Worthy of the Queens approval and fit for her knights as they ready for a fencing duel is this delicious bowl of Medieval Times Tomato Bisque. I duplicated the easy soup recipe from a recent dinner theater show we attended with our family.Continue Reading
End of Year Wrap-up
As the year draws to a close I’m trying to catch up by posting activities and memory-making moments with and for family. It’s been a busy and full couple of months. My heart overflows. Hard to imagine that less than five months ago I had a total hip replacement.Continue Reading
Classic Crab Cakes
Making these yummy, classic crab cakes was the first real cooking I’ve done since my hip replacement four weeks ago. Continue Reading
Aquarium
Aren’t these Pacific Sea Nettles Jellyfish fascinating?
This was my favorite part of our visit to the Adventure Aquarium by the Camden NJ Waterfront.
A week with Shaela
We spent a long weekend visiting our daughter in upstate NY while her husband, Brad was in Massachusetts doing a two-week intense study as he works toward his school administration certificate. The five hour drive can become boring but not with a spectacular sunset.
My Soul Finds Rest
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:26-28
We’ve faced much sadness these past weeks yet we take hold of the hope set before us and we are greatly encouraged.
Our longtime friend and the mother of our son-in-law lost her battle with cancer. A precious lady who loved the Lord with all of her heart and left a beautiful legacy not only with her family but with all that knew her.
Those who went to the cemetery were given a small envelope containing a butterfly. They were released after pastor spoke. Someone placed a butterfly on the flower headband worn by baby Joelle. Jamie posted this on fb:
This little sweetheart is the niece of our other son-in-law. This 14-month beautiful girl was recently diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer and has begun chemo to shrink the mass before surgery to remove it. Prayers for Emma and her Mommy and Daddy are greatly appreciated!
The only sibling of Abbey’s best friend lost his life in a car accident. Just 20 years old, Dan was to be Abbey’s escort at his sister Vicki’s wedding next year. I can’t imaging the difficult journey this family now must walk.
Friday night we made a hard decision. As Raider’s Sick Sinus Syndrome had progressed, he began having labored, rapid breathing and became tuckered out even with little exertion. On Thursday, he laid on me and I rocked him, silently thinking in my heart that he would just stop breathing and his heart would cease beating and he would die peacefully. We talked with the veterinarian and learned that his breathing difficulties would not be peaceful and left it that we would contact her Sunday morning. As we were getting ready for bed Friday night, it was apparent he was in distress and prolonging his life made no sense so we left for a final car ride just as we did 14 years ago with our dog, Scotty.
We returned home with an empty collar and a sweet paw print that was made for us by the veterinarian staff and a heart full of memories of my sweet boy.
Even amid all of the heartache, the Lord never leaves us and pours out his mercy and grace.
Here are some happy moments from the past few weeks.
Jill, Brad and family visited for a week. They returned home and then Jill and two of the kids came back for the funeral.
Cambrie lost her two front teeth
Silas celebrated his 10th birthday
Keri received an Excellence in Character award
Braden loved hand feeding Raider
Keri went to Take your child to work day with her PopPop
My daughter, Jill (one of the twins) took me to dinner for Mother’s Day Monday evening. It was super special to spend time just with her!
And Abbey and I enjoyed a great lunch after church on Mother’s Day.
May 15th is the 10th anniversary of my dad’s passing. I am so thankful for his sincere response to the call of the Lord to be his savior.
Finally, in my near future, I will be having a total hip replacement. Not scheduled yet because I have had too much on my plate. It takes 6-8 weeks to prepare for surgery and you can be sure I will be requesting prayer for this!
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5
Potato and Ham Soup
When plans to be out for the day suddenly changed and I found I had nothing pressing to do, I knew immediately what I wanted. I called my sister and was thrilled she was able to come for a visit. We chatted, caught up on family, laughed and ate a light lunch of potato and Ham Soup while Jared, Abbey, Erin and John popped in and out.
snippets of family and friends
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
Edith Sitwell
This sweet home is where our daughter, Jamie and husband Josh and family now live, love and grow. They moved in just before the holidays and are enjoying a lovely, spacious house that more than accommodates their large family.
baby #8 is due in March 🙂
above photos by Nathan Lawrensen Photography
Upstate NY twin, Jill, husband Brad and their precious four.
