Franklin Family Christmas Vacation

Well, we are in New York! It has been over a week since we closed on our house. Since then we have been to GA, TN & NY and several states between.

Our fist stop was Flowery Branch, GA where we stayed a few days with the Orlando/Leibe family. Tanya Orlando is one of my best friends from high school. We haven't seen each other since her wedding day back in 1988!!! She and her husband Keith homeschool their three boys. The two youngest are 13 and 9, the same ages as Sadie and Daniel. It took the kids a little bit to warm up to each other, but not long. It ended up being difficult to break them apart ; )

Tanya's dad, David Leibe, discovered as an adult that he was Jewish. He now has a ministry to help Christians understand our Hebrew roots. It is quite fascinating. Tanya keeps her dad's office organized and travels with him on his annual trip to Israel where they take groups on a tour of a lifetime.

One night on the road, we were in a restaurant when a lady came up and told us what well behaved children we had and how nice it was to see us hold hands and pray before we ate our meal. I must say they really have been great on this adventure we have been on (although they have had their moments : -)

We took our ever faithful dog, Maya along with us for this extended vacation. The hotel where we are to stay in NY doesn’t allow pets and so my mom arranged for a kennel for those days. Maya has been through so much this past year and I just didn’t feel right leaving her for such a long period of time. This all came up while were still in GA and one morning, Tanya and Keith asked us if we wanted to leave Maya with them. She really seemed to feel comfortable there and so we agreed. What a blessing to know she is being well cared for and loved while we are apart from her. I realize they only offered to keep her as ransom, to guarantee our return :-) That’s okay, we only agreed to guarantee our return :-) We really had a wonderful visit!

Our next stop was five days with my brother, Mike and his wife Ronda in Shelbyville, TN. Mike took a day off and let us all ride their horse, Baby. Ronda blessed Sadie and me with a HUGE load of hand-me-down clothes and also insisted on buying boots for both girls and a new jacket for Daniel. It was hard to break away from there as well, but since Mom called to inform us that the parking garage only has about a seven foot clearance, we had to remove our luggage carrier from the top of our vehicle and leave it behind. That made Ronda quite happy to know that we will be back in a few days. It will be a hit and run stop because we have to get back to GA and get Maya.

Mike and Ronda have two horses and we had a wonderful time riding and grooming them. The kids had a blast and wonder if we can squeeze a horse in the Expedition :-) Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Sadie, Daniel & Emilie goofing around on Baby

They even got me up on the horse : o
Aunt Ronda with her horse Baby



If I give you an apple can I have my hat back?



Emilie looking at Flicka

Going... going... going... going... going... okay, it's finally gone

Yes, we finally closed on the house. We are no longer the owners of "Guacamole Villa" a.k.a. "La Casa Dijon." It feels so good to have that behind us. Now for the future, which is still uncertain, but we know that God is in control.

We are leaving in the morning for Long Island, NY by way of Flowery Branch, GA and Shelbyville, TN. It looks like the kids will finally get a white Christmas!

Check back often for pictures and updates from our Franklin Family Whirlwind Christmas Vacation!

Delaware Are They?

I apologize for not posting sooner, but we have had some wounds to lick. And posting just didn’t seem right until we had some down time and healing.

When you walk in the Lord’s will and you leave your ways behind, you become a target for the evil one and we knew when God sent us to Delaware, there would be spiritual battles. We just didn’t realize what a roller coaster ride we would be in for. Things were rocky at best, at all times. I won’t go into them here except to say that it has been rough. It took six weeks for Patrick to be given charge of the farm and only three minutes for it to be taken away.

During his time, he was able to have control of some of the finances. And the last month he was there, expenditures dropped by roughly $15,000! Praise God! The last week he ran the store, sales were up almost $5,000. Again, Praise God! The tide was turning. There was a glimmer of hope in building the businesses at the farm to where they could fund a ministry. Things were looking up and apparently Satan didn’t like it.

