Traditional Says Flowers, Modern Is Linen/Silk

Happy Anniversary to Christopher and Lauren

I can't believe it's been 4 years. 

Yet I can hardly remember a time when it was just Christopher, and not "Lauren and Christopher."

Having met in 8th grade, you grew up together.

Experienced Adventures,

Waded out in the deep,

 Did I mention something about being all grown up?

 I am both proud and in awe of you.  

The love you share, 

the way you work together

 and complement one another 

is nothing short of amazing.  

The two of you are a perfect example of what God meant when He said "the two shall be as one."

Happy Forth Anniversary Christopher and Lauren

It Must Be My Car

"Do you have a problem with my driving?"  His voice was gruff and sounded threatening.  I leaned my head towards the open window in disbelief.

"Uh, I'm not sure what you mean," I stammered a little dumbfounded.  Straining, I could see his helmet and dark glasses, but my gaze was more comfortable focused on his badge.  My heart was racing.  I should have retrieved my license, proof of insurance, and registration, but I was so shocked, I just sat there.  I could not think of one reason for the officer to pull me over.

We were driving home from Fort Collins, down I-25.  I saw the unmarked patrol car up ahead of me.  Unlike so many other cars, I didn't jam on my brakes or slow down.  I don't make a habit of speeding.  I confidently followed him.  We drove along for some time in the fast lane.  After passing quite a few vehicles, he moved into the right lane.  Knowing a friend was given a ticket for "riding in the left lane too long" I also merged back after passing the large semi truck.

I began creeping up on the officer, so I passed him.  I then moved back into his lane directly in front of him.  Almost immediately, I saw flashing lights in my rearview mirror.

I don't remember everything he said to me, but he was angry because apparently when I passed him, I made an "unsafe lane change."

"The guy behind you was doing 86, and he had to slam on his brakes when you pulled in front of him.  I was going to give him a ticket, but you got in my way.  Then I noticed you didn't have a front license plate, so I pulled you over instead."

Nice.  After I showed him I did have a front plate (not attached, but resting beside the passenger seat,) and after he took my license, registration, and proof of insurance, I was handed a warning.  I was thankful for no tickets, but it took 20 minutes for my heart to quit pounding.  I must have been sweating too.  When I stopped for gas, I noticed the back of my shirt was stuck to my back.

I wonder if that white SUV realizes he was spared a ticket, even if it was accidental on my part.

A Song

Today, this song is the only one I can sing:

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Truthfully,
Joanne

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ"

Thirteen Days With Ethan

Okay, I'll admit it.  I was nervous about having Ethan for 13 days.  Christina and Danny were headed out of the country on their honeymoon and I would be in charge.

• What if he refused to get on the school bus in the morning?
• What if he cried because he wanted to talk to his mom before going to bed and was inconsolable? 
• What if I forgot what time the school bus dropped him off and I wasn't there?
• What if he had a seizure, asthma attack, or severe allergic reaction?
• What if he woke up in the middle of the night, wandered outside, and I couldn't find him?  (It isn't as if this hasn't happened before.)

Okay, I was more than nervous, I was terrified.  To some, these fears might seem illogical and absurd, but if you've had any personal experience with Ethan the you can understand why I was afraid.

I figured the weekends would be easy, as I'd be at home with Grandpa and others to help.  On school nights it would be just me and my curious, fearless grandson.

I was pleasantly surprised at how peaceful life was with Ethan.  I'd forgotten that Brenda would be there to get him ready for school, take him to therapy, etc.  Can you tell how much he loves her?

Even the two days he was sick were nice and easy.  We read books, watched Tranformers, drank sodas and laughed a lot.  He was so sweet taking naps on the couch while Gramma played on the computer.

The real challenges came the following weekend at my house.  

We rode bikes with Superman,

 And also with Camden.   

Unfortunately, Ethan is allergic to dogs.  It's impossible to keep him from playing with her so in between we have a lot of baths and ointment to soothe his hives and take meds to avoid having asthma attacks.  Consequently, a lot of time is spent keeping a watchful eye on the dog.  Ethan's answer to his itchiness is to give Camden a bath in the washing machine.  We can't seem to get him to believe the dog cannot go through the wash like his stuffed animals.

