Happy Birthday Denise!

Today is my sister, Denise's birthday. Wasn't she a little cutie! She is the second child in our family. My sister, Linda, is 18 months older than her, then there was a 6 year gap and my brother, Ben, was born and then 14 months later I came along! She was always so sweet and kind when we were growing up. Because I was 7 years younger than her, in my little kid mind, I always thought she was grown up. Her dedication to the Lord was strong. I remember her going to sleep at night listening to a record that had the Book of John being read. She was part of a Bible Quiz team and she was studying the Bible so she would be ready for all the questions they would ask. She went away to Bible School when I was 11 and married right before I turned 13 and moved far away. So, I didn't see her a lot. Only on holidays and special occasions. When I was 30 I moved to Southern California where she lived and then I got to know her as an adult. Not only do we look a lot alike, but we have many interests in common. Now I am blessed to have her and her husband live just across town from me. They have done a wonderful job in remodeling an older home and making it their retirement home. She has planted a beautiful garden. To see it go here. Another great thing is that she started a blog this year! I have been encouraging her to do that for a while as I think she would be really good at it. She has a lovely blog and if you would like to visit her and wish her a happy birthday, you can go here. I hope you have a wonderful birthday sis!

Our Wedding Day

Well, this has taken me a while to get together. I want to post this as a tribute to the goodness of the Lord in our lives and to our wonderful friends and family.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Oh for the Love of Photos!

When I was around 9 years old, I was introduced to the hobby of photography and it took off like wildfire in my heart. My grandpa on my mom's side died before I was born, but he had a Brownie Camera that my mother inherited. I'm not sure how old it is, but I have had it for about 39 years. My dad showed me how to use it and I took my first pictures on it. It was so exciting and I remember I could hardly wait to go to the local drug store and pick up my pictures. They were in a large white envelope with my name on it. I flipped through those simple shots and I was hooked!

Here is are a few shots that I took that day. Very simple but they were part of my life. The first one is my brother taking out the trash, the next was our family dog, Blondie, who was such a sweetie. The last one is her with our little poodle dog that was my baby too! I pinned these pictures up on my bulletin board in my room and admired them many times:)

A few years later my folks gave me a Kodak Instamatic camera that took color shots and then from there I had many film cameras that I chronicled my life with. When I entered the digital world in 2004, I had over 20 photo albums. I took out all the pictures and saved my favorite ones and put them in a file folder, divided by years. My intention was to scan them all in, but with the move up here to Oregon and having my sweet little baby that has been put on hold. I do get them out for different reasons and scan in some of them for a project. As many of my friends and family know, I love to do slide shows of all our digital photos. I was so happy to find the different web sites that let you do that! I love music and pictures, so I am always having so much fun making them and burning them to disc, so I can watch them on our TV and give them as gifts. Just think, it all started with a little old fashioned Brownie Camera.

For more treasures and their stories go to Kelli's blog!

Our Honeymoon

I found this wonderful web site in a magazine I get called Family Fun. This magazine is full of all kinds of neat ideas on what to do with your kids. Anyway, I just fell in love with this web site. I got our honeymoon pictures organized on the computer and made this slide show. I have a scrapbook of our honeymoon pics and memorabilia and it is wonderful to look at but only one person at a time can see it. I just love the computer how it allows you to share your special moments and memories with so many friends and loved ones who are at a distance. God has been so good to Rich and I and we were so blessed by our wedding and honeymoon!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ice Cream Cones and Doggie Tales

Thursday I went to Walmart and did some shopping. While I was there I spied a small basket of plastic food for Mary to play with. She loved it. As soon as we came back she wanted me to take the cellophane off her basket so she could start playing. There were 2 plastic ice cream cones in the mix. There was a vanilla one and a strawberry one. Perfect for a little girl who loves to be social:) She began pretending to taste it and share it with mommy. I quickly grabbed the camera and got her exclaiming delicious after she took slurp of it. So cute how kids can get so much fun out of the simple of things of life.

A few days later I bought her another Spot book by Eric Hill. It is called, "Where's Spot?" She also has "Spots First Walk" and "Spot Bakes a Cake". She loves these books and has me read them to her over and over and looks at them by herself many times. I have put in a few pics of her favorite pages.

She smiles and loves to say, "Nooo" and then opens the doors and says, "It's a monkey!"

She giggles at this page and loves to say, "A mess!"

Here she is with her "real life" Spot. She has had this stuffed dog for a year, but last night she started calling him, Spot!

Sweet are the imaginations of a child.

Friends

The Lord formed a circle of girlfriends that I was part of for about 10 years. These friends were such a wonderful source of comfort and fun during my 30's when I was single and very lonely. We shared in each others joys and sorrows. We held each others' newborns, we wove flowers together and sewed bridesmaids gowns for each of our weddings. We stayed up all night and prayed together, had Bible studies and went to church events. We had fun and crazy camping trips and birthday parties and exchanged gifts at the holidays. Then one by one we moved to different parts of the country; only a few are left in Southern California. Though we are far away, we stay in contact as much as possible. Friends are friends forever if the Lord is the Lord of them! Here is a slide show that I put together in the memory of those specials years with my sisters in Christ.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ouch

