Esme' eating her first birthday cake.

Esme's Birthday Video

 OUR GRANDCHILDREN

This picture was taken the week of August 9, 2009.

Shari and Esme' were visiting us from Tennessee and Shelley, Bob, Matthew and Nolan were at our house visiting Shari and Esme' for the day. I have been wanting a picture of all three grandchildren together, but we never seemed to be able to pull it off. This one turned out great with Matthew holding on to both of the littler ones.

NOLAN, 8 months

MATTHEW,  3 years

ESME', 1 year

Oh, Lord, I do not ask for much,

Eternal beauty, or youth, or such, 

Just give me a little hand to hold,

And I'll forget that I'm growing old.

I do not ask for cloudless skies,

A life that's free from tears and sighs.

Just give me a little face to kiss,

And anxious moments will turn to bliss.

For what is there, really, that means so much

As little hands that reach and touch,

As little eyes that search and see

Only the very best in me?

So let me grow more loving and wise

By looking at life through their wide eyes.

For through these little ones, you have given

This grateful grandma a glimpse of Heaven!

Author: Barbara Burrrows

 What precious children they are, and I am thankful for them every day. This verse now has special meaning to me:    

 Psalm 71: 18b  "... let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me."  

Happy Birthday One Year Old!

Esme's Fiesta Birthday Party

How could one year have gone by so quickly? Our little baby granddaughter is now crawling, walking around furniture, saying words, and growing so beautiful! We love her very much - she is the sweetest little girl!

Her party was at her "other" grandparents' house and it was a Mexican fiesta. Shari and Mark made all of the food (very good!), and there was color everywhere!  Colorful balloons, bright roses, colorful tablecloths, and lots of gifts. Esme' wore a colorful ruffled dress and a bright flower in her hair. That is until she discovered that it was there and then she pulled it out! Mark's sister Amy, and her family were there, Mark's brother Jim, and his family, Mark's parents, Shelley and Bob and boys, and two other couples, friends of Shari and Mark, and their kids, and us. Esme' got lots of great gifts. She was a little awed by everything and everyone and it was hard to get a good picture of her all day. She moves very quickly and there were many people to get in the way of a good picture. Today is her actual birthday and they are back home in Tennessee now. It was so much fun having them here for a little while and we will miss Shari and Mark and Esme' until we see them again in a couple of months. But the party was fun and a good memory. I picked her up before I had to leave her  and just cried!  She is so sweet and soft and smiley and I will miss her!!!

Sister Retreat

This year my sister, Carol, and I traveled to Western Michigan to the Ludington area for our sixth annual sister vacation. We have gravitated to that area every year because we both love to be by the water and Lake Michigan is the perfect getaway place. There are quaint little towns, beautiful lighthouses, breathtaking beaches, trees, birds, etc. It is so peaceful and relaxing! The picture above is the Big Sable Lighthouse on Lake Michigan. It is in a State Park and the walk on the beach to get there is about two miles. But it was wonderful! We were very tired and opted to walk back on the pathway through the park, but the walk there was so beautiful! The lighthouse is just perfect. We walked up the 130 steps to the top and the view was amazing from up there!

This lighthouse is in the town of Ludington. We spent time walking the pier out to the lighthouse. The lake was so blue and was full of sailboats, cabin cruisers, and freighters. We watched the sunset one night while walking on the pier. It wouldn't be hard to live in a place with a pier and a lighthouse and a beach!

It was great to be with Carol! We got to talk all we wanted and catch up with each other's lives. Carol lives in Grand Rapids. You would think that we lived light years apart because we hardly ever see each other! I love her very much and always have a great time traveling with her and exploring small towns and lighthouses. I would never want to give up our little vacations and am already looking forward to next year - place to be announced.

We shopped in some nice little towns. Both of us love toy stores! We could both spend all kinds of time in them. Carol and I both have grandchildren and just love to pick out toys ahead for birthdays, etc. It was sad that a couple of the towns we visited seemed like ghost towns! Many of the shops were closed down and out of business. But we did manage to buy a few things anyway!

