Goodbye Insurance; Hello Medicare!

This pic we got today to say goodbye to Insurance and hello to Medicare.  My birthday is Sunday, but Medicare becomes effective tomorrow!  Woo hoo!  On the table is the magnolia bloom I cut today; it's perfect and so beautiful.  I thank God for keeping me so supplied with blooms this far into the summer.  I keep the blooms sitting on a big plate because the drop a mess and the plate catches the mess for me.  On that plate is also my first birthday card, which is a beautiful card from my precious neighbor, Hazel.  I love starting the birthday celebration early as I say goodbye to Insurance.

My good friend, Bob Clark also has his birthday this month, so we're having a hello Medicare party tomorrow night and playing hand and foot canasta here.  Woo hoo!  

We dvr'd Return to Lonesome Dove tonight and watched it when we got home from church.  I rarely get hooked on TV, but I'm hooked on this.  You all probably saw it the first time it played.  I know I'm behind, but I'm like the little engine that could . . . getting there!  It's late; sorry if you were waiting for this post.  

I'll have to tell you about the saga of the herons on another post.  It was great today; they've been such a great adventure!

One Lone Heron in the Nest.

This last heron in the nest will probably fledge tomorrow.  We walked around the dam and saw the other three fishing.  The flew back around the nest as if to say, "Watch us; come on this is fun!" I was glad to get to see the others out fishing.  We saw one of the adults fishing off the bridge.  It's sure a gift from God to get to have this adventure with these herons!  Look how stately that bird looks!

Lee and I've been watching Lonesome Dove on TV for the last two nights.  I never watched it, so it's kind of a treat.  I'm not good at sitting still to watch anything this long, though.  Never got the TV habit; took a timeout to write this.  I hope to get some more pix besides herons to post tomorrow.  I love the herons, but you may be tired of them.  All is good in Hobart, America.  God bless.

Down to Two Herons.

I'm posting one last pic of me holding Bryce up in their bonus room last week. They're moving in on Wednesday, so this house won't be empty for long! 

Today I've been busy working on filing and organizing my desk.  Holy cow, what a mess!  I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, though.  I'll work on it some more each day until I've got my corner in better shape!

We walked today and it looks like 2 of the herons have left the nest.  I hate that, but it's the way God's plan works, so I want to be happy and proud for them.  I'll miss seeing them everyday.  Soon there will be nobody in the nest; I guess I'll be glad for that, but I'll miss them!  Here's the shot I got today:

God knows what He's doing, so I trust him with the herons, too.  He knows how many feathers they have, so I need not worry about how many of them are in the nest and how many have left.  I sure have enjoyed watching them and thank God for the blessings.

An all time favorite picture.

Lee got this pic of Trish and I last Thursday.  I think it's good of Trish and I, but there is a bonus in it:  Mason is looking over my shoulder!  When I downloaded the picture mine and Tricia's eyes were red, so I did the red eye removal trick. When I was done, there was a RED eye over my shoulder, and that was the first time I saw Mason!  I just think it is so cool!  He's notorious for sneaking into pics, but if I try to get a pic of him, he turns his head!  I posted this pic on FB, so if you do FB, you've seen it, but I know there are some of you who don't do FB, so I wanted to share it on here.  Those big smiles are genuine; we love seeing each other and know that we are blessed to be close enough to see each other from time to time.

Sunday's are tough days because they seem to fly past.  There's a lot of getting dressed and ready.  Today was the devotional at the nursing home, so I went to sing.  My good friend Joan had squash from her garden to contribute to our nutrition this week, so I did get to stop by and visit a bit with her when I picked up the squash.  Great friends and great family are sure great bonuses in life!

Today an old post that I posted in April came up on Facebook, again.  The date is right there, but many folks seem to think it's a new and current post.  I've gotten lots of positive and encouraging comments; I sure hope I can live up to the great news when I go for my next check up the 19th and 20th of next month.  It's a blessing to know that so many people care, and I'm doing my best to keep up the good news.  I feel fine and the knots on my neck are just barely there.  I hope those are good signs!

Is this a precious boy?

