Lots to catch up on!

The last time I posted a blog we were getting ready for our mission trip to Choctaw, MS. I have a lot to catch up on. The mission trip was wonderful. As with any mission trip, you receive as much if not more than you give. Those of you who have been on one know exactly what I am talking about.

The 21 of us that went headed out after a time of prayer and send off by a pastor that was a Native American himself. That was especially meaningful to us as we we sent off with sage burning incense and blessings. We loaded up all the tools, bed rolls, and supplies we would be needing and headed down the road.

We spent the night in a Day's Inn approx. half way and then headed out the next morning and arrived late afternoon the following day. After unloading and getting settled a group of us headed to get food supplies and then we unloaded all that and called it a day.

The next day was Sunday and we attended two services, and were asked to attend a wake, which was a great honor. We went to the house and sang for approximately a half hour to 3/4 hr. for the wife and immediate family members. We also made a large casserole of food to take. This was quite an honor to be asked. At the church services we were asked to introduce ourselves and what we did. Each of us did and when Roger told what he did at the larger church one lady made a noise and after the service came up to him and immediately asked for his help with conditioning. He was very popular!!! There was an appointment set right then. Also they were asked to introduce themselves to us..this was very unusual but we enjoyed learning about each one of them.

Monday, was spent at the mission itself and doing repairs on it start with. Roger re piped a leaking water line outside the mission and put in a new valve. Now talk about hot! It was 104 with a heat index of 114. Then there were others working on electrical and others doing restructure work including putting a door on the sanctuary itself. Roger helped with that also.

Meanwhile, I was working on Bible School and meals for the 21 and for the visitors we were going to have in the evenings.

Also we were planning meals to pack up for when we went "out in the field" to work.

Tues. and Wednesday were working on two houses painting the exterior of these houses. One house was a grandmother raising her grandchildren. The Tribal Council had decided that the house was not worth fixing up. Bless her heart she wanted her house painted "John Deer Yellow". The team went to the local paint store and managed to get a close color. And after two long days of hard work, they got this house done complete with lattice work and repairing the porch and gate. The grandmother was so happy that she could use her porch again. Now Roger was working on this house.

I worked on a brick house with an addition with board siding and trim and it was a woman that had raised over 40 foster children. I was glad I was not on the same house as Roger. If I had been he would not have let me do anything! Believe me the team I was with, watched out for me. But I did get to get up on a ladder and paint under the eaves and do some real work. I only actually got to work in the field one day. I was very busy with the Bible Study. But I was so happy to be able to be out there for one of the two days.

In all the time we were there we had only 3 hours free time. So we did get a lot done. I hope as some time to be able to post some photos. Keep your eyes out at a later date!

We got home and the very next day was Tara's shower. It was very nice and Millie and Sandy out did themselves. Tara is ready, boy is she ready. She can't wait for the baby to come. With Sydney now in kindergarden, she is going through "the I can't believe my baby is all grown up" stage. The baby can't come soon enough.

Two days after that, our friend Sharon and her granddaughter Payton arrived from Ohio for a visit. It was great having them here. We had a wonderful visit. While they were here, Trinity got to spend some time with Payton and they have lots of fun and found they had lots in common. They are only 4 months apart in age. Also Kristy and family came for a day and Sydney was here also so at one point there were 6 children (5 of whom were girls 10 and younger) plus Christopher 12. Poor Christopher, he was bored to tears and just wanted to be fishing! Talk about a lot of girly, girl stuff going on! Trinity, Payton and Ginger hung out together and Sydney and Sarah played together.

Also in the mix was our brand new 9 week old bichon frise puppy~ Lili Nicole Dubois.

So as you can see it has been quite a busy time lately! Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying the end of your summer

Summer is flying by!