A lot of changes had to be made and we all know with change comes resistance. So, life wasn’t exactly grand on the farm. There was resistance but, Patrick was diligent. In fact, Sunday the 21st, was the first time that he went to church and the first real day he had taken off in nine weeks. The church service was wonderful. I watched a soldier weary from battle collapse in the arms of his master. It was wonderful to see Patrick let go of the troubles and woes and be refreshed and restored. When we left the service he told me, “It’s all in God’s hands. I’m so tired but God’s got it covered.” He knew that the battles he had been facing weren’t just physical. And he knew that they weren’t over.

Well, to make a long story short, Sam let Patrick go on Monday morning, October 22nd and gave him his first and last paycheck; a stipend that didn’t even cover our travel expenses up to Delaware. Why he was let go, we don’t know, we were never given a reason. Sam just said that it wasn’t going to work out. All that we know is that what we do, who we are and where we go from here is in the Lord’s hands. Patrick still has a heart for that place and those people; he prays for them every day. We always knew that Delaware was going to be temporary, we just didn’t realize how temporary.

So what have we been doing for the past two weeks? Well, my parents needed to be in New York in 10 days and we all decided to drive back to Florida so that we wouldn’t have to leave their motor home unattended for the winter. We left Delaware on Tuesday the 23rd. My parents were in the lead with their motor home and towing their car, I took the middle towing Patrick’s work trailer and Patrick followed me towing the 5th wheel camper. What a sight!

On our second day we got to Roanoke Rapids, NC when Patrick’s truck backfired and began to lose power. It did this several times. It was only about 4:00 in the afternoon, but we stopped for the night and arranged for him to take the truck in to be repaired. The next day, Mom, Dad, Sadie and Emilie continued on to Florida, leaving Patrick, Daniel, me and the two dogs. It was dreary and raining. I felt like we were being left behind from an old westward bound wagon train, and winter was a commin’!

We were told there was a computer program upgrade needed on Patrick’s truck and it was an easy remedy. After spending the afternoon doing laundry and $90 on Patrick’s truck, we were back on the road, but only for about 30 miles. His truck backfired and lost power yet again and we pulled off to yet another dealership. It took most of the day and over $800.00, but it was finally fixed. We wanted to get a few miles down the road before stopping for the night, so we headed out again.

We got about 60 miles down the road when our 5th wheel had a blow out of both tires on the passenger side. There we were, about 6:30 pm on the side of I-95. And there we sat for the next three hours! It took two separate companies, one to put on our spare and another to bring us a new tire (that originally couldn’t be located, being after hours and all). Praise God, yet again! We limped into a campground after 10:00 that night. We were still in North Carolina. The blow out blew a hole in the floor and busted water and gas lines, so we couldn’t hook up to water or cook. Thankfully it wasn’t cold.

Apparently the spiritual battles weren’t over when we left Delaware (and if you don’t understand what I mean here, just read a Frank Peretti novel).

The next morning we headed out and didn’t stop until we reached South Carolina. We drove the rest of the day and finally reached our destination at 1:00 am Sunday morning. It took us five days, but we made it. Praise God!!!

My parents left for New York on Monday and we have been resting, cleaning out our camper and seeking what the Lord would have us do now.

The 5th wheel is now in the shop and we are waiting on the insurance company at this point. It turns out that the furnace was completely destroyed, plumbing lines, gas lines, and electrical systems damaged and that some of the flooring and the entire cabinet with refrigerator and stove/oven will have to be taken out. We won’t know the full extent of the damage until they are able to remove the cabinet and appliances and that won’t happen until approved by the insurance company. Please pray that it all goes smoothly.

They told us that we are lucky we didn’t have a fire. Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it. We are blessed. God, Our Father, has had His angels around us the entire time. Where we may falter, He will not. We know that battle lines have been drawn and even though we are at a point of rest (Thank You Jesus), the battle still rages. We also know who wins in the end. We have chosen, this day, whom we will serve.

We beseech our brothers and sisters to join with us in prayer. We are seeking His guidance. Know that we are well and resting in Him.

Ephesians 3:14-21

Heat at last, heat at last! Thank the Lord, we have heat at last!

I thought I'd take a moment to update you all that our LP has been fixed! We had heat last night and I was able to cook our dinner and wash the dishes afterwards. The man who was able to fix it, came with his wife yesterday. She overheard me talking with Sadie about finding Emilie some winter clothes and she offered to give us her daughter's winter clothes from last year. What a blessing! Another blessing, her husband came Friday night and Saturday, but only charged us one service call and only one hours worth of labor. We are facing trials (such as no heat), but the Lord continues to show us His blessings. We are completely relying on Him!

