Unplanned Events

Yesterday, Dec 15, held quite the surprise for my husband, especially, and myself. We found ourselves sitting in the emergency room for four and a half hours before he was moved up to a room. He wasn't admitted just waiting for surgery. The day started out quite pleasant, we woke, had our coffee and breakfast. We always have it back in our bedroom, we have two chairs back there, that way we can have our devotions before we start the day as well. We ended up taking a longer breakfast than he wanted cuz he wanted to be out in the shop by 8:00 AM. But the days before this Sat he had been gone all week in Iowa as this was the first week of his new job.... so needless to say he just wanted to relax a little bit because that was a heavy week of training and taking in A LOT of info. So as he was leaving our bedroom he said, well I am only an hour late getting out to the shop, being sarcastic. Not five minutes later I hear him hollering for me to come RIGHT NOW, HE NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!! So I come running and he has his left hand cradled in his right hand with a lot of pressure on it and holding it up. Can't be good I am thinking because those arent' words I hear from him is that he needs to see any doctor, not to offend doctors just not his favorite place to go. The thought that is running through my mind is of my grandfather, who was a woodworker as well, and when I was a little girl he had cut off his index finger at the knuckle and they had sewed it back on. That finger was never right and always got in the way. So you guessed it it happened again, and this time he thought there is no way they are sewing it back on. So he told them he didn't know where it was, my grandma found it in his back pocket of his pants when she was doing laundry. If you could've known my grandpa that wasn't so surprising!!!! So these thoughts are going through my mind... in our van on the way to the hospital I finally ask him what happened, he said two of his fingers the ends are gone. He said you don't want to see it. We get him to the hospital in record time I might add..... We have to wait what seems like forever to see a nurse to get him back to a room. It really wasn't that long, they get him back there to wait again before he gets anything for the pain. That is where this is all leading, that when you are watching a loved one suffer it is soooo terribly hard and time stands literally still. As I was praying for all of this, I was thinking of our Heavenly Father and how much He loves us and watches us daily, make choices, that are very harmful to us, to our testimony, how it must sadden Him. But how lovingly He brings us back, sometimes waits and pursues a long time for us to repent. But yet there is GRACE, always GRACE!!! So thankful for that and knowing in this situation could've been far worse, and even in this He is there with us.
That was a very busy day for them in the emergency room which is why we did a lot of waiting. They had a lot of life threatening emergencies that they were dealing with. So as we are hearing the hustle and bustle around us we were so thankful that this was all we were dealing with. He still has these two fingers, they will be very functional, he is right handed this happened to his left, he started a new job that looks like will be a huge blessing for him. How could we be upset about the change of how things will function in the near future? We have so much to be thankful for!!! All of our children and grandchildren will be home for Christmas so we have these wonderful days to look forward to being together. These times are priceless. The things that won't happen are the Christmas gifts that won't be made now. He has recovery time, I might be driving him around for a while, but even that is not bad, cuz I would've been with him anyway. With his job, this won't affect his ability to work either so we have that to be thankful for as well.
To get back to his hand the doctor was able to use the skin on his fingers to put over the fingertips so he didn't have to do a skin graft. Surgery went well and we were home at 7:00PM. Some people that were there that day didn't have such a happy outcome. Our prayers go out to them that they know and love the same Lord Jesus that we do, and that this season that we are in right now is to remember and celebrate the most wonderful gift that we have been given with a love that is soo huge and undeserved, and all we have to do is accept it, Gods only son Jesus!!!!

