Have you found yourself doing this lately? My friend Melissa sent this to me, and I thought it captured how we all feel about living expenses lately.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Money
Have you found yourself doing this lately? My friend Melissa sent this to me, and I thought it captured how we all feel about living expenses lately.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Gram
On Friday at 4:15 eastern time, my Gram passed away in her home. Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for her and all of us. I am comforted in the knowledge that she is in a much better place now and she is no longer suffering.
Please pray for strength for our family during this time.
Many have asked if we were close, and I would answer by saying that many of my fondest childhood memories include her. We also have communicated regularly since I left home. She only lived about two small blocks away(I could probably walk to her home in under 5 minutes). Sometimes my sister and I would ride bikes and whenever we would turn onto her street, the evil chihuahua would dash out after us, barking and nipping at our ankles. We were so afraid of that little dog! When we arrived at her house, it was always neat and tidy. Gram loved to garden, and she would frequently walk us around the perimeter of her white, two story home to take a tour of the various plants. Of course, we were always thrilled to find a toad or a big, fuzzy bumble bee. She always had toys in her front room (room by the kitchen) and we frequently played tiddly winks in there! Or pick-up sticks. She always invited us in to sit on the davenport (her word for sofa). Her nails were always polished, make-up done, hair in place, jewelry on...
She loved working crossword puzzles. I have to credit her for stimulating my mind and fostering my love for learning beyond school doors. She would often encourage me that I was college material and provided me with countless reading materials and workbooks to do in my spare time. She also took Kristie and I on several little trips around to experience Pennsylvania, Ohio, Niagra Falls, New York City, and countless other places. I am so grateful for her influence on me. I could write for days and days about these memories. I praise God that she was a part of my life!
Please pray for strength for our family during this time.
Many have asked if we were close, and I would answer by saying that many of my fondest childhood memories include her. We also have communicated regularly since I left home. She only lived about two small blocks away(I could probably walk to her home in under 5 minutes). Sometimes my sister and I would ride bikes and whenever we would turn onto her street, the evil chihuahua would dash out after us, barking and nipping at our ankles. We were so afraid of that little dog! When we arrived at her house, it was always neat and tidy. Gram loved to garden, and she would frequently walk us around the perimeter of her white, two story home to take a tour of the various plants. Of course, we were always thrilled to find a toad or a big, fuzzy bumble bee. She always had toys in her front room (room by the kitchen) and we frequently played tiddly winks in there! Or pick-up sticks. She always invited us in to sit on the davenport (her word for sofa). Her nails were always polished, make-up done, hair in place, jewelry on...
She loved working crossword puzzles. I have to credit her for stimulating my mind and fostering my love for learning beyond school doors. She would often encourage me that I was college material and provided me with countless reading materials and workbooks to do in my spare time. She also took Kristie and I on several little trips around to experience Pennsylvania, Ohio, Niagra Falls, New York City, and countless other places. I am so grateful for her influence on me. I could write for days and days about these memories. I praise God that she was a part of my life!
Monday, July 21, 2008
June
I posted several times in one day so I could label the pictures for you. Following all the pictures, I wrote all about our trip. Happy reading! I will try not to wait 6 weeks to post again!
Family
From top to bottom:
Ely's and Lord's;Mom, Kristie, and me; Dad, Connie and Kids; Gram and Bill with kids
Parker Dam
Here we are at a beaver dam, and also, if you look carefully at the top photo, you can see where these tiny trees were chewed to a point, looking like pencils sticking up from the ground.
Pennsylvania
We have been busy this summer, and now that the girls' dance camp is over , we are finally settling down. For the first two weeks in June, we traveled to Pennsylvania, my home state, to visit family. My Gram is sick with lung cancer and I really wanted to take the time to go and see her. While there, we had a wonderful time. First, now that the kids are older, the car ride was much more pleasant--not so many stops! When we arrived, we stayed at my mom's place in Dubois, and drove to Clearfield almost every day to go see my Gram and Bill, Dad, Connie, Kristie, Brody, April, Josh, and Jed. We also had a wonderful time visiting the Neff's!!!! It was so fun reconnecting. Missy and I talked about how funny it is to see all the parallels in our lives: both home schooling, musicians, kids, and CHRIST! Our kids really hit it off, too! They really should be our next door neighbors!
