My Winter/Christmas Bucket List

Now that Fall is just about over and we have already had a little bit of snow already, I thought I would create my Winter/Christmas Bucket List. My Fall Bucket List, I thought I did pretty good at accomplishing most of it. I didn't do a couple things, but I did the things I really wanted to do. The one I'm really proud of is Thanking God for something in my life everyday in my prayers. It wasn't for five minutes but I did give thanks. I also even made homemade Halloween costumes for Kayley and myself!

Anyways, here is my new list for this winter......

1. Make a snowman or snow fort. (Since I can't go sledding this year being almost in my third trimester)

2. Go to Crossroads Village or drive through it to see the lights

3. Go Christmas Caroling

4. Make Christmas crafts

5. Make Christmas cookies

6. Make Christmas gifts for family and friends

7. Read the Christmas story of Jesus' Birth in the book of Luke in the Bible

8. Make a Christmas Eve Breakfast

9. Lots of baking of candy, cookies or whatever I find on Pinterest. :)

10. Decorate the Christmas tree

11. Have a Christmas Family Portrait done

12. Go to the Candle light service on Christmas Eve at church

13. Slumber party with Kayley by the Christmas tree.

14. Watch Christmas movies with hot chocolate and goodies

15. Make Christmas Cards

So....here is my list. I hope to do all of them, which shouldn't be too hard. Even though I really don't like the cold weather or driving in the snow, Christmas is my favorite time of the season. Not only do I like watching it snow outside and spending time with family and friends, I love the fact that JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON. God gave the greatest gift of all to all of us and that is JESUS. I'm so glad that my family and I are children of God and are teaching our kids about God so that one day, they will be children of God. So take the time to go to the book of Luke in the Bible and read the story of the wonderful birth of Jesus Christ. Hopefully it will show you what Christmas is really about and bring joy to your hearts as much as it does for me.

My Fall Bucket List

Fall is officially here and I'm so excited to be able to do all the fun things pertaining to my favorite season of the year. I always love seeing all the beautiful colors the leaves turn and breathing in the crisp air. It's also a great time for jeans and sweatshirts and cute boots. During this time, I always like to go to apple orchards and enjoy bonfires with family and friends. This year, I decided I'm going to make a bucket list and try some new things....... So here is a list of things I would like to do:

1.  Go on a hayride and pick out our own pumpkin. (our- meaning my family and I)

2. Pick apples and make a pie

3. Go on a Nature Walk and bring camera

4. Corn Maze

5. Bon-fire with S'mores

6. Outdoor Family Picture

7. Make a craft with leaves

8. Make home-made applesauce and pumpkin butter

9. Bake Fall cookies

10. Make Fall Drinks

11. Make a Halloween Costume for Kayley.........Maybe...We'll see

12. Make a GIANT leaf pile and jump in them

13. Carve/paint pumpkins

14. Have a Harvest Party

15. Last and best of all.... I will take 5 mins. out of my time and talk to God and tell him what I'm thankful for.

So....Here is my Fall Bucket List. I will probably add more later, but for now this is what I hope to accomplish. I will let you now if I did it at the end of the season and who knows.........maybe I will make a Winter Bucket List. What is your Fall Bucket List? I would love to see it. Happy Fall Everyone!

A Short But Sweet Florida Trip

The Birthday Boy!!!!

