PRESENTS, PARTIES & POPPA!

Yes, we ARE alive and well and, just like you, we've been preparing and looking forward to Christmas! Since the last time I posted to the blog, we began the month by going out with our good friends, Sandy & Al and Jimmy and Shelley, to celebrate Sandy & Al's 38th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that correctly...Sandy has been "putting up" with Al for a WHOLE 38 YEARS now!!! Wow...I bet Santa is going to reward her with something REALLY good this year! lol Seriously, though, we all went out for a most wonderful dinner at "Lelli's" in Auburn Hills, after which we came back to our house where we gave them their Christmas gifts. It really was an awesome evening...and, once again, Congrats to Sandy and Al!

After celebrating the big anniversary, John and I hosted a dinner party for some friends from church, as well as my brother and sister-in-law. We invited Dawn & Tim Waage and Hal & Linda Barringer over for dinner and conversation. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner of stuffed chicken breasts (at least, no one got sick! lol) and then we just enjoyed a lively game of, "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?"...which we sadly discovered that most of us were NOT!!!! lol

Last weekend we were so pleased to have John's daughter, Jessica, and his grandaughter, Emma come for a visit. Unfortunately, they chose the weekend of our HUGE snowstorm to drive all the way up from South Carolina! After about an 18 hour drive, they did arrive safe and sound and more than a little tired. We really enjoyed visiting with Jessica and playing with Emma (who is almost 3). I was so happy to have the opportunity to get to know both of them better, and was thrilled that I am now known as, "Grammy" to Emma! They left on Tuesday to go back home, and we're happy to say that the trip back was much quicker thanks to dry roads.

This past weekend John and I were invited to Randy & Dona Radcliff's for our annual gift exchange & dinner. We were joined by Bob & Jan Marasco, Terry Hall and Harold and Jeanette Cooper. We all were treated to a culinary masterpiece ala, Randy...a wonderful prime rib dinner...which was cooked to perfection! I think now I'm going to have to "up my game" for my next dinner party! After dinner, we enjoyed delicious desserts and then....PRESENTS!! Woo Hoo! Everyone seemed pleased with their "Christmas Bounty", but, as always, the best part was getting together with all of our friends.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and as we do every year, all of my family will be going to my brother's house to enoy dinner and gifts and just time spent together. As I get older (and hopefully, wiser) I find that those times we're able to come together with friends and family to talk, laugh, reminice and make memories, are what I treasure most in my life. So, as Christmas approaches, John and I wish for all of you blessings, love and the warmth of family and friends in the new year! We love and treasure each of you!

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BIRTHDAYS & "HOLIDAY NIGHTS" MINUS LIGHTS

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Whew! After partying all weekend, this old lady needs a rest! What a fun weekend John & I had! On Friday night we met Sandy & Al and Jimmy & Shelley AND Mama K (Sandy's mom), Kirsten (Sandy's daughter), Debbie & Ian (Sandy's sister & nephew) and Debbie's friend, Colleen, for dinner at The Firehouse restuarant in celebration of Mama K's 89th birthday! We all enjoyed a delicious dinner (I had bbq'd ribs!). Following dinner, we proceeded to Sandy & Al's house where we continued our gluttoneous celebration with one of Shelley's most excellent birthday cakes! MMMM...MMMM...GOOD!

If you will notice in the pictures....Mama K has a black eye and her arm is in a sling. Well the reason for that is, that on Thanksgiving Day, she had a slight mishap. She filled her plate full of food and in her rush to feed her face, she tripped on the table leg, then went airborn, then fell to the floor with her face landing firmly in her mashed potatoes, corn and cranberry sauce. Her grandaughter, (seeing the cranberry sauce on her face) thought she was bleeding and became somewhat hysterical. After much confusion and trip to the emergency room...Mama K emerged doing well except for some bumps and bruises and a very sore arm. And, as you can see, she was able to enjoy her birthday celebration without incident! Way to go, Mama K....Happy 89th Birthday!!!!

