Welcome 2026!

 

2025 -  What a year!  God has been very good to us.  We spent more time in Tennessee last year than we have in almost 35 years of marriage, but it's the right decision.  We have been here since before Thanksgiving and my family cup is overflowing.  We have seen both of Les' siblings, their spouses and all six adult children and one son-in-law.  We've eaten and laughed and eaten and laughed some more.  All of this surrounded Les' dad with so much love.

 

As any long time readers know, I'm not big on New Years resolutions.  I finished reading my Bible through yesterday and started a new plan today.  While I was looking for a plan to follow (here's the one I'm doing this year https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/19038-bible-in-a-year-365-day-reading-plan)  I found a short one that also looked interesting - "8 Resolutions Jesus Would Be Happy With."  Part of the description says this, "In this 8-day journey through the Beatitudes, you’ll discover how humility, mercy, and peacemaking (and more) reshape your priorities around God’s kingdom. Forget the pressure of keeping perfect resolutions — this study helps you start the year grounded in grace."  This was maybe a five minute read, but it was really good.  Doing what makes Jesus happy will make for the best year ever!

 

Happy New Year!  Do you have any resolutions or big plans?  We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary in May and are still deciding where we want to be when we celebrate. 

Family Time

I have a reason for not posting about our trip yet - there's a new baby in our family!  My niece, Lauren, had a baby girl last month.  I was finally able to make a trip to Fresno to meet her and I'm so in love!  Olive Jae is just a darling little bundle.

 

 

We had a mini reunion on Tuesday night.  My brother, Rick, is a fabulous great uncle!

 

 

My sister, "Mimi" Kim.  If you look closely you will see braces on both her arms.  Kim took a tumble a few weeks ago and broke her right wrist, broke her right elbow, and sprained her left wrist!  I drove her to her followup appointment on Wednesday.  X-rays show that she is healing, it's just going to take time. 

 

 

The other star of the show, of course, is Olive's big brother Bo.  He will be in four in February and he kept us entertained all evening.

 

 

I brought several gifts, my favorite is this book - "A is for Adobo."  With his blonde hair and blue eyes you wouldn't guess that Bo is one fourth Filipino, but he is.  This is an alphabet book with Filipino words and it is adorable!

 

 

He loves Olive and is so sweet with her!

 

 

"Moose on the Loose" shirt that we bought in Canada.

 

 I found this darling handmade duck at a produce stand in Cookeville.

 

Bo had one request at the end of the evening - a little dance party, with head gear required!

 

 

After Kim's appointment on Wednesday, we got a little more time with Lauren and Olive while Bo was at preschool.  I think I just held her and stared in awe for about an hour!!

 

 

 

Bo came home just before I left.  He and Mimi had a drawing party.  It was so fun to see how creative he is!

 

I'm so thankful for my family!!

Happy Birthday to My Hero!

My dear brother, Rod, would have turned 62 today.  I've written about him so many times.  He is still greatly missed!  This is my original post from September 22, 2008. 

Rodney coaxes her, she is practically his shadow. These two are really close, in every way."
- From My Baby book

The last few days I've been thinking of how we react to unexpected tragedies or difficulties. Whether it be the Metrolink crash or Hurricane Ike, the same response occurs. After the initial shock, the media starts reporting on how it could have been avoided or who was at fault. We humans have a hard time accepting that bad things happen, even to good people.

Going on a school field trip in a wheelchair

As I was thinking through a post on this subject, I kept thinking of Rod.

Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno some times felt like our second home.

 

 

 Rodney Dean Fultz was born on March 5, 1963, just 13 months before I came along. Within the first year of his life, it was discovered that Rod was a hemophiliac or a "bleeder" as he was commonly called. In spite of many, many difficulties and hospitalizations, Rod was an overcomer. I think God gave him an extra dose of grit in place of the clotting factor found in most humans!

What a brother he was! He had an incredible wit. You never got the last word with Rod. He had a comeback for anything you threw his way. I know, because this was the source of many fights between the two of us! As we got older, he knew when he was about to push me over the edge and would say something that would just crack me up.

Kindergarten class picture with a black eye!

 

Hearing him sing was a powerful experience. The second verse of "I'm Just Warming Up" with the words "all my pain and sorrow, up there I will forget", could not have been sung with more power or passion by anyone else.

If anyone had the "right" to question his circumstances or try to find someone to blame, it was Rod. But I can still hear him, not many months before his death, as we spoke about all he had been through in his life. He said, "Kathy, whenever I'm tempted to question or feel sorry for myself, I just read the book of Job. I can't complain."

