Sunday, December 31, 2006

Beauty Salon!




My granddaughters thought I needed help! So we had a beauty salon and they fixed me up! Isabella brushed my hair, Haleigh made up my face, and Sydney, with Haleigh's help, gave me a manicure! Oh yes, Haleigh also gave me a massage! I don't know when I have received such special treatment! Maybe they will use their tips tomorrow when we go shopping!

2007 Calendar




Back in 1998 Pam started a new tradition for us by making a calendar of our grandchildren. She hasn't missed a year! Haleigh and Miller were both one year old that year. Boy, how time flies! They'll both be ten this year. Everybody loves to look at the new calendar. Here Rob & Jessica are looking at it and I'm showing it off. It's no longer just grandchildren, families are included now, as you can see in the picture. This is Christy's family with our brand new grandbaby, Madelyn! The calendar arrived in the mail just in time for January 1, 2007. Thanks, Pam! We love it!

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Cousin

Well, yesterday a second cousin of mine died. I never met him, although we talked on the phone once. It seems like I knew him because I knew a lot about him and because I work on genealogy he seemed so close. He was 86 years old. He and my mom were the last two living in her family and now only my mom is left. That's sad. Here's a little bit of family history: Ole and Guri (my great-grandparents) had seven children. Only two of the seven had children, Ludwig and Helen. Ludwig married Laura and had four children (my mother being one of them). Helen married Emmanuel and had one child, Howard. Howard never married and he is the one who just died yesterday. Now Mother is the only one left of that whole generation. How sad. I have five cousins living, children of mothers brothers and sister. Family is so important, I must try to stay in touch, even though two of them I have never met and two I only remember as little boys. But, Judy and I have many wonderful memories from our childhood. Well, I'm going on and on here. But, this is my journal and I can write what I want. So there...

Neighborly Holiday Get-together

Last night was the little neighborly holiday get-together that I went to by mistake last week. Jerry was able to go with me last night so it was much better. We had a very nice time. Patricia had delicious snacks. I tried a cheese I've never eaten before and it was good! I forget the name of it but it was runny and had pecans on top of it, we spread it on crackers. MmmMmm.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Snow!




We woke up to snow this morning! There's not a lot but enough for a picture! Actually the snow on the trees is not as plain in the photo. We didn't have snow for Christmas so this is nice! We have friends and family traveling this week though so we don't want too much snow. God is Sovereign and In Control so we'll not worry, we'll just trust in Him for the weather and safety in travel.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christmas Greetings


Every year I tape the Christmas cards that we receive in the mail on our coat closet door in our living room. They always completely cover the door and spread to the woodwork around the door. Today we got one more card (mailed Dec. 18) but I took this photo yesterday so it's not in the picture, sorry. We love sending and receiving cards, it's the time of year when we hear from folks we love but some we seldom see or hear from. I send out about twice as many cards as we receive so next year I'm going to cut back...way back. If we never hear from some that we send to (I send to everyone in the family that I have addresses for, even ones that live right here in our town) I'm going to have to cut them from my list. It hurts me to even think about it but I really feel it's necessary. So, if you see your card on our door you can be sure you'll get one from us again next year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Monday, December 25, 2006



This little gas station was a gift from Rob & Jessica! It's actually a night light! It's like a gas station that we went to in Saskatchewan, Canada quite a few years ago! In fact, Rob was a baby! We have a picture of our truck being filled up with gas, and this is so real! We love it! Oh, for the good old days when gas was only a few cents a gallon!

Grandma Archer

Today, besides being the birthday ofJesus, would have been Grandma Archer's birthday! She would have been 101 today! She passed away 9 years ago, almost 10 years ago. We miss her too. One of my memories of her is that she would get up early every Christmas morning, drive out to our house, be here before 6:00 to take part in our opening of presents! Sometimes she got here so early we weren't even up yet!

Merry Christmas!






Merry Christmas! We just had a wonderful family time with two sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. We wish the rest of the family could have been here but too many miles separate us. We opened lots and lots of gifts and had a big dinner of ham, baked potatoes, 2 salads, corn, rolls, and apple pie, with lots of smiles and laughter. The first picture is of Haleigh, barely Rob, Jessica, and Ted very interested in something! The second picture shows the tree and gifts (they don't all show!), we were so blessed. The third picture is of Jerry, he had just opened a travel mug with cute pictures of Sydney and Isabella all around it! The fourth one is one of those times when you want to say what is it? Well, it's a cap rack bought at an art show! It's very clever! But the best part of all of this day is that Jesus is the reason for the season!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Jerry

