Happy 36th Birthday To Amy

This is Amy.  She is our first born and today is her 36th birthday.  She was born to parents just coming out of their teens and weighing only an ounce under five pounds.  I remember her being so tiny with a small patch of curly hair and the sweetest little face.  She was the first grandchild on both sides and so a "first" for the whole family and we all fell in love with Amy.  She was a bright child having an extensive vocabulary at the age of two and reading 60 words on flashcards at three.  As she grew she became the big sister to so many and was such a help to me.  If you gave her a job to do it was done right and she is still that way, today. After high school she went on to college and got her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.  She enjoyed the nursing profession and was sweet and caring to her patients because that is who she is in character.  She worked at our local hospital for several years until she married and had her two children.  Now, she is a loving, caring mother to Chloe and Isaac and a wonderful wife to Nels.

Amy,  Dad and I are so blessed by you and so proud of who you are.  You are a "light" wherever you go!

Love, 

Mom

Garden Update and Great Finds

My last post I talked about the unexpected change in weather with snow and how I was worried it would kill my vegetable plants.  I am happy to say that all is well except for some of the basil leaves are blackened, but not all the leaves, so I think they will recover.  Whew,  what a relief to find all okay and now on their way to abundance in harvest time.
On Saturday, before the snow arrived, we went to quite a few yard sales.  I was happy to find some clothes for me, this time, and only $5.00 for the lot. They included, one pair of board shorts, one pair of black capris, one pair of jeans, one sweater, a tank top that will go under summer shirts, and 2 shirts.  Several of them are my favorite brands.  Good deal!!
Later, that day, 3 of my daughters came to visit with one of the husbands and 7 grandkids.  We were getting caught up on Katey's trip to Romania, she is safely home and had a great time.  She was telling us about the church work they did and the tours of the beautiful buildings and the people.  She and her brother, David, were glad to come home after 10 days.  It was touching to see David's girls greet him at the airport with tears.  They sure missed their Daddy.  I'm glad to have my kids back home on United States soil.

The Woes Of Gardening

This is my backyard, today, May 22nd.  I can hardly believe I have snow in my backyard at this late date.  Normally, this would not bother me and I would just dress for the weather and enjoy the scenery.  But, the next two pictures is why I'm upset.  My garden has all been planted, my tomatoes and lots of other plants were grown from seed and nursed along until I could finally get them planted.  I waited until the last frost date and excitedly got them in the ground.
Oh, I hope and pray that all will be okay!  Temperatures are not suppose to get below 37 degrees, tonight.  I hate to think of buying new plants and starting over!

Pillow Decor Gone Wild

Guess who came to visit?

Happy 34th Birthday, Nathan

Yes, May is a busy birthday month, here.  Yesterday's post was Joe's birthday and today it is oldest son, Nathan's birthday.  Nathan's name means, "gift of God," and he has truly been a gift since the day he was born.  An ideal oldest son in that he is a good example to follow for the rest of his siblings.  He has been happily married since he was nineteen to Sunny, and is a loving, fun, father to his four children, Maddie, Jacob, Judah, and McKenna.  I have often commented that I think Nathan's motto in life is, "I just want to have fun."  He has a lot of responsibilities with owning his own business, raising a family and all that comes with it, yet he and Sunny make life fun.  They are leaders of the young married group at church and enjoy friendships with other couples and so their house is "the party house."  I don't think there is hardly a person who has ever met Nathan, who hasn't liked him.  Even as a boy he had that charismatic personality and enjoyed people.  God has blessed him with wisdom and he has used it in his life making wise decisions and giving counsel to others which then bless them.   I'm so very proud to be his mother.
Happy Birthday, Nathan.
Love,
Mom

Happy 21st Birthday to Joe

This is Joe.  His official name is Joseph, but somewhere along the line it was shortened to Joe.  He is our 8th child and keeps us laughing or ticked, sometimes at the same time.  You can't stay mad at him, though, because he'll just make you laugh.  He thinks most everything is quite funny and enjoys a good prank.  Joe has been gifted in music and expresses it through playing the keyboard and bass guitar.  He also has a great singing voice and leads the Christian band he is in.  Funny memories of him as a toddler was that he loved to play in the toilet and we would often find him sitting, dangling his feet in the water, also at one point, he threw all the toothbrushes in it and flushed!!  As a bigger boy he would amaze his older brothers with his ability to lift weights along with them and became quite the pool shark winning many a game. He also became quite good at riding a unicycle choosing it instead of a regular bike.   

It's hard to believe he's 21, today. Happy Birthday, Joe!  God has great things in store for you.  I love you. Mom

Bathroom Remodel Pictures

After four weeks we finally finished the bathroom remodel.  It started with removing the old fiberglass tub enclosure which my husband did with mostly a hammer!  He wanted to be careful not to cut into any plumbing otherwise he would have used a power saw.  It took an evening and he was able to get it to come out in manageable pieces filling up a trash bin in time for the next day's pickup.  Next step was putting in the new tub which was a tight squeeze and resulted in the door jam having to be removed and one of the walls being damaged.  Not in the plan, but I've learned with household projects the unexpected will happen. So, another unexpected was the plumbing didn't line up with the new tub and so we had to wait several days for the plumber.

With the old tub being a fiberglass enclosure and the new tub being a standard tub meant that the walls would have to be covered in cement wallboard for the tile.  Another wait was for our son to have time to fix the door jam, which he did beautifully.  Then we tiled the tub area and the floor and put in a copper penny colored glass tile border around the tub and on the floor.  I picked out an orange color for the walls and copper switch plates that match so nicely.  Last step was to find a shower curtain, window covering and some pretty towels.  I found the best deal on the shower curtain at Burlington Coat Factory for only $10.00, so I bought two of them and then did a "no sew" by just cutting one of the shower curtains down to make a valance for the window and used that great invention, iron on tape.  So easy and didn't have to get out the sewing machine!  I love my new bathroom, it was worth all the work.

A Good Weekend

I always look forward to the weekend.  On Friday night we went to Twin Falls to watch our two sons, Joe and Carl, compete in "Battle of The Bands," put on by an area church.  It was fun watching them perform making this mother proud.  Joe handles the crowd so well and I love hearing him sing.  Carl plays the electric guitar and keyboard and does a great job.  It was 2 hours there so Alex got to get in some more driving practice, he's almost ready for his license.

On Sunday, our six unmarried children took Chuck and I out for dinner for a Mother's Day celebration. Normally, on a holiday, the kids all come over and we have dinner, but on Mother's Day it's a time for Mom to be pampered.   We went out to the "Cheesecake Factory," and had a nice dinner together.  Their lettuce wraps are so good and of course their cheesecakes are wonderful.  It was also a chance to say goodbye to Katey, our 25 year old, who is headed to Romania on Tuesday.  She and our 28 year old son, David are going with other members of their church for a mission's trip and will be gone for 10 days.  I'll be praying!

Diego's Day

Sunday was grandson, Diego's 3rd birthday.  Celebrated with a pinata, cake and snacks with good weather.