Family Photos

Just thought you might enjoy seeing the latest pictures. These were taken on the day of Emerson's 70th surprise birthday party. It was such fun!!

Our nine grandchildren 

Joyce & Emerson 

Lessons From Addy & Ellie's Red House

*You can NEVER stay ahead.
*You can NEVER get ahead.
*You can NEVER stay caught up.
*Sometimes you can ALMOST catch up.
*Laundry increases exponentially while you aren't looking.
*Three year-old girls are beautiful with French Braids.
*Walking in the rain with a giggling three year-old is precious.
*There is nothing sweeter in this world than a baby asleep in your arms.
*EVERYBODY is cranky when NOBODY gets enough sleep.
*Painting your daughter's toenails, or reading books, or playing with the baby is far more important than a neat & tidy house.
(Jayme has learned this better than Nana has. Good Jayme. Bad Nana.)
*Baby "words" are music to the ears.
*Dishwashers are a NECESSITY for young mothers.
*It's a good thing we don't remember teething....
*Biter Biscuits are made to be worn as well as eaten.
*Halloween songs that are passed down from previous generations still bring smiles to little faces. (Thanks Mom)
*Thirty minutes can either be brutally brief or agonizingly long.
*There is a lot to be said for ranch style houses.
*Baby Einstein movies are worth whatever it is you have to pay for them.

And there are a multitude of other things which I have learned or been reminded of. But I'm too worn out to remember what they are.

Hats off to Jayme and every other mother who does this everyday for many, many, many days.

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains (of laundry), from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heave and earth (and washing machines)."

Stairways & Cell Phones

Here I am, still at Jayme's house--she of course, is still doing her best impression of "Hop-a-long Cassidy". She has been up more in the wheelchair today, but the foot and ankle are also more black and blue--and still swollen.

I am busy, busy, busy--trying to do my best impression of Jayme taking care of two children. Wow! Are they time & attention intensive, or what!!!!! Addy is --very good at entertaining herself, but has not learned the art of putting one thing away before getting something else out. Now Ellie--sweet little Ellie, has not been feeling well. A cold, cutting multiple teeth. And she is just VERY high maintenance right now. She seems to have gotten attached to her Nana--even wanting me to hold her instead of her Mama! Repayment for all those times Jayme wanted her Grandma instead of me!

I've been trying to help Jayme catch up on all her laundry--I think she has been behind since they moved. I can't count the number of times I have gone up and down the stairs in the last couple of days. The bedrooms are all upstairs and the full bathroom. The kitchen, dining, family room, etc., are on the main level, but the washer and dryer are in the basement. Up and down, up and down, up and down!!! My knee is complaining quite loudly at this point!!

We were getting ready for bed tonight and Jayme asked Neal to find the portable phone for her before he went up to bed (she has been sleeping on the couch). He couldn't find it, so he hit the page button. We could hear it, but we couldn't find it. It sounded like it was coming from behind the couch, but when he pulled out the couch a little ways, he still couldn't find it--BEEp, BEEp, BEEp!!! He found numerous other items, cords, cds, quarters, and lots of cheerios, kicks, m&kms....heeeheeeheee. He finally had to lift the couch to find it. Earlier, I had been looking for a remote--and IN the couch found a pair of Neals socks, a pair of scissors, several cords to a stereo or vcr, pens, pencils, cheerios.....but NO money. RATS! Heeheheeehe. I hope nobody looks in my couch and then blogs about it! At least Jayme has an excuse--she has kids. I have NO excuse!

I get to take Addy to Preschool tomorrow. She has a cool preschool. They even have a sandbox INSIDE! There is a bird, a hampster, a guinea pig. They have neat centers--a writing center, playdough center, light table, sand & water table (currently full of popcorn), a reading center, puzzle center, a little toy kitchen, a computer center, and I can't remember what else. They also have a one way window where you can watch without the kids seeing you--that's really fun. Addy loves her preschool. I think I would love it, too! But I guess I'm probably too old!!!