It is always fun to find new places to eat our meals while away together. We have usually had really good success in finding good places. Sometimes we ask for recommendations from townspeople and other times we search out places CLOSE TO THE WATER! (That is one of our prerequisites!) Some towns just don't cooperate, though. They don't see the importance of great restaurants right on the water!! I can't figure it!

We found a game to play while we were there and we played it in the motel room two evenings. It was a very competitive game and lots of fun. We also went to a movie the first night we were in Ludington since it was a rainy night. We went to see Julie and Julia and it was a very good movie - two true stories incorporated into one movie. 

We almost ran out of gas one day while trying to find a beach or lighthouse. I can't remember which! It seems every year that happens to us, but we have never actually run out of gas yet. We are just so lucky! Actually, the Lord is so good to us and is taking care of us!

Here is a picture of one of the beautiful sunsets that we saw on Lake Michigan. They were awesome! Another year has gone by and another special time with my wonderful sister is over -

I will always treasure these times we have spent together just talking, exploring, and catching up. I can't wait until next time!

"There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy.

Freedom to share innermost thoughts,

to ask a favor, 

to show their true feelings.

The freedom to simply be themselves."

Author Unknown

When I read my daughter"s version of "not me Monday" these past few weeks, I told myself that I "would never" write a "not me" Monday post on MY blog! Never! Because I just don't do things like THAT! Well, here is what I did NOT DO this week!

First of all, Shari did NOT call to say they were coming to Michigan this week to celebrate Esme's birthday when we had planned to go to Tennessee in two weeks. I DID NOT take all of the wallpaper off the bathroom walls two days before she called. The bathroom is NOT a total mess along with the rest of the house that I DID NOT let go while stripping wallpaper! Shari is NOT staying another whole week while I am scheduled to go on a sister vacation with my sister three days after she gets here!

I certainly did NOT type the whole bulletin for church with a note to parents about an "important meeting" to discuss policy, procedures, and future activities and told them NOT to miss it ----but forgot to put the date!!  - so that Pastor Bob DID NOT have to make a special announcement about that date left out of the bulletin! I was NOT embarassed a single bit!  Not me!

I did NOT purchase a beautiful piece of luggage for my son-in-law Mark's birthday and then decide that it was too small and had to be returned. I DID NOT buy another piece of luggage before I had taken the other one back. I did NOT forget to take my receipt with me all the way back to the mall when finally deciding to return the first piece of luggage and did NOT only have my gift receipt with me. The manager did NOT tell me that I could only have an in store credit or exchange with a gift receipt! I WOULD NOT HAVE driven all the way back home to get the original receipt and WAS NOT mad all the way home and BACK - NOT ME! I DID NOT call the company to complain about their return policy - NOT ME!!

Later that SAME DAY at four o'clock in the afternoon, just after I had emptied two refrigerator shelves and placed everything on the kitchen table while I gave the refrigerator a much needed cleaning, Terry did NOT call to tell me he had forgotten to take the car that morning and needed it to take his dad out to eat in an hour.  After I had put everything back into the refrigerator, driven in rush hour traffic to trade vehicles with him and gotten back home to remove everything from the refrigerator again, I DID NOT receive another call from him to tell me that I did not leave the keys to the car on the floor of the front seat like I said I would! I did NOT have to repeat the whole process again to drive back to the church in worse rush hour traffic to give him the keys! NOT ME, I WOULDN'T!

Next day, Saturday, after deciding to give some of our windows a much needed cleaning, I DID NOT place a plastic container full of water on a high window sill while washing the track that the window slides on. The "black" water did NOT get knocked off by me and DID NOT splash all over the clean curtains, rug and wood floor in the room Shari and Mark will be staying in for two nights while here.  And I DID NOT wash the curtains in the washing machine even though the tag said, "DRY CLEAN ONLY"! Enough said!  :(   And I did NOT write this post when I am supposed to be cleaning the house, cutting the grass, grocery shopping, and doing laundry!