HAPPY (every celebration in 2009) TO ME

Happy (every celebration in 2009) TO ME,

HAPPY (every celebration in 2009) TO ME,

HAPPY (celebration, Holiday, anniversary, and birthday in 2009) TO ME,

HAPPY CELEBRATION TO ME!

My husband told me this is it, this is the only gift you are getting for the rest of 2009! Well, all I have to say is at my age, time goes quite fast so that is OK,
2010 will be here before we know it!

OH, and a special THANK YOU to my husband.

I know he will be enjoying this also!

Maybe even as much as me!

Yesterday we took it out for a drive in the hills. That's why it has a little snow and dirt on it. We even let out DOG go for a ride with us! Now we are a TWO TAHOE family! At least for awhile. We did trade the Dodge burgundy town and country van. We had been looking around for awhile to find a nice newer Tahoe and this is it! Now we look like the secret service guards that protect the very important people in our country.

We even found some snow covered roads to try out the 4 wheel drive.



It was a beautiful 45 degree day for checking out several local lakes.


It's not new, only new-to-us!




Our dog had fun running around as we made several stops in the hills.

My husband even tried out a few casts but nothing was biting. It was still a little cold with the wind.

One last picture of our dog as he tried to encourage me to follow him to who knows where! It was a fun day!

The big picture of the Fargo Flood

I have a lot of relatives and friends who live in Fargo or in the area of the dangerous flood.
I have been praying for Gods good and gracious hand to guide and protect them. The site below shows many wonderful pictures of how people come together to help each other in times of need. Disasters turn our hearts back toward Christ Jesus who loves us and gave His life for us all on the cross of Calvary, who won the battle over death that we might all live eternally with him in heaven.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/...

The ROBIN

Yes! It is storming here today! Yesterday was 80 degrees, just like summer! Today it is very windy, snowy and cold. We haven't seen many Spring Robins yet but today one found some shelter from the storm. You can see he is on our patio, under one of our lawn chairs.

He sure looks sweet out there and a little cold as well. Visibility has been bad and the interstate has been closed along with almost all schools and business's.

The moisture is great! We can handle the snow storm and keep all those in the Tornado watch in NE. and those fearing the flooding in ND in our thoughts and prayers!

Donut Kebabs

YUM-YUM DONUTS! or should I use the formal spelling, DOUGHNUT'S.

There are so many flavors and types,
Glazed, Chocolate, sprinkles, maple frosting's and others. Don't you wish you could taste them all?


That is my feeling when I see a box full of delicious, fresh DONUTS.


Last Saturday it was my turn to serve for LWML, our Lutheran ladies group at church. I purchased the donuts and had an idea!





YOU GOT IT! DONUT KEBAB'S! Another spelling for the same word is Kabob! We can use different meats, vegetables on a skewer, why not DONUT"S?

Now with the alternating pieces of DONUT, each person can taste and enjoy several different donuts without the calories and getting overly full and bloated.

The ladies loved them and the tray was beautiful with 20 or more Kebabs .

I had planned to use this as a devotion. Comparing the donuts to different types of people and how Christ came to live, die, and save all people no matter how beautiful, colorful, rich or poor!

But I wound up using another devotion at the last minute. One that had been forwarded to me as a email. You have probably received this yourself.

Why did Jesus fold the Napkin? Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!' Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished. Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, 'I'm done'. But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because.....

The folded napkin meant, ' I'm coming back!'He is Coming Back!

I love cloth napkins and now every time I use a cloth napkin after a meal I will think of this!


God bless your Lenten season and brighten your
Easter with His true love and forgiveness and promise of eternal life.

Happy 7th Birthday with LOVE

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Wishes for a Happy ST Patricks Day Bithday

Make a Smilebox greeting

INHERITED CRAFT!

Our Friend's daughter was married last weekend! This is the original invitation that we received. My mother has done paper guilling for years and has decorated, designed and framed many wedding invitations as a keepsake wedding gift for the bride and groom. My mother is now 87 years old and has past that craft on to me. It is a very fun craft but very delicate and time consuming. I cut my own paper and use a toothpick or small round tool to do the curling.

The paper quilling kits can be purchased. Here is a site where you can purchase them. http://www.quillingsuperstore.com/200.html

The wedding colors were deep purple and I tried to match the background paper with the purple print on the invitation. No two keepsake invitations turn out the same. They are always very unique. This one I changed things around many times before I felt comfortable with the pattern. I wanted to leave the beautiful ribbon tied inner envelope on for effect.

This is a close up picture of part of the quilling. I added the two pink hearts to resemble the two of them, now husband and wife. There is no limit as to what can be done to decorate. I usually add a few tiny pearls to give it shine and eloquence.

