I just had to wish you all a Merry Christmas

As we read the words below and contemplate what they really mean, it is overwhelming!  Wish I had the ability to have the song play along with it, but alas, that is something I have not learned to do.
   
   



Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?


Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?


This child that you've delivered
 Will soon deliver you.



Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?


Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?


And when you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God.




The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb





Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?


Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am


   
   
   

May the true joy of Christmas
be with you throughout the year.

I'm feeling my age, ladies.....

On the tenth, the morning we left for our cruise, I tripped and had a terrible fall.  I proceeded on to the airport and caught my plane.  As the day progressed, my misery intensified and consequently, I spent most of my week in my stateroom---first on ice and then on heat.  Needless to say it was a very long week, and I longed for home. 

I have been home now for eleven days and last night was the first night I was able to sleep on my side, so I'm so thankful for that!  (I don't sleep well on my back)

Anyway, these last eighteen days have been a time of reflection for me as I have sat and endured the very slow process of healing.  I have made some decisions that will make me sad, but I have come to believe that they are best for me.

I am leaving this blog, but will be keep my card blog open.  Believe me, when I say, that the friendships I have gathered through you, dear fellow bloggers, have been precious to my soul.  I plan to continue to follow all of your blogs.  I may not always comment, but rest assured, I am reading your posts and am being blessed by them!

I hope that you will feel free to email me or call anytime.  Please do. 

I didn't finish writing my spiritual journey in depth,  as I had planned, but much of the end of the story is here.  If you skip down about half way, you will learn the "rest of the story"!

This has been a great "ride" and I've gleaned so much through blogging, but it is time to spend more time in the things I have often neglected in the past few years.

So I say good-bye from blog land, but hope to continue the friendships which I have with so many of you.

I'm off to see the world!!!!

I interrupt the saga of telling my spiritual journey to let you know that I'm on my way to the Mexican Rivera for a week on a cruise with three ports of call.  I've been there at least five times, but always enjoy the ship, visiting the towns, and just relaxing.


This is a small group this time--my daughter Tammy, by brother and his wife, and me.  We'll have a great time.  We're all game players, so I know we will be having fun with that.  I always have books to read along, and Tammy and I are both in different Bible Studies, so we will have to carve out daily time to work on that so we don't fall behind.  I enjoy sitting by one of the huge windows in any of the lounges and just drinking in the greatness of the ocean when we are on the high seas.  Those times alone are wonderful for reflecting, praying and praising!!




Thanks to all of you who have been praying specifically for my back to hold up.  It has and it is!!  I'm praising the Lord for that!!  I'm really looking forward to the sunshine, not cooking any meals, and having all of my temporal needs met--even having my room cleaned daily and my bed made for me!!  Awwwww--I tell you, its the life!!!  : )


Two years ago for Thanksgiving we did this same cruise, only with our kids and the grandchildren and we had a great time.  I will leave you with a few scenes from same area, 2007!

I'll miss visiting your sites!  Until later.......

My Spiritual Journey, part 3--a taste of Heaven!

“We write to taste life twice, 

in the moment and in retrospection” 
~Anais Nin

FAll 1950

Westmont bound

healing begins

I left for Westmont in Santa Barbara that September, glad to escape the terrible grief and sadness which permeated our home after our little David's early Home going.

Arriving on campus was a little like a foretaste of Heaven.  True healing began as I found myself in the arms of a wonderful Christian atmosphere, which bathed me in love, prayer, God's righteousness, and so many blessings.

The friendships I formed at Westmont were deep and still strong today.

One of the things we did at Westmont was sing.  We sang in dinner lines, we gathered in the lounge after dinner and sang, we had 'sings', we went to the beach and ended up singing.  I learned that year that music is a 'balm' to the soul.

Our freshman class song was "Living for Jesus".

As I sang that song again and again throughout that year, the Spirit softened my heart, and I learned to rejoice, again, in who I was in Christ.  I have no words to explain the heights and depths of my emotions that year as I fell in love with Jesus Christ with so much more depth than I had ever experienced!

How could I sing the chorus from my heart

Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

without life changing happenings in my heart and life?
 

...and then, there was the first verse which I soon could honestly sing and mean every breath of what I was singing!

O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me.
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.

It was a year of 

beautiful experiences,

beautiful friendships,

beautiful memories,

amazing healing,

and

life changes which have been with me through out my life!

*******
a postscript--today's Daily Bread had this quote at the bottom
"A heart in tune with God can't help but sing His praise."

My Spiritual Journey--through the summer of 1950

You might want to read part 1 of my spiritual journey if you missed it. 

********

Beaverton Union High School graduation

Deadly Accident

Rebellion

Bitterness

Anger

Agony

Grief

My childhood Bible

Its tattered and torn, but it served me well during those 'tween years before college.  The King James Version was the only version I had seen as a young person.  I found it laborious to read, hard to understand, at times, and often struggled with consistency in being in the Word.  During my teen years I look back and see that I was a fairly "pompous" Christian, priding myself on what I did not do, rather than Whom I served!!  I realize now, with hindsight, that I knew very little about a 'gut-level' relationship with the Lord, nor did I have a grasp of what it meant to grieve the Holy Spirit.

I was outwardly pious, but inwardly I was something of a rebel.  I had two vices--one was dragging Broadway in downtown Portland on Saturday nights, and the other was an addiction to roller skating!!

I had a good friend (Christian family) who had no limits put on her and she had the use of a car.  So....I often spent the night with her  where there were no curfews...and we were on the wild side--nothing terrible, but I would have embarrassed my mother if she had seen me yelling out of the car windows on Broadway!!

I graduated from high school in 1950 and  I had my acceptance letter from Westmont College in Santa Barbara.  I was elated over going away to college and excited about planning all I would need to take with me, shopping for clothes, and all the things that go with going out of state for school.  Little did I know what lay ahead that summer....

During the summer of 1950, my adored uncle (my mom's youngest brother), in a terrible accident, backed over and killed his own little four year son.  This had happened at a southern Oregon beach town, so it was the next day that a friend drove them to our home where they stayed for many weeks.  It was the darkest time I had ever experienced.  I remember standing in my bedroom and shaking my fist at God and yelling. "Why? Why? Why?" and feeling such anger at God.  I scared myself!

Until that day, I had never seen my Father cry.  Family gathered at our home waiting for my Uncle and family to arrive.  I saw my big, strong, farmer Uncle (Mom's oldest brother), who came with his family, walk in and stretch out on my parents' bed and sob like a baby.  Later in the day we all received the grieving family into our home, our hearts,  and into our arms.  

Family--what an all encompassing word!  

We huddled close, we wept, we planned a funeral, we viewed the remains of a beautiful little golden-haired child.....and we wept some more.

It was terrible to see my handsome young uncle, who stood 6 feet, 6 inches, reduced to a sobbing confused, childlike man, who had just turned 40!  Even as I write this, almost sixty years later, my heart wrenches in remembrance!  We actually spoon fed him, for in his grief, he could not eat without help.  (My Uncle lived another forty years, had two more sons, but the twinkle in his eye, died with his little David!)

A root of bitterness welled up in me that summer against God, and I was overwhelmed, watching my aunt and uncle trying to mend their shattered lives, as they dealt with grief in a way that I had had yet to experience.

This was my first "valley" experience.  There were to be many more, but none have been quite so raw as this one was.

coming--the college years and healing

My Spiritual Journey, part 1

1932

A Swiss Miss is born

1941

The High Calling

Good News

Born Again

Finding a Well of Peace

Certainty in an Uncertain World

I was the first child of my parents, Bud and Grace. Dad was a grocery store manager and mother was the head of an obstetrics hospital here in Portland. My mother was a Christian, but my father was not. They had married without her parents' full blessing.

When I was four years old, an evangelist, Charles E. Fuller came to our town, Baker, Oregon, for one night. It was below zero, but Mother persuaded Dad to go. He was truly gloriously changed that night as he found the Lord....and his life was never to be the same again. He was so excited he forgot his overcoat, despite the cold temperature.

Shortly after that, we returned to Portland and were part of a body of believers called Grace and Truth Assembly (Plymouth Brethren). After the mornings of worship and preaching, I used to come home truly disturbed over all of the talk about "eternity". In fact, it was the most disturbing word in my childhood vocabulary! "Forever" just blew my mind and I found it frightening to think about.

************

As the winds of war began to whirl around us, the inner peace was driven further away. After letting these thoughts fester in my inner being for several years, one night, long after I had gone to bed, I couldn't sleep, as the prospect of eternity was so overwhelming to me. It was at that time I knew that I was not a Christian and out of fear of the consequences, I got out of bed, went down to the living room and crawled onto my Dad's lap and spilled out all of my fear and unhappiness. My Daddy led me to the Lord Jesus that night and I asked Him to come into my life. I confessed to God, that night, that I was a sinner and needed the Savior....and I was forgiven. My heart was cleansed and set free. Oh JOY! for that little nine year old girl, who had struggled so long about being "left behind". I HAD BECOME PART OF THE FAMILY OF GOD!!

He has held me with an everlasting love from that night on, even though I have been rebellious, have been cold in my heart toward Him, have drifted and have grieved His precious Spirit within, many times. However I have never doubted His love for me. (I have certainly doubted my love for Him over the years, but I have always been secure in Him, although I had a period in my life when I believed that God had turned his back upon me.)

stay tuned--there's more

What's Happening??

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I've just been flat down for the past twelve days with this dastardly back of mine. Today I am feeling improvement and must get back to blogging!

Some time ago, Joanne, at Blessed, challenged us to tell our Spiritual story. I've thought about it a lot--have vacillated back and forth--and have decided to do mine..... in segments.

I had written it out about ten years ago when I was asked to speak to a group of people. I had made a visual to go with the presentation, but rather than use that, I will preface each post with the words I had highlighted in my visual.



So............the next post will be Part I of my spiritual journey. In places it is brutally honest, and I hope I can share these valleys of my life which I've kept pretty close to my heart over the years.

ANGST (my favorite word right now)

anxiety

fear

apprehension

worry

foreboding

trepidation

malaise

disquiet

disquietude

unease

uneasiness

Have you ever known any of these feeling?????

I spent part of my summer under a dark cloud which I didn't talk about much, but every day life seemed darker and darker. One morning as I faced my day, the weight upon my heart was a black burden bearing my spirit some place I didn't want to go.

I was pretty sure it was situational....so I examined the whole thing, delved into circumstances, and came up with two pretty big situations that were burdening me down.

#1 The Speaker of the House had made an announcement about mid-summer, that any one who did not agree with the proposed health plan was unamerican! I took that statement to heart and let it ruminate within...and it did ruminate!!

I had and still have many questions about the proposed health care plan. I have read large segments of it and it left me frankly, distressed. My biggest concern was the speed which it was being railroaded down our throats, without the leaders having read it all, We need health care reform in this country, but my questions were what is the rush, other than to get it through, regardless of errors and what it truly meant to us as Americans.

But the main thought for me was that I have always felt like a good American. I have tried to live right, to pay what I owe the government, have been law-abiding, and very patriotic! Now, I'm told I am not a good American if I question the health care plan. I began to feel oppressed, loss of freedom of my thoughts and in the ability to express them without censure, and I began to grieve for my America. My fickle mind took me down many trails, and I, for a time, forgot Whose I am, I think!

#2 About this same time, some spokesman from the White House, gave out an email address and asked us to report any negative emails we received about the health plan, and from whom it came.

That almost sent me over the edge!!

Is this America.....

or pre-war Germany where school children were encouraged to report their parents if they weren't totally for the regime,

or was this Russia where people were encouraged to report any Christian gatherings to the hierarchy.

I could not believe that such a site had been set up for tattling on one another in MY America! (The site has recently been shut down)


From these two situations, I allowed my mind to take me to the darkest places in thinking where this sort of thing could lead.

However, as I pondered all of this that had been ruminating for several weeks, I realized that I had not turned to the Source of healing and peace, and in getting into the Scriptures I found solace and comfort in the following scriptures.

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

and last, but not least.....

Psalms 37
look it up...and be blessed

Gradually, the blackness lifted and I began to appreciate that if and when I have to face terrible trials in my own country, I have to believe that the Spirit of God will give me what I need to face whatever it is. In the meantime, I only have to live moment to moment....and not borrow tomorrow's troubles.

A friend reminded me of this truth...

Time is an instant on the line of eternity.
We are not in control!

This is an account of a real spiritual battle I faced this summer. It was not written with any intent to offend anyone whose beliefs are different from mine. This is an account of my reality....and my peace at last.

I wish the Speaker of the House could have known those
who were born and raised in this farm house
where patriotism was taught, right along with the Word of God.
They were the "salt of the earth".
They were my heritage!

God Bless America!!

Finding My Purse Has Gone to My Head!

I'm still rejoicing over finding my purse whole!

My brother and his wife found a good deal for a cruise, so today I signed up to go with them!!

I think yesterday's adventure has gone to my head!

So..........come October, I'll be sailing off to the Mexican Rivera for a little R and R! (Lord willing, that is!)