Well, enough for tonight. I have to get up early to take her to school!

Blessings to all!

Eating Out

Since Jayme is hobbling along on crutches, I'm here with her helping out with the kids. Wow! Two little children are MORE than DOUBLE the work of one!

But there are some definite bright moments! Take for example the following conversation after church tonight:

Addy to her Papa: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Papa to Addy: I don't know, you'll have to ask your mother (who is standing nearby listening).

Addy to her Mama: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Mama (giggling): Ask your Papa!

Addy to Papa: Papa, can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Papa to Addy: I don't know, ask your sister!

Addy to 9 month old Ellie: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Ellie: (Happy babbling)

Addy announces: Ellie says YES!

Papa to Addy: What do you want to eat?

Addy to Papa: I don't know.

Papa to Addy: Ask your sister?

Addy to Ellie: What do you want to eat?

Ellie: (happy babbling)

Papa to Addy: What did she say?
y
Addy to Papa: I don't know, I didn't hear her!

I love being here to hear these little conversations. Addy just came and gave me a goodnight *mah* (kiss) and says in her sweet little voice, "Goodnight, Nana!"

And so, I say goodnight and God bless to all of you!

More Things Than Time

Ok, Michelle! Here it is as promised!

I cannot believe how much time is passing between posts for me. I just seem to stay so busy doing things, and my dear hubby gets upset if I stay up late at the computer!

One thing that has kept me occupied lately is an old antique cabinet that I am repairing and refinishing! I'm really excited about it. It was in such bad shape before I started. Emerson thought I was crazy when I bought it and brought it home. I started working on it last week. I've done almost all of the repairs by myself--I've only had to ask Emerson for his help a couple of times. After I got the repairs on the bottom part completed, I started stripping it. It is going to be BEAUTIFUL. When Emerson came in the shop and saw it, he was really shocked. He said, "When I looked at that before, all I saw was a piece of JUNK! Now it's beautiful!" I can't wait to get it finished. I still have a lot of work to do, stripping doors, drawers, repairing and stripping the top section. When I get it finished I'm going to put either scrapbook materials in it, or quilting fabric and accessories. It will be great!

You know, as I was typing this about my cabinet, it made me think just how much my life is like that antique cabinet--no, no, not that I'm OLD, but about how my life was in such a shambles before Jesus began to "refinish" me! He's had to make some major repairs. He's had to remove a lot of scratches. He's even taking off the old finish. And there's still a lot of work to be done--He says He's not finished with me yet (See Phillipians where it says "He began a good work in me...."). I know that there's still some major work to be done, but the structure is becoming more solid all the time. I know He considers me precious, because He paid so much for me. And I'm sure He is just as excited to see the finished product (in Heaven) as I am to see my cabinet finally sitting in its appointed place!

Tuesday, I got to go to Jayme's house. Michelle and Jayme and I scrapbooked--we had everything out all over everywhere!! But what fun we had. We sure got a lot of scrapbook pages made. It was fun to pool all our resources and get to make such neat pages! Of course, I got some "Nana" time in there, too! What beautiful babies they are! And sooo much fun! Addy "scrapbooked" with us. She had a picture her mom had given her. She put buttons on it. She laid it on different papers. She rounded a corner or two. She played with a lot of my embelishments. She especially liked the big cardboard letters I had just gotten. She laid out a few and then said, "Nana, what does this spell?" "Pladgnr", I replied. Then she added a few more letters. "Nana, what does THIS spell?" "Pladgnrmsuf." Addy, giggling, adds a few more letters. "Nana, what does THIS spell?" And the word got harder and harder for Nana to pronounce! With much giggling, the game continued, until finally she had ALL the letters lined up for me to pronounce. Whew! I was glad I hadn't gotten two sets of those letters!!!

