Cancer Free

Greg's dad Lin went in for his 2nd PET scan since receiving chemo and radiation and he is officially cancer free! I cannot tell you how happy, elated, relieved, thankful, etc. that we all are! God is soooo good! I think we were all a little worried-his last scan had shown a small spot on his lung and I think that for months we have been holding our breath waiting to get a confirmation on what it could be. It was apparently a shadow and not anything cancerous.
Lin is still undergoing other medical things right now-but he is in good spirits. He had to have some dental surgery prior to receiving chemo and radiation treatment and when he went in for a checkup recently-the doctors were not too pleased with his healing progress. He now has to go to Good Shepherd for 40-that is right-40 treatments in a hyperbaric chamber to help with the healing process. I hope the treatments pass quickly for him!

So-thanks to you all for prayers and support! I really have to give a big shout of thanks to all my PT family-you have all been great about remembering Lin in your prayers and about asking me about his progress-it meant the world to me!

Lexington "Lexi" Kate Terry

Well-she finally arrived! Lexington Kate was born on July 21st weighing in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces. She was 20 inches long. Hannah had been dilated to a 2 for over a week and was a week over her due date-she was ready for the baby to come out!!! Mom, dad, Jordan, and I were able to go and see her and London and Lillian. I could not believe that as we were all taking pictures that Hannah now has a family of 5!!!! I truly did not think that she would be the first to have kiddos-but now she has 3 girls and they truly are all beautiful! Hannah and Jeff looked so happy with their newest addition to the family! Enjoy the pics-more to come later!!!

A Happy Family of 5!



A full head of hair!



Lilli is taking it all in! :-)

Random Summer News

Greg and I successfully finished our week at the TFB Youth Leadership Conference and we are glad to be back home. We found out before leaving that Greg's group finished in 2nd place for the week-losing 1st by only 3 points. We were really proud of the progress they made during the course of the week!
My mom and London picked us up at the Farm Buruea office in Longview-London and Lilli had been staying with Grammy for the weekend. I have to tell you that Hannah and Jeff have some beautiful girls! :-) Hannah is due any day now with another addition to the family and I think everyone is ready to meet the newest cutie! I really enjoyed getting to see the girls-they are growing so fast and I can't believe the changes that take place between each visit. I will have to get some pictures from mom so that I can show you how much they have grown.
So-we get back from San Angelo late Friday afternoon and Greg had to leave on Sunday morning for a Field Staff meeting in San Marcos. Saturday, he spent his time bailing hay, while I spent my time with the girls and doing laundry to get him ready for the next trip. As you all know-during this time frame, all over the news was the shocking death of Michael Jackson. And if you know me very well...you know that just the mention of his name or to hear the music from his song, Thriller-scares the CRAP outta me!!! So, back to the news-I am watching t.v. and flipping through the channels-when there it is...the song that I hope I never hear-Thriller-all at once I revert back to the scared 5 year old who, did I mention, watched the making of the video and then the big television premiere of Thriller. I was so scared I called mom and made her stay on the phone with me while I packed a bag to go stay at her house. Jordan-this is for you(he makes fun of me, but I don't care): To whoever reads this-I can say that, yes, I am 27 years old-I am married-I have car, house, and tractor payments, and YES-I am scared to death whenever I hear Michal Jackson sing the Thriller song. See Jordan, I can admit it-I bet others are scared too! :-)
Enough about that-along the same lines-Farrah Fawcett also passed away. I had recently watched her special on t.v. that documented her couragous battle with cancer. If you did not get to see that-she was so super brave and strong for trying to fight such a monster of a disease. I pray for her family and friends who were with her during that fight and who are hurting.

Hay-so whenever we are in town, Greg and I are normally at the farm trying to keep up with all the hay that is just growing like crazy (if we don't get some rain soon, it will stop though). Yesterday morning we get up and get ready to go. We are going to bail up about 20 acres of hay. This partiucular field I am so proud of. Last year, we all worked so hard to plant this field and it was some tough work-so I looked at it like a mom might look at her child-I was a proud momma! :-) There was a TON of hay out there! In the beginning, I think I looked at the massive amoiunts of hay on the ground as time and hard work-Greg has helped me to look at it as money! So-I have a much easier time bailing hay today! :-)
Here is my rake and the lovely nice rows of hay I was beginning to make!
Anyway-I get the job of raking the 20 acres-no problemo-I was happy to do it. I grabbed my ipod, sunglasses and a bottle of water and I was good to go.



