For Grandpa and Grandma Hand ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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!

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 ...

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!