Count Down

The time is going by, fast just like I knew it would. Only 5 more of my 17 days off have I left...where did it go...day by day...

Can't believe it almost 2009 seemed so far away...9 years since the big scare of the 2000...just seems like yesterday we were eating at Texas Roadhouse for New years eve supper....now here we are again.


The years seem to swiftly pass
Nothing here seems to last,
One day at a time,and again
So many go by just like the wind.
I want to say "stop just for awhile,"
But then I think and just want to smile
Where would that leave me...
In the beginning, middle or end...
And would I really want to do it all again?
I just want to enjoy the time that is left..
And know that my days are not in my hands
But in the One that knows best...

Getting there

Today we went to Wichita to Everett's 94 year old uncle that still lives in his own home by himself. He does have a girl friend and she did stop in while we were there. She is 90 and she couldn't stay long she was on her way to wash her car..some birds had potty poo on her car and she needed to get it washed off so it wouldn't ruin the paint...she needed to get it all wiped down while it was still light and warm...
Things haven't been easy for him in the last couple of months, though he is getting along much better now. Anyway he hasn't had a TV for awhile and it's been lonely for him...he had received a smart card in the mail awhile back that he was supposed to install in his TV...but must have thrown it away or misplaced it. So I called the 800# for him and in just a few seconds had his TV back on...his door bell didn't work so Everett installed a new one for him...his light above his sink needed put together so Everett did that for him...him and I were visiting while Everett was working and he was sharing with me that when his father had been 40 he had thought that he was really old, and now he was 94 and didn't really think that was so bad...he talked about people saying when someone dies in their 80's or 90's how they have lived a long life and it's OK...but when you are there you still want to live longer...he is such a sweet man..I'm glad that I know him...he has only one daughter and she lives in Colorado...I am staying close to my children, I will need them when I am older...I am going to be good to them so they won't forget me or Everett and leave us alone...because both of us have long life on both sides of our families..
I have learned so much from these people in our life....Things around us change so fast it is nice to sit and listen to how things use to be..soon these that lived that life will all be gone..we will lose something along with them...

More Memories

Christmas 2008 is now another memory in our memory banks...another day to look back upon in the days or years to come that we will say remember the Christmas when I received...remember the Christmas when this happened.....remember what I gave you for Christmas the year of 2008???
Did we make good memories or were they not so good...did we give thoughtful gifts or did we just go buy without putting much thought into what we purchased?
I believe that our family had about the best Christmas ever...from the very beginning when Sarah did the cousin Christmas at her house on Tuesday, to them having Christmas eve, all of us going to church then back to Chad's had a surprise visitor, then on Christmas day here at our house...it was so much fun...tears of overwhelming joy that I shed...laughter....Jack and Sophie's first Christmas...All of God's blessings just overflowed...oh how I thank Him for our family...each one of them...
Remembering and cherishing the birth of our Savour and what it means for me and it is because of Him that I have what I have...Thank you God and thank you kiddo's and grandkids for being the best and greatest that any parent could ever have....

Almost Here

Christmas eve is almost over and Christmas is almost here. Until you see the sparkle in the eyes of little children and hear their laughter I don't think we realize what it is all about. It's about them, their dreams their hope and their innocence that is so precious. God has blessed Everett and I so much...I can't begin to express my love for my family or thank God for what He has given. Only because of Him and what He has done, coming down as a babe growing to manhood and giving back His life for me..
Again Merry Christmas...

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve is my very favorite day of the year. I love the sense of peace that it brings. Knowing that this is the eve of the day my Savior was born. I want to take this day and make it go on and on.
All my family goes to candlelight service together and then we go to someones home, this year it is Chad's and we get to spend the rest of the evening together. The children are all so excited in anticipation of the morning..
All seems so quiet....
Christmas is so different for Everett and I, sometimes it can make me sad, but then I rejoice that God has allowed me to have all these Christmas's with health,(except last year when I had the flu in the middle of it all) and family and Everett..I am so thankful..for all He has given me.
We don't do a lot of present because PaPaw and I take everyone to Great Wolf Lodge in KC this year we are going in a couple of weeks..the kiddos love it so much and I think that the adults do too....so we have that to look forward to...
I wish every a very Merry Christmas...may the peace of our Savior Jesus Christ go with you where ever you are...Abby, Jeff, and Stella, can't wait till you get here!!!

So Far

So far on my days off which has now been 3 here is what I have done.
Went to a school program that Abe and his class were in, it was Christmas Around the World. Was really good and enjoyed it very much.
Had coffee with my dear Granddaughter Annie, got my hair cut and colored, then watch So So, Jack and Henry while Sarah took Sam to the DR.
Saturday night watched Tal's 4 kiddos and Chad's 4 kiddos while they had their company Christmas dinners.
Went to church ate at Taco Tico....
I have watched 6 Fa La La movies on Lifetime....
It is now Monday morning, my official start to my vacation.
Don't have a clue what we are going today, but one thing for sure I am going to completely enjoy....
PS Also delivered ham boxes to my employees and saw the most beautiful sunset..MOST of the best things in life are right before us and don't cost a thing, like a babies smile and a child or grandchild's hug or "I love you"...let's not get going so fast we miss these blessings....

Today the Day

Today is the day that I have been counting down for, for about a month now. As of 3:30 today I will have 17 days off...YIP YEE!!! I am so excited. Don't have to get up at 4:45 am....go out in the cold..come in work and wonder what kind of mood everyone is going to be in...etc..I am so ready to "CHILL" out...
But until then I am having the Rama Babes over to my house for lunch..I should say feast..ham, tators and gravy, creme corn, fruit salad, cabbage salad, dinner rolls and then a yummy dessert..can't wait...one of the girls fixed a breakfast cassrole of breakfast here this morning...then we come back and get to clean..just before shutdown we really clean good, so that when we come back it it really nice...

