Another Andrea Odie

 Hey Friends,

This is Odie, coming to you from Kentucky. We are enjoying time with family this weekend at Carter Caves State Park. Today, it is time for the annual Boggs reunion. I am confident this will be a fun filled couple of days. It is always fun to catch up with our Boggs cousins!

We will soon bring you a full report on the Boggs reunion 2024. Here is an excellent video of pictures and memories from 2021. Dad compiled this back then. I liked looking back on this video a few days ago.

Another  Andrea Odie

Now, for the main topic of this post. Most of my regular readers know that I am Andrea Boggs, but better known as Odie to most people. I love my name, Andrea.

I am proud of my birth name, which Dad chose for me before my birth. I am named after a cousin. When I reached adulthood, I had to use it daily for business. Also, a few family members and select friends call me Andrea.

I do have my own namesake. My best friend named her second daughter Andrea after me. We have jokingly called her little Odie. Andrea Blakenship is now a beautiful teenager.

Here is the backstory to my name nickname. Odie has been my identity since around 2 years of age. Dad also tagged me with this name. As a toddler, crawling was my method of navigating. My long brown hair was mainly in a doggie ear style, and I crawled better with my tongue hanging out of my mouth. Dad thought I resembled the cartoon dog Odie.

The name has stuck with me all these years. I like having a unique name that makes me easily recognizable, so I have chosen to keep that my primary name. Most people do not even need to hear the Boggs part of my name because I am just Odie.

When I meet somebody new, they often want to know the history of my name. I have a few funny stories about people trying to figure out my name! Sometimes, I overhear conversations about my name, which makes me laugh.

Something happened a while back that I have been wanting to write about. I was on the phone with a business, doing something for our family. The kind lady taking my info asked if she could ask me a question. I agreed and this was her response. Is  Andrea your  real name and Odie a nickname? I said yes, and gave my explanation.

The lady then told me she has a niece named Andrea, who goes by Odie. She thought her nickname was also connected to the dog. I really could not believe my ears! Are there really two Andreas who go by Odie?

I was so surprised! I wanted to ask if she was my aunt. LOL? She was in an area where I have lots of family! She did tell me the niece lived in a different state than me. 

I asked her to have her family look me up online. It would be neat to connect with the other Andrea Odie! I have not heard from anyone yet. If you are reading this post and are aware of this other person, please leave a comment!

Well, I will quit my rambling! Thanks for reading as I conveyed my conversation. It is just more proof that you never know what you will learn in one day.

Odie

Two Special Birthdays

Hey Friends,

This is Odie checking in for this first Saturday of July. Can you believe we are 7 months into 2024? The year is seemingly speeding by in record time.

Happy Birthday, America!

I hope you had an excellent July 4th. We are blessed to live in America. I am so thankful for the men and women who prayed, fought and worked tirelessly for our great nation. 

I am proud to be an American and thankful for our freedoms. Join me in praying extra for our nation and fellow Americans. We need God to have mercy on us. Oh, Lord, send us revival!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This past Wednesday was a big birthday in our family. My beautiful and amazingly awesome Mother had the anniversary of her birthday! Happy belated birthday, Mom!

You are incredible, and I am blessed to have you in my life! I hope you felt extra love and appreciation this week! You will forever be my hero! Thank you so much for being my rock! I love you more than I love chocolate!

July is a busy birthday month for lots of our family and friends. Happy birthday to all of the July birthday club members! I am celebrating with you today, too!

Thanks for joining me today! I would love for you to come back next Saturday for more.

Odie

Jeff and Sheri Easter June 2024

Hey Friends

This is Odie checking from the beach cottage. Thanks for stopping by to visit with me. 

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad

First things first, today is my parent's anniversary! I want to wish Mom and Dad a Happy Anniversary!

Congrats on making it to number 39! I love you both so much! I pray this is your best year yet!

Jeff and Sheri Easter June 2024

Today, I am here to tell you about some fun from the first Friday of June. Jeff and Sheri Easter were scheduled to be in Hillsboro, Ohio.

I heard about this concert in March and quickly told my friends, the Stansells. They are big fans of Jeff and Sheri Easter’s music, too, and they immediately planned to attend the concert. 

The Stansells invited me to tag along with them if my schedule allowed. I was able to work my trip to visit my family in Hillsboro into that week. I met up with my dear friends for dinner and the concert and then rode back to Waynesville with them. It worked out great for me! 

Dinner consisted of another trip to Ponderosa! Yes, the Hillsboro Ponderosa is good enough to have twice in one week. Yet, I failed again to snap any food pictures!

After dinner, we headed to the Hillsboro Church of the Nazarene. We wanted to get there early enough to get a good seat. This was the second concert that the Stansells and I had attended at this church.

The doors opened at 5 p.m. We paid the admission fee and made our way into the sanctuary. We found great seats and settled in to wait for the 6 p.m. start time.

