Sliding Backwards

The end of the year is just around the corner.

 Before I blink we will be entering 2015 and I will add another year to my life.

The end of the year is always a big deal to me, as I look back, while also looking forward.

This past year was just weird.  The wonderful blessings of my three grandsons, and the constant sunshine brought to me by my youngest, kept the whole year moving forward.  The joy from these four little guys is just priceless.  Joshua wanting to come to "Grandmommy's house" and Benjamin telling me, "it is okay that we are lost, we hadn't seen this part of the city" just kept me peddling forward.

Peddling is where I finish up this year.  I have to say...............I am peddling hard and going no where.  I entered the year peddling up a very big mountain.  There wasn't time to realize how high, nor time to even think about direction, just put your head down against the wind and peddle.

I felt I was making head way.  The first six months of the year brought countless job opportunities.  I could see the light at the end of the financial tunnel.   I was also enjoying the weight I had lost and looked forward to losing more pounds. I was enjoying the peddling up the hill, because after you arrive at the top then you get to COAST DOWN the other side!!  (yes I realize the means you are at the bottom again, but at least you got to see the view)

Summer came and I started to peddle harder.  The type of peddling you do on a 10 speed bike, where you peddle and peddle and it spins and you go NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE,  I justified this going "no where" time, yet continued to peddle, as a season of summer time for refreshing.

I anticipated Fall peddling to help me gain more ground up the hill. I anticipated that the trail up the hill would give me clear vision for the future. I started to figure out ways to grow my business and invested in different areas to help get my name out.

Well you know what?  I am not in control.  Instead of making more advancement up the hill, for clearer vision and job growth, I did just the opposite.  The ground I had conquered started to erode beneath my wheels as I started to slide back down the hill..............BACKWARDS!!!  Backwards means you can't see what is happening nor are you able to prepare for the bumps.

The holiday seasons brought a pile of rocks in my path.  Those that season bike riders (who are facing forward) don't hesitate to ride over, well they discombobulated me.  In a sense, the more I tried to organize and schedule and plan and smooth the path, the more rocks were unearthed. This makes for a very bumpy ride.

Burned bread pudding at Thanksgiving Lunch

Pictures that were meant to be enlarged showing our whole family...shadows brought on by the sun couldn't be edited out and who knows when I will get all of us together again for remakes

Grandson's Christmas day with Grandmommy and Ben - sickness hit

Budget planned......budget killed

All that peddling didn't help me lose weight.............. I GAINED WEIGHT!!!! making all my winter clothes cry out - WE SURRENDER!!

So what does a peddling girl do when she sees she is at the bottom of the hill again?  She can jump off the bike, throw it to the ground and run away on foot (which I did think about doing) or she can dust of the dirt, air her tires back up and mount the bike again.

I am mounting again.  I don't know the terrain for this coming year....and to be honest, I am not even trying to guess.  I am lifting my eyes to the mountain, in which my help comes from, the ruler of both heaven and earth.

Happy New Years to all.  May we all have a good bike ride in 2015!

Catching UP!

I have a computer......................now what do I do with it?  For over a month I haven't had the ability to type out the words that run so rapidly in my head.  What is funny is, even with them running in my head, I didn't feel any of them were worthy to be put down on paper or my blog.  This year of blogging has been very different for me.  There just aren't words.

How can a person whose brain never slows down not find words?

Well that is what has happened.

As I fumble back into the blog world, it will be only when I find words that I feel are worthy of taking the time to write.  If none come, then I hope I can be obedient to keep my mouth shut, because who needs empty words?  It may also be that God wants to speak and He can't be heard over my rattle.

David Wilson - November 16th

Maverick - November 18th

In the last month we celebrated both baby's one year birthdays!!!  We celebrated with a full table for Thanksgiving on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, leaving a small gathering, served on paper plates, on Thanksgiving day.  Changes....oh changes...........not bad..........just different and at times awkward.

