Catching Up . . . . Part Two

August was the month for spending time with friends. Unfortunately, we didn't always have the camera ready, but we sure are thankful for the shots we got. These are our closest and bestest friends . . . . . David & Corinna!

And this, of course, is me and my best friend . . . . Corinna.

And these are some very special friends that we had not seen in a very, very long time . . . . John and Tess. Hopefully, it won't be so long before we see them again. We love you guys!

God has surely blessed us with some wonderful, Christian friends - some we get to see alot and some not so often. But no matter how short or long it's been, there's such a special, common bond that binds our hearts together. We cherish each and every special friend as a precious gift from our Heavenly Father. For after all, we are all . . . . . together, in the embrace of the Lamb!

Catching Up . . . . Part One

July . . . seems so long ago . . . and I've already posted something about the celebrations we had on the 3rd and 4th. But that's not all that happened in July! The truth is, July was my birthday month, and while I don't feel the need to celebrate anymore, my family and friends won't let it go by without doing something special for me . . . because they are ALL very special people, who wouldn't think of ignoring my birthday, even though that would be fine with me :) In any case, the day started at French Press, with coffee and breakfast, provided by my daughter and youngest grandson. Afterward, we walked through a downtown farmer's market and then browsed an antique store. It was wonderful, and I can't say enough about how much I enjoy my daughter's company. It's just something we don't get to do very often, so when it happens I cherish every moment of it.

My best friend, Corinna, took me out for lunch, and we just took our time and had a good visit, and I'm ashamed that I forgot to take my camera and snap some pictures. I'm still such an amateur at this blogging thing, but I love it, even though I'm lame with it :)

Later in the week, our families got together for a special dessert, and I have no idea what Will is doing in this picture.

But here I am with all the 'pupcakes' they made for this special dessert. They were a special tropical blend with toasted coconut sprinkled on top. Yummy!

The cupcakes were soooooo good, but the hugs were the best!

Happy Birthday to me! Or, as Lincoln would say, "Happy Birthday, Mimi-ah!"

Grandkids are the best!

We never get tired of spending time with our GRANDKIDS!!! There's always some fun to be had and some memories to make, whether it's all three or just one. Those one-at-a-time overnighters are so very special, because there is no sibling rivalry and we can really work on our relationship with that one child. But . . . . when we have all three, there's never a dull moment and lots of adrenaline flowing. Either way, we love it and never get tired of spending time with our precious grandkids.



Our grandkids are very creative, as you can see by what they've done with cheap paper plates!

When the weather is nice, though, forget the crafts, because they love to be outside. What a bunch of happy faces!

Creative minds and good looking :) God is soooooo good to us and has blessed us sooooo much!

Emma, our little dancing queen!

It's a shame that our digital camera does not record sound, because if it did you would understand how talented our little granddaughter really is. She's got the moves that goes with any kind of music. Here she is dancing to a song from High School Musical, and she's hoping that some day she will be able to sing and dance just like Gabriella! She absolutely loves that movie!

Lincoln's Dribbling Practice

How cute is that? :)

June . . . and the 4th of July!

June is just a blur (that's what I get for not writing things down to help me remember), and somehow we were into July before I knew what happened. My hubby and I had a discussion about how this once-a-month blogging thing is working out, and we determined that for the most part, it's not! So now, once again, I'm playing catch-up, and I've decided to follow our daughter's example and just do a blog post when there's something to share. Cathy is so good at this, and looking back through her posts I remembered that at times pictures can be quite enough. I don't have to put so much pressure on myself of writing something eloquent (not that I ever could anyway), but there are those wordless posts she's done that really don't need a bunch of writing to paint the picture. The photos do that all by themselves. So without further ado (and a lot less stress) I'm sharing some pictures of the 4th of July, and I'm not going to worry about what I can't remember of June.

We've never before had the experience of seeing fireworks from a boat on the lake, but this year we did! We were invited by our wonderful friends to experience the 4th of July boat/lake experience on the 3rd, and we were still able to spend the 4th with our kids/grandkids the very next day. So here goes, the pictures that paint a thousand words, and what a spectacular sight it was!

The next day, on the 4th, in our kids neighborhood, eating bbq and watching the kids play.

Don't ya just want to kiss those sweet cheeks?

Stay tuned for my next blog, where you'll see Lincoln dribbling in motion :)

Such a little lady, and growing up way too fast!

Pictures of Will are often blurry, because he doesn't stand still long enough to get a clean shot!

So, there you have it, and as I sign off I'm already prepping the next post. Moving pictures of little boys dribbling deserves a post all their own, don't ya think?

April and May - Showered with Blessings!

It's been sooooo long since I've worked on this blog, but life has kept me so busy the past few months that other things had to take priority. Highest on the top of that priority list has been family. My sweet Mama arrived from Arkansas in the middle of April and stayed for about three weeks. Our son and his family arrived just a few days before Mother's Day, and it's the first time in many years we've all been together: Children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, and of course my sweet Mama. What a precious Mother's Day it was, for all of us! Needless to say, we took up a whole row in church that Sunday morning. My Mama got the prize for having traveled the farthest, and my daughter got the prize for being homebound with sick children (recently) the longest. One of my friends asked me later if I had rigged that event, but I have to say it was as much a surprise to me as it was to them - Mama & Cathy.



This is Mama on Mother's Day of May 2009 (76 years old).


And these are some of the special moments she shared with her great grandchildren while she was here.

It didn't realize how difficult it would be to play catch up after not blogging for three whole months, so I'm not even going to try to remember everything that I would have recounted here for all of you. I do remember being ill for about eight weeks before my Mama arrived, and I was so thankful that no one got sick while she was here visiting. I also have to think about the fact that June is almost over, and I'll be working on another blog in just a few days. Good grief! Is the year half over already?

