The Jones Family Junction

For Grandpa and Grandma Hand ...

2011-12-21T17:02:00.001-08:00

I was recently in El Paso visiting Jesse, Diana and the children. I really didn't take many pictures while I was there, but I wanted to share a few that I did take with Grandpa and Grandma Hand. It's been two full years since they've seen their grandchildren ... so these pictures and the narrative are for you, Larry and Judy.

When I arrived on December 6, there was actually SNOW on the ground in El Paso and absolutely NO SNOW in Grand Rapids. How unusual!
This is Christopher putting together his Kre-O transformer building toy. In the past, Christopher has requested transformers for his birthday, but they seem to break rather easily and then he is frustrated. So I found these Kre-O building sets, and he was rather pleased to build it all by himself.
We also marker-colored hand puppets together one afternoon ... they were wonderfully inexpensive (49 cents) at Michaels ...
Matthew is six-and-a-half now and was SO happy to sit around the table and do just about anything that was suggested! We did a lot of building and coloring and the usual fun stuff. I love his smile in this picture.
I was happily able to attend Emma's school Christmas program. Not all of the classes were involved in performing. Chris's second grade, as well as Matthew's first grade class, were not included this year. This is Emma and her friend, April, performing "Deck the Halls."
This is Emma working on making some necklaces from a kit I found (again at Michael's). She was so pleased to receive it too. I loved watching her choose her designs and put everything together.
We got Jesse involved helping us build. When I was shopping for the kids, I had picked out an Erector set for each of the boys, and the boxes described the process as being easy enough for a seven-year-old to build ... but none of us were able to accomplish the project until we pulled Jesse into the mix ... and he was finally able to figure out the directions for us!

It was actually too cold to enjoy playing outside very much ~ which was such a surprise for me, based on the last time I was at the playgound in September and it was SO hot that week! But we did wander on down to the playground and hang out there for awhile at least.

I enjoyed going to school with the kids every day, eating breakfast and lunch with them, and attending their classes. They have really great teachers! It was really fun to walk into their classes and recognize their classmates (and even remember their unusual names: Alaric, Adonai, Tommarian, Cheyanne, etc.) and join in on their school day.
Emma has been benefiting from a great class that meets throughout the week, targeting reading and phonics, and tackling dyslexia and other difficulties. I loved meeting her teacher for this class. Above, is an assignment Emma did for her regular class. Each student had to write a little bit about themselves. Her teacher had each child's essay hanging in the hallway. I realize the spelling isn't 100% accurate, but it is so much improved from even a few months ago. I love how Emma tells everyone that the enjoys learning verses from the Bible, and I also love that she mentions Michigan.
This is my last view of the Franklin Mountains as my plane made its assent. I was blessed to be delayed long enough in Dallas on the way home to take a voluntary "bump" of that flight. I received a travel voucher for my next trip as a result ... how wonderful!

A warm October day in Muskegon ...

2011-11-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to spend 24 hours at Lake Michigan back in mid-October. It was 80 degrees, with a light breeze, and people were sunbathing and still swimming in the lake that weekend. I took lots of pictures, but I think these are the prettiest ... This was the first time in my life that I had been able to actually walk on this pier ~ it's private property (the Coast Guard owns it) , and on all of the other trips I've made out here, it has been closed to the public. I was so glad to finally get to stand here, as close as I wanted to this lovely little lighthouse, and take all of the pictures I wanted.

Time Out ...

2011-07-08T18:37:00.001-07:00

BLESSINGS (by Laura Story)

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

And what if the trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

I'm writing to say that I am taking a time out. There have been many months of heart ache and trial in my personal life and so I need to step back from ... everything. This little insignificant blog is really nothing but a journal of love for my family, but keeping it up necessitates time and a small amount of creativity that I feel too drained to accomplish for now. So all of you dear family folk who have birthdays and anniversaries in the near future, please do not have your feelings hurt that I am not posting special pictures or greetings.

Thank you to the person who brought this song, "Blessings," to my attention yesterday. I had never even heard of the writer before or the song, but it has brought me deep comfort and encouragement.

"You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment You know where I am." Psalm 139.3

A brief synopsis of my El Paso trip ...

2011-06-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

I've been home for six days now and I am still going through pictures from my time in El Paso, in-between dealing with some difficult life circumstances ... so this post is going to be very brief.
It was HOT and DRY the entire week I was with Jesse's family ... triple-digit hot and so dry that my skin felt like it had been baked for a long time in an oven! Even the skin under my fingernails was hard and dry! We had strong winds as well that blew sand and dirt all over the place! Everywhere we went, we carried water bottles in my backpack because you really cannot be outside for very long in Texas without water to drink.
When I have time to do it right, I'll tell you about our library and public transit excursion on our first full day together. We spent a lot of our morning hours at the nearby playground, climbing on the equipment and digging in the rock-hard dirt so that we could somehow make a sand castle! We played in their brand new slip-n-slide and cool sprinkler, fed the neighborhood birds pieces of bread and watched them for hours, read almost two dozen books together, and of course we did a ton of art projects.
We were also able to see God's loving care for us in many ways, just in everyday situations. It was great to teach the kids about what a great and awesome God we have! I hope in the next little while to share with you a bunch of pictures and stories of our time together.

It's Diana's Birthday ...

2011-06-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

This is a picture I took of Diana this past Wednesday night, the last night I was in El Paso. The children and I had been talking about how many days until their mom's birthday and what we could do to make it special for her. So, we got out our "art stuff" and painted her some lovely pictures, made her some sticker cards, and decorated some nice bookmarks for her to use with her school work.

I'd like show you more pictures, but since I returned home 48 hours ago I have spent most of my time at the hospital with my mom, who had some unexpected surgery Wednesday. She was discharged home from the hospital a few hours ago and this is the first opportunity I have had to upload my pictures from my visit with Jesse's family. I have a lot of them to look through, and I hope to do that in the next few days and share some with you.

But ... the main purpose of this post is to wish Diana a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Thinking of you, Diana, on your special day!

Jackson is SEVEN today!

2011-06-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

When I was trying to decide what to purchase for Jackson's birthday this year, I asked Sabrina if perhaps Jackson would like me to make him a book like I had made for Karis back in February for her fifth birthday. I wasn't sure, though, that I had enough pictures of Jackson to actually make into a book! He is a pretty active boy and doesn't stay in one place long enough for me to take a good picture. But I started looking back through my picture files and found so many nice pictures of him! I finished his book yesterday, and I am very pleased with it.
The picture of above is of Jackson, sitting at the kitchen table in his house in Austin last fall drawing some pictures for me.
Last summer, Sabrina came up to Michigan for a few days with Jackson and Karis. Jackson was the ring bearer at Dylan and Kelly's wedding. We found time to have a few beach days when we weren't busy with wedding stuff. We made a bunch of nice sand castles at the North Beach in Grand Haven one afternoon and put sea gull feathers on the tippy tops.
And, of course, we hiked out to the lighthouse at the end of the south pier. Jackson loves climbing the rocks that line the boardwalk by the camp ground.
There are NO beaches like this in Austin, Texas ... so it's a real special place to take our grandchildren when they are "home" for a little while.
This picture of Jackson in the waves was taken at the beach out in Muskegon on another afternoon (after Dylan's wedding). Jackson is a good swimmer and is actually quite fearless when in the water. We had so much fun in the waves that day!
We had such a beautiful summer last year. Perfect beach weather! Jackson was busy making roads for his cars and digging rivers out to the "sea" ...
We also visited Ada Park where Jackson worked this digger really well all by himself. Jackson is very mechanical and really did a good job moving dirt with this machine. He actually stayed right there for 20 solid minutes just digging in the sand ... so I have about 50 pictures of him doing it. I didn't realize I had taken so many, but I was amazed that he stayed in one place for so long and took the photo opportunity!
Here is Jackson swinging like a monkey on the monkey bars ... he is quite athletic and very physically active ... it's sometimes hard to keep up with him!
Doesn't Jackson looked so adorable in this tuxedo for Dylan's wedding? And this dance with Karis was just precious ... they look so serious! Jackson did a great job being the ring bearer. This was the first time he was ever in a wedding, and wouldn't you know it? They totally forgot to give him the ring to carry down the aisle! He was a bit perturbed about that! I don't blame him a bit.
These T-ball pictures have been stolen from Sabrina's blog ... isn't her camera so clear ... or perhaps it is just Sabrina's ability as a photographer. This is Jackson's second year playing T-ball. He was selected for the All-Star team this year! He has hit many home runs, he loves to slide into base, he fields the ball well, and has even played shortstop successfully.
What a great opportunity for Jackson to build his athletic skills and learn the game of baseball! We are proud of you, Jackson!
Here's hoping your SEVENTH birthday is full of happiness and fun. We are thinking of you, Jackson, and send you all of our love!

The last few days ...

2011-06-07T16:15:00.001-07:00

It's been sizzling HOT in W. Michigan the last few days. I've been out and about taking a few pictures here and there.
Look at the nest Grandpa Jones found attached to a fallen branch on our front porch the other day! No eggs, cracked or otherwise ... I wonder who made it? And WHO taught those little birds how to construct such a cool house anyway?
I went back downtown Sunday afternoon to hang around Festival of the Arts. As I walked by, this youth choir was loudly singing, "Oh, How I Love Jesus!" They had a great sound. The crowd joined right in with them, those that knew the words to that great song!
I took another picture to show you how high the Grand River is ... see how the walkway is completely submerged at the bottom? Monday morning, I took a totally enjoyable walk with my friend, Karen, over at Meijer Gardens. The flowers there were SO stunning ...And look at the geese and goslings!
Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving ... on a jet plane ... from here to El Paso to spend EIGHT days with Jesse and his family. I won't really have access to a computer, so I'm going to happily UNplug while I am there. I'll post pictures and tell you about our time together ... about 10 days from now!

Yesterday at Festival!

2011-06-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

The first weekend of June in Grand Rapids always means one thing to me: Festival of the Arts. We drove downtown yesterday afternoon and parked over by the fish ladder. I haven't been down here when the river has been this high for quite awhile!
Isn't that a pretty sight? We walked along the river and then crossed over to where the action was ...
I love going downtown for Festival of the Arts. It is so much fun to walk around and enjoy the aroma of all kinds of wonderful food cooking on grills! And little kids and grandparents are everywhere ... together! There is face-painting and great crafts to do ... I was badly wishing our grandchildren didn't live so far away!
This is Calder Plaza, where most of the arts and crafts tents are located. I didn't really spend much time looking at the great stuff on display and for sale because I wanted to be sure to be at Rosa Parks Circle in time to hear Dylan and Kelly's band play.
Their band has changed names several times. Presently, they are known as "Handmade." I like the name!
Dylan plays bass guitar, harmonica, and keyboards (if available).
I love to see Dylan this happy! He is completely in his element with these good friends and their music. They are a very talented group. They write all of their own music.
Kelly is the lead female vocal. Her voice is pretty amazing. She is just FULL of music and I love to see her perform.
It was a mild and wonderful breezy afternoon. Nice sunshine. "Handmade" played for about 30 minutes!
I absolutely love this picture of Dylan. He is so completely into this!

I had a lot of fun walking around the stage with my camera, taking shots here and there. I had even more fun last night editing all of the pictures.
This is a wonderful picture of Kelly, except the microphone is kind of blocking her beautiful smile. She is a natural performer.
After their set was over, they had to tear down so that the next group could occupy their space. We didn't see them afterwards, but walked to where we could get a bite to eat. I ate the grilled shrimp kabob and garlic toast ~ yum!
I so intended to get back downtown today and have a good look at the art, but so far I haven't done it! Maybe tomorrow ...

Walking around Reed's Lake ...

