Thursday Thirteen - #17

I LOVE classic movies, especially musicals! My favorites are from the late 30's to early 60's...when Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Danny Kaye, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers and other 'greats' were popular.

With that said...here are 13 classics that I love...

1. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House: * "Sophisticated New Yorkers Jim and Muriel Blandings (Cary Grant and Myrna Loy) pack up their two girls and leave their jaded city life for a dreamy getaway in rural Connecticut. Trouble is, they don't know what they're in for. … As local tradesmen increase their work rates and try to cash in on the recent transplants, Grant's job as an advertising executive may be on the line if he can't think of a slogan to sell ham!"

This movie is so much fun to watch. It's a great funny movie for the whole family. We've watched it a few times and never tire of it. I personally love watching them fix up the house...especially since I've always wanted to be an architect!





2. You Were Never Lovlier: *"The incomparable Fred Astaire pairs up with the alluring Rita Hayworth for this delightful musical featuring the compositions of Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer. While in Buenos Aires, Robert (Astaire), a dancer, meets Maria (Hayworth), the daughter of a rich Argentinian entrepreneur, who won't let her sisters get married until she herself is betrothed. Features performances by Xavier Cugat and Miguelito Valdes."

There's nothing more fun than watching Fred Astaire on his feet!







3. Bells are Ringing: *"Judy Holliday reprises her Tony Award-winning role as a scatterbrained switchboard operator in Vincente Minnelli's musical comedy. The story centers on eavesdropping phone operator Ella (Holliday), who goes incognito to help her problem-plagued customers and eventually wins the heart of a handsome playwright (Dean Martin). Jean Stapleton and Eddie Foy Jr. also star. Extras include a featurette, musical number outtakes and the theatrical trailer."










4. Singin' in the Rain: *"Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor combine their talents in one of the best musicals ever made. When Hollywood attempts the transition from silent movies to talkies, matinee idol Kelly hopes to make the cut. Jean Hagen stands out as a silent-movie queen with a fingernails-on-a-blackboard voice. Musical fare includes "Good Morning," "Make 'Em Laugh" and the title tune."

Great classic...of course the scene where he's singing on the street while dancing is the best!







5. An Affair to Remember: *"Each already engaged to another, Nikkie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Tempting fate, they agree to meet at the Empire State Building in six months if they still feel the same way, but a tragic accident prevents their rendezvous, and the lovers' future takes an uncertain turn. This poignant and humorous love story was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Music."

Tearjerker!








6. Top Hat: *"This joyous Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical features an Irving Berlin score and the classic duet "Cheek to Cheek." Astaire stars as Jerry Travers, a singer-dancer who auditions some new moves for producer Horace Hardwick at his hotel. The beautiful Dale Tremont (Rogers) is staying downstairs and the wackiness begins when she mistakes Jerry for Horace in this romantic comedy that received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture."

Yet another classic Astaire movie you've got to see!








7. Forever Darling: *"After five years of marriage, Susan (Lucille Ball) and Lorenzo (Desi Arnaz) are drifting apart. So when he plans a camping trip to test a new insecticide he's developing, she vows to come along and keep him company. Little does Lorenzo know that Susan's guardian angel (James Mason) is tagging along, too. This offbeat romantic comedy hit theaters during the fifth season of "I Love Lucy," capitalizing on America's love affair with its stars."

I don't know what it is about this movie, but it's so much fun to watch. We bought the box set with this movie, "The Long Long Trailer" and "Too Many Girls". This is my favorite of the 3, but they're all very good, especially if you love Lucy!!





8.Daddy Long Legs: *"While visiting France as a goodwill ambassador, a third-generation American millionaire (Fred Astaire) meets a striking young woman (Leslie Caron) who was orphaned during World War II. Vowing to take care of her for the rest of her life, he anonymously funds her travel to the United States, where she attends a prestigious women's college. But all she knows of her mysterious benefactor is that he signs his checks "Daddy Long Legs."

Sweet movie...but kind of weird how a 50 yr. old man would fall in love with an 18 year old. That's the movies for ya!







