I've finally taken enough naps today to try to collect my thoughts and share my own round of thank you's!!

First, I really want to thank everyone for allowing me to make my comments and presentations to our Veterans yesterday as well. I tried very hard to walk that delicate line between "making sure" our Veterans know how very much they are appreciated and not tapping emotions that run deep in all of us. I have felt extremely compelled to do this for the past year or so. Many folks helped me pull these surprise presentations off----and from what I can gather----none of these folks figured it out ahead of time! =)

Mega thank you to Brenda, becohio and gameday for coming back to help me finish cleaning up today! Brenda and PrimitiveCin helped me get a second wind and we got a lot cleaned up last night already too!!! WOW----we lucked out in so many ways y'all!!! Today it was POURING RAIN and we also had some attention-getting HAIL!!!!!

Another big WOW!!!! That barrel got just about filled to the top for our Vets in Chillicothe!!! Thanks to Mrs. Doglvrs for letting us borrow her amazing stamp! Today we sorted everything into piles and we are going to use the VERY generous cash donations to buy more crew socks to balance these donations out. I took pictures and will post them in the event album. Brenda, Dr. Watson and I will be taking these items to the Chillicothe VA Center and we will also be taking that priceless signed frame to the Maupin Family in Batavia!! Thank you so VERY much Dr. Watson for creating the perfect way for us to let that family know we are thinking about them while they continue to have HOPE!

Stamps that didn't make it in time: If I receive the 2 stamps by Hartx6 and/or the Women In the Military from Iraq before THE game on Saturday, I will bring them to Damon's where Brenda is getting us a room to watch OSU wail on MI! I will keep everyone posted if they get here!!

I also have to tell everyone that the military quilt that everyone contributed to and that Brenda and June put together could not be more perfect! I am instantly attached to that and am so glad I was able to keep my emotions in check yesterday!!! What a beautiful piece of art and talent. I love every single patch and I cannot even begin to tell you what it means to me. You know how great it is to do an exchange with someone and then later go back and look at their signature stamp and smile? Having these signature stamps incorporated into this quilt and have it be so wonderfully patriotic is about ten times as nice---it is just the best thing ever! I am humbled to have such a treasure.

Mn8X---you are so right. Man oh man---did everyone pull out all the stops with stamps, faces, history, containers, donations AND food?! Brenda comments a couple of times that this is the first time we ATE everything in sight?! =) GONE---every exceptional morsel!!!!

Thank you all so very much for your kind and thoughtful comments after this event yesterday!!! I just cannot say this enough---we have the BEST group of letterboxers EVER!!!! I had a blast myself and smiled and laughed all day long! Thank you for being such kind souls!!!

Oh yeah----and for those who have not heard my (non-letterboxing) husband's observation----he said in all ernestness---that we remind him of those (insane---obsessed) BINGO players?! He pointed out (as if we hadn't noticed and commented ourselves on an hourly basis) that our fingers and hands had ink all over them?! lol I'm not exactly sure WHAT his point was---does anyone else know??? =P
Trailtracker

woo hoo, a BIG thank you to Barb.
(wondering when oyu were going to come up for air)
Wish we could have been there Barb, on behalf of all Canadians ever so grateful to our brothers and sisters south of the border helping to keep our nations free, and those who have done so in the past.
we attended a wonderful Veteran's Day parade today, and at church they had an incredibly moving service to honour all who served in any way past, and present.
Blessings.
Love to you all.

Deb of Pilgrims in This Land

Hey Deb! Thanks so much for your post on our Ohio board! I am going to finally post pics today in the event album----and there are a couple with both Flat Stanleys in them!!!! They had a blast here too! That is so great to hear about your Veteran's Day parade and service----please keep on letting us know about happenings in Canada and about your holidays! We are very interested in hearing about life WAY up north! =)

Big hugs to you and your family, Deb!!!!
Some surprises coming your way when the Flat Stanleys come back home---won't be for a while yet though!!!
Barb/TT

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those who have not heard my (non-letterboxing) husband's observation----he said in all ernestness---that we remind him of those (insane---obsessed) BINGO players?! He pointed out (as if we hadn't noticed and commented ourselves on an hourly basis) that our fingers and hands had ink all over them?!

Oh is your husband right!! I call it a feeding frenzy. But here is a good one for Steve, You know how some Bingo players have the "good luck" trolls and rituals. Well, ask MHD about Vanman's ritual of getting a box. He drives me MAD. He has to take a picture of the box and a GPS reading, then he can proceed to the stamping. I can see taking a picture of the scenery where the box is planted, but not just the box! Oh well.

Also, can you imagine if the police ever came in to arrest someone. "Put your hands up!", he'd say. All these inky fingers would pop up and smudges of ink on faces and clothes would look up, except for the really obsessed LB'ers.who would yell out, "Hold on Buddy, while I get this stamped in. I can't do it again. There are people waiting on this stamp."

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Also, can you imagine if the police ever came in to arrest someone. "Put your hands up!", he'd say. All these inky fingers

At least it would save the police some time. They wouldn't have to ink your fingers before getting your prints!

I was so blown away! What a great display. I asked Zoey what her favorite thing was and she said the castle. The woman serving turkey was a hoot!!! But I must say that besides the dragon, my favorite were the bats!! I can't wait to get my pictures back. I never expected to take so many!

Tie Dye Balloon Guy was wonderful - I'm very happy to have a new exchange. He said you carve for him - his PT is perfect!! Thank you.

Mama Stork - thanks for meeting up with us and sharing some of the images you received on Saturday. =)

Happy Veterans Day!!

drexel girls

Dr. Watson and Mn8x---you two crack me up!!! How very true about getting stopped by the cops with inky fingers!!! Mn8X---you really should share yours and Jim's NEWest story about the bomb threat and the sequence of events that day!!! Thank you sooo much for allowing us to snag that stamp of the month!!! I'm so glad as the rest of this month will be spent catching up on everything else.

You will definitely have to check out the group pics---Flat Stanley made the group pic;held by Becohio & myself from R-gang.We are sitting on the ground front center--take a look.... Brenda