She Sings

Happy New Year!

"For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life."
-William Blake

Maxwell Joseph. Quite simply the *best* part of 2008.

Wishing everyone a Happy, healthy and safe 2009!

Birthday Pictures

I really meant to post some Birthday pictures but time was not on my side one the 16th! I especially wanted to post the picture of Max and I because it is one of my favorites! Rhi was so proud that she got him to laugh for this! The rose is one of a dozen that my wonderful husband had waiting for me on the table the morning of my birthday. These both were taken with Jon's new camara. He had just purchased it at this time and was playing around with it.

Holiday Letter

Dear Family and Friends, December 2008
“It's the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, 'till we find our place, on the path unwinding”. I have never really loved that song by Elton John, but I do love the sentiment. 2008 was a year of the ongoing inevitability of the so-called circle of life.
The New Year brought some new sorrow for the Baines Family. As we continued to heal from the passing of our mother and grandmother the previous September, we learned that another dear friend had passed in January. Dr. Heather Heim Cody was a close friend of the family and much too young to leave us. She passed on January 24th 2008 at the age of 37. We continue to think of the family she left behind and pray for them this Holiday Season.
On July 15th, 2008, the circle of life finally took a new turn. Rachel gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Maxwell Joseph Sanderfoot weighed 4lbs and 10 oz and was a little early. He took awhile to learn how to eat but once he did, he was free of the nursery he had spent the first 6 weeks or so of his life! Jon and I are thrilled to be Grandparents! Max is now 5 months old and is beginning to reach for things, laugh and make sounds. Rachel has been a great mother and has just completed a college nursing course with an “A”. She and her boyfriend Pete live at Pete’s parents’ house. Pete is working and going to school full-time.
Our big vacation this year was to go see Jon’s mother in Arizona. The plane trip began with evasive maneuvers to avoid hitting another plane. That’s when Michelle realized she should have packed the Valium! It was a great trip but very hot. We did get to see the Grand Canyon but didn’t get a chance to see as many people as we had hoped including Michelle’s brothers Eric and Pat. Our summer was a great summer for soccer. Jon coached Rhi’s team again and this year they made it to State! We were knocked out in game three but it was a pretty good run. Our friends the Maldonados finally made their big move back to Texas. David stayed and lived with us for about a month to finish his program and earn some extra money moonlighting before going to join his family. Best of luck on their new ventures!
Jon will finally finish his Residency this spring. He has signed on with a local Clinic. We still dream of moving out West but feel that keeping Rhianna in Rochester until she finishes school would be in the best interest of all. Rhianna is a 7th grader this year and is involved in basketball, private French Horn, and Soccer outside of school. She made the “A” honor roll this past quarter and is currently fascinated with history. In Arizona, she picked up The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and has been reading it ever since. Michelle is just very happy to be a Grandma! I am in my 10th year of teaching but big budget cuts are looming.
We are fortunate this year to have Jon’s mother Carolyn and his sister Rebecca join us for Christmas! We send out all of our love to family and friends that cannot be with us and wish you all the best of love and joy in the New Year!
Cheers!

Merry Christmas!

I am very tired from cooking all day. We ended up with a very delicious dinner of ham, beans, jello salad, steamed broccoli,deviled eggs, Robert Mondavi cab, sparkling cider and hawaiian rolls. There was homemade apple pie and Baker's Square french silk pie for dessert but most of us were still full. Everything turned out great and it was nice to have just family home for once (Rebecca came in from Albuquerque).Max was nice enough to sleep all the way through dinner so we had peaceful holiday music as a backdrop instead of crying and fussing (he's working on some teeth). Thank you Lord for my family and for this wonderful evening! No matter what, Christmas Eve is *always* magical!

"Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete.
-- Charles Dickens "

Wal

How long can I put off going to Walmart? This is really going to be horrible. Walmart on Dec 24th.

New Car

We purchased our first brand new vehicle yesterday! It's pretty sad when you have to be 40 something before you can go out and get a brand new vehicle. We probably could have done it sooner but it would have been out of our budget. It is *very* nice to have two four wheel drive vehicles now. Especially with all the snow we have had lately. It will be a white Christmas for sure. Lots of beautiful, sparkly snow covering everything!

Jon's mom is here and his sister arrives tomorrow. Jon will be driving up to the cities to get her in his new Toyota Highlander. We will have Christmas Eve dinner kind of late but that will give me more time to get it going as I am a little slow in the kitchen. My grandson has been over almost every night which has been wonderful but I do have to share him with Great Grandma! That little boy is very spoiled! He is just the light of my life lately!

I am off to bed. In the morning I have an apple pie to make, beans, jello salad and deviled eggs. Thank goodness I have Jon's mom to help. Let's not forget the cookies Rhi and her friend Bri want to make. *sigh* So. Tired.

Snow Day???

I was home with a bad cough and just general blah today. Sometimes you need to just slow down and rest. We have a pretty nice storm bearing down on us here and everyone is hoping for a Snow Day tomorrow! Cross you fingers!