9. An American in Paris: *"Opportunistic American artist Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) -- once a struggling painter -- lives in the City of Light enjoying the patronage of a well-heeled, amorous American gallery owner. Until, that is, he meets and falls desperately in love with a willowy French street urchin (Leslie Caron, in her big-screen debut) who happens to be engaged to Mulligan's best friend. Seven Academy Awards went to this tour-de-force movie musical."

My favorite part of this musical is the music itself...very upbeat and lively!! It's also fun to play. I've played it in a couple orchestras I've been in - on my flute.






10. White Christmas: *"Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye play war buddies turned entertainers who fall for a pair of sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen). The boys follow the girls to a resort, which is owned by their former commanding officer, and he's in danger of losing the place. What better reason to stage a show than to keep the resort out of hock?"

LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie!!!!! It's one I never miss watching each year. My 2 favorite songs..."Sisters" (especially when the men sing it - too funny!) and "Snow"...when they sing it on the train on the way to Vermont.




11. Shall We Dance: *"Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers kick up their heels on an ocean liner in this musical. Ballet star Pete Peters (Astaire) is in love with celebrity Linda Keene (Rogers), and his infatuation leads him to set sail across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, he hardly knows her, but a little white lie results in everyone thinking the two stars are married. George and Ira Gershwin provide the musical score that includes "They Can't Take That Away from Me."

Their dance number on the rocking ship is great. Overall a fun movie for a cold lazy winter afternoon!







12. Royal Wedding: *"Brother-sister dance duo Tom and Ellen Bowen (Fred Astaire and Jane Powell) get the chance of a lifetime when they're booked for a London performance on the eve of Elizabeth II's nuptials. In the course of their journey, Ellen meets her match in Lord Brindale, and Tom finds romance with a British hoofer. Will love break up the act? Peter Lawford and Sarah Churchill also star in this classic 1950s musical comedy."

I've seen this movie a dozen times...it's a classic for sure. This is the movie Astaire did his famous ceiling dance in...where they rotated the set. Pretty impressive for the 50's!





13. Holiday Inn: *"Bing Crosby croons to the tune of the Oscar-winning "White Christmas" in Irving Berlin's love triangle romantic comedy. Tired of the bright lights of showbiz, Jim Hardy (Crosby) retires to the countryside to become a farmer. He converts the farm into the Holiday Inn, open only on holidays, then competes against his pal (Fred Astaire) for a singer-dancer's (Marjorie Reynolds) affection."

My favorite of ALL time!!!!! This movie is such a great movie since it covers every holiday, but Christmas time is the best time to watch it. I love the Inn and would LOVE to own and run something like that...I know, dream on! The new colorized version just came out and it's INCREDIBLE...very clear and crisp!!! My husband surprised me with it yesterday and I already watched it. They have extras on the DVD as well which show you how they colorized it. It's fascinating to see. I will be watching this movie over and over again, that's for sure!

The next time it's a cold rainy day and you don't feel like going anywhere, grab a hot cup of cocoa, and put on one of these classic movies. It'll warm your heart and let you escape from reality for just a little while!

A side note: There's a classic movie that I watched once and cannot for the life of me remember what it was or who was in it. All I remember is that the main characters worked in a music store selling instruments etc. It was probably in black/white. The new salesman fell in love with a woman who worked there and I believe he played the violin, but I'm not positive. The details are foggy to me but I would LOVE to see it again if I could figure out what the movie was called. If you have any ideas, let me know. Thanks!!


*All the summaries are from Netflix...any added comments are mine.

A gentle spirit...

Barton Cottage Award #3

This week's "Beautiful Heart, Beautiful Blog Award" goes to...

(insert drum roll here)

Josephine, over at Dixiecajuns

I stumbled on her blog not too long ago and read quite a bit of it. She has been through so much in recent years...leaving her home state of Louisiana just before hurricane Katrina hit, and more recently...losing her best friend...her beloved husband, in a horrific automobile accident! She's got a wonderful family who are there to support her, and she clearly loves the Lord! Pop in on her blog sometime and share some encouraging words.

Have a blessed day!

Our version of a Venus volcano

Sweet-Pea had to create lava today! No not real lava! We are using the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy book, and are currently studying lesson 4 - Venus. If you don't know about these science books, I highly recommend them. There are 5 books in all (so far), all written by Jeannie Fulbright. As a supplement, we are creating a lapbook to go along with it which I found here. I will post photos of it when we are done with the first one (there are 2 for the whole book). If you enjoy scrapbooking like I do, then you'll enjoy lapbooking. It really adds to the learning experience, plus your kids will have fun creating them!

