LA---TEEE----DA!!! I got my new computer!!!

So here i am on my spankin, brand new computer!!! yee haw!!! i doooo feel special!!!! we haven't had anything this nice in the "techie" world...EVER, i guess! :)........the screen is BIG! and it is FLAT! and it is COOL!.........and it is now on my right, instead of my left, where the old big hunk of junk was...which was very irritating!

The only trouble that i can think of now is when i make technical mistakes...(or just any old dumb mistake)...i can't blame the computer!...you will KNOW it really is ME! (this is really shocking to you, isn't it????) LOL

I am up so late because i am having so much fun on this thing....and i don't want to quit! but guess i better say goodnite "John Boy".........but before i do, i am going to try to insert Hannah and Larry's bday picture, standing in front of the Flying Biscuit Cafe...where we had our lunch together as a family after church on Sunday for the bday kids! The food was yum yum...for us it was a first time visit...we will be sure to return!

Happy Birthday Hannah and Larry!

Yes, it is my husband's birthday today, as well as my daughter's birthday! You say, wow...that's cool, right? Well...yea, kind of anyway...except for WHY it happened that way! I found out today that Hannah did not even know this little tidbit of information....oh my goodness!.........as a PRE-WARNING...please KNOW...what I did was STUPID, DANGEROUS, and very IGNORANT...nevertheless way back 28 years ago it seemed like a great idea to me...(remember we lived in a MUCH MORE UNINFORMED world than YOU live in today....NO exuse, however)......so 28 years ago and counting....i was MEGA pregnant...ready to give birth....with NO activity happening....and on the 12th...i got the BRIGHT??? idea that it would be SOOO nice to have our little baby born on Larry's birthday and they could forever share that day together....but how can i make that happen? on my own, that is....yes, PRAY...i did....and probably thought God gave me this idea...(now i know better).........we lived in a house with hardwood floors....so at some point on Saturday, the 12th i decided to stand on the chair...and "shake things up a little".......and YUP, you guessed it...JUMP OFF! i did that several times.....PLEASE KNOW i am not proud....anyway...after wearing myself out...i went on with the day (or evening)..whatever....but SURE ENUF! Sunday morning came and there were "rumblings" going on....and little Hannah Jane Hixson was born within the parameters of the 13th!!!! Of course...we did not have the privilege of knowing if the baby was a girl or a boy before the birth,...and because this child was SOOOO very active and WILD in the womb...we assumed "it" was a boy and during the whole pregnancy we called "him" "Wild Willy"..."his" name was going to be William Zimmerman Hixson...named after Larry's grandfather....i intended to call "him" Willy Z......honestly we were shocked to find out HE was a SHE!!!!....and as we got to know her as she grew we were more shocked because the child that was WILD in the womb was soooooo very quiet, shy, and reserved in real life...and she still is!!!!
I tried to download a picture of the two birthday kids, taken today...and because i am on Larry's work computer...for some reason cannot get access....whoa is me....but there is good news...to me at least! we are getting a new computer, arriving this week, hopefully it will be set up and running by next weekend....whew! i can't wait!
oh, and by the way, several years later a William Zimmerman Hixson WAS born! Larry's brother's son assumed the prestigious name!!!.....i haven't tried "Willy Z" on him ....yet anyway!

it finally died!

well....my computer finally bit the dust....farewell stubborn,uncooperative computer!....soooo....i am not currently able to do much email...or blogging...am on Larry's work computer right now....so if you are one of my "regulars" at emailing...(yall know what i mean)....the "others" say we have NO life....lol!........anyway.....please be patient with me....we plan to get a new computer, but it may take a couple weeks!....oh my i am NOT happy about this....
til later....

The farm I was raised on in Forest City, Iowa

I am going home this summer...traveling with Heidi, Carter and Ava! I am excited to tell them and show them the farm I was raised on and tell them all the stories...and there are a lot! They will enjoy the stories, I know! Like the time my dad rescued me out of the pasture from a sivvit cat...(something like a skunk)...and like the time he came and rescued me from a VERY mad , mother sow!....Lots of drama on the farm! I am sure we will have lots of FARM ADVENTURES to create of our own!!!

Here is a really good , long distance view of the farm as a whole! I used to help with the milking...feed the chickens, pick the eggs...help bale hay...feed the cows...feed the pigs...and many other farm chores! I didn't think it was so great as a kid, but am so glad to have been raised on a farm and taught good working habits! Thanks Mom and Dad! I always "imagined" my way through my chores as a waitress and a million other things, which helped me get my "chores" done...as they were called!

This is the old pump house on the "Lewis farm"....another lonely structure!

Would you believe this is the house I was raised in??? It looks awful, and sad now! It has been empty for many, many years and is unsafe to even go into...and it certainly did not look like this when I was a child! It needs to be demolished, but my Dad just cannot bring himself to do it! It sure represents a lot of memories!

More beautiful farm land!

This is a picture of my Mom's garden...or I should say ONE of her gardens! Absolutely every year for the last 20 years it seems, she declares she is DONE with all her gardening and canning and freezing...and then spring comes and she succombs once again and plants a garden and is still planting gardens! They are a beautiful site to me! When we lived in Iowa we got to share in the "harvest" of her garden goodies....I really miss that! She has done so much canning in her life I think she could feed the world!! Way to go Mom!

Another lonely wagon, put to rest from it's hard work. I am not sure...but this one looks like the old feeder wagon we used to feed the cows from....I actually loved that job...all the cows gathered around and fought their way to the wagon...I used to pretend I was their waitress and I named them!..I also would not feed the RUDE ones...the ones who butted their way in!!!

This is a picture of some of the equipment, also put to rest from past days of hard work on the farm!






The cows are grazing in the pasture land, that is rented out by another farmer.







Here is a picture of the vast cornfields and beautiful land on the farm!

Here is a picture of the old silo and the old barn on the farm where my parents still live! This picture looks beautiful to me...tho it represents a LOT of work and hard labor in days gone by. They are now lonely, empty buildings...which is sad to me...but yet beautiful!