Let me show you my home away from home for those seven days.......


Anyone else looking for a good deal, contact me and I'll give you the details!
It is basically a two for one price for the cabin.

The Elusve Purse

Today. I. Lost. My. Purse.

My first errand of the day was to run into Michaels and get a punch I have been wanting with my 40% off coupon. I added a few more things, went through check-out, parked my basket, and went to my car where I tossed my sack of purchases onto the passenger seat.

As I pulled up to my second errand of the day, I reached over to grab my purse......and it wasn't there. I searched the car....and nothing.

It was at this point I began imagining that people were already at my home, knowing it was empty, robbing me, etc. I thought about having to replace everything in my wallet--driver's license, my cards, etc. and I panicked!!

I began to pray--I begged the Lord for it to be back at Michaels some place. I prayed earnestly all the way back.

I first checked the carts--not there. I went to one of the checkers and she didn't know anything about a purse being turned in.

She sent me to another checker. I was still praying, but was getting more rattled as the moments passed.

The second checker said yes a purse was found in an empty basket and she asked me to describe it for her. I immediately said, "It is multicolored with polka dots."

She looked at me strangely, but held up my purse.


I thanked her profusely, thanked the Lord over and over and went on my way rejoicing!

I learned that my brain doesn't work too well under pressure...(well, actually it doesn't work too well anytime!!) and how I ever left my purse in that cart, I will never figure out. (I had taken my car keys out of the purse, obviously, since I was able to drive the car to errand two)

The lesson here is for me pay attention more closely to my actions. I still cannot believe that I left my purse in that basket! I am so grateful that the Lord looked after this old lady in my real hour of need!! I'm just praising him with a smile on my face all afternoon! Wonderful ending to
my carelessness! Thank you, Lord!!

A Letter from Iraq

Sarah is the daughter of a friend of mine. Her Mom has shared her letters with me since Sarah was in basic training over two years ago. She was deployed to Iraq in July as a trained paramedic. It is her first love.....however she has a commanding officer who discovered she knows the computer rather well, and she is currently being kept in an office. Understandably, she is upset not to be doing what she has trained for and loves so much.

This letter came and it was so poignant, in the hymn she shares, as well as her expressed affection for her parents, that I wanted to share it. I think every mother's heart will appreciate this girl's heart for the Lord and her desire to serve him with gladness in all she does. I think most mother's hearts would love to receive a letter like this. I have found Sarah's letters to be so open and honest that I am always refreshed when one of her missiles arrives.

Her letters have kept me remembering what our service people go through in these bleak, desert countries and some of the verses to her hymn certainly describe her situation.

With Sarah's permission, I share this letter with you.

8-14-09
My darling mother,

I love you. I don't think I say that enough and I do. You and Dad have
taught me so much about how to live, how to love and what to value. Because
of you I know how precious life is and how to rejoice when it is good and at
least try to be patient and accepting and as as joyful as possible when it's
not. Thank you.

Tonight I went up to the diving board, "my special place" and I was singing
softly to myself and "Blessed Be Your Name" came to mind. Honestly it comes
to mind often here.

Blessed be your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your Name.

Blessed be your Name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your Name.

Chorus:
Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your Name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious Name

Blessed be your Name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your Name.

Blessed be your Name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name.

Chorus

You give and take away,
You give and take away,
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your Name!

A fellow in a different company was hit and lost a leg. One of my buddies
was the medic that treated him. I hate not being able to comfort, I hate not
being able to ease the pain, I hate that the world's not as it should be and
never can be until God reigns supreme! What is it you say? Come now Lord
Jesus! I pray fervently that His healing hand would be on that soldier and
that He would also bring comfort and healing to my friend.

I love you and am so thankful for you! Be Strong and Courageous! Know that I
am in the Lord's hand, I am confidant of that, I hope you are as well!

Always, and eternally, His,

Your daughter, Sarah

Since this letter was written, it appears that her desire to tend to the wounded is going happen.

"I got the word today that I will be allowed to go on convoys. I know this
isn't exciting news to you but I have felt distanced from my fellow soldiers
being at the TOC and having the opportunity to be with them is something I
cherish. I'm not assigned to one for over a month and I won't be able to
tell you when I go out but know that I am in the Lord's hand wherever I am!
As are you, for which I'm so thankful."

I'm back....and I'm a year older!!

Some things I learned this summer as I turned 77!

I thought these were true and pretty cute!

Its important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle!

Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

Age is mind over matter...if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old!

...and having spent the week with my high energy, almost 16 year old grandson, tonight I am definitely feeling old....and a little out of touch, as I watch his fingers flying over the cell phone texting. I have to wonder what happened to conversation?????

Dad

Although its been thirty one years since I've celebrated Father's Day with my Dad,

he lives on in my heart and mind as if it were yesterday.

He was a man who did not know a stranger and befriended many people over the years. Dad was a soul winner and never failed to share the Lord's goodness to those he met. The consummate host, I can safely say that hundreds enjoyed meals around my parents' table! He loved his Lord, his wife, his kids, and his grand kids.

He was simply Bud Thompson,
born December 20, 1902!

number six of fourteen sibs

left home at age fourteen--didn't see his last sister until she was six

by seventeen he was a sheep herder for my grandfather
packing for a summer in the hills with the sheep

catching fish in those mountain streams in eastern Washington

by age nineteen he was in the army
boys will be boys, no matter the generation they are from

still working on the ranch in 1927--check out those boots!

In 1931, by now a manager at Safeway, he married the sheep rancher's daughter, my mother,
who was the love of his life until the day he died.

By 1932, I was born and he immediately wrote to his Mother about this first baby of his...

"Dear Mama and Folks, Well everything is over and we have a dandy girl looks just like Grace only has big blue eyes instead of brown. Grace is feeling fine and happy as can be. She sure is glad its over. I have a dandy family now. I told Grace as we were going in, that I'd just as soon have a girl. Her name is Joan Claire--pretty name, I think don't you? She weighs 9 lb & 6 1/2 oz--just a small baby. Gee, I sure feel funny. Papa Bud?? I could only look thru the window at her. Grace will come home in about 10 days. I sure will be glad. Gee, I love that girl, both of them.............. Gee, Mama, we sure have a nice baby. I sure wish you were here. Grace is getting a lot of attention from everyone as she has so many friends She sure is a dandy....
Well, Bye Bye from Joan & Grace & Papa Bud

At the time I was born, my Dad was not a believer, even though he had the way of salvation explained to him over and over, he just didn't "get it". In a book that my mother wrote of her life, was one special letter she wrote to her grandchildren. It recorded a day in my Dad's life she never forgot and she wanted the grandchildren to know the story.

She wrote:
"This is one thing I should tell. It was the one event that made the greatest change in our lives. Bernie was 18 months old about. It was Armistice night, November 11, 1935. Mr. Charles E. Fuller came to Baker, Oregon for one night. Grandpa went with me, because I wanted him to go. That night Mr. Fuller talked about the Ark, and God shut the door--Grandpa said he knew that he was not inside the Ark. He accepted the Lord that night, asked forgiveness of his sins and Joan and Bernie had a new father, a new man in Christ. What a difference it made in his life...and ours. He had only one desire for each of you, that you would be saved. I do pray for each one of you every day. I do want you to please the Lord, and live for the Lord, if you belong to Him--Always remember what a real man of God your grandfather was. I always wish he could have been with us longer, because of his influence on our lives, but he was here long enough to leave his mark if we think about it. My blessings on you, and remember, "Only one life, twill soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last. Your grandmother"

mid life was here before we knew it

the unruly curls of his youth settled into a nice wave

The years passed so quickly. Two more babies would be born to this family, Dad opened his own grocery store in Beaverton, Oregon and eventually became a broker for a large gourmet company, from which he retired.

a vital, busy man until the end

and finally the last picture of him, taken that summer at Manzanita Beach

His love for children never ended. I am privileged to have called him 'Dad,' thankful my children called him 'grandpa', and grateful always, that one night, when I was nine years old, I sat on his lap and he gently and firmly led me to the Lord.

I had a good father, not polished as some are, but a diamond in the rough, a vessel through which the love of Christ shone for many years, and a man, who one morning, after Bible reading with my Mother, without warning, simply left us, at age 75, to enter into the arms of the One he adored, his beautiful Saviour!

I rejoice in the father I was given, not perfect, but he loved us..and the older I get, the more I rejoice and am thankful for all that this father I called mine, provided in my life.

I miss my Dad, even after all of these years. I know I shall see him again--what a precious thought!

And with this very long post, I bid you farewell until fall--please don't take me off your lists--just let me drop to the bottom. Lord willing, I shall return with renewed time and energy in September.

Friendship

I'm back.....and I'm older!!

Some things I learned this summer as I acquired the grand old age of 77.

Its

A little "lovey" joined our family today!!

This was a day of blessing, answered prayers, lots of emotions, joy, thanksgiving, and rejoicing as we welcomed this wee little fellow into our hearts and families!

This is Cole Christopher, nestling on his Daddy's chest. He was born at noon today and weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces! He is 20 inches long and an absolutely beautiful little baby boy!!

Cole and his Daddy.

I have a cute picture of the Mommie, but she looks so weary in it, that I decided not to include it. I will say that she looked beautiful, with wonderful color in her face, and was a sweet picture of new motherhood!

For the ladies who like the details, they got to the hospital, at midnight, (pre-arranged). She was given something to soften things up. She stayed at a 1 throughout the night without contractions. At 6 am her water broke, contractions began at 7 am and by noon baby was here. So I would say that a six hour process was wonderful for her with a first baby.
She never had to have the "pit" drip which was such a blessing!

So....it was a reminder, once again, of the miracle that is called birth.

We rejoice tonight for the goodness of God's hand on this marvelous little boy

and his safe delivery.

His Mommie and Daddy have no idea, yet, what a love affair they are embarking upon!
They are blessed....and so are we!

The Masche Miracles are Turning Two!

On June 11, the Masche sextuplets will turn two. They will also be starring in a new series called Raising Sextuplets on the WE channel. There is a cute web page on the WE channel site with lots of cute pictures, announcements about the new series, and some preview videos of the programs.

This morning the family was on the Today Show. There are some darling pictures, and a video if you explore the site a little. I lifted this picture from the site. (I wonder if that is legal??)
Since Jenny went back to work full time, she has not had time to send pictures like she did for a while. There are plenty of current pictures on the two websites which I highlighted above.

She still e-mails me, tho, with news of the family. They are a dear young couple whose purpose in life is to glorify the Lord Jesus as they raise their little ones in Him. Their reality series will not imitate Jon and Kate! It will be an honest look at two parents raising six little ones in today's world with all of the problems and challenges most young families face.

I am soooo looking forward to watching the series. I've been so impressed with Jenny over the months of cyberspace friendship we have shared. I have fallen in love with those sweet children.
...and for those who know me well, you know there never has been a baby I did not fall in love with!! So.....six of them is pure joy!

Because I did a huge post last year for their first birthday, I get a large number of hits daily on the Masches. So......for all of those looking for news about the sextuplets, I shared this post today so all who are interested can enjoy the new series on the Masche Miracles!!!

I hope the next time I post about these little sweeties, I will have seen them in person, been able to love on them, and enjoy a real face to face time together. ( a trip is in my future, Lord willing.)

Getting ready for summer

For Mother's Day, daughter Tammy gave me a certificate worth five hours of her help! What a gift for me! She did all of the planting for me, which is such a blessing.

A couple of weeks ago and I got my hanging pots at the nursery. They are unusually pretty this year, I think. The first one is from my son and his family for Mother's Day and I loved the pink of the Impatiences and was able to match the colors in the remaining baskets.

The sitting pots are all planted and dispersed around the yard and patio. This one is a sample. I will have to retake this picture in one month and we'll all enjoy how nature will have grown it!
This hanging wall planter is one of my favorites. Here it is close-up!
I have been in the process of organizing, tossing, etc. in my craft room.
It is slowly, but surely, getting done. I do run across things I forgot I had, so I have had to stop and make things along the way.

Below is a box I made, filled with cards, for a friend's birthday.

I had some ladies in for a birthday luncheon for my friend on Sunday, so had the box by her place at the table.
Having this luncheon was a huge boost for me psychologically, as I don't entertain much anymore because of my unpredictable back. I was thrilled to have it go off with very little discomfort and feel ready to try it again.

Always when I use my Mom's china, I feel close to her. I used one of Mom's recipes she often used for the many luncheons she used to have. My friends all knew my Mom well and it seemed right to use her things for this special group of friends!

Update

My doctor's nurse just called me and said that my CT scan showed no nodules present!! Isn't that amazing? I feel like I have had a wonderful answer to prayer. Thank you to all of you who prayed for me. Truly I am rejoicing. I had decided that I probably had the same lung disease that my Mom had, Pulmonary Fibrosis...not for now, at least.

Now on to new posts in the days to come!! ...and continued organizing!! which is coming right along. The trouble is I run into something I forgot about and stop and make a card, or a decorative box, or something which sidetracks me!