The days are really nice right now. We leave the door open and let the fresh air blow through the screen door. The children have enjoyed the Sunday afternoon peace and quite here on the farm to play outside and my mom and I have tended to our laundry. I don't believe I will enjoy the walk in another month or two :)

Delaware did they go?

It's Friday night and the children and I have been in Delaware since Thursday the 4th.

Well, where to begin. I can't thank all of our friends enough for all the help. The Discher family, the Miller boys and Mr. Fenner worked so hard to help me make my goal to leave Florida Wednesday morning. They were at our house until past 11 pm, but we didn't quite make it. The kids and I made a palate of blankets and pillows on the floor that night and slept our last night in our house. The next morning I ignored the alarm on my cell phone. Fortunatly, my dear friend Mrs. Hagen called around 8 am to see where we were. She felt bad for waking me, but I was grateful. Beth and Eddie Discher arrived as I was getting out of the shower and we finished loading the last few items into the trailer. Mr. Fenner came back as well. In the end I only missed the mark by a few hours (we left about 3:00 that afternoon).

I was so tired when we started out. Again, I made a goal of getting to Georgia before we stopped for the night. We ended up stopping around 7 pm and getting a hotel room. We were still in Florida. I should stop making goals : ) We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pretzels for dinner. I took a shower and we all went to bed in our clothes. I set my phone for 4 am. This time I didn't ignore it. As a matter of fact I woke up at 3:45! I took the dogs out to do their thing, filled our coolers with ice, loaded the car back up and woke the kids. We were back on the road by 4:45 and soon discovered that I was only about one exit away from the Georgia State line (and better hotels). Oh well.

I tentatively set another goal of making it to Delaware that night. We filled up the gas tank just past the state line and the kids fell back to sleep. Around 10:30 we stopped for gas again and then hit the McDonalds for the bathroom and food. None of us were in the mood for breakfast, but they weren't serving lunch yet. I told the kids we would have to settle for breakfast, because we weren't stopping again until we needed fuel. Just as we walked up to order I heard the employees commenting about being out of most of the breakfast items and then a girl walked over to the board and changed it over to lunch. God is so good! We ordered our burgers and got back on the road.

We hit the DC Beltway (I-495) around 4:00. We were making great time! Patrick was expecting us to be at least one more night on the road and then we hit bumper to bumper traffic. We stayed outside of DC until after 6:00 :( But, I made my overall goal. We were in Delaware with Patrick by 8:00 Thursday night!

We are again without our own Internet connection. I have borrowed my dad's laptop to make this post. My folks are leaving on the 30th to report to work on Long Island. They will be there until December 24th. I suppose I can take our laptop up to the McDonalds in Milford every so often. They have a big sign in the window advertising that they have Wifi. Please keep checking in on us and I will try to post whenever I can.

Since our arrival, we have been busy. I spent the first day getting settled in the camper. My mom and I have been sharing the meal prep duties. She cooks part in her camper and I cook part in mine and then we eat together. The big annual tractor show was the first weekend. Saturday night we had a concert with the Inspirations, the Chuck Wagon Gang and Ryan and Friends, a very good ventriloquist act.

Patrick has been very busy working on the finish work on our friends' house as well as his duties with the store and the concert hall. The campground was full the weekend of the tractor show. We have one camper staying tonight and a group of about four campers next weekend. We had two big rainstorms two nights in a row and now the temperature has dropped. It was quite warm when we first arrived, but it is 47 degrees outside right now. Unfortunately it is 68 degrees in our camper because we are having issues with the LP and are spending our second night without any heat. Patrick finally found a guy who could come out this evening to look at it. He is returning tomorrow afternoon and we hope he will get it all fixed. Again we are grateful that my parents are up here so the kids have a warm place to sleep and tomorrow we have a place to take a hot shower.

