Birthday Boys

Dakota and his cousin Preston share the same birthday. December 15th. They celebrated their birthday together on Sunday. Dakota is 15 and Preston is 14. I cant believe my baby boy is 15. Time sure does fly.

Merry Christmas

Nick and Jamie are officially engaged. Ring and all!!! They havent picked a date yet. I think they make a really good couple. Congrats Nick and Jamie!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a fanstastic Thanksgiving Dinner and we are enjoying this 70 degree weather. But, it just doesnt feel like the holidays for us yet. Its too warm and no snow. Not that we are complaining ` cause we are so over snow. We are putting the Christmas Tree up tonight so maybe that will help. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

We Are Moving!!!

Yes! I am so excited. Charlie and I, and Samantha and Dakota are moving along with Kristi to our own place. It is a four bedroom on 7 acres. We are so excited. We are going to be getting the Puppy that Samantha wants so badly. There is a barn and stalls for a horse if we decide further down the road that is possible. Right now we will have to see where finances lead us. We are all so excited. The kids already have their stuff packed up.

Nick and Jamie got their own "cute" little apartment today. I am so happy and excited for them. Their "own" place - for the very first time. How exciting. They are going rummage saling this weekend for furniture and other stuff. I am going to go through pots and pans and stuff and see what I have for them.

Things are really looking up! God Bless Everyone!!

Love,
Tammy

This is my son Nick and his fiance Jamie. They are going to be expecting a baby in June. Charlie and I are going to be grandparents for the very first time. Its going to be a beautiful baby...just look as these two. Please pray that Jamie remains in good health and that the baby is born healthy and strong.

Love,

Tammy

This is what you get when you let cousins "Play" at Kmart!! I thought these were really funny. My kids and nephews have quite the imagination!

Practice Pays Off

After weeks of practicing with poles and cast nets...the guys finally hit it good on Saturday! They were so excited. I am sure they will keep getting better and better! Its so good that they have found a hobby that they have a passion for ~ Keep on Fishin!

Practice Pays Off

Settling Into School Routine

Everything is going fairly well with the Gauf Family! Samantha and Dakota are settled into school and all is going well so far. We are anticipating Dakota's first football game. Yeah!!!

Work, work, work...we seem to be doing a lot of that lately but thankful that we have jobs. Charlie and I both have off this weekend and we are looking forward to doing something with the kids...we just havent decided yet.

Nick is still looking for work but hopeful a job will come along soon. Please pray for him that he finds one soon.

We love ya all and will be writing more soon and hopefully sharing pics of something fun from this coming weekend.

Love ya,
Tammy

What I learned at Church!

This is what I have learned this week:

Things that we enjoy in our lives can be catatorigized into 3 different catagories:

Rubber

Metal

Glass

Now write down all of the things that you like and love ~

Now start to put them in the correct catagory ~ Rubber should have the things that would be okay if we didnt do them - shopping, internet usage, tv watching - etc...its things we like but we could bounce right back from them if we didnt do them

Metal is the things that if we didnt do them - we would hear a lot of noise when dropped and would make things uncomfortable - not attending your child's sporting event, forgetting your spouses birthday -etc...

Glass is the things in our lives - that if we dropped them - they would break - our relationships....

We need to strive to never have broken relationships

Our Pastor went on to say this ~ this is what the Bible gives as a priority list:

Personal Relationship with God
Relationship with Spouse
Relationship with Children and extended family members
Job
Church

We need to remember and attend to these priorities and it all makes sense to me. I felt a huge message from this past Sundays Sermon and wanted to share it with you all. I hope it helps someone else that needs to hear this message. I know it helps me put my relationship with my children and husband into prospective and that maybe when they are all grown up I really will be ok...because I will still have my top 2.

Love you all and God Bless,
Tammy

My almost grown children

Its so hard to believe that my children are almost all grown up. Right now they are all in Wisconsin without me...and amazingly they are all old enough, mature enough, and trustworthy enough to be there without me. They are going to be headed back south soon...and Wednesday is the BIG DAY!!! I cant wait to see them. Especially Samantha and Nick whom I havent seen in 2 months.

