Starting New

We will soon be ushering in the New Year 2012 and I look forward to its potential for new beginnings. One of the things am doing to start off the year is taking an online class with Stephanie Ackerman called 'Scrapbook Life Journal 2012.' She has a blog called Homegrown Hospitality and I have followed her for quite some time now. I love her style of blogging and also how artistic she is. I have taken other classes by her and have enjoyed each one. I am part of a group of 134 people that will be interacting together as we go thorough the year on this scrapbook/journal journey and I look forward to each month of creating. I also look forward to writing once again on my blog that has sat silent for a year. I am personally glad to have 2011 behind me.
Happy New Year to all of you.

 

Still here!

Hello to all, no I haven't left the country or fell off the face of the earth. I will be back someday soon to post once again. It has been a busy and long summer. It appears that the 'fall season' it is upon us and I love the cool days and the smells that belong to this time of year. Many good things have happened this summer and there is lots to share.  Blessings to you all and enjoy the sights and smells of this season. :)

Beauty from the back yard.

 Glorious maple and burr oak tree by the pond in the back yard.

 I so love this time of year and all of the colors.

Birthday Celebration For Mike

Our daughter Katie and her husband Chris came home yesterday to visit. They live in the big city. I always love to have them come and this time I did not have to cook one meal. (how did that happen?) Chris is an excellent cook and he had Mike's birthday meal all planned down to the dessert and the wonderful tasting  root beer to drink.The menu was as follows:

Marinated  T-Bone Steak with grilled mushrooms
Pesto Chicken Breast (made with Picholine French olive oil)
Garlic Parmesan Green Beans (fresh beans from the garden)
Grilled Red Potatoes with basil vinaigrette
Corn on the Cob (grilled in the husk)
Fresh sliced garden tomatoes smeared with Pesto Sauce
Strawberry Custard ice cream
Pecan Custard ice cream (and each served with a hot fudge sauce and mixed nuts)
Hank's Gourmet Root Beer

Oh my goodness, it tasted so good. I think we all ate until we could not find any more room to hold it. (well I did save some room for dessert.) They also brought presents and  we watched as Mike opened his birthday gift bag. Katie made her dad a very creative box to hold extra cash for a 'windshield fund.' His work car needs a new windshield and they made a nice donation to Mike's box to save for one. I loved the added touch of using a real map for the paper and the little semi-truck for the front. (imagine that)  :D  It was a nice evening of visiting and watching a baseball game.

This morning we drove to my mother's house and picked her up and then we met Mike's parents at a  restaurant in town. Katie wanted to see all of her grandparents so it worked out well to meet for breakfast. It was a very nice morning and we got caught up on all the news of everyone's life. Family means so much and it seems that everyone gets so busy that time passes quickly and before you realize it you haven't seen them for awhile. We hope to do this again very soon. Everyone had a blessed time.

Happy Birthday Mike! Wishing you a great day!

 Windshield fund can made by Kate.

Mike's mom, step-dad and Katie.

My mom and Katie.

 Our son-in-law Chris and Mike.

Mom, myself and Katie.

Kittens and Pheasants and Kids. Oh My!!

Well today my daughter-in-law sent me photos of the animals at her house today. One of them is a new sweet kitty that my son Scott brought home from work. A guy he works with found a cat in a dumpster and brought it home. He put it in the garage with a litter box, food and water. A month later he ended up with babies. He talked Scott into bringing one home for the girls to have as a pet and to be a friend to their cat Sam. I don't think anyone asked Sam though and so far he isn't happy. Hopefully he will get over it. The girls were so surprised, especially Emma. She had no idea that when she came from shopping with ma-ma that she would find a new pet. Everyone is weighing in on a name. I wanted to name it Me-Me but no self respecting male cat would want that name. Emma wants to name him Hunter, Toes, or Tiger. Chloe wants Fluffy or Cutie. Their ma-ma weighed in with Bruiser, Max or Dex. (she said she has a thing about x's)  It sounds like the jury is still out as to what we will call him.

The next animal I received photos of today was 'Blue'. He is a beautiful pheasant that lives in the next door neighbors back yard. The neighbors Roger and Wendy feed him cracked corn. Today they let Emma, Chloe and other neighborhood kids feed him in the Dowd's back yard. It is quite the sight to look in the yard and see a tame pheasant surrounded by neighborhood kids with handfuls of bird feed. There is always a lot of activity going on at my grand-daughter's home...never a dull moment.

