Our 2015 Family Vacation!

Did you go hunting for the Wright Family? If so, where did you find us?

GONE CAMPING!!

Vacation means.. Rest, Rest, Relax and unwind!! And that's just what we did! For the first time in 11 years my entire mediate family (18 total) was able to set a date and go on a 6 day (Sun.-Sat.) vacation together! It is almost impossible to get all of us together for a dinner, much less a vacation.. But all worked out as planned and we had a awesome time!

Leaving our family vacation spot decision to my grandma, she chose.. The Amish Country in Holmes County, Ohio! What a perfect place for all the above.. Rest, Relax and Unwind!

My Brother & Family has a camper as do my Sister & Family. So all 18 of us where able to stay/sleep comfortably on the same Campground in Berlin, OH! All three lots where door to door, right in the heart of Amish Country! It was so neat, setting around the camp fire and watch the horse and buggies go by.. Just my kind of Vacation!

It always taste better when someone else dose the cooking!

Every morning, the men cooked up breakfast. On Tuesday morning the men served us Omelets! I have to say, it was the best Omelet I have ever had! Very tasty with: onion/green pepper/mushrooms/olives/cheese/green chilies/tomatoes/ham and bacon.

  

You can't go to Amish country without eating some Amish cooked food! We Visited the Amish Door Restaurant, Der Dutchman Restaurant, Der Bake Oven Bakery and Cafe, and Mrs. Yoder's Kitchen (twice). Family Favorite?...... Mrs. Yoder's! That was out of this world, in one word, Delicious! 

We also sampled bakery's at 5 different locations, as well as two cheese factories. 

For a midnight snack we sat around the open fire and enjoyed all the normal camping/fire pit foods.. Chicken and vegetables/hot dogs/ hamburgers/roasted marshmallows/smore's and more. 

Mollie and Megan (the two horses) took us on a wagon ride to tour one of the farms. We got to see and hand feed lots of animals along the way. 

This farm was right down my grandmas alley, taking her back to her young days....She loved it! Cow's/Zebras/Lama/Pigs/Giraffes/Sheep/Deer/Elk/Goats/Camel and many more. The animals where a bit up to close and personal for me.... I just sat back and enjoyed my ride!

After touring the Farm, the kids got to watch two young Amish girls Milk the Cows, and they let the kids feed a calf with a bottle afterwards as well. They were just amazed!

Before leaving the farm we got to tour their house and sample some cookies while we toured! YUM! I would have loved to had the recipe! The house was absolutely beautiful!

My parents viewing the Amish flower garden. 

Our kids has not had a very good place to ride their bikes here at home. So both Benjamin and LaDessa still had training wheels when they left home. After a day, LaDessa decided it was way to hard to ride a bike with training wheels on gravel, so she ask her daddy to remove them. He took them off and after about five minutes she got the hang of it and was constantly riding... Just another one of those bitter sweet moments for mommy.

JaHanna was all over the place... just like a 20 month old normally is! She has no fear of anything! From the kiddie pool, to the fire pit, and befriending the horses.. she was amazed. Thankfully, she was not kicked, did not drown or did not get any burns!

Down the road from our camp site was a free petting farm/zoo, along with horse and pony rides. We had blast there! Benjamin's favorite part of our vacation had to be the Pony Ride. He could not get enough of it.

My sister and her family at the petting zoo.

On Thursday the 25th Jay and I celebrated our 10th year Wedding Anniversary! What better place to celebrate! Jay always does some type of surprise gift for me on our anniversaries, but this year he told me that I was to pick something out from Amish county. 

It did not take me very long to make a decision... Amish made wind mill and several Amish made baskets. For years I have wanted a wind mill for my landscaping....And my sweet husband made it possible!

I loved going into all the little Antique Shops and Flea Markets to look at all the hand made items made by the Amish. 

And you have to love stopping by the Fruit markets and stock up with lots of  home grown fruits and veggies!  

It is so hard to believe that our 2015 vacation has come and gone, but each one of us thoroughly enjoyed our vacation in Amish Country! We were so blessed to have had all the family in good health and able to go! We truly had a blast!

May 2015!

It has been several months... I know that there has been lots of water flow under the bridge and I can not remember everything since my last post, but at least I can post about the month of May! June will follow in a few weeks!
   Since May first, lots of things have taken place around here, starting with a wonderful week of revival (with Bro. Shannon Justice)! What a good way to start the month off! Revival ended on Friday night and Jay started a glorious week revival on Saturday night at a church nearby where my brother pastors. God blessed every night! It was awesome!
    Earlier in the year I was ask to take on Teacher/Staff Appreciation Day for LCA this year... So the second week of May, it was pulled off  (with Sis. Amy (a school mom) being my side-kick)!

 The room fit just perfectly with my theme idea! Rustic! 

Instead of disposable cups, LaDessa and I decided to attach a heart warming note (A Teacher, Takes a Hand, Opens a Mind and Touches a Heart) to a reusable cup for each staff member from LaDessa. It turned out very nice! 

We had lots of food! Several of the mothers so graciously helped! They were willing to do what ever they could do, to help make this day a success! It was very much appreciated! Sis. Amy and I had a great time together and I so greatly enjoyed it! Thanks Amy!