We also took time to go to a couple of antique stores. I'm collecting antique rolling pins (among other things) so I love to go look. I didn't buy rolling pins, but I found a really neat old sewing machine drawer for $5--it will sit on my new cabinet! I also bought a little red bench. It will go perfectly with a little red stool that I've had since I was a little girl. My grandkids argue over who gets to sit on it, so now at least I'll have 2 red things for them to argue over!

I got 2 antique rolling pins on e-bay last week. One of them has already arrived and I am expecting the second one anytime. I am going to do a program for our antique club on rolling pins--I am having trouble finding any information about the history of antique rolling pins--so if any of you know anything--PLEASE share!!

Today, we'll be getting ready for our Garden Club to come to our place Monday evening. We're having a weinie roast with all the fixin's. I love this time of the year, when the air begins to have a little "nip" to it, and you can smell the leaves (we NEVER rake here, since we live in the country), and I love to *shuffle* through them. I'll be putting up our outdoor fall decorations today. Down at the entrance there will be a scarecrow, a bale of hay or two, some pumpkins and squash, and a BIG lighted (plastic) jackolantern!

By the fire ring, I'll be putting out the cowboy & cowgirl jackolanterns--last year we used real pumpkins, but this year I'm going to use craft pumpkins so we can keep them from year to year! It takes quite a while to make them!! I'll try to post pictures later.

Well, I don't know how many of you read clear to the end--I know it's a long post. But I'm glad you came, and if you read this far, I'm glad you stayed.

May God continue to hold each of you in the palm of His hand.

Second Summer Surprise!

Well! And I thought I had the corner on giving surprise birthday parties!!

I don't know how long Jayme and Emerson had been planning this one, but I was totally clueless!

Jayme had told me that she wanted to celebrate my birthday at her house the weekend AFTER Emerson's big party. She was afraid that my birthday was going to be overshadowed. She said that Ladd & Donna and the boys could come up, we'd watch a movie and eat pizza. Sounded great to me!!!

So, when last weekend came up, I called Jayme to see when she wanted us to get together.

Me: How early do you want us to come?

Jayme: Neal & I have to go to meetings for Addy's preschool--ALL AFTERNOON--from 2-6!!

Me: Emerson and I can come up and keep the girls while you go to the meetings.

Jayme: No need. I already have plans for the girls. They're going to a friends house and they're all going to the zoo.

Me: Fine! We'll just be there about 6 then.

Saturday morning, Emerson and I go to Aaron's soccer game. Emerson asks me if Ladd and Donna and the boys are going to the party. I said I thought so, and then turned and asked Donna. She said, Ummmm, I think so--depends on how Daniel feels.

Later that afternoon, I ask Emerson if he doesn't want to call and see if Ladd and Donna want to ride up with us. He putters around and wastes time. And I'm thinking....Sure, you and Ladd yell at Donna and me for making a little trip to town and wasting gas, but you're not going to call and see if they want to ride with us to Jayme's house 50 miles away?????? Boy!!! Emerson finally calls, but gets no answer at their house.

We leave for Jayme's house. We don't leave on time. We will be 15 minutes late. I take a bag of popcorn along because I am already starving. I try to share it with E, but he says he is saving room for pizza. I tell him that if they are in meetings untill 6:00, chances are the pizza won't be there yet when we get there. He does not eat any popcorn. About 5:45 Jayme calls to see where we are. She says she will go ahead and order the pizza. I say, "See, she's just now ordering the pizza. Emerson starts to eat popcorn, but then changes his mind. Fifteen minutes later she calls again. Where are you? We had just pulled into town. She asks what kind of pizza we want--supreme or meat lover's. We discuss the options. She hangs up. I say to Emerson, "She STILL hasn't ordered the pizza." He reaches into the bag--"Hey, you ate it all!" I told him he'd had his chance!!

We pull up in front of Jayme's house. We go to the door. Jayme meets us there. She takes my purse and camera and tells me to close my eyes. She begins leading me through the house. I think she is taking me to see a present. She leads me all the way to the back door of the house and out onto the porch. "Open your eyes!"