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!!

X Rays and other things

You know I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel with today's subject. I often think if I was still teaching and in the middle of raising my kids, I would have so much to write about..but those days are past..and so here I am....living a fairly quiet life without too much happening. (and loving it, I should add.)

For the past two months I have had a dry, involuntary cough, which has been sooooo annoying! After seeing the doctor on Monday, he sent me for a chest x-ray, and put me on a five day antibiotic. I thought I had had a miracle cure, until this morning when I woke up coughing again with a vengeance!

I received a call from the doctor's nurse this morning telling me that the chest X-ray revealed several nodules on my left lung and I need to have a CT scan, so I will have it tomorrow.

You need to know that I am a worrier plus!! In my mind this morning, I have had myself undergoing a lung biopsy, making decisions if I will allow surgery or not, wondering how I will tolerate Chemo, if "this" is what will take me. All borrowing tomorrow's troubles, of course.

My mother used to say, "Sufficient unto the day, is the trouble thereof."

So....I've explored all the options, have laid it to rest, and am waiting for the antibiotic to kick in and cure me of any spots in my lungs! (that is my hope)

These little blips in the road are wonderful faith builders for reminding ourselves of Whose we are and in Him our days are ordered.

So now, with all of this off my chest, I'm off to continue organizing my office/card room. I LOVE to organize!!

Thanks for listening!

Errands and Observations

Yesterday, as I set off to complete my list of things to do, I made my first stop at Radio Shack. I went in for a battery for my phone, my car key 'thingie', and my garage door opener, and a cheap new phone for my bedside. This turned into a twenty minute stop as my clerk wanted to sell me the store!! I nicely turned down the more expensive phone with all the bells and whistle I didn't need, turned down the insurance policies, rejected his suggestion that I get a new phone to replace the phone for which I was getting a replacement battery. We even had a discussion over my cell phone and what he could do for me with one of theirs. I finally thanked him and escaped to get to my second stop.

My favorite scrapping store was next on my list. The owner is always so helpful and always answers my questions and knows exactly where to direct me for some of my favorite papers. As I visited with her and took her ready help, I couldn't help but remember that this dear woman eighteen months ago, held her eleven year old son in her arms as he died, as they were rushing him to the hospital with flu symptoms. I marvel at her grace and sereneness after all of this...and I admire her courage to carry on and her faith in the Lord which surely must be the reason she is able to even breathe!

She shared with me that she has a little grandson whom she adores. I rejoice with her for this child in her life. She showed me an adorable little scrapbook she had made for him. I liked it so much that I bought all of the trappings to make one!

After quick stops at the post office, the library, and Craft Warehouse, I was finally able to reach my final destination of the day---lunch out with my current book!!

And that is when I observed something which I hope isn't a new trend. At a booth across the room from me was a darling young couple. I glanced their way a couple of times when I saw what was occupying them. He had a laptop propped open on the table in front of him and she was totally wrapped up in a conversation on her cell phone! throughout their whole lunch!

Such is the electronic age! I guess I am way more comfortable with my nose in a book....but I don't think I've done that yet....if I have a companion with me!!

..and so my day went--interesting and productive!

Off the subject.....the Roadies are blooming and the sun is shining!

A Triumphant Week comes to a close....for now!

Some things I learned over the past few days...

In the phrase, "the old young people" the operative word is OLD!

Being raised in a marvelous, Godly, extended family was a blessing beyond measure!

I did not know my heart could be so full of love for all of my family.

I did not know the depth of thanksgiving with which my heart overflows .

I did not know the Peruvian flag could make such a beautiful center piece
when interspersed with gorgeous red geraniums!


Perhaps, most of all, I am learning that saying good bye to these precious friends, cousins, saints, and examples of Godly living, will be very, very hard,
as they plan to finish out their lives in their beloved Peru!
(I am hoping we can talk them into one more trip home....)

Saturday, May 2, 2009, Eastgate Bible Chapel, Portland, Oregon

I learned that time goes by so fast.
How did my dear cousin Jane and I get from this picture

to this one???

"Life at best is very brief, like the falling of the leaf....."

I know I have lots more to learn.

I have learned that life is a school with many
lessons and many blessings
along the way!

Here are a few pictures from the Open House on Saturday.

The honorary doctorate degree and the cap and neck piece
which hangs down the front of the gown.

Newlyweds, in 1949!

Interesting articles, pictures, and mementos on a bulletin board.

It was a wonderful afternoon, with a lovely program of remembrance. There was a video made, which I know I will enjoy watching.

...and I, who never allow my picture to be taken, had it taken twice!!

The Week Marches On...

The graduation is over, the honorary doctorate has been bestowed, and Bert and Colleen remain unruffled by all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding such an honor. Its been a busy week, with tomorrow bringing the Open House celebration. It will be a little bit like Heaven, I'm thinking, greeting so many we haven't seen for some time.

I am sharing what was read about the Elliots before the doctorate was bestowed. It is long, and my main reason for posting it in its entirety, was so family and friends could see it. (I know I could have emailed it, but somehow, having it on my blog is a good way to remember it.)

*********************************

Western Seminary’s Board of Trustees has the privilege of granting honorary degrees to individuals whose Christian service has been especially meritorious, and whose life and ministry epitomize what Western desires for its graduates. The recipient of this year’s honorary doctoral degree is Herbert Elliot.

In 1949, Bert and his wife Colleen arrived in Peru as newlyweds. There they implemented a church planting strategy that used their medical/dental training and evangelistic abilities to bring the gospel to many remote communities along major jungle rivers such as the Amazon.

In 1956, following the death in Ecuador of Bert’s younger brother Jim, the Elliots expanded their ministry to the mountains of Peru. This required additional adjustments to both a new culture and a new approach to ministry. For the next 30 years, they developed a network of churches in both the Peruvian jungle and mountains.

Bert and Colleen made yet another major ministry shift in 1988 when they moved to the coastal city of Trujillo. Due largely to their ministry (in partnership with Western graduates Jorge and Donna Osorio), the church known as Centro Biblico Trujillo has become a major church planting and missionary sending center. In addition, the Elliots founded the Jim Elliot Christian School, which currently offers a K-12 education to about 250 students.

No human can fully recognize the amount of heavenly good that has been achieved through the Elliots’ sixty years of faithful ministry. Yes, we can count the 115 churches that were planted; but we can only guess how many comprise the multitude of lives that were transformed directly and indirectly through Bert and Colleen’s ministry.

What makes this impact all the more incredible is recognizing the many challenges the Elliots faced in Peru, from contracting diseases associated with jungle life and medical work to opposition from cocaine dealers and Marxist terrorists.

When Randy Alcorn concluded his chapter in a recent volume entitled, Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints, he used Bert and Colleen Elliot as his final example of long lives well-lived. After recounting a conversation he had with Bert that contrasted the ministry of the two Elliot brothers, Randy pens these words: “While Jim’s relatively short life was like a meteor that blazed dramatically across the sky, Bert’s life is more like a faint star that rises night after night and faithfully crosses the same path in the sky, largely unnoticed on earth.”

Bert, we have noticed that star; and in honoring you, we recognize that we are at the same time honoring Colleen, and ultimately the Lord whom you both have so faithfully served.

So, in recognition of his distinguished ministry in significantly advancing the cause of Christ (especially in the realm on global mission), Western Seminary is delighted to confer the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree upon Herbert Elliot.

The Old Young Peoples' Group!

With the arrival of Bert and Colleen Elliot on Wednesday, comes the revival of the old
young peoples' group! There will be get-togethers, visits, re-newing of friendships in
the weeks ahead, as we gather together to honor and refresh our enjoyment of these
two special people!



It will begin this morning with Western Seminary having a graduation in which Bert will be
honored with an honorary doctorate degree to commemorate his sixty years of
missionary work in Peru.


There will be a handful of brave 'old youth group' people who will attend this
graduation ceremony.



Since they are only to be here for three weeks, there will be lots of activities packed in.
On Sunday we'll have visitors from around town at our Fellowship, who will be there
just to get a chance to visit with Bert and Colleen.



On Monday I am taking them out to lunch so we can have a good visit and I can just
soak up the love of God they radiate! We will talk of many things, remember many
good memories together, and before the lunchtime is over, Cousin Bert will say, "So,
how is your walk with the Lord, Joanie?' ...and I will have to confess to just "coasting"
too much of the time.



On Thursday we will have breakfast with them with my brother and his wife joining
us. Again, it will be a time of warm fellowship and just loving each other.


Then on the second of May, we begin with an extended family breakfast together. (We
are a pretty big crowd when we are all together) Bert's sister, Jane, will be here from
Wheaton. Jane and I are exactly the same age and have been close friends since we
were toddlers, so I'm so excited to see her and spend some time!!

Joan,Jane-11 months old at back of Elliot home

Here we are at age four in front yard of Elliot home at 7272.

My brother, Bernie joins us.

Elizabeth Elliot and husband Lars, will not be able to come. They were in Peru in
February with Bert and Colleen so will not make the trip now. We had thought Jim
Elliot's daughter, Valarie, was coming, but the last word is that she will not be
coming. I was disappointed about that, as I haven't seen her in years.



In the afternoon there is to be an Open House at a local Bible Chapel, built to hold
several hundred people. This will be a time of celebration of Bert and Colleen's
sixtieth wedding anniversary and their sixtieth year on the field in Peru.



That's when the 'old young people' will flock together and have a rip-roaring time
revisiting the past with long-forgotten memories revived, laughed over, and
remembered with pleasure.
































We did have fun!! Hayrides and backyard cookouts! Simple, but such good times. That's me in the white 'pedal pushers' and plaid shirt in the barn!




I love these get togethers when we see friends and relatives we don't get to see too often.


So........for the next few days there will be lots of excitement in my life. I like that!

...and the decision is......

Staying put!!

Home Sweet Home

My offer was not accepted, but they countered back with a very affordable offer....however I discovered a lot of things about myself this past week as I had to decide whether or not to accept their counter-offer.

I discovered that I'm very attached to my 'things' and having to part with so much was really tugging at my heartstrings. I know "this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through..." but while I am here, parting with the things I've collected over the years would be hard.

I looked at things realistically and I can't do a move like this. I would have to depend on my family to help me get packed, sorted, sales, etc. and I realized the stress would do my back in.

My realtor was very understanding and its not on the market, I'm sleeping at night again, and just walking through the rooms of my house, savoring each one of them.

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" has been on my mind all week as I debated my choices. I don't think I'm unstable, but I am impetuous at times. I'm just praising the Lord they didn't accept my original offer, as that was how I had asked for specific leading. The counter-offer was a great one, but wasn't the original offer, so I felt I had my answer if I wanted out of the deal and as the week wore on, I had no peace about the second offer....so here I am, with my wonderful yard, my attached garage, my guest room, and still my family room.

I DO stir up hornet's nests for myself from time to time.

So now, when you come see me, you will have a bedroom all to yourself...and your own bathroom. The door is always open!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I have come to the place where I feel a need to simplify my life.....and because of that I have put my house on the market and made an offer on a condo. I will be 77 this summer and I would like to make this move before it becomes a necessity.

(my home)

My Mom lived in the same set of condos where I have made an offer, moving in at age 75 and staying there for 21 years. They are one of very few condos built on one floor, are beautifully maintained, and have a wonderful clubhouse for large functions, as well as a summer time pool.

That being said, if my house does not sell, I, of course will stay right here. I adore my home, but I really don't need 1600 square feet, yard maintenance and the other things that go with home ownership. In the condo all outside maintenance is provided. The one thing I will miss is my garage. I love driving in, closing the garage door behind me and going straight into the house with my bundles. I will have a covered carport at the condo.

And so, I have "laid out the fleece" and I will be directed by what happens with my house, I have never had a house on the market for over 4 weeks, so we shall see what happens in this market.

I am motivated to be in Portland as most of my friends are there, as well as my church and my sister. It would cut down on the amount of driving, plus where the condo is located, I would have fairly close freeway access to Salem where my kids live.

This is the place I have an offer on. It is only two bedrooms and one bathroom, with 965 square feet. It is the one on the left.

The following two pictures show the front yard and circle at the end of the culdesac upon which the units are located.

The condo will need a lot of TLC, some simple rewiring, and paint and paper....but that is right up my alley--I love fixing up! Fortunately it has an updated kitchen, and bathroom. My second bedroom will be my craft room, so for the first time in 20 years I will not have a guest room. I plan to invest in a good quality 'hide a bed' for the living room which will fit in with my decor....and I will be without a family room, so the TV will be in the living room, but in a cabinet with closing doors!! I've never had a TV in my living room in all the years I've owned homes!

I will still have room for you to come visit--if you are older than I, then I will give you my room, but if you're younger, you will get the living room! Also, I will still have room for dinner parties.

If this all falls into place I plan to take a lot of before and after pictures. I'm already checking out prices, looking for things that I will need. The Internet surely cuts down on looking in stores. I'm going to have a ball getting things fixed up.