This is another wedding invitation I did several years ago. This one had a folded invitation and I could cut out parts to preserve the full effect.

This is a close up of some quilling on the older craft project. Their colors were burgundy and cream. I hope you have a special craft that you enjoy and that can be used to preserve a little history.

A Golden Birthday

It certainly doesn't seem long ago when our grandson was born and just learning to pull himself up and start to walk. Time goes about that fast too!

Then He was two!

Five and then 6 etc . . .

Time dose fly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOUNG MAN!

WE LOVE YOU

GOD BLESS YOUR NEW YEAR OF LIFE!

Our grandson (chick #2) is already 10 years old on the 10Th of March. Today is that special day that he will only observe once in his lifetime. That's why I used 10 pictures of him. I have hundreds so it's always hard to choose and also very hard to find them hidden on my computer, CD's and Jump drives. He has grown to be such a handsome young man.

Do you remember your "GOLDEN" birthday?

If so, tell me about it a comment!

I didn't even know about such a thing as a Golden birthday when I turned 5 on the 5Th.

Our compassionate dog

Today I didn't feel very good and thought I would lay on the couch to take a nap or just relax. Our loyal loving dog of 12 years old decided he should comfort me and lay with me. It seems he always recognizes when I don't feel good. My husband grabbed my camera and snapped this picture. He told me it reminded him of a moment that had happened almost 11 years ago.







As you can see from this picture, the date is 5/10/98. It's taken in the same house, on the same couch and it is the same dog, (OK, so he has put on a little wight, just like the rest of us)! Different person though. This is my youngest daughter taking a nap as she wasn't feeling well that particular day. Dog's are a mans best friend, a woman's too.

I can't believe he is a TEENAGER!

Yes, this is our handsome Grandson, he is now 13years old and a full fledged teenager. He celebrated his birthday on Feb 17th but last weekend we enjoyed a belated birthday celebration when we met at Dickinson. It was very cold, sub 0 degrees for most of the trip but we sure did enjoy our time.

We got to treat him , our daughter and son-in-law to a nice meal at a Bonanza restaurant. It had been a long time since we had eaten at a Bonanza! The food was very good, the salad bar was clean and had very fresh food.
and

You can tell from this picture the shrimp were not only tasty but looked scrumptious enough to sneak one. We just had a great time visiting, joking, laughing and just being together.

He got a I-dog from his aunt, uncle and 5 cousins who couldn't be with us. He loved it and could hardly wait to try it out.

NOW WHAT COULD BE IN THIS BIG PACKAGE FROM NANA AND PAPA?

Wow! its a build your own light saber. It said it can create over 1000 different combinations. Now that should keep him busy for awhile!

Guess who's birthdays are coming up soon? It's our daughters on March 17th and our Son-in-laws on April 3rd. We figured we might as well celebrate them all while we were together and most likely would not have the chance to get together on their birthdays.

Our daughter got cookie sheet, muffin pan and bowls and a few mixes to go with them. It's always nice to have something fast and easy to whip up when you are in a hurry.
Only thing we were missing was a birthday cake. but before we left, we went to a Perkins where they treated us to some delicious dessert. (don't tell anyone but the cheese cake was out of this world delicious)

Our son-in-law got a Christian t-shirt and some fishing lures and cleaning board. I just know this will make him a great fisherman and catch many fish this spring and summer. We plan a few more trips to meet half way and maybe even do a little fishing together and camping. Now that sounds fun!

Our family is a wonderful gift from our loving Father in heaven. We give Him thanks.

The Backup

What is a backup anyway?

My computer often talks about a backup.

Just today it ask if I had a backup for my photo's.

My oldest, father of five children, son-in-law has given me some very good advice when it comes to a BACKUP!

Just two weeks ago he told me,

You always have to have a BACKUP!

Well, did I listen to him?

NO!

The other morning when I was in a big rush and making toast, this is what I found! You got it, a empty butter dish. This is where the BACKUP comes in, my son-in-law taught me that you always need a BACKUP stick of butter on the counter for times like this.

WELL, you don't even have to guess where my butter was!

It was still in the cold, very cold fridge.

Now if I would have listened to my son-in-law, I would have had soft butter to spread on the hot toast, and that would have been a good thing!

Instead, I had to scrape and chop of cold hard chunks of butter just to try butter my toast.

By that time, the toast had gotten cold and the cold butter wouldn't melt.

I'm sure you have all been in that situation before. Evidently my son-in-law had or he wouldn't have made such a point to teach me about the BACKUP stick of butter.