Monday, December 29, 2014

It's An Anniversary

Thirty-one years ago, we stood in Michael's parent's living room and vowed to love, honor, and cherish in sickness and health, til death do us part.

 Who knew that our little family of 3,
would more than double in 10 short years?
 Thirty-one years later, our family has quintupled.
Happy Anniversary, Michael! The love I have for you has multiplied, just as I our family size has. With each passing day, I love you more than ever before. My heart could not be fuller.



Truthfully,
Joanne

"For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me."

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Life, Love, Pursuit of Happiness

Now that Michael and I are empty nesters, we enjoy spontaneity. This means we can enjoy our time alone and time with family. I love my life.

On Friday, we thought we'd run down to Colorado Springs to go Trick-or-Treating with Ethan
and Josiah.
As it turned out, we were nervous about leaving our house dark on Halloween, so stayed home. We went out for an early dinner. We've never gone out to eat on October 31st before. We drove to the Springs on Sunday and spent the afternoon with our favorite grandsons & Danny. Christina was working.


Monday Elisabeth came over. The two of us (or should that be 3?) called to video chat with Ivydee.  No answer. Shortly after Elisabeth left, Lauren called back. She was in the car, driving to Christopher's work. She handed the phone to Ivydee.

Almost immediately, this sweetie began blowing kisses to her Gramma. I turned the phone so she could see her Grandpa. He began blowing kisses and telling her how much he loved her. Lauren encouraged Ivydee to blow kisses back.  She was unmoved. I turned the phone back to my face and immediately she began blowing kisses again.  I love this girl!

After dinner that night,in spite of it being a cold evening, Michael and I decided to go out for ice cream. This is NOT usual for us. As we were walking out the door, I remembered Ryan and Brian were playing soccer nearby on an indoor league. Instead of ice cream, we dropped in to watch the second half of the soccer game. Afterwards, we went for ice cream. What a great night!

As Michael and I reflected on the previous 48 hours, we marveled at the precious time spent with our grandchildren and inlaw children. What a blessing grandchildren are, but isn't that a given? I feel the greater blessing is my inlaw children who are or will be the parents of my grandchildren.  Why don't we give more props to inlaws???

I often see posts on Facebook with sayings like "Share this post if you have a daughter/son/parent/dog that you love/think the world of/are proud of." But I would like to post, "Share if you have an amazing daughter-in-law, son-in-law, or parent-in-law."

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and grandkids and think every single one of them is amazing, but I feel the same about Danny, Lauren, Brian, Travis, and Ryan (even though he and Hilary aren't married yet.)

After welcoming their inlaw children into our family, I watched my parents love, value, and invest in not only their grandchildren but the spouses of their grandkids and now their great grandchildren. I too, felt loved and cherished by my inlaws.

With our ever growing family, my goal is that Michael and I will continue to be spontaneous. Just the two of us sneaking off for an afternoon bike ride just because the day is warm and sunny. Or having dinner or coffee with our son's inlaws (or daughters') because we enjoy their company and consider them family too. I am so looking forward to the birth of our next grandchild, but also to the weddings of all who are marrying into our family. I want to take advantage of every opportunity to spend with family.



Truthfully,
Joanne

"For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live;
your people will be my people, and your God will be my God". (Ruth 1:16)




Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Annual Pumpkin Carving

Eight happy pumpkins, all in a row.

 
Six silly faces, blazing and aglow


 
Eyeore 

Tigger

Owl

And Elmo

 Sully


And Wall-E

afraid they might explode.
 
Candles with a wick


No longer do the trick.

To achieve this bright intensity,
Lighter fluid increases luminocity.


Truthfully,
Joanne
"If you carelessly let a fire spread from your property to someone else’s, you must pay the owner for any crops or fields destroyed by the fire." (Ex. 22:6)

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Weekends

Weekends are for:

 walking,
 














 
biking,
 















 dipping toes.
 



Holding hands,
















digging in sand
















Football.
















Cuddling,
























playing,
















getting dirty.
















Kicking,
























chasing ducks,
















watching football.
















Cool Breeze
Autumn Leaves

















 Sunshine
 















Flying
 
















Fearless
















Fun

















Truthfully,
Joanne


"You have filled me with joy, and happiness has risen in my heart, great delight and unrivaled joy, even more than when bread abounds and wine flows freely" (Ps. 4:7)

Friday, September 26, 2014

Flashback Friday



Ivydee, Natalie, Zachary, & Josiah propped up for a picture.

Come on Ivydee, smile for the camera.
Oops!
Zac: Why is Ivydee not happy?

Hey cousin, smile like this!
Uh oh, Natalie is getting bored. Josiah keeps tipping.
Ivydee: What's going on over there? Natalie: I'm out of here! Zac: Look, Josiah's sitting. 
Josiah: Look at me!
Call in the moms.
Success!


Truthfully,
Joanne



"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Monday, September 22, 2014

In Search Of Fall

 Being the last day of Summer, I needed to be outdoors.

I spent the day searching for signs of Fall.

Let's be honest, Autumn is my least favorite season of all.

 This isn't a secret. I've expressed my thoughts many times.

 I've spent countless hours analyzing what the real reason is that I hate Fall and have come up with an astounding number of theories-none of which I will attempt to explain in this post.

Why is Fall/Autumn the only season that is known by two names? Fall feels frightfully fickle.

One day it is splendidly sunny, the next day bitter winds blow the beautiful leaves to the ground.

One day flowers blossoms are blooming beautifully, the next they are frozen from frost.  Tomatoes ripening on the vine, shrivel and shrink.

Okay, these tomatoes were pulled from the vine and "sun-dried" before Fickle Fall could sneak up and steal them from me. They turned out lovely and had the same colors as the Autumn leaves.

Maybe just maybe, I enjoy just a hint of this season.  Someone asked what I looked forward to most about Fall. Was it the colors, pumpkin flavored everything, the crisp, cool weather, or maybe enjoying a nice warm fire. I believe my answer to what I look forward to most in Autumn is Winter!

Truthfully,
Joanne 

"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near" (Mark:13:28)