Happy Birthday #60, Gary!

April 9, 1949 Gary LeRoy was born to Cecil and Gertie Wallace in Ottawa, Kansas. His siblings are Kenny, 19 months older than Gary, then Kathy, Sherry, Rick and Rod.



He grew up in Schell City, Missouri which is north of El Dorado Springs and east of Nevada. His dad was a milkman when Gary was a child, then later worked as an electrician doing high-line construction. Most of the time Cecil had to work out of town all week and come home on weekends. Gary had a lot of responsibility at his home, with four younger brothers and sisters. He grew up doing outside chores and inside chores. His dad had quarter horses and Gary learned how to ride and take care of them early on.

In 1966, Gary's family moved to Willard, Missouri because Cecil took a job with Frazier Brothers Construction. It was Gary's junior year and he went from a small school where he was playing sports and would have had a graduation class of 12-15 to Willard High School with a graduating class of 120. He did get to run track and play intramural basketball and made some friends at Willard. Even though I also attended Willard, we never had a class together for the two years he was there. Fortunately, we had a mutual friend,Ellen, who thought we would make a good match.

When my grandma, mom and aunt planned a graduation party in May, 1967 for my cousin, Mary, and I,Ellen said she would bring Gary so that we could meet. I was very shy, but agreed. I remember thinking how "cute" he was and my mom really liked him. She liked him so much, she actually said he would make a great son-in-law.

On the last day of school, we traded yearbooks to sign. I signed his, but he didn't get time to sign mine, so he offered to take me home (I rode the bus). For some lame reason, I said "no, the bus is waiting on me." He said he would bring my book to me later.

At the end of the school year, his family moved to Sheldon, Missouri, but Gary had a job with Frisco working in St. Louis and stayed here and lived with Ellen's family, which was very close to my house. Her family attended Springhill Baptist Church and she had invited Gary to church earlier in the school year and he began to attend and eventually joined Springhill. His family had always attended the Christian Church in Schell City.

One day, I saw Gary drive into our driveway and I got butterflies in my stomach. I really liked him but was just very, very shy. He came to the door and knocked. I opened the door. He handed me my yearbook. I said "thank you." He said "goodby." I said "goodbye." He left. I cried and was sad the rest of the day. I thought I would never see him again. He thought I didn't like him. That was in June, 1967.

Ellen kept trying to get him to call me. Finally she set up a double date for us with her and her boyfriend. We went to my church, Glidewell Baptist, on the first Sunday night in January, 1968; then to a youth event in Springfield. He took me home after that in his green convertible mustang and asked me for a date for next Saturday night. I said "yes." He didn't call me all week, but, sure enough, showed up Saturday night for our date. We went to the drive-in movie, which was our "every Saturday night" date. He was working second shift Monday - Friday at Lily Tulip then, so I didn't see him during the week, but always on the weekends. (By the way, the mustang got traded for a buick.)

On our third date, he asked me to marry him and I said "yes." I went in and told my mom and she was, surprisingly, not surprised. She was, however, very happy. I didn't really date much in high school. I was only 18, but sometimes I wonder if she thought I would never get married because I had never had a boyfriend since 4th grade. Well, I worked at Netters Department Store downtown and sometimes he would meet me for lunch. One day when he came to pick me up, I was clocking out at the time clock and he gave me an engagement ring. How's that for romantic? It was on February 13, 1968.

So the plan was to get married in two years. Hah! The thing is...he got his draft notice and the VietNam war was going on....so, we got married on August 10. He went to Kansas City in October, but failed his physical and didn't have to go to the war.



Why did I fall so hard so fast for someone I really hadn't had time to get to know before I agreed to marry him? Well, besides the fact that he was so good looking (dark-complexion, black hair, brown eyes) and wore blue jeans, western shirts, and cowboy boots, owned a couple of quarter horses.......he was a Christian and loved the Lord and His church; he was so good with babies and little kids; he was a hard-worker; He was....all the things I had asked God for in a husband. That's how I knew he was the one.

You know, I didn't ask for a romantic, rich man......but he's a little more romantic now than then...and we aren't rich by any means (with money, that is), but he has worked hard all these years and we are comfortable. He takes care of me and I feel safe with him. When I worry about something, I just need him to tell me it will be alright and then I'm alright. I still love to look into his eyes, hold his hand when we're walking, and feel his arms wrapped around me.

Happy 60th birthday to the only man I have ever loved. (Let's go to the drive-in movie for your birthday!)



Love,

Donna

Our Cuddly Cael

I have taken so many pictures of Cael, but hadn't posted any of them since his birth. Don't know why, other than my posting is so sporadic. Here's some pictures of his Baby Dedication at church on December 28, 2008. This is what was on the screen at the front of the church.

Wish I had a copy of the sweet words Pastor Kevin spoke that day.

The whole family got to go up front and stand with him and pray over him.

I love this picture of Matt and Lindsay praying over him. Thanks, Tammy!

And how he has changed! Here he is at 3 months:

I just took these the other day. He's one day short of being 4 months old. What a dapper dresser he is!

Love you, Cael Steven,

Mema

Yee Haw! It's Rodeo Time!