Before I wrap this up, I need to send a personal message to Sandy. I brought my desktop computer up here in my car, set it up in our camper, it worked just fine for a couple of days and then just up and died the other night for no apparent reason. I tell you this because you made a comment and asked for our new address. Your e-mail address is locked in the address book in that computer. Please send me a personal e-mail and then I can respond back to you. Also, Aaron if you read this, HELP my computer is asking for a boot disk. I have never had this happen before. Any boot disk I have would be locked in our trailer in Florida. Can you help in any way?

Until next time...

I am overwhelmed!

I am exhausted. In the words of Daniel, "I never thought moving would be so tough." We started packing the car today and this evening the Hamm family and the Corlew family (from our home church group) came over. They loaded the entertainment center, the dressers, the dining room furniture, packed my dishes and loaded all the boxes I already had packed. I felt like I was spinning around in a whirlwind. Again, another blessing. I have taken pictures of the house, but I am too tired to post them. Maybe after we get settled up in Delaware. Tomorrow, the Dischers are coming. We just might get everything done :)

Whew Boy!

Well, what a week. We have been busy getting ready for the yard sale. The Wonderful Dischers came over and helped clean, consolidate, set up and price sale items. What a blessing! Emilie spent Friday with the Dischers and Leah Hagen came over today to play with her. Mrs. Hagen was a huge help with the loan of five card tables and three yard sale signs. Earlier in the week, Mr. Fenner and his brother came over and helped me load and arrange more boxes that I had packed and sorted through from the basement and the kids' rooms. Mr. Razey set up our luggage rack for the trip up to Delaware and Mrs. Thompson stopped by for a welcome visit. On Friday, I called our friend Mr. Truitt and asked if he could help me move the computer desk and antique sewing machine out into the yard. He told me to call at the end of the day if they didn't sell and he would move them back in. I hated to call and so the kids and I just moved the desk close to the house. However, when I didn't call, the Truitts decided to come by and check on us anyway. Today, my sister-in-law, Judi, came by and took the kids for some lunch while I finished up the last of the sale. I hope I didn't forget anyone because we are truly a blessed family and I am thankful beyond words for every one's generosity. The yard sale itself was exhausting, but the love we have experienced from our friends through this past week leaves me in awe : )

Well, I had better get back to the last of the packing. More friends have offered to help on Sunday and Monday evening. We just might get it all done : )

Social Butterflies

What a week! After Shriners last Wednesday, we stayed sequestered in the house packing. We of course had our ordeal with Silky, but other than that, a lot was packed. Monday, I think it was Monday, the Bowen family came by and loaded the boxes that I had packed into the trailer. Now I have room to pack more.

Patricia and Victoria Bowen with Sadie

The Bowen girls hanging out after loading the trailer. That's Sadie behind the tree : )

Wednesday was a really busy day. We started with a trip to Shriners Hospital in Tampa for Daniel's second of four visits for his new leg. I decided to surprise the kids with a visit with the Hamm family on the way home after our appointment. What a blessing this family is to our lives. I know I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and the kids all seemed to have great time too. After our long day of appointments and visiting, what better way to wrap up the day than to do more visiting! So off to dinner at the Hagens we went. We really have wonderful friends.

Our Prosthetist checking out Daniel's alignment.

Bryan Sinnott designed Daniel's special prosthetic. We are very grateful to him and Shriners Hospital.
Playing around

Jonathan, Kate, Ben, Andrew, Claire, Mary Grace, Caroline & Maggie Hamm with Sadie, Daniel & Emilie (baby Phillip was taking a nap)

Mrs. Hamm and me

Visiting with the Hamms

Having dinner with the Hagens

Emile playing hopscotch



Mom's never get in the pictures so we resort to a self portrait!

Daniel playing with Mrs. Hagen's remote controlled Hummer

As if we hadn't socialized enough, Thursday night, I went out to a special gathering of homeschool moms with Beth Discher and Molly Stricklen and their mom, Mrs. Frodge. Daniel and Emilie stayed with the Dishers and Sadie spent the evening with her dear friend Abby.

Mrs. Frodge, Mrs. Discher & Mrs. Stricklen

Pete Discher & Daniel

Mrs. Discher & Emma Jane

Mrs. Stricklen & me

Abby & William Stricklen with Sadie

Margaret Stricklen made a special cookie as a belated birthday present for Sadie

I got up early this morning so I could get these pictures posted and now I need to get back to packing. Until next time!

