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brittonmom
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Name: Diane
Country: United States
State: Michigan
Metro: Traverse City
Gender: Female
Interests: 1.My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ2. My Family3. Awana4. Horseback riding, cross country skiing, hiking and just having fun or visiting with any of our 8 children, and 3 beautiful grandchildren!
Expertise: Awana,Homeschooling, and dog obedience/agility
Occupation: Vetrinarian Practice Manager
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
12/24/2005
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|        For the first time in 25 years I didn't have to cook the turkey. It was rather nice. :) We traveled down to my sister's home for Thanksgiving Day. Joel was already down there as he had been pheasant hunting with the Dickey guys out in South Dakota. Sarah, Patrick, Rachel and baby Mark traveled over for the day. So with my mom, Mark's mom, Dawn's family and my dad and stepmom there were 20 of us. It was a good day and we had a great time visiting with all. The food was delicious and there was plenty! Our family has so much to be thankful for our health, God's provision,family and friends.
Mark's mom and Joel returned home with us and the weekend found us shopping, decorating for Christmas, cooking and watching our annual Muppet's Christmas Carol. Elizabeth, Joel and I with a good friend braved the shopping crowds on Friday morning. We didn't go out until 8:00 am and the crowds weren't too bad. Lunch at Olive Garden was fun and a nice break in our shopping. We did find a few great buys and were home by 3:30 pm. We have about 1/2 our shopping done and are looking forward to Christmas and more time with family. Wonderful memories! I will attach a few pictures from the weekend and also a picture of our 20 year old oak table that Mark did a fantastic job of refinishing! A picture of Noah with a new horse, Jay. We will be picking him up next weekend and Noah is pretty excited. Jay is a dressage horse and very sweet. Noah said it was the nicest horse he had ever ridden! | | |
| The leaves are down and raked and winter is just around the corner. Along with Thanksgiving and Christmas and more busy days! Our fall has been busy with many miles traveled. We had 5 Awana Fall Conferences this year and I was only able to attend 2 of them. Mark and the boys were at all of them and enjoyed visiting with many of our Awana friends. The first weekend in October I flew to Pensacola for my sister, Debbie's memorial service. She had courageously fought cancer for 7 years. I will miss her, but have peace and joy knowing that she is no longer suffering and that she is spending eternity with her heavenly Father. The last week of October was spent in Ohio, with our daughter, Rachel. Patrick and Rachel's new little one arrived a couple of weeks early with Rachel having a c-section on Ocotober 22nd. Mark Timothy Dudenhofer joined the family at 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 inches. What fun I had spending a week with the family, cleaning, cooking and doing laundry. Of course holding Mark and visiting with his parents was an added blessing! I traveled home on the weekend of October 30th with Sarah. She and several friends came to our home for a weekend get-a-way. We enjoyed their visit, even though the weather wasn't great, they all had fun. We l went to a corn maze on Saturday night and nearly froze! Mark, Diondre, Noah and I went back down to Ohio this last Tuesday to pick up Elizabeth, who had traveled back down with Sarah to help Rachel this past week. Everyone enjoyed getting to know Mark and spending time with our other 2 grandchildren, Caleb and Hannah. It is so nice that they all live within 30 minutes of each other near Dayton. Being Grandparents is wonderful! Enjoy the pictures! Caleb 2 1/2, Hannah 1 and Mark 2 weeks  Caleb and Hannah wanted to watch Mark's diaper change! Mark at 2 weeks Aunt Elizabeth and Caleb enjoying the slide 
Uncle Noah and Caleb  Uncle Diondre and Caleb Hannah in the van laughing at Aunt Elizabeth 
Grandpa and Hannah at the park  | | |
|             It has been a good 6 weeks since I last posted! It has been a busy summer, but many special memories were made. Mark and I were able to spend a couple of days in Petosky and do some biking. It is a beautiful town and many of the bike trails are in view of Lake Michigan. We enjoyed our time together and need to plan more!
The following weekend Mark's Mom and a good friend, Dorothy Schuder came to visit. We enjoyed their company and spent time playing games and sight seeing. August started off with a week of Family Bible School. Mark gave the lessons on Sampson and Elizabeth and I helped with the puppet routines and teaching the Bible verses. It was a busy week, but we loved filling in and being a part of VBS. As VBS concluded we headed downstate to a family reunion and visits with friends and family. My sister, Debbie and her husband, Rex were up from Pensacola and I was able to take a few days off work and visit with them. It was a special time, as my sister is now in hospice care and will be heading to her eternal home in the near future. The rest of August found our family at local horse shows, the county fair and the State Dog Show. The boys showed dogs at both the county and Sate level. They did well and earned several ribbons. The biggest achievement for Diondre was showing the Grand Champion Market Hog at the County Fair. He was pretty excited and was able to sell his hog for $3.50 lb at the auction. Both Diondre and Noah placed first in their showmanship classes with their hogs. We ended the summer with a vacation! We went to Kentucky Horse Park, Mammoth Cave, Cincinnati Zoo, and the Patterson Air Force Museum. We stayed with Patrick and Rachel during our trip and helped out with some on going home projects. Rachel is 7 months pregnant and it was fun to see and feel the baby move and be able to spend time with them. Ben and Ann and their two children live about 30 minutes south of Patrick and Rachel's home. Ben was able to get a day off during the week, so we all went to the zoo together. The Cincinnati Zoo is wonderful and it was fun to watch little Caleb and Hannah at the zoo. For lunch that day, we took a 1 plus mile hike to "Five Guys" restaurant downtown Cincinnati. It was quite the experience! That evening we babysat the 2 granchildren while Ben and Ann went to an Awana Meeting. Anytime we could spend with our grandchildren was like the icing on the cake during our trip! They are so much fun! Sarah was already back in school, but spent several evenings with us. Joel flew in Friday evening and then back to NYC on Monday morning. He enjoyed getting to know Hannah and Caleb better. We all went to the local county fair on Saturday. The fair food was delicious! On Sunday we had the famous "Bill's Donuts" and then attended "Church in the Park" with special artists, "This Hope". They were very good and if you ever have a chance to hear them, don't miss your chance! We have been busy, but many special memories were made! We continue to Praise the Lord daily for our children, grandchildren and how He meets our needs. | | |
| Summer is half over and we have been enjoying it and staying busy! June started off with the boy's Jr. High Equestrian Meet. They both did very well and their team came in 3rd. Noah came in 5th with High Points out of 45 riders, so he was really excited!