I leave you with our family Christmas picture.  More will be added to our family this coming year with our daughter's announcement of TWINS in June.  Yes, two new grandchildren at the same time again.  We are praying for a healthy pregnancy for our daughter and continued energy as she mothers three children under age 2.  Changes...............changes............I pray the Lord gives us all grace and mercy as we embrace the changes He brings to us all in this season of life.

Merry Christmas

Oh No!!!

Oh No!!!   Computer has died!!   So what does a girl do?   My 10k pictures are unavailable at this time and forget trying to pick out a post on a small tablet keyboard.

I can't download what I want to show you.

So until things are resolved.   This mind turning, words coming every minute - girl is being forced into silence.......boo hoo.......I hope it isn't for long.

Miss everyone.

A Hill, A Cross, A Wonderful Reflection on Truth

This was at the base of the mountain.

Sometime life takes you to the mountain top, but usually we live most of our life in the valleys.  We grow strong in the valley, therefore, when we experience the mountain tops we breath in large
breathes of wonder.

Benjamin and I had the unexpected wonder of ascending to the mountain top in Kerrville, Texas.  We were both moved by the craftsmanship, the view over the city and the truth along out path.  Benjamin took it all in and then asked to come again to show his dad.

These were at the top of the mountain, over looking the city below.

These was laid out in the shape of a cross.  Bronze statues at each point of the cross.  Scripture was in bronze along the walk way, in three different languages.  The final bronze hasn't been created  for the center of the cross. The final bronze will be Christ second coming.  He will be mounted on a white horse and the top will look similar to the first pictures of His second coming.

This cross is 77 feet and 7 inches tall. Benjamin is standing at the base of this metal-opened cross.

There are times that words can't express what you heart is feeling.  This trip up a mountain is one of those times.  I watched as my son soaked in the presence of the Lord.  We read each scripture along the path and I explained each statue.  We brought Bill back that night to see the cross lite up and shining over the Hill Country of Texas.

A Sunny TEXAS Pumpkin Day

We started out with Joshua using a hair clip (isn't that what they are made for?) as shark teeth to bite at Uncle Ben.  The car just filled with laughter.

As mentioned before, we must live in faith and not in fear.  We must pray and then leave the results up to the one Who knows the end results.   What better way to look at the discouraging news in the eye and say, "I have the courage to live", then to do just that.

Now second generation comes to the same pumpkin patch that we have visited for 16 years.

Bill took a half-day off from work.  After reading a quote on Kim's Field of Dreams, I decided the quote was right.  I was tired of just trying to make a living without living.  My husband has had his feet to the income wheel, without a break, for over  year.  I invited him to come join Benjamin and I in taking two of our grands to the pumpkin patch.

Tradition...you all get measured.  What is funny is this is probably the only record I have of must of my children's heights.  Benjamin started off.  I had picked him up from school so he is wearing his school uniform. This was teacher/parent conference week.  May I say, my youngest is doing excellent in school.  The reports were just overwhelming praise and grades for Benjamin.  He has adjusted well to school and I am starting to also.

This is Joshua's second year.  He says "cheese" when you want a picture and holds the "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Age 3 and has his Grand Mommy's heart wrapped around his finger.

This is Maverick's first year and I was determined to get him measured.  He wasn't too thrilled to stand up with us whistling for him to look up at Grand Daddy.  He will pay me back for this one day.

He us all smiles, which just melts your heart.

Picture with my boys and Joshua with "cheeeeeeeesssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee".

Now I must do something about that grey in my hair. I am never pleased with pictures of myself, but I am so tired of all the years of not having me in anything, that I am determined to change that.  I was at all those events...................just taking the pictures.

Grand Daddy - Dad... enjoyed the day with us.  He and Mav became friends, which is what I called their bonding time.  Little Mav just giggled and giggled with his Grand Daddy.  Benjamin and I were running to keep up with Joshua.  Bounce houses, wagons, hay ride, pumpkins, snow cones, horses =living life.

I think this says it all.  We all just need to rest in our Father's lap and look for His guidance and relax.  

This eleven month old seems to understand that concept.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Prayers

Thank you all for your prayers as our family deals with loss of a loved one and a precious friend.  Both of their lives are still being celebrated through different services.