We sure think so!  He keeps this look until you talk to him and his response is a crazy face like below:

He weighs about 30 pounds, so soon he's going to be carrying me, I hope! Actually, it's worth it to hold him because he'll give kisses when you ask for them, and he's wonderfully huggable!  He's 13 months old, and we sure thank God for him and his good health.  (He's the one who had major surgery on his head on March 4th; he's doing just perfectly!)  He also claps and says uh oh; he's so much fun for us!

We got these pix this last Wednesday when we went to do the walk through on their new house.  Next week they move into it and Lee wants to go help, but I think we can help them most if we stay out of the way!  We like to never got over bringing in 3 bags of salt for the water filter today, so I hope that showed him that we have no business in the area of someone who is moving.  Bryce has two big sisters who can look after him and that's about all we could do.

I got our sheets changed and some laundry done today.  We got the grocery shopping done and went to the Mexican restaurant for supper.  That was a nice touch to finish off today; I picked 3 daisies out of my garden, too.  It looks like there are 3 more magnolia blooms that will open soon and then I've got to wait until next year for more.

Fun with the "little kids."

Here is Lee with the 'little kids.'  There is nothing little about Mason, but he gets lumped in with the little kids because he's not as big as Nate, Gabe, and Sadie, the big kids.  (21,18, and 16)  We sure had fun playing with them and balloons they had.

I got a lot of bookkeeping done today and that's a good thing because I was way behind on my filing.  I still have a lot to do, but I got through a bunch today and it makes me feel better.  We got a couple of inches of rain last night, but the sunshine came out and I got to take a sunny walk this evening to check on the herons at the lake.  There are still four juveniles near the nest.  Each day I think they'll be gone, but they're still hanging near the nest!

God is so good to give us so much joy in life.  Bill and Olya and the girls came home from camp today, so I am DONE dog sitting with the savage beast next door. Whew!  I thank God for survival!

Fun, but exhausting!

Yesterday we made a rush trip to OKC to visit with a family who had lost their 35 year old daughter to pneumonia.  The loss is heartbreaking, but the memories are treasures and full of joy.  I thank God for all my kids and grandkids!

We spent the night in OKC because we had to be back there today to do the final walk through with Krissy and Chris on their new house.  That was fun and the house is really gorgeous.  After the walk through Chris took us all out to a delicious lunch.  Then we came by Tricia's house for a brief visit with her and Mason, Gracie and Raynie.  Above is a picture Lee got of Raynie and I. Tomorrow I'll put on pix of Lee with the kids and soon I'll post some I got of us with Bryce.  What fun we had with all these grandkids!  We are overwhelmed with blessings and worn out!!!

When I got home I called Bill to see if I needed to go feed the savage beast, Pebbles.  He said he didn't even know where she was!  She got away from George, our mutual friend and local state trooper; he hoped she was waiting on the front porch.  Sure enough; she was!  She was waiting there for someone to come and be killed and I was that person, but I was armed with treats!  Love the treats!  I threw a treat away from the door and while she scoffed it down, I got the door open.  I threw a treat inside and she went after it.  I threw another one into the kitchen so I could make sure she had food and water.  What a hoot!  She was relieved to get inside and ran right into her crate and I escaped with treats left for tomorrow.  I feel about 8 feet tall, now that I can manipulate her with those treats. Whew!

On the road, again, and thankful!

This is James and Cathy at the Riverview Cafe with us in Medicine Park for Sunday lunch.  We are so grateful for their time with us that day!  We loved it and loved having them at the house.

Today Lee picked up the paper and found the obituary of his good friend's 35 year old daughter! We dropped everything and came to OKC to make it to visitation at the funeral home as we can't be at the funeral in the morning.  We had planned to come to OKC in the morning to go with Lee's youngest daughter to the final walk through on the house they are building.  The walk through is at the same time as his friend's daughter's funeral, so we really wanted to be here tonight.  What a sad, sad event to lose a daughter, the mother of a 3 year old boy!  She had double pneumonia and was in the hospital for 25 days before they lost her to it.  How terribly sad and shocking!

We are so grateful that all of our kids are healthy and happy.  Everyday I realize more and more that everything is relative and I know that we are so very blessed.

Treatment went well.

This picture is one that James took of Lee and I at lunch on Sunday in Medicine Park.  It had been a long day, and this was a late lunch around 2, so we were tired and hungry, but smiling with joy.

