Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

The Nativity of the Lord

Thank you God for the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus, as we celebrate His birthday.

Help us to remember Him as we give and receive gifts, taking time to pray for each person

and for those who have nothing.

Help us Lord, to fill this Christmas with You and with Your Love, Peace, and Joy. Amen

(st thomas more church bulletin)

Feliz Navidad

In one month...

we had a wang dang doodle of a party

a new grandbaby born

celebrated thanksgiving

spent 3 weeks at Michelle's

got through her surgery

finished christmas shopping (thanks to online shopping)

celebrated birthdays

and decorated for a very important birthday...

and I haven't blogged about any of it. Downloading pictures, cropping them, getting them on blogland, writing, it all takes time. I will have to backtrack because this is my journal and I need to document it all, eventually I will get it done. But not today, today I am wrapping gifts and getting laundry done. Tomorrow I have grandkids coming over and we will bake.

Joy and laughter mixed with sorrow and pain.

It is what life is made of.

Amidst sorrow and pain there is joy and laughter.

"God didn't promise days without pain,

laughter without sorrow,

sun without rain,

but He did promise strength for the day,

comfort for the tears,

and light for the way."

anonymous



It takes loads of faith to endure the sorrow and pain...

To watch my daughter fight cancer. To see her endure months and months of chemo; the pain through the mastectomy surgery and then the reconstructive surgery; and the sorrow to not be able to do for her kids the way she wants to, the way she is used to.  It takes loads of faith.

But through it all there is joy and laughter sprinkled in between...

Michelle's house is a happy house, because that's what she is made of.

She is so close to being done with her year of treatment, but it's not over. There are a dozen nodules showing in her lungs, so there are more dr appts, more mri's, more cat scans, more blood work, more pain, more sorrow. So again we lean on God, we lean on our faith and we hope. Hope and pray.

2011 has been a year of joy and laughter and sorrow and pain.

For me, when the fear starts creeping in I repeat...

Let your faith be stronger than your fears.

Let your faith be stronger than your fears.

Let your faith be stronger than your fears.

Jayda Lee

Born this day 11/21/11

Grandbaby #7

I am in Nana heaven +: )

A Wang Dang Doodle of a Party

2011 Wang Dang Doodle

Why I Love November

our weather finally cools down to the 80's, 70's, 60's, 50's all in one month. It's time to put halloween decorations away but leave up fall and take out the turkey and the pilgrims and indians. It's time when reds and oranges and golds take over my home and make it feel warm and cozy.

It gets me in the mood to bake bread and make soups and finally go back to our much needed evening walks. It's time for outdoor grilling sitting under a heat lamp instead of sitting in the pool.

It's time to harvest my summer basil and make pesto to freeze so I can continue enjoying the awesome taste of basil once it's gone from my garden.

It's planting season so off to the garden centers I go to fill my gardens with seeds, pretty flowers and good for you vegetables.

Time to empty the compost pile and mix it into the ground.

Time to get on my knees

to garden,

to contemplate,

to pray

and count my blessings...

Blessings of family and friends and celebrating time together.

Celebrating November birthdays

*Nathan, Elizabeth, Wyatt, Kori, Bobby, & Lorrie*

Celebrating November anniversaries

*Mikey & Elizabeth, David & Chanin, Danny & Kacey*

And celebrating the birth of a new baby grand-daughter

who should be here

before the end of the month!!! 

N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r

a month to remember our blessings

and give thanks

and to honor our Veterans
Thank You to all who have served our country.

  

My skinny legs

When I was young

I hated the word skinny

and I hated my skinny legs

but things have changed

now I love my skinny legs

these skinny legs...

I think they are

adorable

every single one of them!

Happy Halloween!

from my house to yours!

Fall at the Blue Ridge Parkway

Being an Arizona native I have missed out on the beauty of fall colors.
The northern part of our state has some fall colors but seems like this time of year is always so busy and I never get a chance to make it up there.
I was able to experience the beauty of the autumn season on a trip to North Carolina last week.

While there we took a road trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway

from North Carolina to Virginia...

passing through beautiful country and watching the leaves fall as we drove.  Every turn we made was A M A Z I N G.

 Speaking of turns, did I mention I get motion sick?

Especially in the back seat!

Luckily I was prepared and I took one of those wonderful bonine pills so I was able to enjoy every single turn and winding road!

I was told the colors were not that spectacular this year due to lack of summer rain,

but it looked pretty good to me!



This lovely creature was happily munching when we spotted him and stopped the car. I wanted to take his picture but he wouldn't look up until we honked, then he looked up and posed for me.





Okay so why do I live in Arizona??

Because no matter what, there's no place like home!