2011-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning my dear friend, Karen, and I walked around Reed's Lake ... the entire lake! It was a gorgeous morning to walk with one of the nicest people on this earth, enjoying her kindness and friendship. It was perfect.
I've hardly ever spent any time around this part of town, so I'm not familiar with it at all. Karen lives close by, so she showed me the new boardwalk area that goes out into a swamp/bog kind of place ... so beautiful! We could hear the frogs talking. The colors out there were just stunning ... and the lily pads! The lilies hadn't opened yet, so I didn't take any pictures of them ~ perhaps in a few days, I'll go back and see if they have bloomed. There were several cool webs along the boardwalk ... it was windy, so they weren't perfect ... and thankfully, the spinner of this web was nowhere in sight!
These delicate wild flowers were everywhere. I just love them. I'd love to dig a bunch of them up and transplant them to my back yard flower garden!
These two photos are the underside a flower that looks just like a sparkler on the 4th of July!
"I will praise Him from the bottom of my heart. Lord, who can compare with you?" PSALM 36.10
This is such a pretty place, isn't it?
The beauty of the place and Karen's company made quite a long distance walk (for me!) very pleasurable ... And then! I got to see something I had never ever seen before in my life ...
This swan couple had FOUR cygnets with them, although it's difficult to see all four of them in these pictures. I took so many pictures, hoping to get a few that would capture their amazing gracefulness and dignity ...

But that was the best I could do! I'm not sure I'll ever have another opportunity to photograph baby swans. But it is enough for me to have seen them with my own eyes!

Welcome little granddaughter ...

2011-06-01T16:54:00.001-07:00

I've been TRYING to hold off posting the announcement of our newest grandchild. She was born two-and-a-half days ago! Her parents have a nice blog and regularly post pictures and newsy tidbits for us on it ... and I know they will post her beautiful pictures and all of the statistics regarding her birth as soon as they are able. Since I do not have any pictures of her, other than ones I could blatantly "steal" from their FB page, I can't show you her beautiful little face. Adam and Emily are hosting Emily's folks right now and I am certain they are too busy to think about blogging, etc. But I do not want to risk falling into the category of horrible mother-in-law and/or wicked step-mother ... so I have compromised with this posting.

Her name is Jasmine Genevieve. She is perfectly beautiful, and she is our sixth granddaughter! "Jasmine" means "little flower" and "Genevieve" means "white wave" ... aren't those cool meanings? Jasmine has very graciously evened the score of our grandchildren to six granddaughters and six grandsons. While we were waiting to hear news of her birth last week, I went shopping and picked out three darling interchangeable outfits for her.
I can't wait to give them to her! And I designed a special card for her birth ...
The Scripture on the inside of her card: "You gave me LIFE and showed me your unfailing LOVE." Job 10.11

Welcome to our family, Jasmine!

A local memorial ...

2011-05-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have driven past this Memorial Park on the corner of Jupiter and Post for years without stopping to check it out. So on the way home from church this morning, I decided to get a closer look ...
I
I was thinking that since Jesse lived just a mile or so from this spot for quite a few years (before he was married), this memorial is partly for him and for his family far away in El Paso. I'm glad it's so close by and I'm thankful I got a chance to spend some time there today, remembering the huge cost of FREEDOM and the lives of those who protect our nation. Thank you to all of you.

Birthday happiness for Dylan ...

2011-05-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Dylan is 27 today. The year he was born May 28 fell smack dab on a Monday, which also happened to be Memorial Day. He has always had a quiet spirit. And he was the easiest baby ever ~ not the fussy sort at all ~ contentment has always been a personality trait of his. Gentleness too. He has a gentle sort of kindness that is wonderful to be around.

Dylan is also a man of deep personal faith. He has just finished up his first of two years at Calvin Seminary. If I'm not mistaken, he has furthered his studies there in Greek, took a class or two in Hebrew, as well as beginning to learn Latin. That's a lot of ancient languages! I like to listen to him talk about what he has been learning because he is passionate about it. So what is he going to do with his education? He's not 100% sure, but since he is strong in relating and communicating to many different kinds of people, he is talking about hospital chaplaincy for awhile at least. But that's another year from now and there are other directions he can take with his studies as well.

We're sending Dylan birthday greetings today, and hoping that this next year, whatever it brings, will be an amazingly HAPPY one!
These pictures of Dylan were taken at he and Kelly's wedding rehearsal dinner/picnic over at Ada Park (July 2010).

We have birds!

2011-05-26T13:50:00.001-07:00

I've been trying for a few days to get some pictures of the birds at our feeder, but they haven't wanted to cooperate with me one single bit! Today, it has been raining most of the day ~ one of those kind of steady sprinkles ~ I love a day like this. So I quietly stepped out into the wetness this afternoon and tried to hide myself behind one of our bushes and catch those rascal birds that have made themselves so at home at our feeder.

At any one time, we will have a dozen of them flying back and forth between the large spruce tree across the street and over to our yard. I've seen cardinals, sparrows, VERY annoying black birds, blue birds, a few mourning doves who feed off the spillway on the ground, and lots of these little "house finches." I did see a pretty yellow finch this morning as well, but she flew away as soon as she saw my camera!
These are not the best photos ... but they are better than nothing. I have been so delighted this week watching all of the activity in our front yard. I just love it that these beautiful birds come over to my house to eat! And they sing the loveliest songs! Thank you, Lord, for making these sweet little creatures.

Eight years together ...

2011-05-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if we met Andrew before or AFTER the two of them jumped ... yes! ... out of a perfectly good airplane at over 10,000 feet. This was completely beyond EXTREME adventure in my book! Completely CRAZY. This picture (above) is actually Sabrina and Andrew flying through the air, above the ground and clouds, plunging to the earth in total ecstacy! I think, but I'm not sure, that this was the Autumn (or Fall!) before they got married. And I also cannot remember if Sabrina let us in on this little escapade until AFTER it was over (not the wedding, but the jump).

But one thing I do know for certain is that Sabrina and Andrew have been married now for EIGHT years. This is such a great picture of them, isn't it? I loved their wedding. It was at such a great location (at a mansion overlooking Lake Travis), Sabrina looked absolutely lovely in her gown, Andrew was so kind and easy to be with, and we had so much fun that day. I like looking back on it and remembering the happiness.

We love you both, Andrew and Sabrina, and wish you the happiest of years to come!

This is the beautiful passage of Scripture Andrew and Sabrina chose for their wedding:

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2: "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."

P.S. It seems I have made a BIG error in this posting ... this is NOT Andrew jumping with Sabrina ... it is Sabrina's jump instructor! Andrew did jump at a different occasion, but did not have enough experience to tandem jump with anyone. So this is NOT Andrew. Sorry, you guys. (4:00 p.m., 5/24/11)

Christ is always true to his word ...

2011-05-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Mark 13.31.
After listening to all of the chatter last week about the supposed "end of the world" coming at 6:00 p.m. on May 21, I found myself feeling rather sober about it all. I've never liked it when people take sacred things and make jokes out of them. It leaves me feeling sad all over. And even though the majority of folk didn't take Mr. Harold Camping's false prediction seriously, it FELT like people were kind of laughing at ... all things having to do with the end times and with Jesus' promise to return.

I've been reading and re-reading Matthew 23-25, as well as other gospel accounts where Jesus talks about his "second" coming. And I've been relieved to know that what Jesus says is always true! Never mind Mr. Harold Camping and all of the others in prior generations and times who have ignored what Scripture clearly teaches about making such claims of knowledge about the exact time! Jesus tells us to "keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." Matthew 24.42.
As I walked around my beautiful neighborhood the other night, I had to ask myself if I was WATCHING ... was I READY for Christ to come? "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Matthew 24.44)
I want to take God's Word seriously. It isn't some cheap novel or made-up fairy-tale. I hope Mr. Camping hasn't given people a false notion that his mistaken words are equal to God's and consequently, can't be trusted. Because I know that one day ... maybe even two seconds from now (!) ... Jesus Christ is coming again. My Beautiful Savior, the Creator of the ends of the earth, is always TRUE to His word!

"Therefore KEEP WATCH because you do not know ... whether it will be in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" (Mark 13.35-37)

Today is Jesse's birthday!

2011-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

JESSE (Hebrew). I’ve always loved the name. It literally means, “God exists.” The meaning is important to me because … believing in God is one of the most fundamental and important things a person can do on this earth! In the Bible, “Jesse” was the grandson of Boaz, the son of Obed, the father of King David. I love to read about that time period of biblical history!

My firstborn son. You weren’t supposed to make your appearance until May 25! Born eight days early (quite possibly the only time you were EVER early prior to signing up with the Army) you arrived on a Saturday morning, at 8:17 a.m. Many mornings, for some reason, I glance at a clock around the house and it is exactly 8:17 a.m. When that happens, I always say a quiet prayer for you, Jesse. Eight pounds and 20 inches at birth, your delivery was totally natural – no epidurals or medication – a quick and almost painless delivery!

You are thirty-one today and live a world away. Why does EVERYONE move to Texas?! But no matter where you live, you are always close to my heart. Sending you loving birthday greetings , Jesse!

“I ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your life, and I ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.” (Colossians 1:9-10)(These pictures of Jesse were taken in December 2010 in El Paso, the afternoon we spent together enjoying the Franklin Mountains.)

Around the yard ...

2011-05-13T17:31:00.001-07:00

We've had a couple of nice warm spring days this week. I've been digging around out in the yard trying to weed out the flower beds and clean things up a bit. It's wonderful to finally see some color ...

This rogue tulip (below) sprouted in the middle of our small "woods" between our property and our neighbor's ... I LOVE the color red, don't you?
We've had quite a few little birds visit our bird houses. They are very fun to watch, but they fly right away if I get too close ... I haven't been able to get any pictures of them yet.
I think this is a robin egg. I found buried under some weeds beneath the beautiful tree in our front yard. I hope the baby robin hatched okay and is flying around somewhere. How is spring going at YOUR house?

Thank you to the Rauch grand-kiddos!

2011-05-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, I received these three beautiful bird houses ~ hand painted by Olivia, Jackson and Karis. Aren't they darling? I haven't hung them until now because two of them didn't have a mechanism for that purpose, and I wasn't sure how I was going to get the correct hardware, etc.
So I decided to visit an actual hardware store! Remember when they used to be EVERYWHERE? That is, until places like Wal-Mart and Meijer came about ... but you just can't get decent service at those huge places!

I carried all three bird houses in to Plainfield Lumber and Hardware today and approached the front desk. I told the woman that my grandchildren had made these bird houses for me and I really wanted to get them hanging outside ... feeding and housing birds! She pointed me to the back counter where the nicest young kid drilled holes and strung rope and tied knots until ... voila'! They even sold birdseed there, so I was all set! So let's hear it for the old-fashioned hardware store!

I'm so excited for the birds to come! Thanks Olivia, Jackson and Karis!

Finally ... Spring!

2011-05-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

I took a quick walk in the woods today ... just to see if perhaps ... Spring was actually here! Were we FINALLY safe from ... snow? subzero temperatures? browns, grays and dirty whites?

YES! YES! YES!
We'll probably still have some "frosty" mornings ... so I'm not planting ANY flowers whatsoever until Memorial weekend ... but isn't this little blossom SO lovely?

Light Cards

2011-05-06T11:14:00.001-07:00

I make cards. I also take pictures. Notice ... I did not say I am a photographer, because I am not. I have long had a love-affair with lighthouses. I have now taken pictures of over 20 different lighthouses, mostly in Michigan, but as far away as Hawaii! I love combining Scripture with the beauty God has made. There is so much in the Bible that talks about LIGHT versus DARKNESS ... it seems almost endless sometimes! I am 100% happy when I work on a card design. So I thought today that I'd just share a few of the cards I've been working on over the last little while.
Grand Haven South Pier Lights, May 2010.
Big Point Sable Light, Ludington, Michigan, August 2009.
Taken from the end of the south pier, Grand Haven, Michigan, Summer 2008.
"Big Red", the Holland Harbor Light, Fall 2008.
Mission Point Light, Summer 2007.
Little Point Sable Lighthouse on the shores of Lake Michigan, near Silver Lake, July 2010.
A stormy October 2010 afternoon at Grand Haven, Michigan.
The north pier lights at St. Joseph, Michigan. Fall 2007.
Marblehead Light, at the mouth of Sandusky Bay, Ohio. Summer 2009.