May we all continue to pray for those here in Dallas with Ebola, as the numbers begin to increase. May we remember all those who are suffering from this and so many other diseases.

  As we continue to replace fear with faith.  

Prayers - For the staff at the hospitals.  For their families.  For the ones who were serving and are now the patients.  For healing.  For this virus to come to an end.

Courage to Live

Monogrammed pumpkins by "Grand Mommy" for her precious grandsons!  This is the life.

You turn on the radio, the television, the computer, Face Book and any media to hear the latest report.  Yes, I live very near Dallas, Texas (within 30 minutes) and we are now known for the first victim of Ebola to die in the United States; therefore, we live with daily Ebola alerts.

Before Ebola alerts there were alerts for West Nile virus and before that we had daily counts of those infected with and dead from the flu.

If it isn't a health alert, there is something else. There was a time we were cautioned to not gather in large arenas due to terrorist threats on America.

As I strolled, pushing my grandson's stroller, I thought, "you know Lord, it takes Courage to live."

All through scripture the Lord tells us to have courage.  You have to have courage to live each day with all the things threatening to take life from us.

Another pumpkin for one of my three little pumpkins!

As I contemplated not going to our Texas State Fair this year, I decided I was going to live.  As the fear is released through all forms of media, I realized that it takes from us the same thing we are trying to keep.............our life!  We stop living in order to preserve our life.

God didn't give us a spirit of fear.  He sent His son so we could have life and have it more abundantly.  He is the one who knows the day of our birth and the day our earthly lives come to an end. If I allow the enemy to rob me of the life I am trying to preserve, then I have forgotten who holds life in His hands.

Does that mean not to be wise?  No, but even having children takes courage.   Statistics show that one out of every four pregnancies ends in a miscarriage.  I am one of those stats, having had three miscarriages, but I also chose not to let life be taken way by statistics.  Although some never conceive, if I had given into the fear, I wouldn't have the six blessings that call me Mom today.

I will close this week attending a funeral, but I opened today with a resolve to live life to it's fullest and not let the news of the sinful world rob me. The "what-if's " will zap the life straight out of us while we are still alive.   I want to walk in courage to live life.  In so doing, I am also honoring those who have been taken from this life earlier than we would have wanted.  Isn't our best gift to our Creator one of living life to its fullest?   Do you need some courage to live life?   Now where are my tennis shoes so Benjamin and I can go to the Great State Fair of Texas?!?!?!

When All You Know is He is God and He is Good

Our family is walking through a grieving process this week.  On Saturday two precious people were taken from this life.  One was a lifetime friend of my husband.  Their first pictures together are in the crib.  They grew up in the same church, became room mates prior to marriage, sang together in a group they formed, recorded a Christian album. He sang in our wedding 34 years ago, and they worked  together at the same company for years.  Saturday he was taken before the throne after a battle with brain cancer.  Their album was dedicated to the church where they all received their spiritual training. On the dedication was this verse  -  "I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known thy faithfulness with my mouth." Ps. 89:1

That same day, a cousin of my daughter-in-law was lost through a tragic accident.  His short life of 31 years leaves a very big hole in the family.  His life touched many with the joy of life.  

God isn't afraid of our struggles or questions when things like this happen.  David cried out and so did Job, yet we each have to walk out our grief.  Each tragedy doesn't take away from the fact that God is still God and we are not.

My heart is heavy this week as I watch my love ones walk out their grief.  I can't kiss the boo-boo away for my son and daughter-in-law, nor can grasp the loss of a husband to cancer. 

I do know that God is good all the time and He is still God.

Ecclesiastes 3 New Living Translation (NLT)

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

Dear God Morning

As you all know I hate clocks, not because I am an unscheduled person, I am an internal clock person.  My whole body closes down by 10:00 pm and I jump out of bed by 6:00 am without an alarm.  I hate the clocks always telling me I have to be on a schedule.  Maybe hating clocks is because I am a 53-year-old-woman who has been  parenting for 31 years, and had to be on a schedule for as long as I can remember.