I wish I could show all the other pictures we took or comment on some of the special moments that took place between the cousins and between my Mama and her other great grandchildren. There were some very precious moments, memories that will not be forgotten. Our son and daughter-in-law prefer that we not post their pictures or mention their names in our blogs (Cathy's and mine). We must honor their request, of course, but it's sad that I cannot share them with you. They are all very precious to us and we're proud of all of them!

Grandchildren are definitely one of the best of God's blessings, and we (Jim & I) have eight of them. They range in age from 2 to 13, and I close with a photo of me and my youngest grandson, Lincoln. You just can't beat it - strolling hand in hand with a grandchild who is in no hurry to get somewhere or do something. Soon enough they don't have time for this, but I'll take it for as long and as often as I can get it and cherish every moment of it. Praise God for Papa and his camera! This was one of those priceless moments that I really didn't want to end.

March Madness

Another month has come and gone, but so many memories were made in the month of March. Why am I calling it March Madness, then? I assure you, it has nothing to do with basketball. And, near as I can tell, there were no moments of anger, dementia, insanity or lunacy (some folks may want to debate that). However, one of the choices for madness, defined by Webster's dictionary, is wild excitement! That's what we experience almost anytime our grandchildren are involved. Spring break week brought a tidal wave of wild excitement, but I must not get ahead of myself. So . . . . I'll start from the beginning . . . . of the month of March, that is . . . . with our beautiful daughter's birthday! It was March 3rd, and we (Cathy, Emma, Lincoln & I) celebrated by having lunch at Chipotle Grill - Cathy's choice. Our family celebration couldn't take place until the following weekend, but I couldn't let my daughter's birthday go by without doing something special for her. She is beautiful on the inside, as well as on the outside, and her Dad & I are very proud of her and the woman she has become. Believe it or not, Emma took this first picture of her Mama and her Mimi. She may become our family's next great photographer!

We had some really good food and a great time.

Five days later, on Sunday, March 8th (same year, of course), our family celebration took place at our house. The entire menu was Cathy's choice: fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, and Marie Calendar's Razzleberry pie (with ice cream) for dessert. We had to wait about three hours to have dessert (because we were all so full from dinner - well, at least the adults were), but it was worth the wait! Our grandson, Will, didn't think we would ever have dessert :) Three hours was way too long for him!

So, obviously this is Cathy, our beautiful birthday girl!

And, this is her whole beautiful/handsome family. What a good looking group, eh?

March 15th - my Mama's birthday! She turned 76, and the highlight of her day (I think) was getting an evening phone call from her very first grandchild (our son). She called me the next day to tell me all about it (for those of you who don't know this, she lives about 2,000 miles away from us). Since I wasn't there to spend her birthday with her, I couldn't take a picture. When she comes here for a three week visit in late April, I will be sure to snap several photos of her then.

Now . . . . for the infamous Spring break week! March 23rd - 27th was full of wild excitement! Well, it actually started out with some extra sleep (much needed), a few chores (not so exciting) and some planning for how to make the most of what was left. In the middle of the week, I enjoyed an all day girlfriend day with my best friend. Corinna picked me up at 9 am, and here's how the day progressed: Coffee, talking, an errand here and there, talking, visiting with her great aunt, talking, lunch at our favorite place (Love Love's Teriyaki), talking, visiting with her sister-in-law & my friend, talking, back to my house for tea and more talking. It was a great day and a great time, and it may not have been the wildest time we've ever spent, but it certainly was an exciting time. We loved having the whole day together! And . . . . as I promised back in January, when I didn't take a current picture of my best girlfriend on her birthday, here is a picture of Corinna Jean, actually taken on our very special girlfriend day.

On the next day, I accompanied our kids & grandkids to the Gilbert House. Most of my pictures here did not turn out so great, but they sure had a fun time!

Exploring

Swinging

Smiling :)

On Friday/Saturday (yes, overnight, too!) is when the really wild exciting times began. Papa had Friday off, so it was just the two of us and our three wild sweet grandchildren! There was some backyard play . . . . with an occasional pose for a picture.

The two older ones would stop and pose, but the youngest . . . . well, sometimes, we just had to take what we could get, because when he's outside . . . . posing for pictures is a waste of time!

Inside play took on a different theme this time around, as the characters of the Chronicles of Narnia came to life in our living room. We had to have two kings and a princess, and homemade crowns were just the ticket.

And like any obedient Papa would do, he let his granddaughter dress him up too!

By this time, we must have been too tired to take pictures of the balloon batting/blowing contests, they had on Saturday afternoon. Other special events, on this two day adventure, included baking & eating chocolate chip cookies, lots of coloring, and of course, taking baths! Some day that is likely to change, at least for the boys, but for now they all love their bath times, especially at Papa & Mimi's house. We think they had a fun time, and they went home about bed time Satuday night. Needless to say, Papa & I slept in on Sunday morning and went to the second service (something we rarely do). But you know what? We asked for this - for those two days with an overnighter. It was actually our idea! And that is what's so good about it. While we're in recovery, we're already putting together a plan to request an overnighter with just Will. He wanted to watch Prince Caspian, and we were afraid it would be too scary for Emma and Lincoln. So . . . we're thinking that would be a great way for us to have some special one-on-one time with Will, and of course, we'll make popcorn!

Until next month, I pray for sunshine and warmth and that the Lord our God will shower you all with His most magnificent blessings and that April will be absolutely awesome! I know it will be for me - with my Mama's coming visit! Maranatha!