Anyhow, Venus is covered with volcanoes, so we are learning about lava and what it's made of. Our volcano experiment begain with a stick of butter. They said to use 1/4 stick, but we used a whole one...the more lava the better!!



As the butter was melting, we put together our base. A large plate and a dish to go in the center. They suggested a custard dish...we used a small white crock...it was as close to a custard dish as we could find.



Sweet-Pea then put flour all around the dish creating a mountain. We put some on the top as well so it blended together.





Once that was done, I slowly poured the melted butter onto the top center of the 'custard' dish, allowing it to flow down the sides. This is to show how lava would flow down the sides of the mountain...creating streams and paths. It really flowed slowly like lava would too...pretty amazing.



After a while, we will go back and look at it once again to see what happened with the 'molten lava' (a.k.a. melted butter). Sweet-Pea guessed correctly what would happen...as it cools down, the lava would become hard rock again...since lava is simply melted rock. In our case, it will become hardened butter again.

It's a pretty simple experiment, but it shows how lava runs down and cools. Venus has nothing to melt, so it's pretty much all melted rock with some hard rocky spots from cooling...not sure how since they say it's over 870 degrees on the planet! Wow...and I thought the heat and humidity this past summer was unbearable!

This video shows how Sweet-Pea figured it out. Sorry about the pajamas, unkempt hair and our horrible voices...I sound like a man with my scratchy voice...gag! We're all fighting colds and sore throats, but we're doing school anyhow.



Well, we're off to finish the rest of our classes. Have a great day everyone!

100 Things About Me

Some of you know me very well and probably don't need this list, but others of you have no idea who I really am. This list originated on an old blog I had years ago, but I've decided to re-vamp it and type it up again for this blog. I was inspired by my friend over at Pages of Our Life. Go congratulate her on her 100th blog post. This isn't my 100th post, it's actually my 279th post, but there's no way I'm writing 279 things about myself - 100 is hard enough!! Ha Ha

Here goes:

1. I am happily married to my best friend.
2. I am 42 (almost 43) years old and am not afraid to admit it!
3. I became a Christian when I was just 5 years old while kneeling beside my parents bed.
4. I LOVE homeschooling my children.
5. I was a missionary in South Africa from 1988-1990.
6. I play the flute and have taught for years. I love music.
   
7. I love to scrapbook and wish I had more time to do it.
8. I met my husband at my home church - he was new there and wrote me a letter after I played a flute solo one Sunday morning. At first it was like I had a stalker, but then he became my best friend and then husband.
9. I am Scottish and am proud of it! Aye, Dinnae I tell ye a'fore?
10. We went to Scotland for 2 weeks on our honeymoon. Totally awesome!
11. I have 2 beautiful children.
12. I enjoy rubber stamping - cards, in my scrapbook - on anything!
    
13. I LOVE coffee!!! No really, I LOVE it!!! Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts...you name it! I love my Keurig coffee maker too.
    
14. I've traveled to Europe twice with a local Symphony which was awesome! We went to England/Wales, Germany/Austria/Switzerland.
15. I live only 1 mile from the ocean but hate swimming in it or visiting it - I'm a lake person.
16. I always wanted to be an architect - I did design our kitchen though!!
17. I went to college for 5 years to become a Social Worker - only worked 1 year before marriage and kids though.
18. I got pregnant on my honeymoon!
    
19. Jesus is EVERYTHING to me!!!
20. I enjoy the computer and am better at it than my hubby.
21. I have 1 older sibling - a sister who is 2 years older than I.
22. I rode on an ostrich and was on TV while doing it in South Africa.
23. My Mom was my best friend (next to my hubby of course).
24. My Mom died in 2001 after having cancer for 7 long years. Dad died this year after having Alzheimer's Disease for 7 years.
    