So when I saw the light streaming through the bedroom blinds I knew I had missed it!  Benjamin has an internal clock also, but he still uses an alarm.  He usually hits the floor ready to go about the time it goes off.  I am usually already up enjoying my chai tea, but Not today!!!

I gasped as I realized we only had 15 minutes to dress, eat breakfast, make lunch and get into the car.  If we miss our leaving time the traffic will cause him to be late.  Our streets are under construction and what should be a 10 minute drive can become 30 minutes with school traffic.

He jumped up as I screamed, "We missed the alarm, we are going to be late."  His willing spirit jumped up, dressed and started his day, as usually, with a happy dispostion.  He gobbled down his cereal, not the protein packed breakfast I had planned in my head, while I grabbed items for his lunch.

We ran to the car...................5 minutes late from regular time for departure.  I silently ask the Lord for favor.  I explained to Benjamin that he might have his first ever tardy, but I was trying.


In the back seat was his Bible, which was left in the car from Awana club on Wednesday night.  I asked him to turn to Psalms.  The peace of God started to flood over me before he started reading.  I had him then turn to Proverbs 3 for the day.   He continued through Proverbs 3, while we moved through the light that had taken three turns to allow us through the intersection. I pushed my gas pedal, but within the speed limit, to move us faster toward school. I give a name for each day and Thursday is Thankful Thursday, so we both started our thankful list, now that totally changes your attitude. We prayed as we continued on.

He continued to read as I put on my blinker to turn onto the street of his school.  He looked up and said, "we have 5 minutes!"  I said, "Yes, we made it!!!"

God is faithful even when we are not.  His mercies are new each morning.  He also knows when a mom is trying her best.  So many moms walk under self-condemnation at not getting it all done.  I am one who makes longer list of my failures than my accomplishments.  I am so glad there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  And yes, the world wouldn't have come to an end had he had a tardy, but for this day, God allowed us to arrive on time. He met us this morning in a special way. He is alive! Oh how He loves you and me!!

Open Space Can Clear Your Thinking

I guess it is just my age, but things just move too fast.  Life just runs off and leaves us, while we are still trying to figure out how to pay bills.  For some, life slows down and the fruit of their younger days allows them to spread their wings in different ways.  For others, they are still flapping their wings trying to keep from nose diving into a big mess of ________________. You can fill in your own blank.

While I was frantically flapping my wings, trying to avoid that mess, I was also wanting to soar away toward open space.  Nothing refreshes or energizes me more than being outside and creative.

I kept telling myself that life is just toooooooooooooooo short to keep putting off soaring in more
open spaces.

After an impromptu visit to a Flea Market in Fort Worth, where my daughter put her social skills to work, and not just for selfies, we started to soar.   I had cash and she had the texting skills to take what we bought at the Market and turn it into profit on the spot.  This ignited an idea of how we could spread our wings in the open space of Texas.

Within hours we had filled up the gas tank, reserved a hotel, cleared out the seats out of the back of  my car and headed to the Largest Texas Antique Week near Round Top, Texas.  I was going to see the places that are now plastered across my television screen.  My daughter, in her high energy way, knew we could make some money.  I quietly bowed to her gifting and let her lead the way. If you don't let her lead she will just run over you......................so better to get out of her way!

We drove through miles and miles of nothing!!  I mean nothing!  There wasn't going to be a Starbucks in sight!  We came up a small little hill to see what was the beginning of something we had never experienced.  As far as your eyes could see there were white tents.  These white tents would connect some of the smallest towns in Texas.  Population in Round Top is less than 100, and yet, over the weeks in Sept - Oct, and again in April, 100k people will walk through these sleepy towns.  Doors that only open for the shows will fling open for buyers.

My daughter's inspiration was for us to find old windows to re-sale and letters.  She text through her phone announcing what we found, while people reserved their piece through a text.  I was the money person, handing out cash or writing checks.  She is the people person, grinning from ear to ear, talking Texas fast, and spinning deals, which allowed us to fill up the back of the car in no time.