Here is a picture of me, Jeff Easter, Stephanie and Timmy Stansell.

 

This is Timmy and me, ready for the concert to start.

The setup. Before the concert, a Gaither Jeff and Sheri Easter video was playing. It was neat to look back on some of their older material that I had not heard in a long time!

Me, Stephanie, Timmy and Rick. These are my awesome cousin friends, and it is always fun spending time with them!

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Jeff and Sheri Easter.

The amazingly talented Sheri Easter.

Jack Carter now plays drums and sings background vocals. Fun fact: Jack's parents met when they worked for Jeff and Sheri years ago.

I enjoy Jeff's singing. He is one of the most underrated singers in southern gospel.

Sheri was singing from the heart that night. It was special!

The whole gang.

Jeff 

Sheri read us an excerpt from one of her devotionals.

This year, Tanner Duckworth is a new addition to the Jeff and Sheri Easter full time lineup.

Here is another fun tidbit of info for you. Jeff and Sheri celebrated 39 years of marriage this month. They were married several days before my Mom and Dad in June 1985.

Tanner is a guitar-picking machine. You can look him up on YouTube to hear some of his incredible picking.

Timmy, Me and Stephanie were able to grab a quick picture with both Jeff and Sheri Easter.

Soon, it was time for the night to end. I was so glad to be in attendance at this wonderful concert. It was a fantastic night of music, singing and fellowship with friends.

Thanks to the Nazarene Church for hosting the evening! Thank you to Jeff and Sheri Easter, Tanner Duckworth and Jack Carter for the awesome music and singing! We thoroughly enjoyed being in service with you! 

I want to thank the Stansells for allowing me to tag along with them! It was fun making more memories with my dear cousin friends! I love you all so much! 

That wraps up this concert recap. See you next time.

Odie

37 Years!

Today, May 23, 2024 our Ali Elizabeth would have celebrated her 37th birthday. In some ways it seems like 100 years and another ways it feels like last week. 

37 years ago today, in the evening, our second daughter, Ali Elizabeth Boggs was born. Kelly Jo had spent most of six weeks in the hospital trying to prevent Ali from being born, but on May 23rd she was born.

We were blessed to hold her and love on her for a few hours and receive her love in return. In the early hours of the next day, as we were holding her, she slipped into eternity.

My mother, Martha Boggs arranged the flowers for Ali’s gravestone. They are beautiful. 

Yesterday while the sun was shining we visited the Miami cemetery in Corwin, Ohio and admired the beautiful work that my cousin Debbie Northern and her husband Sonny completed. They cleaned the gravestones of our family, mulched and no telling what else. Everything looked fabulous.

We sat a while admiring the beautiful day. We cried a bit, laughed a little, contemplated the past and what might have been. At some point, we wiped our tears and held each other close as we walked back to the green machine and returned to the only life we know. Someday we will know life as our love ones know it and we will be eternally joyful. 

We plan to be gone on memorial day so it was nice to visit the cemetery Wednesday. We drove through areas where literally hundreds of our relatives are buried. The people who care for the cemetery have it looking clean and gorgeous.

 

Thank you for joining us today. 

Davy

Happy Mother's Day 2024

Hey Friend,

This Is Odie checking in for my weekly post. I hope you are doing well today! When I was looking ahead and planning out some blog content. The calendar gave me a fantastic topic for today. 

Public Service Announcement

Tomorrow, May 12th, is Mother's Day in the United States of America. Moms deserve special treatment and love, so show the extraordinary ladies in your life some appreciation!

Happy Mother's Day to each lady reading this post! You are special to me. Thank you to many of you for your friendship to me and our family! 

I am so thankful for the many wonderful ladies in my life! God has blessed me abundantly with a Mother, grandmother, aunts and dear friends. I do not take them for granite.

Each of them has taken time from their lives to make sure mine is awesome! They are each counted among my many blessings! May God bless them abundantly for their love, help, friendship and kindness to me!

Happy Mother's Day, Kelly Jo Boggs

My dear Mama is the star that shines the brightest of all! I have often said she's a superhero, and this year is no exception! Mom is devoted, caring, loving and selfless. I have described her as the energizer bunny who never stops. 

From morning to night, Mom is on the go, always helping and doing for those she loves! Dad and I would not be who we are without our hero!

Thank you can not convey my gratitude adequately. I love you feels so hollow when talking about my Mom. I try in little ways daily to show her how much she is appreciated! On Mother's Day, I like to tell her even more. 

She does not like to be in the spotlight. Mom is more content in the background, but I want the world to know my awesome Mom, Kelly Jo Boggs. 

Mama,

Happy Mother's Day! I love you so much! My eyes are leaking on my desk as I type. You are an astounding lady! I am privileged to have you as my Mother! 

