The Garrett Cabin

Many of you guys remember Brian and Kelli Garrett. I worked for Brian at State Farm and Kelli played handbells with some of you at Central Baptist. They have two boys, Mitch and Colton.

They live in Phoenix and Brian called tonight to check on us after he heard about the tornado. He told me about the cabin he and Kelli purchased a couple of years ago in Montana. It is absolutely beautiful. It looks so serene and peaceful.

Check out www.coldcreekcabin.com next time you are on the internet.

Sandy

Clovis Tornado, March 23, 2007

She's In!!! Yes, Rachel was accepted.

Rachel received her letter of acceptance into the Texas Tech Doctoral program. She was also offered a job at 20 hours a week working for Tech in her program.

We are more than excited for her. From the day we met Rachel in 2005, she has talked about getting her Doctorate. She applied to Tech and Tech only because this is the program she was wanting to participate in, and she was accepted.

Rachel, I know the picture has Lee K and Abi with you but I am in a hurry and that is the first picture I found. I will edit this post later and put a picture of just you.

Pray for Rachel and Abi as they will be moving to Lubbock this summer and starting a new beginning.

Congratulations Rachel

Love Sandy

It's Here

I doubt there is anyone that doesn't realize we are now being surrounded by

"MARCH MADNESS"

Suggestion #1: obtain a bracket and fill it out, so you will be agitated along with the other million that chose the wrong team to win "that game". You can discuss all the mistakes the key players and coaches made(don't leave out the referees) and be able to discuss what went wrong with "the game". This will raise your blood pressure but definitely gives you something to do besides prepare the lawn for spring.

Suggestion #2: Don't bother with a bracket. You will then be able to say "yeah, that was the team I was going to choose to win that game", "I knew they would win", "Oh man, I should have filled out one of those brackets, I would have won a million, I guessed all the correct teams!".

Girls this is probably one of the best diversions man has ever created to "spring cleaning", "spring lawn preparation", etc... It definitely works.

Sandy

Shuffle, Nano, 30G, 60G, etc...

What do you discuss at "50" and "50" plus? I bet our children think we are talking AARP junk, no, not us. Last night we were celebrating Ellen's birthday and the conversation found it's way to "do you think the Shuffle would be enough for my needs".(from Ellen)

Soon, we had a Nano, a 60G and who knows what Steve had, his looked really fancy, the top of the line model.

The discussion was as varied as we are. David's podcast list is basically "everything sports", if there is a sports show to "podcast", David downloads it.

Steve has TV shows on his IPOD, all kinds of TV shows.

Debbie plays music.

My IPOD is full of pictures, I subscribe to sermons from two of my favorite preachers, and my favorite music and lots of Christmas music.

We all listen to our IPOD's differently, some dock theirs to a station, some just use earphones, I have a docking station at work, earphones for traveling, a special cord to plug into my Tahoe dash(provided by Heath) to play my IPOD over my Tahoe stereo.

Ellen just wants hers to clip to her shirt and play while she gardens. Debbie listens to music, I like to glance at the pictures moving across the screen on my desk at work.

Is this not amazing coming from a group that left home between 1972-76, with a clock radio and if lucky an 8 track in their car!! We have gone from 8 track, cassette(weren't we uptown with this?), CD's and now we are all purchasing IPOD's. We have also gone from CB's to Cell phones, now that is a transformation, "breaker, breaker" to "can you hear me now".

What next? How many more "new technologies" will there be in our lifetime?

I can't wait to see, I just hope I will have the ability to work them.

Guess I better check out the AARP website, may be something interesting on that site, I don't know, I have never been there.

Sandy

Celebrating Ellen

Wes and Ellen in San Francisco a year ago.



















The Ten Commandments
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.


2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.



3. Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day.




4. Honor thy Father and thy Mother.




5. Thou shalt not kill.




6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.



7. Thou shalt not steal.




8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.




9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.





10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.




