Welcome 2010!

Where did 2009 go?

The year was full of God's grace, mercy and love. Our family experienced a lot of changes. Molli and Tyler were married, Morgan was blessed to get to serve as a counselor, over the summer, at her favorite place on the face of this earth....Camp Cowen, Maci got her learners, I began a new job that I love, and Jim was pleased that Marshall University got a new football coach, and that he got to go and watch Marshall win the Little Ceasars Bowl in Michigan.

On a much sadder note, Fred and I spent quite a lot of time at various hospitals this year as Mom was bitten by a tick and became very ill the beginning of May. Just today, we finished moving her belongings out of her rented home because she is now a resident at a local nursing home. While I still cannot talk or write about this without my heart breaking and without tears, I do know how very blessed we are, and thankful I am, that she is still alive, knows who we are now, and that we are able to visit with her.

We don't know what 2010 holds, but I do know who holds me by the hand, loves me, and promises to never leave me....my Savior who I am going to strive to be more like in 2010!

That is my New Years resolution plain and simple.....to strive to be more like Jesus!

A Return to the Blog World - Kind of....

Mr. and Mrs. Markham

The wedding turned out beautiful. The weather was perfect and we had such fun. There will be much more to come later, when the photographer's pictures come, but just wanted to share this. Also, if you'd like to see the beginning of the wedding (quite funny), go to www.youtube.com and search: Molli and Tyler.

Just some rambling on and on.

I just wanted to let you know that I love my new job. I had some stress at my previous one, and the release of that stress has definitely been a good thing. I feel light and somewhat carefree! The Lord answered the prayers of myself, my family, and my friends with this new job.

I can't help but wonder what my Dad is thinking up there in Heaven. Probably....what have you done, did you not listen to me all those years? Those auditors are going to drive you crazy! Ha! I was told, during my first few days, never to shut the vault door before it was time to close for the day (because, in case you didn't know, there are timers on it and it CANNOT be opened by anyone until that time ticks away) and I chuckled to myself thinking......I have been told since before the time I could crawl, "Do Not Touch the Vault Door". To tell you the truth, it's going to be hard to shut it even at the end of the day when it is my job.

I love the work, the people, and I even get to see some of my customers from The City. Yeah! One in particular comes everyday.....and always comes to my window. Bless his heart, it is so nice to see him.

I have to get a schedule worked out though, my housework has kind of fallen by the wayside. But, I'm anxious to get a grip and decorate with my Americana decorations (I'll post pictures). Also, I had allowed someone to erode my worth at my last job, and this new job has done wonders to make me feel better....it's never bad to have someone comment positively about your skills. I hope that I learned from that past experience to never allow someone to treat me like that again.

Morgan will be home in about one and a half weeks. CAN NOT WAIT! After about a month, she will begin working at Camp Cowen in Webster County. She will again be gone alot, but Maci spends a week there, and it is not nearly as far as a trip to TN to visit.

Molli is busy working, school, and planning a wedding. She and Tyler are in the process of purchasing their first home. How exciting! While I was training for this new job, I trained at Ravenswood, which is where Molli works, so she and I got to eat lunch together each day. I so much enjoyed that time with her. She is such a joy!

Maci is wrapping up her freshman year at RHS. She keeps Jim and I so young, keeps us up on all the cool things.

Tyler is busy all the time. He has been getting to hunt lately, and is working also. He is the life of the party when he is around.

Mom is doing well. She is working at the greenhouse with Barb. Fred is working at the Farmers Market in Charleston. This is a very, very busy time for Fred and Barb. Barb is so talented with the flowers. They are beautiful.

Jim is still just adorable, sweet, kind, loving husband that he is. He works too much, but is home each evening and I love it. He cooks supper and I clean up. Thank goodness because he is a much, much better cook than I.

Well, that pretty much wraps up things in the Oiler family. I'll stop rambling for now. More later, I'm sure. God bless you!

A Trip to UT and then to Bubba Gumps.

On Saturday, Jim, Maci and I headed out at about 7:30am to go to the University of Tennessee to visit Morgan and to bring back one load of her belongings for the summer. She has already brought home one load of "things", has rented a storage unit in TN to store some "things" over the summer, and by the looks of her dorm room, has at least a couple more loads of "things" that need to be taken care of. After we met Morgan, and got to meet a couple of her good friends, Austin and Ben, we headed to Gatlinburg to eat at Bubba Gumps. Maci is a huge fan of Forrest Gump! She has wanted to eat at Bubba Gumps in TN for a while now. She did get to eat at Bubba Gumps in Orlando, FL a couple of weeks ago, and now wants to eat at ALL of the Bubba Gump restaurants in the USA. She is collecting a T-shirt from each restaurant and a golf ball from each for Jim. We had a such a good time, although most of it was spent in the car.

Here is a picture of Jim driving....it seems like I get a lot of these shots. Maci, Morgan and Ben at Bubba Gumps.
Maci and Morgan with the appetizer.

Maci, Morgan, and I got a hamburger. Jim and Ben got fish. No one ordered shrimp ... Imagine that? The food was delicious though.

Maci with her dessert. Yes, that is all for her!

Everyone helped a little. Jim, Ben, and I used a spoon before this happened.

A good shot of Morgan and Ben.

We had such a good time together. The drive was worth it! It was so nice to meet Austin in person, and to get to meet and spend some time with Ben. After we got back to UT and Morgan and Ben loaded up the car, it was once again time to say goodbyes. I hate when this time comes around. It never seems to get easier, except I did know that she'll be back home in less than two weeks. We arrived home to WV at about 1:30am. What a fun trip!

Easter Day

Easter morning, the bunny brought Easter bags for everyone. The girls peeking in their bags for goodies after showers on Sunday morning. Jim wearing his Marshall hat from the Easter bunny. Jim also got a golf net and a new Marshall mouse pad with the old Marco logo.
Isn't he just the cutest?
Morgan and Maci before church.

Molli and Tyler dressed for church.

How cute are they?

Sunday morning after the Easter gifts were opened, Jim, Morgan, Maci and I went to church with Mom. After church we ate lunch at my Aunt Janice and Uncle Pete's with the rest of the family. After the delicious meal it was time for the egg hunt. I scored $39 this year. I didn't beat Morgan though, she always brings in the big bucks. Then it was time to take Morgan back to Riverside to catch her ride back to UT. Thanks so much for the prayers for Jim and Morgan's traveling safety. It was so nice to have her home for Easter! I know that there will come a time when one of the girls won't be able to be here for a holiday, but I'm not ready for it yet.

It is such a blessing to celebrate the holidays with my Plain Grandma, Mom, my family, and the Petersen's and Koontz. I know that I'm so blessed!

A New Job!

Tomorrow is my first day as an employee of Traders Bank. I will miss my friends at the City, but things change and I'm very excited about tomorrow. I'm sure that there will be something to tell...stay tuned.

A Prayer Request for Traveling Safety

It's almost 9pm and Jim just left to go and pick Morgan up at UT. She's coming home for Easter! The bunny wouldn't know where to find her if she wasn't at home with her family. Jim should get to TN around 3am and then he is just going to load Morgan up (after he hugs on her for a while) and turn around to travel six hours back to WV. They should be back home around 9am in the morning. Please just pray for their safety. Also, Jim is not feeling too well. Please pray for a safe trip back to the country roads of WV, and the drive of Broughton Lane. Thank you prayer warriors!