We drove to Lawton today for my treatment and I'm tired, again!  There's nothing awful about my treatment; it is really relatively simple.  It's just that we always have to wait.  I go in for them to draw blood and they can't do the treatment until they get the results of the tests on the blood.  We just wait and that's tiresome.  If tiresome is the worst thing I can say about my treatments, how great is that??? Thank you, God!  It's so wonderful that they seem to be working and it takes a lot of nerve to complain that they are tiresome.  Actually, the last month my rump was really sore, so I have a legitimate complaint.  The first week is not too bad, but the soreness builds and I really felt like I had a boil on each side of my rump for a couple of weeks.  The last week it calmed down to just sore, so I could face getting two more shots today.  I hope it doesn't hurt like that this month, but if it does, I'm giving thanks that it's not regular chemo and that it's working.  I can take a sore rump!  I sometimes feel a slight nausea, but nothing that takes my appetite or makes me really sick.  It just reminds me of when I was pregnant and that was a precious time, so it's not so bad at all.

The update on the dog is that a good friend suggested I get dog treats and 'buy my way' with the vicious beast.  It worked!  I got her to go outside with a treat and then got her to go back inside with a treat.  Yippee!   I got the job done in about 10 minutes and she never attacked me.  She growled and snarled until she saw the treats and then she cooperated.  Wow.  I'm amazed.  Thanks so much Deb!

We went to Meers but there was an hour or more wait.

Since we'd have to wait so long to even get seated at Meers we went on to Medicine Park and ate at the Riverview Cafe.  It was great there and there was no wait!  James got this picture of Lee and I before we went into Meers.

Today has been restful.  I've gotten some paperwork done, so that's good.  I've also done some laundry.  We walked and got pix of the herons; I'm surprised that they are still at the nest.  Each day feels like a bonus to me.  Today is the first day that I haven't had a bloom on the magnolia tree to cut and bring inside.  There are still 5 blooms on the tree, but they are slow to bloom.  I'm happy for them to stretch out for a few days and make the blooms last longer for me.  The blooming season is just about past.

Tomorrow we go to Lawton for my treatment.  I'm blessed to have easy treatments and to be responding so well to them.  I thank God so much for these blessings!

PS:  By the way, the update on me and the dog is that I'm still alive; scared to death of that little terrier, but alive.  The dog has nearly eaten my walking cane to a nub, but I'm hanging in there (barely).  Olya came home today and I met her at the door saying, "I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"  I thought she was home to stay, but she was only home to check on the dog and return to camp.  So, I still have to let the dog out tomorrow and the rest of the week unless Olya decides to come home or the dog eats me.  I have never seen such a vicious dog in my life.  I was bitten by a German shepherd that required 3 stitches and I still have scars on my hands and stomach and this dog is more vicious than that shepherd was.  She really has me scared to death.  I almost walked out on the job today, but she wouldn't let me out of the house!  I agreed to do this because Bill and Olya are the best neighbors in the world!  They keep a great eye on the house whenever we are gone, so the least I can do is let their dog out for a week if she just doesn't kill me.  Joan always does a great job with the house when we're gone, but Bill and Olya make it even better for her.  He's an ex-marine and nothing gets past him.

A great day of family thanksgiving and fun!

We've been so, so happy to have James and Cathy come this weekend.  We started our day of thanks to God with biscuits and gravy and sausage and eggs for breakfast.  Then we took off to Roosevelt where Lee's roots are.  His parents and his older brother are buried there.  James could remember all those folks and many good times from times they went back to Roosevelt.  From Roosevelt we went to the reserve and showed them as much as we could.  We went to Meer's to eat, but the line was way too long, so we went on over to Medicine Park and ate.  It was a great meal and more time for thanksgiving and another meal to bless.  What a great visit we had.  We came on home and they headed for home in OKC; both of them have to work in the morning.  We thank God, again, for awesome family!

Our neighbors, Bill and Olya and girls are at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp this week.  That means there dog is home, alone.  My job is to go let her out 3 times a day and feed her.  She doesn't like me and I'm scared to death of dogs.  I love the Coffins, though, so if they need me to feed their dog, I'm willing to do my best.  Maybe I'll make a friend, but I suspect she doesn't want a new friend.  Maybe if she gets hungry this week, she'll want a friend?  She's some kind of terrier and I'm bigger than she is, so maybe I'll survive.  I'll wear jeans and shoes and a jacket every time I go over there, so she can't get me to bad.  God saw me through attacks of a German shepherd, a collie, and a pit bull, so He'll see me through this week with a terrier.  We were able to check on the birds today and they seem okay and are still in the nest.

