do the x-rays (normal time is 15 min). Cleaning was another whole adventure, but she stuck it out! She has finals soon also.

Grant is being the supportive husband and providing for Shaina. He's a wonderful guy and helps me out alot. Jerry & Lorinda and I have grown to become good friends and often get together. I am learning to drive several places in Wichita and as you know that is MAJOR for me. The city is a scary place.

Garrett & Rhylee are pure heaven for me. I love getting them here for the night sometimes, it's lots of fun. My three were all here recently and decided to put up "the tramp". They took turns jumping and it brought back some good memories. Garrett & Rhylee had a blast jumping too.

Sarah has her hands full with her bunch! I don't know where she finds the energy! I must be getting old and slowing down. Sarah always has so much going on and is so creative.

Matthew is always busy and I don't get to spend as much time with him as I would like to. He does so much and yet, anytime I need him he always makes time to take care of me.

All told, It's A Wonderful Life!

later, m:)

HEY,
EVERYONE BE SURE TO WISH MATTHEW A HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON MONDAY THE 14TH.
UNCLE JOHN

Alzheimer's test

Yes, they do have a test now for the genetic tendency. Dad tested positive for it recently. We had pretty much thought he had it but there are so many different kinds of dementia that we were not really sure. So now we know for certain. Could be worse I guess, after all he just turned 98! Nothing else much new here. Samo, samo. Gonna be rainy for a few days. Still trying to get the work done on the pool so we can get it open next month. Waiting for a patch to be re-done and doing some caulking of the seams. Come on summer...
Barb

Rascal update

hi folks,
Rascal came thru surgery just fine! Was really groggy that night and is on pain meds for the next few days. Today is better and his attitude about being "poisoned" has returned. He examines everything we give him for pills. Eliora is in charge of meds and is giving him stuff at 7 am and 7 pm. Poor girl is waking up earlier on spring break than she does when going to classes! HEHE! I figure if I'm footing the finances the least she can do is fight with him about the pills! Mashed potatoes work the best, and he really likes it if he can have gravy too. He's on soft food for the next two weeks but pills are only thru Sunday. Angel is way jealous and lets us know its not fair! ttyl m:)

Rascal dental surgery

hi folks,
Rascal is currently at the vet. Today is surgery to remove his bad tooth. Hope all goes well, Eliora and I took him in early this am, will pick him up tonight after work. I will post tomorrow on the outcome. I asked them to save the tooth for me, I will give it to Shaina since that is her "field of interest". hehe! I am kinda worried about this surgery since Rascal is so old, I am very glad that Eliora is here this week so he has his mama to help him during recovery. I told her she is in charge of pills if he has to come home with some cause it is really hard to get him to take them. ttyl m:)

Rascal pics!

Here's Rascal, all 132.9 lbs of him! And the harness that he chewed up lickety-split! And the neck ouchie! It really looks alot better now. Those black spots are black skin! Everywhere he has black hair he has black skin, go figure! m:)

Poor Rascal

Rascal dog developed a hotspot on his neck under his collar. Poor baby. Took him to the vet, it was really bad, they shaved his neck and gave him pain pills and antibiotics. He can't wear a collar now so I bought him a harness which he promptly chewed up. Because he can't wear a collar he can't be in the yard without supervision. He doesn't like being in the "kennel" for extended times so he has been sleeping nights in the house, days while I am at work in the kennel and evenings on "supervised yard visits". He discovered that I was slipping pills into his "goodies" and thinks that I am poisoning him. It is getting harder and harder to get him to take his medicine. Also the vet informed me that he has cracked a canine tooth and it must be removed next week. Probably more pills too! Angel is jealous of all the attention and house time Rascal is receiving and is upset with me. I give her "non-poisoned" goodies and it helps a little, but I can see the green-eyed monster in her. Tried to upload pics, no good, oh well. I'll try again later. OK, now all together, say, "POOR RASCAL"
later, m :)

Come On Spring!