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On Saturday, we took part in a fun celebration of the Christmas season with a group of friends from church (and one was my office manager AND my boss!!!) All of us (John & I, Hal & Linda, Rose & Dave and Dawn & Tim) met at Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. Yessiree....that WAS yummy! After a great dinner and some fun conversation, we caravaned to Henry Ford Greenfield Village for their "Holiday Nights" event. On the way, it started to snow and by the time we arrived, there was probably 1/2 inch of snow on the ground. At 6:30 p.m. they let everyone inside and we walked around the Village, listened to the Christmas carolers (dressed in Victorian attire), warmed ourselves by the warming fires, we took a ride in a Model T Ford (complete with a lap blanket) and toured the houses in the Village. Everything was decorated for Christmas....but Tim was quite disappointed that he couldn't find any "Holiday Lights" (I think he misunderstood something along the way! lol) The grand finale of the evening was a beautiful fireworks display in the town square. The falling snow made it even prettier! With the snowfall, the drive home was quite pretty, but somewhat slippery. Thankfully, we all made it home safely and, thanks to all the walking and fresh air, we all slept like logs! And, yes.....we all made it to church on time on Sunday morning! What a great memory we made!

TURKEYS, JOHNS, AND LIGHTS!

I'm sure you're probably saying to yourself,...."Self, what exactly does she mean by THAT???" Well, I'll tell you...On Thursday, we had a great Thanksgiving, Mom & Dad and Beth and her family were all here...the turkey and trimmings were deeeelish and after dinner (and the dishes)we all enjoyed playing a few table games together. But,unfortunately, I, being busy being the perfect hostess that I am (ha ha), totally forgot to take any pictures! DRAT!!! Oh well, we all enjoyed the day, the dinner and the company, so a good memory was made even without pictures.

On Friday John and I paid our respects at my good friend's sister's funeral. While it was very sad to say goodbye, it was a beautiful memorial service that reflected the love and laughter, as well as the legacy of a beautiful Christian example that she left for her family members. Friday evening we met Jack and Leona for dinner and went to the movies. We saw, "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington. It is the first time we have been to the movies in quite awhile, but I have to say, that we all thought it was a very good movie.

That brings us to Saturday, and the "Johns" part of our weekend. As all of you blog readers know, November 10 was John's birthday. OK...try and stay with me now...Well, December 4 is John, Jr.'s birthday and since we hadn't been able to celebrate John, Sr.'s birthday with John, Jr. and Jessica yet, we all went to dinner at Big Boy's where we all chowed down. Thank you, again to Jr. and Jessica for treating us to dinner. You guys are THE BEST! After dinner, we came back to our house where we had birthday cake and ice cream and presents and the big Euchre challenge. Yes, the men won 2 out of 3, but you can bet that there WILL be a rematch soon! lol

Sunday, as always, we went to church. It was a very good service and afterward we went out to lunch with our friend, Cathy. When we got home, we decided it was a perfect afternoon to paricipate in John's most favorite activity...PUTTING UP THE OUTSIDE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!! And that's just what we did! We had everything we needed....warm coat...CHECK! warm scarf...CHECK!...gloves....CHECK!...earmuff...CHECK!...tons of white Christmas lights...CHECK! And, then there is the all-important rake (for hooking those pesky lights up in the skinny, anemic tree in the front yard)...CHECK!!!! Amazingly, it only took about an hour and a half and there were no arguments or broken lights or brances in the tree! And we were only "half" frozen! Ah, SUCCESS!!!! Thus, you have it...."Turkeys, Johns, and Lights!"

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HOLIDAY TIME!

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As you can see, John and I were busy this weekend getting the house ready for the holidays. We now have the tree and a few other Christmas decorations up. Hopefully, we will finish the iniside decorating and begin putting lights up outside by this time next week. Then...the real fun begins....Christmas Shopping!!
As is the tradition in our famiy, I (we) will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this week. My parents and Beth and her family will be here this year to have dinner with us. Greg and his family are taveling to Missouri to be with friends, so our group is a little smaller than usual. Guess that means that there will be more turkey (and rice pudding) leftovers to share! YUM! John and I wish you all a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to getting together with all of you during the holidays.

