thoughts in a jumble.

ohio.
black dirt.
glorious sunsets (i saw my first one since we moved...amazing)
the smell of ohio at this time of year. alfalfa cut, wet dirt just nice ohio-y smell.
the sounds here...the sound of locust (only ohio locust sound THIS good!)
the sound of a good thunder storm.
the sight of a rolling soybean field.
the sight of 9 foot high corn still green and amazingly beautiful. it has been dry here so the leaves are curly and pointing straight up, but it is beautiful none the less.
family family family. i saw all my mom's side of the family at the funeral today. The Farm was full again with happy voices. 5 kids 20 grandkids and 6 greatgrandkids. heather, sam's wife, is pregnant and has the wonderful mother glow about her face. deborah just got married not too long ago and has the beautiful i'm-just-married-and-so-in-love look. lydia is happily married for two years and looks beautiful. angie and kevin aren't doing too well, but their girls makenna and alyssa are dolls. they are 7 and 5 and promised to be pen palls with mer and i. aunt carla and aunt doris are leaving for scotland tomorrow, flying out of detroit (arrrrrrrrrg!). uncle ronnie is still driving his little debbie truck and you can really tell! =) luke and cindy's baby hannah jo is the most adorably independent little girl you will ever meet...and only eight months! carrie and bryan have a new daughter lilly, she is three weeks old and the most beautiful baby you would ever hope to see! their son blane started crying when i held him today at the reception at the church...how embarrassing! carl and mindy's baby maddison is adorably happy all the time. she laughed in my face today twice. i couldn't decide if it was gas or i had something stuck in my teeth. she is nine months old. quite wonderful. uncle rick is doing well. he got a new tractor and loves it so much. oh luke got a new toy too. a brand new four wheeler that does amazing things! he said next time i am up he would let me drive it around...the last time we did that we met with unfortunate events! (such as wet cow pie all up the back of us!!) luke and cindy's new house is done. they live in between uncle rick and aunt doris. it is a beautiful log cabin type thing with a huge front porch. sabra was there, and i got to talk to her some. she is still nice, but hard to get close to. nathan has been working out and is HUGE! he works now at a penitentiary and is a football coach. i love him to pieces. jared is in samolia and aaron is in sandiago,ca with his new girlfriend autunm and both are fabulous. (side note...jared is in the NAVY) ben is still in germany and loving it there. ruth is visiting aaron in sandiago and called tonight to say hello to all of us. we miss her. micah is running around the country somewhere and is doing great. deborah's husband grant is nice and fits well into the family. i like him. papa is exhausted but doesn't want to sleep cause he is afraid of sleeping without mama. he keeps drinking coffee so he will stay awake. mom is staying with him tonight and was very afraid that the night will go rough. we did a recording session of papa playing his guitar and telling stories. he is famous for his stories. (my grandpa hoagland is in the room below me and is talking in his sleep...never heard that one before!)

it was hard at the funeral today. i did well until it came time for papa to say goodbye to mama. he kissed her twice and was talking to her for some time. i didn't hear what he said, but it was heartbreaking to see him. his eyes are so lost. it hurts me that i see him like that and can't take any of his pain away. he gave me a hug after the service today before they took mama into the hearse and said "you need to come back soon because i just want to be with mama. i want to see her again and want to be with her. i can't be by myself, so come see me more often." i thought i had cried all my tears out, but more came. i got to see my cousin mark's grave today...kind of. it was right next to mama's. he died back in '98 and was such a sweetheart. i miss him.

my daddy preached the sermon today and the gospel went out clear as a bell. which that was good cause there was some unsaved family there to hear. especially daddy's brother, uncle jim and his wife aunt marge. they both heard and it was very clear.

now i think i am rambling. i think the whole thing is rambling, but i wanted to get some of this off my mind before i went to sleep. we drive back to sc tomorrow. mom on wednesday. i know i will be doing most of the driving and my back is killing me. pray i make it in safe. it is hard to be physically drained as well as emotionally drained.

love to you all.