Here it is almost the end of July, where is the time going? It is almost time for us to leave on our mission trip to Choctaw, Mississippi. Last Saturday I was blessed to take part in a Native American Sweat Lodge. No, not the type you hear on the news, where people hold them to gain profit by holding them. A real Native American one. What a blessing it was. It was an experience I will not forget and I learned so much from "Pony" who lead us in this experience. If you would like to know more about the details I would be happy to tell you. It was such a learning experience and now I feel more prepared in knowing the customs and what not to do and say when we go to Mississippi to offend the Native Americans we work with and pray with when we are there.

We are getting closer to expecting the arrival of our newest granddaughter "Ella Shae Hilt" also. We are so excited about her arrival. She is due the end of August or the very beginning of September. We really expect she will be here the end of August though. Trinity has made the move to upstairs and actually likes being upstairs after all. The nursery has the crib in it and is beginning to take shape.
Tara is doing well so far and we are praying for no complications.

It has been so dry and hot here, we sure hope we get some much needed rain! We have had some wonderful visits from family lately. Robin had been grading in Charlottesville and we had a great time visiting her and Cliff had been in Staunton so we saw him several times also. It was wonderful to see family and spend time with them. Stephanie Dadiskos was here from MA for a visit also and we enjoyed having her here also.

Three days after the mission trip our friend, Sharon and her granddaughter Payton will be arriving for a week from Ohio. Also on the day she arrives I will be picking up my new puppy, yes you read right. I am getting a puppy. I am getting a bichon frise. I have met her and have already named her. She is a pedigree and her name is "Lili Nicole Dubois". How is that for a French name? I am very excited about getting a dog. Wish me luck in getting through the training phase.

I am sure that I will have lots of photos to post once I get back from mission and of the new puppy. I hope you are all enjoying your summer, I know you have from your blogs. Continue to do so and know that we are thinking of you all. Remember family...Thanksgiving is coming...this year is it is here! Luv and hugs!

Summer's in full swing at the Hilt's!

Time has swiftly passed since my last entry. Summer is in full swing. Let's see... We have had a visit from Stephanie...she was here for 10 days. It was a nice visit and hope she gets to come again soon.

Robin is in Charlottesville grading CPA exams and we will be seeing her tomorrow and Wednesday then have her here over the weekend. That will be so nice. Now that they have moved to Texas, visits will be less I imagine.

Our friend Sharon from Ohio and her granddaughter Peyton will be coming for a visit and we are looking forward to their visit also.

Then comes our Mission Trip to Choctaw, MS, where we will be working with the Native Americans. Roger and I are getting excited about that. We will be working on the homes doing repairs, holding a Adult Bible Study and a mini VBS for the children. We will also prepare a meal for them and they will prepare a meal for us. We are hoping to purchase school clothes for the children before we return. This is a very impoverished area and we hope to help by our visit.

Then in September our friends the Spoon's and we have rented a cottage at Holden Beach for a week.

In October Roger and I will go somewhere by ourselver for a week. We haven't figured our for sure where yet. We are still discussing that. So there you have it. That is what we have been up to lately. We would love to hear from you and know what you are doing this summer.

It makes one think!

The past several weeks have really made me think about the blessing I have in my own backyard! I spent approx. 10 days in Ohio with my dear friends going through the worst time in their lives. They lost a 5 month old baby girl. And the circumstances surrounding the loss to this day have not been made clear to the parents, or the grandmothers. The authorities made the parents feel they were the ones at fault even though there was no evidence that there was any such thing. These are wonderful people, caring and loving. I know this because the mother is like a second daughter to me. I baby sat her as a child. She and my daughter grew up together as children.

The grandfather and Roger were best friends! I am sorry he passed away from cancer at such a young age but am grateful he was not here to see how this all was handled. I was so glad I was able to go up and be with them. Not that I could say or do much to make the situation any easier, but being there was both a comfort for them and also for me. I would have been no where else. But I can tell you one thing for certain, I have never been to a funeral of a child so young, and I hope I never have to again. Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful celebration of her short life, but oh so sad. Her 9 year old sister Peyton, had such a difficult time accepting this. Bryana also is survived by two other beautiful sisters Jordan 21 and Sieara 18. Please keep them and her parents Nicole and Brian and grandmother Sharon in your prayers through this most difficult time.