PARTY DOWN!

The Jarvis' enjoyed a full weekend of birthday "partying"! Saturday, November 10th was John's birthday, so we began the celebration on Friday night with Sandy & Al and Jimmy and Shelley. We met for dinner at Da Francesco's Italian Restaurant and enjoyed a "delicioso" Italian dinner. After dinner, everyone came to our house for birthday cake, ice cream and presents!!!!! Woo Hoo!
On Saturday, the celebration continued. After John got home from school (yes, he's STILL going to school!), we drove up to Frankenmuth with our friend, Cathy, where we had their "famous chicken dinner" followed by some shopping at Bronner's. Sunday was more cake, ice cream and presents when we went to my daughter and son-in-law's house to celebrate all four grandchildren's birthdays. I think we truly reached our "cake quota" for the year! And by the way....in case anyone is curious...MY birthday is in July...(wink, wink).

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AUTUMN BEAUTY

Fall was in it's glory this weekend, so I took a few pictures in my back yard and thought I'd share them with you. Hope you enjoy them. We had a pretty quiet weekend. Saturday afternoon was spent cleaning and straightening the house (because we all know how messy John is!lol). Saturday night we went to a party hosted by our good friends, Jack and Leona, at their son and daughter-in-law's house. It was great to see everyone we haven't seen in several years and the food was delicious! Sunday we went to church and just spent a quiet afternoon and evening at home. All in all...a very good weekend.

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OOOOH...THAT'S SCARRRRY!

'Velcome to our blog....don't be afraid...we won't hurt you! Yes...Halloween 2007 is now history. I hope yours was as much fun as ours was! John and I spent the evening with John, Jr., his wife, Jessica and the two grandkids, Josh & Lexi and their dog, Jeffery (who looks exactly like my dog, Toby). We all left at about 6:00 p.m. to take the kids trick or treating and they were pretty well pooped out by 7:00. The weather was very nice, though it was a little windy, and the rain held off until 8:30 when we came back home. It has been about 3 or 4 years since I have gone out with the little ones, and John and I both had a great time. I always love to see the little kids in their cute costumes. We also got to see some "kids" who looked to be about 25! Now THAT is always scary! Anyway, it was a fun way to spend an evening...much better than watching TV.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Since getting married, I think that I must be settling into the "nesting" mode because this is the second weekend in a row that I opted for inviting people over for dinner. Sunday was my sister-in-law, Cyndi's birthday. So I invited Cyndi, Greg and the kids and Grandma & Grandpa over for dinner, birthday cake and, of course,PRESENTS! Woo Hoo! We enjoyed a nice dinner that included pork roast, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and veggies. Everything must have been pretty good, because we certainly didn't have many leftovers! After dinner we all stuffed ourselves with German chocolate cake (Cyndi's favorite) and ice cream. Cyndi was then showered with birthday gifts....jewelery and cologne from Mom & Dad and a sweater, earrings and a set of kitchen bowls from John and I. We were also able to fit in a few games of "Apples To Apples", as well as popcorn and a movie. Yep...this family sure knows how to "party down"! Hope you enjoyed your weekend too!

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HAPPY SWEETEST DAY!

