Back In The Land Of The Living

Well, Hello There!

Firstly, Thank you so much for all the kind and caring emails during my long absence!  

What an encouragement ya' all are!

Secondly, I have had a serious extended illness since July that has really, 

really been a difficult thing to live with and get anything beyond 

getting dressed each day a possibility. 

 But, Praise the Lord, 

I am back to feeling well, and so very, very grateful to have energy, vitality,

 and reasonably good health.

So, to catch up, everything has gone along fairly well, regardless. 

 The children and my dear husband have picked up where I left off, 

doing the cleaning, cooking, laundry and anything else necessary to keep the household functioning. Meanwhile, I was posted in a comfy chair only able to give encouragement and counsel.  

They did a remarkable job but are very glad to have mama back in the kitchen, 

taking walks, able to be out and about and physically functional!  

And my, have they grown in the last 6 months! 

 Jim passed me up in height around Christmas, Ben gaining on me rapidly. 

Olivia turned 5 (Ack!) - Gabe had his 7th birthday, 

Scott and Anna came for a visit with little Mary,
Shiloh is talking in full sentences,

We got a scruffy little puppy,
Brian and I both have more grey hair,

 and Rose is home from College. 

 Now that you know everything, here are some pics.

Ben is a regular at filling the soup pot

Jim shot the buck of a lifetime

Scott, Anna, and Mary visiting Idaho

John, Michelle and Shiloh bought a little farm just a few miles down the road

Rose and a sweet friend


building an igloo

too cute!!

Blessings to Ya' all,
with the promise it won't be months before another post!

Julianne

The New Grandbaby!!

So there we were,

 3/4 of our journey competed....500 miles yet to go 

on our trip to New Mexico to see our daughter and son in law and forth coming baby,

when, 5:00 in the morning, we got a call....yes,

 Anna was in labor! 

 Straightaway we hopped in the suburban and drove, drove, drove..... 

 arriving 40 minutes after the newest grand baby was born!  

  I was allowed into the birthing room right away to meet this newest blessing, 

help wash her, measure her, and cut the cord. 

 Scott was perfectly at ease with the sweet little bundle, 

...I was impressed. 

Mary Joy 

made her way safely into the world that Monday, 

surprising us all at 8 lbs 2 oz 

and having plenty of dark hair, which was a great relief and delight to her mama.

 Needless to say, we all fell completely head over heels for this little girl.

Oh, My!!  What a darling!!!

I cannot possibly look upon these pictures without a little squeal escaping-

she is SO PRECIOUS!!!

With eyes of wonder, 

all of the family stared and stared at her, never getting our fill of the wee one.  

Thus we spent the next 5 days with them, 

holding and staring at this amazing little person named Mary.

All too soon it was time for us to make the trip home. 

 Leaving our sweet little New Mexico family was easier said than done,

 but we contented ourselves with the thankfulness of a safe and healthy birth,

 that Anna is recovering very well,

 that Scott is such a natural at being a daddy,

 and that we had the opportunity to be there 

 to meet this fabulous and amazing granddaughter! 

Praising the Lord for Mary Joy!

Still giddy,

Julianne

Traveling To New Mexico

Vacation time has come and we have planned for months now to pack 9 of us in our 9 passenger suburban and travel 1500 miles to see our newest grand child, along with our daughter and son in law, of course. At he time we left Idaho, the baby had not been born...that story is for another post.

So, we packed VERY lightly for our two week trek, and hoped for the best.  Since we lost our 15 passenger van, this is our first road trip with all of us, everything would be different...no cooking in a crock pot while driving...there just isn't room. No big cooler with lots of homemade yummies for our tummies...there just isn't room.  No plethora of games, books, pillows, and blankets...there just isn't room.

So......what we did do is....
1. Pack a small cooler with lunch meat, cheese, mayo and mustard.  And another box with bread and store bought snacks to be given out in between rest stops. We choose fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, granola bars, and trail mix.  These were all XL boxes, but I filled plastic cups with the snacks and handed them out on the road.  For breakfasts on the road, we had granola bars and a banana.  After about an hour and a half, we handed our a snack.  We stopped briefly for lunch, made sandwiches served with chips, and back on the road a bit later, handed out the cups with another snack, and so it went.  For dinner, we located a fast food choice close to our motel, and picked it up in car....after 9 hours in a vehicle we just wanted to get to our motel!  We tried to choose a motel with a pool, so that we could get some exercise into our days, the children greatly enjoyed the swim!!

2.  To keep the trip fun, we had a list of 100 things to look for as we traveled.  Things such as a camel, a circus, a nativity scene, a firetruck, a bicycle with a child seat behind, etc.  We also listened to an audio book which we played on daddy's android, The Hobbit on the way down to NM, and The Girl of The Limberlost on the way home.  Other games we played were looking for all 50 states license plates, finding the ABC's on signs (the word must begin with the needed letter).  And then, the most fun thing we did was bring Rose with us, she is full of fun...when she is not sleeping.  We found that Rest Areas can be alot of fun too....

3. After staying in the plainest and cheapest of motel options, we have come to fully appreciate up-scaling to a motel with a full breakfast and a pool.  It was a significant cost difference, and it was well worth it.  The breakfast was warm and satisfying- getting us off to a good start, and all of us splashing and playing in the pool was also a great reward to a long day packed like sardines in the suburban.
 We also stayed with friends along the way, which was a tremendous blessing and added such joy to our trip.  I am very glad that we went ahead and made the contacts to meet up with old friends we hadn't seen is such a long time.  I was initially thinking we would be a burden..9 of us inviting ourselves over.....but I am so glad we did it---we had SOOO much fun!!

The visit with our family in NM was wonderful...

and then we were on our way home,

 another 1500 miles in three days.

  It all went pretty much like the trip down. 

 The children traveled so well!

 And, if you are wondering what age little people grow out of falling asleep with gum n their mouths, or silly putty in their hands....it is not 4!!

...just sayin'....

Our 4 Daughters

Our  4 daughters are a vast range of age,

 and are all doing a wide  variety of activities. 

 Here they are:

Daughter #1 is our sweet Anna,

She is our second born child,
 now 21, and married to a wonderful godly man. 

 They live in New Mexico, which is very sad for me,
but I am learning to let go and be content...
it hasn't been easy...even though I am so so happy for her!!

  Anna is in that blessed and radiant state of full bloom,
carrying our grandbaby (their first!) whom we hope to meet very soon....

 I am sooo excited to meet this prayed-for little one!!!

Our third born, the lovely Rose, is just home from three weeks in Africa! 

 I sure missed her, and am so very glad to have her home again...

but my intuition tells me it won't be for long...

Rose is growing up...and Africa is very much a part of her.  

She is a beautiful young lady inside and out.

Then there is miss Bethany,

(9 years old, child #7)

 who just finished her first ballet class, loved every minute of it,

 and now dances her way around the house...

especially when we are listening to The Piano Guys...

....which is pretty often.

And, our ninth, little Olivia, 

busting us up daily
with some really great original quotes like only a four year old can.

"Are you crying, Olivia?"
"No," she answers...wiping tears away..."My eyes are just sweating!"

She recently climbed up on daddy's lap and said, "I want to have Jesus." 

 Amen!!

 We were happy to hear it!

Our daughters have added so much joy and beauty to our family life. 

 We are very blessed by each one, 

and so very grateful to the Lord for giving us these precious gifts!!!

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, 
the fruit of the womb is His reward."

 Psalm 127:3