I was so proud of my nice neat rows of hay that I might have gotten a little too confident. While turning to make another row of hay-I turned a little too sharply and heard a loud noise. I immediately stopped the tractor, backed up and made my turn-no problem. But then I begin to think...what made that noise-there was no apparent sign of a big mistake I made-nothing looked broken. But, it just kept nagging at my thoughts. so I stopped the tractor and took a closer look-here is what I saw.



A very bent jack! So-I called Greg and asked him if the jack on the rake was suppose to be bent and crooked...hoping maybe it was :-). He quickly came over to take and look and-of course-it was not suppose to look like that, but he assured me all was well and he could fix it. He is so sweet!


Greg fixing my mistake!!! Oops!

So-to wrap it up-Greg saved the day! We are both doing great-just working and enjoying our time together. I still have lots to learn about the farm-but I am thankful that I have Greg to help teach me and to be patient with me! :-)

Back at school...

Man-I feel old and tired this week! :-)
Greg and I are so super busy at the camp this week! Breakfast is at 6:45 and our last meeting, when we make sure all the kids are accounted for is at 11pm. All the kids have been divided into companies and Greg is heading up Company H. We are in 2nd place right now among all the other companies and truly-I have no clue why! :-) Just an example of how the companies compete for points,etc.-This morning our kids had to perform a rap that they had made up about the camp...did I mention that these kids are at an agriculture camp, meaning most grew up on farms....one rap was about John Deere tractors-LOL! Anyway-our group went up there and came away with a win. Greg and I were in disbelief-our group is quite a strange mix of all different kinds of kids-but they have made it fun and interesting to work with them.
I have had a hard time keeping my mouth closed-the teacher in me wants to take over and organize, but this week is about the kids taking leadership roles and doing a lot of the tasks on their own. For all my fellow Kinder friends-I had to almost put my hand over my mouth last night when a few kids were talking while Greg was-it was on the tip of my tongue to ask them to put a bubble in their mouth-no lie-I almost did! :-)
The kids really seem to love Greg and he does a great job with them. I am really proud that he can keep the creative ideas flowing from them and to keep them focused-I only thought 5 year olds had a hard time-geez-these kids need constant redirection. But, Greg is great-as I have all told yall before!
So-I just helped check 2 floors of girl rooms to make sure they all went to their group meetings and that all hair appliances are unplugged. I am suppose to be helping Greg with group discussions-so I better go get back to work!

On a side note-if you read this Jackie-I am so sorry I missed seeing sweet Erin last week-things were just so busy last week. :-(

San Angelo-Here We Come!

Well-I guess by now you have figured out we are not stuck in Virginia anymore! :-) We did finally make it back and landed at about 8:15pm Friday night...but we did not even get out of the airport until 10! It was like we had to fight every step of the way to get home to good ole East Texas.
So, we made it back and as promised I went to meet Mr. Kingston. WOW! I really can't think of a word that best describes him and the happiness I feel for the Kraus family-I think that he is so, so, adorably cute and once you pick him up, it is so hard to put him down-I really could stare at him for hours! :-)
After we made it back home and I had met Kingston and reunited with the families (me and my momma missed each other a lot) it was time to work. Greg put me on a tractor and that it pretty much where I have been until today! We are on the road to San Angelo University and we are about to begin Texas Farm Bureau's 46th annual Youth Leadership Conference! We left at about 7 this mornig from Longview and picked up about 46-48 kids on the way. All the kiddos have been great and I was suprised at how quiet the bus ride was. I am now in my dorm room (new dorms and I am in the Resident Advisor's room-so it is pretty sweet) trying to unpack before dinner. It amazes me that I purposely went to Kilgore College to aquire 60 hours so that I could live off campus when I transfered to SFA...and here I am 27 years old and married-in a stinkin dorm room-what are the odds! Funny how things turn out! Well-off to eat college food-pizza-hope I have great stories to tell later!