This weekend was such a teaser. It was so beautiful and now the crappy weather is back. Yuck. I am so ready for spring because I am looking forward to doing some landscaping and trying to get our yard to look better. Hopefully by the end of the month we can start working on it. That's about it, just wanted to say Hi!

Bad Weekend

Well it is beautiful outside and I can't enjoy it. That's right I have fallen ill. It seems that everyone around me was getting sick, and I worked really hard not to get it. I can't really afford to miss any school. But, Thursday I started feeling bad and by Friday I was running a fever and could barely function. Hopefully, the rest of you have not caught the bug this year because it is a bad one. Anyway, hopefully I'm better by Monday.
Shaina

HEY,
FYI, EVERYONE REMEMBER TO WISH SARAH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON MONDAY THE 25TH .
UNCLE JOHN

IN FRIGID WISCONSIN!!!

Hey all. Barb here, in snow country. Dad and I drove up (well I did the driving... ) tuesday for my brother's 60th birthday party on saturday. They just bought a new house in Salem WI, in Paddock Lake Addition. It has a seasonal room off the back. Just exactly like I have always wanted! May try the hot tub out one night while here. Temp was in the negatives this morning when I woke up. The drive wasn't too bad but very long. 12 hrs. I-80 in Iowa was full of cars and trucks off the road from the storm the day before. There must have been 70 or more of them! I am going to try to post a pic from the house. Will see if I have any luck! We are going in to Chicago to see Kristen and Georgi and Eric tonight and to find my brother a big screen TV! More later.... BARB

MATTHEW AND SARAH,
REALLY LIKE YOUR HASKINS FAMILY PAGE. BEST WISHES ON YOUR SECRET.

UNCLE JOHN

Matt and Sarah's Secret

Way cool Matt and Sarah! Congratulations!
BARB

Adding yourself as an Author to the Blog page.

Sign in to the page. Click on settings, then go to permissions. You can add yourself as an Author to the blog by putting in your email. You might then be able to sign in using your own email and password? I'm not quite sure how it works b/c I haven't tried it, but I think that is how it works or you can just keep using what I set up. Just wanted to let you know.


Also notice Matt and Sarah's link to their own page too!

Hi Folks,

I'm trying this, hope it works! I recently purchased a "new to me" vehicle. It's really a 2005, but has a lot of nice stuff. Stow and go seating, so I can haul all my junk, a power lift gate in back, for my poor old aching shoulders. I call her Black Beauty, cause you all know I love horses. I will try to include a picture, but if one doesn't show up, sorry. Anyhow, the real news is not my vehicle purchase. The REAL NEWS is what Max is driving. If you haven't heard, he's got the hottest wheels in the family. Maybe he will get on and post a pic! Not a lot of other news with me right now. Just wanted to try this blog thing out and see if I could do it or not. Hope to see Gerry on with family stuff soon. Or at least Max! Marcia

Hi everybody

I'm glad that you set up this blog page, Sherry. It's a good idea and it looks so great! Grant and I stay pretty busy. He is still bartending, and his favorite past time currently is playing Madden '08. I keep busy with school and work. I love the dental hygiene program, it is something new everyday now that we are taking patients. Mom came to my advancement ceremony yesterday. It was a lot of fun, and she absolutely loved the tour around the clinic. Well, I guess that is it for now. Shaina

SHERRY,
THANK YOU FOR SETTING THIS UP, WE CAN USE IT FOR INFO FOR THE FAMILY GATHERINGS.
DAD

Hello Rawlings

Hey everyone! Chris and I haven' t been up to much lately. He has been really busy with work and gone ALOT. It sucks, but I guess it pays the bills! For anyone who doesn't know, we bought a house in Pittsburg, KS last May. We have been working on it in our spare time too. We painted every room, some already more than once. We have alot of plans for this spring. We want to do some landscaping and build a deck on the back. We want to repaint the garage and shutters too. Probably not too different of a color but it needs it. Hopefully later in the year we can put some new floors in the bathrooms, since they are carpeted right now, and maybe a new kitchen floor. Here is a picture of our house when we first bought it. We also have a guest room!!!

Well thats it for now. Hope to see some more posts soon!