Shuttle mission scrubbed ...

2011-05-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

On December 1, 2010, I posted exciting news about Diana's biology team experiment being chosen to go up on the last mission flight of Endeavour. I was so excited for Diana and her team! I know they have been anticipating this trip to the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral for such a long time!
Everything was in place for the launch Friday. Diana and her team arrived late Thursday with plans for a great time in Florida, watching the launch up close and personal. They would be sharing this event with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords ... not that they would meet her personally, but her husband, Mark Kelly, was commanding the shuttle on this mission! Even the President and the first family were there to see the launch! The countdown was all in place. I had the NASA channel on so that I could see the shuttle and the platform ... and await the moment it would lift off.
But then ... the mission was scrubbed. There was a possibility the Endeavour would launch Monday, and we were holding out hopes that it would because Diana and her group were going to be allowed to extend their time in Florida and still see it. But we found out today that the problem cannot be solved quickly with the "load control assembly" and so the launch has been postponed now until possibly May 9. Diana will come home, as scheduled, tonight. If I feel this disappointed, I'm thinking Diana and her group are much more ...
This is Diana (left), then the two students on her team, and on the right is their instructor.
I still say ... CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved who worked hard on this project. It has been fun to follow your excitement and achievement. I'm sad you didn't get to see an actual launch, but I truly hope you had a great time at Cape Canaveral anyway!

Goodbye butterflies ...

2011-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

I'm dangerously close to becoming a butterfly "nerd" ... I've visited the exhibit at Meijer Gardens five times now. This morning, I arrived exactly at 9:00 so that I could hopefully beat the crowds. I snapped this somewhat blurry picture (above) of the only monarch I saw today.
The butterfly exhibit began March 1 and ends in two days. There were thousands of butterflies to see immediately after you walked through the airlock in early March. Today, I had to really search them out ... and hunt them down to find them! For the first 25 minutes or so, I had the conservatory to myself! JOY!
Spring has been VERY slow in coming to West Michigan this year. I'm STILL dressing in layers ... just to survive! A walk in the conservatory is SO therapeutic for me. The colors, the humid HEAT, the allusive butterflies ... just exactly what I need!
Last year, for the first time ever, I actually saw and photographed the clearwing butterfly. He is SO cool. But this year, I didn't even SEE one single clearwing! I was a little bit disappointed about that.
This gorgeous Julie Longwing ... isn't the COLOR amazing ... was very cooperative with my camera today!
It was very nice to be able to photograph today without stepping over people or worrying about getting in someone's way ...
And this Blue Morpho was the ONLY one of it's kind anywhere to be seen this morning. When I was here last week, there were dozens of them flying everywhere!

Over at the butterfly bungalow, I finally saw the Atlas Moth that I've been wanting to see for so long! The span of its wings is wider than my open hand! Isn't he amazingly beautiful?
There was an official butterfly lady (complete with name tag) standing next to the bungalow, available to answer any questions. So of course my question was: "I don't suppose you'd let me go inside the bungalow and get a decent picture of the moths ... would you? ... Please?! There is SUCH a glare on the glass ..." She didn't even flinch with her denial of my request. I told her I regularly ignored "No Tresspass Signs", fences, railings, etc. if it meant I could get a better picture. She was completely unimpressed. Sigh. Goodbye butterflies ... and moths!

EXTRAVAGANCE

2011-04-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

Thoughts from Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53 ~ a reverie for Good Friday.

Anguished agony
so abused
appalling in his appearance
beaten
bruised and bloodied
broken
butchered
he hardly looked like a man
ASTONISHING
it takes my breath away

A tender green plant
in a vast dry desert
without beauty
no majesty
no honor
Not a single thing about him
to attract us
not charmed
or fascinated by him

Instead

This man of deep sadness
and grief
intimate
familiar
close to
our sicknesses, weakness and pain
we viewed
with contempt
hated and disdained
we were disgusted
we hid our faces
we simply DID NOT CARE

Like stupid sheep
all of us
turned 180 degrees
did an about-face
walked away in our rebellion
and all of our perversion
was heaped upon him
crushing weight

GUILTY
wrongly accused
sentenced by cruel abuse of power
unjust judicial opinion
stripped and tortured
exposed and tormented
severed from the living
undressed of life and soul
cut off
blamed
condemned

GUILT OFFERING
silent
suffering
submissive sacrifice
slaughtered
perfect flawless holy
lamb of God

This was the plan
all along
He was pleased and delighted
God
the agent of his suffering
who crushed and broke his heart
FOR US

Accomplished
overcome with happiness
he paid what was due
every requirement was met
he answered and discharged every claim
against us IN FULL
Now he judges us
FREE
from guilt or blame or shame
his children
righteous
He lives now to
make prayers of petition
in favor of rebels

E X T R A V A G A N T
grace too costly
immoderate
extreme
exorbitant
that’s my
Jesus

It could be worse ...

2011-04-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

It's not like we had a 9.0 earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami... nor have we had terrible floods along the Grand or the Rogue Rivers ... no tornadoes either ... or damaging straight-line winds ...

Just S N O W ... on April 18 ... when Spring was officially declared FOUR FULL WEEKS ago! Last Sunday it was 84 degrees in Grand Rapids! People were wearing shorts and tank tops!
I watched this forlorn little robin for quite awhile this morning. I bet he's wondering if he came back too early. He was carefully walking in the road, avoiding stepping in the snow. I hope his nest is sheltered, deep in a bush somewhere. Sigh. I'm yearning for green lush grass, wildflowers, bumble bees, heat and humidity!

PLEASE ... be spring soon!

All the pretty butterflies ...

2011-04-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

It's been great to have a membership to the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park this year! This is the third time I have been to visit the butterflies, and there are still two more weeks before the exhibit closes. I hope to get there a few more times ~ it is so much fun! I could honestly spend hours there just walking around with my camera, 100% happy the whole time!
Yesterday, I showed up at about 3:30 in the afternoon ... a time when bus loads of school children were LONG gone. Not that I mind children ... but it's difficult to get a good photograph when there are 100's of small children ... and you do NOT want to block their view!
The favorite (always) is the Common Morpho, a brush-footed butterfly from Central/South America. It is the most alluring and allusive creature! It's beautiful wings are iridescent blue that change color as it glides effortlessly through the foliage. But the sun was so bright yesterday, I think it made them sleepy, so I was able to get some really nice photographs of them!
I can never decide whether they are more beautiful with their wings closed or open! I love the many shades of brown and the beautiful patterns on their wings when closed ... but that BLUE is so incredible too, isn't it?

I have a whole collection of butterfly photos from prior years, but I've never gotten such nice pictures as this of the Common Morpho. I was hoping very much to see some swallowtail butterflies or some magnificent moths again this year ... but yesterday ... not a one!
This is a small Postman butterfly and there are 100's of them ... everywhere ... they are not my favorite, but I was able to get some nice photos of them too.

This was a good time of day to visit the butterfly exhibit. It wasn't one bit crowded. It's wonderfully warm and tropical inside, the humidity makes my whole body happy!
This gorgeous orange butterfly is called a Julia Longwing, also from Central/South America.

The design and intricate detail on these butterflies is so awesome. I never get tired watching them!

"O Sovereign LORD! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power. Nothing is too hard for you ... You are the great and powerful God, the LORD Almighty. You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles." Jeremiah 32:17-18

Matthew is SIX today!

2011-04-10T11:35:00.001-07:00

Since I celebrated Matthew's SIXTH birthday early with him about three weeks ago when I was in El Paso, I almost forgot to post this HAPPY BIRTHDAY greeting to him today! It was like my brain was telling me that his birthday was already over ... when it's really just happening now!
It's hard to pick a word that would define MATTHEW ... because he is ... so many different things all rolled together as one. He is VERY silly sometimes. He is ALWAYS cuddly and ready for hugs. He is enthusiastic about almost any activity ... except perhaps when it involves having to wake up early ... he's definitely NOT a morning person!
But once he's had his breakfast, he is ready to go ...
And can even have a little bit of an ATTITUDE to boot! Look at that face! Actually, this picture says a lot about Matthew. Being the youngest of three, who are all spaced quite close together in age, he does NOT take any guff from his older siblings ~ he totally holds his own and does NOT like to be bossed about!
We love you so much, dear grandson, and hope your birthday is a happy celebration today!

A new place to walk!

2011-04-07T15:45:00.001-07:00

I was meeting a friend this morning for a "coke" over at Red Hot and decided that instead of taking my usual route there, I would take four mile road and drive past Robinette's Orchard ... just in case there was anything growing that I might want to see! I'm longing to see some COLOR ... even a very tiny flower would suffice! But ... it's been mighty cold, wet and windy around here for the longest time ... the kind of cold that gets right down to your bones! Absolutely NOTHING was blooming over at Robinette's! But just before getting to the orchard, I spotted a park that I had never noticed before ~ Provin Trails Park ~ with hiking trails!
So after my friend and I were finished chatting at Red Hot, I drove back to the park and took a little hike today. What a pretty place!I searched high and low for spring ... and instead actually ran into a patch of snow out there in the woods! Yikes ... NOT what I was hoping for! I refused to take its picture even!
But you know what? Even though there were no flowers sprouting yet, the trees were just so lovely ... it's difficult to be down in the dumps when surrounded by lovely trees, isn't it?
I'm glad I now have a new place to hike. In a few short weeks, these trails will be bursting with color and all kinds of wonderful things ... I am SO ready for that!

Birthday wishes for Emily ...

2011-04-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

It's Emily's birthday today ... one day after Andrew's! This picture of Emily was taken in Winona, Minnesota (August 2010) where we were celebrating an extra wedding reception for Dylan and Kelly with Kelly's family and friends in Winona who couldn't make it to their wedding. Adam and Emily traveled all the way from the Twin Cities to join in on the happiness of that day ~ I thought it was so nice of them to drive all that way to be there for Dylan and Kelly.

This is such a pretty picture of Emily ~ but it's pretty impossible to take a bad picture of her. We love you, Emily, and hope you have a great time celebrating your birthday today!

It's Andrew's Birthday!

2011-04-04T00:08:00.000-07:00

To the gentle man who loves our daughter, coaches T-ball, reads bedtime Bible stories, cooks a pretty amazing Parmesan chicken dish (and others), has father-daughter dates, brings his wife pretty flowers (even when it's NOT Valentine's Day), reaches out to his neighbors, goes out of his way to help friend or stranger (and if needed would give you the shirt off his back), loves the Lord intensely, is a Texan through and through (yikes!) ... we say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love you, Andrew, and are so glad you are part of our family.

Christmas in April for Nana and Roy!

2011-04-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

Christmas in April?! What?!

Well, you see ... Olivia, Jackson and Karis made a present for Nana and Roy for Christmas ~ but do you remember how Nana had fallen and broken her sacrum the week before Christmas?
Thankfully, Nana has fully recovered from her injuries and is back to her usual self! I didn't want to deliver these beautiful little bird houses until Nana was well enough to appreciate them. She was so delighted with them and thought they were beautiful. "Wow, the children really painted these?" Roy kept asking! He was VERY impressed!
There is a tree just outside their kitchen window with a perfect branch to hang Nana's birdhouse ... but Roy declared that he was keeping his birdhouse INSIDE where none of the sparrows or squirrels could mess with it!

A few of our favorite stories ...