This will be a HUGE lifestyle change for me...and I realize that this will be a new chapter in my life. I hope that if it comes to pass, I will graciously adjust, make friends easily, and get involved in the activities.

Will keep you posted!!

Resurrection Day Greetings

Somebody Special

I would like you to meet Bert and Colleen Elliot, Missionaries, who have served in Peru since 1949. They will soon be home for a few weeks, with many special events planned for them. Since I will be writing of these wonderful family occasions, I thought you should be introduced to two of the dearest people in my life.

Where do I begin? Bert, I have known all my life, and Colleen almost as long. Even as young people, they were exemplary in their walk with the Lord.

As a very young couple, they were willing to follow God’s will in going to minister in Peru. Now in their 60th year of service, only eternity will reveal all that God has been pleased to do through these two dear servants of God.

They began their work in in a hot humid river town called Lagunas. There they shared a tiny cottage with another missionary couple. Their shared house had rammed earth walls and a dirt floor, without benefit of electricity, running water, bathroom - or privacy. They lived for several months, as newlyweds, in this situation. (Its hard to imagine isn’t it?)

They have lived in the high mountains, as well as on the jungle rivers where they spent time on their boat, the Maranatha. For several months of the year, they ministered to many little riverside towns and villages.

In their early years, part of their ministry consisted of Bert pulling teeth and Colleen delivering babies. As they begin to see fruit in their labours, little groups of believers began to form in Yurimaguas, where they lived for many years, and in the river villages. They grew into churches as they studied the Word and recognized leadership.

Since 1988 they have lived in the seaside town of Trujillo.

Elizabeth Elliot’s husband, Lars, wrote after a visit, “They are available for any who call or that ring the doorbell, whether expected or unexpected. Along with open doors there are the Bible Studies, their involvement in the Christian School which is part of the church that was started years ago. Plus there is an exceptional drug program leading addicts into a new life based on Scripture. Not all make it, but many respond to the Gospel.”

Lars goes on to write, “All this after 59 years on the field with no thought of rocking chair or hanging out a shingle saying, ‘busy, please call again.’ What a life of service!”

Bert said to Lars on their last day visiting that if he had been given paper and pencil and told to draw out the perfect wish and plan for his life, it would not have been half as good as what the Lord opened for them. He quoted from Psalm 16, “the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”

In looking back over their lives in Peru, Bert says, “It is like looking back from a moving boat. You see the beautiful patterns in the wake. We found God’s will and now look back with wonder and adoration to see what God has done.”

As I gathered data for this collection of thoughts, my own observations over the many years we’ve been friends, as well as cousins, are rich in warm, wonderful memories. They are such happy people, always smiling, and radiating Christlike love in all of their comings and goings. Several years ago, they both had bouts with cancer, a knee replacement, and they continue to live with the general problems of aging bodies.

Home on furlough, a long time ago, we were all at a family picnic and I asked Bert to look at my six year old Susie’s tooth which was growing in strangely. He asked our Uncle Ted for some pliers and calmly pulled her offending tooth before Sue knew what had happened.

From the time my Jonathan was about three, every time “Uncle” Bert came home, he would be just enthralled. When he was about three or four, whenever anyone came to our house, he would sit them all down, pass out “Bibles” to everyone, then announce he was going to preach to them like “Uncle Bert” does, and he would proceed to “preach” just telling Bible story after Bible story, until he ran out of stories. He would close his Bible, say “amen” and that was the end. I had a few neighbors that used to stop in just to hear him “preach”. Just a funny little kid story, but what an example Bert was to Jonathan....the beautiful part of that story is that Jon’s son, Elliot, is just as enthralled with “Uncle” Bert as his Dad was!

...and today, Jonathan, the grown man, preaches.

I cannot close this without mentioning their music. They sing together in beautiful harmony. Their melodious voices can lift the spirits like none I’ve ever heard! People were drawn to them in the town squares of the many little villages, they visited, by their singing, with Colleen playing the accordion. Bert then had the opportunity to preach.

Over the sixty years we’ve seen them every few years when they came home for furlough, we have spent many happy hours together in my home. I never let them leave without blessing us with a duet to complete the evening.

I want to close this with the meaningful words from a hymn I have heard them sing in duet many times.........

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!
Chorus
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!
***
And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!

Stay tuned for more!

A Glorious Sunday

Today 'Mr. Golden Sun' is shining! It is a marvelous day. Seventy degrees and blessing us all! We have so many dark gray days in Oregon, that it feels like rebirth when the sun comes out!!

I feel like a different person when the sun shines. I've been just rejoicing since I woke up with renewed energy, and a happy heart.

This is indeed ' the day that the Lord has made'....and I am rejoicing in it! I hope it is followed by many more identical days!!

Just thought I would share our good news with all of you!!

Oregon's Columbia River Gorge

Some pictures from last week's trip up the gorge to enjoy the beautiful sights along our lovely Columbia River.

Here's Sophie, the Yorkie, looking around from some type of harness her 'mom' wears.

Grandson Elliot who declined my offer of a haircut very vehemently!!

Molly, looking a little windblown in front of Multnomah Falls.

High up on the old Columbia River Highway, sits the Vista House, from which the next few pictures were taken.

The far background in these pictures is the state of Washington
which borders the Columbia River on the north side!

Hope you enjoyed a few pictures from our beautiful Oregon!!

I Think I'm Back!

Its hard to believe it has been seven weeks since I last posted. I left you all with the list of things I had to do to "fix" my back......well, so far I have not heard from the rehab clinic!! So I have muddled on with the things they had me do at home, which only exacerbated the situation. Finally I stopped and things went back to my "normal".

I talked to them this week and they assure me it is just a matter of getting me in their schedule, but I'm out of the notion, I think. If I can keep moving with gentle exercise, i.e. my stationary bike, following a walking tape, and swimming, I think that will be as helpful as anything I could do by driving an hour each way to the rehab place.

Sooooooo......let's change the subject. I think I am going to come back to blogging, but hopefully with shorter posts! (I'm not sure that I can tell what I have to say with fewer words!!)

Today is the last day of Spring Break here in Oregon. I have had grandson, Elliot, for part of the week, and then his parents came yesterday with Molly, and have done some exploring. Today they are in downtown Portland, riding our Max train and having a good time in "fare less" square. I fixed them a good lunch, so hopefully there will be a dry part in the day where they can enjoy the lunch on a park bench.

It has been good for me to plan for them. I did some cooking and baking ahead of time and put in the freezer, so meals have been easy, but delicious!! They are all good helpers, so kitchen clean-up is a breeze.

I'm enjoying the quiet day with their doggie, Sophie, a little black Yorkie. She loves her "grandma" and comes to find me from time to time. She always looks as if she is saying, "What doing, Gram?"

In the garage is a guinea pig that Molly brought home from school for the week!!

Tonight we are planning to rent Fireproof, the movie starring Kirk Cameron.

Until later.......

Farewell for now...

Its with a real sense of sadness that I say good bye to blogging on this blog for now, as other things in my life will be taking up my time in the months to come. I have loved your visits, your loving and encouraging comments, getting to "know" many of you and just the fun and challenge of thinking of things about which to post!

As many of you know, who have followed my blog, I suffer from chronic and, at times, acute, pain in my upper back of over thirty years duration. The acute phases are happening far more frequently and I'm sitting more and more. A terrible cycle has continued in my body over these many years, in my muscle skeletal system and the time has come (way over due) to start repairing the damage that has been done.

Yesterday I was evaluated at a very long session (six hours) at a Rehab Institute which has had great success with pain management. Long story short, my life style is going to change dramatically in the next few months.

I will be meeting at the rehab institute one day a week for several hours of therapy.

I have therapy to do at home with "rubber bands".

I must ride my recumbent bike daily.

I will be in a specialized aquatic program three days a week.

I must keep a food diary daily.

I must get to bed between eleven and twelve p.m., instead of between two and four a.m.

This is a drastic life style change for me. I am hoping that I will have time to still make cards! I am going to continue with my card blog, hopefully, for now.

If you ever think about it, I would so appreciate your prayers, as this is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. The consistancy is a necessity, which will be difficult for me. (I am making a spread sheet for some accountability)

I plan to keep up with your blogs, but will not be as faithful at leaving comments because of these new time constraints.

Good-bye for now.

Its been a great ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Here's a night shot taken recently during our big snow event, no idea who took it, but to get that much clarity and depth of field they were good!! The Hawthorne Bridge is one of the several which crosses the Willamette river through the heart of the city. The river is very still in this shot, which is unusual, but for the small hours of the morning when river traffic is nil and the wind is quiet.

Enjoy!!

"Daddy's here."

Several years ago my grandchildren were baptized by their Dad one Sunday after the morning service at their church. As grandson, Elliot, stepped down into the water to join his waiting Dad, he was visibly shaking and his nervousness was very apparent. As soon as he was in the water, his Dad gathered him close to himself and through his mike we could hear him say to his son, "Its okay, buddy, Daddy's here." And with that Elliot's body relaxed into his Dad's.

As I heard this, of course, I was moved. I almost immediately thought of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We tremble and shake over the courses of events which fill our lives, and yet when we will relax in Him, can't you almost hear Him say, "Its okay, child of Mine, 'Daddy" is here."

How often I forget the beauty and simpleness of it all. My Father, God, has everything about me wrapped in His love and in His presence. What a wonderful comfort!!

five pounds of stew meat

Some time ago I bought a package of stew meat at Cosco--five plus pounds to be exact. Usually I divide it into four-five packages, but for some reason (laziness, probably) I did not divide it and there it has sat--big huge package in the freezer.

Then I came upon this recipe at Patty's Pantry, and I knew I wanted to make it. Patty has some wonderful recipes which I have used before. Her two sites not only feed the soul, but also the body!

I decided to make Patty's Barley-Mushroom soup! That would take one and half pounds of the mountain of meat!


Next I decided to make a double recipe of my son Jon's favorite recipe--Beef Burgundy. I am going to give you the single recipe I usually make--as you read through it think 'doubled!'
This is super easy and sooooo yummy!

Beef Burgundy
1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 envelopes of Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix
2 cups of red wine (alcohol cooks out)

Put in a soup kettle, dutch oven, or something with a lid. Put in oven and cook at 200 degrees for eight to ten hours!

Serve over brown rice! Delicious

Its right out of the oven. Rich brown gravy, and the smell is marvelous!


Here it is in a bowl--I always serve it on a dinner plate with the rice and then the gravy and meat over that. I don't have any rice made as this is going into the freezer in two big batches.


Enjoy!

Farewell, Mr. President

Although I voted for you.... twice..... I did not always agree with your decisions....... however, whether I agreed with you or not, I will say that you have always been a “class act”. You and Laura have displayed amazing dignity under the vitriolic hatred that has been spewed at you over the last eight years.

It can be said, without fear of serious argument, that no previous president has been treated as brutally, viciously, and as unfairly as you were.

You have endured a deliberate and planned assault on everything you stood for, everything you were involved in, and everything you tried to accomplish. Your enemies were willing to risk the country’s safety, its economic health, and the very balance of the democratic system of government in order to get at you. They have been out to bring you down at all costs, or at the very least, to destroy your personal and presidential reputation.

As the New York Times began jeopardizing national security by publishing secret security documents it had obtained, the fact that you were able to curtail any further attacks while the media, as a whole. was working to undermine your efforts, is a little less than miraculous.

In all of these attacks, you have exhibited nothing but serenity. You will be viewed by history as a man who picked up the worst hand of cards dealt to any president since Roosevelt...and you played it out better than anyone had a right to expect.

Other presidents may encounter the same level of mindless hatred and suffer comparable abuse--but we can be sure that no one will ever meet it with more equanimity than you did!!

Your breeding was never more apparent, than when you were under attack.

Your graciousness to the Obamas in helping them with their transition, has been admirable. I have appreciated your positive words, for the Obamas. I believe you show a genuine warmth for President Obama. I suspect you admire his sense of family, his relaxed and easygoing nature, and his character.

With this, I wish you well. .

I believe history will treat you much more kindly than your contemporaries have.

Farewell, George and Laura--God speed!!

Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory
that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4 : 17-18

********************************

I wrote this because, for the past eight years, the hatred I have heard expressed toward George Bush was more than anything I have ever experienced, having lived through many presidents. We have all had problems with presidents and their decisions, but this raw hatred, expressed by many of my liberal friends and acquaintances, wore me down. Along with this hatred was the implied stupidity with which the Republicans were viewed. If you didn't agree with "them" you were stupid and uninformed...and several of my friends seemed to be consumed with their hatred. It has not been a comfortable eight years for those of us who aren't liberal in our thinking. I have a right to my beliefs, as do they, without hatred and derision being so blatant!

As I watched the inauguration, hearing the jeering and cat calls towards George and Laura Bush made me sick...so if you have read this far, you know what brought this post on!!

. This will be my only post with political overtones, I promise. I am committed to praying for President Obama and supporting him in all that I can. The last eight years have taught me something--respect for the Office, regardless of what I may or may not agree.