Stuck In Virginia

Well-Greg and I left Monday for a Farm Bureau Conference that was to be held in Williamsburg, Virginia. The cheapest route was to fly out of Shreveport to Dallas and then from Dallas to Richmond, and then to drive to Williamsburg, an hour away. So, Monday morning we wake up and head to Longview to drop off some stuff at the Longview Farm Bureau office and we receive a call...the flight from Shreveport had been cancelled and we now had to drive to Dallas and hopefully make our flight. We were seated on the plane and less than 10 minutes later we were actually on the runway about to ascend into the sky! We, along with 4 other FB coworkers happened to be on the same flight, got a rental car and headed on to Williamsburg. During our stay-we have seen a lot of beautiful scenery and historic country. I feel I really did not enjoy the entire trip because Kingston was here and I wanted to meet him!!!! :-) You all understand! So-today when Greg's last meeting ended at 10:30-we all hopped in the car and boogied to Virginia to reach our 1:15 flight. We got to the airport and the flight had been moved to 3:45.....then it got CANCELED!! YUCK! The EARLIEST we can get out is tomorrow night at 6:15-did I mention that I have a baby I want to meet!!! :-) So-we are in a hotel for the moment and hope to get some good food soon~at least I am in good company! Missing East Texas at the moment-Paige and Greg!!!!

Baby News

I know I have not officially met him...since I am in Virginia right now-BUT-Mr. Kingston Hunter Kraus has arrived! If you do not know this great baby that I am speaking of-it is my buddy Amanda and her husband, Beeper's first child. I have seen two pictures of him and I am already in love.
I have been on an emotional roller coaster today! :- ) I had the nervous stomach rumble going on and every time my phone beeped to let me know I had a text-I nearly jumped out of my skin-Thanks YaYa for the updates!!! :-) Greg got out of his meeting at noon today-but he had to wait for lunch-I was not budging from the hotel until I had heard all was well with Amanda and Kingston. Thankfully-Greg, as usual was great and never expected me to leave-he would just pat my arm every 5 to 10 minutes and say-Babe-they are fine. Amanda is in good hands, stop worrying. (if I was this nervous for Amanda, I hate to think how I will be when I am in her shoes)
Amanda is such a dear and true friend and I have treasured our friendship from the very beginning.
Amanda and Beeper-I can't wait to meet him in person! I am so proud of you both for going to that hospital and being the champs that you are! Greg and I are ready to babysit anytime-seriously! I know that probably won't happen with all the family you have that has been anxiously awaiting his arrival, but I just wanted to put the offer on the table! :-)
As for the rest of you-when I get back in town-that is the first place I am going-I can't wait to kiss those cute cheeks and to smell that baby smell-sigh-isn't it the greatest thing on earth!
You two are such a blessing to me and Greg and we love you lots! See you on Friday!

Jordan David

Friday, June 5th was a big day for Jordan-he graduated from high school!!! And-man did I ever feel old!!! I remember the day that mom and dad sat all four of us down and told us that we were going to have one more to join our large family. 9 months later he came and when he joined this world he became unique and special-he had 4 mommas instead of 1. All of us girls thought that he was ours as well. Mom was sceduled to have a C-section on October 3rd, 1991. Parish and I were brought to Longview Regional at an ungodly hour, with my grandmother (it was still dark outside) and April and Hannah arrived shortly after. Let me let you get a good picture of the look us girls was sporting. Hannah was in 2nd grade, I was in 3rd, and April in 4th grade. We were dressed in denim skirts and matching shirts that when you rolled the sleeve up, it was black. Hannah had a pink shirt, mine was purple, and April had blue-the 3 triplets! :-) Anyway-mom had Jordan and after we saw his cute self-it was on to school. I just knew that it had to be lunch time or hey-maybe even after. But, no! I had only missed my first class! This C-section thing did not take as long as I had hoped! :-)
Back to Jordan! Jordan is such a sweet soul.....when he wants to be! Most of the time he might have a little grumpy tone to him, but if you keep at him, his inner sweet self will emerge. Jordan has always been my running buddy. I am 8 years older than him, but he knows me oh so well! Even after I left home and went to college, he and I have always been able to pick up where we left off and enjoy our time together. He knows my true singing voice and my dance (or lack of) moves that I will do in the car listening to my favorite songs. He is such a helper and will do anything for you-granted he will have a moan or graon about it-he will still do it! His heart is so big-the girl who wins his heart will have to be something special or... I just might have to run her off! :-) All the ladies at church are on the lookout for Jordan-they know he has a hug, just for them and they are ready to recieve!
Jordan-you know I love you so much and we are all proud of you-did I mention Jordan got a scholarship to Panola-Whoo-Hoo! Greg and I are here for you if you need us-and yes-you better call me or I will drive down there and embarrass you! You know I will...remember Junior High-my windows rolled down and Celine Dion blaring out of the car...it will be worse, much worse-you MUST call mom and then me! :-) I love you babe!