2011-04-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

"The Man Who Walked Between the Towers" by Mordicai Gerstein is a true story. It tells of a New York City street performer, Philippe Petit, and about his wire-walk between the trade towers (yes! those VERY towers) when they were being constructed back in the 1970's. It's a well-written story with great illustrations, several pages of the book opening up and spreading out to VERY wide pictures of the trade towers ~ the story builds, along with the towers, and there is a lot of anticipation about what will happen to this daring young man! Emma, Chris and Matthew were SO engaged with the events of this story! At the end, there is a small mention about the World Trade Towers not being part of the skyline anymore ... but it's handled really tastefully. I always love a true story! I purchased this book in the Used Book section over at Schuler Books back in early March.
I have always loved anything written by Rosemary Wells. She writes and illustrates her own books. This is just a cute book about going to school and being accepted by other children, making friends, and some of Timothy's frustrations. I found that Emma, Chris and Matthew wanted to talk about their own experiences after we were finished reading ~ and it was interesting to hear their own stories about school and about some of their friends too.
"Pig and Crow" (Kay Chorao) was definitely my favorite of the books I brought to El Paso for my March trip. I'd never heard of the book or the author before! I had driven over to Discount Books over on 29th street the week before I left for El Paso, searching for some soft-cover books to add to my story collection. I had several hours that day and sat down and read through dozens of books. Our Emma continues to LOVE pigs to this day; so I always try to find a story or two that includes pigs for her. This books was delightful from cover to cover. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story was so much fun to read! Here is a rather succinct review of the story by Booklist ~ "A lonely pig learns the value of hard work and patience in this delightful modern-day fable."

I find what's really fun to do is to open each page of the book and talk about the illustrations first ~ to see if the children can figure the story out just by looking at the pictures. It's also fun to ask a lot of questions: "Wow ... what's happening now?" "What do you see?" "Oh, no! Now what?!" And the kids just love trying to figure the story out before it has even been read. But after we do read it, it's also fun to ask questions and see what details they can remember about the story. Children have amazing memories and minds! I'm always pleased to see how much they have learned from just a simple story.

We read many other enjoyable books, but these were the favorites. I left "Pig and Crow" with Emma (she has a small book shelf and takes care of the books) so that she could read it and share it with her brothers. A few days after I was back home, I drove back over to Discount Books and picked up another copy for my house! I loved this little story. I also found quite a few more titles that I purchased to bring with me when I go back to El Paso in June ... I'm counting the days!

The rest of the story ...

2011-03-30T16:01:00.001-07:00

I've been home from El Paso an entire week now ~ it hardly seems possible that time can pass by as it does.
A week ago early Sunday morning, the children, Jesse and I drove out to Sunshine Community Church to worship together. I love worshiping with family! Jesse has to arrive more than two hours before the service begins to run sound checks and do other technical stuff with the sound equipment for their praise and worship team. So I packed my backpack full of good things to do with the children while we waited. We colored a bunch more of our Color By Dot pictures, played a rousing game of TROUBLE, walked around the church inspecting all of the interesting rooms, and then it was time to worship! After the opening worship songs, the boys went to their classrooms. Emma decided to stay in church with me, so I got her a bulletin and we followed along with the pastor's sermon notes. Emma took a pencil and copied all of my notes, sat quietly, and seemed to follow right along. She snuggled up close to me and listened carefully as the pastor taught from Luke 6. This time with Emma in church is one of my most cherished memories from the entire week!
After church, we went back to the house and spent the rest of the day doing what we had been doing the prior four days ... having fun together!
We took another walk down to the playground ...
... we climbed on all of the equipment and got all hot and sweaty ...

Isn't this a cute picture of the boys? Emma and I had been sitting exactly like this about five minutes prior and told the boys it felt like a comfortable bed ... so they had to check it out for themselves. Before we knew it, it actually WAS time for bed ... because Monday was just around the corner and Monday meant ...

Back to School:
It was so much fun to go back to school with the children Monday morning. They have to get up at 7:00 in the morning and be dressed and ready to leave by about 7:30 in order to eat breakfast at school. So that's exactly what we did! Christopher is always the first one awake of the three ... well ... usually, that is. Emma asked that I wake her up at 7:00 and then we all worked on waking Matthew up together. He decidedly does NOT like mornings ...

But look at Matthew's happy face when he was showing me his classroom! His kindergarten class is divided into two groups, but not the same two groups all of the time ~ it depends on what activities are going on as to which children are with each other and what teacher they are with as well. So at any given time, there are no more than about 8-9 children in the classroom together.

After breakfast, the children are allowed to play outside on the playground until the bell rings for them to line up and wait for their teachers to escort them into the building. I got to visit each classroom and snap just a few pictures. After hanging up their jackets and getting their desks organized, the P.A. loudly announces (via the principal) that it is time to sing the National Anthem and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the pledge to the Texas flag (yes! The Texas Flag has its own pledge!) followed by a one minute silence. I was in Matthew's class two mornings during the singing of the anthem and the pledges. Everyone did a good job, knew all of the words, and almost everybody was even quiet for about 30 seconds of the one-minute silence!
I was able to meet the kids for lunch as well. There are three different shifts for these kiddos, so I arrived at 10:40 for Matthew's lunch, followed at 11:10 for Christopher, and then 11:30 for Emma. We had enough time to eat lunch and then go out to the playground for a short time of play.

I did learn some interesting information during lunch one day. I was sitting next to Christopher and one of his friends, Caleb. On the other side of Caleb was a little girl who leaned over to Chris and Caleb and announced with a grin that they were "girl locked." I had never heard this term before and had it explained to me. Christopher was on my right, and to my left was another little boy. Christopher told me that since I was surrounded by boys, I was presently "boy locked" just like he was "girl locked." He told me a person can also be "double locked" if, for example, there are TWO girls on the right side of you and then TWO girls on the left side of you ... DOUBLE locked ~ and Christopher informed me that you certainly DO NOT want to be double locked!
In the hallway outside Emma's room, her teacher had hung a few examples of the children's class work. I was so pleased to find Emma's hanging there!
In the afternoon, after the children are picked up school, the time really goes by quickly. There is homework to do, dinner to prepare and eat and clean up, and then ... it's practically bed time. We did manage to squeeze in another game of TROUBLE one of those nights. And of course, there was always time for a few bedtime stories!

I had told the children that when I got back to Michigan, I was going to make them a special book about our week together ~ kind of like I had done for each of them at Christmas ~ only I was only going to make ONE combined book of all of the stuff we had done. We decided we would need some blooper pictures (just for fun) as well, so for awhile on Monday night we made funny faces and took pictures of each other. But then I asked if we couldn't get each of the children to pose with me for a nice picture of us together. I asked Emma to take a few pictures. Christopher, however, didn't hear the part about these being SERIOUS pictures and made a goofy face ... oh well. YOW. Don't I look exhausted in these pictures?!!

Christopher looks a little bit mopey in this picture because he came in FOURTH in Trouble and was dubbed the "losing loser" by someone in the clan ... can you tell who came in FIRST?!!

Tuesday at School:
Tuesday morning we went through the same routine at school. I met so many darling little children ... Isaiah, Kourtney, India, Alexis, Patrick, Greg, McKenzie ... and got reacquainted with Katierra, Malachi, Rochelle, Liberty ~ and too many others to name!

Each of the children have very nice teachers. I really loved visiting school every day I could!
I think Christopher's teacher is my favorite. She is so friendly and her smile is just beautiful.
Outside for recess, the children were climbing this rock and then jumping off to see how far they could go ... I was marking their spots in the sand and it became a huge contest. This is Emma and I standing on top of the rock together after everyone got tired of playing that game.Oh! And this is a close-up of Emma's caterpillar. Her class is studying the process of metamorphosis. Each child has their own container with their very own caterpillar.

A singular experience:
After lunch on Tuesday afternoon, I walked back to the house and then decided to take a short walk and snap a few mountain pictures along the way. Jes and Di live just a few blocks from this viaduct and expressway ... and the bridge was getting in the way of the mountain, so I walked under it and was able to see the mountain a little bit better.
It was only a 5-minute walk to snap these pictures and then walk back to the house, but as I turned the corner to their street, a police car did a U-turn and pulled up next to me! The officer opened his door and stared at me and then asked: "What do you think you are doing here?" I told him I was visiting my son and his family, my grandchildren, etc. But then he asked: "What are doing with that camera?" I replied that I was taking photos of the mountains. "Why?" he asked. I told him there are NO mountains in Michigan, where I live! He then proceeded to give me a lecture about this neighborhood being part of the United States Army and that someone had called the police about my "suspicious activity." Seriously?!! I told the officer that I never once left the sidewalk (although I came really really close once because there was an interesting tree right next to a house that I wanted a close-up of ... but I resisted because ... it was right next to someone's house!) and had only snapped SIX pictures total! He was very indignant that I had taken any pictures at all, asked to see my I.D., and warned me not to take any more pictures outside. Hmmm. I had been taking pictures outside for the prior seven days and no one had complained at all! Jesse came home an hour later and was pretty furious about this incident. He thinks the officer acted out of line. Me too!

Well ... that's the story of my eight days in El Paso. Eight wonderful days. The nicest visit I've ever had there. So I have lots of good memories. Making a book about it will be a lot of fun too. And speaking of books, I'll share with you a few of our favorite books that we read ... another day!

Drawings by Christopher

2011-03-30T15:05:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd show you a few more pieces of art by Christopher. It's not that Matthew and Emma weren't also drawing ... but both of them tend to be a little perfectionistic with their works of art. So there is a lot of starting over and ripping up and ... general angst. Christopher is pretty care-free about his art! He is quick and fluid and he really enjoys himself hugely!
Children's art is so interesting, isn't it?

Notice the fishing hook dangling in front of the shark ... as well as the tiny eels in the right-hand corner ... and I love all of the little colorful fish ...
I liked the fat pelican up in the air in this drawing ... as well as the eels and the crab (lower left corner). Now remember ... he was looking at one of my Ed Emberley drawing books while doing these sketches ... but more just to give him ideas than doing exact copying.
This one completely cracked me up ~ Santa Clause, snowflakes, and a few reindeer ... and I loved how he grabbed black construction paper and knew that crayons would still show up!

A bit more from the visit to El Paso ...