The last scrapbook from the cedar chest!

...."and so 1956 begins"

is found on the front page of this scrapbook which contains a history of a very tragic event, yet a very triumphant and very meaningful part of our Christian history.


I began this scrapbook the day our daily newspaper had a headline about a Portland man, Jim Elliot, missing with four of his companions in Ecuador, as they were trying to meet with a stone age tribe of Auca Indians with whom they desired to share the love of God, through Jesus Christ.

Articles soon began appearing in periodicals and magazines--also the program from Jim Elliot's memorial service is on the left page.

LIFE magazine did a very large spread about the situation. I have chosen a few pages below to photograph. (double clicking gives you a better view)

'Letters to the editor' of Life on the left side and an article from Christian Walk on the right.

Moody Monthly covered the story with many pictures and personal stories
of the families involved.

Aviation Fellowship had a whole magazine dedicated as Nate Saint was one of their pilots. (I see the picture from the front had been cut out--probably for some report one of the kids did on something from that era)

Readers Digest had a condensed version of "Through Gates of Splendor"

And last, an article from The Sunday School Times--I don't even know if
that is around anymore.

This scrapbook went to school with many of the fifth graders in my home, as that is the year they studied South America....so the scrapbook is tattered and torn, but has been read and read by many, many people!

If you are interested in reading further how my own life was changed because of this event in our history you might want to read this post.

My After Christmas Visitor

My Molly girlie came for three days just before New Year's. We always have such a good time together. She is a true girlie girl and loves to visit....so we talk....and we make cards.....and she texts her friends in between! (Now that texting is another whole subject!!!)

Molly's Daddy wanted her to make him some thank you notes to keep on his desk at church, so he can send off notes to people he wants to thank. So she made some really nice ones for him. (Double click on the cards to see the details)

She made the decorative sack in which to put the cards. Her Dad was very pleased with them!

We got the time for a hair cut, which was a bit of a disappointment to her, as the hair dresser didn't cut her hair exactly like the picture she took with her. I thought she was adorable, but what Gram thinks is adorable, is not always Molly's idea of adorable!!!

Its hard to believe that she is going to be 14 next month!!

Next time it will be Elliot's turn. He was at a Christmas Camp at the beach for five days. With our snowed in time, there were very few free days to have them come this year. We do week-ends, though when they don't have sports, so I will nab him soon. As they get older, they aren't as available to visit Gram because of all of their activities and such.

I am a winner of a free giveaway!

Some time ago, Robin at Be still and know...had a giveaway. My name was chosen and she mailed my prize to me. It was this lovely cross.


I had a spot all picked out for it, but it didn't look right, so I put it on the wall in the family room, where I think it fits in beautifully. Thanks Robin, it looks just right and I like that it is beside the sheep!

I'm sorry it took me so long to post this, but with Christmas, I had to wait to try it after the decorations were all down. I have never had a cross for the wall and I am loving it. I think it is a great addition! Its wonderful and I feel blessed to have been the winner!!

Christmas Eve, 2008, is history!

As you know from the previous post, we were in the middle of a huge snowstorm on Christmas Eve. It was finally decided that we would meet, as usual, at my sister and brother-in-law's home for our buffet supper and gifts. (my nephew and family picked me up with chains on their pick-up)

We got there and were greeted by our hosts......


Shortly after we ate, the children began opening their gifts and a police car pulled up front....and soon another one joined it. It was my nephew and his wife, both on duty, but with a dinner hour to spend with the family. .....and so, with their arrival, we were complete!

(Can you imagine having to dress like that for work??? They wear bullet-proof vests under their shirts--it all looks pretty heavy and combersome to me!)

They had some WONDERFUL news to give us! They opened a gift and pulled out an OSU baby outfit! They are expecting a little boy baby June 16!!!!!!! This news created quite an uproar in the living room!! The shock and surprise…..

for they were adament about not having kids…..

Well, God has other plans for them!!!!! We are SO excited, to say the least! I am so thrilled that my nephew, who is a tender-hearted, gentle giant of a man, will have his own little baby.

He thinks he is too old, but age doesn't seem to matter any more. He is 45 and she will be 38 when baby comes. They will do just fine. They will have to adjust their life style, but it will all be worth it.....and they will come to realize that in time.

And so our night ended on that most happy note and we made our way home through the snow. My son, Jonathan and family came out here for the night. After stockings and breakfast, a little visiting, and just a happy, laughter-filled morning, I made a little lunch and sent them on their way, as it was snowing hard again. They live an hour's drive south of us, so needed to get on the road for home. Just one problem, they couldn't get their van out of the snow.

So after some digging, some pushing, and patience, they were on the move for a very good drive home without incident!

It was a happy time for all of us. As I age, I so love the time spent with family and realize what a blessing they all are to me. I am so grateful for our rich heritage given us by our parents and grandparents.

Some pictures from the storm of '08!

This will be a collection from the Portland area with which to remember this storm! (The worst in our area since 69) Hopefully, I'll get some of my area. I live on the East side of town and we often get it worse here because we are closer to the Gorge.

This is my high energy friend's driveway. She shoveled this space so her son-in-law would be able to pull in when he comes to put on her chains so she can get out! Pretty good for a 72 year old lady!!

My friend's home on the West Side. She hadn't done her driveway yet!!

This shows the iced up trees.

And from my cousins' home on my side of town near Troutdale,
where the Interstate 84 has been closed for three days for a stretch of about 75 miles.
The car is nearly buried, but the U. S. Flag is flying proudly in the snow!
Notice the lamp pole buried in the snow!
Looking out from her kitchen nook window. It IS beautiful, but my oh my,
how a collection of snowflakes can stop an area dead in its tracks!!

My brother in law's pickup!
Brother in law, Bill beginning to shovel out the walkway.
He is making progress...
Look at the depth of the snow where he has cut into the walkway!
Poor old fellow. that was a lot of work!!


To be added, some pictures from my front yard tomorrow, unless it is all gone by then! (I wish)

Well, Surprise!! It didn't melt!

From my garage to the right front yard
To the left is my six foot fence with drifts
house across the street
hope this tree stays where it belongs
to the back yard--my poor geraniums--all buried in that drift except for one pot
I think my hedge may have bitten the dust.
No baths for the birdies today!
According to the weather reports, five more inches tonight!!
I'm waiting for a pizza to be delivered!! Hope he makes it!!

OH! The weather outside is frightful!!!!

My cousin's home above her family's farm in Troutdale.

One week ago today, we awakened to snow and ice and thus began our week! There was some type of snow, wind, cold weather all week long. Yesterday, (Saturday) we started getting snow in earnest. Along with the snow, came the East wind from the Columbia River Gorge....which caused drifts!

In looking out my bedroom window this morning, I see that I have a drift right up to the window sill, covering all five of my Azaleas completely! The trees are covered in ice for I forgot to mention that an icy rain fell all night long. We are still under 32 degrees, so it looks like it will stay for a while.

I am so thankful that:
my Christmas shopping is done
I am warm
my electricity is still working
my freezer is full of oven ready foods
my phone is working
many friends and family call to check up on me
I don't mind being snowed in
I have lots of things to do
this, too, shall pass

As we age, we become very protective of our bones that have remained in one piece, and for that reason, I have not left my house except for one hour during a calm, melty-looking day. I managed to finish getting all of my stocking stuffers, so I am so thankful for that. Other than that I have remained inside--not even going to the mail box. I have some braver friends who stop by and when they do they bring in my mail for me.

With this update from Oregon, I must close. I think my garage door is frozen shut....so even if I wanted to go some place, I couldn't get the car out!!

We are all hoping we can get to our family gathering for Christmas Eve dinner and opening of presents.

A friend of mine just wrote her reflections about being stranded up in her vacation home on Orcas island. She has a flair for writing, so it is an interesting read if you have the time.

I trust all of you are almost ready for this precious Holiday in which we take the time to honor and celebrate the birth of our risen Lord Jesus!

Odds and Ends

My tooth surgery is behind me and I was thrilled with the lack of pain!! Its been a great recovery--some bruising down my chin, but truly unremarkable for which I am soooo thankful!

Unfortunately, I've been down for eight days with my back....and so since I have nothing exciting to post about, I'm going to share some pictures of the Christmas spirit at my house---where I no longer do a big tree, but have groupings of pretties collected together. Nothing exciting like I have seen in some of your beautiful pictures...but its all I need for this chapter of life.

The entry way, looking down the hall.

From the entry looking toward the kitchen.

The pie tin in the family room with all of the little goodies, trains, etc.

The hearth holds joys from childhood with a large red tin of
Christmas books from over the years.

On the mantel is a catchall of hand crafted wood items.

The candy cane tree is a project from many years ago. This is the family room and all decorations are available for kids to play with, look at and explore.

Since son, Jonathan, was married eighteen years ago, we have the tradition of them sleeping overnight at my house and getting up together for stockings in the morning, followed by a Christmas breakfast. I try to make it festive and always have the table looking pretty. The following two pictures are from the breakfast tables from several years ago. and I have no idea why this suddenly began to underline!)This was the year of decorating with tulle--notice the light fixture even!

This must have been when the children were small, as
I am using the everyday dishes!

This is my current dining room--not yet set,

but it will be beautiful for Christmas morning!

This is one of my favorite rooms, for I love how the sunlight dapples into the room!

The Angel Caper

I never come to the Christmas season without remembering the year we made angels which was many years ago.

As my teaching partner and I sat down to plan out our Christmas project for our two classrooms of third graders, one of us had seen this beautiful angel and we decided to tackle it!! It seemed doable, and fairly inexpensive since it was mostly made of things around the house.

We began collecting for our magnificent project!!

old sheets, doilies, odds and ends of trims, old panty hose

We supplied the cardboard needed, as well as the styrofoam heads and the spray paint. We also bought a large spool of white crinkle type paper ribbon.

Finally the day arrived to begin the project. Friday afternoons had been set aside for working on this project. Our mother helpers came to help. (We couldn't have done it without them!)

We began with our forms, which were made from cardboard half circles rolled into a round pyramid looking thing. That was the easy part. (as I look at the pictures, I forgot to add that the arms were taped to the cardboard form before the actual work began.)

Next.......each kid got a nice square of donated sheet...and then the fun began!!

We dipped the sheet pieces in buckets of Elmer's glue and water and squeezed it out, and began draping it over the cardboard form.

The mess was beyond description--oh! I forgot to say that we did it in the cafeteria and we had Joyce, our cook, breathing down our necks not to leave a mess!

Suddenly it was time for buses, so each kid took their wet, draped angel and we found places all over our rooms to sit them to dry. After the kids were on their buses, my teaching partner and I went back to the cafeteria and scrubbed tables, benches and floors, until it was spotless. We were quite afraid of our cook, whose bark was really worse than her bite, but we had a healthy respect for her.

Besides we were well brought up girls whose Mothers had taught us to clean up our messes!

We worked on these angels for several Fridays....

And one day it was time to spray paint them gold! We did that after the kids went home as that was more than third graders could have or would have, handled well!

The next Friday, we added the bows and a little Christmas bling, and they were complete....and truly works of art. No two were the same.

We looked at each other the day they took them home, all wrapped and ready to present to their families and said, "NEVER AGAIN!!!"


Then we began to run into future parents in the hallways, and they always stopped us and told us they could hardly wait until their child was in third grade as they loved the angels we had made!! Then we had to break it to them gently, that it was a one time project!!

Several years later I had a Holiday Craft Sale in my home and one of the things that I made was fourteen of those angels!! That was absolutely the last time I ever did angels! My two that I had made with the students hung around for many Christmas' until I gave them to my daughter, Tammy, when she got her first apartment about five year ago. I was happy to part with them and she loves them!!

Here they are as part of the mantle collection at my old house many years ago.

In counting backwards, I figure that we made these about twenty eight years ago! (No wonder I forgot they had arms!!)

The $3500 Dollar Tooth!!

In August, I had the first of four appointments for a root canal. The crown finally went on the middle of October and everything seemed fine, until about 4 weeks ago when that tooth became very tender. I kept thinking it would go away. It didn't.

Long story, short version, Monday, after a referral to a specialist, I am having dental surgery which entails an incision below the roots and a cleaning out of the bone to try to get to the root of the problem. He says it will not improve on its own. (sigh)

I am NOT looking forward to this procedure. Last Monday as I walked out of the specialist's office, I was terribly upset....and scared. When I got in the car, I was trying very hard to think of something about this situation for which I could be thankful. I begrudgingly decided I was thankful that I had the money to pay for the surgery! (Certainly, not my idea of how I want to spend my money!)

So now....the tooth work will have totaled $3500 after Monday! I certainly hope there are no more teeth waiting to explode! If there are, I'll never get to cruise again!!

Because I cannot take narcotic pain pills, the dentist explained that it will be uncomfortable for 4-5 days. I'll use ice packs. My hair dresser today told me to take an ounce of Vodka every four hours and I wouldn't feel any pain!! She has the answer to everything!!

