Thanksgivng Part 1

I don't have time to write about much this morning, but one of my joys this weekend is having the Lawlers and Tyler and Mindy here. It has been so great and I don't want them to go home!! Tyler and Mindy were also here a month ago and both then and now Violet has not really warmed up to Uncle Tyler. So, yesterday Tyler made a valiant effort to enter her world and win her heart. The pictures tell it all.....
He looks like a giant in the playhouse!!! His hard work paid off..Violet sat with him later that evening!!

More Thanksgiving updates later!

Been Tagged

I've been tagged..here's my photo....

This great photo of Tim ,Callie and Meg :) was taken in Nov. 2004 at Grandma and Grandpa Payne's house. It was Thanksgiving, Katy Korday had just called and said she was engaged!! Our family and the Payne's had spent the night there and had a wonderful holiday. Boy it seems long ago!!!!

Ok, I tag Jen Pazdur, Nancy Mandl, Lynette Myers, Michelle Tombrella and Christina Saull.

This is a Picture Tag and here's what the rules were:

Go to your Pictures file

Go to the 5th folder

Open the 5th picture and post it

Tag 5 people when you're done.

Catch Up Time!

Violet's first kayak trip!


Well, the whole month is almost gone and I have barely thought about this blog. We started the month off with a camping trip to Lake Ray Roberts. The days were perfect and the nights were cold, which I think makes camping sort of fun. We took our kayaks with us and enjoyed a little spin! I am really looking forward to more time on the lakes here. We had a group that came and spent the nights with us and then a group that came to spend the day on Saturday. It was so fun to be out there and relax. I think we will be doing this more often!

Her thoughtful taste of chocolate

We are getting ready to have Tyler and Mindy come for Thanksgiving and the Lawler's (Mindy's family) are coming too! It has been since 2004 since all my kids were with us for Thanksgiving dinner, so I am really thrilled. I am also hoping that the turkey puts Callie into labor and the baby comes that weekend. I was in the hospital for 2 births on Thanksgiving, so maybe it is hereditary!!!

Christmas shopping is well under way. Since the baby is due in the first part of December, Callie called for all wish lists to be submitted early which got all of us going early. We are still doing our traditional Day after Thanksgiving early morning shopping trip, but I wont have much left by then.

Laughing at her silly Papa!!

Our church is doing a series entitled, "Think Big." It is on living for something greater than yourself. If you have time, download (click here)the podcast and give it a listen. Craig just did the first in the series on Sunday and it was excellent. Our care group is growing and I love the people we have in it. The girls all seem to really enjoy one another and I am looking forward to building friendships with them.

Violet continues to be a complete delight to all of us. I get to have here on Wednesdays and I enjoy every minute of the day. I love hearing her call me when she wakes up or when she needs a treat!! (a healthy one of course) I go by "Mimi" but she calls me Mimia! So cute! Erin used to call me Mommia, so it must be in the genes. I can only imagine how much fun it will be to have 2 grandkids! (or more T & M)!!!

Well, I better get to my devotions. I used the online audio chronological ESV Bible plan (click here.) The guy reads the Word to me and I read along. It helps me to concentrate better. Well, recently, they must have fired the guy they use to have and they got a new guy. So, one morning I begin to listen and it is a new voice!! It was so weird! I kept feeling like I was missing someone!! It was hard to follow along. I miss the old guy and to top it off, the new guy makes mistakes sometimes and does not use his voice to make it interesting! I wonder if they knew how much difficulty I would suffer by them getting rid of the old guy!!

A Warning about Ipods

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we decided to open the windows for some fresh air. Fred had been outside working in the yard and as he came in he said "Let's put the air on...can you close the windows?" I said "Sure" and he went upstairs. So, I proceed to close a kitchen window. Now our windows are about 8 feet tall and go down almost to the floor, so I bent over to push the window down. Just as I finished closing the first window, the toggle from my bracelet got caught just as the window shut. I was trapped. I couldn't get my bracelet unstuck for anything and it was a chunky chain so I couldn't break it or wiggle my wrist out of it. And the windows are really heavy so I couldn't get it back up in the position I was in....So...I being to yell for Fred, after 5 minutes I realize he must have his new Ipod going and can't hear me, so I begin to scream"Help" over and over knowing the windows are open and maybe a neighbor will come to my rescue, but it was to no avail. I was stuck. I knew the girls would be home in an hour so I tried to get comfy...remember, the window is low so my wrist is 6 inches from the ground so my back is now aching!! I just began to laugh and then I remembered that mountain climber who cut his own arm off! I didn't think that was an option. I continued to yell from time to time and the I began to yank and pull and pull and yank and my wrist was killing me, but I got the toggle to the end of the window and was able to free myself. Once I was free I went upstairs to find my man just sitting there in at his desk listen to his Ipod...just as I thought. He looked at me and just said "What?"