Parish Cole

Parish left Thursday morning to begin a new journey in his life. He is on his way to Grand Junction, Colorado to do a 3 month stay for his internship in Corrosion. He gave us a hug good bye and on his way he went! I can't tell you how old I feel when I see him or Jordan and look at all the ways that they have changed from babies to boys, and now to young men. They both are such great people and I love them so much! But-since this Parish's journey-I will brag about him and in June-I will brag about Jordan when he closes his chapter in high school.
From what I can remember-I was excited about Parish from the very beginning! Granted-my momma told me that he was "my baby" and that all who came over to ask to see him, had to ask me if they could hold my baby. In time...I think I truly began to think that. If he was playing T-ball or had a football game-I felt he needed me there and that I had to be there to see him and to support him. I even made my college schedule so that I could come in and see both of my boys play Football!
I think that we all have imperfections and areas we need to work on-but I do think we all have areas that we have great strength and talent. I feel that some of Parish's strengths is that he is such a loving person and I feel he such a hard worker-he at times inspires me to do more and to be more. When I see him, especially with my grandmother-there is not a single doubt in her mind as to how much Parish loves her. He is really great at showing that. He is thoughtful-before he left on his trip, he took the time to get a card for Jordan to congratulate him on his graduation and one for me, for my birthday-since he would not be here with us during those special times. Parish truly knows how to read people and at times he might use it to his advantage by pushing your buttons-but then he knows exactly how to make it right and to make you laugh-you know I am right on that one buddy! :-)
Parish-we all wish you the very best life has to bring! We are all praying for you that this prepares you and that you get to experience so many things that you might not otherwise have had the opportunity to do or see. You are SO LOVED by all of us! We are all here for you-CONGRATULATIONS-you make us all so very proud!!!!

A Jetta is Betta!!!!

So-Greg and I got a new car-a Volkswagen Jetta. We are truly both in love with this new car. It has a sunroof, hiny warmers, satellite radio, and the list could go on and on. I took some pictures of Greg enjoying the new family member this weekend.
The lovely sunroof!




Greg enjoying the spacious comforts of the trunk!

At the Farm

London & Lillian

This weekend, my mom got Hannah's 2 precious girls-London and Lillian. They are absolutely precious and we all wish we could see them all the time-they are growing too fast!!!On Saturday, April and I took London and Levi(my cousin) to the farm. We were very anxious to see how they would react to the animals and all the things on the farm. When we got there, they immediately wanted to see all the cows. So, off we went! We got in Greg's truck and went driving around the farm to see the many cows. It was great to see their faces and hear the excitement in their voices as they got to see these huge animals up close. Levi had several questions for April..."Cows poops in the grass?...Why is there so many poops?" We got a lot of laughs out of that one! After our tour, we went and looked at the barn and then off to the horses. We also got to see all the dogs at the farm.



We had the blue heelers that were definitely more afraid of London than she was of them-they went scattering as she ran toward them!
The blue heelers are nowhere to be seen!!! Squeak and Emma were happy to see the kids and to play with them, but Levi wanted no part of the "BIG" dogs as he put it. Levi has a dog at home-Max-a Yorkie and those dogs are considerably smaller than the ones on the farm.
Our last visit was to the tractor and I wish I had a picture to show the sheer terror on London's face as she sat in the tractor-needless to say, we will probably not try to sit her in one again for quite some time!!! After Levi saw London get upset over the tractor-he decided he would not have any part of that!
Before he would take this picture with April, he asked Greg to shut the tractor door! He wanted to make sure that there was no possible way that we were going to put him in the tractor.
After we left-the kids waved good-bye to the farm, the cows, horses, tractors, dogs, Greg, and the hay!!!! :-)
We then took them to McDonald's for lunch and then home for a very long nap!!!