We walked our legs off for two days, trying to figure it all out.  Where do people find all this stuff?  How do you really make money?  Why are some prices as high as what you would pay at an A/C provided nice building, where you wouldn't sweat and they would load it into your car, because it was only feet from the door...................not miles away?

Each step was exciting, as the atmosphere pulled you into the open space and cleared your thinking.  The mind now created and didn't think of deadlines, school lunch, practice schedules, dirty house or cooking.  The Texas open space reminded you that there are still little towns in our state, that live a slower pace.  Even with the crowds you experienced small town excitement.

We have to thank Sonja of Bits and Pieces, who used to have a booth at this famous Antique Week, for sharing through e-mail info to make our trip fantastic.  She is a cheerleader, if there ever was one, and her love for life inspires me always.

We both came back home inspired and zealous for our businesses.  My daughter's business, Mrs. Wilson's Restoration, saw she could make money from her home.  My business, Simply Your Decor, needs to expand into items to sale, as well as, learning all the social media sites to expand my audience.

We also had our first mother and daughter road trip. Yes, it took 22 years for that to happen. What can I say?  The trips before were for her sports, this time it was a girl trip.................very different thing.  I think women who sweat together through fields of Antiques and Junk, might just make it through life!

I encourage you to find some OPEN SPACE to revive your thinking. May you be inspired.  You can also come on to TEXAS and see our open skies, with miles and miles of Antiques.

Design Divas of Texas

I can't remember NOT being in some type of decorating project.  From my younger years at home under my inspiring and fully creative mom, I knocked away at my own level of creativeness, through sewing, painting and you name it.  When I married in 1980, I put my stamp on our new house before the builder's paint was even dry.  There wasn't even a month in our new (and first) home before paint, fabric, and wallpaper had transformed it.  In our second home, I had sewn drapes within a week of moving in and from there created my first decorating business, Classic Stitches by Janette.

Those were the dark days of DIY, which meant you had to learn it all on your own. There weren't shows and very few books.  Patterns were almost non-existent, so you learned by trial and error.  Forget about research at your finger tips with a computer... who would've thought we would even computer in your HOME?

Today, however, you can just click on the TV, pull up a blog, YouTube, Pinterest or Google until your inspirational questions have all been answered.  All those jobs that were not glamorous are now front and center on the newest reality shows. Contractors were NOT the people you put on posters.

So today, this Texas girl wants to take off her old hat to the newest generation of DIYers, who are bringing inspiration to all of us and allowing me to remove some cobwebs in my own creative brain.

They are also showing the wonderful world of some of Texas' smallest little towns.  Who would have believed that within a stone's throw of the door where I raised my children, the sleepy, little town of Buda, Texas would be the talk of a new HGTV show?

HGTV image

My Big Family Renovation - Brandon and Jen Hatmaker have introduced Buda to the world in their home redo projects.  They are also a Christian family who play it REAL on their show.  I want to tip my hat to them and their show.
http://www.hgtv.com/on-tv/a-hatmaker-home-renovation/pictures/index.html

HGTV image

Fixer Upper, has become my all-time favorite, inspirational show.  Chip and Joanna Gaines have brought Waco,Texas, the town where my relatives live and I have visited my whole life, to the forefront of viewers all over the nation.  Their precious relationship teaches us all that God is in the business of families.  They inspire me through their designs and creativity, but more so through their visual testimony and Biblical family values.
http://www.hgtv.com/fixer-upper/show/index.html

yahoo image

Junk Gypsies - these two young women have brought the national spotlight to one of the smallest towns in central Texas, Round Top, where, when it is now mentioned, people say, "oh, where the Junk Gypsies have a store."  They seem to have jumped on the wave that has been built around this quaint,little German community............... Antiquing and Junk, and  they are riding it well.  They now have their own line of home furnishings at Pottery Barn.
http://www.hgtv.com/junk-gypsies/show/index.html

So when you hear that Texans are proud... well, I agree.  I just had to shine a little light on some Texas girls (and guys) who have earned a place throughout the national medias.  We all need to brag a little on our home state... that is part of being American Proud.  You might check them out. They also have blogs... just learn how to say "Ya'll!" As my mind returns to my growing, home interior business with the name, Simply Your Decor, I am enjoying their inspiration and learning from this dynamic, techno-savvy generation.