I started teaching 4-H dog obedience and agility on Thursday nights in June and the classes will continue though August. The class averages around 13 kids and dogs and they are all doing well.
We met with our Awana Ministry Team on a beautiful Saturday in June and much was accomplished.
Our family had a garage sale the following weekend, and it is always interesting to see the stuff we thought would never sell, go out the door first!
The last week of June brought Sarah and her friend, Sarah home for a week. We enjoyed their visit and the highlight of the week was taking our bikes to Mackinaw Island and touring the Island by bike and also sampling fudge at all the fudge shops! We all voted overwhelmingly that the Best Fudge Award went to JoAnn's Fudge Shop!
July came with more visits from family members. Nathan was home the first week and then Patrick and Rachel arrived later in the week for a couple of days. Ben and Ann arrived on the 3rd with the grandchildren and their dog, Lucy. It was wonderful to visit and see all the kids. Ben and Ann went up to the island for 2 days, while Mark and I kept Caleb and Hannah. What fun we had with them. We love being grandparents!
Noah, Diondre and Elizabeth( as a chaperon) left on the 6th for a 4-H Horsemanship Camp in Cheboygan. The boys along with their horses spent the week learning about reining, roping, dressage and jumping. They had a great time and learned a lot. The night they arrived home, my sister, Dawn and 4 of her children came for a short visit. We all went kayaking Saturday on the Platte River which ends up in Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes. Then we all headed home to celebrate Mark's 52nd birthday. We had pizza over the fire made in our pie irons and then had cake and ice cream.
Our summer has been busy, but we have loved having all the company and visiting with family. Hopefully I will a chance to post again before the summer is over.
Diondre and Noah on the Ferry heading over to Mackinaw Island
Noah and April jumping at Camp
Diondre and Billy learning how to rope
Caleb with his rocking horse that he and Grandpa made!
Rebekah, Elizabeth, Diondre and Daniel resting in Platte Lake
Mark and Noah getting ready to climb back in.
The whole group at the end of the day. Still Smiling!
Michael ready to go!
Elizabeth giving Caleb and Hannah a ride.
Grandma and Hannah having fun!
Caleb helping build his rocking horse.
Mark blowing out his candles!
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| I have not given up on xanga and switched to face book. It has just been a very busy spring! Since I last wrote we have completed many Awana Events, traveled to Greensboro, NC, for Summit, a fun trip to Ohio and Nathan's Graduation from college. Add on working, homeschooling, church events, 4-H and helping out with the Kalkaska Horse Project!
We did add to our family 4 baby pigs, 5 chicks and a colt. It is spring on the farm.  I should say, I hope it is spring as it is still cool with a chance of frost tonight and Sunday night. We are eager to put in the garden and have many plants started and seeds purchased, but waiting for warmer weather.
Highlights of the past few months were Noah receiving his Timothy Award at Awana, our trip to Ohio and Nathan's Graduation. I will post some pictures of these events and of the very nice swings that Mark made for our front porch. He enjoys his building projects and did a great job on the swings. I am so thankful for my husband and his many talents.
Family news for those that haven't heard is that Rachel and Patick are expecting our 3rd grandchild around November 3rd ,which is very exciting! Nathan has been accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary this fall and Sarah will start her Master's Program at Wright State.. Sarah received a full scholarship and Nathan the President's Scholarship. It is wonderful to see God providing for our children and meeting their needs.
I promise to update more often! Hope you all have a wonderful spring and then on to a warm summer!
The new Swings. Hoping to have time to sit on them!
 
The family picture, except that we were missing Rachel and Patrick. They were at Bob Jones celebrating Patrick's brother, Zach's graduation.
The Graduate!
Caleb enjoying the swing!
Rachel and Patrick's home with the new windows.
Our bike hike started at Rachel's and Patrick's home.  
Hannah and Caleb ready for the bike hike! Below- Hannah enjoying the swing at the park!  
A picture moment just before we biked across the top of a dam. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride and we all had a great time! Our new colot "Ozzie" and Noah receiving his Timothy Award.
 
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