Emma's happy face when she found out she had a new kitten.

Sweet kitten awaiting a name.

Chloe making friends with the new baby.

Look at the beautiful feathers, hence the name 'Blue".

 He walks around like he owns the place.

Hour of Glorious Peace

For the last couple of days after I get my mail, I have been stopping by the BP gas station for a cup of coffee and a cookie that I take with me as I walk up to our local park. I love it there, sitting by the water. I was the only one in the park except for the care taker that was mowing the lawn. I made my way to the the bench in the shade that I love to sit on and gaze across the pond. Today's mission was to pray for my children and grandchildren after I drank my coffee and ate my snicker-doodle cookie. (it was a tasty one too!) I no sooner sat down when four huge great blue herons flew across the pond right in front of where I was sitting. It was so awesome! In a very excited voice, I said 'Lord, look!! Do you see this awesome sight?? Oh my goodness Lord look at them!!!' Of course I knew He seen them before I called to Him but I was soooo excited. They are beautiful and have a very big wing span. One landed in an old wooden stump of a tree across the pond that is about 20 feet tall. The other three perched high in the pines next to the stump. The three did not stay there for long, before one by one they flew to the stump, with the other one. They each took a branch and rested the entire time I was there which was a little over an hour.  I spent the quiet solitude praying and worshiping the Lord in grateful thanks for all of His blessings. Later in the hour an eagle flew over to the left of the water. It too is so majestic and it is my favorite bird. As I was finishing up my worship, I looked across the pond close to the slough and I seen what appeared to be three deer swimming in the water as they crossed the pond. (yes, I did say swimming) I could hardly believe my eyes and I said 'Lord they look like deer or else they are awful big brown fish!' It was amazing to me as I did not know that deer swim. I was so glad that I took that one hour out of a very busy day to spend time with the Lord. Had I not decided to go, I would have missed out on the blessings of the day and the most important would have been the blessing of praying for my children.

Four great blue herons flying in to the pond. 

If you look in the middle of the sky you can see 4 dark specks. 

(You may be able to see them better if you double click on the photo)

  Another photo of them flying in.

And another. (isn't the pond beautiful?)

 The view in front of my bench.

Happy birthday Mom!

Today's post will be a' 77th Happy Birthday' tribute to my mother. Her birthday is Sunday but we celebrated yesterday at my sisters house. We had a wonderful time. The day started out with me taking mom and Kaitlyn (the little girl she babysits) out for breakfast at the new restaurant in town. It was a good breakfast and the interior of the restaurant is beautiful. The place  was 'perking' with activity every where and it was packed. (normally when you see  many cars in the parking lot of a new eatery, a month after they are opened it means really good food.)
We ordered and then drank coffee and visited. I showed mom all the photos I took at our family reunion in North Dakota. She had not seen this side of the family since she married dad many years ago. It was fun to listen to stories that she knew about them at that time in their life. I enjoyed it  a lot. After breakfast we drove to my sister's house for cake, more coffee and the opening of the gifts. (the best part) I think mom enjoyed herself  very much and as her daughter I pray she has many, many, more birthdays to come. I love you mom and you still look young to me.

 Mom and Kaitlyn

 Birthday Girl with her crown.

We love to open birthday presents!!

 My mom, my two sisters and myself. (I like this photo a lot).

Riddles from Sweetie Girl

Today I am going to treat you to a few riddles that my grand-daughter Emma told me recently. I love to listen to her and try to guess what the answer is and I know she loves it as well. She always has a steady stream of riddles to share and I think she saves them up just for me. :D  Okay...

What goes up but never comes down? (your age)

Where do astronauts store their food? (in launch boxes)

What kind of dance do teachers like best? (attendance)

What did the monkey say when he found out his sister had a baby? (well I'll be a monkey's uncle!!) tee hee

What did the beaver say to the tree? (it was nice gnawing you)

And the last one which is my favorite:
What did the frog order at the fast food restaurant? (a large croak and french flies) I love it!!

As long as I was treating you to a few riddles I decided to share a couple of photos of my sweet grand-daughter. I love everything about her!!! She has the sweetest face, freckles and all, plus the prettiest red hair that I have ever seen. I love her and she shares a special place in my heart with her younger sister Chloe. One of the best blessings in my life is being called 'grammy.'

 Sweet Emma

I love this candid shot of her looking into the water.