Samantha has finally admitted to missing Charlie and I as well. I knew she had to be...she was just trying to be to grown up.


I found a gym that I like really well and when my free trial is up next week I am going to join. Riviera Fitness in Pace. There is also a center in Pensacola for those days I want to just stop in after work. I am so excited and already feeling more mentally alert. I feel like we are finally making Florida our home.


School is starting in one week. All the school supplies are bought and we are finishing up the school clothes. I cant believe the last two are both in High School this year. Wasnt I just rockin them babies to sleep everynight??? They grew so fast. But I have so many beautiful memories of my babies...I have to admit Im slightly upset at the thought of them leaving home...maybe I am just having a hard time cause Samantha was gone all summer. I still have 3 and 4 years respectively. I will hold on and cherish every memory.

God Bless and I hope everyone has a great week. Charlie and I are headed to our new church this morning. We really like it!!!

Love,
Tammy

Missing Samantha

As most of you know, Samantha has been in Wisconsin all summer long! I miss her sooooo much!! One more week and she will finally be here! I cant wait to hug her and talk to her! We have so much to catch up on...shopping, sitting on the bed talking, shopping oh and by the way, did I mention shopping!! My dear daugther is not leaving me again for a very long time....I didnt like it one bit

Things are going pretty good for the Gauf Family. Dakota will start the official football season in one week. He is pretty excited about his freshman year. Samantha I am sure is less excited but I am confident she will make some great friends this year!

Nick will be living here soon. Cant wait for that. It is his plan to sign up for the nursing program as soon as he gets down here and by the time the nursing program opens up he should be an official Florida resident. So he has a plan...now he will just have to hit the pavement and find a job. I am so happy he has finally decided what he wants to do with the rest of his life.

Charlie and I will be celebrating 16 years in a couple more months! We couldnt be happier - it actually gets better as the years go on....I wouldnt want to be without him! I thank the Lord everyday for such a great husband and father to my children.

Love ya all,
Tammy

I won a Nintedo Wii

Friday was a very "GOOD" day. I got my first paycheck....yay!!! That felt so good...its spent on bills already...but still felt awesome to just get one!

I had a great morning business meeting at Panera - yum, they have awesome egg and bacon sandwhiches....work is going great and they are very happy to have me aboard...and I am just as happy!

I got home from work and I had received an email from an Acuvue sweepstakes. I won a Nintendo Wii....I have to get the affidavit notorized and mailed off and I should have it within 8-10 weeks. I think I am going to buy Wii Fit and get some exercise! I am so excited!!!

Rainy Saturday

It's rainy season in Florida...they call these the Dog Days of Summer. What better to do than play some Phase 10.

Phase 10

We are trying very hard to be patient....but....we cant wait until Samantha is home!!! She had minor surgery on her ear yesterday....she got her earring stuck in the earring hole and had to go to urgent care and have them numb her ear and pull it out...she needed her Mommy and I am so sad I wasnt there. The funny part about it is that she called me first to find out what she should do...I thought she dropped it in her ear so I told her to bend over and let it fall out of her ear...LOL...she was like "Mom" "Its stuck in my earring hole". I am so ready for her to be home but she wont be here until around August 11th. She has saved almost all of her babysitting money from the summer though and we are so proud of her!!

We had a great day fishing in the bay! Charlie and Steve tried fishing with a net and the boys fished with poles and tried the net too! We all had a really good time and found another fun thing to do in Florida! Cant wait for our next fun adventure!

Fishing in the Bay

I have the "Best Job Ever"

I have the best job ever!!! I was so nervous going into work today. Missing a day of work in your first week is not very cool and I was not happy that I had to miss a day...but it is all good! Everyone was very good to me and I was told that we are a small but very happy family there at Lane Bryant and that anytime I need anything, support, shoulder to cry on etc...that I can count on my family at work. I am so elated!!!

Thank you Lord for the great job and the great people I am working with. It is truly a blessing!

Love,
Tammy

We had a great Fathers Day Weekend. We are so happy that our two oldest boys were here to share it with us and a little sad that Samantha wasnt. We had a crawfish boil on Saturday afternoon and spent Sunday at the River. It was an awesome weekend...and one that the boys can think about on the long bus ride back home. Nick Lee is planning on moving to Florida in a couple of months and we cant wait to have him back. Nicky is planning on college in the fall.