So glad to have family visit!

Lee's son, James, and his wife, Cathy, came to visit tonight.  They didn't get here until nearly 8:30, so we ate late, but it's been a wonderful visit.  Tomorrow we'll show them around the area.  The lighting is not great on this picture, but I hope to get better ones tomorrow.  We thank God for precious people in our lives and opportunities to spend time with them!

For anyone who is hooked on the herons, here is today's update on them:

Notice that all four of them are in the tree, but only one is still in the nest.  I'm sure they're all getting ready to fledge, which means they'll leave the nest soon!  I'm going to have withdrawals when I go there one day and there is nobody at home!  I sure hope they will stay around our lake!  I took crackers today to feed the fish in hopes that it will help provide food for these herons.  (Tom, Linda, and Sissy, you'll remember when I was throwing fruit to the cows in Hawaii . . . we were reminded of that today when I threw crackers to the fish and the wind blew most of them back onto me!  Y'all really had to be there to get this story, but I'll betcha Tom, Linda and Sissy are smiling!)

One is very brave.

One of these 'babies' is getting very brave!  He's been flopping his wings, and now he's out of the nest!  One is just outside of the nest and he's looking back at the really brave one.  Look to the left on the same branch as the nest, about where the leaves begin:  there stands the brave one!  I'm going to miss them so much when they leave the nest!  I just hope they'll hang around the lake and I'll get to see them fishing!  I thank God for this experience with them!

Tomorrow Lee's son and his wife are coming to spend the night, so I should get some fresh pix to share besides herons!  We are so excited that they are coming and can hardly wait for their visit.  We've got the house all clean and food prepared, so we can spend all our time visiting.  More blessings for which to give thanks!  Happy, happy days!

We finished up VBS today and it was great.  I enjoyed being the gopher and am so grateful for those who were willing to teach.  It was such a delight to watch the kids and the teachers and the great helpers we had.  More blessings!

More of the heron family.

When we were walking today I first thought one of the juveniles was venturing out of the nest.  But, we watched and that must be one of the parents up high because it turned around and fed the others!  I guess the other juvenile is laying down in the nest or behind the others.  Take a look at the feeding:

Then as we walked on around the lake we saw one of the parents feeding on the other side:

I am just amazed and love watching this family!  I thank God for the pleasure it brings to me.  I'm really amazed with cardinals and robins, but God is the God of abundance!

Our VBS is going great.  I came home today and went for the walk.  Then I came home and fixed lunch and then tore into cleaning the house.  I missed my nap, so I'm ready to clean up and go to bed.  Ah, clean sheets and I'm so ready for them!  I thank God for abundance in so many ways.  The birds!  The ability to walk!  The ability to clean the house!  A wonderful place to live!  The good sense to not do ALL the cleaning in one day!  I saved the vacuuming for tomorrow.  I vacuumed all the hard floors and mopped them.  Then cleaned the bathrooms.  I've dusted all the rest of the week and finished that today.  (Dusting is the part I like the least.) Tomorrow the house will be done.  I've done the worst part, so I feel accomplished.

A closer look . . .

You're going to think this is a blog about great blue herons; well, it is for a while, I guess.  I'm so enthralled with these birds and so thankful to God for the opportunity to enjoy them so much.  Yesterday, it was rainy and we couldn't walk, but I drove in the car to check on them and caught these great pictures of one of the adults out fishing.  The male and female are much the same, so there is no way to know if this is the mother or father.  All I know is that it's the same bird because I was following it closely.  I really feel so blessed to get to get these pictures.  I almost feel like these birds are my pets!

Our vacation Bible school is going great.  I'm sure the adults are learning the most from this week, but I know the kids are learning a lot, too.  They're studying about the fruits of the spirit and it's so much fun to be studying such positive characteristics.  We have a great bunch of young people at church and they are learning so much.  Anyone who was in the 7th grade or higher last year has been helping with VBS instead of in a class.  They are doing FANTASTIC, too.  I am learning the most, just getting to observe it all; what a blessing this week has been!

Memory lane.