Oh! I almost forgot to mention our church youth group Rock-A-Thon that was held that same week as well! Needless to say, revival/Teacher & Staff day and the Rock-A-Thon all in the same week.. looking back, is a complete blur. But it was worth it!

 In February we had purchased tickets (departing May 23rd) to fly out to WA and drive the RV back (given to us by Jay's dad before his passing). We tried to plan our trip so that LaDessa would attend the last week of school (thinking all was good to go)...In March, the school decided that the students would have to go an extra week to make up for snow days. 

Saying all that to say this, LaDessa had to miss that last week of school again this year. Her class decided to do their fun week, a week early so that LaDessa could be there! It was very thoughtful! One day during that week Benjamin, JaHanna and I got to be in on some of the fun! 

Sis. Amy put together lots of games for the classmates..while I got off easy by bringing pizza, cupcakes and treat bags for lunch. Amy also ended the day with snow cones! LaDessa had so much fun and was thrilled to have her brother and sister in attendance! We hated that we had to miss awards day, but we had no other choice. Life!

The Flight out to WA went pretty smooth, considering I had a 19 month old in my lap for 7 hours. While in WA we got to visit Dad Wright's grave site. Timing for memorial day was just perfect! We were in WA for a short two days before starting back, so we crammed in as much family visits as possible. We left out early hours on Tuesday morning, making our way back home, driving 8-10 hours each day. Mom Wright traveled back to IL with us, where we dropped her off at Jay's sisters place. We arrived there in IL on Friday and left out for KY on Saturday morning. Quick, but nice visit! It was good to get to see them!

 The kids LOVED the entire RV ride back home! Comfort! 

Lots of awesome views, just beautiful! 

Our Traveled states back were: Washington/Idaho/Montana/North Dakota/ Minnesota/Wisconsin/Illinois/Indiana.. and after 9 days...KY was the prettiest state of all!
Before ending this post, I will leave you with some pictures, upon request!

May was definitely a very busy month, but June has been just as busy. Our actual vacation is coming up in just a few days now!!.....I will be making a June post soon! You may just find the Wright Family, GONE CAMPING! Stay Tuned!         

Last few months Recap/Testimony!

Happy New Year!!!!

I am taking care of two post in one by posting the kids fall pictures throughout this post. These were taken in November. 

   Honestly, I do not know were to start with this post. I think this is the hardest post ever, but ending with the best! 

   On Monday November 10th a dear friend of many years passed away. She had her back turned from God for several years, and in September she came back to the Lord with a few months to live. (note- since her passing, several of her family members have found salvation!) Her funeral was held on Friday November 14th. Jay was honored to help officiate, and I was honored to be asked to sing. Right before the service started, my phone started ringing. I answered to hear Jay's sister Kathy crying/saying, the doctor had just given Dad Wright only a few days left to live. I kept my composer (not saying anything to Jay/knowing that he was soon to speak) and went back inside. Jay also had to do the grave side service, so with Gods help I continued to stay calm. As soon as I felt clear, I broke the news to him. We rushed home, packed and caught the first flight out to Washington on Saturday morning (Nov. 15th).

   After our arrival, with all Dads family by his side, he improved! Two days went by, and he continued to improve! The doctor told us that he had never seen someone alive with his condition! A miracle! On Wednesday (the 19th) dad was brought home with IV, via ambulance. His wish was to be home to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. The next 12 days was filled with celebrating LaDessa's 8th birthday/Thanksgiving/Christmas and a surprise 49th wedding anniversary celebration with a house full of friends! We had lots of food/fun/laughter/pictures/memories/and much more! On Tues. December 2nd, we had to take him back in to the hospital. With nothing else left to do, he decided to be taken off of everything except pain meds, through IV. He was moved to the end of life care room, much more private/bigger and we could make it home. We decorated it for Christmas, and had a blast! Jay, Benjamin, JaHanna and I moved in. It was very roomy with a extra bed and sofa, so we brought JaHanna's play pen in and made it home for a week. Jay and I would take shifts keeping our eyes open, ready to help dad in any way we were needed.

   One morning I was alerted to a very different noise from JaHanna. I ran over to her to find her unresponsive, jerking, not breathing. I ran to Jay, then we ran out the hall, pleading for help! It was a shift change, so there were lots of doctors and nurses at the nurses station. Not knowing how to help her, they called for ICU to come. 3-5 minutes has passed and she still isn't breathing...I could see her color changing. I knew she had to get help fast! With all the nurses and doctors around us, I looked at Jay and said, LETS PRAY! We began to call out to God, in the name of Jesus, and he moved! I immediately felt the healing power God flow through my baby's body. One of the doctors making his rounds came over to check her, listened to her, and said, She has just had a Febrile Seizure, but she is ok. The nurses was gracious to keep Benjamin entertained while we were wheeled to ER to have JaHanna checked out. All was due to a fever spike (UTI related). She was put on a very strong antibiotic in which she had a allergic reaction to. With an infection, and without meds, and god still took care of her. She gained many friends!!!! People heard about it throughout the hospital and came to check on her. Dad soon realized that the nurses wasn't always coming to check on him, but they were in to check on JaHanna. ha!