God knew just what I needed when He picked you out for me! He gave me a tender Mama, nurse, teacher, guide, counselor and friend all in one person. You are a beautiful package! Thank you for being awesome in each capacity of your job! 

I hope you know you are loved, honored and appreciated today more than ever! May God bless you with rest, strength and everything you need!

I still want to be like you when I grow up.😘😇 I am proud to be your daughter!

Thanks for joining me as I honor my Mama. See you all next week.

Odie

Meet Kolby Lee Yeager

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting on this Saturday. I hope you are well. Thanks for visiting with me today.

Yesterday, I talked to you about my cousins Kayla and Trever Morgan Yeager. They just celebrated their first anniversary in April. 

Last fall, we received news that their family was expanding. I was thrilled for them. It is always exciting when a baby joins the family! 

My baby cousins are special to me! I adopted them as my niece or nephew. I am a proud Auntie O. 

Meet Kolby Lee Yeager

This year, on April 23rd, the doctor set the date for the baby's arrival. Kayla and Trever went to the hospital for the birth of a baby boy. As their family, we were anxious to have a new member added to our family. We waited and prayed hard for his safe arrival. 

He had another idea. The baby decided it was not time for him to enter the world yet. He was being stubborn.😆 The boy had to prove me wrong. He wanted to come on his due date, but I had predicted April 23rd since last fall.

Kolby Lee Yeager arrived one week later. He was born on the evening of April 30th. Excitement was in the air of our Morgan family text chain all day. 

We waited, not so patiently, for his birth and prayed hard! Thank God for answering all the prayers for Mama, Daddy and Kolby! He arrived safely! Kolby was worth the wait!

Congrats to Kayla and Trever on the birth of your handsome boy! We love your family of three! May God bless the next chapter in your life! 

I can not wait to meet my newest baby cousin! He has already captured his place in Auntie O's heart with pictures like this one. They Facetimed me a couple nights ago. He is precious!

Check out his hair! I already love him so much. He brings smiles and joy to all of us!

 

Here are his birth stats: Kolby Lee Yeager was born on April 30th, 2024, weighing 8lbs 7.1 oz and measuring 19.5 in long.

I am glad to share the happy news with you. Kayla gave me permission to introduce my friends to Kolby! She also sent pictures so you could meet their bundle of joy.

I will close with one more picture from Kayla. I love this, Mama and baby!

Odie

One Year As Mr. and Mrs. Yeager

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting from my beach cottage in Waynesville, Ohio. It is excellent to have nice weather this week. I love warmth and sunshine.

Last week, one year ago, Mom and I came home to attend the wedding of Mom's niece and my cousin, Kayla. She married Trever Yeager on April 22nd 2023. 

Mom and I were happy to attend their wedding. It was a special day! Here are a couple of flashback pictures for you.

4/22/23

Trever has been an excellent addition to the Morgan family. He has joined right in on our craziness.🤣 Trever, I really appreciate you! Thanks for making Kayla happy!

Below are two pictures from the last time I was with them. These were taken two days before their first anniversary.

4/21/24

 

Trever and Kayla, I love you both! I hope you had a great anniversary! It has been fun watching life unfold for you this year. I am still cheering for you from the sidelines!

Come back tomorrow for the latest news in their world. This has been a memorable week for Mr. and Mrs. Yeager! Thanks for stopping by today.

Odie

Congratulations Jonas Boggs Class of 2024

Hey Friends,

This is Odie reporting in for my Saturday post. I hope you are doing well. I am happy that God has blessed us with another great week.  

Graduation season is here. Our family has one graduate this year. Today, I am honoring him. Congrats to Jonas Keith Boggs on your college graduation! 

Family means the world to me. I am always happy to celebrate big and small milestones with my family members. Five years ago, we came home to celebrate the high school graduation of my younger cousin, Jonas Boggs. Here is a link to the pictures from his graduation party.

Jonas has worked hard over the last five years. He has been a student at the University of Cincinnati and part of a working COOP program with a construction company in Dayton. He has done a phenomenal job!

 

Friday morning was his graduation ceremony from U.C. Jonas now has an Engineering degree! The Lord has blessed him with a job, with the company that he worked with during college. I am so happy for him!

Although I could not physically attend on Friday morning, I was able to attend virtually, and I am extremely grateful for the technology. My heart swelled with pride when I heard Jonas Boggs' name called and watched him walk across the stage of the Fifth Third Arena. I cheered loudly from home!

My Aunt Theresa sent us this picture, and Uncle Tommy was sending pictures and videos on the Boggs Family group text. We were all excited to see him graduate. The family was excited and watching him from across the country, from Ohio to Alabama! 

Jonas, we love you so much and are proud of you! Your hard work has now paid off. Congrats! I know the last five years have been full of hard days. You persevered and succeeded! May God bless and guide you on this new chapter of life!

Congrats to every member of the graduating class of 2024! I am proud of you! You did it! 

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me. See you next time.

Odie