There's a proud Dad with one of his 5 daughters.  This is Lee hugging Kailan at Bryce's birthday party.  Kailan is Bryce's aunt, his mom's sister.  This is a sweet memory.  We miss the handsome beard and mustache, but I love the FACE!  (With or without the hair.)  I thank God for precious family and precious moments to share time with them.

We are enjoying wonderful weather for July!  Usually it's over 100 here and it's been in the 70's today!  It even rained without thunder or lightning!  It's been a nice change and we thank God for it.

We're doing vacation Bible school at church this week and it's been great, too.  Yesterday we had 62 kids and 31 helpers; today we had 76 and 40 helpers!  We're having a great time and those kids are smiling so big learning how to help people like Jesus did and live a blue ribbon life.  What a fun week!  I'm lucky; I get to be a gopher.  I go around and do whatever someone needs to have done and I keep count of all the folks.  It's great because I get to observe all the fun!

Takes my breath!

Today as we walked around the lake we could easily see not only the juveniles abut also the adult great blue herons.  This is the first time I've ever been able to get them all in the same picture.  I had to zoom out to get everyone in the pic, but it was worth it.  I am so enjoying watching the growth of these birds.  In this picture you can see the island where they chose to build their nest (common) as well as the walk in the background where we are able to walk.  It's a lovely place to walk and so enhanced by the activity of these birds.  It literally takes my breath to watch them.  Sometimes when I get to the other side, the adults will come near and let me get their picture while they fish and hunt.  I'm like a little bitty kid chasing roly-polies!  I thank God for extra blessings like these birds to watch.  I sure thank Him for the ability to WALK and SEE!

Speaking of seeing, I have an appointment to have my cataracts evaluated on August 6th; I'll have surgery to correct them in October.  I have trips planned before that and they don't want me to go more than 3 hours away for a few weeks, so I have to wait on the surgery.  I've been waiting 4 years, so a couple more months won't be that big a deal.  I've found that time is flying, anyway!

Happy birthday, Lee!

So, today is Lee's birthday, but he gave ME a present!  He shaved the beard and mustache he's had for over 30 years.  I was so surprised!  I absolutely love it, but he may not keep it.  It's going to take some getting used to and I want him to be happy.  I never asked him to shave it, but he knew it tickled me to death.  I accept it as my birthday present.   We'll see if it lasts until my birthday!  Ha!  Whatever he does is fine with me.

Today was the fellowship dinner at church, so he had a wonderful birthday meal.  He always enjoys those, so the timing was perfect.  We found that two of our favorite people at church share his birthday, so that was fun, too.  Amanda Holt and Creed Real are his birthday buddies.

Today it's raining in Hobart.  We haven't had a rain like this in months.  It's just raining; no thunder or lightning, just rain.  It's so nice, but it's hindering my walk to check on the herons.  I'll trust the herons to God today; I know he knows how many feathers they have, so I need not worry.  God has fewer whiskers to keep up with on Lee, so I'll leave all the bird feathers to Him.  God is great!

Happy birthday, Phil!

This picture was taken on Oct. 23, 2012.   It's my sister, Ruthie; her husband, Phil; then me and then Lee.  What wonderful memories of a great visit it brings to mind! Today is Phil's 73rd birthday.  It's been a tough year for him.  He's suffered 3 strokes (only discovered the first 2 when he had the 3rd one), but he's doing well!  Ruthie has had her knee replaced in this last year, so it hasn't been easy for her, either.  I'm so proud of both of them for hanging tough and supporting each other so well.  We're going to see them, again, in September, so we can hardly wait for that visit!  Lee and I had been to Gretta's house to take her a bunch of furniture that had migrated to the garage when Lee moved in with all his stuff.  We were so glad to get that furniture placed where it was needed and loved.  On the way we took some to my granddaughter in Tulsa, then went on to Gretta's with a U-Haul trailer.  We were glad to be done with that trailer, too.  We were both glad for Lee to meet Gretta and Elena and then Ruthie and Phil.  It was a happy trip and this picture reminds me of lots of joy.