When I do....what on earth???? There are about 10 of my friends, including my best friend ever since the 8th grade (she lives about five hours from Jayme's house), PLUS Ladd & Donna and the boys, and Jayme and Neal and the girls. Nineteen of us altogether. And the backyard! She had turned it into quite an impressive setting. Lights in the tree--which bloomed just that day!--lights on the fence, candles in jars on all the tables. A 3-D scrapbook table, with memories and pictures from my life, jazz music playing in the background. And a table set up LOADED with food from a caterer!! Barbequed beef brisket and pork, baked beans and coleslaw, potatoes, buns, the whole works!!! YUMMMMY! So after much laughing and hugging, we all dug in and had a wonderful meal.

While we were still eating, Jayme says, "Oh, here's another surprise!" And she introduced a lovely lady from their church who serenaded us with three very lovely pieces on the violin!! My mother was a violinist, and it was just like having her with me again. The music was SO BEAUTIFUL!! It brought tears to my eyes!!

THEN, the next surprise was that Jayme had baked me a home made angel food cake. My mother had always baked my sister and I angel food cakes on our birthdays for as long as I can remember, and Jayme knew how much I loved them. So, she had used my mom's recipe, and baked an angel food cake with boiled icing. It was PERFECT!!! Soooooo GOOOOD! I won't tell you how many pieces I ate!!!! :) And Jayme also made 3 kinds of cookies and tied them up in little stacks of 3 with ribbon. They were so pretty! And Yummy. Oh, and these oreo balls that were to die for!! WOW!!

Then we went through everything on the memory table. Jayme and my friend had written captions about all the pictures and objects on the table. It was really neat!! And then, my friends husband said his favorite memory of me was when we all sat around and I played the guitar and we sang together. So Jayme brought out a guitar that she had borrowed and I played a few songs that I could remember and we sang!! The presents were wonderful as well:

A new iced tea maker--Jayme knew that the handle had broken off my pitcher on the old one.

A new coffee mug--Jayme and I have a collection of the same cups--so that we can have coffee/hot chocolate together even if we're apart!

A homemade bread basket--that lays flat when not in use.

A heart shaped wire and bead basket.

A mosaic covered watering can.

And an Iris fountain that I had been admiring all summer.

The weather was wonderful. The food was excellent. The friends and family were perfect. The music and the angel food cake were heaven sent. We even played a couple of rounds of a computerized trivia game. What fun!!

We were the last ones to leave. My friend and her husband spent the night, but then came to our house the next day. We had another fun afternoon visiting and laughing and remembering.

This 50th birthday has been so wonderful!!!!! How could I ever say just how much it all meant to me??!!?? I am soooooo blessed!

Thank you Jayme and Emerson and all my friends for loving me so much.

Quilt Blocks 

Quilt Block

While Jayme and I were cleaning the house in anticipation of the big surprise party, I was trying to find something decorative to put under my french bread board. After looking around for awhile and not finding anything, I happened to think about how Jayme had used some old quilt blocks I gave her to put under some pictures on her buffet. I had purchased a big box of old quilt block and pieces at an autction for $1. So, stealing her idea, I went down stairs and retrieved some of the old blocks. They were really wrinkled and had some water damage, but I decided to use them anyway. I couldn't do anything about the water damage, but I certainly could iron them.

I set up my ironing board and started carefully pressing the blocks. As I was ironing, I started thinking about who made these blocks to start with. I could imagine her with her old iron sitting on top of a wood-cook stove, and taking it off and ironing for a little while and them putting the iron back on the stove to heat again. Did she think about who might some day look at her quilt blocks and think about her? I can't imagine ironing with one of those old heavy irons. I'm sure she couldn't imagine an electric iron!! And now I wonder who will some day in the future look at these same quilt blocks and think about who owned them before.

