An interesting video clip that I came across....

For everybody, it is a cute story...

For you car lovers, it is a cute story and an awesome car!

Happy Birthday...
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... to our sweet Mother!

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What would we do without Mom to keep this family going and the schedule running smoothly? It's amazing to think about all the ways that she has influenced my own life, personally. She has been a tremendous example to me of how one gracefully balances being a wife, mother, teacher, daughter, cook, house cleaner, nurse, chauffeur, adviser, encourager... and about one hundred other things.

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Thank you Mother. You mean so much to all of us!!!
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I love you!

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THIS FRIDAY...

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... marks the 2 year anniversary of the McDonnell Family Blog. We did some serious "brainstorming" to figure out how to get every one of our viewers involved with the comments on this post. We resolved to think of a common bond of people in blog world.

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Eventually, we came up with something... your shoe size! Think about it, everyone wears shoes at some point in their life, therefore everyone has a shoe size. Do you know what this means? No one has an excuse not to comment on this post.

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If you wear shoes, this is your moment to shine (uhhh, no pun intended). We want to see how many comments we can get, so join in the fun!

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What is your shoe size???

Our one month anniversary

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Brent came in for a quick, weekend visit, arriving on Friday evening the 14th (exactly one month after he asked me to be his wife). Hard to believe the wedding is less than 20 weeks away!

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Brent is heading to the Philippines soon, after some other meetings this week. He, along with a few other men, will leave March 24th and head back home April 7th. While there, their schedule will be full of preaching and they will have multiple opportunities to share the gospel. Brent is excited to see what the Lord will do through this trip, as am I.

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We would appreciate your prayers for traveling safety, open and receptive hearts in the Philippines, and for God to do a mighty work through the team.

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Psalm 73:28

"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works."

Spring is almost here!

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Flower shopping...

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Earlier this week, Liz, Em and I headed to Indiana where we met a friend and made flower bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding. Besides the trip being great fun, we were also able to find everything on sale. God is so good! Although I don't want to show too many flower pictures, I'm going to post a few (basically, assembling the smaller bunches), to give you a glimpse into the planning.

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Thank you, Sarah, for all your help! You did an incredible job helping us get the flowers all organized and put together.

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Shopping in one of the many aisles of flowers

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Emmy, working on a corsage
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Lizzie was the official "flower clipper", at this point.

A boutonniere for "my man."

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Afternoon with MaryAnn

One of Liz and Em's friends came over on Thursday afternoon, for a couple of hours. As any good blogger would, we snapped a few photos.

At DQ

Lizzie and her "Mint M&M Blizzard".

Trying on sunglasses... classy, huh?

Liz and Em, preparing for a round of Dutch Blitz.

No, there is not an intelligent or logical explanation for this shot.

More Dutch Blitz. This game is marvelous!

The Reign Of Metal Has Ended! (sort of)

Finally...I cannot be called "zipper lips" or "train wreck" or "tinsel teeth" :o) I didn't care about the names anyway, it is just nice to not have a mouthful of metal after a little over a year of constant wires!

So, it is 8:30 this morning.

I walk into the orthodontic office with fear and trepidation in my heart knowing that these little pieces of metal that have remained firmly in place for over a year on my teeth must now be removed.

When I am called by the nurse, I settle myself comfortably in the chair....well....as comfortable as you can be with your ankles at a higher elevation than your head! (Man those chairs!) And prepare to watch them hook up a jackhammer to knock my brackets off.

But lo and behold! She only takes out a little metal pick! I think to myself, "hallelujah!" this won't be hard at all.

UNTIL!! Until she starts picking and grinding and scraping and wreaking havoc on my teeth to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had A Farm"!

Do any of you get irritated by the sound of fingernails on a chalk board? If so, let me tell you something. You have never REALLY experienced that feeling fully until the person scraping out the sound is doing it on YOUR teeth!

Anyway, after the nurse is done giving me whiplash by jerking the brackets off, it is time for the Orthodontist to come out and take the metal ring bands (or as I call them...blades) off of my molar teeth.

Now I am really scared! I lie there, closing my eyes. Wondering how it will feel to lose four teeth right in a row without any pain killer. I feel the doctor reaching into my mouth with a pair of gargantuan pliers that he borrowed from the auto mechanic down the street ....waiting......waiting....waiting......