Good Morning!

Yesterday, our dear friend Mr. Teitloff came over and mowed our grass. It was desperately in need of it. However, because it was so long, the mower left strips of cut grass all over the yard. After I returned from the grocery store this morning, Daniel and I got out there and raked the front yard. We started yesterday afternoon, but had to cut it short because there was the threat of a storm. We will go back out this afternoon to finish when it's a bit cooler.

I just checked the weather online and it is about 77 degrees this morning here in Florida with an expected high of 90. In Delaware it is 62 degrees with an expected high of71! It's supposed to get as low as 48! Wow!!! Sweater weather! I can't wait.

FYI
Mark the date! September 17, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The Values Voter Presidential Debate held in Fort Lauderdale will be streamed live by the American Family Association. Live video or audio streaming will be available online at http://www.afa.net on the day of the debate.

Well, our neighbor brought us more boxes yesterday and I picked up a few at Wal-mart this morning, so I had better get back at it.

Another week at home

Hello all,

Another week has passed. I had a wonderful time at my Moms' meeting and the kids had a wonderful time with the Dischers, as always. We have another appointment scheduled at Shriners for Wednesday. Then it will be two down, two to go.

Patrick's back is doing better. He hopes to reduce the number of visits to the chiropractor's office soon. The farm is challenging, but he knows he is supposed to be there. He misses his family and we miss him too. Please pray for him and us as we work towards being together again soon.

I want to share with you a little story about faith and our God's love for us. As many of you know our Emilie has a very special and much loved Silky. (As matter of fact, that's Silky around Emilie's neck in our family picture.) Thursday evening as the children were getting ready for bed, we discovered that Silky was missing. I must admit that Emilie has handled it quite well. It has been Mom who has been the cry baby over the recent disappearance of the beloved Silky (I hate losing things, especially treasures). After a pretty thorough search, the kids went off to bed.

Friday, the search continued with no success. We tried to reenact the events up to Silky's disappearance. When we came home from Tampa on Wednesday Emilie and I took a nap while Sadie and Daniel played games on the computer. After I woke up I washed Silky and had her ready for bed that night. We never left the house all day Thursday. Silky was in a dining room chair when I was packing Thursday afternoon. Mr. Bowen and Alex came by to pick up our goose neck trailer (it had a broken something or another and they transported it for repairs). We were all out in the yard. It had rained and the kids were picking star fruit and getting all wet. Sadie put Emilie in the bath while I started dinner. After we ate, we discovered she was missing. (That reads like a script from Dragnet. "Just the facts, ma'am.")

All day Saturday, we looked again for the third and fourth time in some places. And again, we went to bed without Silky being found. It was about 10 pm and I was sitting up in bed reading a book. I looked up thinking about all the things packed and to be packed and that we hadn’t found Silky and had exhausted everywhere. I thought about leaving this house and never finding her. How could it be? We hadn’t left the house for over twenty-four hours before she was discovered missing. She had to be here. I had been praying for a miracle and I asked God again. Then I sat up in bed and looked at the door to our room. It was open. I reached for the door and pushed it closed and there she was in the corner behind the door. I almost cried as I said a prayer of thanks to God.

You all must think I am so silly, but I am overjoyed at finding her. Emilie was asleep as I laid Silky in her arms to be discovered in the morning. She will know that God gave us a miracle! He cares even about little girls and their Silkies (and their sentimental mama’s).

I am now going to put a few pictures up to show you the progress with packing so far.

Emilie in the dinning room with all the boxes and Silky : )

Daniel in the living room. The books and the decorations are all packed.

Sadie, Daniel, Emilie &, of course, Silky. The baby pictures no longer on the wall.

Until next time. I hope you all have a great week. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I know we couldn't make it without them.

KelliPaige

Just a word

Hello everyone! The kids and I have been home a week now and so I thought I'd just fill you in on what we and Patrick have been up to. Our neighbors brought over some boxes and I have filled them all. Yet, it doesn't seem as if I have made much of a difference :( Packing a house after occupying it for ten years is like eating an elephant I suppose.