Since then we've taken one of my vans to live at Tricia's house and finally made room in the garage for Lee's truck!  I look back over the past year and give thanks.  I look back to when I was 12 and Phil entered my life; Ruthie brought him into our family and married him when I was 14.  He's been a wonderful brother to me and it feels like he's been in my life always.  They met when we lived in Japan, so we share a very special time in his, mine and Ruthie's lives.  I thank God for leading Ruthie to Phil and Phil to Ruthie and I thank God for allowing Phil to survive those strokes last year.  If I keep on thanking God this post will never end, but Phil is an example of how wonderfully God blesses our lives.  God is never skimpy; God always deals in abundance.  Phil's not just a brother-in-law that we've tolerated; he's been a brother that our family has always loved just as if he had our blood running through his veins!  I talked to him on the phone today and he sounds great.  I'm celebrating his life every day and mine, too!  How about you?  I hope you are celebrating your life and that of the ones you love every day; don't wait for an occasion!

Back seat buddies.

When we go to Krissy's new house she drives and Lee rides in the front seat with her.  Lucky me, again!  I get to sit in the back and play with Bryce!  He and I are back seat buddies; I love it!

Today I've caught up on a few things around here.  We walked to the park, again, today to check on the great blue herons; one juvenile has flown the coop, so to speak; there were only 3 in the nest today.  The mother wasn't guarding; maybe she was off teaching the young one to fish?  Hope she wasn't fighting off a predator!

I thank God for a day to rest after several days of doctor appointments and the drives that go with them.  Rest is a good thing!

Lucky me!

Yesterday we went to Krissy and Chris' new house for Lee to go through and look at some things with Krissy.  Chris is out of town, but they wanted to be sure they've got a list of all the things that need to be corrected before they do the final walk through in a couple of weeks.  They're closing on July 31, so time is passing quickly.  I got lucky and got to play with Bryce while Lee and Krissy walked all over the house, inside and out.  It was about 103 degrees outside and only a tad cooler inside.  Bryce and I found that those little plates that go over the electric outlets come in way cool rattly packages.  He loved that and I discovered that when he drops one he knows to say, "Uh oh."  His version is, "Uh uh," but I recognized it and was delighted!  It was way fun snuggling with him, too.  We played patty cake and made cakes for the whole family.  :)  I thank God for precious memories like these.  I also thank God for a granite counter top to set Bryce down onto, so I didn't have to lift all 30 pounds of him the whole time.  He's a precious 30 pounds, but my back was really hacked about that!

Today we went to Lee's doctor in Altus and he got a good go ahead from him regarding his diabetes.  We're pleased.  He seems to be feeling pretty good and the doctors are happy.  Now, we just have to keep him drinking enough water and Powerade Zero; that's our task!

Happy birthday, Raynie. Six is great to be!

Raynie got to even light her own candles!  She made her cake:  4 layers, lemon lime with chocolate icing and strawberries.  The dinner menu was her request, too:  macaroni and cheese with green peas and crab.  Her friend, Alice joined us to celebrate.  It was great fun and the mac 'n cheese was wonderful.  I didn't eat cake although it was beautiful and very tempting.  There was black cherry ice cream, too.  It was her birthday and she got to have it her way!

Lee's cardiologist told him he was good to go.  His stress test results were good.  He just wants him to keep up drinking plenty of water or Powerade Zero and thinks that will help with the dizzy spells.  It seems to be better, but Lee's going to have to really focus on drinking enough.  I thank God for a simple solution!

I also thank God for a safe trip today.  Tomorrow we go to the doctor in Altus for a 3 week follow up visit.  I hope we can rest after that!  We have vacation Bible school at church next week, so that will be a busy week.  I'm ready for bed tonight!  These day trips make me tired; great family time, but tiring trips!

Big sister is a GREAT helper!

I remember that my sister got me out of all kinds of binds!  I thought of this when Peyton was so eager to help Bryce understand that he was supposed to be eating this cake.  The look on his face when his daddy put his hands into the cake and then smeared them on his face; he looked like, "Uh oh, Mom's not going to like this a bit; I'm not thinking I like it, either!"  He looked right up at Peyton and was willing to eat if she said that was the thing to do.  Then the look on his face changed to, "Hmmm; that's pretty good!"  It was really precious to watch.  I'll never forget the time that we went to visit Don's brother and had lunch at his daughter's house; her husband prayed and thanked God for putting us into families.  I had never thought to be grateful for the gift of families; just always took it for granted!  I pray that same prayer of thanks so often and will never forget it.  What a blessing!  Can you imagine living all of life on your own?  The support of family is such a treasure!  Thank you so much for enlightening me, David Petr!  Besides the family we know, God is our Father and Jesus is our Brother . . . wow!  (OUR; that makes us ALL family!  WOW!  Now, I've gone to preaching!)