All last week end Jerry had a tooth ache. First thing Monday morning I called the dentist and they got him right in. Well, it wasn't a tooth. The dentist said it must be a sinus infection and prescribed an antibiotic for him. He took the medicine until Thursday with no relief, and in fact, he got worse. But he wouldn't let me call the doctor because the medicine was going to kick in soon and then he'd be better. Well, by Thursday noon he was in such pain he could hardly stand it. So I called the doctor and once again we got right in! By now the pain was excruciatingly painful.The doctor knew right away what it was and put him on a pain killer and also something else to take care of the problem. It has to do with the nerves in his cheek. They also took a blood sample, I think, because they said sometimes people who get shingles also get this. We haven't seen any other signs of shingles though. He's a little better today but I think the medicine is making him groggy and sleepy. This has a nice long name but I'm not a medical person so I don't know what it's called. I praise you, Lord, because You are our Healer!

Embarrassing Moment

Last evening I had a very embarrassing moment! Our neighbors, right behind us, called about a week ago and invited us over for Friday evening, 7:00 for a little neighborly get-together during the holidays. Neighbors on the other side of them had also been invited. Jerry was sick but we decided I should go alone. So I got ready, took a small gift for each of the other two couples and drove over because it was raining and I didn't want to walk in with wet shoes. I was the first one there so I parked in the turn around so I could leave after a short time (since I was alone). I rang the door bell a couple of times before Larry answered the door. He had on jeans and a sweat shirt and looked a little puzzled when he saw me. Something was not right. I said, "Oh oh, have I got the wrong night?" Larry smiled and said, "Are you here for the little neighborly get-together?" I was sure she said Friday evening. "Well," I said, "I thought I was." Oh boy! You guessed it, it's next week! They invited me in and we sat down and visited for about an hour and then I came home. I left one gift for them. I know, I know, it could happen to anyone. But, it happened to me! I think there is a lesson to be learned here...

Friday, December 22, 2006

My Dad

Today would have been my dad's 97th birthday! He left us one year ago on Dec. 18, 2005. I miss him very much. I know where he is and some day I'm going to join him!

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Granddaughter #6


Here she is, Madelyn Grace! She's a real beauty! And a sweetie! That's me holding her in case you don't recognize me! This was taken on Sunday, the day she came home from the hospital. So she was only about a day and a half old! What a difference from when I had my babies! I was in the hospital with my babies from 5-7 days! I think I got more rest than Christy did coming home so soon. But, I know I'm old fashioned!!! What makes me sad is knowing that by the next time I see Madelyn she'll look entirely different! She'll only be three weeks old this Friday. Thank you, Lord, for Madelyn and for giving us that special time with her.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

MmmmMmmm!

Today being the beautiful, relatively warm day that it was, we decided to have a cookout! The temperature was in the fifties, Jerry was out on the deck, in his shirt sleeves, grilling T-bone steaks! I was inside fixing baked potatoes, summer squash, cole slaw, and chocolate pudding. It was sooo good! MmmmMmmm! The steaks were perfect. Mine, just a shade of pink, Jerry's, just the way he likes it. Perfect!!! This is December and we are home in Michigan, aren't we???

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Christmas Trees




Here are our Christmas trees for 2006! The first tree is on our front porch. It's an artificial tree that we actually garbage picked! I have red bows and white styrofoam balls and bells on it with white lights. We have it tied so the wind won't blow it away, but it looks like it's leaning a bit! The second tree is in our sunroom. It's a live tree. It's decorated with all angels, red balls, colored lights and one little homemade sheep! It would seem like one of our granddaughters made it but no...Martha made it years ago when they lived here. You can see it on the left side right beside a red ball. We're not doing as much decorating as we usually do, but that's okay, Christmas is coming anyway! We celebrate the birth of Christ. Jesus is the reason for the season and wise men still seek Him today.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Northern Lights

Last night we watched the Northern Lights. Jessica called and said they were out by the road watching and wondered if we knew about them. We didn't so we walked out to the road in almost total darkness. Cars were even parked by the road watching. It's so amazing! We have seen them better, like the night we watched when we were at the lake in Sask., Canada! But I was glad we got to see them last night too. Then later I heard about them on the 11:00 news. There are storms on the sun causing them! We should be able to see the Northern Lights again tonight and even tomorrow night. I hope the sky clears up, it's all cloudy right now. Some more of God's creativity!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Happy belated Birthday!

Happy belated Birthday, Christy! I wasn't able to get on line yet to wish you a happy birthday on December 10. When you were born we had Teddy, Timmy, and Pammy so you evened up the family and gave Pam a sister! We were all very happy. So, Happy belated Birthday, Christy, we love you.

Happy Birthday

Happy belated Birthday, Rob! I've been posting family birthdays but couldn't get on line to write yours. Sorry about that. Dec. 8, 1972 was the big day when you joined our family as baby # 5! The whole family was very excited and I was totally exhausted! I was very happy too. You were and are loved! Happy belated Birthday!