Megan's Liberation Day!!!!!

Today is a big day around here. It has been 6 months since Megan went off her anti-seizure medication and she has not had one seizure! That means, that as of today, she is legal to drive again!!! This is huge in many ways. The greatest thing about it is that she has been free of those nasty brain storms. We know that they could return any day, but in the past she use to have them every 6 months and then she went 3 1/2 years without any of them. Going 6 months this time is huge because she was having them so often until last November, then they started to taper off and then they were gone. We are praying they never return. In smaller, but still significant way, it is huge beause Meg now can live a normal life going to work or play as she desires without having to wait for Mom, Dad, Callie, Erin, Hosanna or Courtney to take her! I am so glad for her! She left early this morning for work and as of 5:30 she has not come home yet!! I think she is having fun!

The Big 5-0!!!!!!!

Nope, I am not 50 yet, I have a few more years to go, but my favorite person in the world turned 50 this weekend. Fred turned 50 on Sunday. I had been so excited for this weekend because Tyler and Mindy were coming to join us for the celebration and Fred has no idea! They arrived Friday night while we were outside enjoying a fire. Fred was totally surprised and thrilled to have them with us. It is always so great when we have everyone together!


On Saturday we had a family breakfast at our house and just hung out until the ladies all left for a baby shower for Callie. It was nice that Mindy and Mom Shaw were here for it. While we were at the shower, the guys went and played disc golf, a favorite past time of Fred's. Then we all met back up and went to dinner at LaHa, a Texas favorite. Then off to the annual Frisco Storytelling Festival, which was a bit disappointing, but none the less fun just to be together.


On Sunday we all went to church together (a favorite thing for me) and then home for birthday dinner and hang out time. Tyler had to leave in the evening and Mom and Mindy flew home today.

All weekend I was so aware of the kindness the Lord has shown my family. They all love each other and love to be together and most importantly, they all love God. It was a true joy to all be here celebrating Fred. As I drifted off to sleep last night my only prayer was "Thank you, Thank you so much for my family."

Breckenridge

Fred and I were given the opportunity to spend some time at a condo in Breckenrdige. I was reluctant to go because I felt like there was so much to do at home and I have been gone alot and when will I get those blinds cleaned if never stay home. But, as usual, Fred talked me into going and I am so glad I did. The weather has been amazing! I forgot how blue the sky is up here in the mountains and I forgot how beautiful the autumn aspens are! We have taken many walks everyday enjoying the quaint town and the awesome surroundings! It has been cool, so in the mornings we bundle up and even wear our down vests! We walk to Starbucks, get our brew and walk the town. Oh, I would love for this to be an annual tradition!

Today, we were out walking and the sky began to cloud up. I guess we didn't really pay attention and all of a sudden there was a HUGE clap of thunder! It scared me and I was reminded of how dangerous the lightning is in the mountains, so we quickly headed home. We were no soon back to the condo when it began to snow and rain!! I love it! We hunkered down and had some lunch, Fred watched the market continue to fall and I watched "Little House on the Prairie" while I read my book. The just when the heat in the condo was finally warming things up..the sun popped out and it is time for another walk!!



Oh and all that work I was worried about...Hosanna cleaned the blinds at home for me while I was vacationing! I need to go away more often!!

She Makes Me Laugh!!!