There you go Ellen, in case you take another cab ride in San Francisco!! For those of you who have never taken a cab ride with Ellen, don't. For those of you who were in the cab with Ellen and the Jew, start memorizing the above list in case you ride with her again.



















This is Ellen... If she isn't dressing up in something, she is making us laugh by pretending to "own" Red River, NM or be a "queen" of something. Ellen is the one that talks to everyone that we do not know and makes sure that they remember our group. She once pulled me across the street as we were waiting for the 4th of July parade in Red River, and ask an elderly couple if she could take my picture with them "because the lady reminds me so much of my mother. " That lady didn't look anything like my mom and I had never told Ellen anything like that, but I had to go along with this charade and stand with the couple for a picture because Ellen had told them this crazy story.















What is Ellen doing here?















She says she was pointing something out to Jerry. We will let her stick to that story(she definitely was "pointing something out")







Books, Books and more books, "How to get kicked out of the San Francisco Airport"

We will always laugh at the "Ellen book story". Several of us went to San Francisco and Ellen being the teacher in the group was so fascinated with the huge Real Estate books that were free on the streets in the stands. She wanted one book for each of her 60 plus students, so you would see our group walking down the streets, arms loaded with these Real Estate Books. We thought that was hilarious, we would laugh and laugh about her "books". The laughing continued for days, and then we had to board the plane to return home.
San Francisco Airport saw no humor in Ellen trying to load a 100 pound bag(all those books). So, on the streets of SF, here we were, suitcases open trying to rearrange the items in our suitcases with the "books" in her suitcase and make the weight balance to no more than 75 pounds in anyones suitcase. We had the distinct privilege of seeing Ellen's "private garments" all the while Ellen is standing there horrified that this is happening. The guys didn't care what was in her suitcase with the books, they just wanted to solve the problem and board the plane. Needless to say, we had some "real" excitement when Larry tried to go through security with Wes' shaving bag and it had a pair of scissors in the bag. Larry promptly told security that that wasn't his bag, that is when the fun began, Ellen ran back through to explain that "she had put it there". As humorous as we all thought it was, Security was not amused. They did let us board and fly home, but Ellen and the "books" still make me laugh.




Bird Cage, Bird Cage..... yep, that is probably one thing Ellen is most known for, bird cage.....





Ellen, we could not celebrate your life without the "bird cage". Notice there is still one bird in the cage, I guess you hadn't arrived yet.
















Wes, Ellen, Mark and James.



Now that I have told you about the amusing, funny, hysterical side to Ellen, it would not be fair to her if I didn't tell you what a sensitive, caring friend she is, and that she is an awesome cook and a loving mom, wife, and coworker to those she worked with.

Ellen can cook. Ellen loves to cook, Ellen is good at cooking, Ellen excels at cooking(hope this gets me more of that bread at Christmas).
Ellen loves her boys, Mark and James. She is and always has been involved in their lives and cares so much that they continue to grow into very Godly men.
I have heard her say many times this past year "I don't know what I would have done without Wes". Wes has been such a strong stable force in her life as she has experienced a difficult career move this past year.

Ellen made a career move this past year that wasn't her idea. It has been difficult for all of us, but I have enjoyed watching her handle this with such a wonderful attitude and looking to see what the Lord has in store for her. Some of the things I have noticed is: she has been able to spend time daily with Wes' mom prior to her being put in the assisted living home, she has traveled to ballgames that she never would have been able to attend, she visits her friends that are so sick and she would not have been able to do this in the past, she is attending three Bible studies that would not have been possible. I am sure there are many other things she has done that none of us will ever know.

I joked about the ten commandments in the beginning, but the truth is Ellen is a prayer warrior, she prays for so many people and she is diligent and faithful to pray for long periods of time about needs she sees around her.

Ellen is very sensitive to needs around her. Meredith recently said to me "I think Ellen is my guardian angel, she always shows up when I am having a difficult day". That is just Ellen with everyone, I have always known this about her.

Happy Birthday Ellen