So....how was YOUR Sweetest Day?? I know, I know...I'm only about a week late! But Sweetest Day at the Jarvis house was very nice. As you can see, I received some very beautiful roses from my sweetie! We had friends over for dinner in the evening, so my day was spent cleaning the house and doing the cooking. Our company arrived about 6:00 p.m. and we had a very deeeelicious dinner of bbq'd ribs (even if I do say so, myself!). After dinner we enjoyed some apple and chocolate pies and played several games of "Apples To Apples". All in all, a very enjoyable evening! Sunday, October 14, 2007 PARTY ANIMALS! We had yet another wild party weekend! I know, you're saying to yourself, "How do they do it...and at their age???" Well, let me tell you....it is NOT easy! lol Actually, we had a very nice weekend. Friday night was spent with our friends, Sandy & Al and Jimmy and Shelley. We went out for a great dinner at Kruse & Muer's Restaurant in Rochester (Where, BTW, they were putting up all the Christimas lights!). After dinner, everyone came to our house for some of John's homemade apple pie & ice cream (mmmm...yummy!) while we watched "Ghost Whisperer" & "Moonlight". On Saturday John and I went out to dinner with Sandy & Al and their daughter, Kirsten to celebrate Kirsten's birthday. Dinner was great...followed by birthday cake at Kirsten's house. Then we all watched a movie together, and Sandy even managed to stay awake for the ENTIRE movie! Amazing! Sunday John & I went to church, after which we drove up to Ruby Tree Farm near Pt. Huron where we, once again hooked up with "the gang" (Sandy, Al, Jimmy, Shelley, Sandy's mom, sisters, son & daughter-in-law, grandkids and other extended family) and we enjoyed a beautiful fall day, ate hotdogs and apple cider, donuts and caramel apples. The little kids took a carousel ride and all of us took a spin on the tractor train. We went to the petting zoo (kind of stinky!), and took a walk on the nature trails. It was a perfect Fall weekend and I think I can speak for everyone when I say, "A good time was had by all!". Hope you enjoy the pictures! Sunday, September 30, 2007 WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND! Having been home and working now for one WHOLE week (it's such a hard life!)...John and I decided to travel a little further north and see if there were any of Michigan's beautiful Fall colors to behold. So, on Saturday afternoon we went up to Pt. Huron and took the circle tour route along the coastline of Lake Huron up to Pt. Austin and then traveled over to "scenic" Saginaw, where we spent the night. As you can see, we stopped all along the way to take some beautiful pictures of the lake and of each other!(That's what newlyweds do, you know!) We slept in (8:00 a.m. for "old" newlyweds), went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then proceeded to Birch Run where we managed to spend more money than planned. The weather was soooo nice...we didn't want to come home. But, here we are, at home and ready to go back to work tomorrow. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as much as we did ours! Saturday, September 29, 2007 BETTER LATE THAN NEVER! Here are some pictures from our engagement party....I know...they are a little late being posted, but that is because they were in John's camera and he just got them developed. Anyway, we just thought you might enjoy seeing them. And I promise...this is the last of the pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding pictures...we will now try to just "get on" with our life! lol Friday, September 28, 2007 HONEYMOON PICS For those of you who haven't seen them...here are a few of our honeymoon pictures from Vegas. Monday, September 24, 2007 BACK TO "NORMAL"?? It's great to be home! After a lovely wedding and a very nice vacation, it was "back to work" today. Actually, it feels good to get back in the routine. It's been a pretty normal Monday, and it seems that everyone was able to survive without me for a a week and a half....though I can't imagine how!(lol) While I was "slaving away" (just kidding) at work today, John was busy taking care of all those things that have to be changed and added and moved after you get married. I, on the other hand, won't officially be able to change my name until I request and receive a copy of the marriage license from the city of Las Vegas. Then, for the small sum of $20.00 and a postage stamp, I will officially be, "Karen Jarvis". Hopefully, it won't take too long to receive a copy of the license. Then it will be my turn to change everything! Everyone, please keep in touch...we love hearing from you! Saturday, September 22, 2007 COMMENTS Hi All! Some of you have complained that you couldn't post comments on our blog. Well, since the purpose of us having it is to be able to hear from everyone and keep in touch, I have changed the settings. So give it a try....We DO want to hear from you! Thursday, September 20, 2007 WE'RE BACK! We're back home! Yes....the wedding was beautiful (at least, we thought so!)