Vacation Slide Show

Emerald Isle 2008

Here we are again... this is the 5th year in the "Big house" together for vacation...Let's see... we vacation with (now stick with me here) Me, Matt, Kaitlyn, with my Mom and Dad, with my sister and her husband- Sean and then their two girls; Hannah and Emma. My Brother sometimes comes (if he can afford to sit work aside for a couple of days). Plus Sean's Mom and Dad and plus Sean's sister- Tiffany and her 3 kids; Madison, Atticus, and Samantha... did you get all that. It's a BIG HOUSE alright! We have plenty of room! (think goodness :o) )

We tend to eat way too much sugar, and just way too much in general, we sit for hours on the beach and do basically nothing, we nap, we eat, we play, we walk, we eat, we build sand castles, we eat, and so on- you get the drift!!

This is K's first time to the ocean and on sand! I think she likes it ok.

Of course here are some pictures to share...

Kristy's 30th

I just read on my friend Kristy's blog that she was going to (eventually) post some pictures of her 30th birthday party.... AND.... that reminded me that I had some to share as well... so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kristy.... so who cares if it's been over a month ago... :)
N-Joy...

MMMM Carrots

Really... need I say more than this.....

hmmm.... hands or carrots....tough choice!


What F-U-N!!!

Weekend Trip

We went to PA this past weekend. It really is good to visit family there and spend time together. We had some precious moments together.
Here are some pix....

4 Months

W-O-W!! I know it's hard to believe, but Kaitlyn is already 4 months old!
She is weighing in at 11lbs- 7 oz; and 23.5" long... she is progressing along the 25th percentile line, and right on track for her height and weight!
SHE continues to spoil US! She really is making things easy on us. Mommy gets plenty of sleep, she is not terribly fussy (now she does have her moments!), she can melt you with her smile, she holds on tight and you feel her love!

Children are soooo trusting! What a lesson to remember as we adults walk through our daily lives... trust our Father, our Heavenly Father, just as our children trust without hesitation. What great reminder to have in our lives!

She has just recently started to eat cereal.... with a spoon... :0) Boy- this sure has been fun! She is really getting the hang of it, and maybe this week we'll introduce another item to spice things up a little! hahah

These little BUMBO seats are a-w-e-s-o-m-e! It is a great thing to feed her in- she loves being able to sit up and look around.... although she does still occasionally slump over :o)

Being a parent is way more fun, exciting, rewarding, scary, thrilling than I ever thought possible! We continue to learn so much about ourselves through this process of parenting. Lord, continue to pour out your favor and grace into our family!

He said I could....

I had to laugh this afternoon :) Kaitlyn needed to be changed so Matt offered, as he does often! Well, lately she has been waiting for us to take her diaper off, and then pee again! I'd say the last 9 out of 10 times she has done this do us... so that in itself is pretty funny! Matt even told her he was going to wait a few more minutes before taking her diaper off, just in case... well she didn't listen! So, yes she did pee with the diaper off, so her little onesie outfit got wet and Matt had to change her clothes as well...

I had been working in the kitchen, and when i came into the living room to check out the situation he had her lying on the floor playing with the floor mat thingy and this is how she looked :0)

Now, granted- she does look happy! But that might be because I was laughing at, i mean with, her! Notice the snaps on the left- they aren't snapped to anything, as well as between her legs... oh - how he tries! I told him "I should take a picture of this" he said "Go ahead" :o) so i did!

And... here is a picture after Mommy got a hold of her!

Now, isn't that much better :o)

I also have to post a picture that Daddy took today!

I just love this little dress that Kaitlyn is wearing today! It was one that I actually bought for a friend of ours, and she lent it back to us to borrow for a while! Thanks Kristy! It's so cute on her!!! She looks so girly with those little pink shoes and white frilly socks on too!

Another Great Sunday at the Landis Home!!

Politics...McCain-Palin ...

