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.

It's NOT Holiday Gifts

Just want to get this off my chest. Today, I heard someone say they were almost finished with their Christmas shopping, then said, oh I am sorry, I mean Holiday gifts. What? I am in no way calling my gifts Holiday gifts and not Christmas gifts. Christmas contains the word "Christ" and that is THE only reason why we have Christmas. Because God sent His only begotten son, to earth, as a baby, that would grow into a man who would tell others about salvation. That is why Christmas is so special. No, this Christ child was not born on the 25th of December, as far as we know, but that date still signifies a day, in history, that this child was born. So for me, I will always say Christmas, not holidays. It's not Holiday gifts, or Happy Holidays to me, but Christmas gifts and Merry Christmas is what you will hear from me.

The A - Z of Christmas - The Rest of the Alphabet

OK.....so time has definitely swept by and I am way behind on this.  And being that Christmas is just 3 days away, and with the hustle and bustle....I am going to finish my A - Z of Christmas.

P - Porter's First Christmas - altho he will prob not remember anything of it, and will probably not be that interested in Christmas gifts...it is still his First Christmas.

Q - If anyone can think of a Q for Christmas, would you please let me know.....

R - One of the highlights of the Christmas season, is Riding around looking at Christmas lights. Yes, I know that this is not what Christmas is about....or is it?....but I am so blessed to have eyes that can see, that I love seeing all the beautiful lights and decorations.

S - Star the Wise Men saw
      Stockings - just one of those traditions that we have had since being married
      Santa Claus - many memories associated with Santa Claus....the biggest one, was when my Grandfather dressed up as Santa for all of us grandchildren, and then he did it for his great granddaughter, Chrissy.

T - Tinsel    Toys      Tree

U - ??????

V - Much Visiting goes on during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

W - Wisemen, and Writing letters to Santa Claus, I sure wish I would kept all those letters to Santa.

X - does X-changing gifts work for X?

Y - Yuletide - period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6  - Christmastide

Z - again I came up with nothing for Z.... did you?

Thanks for going along with me on this little ride of the A - Z of Christmas. Any thoughts or imput is very welcome.
MERRY  CHRISTMAS!!! and Happy New Year!

The A - Z of Christmas - L, M, N and O

L - Lights, of course. I love riding around and looking at lights. Especially the light display at The Herr's Potato Chip Factory in Nottingham, PA.

M - Magi - the three wise men that visited the Christ child.  Another M - Money....

N - Nativity - love plays centered around the Nativity. Also enjoy Live Nativities, which I have been involved in many.

O - Ornaments - I have accumulated many ornaments over the years, and have to use each one every year.

The A - Z of Christmas - J & K

J  -  Christmas would not be Christmas, if not for JESUS, of course. That little baby born one morning.....come to the earth for a purpose. This is the main letter, standing for Jesus, of the whole alphabet, regarding Christmas.

J  -  Jingle Bells....not just the song Jingle Bells, but jingle bells. I have bells hanging on several doors throughout the Christmas season. Jingle bells to me, is joy, but ringing.

K  -  (this comes from Travis).....Kissing under the mistletoe....I have mistletoe hanging up in the kitchen, not sure if he and Heather have kissed under it or not yet. As for me....I will never tell   ;).

What are your J's and K's of Christmas??

The A - Z of Christmas - I

I - Icicles  -   We used to use icicles all the time until we found out how dangerous it could be to animals. Now not so much. I think the reason was because of the dogs....that are no longer with us. Now it is probably because of Walter the cat. I do think that icicles really brighten a tree because it sparkles. Wow, the I's of Christmas are hard to come up with. Can you think of just one? I would love to know what you come up with.