25. My favorite comedienne is Mark Lowry - totally funny. I LOVE humor.
26. I am generally an optimistic person.
27. I'm a closet Brady Bunch show lover. Shhhh! I watch it with my kiddos.
28. My favorite movie is Sense & Sensibility - as if you couldn't tell by my blog!
29. I'm married to a chef. (He went to school with Emeril Lagase)
30. I'd rather spend a quiet day alone with my husband than be out with lots of friends.
31. I had a gerbil named "Happy" when growing up. We now have 2 gerbils named Mozart & Beethoven.
32. I always wanted 4 children - boy, twin girl/boy then another girl. God had other plans in mind though - of which I'm thankful. I am very content and feel complete!
33. I love that my son loves to hug and snuggle at age 13 - shhhh!
34. My daughter has beautiful hair - I'm so jealous!!!
35. I love that my husband is also a musician - he plays the clarinet and saxophone.
36. I love a good Bible study - especially on Revelations and the 2nd coming!
37. I love funny stories, jokes etc. Laughter is a gift from God.
38. I had surgery 2 years ago and absolutely loved the experience - although I'd never do it again if I had the choice. Yeah, I'm sick aren't I?
39. I love a good rainy day.
40. I love to watch "Hetty Wainthrop" with my husband - awesome British TV mystery show.
41. My children were both big babies, 9.0 lbs and 10.2 lbs.
    
42. I love to bake.
43. My children are my pride and joy...as if you couldn't tell.
44. I love milk and drink it often.
45. My family used to perform concerts at churches on Sunday evenings when I was young.
46. I once went para-sailing.
47. My trademark holiday 'cookie' is Scottish Shortbread, but don't ask me for our secret family recipe. I'd have to kill you if I told you.
48. I love to read, even in the bathroom.
    
49. I'm addicted to the "I Love Lucy" show!
50. I hate feet! Clean or dirty - eew - they gross me out.
51. I want to move to Colorado with my family. We were going to move now, but my husband can't get a job transfer, so who knows what we'll do. We can't afford to live where we do any longer!
52. I rode on a mule named "Hairy" down the Grand Canyon in 1986 while on a college trip.
53. My daughter has a thing about bows - she hates them which bothers me since most girl's clothing has them. She's getting better though.
54. I'm a home-body. I love being home, yet I also enjoy going out now and then.
55. My son plays the violin (very well!) and I'm hoping he'll keep it up and find a profession where he can play and enjoy it one day.
    
56. I like my first name, many people don't. My name really isn't 'Elinor', it's Kim. Shhh!
57. I enjoy a nice hot cup of tea each night before bed - decaf. of course.
58. We had a Cock-a-Poo dog named Buddy years ago, but now we have a Goldendoodle named Cody. He's an amazing dog!!
59. I went to a ball in Germany (The Tyrol Ball) where I danced like a princess all evening. I was 15 years old.
60. I love being outside but not when it's hot and humid. Yuk!
61. Sadly, I don't like all my neighbors. I wish I had someone next door to have a Lucy/Ethel relationship with!
62. I'm hardly ever cold.
63. I was in a plane crash when I was young - we were on the ground in a cottage when a Piper plane crashed into it totally destroying the house and killing everyone on the plane but one person. Praise the Lord we were spared!
64. I went on several safari's while in Africa where I got to see lots of God's handiwork - His amazing creation.
65. I love nature but I dislike bugs! Eew!!!
66. I enjoy thunderstorms.
67. My favorite color use to be peach, but I think it's green now. It keeps changing. = )
68. Both my children accepted Christ as their Savior when very young. I'm so proud of them for their decision to follow Christ!
    
69. I got a proposal before my husband's proposal - glad I said 'no' to the first one!
70. I love playing board games, especially trivia ones.
71. Autumn is my favorite time of year.
72. My husband has the best handwriting - better than mine.
73. I love taking photos and want a new camera for Christmas this year - hint hint honey!
74. I used to be a private duty Social Worker for a suicidal man who used to be a mortician. Made for a very happy situation huh? Oh the stories he'd tell me.
75. I went to 2 different colleges - both Christian Colleges. One in Pennsylvania, and one in New York.
76. I changed my major 2 times - thus the 5 year plan. (As Mark Lowry says..."I squeezed 4 years of college into 5 years." Gotta love it.)
77. I hated high school and never wish to attend a reunion.
78. I love reading to and with my kids.
79. I have big feet. My Dad used to say "I have a good understanding - or a strong foundation." He was always a kidder. I miss him!
    
