Fay, oh Fay, please go away!

The photo you see is our bedroom, and due to a bad back, I have been seen here a lot lately! Read on........


Well, we have had an interesting week-end. And we, so far, have been among the fortunate. We have had no loss of power and no flooding. Our house stands pretty high. We have a rain gauge, and it holds five inches. It has been emptied four times now and there is another 2 inches in it today. I am ready for the rain to stop for a good long while, because everything needs time to drink in the water. However, the bands of rain keep flowing through, literally. I have not been out with our camera, but I can tell you a little dry stream bed two houses from us ran like the Colorado, whitewater and all.

Still, we were able to get out intermittently. Daughter and I went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and really enjoyed it. We had seen number one together, so we had to take in the second one also! The theatre began to drip from the ceiling while we were there, and I kept wondering the whole time if that roaring sound I heard was from the action movie in the next door theatre, or if it was happening outside. I am such a worrier.....

Oh, how hurricane season can get tiring, 6 months of each year! Prayer and reading my Bible really helped me in the more worrisome moments. And we were able to get out and drive around a little, seeing the trees down (and neighbors out in ponchos talking in groups), getting to church (to see a tarp on the front door), and having dinner out with daughter and her family last night at Ted's Montana Grill (where one of our cars did not start right away after dinner). Blessings exist among the struggles, and I ask God to help me focus on them and let the rest go.

Life lessons never go away! I am 59 and still just beginning to learn to trust in God and lean into him. I get such a feeling of peace when I do that without question. The last weeks have been full of challenges. Son-in-law had a kidney stone, which required a middle of the night drive to get him at a Christian camp in the country. I was in bed for nearly a week with severe back pain. And then we had 22 inches of rain.......but we had electricity, no leaks, a full fridge, books to read and plenty of home projects. Son-in-law came through just fine and passed the nasty old stone. And this week, we find out if the new little one on the way is a boy or girl! Julia and Scott go to the doctor Wednesday.......and among all of these life experiences, Abigail started school and is having a wonderful time. I think she has already made another leap into growing up.

God blesses us so abundantly with gifts and lessons to learn from Him. If anyone out there is reading this blog, and doubts the love of God, or the existence of Him, I say this. Open your heart. Read His word with an open mind. He has given us the gift of choice, and wants us to choose Him willingly. He is there.

Our little Hannah

Here she is, watching the swimming lessons. She loved playing with all the kiddie toys, though, and the other siblings who were not taking lessons. I absolutely love to run my fingers through those blonde soft curls.

She is such an independent little one, and very full of humor. When we got in the car after lessons, all hot and sweaty, I turned on the air-conditioning full blast. That made my bangs fly straight up in the air, and she gave out a big belly giggle. I did not know why she was laughing until I looked back and saw what she was looking at. So I would put my head to the vent and let my bangs fly, and she would laugh all over again. She makes me laugh too.

Grandkids - what an absolute joy.

Summer Swimming

Abigail became a little fish a week or so ago. She learned to swim across the deep end, with her face in the water, and also was able to say good-bye to her beloved "noodle" that always kept her afloat. Hannah, the younger, watched and wondered why she could not join in, but next year for her! She kept asking for "my suit".

Summer is whizzing by. Birthday week-end came and went, and
we enjoyed two parties, two cakes, and the traditional junk shopping with my daughter (who shares a July 4 birthday with me) and lots of fun. We got some good junk. Our hubbies wonder why we bring home these rusted peeling things from 50 years ago......no answer for that one.

Julia's gift to me was a "date night" with her and her hubby. Just the four of us.....which is a treat, because any time we are together, there are kiddies to bath, feed, and play with. We never get to sit down and talk together for any length of time. So last Saturday night, we went to eat and then to dance!!!! Yes, dance. A swing band was playing locally, and my daughter can sure cut a rug. She and her hubby had the best time of anyone there. It was so fun to watch! Sorry, I did not take my camera! Hubby, who does not dance, was very good-natured about the whole thing. :)

Family at the Grand Canyon

Recently my daughter and her hubby and children spent a week in Arizona at the Grand Canyon and staying in a little cottage in Flagstaff. She took a leash for the little one and yu can see Hannah wearing it in this photo.

Hubby and I have been there in the past, too, and there are no words to describe it. I was so happy they could see this wonderful place. They look happy, don't they?

Another of God's gifts to me

The father of my child and my dear hubby. We have been together over 30 years. He is a good man. A man of habit. A man who is as good as his word, which can always be depended on. Hard worker. Pretty cute for 58.

I want to honor him this Father's Day. My life has been better since the day I met him.

Happy Father's Day, to my Tom.

Thank you for being you.

Summertime for sure

Flip flop time. This was taken on the bay at St. George Island. I sat there for a long time, with wine glass and camera. It was late afternoon. The water was so clear that the fish were quite noticeable as they swam beneath the dock. It was so quiet.....

The dock next to us had a family that lived on it all week-end. They had chairs, towels, fishing rods, coolers, you name it. They went in at dark and came back out on the dock in the morning with their coffee in hand. But it was far enough away, they were little moving specks, and I could just hear the murmur of their voices.

Summertime for sure.....

God has given us so many earthly gifts!

On the bay

Well, four couples recently spent a long week-end at St. George Island, Florida. What a wonderul time. We have all known each other for over 30 years. So we could put on bathing suits and say "so what?"

Here is a sunset. I think I have been converted from being a beach gal to a bay gal. So quiet, so lovely, and so much wildlife! We saw dolphin so close to the dock we could hear the blow hole, and heron, and the stars were incredible.

God is good. He has given us such beauty! Just look!