I know the blocks are very old. The fabric is old. The blocks are hand pieced. There are some pieces to the blocks that had to be pieced themselves. Then I thought about how much my life is like a quilt block. Each day of my life is a new piece in a block. And God has carefully cut them out--just right. And sometimes he pieces them together with a piece from someone else's life. Sometimes, there are pieces that also have to be pieced because there wasn't enough fabric from that day of life to make a whole piece. He carefully stitches the various pieces together to make a beautiful block. And just like life is always changing, this quilt is a sampler quilt, with no two blocks the same. Instead of new fabric, He's using old fabric--because I'm getting older every day! :) I guess one day He will be using *vintage* fabric!! My life is the quilt top--but it is layered on top of the backing and the batting--the lives of those who have gone on before me--like my mother and grandmother. And our love and the Father's love is what binds the quilt all together.

I really like these quilt blocks that I've decorated with even more now!!

John Deere! 

Grandpa's Tractor 

Gotcha! 

SURPRISE! 

E's Pictures!

Well, I'll give a shot at putting pictures on. Here's Emerson soon after he was *SURPRISED*. Now please remember, he's been out mowing. He really cleans up GOOD!

The Great Birthday Surprise!!

Whew!!! What a great weekend!! And it's not over yet. But I must write about the great surprise.....

I just have to believe God got in on the surprise! Emerson decided we needed to have one of the elders from our new church over Thursday evening for supper so that we could ask some questions. Sooooo....Emerson didn't ask any questions when Jayme came to help me clean house!! And then the secretary from the middle school called begging Emerson to substitute on Friday, soooo....I was able to go buy all the groceries and stash them away before he got home.

I was beginning to think, however, that it was all going to fall to pieces when Emerson decided he was going to go finish mowing the lawn. I tried my best to talk him into taking a shower and finishing the mowing the next day, but NNNOOOOOO, he wanted to get it done!!!! I told him that Ladd and Donna would be here soon and it would be time to eat--he says, "I'll just WATCH for them"! SMACK! (That's me hitting the palm of my hand against my forehead!!) Shane and family (from Houston) were due to drive up anytime!! I called Donna and she and the boys dashed over. We decided to take the boys outside and *pretend* we were taking their pictures. I had made letter signs that spelled out *S*U*R*P*R*I*S*E*. Emerson saw us headed out in the front and drove the mower over to see what we were up to. So we held up the signs just as the Houstonites started up the drive way--honking all the way. Emerson just kept looking back and forth between us (with the signs) and this van driving up the driveway, honking. Back and Forth, back and Forth, until finally he could see the Texas tags. He THREW his arms UP in the air and SHOUTED, "OH, MY!!" The look on his face was WORTH every bit of the preparation it took!! He didn't have a clue!! Did I get a picture, you ask? Well......no he stopped the mower in a place where I could NOT get a clear picture of him! But it was still perfect!!!

E finally came in and took a shower!!!! Much talking and laughing began. We let all the grandkids head out to the pool. Much swimming and splashing. Also swinging on the swingset we got earlier this spring (we've gotten our money's worth). We fixed oven toasted sandwiches and salads. The kids quit swimming long enough to eat! Seven of the grandkids spent the night. Lots of little bodies all over the place!!!

Saturday morning I fixed mini chocolate chip muffins. We devoured 4 dozen of those and 2 GIANT cantalopes (we had eaten 2 giant ones the night before, too). Then we got ready for the photo shoot. I asked everyone to wear khaki pants (or shorts, skirts, etc.) and white shirts. We were really a sharp looking bunch!! The photograhper came and picked out the perfect spot to take the pictures. We started out by doing individual families first, because one family hadn't arrived until the last minute. So we did that while they were changing clothes. After all the individual family pictures we took the giant family portrait--all 19 of us. The photographer said she thinks they turned out really good. She complimented us on how well behaved everyone was and that we all were dressed alike. She said inevitalbly one person always wears something totally different!!! But I think my favorite picture might be the last one she took. We had E bring his tractor around to the picture spot and all the grandkids and E stood on and around the tractor. E always give the grandkids rides on the tractor, so it's a big deal. I can't wait to see the pictures!!!