Lillian-isn't she cute! She is now crawling and just growing too fast!!!! She is such a happy baby!

Fisherman's Market

Greg is in Waco for a few days to attend some FB Meetings. So, I am all alone...NOT! I have spent a lot of time with my favorite person-my momma! We have gotten so many things off of my list this week-I have felt like I have really accomplished a lot of things. So, Monday I went to see Mom and Dad to remove some clothes that I have had at their house for quite some time. After I finished the job with mom's assistance, I realized that the only kiddo at their house that night was me! SO-I immediately suggested them taking me out to eat since it is a rare treat to just have one kid at home. I wanted pancakes-weird I know-but I did. Mom and Dad wanted shrimp and wanted to go to Fisherman's Market. I had never been and shrimp was no where near the category of pancakes, so I had my reservations. Boy, was I ever wrong-that place was awesome!!!! The food was great and I can't wait to go back. I had a really great time with mom and dad and it felt good to just get to talk and spend good, quality time with them. I am so THANKFUL and BLESSED to have such a great family that I love to be with! Thanks mom and dad for dinner and for all the laughs!
The picture is of me before I ate an oyster-something mom and dad like and insisted I try.
NEVER AGAIN-EVER!!! How Gross Mom!!! :-)
Well-I was about to put the picture on this post, but it was blurry-sorry. :-(

Mmmmmmmmm, Good!

Since Greg and I have been together, he has told me of his childhood favorite place to eat....Arby's. So, Saturday night, I finally give in to go and try this place out-I had never been. Greg's entire face lights up as he gazes at the menu looming above us. I, on the other hand, am trying not to get sick! I did not realize that most all of the menu items had roast beef in them. I am not a roast beef fan. I truly had no clue what to order and told Greg to get me whatever. He ordered us both a number one and then he got us some Arby sauce. Before I even got the sandwhich to my mouth, I knew....this was going to be gross! :-) I mean, truly, the smell and everything-no offense Arby's fans!!!! So, Greg ate and was in heaven and I was sitting there looking at him and wondering, how can you eat that? Anyway, he was happy and that made me happy!

All I can say is WOW!

So, yesterday after church, Greg and his little farm hand(that's me) went to Jefferson to pick up some hay to deliver to a customer. So, we change clothes and off Greg goes to load up the hay. Well, I go to Diann and Lin's house to talk to them and catch up on all the latest. In the middle of our conversation, I saw something very large running across the street..it appeared to be a cow, but I thought that maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. We look outside, see nothing and Lin makes his way to the barn. I am still thinking, I know I saw a cow, so I walk around outside a little bit and see nothing and proceed back to the house. I then hear the familiar jingle on Diann's phone-it was Lin and apparently there was a cow in the road-GREAT-I have not lost my mind! So, Diann and I load up in the truck to go help Greg and Lin with this roaming cow. We start the truck, put it in reverse and then in amazement, I see this huge beast just run through and break the electric fence. I mean, my mouth is open and I am just sitting in the truck and pointing. Thankfully, Diann saw me pointing and we got out of the truck to hopefully, keep this cow within these 2 fences until Greg and Lin can come to the rescue. Greg shows up and Diann runs in the house to call the neighbor whose cow is out, and then this same cow, who has just torn 2 electric fences, goes through another one! I am still standing there in amazement(I am new to this farm stuff, so I am standing there) Greg, however is on the run and running fast. Now, those of you who know me, I still look where I walk in all of the hay fields. I do NOT want to step in anything unfortunate and smelly! But, when my man took off, well I did too! I ran so fast and rolled under a hot wire and never even LOOKED at what I was running through! Long story short, Greg got the cow put up, Diann and Lin fixed all the fences, and Greg and I went and delivered hay. NEVER a dull moment on a farm!!! I really wish I had pictures of this-did I forget to mention that I had not taken off any of my Sunday attire jewelry? I had changed clothes into work clothes, but had not taken off the earrings, necklace, and bracelet before barrelling through the field-what a sight!

365 days of happiness!!!