I came home and then prepared for the "triple birthday" Roger, Lee and Trinity. I was tired and getting ready for this "party" was not what I was ready to do. I had to really struggle to get in gear. But I managed to do it. It went well, I was disappointed Kristy & family couldn't be here as they were sick. As it turned out we found out today the children have strep throat. So it was a good thing they didn't try to come. The party turned out well. There were 14 here including Tara's family who had never been to our home before. We had an age range from 14 mos. to in their late 80's. We had the party a day early as Trinity's "mother" was going to "pop" into town and see her for a couple hours on the actual day, so we couldn't have it on the actual day like we would have liked to. It all turned out ok for me, as you will see later, as I was rather busy "again". Here is where the title of my blog comes in, "It makes one think"... As I sat there I couldn't help but think of how many times, I had nearly lost "my babies". Lee with his very premature birth and then when he had that horrible accident and we were told he would never walk again. Then that horrible accident he was in in South Dakota just before he left the military. And, the almost 8 years he was in the military serving overseas in Iraq, Kuwait, Korea,Saudi Arabia and someplaces he was never allowed to even tell us he was at. I thought about the time Kristy had chicken pox and was so extremely sick they hospitalize her and she lost weight and was only 42 pounds and she was in eighth grade! We nearly lost her then. God has blessed us so many times. Sure,I was tired and worn out, but I am so blessed, compared to what my friends were going through, what was I even thinking about - thinking I was tired?

Then it was Mother's Day and the actual birthday. I was worship chair at church. I had thought ahead and ran the bulletins early so I wouldn't have to do them on the day of the party so they were done ahead of time, the flowers were ordered for the women of the church and would be ready for me to pick up that morning on the way to church. Individual flowers for each person, I had even remembered to account for visitors and each flower was to be individually wrapped. I was ready! The phone rang at 6:30 a.m. Oh, my this couldn't be good. It was my friend Sandra Garrison. She was calling to let me know her husband had died a couple hours earlier. Bless her heart. He had been ill for a couple years, but today was his day to go home to the Lord. I talked to her for awhile, then went and picked up the flowers and headed to church and then after church went by and took a deli tray (I ordered after I talked to Sandra) by to her house and we sat with her for awhile. We came home and then went to our friends the Hickman's for awhile to wish Thelma's Happy Mother's Day.

We got home around 8 p.m. and we talked about how grateful we were to be blessed with our wonderful children!

So as I close this post I say, "sit back reflect and realize how blessed you truly are, one never really realizes until you really look at what others are going through!"

Long Time No Blog

I have had many comments about the absence of my blogging, so here goes. Let me tell you about how I have been spending my retirement. First of all most of you are probably tired of seeing on facebook that I am enjoying Farmville. Yes, I am hooked. Roger says, "You complain that every time we move, I move you further and further away from the city. Now I come home and all you do is plow up fields, and seed and harvest. You feed pigs, and harvest fruit trees." I laugh.

I don't do that all day. I am involved in several Bible studies. I am so enjoying right now a "Women of the Bible" study on Thursday mornings. Thursday evening I continue my TOPS group (Take of Pounds Sensibly) although I must say I am not taking off any pounds. I am mostly maintaining my current weight. That isn't very good. However at least I am not gaining. It is a good group and a lot of support.

Wednesday evenings Roger and I both attend our church Bible Study. I continue to do our church bulletins. I also attend several circle groups, and transport home bound people to their Doctor appointments. This is what I wanted to be able to do in retirement. I am able to help make meals for our church members that are home bound due to surgeries etc. which I was not as readily available to do working. I am busy, believe me. I attend several senior groups for fellowship during the month also. Ok, I am not actually a senior but I enjoy them.