After the photo shoot, the cooking frenzy began. Two of E's sons bought a WHOLE prime rib and cooked it on the grill. Then we had potato salad, baked beans, devilled eggs, brocolli and califlower salad, rolls, and more! Then the feeding frenzy! Much talking and laughing. Much gnashing of silverware!! (If you can do that with plastic silverware!) Then the cleaning frenzy. All the dishes and pots and pans. The kitchen was spotless. Then it was time to make the ice cream. I'd already made 2 kinds of cake. I made 2 kinds of ice cream. While I was doing that the grandkids were swimming and splashing and playing and laughing. More company came. E's b-i-l and s-i-l and his Aunt and her kids. Much talking and laughing! The grandkids talked uncle Ladd into getting out the go-cart. All of the grandkids (and quite a few of the adults) took turns riding it. Much more laughing and squealing!

Then we had cake and ice cream. And gave E his birthday presents. He had figured out that I was making him a scrapbook, but was totally blown away by the 100+ pages and the content. In fact, it wouldn't all fit in one--I had to put it in two!! He looked at them and then everyone else looked at them. Much laughing, giggling and teasing!! More swimming and splashing and swinging and running around and chasing and....whew! Finally, most everyone left or went to bed. E took time to really look at the scrapbooks, and I could tell that he was really pleased. Finally all of us went to bed. Much snoring!!

Sadly, Jayme and Neal and family, had to go back home since he is the preacher-man. But the rest of us all went to church together this morning at our new church. Fifteen of us took up nearly 2 whole rows! It was really good to get to sit together as a family and worship the Lord and feel good about it!!

After church, we went to Johnny Carrinos and ate lunch. Much talking and laughing! The Garden City bunch parted company with us at this point. The rest of us came home. We took the five grandkids (ranging in age from 10 to 4) that were still here fishing. And boy were the fish hungry. All of the kids caught fish--and some had never ever fished before. Much laughing, squealing, and flailing about of fish, hooks and children!!

Then came the kite flying. It's a giant yellow and pink plane kite that I won several years ago in a school raffle. I had given it to one of the grandsons, but had never seen it fly. They brought it out today, and there was enough wind to fly it!! It was really neat. It's about 5 feet long and has a long curly, spinning tail. Then more swimming, splashing, laughing, swinging, running about, chasing, giggling and squealing!

Hunger once again drove the grandkids inside and so there was munching of many delicious leftovers. Much laughing talking, squaring of accounts (how much do I owe you for this, etc.)--I think the same $50 got passed around several times!!

And finally goodbyes. Jayme and Neal were already gone. As were the Garden City bunch. The Houstonites loaded up their van after the snacking frenzy and made their exit (amongst much hugging and kissing and laughing and giggling). Ladd and Donna stayed until about 9:15. Some of us worked on a jigsaw puzzle, some watched tv, some snoozed. And then finally all was quiet. But even though it is very quiet, this is a very content house. Full of the echoes and love and laughter and sharing and family.

ReJoyce in the Lord always, and again I will say, ReJoyce! God is good!

Moving Furniture

So you thought you'd come to the wrong blog? No, I just decided it was time for a new look. Kind of like moving the furniture around in your house.

Rejoice!?

This was the title on the screen for yesterday's sermon! Even though it misspelled (you know, ReJoyce!), I said to Emerson, "This is MY sermon!" And it was truly wonderful. The preacher talked about how we are to rejoice (do you know it's hard for me to spell it that way--it always looks wrong) in the Lord and that we should be letting that show in our worship services.

He even had us practice!!!! He would say, "Jesus is Lord!" and we would say "YES!".

Preacher: He died to save us from our sins!
Us: YES!

Preacher: He is risen from the dead!
Us: YES!

Preacher: He is coming again!
US: YES!

Preacher: Jesus loves me!
Us: YES!