Good thing this Mimi has a sense of humor and is not given to being overly sensitive. Today, I arrived at Erin's for my weekly day with Violet. As I came in, I was greeted by the usual, cheery "hi!" with the wave included, from Violet. I then proceeded to encourage her say "mimi" in which she obediently pointed at me and said "Dog!" Then, while I was feeding her lunch I asked her where Auntie Callie's baby was, she promptly point to my stomach. (hhmm, note to self, google a new diet.) Thankfully, I did not dissolve into a pre-menopausal breakdown but laughed! Gotta love that girl!!

I found this great flag while we were on vacation. As you can imagine..I laughed and Fred shook his head!!! :) I think I have made history more times than he desired!! I wish I could have gotten it for a few of my girlfriends!!

Hurry Home Boyfriend!!

Well, the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. I was gone for 5 days visiting a friend and then while I was flying home Fred called to tell me his mom's husband had died. We were prepared that Bill would be going home soon and I had just prayed tht evening before that the Lord would display His mercy and take Bill home soon. I got home and Fred left.

It is amazing how much I miss my husband. I want to sit and tell him all about my trip, share with him some things the Lord has been showing me, snuggle and watch the game tonight. I want to hear all about his time in Ohio with his family. I can't and it will all be fine. But, I miss him.

It is good to have this time to reflect and appreciate how much God has given me and how much I love the guy. So often, I am prone to look at what is missing and grumble. Having these weeks apart has reminded me of what is important and what a wonderful gift the Lord has given me. I am also aware that, God willing, I will see my husband this week. My dear mother-in-law has had to bury my father-in-law and now her second husband. I can't imagine what that kind of missing must feel like. I hope I don't forget to continue to be grateful once we are back to our normal life.

Last week we dove in and bought a kayak! I am so excited about this new hobby of ours. We will get the second one shortly, but the store was out of the one we wanted. We are exploring all sorts of places in Texas to kayak! There is a place right near our house to put in, so I think we will go often. And since we have a very mild winter, the season for being on the water is longer here than most places. It is so relaxing to go along and chat with one another and enjoy the beauty of God's creation and it is hard to find a sport Fred and I can do together (though he is almost 50, he is still playing baseball with the young guys and we KNOW he has a marathoner's heart!). Fred has his eye on some of the rivers down in the hill country of Texas, I bet those are beautiful rivers! We will keep you posted on our adventures! I will posted pictures of our first time out as soon as we get the second one and we actually get out there!!

Isn't she lovely? This is my Grandma Frances. She will be 99 in October. She was a big part of my childhood and the only grandparent I really knew. My grandpa died before I was born and my paternal grandparents lived far away so I only saw them every several years. Grandma Frances lived near us when I was a child. She came over often and and would have little black licorice candies in her pocket! I still love black licorice! She would go the beach with our family and play in the waves with us. She would babysit us and once in a while smack us!! Her couch had plastic on it as did her lamp shades, I don't remember being at her house too much!! ha ha! She has great stories that we have heard a thousand times that still make us laugh. I love her dearly.

This week Grandma ran into a little health issue, we will know more in a week or so, but the graver issue is that she does not know Jesus. Both of my sisters were there this week and were able to share the Gospel with Grandma Frances again. This week she listened and seemed a little more open to hearing. Please pray that the Lord would draw her near to himself and reveal his love to her and give her salvation. I have prayed for her salvation for 32 years and I have faith that I am on the the cusp of seeing God answer my prayer. Today the Lord comforted me with these verses:

"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!"

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Rev. 7:10, 16-17

Oh how sweet that day will be!!!!!

We are back and recovering from relaxing so much! We really enjoyed our time away and REALLY enjoyed being with our precious friends Jen, Ryan, Isaac, Dan, Jamie, Cindi and Pete. I am so grateful for those God has allowed us to be friends with and how often we get to travel and see different ones. This trip was a gift from God.


We relaxed and took walks in the cool Michigan air. We watched the Olympics. We ate yummy food and had way too much Starbucks. We had Turtle Ice Cream Sundaes. We chatted and laughed. On Tuesday Fred and I went exploring. We ended up Kayaking on the Kalamazoo river. Walking around Saugatuck and window shopped. Then, we went to the beach on Lake Michigan and took a walk and put our feet in the ice cold lake (for one second). After all that, we headed back to Holland, one of our favorite places in the world, and just walked around like tourists. The day was fabulous.