Today I've gotten some chores done around here.  Tomorrow we go back to OKC for Lee's follow up appointment after his stress test on Monday.  It's also Raynie's 6th birthday tomorrow, so we'll be partying some more!  Woo hoo!  Love, love love all the family!

Bryce's beautiful sisters.

Bryce gets a lot of attention, but he has beautiful sisters who are awfully proud of him, too.  This is Peyton and Madison taking a break yesterday at Bryce's party.  They are beautiful girls from the inside out, so we're really proud of them, too!

Lee made it through his stress test fine today.  We'll get the results on Wednesday when we go back for his follow up appointment.  We got to go by and see Trish and Mason, Grace and Raynie and Gabe.  As too often happens I forgot all about pictures until I got back into the truck and we were leaving.  Ugh!  Wednesday is Raynie's birthday, though, so we'll go back by and help celebrate with them and hope to get some pics then.

We are blessed with lots of great grandchildren and we thank God for them and for the opportunities we get to spend time with them.  We are richly blessed!

Happy birthday, Bryce!

We had the best time today helping celebrate Bryce's first birthday.  His birthday was the 25th of June, but the good thing about being one is that you really don't care what day folks celebrate your birthday.  It was convenient to get folks together today, so today we celebrated.   I got this picture of him after he kind of had the hang of smashing his cake.  At first his daddy helped him to get his hands all into the cake and smear it onto his face and he was pretty horrified.  He had a look on his face that said, "I don't think Mommy's going to like this a bit!"  After his sister showed him how good the cake tasted he began to reconsider the mess and accept it for the taste.  He still never liked the mess on his hands much, but he really got into the taste of the cake.  What a precious little guy he is!  This is the same kid who had major surgery on his skull on March 4th; just 4 months ago today his eyes were swollen shut.  He is doing absolutely perfectly and we thank God for his total recovery!

We also thank God for great visits with lots of family today and more tomorrow.  Lee has his stress test in the morning and then we're going to go see Trish and whoever of her kids we can catch at her house.  We're looking forward to that.  For now, we're exhausted from a big day; we thank God for it and for a good place to stay and get a good night's sleep before we start another busy day tomorrow.  Praise God!

Things change, but we have memories!

This is what our park looked like this past Wednesday.  There is never a boat on this lake, but this week we had boats, attempting to stir up the water enough to save the fish.  The geese are usually IN the water and there are usually kids playing at the park.  This week the geese were wandering around the playground and the kids were all on the edge of the water watching the boats.  It's been an interesting but sad thing.  They think all the fish are dead.  Our fisher people will have to go somewhere else, but those of us who like to watch geese, turtles and other birds can be content with our park when it returns to it's normal peace and quiet.  The kids can still play on the playground.  When our kids were little we'd come here for Thanksgiving every year and as soon as the kids said hello to the grown ups, they'd say, "Can we go to the park?"  Off they'd go.  Now, their kids go running to the park as soon as we'll let them.  Our memories are full of good times at this park.  I thank God for the precious memories and the ability to recall them!

It's 96 degrees outside and I'm headed to the park to check out it's status today.  I was waiting for it to cool down outside, but that might be midnight.  Cancer doesn't like heat, so I'll go do some cancer fighting and check out the park!

Still enjoying the magnolia blooms.

On our way to walk, I had to stop and visit with the magnolia bloom of the day.  When we got home I cut it off and brought it into the house.  Love those blooms!  I thank God for the abundance of blooms this year and for the ability to walk!  I was looking into the sun, so I was squinting; that's not a frown.

Yesterday we enjoyed lunch with Bill and Olya and the girls next door; they'd made a fresh peach cobbler and it was delicious.  We came home and I made a peach cobbler for us!  I made it with no sugar and today we went and bought ice cream with no sugar added.  Yum.  It's a nice treat!  Thanks Bill and Olya for reminding us how good peach cobbler is!

Another treat: a blue heron family!