Youngest daughter, Abbey feeling better after losing her car in a traffic accident. She was hit from behind while sitting at a traffic light and forced into the cars in front of her.
The bottom left photo is Abbey and our oldest grandson, Jared, taken by dear, sweet blogging friend Judy (Just a Little Something for You).
A delightful visit from Judy and her husband, John, who came bearing delicious treats, pretty plates, exciting cookbook, warm smiles, loving hearts and leaving us happy and thankful for very special friends.
A pic with my brother as we celebrated a loved nephews birthday.
visiting grand kids
warm inside ~ cold outside
a surprise party celebrating my aunts 75th birthday
warm by the hearth
Birthday time
It is birthday time. My sweetheart just had a birthday and I made him a cake to celebrate. A dark, chocolaty cake with peanut butter frosting, ganache drizzled on top and down the sides then sprinkled with chopped snickers bars.Continue Reading
Path of Life
Jared and a group of his buddies recently hiked 11 miles through the New Jersey Pine Barrens. His friend, bringing up the rear, snapped a photo that he let me use.
This Bible verse is so fitting as these young men are beginning their senior year of high school.
A fine group of guys, they also hiked Pinnacle Peak in Bucks County, PA
Though dismissed in our culture, I believe Gods ways are best and pray for our youth,
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word
Psalm 119:9
As a last hurrah, a few of us relaxed around a chiminea Labor Day evening. John picked up a rusted chiminea at a garage sale for five bucks. He wire-brushed it and spray painted with heat resistant paint. Eleven dollars later it now looks great and worked perfectly as we roasted marshmallows for making S’mores.
The patio fan has been installed and all of the repairs and painting is finally complete!
Well, a little brick work remains but is it a small job.
Over the winter, I will try to decide what I will plant where the boxwood bushes once grew and tackle that in the spring.
It won’t be long before the furniture is stored in the shed and the racks full of firewood take its place.
This year has zoomed by an breakneck speed.
always a beautiful song
Here is a glimpse of some of the music playing at our house…
I peeked into Abbey’s room while she was working on an assignment for her digital animation class and found it very interesting to watch her progress. Yes, she has two black lights and a blackboard bolted to the wall, black-out coverings on her windows and only about 3-feet of empty floor space in her bedroom with way too much stuff bursting out everywhere.
but, she loves what she’s doing!
Jared enthusiastically shows John each step completed as he creates a computer game.
My favorite $3.00 bench purchased from a garage sale 25 years ago and painted and repaired dozens of times got to the point that John just couldn’t fix it and keep it fixed. Mostly it was the arms that took the brunt of the abuse but even the legs were not staying together any longer.
{ha, that sounds like my body recently}
We considered making a porch swing from the bench but I really wanted it back in the kitchen to hold all of those little grandchildren. So we sent it off to a furniture maker for a complete overhaul .
Please, please, little bench, stay strong!
We have been moving furniture, boxes and rearranging rooms as Erin and Jared return home. The nursery has become Jared’s room and the guest room is now Erin’s room. Making them feel loved and comfortable, and though sad about the circumstances, we love having them home.
The painting above Jared’s bed was something my sister gave me when she moved out of her house last fall. I wish I had taken a photo of the before when it was in shades of bright green. I knew when I saw it I would paint over the canvas. Wanting something masculine for this room, I went to work. Nothing artistic but it works to fill a big blank wall.
We’ve done lots of yard work and home repairs.
Weeding, planting, painting, edging, raking, digging, dividing, potting, sweeping, blowing, washing and, well, you know. You are probably doing the same things at your house.
Who would had thought removing 20-year old, dead boxwood bushes would be so hard! Eighteen in all.
The last five with some much appreciated help from Jared.
Always the sentry, Raider keeps watch while we work.
Now, it hasn’t been all work.
My streptocarpus is blooming profusely in our bathroom.
