I've got a lot of catching up to do again!  :)  It has been a busy time in our lives.  You say "but you're both retired!"  Yes, we are!!  I'm actually not sure how I had time to work outside the home though!!  We are STILL busy, even though retired.  And, we thank the Lord that we ARE busy, and CAN be busy.  

Earl stays busy with yard work and repairs around the house--and of course, taking Molly for her expected walks!  I stay busy with housework (does that EVER end?)  I was under the mistaken notion that retired meant no more work--but I was so wrong!!  We still need a clean home to live in, good meals to eat, and clean clothes to wear.  We still have to shop for the things we need--or want.  All these things take time.

Besides all the mundane things that have to be taken care of each day, both of us have our hobbies also.  We also have family (and 14 grandchildren) and friends that  fill our lives with daily blessings!   We thank the Lord daily for these many blessings. 

Earl's hobbys include his model trains.  He spends more time in the few months before Christmas with his trains--planing his layout changes, and getting excited about the upcoming Holiday season, and waiting to see what Santa has in store for him and his hobby!  Another one of his hobbies is his music.  He still plays the organ for our church every Sunday, and although the church service lasts only an hour or so, it takes several times that long each week for him to prepare his part--especially if any of the songs are new to him.  He enjoys this, however, and feels fortunate to have the ability to serve the Lord in this way.  We are coming into the spring months now, and he's just biting at the bit to get out into the garden!  He is a farmer at heart.  He loves to play in the dirt.  Oh, maybe that is just another part of his "little boy" coming out come to think of it!!  Don't ALL little boys like to play in the dirt??

My hobbies include scrapbooking.  Simple and straightforward Scrapbooking.  My hobby has taken a new and VERY unexpected direction this past year.  I've gotten involved in DIGITAL scrapbooking--something I never would have imagined a few years ago!  But I've found it to be a fun escape.  I've been a paper scrapper for a LONG time.  Our home is FULL of bulging albums--chocked full of layouts of our precious memories over the many years we've been married!  They are full of adventures with our children and now our grandchildren.  The sweet memories of loved ones from the past fill some of the other albums.   Our house is small--our shelves full--so the digital scrapbooking has helped alleviate moving to a larger home to accommodate my ever increasing supply of albums!!  The move to digital has also cut down on the "messes" I make in the scrapbook room.  It has allowed me to spend more time in the same room as Grandpa because I can digi-scrap while watching tv in the evenings!  I don't have to be in the scrapbook room anymore to enjoy my hobby.

I've taken a few digi online classes in the past year and a half now, and the pages are coming easier.  I still prefer my digi pages to resemble what I'm used to in paper layouts.  I like them to look like they "could" be paper layouts--although I see that my style IS evolving a bit recently.  I've joined a few designers Creative teams, and use their kits with my photos to help them sell their products.  It is a fun adventure--one I am enjoying.  I've made a lot of online friends through the websites I frequent, and that has been a real blessing to my life!  It's fun to get to know people that share many of the same interests.  Although not all my online friends are into the "digi" part, scrapbooking in itself is one of those things that can be shared no matter how one goes about it!! 

My plans aren't to give up on paper scrapping entirely!  I still love the feel of the paper.  I love the supplies.  I love my cricut!  They are fun just to play with!!  But for this time--today--I'm a digital scrapper--there I said it.  I'm a digital scrapper.  Today.  I thank the scrappers that have given me encouragement in the past few months--the designers that have entrusted their products to me, and the encouragement I've received from people that have been enjoying my current creative adventure.  Thank you all!