I have been tagged.....here I go

I haven't written in a while so maybe this will get me going again.
10 Years Ago
My husband and I were looking forward to Stacie coming home from her first semester of college. Still adjusting to having "one" out of the nest!! Huge adjustment for me. Hoping she liked being at home again, how do I behave as a mom of an "adult"?! I know I think waaaay too much!!! We were also into the girls high school basketball season. Our second daughter Kim played. We enjoyed those years of sports very much. We also had a daughter, Nikki, who ran track, and our son played basketball, and played football. So lots of events to go to. We also were very involved with AWANA. We were working with a club we helped start in a small church. Full of challenges, but also lots of blessings. I was also still grieving the loss of my brother and brother-in-law. We were also walking with my sister-in-law with the terminal illness of her young son, Mark.
5 Years Ago
We now have 3 children out of the home. One daughter married, for two years, Kim. So we have a new "son", so blessed to have him, Todd, in our family!!! And also they blessed us with our first grandson, born in October!!!! He has been such a joy!! We also have our third daughter Nikki married this year in August to a wonderful guy Chad!!! They were high school sweet hearts. So now at this point we have 3 "sons" and 3 girls (-: Stacie has graduated from college and his an RN still living 1000 miles away )-: She has met a guy at this point and I think we had met him right after they met. We were so thrilled for her!! Our son is a senior in high school doing post secondary at the Tech school. He had his own lawn service that he had been doing for 6 years by this time!!
1 Year Ago
We are now into full swing and loving every single moment of it.....as grandparents. No GREATER joy, except of course being a mom. I did love my mom job,every aspect of it, even looking back at all my mistakes I am sooo thankful for a loving heavenly Father who gives me soooo much grace!!! All of our children are married now. God has given us such wonderful mates for our children!! Truly matches made in heaven (-: We now have 8 grandchildren, one in heaven. Our precious Micah, Todd and Kims son is home with the Lord now since 2004. Since 2003 when our daughter Nikki was having serious health problems after the birth of her son, we learned how to really,really leave our children in Gods hands. Thought I had done that so many times before, but to be in this totally helpless place and watch as your child suffers, and her husband,is a lesson in Gods love and provision. We saw so many blessings in the midst of this huge trial. Their son has been such a blessing, and a good baby, abnormally so so that she could care for him. He has insight now that I think God has given him from living with a mom in sooo much pain. Then to watch our daughter Kim and her husband Todd walk through the loss of a child, which I have never done, was also something that I would've never dreamed would be in our lives. But, we have so much to be thankful for. Even before his accident we had a beautiful week together at Ralph and Stacies wedding!!! It was great all of us together to get to know this bundle of love, in all of his four months!!! As a mom I felt like at times if I could just sheild everyone from this pain, take it all away, but you can't we have to walk through these days and rest in Gods provision and care. Which he did in everyones lives. They have all grown into such mighty men and women of God.
Yesterday
I went grocery shopping to get ready for Thanksgiving. This is our first year to host it as my husbands aunt and uncle have passed the baton to us and his cousin ( their son). So this year it is our turn. We will probaly have 20 people, we are looking forward to it!! We aslo went to see our grandaughters, always a treat!! Any excuse we can think of to go and see them we do, yesterday it was to deliver their mail. (-: Then we came home and did laundry!
5 Snacks I enjoy
My all time favorite now is vanilla yogurt with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and granola on top.
Apples with peanut butter to dip
Low sugar ice cream sanwiches
Trail Mix mmmmm ( making me hungry!)
Cold cereal, you can never have too much of that
5 Things I would do if I had $100 Million
Pay off all debt
Give to as many ministries as I could
Support our parents
Invest
Help our children
5 Places I would run away to
Spend time with our children
Lake cabin
Mountain cabin
Hawaii
Germany
5 Favorite TV shows
Deal or No Deal
Any HGTV show
Cosby
MASH
Hogans Heroes
5 Things I hate doing
Speaking in front of a group
Traveling alone ( I would be lost, I am directionaly challenged (-: )
People smacking when they eat
My husband putting wet hands on my back )-:
Rude comments by people
5 Biggest joys of the moment
Bob
Children and grandchildren
Extended family
Friendships
Health

