It has been so long since my last post that I don't even know where to begin!  Life is as crazy as usual and we are enjoying the granddaughters.  They are so fun and make us realize how precious time is.  I'll have to add photos later as I haven't downloaded any for a while.  Plus, I finally moved into the 21st century and got an iPhone.  Love it, but still need to retrieve the photos from the phone.

We went to PA for my friend Jane's son's wedding over Labor Day weekend.  Had a great time with college friends and helping to decorate for the wedding.  It was beautiful and I had fun making them a photo book for their gift.

Every fall we go to Buck Creek State Park and stay in a cabin.  Usually we like to sail and hike.  So...this year I thought that if we went in September it would be warm.  Right?  Wrong!!  It was very cold, windy, and we didn't even take the boat.  What a bummer!  We still had fun, even though the OSU game wasn't on TV.  Ted, Tara, Jeremy, Joey and Kelsie went to BW3's to watch the game and they even had Jeremy leading the OH-IO!!  The cabins are starting to get a little small, however.  I think next year 2 cabins are in order!

October brought more fun with college friends Carol and Bill.  We just met for dinner but always have such a good time with them.  Needs to happen more often!

Ted and I went to Florida just for relaxation the end of the month.  Stayed in Daytona Beach and had fun relaxing and walking the beach.  When we got there hurricane Sandy had just gone through and the surf was huge!!  The weather was beautiful all week.

November flew by...of course the fun times are the Thanksgiving Sale at church and having family dinners.  We were at Ted's dad's for Thanksgiving, and then the next day we had 36 here at our house.  Love family get togethers!!

Madalyn is really growing but is still such a peanut.  She is staring to sit up for short periods and getting a personality.  She has a high pitched squeal like I've never heard before!! So cute!  And Grace loves her cousin...Tara has been putting Gracisms on Facebook and I've been copying them to a computer document.  She makes us laugh!!!  Her hair is still bright red and curly--she loves to watch "Annie" when she's here.  Probably b/c she's never seen anyone that looks like her before!!

Looking forward to Christmas with all 3 girls being home and grandchildren to watch and laugh with.  Can't wait to see how Grace reacts this year that she realizes what presents are.  I have to watch myself and not buy everything that I see!!

But hopefully we all will remember why we celebrate Christmas...Gods most awesome gift to us.. all of us!

Another summer has come and gone.  Started work again this week and it is crazier than ever.  Lots of changes for me at school, some good...some not so good...but I have learned to roll with the punches.  When I get frazzed, I'll just think of Grace and Madalyn and that will help improve my mood!

June flew by with a vacation on Hilton Head Island.  It is absolutely our favorite place to be.  Feels like home, we have our favorite restaurants, and the beach can't be beat.  Kelsie and Joey, Tara and Grace came down mid-week and brought some liveliness to our otherwise boring existence!  Carli and Jeremy did not get to come for 2 reasons...Jeremy started a new job with Kidron Electric and didn't have any vacation time, AND, of course, they had a 2 week old baby!  It was hard for grandma not to see little Madalyn for 2 weeks, but I survived.

July brought fun times~~volunteering for an evening at CAMO making baby layettes, Tara's concert in Columbus, babysitting Grace while her sitter was on vacation, and a quick trip to Blue Ridge, Georgia to see Jane's son Riley.  Great month, great family and friends...but one note of sadness...Ted decided to have the barn on my dad's farm dismantled.  It was deteriorating, and would be too expensive to fix.  So hard to see that part of my childhood being torn down.

August so far brought Carli and Jeremy's 3rd wedding anniversary, fun times with Cindy at the Relief Sale, lunch with my mentoree from church, lunch with friends, and SCHOOL.  Now back to the grind.

Madalyn Jane Braun came into this world on June 8. 2012.  Carli and Jeremy are the proud parents.  She was in the hospital an extra day d/t jaundice, but is home now and doing great.  They had a rough night last night, but hopefully that will improve.  I got to hold her lots today and it is so wonderful.  Grandchildren are simply the best!!

Since my last post, Carli graduated with her DPT from Walsh University.  She has a job at a pediatric outpatient facility with Mercy Hospital.  She will start in August.  Jeremy took a new job with Kidron Electric, so they have had lots of changes in the past few weeks!

Grace continues to amuse us and enjoyed being in the pool last weekend.  While riding in the boat, she said "this thing makes my hair go crazy!!".  She doesn't really need a boat for her hair to go crazy!

Kelsie is busy at CAMO helping to plan special events and the other things that someone in marketing does.  She is going to "Country Fest" this week...which surprises me as she never listened to county music in the past. Guess that's how influential a boyfriend can be :)

So...changes to the blogger and I'm not sure what will show up! We had a shower for Carli on Saturday. What fun to see the joy on her face when her friend Rachel surprised her! The aunts made awesome food, we enjoyed The Hungry Caterpillar theme, and Carli got some awesome gifts. The baby will certainly be the best dressed baby!! Then we came home, regrouped, and had a birthday party for Grace. Can't believe that she is 2 already! More thanks to the aunts and uncles for spending their entire day with the Gerbers! Sunday evening we went to see The Titanic in 3-D. I am just not made for such things...it gave me a headache and I was nauseated a lot of the time. What a wuss.