80. I have never broken a bone in my body - and hopefully never will.
81. Contrary to most people, I love my in-laws.
82. I sold my Dad's house in only 6 days and it never even made it to the open house date.
83. I worked at a Christian summer camp for 10 summers in upstate NY.
    
84. I never smoked or drank in my life and I'm proud of that. No drugs either.
85. I don't like antiques - unless they're personal family heirlooms.
86. I love to watch my children sleep.
87. My favorite family heirloom is my Grandfather's Bible.
88. I started a homeschool group that is still growing - it's in its 7th year.
89. I was on bed rest during my entire 2nd pregnancy.
90. I love eating turnips.
91. I was an extra in the movie Mannequin - although I don't like to admit it...it's a horrible movie!
92. I enjoy watching reality shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor.
93. I still have my favorite stuffed animal (dog) from when I was a baby. His name is Poogie and he's lost all his fur, plus his stuffing is crunchy on the inside now, but I still love him!
94. I don't live near tornado alley, but I was in, and survived, 2 tornadoes.
95. I once got so mad at my parents, I walked into my room, kicked off the wooden Dr. Scholls shoes I was wearing and one of them flew through the glass window and landed outside in the bushes. Yes, I got in BIG trouble for that!!
96. I absolutely love to travel. I'd rather go to Europe than to Disney.
97. I love anything to do with history. The older the better.
98. I love figure skating and can watch it all day. I love watching Sweet-Pea skate now.
99. I used to be the best prank phone caller in high school and college! Thank goodness there was no caller i.d. back then or I'd have been in big trouble I'm sure.
100. I always wanted to be a great singer, but my voice isn't that good.
     

OK, there you have it. 100 things about me. If you get the time, make up your own list and let me know you did...I'd love to read it!

Ever feel like this?

Me too!! I couldn't resist snapping a photo of Cody after going on a walk. He looks exhausted doesn't he?!? He since has gotten a MAJOR haircut but I refuse to post any new photos on the grounds that it may embarrass him!!

I had been brushing his hair every night for a good 30 min. or so, but when my Dad got sick and died a few weeks ago, poor Cody got highly neglected. He ended up getting a bunch of mats that were nearly impossible to get out. I managed to comb out a few, but it was too difficult a task and I didn't want to put Cody through all of that, so we had him groomed. He is now a bit scrawny looking, but he's still our same 'ole sweet dog...plus he's so much softer, believe it or not!

The only thing that gets me mad about getting him groomed, was that the groomer was careless and she buzzed the pads of 2 of his paws causing him to bleed. It's like when you skin your knee - the top surface of skin is all cut up. Poor Cody has to walk around on his cut up pads until they heal! No walks for him this week, that's for sure!!! We're pampering him and are watching to see that he doesn't get any infections, but you can be sure that he gets NO more cuts from that groomer! She will never lay a hand on our precious pooch ever again!!! Sometimes a good groomer is so hard to find...why is that??? It's so frustrating.

On her own

Sweet-Pea is doing so much better with her skating lessons! This past week she was finally able to skate without needing to hold onto her coach the whole time. She hasn't been leaning on her, but that feeling of security that she felt she needed (the coaches hand under her arm) is now not something she depends on. Yahoo! That's a huge improvement for her!!



She is good at doing her swizzles (see the video below), and she's a lot more confident while on the ice. Of course she has a LONG way to go, but this is only after 7 lessons...not too bad considering that equals only 3 1/2 hours on the ice! She is getting a lot of stickers in her US Figure Skating book too which is a great incentive for her.



