These are a Few of My Favorite Things!

Well two of them anyway.  Two of my best girls, Elaine and Nellie!  They got along just great together!

Elaine is pretty smart, I showed her how to honk the horn…she picked up on it real fast.  Guess Grandma isn’t too smart!

Sweet Girls!

Happy Birthday Elaine!

Today our little granddaughter turns two!  She is such a cutie.  And this is such a fun age…okay, they are all fun ages. 

We last saw Elaine in August on a very fast trip her Dad made to Denver.  Ben was kind enough to tuck Elaine in as his carry on !

The trip was far too fast.

Now isn’t that a sad picture?!

Sometimes I get a phone call and when I answer it all I hear is two year old babble and maybe a word that sounds like “pooter”!  She wants to Skype! I love that!  But of course I didn’t figure that out, Andrea had to tell me.  The last couple of times she has been busy doing a little dance on the chair. She likes her shoes tapping and clacking!  Andrea has told us many cute “shoe” stories lately.  She really loves her shoes.  So for her Birthday I made her a “shoes” card.  I think it turned out very cute!

HAPPY BIRTDAY ELAINE!

  Thank you for introducing us to the best thing in life, being Grandparents!

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday we had our third snowstorm of the season.  It was the first time the snow actually accumulated on the pavement.  So it was the first time Wally actually had to take care of the snow removal here at the Polo Club.  It is mostly done by hand shoveling and he arranged for day laborers to do the work.  The snow was letting up just before noon and 16 men descended on our community.  There are 126 driveways, sidewalks and four mailbox kiosks. The roads and perimeter all get plowed by a truck. Wally thought it would take six hours and then wondered if it would get done.  Guess what??  In two hours, they were half done.  Those guys really worked! 

I am thankful that the first snow removal went well For Wally.  I am thankful he has a good job and we have a warm home to live in.  But I am also thankful for the opportunity to just show kindness to other people.  I cannot judge as to why these men do not have jobs or if they have a warm place to return to at night.  But they are definitely men who do not have a whole lot in life.  When they stopped for a break I had some cookies to give them.  I asked if they wanted hot chocolate and was told, “I think they’ll eat anything”.  So it made me think of some antelope sausage we had in the fridge.  I finished cutting it up and Wally took it down with some crackers.  He said he could not believe how fast they ate it up!  You know, it just gave me a warm feeling inside when they all thanked me later on! 

In Bible study this year we are studying The Acts of the Apostles.  One lesson keeps coming around to me.  I may not always speak the gospel, but I do need to be living it.  I have many opportunities in our new community to do that, to show kindness, to live before them as Jesus would.  And then perhaps I will also have the opportunity to speak the gospel also!

‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Matthew 25:35 and 45

Mom’s Birthday

Last Saturday was my Mom’s 79th Birthday.  Shh don’t let her know I told you.  She doesn’t want people know she is getting close to 80!  It worked out for all of us Colorado kids to get together for dinner and to honor Mom.

My niece Nicole, Robin, Me, Wally, Dad, the Birthday Girl, Terry and Scott

We had dinner at 730, a little restaurant in our new neighborhood.  They were having a bit of a tough night  between the kitchen and wait staff, but we had plenty of entertainment to keep us happy…ourselves!!  It was so nice that Nicole was spending the night with her Dad and came along to dinner with us. We don’t get to see her a whole lot!

Nicole, Robin, Sherry

Dad and Mom

I am very blessed to have a good relationship with my Mom and to consider her a BFF. She won’t know what that means but she does it very well.

I remember Mom----

• curling my hair for church in front of the Lawrence Welk Show every Saturday night
• teaching JOY club in our basement
• cutting out flannel graph figures for Sunday School
• humming in the kitchen after a long day at work,
• staying up late at night to sew for us girls
• Saving her change in a sock in her drawer
• frying chicken and making potato salad for a picnic when we took a drive in the mountains
• canning pickles…other things too but that big pan of pickles sat on the counter soaking… it seemed like forever!
• and many other memories

In addition to warm childhood memories, my Mom has given me the example of a Godly woman.  She loves the Lord and has always encouraged  me to trust Him!  I know she is also faithfully  prays for her family.  That’s the best thing a Mom can do!