I wondered why this all had to happen during such a terrible time... But we will never know the impact this incident had on all the nurses/doctors/visitors and etc. Everything has a purpose!

   On Thursday night December 11th, with everyone gathered around his bedside, dad Wright so peacefully crossed over into the glory land! The day that we had been dreading, but he had been waiting for, all year. What peace! I must say, I felt a little jealous! I just wanted to take flight and go along with him!

   The service was held on Dec. the 18th. Dad asked Jay to preach his funeral, and with Gods help, he did! And, as always, he done a wonderful job! He also wrote his Dads eulogy, and read it in the memorial service that was held a few days later for friends that could not attend the funeral. Again, it too was wonderful! God's arms of comfort and hands to wipe the tears was there with all of us, each step of the way. We could never repay him!

On Sunday December 21st, we drove to Portland, OR (3 hour drive) to take our flight back home. That was the only way out, it being in the middle of the holiday travel/rush. All other flights were booked. Thankfully, it was a smooth/on-time flight! We were so excited that we were finally on KY ground!! It had most definitely been a long/hard/stressful 5 weeks for us all, but our kids were amazing through it all! God is such a wonderful babysitter!! We took the shuttle bus to our lonely awaiting vehicle, piled out, loaded up...And...Set! Dead Battery! It had sat there for several weeks, so we were expecting that to happen. After a long wait, we were on our way!

   With Christmas only 3 days away, and no gifts, the madness begins! There were no decorations out, so I pulled some family favorites and a few extra things to add some color here and there and the kids were thrilled! On Monday evening Jay and I went to get gifts out of what was left. Surprisingly, we was able to get (almost) all that we had in mind! On Tuesday morning I gathered in all my ingredients for our extended family eve party and after Jay got off work, he gathered in the rest of the gifts.

On Christmas Eve all three kids got the virus! On Christmas Day Jay got it! And the day after, I got it! So our Christmas was much different. Our traditional Christmas breakfast was put on hold, to say the least. 

Although, sickness had intruded...we made the best of it and we had a wonderful Christmas! The kids got gifts, and that all that mattered. ha!

   We finished out the rest of the year counting our blessings! Looking back, it has been a very hard year. These last few weeks was full of spiritual/mental/financial/physical drain (I only wrote the highlights), but through it all, God has shown himself faithful! We have learned a lot through all of this! Our kids have seen the healing hand of God perform miracles before there eyes that they will never forget.. and Our faith and trust in God has been increased by leaps and bounds! In the times that we thought we could not take another step, God was there to hold us by the hand and lead us! I am so Thankful! For us to be able to hold our babies, read to them, play and wrestle with them, and most importantly, teach them about Jesus, means everything! We is worthy of our praise!

Many times I would hold Dads hand and night... I would often look at him and say "God is good isn't he?" He would reply with saying "ALL" the time!" 

From the Wright Family to your and yours..... Happy New Year!! 2015!!

         

JaHanna's First Birthday Party!

Tears!!!!!..... Our baby is now ONE year old!

   It seemed like we brought her home just yesterday!

   We had a great time partying with her! She was a hoot!  Here are a few highlight pictures I thought you would enjoying seeing!

Her cake display table....

She loves Lemonade like her momma, so I decided Strawberry/Pink Lemonade would be her theme!

Gift Table!

One Year Later! Her own lemonade stand! 0.25 per cup!

Filling a order! lol! She was fascinated by all those lemons!

The Birthday Girl Cake!

Cup cakes galore!

A close up....I done Strawberry and White. With yellow sugar and a Lemon Head for the top!

Lemon and Strawberry Wafer Cookies!

Table Display!

 Getting ready to dig in...

 Very first bite! She licked her hand totally clean... I guess she thought that was the only bite she would get.

 Sweet! I love it! She almost completely buried her hand in it. I know this only took place 1 time in her life, but momma is such a clean freak...needless to say, she was "covered" with pink food coloring! But, I cringed when I saw it up her nose!! I'm sort of glad this only happens once in a life time!

 NO ONE got a bite but daddy! This was super sweet!

 Gift opening! Lots of awesome gifts!

 A true daddy's girl! I will admit, I myself was a daddy's girl from day #1, but still nothing to come up with this... JaHanna completely melts when her daddy comes near her! LaDessa loves her daddy too, but to be honest, she is more a poppa's (that's what she calls my dad) girl. LaDessa was the first grandchild on my side... that may help you understand why things are the way they are. LoL!

A proud mom!

Big brother and sister...

After all the excitement, we got a big Yawn pose! LoL! She of course was completely exhausted!
We had lots of fun/excitement/food (Italian Ham Sandwiches, Potato Salad, Cheese Ball w/Crackers, Chips, Dip, Lemon and Strawberry Cookies, along with both Regular and Strawberry Lemonade to drink from the lemonade stand).
We are so grateful! JaHanna's first year has been a year of good health, excitement, lots of changes, and the list goes on..... All thanks and glory given to our Savior Jesus Christ for his many blessings!