Dig Another Well

In this past, I have written post called Sunday Singings, in honor of my Grandmother who sang at Singings.  This morning's sermon reminded me of this song and I had to run home to post.  Now I  am giving a warning...it is extremely country, so if you aren't a country singer type, just listen through or read the words.

The sermon this morning encouraged us to dig into the Word of God and dig a deep well.  He encouraged us  to dig that deep well when life was easier.  He used the example of a man digging a water well when he wasn't thirsty in comparison to one who dug in order to find water to survive.  The one who was digging during the crisis might not survive before he found the water.

Many times we run to the Word during a crisis to find an answer, when we really needed to have dug  deep well, in the Word of God, earlier so that the answers came to our minds and hearts................the written Word of God.

Enjoy the tune I picked out today and hey, I am going to go pick up a shovel and dig deeper.  In today's society I don't think I can ever dig deep enough in His Word.







(Don Schlitz - Paul Overstreet)

Well Ike had a blessing from the Lord up above
He gave him a beautiful woman to love
A place to live and some land to farm
Two good legs and two good arms
.
Well the devil came sneakinG around one night
Decided he would do a little evil to Ike
Figured he would hit old Ike where it hurts
so he filled up all of Ike's wells with dirt
.
And when Ike went out for his morning drink
He got a dipper full of dirt and his heart did sink
But he knew it was the devil so he said with a grin
God blessed me once and he can do it again.
He blessed me once and he can do it again.

So when the rains don't fall and the crops all fail
And the cows ain't puttin' any milk in the pail
Don't sit around waitin' for a check in the mail
Just pick up the shovel and dig another well.
Pick up the shovel and dig another well.

Now me and old Ike got a lot in common
The Lord blessed me with a beautiful woman
He gave me a job he gave me a home
He gave me a well to call my own.

Now when I go out for my morning drink
And get a dipper full of dirt my heart does sink
But I think of old Ike and I have to grin
Cause God blessed me once and he can do it again.
He blessed me once and he can do it again.

When the rains don't fall and the crops all fail...
And the cows ain't puttin' any milk in the pail
Don't sit around waitin' for a check in the mail
Just pick up the shovel and dig another well.
Pick up the shovel and dig another well.

--- Instrumental ---

Well, the good book says Ike finally won
(Pick up the shovel dig another well)
The devil got tired and he left him alone
(Pick up the shovel dig another well)
All I know someday I'm gonna win too
(Pick up the shovel dig another well)
'Cause the good book tells me what to do
(Pick up the shovel dig another well)
Pick up the shovel and dig another well.

Pick up the shovel and dig another well.
Pick up the shovel and dig another well..

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/paul-overstreet-lyrics-dig-another-well-m4rqkjz#ixzz3DJEm7vvD
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community 

Let It Go, Let It Go!!!

Let it go, let it go!  See I caught you,  you are now singing the song and it will be in your head all day.

I am ashamed to say that I haven't even seen the movie, nor heard the full lyrics of this song, yet I know the catchy line that holds so much meaning.  There are times just those words and melody pop in my head, a very good lesson for me.

So I sing those words in my head as the forecast for this weekend will bring in our first blast of Fall.  Yes, I usually am on the edge of my seat waiting in anticipation for the change of season, since normally our August in Texas is a barn burner, but not this year!  We had by far one of the most pleasant summers in my life.  I can't remember an August in which grass remained green and you could stroll outside without breaking down into an exhausting pile of sweat.  Because of the wonderful weather I hate seeing this season come to a close.  It might have even created in me a desire to move to a cooler state, just for a calm summer...................well, just a little, but I am a Texan by birth.

As I reluctantly close the door, and the school schedules fill my fall calendar, I pause for a moment to reflect on my unexpected summer of the past.  Like your first writing assignment at school where you say what you did for summer, I get to do the same thing here, before I .....Let It Go!!!

For all you people who plan and schedule, well our summer was neither, it just fell into place.