Happy Birthday Mom!  May God grant you many more years to Enjoy!

Thankful Thursday

Editor’s Note:  When I am reading blogs if I come across one that looks kind of long, I skip it or skim it pretty good. This is one of those blog posts and it will not hurt my feelings if you choose to do the same!

Ever have a day when you are just thankful that it is over?  Let me replay for you a few events from yesterday…

Wally had to go back to Aurora early yesterday morning to get some tools.  The maintenance men were putting together a fence.  He also thought he’d get some donuts for them and how nice…a Starbucks for me!  I was really looking forward to coffee.  It arrived…and just as Wally was opening the door the entire cup hit the pavement. (Can I just say that this is about the third time he has done that in recent weeks!)  I think I handled it pretty good, (better than Wally) even though it smelled so-o good evaporating on the cement!

Thursday is my big cleaning day.  I clean the shower rooms in the pool area and hot tub area.  My plan was to hit it right after the Ladies Water Aerobics was over.  I had a lot to get done and I wanted to get it out of the way early. Until the ladies vacated, I would work on my Bible study.  I was doing just that when Wally called…he had to go into one of the ponds and fix a bubbler that was not working.  Did I want to ride along for moral support?  Sure!  I like these outings in the golf cart.  It was a pleasant venture.

But I never got back to my Bible Study.  I took a quick look at email when   I returned to the office. Was there really going to be a meeting in the clubhouse at 2:00 by some of the board members? I needed to get that room ready. It was covered in papers from meetings all week between Wally and our boss, putting together the budget for 2012. Actually, I needed to get Wally to collect his papers…a more difficult task!

The Ladies Water Aerobic class had departed.  Cleaning here I come…my parents called.  Their credit union is nearby and they were going to stop afterwards. I always enjoy that.  Dad had new hearing aides he was sporting, fresh from the VA (He had made his appointment back in January if you can believe that).  It’s always fun to chat with Dad.  It is just so much better when he actually hears me and we have the same conversation!  I fired up the laptop and showed off the latest pictures of the grandkids.  Wally was leaving for most of the afternoon and my folks got on their way.  Finally I was going to get on the cleaning. 

I put on the old earphones and tuned into one of my podcasts and I was cleaning away, making good progress even,  when I got a phone call.  It was Wesley.  I have learned that when Wes actually calls and does not text me, it is generally not good. He was on his way to the ER with a pretty good gash above his eyebrow.  Yep, not good.  He had been playing some football and chunked heads with someone who has a harder head than he does!  He did follow this call with a text, a picture of his split eyebrow.  

Back to cleaning.  Another phone call.  A resident was calling to report their neighbor’s garage was up and she just found out that her neighbor has been in Europe for a week.  She was sure it had been up for 24 hours.  I quickly finished cleaning the floors and put the hose away and then jumped into the golf cart…Rescue Ranger is on her way!  I could tell by the amount of leaves not in the garage that the door could not have been open for very long. I was relieved.   While I was out I thought I would grab the mail for another resident who is out of town for a couple of weeks. I pulled back into the parking lot about 1:30, plenty of time to finish my cleaning and change my clothes before I greet those coming for their meeting.  Can you believe it?  I am locked out!  One thing I cannot get used to about living here, you need to have keys for everything and always have the keys with you!

This part I am very thankful for…Casey, our grounds manager has been here for thirty years.  His knowledge is so valuable.  Especially today as he knew a way to get in…I cannot tell you how because I was sworn to secrecy!  A couple of more phone calls came in and I never did get changed out of my cleaning clothes before the board members began arriving.  Oh bother! 

I thought my day was pretty well on the down hill side.  Surely most of the interruptions were past.  Okay,  just one more to end my day.  A resident called to say she wanted to stop by the office and get a sticker for her new live-in boyfriend.  Sometime between  her call and her arrival  I spoke to Wally.  He informed me the stickers were only for homeowners and family, not roommates.  The president of our board was at the meeting.  Wally told me to confer with her.  I did so and was told the resident could not have the sticker.  So when she arrived I had to tell her no.  And yes, she was not happy! 