I am trusting that the outcome will be successful and there will be no infection with which to deal.

Thankfully, the house is decorated and the Christmas music is playing nonstop. I think I will take my ice pack and just sit and soak up the pretties in the living room and lose myself in the Christmas music!! (and try not to think about the wrapping and shopping that still needs to be done!)

The White House Ornaments

The White House historical association sells a White House Ornament every year that is dated.

In 1990, my Mother began our collection by giving them to each family yearly. When she was called Home in 2000, my dear sister continued the tradition until we each now have a nice grouping of them. I put mine on a small tree for the holidays. I have sixteen of them--two are missing.


Here are two of them that I took close up for you to see. They come beautifully boxed, with a pamphlet telling the history of the President who is commemorated. They have had historical presidents so far.


My Mother loved beautiful things...and she especially loved anything with gold on it. She was always excited to see what the new one looked like. We have enjoyed this tradition for the last eighteen years.

For a sneak preview of the 2008 ornament, you can go to the website, highlighted in the first sentence of this post.

Four Fabulous Days...

Well, Thanksgiving is over for this year. It is always a wonderful day to reflect, to remember past Thanksgivings, and the joys of family. We were only seven this year, as it was the 'in-laws' turn for most of the kids.

Grandson Elliot, came Thursday evening after his day with his other grandma. He stayed with me until Saturday morning, as he wanted to get home for the 'Civil War' party his parents were hosting to watch the Oregon/Oregon State football game. So, the stay was short, but we got in a couple of episodes of 'The Waltons', got him a hair trim, visited and laughed together, and in general had a great time! (Elliot brings energy, no matter where he is!)

I flew around here, cleaning up for my next guest, Nicolas, who drove himself to my house. This was his first drive clear to my end of the city, so he was quite pleased and I was thrilled to have him. We played games...and then we played games....

Our pastor and his wife called Sunday evening and wanted to know if we would be up to playing some games! Of course we were, so they arrived with their son who is Nick's age. They even brought a pizza, some yummy fruit and we ate together first.

We played ROOK. I hadn't played it for ages, but it was a game we were raised on in my home! It was known as "Christian Bridge" in my young days, as we weren't allowed to play with regular cards. (go figure!)


If any of you ever played ROOK let me know. Our company last night played it pretty different than I had ever played it. My Dad insisted on keeping it just like the rules. Last night we played ONE high, and the ROOK card as the highest. I won't even bother to explain how we partnered up! It was a raucous evening. We sure had fun!

The game in the picture is at least 48 years old, as I found the names of my first two foster girls on a paper in the box and they came to me in 1960, which was also my first year of teaching. Ahhhh, the memories of the hours we enjoyed playing games!

visitors

Yesterday at church, we had a young couple and their five children passing through Portland on their way to Medford to celebrate Thanksgiving with an Auntie of theirs. This young couple are relatives, but we don't see them very often as they are busy running a large Bible Camp in Montana, year round.

So........as I sat two rows behind them, I had a good view of them and their children. And I thought of their rich heritage in the faith. I thought of their Christian work and the lovely children they are raising for the glory or God. I thought of the old, old hymn,

Faith of our fathers.

and I teared up with gratitude and thanksgiving for this young couple who are striving to live their lives as they have had it modeled for them, first by their parents, and by Godly grandparents and extended family. How blessed they are.

For, you see, this young man is the nephew of Jim Elliot and his sweet wife is the niece of Elisabeth Elliot. What a heritage!

Faith of our Fathers living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whenever we hear that glorious Word!



Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto Thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.

Refrain

Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach Thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life.

Grandparents

If anyone has read my blog much, you will know that I adore my grandchildren and love being a grammy! Someone sent me the following and I had to lift it from
my email and deposit it here because I think it is so precious. I hope
you will bear with me...and if your are a grandparent, you will
know why I enjoyed it so much!

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change,
and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girls. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~Welsh Proverb


A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead
of the television. ~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just
a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown


Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because
Grandfathers have only so many horsey rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.
~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just
you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree


Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our
hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren,
I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse


My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after
two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should
advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is
no fun for old people like it! ~Hannah Whithall Smith


It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the
world calls her grandmother. ~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing
old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain
it to your grandmother. ~Proverb



An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again.
Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You
feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long
periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida. ~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only for
self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas
are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown


Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of
little children. ~Alex Haley


Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of
practice. ~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on
the inside. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new
grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents seem so young once you
become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses,
sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the
time,' you're the grandma. ~Teresa Bloomingdale


Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have
around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their
grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say
that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can
but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they
can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge
that he's married to a grandmother. ~G. Norman Collie

My Alma Mater

Tucked away in the hills above Santa Barbara, Westmont College thrives with a beautiful campus, neighboring many magnificent, stately mansions, many built during the 1920s. I was a student there for my freshman and junior years of college. I loved every minute I attended!!

So it was with real sadness, I heard about the fires and the destruction to parts of our lovely campus. Below are two pictures which are representative of the structure and surroundings of the campus before the fire.

A friend sent me this email today which describes the scene on campus.

"At Westmont College the air was dense with smoke and the scent of burning pine. Flames chewed through a eucalyptus grove on the 135 acre campus and destroyed several buildings housing the physics and psychology departments, a dormitory and at least one faculty home, college spokesman, Scott Craig said. "I saw flames about 100 feet high in the air shooting up with the wind just howling," he told AP Radio. "Now when the wind howls, and you've got palm trees and eucalyptus trees that are literally exploding with their hot oil, you've got these big, red-hot embers that are flying through the sky and are catching anything on fire." Hundreds of students fled to the gym where they spent the night sleeping on the floor. Some stood in groups praying; others sobbed openly and comforted each other. Beth Lazor, 18, said she was in her dorm when the alarm went off. She said she only had time to grab her laptop, phone, a teddy bear and a debit card before fleeing the burning building. Her roommate, Catherine Wilson, said she didn't have time to get anything. "I came out, and the whole hill was glowing, " Wilson said. "There were embers falling down."

Although its been 58 years since my freshman year in college, many of my life's fondest memories originate in that little college which has grown and flourished over the years.

I've been tagged!

HELP! This sort of thing is not my 'cup of tea', but I'll give it a try.

There seems to be a lot of tagging going on Joanne, from Unspeakable Joy in Him, has tagged me to share fifteen things with all of you that I'm not afraid to admit. Just like Joanne, I am only going to share ten!

The rules are:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog
3) Write 15 (I am doing 10) random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave
a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry has been posted.

Here are my ten!
l. I hate to wear a coat. It has only been the last year that I have worn one at all. I hate the way they feel on my shoulders, and I especially hate the way it feels to drive with a coat on! I kept one at school for recess duty, but only wore it on extreme weather days.

2. I love babies and have always been enamored with multiples since I received my first set of Dionne Quintuplet paper dolls in 1937. I follow several sites of multiples and have an email friendship with Jenny Masche, mother of sextuplets.

3. I was a pioneer in the field of single adoptions, being the sixth person to adopt by 1965 in Oregon, one of two states that even allowed single adoption.

4. I had two careers and adored both of them! I was a social worker and then became a teacher.

5. In my teens, I was a roller skater, much to my parents' displeasure. My Dad didn't think 'nice' girls 'hung' out at roller rinks. I was pretty good at it and loved to dance skate. (my grandchildren look at me in puzzlement when I talk about my roller skating days--they can't imagine it!!)

6. My first car was purchased for $100 in Colorado Springs in 1958. It was a one owner, 1932 Nash Lafayette with 20,000 miles on it with the original tires!! I traveled all over the state of Colorado with it, doing home studies for foster and adoptive placements for our children's home. It served me well. I sold it for $200 in 1960 before returning home to Oregon to begin my teaching career. I have been sorry I sold it as it was in perfect condition and would have been a real collector's item!

This is just like mine, wire wheels and all.

7. Before I retired, I got up at 5 every morning and went for a three mile walk with a teacher friend. I promised myself I would never stop, because it felt so good. Well, I did stop gradually and now I'm lucky to walk to the mailbox and back!! How things change!

8. I love being a Grammy! Its the most wonderful time of my life!

9. Always, I thought I would be on the 'cutting' edge in my Christian walk, when I was old. Well, I'm old....and I find that my walk with God is as it always was....one step at a time...and I'm learning to accept that my 'old nature' is with me 'til the end!!

10. I am glad the election is over! I was totally sick of the whole thing before it ended. I think two years is too long to let this stuff go on. I'm tired of the media. You know Mark Twain once said, "If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."

...and I am now tagging you gals below to play along!

Amy

Kim

Tonya

Kassey

Margie

Amy

Thursday and Thankful!!

I woke up on Saturday with this cry on my heart.

"Make haste O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me O Lord!" Psalm 70:1

Today, I am almost pain free and I am so thankful! I am moving, made a card in the night when I couldn't sleep, and feel like dancing!! Since Saturday, I pretty much didn't move anything I didn't have to, in order to avoid the spasms and pain.

Today, I am rejoicing--life looks good again. I'm looking forward to productivity. I am thanking God for this new day.

In October, I rejoiced all through the month. I had 31 pain free days. It was marvelous!! I got so many things done.

I had company for dinner--twice!

I did some cooking for the freezer.

I was active around the house.

I went out--shopped, had lunch with friends, and had a great time.

I didn't have to miss church.

I was joyful with the blessed relief.

I didn't wear my tens (electric stimulater) machine for ten of those 31 days!!

That's a record!

And so I am thankful for every day I had in October....and looking forward to some wonderful, great days in November, now that the first six are history!

Today I am rejoicing in answered prayer.

Oh taste and see that the LORD is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8

I AM BLESSED!

The Election

Hear what John Piper has to say.

I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Co r. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be
perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14).
I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God

Out of Commission

Down with a bad back. Hope to be back soon.

The Strawberry Jello Recipe by Request

Some have asked for the recipe for Saturday's Jello I was making for the church potluck. It is a recipe from my Mom, who often left out little direction details...but it went together well and was a smashing success at the potluck.

Strawberry Jello from Mom

3 three oz. pkgs. strawberry jello

(I had to use 1 and 1/2 six oz. boxes because I couldn't find
the little 3 oz. boxes at my store.)

It is important to use only 3 oz.

of the second box!

3 cups of Boiling Water
3 ten oz. pkgs frozen sweetened strawberries (again had to use 2 pints)
1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple
3 large firm bananas diced

3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup cream cheese

Dissolve jello in 3 cups of boiling water
Add strawberries, stir until strawberries are thawed
Add pineapple
Stir in bananas

Pour 1/2 mixture into 9 x 13 pan (I used a large soup ladle to be sure to get even amounts of fruit and liquid)

While that is setting up in refrig, leave remaining half on counter.

Mix together 3/4 cup sour cream and 3/4 cup cream cheese
Spread this over mixture that is chilled (from refrig) and pour other half of jello over the sour cream mixture and chill

Garnish with left over cream cheese mixture. If Mom made it in summer, she always had some fresh strawberries to garnish the top.

Enjoy!

Busy making cards.....

I am into making my Christmas cards and with daily chores, preparing my Bible Study, looking at all of my favorite blogs, I'm short on time....so rather than one of my long-winded posts, here are a couple of cards I just made. I am enjoying this so much!




The layout ideas came from Cheryl on God and I on the Railroad Tracks.

Its Saturday Again

.....and I am sitting in the middle of a mess. My office and my kitchen are in terrible disarray!

We are having potluck at church tomorrow and the bulletin said, "Those in the second half of the alphabet bring either a salad or a dessert which serves between 10 and 12 people. So.....I tackled a large strawberry jello recipe which was a favorite of my Mom's. It leaves lots of dirty dishes before it is done because of the way that it is put together. I'm not a neat cook--I toss everything for the garbage in one side of the sink, until I am finished. Because this jello is done in two parts, I can't really clean up until the first part sets.


Every time I had a spare minute this week, I worked on my Christmas cards. I didn't clean up my mess between cards, so the pile thickened. When I start to create, I have to get out all of the designer papers I "might" use! I then spread it out over my work table and my desk counter--what a mess!


And last, but certainly not least, I had to do my Bible study at the kitchen table because there wasn't room in the office!

I didn't follow the rule with which I raised the kids.

"Everything in it's place and a place for everything".

Well, I have a place for everything, but it hasn't found it's way home yet!! Today. before the sun goes down, my goal is that there will be order in my two busiest room!

Check back to see the cleaned up mess. (hopefully)

Its Sundown!

The kitchen is cleaned! The jello is ready to take. You can see how full it is. I have a little clean up to do inside the refrigerator! Its a layered recipe with cream cheese and sour cream in the middle. I put the dab that was left over on top. Aren't dishwashers wonderful?? All the bowls and utensils are inside and waiting for the wash cycle!

The office is now organized and ready to finish the cards next week. At least my piles on the work table have meaning! I have seven new sets of stamps to get cut out and mounted, hence the pile on the end of the table. That is a good project when watching T.V.