Today is the one year anniversary since Greg and I said I do! I could not be any happier than I am right now! I never DREAMED I would ever get married, truly, after being single so long...I was prepared to be a crazy old lady who had tons of cats or something. When I met Greg, my life changed and I feel I am a better person because of us being together....wow, cut that sappy stuff out! SO-I had to work today and the plan was to eat dinner together before Greg had to go to one of his county Farm Bureau meetings. I quickly made a mad dash to Butcher Shop where I had ordered a small 8" round cake to resemble our wedding cake topper. My dear old pal Amanda had warned me that I would be dissapointed if I saved my wedding cake in the freezer-so thanks Amanda-the freshly made Butcher Shop cake rocked!!! So, after Butcher Shop, I put in an order to GZ'-that's what I'm talking about-I ordered 2 california rolls and crab rangoons-yum scrum! Then I quickly got home to beat Greg and get the table all set up and ready to go-he had no idea about the cake, so I wanted to suprise him. I quickly got the table set up, put on our wedding reception cd and waited for his Dodge truck to rumble down the driveway. His face was so suprised when he saw the table and the cake! We then ate a lovely dinner and...brace yourselves ladies...you are going to be oohing and ahhing (spelling?) Anyway, he read the letter he wrote to me on our Wedding day last year. WOW-the man is good! So, now I am home alone, he went to his meeting and the cake is calling my name-if anyone reads this and they work with me-give me a call...I can bring you a piece to school tomorrow! Happy 1 year anniversry babe-I can't wait for many more happy years together.

Introducing the Crew!

Just a quick post to introduce some members of Pine Valley Farm. Sunday, Greg and I went to the farm to work on a few things and then to feed the cows. We loaded up the crew and away we went. The dogs went with me to put out feed and Greg went on the tractor to put out all the hay to the Beefmasters and then we met up and put a round bale in the back of the truck to go feed the momma cows...along for the ride is Squeak (on top of the hay) and in the back the Blue Heelers! We have Smokey and Bandit but the larger one is affectionately reffered to as "Tubber'.

Penguins and Crocodiles and Sharks, Oh My!

Saturday was a real treat for Greg and I. We went to the Dallas World Aquarium and saw lots of amazing animals up close and personal. Neither one of us had been there and since it was Valentine's Day, we decided to treat ourselves to a little bit of Animal Kingdom!!! There were 3 different levels and each level contained a ton of cool animals...the sharks were probably the coolest. We timed it to where we could be there to watch the sharks eat. The set up was in a tunnel like area where you could see the sharks swimming to your left and right and then above you-it was pretty neat! My least favorite was the snakes and I quickly made my way to the next exhibit! After the Aquarium, we walked to Landry's and enjoyed a nice meal before heading home.

Stabbed!

On Thursday, January 29th-I got stabbed 4 times...well, I had my gall bladder removed and in order to do so, they had to make 4 incisions in my stomach which felt like stab wounds. Let me back up and explain why this had to take place. Anyone who knows me knows I have always had stomach problem-always!!! Recently, it seems that the pain had intensified and had become more frequent. So, I called my doctor and after a sonogram I was quickly scheduled for gall bladder removal surgery. So back to Thursday. Bright and early, Greg, Mom, Dad, and I head for Longview Regional to have this done. We are taken to our private (not) little space and I was ordered to change into the attractive, ever so revealing nightgown, where we waited to be taken to our next place to wait. In the first room, I received an IV-well 2 actually, the first one blew and a shot in the fatty part above your hip. The shot hurt worse than the IV. The shot was to help prevent blood clots-so if you are someone who is going to have surgery soon-BE PREPARED-it HURT!!!! After we waited there for awhile, we were all taken upstairs to another "private" room to wait for the surgeon. After my hugs and kisses to my parents and Greg I was whisked away to the operating room. And then I woke up! Surgery was over and a new pain was in its place! I think surgery was at 9:15 and at 2:00 we were finally able to leave. Many thanks to Mom and Greg for unsuccessfully trying to wake me up. I believe I owe an apology to Parish for a rude comment-but in my defense, I was under heavy medication. Thanks to all who called, sent a card, sent a text, and especially my 2 nurses-Mom and Greg! Oh, yeah, I am better and back at school!

My new jewelry I aquired from having surgery!



Greg drying my hair for church Sunday-what a PRINCE!!!