...the honeymoon was great fun (no, we didn't "hit it big"!)...and it was wonderful to have our friends and John's daughter and son-in-law there to share the big day with us. The weather was beautiful....it was 100 degrees when we arrived on Thursday (but it was a "dry" heat lol) and then the rest of the week it was 97-98. We got married at 4 p.m. Las Vegas time on Friday...then we went all over the Paris hotel while the photographer took TONS of pictures. At 6:30 p.m. we all had a reservation at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant for dinner. What a perfect place for our wedding dinner! It is a 5 star restaurant...the food was out of this world...and the service was impeccable. In short, a good time was had by all! The rest of the week was spent touring the various hotels. We did a lot of walking (I have plenty of blisters to prove it), we went to the David Copperfield show at the MGM Grand Hotel...we saw the Cirque Du Soleil (sp?) show, "O", at the Bellagio Hotel, and we took the "Dam" tour (Hoover Dam, that is). Oh, yes, we also did a lot of people watching. Las Vegas is the "best" for people watching! It was all very special, but we are also very glad to be back home. We are now trying to get the house in order and get the rest of John's things moved here to my condo (now to be "our" condo). Life is good and we are both very happy...we haven't had any disagreements yet, so it is all good! Thank you all so much for your love and your well wishes...We hope to see you all soon, and for a free dinner, we'll be glad to bring our thousands of pictures of the wedding, along with the DVD AND all of our honeymoon pictures too! For those who don't want to cook for us, here is a sampling of the wedding pictures. Thursday, September 13, 2007 WE'RE OUTTA HERE! Well, at noon on Thursday we will be on our way to Vegas and about 31 hours away from walking down the aisle! Woo Hoo! Today was spent getting a pedicure and a manicure, packing and rearranging suitcases, purchasing last minute items to take along with us, and generally...just getting STRESSED OUT!!!!!! We are both VERY excited! It doesn't seem possible that six months have passed since we first got engaged. Time certainly DOES fly when you are with the "right" person and enjoying life! We aren't taking our computers with us, so we won't be updating the blog until we get back from our honeymoon. And I'm sure we will have plenty of pictures and stories to share. For those of you who are staying behind and have to go work everyday...our sympathies are with you! Try not to be too envious....we'll (or at least "I") will be back at the grind before you know it. We love you all....Take care....We'll see you soon! Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Who Says Church Secretaries Don't Have Fun??? Here are a few pictures from the "pre-wedding" party at Ram's Horn. Monday, September 10, 2007 BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! Wow! I can't believe the wedding is only 4 days away! We had a great weekend. We went to a new Polish resturant with friends on Friday night, and John and I were serenaded by ELVIS!!! Well, by "Elvis Preski"!! (Get it? Polish resturant...Polish Elvis???) lol Anyway...it was great fun, and good food too! Saturday was a flurry of activity. The girls that I work with gave me a little pre-wedding soire at the local Ram's Horn restaurant on Saturday morning. What a party! Believe it or not...they gave me a couple of gifts that made us all blush! I have never laughed so much. Right after the party, John and I hurried over to Toys-R-Us to buy a birthday gift for his grandson, and a baby gift for a friend's new baby. Then we rushed over to his son's house for a birthday party for his grandson, Josh. Everyone had pizza, cake, candy, and a lot fun. Soooo..by the time we got back home it was 7:30 p.m., and I proceeded to do the laundry so that we can get everything packed before Wednesday. Sunday was also busy, with going to church, then I had a baby shower to attend while John took care of some errands. Following all of that, we visited with my parents and then it was back home to finish the laundry! Whew! I was actually kind of glad to come back to work today....just kidding! So between now and Thursday (when we fly to Vegas), we have tons of last minute things to take care of, and lots of decisions to make...Hmmmm..should I take the gold necklace or the silver one...Which will look better...the black heels or the silver wedges??? I'm sure all the girls can relate! WEDDING COUNTDOWN: 4 Days...101 hours and 30 minutes! Tuesday, September 4, 2007 GOODBYE SUMMER :0( Hello Fall! We had a pretty relaxing Labor Day weekend. We hung out at my brother's on Saturday night...playing games and eating all the junk food we could find! Sunday we went to the early church service, then just hung out at home