First, Benjamin had the surprise joy of attending a horse camp with his Big Sissy.  No, not everyone in Texas owns a horse, and no not everyone knows how to ride them.  It really is an expensive hobby, so this was a very unexpected experience.

VBS was the second week of June, which is always a delight for all.  I applaud the wonderful people who give of their time to bless children through VBS.

Second, unscheduled surprise.  My husband's company, where he has now worked for one year, sent him to a conference.  Since his one year of employment wouldn't come until the Fall, he had not earned vacation time..........which I can't remember us having had a regular vacation time in all our 34 years of marriage, so that isn't new.  Anyway, his company allowed him to take us with him.  They paid for the room and we piled in on him for a trip to Galveston, Texas.  The beaches this year were totally covered with sea grapes, and left a lot to be desired, but the hotel was awesome.  We enjoyed a couple of days at Moody Gardens.

Third, I returned home from Moody Gardens to complete my seven month decorating job.  The second round of drapes were installed, flower arrangements completed, furniture delivered and I could walk away pleased.  Other than a few extras accessories, the job was finished.  My son is still promising to get a professional photographer in to take wonderful pictures. My phone pictures and the light through the windows, leaves my photography account of my work, and his,  with much to be desired.

Fourth, wonderful play time with all three grandsons.  Ventures of having all three at one time by myself, to just have Grand Mommy time, and ventures outside highlighted summer.  Even allowing Joshua to play in the sprinklers watering the edges of the sidewalk in our subdivision and playing at the lake brought memories of my own summers past.  My heart overflows, how could your ever be prepared for such joy from your grandchildren?

Fifth, not to let this summer of wonderful weather pass we also got to go camping.  Oh, I love nature and just refresh stepping out into her beauty.  Even sleeping on an air mattress on the ground is worth it when you can inhale the breeze and watch deer frolick around you.  We even canoed around the lake, one of those things that we had always said, "we need to do that one time." Well we did!!

Sixth, the milestones that were celebrated. My mother-in-laws' 99th birthday!   My grandson's legal adoption and name change to Joshua Graham Wright. The babies dedication, to the Lord, with family members in attendance, for Joshua Graham and Liam Maverick Wright. Mama Mia Broadway show to celebrate 34 years of marriage, left my husband and I both singing.  Both sets of new parents also bought homes and started their transformations, by the end of summer both families had moved in to start new family memories.

The list goes on and on, and the biggest blessing of all was that God slowed down my work schedule so I could enjoy. The lack of work was unscheduled. I had no clue when I entered summer that I would be off so many weeks, and NEVER once did I  have to get a sitter for Benjamin!!  This makes fall a caught up time on finances, but it was worth the break.

Now I will let it go, but I will hold the memories in my heart.

Passing Down A Tradition

My mother-in-law always lived a very simple and conservative lifestyle.  She only lived in two homes in her married life, until at age 98, when she needed more assistance. The two homes my in- law's lived in where both paid for in cash. This cash came from a man who made a very modest income.  He just never believed in borrowing and he didn't!    To be honest, I never remember her ever talking about things she wanted.  She wasn't interested in traveling the world, or vacations, or a new home, or really anything materialistically,  She just enjoyed her family and her request was to see everyone very often.

As her days of independence have come to an end, the family is slowing trying to deal with her wonderful treasures of her life.  There was one piece that served as a memory maker for me.  She had this one chest that stood in the entry way of her small home.  It was antiqued with a stain over off white paint, and I am sure that is how it was bought, so you see, what is old is new again.  Inside this chest held "old time" games.  You would find checkers, tic-tac-toe, Uno (one of the modern games) and varies board games.  This was the chest she open when the children came to visit.

This was the piece I ask to have.  I wanted to pass down the same tradition.  Now in this age I am sure my grand kids will be bored with board games, cards, tic-tac-toe, and will probably roll their eyes at me, as they ask for the latest techno invention.   Even if they do, I will still open the drawer and try to engage them in play from items of the past.

I took her chest and put a twist on the antique white to make it my own.  I wanted it to say, children.

Passing down a tradition can keep all the generations connected.