    Last Saturday Evening, Debbie, Kayley and I flew to Florida for my nephew's birthday. We were very excited to see him and his family for the weekend to celebrate his 6th birthday. I was also pretty nervous as well, because it was Kayley's first time flying on a plane. We departed from Detroit Metro Airport at 5:50pm and arrived to Florida at 8:37pm. (2hr and 36min flight) Kayley did GREAT! She played with the ipad most of the time and didn't fuss at all. I was so proud of her. When we got to Florida, Randy picked us up from the airport and IMMEDIATELY went straight for Kayley and held her. He was so excited to see her. Kayley was acting a little shy, but was soon very excited to see her Uncle Randy. It was so cute. Then he took us back to his house where we were staying. The kids were in bed, but we got to spend some time with Randy and Taylin before going to bed. The next day was Logan's birthday and we went to church in the morning and then went to the park to celebrate his birthday. He had a SkyLander Party. I'm sure you can check it out on Taylin's blog and read all about it. It was very cute and all his friends and family had a good time. Yesterday, was our last day there, so we went to the Naples Zoo with Tay and the kids. We had such a great time. Chloe and Kayley got to feed a giraffe and we got to see an alligator feeding and ride on a boat to look at all the monkey islands. Then we had Chloe's "Fake Birthday" at Olive Garden and Randy met us there from work. Then we went to the "Pirate Ship" playground at an outlet mall so the kids could play before we had to go back to the airport. Taylin and the kids dropped us off at the airport and it was hard saying goodbye. Especially for Logan.....He didn't want us to leave. But hopefully we will get to go to their house again soon. Thank you Randy and Taylin for letting us stay at your house and all the fun we had. It was so good seeing all of you and can't wait to see you again. Love you all!






Kayley on the plane





Cousins





Cousins at the zoo



Logan and Kayley in front of spider monkey island

This is the giraffe Chloe and Kayley got to feed

Alligator Feeding Time

Kayley's Favorite...The Monkeys!!!!

This Lion was Logan's Favorite

Our Labor Day Weekend!

Daddy and Kayley....Love this picture!

For our Labor Day weekend, we had some well-needed family time. Tony has been very busy at work and we haven't got to have much time with him. So on Saturday, Tony took Kayley and I to the Detroit Zoo. I haven't been there since I was a little girl and I was looking forward to seeing all the animals with Kayley. She loves animals! We got to the zoo right when it opened, so it wasn't very busy. The weather was nice too. We saw a lot of different animals, but I think out of all of them, Kayley liked the bears and the prairie dogs. They were super cute and they had these tubes sticking up through the dirt where people could stick their heads up and were eye level with the prairie dogs. We had a lot of fun and we found out that the zoo is even more fun in the winter time, so I think we might have to check it out some time. On Sunday, after church, we went to the Loons baseball game in Midland. We went to some friends of ours from Tony's work. They have a three year old boy, a one year old girl and are expecting another one in March. We all bought lawn tickets, so we could sit on the grass with our blankets. It was kids first time going to a Loons baseball game and they all did so well. Kayley and their little boy and a lot of fun running up and down the small hill we were sitting at. The best part was that the Loons won their game. It was a great time with some good friends. Hope everyone had a good Labor Day!

Kayley and Daddy watching th black bear



Peek -A- Boo Kayley! I see you!



Kayley watching the duck

It's Catching Up Time!

I have a lot to catch up on has happened in the last few weeks. We had so many exciting things happen. First we had my brother-in-law and his family come up to visit from Florida for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! I had a surprise announcement to tell everyone that Kayley will be a "Big Sister," We had birthday parties, Fireworks, Michigan Adventure, lots of pool time, and Oh Yeah......Did I mention that I'M PREGNANT!!!!! I will have to tell you how I told everyone. So, bare with me on this long post that I'm going to write and I will catch everyone up on everything.