And then he read one of the psalms (I forget now which one) and he would read the regular verses and when it came to "Prasie the Lord", we (with great gusto) would say that part. It was sooooo uplifting. Now mind you, none of this is "normal" Sunday worship in the Church of Christ. We usually just sit and listen (and *sigh* sometimes fall asleep--I hate it when I do that). But not this time!!! It was sooooo good!!

Then toward the end of his sermon, he had us all stand up and say the doxology--you know--Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." He had us say it, even shout it, as loud as we could.

Now this is the first time I can remember seeing the elder standing up front at the invitation, grinning. What a time of worship it was!! I hope this is something that we continue to do. So far, we have not been sorry at all that we started going to this congregation. We just miss friends. But many of them have called to talk to us, so hopefully we won't lose touch.

Just wanted to share this with you.

"ReJoyce" in the Lord always, and again I say "ReJoyce"!

Shhhhhh......it's a Secret

Emerson's birthday is September 16th. He will be 70. He thinks I don't have anything special planned for that day. Heehheeehehheheeeehhhe! I don't. BUT....hehhhehhheeeeehehe....my birthday is September 5th and since that is labor day, I planned his party for that weekend!!! It has been so much fun to plan. And I can't wait to see his face!!!!!! I managed to get all of the kids and grandkids to come. The ones from Houston will arrive Saturday evening. Heeheeeeheeee--I just know he is going to be so surprised!! While he was in the hospital he said "Why don't you call Shane (the one who lives in Houston) to bring the kids and come visit me in the hospital--but if he won't bring the kids, tell him not to bother!!" I just laughed!!!!! Little does he know they'll be here in less than a week.

I even hired a photographer to come take family pictures on Saturday morning. I am just so excited I can harldy stand myself!

I have been working on a scrap book for him. It starts with pictures of his first wife (she died of cancer)--I found some old wedding proofs. They worked great. Then I put in pictures of his kids when they were little. Then I have some pictures of the family just before his first wife died. After that, will be our wedding pictures. Then pictures of all the grandkids. I think I have over 60 pages now, and it's not done. I guess it won't be entirely done (even with old pictures), but it can be a work in progress. I know he will like it. He's seen a few of the pages, but I think he thinks I'm making it for our daughter-in-law. But even if he's figured out it's for him, he doesn't have any idea how many pages I've made or what's on most of them!

I haven't quite figured out how to buy all the groceries for the weekend without him going--what's all this for???? So if you have any suggestions...let me know.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the BIG SURPRISE!!

God's blessings.

The Thorn

Emerson came home from the hospital Saturday afternoon with strict instructions to do nothing but walk around the house, read, and watch tv until Tuesday. With all the rain we've been having (even flooding--not our house, but up the road a bit) the grass was a foot tall in places. I knew he would be itching to get out there and get it mowed, so to relieve that itch, I took on the mowing myself.

All went well until I decided to mow the opening in the fence between our place and the neighbor's place. It used to have a gate--but we've established an "open gate" policy! :) Anyway, I nudged the mower toward the opening, knowing I couldn't go all the way thru--the mower is too wide, but thinking I could get a lot of it cut--and drove into a thorned some-kind-of-berry vine. Even though I was going slowly, my ankle was impaled with one of the thorns. I reach down and grabbed the vine and pulled it away from my leg, and I could feel the thorn pulling back out. As I watched the blood run down my ankle and pool in my flip flop, my first thought was of Jesus and the crown of thorns.

Mine was only one thorn. His was a whole crown. I can't imagine how many there were. Mine was merely pushed in to my skin. His was jammed down on his head. Mine was done only out of clumsiness or maybe stupidity. His came with the burden of all the world's sin. Mine was through fault of my own. His was done by angry people--and He had no fault. Mine did nothing more than bleed for a little while. His saved the world.

I watched "The Passion". I think everyone should see it. But this small incident was surely a much needed reminder of the price He paid for me. How can I but adore Him! I stand in awe. I am amazed in His presence. He is Holy.

Thank you, Lord, for this practical application of your Word and your Sacrifice in my life. May I always remember it.