God's Voice

We were on our way home from Georgia, north of Cincinnati, Ohio, I was driving. The traffic was terrific! Four lane highway. Suddenly something up ahead caused a major traffic problem. We moved ahead at a snail's pace, then stopped dead, then crept ahead only to stop again. Four lanes changed to three lanes, which didn't help any. It was time to creep forward again but I suddenly realized we weren't moving! Oh, no! We had no power! Nothing! I was in the left hand lane so I slowly moved over to the shoulder...but it wasn't a complete shoulder and there was a cement barrier! The back of the car on the passenger side was still in the lane of traffic but I couldn't get the car to move any farther! Neither one of us could get out: Jerry, because of the cars and trucks barely missing us, and me, because of the cement barrier. So Jerry tried starting it again and did everything he knew to do from inside. The car was dead. Would my cell phone connect with Ohio 911 or because my area code is 989 would it connect with Michigan 911? I decided I'd better try. Ohio 911 picked up! Boy, I don't understand all this new technology! I told her our problem and where we were, she called the police for us. We waited what seemed like an hour but was actually only minutes for the police to arrive. There was a service drive, thank goodness. He never would have made it through the traffic. He climbed over another cement barrier, held up the traffic and came over to us, thinking we were out of gas! Jerry explained our problem. Thank goodness the traffic was still creeping along or he would have had a problem getting them to stop. One car was going to go anyway, but the policeman stopped and pointed his finger at the man which told him he'd better not move!!! We put the car in neutral, I steered, Jerry and the policeman pushed our car across those three lanes to the right hand shoulder which was plenty wide. Then he called AAA for us and told us to stay put, to not get out of the car! Before the policeman left, he looked at me and said, "You know, you could have been hit over there!" I humbly nodded and said, "Yes, I know." The problem up ahead cleared up and the cars and trucks were now zooming by us. Every semi-truck shook our car as they flew by. We sat there and sat there, my eyes were glued to the rear view mirror, looking for the AAA wrecker. Oh, yes, we had another problem to complicate our situation. Our credit card had expired and we didn't have enough cash to pay for repairs and meals and a motel for the night! Thank goodness for our children! Pam said not to worry, we could give her number and put our expenses on her credit card! Thanks, Pam. Well, you can be sure we were both praying for help from the Lord. We were both pretty quiet during this time. We just wanted to get home. Out of all the hundreds of cars and trucks that zoomed by us only one truck blew his horn at us and only one car stopped to ask if we needed help! A young guy pulled off onto the shoulder way up ahead of us and came slowly driving in reverse all the way to us to ask if he could do something to help us! Jerry thanked him and assured him AAA was on the way. We'd been sitting for an hour and a half when something said to me, "Start the car." I thought to myself, yeah, right. The car won't start, it's dead. Again, I heard, so clearly, "Start the car." So I sighed and reached down and turned the key, knowing nothing would happen...the engine started! Jerry said, "Rev it up!, rev it up!" I did and it ran like nothing was wrong! He said, "Let's go!" But I said, "Oh, no, I'm done driving." So we both jumped out and switched sides. Off we went! The policeman had given us the police phone number in case we had another problem so I called and asked them to please call AAA and cancel the order, we were okay now. For lunch we ate some sun chips we had in the car and each a can of diet pepsi. We didn't stop until we were in Michigan and had to get gas! I bought us each a chili dog and some nacho chips and another diet pepsi and we were on the road again! It felt like something was chasing us and we had to get home! As we drove I remembered something...we'd been waiting for about an hour when we suddenly heard a ticking sound. We fiddled around trying to figure out what it was, and Jerry hit the emergency flasher button. The ticking stopped. Now we know that the flashers had suddenly started working...we had power again. But at the time we didn't realize it. We also know now what that something was that spoke to me! It was the Lord! I'd been praying, praising Him because He is sovereign and in control, and asking Him to please help us. He answered. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Sweet little Madelyn




Well, we're back home and I'm back on line and blogging again! Here are some pictures I took: All five kids and Christy! Christy and Madelyn; Madelyn Grace. She was awake so I couldn't resist taking her picture. She's a beautiful baby. Thank you, Lord, for her life.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Madelyn Grace

Madelyn Grace made her appearance last night at 11:58 PM which makes her birthday Dec. 1. She weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and is 20 inches long. She has some dark hair and is a real beauty! I've taken pictures but I may have to wait until I get back home to post them. We're all very happy, especially Christy! They'll be coming home tomorrow. I'll probably stay until Friday and then make my way home. How we thank God for a safe delivery and a healthy baby and Mama.