Our Family - 2015

Just want to put this out there: I am so very proud of my family. That includes my husband, my kids, my children's spouses, and my grandchildren. Each one is special in their own way.

My husband has been a wonderful provider and protector through our almost 38 years of marriage. He will always be my Knight in Shining Armor. I am so proud to be his wife, and to have lived this life together. We have had a wonderful ride in this thing we call Life. It has not been easy all the time, but the good definitely has outweighed the bad.

Chrissy, has always worked to help provide for her family, proud at how she has never met a stranger, and keeps busy with Austin and Jordyn. When she was younger, I never had to fight her to get up in the mornings. She was always ready to face the new day. Josh is a great Dad, has a special relationship with his two kids. I have watched the interaction between him and the kids, esp Austin, and he is great with them.

Devin, who has become a great young man.  He held out for a special woman to become his wife after having heartbreak. And how he has taught himself to play the guitar and other instruments, and have become a very good at it (not with any help from me). He is also very good at writing songs. Erin, you are a very special daughter, can't say in law, because you are like a daughter to me. You have made my son very happy and you two make a great pair. Looking forward to seeing the newest grandchild in March of 2016.

Heather, I have watched her transform into a wonderful woman, great wife and mom to her boys. She has  made their little house a beautiful home. Her little boys are truly Mama's boys, and they know how much she loves them. Travis, you are very talented when it comes to music. And I am proud of how you have provided for your little family. I know its not always easy. God will always bless you for that.

And I am so proud of the little guys in our family, Austin, Jordyn, Porter, Jackson and new ones that will come along. Each one has special qualities and I have a fondness and love for each of them, a special place in my heart for each.

All three of our kids, have many qualities of their father. They each have a calmness and soft speech as their father. I hope that each of these individuals that make up our little family, know how proud I am of them all and that I love them all.

Each of these families within our family also have a heart for God. And have built their home on Jesus, and the little ones are being taught about Him. How that church is very important, and that the parents are being those Christian leaders of their homes. No, none of them are perfect but I believe that each set of parents are striving to be better parents through Him. Hopefully Ricky and I have set examples for them to follow on this family thing.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

       Easter Sunday, April 11, 1971

         This song has been playing on a TV commercial lately. Every time I hear it, it takes me way back to another time. Another age. My son (in law), asked a question on Facebook if there was a song, that when you hear it now, takes it instantly take you make to another place. Well, here is my song:

"Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail, Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way, 

Bringin' every girl and boy, Baskets full of Easter joy, Things to make your Easter bright and gay

He's got jelly beans for Tommy, Colored eggs for sister Sue, 

There's an orchid for your mommy, And an Easter bonnet too

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day

Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail, Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way, 

Try to do the things you should, Maybe if you're extra good, He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way

You'll wake up on Easter mornin', And you'll know that he was there
When you find those chocolate bunnies, That he's hiding everywhere

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail, Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day"

        Easter was quite the big deal when I was growing up. Even though, at the time, my family did not attend church very much, we still were dressed up. I remember we went shopping before Easter, and found the perfect dresses, suits, hats, and shoes. The song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", was THE song we learned and sang for the holiday. And we knew the words too. Time has slowly taken away the memories of those lyrics, but not enough so, that I cannot remember them at all. 

       Thank God for those memories. In the above picture, that is my Mom in the yellow dress, and I am standing behind her, my cousin Denny is behind me. My cousin Denise is in the front of the donkey and the two boys in the back are my cousin Jimmy and my brother Keith. I wonder if they have the same memories of this song as I do? The song has not been lingering in my mind lately though. Is that because I am now of the "age"? And these songs have no place? Not at all. I taught this song to my kids when they were growing up and I guess I need to be teaching it to my grandkids now. I hope my kids all have those same fond memories of Easter as I have carried for these many years now. 

       The memories of looking for the right dress up clothes, the excitement of a waiting Easter basket, the Easter egg hunts (with real eggs that we colored ourselves), the coloring of many Easter eggs, (that were eaten for a week past Easter),  the big Easter dinner that my grandmother made for all of the family. Seems so long ago now. But what fun we had.

        Now I know that Easter is not the eggs, the baskets, the dress up clothes, but the day our Lord and Savior rose again from the tomb. That is another treasure full of memories. As I got older, that became very important to me. And we have taught our kids that this is the very heart of Easter, not the other stuff. But we also had fun with the kids doing the egg hunts, shopping for clothes the Easter baskets, and those things made for great memories as our kids were growing up. 

        And now that we have grandchildren, I want to make those fun memories with them too, along with teaching them that Jesus is the reason for Easter. i want them to grow up with the kinds of memories I had growing up. We will celebrate Easter as a family on Good Friday. We will talk about what Easter means, but we will also color Easter eggs, have an Easter egg hunt, and I will give them Easter baskets. We will be making those memories that will last a lifetime.