doing laundry and other "fun" chores. Monday was the best...we drove up to Lexington, MI with my brother and sister-in-law and a couple of their friends from church. We stopped at a local park and enjoyed a day by the water, bbq'd and generally relaxed. And, of course, today is "back to work". This week will be pretty busy for us...what with needing to take care of a lot of last minute details before we leave on our trip next week. I'll be attempting to, at least, "start" my packing. This is my least favorite part of going on a trip! Being the "high maintenance" (according to my brother!) person that I am...I never know what clothes to take...and deciding which jewelery I should pack...and then...there's the question of SHOES! Oh well, I still have several days to decide! John has to get a haircut (very important!), take all of his shirts to the cleaners (his kids know what a job THAT will be! ha!). His biggest job will be hauling my 4 year collection of change to the coin machine (it's too heavy for me). I'll let you all know how much I have managed to save for the trip. Packing my dress for the wedding is a bit of a puzzle too. Hopefully, everything will fall into place and we won't be too frazzled before we leave. We are getting more excited each day, and for those of you who are keeping track...the WEDDING COUNTDOWN is: 10 Days! Monday, August 27, 2007 PARTY ANIMALS! Happy Monday to everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. Ours was THE BEST! Friday night John and I were the guests of honor at a party given by Sandy and Al and Kirsten and Scott. Karaoke was provided by Sandy's sister, Debbie; a deliciously beautiful "pre" wedding cake was made by Shelley Hein (and carefully delivered by Jimmy Hein!); and food and well wishes were all in abundance. We had a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who was there to share in our joy. John's daughter, Jennifer, came all the way from Montana and we were so pleased that she was able to join us for the festivities. The three of us, along with John's grandchildren, Lexi and Josh, took a day trip to Frankenmuth on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and the chicken was delicious (as always!). We were also able to incorporate a little shopping into our excursion! Sunday evening we made it back just in time to take in the last concert at Metro Beach. It was an absolutely beautiful night for it and the band was excellent. I was so happy for the opportunity to get to know Jennifer a little better. I discovered that she is quite the dancer and Karaoke singer! I had such fun and I'm looking forward to many more fun times together. We so love and appreciate all of our family and friends. You all enrich our lives and bless our hearts beyond measure. We love you! Wedding Countdown: 18 Days! Tuesday, August 21, 2007 COUNTDOWN TIME! Welcome to our blog! This is definitely the beginning of a new adventure! Both getting married (again!) AND attempting a blog! The wedding clock is ticking away....only 24 more days to go! For those of you who don't know, John and I are getting married September 14 in Las Vegas. We are counting the days and looking forward to, not only beginning our life together, but also to a well-deserved vacation. Four of our friends, Jack and Leona & Sandy and Al, as well as John's daughter, Jennifer, are coming to Vegas to share in our wedding festivities. I'm sure it will be a great trip! We will be sure to post the wedding pictures for everyone to see. Please feel free to keep in touch by posting your comments and/or links to any blogs you may have. Hopefully, this will be fun for all of us! We look forward to hearing from you. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) John & Karen's Daily News We just wanted to provide an easy way to keep up and keep in touch with all of our friends & family. Feel free to "check in" and "check up" on us anytime! John & Karen's "Daily News" We just wanted to provide an easy way to "keep up" and "keep in touch" with all of our friends & family. Feel free to "check in" and "check up" on us anytime! Blog Archive ►  2008 (13) ►  December (1) ►  November (1) ►  July (2) ►  June (1) ►  May (2) ►  April (1) ►  March (2) ►  February (1) ►  January (2) ▼  2007 (22) ▼  December (2) PRESENTS, PARTIES & POPPA! BIRTHDAYS & "HOLIDAY NIGHTS" MINUS LIGHTS ►  November (4) TURKEYS, JOHNS, AND LIGHTS! HOLIDAY TIME! PARTY DOWN! AUTUMN BEAUTY ►  October (4) OOOOH...THAT'S SCARRRRY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY SWEETEST DAY! PARTY ANIMALS! ►  September (10) WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND! BETTER LATE THAN NEVER! HONEYMOON PICS BACK TO "NORMAL"?? COMMENTS WE'RE BACK! WE'RE OUTTA HERE! Who Says Church Secretaries Don't Have Fun??? BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! GOODBYE SUMMER :0( ►  August (2) PARTY ANIMALS! COUNTDOWN TIME! About Me Karen & John Michigan, United States View my complete profile