I was busy in my Sunday morning routine, scurrying around getting ready for church. Service starts at 10:00 am and we like to get there early so we can check Mary into her class and find a seat on the end of the row so I can get up if I need to. By the time we eat my husband's wonderfully prepared breakfast of omelets and pancakes (yummmm) and I read my blogs and get Mary dressed, I am cramming the last few minutes in on combing my hair and putting on my make up! I was in the throws of this when my sweet little baby girl comes into our bathroom full of curiosity. She does not get free roaming rights in our bathroom, so when she does get to come in with me, she is looking everything over and talking to herself a mile a minute. My husband uses a water pic and it was sitting by the sink. I was busy putting the last few strokes of my eye shadow on when I heard a hum and a blast of water hit my cheek and then ricocheted onto the bathroom wall! I let out a wail of shock and frustration. My dear little one had looked at the blue knobs on daddy's water pic and decided to turn them. She was in just as much shock as I. I quickly grabbed the towel to dry off and said, "Oh, Mary!" She knew I was upset with her. I stopped and looked down and I saw her large blue grey eyes well up with tears. She said, "Ouch." I knew what she meant. I had hurt her feelings. I softened my tone immediately and told her that I loved her and I knew she didn't mean to do that. I continued on to explain to her that she is not to touch that. She understood and I gave her a kiss on her forehead. She is my little tender shoot growing up before me. I try to deal with her gently as the Lord deals with me. I love her honesty and even at this early age communicating her feelings. I pray that she will always be able to tell me her feelings and have an open and honest heart.

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck,

Write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge. Psalms 91:4

Nine years ago, I was house sitting in Southern California. I was taking care of my pastor's house while he and his wife were on a trip to Israel. The evening I arrived I walked up to the house with my suitcase and keys and looked down and there on the front step was a baby bird. It only had a few feathers and its eyes were still closed. It had fallen out of its nest too soon! I looked up where it might of come from and at the top of a stone pillar that supported the porch roof I could see pieces of a nest. I quickly put my things in the house and went looking for a ladder to put the bird back. I found one, but it was out in their garage in the far corner. I did not have the ability to open the garage door. My pastor rebuilt old cars and he had some very valuable cars and tools in there. So, he had secured it very well for the time they would be gone. I very carefully edged between their cars and out through the house with this huge ladder. I just couldn't let this little bird die! I set up the ladder and scooped up the little bird and climbed up to the top of the porch pillar. When I got up there, I could see why that little thing fell out. The nest was pathetic, a few twigs swirled around on a flat stone surface. I thought this has to be the work of a mourning dove. Such sweet birds, with lonely calls, but they are just not very good nest makers! So, I couldn't leave the little thing there to fall again to his death. I climbed down the ladder, went in the house and found an empty pop tart box. I cut open the side, put some soft toilet paper in it and placed the little struggling bird in it and then placed it under a warm lamp. I finished unpacking my stuff and ate dinner. I worried about the bird and wondered how it was going to survive. I went to bed but I tossed and turned, still thinking of the poor little baby. I woke up before the dawn and I decided to put the bird back. My plan was to wind the twigs of the nest tighter and put them in the pop tart box and set that on top of the pillar. In my night gown, I had to make the trip again with the ladder as I had put it away. I placed the pop tart nest back on top of the pillar with the baby bird and an unhatched egg beside it. I sat inside looking out at the porch. The sun had just begun to peek up over the horizon. Low and behold, a mama mourning dove flew up to the top of the pillar. She walked around the pop tart box and then it looked almost like she shrugged her shoulders and jumped in the nest, bringing the little one under her wings and into her warm feathers! I was delighted. During the next 2 weeks she and her mate fed and cared for their little one and then he grew to the point where he flew out of the nest and they watched over him, until he could fly. I climbed back up to the nest and took it. The one egg did not hatch. So, I bought a shadow box and put the nest in it, with a fake baby bird and the empty egg. I have the picture of it below and I hang the shadow box in our guest bedroom. This experience reminds me of the faithfulness of the Lord and how He cares for us and will not abandon us.

To see more treasures and the stories behind them, go to Kelli's blog!

Reminiscing

When I redid my blog banner for the new year, I was so pleased to find a morning glory graphic because morning glories are very special to me. When Rich and I started dating, the place I was living at had a yard that was fenced with morning glories. The yard was small and 3 sides of it had this beautiful fence of morning glories that was about 8 feet tall. We met in the summer time when they were in full bloom. On Saturdays, Rich would come over and cook me a wonderful breakfast and after we ate we would walk down to the beach and talk and enjoy the blue grey Pacific Ocean. We spent many hours walking in the surf and talking about our lives and our walk with God. The picture of him is a shot I took on the Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad. That is the very beach he proposed to me on. Morning glories are very special to me as they marked the wonderful change in my life that God was doing after a very long road of waiting.

Ten Tin Can Soup

Ahh so, I have an old Chinese soup recipe called, Ten Tin Can Soup! Just kidding about the Chinese part. It is a recipe that my husband came up with recently. It consists of 10 cans of ingredients pictured below:

You open all the cans except the French's fried onions and put them into a large cooking pot. Be sure to drain the liquid off the potatoes, peas and carrots as the water has a lot of salt in it and it will make the soup too salty if you leave it in. Put it on medium low heat and warm it up for an hour or so. Stir it occasionally. Then serve it in bowls and top with the French's fried onions. It is delicious. Here is a picture of it in the pot. We had it for Christmas eve dinner and it was great because it was simple and easy after a very busy day!

Enjoy!

An Award

I was blessed to receive this award from Linda at Seasons of Life.

"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."It's hard to choose just eight. I enjoy visiting all my blogging friends:)

I am passing this award on to:

Denise at Mercy Triumphs

Kathi at Feathering My Nest

Sharon at Rose of Sharon

Brittany at Sweet Nothings

Amanda at Jacaranda Cottage

Christina at An Unspoken Story...

Tirzah at Tirzah's World

The Voice of Melody