2011-03-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

Since the children were on spring break when I arrived in El Paso last week, we had all day long to play and hang out together. I brought a set of rocket balloons that came with its very own pump so that we didn't have to use our own hot air to try to inflate them!
We took the rocket balloons and pump over to the playground across from the kids' school and we shot them off for a little while, never forgetting to use the official countdown: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-ZERO ... ignition ... blast-off! It was really fun to watch the balloons go zooming through the air, twirling and screeching the whole way!
This is a really nice playground that is conveniently covered with a blue canvas to provide some shade. Living in Michigan, it doesn't seem as though anyone would NEED shade in the middle of March ... but El Paso? Definitely! Every afternoon I was there was in the 80's and the sunshine is SO bright (and wonderful) ... but it does get almost too hot rather quickly ... so the shade comes in handy!
Diana also had lots of games in their game closet, so when we got tired of playing outside, we'd try a game or two. We especially enjoyed playing "Kerplunk" and "Trouble" together, although someone always has to lose, which is ... a good way to teach about being a good loser!
We also folded many many paper airplanes ... because I LOVE folding paper airplanes. Emma got out our thumbprint book and decorated her airplanes with thumbprint people ...
Matthew thought that was cool too, so he just drew windows on the side of his plane with people looking out. These particular models are NOT the ones that I folded. The children were showing me that they knew how to fold an airplane without my instructions (!). We took them outside and tried to make them stay in the air, but these ones didn't fly very well. So THEN, they asked me to fold MY kind of airplane and we flew those all over the place. The kind that I fold are difficult for little hands and there are too many tricky tucks and folds for them to remember, so it gets frustrating for them. So I just end up doing all of the folding and then the children decorate each plane so that it can be distinguished as theirs.
When I was in St. Petersburg a few weeks back, my sister-in-law (Carol) had the coolest bubble wands for her grandchildren and ... I wanted them! Amazingly, while Jesse and I were shopping at Walmart, I found the exact set of bubbles and wands! We got them out and were immediately inundated with neighbor children wanting to try everything out, and so we did bubbles with about eight children who were having a real difficult time sharing ... we finally brought everything back up into the house. The next time I visit, I'll try to figure out a better way to share the wands and bubbles so that everyone isn't so crowded and frustrated. Most of the children in this picture are next-door neighbors and are really nice little kids.
We did a lot of chalk drawing again ... because it's so much fun! This is Christopher just talking my leg off while sitting under the car port ...
We also did our usual watercolor paintings because the kids love to paint and they do such a great job! Look how pleased Matthew is with his little bear painting!
Christopher wasn't quite finished with these pictures, but held them up for my camera anyway ...
Emma likes to do a real careful job with her pictures ~ she's at that age now. So Emma and I only got one painting each accomplished, while the boys did three (I think)!
With my rocket balloon kit, there was also a supply of those skinny kind of balloons that talented people are able to put together and make cute animals with, etc. We used our pump to inflate them, but there were NO instructions as to how to make them into cool animals and no matter how hard we tried ... we couldn't get it to happen!
There were also a couple of punch balloons that we played with and enjoyed a lot ...
I'm always amazed at how much children enjoy playing with balloons. They aren't very expensive and there are lots of fun things you can do with them. Sometimes, we have taken markers out and drawn faces on them and made them into little people even!
I forget which day it was (maybe Saturday?) that Jesse brought home a new pool for the kids. It fit nicely under the carport so that they didn't have to worry about being overly exposed to the sun. But it was such a windy day! So even though the temperature was 80, the pool felt a bit cold. Emma didn't want to be in the pool with her brothers splashing and was rather mopey about the whole ordeal. I didn't include the pouty pictures of her for you to see!
Emma kept busy making chalk pictures while her brothers splashed away in the pool.
Since Matthew's sixth birthday is coming up in early April and I can't be in El Paso at that time, I shipped his birthday presents ahead and we opened them early!
I bought more Hotwheels stuff because it's so much fun, it doesn't cost very much, and even Jesse enjoys it! I didn't take a close-up picture of it, but Hotwheels even makes a cool Sirocco vehicle and I purchased one for Jesse ~ he's looking at it in that top picture (above)!
We made a "crash track" and crashed cars for awhile ...
There was an airplane launcher too that had to be connected with rubber bands. Christopher is showing Matthew the mechanics of it.
Matthew was quite pleased with his gifts. He also got a bat and some whiffle balls and we hit those around the back yard for awhile later in the evening. It surprised me that Emma still knows how to really slug a ball ... she attributes it to her Uncle Adam and all of the time he spent teaching her how to hold a bat and hit a ball when she lived here in Michigan four years ago now!
A really nice coloring book for children in this age group is "Color by Dots" by Melissa and Doug. For $4.99 you get 40 nice-sized (8 x 8) pictures that are color-coded. We used markers the first night we colored with this book, but the next day we actually found that crayons and colored pencils gave us a better result. By the time my eight-day visit had ended, all but four of the 40 pictures had been nicely colored! I think I'm going to re-purchase this book because it was so much fun to use!

I have more to show and tell you about our time together in El Paso, but this is enough for now! I still have to tell you about all of the great stories we read together too ... but that will have to be in another entry.

The early part of my week in El Paso ...

2011-03-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

I've been busy editing my photos from El Paso. I'm finding it difficult to chronicle those eight days. We did so many fun things together! I'm afraid that this blog is not a very good medium to use for some of the stuff that we did, basically because a lot of it was repetitious and simple kinds of things ... but that's really the stuff that life is made of, isn't it?

Pastor Jim gave a sermon on Jesus being our Good Shepherd a few months ago and as I thought about those wonderful truths later on throughout that following week, I wanted to pass some of it on to Emma, Christopher and Matthew. But I needed a plan!

I had 3 stuffed lambs at my house ~ but two of them were identical ~ and I thought it would be kind of fun for each of the grandchildren to have their very own lamb. So I went shopping and found this "girly" looking lamb for Emma. The other two lambs very much looked like boys to me!
I love this picture of Emma so much ... just glowing with happiness! She loved her little lamb! (She is wearing a knit hat her Aunt Kelly made for her ... she would NOT take it off!)
I gave Christopher the lamb I purchased in Israel ... in Jerusalem actually. It's kind of been a personal treasure of mine since 1999, the first time I ever traveled to Israel. I knew it would be just perfect for Christopher. He really liked it. He gave it a hug, ran into the dining room, plunked his lamb down on the table and promptly sketched it! Didn't he do a good job?!
This is the little tiny lamb that I had a duplicate of at home ... it was the smallest one and therefore HAD to go to Matthew! I used ribbon to tie name tags around each lamb's neck: Emma, Christopher, and Matthew! We talked about how wonderful it is that when you love and follow Jesus, He makes us part of His family and knows each of us by name.

"He (Jesus) calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out." John 10:3

Here is a watercolor painting, illustrating Psalm 23. Christopher did the painting!
We also talked about how David was a shepherd boy and how brave and strong he was to protect his flock from danger. I'm pretty sure Emma painted this picture, but I forgot to have the children sign their names to each picture ... and so I'm not sure!
I know Emma painted this shepherd's crook. She said she painted like it candy-cane because she remembered the story we read last Christmas about the origin of the candy-cane and that if you flip the crook upside down, it forms the letter "J" (for Jesus!).

We did our usual mega-amount of artwork throughout the week. I'll show you more pictures the children drew in later entries ~ don't you just love children's art?!
I brought two of my favorite Ed Emberley drawing books for the children to use. They are favorites of the children too!
Emma really loves the thumbprint book ... look at the cool thumbprint people she was able to make.
We had so much fun just sitting around the dining room table creating stuff together.
Chris still loves dinosaurs, dragons, sharks and sea creatures. I love to watch him draw. He is very confident, and a wonderful artist.
Didn't his dragon turn out cool?
Matthew did a lot of drawings too ... I'll show you more of those later. He had a lot of fun putting puzzles together too.

My carry-on suitcase was typically packed to the brim with books, games, puzzles, art supplies, etc. I've gotten to be almost an expert at packing it ~ you cannot believe what I can jam into one of these small bags!

For bedtime, we read John 10 together and talked about Jesus being our Good Shepherd. The children were really attentive, and cuddled up with their own little lambs while I was reading. Each night we talked about a different aspect of how shepherds take care of their sheep. We had a great time together. I'll share more pictures with you in the next few days ... I have a lot of editing to do!

Happy Birthday to Baby Liam!

2011-03-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

The last time we saw Liam Calvin was all the way back in September ~ six months ago. When a person is only 12 months, six months can make a very big difference! Usually, the Bandera family make a trip home sometime between fall and spring ... and usually, we take a spring trip to Texas to see all of the grandchildren there. Neither one of those events happened this year, so I do not have any recent pictures of Liam. The cute photo above is one I stole from Facebook so that you could see a more recent picture of him. Notice that he is a redhead ... but not quite as flaming as Lottie. Grandpa Jones and I sent this little crab pull-toy for his birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIAM! We miss seeing you!

Eight happy days ...

2011-03-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

I'm home after spending EIGHT busy and happy days in El Paso with Jesse and Diana and the children. I think this was my best visit ever. Sixteen hundred miles is SUCH a long distance and sometimes finances make it difficult to travel. But family is important! I very badly want to have a relationship with my grandchildren and make lasting memories with them ... so I've been trying to see them every three months. They are growing up so fast! Emma is 8-1/2, Christopher is 7 and Matthew will be 6 in just a few weeks.

I arrived in the late afternoon last Wednesday and was able to stay until just after lunch THIS Wednesday, so it was my longest visit ever. The children were in the middle of their spring break last week, so we had all day Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be together ~ and then back to school on Monday. But I got to visit them at school too and I had so much fun. I've just started looking through all of the pictures I took and I'm not very organized tonight ... but I promise I will post more photos soon and try to tell you a little bit about the joy-filled week we had together.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't grow up celebrating Saint Patrick's Day ... but NOW our family has an official Irish member in the person of Kelly-O ... so this is mostly for her and for Dylan too. Happy St. Patrick's Day you guys ... and to all of our family as well.

I like this Irish saying ... it reminds me of something Kelly might say! "May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past."

Three little lambs ...

2011-03-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for the airport in a few minutes ... off to El Paso to see Jesse, Diana and the kiddos for a week. We usually take a spring road trip down to Texas every year to see all of the Texas grandchildren and families, but with Nana taking that bad fall before Christmas, I didn't think it wise to be gone for three consecutive weeks. Since our El Paso family doesn't get home to Michigan and I miss them terribly, this week-trip is so that I can re-connect with them once again. Hopefully, I'm going to teach the little ones about Jesus being the Good Shepherd from John 10 and we're going to study Psalm 23 together as well and have a whole bunch of other fun while we're at it. I'll have to wait and post pictures when I get home!

The butterflies are here!

2011-03-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

I wandered on over to Frederick Meijer Gardens the other day because the butterfly exhibit opened up over a week ago already and I hadn't been there yet to enjoy it! Since I have a membership at the Gardens, I plan to go plenty of times to see the butterflies.
I took over 400 pictures Monday afternoon. But I didn't get any RARE butterflies or any of those gorgeous moths that I love because they simply were not hatched yet!
It was close to 90 degrees in this tropical garden ... it was like a beautiful sauna ... almost hot enough to practically be uncomfortable ... but I was NOT complaining.
The place was jammed pack with little kids who were SO delighted with the butterflies. It was a blast just to sit and watch the action ...
Some very pretty colors to see!
And COLOR is a very welcome sight in this melting snow, cloud-covered, rainy, sometimes foggy, extremely GRAY pre-spring Michigan atmosphere ...
Didn't God do an amazing thing when He created butterflies?
I can't wait to go back! One of the caretakers at the Gardens told me that almost every single day there are quite a few new species that hatch ... so maybe I'll get to photograph some of those cool moths yet ... if I do, I'll post a few pictures. :)

More photos from Florida ...

2011-03-06T12:52:00.001-08:00

If I could sum up the five days I spent in St. Petersburg with my brother David and his family with just ONE word ... I think it would be L-O-V-E ... because there was so much of it! Everywhere. The above picture is David teaching his small group last Sunday morning. It was really nice to worship with his family last week at their church.
Early Sunday afternoon, the rest of David's family converged at their house for a ... reunion ... with me! This is beautiful Rachel with her baby, Rebekkah.

The only family not able to come was Jonathan's. They were on their way but had some car trouble they could not resolve ... so they didn't get to come. They live over an hour away. But ... the rest of the family was there!
I'm not sure why Andrew is up on his dad's roof ... perhaps because ... it was there! He had been showing Rachel's boys how quickly he could climb the tree next to the house, and just went right on up as high as he could get I guess ~ I would have done the same (in my younger days!).
This is Rachel's second son, Zach, who I believe is nine.
And this is Andrew with his absolutely delightful wife, Alison. She is 10x prettier than what you see here ... I don't think any picture could do her justice because you have to see the whole picture ~ her whole personality. If you spend just a little bit of time with her, you feel you have known her always. She is kind and gracious and a very welcoming person. I liked her so much! And Andrew is as sweet as he can be. I had not seen him in over ten years. I was so glad to have this opportunity to spend time with them!
And Rebekkah is 14 months ... and she is ALL about being with her mama ... she has such a cute little personality!
Chris and Elisabeth live about an hour south (I think) of St. Petersburg. I loved seeing them. Elisabeth has such a small voice! I enjoyed listening to what she had to say so much.
This is Antoine and Rachel ... difficult to believe Rachel is the mother of FIVE. She really enjoys being a mom and does wonderful with her kiddos.