The desk top is back to busy normal. I have discovered that I like doing my Bible Study at the kitchen table, so I'm going to continue with that! Leaves my desk cleared for other things.

I even cleaned and straightened out my "bling" drawers. For anyone who scrapbooks or makes cards, you know how quickly the 'bling' drawers get messed up. I moved almost all of my flowers to a drawer by themselves.

This is the top 'bling' drawer and the one beneath it has more of the same.
Saturday is close to being history. I feel that I had a productive day and that always makes me feel happy. I love getting things accomplished and it is so wonderful to be feeling good and being able to do what I like.

I am thankful!!

Happy Birthday Nicolas!!!

Today, you are eighteen. How quickly the years have passed, some great ones, and some so very hard. You have overcome huge obstacles and today marks a special milestone in your very triumphant and successful life. You are on the brink of manhood, ready to began achieving your dreams. You are a miracle, and it has been my privilege to watch this miracle unfold.

Is it really sixteen years that have flown by since I first saw you at the age of two in the ICU at Doernbecher Hospital? It doesn't seem possible. It is like yesterday, walking into your room, looking at one of the sickest little kids, yet one of the cutest, I had ever seen. You were one week after your accident, three weeks after your Mom's death, and you were in critical condition. You were wrapped in iron from your "halo" which kept your broken neck steady, had a feeding tube and pump, and were on a respirator to help your lungs heal.

HOWEVER, out of that maze of tubes and iron, were a pair of the brownest, inquiring eyes I have ever seen!! You looked at me, sized up the bag of tricks I had with me, and watched with avid interest as I began to unload my bag. At that moment, you moved into my heart and there you have firmly stayed, my sweet grandson of my heart!

When you finally left ICU, you were transferred to Emmanuel Hospital for pediatric rehab. Do you remember any of those days? I've told you lots of stories about those weeks. You were finished with your tubing and despite "mine halo" as you called it, you were a happy, smiling little boy with an amazing vocabulary, I was to discover, after you could talk again!!

Do you remember all of the trips we took that first summer to rehab? We rode that Tri-Met lift bus for hours....and hours. You usually had your afternoon nap on the bus as we came back to your home.

Despite the hard work of Rehab, we had lots of fun times together. You loved the playroom at Shriners, were a little apprehensive about getting your legs casted for your first braces, but loved playing with the child life specialist who always told you ahead of time with toys and play, what was going to happen. There were many wonderful people in your life who helped with your rehabilitation. I know you remember many of them.

As I allowed myself to travel down this road we have traveled together for the last sixteen years, I am reminded of so many fun things we did together. It wasn't all rehab and doctor appointments, although it felt like it at times.

You came to my house often and I remember the summer you were four and I had you for a week. We read through all of the four boxes of the 'Bob Books' and a reader was born!! Oh my, was a reader born!!! You have continued to read far above grade level all through your school years.

Do you remember outings to the Children's Museum? You thought the water room belonged to you and got very upset if anyone else even played in there.

A wonderful ride on the Lake Oswego Trolley--

Then there were all of our trips to visit Santa at the downtown Meier and Frank. We always went on Max with a large group of friends and family for many years.

I can't forget your choir experience.

Today we celebrate your birthday. It cannot go by without mentioning the wonderful achievement you have accomplished. Earlier this year I wrote about you getting your new car. After many hours of practice and getting your car retrofitted just for your needs, you have your DRIVER'S LICENSE! That is so exciting and I see a 'new you'. You have a lilt in your voice and I can feel the wind beneath your wings, as you enjoy this wonderful new independence you have earned. I am soooo proud of you, Nicolas!

And here you are getting ready for take off!

The chair had to be loaded...
Its in...
You are in the car and almost ready.... to go!

.....and you are off down the hill to the big world beyond.

....and so, my sweet Nicolas, the years have passed in a blink of an eye. You have grown into a very self-sufficient young man, totally independent, despite the adversity you have endured. You are an OVER-COMER, A WINNER, AN OUTSTANDING YOUNG MAN, and you stand on the brink of the rest of your life. The future is before you. I shall look for great things from you, my sweet boy!

Happy, Happy Birthday! May your life be lived to the glory of God, and may you be used mightily for Him. God bless you, Nick! I love you so much.

A mid week filler--enjoy!!

God's paintbrush is evidenced in these magnificient fall pictures from
The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B. C

The Butchart Gardens are part of our beautiful West Coast. Below is a quote from a friend who drove up to her vacation home on an island, near the Canadian border.

She writes of her trip......

"What a beautiful day, beautiful drive....and the fall colors....and the Ferry ride...with all the islands, so green...... and the sparkling waves....honestly....spectacular....what a wonderful world....The West Coast definitely a Jewel in the Maker's Crown...."

What's for dinner?

I don't like fixing dinner for myself, so every so often, when I'm feeling good, I cook up a few recipes that I can use for future dinners. Today was one of those days....and I thought I would share my recipes with you for a change. I started with

Chicken Adobo

3 cloves garlic (sliced up)
3 bay leaves
1 c. water
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 medium onion, quartered
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (I used 12 chicken tenders)

Put it all together in a covered pot on the stove or crock pot and cook for a long enough time to be sure the chicken is tender and pulls apart easily. Make sure to turn the chicken so it cooks evenly in the liquid.

I used a large frying pan with a lid and simmered it for about 1 hour on medium lo heat. I turned the chicken 2-3 times during that hour.

When the chicken was done, I used the juices with a little water for cooking my rice.
The rice was just yummy. I found this recipe on a busy triplet mom's website. It is delicious!!

The next step is eating one meal from it, and then packing up my homemade freezer dinners.

The veggies are from a bag of mixed frozen veggies, thus they look frozen... because they are frozen!!

Three nice dinners are ready to pop into the freezer!

Here are some of the veggies which will be used in the recipes that I am making.

My next venture was a Bean Salad, which I won't freeze, but will use for lunches for the rest of the week.

Bean and Corn Salad

First, gather the following ingredients:

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained
1 can of pinto beans, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of corn, drained
2 cans Ro Tel with cilantro and lime
one leek, sliced
2 Tablespoons Italian Dressing
dashes of chili powder, cumin and garlic powder
1/2 of a fresh lime
fresh cilantro
salt

Open all of the cans, and mix the corn and beans.
Add the Ro Tel.
Add the spices.
Squeeze the juice of half of a lime into the beans.
Add the leek and cilantro.
Mix well with 2 Tablespoons of dressing and some salt.
Marinate overnight. Then, drain most of the juice.
Add a little more fresh cilantro, and serve cold.

This picture isn't the finished product. Tomorrow I will redrain it and add a little more cilantro. I had some today and it is really good. no fat, and complex carbs--very filling

The cilantro gives it a little "zing"!

I always make my own Italian dressing from Good Season's dry mix. I love it and I mix half of the oil with water. I also use Balsamic Vinegar so it makes a darker dressing. After I have it all together I put the blender on high and blend it for 2-4 minutes, which emulsifies the dressing so there is never any separation. It lasts for weeks in the fridge....and is all I use now. I never buy prepared dressing anymore.

This is a double recipe.

Wednesday I am going to make Roasted Red Pepper Soup
which was served at an elegant restaurant I was at a couple of weeks ago. It was delicious and we were able to obtain the recipe.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

2 1/2 T. Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 bay leaf
1 T chopped marjoram plus extra for garnish
1 T. tomato paste
3-4 large red bell peppers, Roasted and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 quart of water or vegetable stock
Balsamic vinegar to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the onion, potato, garlic, bay leaf and marjoran. Saute over high heat stirring often, until the potato and onion begin to brown, about 12 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the peppers, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour in the water and scrape the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered for 25 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and blend the soup until smooth. Taste for salt, season with pepper and add a teaspoon or so of vinegar. Serve with croutons on top and a sprinkling of chopped marjoram.

(I didn't know how to roast a red pepper, so googled it and learned that you do it under the broiler, with the door slightly ajar.)

I rotated my peppers three times. They peeled like a charm!

On Thursday I will make Maui Chicken and be able to get 5 freezer meals from this recipe.

Maui Chicken (crockpot or slow simmer on stove top)

6 boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp oil
14 1/2-oz. can chicken broth
20-oz. can pineapple chunks
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Brown chicken in oil. Transfer chicken to slow
cooker/crockpot. Combine remaining ingredients.
Pour over chicken. I will cook on stove top with lid for under an hour at lo-med simmer, checking for chicken tenderness.


By the time I have finished my last recipe for the week, I will feel like I have had a real work-out with all of the mess and clean-up I make with each recipe! Being able to get this done means I am having a good back week, so I am thrilled to be able to do it!

The meals I make will last me for several weeks, as I often have a spinach salad with lots of goodies in it for supper, with a nice piece of sour dough bread.

My Oregon

I live in the western part of Oregon where it is lush and green year round. I can go one hundred miles west and be at the seashore....or I can go about sixty miles east and be on the edge of desert country! If I keep going I will be in central Oregon which is desert with beautiful formations. Below are some pictures from our beautiful central Oregon taken from from an ultra light.

Enjoy!! (consider this almost Wordless Wednesday--only it is Friday)

Balloons over Bend, Oregon.

North Twin Lake near Lapine, Oregon

Smith Rock near Redmond, Oregon

Mt. Bachelor near Bend, Oregon

Mt. Bachelor near Bend, Oregon summer

Mt. Jefferson near Sisters and Madras, Oregon

Lava Butte near Bend, Oregon

Alkali Lake near Christmas Valley, Oregon

Alvord Desert near Steen Mtn...Oregon

Painted Hills, near Mitchell, Oregon

Paulina and East Lakes near Lapine, Oregon

Fort Rock

Wild Horses near Alvord Desert, Oregon


Doesn't this just make you want to break out singing,
"How Great Thou Art"

The Last of the Cedar Chest, with one exception

Well, we come to the bottom of the chest and there is one more scrapbook and some year books. Nothing too exciting, but they hold wonderful memories of college days so long ago--yet many memories still vivid in my mind's eye.

My college years are all recorded in the pages of this red album. They were wonderful years, so full of music, rich fellowship, beach parties, trips to the Blue Onion for a hamburger, gathering around the piano in the lounge singing, standing in meal line knitting argyle socks while we were waiting, and hosts of other great memories.

The picture above has my train ticket for my first train ride without parents along. (and I do not know why these words are underlined!)

A photographer came each year to take a picture of the whole student body out on the side lawn. His camera started at the left and slowly rotated to the right to get in the whole group. This picture was rolled up in a tube for the last 58 years!

We were a small student body, with only 50 in our freshman class.

You can tell from the size of our yearbooks that our school was small. Dear Westmont College was not very old in 1950. Today the campus has grown as well as the student body size. I had an interesting college career. My freshman year was at Westmont, my sophomore year was spent at home at Multnomah College, my junior year was back at Westmont with my freshman brother along. After my junior year I thought I was tired of school, so I took a job in a hospital for a semester. That was the best thing I ever did--After six months of bedpans, changing beds, bathing people, I knew I needed a degree!! So I went to Lewis and Clark College and graduated from there in December of 1954 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in education.

And on the bottom of the cedar chest was the tattered old picture below-

me about 15 months. (love the old tan shoes!)

So the old cedar chest is gone and all of this stuff has been stored in a large plastic box. There is one more scrap book that came out of the chest which I am going to save for another blog as I am going to share some of the things it holds between the covers. It is my after college book.

"Life at best is very brief, like the falling of a leaf......."

My Posts

Starting this blog in January, was done on a whim. I didn't consider what I would write about. I did not feel led to write devotionals--there are so many excellent sites in blog land for that. And so.........for lack of anything else to write about, I just began to share about my family and all I hold dear, and my life, past and present with all of you.
It was never my intention to portray myself other than who I am. I find that as I share some of my life's stories, in reading some of the lovely comments that are left, I fear that people are giving me far more credit than I deserve. Whatever good has come from my life, has been because of the Lord and His graciousness to me and my family. Despite my many mistakes in parenting, in grand parenting, in being a daughter, sister, aunt, niece and friend, God has loved me through the mistakes and shown His mercy and compassion to me and my family. We are who we are because of Him and His leading and guidance.

Please, as I post in future posts, keep in mind that any good that has come from my life or my life's experiences, is truly only because of God's faithfulness to me. I want Him to have the glory in all the areas of my life.

In closing, I am so thankful for all that I have experienced in my life because of the love of God to me. I was blessed with loving parents, certainly not perfect, but wonderful in my eyes. My extended family are all so good to me. Over the years they have loved all of my kids and added so much depth to their lives. My two professions brought many of life's richest experiences to me and I deeply loved each occupation. My children were gifts from God in a time when single women were not allowed to adopt. My foster children came and went, providing many of life's hardest trials, but the kids with whom I am still in contact bring much contentment to my heart......and the crowning glory of my old age, is the privilege of being a Grammy. Oh! how I have loved that role!

And so, I share with you about all of these things, not to make me look good, but to share a journey that has had many twists and turns in it, yet a happy, fulfilling life. God has been good. As I take some of my walks down memory lane, as I sorted through the cedar chest, as I remember about the children when they were young, I am just reminded over and over again, of the faithfulness of our God to me and mine.

