Spring Break 2009

Most of you know already, we spent spring break in Florida with Sarah, Ronnie and the boys. We went to Seaworld and Disney, celebrated Sarah's birthday..had a blast, but glad to be home to rest up. Here's some pics of our great time. Evan is the perfect age for Disney and Jack was really a good big brother helping him to learn the ropes. They really behaved well, not much fighting and a lot of fun.

While Disney was fun, we had the most fun at Seaworld. Really changed since we were there last. Sarah was 4 (26 years ago)! They now have "interactive" attractions, one of them was the stingray pond. We fed them ($9 for about 8 sardines--what a rip-off), these little guys got really excited when they smelled the food and they jumped out of the water, fun. We later found out that you were supposed to put your hand on the bottom and hold the fish in your palm and they would suck it off your hand---not us, we stuck the fishy up their noses. What did we know, we're from Indiana and it looked like a mouth to us! Funny...

We also went to the Seaworld Aquatica Waterpark, highly recommended.

Don't we look cool...these are the "shades" we got a Disney to watch the 3D Mickey Movie..really cute.

Boy time sure flies, when you're having life! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted a blog update. Maria, I have a whole new admiration for your diligence to post EVERYDAY!!! I don't know how you do it--especially with a 2 year old and another one on the way. I'm gonna try to do better :) D

Joy.....

Watched a very good movie last night, "The Bucket List", I'm a big fan of Jack Nicholson and I love Morgan Freeman's voice...so might not be your cup of tea, but I liked it. It also, surprisingly, had a faith based message...very unusual for a Hollywood hit.

A couple themes resonated from this movie, one - faith, the other - joy. Seems these are intertwined in my view...don't think you can have one without the other. At one point Morgan (a very smart man that knows a lot of trivia) says to Jack...some Egyptian religions believe that when you die and approach the afterlife, before being allowed in are asked two questions: Did you live a life of joy, and did you bring joy?

I know, as a Christian and follower of Jesus, that I won't have to "pass" a test to enter, I have already secured my eternal life, but this question does make one think. Do you have Joy? Do you bring Joy (blessings?).....

My greatest joy has been from my family (you can read about my husband below)..., my daughter--she was conceived and born, as an answer to prayer by a childless couple who longed to be parents for 5 long years--she is truly a gift of God. I have now been blessed with two beautiful grandson's who are a constant source of love and laughter and hope for the future, and my son-in-law who saw all our blemishes and jumped on board to sail through this life with us. I couldn't have chosen a better son than Ronnie and love him like my own.

So I think I can answer, "Yes, I have joy, I have love, I have Christ, and I have hope...." Here's a glimpse of my grandson's performing their version of "Riverdance".....one of Jack's favorites, and a taste of my Sunday afternoon Joy....don't you love Evan's red shoes, he does!

Something like bowling....

Last night was my first attempt at competitive bowling in about 15-20 years...what a hoot! Our church and another church in town formed a bowling league and about 40 of us get together on Thursdays to have a good time. I ended the evening with a handicap of 91, which was almost as high as one of the games I bowled. What a great time of fellowship and laughter, sweet. Trying to throw a 10 lb ball for 3 hours will remind you of your age, and I made sure to take my Ibupropen before I left home. Good thing I did.

Although the anniversaries, birthdays and aching joints reminds me that life is fleeting, and we are here but for a moment, this aging brings with it the realization of the good gifts of life: my family, my sweet grandsons, my contentment and a closer walk with Jesus. "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou has wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!" Ps31:10

To those of you caring for aging parents or becoming one, check out this beautiful message.
http://parentswish.com/site01/big.html
Bring kleenex...

Happy Anniversary...

Hard to believe that today is our 37th wedding anniversary. Just like clock work I got the phone call from the florist who has delivered a dozen roses to me every year on this date....

Never fail, no matter where I happen to be on this day, these flowers show up. We were once on vacation in Jamaica, had a knock on the door and a man showed up with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. "Do you know how hard it is to find roses in Jamaica in January", said my wonderful husband...but he did it, with the help from our florist in Indiana.

This is one of the many reasons I love this man, he is dependable and thoughtful and always finds ways to show me how much I mean to him. He will never sing me a song, or write me a poem, but he will deliver me red roses in January any place in the world. Can't ask for much more than that.

I am so blessed to have found him so many years ago and to grow old with him. Thank you God.

Love ya Jim.

Belated Christmas!!

What a night! Last evening I was accompanied by my lovely daughter to see the play "Wicked" at Ky Center for Arts. This was part of my Christmas gift. For Christmas she also gave me the paperback, from which this play was adapted.

I read the book before the play, not one of my favorites and a difficult read--and I love to read, but felt myself wading through it. I was not very hopeful for the play, I couldn't imagine how they would adapt this book to a stage, and knew Sarah had spent all she could afford to take me. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised...this is by far one of the best plays I have ever seen. I have had the pleasure of seeing many great performances on stages in London and New York (Color Purple, Sunset Blvd)...and this one has taken the lead as my all time favorite! Sarah and I even talked about trekking to NYC to see it again on Broadway! The costumes are fantastic, and the performance by "Glinda" and "Elfaba" are stellar. If you get the chance, go see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0m6sclZkH0

Check out the trailer here.

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas gift from my lovely daughter! love ya.

Cold in Indiana and Bella does the spa!

Well today is Wednesday already, I think :) and it's cold and snowy in Indiana. Really dislike cold weather, and wonder why I live in Indiana at times like this! But, I am close to my grand babies and my mother (in-law), and unless they all want to migrate south at the same time, I think we're here to stay. So I'll just bundle up if/when I need to go outside and bear it.

I am going outside more since I have brought my doggie home (Bella), somebody's gotta walk her. Bella has summered at my daughters house with her lab, Coco, in their fenced in yard while we remodeled our new house. They even had a pool (granted it was a plastic kiddie pool, but it held water and they loved it!)

I know Louise loves us and welcomed us to her basement for the summer, but I don't think she would have ok'd the dog. Bella was so glad to finally come home and be treated like a human again, she is on her best behavior--oh yeah, she sleeps with us too. She snores.

She has not chewed forbidden items yet (other than the pesky insight bill last night, and a tassle from a designer pillow), but I did catch her chewing on my brand new dining room chair leg...I don't think she'll do that again. I did get a little bent out of shape over that.

Bella is at the dog beauty parlor right now for a BBN (bath,brush,nail) treatment. Here's a picture of her when we first got her as a baby. I'll post a current one when we pick her up this afternoon. She is cute.

Bella after her day at the spa...she's growing up and out!

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And this is Evan's idea of play....watering the puppy

She has grown so much and is so fat. While at Sarah's she had free run of the dogfood bag, they bought the cheapest dogfood on sale, left the entire 25 lb bag in the garage and Coco would go and eat what she wanted a couple times a day. Bella, however, would rip the bottom of the bag open, fill the garage floor with food and wallow and eat all day...every day. She is huge, now on a diet and gets 4 cups of food a day, period.



Can't wait to see/smell her when she gets done. (She smells good :)

New Arrival!!

Spent late yesterday afternoon in the hospital waiting room with my big brother and sis-in-law anticipating the arrival of the new addition to the family.

After a few anxious hours we were elated to welcome, Penelope. Can't say she's a little one, cause she weighed in at a hefty 11 lbs. 8 oz., 20 inches tall. Here's a quick snapshot I was able to take right after delivery...I think she is beautiful. Mother and Baby (even Dad) are all resting comfortably...and very happy. Grandma says she'll call her PJ...

Praise God for a healthy baby girl, and mommy, and thanks for all the prayers!