I also am available when something comes up if my son needs me to pick up the children when Tara is working late. That happens very seldom but it is wonderful to be able to do so.

I am looking forward to a friends coming for a visit in May and another one coming in June. On Mother's Day I am hosting the annual triple birthday party as well as having Tara's extended family over to help celebrate. That will be a houseful.

Then we will be to July and the busy time for Roger's work with plant shut downs. After that will be our 40th anniversary and we leave the end of that week for a mission trip to Choctaw, MS. I am so excited about that. Roger has never had the opportunity to go on a mission trip. He will have so much to offer helping the Native American elders with much needed repairs. With my back issues I will be helping with Bible School type studies with the children and women. It will be such a joy to be on another mission trip and especially with Roger.

So as you can see, being retired, I am not letting it slow me down. Now maybe you can see why I have not blogged much. When I started this blog today, I thought what am I going to say. Guess I did have something to tell you...hum maybe I should try to write more often.

A Day To Remember

Let me first start this post by saying that this may be a surprise to most people but I am very shy. I am being very honest about this. I truly do not like to be the center of attention. I get embarrassed very easily and I am very self conscious. I am also not good at being in crowds. Roger knows this and I have tried very hard over the years to get over this and have gotten some better but I am still struggling with this.

Today started as a day I did not want to face. I would have just a soon that "they" just have let things go on as they were but:

Today I went to church at Marquis Memorial where I worked for 15 years. They requested I come so they could recognize me for my years of service. Of course Roger didn't make it any easier saying this morning, "time to get up and get ready, it's Sue Hilt Day". Oh man, that just made me that much more anxious. I was so glad Lee and Trinity were able to come so I was flanked by family. I don't know why I feel this way. The people of Marquis Memorial are so sweet and kind and I love them. They have been nothing but wonderful to me. That being said I will describe my morning.

We walked into church and were greeted by many people and then we sat down and looked at the bulletins which by the way were beautiful. The new secretary is doing a fantastic job. They are using color now on the bulletins and the new format is wonderful. It was time for a change for them also. I am sure they are glad to have someone younger with more updated computer experience. The bulletin also stated that altar flowers were in my honor. They were gorgeous! The entire service was based around the theme "Thanks" and the anthem was also. After the announcements the pastor stated that today service was in honor of me and called me up and luckily Roger, Lee and Trinity. He spoke a few words about my years of service etc gave me a gift from the congregation in an envelope and then asked me to speak. He then invited everyone to remain after worship for a meal in my honor.

After the service everyone went down to the social hall for a nice lunch and people came by and spoke to us. It was a lovely day and now I am home and relaxing with Roger and Trinity waiting on Lee to get back from taking Tara lunch. So, now I am going to make Roger continue to observe "Sue Hilt Day". Hey, I might as well make the most of it, right?

A New Blessing!

Yesterday we were so blessed. Tara had another scare. She and Lee went to the E.R. and were assured she was fine. Later in the day they went to her normal scheduled Dr.'s appointment. She had her regular scheduled sonogram. They heard the healthy heart beat once again, saw all kind of views of the baby and were reassured everything was fine. Of course with the last pregnancy, we are all on pins and needles but Tara is through the first trimester and she has been reassured the baby is positioned fine and things are progressing normally.

Lee and Tara saw the baby's hands and counted the fingers the baby's heart beat is strong and all chambers of the heart are formed. And........the Dr. determind that the baby is a boy...yes, Lee is getting his boy! Well so is Tara, but Lee is so excited about having a son. The Lord, has been so good to keep Tara and the baby in his care and we ask for your continued prayers as with Tara's gallbladder and her sciatica issues things are a bit complicated. It won't be an easy pregnancy for her. When she had Sydney she had pregnancy induced hypertension also. So we ask for your prayers that both she and the baby will do fine until it is time for him to make his entrance to the world. Until then we are all anxiously awaiting his arrival.

