Happy Birthday to Shelley!!

Shelley, we love you so much!

We are proud of the woman you have become.

You are relaxed and loving with your children.

You are kind and thoughtful with your husband.

You are forgiving when we are busy and at times neglectful.

You are upbeat even when you are tired.

You have given us two unbelievably sweet grandchildren.

You are so talented and resourceful!

You are creative and use your talents well.

You are nice and loving to everyone.

We know that you love the Lord and want to serve him.

You are such a blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful for you!

We could not have a more deserving daughter of a...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

Spring is Here!

Today was really our first warm and sunny spring day this year. The skies were blue, and the air was warm, but not hot. It was the perfect spring day - finally! It has been a long winter, and we decided to walk around our new mall, Partridge Creek. It is a beautiful place to walk and see people and all kinds of dogs - because dogs are welcome there. You can see the most unusual dogs everywhere!

When the mall was built, they made a big deal about saving this beautiful old oak tree and they put up a sign telling about it. It is very big and a lot more beautiful when it has leaves on it!

We stopped to read about the tree and just relax and enjoy the lovely weather.

Shelley, Bob, Matthew, and Nolan met us at Max and Erma's for lunch at the mall. The boys had both been sick with a virus for over a week. Shelley had not gotten much sleep all week because Nolan and Matthew were both sick and needing attention. It was good for them all to get out in the nice warm sun, and they were all happy to be out.

Nolan was more himself today and had such a sweet smile! He wants so badly to just get up and walk and get things he wants. He just loves to stand up!! (With some help, of course!)

After eating in the restaurant, we all walked to the "Apple Store". It is one of the "boys'" favorite places. It is full of computers, ipods, computer programs and games. There is a table just for kids and Matthew loves to sit at the table and play the games. Today he sat right down and immediately pressed the right key to make a man walk in a computer game! Terry is playing a game on the computer here and Matthew loved watching him! I love the hand on the knee!  :)

I think that men could play on the computer all day!! And it starts young these days!

Doesn't Matthew look happy? What a great smile!

We walked around the mall for awhile after that looking at all the people and interesting dogs. We saw two miniature greyhounds! There are two bocci ball courts that can be used for free at the mall. Matthew likes to watch people play and was watching a young couple play today. They let him throw the white ball to start the game a couple of times and he thought that was great.

We had a fun time walking around and talking. It was so nice to enjoy the fresh air and sun! I was just exhausted, though. I had a busy week and the sun was so bright that it was putting me right to sleep. We had a good time and then went home to relax some more.

Easter Sunday in Tennessee

Shari put these pictures of Esme' on Facebook today, and I copied them and added the frames. These were all taken on Easter. I thought they were so cute of her! I love it when she wears a cute hat.

I miss her very much and I am always so happy when I can see pictures of her or see her on the webcam!

Easter Sunday 2009

Easter Sunday was a quiet one this year. Terry and I had gone to a wonderful Good Friday service at Cornerstone Friday night. It was an awesome service with lots of music, scripture reading and communion. Unlike some Good Friday services, it was all about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What is the death of Christ without the resurrection? 

This morning was a busy one. Terry ended up in the Gathering Space during the service because we had so many visitors coming in at all different times and Terry was responsible for visitor reception. Bob spoke from Revelation 1, verses 17-18.  ' When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys to death and Hades." '  Aren't those great verses?  

We went home after church to have dinner with Shelley, Bob, Matthew, and Nolan. I had made lasagne and put it in the oven to start and stop cooking at certain times - and amazingly enough, it worked!! We had a nice dinner together. Terry, Matthew, and Nolan were all sick with the same sort of cold or virus. They all had a scratchy throat, stuffy nose, runny eyes, etc.  The kids were pretty miserable. I was also starting to feel as though I was coming down with it.

But we had a nice day in spite of all that. 

You would never know that Nolan was sick here. He was so sweet and smiley even though he didn't feel well and hadn't slept much or eaten much for days.

I didn't get many pictures today, since the kids weren't much in the mood for it and neither was I. I thought this was a nice one of Shel and Nolan, though.