Last week we even got Daddy to come to her lesson and try a bit of skating himself. He did great considering it's been almost 30 years since he's been on skates!!! Wow! (Those green skates were rentals from the rink. They're so ugly aren't they?) Lionel is doing much better too, but he is still a bit nervous about falling down, so he's taking things slowly. The best part about having Sweet-Pea's lesson on a weekday morning, is that there is usually no one in the rink but us! There may be a couple other older adults now and then but that's it! It's pretty awesome. Because of that, I even put my new skates on and venture out onto the ice - sorry no photos! I refuse to post photos of me on skates...it just wouldn't be fair to my viewers! hee hee



Here are a few interesting facts about figure skating for you:

• The Flying Camel is a particular spin, requiring the skater to jump into it.
• There are different blade designs for different types of skating.
• The first skates were made from the leg bones of large animals.
• The toe pick or rake was added to the front of skates in the 1870's.
• Toe jumps include: Toe loops, Flips, and Lutzes
• Edge jumps include: Salchow, Loops, and Axels
• There are 3 basic types of spins: Sit, Camel and Upright
• Ballet is important to a figure skater for adding beauty to the skater's movement.
• The Axel is a jump named after its inventor, the Norwegian Axel Paulsen. It is the only jump in figure skating that uses a forward take-off and a backward landing.
• If you spin on the ball of your foot, your spin will be much better and will last longer.

Here's a link to the US Figure Skating Association...check it out just for fun.

Photo Hunt #131 - Family

I'm combining this Photo Hunt with a regular post today. We went away for a few days this week, and I was going to post about the great family time we had. Since this Photo Hunt is entitled family, I thought combining my posts were appropriate.

My family means more to me than anything. They are my support and encouragement when I need it. They show me unconditional love despite my short-comings, and they bring me so much happiness! God blessed me with a husband and two beautiful children whom I am proud to call my family!!!

We headed to our favorite place...the Yankee Candle Shop. If you've never visited their huge stores, they're like a Disney World for candle and country decor lovers! That's me! Here are Lionel and Sweet-Pea in the museum part of the store.


Lionel made a very cool wax form of his hand. It was creepy in a way (reminded me of 'Thing' on the Addams Family), but cool at the same time. He dipped his hand in liquid Dawn detergent first, then in ice cold water. After the water he dipped his hand into the clear wax several times to get a real solid form. Once it was done, he chose a color for the outside...of course he chose blue. It came out great and we even were able to get it home in one piece!! That gentleman in the background with the tan shirt took several photos of Lionel for Yankee Candle postcards, so maybe one day there will be a postcard of Lionel dipping his hand! Cool!


Lionel and Sweet-Pea posing beside one of the displays. Sweet-Pea wanted to take the reindeer home with her.


I caught her kissing this little deer in the stuffed animal section of the store. She has such a sweet spirit to her...just like that deer!


Here she is telling Santa what she wants for Christmas this year. She talked to him for a while since no one else was around. They hit it off and were talking about the reindeer, going down the chimney and his list of good/bad children. How funny they were together!!


While she was talking to Santa, these two goofballs were trying on every hat in the store! They do this every time we come here and it never ceases to amaze me how much fun they have doing it. Here is Uncle Sam and a friendly Pilgrim.


Lionel is studying about the Medieval period, so this photo was most appropriate. He loves anything to do with Armour, and the battles in England/Scotland/France during the 11th and 12th centuries.


Sitting on the huge bench waiting for it to snow inside. This section of Yankee Candle is really fun. It's dark inside, there are lots of Christmas trees, and it snows every 4 minutes.


Posing outside by the gorgeous flowers is tradition for us. I love comparing the kids photos throughout the years standing in the same spots!


OK, this is exactly why I love my family - they know how to have fun! They aren't afraid to be silly, even in public! Here Edward is 'driving' and the kids are pretending to be scared that they're going to crash. Gotta love their expressions!!


I took another photo of them with Sweet-Pea at the wheel and then Photo-Shopped it into a country scene. What a riot!


Another day we stopped in Old Deerfield, MA to visit their historical homes. I have ancestors that came from this area - one house in particular, so it was exciting to see. Here are the kids standing beside the boarding house sign...hmm...I wonder if it's too late to enroll them! ha ha


Here are a few houses in the historical town of Old Deerfield...simply gorgeous!!!!


Can you imagine living here? This was my favorite home here!


Simple, yet elegant!


This is the home of my ancestors (family) that date back to the 1600's. Awesome! We took a tour of this house to see what it was like. It's the one house that was owned the longest by the same family in Old Deerfield.


This beautiful church is also in Old Deerfield. The family of God is another family I am most proud to be a part of. Being a child of God is the absolute most important thing in my life...the only thing more important than my own family here on earth!!