Back Home

Well Sandy and I are back home from our relaxing trip to FL. I must say that we did escape the fridgid cold up north for some slightly warmer weather. It wasn't as warm as we had hoped but hey anything is better than the snow!!!

We had a nice visit with Rick and the dogs on our way down. We so wished we had a camcorder. We were enjoying a lovely supper with Rick when all of a sudden we realized how quiet the dogs were being. Rick got up to check on the dogs. He went into the den, came out with this look of panic on his face turned around went back in the den, then came back out with this look of horror on his face and went back in speechless.

Sandy and I got up and walked in. We didn't even have the presence of mind to get a camera. It was so funny! There was yarn everywhere! Their black lab had gotten into both of our "to do" bags which were loaded up with skeins of yarn. It was everywhere! It was so funny! No real harm was done mostly he wanted the labels on the yarn. Poor Rick was appalled. Sandy and I have had so many laughs over it. We kept talking about how we could have had $100,000.00 and if not that atleast $10,000 from America's Funniest Video's. Just the video of Rick would have been enough. You really had to be there. We have laughed til we have cried over it. Thanks Rick for the laughs!

I am happy to report that I can WALK on the beach again! Maybe not five miles at a time but atleast I can enjoy the walks again. It was quite cool on the beach so I didn't get to do it much but I did enjoy doing it while I was down there.

Sandy and I enjoyed shopping, relaxing and reading...lots!!! We had safe travels and a good time. Now we are home and reality has set in....there is still snow on the ground. It was good to get back and see Roger. Now it is time to start paying the bills, unpacking and getting back into the swing of everyday life.

Enoughs Enough!!!!

We thought the the big storm in December when we got 30" of snow would be the "big" snow of the season and we might get another small snow or so the rest of the winter.

Boy were we wrong! This year has been exceptional. We have had two huge snows and several good sized amounts of snow in between. Seems like every weekend we have snow. This weekend was our second "big" storm. As you can see from the pictures, we got blasted again.

Now you would think we might have a break but the forecast is for more snow Tuesday night. I have had enough. Roger got called out to work today and he had to shovel out his work truck to go to JC Penney's and he got there and hit the reset button and came home. He couldn't even get the truck back up the driveway. He re shoveled the drive again and finally got it up.

Roger has for years talked about moving south...and I keep saying I don't want to move away from my family and friends, but with weather like this,I am growing weaker...

My car has not been "dug out" and he doesn't plan on doing it. Guess that is his way of "keeping me put". He is very protective of my back. However I sure hope he digs it out before next Sunday when Sandy and I head to Florida. I pray there isn't
another storm next weekend. Surely we will get a break on that....ya think? Love and hugs, Sue

"Things are really looking up"

I am doing super! "My chair has been moved back down to the family room, tomorrow the "little t.v." will be removed from the living room. I will be so happy to have my living room back to being a "living room" and my family room back to being a "family room" again. I have never liked a t.v. in the living room, but I have to admit it was a comfort not having to go down those stairs when I was sore and found it hard to manipulate the stairs.

I am able now to go some without my brace on my back, but do wear it if I am having a day of heavy chores or "feeling a bit sore" which is less and less these days. My next appointment with the neurosurgeon is the beginning of March and I am sure he will be very pleased at my progress, I know we sure are. To think only four months ago I was in misery. The change is remarkable. I am so grateful. It has been a long road, but with my family and friends,it was made so much easier. Thanks!!! I appreciate all you did. I love you all.

Now I am looking forward to the warmer weather and the volunteer work I have longed to do for years. I have begun to do some but only when I feel up to it. I am joining a group of friends in a daytime Bible Study at Staunton Church of the Alliance where people from several other denominations participate also ... that begins a week from Thursday, we are all looking forward to that.

Sandy and I are planning a road trip...yes a road trip...south!!! I can't believe it. We will drive but not as far in a day. We are very excited about it and looking forward to it.

