Smokey is ready for the Trip

1. Ken got a shoeshine while we waited. We tried a Ben and Jerry's icecream.

Smokey waiting for the plane to leave. We are now in Newark/NewYork Airport

From Houston headed to Newark/NewYork

On plane in Houston ready to take off to NY. Love ya. Mom n Dad
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Life, how does it get this way?

Is it the times we live in or is it that I'm just getting old? Here we are packing to take off on an extremely exciting trip in our lives: Barcelona, Salou, Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Tunis, Palma De Mallorca ....... we've been planning it for months and both of us working our fingers off to pay for it. Ken and I are very excited: so the laundry is done, the walking shoes are purchased, the suitcases are measured, and weighed and off we go!
But back home, our little Blakely is still not ready to be born and will probably come while we are out to sea. And both of my oldest sister's husbands are not doing well. Sarah and Scott in Ellicott City, Maryland and Paula and Jim in Ontario, Canada. They need so much love and help and day to day support. I talked to my oldest brother, Bill in Greenville, SC today. He just lost his wife last month and now his youngest son, Dan will be having a triple bypass surgery on Tuesday. And I talked with Paula and with Barbie and Buddy last night on the OJO, telling them I'll be praying for them. I am so glad that last fall, Ken and I took a driving trip to visit all of my siblings. Little did we know that it would be the last time we would see some of our family. Our lives are as the grass, it grows for a season and then ........ eeeeeekkkkkk, here comes the lawn mower.
I'm glad we have God's promises:
"You're my servant, serving on my side.
I've picked you. I haven't dropped you.
Don't panic, I'm with you.
There's no need to fear for I'm your God.
I'll give you strength. I'll help you.
I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.
Count on it..................................."

And with that, we are off to places we've read about and never seen. You can be sure it will be a picture taking event. We'll be back with plenty of photographs. And back to the question, is it the times, or are we getting old? I think we're gettins old and our world is changing very quickly.

Trip to Dallas

We made a quick trip to Dallas to see Joel, Jennifer and Sydney. We were hoping we might also be introduced to Blakely but we only met her still growing inside Mommy. It was a great trip and wonderful to see our children as well as visit Covenant Church. Sunday morning we visited the youth group called legendary with our son, Pastor Joel. We loved their praise and worship, the preaching on friendship and how the young people shared that friendship in small groups at the end.
Covenant Church is unique in many ways. It is the most 'International' church I have visited. The choir alone represents 52 different nationalities. I love their music and their teaching. Being a Dallas Church, the adult services are much more sophisticated -- in decor, rituals, dress. It reminds me when I was a child and my mother also insisted that you act your best and dress your best in God's House. Even though I would not want to live in Dallas, it is nice to visit. Of course it is very special since we have children there.
The Blue Bonnets were in full bloom so before we left to come home, we visited a field for some photos.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on Saturday evening, we ate Ethiopian food at the Queen of Sheba .. yummy, spicy.

Resurrection Weekend

The JW were in our neighborhood inviting neighbors to celebrate the death of Jesus with them. We declined in preference of celebrating the birth, death and resurrection of Christ. For the JW there must have been a very big push this year as several others mentioned that they had received the same invitation to celebrate the death of Jesus. I decided that this year we would celebrate in a different fashion. For the first time, we did not do Easter Baskets for the grandkids. I did not dye eggs and offered no Easter Egg hunts.
I decided that was another persons's job. (I've been told by Pops for years that I tend to go overboard.) Well, it does not mean I won't do Eggs or Baskets or family dinners next year or future years, it is just I did not do it this year.
The Tulsa area is rich in Easter celebrations, so Ken and I put our energy into visiting three of those events. It was good for both of us. I've been thinking about the experience all day today and I think I will write a blog just on that experience alone later on. For now, I'll just mention that we went to our COTM service on Good Friday evening. We sat with April and Dave and afterwards, met up with them and Kevin's family at Fuddruckers for dinner together. Ken and I had the Buffalo Burgers. I do believe all of us were very full when we left. Saturday was a beautiful day. I worked up until time to go to our second Resurrection celebration in which we visited a neighborhood church near our home. This morning we went to Ken's happy place .... and I went with him. Today is raining and we are enjoying a quiet afternoon by the fire. There are steaks to grill later on. See what I mean. No traditional ham, no deviled eggs. Just rain outside and warmth inside. It is a good day! We've talked with Joel and Jennifer to learn Joel was preaching twice this morning and Jennifer seems to be having that baby sooner than thought -- within two weeks. And Sommer and Dan were having a quiet day at home this morning. Ava and Carson had opened their Easter Baskets and their day is sunny. Their church was having their Easter service tonight. Praise God that all our children are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord today!

European Cathedral Window

Ken is still playing with his camera.

When we first received our Cathedral Stained Glass, I checked out books from the library to discover the particulars of it. Now, I've forgotten what I learned. I do remember that it is painted glass and is probably European and I'm guessing the time is 1700's or 1800's. At any rate, we have loved it and thrilled that it has an 'S' in the middle of it and it hangs over our front entrance window at the stair landing. I'll add the reason Ken is practicing on his camera is we will be taking photos of real European cathedrals next month.

What a difference a week can make

We got a new roof -- and the guttering is yet to come. The insurance adjuster forgot to measure the sun room so the roofer was back to confirm the need for more tiles. And then Saturday was beautiful. Ken is still playing with the new lens for his Cannon.

Here are those same plants which were frozen last week. Isn't God amazing! A constant reminder of our own human ability to bounce back.

Today we are listening to music by Fernando Ortega. So calming and peaceful today. Fernando was at our church this weekend. Ken bought two Cd's -- that means it is music 'older codgers' enjoy.