Gracious...

I cannot believe that I haven't posted in over 2 months! That is in indication that life has not slowed down any. My "part time" job doesn't pay much for the hours that I put in!!

Working on fun things at church. My kids' choirs are performing a musical, "The Lost Boy" on May 13 for Mother's Day. They are really doing well and are excited about it. Now to find/create costumes and props for 17 little munchkins!

We just returned last weekend from spring break at Hilton Head. We had the greatest weather ever. Kelsie went down with us and flew back on Tuesday. Monday Grace and Tara flew down and drove back with us. Confusing, but it worked! We had so much fun!

Carli and Jeremy unfortunately had to stay home for school and work. CARLI PASSED HER BOARDS!!! That is so exciting and such a blessing. Now she can concentrate on graduation (on April 29) and having a baby!

Tara is working a lot and Grace is keeping her hoppin'. Grace is talking non-stop and is just so funny. She loves her uncle Jeremy...so funny how she says his name with a lilt to it.

Jeremy's family suffered such a tragedy in March...his brother took his own life on March 9. Very difficult to understand, and even more difficult to know how to help. I'm sure that continued prayers would be much appreciated.

Kelsie is still working at CAMO and always has a story to tell. She loves working with the volunteers, especially an older gentleman from our church, "Don". She says he is "just like grandpa" and he makes her laugh. I think that she likes the work, but doesn't necessarily like living with mom and dad :) Her boyfriend, Joey, is a nice guy and is hopefully keeping her out of trouble!!

And, of course, spring means that the Dari Ette is open!!!!

Oh my...

It took Carli to remind me that I haven't updated in a while! January came and went, and I can't believe that February is 25% gone!

Ted and I had a busy month. The 7 & 8 we went to a marriage mentor training weekend. Very fun with good friends from church, and it proves that you're never too old to learn new ways to relate to each other. Then we went to St. Kitts with good friends Jackie and Mark. What a beautiful island with plenty of sun, blue sky and lovely beach. It's not very big, so our tour of the island only took about 5 hours. Needless to say, the time went by was too fast!

The last weekend I had an elder's retreat for church and then our annual meeting. It is amazing how many people work and volunteer their time for the Glory of God. We are in the midst of some decisions that need a lot of prayer...but we have a new young pastor and it's very exciting to think about the future of Salem.

Last weekend we had the privilege of celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday with family and friends. I won't say which birthday it was, because she doesn't look her age! It is nice to have Gary and Sally so close to us. Then Saturday I spent lying around...sinus infection. Blah.

Sunday we went to Tara's to give her a break. Grace was up half the night throwing up, so needless to say, Tara didn't get much sleep. We went down and thankfully Grace took a lonnngggg nap and then seemed fine as she played and went for a walk with Grandma and Grandpa. But, the down side is that Ted is sick today...really sick for him...probably got from Miss Grace :(

Kelsie is looking forward to going to Honduras on the 18th. Then she can see first-hand what CAMO does so that she can market it even better.

Carli just celebrated 4 years cancer free! That just feels sooo good. She is really getting a baby bump now, and says that she can't see her feet any more. (neither can I..what's my excuse?)

This weekend Ted and I are going to an OSU basketball game...with the added bonus of seeing Miss Grace! Tara and Kelsie got the tickets for Ted for Christmas.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Christmas came and went in a blur this year. I think partly because of the warm weather that we had in December. No snow...temps in the 40's and 50's, just didn't seem like Christmas!

Had lots of fun with family, and Tara traded so that she could be off. We had Grace Christmas Eve and Christmas during the day. She was so much fun and very entertaining! I am surprised that she left the presents and the tree alone (for the most part..she had a musical ornament and a bell that she liked to ring on the tree) and was very helpful with passing out the gifts. We just did our stockings before church, and then came home and opened our gifts. Grace loved her little barn that makes animal noises. Of course we took lots of photos and some video. She likes to impress Uncle Jeremy...sounds a little weird, but she really does focus in on Uncle Jeremy!!

Kelsie was off the week between Christmas and New Years, so it was fun to have her around a little more than usual. Carli is also on break, so saw more of them, too!

We had fun ushering in the New Year with college friends Jane, Cindy, Carol and husbands. We always have such a good time when we're together. Carli and Jeremy came and enjoyed sauerkraut and pork with us, and they brought 3 friends from camp that we have previously met. Lots of fun. And, of course, lots of food. I feel a little like a stuffed pig today.

Our pastor had a great sermon on 1-1-12. Taken from the "Turn, Turn, Turn" passage in Ecclesiastes, he charged us to make this year a time for God...taking a look at how we live our lives and how we communicate God's love.

Now that we have the tree down and the decorations back in their boxes, it's a little depressing...but I can't wait to see what God has in store for 2012.