OK, there it is!! Made me do some thinking. Fun to do though, thanks Stacie

Labor of love

OK its time to brag on my husband. My mom turned 70 this year and my sisters and I wanted to do something special for her b'day... so first we had a big party for her at my sister Diana's house. All her children were able to be there, and all but three of her grandchildren, and two of her great grands were there. It was a beautiful day, fun weekend!!! That was in June. So for a gift we all decided to give her a murphy bed. Thats where the labor of love comes in. My husband graciously said that he would build the bed, and install it for her. At the time we didn't know that he would have an extremely busy schedule. Also some surprises as far as IF he still has a job....that has been temporarily resolved so the pressure is off for a while. He has some things going that will carry us through. We are so thankful for a loving heavenly Father who cares for us in all things! So we know it will all work out. But in the midst of all this he diligently worked on the bed, and loved it!! I am so thankful for him. He truly has to be the most patient, loving husband, father, and my best friend!!! So this is a tribute to him for loving me and my family so much!!!! A HUGE thank you to God for giving us 29 1/2 years together!!! And Lord willing many, many, many more years. :-)

Celebrating Being Five!

We had a great fall weekend!! The weather was perfect, the leaves have all changed, the air "smelled" like fall! Two of our daughters and their families came home to celebrate our oldest grandsons b'day. Our son and daughter in law and their girls were here also. We always ask the kids what they want to eat and what kind of cake for their b'day. He chose "thanksgiving food" and a baseball cake. So we had thanksgiving food; thank you to all who brought food, it was delicious!! Then Tiff made the cubs jersey cake!! It turned out Great!! Very fitting for the weekend Todd informed us cuz the Cubs were playing and doing very well. We had 25 people including children. Our grandson had sooo much fun playing with all of his cousins, weather was perfect for being outside, so that is what they did.
Then on Sat we went to a pumpkin patch. The kids played in a "corn box" instead of sand, they rode a train, hay ride,and went down a "hay slide". They had a ball!! So did we. They also did some chunkin pumpkin sling shot. We went through a corn maze as well. We had a special friend come along also. Todd's sister and her two children spent the day with us. Was so fun to spend some time with them.
Then on Sat night I got this strange stomach ache, not that stomach aches are EVER normal, but anyway......yep you guessed it, the stomach flu!! That lasted pretty much all day. I couldn't go to church with everyone, but I was able to be up for a little while to try and enjoy the last day of Todd and Kim being home. As they say.... all good things must come to an end; but this wasn't the ending I was planning on. LOL

Time.....mmmmm

When I sat down to finaly write this again I was thinking of what we had been doing lately, which has been quite a bit, and realizing how quickly time goes. The older I get the reality of that can overwhelm me if I ponder it too long. Just makes me thankful for each day that I am given and to be a good steward of the day, and make it count!! When you lose those that you love you appreciate so much the family and friendships that God has blessed you with. Because of that I try to always remain flexible and don't let "things" get in the way. When given the opportunity I try to take advantage of that and stop to see friends, and our wonderful family. Well....enough of the ramblings.... On our walk, stopping to take a picture
All but me...someone had to take the picture (:
August flew by to be sure, so we took a day and had a picnic with my in-laws and our daughter and her family, our son and his family. It was a beautiful day. We went for walks and of course had to eat some good food. Didn't do enough picning this summer, went waaay to fast.

We were at our daughters house and got to watch out grandson leave for preschool. That was fun to see ,he was so excited to go. He has a good friend that was going to be in his class, he was looking forward to seeing him. Off to preschool!!!

Then a week ago we spent some time with my brother in law and sister in law. For Billie Jean and I it truly was a vacation. The guys had to work, but we just shopped and visited. Was very relaxing. At night the four of us would go out to eat and then play cards. We used to do this every winter around New Years, when our kids were all still at home. So it was fun to reminisce with them.