We also got to hang out at Penn's Cave and see the only cave that you travel through by boat. Our children had never seen anything like it, and it was wondeful to share that experience with them, probably about 30 years after I went with my Gram. We also visited Parker Dam State Park and enjoyed swimming and seeing the beaver dams. We found a couple fairly quickly. I tried to talk them into buying a Smokey the Bear doll, but they weren't interested. I should have bought one for me!
I did visit the Dutch Pantry and buy a shoo-fly pie. It was great! We passed by many Amish communities and saw some Amish people.
The trees are so enormous. They say everything is bigger in Texas, but I say...everything but the TREES!! The part of Pennsylvania I grew up in is called "the wilds" and that is what it feels like over there. It is a giant forest with little towns cut into the woods, usually along a river somewhere. The water is clean, the show of stars at night is phenomenal, and there are all kinds of wildlife everywhere! We saw groundhogs, deer, possums, squirrels, chipmunks(I miss those) and a large variety of birds I missed seeing! We also stuffed ourselves with Lebanon bologna and birch beer(like rootbeer). We got to visit the Old Town Dairy, which has the best ice cream anywhere! I always get the peanut butter. My Great Grandpa Woods owned it when it was called the Keystone Dairy, but he lost it during the Great Depression. The sign still hangs in the store.
I did have some nice visits with Gram, but not nearly enough. She is an amazing woman. Home health nurses were amazed to go see her, and there she sat with her jewelry, make-up, fully dressed, nails painted...she was determined to live her life to the fullest. She is still fighting, but after I've left last month, she has declined rather rapidly. I miss her already. She is too weak to talk to me on the phone. I want to, but I know it will wear her out. But, what a blessing she has been to me all these years. I am glad she is my Gram, and I am glad I got to go and see her.
We also got to hang out at Penn's Cave and see the only cave that you travel through by boat. Our children had never seen anything like it, and it was wondeful to share that experience with them, probably about 30 years after I went with my Gram. We also visited Parker Dam State Park and enjoyed swimming and seeing the beaver dams. We found a couple fairly quickly. I tried to talk them into buying a Smokey the Bear doll, but they weren't interested. I should have bought one for me!
I did visit the Dutch Pantry and buy a shoo-fly pie. It was great! We passed by many Amish communities and saw some Amish people.
The trees are so enormous. They say everything is bigger in Texas, but I say...everything but the TREES!! The part of Pennsylvania I grew up in is called "the wilds" and that is what it feels like over there. It is a giant forest with little towns cut into the woods, usually along a river somewhere. The water is clean, the show of stars at night is phenomenal, and there are all kinds of wildlife everywhere! We saw groundhogs, deer, possums, squirrels, chipmunks(I miss those) and a large variety of birds I missed seeing! We also stuffed ourselves with Lebanon bologna and birch beer(like rootbeer). We got to visit the Old Town Dairy, which has the best ice cream anywhere! I always get the peanut butter. My Great Grandpa Woods owned it when it was called the Keystone Dairy, but he lost it during the Great Depression. The sign still hangs in the store.
I did have some nice visits with Gram, but not nearly enough. She is an amazing woman. Home health nurses were amazed to go see her, and there she sat with her jewelry, make-up, fully dressed, nails painted...she was determined to live her life to the fullest. She is still fighting, but after I've left last month, she has declined rather rapidly. I miss her already. She is too weak to talk to me on the phone. I want to, but I know it will wear her out. But, what a blessing she has been to me all these years. I am glad she is my Gram, and I am glad I got to go and see her.
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