Since the weather was so beautiful, we enjoyed a barbecue outside. David grilled ribs and chicken and dogs ... and Carol prepared a whole bunch of fruit and salads and yummy potatoes ... it was a wonderful meal.
I challenged everyone to a ping-pong tournament ... and was the first one eliminated! Sigh. Since David lives so close to where he works (the school) and since he is the "boss" of the whole place, we just went over and used their facilities!
Daniel (David's youngest) was the champion! But since I had been eliminated early, I went outside and shot off rocket balloons with Rachel's boys ... I totally missed the rest of the tournament! I hope I didn't look like a sore loser!
This is Katie (left) and Izzy (Isabel) on the right. Aren't they so cute? Carol bought all of the girls these matching dresses and headbands.
The rocket balloons (which came with a pump) were a real hit. Everyone enjoyed them whether we were inside or outside!
I took this picture Monday morning ... this is a heron in flight. I was overwhelmed with the amount of beautiful birds that just hang out at David and Carol's place!
Later in the day on Monday (AFTER I was treated to both a manicure, pedicure AND a body massage ~ yikes ~ I've never experienced any of these in my life before ... what a wonderful gift of love), David and I went to downtown St. Petersburg and walked on The Pier. None of my pictures turned out there, except I did like this one of the pelicans just loafing about.
Rachel and the children came back to see us Monday, later in the afternoon. We enjoyed their company so much!

Those are just four of about 150 pictures I snapped on "continuous shoot" while Rachel and Carol were trying to pose the children and have them all smile and behave themselves at the same time ~ quite a feat with five active kiddos. What a beautiful family. Thanks, David and Carol, for sharing your love with me!

Last Saturday I was ... WARM!

2011-03-05T14:41:00.001-08:00

This is the yummy place David and Carol picked out for breakfast last Saturday morning. I especially loved the name of it because this was the nickname we gave to my college roommate, Robbie (whose real name is Robin Margaret) ~ the year was 1971, the year Rod Stewart had a hit by this very same name! I need to forward this picture onto her!
We relaxed outside on the deck and enjoyed a delicious meal. This is my beautiful sister-in-law, Carol.
I can't for the life of me remember the name of the beach we went to! I know for sure that it was NOT Clearwater Beach because Carol said it would be too crowded there. I don't like crowded beaches, do you? We arrived at around 10:30 in the morning and only stayed until noon ... because it was quite warm and the SUN was very hot ... mmm ... nice memory.
I walked down to the breakwater to take some pictures and enjoyed watching the pelicans playing ...
And I love the sound of crashing waves better than any sound on this earth ...
Pelicans are not a particularly beautiful bird ... but they are pretty amazing to watch in flight. I was trying to get a good picture of one of them diving straight down into the water to catch their fish ... they were experts at it! They would glide along in the sky and then fold their wings all the way back and then perpendicular to the water, they would quickly dive and catch their prey.

We saw 100's of sailboats from the St. Petersburg Sailing School. It was an excellent day for sailing with a good brisk wind ... I love sailing ...
The sky was so beautiful, the clouds just billowed everywhere ... isn't a cloudy day so much prettier than a clear blue sky?

We ran some errands that afternoon, arriving home to greet Elisabeth and Chris who were spending the night. I don't remember when it was when I last saw Elisabeth, but it was SO fun to see her and to meet her husband! Both of them have finished law school, passed the bar exam, and Elisabeth is practicing law while Chris is hunting for a job as well.
We enjoyed a wonderful visit and a good game of Scrabble (David won). I have more pictures of the rest of the family, but I'm not finished going through those yet. Perhaps tomorrow,

P.S. In Grand Rapids today, we had snow, rain, more snow and absolutely ZERO sunshine. I was out to the Post Office this morning and saw the sun desperately trying to sneak through the grey clouds, but to my knowledge, it never did. Oh ... and did I mention that it is rather COLD here?!

One week ago today ...

2011-03-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was my first full day in St. Petersburg visiting my brother, David, and his family. It's difficult to pick WHICH day was my favorite one ... because they were ALL wonderful. But I'm rather partial to this day in particular ...
David had to go to work for a little while in the morning. He is the administrator of Keswick Christian School (preschool through grade 12) and had some business to attend to. The house where they live is really close to the school, located on a pond/small lake ... which is full of turtles and ducks and all kinds of beautiful birds ...
Look at the beautiful heron! I took this picture later in the day, I can't remember exactly when ... although it is apparent to me that it is no longer morning.
David came home mid-morning to take me back to the school with him so that I could have a tour around his school campus. I got to meet lots of the nice folk he works with. We even visited several classrooms. Very fun!

But I was really really anticipating the afternoon. David told me we were going on an adventure. Yes! We caught a ferry boat that took us a little way on the Intercoastal Waterway, through part of Tampa Bay and out into the Gulf ... to a teensy tiny ... ISLAND!
I totally forgot to take a picture of the ferryboat. It was a cool-looking wooden 40' vessel. We hopped aboard and joined about 18 other people + two crew members for the almost hour ride over to Egmont Key Island ...

... where ... believe it or not ... there was a LIGHTHOUSE! This was my first view of the Egmont Key Light. I had googled "lighthouses in the Tampa Bay area" searching for a lighthouse to beg David to take me to ... and it did lead me to this very light. But once I saw that it was out on an island, I figured it was ... impossible to visit!
The only dock at the island was covered with "No trespassing" signs and others warning people NOT to dock their boats there. So our "captain" grounded the ferry boat on a sandbar as close to the island as possible, anchored, lowered a ladder, and then one at a time, we descended into about thigh-deep water ... and walked ashore ... no more than perhaps a dozen steps away.
Egmont Key Island is a completely noncommercial. There are NO amenities there whatsoever. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, NO bathrooms, no buildings, no shops or other businesses ... ah ... it was wonderful! There was a "head" located on the ferry boat if a person needed a bathroom, though ... but ... it looked pretty nasty to me! We were going to be on the island for less than three hours ... and we had it all to ourselves!
First, we did an almost 360 around the lighthouse so that I could photograph it from every possible angle. It's a pretty plain-looking light ... and some of the angles are very bleak ... but I tried to dress it up a bit and I think it's very pretty after all. There has been a beacon on Egmont Key for 153 years now, although it didn't always look like you see it here.

This is the small graveyard we found not far from the lighthouse. It mostly has graves of very young men (16-24) who died of either yellow fever or typhoid fever during the Civil War. There was a pathway through the trees and brush to the far side of the island ...
... I think it was prettier on this side of the island than where we docked. You could see for miles out in the Gulf ...
And these beautiful little birds were everywhere ...
The water was rolling in. We looked for shells and collected some really pretty ones ... which I neglected and left in David's trunk (!) ... so I do NOT have them (sigh) ...
The sand and rocks and shells here were pristine. We did see lots of sand dollars, but ... they were NOT pristine. I really wanted to find a perfect one, but we never even saw 1/2 of a perfect one! That's OK. They are pretty cool and someday I would like to find a nice one and actually remember to take it home with me!

My brother and I have lived in different states most of the past 40 years. He did come up to Michigan last summer and we spent some time together at Grand Haven ... but I can't remember another time we have spent more than just a few hours together. It was so fun to just walk and talk and catch up on life ...
These turtles (gopher tortoise) were all over the island. They eat the red berries that grow on the foliage there. We ladies on the ferryboat were warned that if we had red toenail polish on, we might get snapped at!
We left the island in the late afternoon. These seagulls followed our boat for miles and miles. The captain was feeding them dry catfood shaped like little fish ... he was tossing them way into the air and then the seagulls would swoop on down and gobble them up! I LOVE seagulls!

I was hoping to photograph some dolphins on the way back because we had seen a whole bunch of them on the trip over ... except David and I were sitting on the front of the ferry and the dolphins were jumping in the wake of the boat in the back. I just couldn't get close enough to get a picture because other people were there ahead of us. That's OK, though ... it was great fun just to see them in the wild and enjoy the view.
Friday evening, Carol joined us and we drove to Madeira Beach (I think) and ate at Bubba Gumps (as in Forrest Gump) Shrimp Company. What a fun place to eat! We had such a great time!
It was a wonderful day, from start to finish. I never ever thought I would get to visit a lighthouse on a fabulously beautiful island with my brother, David ... but I did! "Light is sweet, and it's wonderful to see the sun!" Ecclesiastes 11:7 I agree with Solomon! Did you know that St. Petersburg, Florida is the sunniest spot in the continental United States? It averages 361 days of SUN every single year. WOW.

I have lots more pictures to show you ... very important photographs of my nieces and nephews and some of their children as well ... but I have lots of editing of those to do yet. Pretty soon!

Kind-ness

2011-03-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

I've been home now for more than 24 hours ... and I'm still overwhelmed at the five days I spent with my brother and his sweet wife, Carol, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I took 916 pictures. I'm not terribly thrilled with them ... but I think I can salvage a few dozen to use for card-making purposes. I have a lot of editing and cleaning up to do of the few that I like, and I'm not in the mood to do it! I'm feeling a little melancholy upon returning home. So instead of showing you my pictures today, I'm just going to tell you a little bit about my brother, David. He is a person characterized by kindness.

Kind-ness
- noun
1. the state or quality of being kind
2. a kind act
3. kind behavior

Kind
- adjective
1. of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person: a kind and loving person.
2. having, showing, or proceeding from benevolence: kind words.
3. indulgent, considerate, or helpful; humane (often followed by to): to be kind to animals.
4. British Dialect: loving, affectionate.

-- Synonyms
Mild, benign, gentle, tender, compassionate, kindhearted, with a sympathetic attitude toward others, and a willingness to do good or give pleasure.

Those definitions describe my brother David almost perfectly! No, no, no ... I did not say he was PERFECT ... he would find that offensive. But looking back on this last few days, I am overwhelmed and very moved by his tender kindness to me.

I'll tell you more about our time together when I am ready to ... but for today ... I just wanted to say a special thanks to David and Carol ... on this earth, two nicer folk would be difficult to find.

Relax ...

2011-02-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

For weeks and weeks now I've been googling "St. Petersburg, FL" to dream a little bit about what was coming up in my life ...

And right now, this very minute, I am on my way there! I received this gift of a mini-vacation from my brother, David and his wife, Carol. What a wonderful present!
The last time I was in Florida was almost TOO many years ago for me to remember ... I think I was twelve! My brother and his family moved down to Florida about ten years ago. I have not seen my nieces and nephews since then! And now, four of them are married and there are EIGHT grandchildren (MY great-nieces and great-nephews) that I have never met ... until this weekend! So ... I'm going to take lots and lots of photographs and when I return next Tuesday I will show you all of the FUN we had together ... although it will probably be Wednesday before I get around to editing and posting any pictures. I am leaving a very chilly and snowy Grand Rapids behind and am going to enjoy almost five days of 75+ temps and PURE sunshine. Ah ... relax!

1-2-3-4-5 ... FIVE ... already??!!

2011-02-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

Our granddaughter, Karis Danielle, is FIVE years old today ... and as usual, I can hardly believe how FAST the years have zoomed by! Karis is 19-1/2 months younger than her older brother, Jackson, and I have never in my life met two more competitive kiddos. Karis is not about to be outdone by her brother!
It's a lot of fun to play with Karis. She is all giggles and laughter and has a keen enjoyment of adventure.
Karis was slightly UNDER-enthused to pose for this annoying picture with the fake duck at the Austin Zoo back in September, but she had a blast feeding the goats while we were there.
Here she is modeling the pretty dress her mommy bought for her in Mexico ...
Karis knows lots and lots of cheers ... between attending Jackson's Raptor T-ball games and Olivia's high school football games ... she is a great little cheerleader!
And she dances too! I loved watching Jackson and Karis spin around their front room together ...
And Karis is a great little swimmer too ... isn't this a sweet picture of her?
We love you, Karis, and wish you a very HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY ...
Your present is going to be a few days late ... many apologies ... hopefully by Friday! We hope you like your gift box!