OK....so for my amazing announcement. I found out that I was pregnant on Thursday, June 28th at 7:30am. I took a pregnancy test that morning and it was positive, so I called Tony right away and told him the exciting news. He was so happy! I wish I could have seen his face, but I could tell by his voice, that he was grinning from ear to ear.Then we decided to not tell anyone until later. We were going to make it a surprise and try and tell everyone on Debbie's (Tony's mom) Birthday, which was on the 4th of July. Well............It was a great thought, but my mom could tell that something was up and that weekend we went to Somerset mall with my mom and she found out that I'm pregnant. She told us that she could tell by the glow on my face already. So, then we had to tell Debbie. When we got home that night, I wrapped up a piece of paper that said, "We Are" and a jar of Prego spaghetti sauce in a box and gave it to Debbie as an early birthday present. When she opened it, she read the piece of paper and was kind of confused and then lifted the paper of the prego jar and knew right away what was going on. She was so excited. She had the biggest smile on her face and gave me a great big hug. We told her that only my mom and her knows about this and that we weren't going to tell anyone until later. We kept it a secret for four days. It felt like a long time. July 1st, my brother-in-law and his family came up and stayed with us for two weeks. They had a lot of stuff planned to do, so we were in for a busy two weeks. One night we all went to our Aunt Linda's house and ate dinner and started planning what we were going to do for the weekend. Then all of a sudden my sister-in-law and two of our cousins started talking about being pregnant and if anyone was going to try to have any more kids. They even asked me if I was pregnant yet and I told them that I wasn't yet. It was so hard not telling them that I was, but they were going to find out soon enough. On July 3rd, Tony took his mom out to the All-Star game for our Women's softball team that we have for our church. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law and I set up a surprise birthday party at home for Debbie and that was the time I was telling everyone that I'm pregnant.When our whole family (Debbie's side) came over and waited for Debbie,  Tony and Debbie finally got home and we all yelled, "SURPRISE!". She was definitely surprised, but she figured something was up. When I finally gave her the present Tony and I had for her, she opened it and inside was a bag of Baby goldfish, Baby Ruth candy bars, box of Sugar Babies, and a Baby Bottle Pop. Debbie showed everyone each thing and they all finally caught on when I said I'm Pregnant. They couldn't believe I kept it a secret from them, but they were very happy for us. The next day was the 4th of July and we went to our church picnic. I put a t-shirt on Kayley that said, "I'm the big sister" and that is how everyone in church found out.  It was such a fun time telling everyone our big news.

The next day, Tony and I went to Michigan Adventure with our family. It was a HOT day and we all got some color on us. Some of us were more sun-burned than others. But we had a great time. Tony and I decided to keep Kayley at home with my mom. So after a super long day without her, Tony and I definitely missed her. The days after, we had a  ladies day of consignment shopping and a birthday party for our cousin, Lukas. He turned 10 years old. He is growing up fast. Then Tony and I both had our softball games on Monday and Tuesday and Tony had his soccer game on Thursday. Then on Friday, we had an early birthday party for Kayley. She had a puppy themed party. She had an adopt a puppy and doggie bag station for the younger kids. I also made her a giant cupcake with paw prints made out of smarties on it for her. Her cupcakes had the same thing on them. Later that night, we had a bonfire and we lit of some fireworks that my Step-dad brought over for us. We were having a great time lighting some off and then all of a sudden, one of the fireworks tipped over and exploded on some dry grass and caught it on fire! So a few of us stretched the hose over as far as it would go and got a shop vac full of pool water over to put the fire out. Then as Tony was cleaning up all the used fireworks up and he threw them and some empty boxes in the bonfire, all of a sudden a firework went off in the bonfire. No one got hurt, but we sure did have a lot of excitement that night.Anyways...... Kayley turned TWO YEARS OLD! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. She talks so much now and has a great, crazy, fun personality. She brings so much joy and fun to our lives. She makes us laugh at all the goofy things she does now.

The next day my brother-in-law and his family went back home to Florida. We had a good time with them and are looking forward to seeing them again soon.

Birthday Girl

Make  A Wish!

Present Time

All Kayley's cousins helping her open her presents

So that was our fun-filled two weeks we spent with family and friends. Hope you all had a great 4th of July week!