Friday night Pappy and I took Gavin and Jadon to the Classic Rodeo at the Fairgrounds. They wore their cowboy hats and boots and, let me tell you, were the best lookin' cowboys in the place...next to their pappy, of course.

The sweetest part was when the Rodeo Queen rode around the arena carrying the American flag and Gavin took his hat off and held it over his heart. Then Jadon saw him and did the same. They stood there like little gentlemen honoring the flag of our great nation the whole time.

Made us so proud!

But then the bareback bronc riding started and their eyes were glued to the cowboys on (and off of) those bucking horses. Jadon was concerned about if the riders got their points or not. Then came the saddle bronc riding, calf roping, team roping, barrel racing and, inbetween all that, the clowns. They really liked the clowns. I thought their jokes and skits were pretty crude, but the boys only got that they were funny.

Gavin joined the other 6-10 year olds for the Goldrush Scramble. They all searched through a stack of hay for treasures. Gavin was pretty proud that he beat out all the others for this cap. He said everybody else wanted it, but he found it.

I'm pretty sure they will learn to do incredible rope tricks.

All they need are horses and they can enter the team roping event. One can be the header and one the heeler. All you steers out there, be afraid...be very afraid.

Last but not least was the bull riding. There were 21 bull riders, so we only stayed for 6 or 7 of them. The first guy stayed on for the 8 seconds but put his other hand on the rope before time ran out, so he was disqualified. None of the others we saw could stay on. Hope somebody eventually did.

Since we were going to be home so late, both boys stayed all night. It was the first time for Jadon to spend the night at our house. They were both really good and we enjoyed them so much.

Well, Mizzou is playing, so I better go root them on to victory.

Later, cowpokes......

Donna

Here's Some of my Joys

High-Steppin' Jude......




Haven's Sour Juice......

Hello Silly Jadon......

Cael is on spring break with mommy. I'll have to have a Cael day next week.

Love ya'll,

Donna

Fun Day at SDC

Heather and I took advantage of the sunny warm day and took the kids to Silver Dollar City.
Here's Haven on the elephants (which go very high in the air):


Jude got to ride the frogs for the first time. What a big boy, sitting there in the front seat by himself while mommy sits in the back seat!

Here's Haven riding the ladybugs all by herself!

I couldn't get a picture of it, but Jadon rode Thunderation with Heather! Big step for a 4 year old. He is tall enough this year for some of the big rides! He loved it and asked if he could ride that every time we go to SDC!

What a fun day! Can't wait to go again.

Home sweet home

I left Houston yesterday at 2:35 pm (well, closer to 3 because of traffic on the runway) and arrived in Dallas to change planes at about 4 pm. My plane was supposed to leave at 5:45 pm and arrive at 7 pm in Springfield, but after we boarded in Dallas, the pilot announced that there was a problem with the plane. We waited while they determined if it was a recurring problem and.....finally they told us it was and we would have to get off the plane. It could take an hour and a half to fix it or they would find us another plane, I hate, hate, hate to fly anyway and they tell me the plane is broke! Not good. Finally, we boarded the same plane about 8 pm and I got home about 9:15 pm. They never told us what was the problem or if it was fixed or what! So, of course, I'm listening for any weird noises or a wing flying past my window. The girl sitting next to me had left Germany that morning and was heading to Fort Leonard Wood. She is in the Army and had been stationed in Germany and Iraq for the past 2 1/2 years and guess what she does? She is an Aviation Tech. She works on military planes and helicopters! So I got an "Aviation for Dummies" lesson from her which eased my mind somewhat. She was born in California but raised in Australia and has family all over the states. She will probably go to Afghanistan with a new company. We had a fun visit and it made the time go by really fast. I told her "thank you" for helping to keep our country safe and will pray for her safety. Thank you Lord for putting her in the seat next to me. Today I got to keep my four little sweetie pies and it was really good to see them and I think they were glad to see me. Well, no pictures today. Just a report. But...hey, two posts in one week....what can I say? Love to all, Donna

I'm In Houston

I arrived in Houston Saturday about 8 pm. The Bischoff family picked me up at the airport and took me to their new home. They took me on a quick tour before I settled myself in the guest room. We visited awhile before going to bed.

Sunday we went to Sunday School and Church, then out to eat with a bunch of the students at Jax Grill. Doug had an Israel trip get-together, so Wendy went with him and I stayed and played with the kids.

On Monday Wendy, the kids and I went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It's a huge event that, besides the rodeo, is kind of like a fair with carnival rides, livestock, etc. We saw the pig races, did Fun at the Farm, saw baby chicks hatching, one day old baby pigs....just fun after fun. Here's our piggies at the pig races:

Lucas driving the John Deere:

Bailey milking the cow:

Ruthie on the Carousal:

Micah on the Goliath slide:

Wendy, Lucas, Bailey, Micah on the SkyLift:

Ruthie and I were content to walk.

We walked to a nearby school playground in the afternoon and let the kids play then came home and went to Target.

Now, it's Tuesday morning and Wendy is at the dentist. The girls have been watching a movie and Micah and Lucas are playing Wii. Who knows what the rest of the day will hold?

Be home Wednesday,

Donna