On Wednesday, we spent the day with Jen and Isaac. Drank Starbucks on the front porch in our jeans with blankets on our laps to keep the chill away!! Sure beats the 107 degree that Dallas was experiencing. Then, Jen and I went to the mall and then home to get the guys, grab dinner and catch a late flight. We were home at midnight, in our own bed.

It was so nice to relax and sit around with no agenda except pleasure!! I really felt like I was on vacation!!!

Greetings from Holland!

Yes, we are in Holland. Actually, we were this weekend, now we are in Caledonia! We had a great weekend celebrating Jamie and Dan's wedding. It was so beautiful. They were married in Nelson Zeerip's yard on Lake Makatawa, off of Lake Michigan. The day was gorgeous, in the 70's, sunny with white puffy clouds floating by, sail boats on the water...so beautiful, Jamie looked amazing and it was wonderful to be a part of it all.

(behaving, as usual!!)


Fred and I are driving Jamie's car while we are here and she is on her honeymoon. Imagine the stares we got when Fred, myself, Hosanna and Isaac emerged from this car at the local ice cream hang out...

We are staying with Jenny, Ryan and Isaac while we are here. It is so fun to play with Isaac and get to know him better. He giggles from his belly at just about every silly thing we do. Jen and Ryan took the opportunity to go away for a few days, so Fred and I get Isaac all to ourselves! We have taken walks down the lake road, played outside and snuggled. He is such a great baby!



Tomorrow Jen and Ryan come home and Fred and I leave for Saugatuck where we will enjoy a couple of days of the harbor town, shop, sight see and kayak! Hope you enjoy the pictures of our vacation so far!!!!

WHO SAYS......

Girls can't parallel park??

Just a quick note...thanks for all the comments and emails after my last post. It is great to hear how God has been speaking and leading in all of your lives. I was encouraged by all your words and thoughts, so thanks again. Also, if you are one in a hard season or if the "blues" are often your companion, I want to recommend the teaching Craig gave at our church last Sunday (July 27th). It was as if he had taken my journal and read the entries from the past few years but especially the past few months! Amazing how the Lord works! The message was so gracious and so excellent and so freeing! Click here to listen and enjoy!

Words For The Wind

Our church is studying the Psalms this summer. It is absolutely wonderful. I can relate to the Psalmist so well. I read from Psalms everyday, it is my favorite book of the Bible. I also, listen to Piper each week and it just so happens that he is taking his church through the Psalms this summer, so I get a double dose of my favorite things. Kind of like having you a Sonic Diet Cherry Diet Coke and a Starbucks Non-Fat Double Shot in the same day!!

To top all that off, I believe God is working in my heart and teaching me more about grace. More about His compassion and care for me, more about how I am but dust and He knows it. I am seeing more and more weakness in myself and yet, I am not discouraged. I feel so sure that He has a way to help me and He will do the work in me. It is not about me doing it and getting it and perfecting it. It is all about Him, all of grace. My role is simply to follow Him, trust Him and obey Him. Here are some things I am learning…

This is a quote from John Piper that I have been thinking about…

“Do you think you that you can reprove words when the speech of a despairing man is wind?” Job 6:26

“What does that mean? That means please don’t be picky about my language when I am in pain. If I say “God why have you forgotten me?’ don’t lecture me on the fact that God never forgets His own, do that later. Don’t be picky with my language; it’s a wind word it’s going to be blown away. There will be plenty of time for you to see my life, that I am a true lover of God and I will stand with Him no matter what. I think that’s the point. If you care about people and you’ve got a robust theology of suffering and someone says something theologically inappropriate, let it go. It’s going to be blown away. A month later they are going to look back on these horrible moments and they are going to think “Good Night, I am glad God didn’t strike me dead.’ And He didn’t and you shouldn’t.”

I have become so aware of how often I feel like I need to have a solution to my weakness or sin and I need to give others a solution too. I have spoken too quickly to correct others when they are weak, instead of coming along side and just carrying them. In Job it reads, “No one spoke a word to him, for they saw his suffering was great” (ch. 1). Piper’s quote undid me. I was in tears as I have done that to others and had that done to me. I truly believe that, out of love for someone, I have spoken words that are true but not timely. Many times it is better to remain silent. There will be time later to adjust.