So ended my Thankful Thursday.  I can remember when I used to listen to Elisabeth Elliot on the radio years ago.  She would often begin her broadcast with the admonition that “any interruption in your day could be your Gateway to Joy, (the name of her radio program), if you offered it to the Lord.”  Do you ever feel like saying to the Lord, “Here, take them.  They are all Yours?!”  I’m quite sure that was not the attitude Elisabeth was encouraging me to have.  But it was my attitude yesterday.  I had so much I wanted to get done. Looking back I certainly did not see how any of my interruptions had any spiritual significance in my life or another's.  I believe that is just how it works though. We do not always get to “see”.  But we can always trust that our circumstances come from the Hand of a loving, all-knowing God who is working in all those circumstance something of eternal value.  That is my attitude after a good night’s rest and as I head into my Friday.

“…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

I Thessalonians 5:19

This MIL is a NIL

Kenny called me the other night.  He had a cooking question.  He was fixing dinner for Becky who was one her way home.  It was her Birthday.  Yikes!  I had just recently been thinking, “It seems like Becky has a fall Birthday.  I better ask Kenny just when it is”  Too late!  I now have Becky Godby added to my Birthday calendar for October 6!  Next year, this mother in law does not want to be a big zero.

Kenny and Becky were married June 4 of this year.  She is already proving to be a wonderful helpmeet to Kenny.  She is a gifted pianist…and Kenny is the music leader at their church.  She is young and energetic… great for a youth Pastor’s wife.  Best of all she loves the Lord and has desires to serve Him.  I think that is the best quality any son could look for in his wife!  Thank you Kenny.  It certainly makes it a joy to welcome a new daughter to the family! 

I think I have said this before, but we feel very blessed to have Becky in our family. I think my only regret is that they live so far away and we cannot spend more time together. We’re so glad Kenny caught ya’ Becky.

Becky has a blog called Our Life in the Big City.  She shares a lot of their life and experiences there.  She also enjoys DIY projects and crafts and shares that as well.  If you visit, you can see for yourself how blessed we are!

Happy Birthday Becky!!

Robin

I have a new ring tone on my phone.  It is of a robin chirping.  It is a ringtone for when my sister Robin calls.  It went off the other night and I kept wondering where was that bird sound coming from?  Then it dawned on me, Robin was calling.  (Note to Robin: call more often so I get used to that ringtone!)  One of the nicest things about my sister is that we do go for quite awhile between phone calls.  But when we do call we pick right up as though no time has passed at all!  She was calling for a recipe and I wished her a Happy Birthday, a day early.  We were all caught up! 

Have you seen one of those cute plaques that says something like…”I’m smiling because I’m your sister and there’s nothing you can do about it!”  I would change it to say “I’m smiling because your my sister and I’m very blessed by it!”  Robin is my sister and my friend!  The first thing you see when you meet her is her smile.  It is often followed by a big laugh!  I think I have mentioned on this blog how we laugh a lot in my family!  Maybe it began with Robin and trickled down to the rest of us.

Robin was already getting married and having babies when I was in high school.  I loved having a big sister to talk to.  She always made my stupid questions make sense and I always felt more confident after talking to her.  She helped me learn to drive a clutch in her little yellow VW bug.  That was fun!  When I  got engaged, Robin was the first one I called to tell.  (After Mom and Dad).  When I had questions about cooking or babies, Robin was a great resource. I can remember talking to her from a phone box in the little English village where I was living, and she helped encourage me in nursing Andrea!  And I always thought it was nice of Robin that when her two boys were getting up into the teen years, she had two more boys to keep my Kenny and Wesley company as they grew up!   So thoughtful of her!!

I admire my sister for many reasons. She has always worked outside the home and I know she has been very tired on many of our get togethers.  Yet there she is, always smiling and walking in with something good to eat!  And lots of hugs for everyone!  She has taught Children’s Church at her church for umpteen million years!  She has a handicapped young adult son and I know she is up early to help him bathe and dress for work.  She never complains about it…she just gives him the same special care that she gives to anyone whom she meets!

Now that we are years down the road and I don’t have quite so many questions, Robin is still my best friend…she has cried with me and prayed for me and we have shared a lot of laughter!  A lot of laughter!  And I am so very thankful that my sister is my friend and has blessed my life in a countless ways. 

HAPPY  BIRTHDAY ROBIN!!

Bet you thought I forgot!  Nope, I just didn’t have the internet!

 

Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:29-30