One night, after Ethan was asleep, Camden came up the stairs and planted herself on my lap.  I was surprised that Sarabeth had let her out.  Her bed is in the laundry room, where she sleeps.  I let the dog stay with me, as I didn't want her to awaken Ethan.  Some time later, I noticed a soft floral fragrance floating in the air.  I figured Sarabeth must have taken a shower and used scented lotion afterwards.  I assumed she'd be up to get Camden any minute.

Then I heard loud clunking noises.  What in the world had Sarabeth put in the dryer?  It sounded like she'd washed her sneakers and was drying them, but forgot to put towels with them to soften the blows.  Was she trying to wake up her nephew with all of that noise?  I was just standing up to go find her when she appeared at the top of the stairs, sleepy-eyed.

"Did you know Ethan is doing laundry?"  She asked.

Doing laundry indeed!  I found the washer running with the clean clothes that earlier had been folded on the table.  Banging around inside the dryer was an empty bottle of detergent and an empty bottle of fabric softener, along with Ethan's soaking wet pajamas.  Presumably, the previously full bottles had been emptied into the washing machine, except for the puddles on the floor and the streams running down the machines.  Ethan wasn't in there and thankfully the dog wasn't inside the washing machine either.

I rushed to the bathroom and found toothpaste smeared across the counter, in the sink, and on the floor.  An empty canister of hair mousse lay next to a giant mound of white fluff. There stood Ethan, naked and brushing his teeth. I was shocked.  How could I have forgotten to brush his teeth before putting him to bed?  I was kind of surprised that he didn't sign, "Silly Gramma" to me.

What did I expect?

Rehearsal

I finally have a few minutes to catch my breath.  I realize that my daughter has been living on her own for quite a long time, and been an amazing mom for over 10 years now.  As mom and grandma, I've continued to feel the sense that I need to protect them. 

 Last Friday the steps of letting go began.

Releasing Christina into the protective arms of Danny to start their new family.

We survived the trial run.

Mad As Heck

Not sure how to handle this yet.  It is wrong, just wrong.  Sure there are plenty of other things to get upset about, but when someone steals and profits from their thefts, they should be stopped.

I took some screenshots tonight.  Here is the first one:

Check out the Spicy BBQ Chicken recipe, here, take a closer look:

This site has a lot of advertising going on, even from one of my favorite airlines-Southwest Airlines. The chicken looks delicious, and familiar, like I've had it before.  Oh wait, that is MY chicken:

Only they've cropped my photo so the 13Recipes insignia at the bottom is missing.  Others are pinning my pic to pinterest from this other website, and this recipepunch site is making a profit off of stealing recipes and photos from other people. 

I am not sure what to do about it yet...we are in the middle of The Wedding Week for Christina, but I am NOT a happy camper about this.

Counting Down The Days

One week from today Christina & Danny will wed.  What a journey it has been.  I won't take you all of the way back to Christina's first days of life, I've posted some of it in the Life Series.  I'll just say, life hasn't always been easy.

Fast forward to 2007.  Christina graduated with a degree in Ministry, but realized her dream of becoming a missionary in Mexico was no longer a possibility.  As a single parent to a child with special needs, she instead concentrated on caring for her son and became a Certified Nurse Assistant.

Financially struggling, it didn't take long for Christina to realize her income barely covered the necessities of life, so opted to go back to school to become a Registered Nurse.

Somewhere along the way, she met Danny.  You can read his and her versions of their meeting here.  Danny is a wonderful man, but after meeting Ethan, he wasn't sure he wanted to take on a child who most likely would never be able to live on his own.  Christina and Danny went their separate ways.

I believe God is into details, and was working behind the scenes.  After about a year, Danny came to the realization that his life would never be complete without Christina and Ethan in his life, so he returned to the love of his life

The proposal popped in December of 2011. Ethan was present.  While attending her last semester of school, Christina began planning her August wedding.  This brings us to July, the month before the wedding.

The beautiful mountain wedding venue that was to accommodate the 200 guests, was no longer able to-at least not without seating the wedding party or some attendees dangerously close to a 20 foot cliff.  The owner of the venue also failed to disclose that Port-a-potties would be brought in order to provide restrooms for the wedding guests. A mad scramble ensued.

Rather than waste time on the negatives of the first venue's failures, the way a politician does with attack ads, Christina chose to focus on her wonderful friends and family and their generous offers to help.  Unfortunately, the first venue was all inclusive.  This meant she not only lost the mountain setting for her wedding, the caterer, etc., she no longer had a photographer, DJ, or a place to hold the rehearsal dinner.  Knowing the money already spent most likely would not be recovered,  the hunt began for an inexpensive place to host the wedding, reception, and rehearsal dinner.