"Alright kid, you can close your mouth now."

Amazing! I didn't even feel them come off! Just remember kids, when you want a pair of quality pliers for your toolbox, buy "Dento Wrencher Thingys" brand! They work wonderfully! :o)

All that to say, my braces are off.

A few pics below to remind myself why I went through all of this:

Before:

After:

The views expressed in above story may be slightly enhanced by the author for reader interest. Please do not hold a grudge against any orthodontist after reading this story or develop a phobia of all things tooth related. Need help? Call 1-800-I-Am-Scared-Of-People-With-Metal-Tools-Designed-For-My-Teeth or go to www.don'ttouchmewiththatthing.com

Recent picture of Emmy and Dree

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Confidence

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Welcome to the McDonnell Family Blog!

Just for the mere fact that nothing extraordinarily exciting is currently happening with our family, I decided to post some semi-interesting facts about this blog and its viewership. :o)

You can tell how many hits (visits) there are from each area by how dark it appears on the map.

Following is a picture of both the national and international level of viewers for the month of February.

Here is a list of where the states and countries stand in actual numbers. Check out your home state! (or country :o) I must say that Indiana is boosted simply for the fact that that is where our home connection shows up from, but besides that, it is all true viewer stats!

Standings:

United States - 2,245

Wisconsin - 382

Indiana - 349

Michigan - 330

New Jersey - 261

Illinois - 134

Pennsylvania - 120

New York - 85

California - 83 (My first home state!)

Ohio - 64

Georgia - 48

Washington D.C. - 47

Iowa - 42

Florida - 39

North Carolina - 34

Kansas - 30

Tennessee - 30

Connecticut - 26

Idaho -21

Missouri - 14

Oklahoma - 14

Alabama - 12

Texas - 11

Colorado - 11

Louisiana - 10

Kentucky - 7

Virginia - 5

Maine - 3

Nebraska - 3

South Carolina - 3

Arizona - 2

Arkansas - 2

Minnesota - 1

Mississippi - 1

New Mexico - 1

Hawaii - 1

Nevada - 1

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Russia - 55

Germany - 40

Singapore - 37

Australia - 26

Brazil - 20

Canada - 3

Mexico - 2

Spain - 1

Sweden - 1

United Kingdom - 1

So how did your home state do?

Happy Birthday, Anna

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Anna turned 10 this week, on February 26. This girl adds a lot of spunk & energy to our home. We love you Anna! God bless you, as you continue to become a beautiful young lady, inside and out!

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Anna requested that we do some singing, in family Bible time.

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Connor, singing out of his "songbook" (New Testament)
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Of Weddings

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Weddings have sort of been on my mind lately (hmmm... for some reason!)I found these pictures on the computer, taken almost 23 years ago and wanted to share them with our blog readers. Praise the Lord, today they love each other more than ever and continue to be a godly example to us kids!

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Love you, Mom and Dad!

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I like this pose/effect, behind the candles.

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Isn't she lovely?

Guess what?

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We're engaged!

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On Thursday evening (Valentines Day), Brent Gellos asked me to be his wife. I was completely surprised and yes, completely delighted.

Our God is so good. We praise Him for bringing us together and leading in each step of the way. Our relationship would be nothing, without Christ.

Details, dates, and other posts pertaining to the subject will be posted, as time goes on. Thank you to those who have prayed for us and please continue to do so. We appreciate that tremendously!

The ring (it's gorgeous!)

Very shortly after the proposal. (We had gone on a double date, with Dad and Mom).

"Water from the Rock"

This was taped (on a digital camera - meaning, the quality isn't the best) a few weeks ago. Lizzie is in the black and green, singing soprano. Emily is playing the piano.

Left to right: Luke Anglea, Leah Anglea, Jamie Clem, Lizzie McDonnell, Caleb Rardin

A 5 Year Old...

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...and her many expressions. During a recent "photo shoot", she was being a complete ham!

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Connor and "Bob"

Snapshot

Imagination

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You must have some sort of an imagination when you can sit on your older sister's desk and tell a colorful, descriptive story of a "family", with only her perfume and makeup bottles.

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"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

-Albert Einstein

Do you realize...

...that it's less than 7 weeks until Spring???