Happy Anniversary To My Wonderful Husband

Our Wedding Day Seven Years Ago

Today is my seven year anniversary being married to Anthony Klinck. God has blessed me to be able to marry my Best Friend. I thank God for him everyday. He has shown me that I can be myself and he will always love me for who I am. He has also shown me that he will always put God first and that when we work together, we will grow stronger to God and only God can bless us with a long and happy marriage till the day we die. God has also blessed us both to be able to raise a beautiful little girl in a God- loving home. There are so many reasons why I love Anthony, but since it is our seven year anniversary, I will just give you seven.

1. He puts God first and than his family

2. He always works hard to support his family

3. He always knows how to make me laugh

4. He is always there when I need a shoulder to cry on.

5. Loves to have fun and just be himself

6. He is  always there to lend a helping hand and a listening ear

7. He is my Best Friend and a Great Lover

Thank you Anthony Klinck for seven amazing years and I can't wait to see what next year and many more years bring us. I Love You With All My Heart!



Us now after seven years of marriage- sorry it's side ways...



Patriotic Cake Batter Cookies

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Tomorrow is my church's Memorial Day Picnic and I was really sure what I was going to make for it. I wanted to make cookies for sure, but didn't want to make the same old Chocolate Chip cookies I always make. So I decided to experiment a little on the Cake Batter Cookie recipe I found on Pintrest. I have to say, they turned out really good and made the house smell really YUMMY!!! So here is the recipe for each different color cookie.

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 oz) box of White Cake Mix

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 c. Vegetable Oil

Red, White & Blue Sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C.)

2. In medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, baking powder and sprinkles. Add eggs and oil, then mix until well blended. (I used my hands to really mix it well, it seemed to work better.)

3. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cooking sprayed cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: For the Red  Cookies use Strawberry Cake Mix instead of the White Cake Mix. Skip the sprinkles.

For the Blue Cookies, follow the White Cake Mix recipe and just add a 3oz Berry Blue Jell-o Mix in it. Also skip the Sprinkles in Blue Cookies.

Kalli's Graduation from KSU

Tony and I at Scott and michelle's house

A few weeks ago, Tony and I received a graduation invitation from my cousin Kalli from Kansas. At first we were really debating on if we were going because at the time, my Grandpa Griffis was not doing well at all. Then last Tuesday, when we found out that my Grandpa passed away and the memorial service wouldn't be until May 19th, we decided we would take the long drive to Kansas. So, we left last Thursday after my softball practice and headed to my Uncle Scott and Aunt Michelle's house. This was Kayley's first long road trip and Tony and my  first long road trip driving by ourselves. It took us about 12 1/2 hours to get to Kansas and Kayley slept the whole time almost. She did so good. When we got to my Uncle and Aunt's house, we were definitely spoiled by them. My Uncle Scott made us lunch and took us to the zoo in Topeka, Kansas. It was alot of fun. Kayley loved all the animals. She wasn't too thrilled on feeding the goose though.....The goose poked her hand to get the food out of her hand and she didn't like it. After the zoo, we went back home to order pizza for dinner. Then Aunt Michelle and I went to the grocery store to get buns for Kalli's party and BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!!!! We don't have any Blue Bell ice cream in Michigan in our stores, so I was super excited to get some. The next day, we all got up at 6am and ate yummy pancakes and Uncle Scott made and headed out the door at 6:30am for Kalli's graduation in Manhattan. Kalli's graduated from Kansas State University. Kalli got a degree of Bachelor of Science in Social Work and a minor in Women's studies. We were all very proud of her and I couldn't wait to spend some time with her and my cousin Tyler at her party afterwards. I missed them SO MUCH. I haven't seen Kalli since she was in Tony and my wedding day. It was so good spending time with all  of them and we wished we could have stayed longer, but we had to head back home. Thank you Uncle Scott and Aunt Michelle for everything!!! You guys are awesome! Congratulations again Kalli and it was so good seeing you and Tyler again. We love you all and hope to come see you again soon!

