Pea-pickers!

The "Whys"

Today was kind of an interesting day for the "Bopsy Twins". They got to hold a baby dove and saw a wild bunny. But they are getting that four-year old disease, "The Whys". Conversation between Hannah and Granpa:

"Granpa, is this a farm"
"Well, sorta, it's a little one."
"Granpa, why is it a little one?"
"Cuz, Granpa doesn't have very much money."
"Well, why don't you ask Gramma for some then and then you can have a big farm?"

Tonight during bedtime stories Phil was reading "Peter Rabbit". Huddy just couldn't get past the idea that, of all things, Farmer McGreagor would put Peter in a pie!

"But why, Granpa? Why would he put Peter in a pie? Why, Granpa?"

The previous video is actually a simulation of what really took place. Phil watched Huddy make about five (larger) circles before running to get me out of the 5th wheel. By the time I ran into the house to get the camera and came out and the door slammed behind me he woke up.

Asleep at the Wheel!

"Grandpa & Gramma are just wearing us out!"

After evicting Mr. Toad (don't worry, we found him a nice home), we finished planting squash and watermelon. (Where is that book about "Willie's Garden?") Hannah was found in her bed with Froggy and Bunny at 11:30! "I'm tiud!" she told Gramma. A quick lunch and an early nap refreshed us for Round Two. Grandpa and Gramma SHOULD have gotten one too!
In the afternoon, Grandpa aired up the wading pool. It was FINALLY warm enough to splash in the watah. After we grilled steak for supper, we planted flowers!

At supper, Hannah looked up and said, "You are sure cute, Grandpa!" She had been telling him throughout the day, "Yer da best, Grandpa!"



"I don't think that stool can hold you, Grandpa!"


If there was an ounce of energy left before bedtime, it was all used up in a game of basketball by Hud and Grandpa. Hud kept saying, "Are we a team, Grandpa?" "Yes, Huddy, we're a team and we're the greatest!" "Yeah!"

Mr. Toad Finds a Home

""Granpa! Look what's in the cement truck!"

Back to work!!

Taking a rest to read a book!

Trekkin' at Ninety-one

Last week we had the priviledge of taking Aunt Mary to El Porvenir. We were well at over 8,000 feet elevation and we hiked up the trail, at some places that were perhaps a 40 degree slope. She is one incredible lady!




Three years ago we took her there and she crossed this creek three times stepping on rocks and walking on logs. But of course, we helped her AND she was only eighty-eight then!




Cousin Bertha came along, too! She takes good care of her mother and is not only a relative but a dear friend and sister in Christ with whom we share our spiritual journey.




Aunt Mary is careful not to allow negative confesions to come out of her mouth. Perhaps that is one of her secrets. I finally figured out when she was tired, she'd say, "The joy of the Lord is my strength."

The best part of the trip, for us was a prayer time when she laid hands on us, insisting on anointing us with oil and prayed for us. What a blessing!

Just Plant a Watermelon Seed On My Grave....

....and let the juice (slurp, slurp) seep through!

Tuesday

"Thank you Josiah for sharing your jeep with us! We are having so much fun riding in it!" You are great!

Day Two on the Farm!

We have a mommy kitty and two kittens. The twins named the mommy "Miss Pinky" and the babies "Hosanna" and "Cupcake". The red daddy kitty was named, "Fire Truck".
Rusty will be happy to know they clearly understand, boy howdy, the kitties stay here!

Sunday With Grandpa and Grandma

I'm the Luckiest Mom in the World!

Today is Mother's Day - that day "once a year" that FTD and Hallmark cashes in on Big time, that we all are obliged to do something for our moms to let them know how special they are, something that often times, if we get right down to it, is a burden. Not that we don't love and appreciate them, but this is the day that "someone" somewhere, decided to proclaim was the day we proved it! And if we didn't, we were bad kids! And if our kids didn't do it, they didn't care about us. Hmmmm. I wonder if they had stock in any particular holiday commodity! Don't get me wrong, I think setting aside a day to honor our parents is a good thing.....it's just that sometimes, well....it just doesn't turn out the way it should. Maybe I have to work on my attitude about it.

