My Grandmother...

she died last week. I appreciate all the people who have been praying for me and my family, especially my mom. It's hard to lose a grandma, but it's even harder to lose a mother. Please continue praying for my mom and her sisters as they try to deal with this.

Thank you,
~Amy




Mary Lee Hamm McKee


Mary Lee went to sing in the Lord’s choir on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.

Funeral services were held Monday at First United Methodist Church, Ft. Worth with a graveside service in Red Oak Cemetery, Red Oak.

Mary Lee was born Feb. 11, 1924, in Red Oak to William Jones Hamm and Ella Jennie Coleman Hamm. She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin before her marriage to Carl McKee on May 31, 1947.

Mary Lee was a faithful member of the choir at Glen Oaks United Methodist Church in Dallas and later the chancel and choral union choirs at First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth. She was also a devoted member of United Methodist Women, Circle C-1.

Mary Lee was preceded in death by her husband, Carl McKee, on June 28, 1995.

Survivors include her daughters, Linda Blanchard (Mike), formerly of Fort Worth, now of Columbus, Neb., Debbie Wilde (James) of Houston and Jean Terrell (Paul) of Denton; grandchildren, Jean and John Wilde, Kaytlin Blanchard, Tyler, Adam and Amy Terrell; brothers, Bill Hamm (Ruth) of Alamogordo, N.M., and John Hamm (Mary) of Morgan and their children; and other relatives.

Mr. Toad at our front door......

Sunset and Moonrise (last night)

click on the last one. You can see really good detail in the moon. I finally figured it out! But I had to but Uncle Mike's camera on Adams tripod to get a perfect picture.

Books, books, and more books...

I love to read! I used to hate to read because I wasn't good at it, but now I'm good at reading and I love it! It was a vicious cycle. I didn't read because I was slow, and I was slow because I didn't practice reading. I read so much during the summer, more than I have ever read before. Here is a list that I read throughout the summer:

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
By Robert Louis Stevenson

"Robinson Crusoe"
By Daniel Defoe

"The Time Machine"
By H.G. Wells

"King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table"
By Howard Pyle

"The Three Musketeers"
By Alexandre Dumas

"The Secret Garden"
By Frances Hodgson Burnett

"Treasure Island"
By Robert Louis Stevenson

"The Door in the Wall" (not "A Wind in the Door," very different)
By Marguerite de Angeli

The "Anne" Series (of which I am still wonderfully involved in)
by L. M. Montgomery

"Anne of Green Gables"

"Anne of Avonlea"

"Anne of the Island"

"Anne of Windy Poplars"

"Anne's House of Dreams"

"Anne of Ingleside"

And I am in the process of reading "Rainbow Valley"


Most of these books I had either heard the gist of the story before, or listened to the audio tape of it, but never read the book. I had such a great time traveling to lands Far, far away.

"The Three Musketeers" I must say was disappointing. It was all about women and it didn't matter if they were married or not.. And I was not as familiar with "King Aurthur and the Knights of the Round Table" as I thought I was. I was so discouraged when Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere were banished for being caught in the same room together (the queen was banished to a convent to be a nun for the rest of her life. Then Lancelot was forgiven after years, but the queen was never to return to King Aurthur. I thought it was very unjust and it has bothered me. The way that I would have done it was have them both forgiven, but, alas, I am not Howard Pyle. I loved the part about Excalibur. That was so exiting and it gave me a queer chill down my spine when I read about it. Its such an exiting adventure story.

I am in the process of writing an adventure novel in a year. It's part of my school. It is going to be set in the Wild West.

The Texas Rangers!

I went to my first Rangers game on Friday! (that would be baseball) It was really fun! Lots of cheering, booing, and yummy food. The most fun thing we did was the wave. Twenty-five thousand people make the wave an incredible sight. It took a little while for it to get going but then the other people realised what was happening. :) It was so funny to see the guys that are really into it get so upset when the umpire does something they don't like. Every one starts booing until the instant replay is put up on the big screen, then every one is quiet. Our team lost, but it was fun any way. We were playing the LA Angels. The Rangers Stadium is right by the Cowboys Stadium (that would be football). It was HUGE.

I had a great time at the game. We were guests of some of my parents friends, the Heydricks. Mrs. Heydrick had cancer, and she just had her last kimo therapy treatment. They think that all the cancer is gone but she will still have to go and check regularly to see that it doesn't come back. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers.

Twice as Nice (resale shop)

A few of my friends and I are part of a mother daughter group that volunteers at a resale shop that supports the Crisis Pregnancy Recourse Center. Although it is not called a crisis any more because it is so common, it is still a great cause to be part of. Most of the money that is made at Twice as Nice goes to the Recourse Center.

We sort clothes, straighted shelves, and do what ever needs to be done. (pricing, taking care of costumers ect.) I always have so much fun when my mom and I go there together to help.

A few days ago they had a meeting to re-familiarize the Volunteers to the wear house (the place where donations are sorted and stored) and the store. They are making changes and trying to be more organized.

I was not able to make it to the Tour of the Center (I didn't know about it) but I was there for the tour and talk at the shop.

We had a Picnic at the park close by. Aaron had to leave before we could get there. :(



At the Park



Crazy resale hats!!!

Swing Dancing!!! (with the Blairs)

Greta and Lydia swing dancing. CUTE!








Happy Face!


Sad face...

Tyler and Christa Blair Dancing



The Whole Group! The Families that Came (or were represented)

Adams, Allens, Blairs, Harris, Terrells, Smiths, Sims, Patricks, Jesters.

I must say, we had a BLAST!!! The Blairs showed us some country line dancing too! That was realy fun. My dad has trouble with swing dancing because of the steps, but the line dancing was easier and more fast pased. The Adams had never done this before and I think that they had a lot of fun. Some of the little kids did it for a while, but then they got bored and went swimming. :) Some of the Parents did it too! I was so happy! I danced with Mr. Blair and he was realy good. I think he had done it before though. We also had lots of snacks and refreshments for every one to snack on. Over all I think every one had a fabulous time. Praise the Lord!