And then, we were at the pool recently and there was this dad with his son, about 6 years old. The boy was swimming the length of the pool and whenever he would come up for air the dad would scream “SWIM, SWIM.” The boy would barely get a breath and then go under again. A few times the child tried to hold onto his dad, he was exhausted, only to be met by more screams of “Get off of me and swim.” It was heartbreaking. I turned to Hosanna and told her “That is how I feel right now. I can’t even get a full breath before I have to go back and swim.” Well, the lesson had just begun. I have come to see that it is not God screaming at me, He instead is saying “Are you weary? Float, rest, breath, let me carry you.”

Again, it is all about God working and doing. It is not about me and all I can do. He is my everything and the changer and sustainer of my being. He will accomplish His desire in me.

If you have time, listen to the teaching by Eric Hughes that we heard this past Sunday at Grace Church and then go to Pipers' website and listen to June 1, 2008. They are both so excellent!

P.S. I am not excusing sin or saying we don’t need to be responsible for ourselves. I am, also, not saying we should not correct one another in love. I am just saying that for me, I want to move more by grace and less by rules and trust that God will work in me and in those around me and it is not up to me to fix it all in my life or in anyone else's.

Let's Close Out This Week!

Wow, what a week! On Monday Meg had her tonsils out. Then on Wednesday, we had to end our fun with the Bensons since they had to go home. The day they were leaving Meg began to turn a bit south from her tonsillectomy. I figured she was just feeling the pain more now that all the anesthetics were out of her body. On Thursday she seem to rebound a bit and we also got the results from a biopsy that had looked "suspicious." Benign!! Thursday night she goes downhill again, hhmmm, should we be back at the hospital? She doesn't want to go, I am sooo tired I fall asleep watching a move (it is date night) and Fred decides he will be the night watchman so I can rest.(love that guy). Friday she rebounds again, but when the Dr. calls they say "Well, maybe she better come back. Well, maybe she is OK, but maybe she better come back. Okay, Let's try the new drugs and see how she is." Friday night goes well. We all sleep pretty well. Then today she went downhill fast. So, off we went to the ER and they were great. The doctor had called ahead so they were waiting for us. Meg was immediately seen and given new antibiotics for an infection, steroids for the swelling, morphine for the pain, something to stop the nausea and fluids for the dehydration. About an hour later they did all the same things again and then she was released! It was so smooth I knew the Lord was ahead of us. I think she may be on her way to really being better. If you think of her, please pray for her. She was supposed to begin her first job as a pedo dental assistant, obviously she won't be able to be there on Monday. We are hoping they will wait for her and not hire someone else, this practice is ideal for her.

Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow morning, the beginning of a new week. Eric Hughes is preaching at our church so it will be especially sweet to go tomorrow, though I always look forward to going to our church. I am looking forward to Meg feeling better, since they think the tonsils were the root of her being sick so much the past few years. I am looking forward to a nice night of sleep!! Thanks for praying for us. We are grateful.

I am re-reading "Trusting God" by Bridges. So helpful at this time!! I'll leave you with this quote, "Because He has a plan for you, and because no one can thwart that plan, you too can have hope and courage. You, too, can trust God...There are no contingencies with God. Our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised: never caught off guard; never frustrated by unexpected developments."

Oh So Fun

It is a tradition to do something exciting whenever we are with some of our friends. So, when Jim and Linda came to visit us on a last minute trip, we knew we had to come up with something good. We couldn't rent snow mobiles, go skiing, play in the ocean or go ice skating so we decided to go rent some wave runners. We took Meg with us, since we had been promising her that we would take her soon. It was so fun and sort of scary. Anyway, you can see Linda was a bit scared, she was praying before she even got going!!

Jamie and Dan

Two weeks ago Jamie and Dan came to visit us. We had fun just hanging around and laughing. It was a delight getting to know Dan and watch his gentle care of our dear Jamie. He is a gentle, wise man. He cares very well for Jamie, very tenderly. We loved him. Of course, Jamie kept us laughing all weekend! We can't wait to see them (and the rest of the Smith Fam and Jen, Ryan and Isaac) at the wedding in August.

The picture sums up our weekend. (just for you Nanc)