One of many Easter dramas he performed in.

 

One definition of shadow is an inseparable companion or follower. Rod's example of facing life's difficulties is one I want to follow. I knew even as a baby, he was someone I wanted to "shadow".

To my friends who knew Rod, I hope you enjoy this photo walk down memory lane as much as I did! And whenever I hear "Jingle Bell Rock" I remember the Christmas when Rod and I entertained the family, he with his "crutch guitar" and me with some fancy moves!!

So much love and laughter in this shot!

God gave him music so he could pray without words.

Friday Foodie ~ Christmas Breakfast

 

We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year, just the two of us.  Don't feel sorry for us - we love having the day to ourselves!  It's mellow and always begins with an amazing breakfast.  This year, I reached way back to my childhood and decided I wanted to make Chocolate Rolls.  This was Mom's take on cinnamon rolls, but since it was Mom, chocolate had to be involved!  I'm pretty sure she used Bisquick, because it was a quick and easy way to make something special for our family of six.

There is a recipe for cinnamon rolls on the back of the Bisquick box, but I wanted to make yeast based rolls.  I looked at dozens of recipes and decided on Easy Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch from Sally's Baking Addiction.  She has a "do not republish" policy on her blog, so I won't put the recipe here.  But go to her site because the recipe is simple and SO good!

 

I followed the recipe until it was time to make the filling, then I used cocoa powder instead of cinnamon.  That's the only thing I changed!  I did the first four steps on Christmas Eve, then put the rolls in the refrigerator.  When I got up on Christmas morning, I pulled them out and let them rise for about an hour.  At that time, I decided to move them to a larger baking pan and I'm so glad I did.

 

I didn't make the frosting in the original recipe.  I had a little bit of Pillsbury cream cheese frosting and just added some chocolate syrup to it.

I sent pictures to my siblings and nieces and they all wanted some!  My brother said it brought back a lot of childhood memories of one of his favorite sweet treats.  Mom set a high bar, but I think I might have reached it with these!

Remembering 9/11

 

The Northridge Earthquake ~ 30 Years Ago

I didn't mean to disappear for almost two weeks!  I got really sick last week.  I saw an article yesterday about the 30th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake.  That is still the biggest earthquake I've ever felt.  I wrote about it in 2010 after the massive Haiti earthquake and thought I'd re-post it here today: 

With a jolt we were awakened that morning. Sleeping on the third level of our townhouse it seemed someone had taken our little place and was violently shaking it. An earthquake with a 6.7 magnitude struck the Southland at 4:31 that Monday morning. Along with the shaking there was the noise - dishes falling out of cupboards, pictures falling off walls, drawers flying out of dressers, the crack of our kitchen window as it broke from the force.


It was still dark when we hurriedly dressed and made our way outside looking for safety. The normal LA sky glow was gone. Power was out and the freeway was empty. The same freeway that would be closed for more than a month due to extensive damage.


We spent the day in numbness. Shock kept the tears at bay as we viewed cracks in nearly every wall. Power and water were both off. We purchased plywood to cover our kitchen window and began the process of sweeping up glass and figuring out what was salvageable.


As night fell, we were unsure of the stability of our home and chose to move our van to the street and sleep there. Still no electricity. It would be many weeks before I slept peacefully as aftershocks were a constant reminder. One large crack in our bedroom seemed to haunt me.


I remember later that day standing on the sidewalk talking to Les' boss.  His dog started getting very agitated just before we experienced a large aftershock.  It was so big, our car BOUNCED in the street!  

 

My Bible reading today included Proverbs chapter 18.  I'm very thankful for verse 10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."

Thanksgiving 2023

Les and I traveled to Florida for the annual McElhaney family gathering.  Our niece, Leksi, drove down from Tennessee with Pops so we rented a house for the four of us.  I found a great house in Mexico Beach - three bedroom, two bath with full kitchen, living room, dining room and laundry.  It was cheaper than a single hotel room and turned out great!

 

The majority of the family rented RVs and stayed at Dead Lakes Park in Wewahitchka.  This has been a gathering place for our family for many, many, many years!

 

 

I couldn't resist running along the beach.  Mexico Beach sits at the border of the Central and Eastern time zones.  Mexico Beach is in Central, while neighboring Port St. Joe is in Eastern.

 

Just across the time zone line is Gulf County Veterans Memorial Park.  I ran to it on two mornings and Les and I walked to it another time.

 

There were a number of fishing trips.  

 

There was enough food to feed a small army.  But more importantly there was abundant love and laughter!