So as you can see, I am keeping busy, no sitting and watching soap opera's for me! Maybe "Good Morning America" and sipping coffee with my feet propped up before I get going....I won't say I don't do that....

Christmas 2009

Christmas was quite an adventure this year. It started with Kristy and Vic and the children (Christopher, Ginger and Sarah) arriving on Wednesday the 23rd. It was so good to have them here for Christmas! On Thursday we all went to the Gypsy Hill Garden Center for our friend Mary McLear's (Tootie) annual family Christmas eve dinner. It was so much fun for Kristy to get to see Tootie's grand daughter who she was friends with and who was her first boss years ago when she was only 16.

On Christmas morning, it was so wonderful being waken by the excited whispers of children. They were out in the living room peeking at their stockings and looking at the bicycles under the tree. We all got up and opened gifts and then had a delicious breakfast.

Kristy and Vic loaded up the van with most all the gifts and headed back to have Christmas dinner with Vic's mom. We kept the children here to give mom and dad a much needed break. Everyone said their goodbyes and mom and dad headed on their drive back to Locust Grove.

Saturday was a day to unwind from all the holiday festivities and relax and get ready for church with baths, hemming new pants etc.

Sunday was church, then we took the children to Applebee's to eat and stopped by the bookstore to get some reading materials for the children for quiet time.

Monday, pa-paw headed to work, and Ne-ne and the children worked in the house. The children learned how to do household chores in hopes that when they went home they could pitch in and give mom a hand. Christopher learned how to clean a toilet, Ginger learned to clean a bathroom sink, and they both learned how to clean floors. Christopher learned how to vaccum, Ginger & Sarah how to dust. Sarah learned how to help empty a dishwasher and how to rinse dishes to put in the dishwasher. Sarah also learned how to help Ne-ne fold clothes and match socks and fold them together. She became a pro at that and really liked doing that job. They all enjoyed learning and were anxious to go home and show mom what they can do now. Uncle Lee & Aunt Tara even made them chore charts to take home with their chores to do. They also learned that every morning when they get up they make their beds, and every day they put their dirty clothes in the dirty clothes hamper. Hope it makes a difference Kristy.

Monday evening Tara, Lee, Trinity and Sydney came over and we had their Christmas dinner and Christmas. The grandchildren love to get together. They behaved so well. Christopher and Ginger played Santa and handed out the gifts and Sarah gathered the gift wrapping as Tara, Lee and Trinity & Sydney opened their gifts. Here is a photo of all 5 of the grandchildren around the big horse Trinity received. The photo isn't the best but it is very hard to get 5 to all look the best at one time:





Tuesday, my friend Millie came by and brought the children donuts for breakfast and brought a special bag of fun things for them to do. One was some play foam beads. All of them really enjoyed playing with it, but Ginger really got into it. Ginger spent quite awhile making things. Before we knew it she had made a whole winter scene. She even got pa-paw's camera and took a picture of it. Here it it is:



Thanks Millie for the wonderful fun things you brought! Not only did she bring this she also brought two movies that helped entertain them too.

But, now for the best news, next year we are pleased to announce that we will have a photo of our grandchildren and when we do there will be one more in it. We just found out that Lee and Tara are expecting. We are thrilled. We are praying that all goes well. They have been told that the baby is positioned in the right place and no need to worry about an etopic pregnancy this time. They are very relieved. Tara is 5 weeks pregnant and we are praying for a safe pregnancy. We ask for your prayers as she was to have gall bladder surgery on Dec.30 and that was called off. We pray she will not have any attacks during the pregnancy.
Due date is August 28th!

Christopher, Ginger, Sarah & Trinity all had colds and I am happy to say went home feeling fine. However Ne-Ne & Pa-Paw, Uncle Lee, Tara, Kristy and Vic all have the cold now. So kids, be kind to your parents now....you gave it to them!

Oh and Happy New Year Everybody!

Love and Hugs!