This was a bit of a long ramble, so I shall close until next time.

Blessings

meet two of my "girls"

These are two of my "girls". Linda, on the left is the 1st foster child I ever had and Tammy, on the right is the 27th....... and the last foster child I had! This was an historic picture, for this is the first time these two ever met!! (It was taken last night, as Linda had stopped by to pick up something which she had forgotten from the week-end and Tammy was just finishing up some work for me.)


Let me explain. Linda came in 1960, as a senior in high school, and by 1965 or 66, she had received an LPN degree, married and moved to California with her children and we only saw one another occasionally over many years, but were in contact by phone and letter. For the last 20 years or so, she has come to Portland more frequently as she has a son and his family living here. When she came for visits, the two of us would always meet for lunch someplace, but
while Tammy was still in the home, I guess Linda was never at the house.

Then in the last twenty years Linda usually spends a week-end with me when she visits, but. of course, Tammy works and has her own place---so, anyway, each had always known of the other, but last night was the first time they had met face to face. (They were both at Mother's funeral, but didn't meet)

Linda went on to get very specialized training in brain wave testing, and enjoyed a wonderful career in that field. She is enjoying her first year of retirement and is loving every minute of it.
Only ten years younger than me, we were reminiscing this past week-end over our years together. She said as a teenager, the ten years seemed a huge difference, but now we are older, it makes us contemporaries.

Tammy came to me at age nine and she was a handful!! But we hung in there, and today she is my helper girlie! She has the gift of helps and is a willing hand whenever I need some thing done. It works for both of us, for she knows my fussiness, so she is my perfect "hired" help, and she, in turn, is able to earn a little extra money each month.

Tammy is gifted with children, works with the high school youth at her church, and for her "real" work .....where else?.......in a day care center! She does quite a bit of baby sitting on the side and seems always in demand from someone needing her help. (She trained at North West Nanny Institute out of high school)

So there you have it--the first and the last. I have had a fulfilling life and these two "girls" have been a huge part of that busy, busy life with all of its ups and downs.

Happy Birthday, Elliot!

My dearest Grandson,

Today you are fifteen! How can that be?
It was only "yesterday" that I held you in my arms for the first time
and whispered in your ear,
"You and I are going to be great friends!"
...and we are.

The joy you have brought into my life cannot be measured.

So many memories....

...your first birthday

......Christmas festivities every year with all the family

........a calendar full of fun each December

......wonderful plays and activities all over Portland during the Christmas season.

......going every year on the Max train to downtown Portland to go to Santa's Toyland on the tenth floor of Meier and Frank....

...wonderful OMSI activities during the holidays

...spending every Christmas Eve over night at my house to wake up
to stockings and brunch.

....Easter egg hunts in my back yard

...playing restaurant on the back deck

....loving playing dress up

...the little two year old who would call for me very early in the morning, "Grandma, I hear the birdies, its time to get up". Then when Gram tried for a few more snoozes, here would come the plaintive little voice, "Grandma, do you love me?" and that brought me right up and out of my warm bed to come get you.

....the wonderful times we had at the Children's Museum---you up in the firemen's loft and refusing to come down to me....oh my! Lots of memories.

....all of our trips to OMSI and the marvelous learning that went on each time we visited, which was usually every time you came to came to see me.

...trips to the beach and you making a fort in the sand, long walks, chasing the waves, running from them-- such memories!

....driving Uncle Bill's boat on the Columbia River--do you remember????

....me driving down to pick you and Molly up each Wednesday after school, going to the Stayton Library to work on homework, check out books, read to you, going for Subway Sandwiches for supper, then taking you home to put you two to bed while your folks were at their fellowship group. I loved those years!

...play dates with the cousins, with the Shoman boys, with Jimmy Glisan,
swimming at Nick's...so many fun times when you visited.

....the fun you had at Imagination Station over and over again

...getting your first pair of roller blades--thump, bump, fall, get up......

....bowling fun so many times

Our wonderful Disney Cruise...and you insisting on going to the top deck for breakfast by yourself--so you could "meet" people....and coming back with the announcement that you had breakfast with a nice family from Canada, or someone from New York...you were quite the "schmoozer", getting to know lots of people on that trip--and we cannot forget how you loved the crab cakes and even got the recipe (for 500) from the head cook!!


I could fill this blog with the hundreds of memories we have made together--many you have forgotten, I'm sure...but always alive and vivid in my mind.

...appointing yourself our waiter for dinner--one of my ear rings and all

....getting all duded up and having a "cuppa" with me

...attending the Missions Conference with Aunt Colleen and Uncle Bert Elliot....and meeting the Auca Indian who speared Jim Elliot, for whom you were named...

....practicing golf at the pro shop

...always army stuff all over the floor for your battles..

....building Legos---some new sets, but many having been your Dad's

I love you, sweet child. You have always held a special place in my heart. Your avid curiosity about things around you, your love of Civil War history, your early interests in vacuums, and trains--your quirky little obsessions have all made you the unique special person you are.

...always the engineer of the trains, both real and imaginary

...riding on Samtrack at OMSI--
Do you remember you cried when Samtrack closed down?

....going to Hood River to ride Thomas the Train Engine and meet all of his crew

wonderful memories, wonderful experiences, wonderful child!

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you begin this next year of your precious life.

This is a year of new beginnings,
starting high school,
taking charge of your ADHD and leaving off all meds
getting your driving permit possibly,
harder classes in school,
and hopefully,
a time of strengthening your walk with the Lord.

Happy Birthday, My Special Grandson.
I love, love, love you!

Gram

Cousin Bob, the Builder

Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body--but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting...

"W0W! What a ride! Thank you Lord!!!!"

This was on the program for the celebration of Cousin's Bob's life on Saturday.

He was:

a Christian, foremost

a perfectionist

a contractor

a builder

an outdoorsman

a hunter

a fisherman

a boater

a hiker

a water skier

a traveler

a prayer warrior

a Bible student

a mentor

a beloved husband

a wonderful father

a doting grandpa

a friend

a man who did not know a stranger

He was loved.

On Monday, September 8, at age 79, his life, as we knew it, ended.

...but don't you just love the top paragraph which was on the inside of his program??

That was Bob. He lived every minute of every day to the fullest!

Jonathan, Part 3

1 I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Psalm 9:1,2

As I continue with Jon's story, the verse above so speaks to me. To understand why I am writing Jonathan's story, you should probably read Jonathan, Part 1 and Jonathan, part 2. It just gives a little more continuity to the story, and the reason I chose to share it.

The high school years were upon us in the blink of an eye, it seems. They were such busy, fun-filled years and passed all too quickly!! He continued with his music, was in sports, was very social, and it was a wonderful time for me also. I remember the sadness in his senior year when they played their last basketball game. I felt like my social life was over. I went to every game, made friends with many of the parents, participated in the after game fun at a local pizza parlor...and now it was over. We did have fun during those years!

He begins his freshman year at Portland Christian High School where he would remain all four years. It was a wonderful choice for him. He met and made friends immediately and his violin opened all kinds of doors.

By sophomore years he was developing an interest in the ladies and had a couple of school dates. He was in his second year of basketball, seriously taking his violin lessons now from the concert master of the Portland Symphony, and was a busy, busy young man, with a mother who was equally busy driving him to all of his commitments!!

Junior year came and so did the driving permit!! Of all my kids, he was the only one I taught to drive. It was just too nerve wracking, so others taught the girls! He decided to play football, much to my dismay. Contact sports were supposed to be out for him because of his Rheumatoid Arthritis, but he did it and aside from being knocked out one game, he survived....and so did I!! His junior year was to be the last time he ever had a flare-up of his arthritis, for which I was so thankful....and he came through the eight years of the disease, with no crippling to any of his joints!! A wonderful answer to prayer!

The summer before his senior year, Jon traveled to Europe with the Continentals Orchestra which was a Christian ministry orchestra. That was a wonderful experience for him. By senior year, he was driving on his own, used my car just about any time I wasn't using it, and enjoyed a full, action packed year. He was studying conducting under Norman Lehman, who was the assistant symphony conductor of the Portland Symphony. In looking back, the year was just packed!

Basket ball shot at the state play offs. Jon was an average player, but his coach told the team that he kept him on all four years because he was such an "encourager". What a nice compliment!

The mighty football player. I held my breath all of that fall!

.....and the crowning event of his whole high school experience, Fiddler on the Roof!! What a great performance that was. Jonathan was the Fiddler, and he also played Moto the Tailor.
During his senior year, he was part of a young man's singing ensemble which was a talented bunch of ten boys. Their music was marvelous.

The summer after graduation he again traveled with the Continentals across the USA and to Europe. They had an afternoon concert in East Berlin and I think that was the experience of his young life--crossing "check point Charlie", leaving their passports there, being searched, etc. He said they kissed the tarmac when they flew into New York later that week.

And so high school ended with plans to attend Mount Hood Community College in the fall with a "free ride" with his violin.

More treasures from the cedar chest

My first post about the cedar chest featured lots of baby clothing worn by my brother and me. Tonight as I was getting some of the stuff ready for this trip down memory lane, I realized that I was a scrapbooker before the activity was so popular!!

Bear with me as I take you down the lane of over fifty years ago and share with you some of my books.

My first album was started when I was about eight years old. It was a photo album only. As I was looking at it, I was thinking I must have thought I had really "arrived" with the white ink!

This is my high school album....and that was a scrapbook!! I never threw away one ticket stub, one napkin, or anything that could go in that book. I had pictures mixed in with the keepables, so I think it classifies as a true scrapbook. Can you imagine what fun it would have been to have had stickers, colored pens, and all the bling we have for today's scrapbooking??

This page holds a rock from the cove in Seaside, Oregon where I knew a lot of kids from visiting there with my best friend at their cottage. The rock was to commemorate a good beach party!
Roller skating was another favorite past time when we visited Seaside. The Rink was right on the turnaround, where five stories of condos stand today. At sixteen, we thought that roller rink would always be there. We had no idea how popular beach front property was to become! (if you click on the picture, you can see the rink, right there on the beach front)

Here's a page of pictures. I wonder what we would have done with a digital camera?? Oh! Wow!

And no high school scrapbook would be complete without a picture of the football team!
So...........Let me introduce you to the football team of

Beaverton Union High School in 1946!

This group would change with each year, but they never failed to capture the hearts and dreams of all of the girls for all four years of high school!

The year books were well-loved, well-signed, and well-read. For those of you who are familiar with the Beaverton area, there were only 300 students in the high school in that year of 1946. We had all of the students from Aloha, Bethany, Bonny Slope, Sylvan and Cedar Mill as we were the only high school between Portland and Hillsboro.

I will close with a penmanship certificate which we all worked for during the grade school years. I think this was my last one. Its interesting that I started cursive writing as a first grader and never learn to print. When I started teaching I had to learn to print properly.

Until the next, and last installment of the cedar chest, I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history and the ragged old scrap books

I had to share this--it came today.

THE COMPUTER SWALLOWED GRANDMA

The computer swallowed grandma.
Yes, honestly its true!
She pressed 'control' and 'enter'
And disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.

I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found 'online.'

So, if inside your 'Inbox,'
My Grandma you should see,
Please 'Copy,''Scan' and 'Paste' her
And send her back to me.

This is a tribute to all the Grandmas who have been fearless and . . . .
Learned to use the Computer.....
They are the greatest!!!

We do not stop playing because we grow old;
We grow old because we stop playing.

Manzanita Beckonded

On Tuesday night, after a day full of root canal fixings, a permanent, and out to dinner with good friends, I decided it was time to get out of town.....so my daughter Tammy and I left for the coast Wednesday morning. Manzanita has been my favorite beach town since I was a little girl. Fortunately I had the generous offer of the use of a home there, so it was a good and quick decision.

A trip to the beach is always a treat. As we get onto highway 101 we are treated to some spectacular views of the ocean between Cannon Beach and Manzanita. There is no place like the northern Oregon coast line. It is rugged and majestic, beautiful and inspiring, and has wonderful walking sand!

Manzanita is a sleepy little beach town much of the time, but it comes alive during the summer and holidays. It has one main street with a post office, a grocery store, several very interesting little shops, and a few eating places. It houses many, many cozy cottages, and up on the mountainside, many luxurious homes with panoramic views.

The grocery store, which has been there in some shape or form, since I was a child.

The main street coming into town off highway 101.

The view from the end of Main Street, with a path to the waves and sand.

My favorite activity is to walk along the beach and sing, "How Great Thou Art" at the top of my lungs, because with the ocean's roar, no one can hear me except the Lord!

My sister and her husband were at their cottage as well as one of their sons and his family.

Bill and Carol

The door is always open and the welcome mat is out.

My nephew's four kids livened up the week-end, with "boogie boarding", wet suits and all, on Saturday.

Fortunately the home where we were staying was only three blocks from the cottage, so we were included in lots of the "happenings