Aunt Michelle and Kayley walking back from getting the mail

Kayley and Mommy sitting on the drive way

Kayley and Mommy at the Topeka Zoo

Kayley and Daddy plugging their noses from the stinky elephant poop

Kayley and Daddy sitting on a lion statue

Uncle Scott on his phone. He was on his phone or computer a lot for work. lol!

Kayley comparing her hand to a gorilla hand print

Kayley and Daddy following the penguin path

Love this picture!!!!

Kayley and Mommy at the graduation

Kayley, Mommy and Uncle Scott

Kalli coming in.She's the one in the middle

YAY KALLI!!!!

Kalli and me and Kayley sleeping...ha ha!

Kalli and Aunt Michelle

Uncle Scott and Kalli

The McClure Family

Tyler and me

Kalli and me

This song is for my Grandpa. He would want me to remember this.

A Tribute to my Grandpa

I LOVE YOU GRANDPA! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!

Yesterday my dad called me telling me that my Grandpa passed away. I was so heart broken listening to my dad cry over the phone when he told me the news. I remember feeling a lump in my throat as I tried to hold back my tears as they rolled down my cheeks. I knew my Grandpa was ready and it wasn't going to be long before he would meet the Lord in Heaven, but I wasn't thinking he would go this soon. I'm just happy that he is not suffering any more. I wrote my Grandpa a letter back on January 19 of this year. I would like to share it with you all.....so here it goes.

                                                                  Grandpa, My Hero

        Many of us have a hero or someone who we consider to be a hero. Some have heroes who are athletes or doctors. Some even consider their teachers or their pet to be their hero. My hero is my Grandpa, Glenn E. Griffis. He fought in the WWII from February 1943 to January 1946 in the Air Force. Not only did he fight for his country, but he would fight for God and his family.

            When my Grandpa married my Grandma (Lucille Griffis) on July 21, 1942, he made a vow to not only love her unconditionally, but also to God. My Grandpa and Grandma were faithful members of Juniata Baptist Church for many years. My Grandpa was a Sunday school teacher for 25 years and a Deacon for 30 years. He also was involved in many other things in the church. Then in 2003, my Grandpa and Grandma came to Cornerstone Baptist Church. He liked to go to the Bible studies on Thursdays when he was able too.

            My Grandpa also loved to read the Bible. He liked to have his family involved in reading Bible devotions too. I remember sitting on his lap every morning reading the Bible with him and Grandma when I was a little girl. Grandpa would always read the Christmas story of Jesus' birth every year before Christmas dinner as well. I always loved that about Grandpa. But the one thing I remember most about Grandpa is he always made time to pray.

          I consider my Grandpa to be a Prayer Warrior. Grandpa would spend some Sunday mornings praying during the service at Cornerstone with some other men. He always prayed most of all for his family. He would pray for us everyday and tell us he would too. That is why my Grandpa is my Hero.

        I'm so proud to have a Grandpa that made such a great impact in my life. I'm so thankful for all his prayers and Godly influence he has showed me to become the person I am today. I can't thank him enough and I love him with all my heart.

I read that letter to him when he was in the hospital and the doctors where telling everyone he probably would only have a few weeks or so to live. But the doctors didn't know that the Lord wasn't ready for him yet. My Grandpa still had work to do on Earth. He still had to tell others about God and save souls to Christ. My mom and I even got to witness him tell my cousin how to get saved over the phone. That was such a happy moment that day in his room at the Pines nursing home. Now my cousin will also get to see Grandpa in Heaven some day. My Grandpa loved the Lord with all his heart and his family. He made sure that all his family knew Jesus Christ as their Saviour and accepted Him into their lives. Grandpa was such a great soul winner for Christ. He was so ready to meet the Lord up in Heaven and see his wife. Now he is in that wonderful place called Heaven and I can't wait to see him again on day. I Love You Grandpa and will always remember all the times we spent together. Thank You for everything you have done for me and my family. Say "Hi" to Grandma for me and tell her I love and miss her.  XOXO