Fathers Day 2008

Nicky had a great Graduation!! We are so excited and proud! His party got a little washed out with all the rain but we still had a great time. The Graduation ceremony got done just in the nick of time. The rain started pouring right after we finished pictures and it didnt stop. We got out of Wisconsin (after a maze of trying to get Nicky from one town to another, so that he could come to Florida for a week) just in time.
Please pray that everyone stays safe up there and that the rains stop. There is enough flooding right now...they dont need anymore. Please pray for all of those that lost their homes this weekend when Lake Delton drained into the Wisconsin River and when the dam broke at Redstone.
I am also asking for prayers for my niece Kasara who had emergency surgery on Monday night. She has a problem with Kidney Stones and we pray that after this surgery she no longer suffers with them.
I am so thankful that my two oldest boys are here with us in Florida this week!!!

Mothers Day

It's been a couple of weeks since Mothers Day but we have been so busy I havent had time to post. We have been enjoying the pool everyday and we are all starting to get very tan. The next two weekends we have graduations for two very special young men. Our son Nicky is graduating along with our nephew Josh. We are so proud of them and will post pics soon! Nicky is coming to visit us in Florida for a week after graduation. We cant wait. I am thankful for my new home in Florida. Thank you God!

My Mothers Day Present

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Here are a few vacation pics at Destin Beach! I just loved it in Destin and cant wait to go back...we were going to go this weekend but our home sold and we are headed back to Wisconsin for a few days instead!! We feel so blessed that God is allowing all of the doors to open for us! We feel so blessed!

This is us "very excited" and ready to leave ~ we are just waiting on Dawn ~ as soon as she gets here we are leaving - Florida or Bust!!!

We are so excited ~ only 7 days and a wake up until we leave for vacation ~ Charlie has been working hard all week fixing things up around the house. I have some last minute shopping to do this weekend so I can find a couple pairs of shorts...It has warmed up here a bit this week but not as nice as Florida will be ~ there is still plenty of snow ~ it will take forever to melt the 8 feet of accumulative snow we received this winter ~ I am thankful for having such great people in my life!

Its saturday and I find myself "home alone"...its kinda nice...but awfully quiet. Is this what it will be like when all of the kids are grown up and moved out? We have our house listed for sale with a realtor....hopefully all goes well with that. My mother has confirmed that she will be spending her winter's in Arizona for now on...she just cant take the cold anymore and her Parkinson's and athritis would do better in a warmer dryer climate. I think it is a good thing. She has a sister out there and it will be better for her health. Samantha and Dakota are done with sports for this school year, as neither one of them have ever been in too baseball/softball. So needless to say its been a bit quieter with no place to run to after work every other night. Samantha wants to find a part time job and I am still very weary of that. I prefer she sticks to babysitting but I guess I need to let her grow up and try something new. It's so hard for me to let go with her. I think I want her to stay with me forever!! Not really...but time sure does fly. We leave for vacation in 11 days and a wake up - we are all ready to get away from this cold weather. I just want to feel the sand beneath my feet...and search for sand dollars. I think that is so much fun! I'm thankful that we are able to get away this year!

15 Days until we leave for vacation ~ I cant hardly wait....its going to be a long 15 days. Everyone is doing pretty good and Charlie and I are both slowly getting over our sickness. We both still have a lingering cold. Its quieter around here with another child moved out...but alas we must learn to let go once they turn 18. Its not an easy thing to do. I guess the positive is that the grocery bill is cheaper! Charlie is determined that we ARE going to move to Florida this year! It has been a dream of his for a very long time now. I am thinking the timing might be right this time ~ But I am leaving it up to God ~ if it is meant to be the doors will open for us. I am thankful that everyone in my family is doing well.

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Mom still has lots of "Wind" left in her!!!
Mother and her two granddaughters! How cute!

Charlie was having a great time at my Mother's Surprise 60th birthday party! ~

Countdown to Vacation

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Blizzard ~ February 17, 2008

My New Philosophy

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