Very cute ...

2011-02-22T13:31:00.001-08:00

After we ate out on the evening of Valentine's Day, grandpa and I turned the corner into our neighborhood, and I spotted this SO cute snowman! We parked our car in the garage, and then I walked back up and around the corner to take a few pictures. Our neighbor, Len, really really gets into holiday decorations around their house. Each year, his Christmas decorations have become more and more elaborate ... but always in good taste ~ I have always enjoyed them. This snowman was obviously built for Valentine's Day (notice his cute heart)!

My Precious Valentines ...

2011-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Psalms is #139 because it reminds me of WHO made us and how much He truly LOVES us. So I'm going to kind of weave the words of that Psalm in and out of these pictures of my TWELVE beautiful Valentine grandchildren ...

Baby girl to be born in just a few months ... did you know ... God is watching you there in the warm darkness of your mama's belly? Did you know that the Awesome Creator is designing every eyelash, fingernail, each strand of hair ... every little kissable crease on your brand new body?
The Lord God sees you hiding there, little one, from ... all of us! We wonder what you will look like ... but He already knows the sound of your voice. He has already planned every day of your life!
When you wake up in the morning, Nia, God is there with you. He has been watching over you all through the night ... because He can see in the dark! Did you know that God even knows WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY before you even say it?
You could swim the farthest oceans, Christopher, and God would still be there with you! There is no place that is too far away to Him. He even goes to school with you and watches you every minute of every single day! Everywhere you go, the Lord can guide you and His strength can support you!
You could climb the highest mountain, Nathan, and ride the "wings of the wind" and even THERE you would not be out of God's sight or His protection (although I think that climbing your roof is a bit risky!)
The Lord knows ALL about you, Emma! He knows that pink is your favorite color! He knows all of your favorite songs on the radio! He knows every single thought you are thinking and "He has placed His hand of blessing" upon your life!
Did you know that God saw you before you were born, Jeremiah? Just like your baby sister! He carefully created that beautiful smile you have, those big brown eyes ... every intricate detail of your sweet self!
And baby Liam wasn't born even one single day before God planned him to be born ... we thought you were EARLY ... but God knew all the time when you would make your appearance ... He wasn't one bit surprised!
Precious thoughts. Did you know that the LORD thinks about you so much Karis ... that if we tried to add up all the times He thought about you, they would be MORE than ALL of the sand on ALL of the beaches you have ever gone to? More than at Grand Haven?!
Did you know, Matthew? God has charted out a path for your whole life. He sees you as you play on the hill behind your house! He goes ahead of you and He follows along behind you ... hemming you in with His love and protection!
God sees you, Jackson, as you practice for T-ball! He watches as you SLIDE into base! Did you know that He is the One who gave you those fast legs?!
And that gorgeous glowing RED hair, Lottie-girl ... God gave it especially to you. You will always stand out in a crowd! What a wonderful Creator you have!
You have such a great smile, Olivia! I think the Lord smiles too as He listens to you play your flute ... He is the Master Musician! There is no place you can go in all the world that He will not be right there beside you. He knows everything about you. And He loves you with a never-ending LOVE!

"Such knowledge is TOO WONDERFUL for me, too great for me to know!"

Thank-you, LORD, for your forever love and for these T-W-E-L-V-E precious Valentines!

LOVE ... in a pretty, round box!

2011-02-13T11:27:00.001-08:00

colorful
creative
little shapes of spring
blue birds
blossoms of pink yellow and white
owls, big and little
twisting vines
and more flowers of every size and shape ...
reminders of smiles to come
mailed to me
in a pretty, round box of LOVE!

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save." Zephaniah 3.17a
is written on the decorative signpost
that I will display with
JOY
and thanks
to you,
dear Sabrina
for the time and thoughtfulness and sweetness
of this gift!

It's Rachel's birthday!

2011-02-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

Rachel is the youngest "adult" in our blended family of 24.6 people ... but even with her turning 26 today, she is still ... practically a kid! But age is so ... NOT an indicator of ... ANYTHING really!

I love both of these pictures of Rachel that I have stolen from her photo files on FB. These are beautiful shots of her!
We are sending lots of love to you on your birthday, Rachel. We miss seeing you and your beautiful family and wish you deep-down happiness throughout this coming year!

LOVELY snow ...

2011-02-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a perfect day for a winter walk here in West Michigan. The temperature was very mild and there was absolutely NO wind. The air was crisp and clean. I had some errands to run over on the Beltline, so since I received a membership gift to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens, I decided to walk the Frey boardwalk over there and take a few pictures ...
There are beautiful little birds all over the place on this walk ... but not a single one of them posed for my camera, even when I was as quiet as can be and tried to sneak up on them!The shadows were magnificent there in the woods, and all of them made friends with me!
Clear blue sky and plenty of sunshine ... both are difficult to find around here in February!
Since I had a little extra time on my hands yesterday, I drove out to Rockford as well. I remembered those beautiful swans I had seen in November and wondered if maybe they were still sailing the Rogue River ...
But most of the river was snow-covered and solid ice. No swans.
This is the ice sculpture on the wrap-around deck of "Reds," and upscale restaurant overlooking the Rogue River. I've never eaten there, but it looks like a nice place!

There is a river walk, both north and south of the dam, and I walked both directions yesterday. I love to be outside and just drink in the beauty that God has created. I was listening to one of my outdated CD's last night that had this old beautiful hymn:

WHITER THAN SNOW
"Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want You forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe --
Now wash me and I will be whiter than snow."
MUSIC: William Fischer
TEXT: James Nicholson

"God makes us as clean as freshly fallen snow." ISAIAH 1.18

We have a LOT of snow ...

2011-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to drive to some place beautiful ... out in the country somewhere ... to take some pictures of ALL this snow we've accumulated here in West Michigan. Our roads have been pretty clear and dry for the last 48 hours (almost), but I've been too much of a sissy to drive anywhere very far away ...

So instead I have some not-very-interesting or exotic or beautiful pictures to show you. However, it's all I have! The picture above is our back deck and yard, looking from the family room ...
And this is the front of our house, where the sidewalk is that goes up to the porch ...
And this is our back shed with the thermometer that reads 71 degrees ... I know, I know ... the sun is blazing down right on top of it ... but isn't it a weird phenomenon nonetheless?
This is our next-door neighbor's front bushes drifted with snow ...
And these are OUR buried front bushes. Out in our neighborhood, between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, we picked up about another 14" of snow, on top of the 8-10" we already had ... that's quite a bit of snow! If I am brave enough tomorrow and I can find enough layers to squeeze into, I might take a hike somewhere and try to get some decent pictures ... but these single digit temperatures are NOT to my liking ...

Before the storm ...

2011-01-31T16:05:00.000-08:00

This is what our back deck looks like today. We have about 8-10" of snow on the ground, but it hasn't been a winter to complain about in any way ... so far, that is. Can you see the little sun-catchers taped to the doorwall? Karis and Jackson painted those for us while they were here over Christmas break. The painted colors are fading somewhat because we get a lot of sun through here ...

We are currently on the northern edge of a BIG winter storm that is due to hit us within 24 hours ... so today while I still could get out of the driveway, I drove over to Meijer Gardens and strolled around the place ...

There were hardly any folk at all at the Gardens today, so I just took my time and enjoyed every little minute I was there!

The tree in the picture above is called a "Thundercloud Plum" ~ it doesn't remind me of a thundercloud whatsoever, but what do I know? My longing for spring and warmth was at least somewhat satisfied today with my visit to the Gardens ~ they keep it so nice and balmy inside!

By Wednesday morning, we could have an additional 10-16" of snow here (along with close to blizzard conditions), and they are saying that is a conservative estimate. If that does indeed happen, I'll be sure to snap a few pictures of our neighborhood to show you.

Beautiful bridge ...

2011-01-21T16:09:00.001-08:00

I took the day off from being an inexperienced, unofficial (and somewhat incompetent) health care provider to Nana. The weather has gotten pretty frigid here in the Midwest, so I layered up, grabbed my camera, and drove out to Ada. I thought perhaps I could grab a few nice winter pictures today walking the trails over at the township park ... but I'm not real pleased with the ones I took on my short hike out there. I did like these, though, that I took of the covered bridge out in Ada. Thought I'd share them with you!

Can you hear Him?

2011-01-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a month since I've taken a walk ... anywhere at all ... and that is way too long. So after all of the snow shoveling was accomplished this morning, I headed out to my friendly familiar neighborhood woods ... to listen to God. Never less than amazing ... His voice is there everywhere. I feel refreshed and renewed. Cleansed and restored. And so thankful.

Kind of like ... Frankenstein ...

2011-01-13T15:00:00.001-08:00

At noon today, Grandpa Jones removed the compression bandages that were covering his surgical site. Yikes. 25 stitches is kind of ... gruesome. The surgeon had shown me before and after pictures on his point-and-shoot camera, but this was the first time I had actually seen it with my own eyes. Ouch. I could never be a nurse. Or a medical technician. Or an emergency worker of any kind whatsoever.

We took a close look at all of the stitches, and they are intact and none of them look suspicious of infection or bad behavior whatsoever. There is a lot of swelling. And both eyes look rather purple/blue/crimson/black ... kind of like someone tried to take Grandpa Jones "out" in a back alley somewhere. Yikes. There is no way he can put his glasses on yet. Too much swelling ... plus, the surgical site is exactly where the base of his glasses press against his face ... and that entire area is rather painful. No glasses means ... difficulty reading (he's using a magnifying glass) and definitely no driving.

So far, we haven't even filled the prescription we were given for a low-dose narcotic pain medication ~ so Grandpa Jones has done well with managing the discomfort. Today, he was finally able to shower and is now able to apply a nice warm cloth to the area 3x per day. We were also given an antibiotic ointment to apply to the area. Thankfully, Grandpa Jones is doing all of this "nursing" stuff independently.

When I was talking to family Monday evening (the day of the surgery), Adam wondered if we were given any pictures of the surgery. He thought it might be "fun" to post them on this blog. I told Adam that we did ask for the surgical photographs, but we haven't received them yet. However, I will NOT post them. I think Adam was just trying to "lighten up" my mood with his suggestion ... which is actually why I've posted this cartoon picture of Frankenstein.

So far, Grandpa Jones has been a model patient. He has slept a lot and has been very quiet. No complaints. His stitches are scheduled to be removed Monday morning. Hopefully, the swelling will have subsided by then.

P.S. I spoke with Jesse this morning prior to his knee surgery. He sounded good. Diana was with him in the pre-op holding area. I've just read an update on Facebook that Diana posted. They have performed a partial meniscectomy on his knee. You would think, after typing for orthopaedic surgeons for 19 years, that I would actually KNOW what this means ... but I do not. I can accurately spell the word and pronounce it correctly as well ... but I cannot tell you exactly what it means. I told you I have absolutely ZERO medical comprehension and this proves it.

Surgery went well for Grandpa Jones

2011-01-11T15:29:00.001-08:00

I feel like this update on Grandpa Jones is a bit tardy, but I was just too tired late yesterday to come back to my rather heat-challenged office and fire up my dragon of a computer (which takes about 20 minutes to connect to the internet) ... so I opted out of it altogether! As family members called to find out the news, I asked Sabrina to write a brief note on Facebook hoping that some key people in our lives would at least know all was well.

For those of you who were unaware Grandpa Jones was having surgery at all, I'll just give you an update. We noticed a "sore" on the side of his nose quite a few months ago that was not healing. After a physician examined him in October and tested the area, it was discovered that he had a basal cell carcinoma and ... it had to go! Yesterday, the lesion was excised in a two-step process (with the physician checking tissue under the microscope to make sure all edges were "clean") and then in the afternoon, he had to have the now quarter-sized deep open wound skin-grafted and closed by an ocular (because of the close proximity to his eye) dermatologist/surgeon. This surgeon originally was going to harvest some skin from behind grandpa's ear ... but the wound was larger than he expected, so he changed his mind and used skin from between the eyebrows and kind of pulled, twisted, and stretched the skin all around to cover the wound ... 25 stitches later.