In the midst of the chaos, Christina's pastor and friend informed her that in spite of his ongoing chemotherapy treatments, he was not doing well, and he would not be able to perform the wedding ceremony. 

Christina's cousin, who was to sing and play music at the wedding canceled, as he got a new job and had to return to Canada early.

Christina's friend, who has been acting as her wedding coordinator, lost her job.  She wasn't sure if she would be able to do all she'd promised.

Nothing is ever easy.

One day, we will look back and laugh as things have continued to unravel and change.  I've lost track of many of the changes that have occurred almost daily.  Yesterday, Christina was told the flowers, including the bridal bouquets & boutonnieres, that were being provided as part of a wedding gift, then changed to "at cost" would no longer be provided.

The new wedding venue is lovely, but costly.  There is no budget for flowers, a photographer, or any other miscellaneous lovelies of a wedding.  Somehow, Christina and Danny will wed in one week.  Christina will be a beautiful bride, Ethan will be the best man, and life will go on.  This wasn't the plan, but Christina has experienced plans interrupted before, and has dealt with disappointments with courage and confidence-her faith unwavering. 

I wish I had the money to make things different.  I wish I had connections with some Hollywood Reality Show that would step in and do a wedding makeover not for some crazy bridezilla, but for a lovely couple and their sweet little boy.  If you'd like to see a glimpse of my beautiful daughter Christina, her soon-to-be husband, and my darling grandson, I put together this slideshow:

http://youtu.be/BN6OBK05jZo

Let's Move London

Our first day walking a neighborhood street of London.  I wanted to capture this tiny car with its huge London license plate.  I didn't notice the Let's Move London truck until later.  They also seem to be parked the wrong direction.

 This is more proper, with the passenger side next to the curb. I've probably got it all wrong.  It reminds me of being in Arizona.  Some faucets turn on right-to-left, others left-to-right,  it's hard to know who has it right and who has it backwards.

London Hairdressing For Men

What kind of business is this?  In case you can't read it:

Opening Times:

After Lunch till after Dinner

Wed to Saturday

(No Mornings)

They have a unique 24 hour telephone service, but will also reply to Mob & Text.  Anyone know what MOB is?

London's Got Game

I know it has been a month since I've posted.  Without realizing it, I took a summer vacation from blogging.  I hope to be back soon.  In the meantime, in honor of London hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics, thought I'd post some random pictures from our trip to London last year.  I don't think I ever posted these.  (The above Olympic Logo is not from London, but taken on the same trip while visiting Korea.)

One of the famous red telephone booths, outside of a police station

June 25th, 2012

 Today is Sarabeth's 23rd birthday.

Sarabeth, you'll always be my Velcro Baby.  Since day one, you challenged me,

You brought me to my knees often.  God created and gifted you unlike any of your siblings. In spite of well-intentioned people who offered parenting advice,  I knew in order to guide and direct you in your unique talents I absolutely needed God's direction and creative wisdom and guidance.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

When you were in school, I'd make your favorite breakfast and you'd comment  it was your best day ever.  But if your day started off badly, I knew it was going to be a long, hard day.

I loved the year  you were in second grade and you transformed your overalls into Adventure Pants.  Any day you wore those overalls was a guaranteed good day.

You've always marched to the beat of your own drum and were never afraid to stand out from the crowd.  I smiled every morning of your senior year as I packed your gold, vinyl lunch box with a lovely lunch, while packing your sister Hilary's in a brown paper sack.

I love your strength, perserverance, and enthusiasm as you walk through this life.

 I love you.

Happy Birthday!

Father/Daughter

Thought I'd participate in You Capture this week.  The theme is "pretty."  I thought this pic was "pretty" sweet, a daughter and a dad.  This was taken 3 days after Hilary's emergency appendectomy at 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

A Baseball Game

 It was my responsibility to get Ethan to his baseball game on Saturday,

And team pictures prior to his game.

 

 "Gramma, you're supposed to sit on the bleachers.  Now, go!"

 

Hit the ball on the first pitch.

 

Run Ethan!

 

 Second Base

 

Run Home!

High Five!
Notice he's looking to make sure everyone is watching him.

Grandma, where's my face mask?

Throw it to first.

Way-to-go!

Good Game!

Thanks Gramma!