Terry brought his train table in progress upstairs so that Matthew could watch the train go around. He proceeded to do just that for A LONG TIME!! He is still very young for this type of train, though. He wanted to play with it and touch things, and Terry couldn't let him do that because everything is so delicate. Later in the day, Matthew asked me to get out a little toy train that he used to play with when at our house. It is really too young for him, but he wanted one that wasn't "delicate".

We had a bunny ice cream cake for dessert. I took this picture of Nolan sleeping to show how big he has gotten! Every time I see him, I am amazed at how much he has grown! 

By the end of the day, Nolan had a fever and after some Tylenol, fell asleep again. Shelley and Bob eventually took the kids home around 8:00 p.m. They had only been home about an hour, when Shelley called us to come stay with Matthew while she and Bob took Nolan in to emergency because he was wheezing so much and was so uncomfortable. Fortunately, the doctor said that he was uncomfortable but that it probably wasn't too serious and his lungs were clear. That was a relief!  

Another Easter has come and gone. We are so thankful to have our family and so many blessings! The grandchildren are so special to us and we thank the Lord that we could have this Easter with them! It is only a month and a half until Shari and Esme' join us for a vacation in Florida. :)

Terry Turns ... (Only the cake will tell!)

Happy Birthday, Terry!

Terry had a momentous birthday on Saturday. He said that it really seemed wierd to be an age that he always thought was "old". I won't tell you the age because it is the same age I am turning in August. Now he knows that it is not really old!  He shared his cake with his sister, Barb, who just had a birthday last week.

We had a family party at our house. Ken and Sandy came, Barb and Ron, Aunt Shirley and Aunt Bev, and Shelley, Bob, Matthew, and Nolan. (and me) We had a great time eating and talking and opening presents.

Terry is reading his cards. He got a new golf bag, golf hat and golf glove. He also got some money and lots of cards.

Nolan was so cute all night and so good! He just talked and smiled and laughed! What a cutie! Everyone enjoyed seeing him. He has grown so much and loves to be standing up! (With someone holding on to him, of course!)

Matthew liked watching Grandpa open gifts.

The "girls" (and Nolan) had a good time talking around the table in the family room while the guys watched the Final Four on the big screen TV. They were all wanting Michigan State to win and they did!

Terry is re lighting the candles on the cake for Barb to take her turn making a wish and blowing out the candles.

We had a nice evening. We don't get together all that much, so it was fun to visit and laugh together.

Pinewood Derby

This is a belated post that I should have written about last week, but just didn't get the time. We attended our annual Pinewood Derby at church and Shelley, Bob, Matthew, and Nolan came! Terry had gotten a car for himself, Bob, and Matthew and they had all worked hard on getting them just like they wanted them. I put this picture of Nolan first. This was actually taken as they were leaving the Pinewood Derby. I wanted to show that Nolan was there, too, and was very good the whole night.

Matthew was very excited to be in the race and asked all week "is it Friday yet?" He actually painted his own car and did a super job! Shelley taped the stripe for him so he wouldn't go out of the lines, but he painted the whole car very carefully. He ended up winning second place in his age division and here he is holding up his medal. The fact that he came in second has Terry already planning for next year because Terry is the one who worked on preparing all three cars for the race. He worked on the wheels, the weights, etc. to get them to go fast.

This is one of the tracks that the races take place on. One even had a photo finish camera!

There were about fifty or sixty cars in the race and they were very creative! Matthew's car is the blue one with the black stripe.

All of the kids (and adults) were crowding around the cars before the races to see their own and all the other creatively painted cars. Matthew wanted to see his and had to squeeze in a look between two other boys.

Matthew's other grandpa was still in Michigan at the time and came to watch the race. So Matthew had both grandpas and his dad, mom, brother and one grandma there. I am not usually in the pictures since I am the only one who takes the pictures.

Terry won first place in the adult division and was very pleased that his car was the fastest since he is very competitive. Terry? - No! He just wished that it had been Matthew's car that won first place - well, not INSTEAD of his, but at least along WITH his!!

Bob and Matthew are holding their cars here. They had a good time together that night.

       Here is what the races were like.

We had a fun night. We made a good memory and I'm glad I have the pictures to remember it!