My Favorite of Andy

My beautiful Andy. 

I love this statuesque photo of him!

Epiphany

Today is the 12th day of Christmas, Epiphany.  

The day the wise men came to see the Christ Child ushers

 in the end of the Christmas season, and soon it will be Lent.

This is my favorite time in the church calendar year. 

We celebrate the birth, crucifixion, and the 

resurrection of our Lord.

It's also another special day, the birthday

of my precious niece Claire.

Happy birthday to our

little sweetheart!

Gout.

Steroid pack, $30.00

Prescription pain reliever: $20.00

Watching my husband change the litter box: Priceless!

My Word for 2013

It's hard to believe that 2012 has come to end.  So much happened that tested my Faith, my word for 2012. I saw miracles happen, and had to rely on faith to get through at other times.  I saw what the faith of hundreds could do when they joined together in prayer for a little boy named Zavier, who was cured of cancer.  Praise God!  I saw what faith could do when my Mother, who went through several surgeries, mostly major, came through though the odds were against her.  Faith saw me through personal experiences where I thought I had no hope.  It has been a year of blessings, and triumphs, answered prayers, though some not the way I wanted.  Faith. It seems it was the perfect choice in words. 
So now, with the new year upon us, I have chosen a new word to lead me through the next 12 months. And the word is FORGIVENESS.  There are so many times that past hurts literally want to eat me alive. And though I say in my heart I Forgive, letting go and truly feeling that forgiveness in my soul is difficult.  So this is what I will be working on this year.  Have you chosen a word for the new year?  If so, what would it be?

Christmas Eve Eve

Greetings to all of you! 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas,

I have to say, this one was the best ever.

On Christmas Eve Eve, as we call it,

our family gets together at Wendy's house

for the pre-Christmas celebration.  

The work she puts into this, and the traditions

that have been created over the years,

make this such a special evening.

My grand niece celebrated her first Christmas, with Mom Rachel!

My triplet grand nephews, now 10, joined in the picture of my

nephew Dave and Preston.

It was such a special surprise when my cousin Carol, whom I haven't seen in several years,

came in with her awesome fiance' Tim!

And my nephew Jeff, whom I haven't seen in forever!, showed up with my sister Kathy!!

My Grand daughters, Tara and Kiley, were adored by my nieces, Jenna, Claire, and Kayla.

My sister Wendy puts so much into this evening, and one of the crafts she gave the kids

was a Nativity sticker page. I helped Jenna put hers together.

I love this picture!!  Wendy's kitten was in the back room, 

and came up to the door. Kayla

played with her through the window.

I was really unhappy when it came time to take the family 

pictures, my camera battery went dead!

But all in all, this Christmas was fantastic.

I hope yours was as special!

Merry Christmas!

To all of you!

Marwood Bags

It's hard to believe it's been a year already since we did the Christmas bags for the nursing home. Because the weather was so bad today, Ken and I did them up, I didn't want anyone out in this.
But we did it, and here are 40 bags ready for delivery tomorrow morning, with little stuffed Teddy's peeking out!  I know it seems odd, (the bears) but the residents really love to receive them.