Let me honor my mother by saying, I'm a lot like her in my practicality. She would have said, "I'd like to be honored all year, please... not with flowers and cards so much as with your love and your life and all the REAL stuff that counts...with some flowers and cards thrown in here and there." I honor her by thinking of her OFTEN and relishing in what an unbelievably AWESOME women she was!!! I honor her by loving and serving the God she loved and served and emulating her value system that was worth emulating, and that was pretty much all of it even though she was practical to a fault and I have had to work on not being that way. I only wish I could continually tell her how much she meant and her memory means to me! I only wish on a REGULAR basis I could call her up and tell her over and over how precious are my memories of her and how often I see her influence on my life. I wish I could hold her in my arms, kiss her cheeks, stroke her hair and kneel down and call her blessed because of her devotion and constant example of a Christ-like woman. The older I get, the more I realize how fortunate and blessed I am to have had her for a mom AND how BLESSED I am that God loved her enough to take her home early and give her "what eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard." Perhaps it's because she was such an awesome servant of the Lord, he chose to reward her early. My selfishness would have had it differently but my love for her has to let her go.
As far as Mother's Day is for me: These days, as Mother's Day arrives, I am overwhelmed with such undeserving HONOR I can hardly contain the tears! And I cry as I type this! You see, I have three of the most Unbelievable children who have HONORED me in the most incredible ways by just being who they are. They make me ask why I am so blessed for God to have given me them. If ever they ask themselves if their parents know how lucky they are to have them - well, wonder no more, they do! And they think about it daily! If that weren't enough, they honored me by picking spouses who were just as priceless as they.

So Lesli, Pat and Jana, Rusty, Melissa and Josh:

You honored me by all of the things you did and DID NOT do when growing up that gave me so much pride and thanksgiving and no grief.

You honored me by forgiving me for the mistakes I made in being less than the mother I should have been.

You have honored my by your sincere Walk with God and desire to be all he wants you to be.

You have honored me by your concern for others.

You have honored me by choosing a lifestyle that exemplifies the values we raised you with.

You have honored my by prayerfully choosing a mate that upholds those same values.

You have honored me by striving to have a strong marriage and home to raise my grandchildren.

You have honored me by calling and saying "Hi" and I love you. And being interested in my life and making me a part of your life

Well, I could go on and on. I just can't say enough times how much I love and appreciate all of you. Next to your father, you are all the pride of my life. Do know that as I get older and older, I am impressed more and more and am driven more and more to support you in my prayers and a day does not go by that I do not do that. I am ever more impressed to know that that is my current mission in life to not only do that but to know God better and better and leave a spiritual legacy which can be passed down as a maternal blessing for you and your children. I am totally confident it is because I am reaping that same blessing my mother left me!

During my devotions this morning, I came across this passage. I want to claim it for our family!

"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord. My Spirit, who is on
you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth,
or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants
from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
Isaiah 59:21

"I'm the luckiest mom in the world!!"

I'm reading "Holiness, Truth and the Presence of God" by Francis Frangipane, a gift from my precious pastor's wife. Here is some profound quotes:

"We are so eager to do something for Him-anything, as long as we do not have to change inside. God does not need what we can do; He wants what we are. He wants to make us a holy people. And let us not be anxious in this process. Allow him to do a deep inner work of preparation. Jesus did thirty years of sinless purity before he did one year of power. (Wow! that's what hit me between the eyes!) His goal was not to do some great work but to please the
Father with a holy life!"

I dare you to knock that around in your brain with me!

National Day of Prayer..

I just received this email from our church secretary. Our youth group is running over 100 each Wednesday night. My heart just jumped inside to imagine what is in story for Elevate!!!!! Read on:

"Can you picture 15 teenagers waking up at 5:00 am to be at LLFC by 6:00 am just to pray? How about instead of teenagers eating and hanging out at lunch with their friends at school, them coming to LLFC just to pray, or how about a group of teenagers coming straight to LLFC after a long day at school just to pray. This happened yesterday for the National Day of Prayer.

Can you picture teenagers all across Clovis stopping what they are doing at 10:30 every night just to pray for 10 minutes? Believe it or not this is taking place!

Elevate (our youth group) has almost tripled in size since September. God has been faithful to visit them every single week. You see, the leaders of Elevate make prayer a priority. Every Wednesday, at 6:30 they close the doors to the sanctuary and only allow those who want to pray in. Prayer has been the key to the lives of teenagers being changed each week."

Oh, Go Fly A Kite!

Hunky hubby holding down "Ollie":