Then this last week I stopped in to see a very dear friend!!! We tried to cover years in just a few short hours. This is one of those friendships that no matter how much time has gone by it seems like we just saw each other. Its so comfortable to be together. We walk through these seasons of life and it is such a blessing for me to see and hear how God has been working in her families life as well. Just so fun to catch up.

Now to come home to a fairly quiet week, and enjoy looking outside and seeing Gods hadiwork with the leaves on the trees., stunning.

Our "youngest" B"day

Bobby blowing out candles on his Swiss Rolls cake
Bobby and his wife Tiffany

Auntie and a few of the cousins

Birthday boy and his family

Seems so strange to say youngest when he just turned 23!!! Hard to believe, and also that he is a dad and looking for a youth pastor position. Time flies soooo quickly. That is one thing that the 40 something phase of life does and that is to reflect. Some things you would love to change others you would never want to go back and relive. That is when I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father because its those not reliving ones that I know He has forgotten, they are as far from His memory as the east is to the west. Gives me a clean slate to start each new day that he has gifted me with to use for His glory!!!

But back to our son, we had a nice day celebrating with his grandparents, Aunt and her family, his precious girls, and lovely wife. We had a fun day, ate too much of course but fun. Had to play Five Crown to top off the day. Then he was off to work.

Time with the boys!!

This weekend was a fun time to watch the boys, while their parents were at their first annual golf tournament to raise funds for CEF. They had a great time at the tournament, good turn out, and we were so thankful to see how God used his people to raise the money for this wonderful ministry!!! The weather was perfect and everyone said they would love to come back next year, so we have much to praise God for.
While they were all golfing I got to stay with the boys. We went bike riding, played a little baseball, and NE was having fun with the sand and water table and their new kitty decided she needed a drink!!! I also baked buns for Sun so we could have them with pulled pork sandwiches,mmmmmm they were very good!!! Good food by all that brought stuff. We ate ouside, such a beautiful day. It was EE dedication to the Lord. Very nice service the whole E clan went up front, so wonderful to see this family loving and serving God. Then we headed home and jumped into the week.
Tried to upload photos but there is a problem with the system.

Weekend at the lake

Well, the grandchildren have left ( all but two, the girls and their parents are living with us temporarily while their dad looks for a youth pastor position ) So our house seems very quiet, we really did enjoy the time with them.
But we were able to go to the lake to watch our two grandsons while their parents were at our son-in-laws 10 yr high school reunion. We stayed at a friend of theirs lake cabin. We had lived on the lake for 17 and a half years before we sold three years ago. We realized how much we miss just looking out at the lake. It is soooo peaceful!! We didn't hear any loons, thats another thing that I miss not being on the lake. It was too cold and rainy to get out and enjoy the lake but at least we could enjoy the view.
We were also able to visit our old church that was fun to see some friends we hadn't seen in a while, its always a blessing to hear Pastor Jims messages.
It's hard to believe our son-in-law has been out of high school that long already!! They had a good time, our daughter knows quite a few of his classmates so she had a good time as well. Fun to see where people are and what they are doing after they graduate.

My First Entry

Well, my daughter talked me into trying blogging so here I go.... Our oldest daughter was doing this a couple of years ago and I wasn't real sure what it was all about so I wasn't good about reading it. Now I have heard so much more about it that I thought it could be kind of fun.

We just finished our first annual G&G camp with our 6 grandchildren (the youngest isn't old enough to come ). We had such a great time. They are at very busy ages and we couldn't have done it wihtout our "camp counselors" (our son and daughter in law) They were a GREAT help. We even had a craft day and decorated t-shirts to remember the day. These are such times to cherish cuz this too will pass as time travels on and they get involved, or move, or whatever, or wherever God leads each family. So I'm thankful that I have the freedom to be able to spend as much time with them as I can. My husband travels for work so it gives us a lot of freedom that we never take for granted. God has blessed us with a very full life.

Greeting the grandkids as they came (:

The rest of the cousins have arrived!!!

Fun train ride

Making the t-shirts