Sadie's 13th birthday was Wednesday. She got to go watch the Country Cousins (to learn more about the Country Cousins, see the Sunny South, Eh? blog) perform at First Baptist of Frostproof that night. They all went out afterwards to get a bite to eat and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Her brother made her a wonderful gift. He drew jewels (diamond, ruby, & emerald) and cut them out and displayed them on an old velvet belt in a clear, plastic container. It was very sweet. She also got her own personal razor and a set of Skip Bo cards. We had Mr. Fenner and his brother, Mr. Fenner over for dinner Thursday night. Sadie requested an apple pie for her birthday and so we had it then. Mimi & Drandad are coming over tonight for dinner and I will be making another apple pie. Birthdays around here always are several day long events :)

Patrick really needs your prayers. His back was hurting him badly while we were still up there and so he decided to see a chiropractor. They took x-rays and determined that he has spina bifida oculta, which he apparently was born with. At any rate, the doctor says he can treat it, but Patrick has to come in to see him every day for quite a while and then wean down step by step. However, he will have to be treated by a chiropractor on a regular basis for the rest of his life. He is also suffering pain in his neck, which is being affected by the problem in his lower back. He has recently been assigned to bed rest, which he is unable to fully do because of all the work he needs to do up there.

He has been working very hard at promoting the RV park and C-Center (Concerts at the Barn) by talking to Good Sam's Clubs and giving tours of the entire operation. He is really enjoying the PR work! He has pretty much got the RV park 50% booked for next year! Sam came to him last night and told him that he and his wife know that God sent Patrick there and they know his heart and appreciate him.

Please pray for healing and relief for Patrick. Pray that God removes any obstacles that he is facing. Also pray that I will be able to get this house packed and that the sale goes through quickly and smoothly.

Well, I see that we have a faithful following and I don't want to disappoint anyone by never having anything new to read. I need to get off of here and work on my writing assignment. It is due in the mail Monday. Tuesday I will be attending my last homeschool mom's support group meeting. My first meeting with these ladies was six years ago on Sept. 11th and my last will be Sept. 11th. Wednesday we have an appointment in Tampa at Shriner's to get Daniel his last leg made there. From now on we will be going to the Shriner's in Philadelphia.

God bless you all, KelliPaige

Finally, pictures!

Happy 4th Birthday Emilie!

Emilie celebrated her 4th birthday in North Carolina traveling to Delaware just like her daddy celebrated his 4th birthday in North Carolina when his family moved to Florida from Missouri.

After lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Emporia,Virginia,

Emilie was surprised with a hot fudge sundae Yum!
The birthday girl shared with Daniel and Sadie
Emilie had a party with her new friends in Delaware

Emilie's chocolate cake with pink icing

Having fun with Mama's hair on the road Patrick and Daniel led the way with the 5th wheel over the Bay Bridge

Daniel lifting his dad up to trim the treesGoofing around after a hard day's work

Gathering eggs

Grading eggsEmilie was a big help with the medium eggs. Every now and then a jumbo would come down in the small section and she would bring it down to the other end of the line for us. I didn't get Daniel's picture, but he was our quality control guy. He inspected each egg for flaws and cracks. It was a very tedious job.

Sadie worked the Extra Large and Large eggs with either her dad, grandad (aka Drandad, aka Santa) or Mama, while Mama and/or Mimi removed the cartons from them, dated the cartons and boxed them (20 cartons to a box). The last day we graded eggs, we packaged 376 dozen Extra Large, 129 dozen Large, 42 dozen Jumbo, 5 dozen Medium and 2 dozen Small.

That's 6,648 eggs!!!

Here is the infamous flat tire!

The Nott family, our friends on the farm, have a horse and a Shetland Pony. Here are the kids getting a chance to ride them. Don't worry, Emilie got to ride, I just didn't get my camera in time.

Emilie and Daddy resting on Sunday afternoonThe wonderful dinner Patrick prepared one evening

These leaves made a pretty Princess CrownDaniel added to his feather collection

Sadie found a REALLY small egg

Well, I hope you have enjoyed these pictures and that it was worth the wait. I tell you, posting them has been a real frustration for me, but I'm glad to do it.