This week has been sad at our park.  We had a big fish kill because of lack of movement in our lake.  They've worked to save what they can, but it appears that all the fish are dead.  It's been exciting to watch all the activity, but knowing the fish are gone is sad and the smell is awful.  Amidst all that, though, this family of great blue herons is going right on with their lives.  I believe this is the father up at the top and the mother on the far right, with their three babies going to 'school' with mom (Of course one appears to be not paying attention!).  It's thrilling to me to be able to watch them.  They are way up in a tree, but I'm thrilled to be able to see clearly and to be able to zoom in and get this good a picture.  If I had a great camera and if I were more skilled I could do better, but I'm pleased to get this one.  I thank God for treats like this!  The lake still has a bunch of turtles about a dozen white geese and about a hundred Canadian geese who have adapted to our weather and stay here all year.  They are probably all as baffled as we are by all the activity at the lake this week, but they haven't left.  It will be interesting to see how the wildlife evolves after all this.

Lee and I ate lunch with the preacher and his family (next door) today.  They moved in while we were still in Branson, so we are so happy to have them here.  They lived and worked with us here 9 years ago and stayed for 5 years.  They moved away to Altus (about 35 miles) about 4 years ago, but they've been working with us from Altus for the last year.  We're SO glad to have them back.  They are like family to us and it's wonderful to have them home!  I meant to take pictures at lunch, but I forgot to take them!  I'll get pics before long because they are like family and I'm sure I'll refer to them a lot.  Bill is the preacher; his wife is Olya and their daughters are Sonia and Sasha; I promise pictures before too long.  The girls are going to camp this week, so it'll be in a couple of weeks or so.  I thank God for them, too.  He blesses our lives with them!

Correction! A nap is the best when I'm tired! When I'm not tired other things are best!

Everything is relative!  When I'm tired, a nap is the best.  When I'm walking my walking poles are the best.  When the blooms are at the top of my magnolia tree, then my stool is the best.  This picture is me in front of my little magnolia tree; note the two blooms at the top of the tree.  I let them stay because I had a table full of blooms I'd gathered off the bottom of the tree.  Of all my trees, my magnolia is the best.  Redbuds are the next . . . unless my Japanese magnolia is blooming in the back and then it's the best.  God is so good to bless me with abundance of the best in life.  I thank Him for that and for life.

We were headed out to walk to the lake and home when Lee took this picture today.  We went over to watch as the city attempts to stir up the lake enough to save the fish, but it appears to be too little too late.  We have many dead fish floating.  It's quite a spectacle to watch in our little town; it'll be so sad if it doesn't work!

I did get pictures of a nest of blue herons at the lake, though.  It's not a great picture, but I'll post it tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I love those birds!

Naptime is the best!

Today has been a fun day.  It's been cooler than common for July 2 (91 was the high, I think), so that's been nice.  Lee and I walked to our park and there was a big happening there!  They discovered fish dying due to algae in the lake this morning, so they had a couple of boats racing around the water to stir it up in hopes of saving lots of fish and the lake.  Our friend and marine highway patrolman, George Hoyle, was putting on quite a show with the big jet boat.  He can really make that thing go!  I sure hope it worked to save the lake and the fish in it!  It was a great way to spend the morning, watching all of it happen!

We came home and I mixed up some round up and all out attacked our remaining weeds.  I even trimmed a couple of trees out back.  It feels good to accomplish something!  Then I took my bath and crashed on the sofa for a quick nap.  I meant to dust today, but that never happened.  I'll dust tomorrow unless I find another distraction.  I thank God for naps and no timetable for dusting!

Happy July!

Today has been a wonderful July day!  I was able to lay out on the back deck for an hour without the pool!  It's in the mid 80's today, so that's pretty much like a great Kona day!  (Kona is on the dry side of the Big Island and the weather is nearly always great; so a great Kona day is a perfect day to those of us who love the Big Island.)  Love it!  I thank God for our sunshine and great weather.  Lots of people complain about the heat, but cancer doesn't like it hot, so I like it hot!  When it gets up over 100, even I tend to complain, but I do my best to stay inside when it's that hot!  Today has been great!

I've gotten a few details taken care of today, so that's a good thing.  I really hate details!  Now it's time to clean house, again.  That's pretty much a detail, but I'll get into the mode of counting my blessings and it won't be so bad.  I'm really blessed to have a home I love; the least I can do is keep it clean!