Wonder what the year 2009 will bring..one of the girls that has worked for me for 13 yrs is quitting the 15th...it will be different without her. I will miss her....One is going to have a baby in March and maybe won't be coming back...but until then (and then) I am going to take one day at a time...and enjoy my time off..looking forward to Jeff, Abby and Stella coming home, Christmas at our house...Christmas eve, my favorite day of the year....I can't wait....

From our House to Yours

Merry Christmas!

Everett's note today

Jack and So So are kinda like God
They love to be talked to....
Have you talked to God today?

The Stockings are Hung

Seasons of Life

Here I go again about changes in life...maybe it just because so many changes have taken place in the last year or so...Everett retiring, granddaughter getting married another one starting college.. the babies being 6 mo's.already,just how fast everything goes.
Sometimes I just want to stop and hang on, I want to look at things once again through the eyes of a child. Don't get me wrong I don't want to go back, I just would like to have some of those feelings. Feelings that I had when I thought my Mom would always be here to take care of me, to send home some freshly baked cinnamon rolls or a freshly made apple pie..how quickly that time passed. She has been gone 13
years already. This time of the year reminds me of how she baked, peppernuts, sugar cookies, bon bons, peanut clusters etc. I haven't made anything this year yet...I have two that can't eat the stuff and me that doesn't want it around to tempt me. But I need to do something...if nothing else for the ones that can eat it and so my house smells good...
Everything just seems so different......not bad just different...

Grandkiddos

We went to Abe's first piano recital last night and he did amazing..he has only been taking lessons for 2 month. All of my grandkiddos amaze me. Each and everyone is talented in one way or another. Each one is such an individual in his or her own way. It so interesting to see each one develop their own personality. Some you can tell right away how they are going to be and others it takes awhile to see how they are developing.

God is truly amazing in how each one of us is created differently yet with such similarities within the family. It will be exciting to see how these 9 little ones turn out. Our two little twins are going to be 6mo. the 18th, and how sweet they are now each time I see them they have started doing something different. We are so blessed to have each and everyone of them...

Mice in the Attic

A dear friend of mine was telling me this story yesterday and it was hilarious.
She had been cleaning out her attic, and she is terrified of mice...she could tell there had been mice up there, they had left clues here and there. She looked up and saw two mice hanging in the corner of the attic...she was petrified and went down to get her son to come up and get them out...he didn't really want to but to save his mom he did. When he got up and into the corner he removed a blanket and out of the blanket were two teddy bear ears sticking out that looked like mice from where my fiend was at.
And it was her teddy bear that she had as a little girl..we got a good laugh out of it...

Words of Comfort

There is a song that I love, and some of the words go like this.
Talking about Heaven, this is how it goes:
There is a place somewhere beyond the blue
That is prepared for me and you
Somewhere beyond the skies
Some call it heaven
Some call it Paradise
But I call it Home

This morning that is a very comforting thought for me knowing that I have a Home that is prepared just for me....

Maybe this is comforting to me because I know how quickly this life passes...and we just don't know when He will call us home...this is not a morbid thought but a glorious thought to know that a King came down here as a babe grew to manhood and loved me so much that He died for me...What greater love has He that lays down His life for me....and you....so that we can have eternal life.....

You Just Never Know

We are invited to a wedding today in Lyons. Everett's niece is getting married, really she's already married has been for 2 yrs but because they are catholic they have to be married in the church (which they weren't) in order to take communion.
So when I woke up this morning I told Everett I had 3 hours to do what I had to do before we left for the wedding but my phone rang about then and it was Everett's brother from Dallas telling us some really bad news. That his wife had passed away late yesterday from complications from surgery..We were totally shocked to say the least. We talked for about a hour he explained to us what had went wrong and how so unexpected this was for them...plans had been made for trips, Christmas etc... ....Please pray for Bob....for him to feel God's peace.

In the mean time while I was talking to another SIL I had a beep in and it was Everett's first cousin saying that Uncle Jake had passed away. He was the one that had a heart attack the day before Thanksgiving...we were expecting that death...he was going to be 97 in February and had lived a long and healthy life. Cousin Bonnie was telling us that she never had to do anything for him...he still drove and still had a girlfriend and they had just celebrated 15 years of dating. They had a date on Sunday and Wednesdays....

My saying is that we can go to bed and expect everything to be the same when we wake up and a lot of times it is not...I just received a CD today that I had ordered by Doyle Lawson and they is a song on there that says here in this life we have a lot of choices that the world wants us to make and choices that we just make some right some not...but for eternity there are just 2 choices we either choose Jesus or we don't there is no other choice in our life that we can make as important as this one..and this might be the last day we have to make it tomorrow might just be to late...Have you made you choice...I have...I will serve Him.....

2 became 1 and then there were How Many??

This is my family minus Abby, Jeff and Stella, who are in Chicago..(WE MISS YOU).
I am so proud of all of these big ones and little ones...this was our Thanksgiving day. Thought that I would share them with you...

Each and everyone is a special gift from God...Thank you!

Song

Song, where is my song today..
I have lost it along the way,

I am taking it back and putting a new song in my heart..
Knowing that today I can make a brand new start..

Lord keep those I love hold them close to your breast
Comfort them and please give them rest...

The season is here for love
That you gave to us from above..

From the cradle to the grave
Your life for us you gave...

I thank you Lord