Grandpa has his wounds covered with a 4 x 2 patch that is taped tightly to his face, covering his entire left eye. So he can't wear his glasses, he can't drive, and regular living is a bit challenging. That patch can be removed Thursday at noon. We'll examine the area ~ meaning ... Grandpa Jones and I will take a look at it ~ and hopefully all the stitches will be intact and not oozing! Next Monday, he is scheduled to have all stitches removed. The surgeon said that within about a year, it should be difficult to even notice where on his face all of this trauma occurred. Excellent.

My sister and her husband cared for Nana and Roy the last two days. Tomorrow I'm going to split the day half and half ... it kind of feels like I am a nurse in training ... but I have absolutely NO (zero) interest in pursuing any medical careers at this point in my life.

Thursday, my soldier/son (Jesse) is scheduled for some serious surgery on his knee far away in El Paso. I wish I could be closer to his location so that I could be of some help to them ... but 1600 miles is quite out of the question. Hopefully, they will keep everyone informed about his progress.

I appreciate everyone who is praying for us. We surely need it.

" ... let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish." Hebrews 12:1-2

Being His hands and feet ...

2011-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

It has been SO amazingly beautiful the last few days ~ what is prettier than snow-on-snow, the January days of Grand Rapids? Yesterday, the snowflakes were so HUGE it made you feel you were living in a snow globe! I love clean fresh snow. I love the quiet and the peace that it brings.

However, my days have been quite the opposite of that. I have been giving care for Nana and Roy due to mom's bad tailbone break. We were finally able to get an appointment with her primary care physician (this is a brand new physician for Nana). The appointment went well. Nana hit it off with the doctor, and we received lots of valuable information there. It turns out that the CT scan of her tailbone revealed not only a fracture, but kind of a shattering of the bone. It's not displaced and there are not loose fragments, but it is quite a nasty break.

But now that we have seen the primary care physician, all kinds of other professional help is available to us. We met with a gentleman from St. Mary's Home Health Care, physical therapy, this morning. He came out to Nana and Roy's and stayed more than two hours. He gave us lots of helpful information and instructed us on how to better take care of Nana. Occupational therapy will be calling to make appointments at the house next week as well.

I was really really exhausted yesterday and my attitude was less than it should have been. I felt grumpy and cranky and almost beside myself with fatigue, emotionally and physically. I e-mailed some close friends last night and asked for prayer for all of us ~ and today was so much brighter.

Last night as I was lying in bed I was reminded of what Jesus taught his best friends about serving people. It was the night he washed their feet. After he was finished, this is what he said to them: "And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you ... this is the path of blessing." (John 13:14-16).

I have known Jesus as my King and Savior for a very long time. But only a few times have I ever felt like I was "His hands and His feet." I often feel that way when I am in El Paso with my little grandchildren there ... because I serve them and when I meet their little friends and give them hugs ~ I know that when I do, Jesus is hugging them through me. Today, as I helped Nana and Roy around the house, with daily activities that they struggle with now, I had a real sense of the Lord's presence with me ... and I was very thankful I could serve Him this way.

Tomorrow, my sister and husband are coming to town and they are going to give me a few days of relief. Grandpa Jones has his surgery on Monday and needs monitoring for 24 hours afterward, so I am thankful that Ruthanne will be in town to check on and care for Nana and Roy.

We would all appreciate your continued prayers.

An update on Nana

2011-01-04T17:34:00.001-08:00

This is my mom, whom we refer to as "Nana." I'm pretty sure this picture was taken a year ago Christmas at my house. A few posts ago, I mentioned that she had taken a hard fall in the driveway of the house where she and Roy live. She had been to Urgent Care twice and had negative x-rays of her hips (meaning, no hip fracture), but her pain continued to increase. When Sabrina was home for the holidays, we drove over together and since Sabrina is a nurse, she talked to Nana all about her injury, read all of the papers Nana was given at Urgent Care, and was a real encouragement to her Christmas evening.

However, the Thursday after Christmas, Nana's pain had worsened to the point where Roy and I finally drove her to the Emergency Room. They did a CT scan there, had it reviewed by an orthopaedic surgeon (one of the very physicians I used to work for!) who discovered Nana had very certainly fractured her sacrum (in other words, her tail bone) ~ but her CT scan also revealed she has arthritis in her spine! My mom has enjoyed almost perfect health her entire lifetime. She told me a few weeks ago, she didn't even know what people meant when they mentioned having a "headache" because she'd never had one!

We had a follow-up appointment yesterday with the orthopedic physician and because Nana's pain was not controlled with the meds she was prescribed through the ER, she was prescribed stronger pain medication. I spent a few hours today with mom and Roy and this new medication FINALLY seems to be helping to get her pain under control. I'm so relieved about that. It's pretty difficult to see your own mother in that much pain. She has been told by her doctors that this injury will take three to six months to heal! That's a LONG time.

For the next little while at least, I'll be checking on mom and Roy every day and going with them to their appointments. Sometimes doctors are difficult to understand and oftentimes they don't explain themselves very well. So it is expedient that they have someone with them to "interpret" and advocate for them. And for now, even though I have absolutely ZERO medical training and expertise, that person is me ~ it's certainly what God expects of me in this situation and I am waiting to see just what He will teach me through it.

Pray for Nana, okay?

Photos of Christmas week ...

2011-01-01T10:44:00.000-08:00

Finally! I'm finding both the time and strength to post some pictures of our celebration of Christmas. Today is New Year's Day, however, so first of all ... HAPPY NEW YEAR. I'm glad we took plenty of pictures last week because without them, I would have almost no recollection of what took place around here ~ the days kind of blur together sometimes with all of the comings and goings of family.
Sabrina, Andrew, Olivia, Jackson and Karis arrived the Wednesday afternoon before Christmas. Since they don't normally see snow in Texas and we had about six inches of the white stuff here, the little kids were really excited about it. I didn't go outside with them Wednesday afternoon ~ it was TOO cold and I had only started to recover from being so sick. Grandpa Jones did take some pictures, but mostly of the backs of folk heaving snowballs at each other. Hopefully Sabrina got some better photographs of their fun in the snow. The picture above is the next morning (I thnk) when we all played a game of snakes and ladders together. The game pieces that come with it are very tiny flat colored circles ... Sabrina had the idea of using some of our larger toys as the moving pieces instead. It was fun to play this way! This game is actually a puzzle that you assemble before you can actually play the game, so it adds a bit of fun even before the game begins!
Adam, Emily and Jeremiah came over later that day and everyone played together. Jeremiah has two cousins on Emily's side of the family very similar in age to Jackson and Karis ... so he was right at home playing with "older" kiddos. He seemed to like our small Thomas the Christmas Train layout we had in the front room.
We naturally did a bit of art projects because ... it's so much fun to do with grandchildren!
Everyone was working on making Christmas cards and pictures to give as gifts ...
I had a few foam Christmas stickers that were fun to play with ...

And then before we knew it (practically), it was Christmas Eve. We attended the 5:00 worship service that night ... so beautiful. We listened to the Christmas story from the gospels, we sang tons of beautiful Christmas carols, and the little children had a special Christmas story that was read to them.

This is Karis and Jackson sitting on the platform in the front of the church looking at the monitor as the story of "Humphrey's First Christmas" was read to all of the children gathered there. Cute story too.
After the service was over, we ate a yummy dinner at Olive Garden ... such great food ...
Karis enjoyed her dinner there very much. This is such a sweet picture of her.
And I love this picture of Olivia and Andrew. She didn't know I was taking it ... so ... look at her beautiful smile!
I'm not sure which day these next few pictures are from! I think it is earlier in the day on Christmas Eve. Adam and Emily were over for awhile, but then they had plans with Emily's family for Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning was ... early! I think Olivia would have enjoyed a few more hours of sleep, but she was quite outnumbered by the little kiddos ...
... who couldn't wait to open presents!
This is Karis digging way way into her stocking to show us she had emptied the whole thing!
Olivia ... you have the sweetest face! Olivia was so pleased with everything she opened.
Karis and Jackson were SO excited during the gift opening, that they were put in charge of handing out the presents ... so as to distract them and keep them busy while waiting for their next present to open. It worked well!
Andrew received this beautiful Bocce ball set from Sabrina ...
Jackson got many and various sized sets of LEGOS ... he is a very good builder and just loves everything LEGO makes!
Karis received a "Jessie" doll that looked exactly like the Toy Story doll she is from! She is really cute and has a pull string with (I think) 30 different sayings!
Olivia made a beautiful card for her folks from the foam stickers we were working on prior to Christmas and wrote a nice long note as well.
More family came over a little later in the day on Christmas ... in time for dinner and more gift opening ...
Little Mister was all dressed up for Christmas in a darling little penguin vest ... isn't he precious? These are wonderful pictures of Adam and Jeremiah!
Since this is Dylan and Kelly's first married Christmas, Sabrina made them a special Christmas ornament ~ wasn't that sweet of her?

Jackson and Karis found a basket of some of my puppets and were behind the couch entertaining Dylan and Kelly. I love Jackson's smile as he is looking at Paco the Pig ...
This is one of the Toy Story 3 LEGO sets that Jackson received. Sabrina put a lot of the harder parts together, but Jackson is a good builder too!
Karis received a couple of BIG Melissa & Doug puzzles, which have thick sturdy pieces. This was a Safari puzzle, 4 feet long, very colorful. We all helped to put it together.
We did a bunch of art stuff during various afternoons before and after Christmas. I really liked the ladybug Sabrina drew with the help of my newest Melissa & Doug stencil sets ... Sabrina is very artistic.
Emily tried her hand with playing our Bedouin flute ... she did pretty good with it ... I've tried it for ages and all it does is screech! Can you see #12 grandchild starting to show on Emily's tummy?
I love these photos of Emily and her wee man ...
Tuesday night we had a pizza and game night and invited the whole gang. We had given Adam and Emily a LEGO game, "Creationary", for Christmas ~ it's just like "Pictionary" only you take a card and BUILD the picture until someone guesses what on earth you are trying to build! It's really a fun game. I don't think it's in regular stores yet. I found it on LEGO's website (www.lego.com). The game is labeled, "Ages 7 and up" and since Jackson is 6-1/2 and watched us playing the game for awhile and begging to play ... we had him play a couple of rounds with us! He was SO good at guessing what was being built ~ and he did very decent when it was his turn to do the building! I think he enjoyed himself hugely playing with the adults.

I have tons more photographs, but I think these give you some idea of what our Christmas was like. Last night, I did sit quietly by our beautiful Christmas tree and listened to Michael W. Smith's latest Christmas album and gave thanks again for our Lord and Savior and His great kindness in coming to earth for us. My goal is to be more like Him this year and love Him with all of my heart. I hope your New Year is filled with His many blessings!

Roy is 90 today ...

2010-12-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Almost four years ago now, my mother (Nana) and Roy fell in love ... they married three months later. Roy is an exceptional person in just about every way. I cannot say enough kind words about him. He is a person who loves unconditionally ... what a precious gift! He also is a man of integrity, hard-working, honest, and one of the kindest folk you will ever meet!

Today is Roy's 90th birthday. I love this picture of my mom and her Roy. Roy's only son, David, planned a nice surprise birthday occasion for him two weeks ago; but I was so sick, I could not attend. I was hugely disappointed. I had wanted to deliver his birthday card and present today, but Nana slipped and fell on a patch of ice outside in their driveway almost two weeks ago and she is really in a lot of pain. Thankfully, nothing is broken ... but she has to rest and recover. She really isn't "up" for company ... so I'm going to phone Roy a bit later and sing "Happy Birthday" to him (I'm sure he'll be thrilled).