Jared, the oldest grandson, and Keri, our oldest granddaughter, had a great time together. Last weekend we went to his high school spring musical, Mary Poppins. The following day, after getting those bushes out, Jared tried his best to hit Keri’s wild wiffle ball pitches (one that had to be rescued from the roof) and they had some impressive exercise challenges. As if push-ups aren’t hard enough, imagine doing hand clap push-ups! {The thought takes me back to the old broken bench feeling}
Our favorite time to visit Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery is Memorial Day weekend when all of the graves are decorated with an American flag. Both my parents are interred here. A perfect place to find a bench, remember loved ones and the Veterans that gave their service for our freedom.
Haven’t had much time with the littles through all of these changes but John snapped this pic of Chloe sleeping soundly the last time she was over. Playing it tiring work!
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Psalm 40:3
catching up with family
Spring days ~ busy days!
April was filled with lots a family activities and get together’s!
The son of our cousin, Caroline, was married in a lovely wedding.
Caroline, with her family including the newlyweds, Dan & Abbey
(photo taken from facebook. Tyler Boye Photography)
As is so popular now, they had a photo booth situated in an obscure corner. All I can say is that my sister, John and I got some of the funniest pics ever! So silly, that Carol made me promise never to share on any social media! Just imagine, John in the center with a crazy hat and over-sized glasses with basically the same expression in every photo and my sister and I making every goofy face we could possibly think of. Oh, my! Each time I look at the photos, I crack up all over again!
(photo taken from Stephanie’s facebook page)
Then there was a christening for our cousin Karen’s grandson, baby Mark.
Together again with Carol, her daughter, Christine, John and I. Later noticed the framed photo on Karen’s mantle. It is of our daughter, Erin when she was just three year old performing flower girl responsibilities in Karen’s wedding. Such sweet memories!
There were random, every day moments too. I caught this scene of, Erin, Jared and Abbey studying in the family room. Erin is completing her master’s degree, Jared is a high school Junior and Abbey is studying digital animation.
Noah and I went to breakfast one morning and later we did some cooking together.
I even got a pic from Erin as she drove through center city the other day and saw the old Divine Lorraine Hotel.
We had a trip to The Pop Shoppe with the kids, celebrated our dear friend’s 91st birthday during Bible study and peeked in as the kids helped Aunt Abbey create a 5-little monkeys video for a class assignment.
Noah went to work with PopPop and learned about nuclear engineering.
Jared was inducted into his schools Technology Society.
pics with his proud mom and PopPop
Each day that passes, each achievement obtained, each celebration shared, each difficulty acknowledged, each experience learned, each encouraging smile, each laughter and giggle, each conversation, each hug and embrace are all gifts.
“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary,
small (and yet really not small) gifts.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Gratitude paints little smiley faces on everything it touches.”
Richelle E. Goodrich
Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year
Crochet Hat for Abbey
This girl wanted a new hat.
A blue and grey hat to be exact. Something fun and warm.
I showed Abbey a few patterns to choose from and she picked this one.
She can wear it down on her forehead just above those pretty eyes or pushed back a little.
There is even room should she have a ponytail.
Worn like this, it resembles a snood.
Great spiral pattern on the back, this Drops Design pattern is designed as a guys hat.
I followed the L/XL sized because Abbey likes her hats big. But that required me to do lots of rounds of decreases to tighten around her temples. She tried it on as I went to be sure it fit just right.
Now this girl wants a new scarf.
🙂
Family Recap
I have been so busy this past month that I am just now catching up on family photos. These are the posts the little ones love best ~ the ones filled with their sweet faces.
These are my favorite posts too.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Texas Sheet Cake
Someone celebrated a birthday yesterday. Someone who loves chocolate. When I realized I never posted a recipe for a cake I have been making since this 23 year old was just a wee one, I thought it a perfect time to make another Texas sheet cake.
Cream Cheese Apple Dip
Crisp autumn days are here at last and that brings thoughts of hayrides, farm visits and apple picking. One of the best ways to enjoy the beautiful apples so readily available right now is in their most natural state. Wash and slice and serve with dip for snacking or with lunch. Cream cheese apple dip is super easy to whip up.Continue Reading