Generally, I am not one to follow politics very closely, I vote Republican for Repbulican sake, without really knowing the issues behind the candidates. However, this upcoming Presidential Election has been quite different for me. I am more interested and concerned in this outcome than in any other election I've been able to vote in. Following is an email (i received from my sister) that I thought was worth posting! There are websites at the bottom where you can validate the following statements. If you're not a politics person, I still think this is worth looking over, at least! I'm not one for discussions or forums or debates, I just want to know the bottom line.... So read on if you like...
*****VOTE REPUBLICAN*****

SIMPLE MATH:

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON TALKING POINTS

ISSUE

JOHN McCAIN
BARAK OBAMA

Favors new drilling offshore US
Yes
No

Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it
Yes
No

Served in the US Armed Forces
Yes
No

Amount of time served in the US Senate
22 YEARS
3 YEARS

Will institute a socialized national health care plan
No
Yes

Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
No
Yes

Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately
No
Yes

Supports gun ownership rights
Yes
No

Supports homosexual marriage
No
Yes

Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase
No
Yes

Voted against making English the official language
No
Yes

Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals
No
Yes

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA

28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN
15% (no change)

OBAMA

39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that "Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.")

INCOME TAX
MCCAIN
(no changes)
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750
Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!

INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN
0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA
Restore the inheritance tax. Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries.

You can verify the above at the following web sites:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

Great Granddaddy Visit

Kaitlyn finally made it down to meet her Great Granddaddy!!

Every year, since I can remember, my family has gone to the 'farm' for Labor Day Weekend. Down yonder in the hollar, in a little place called Max Meadows, my Grandfather lives on what we call "The Farm". It is actually the same property that my Grandmother grew up on as a little girl, and when it came up for auction back in the 80's, my grandparents purchased the land and built a home there.

My grandparents ran a country store called Poplar Camp Electric. They sold groceries, deli meats, ice cream, furniture, applicances, etc....There are so many memories wrapped in that old store from our child hood!

I remember my granddad always kept a bag of quarters beside the register and we would get in there to get Chocolate Yohoos out of the machine that sat out front of the store. I remember browsing the candy aisle and picking out my favorite candy bar (usually a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup), and sticking my face in the ice cream cooler for one of those chocolate crunch covered ice cream on a stick thingys! I remember learing how to use the meat slicer for deli meats, and playing in the empty boxes the appliances came in!

I also remember a time in the 70s when my family had a VW bus and my grandparents a cadilac.... i decided to play in the bus (a stick mind you) and back then when you turned the key of a stick vehicle without the clutch in it would lurch forward... you probably know where I'm going with this... YES... the VW Bus lurcherd forward into the back of the cadillac... OOPS! The neat thing about that memory is I don't even remember what happened after that- so it must not have been too devastating!

When the house out at the Farm, or Green Acres as it was called, was first built, my Grandparent's store was still in operation, so they continued to live in the living quarters that were above the store for several years. So Green Acres was used for family gatherings like Thanksgiving and Christmas and of course Labor Day Weekend!

Well, eventually Poplar Camp Eletric and the living quarters above the store were closed and sold and my grandparents finally moved out to the farm. The family continued to gather out at the farm for these events.

Labor Day weekend consists of as many of us getting together to have meals together at the farm and then head to the Flea Market in Hillsville, VA. This Flea Market started as a Gun Show and Flea Market at the VFW Building in Hillsville. Back in the 70s and 80s I believe, my grandparents would have a booth to sell Fisher Wood Stoves- so we would get to hang out at the booth and then walk around the flea market (boy i miss those days!) Today, we still go to the Flea Market, which has grown expotenially, but now adays we just don't have a place to rest when we get tired!
These pictures barely do it justice as to how BIG/HUGE this thing has gotten, hundreds of thousands of people attend from all over!

Anyways, I digress.... 2008- Kaitlyn and I made it for one night at the farm and two days at the flea market... well not full days, it was just too hot with a baby hanging on me to make to long there! But we still found a couple of good deals! And most importantly, Kaitlyn got to meet her Great Grandfather AND her Aunt Jo-Ella and Uncle Lowell!

Below: Great Granddaddy with his dog Betsy, Granddaddy Rog and Kaitlyn! I keep going and going as my mind is reeling with memories...but hopefully this is a good taste of things!