Target ( Not TeaTime ) Tuesday

I have been away from my computer but stopped in briefly to post and see what you all have been up to. No tea cups or tea parties today. I have things to attend to and visiting grandchildren to enjoy. Above is a picture of my day with our youngest son and his wife as they kindly allowed me to try my hand at some target practice.

O.K. Mom, there is the target, stapled to a dead tree trunk.

Our daughter-in-law Breezy smiles before she...

...cleanly hits the target almost all the time.

My turn.

Did I hit it?

Maybe once or twice, but look, we killed some firewood!

Time Flies As Swiftly As The Wind!

This weekend came and went so swiftly, as swiftly as the wind storm that blew into our area in the Monday a.m. as I was cleaning up while thinking about our special week end company. As I began to write a blog post the winds slammed the house, the lights flickered and the computer did that thing it does as the power comes and goes. So I shut down the computer and tried to distract myself from the sound of the winds. I finally did get to sleep after I plugged my ears and snuggled under the covers. I awoke to a home with no electric power and had to call my friendly neighborhood sheep shearer and cancel a shearing appointment for 2 rams.Above is a picture of a bird's nest I found in the huge branches that came down onto the roof of our sheep shed. Our youngest son, his wife, and one of our oldest son's daughters came to visit over the weekend. We were happy to host an Artistry product party here for Breezy and lunch was served along with a great and informative presentation. Above is Breezy, Judy, and daughter A.Joy listening to Breezy talk about the benefits of the products.

I got to cuddle little MN as I listened.

The granddaughters had fun playing dress-up. They were giggling as they showed us their finery. The 2 blue dresses were worn by my sisters in my wedding.

Later on that day we had home church in our home, then visited some more late into the evening with Daniel, Breezy, and our granddaughter who quickly fell asleep on my lap after we polished our fingernails together. She got striped nails!

Oldest Son's #3 daughter hugs Aunt Breezy....

...and Uncle Daniel. His birthday was Sunday and my husband made him a chocolate cheesecake a la Nigella Lawson. Do you know, he shared one piece with my husband, his Dad, and then took the rest of it home! Why, the cheesecake got boxed up before I could take a picture of it.I think he likes chocolate cheesecake. I also received a needle-felting kit in the mail so I can participate in the needle-felting challenge issued by Shannon Phifer of Kenleigh Acres ( click here to view her blog*) . Check out her blogs about her farm, and her studio. Don't you just love weekends, and all they bring?They come and go so very quickly....and time flies swiftly...like the wind. And then comes Monday...MY day of rest!

Family Friday, A Tribute of Love

Left to right; youngest son Daniel, oldest son David, daughter A.Joy

Our three children, now grown. They love each other very much, they love us very much, and they are there for each other. Our daughters' husband and children, and our youngest son and his wife have been very active in prayer and the practical outworking of their love for each other in helping their brother, our oldest son do what is best for his 4 daughters and for himself. This is our beloved daughter-in-law, Breezy. She is holding their 2 Jack Russells, Shotgun and Ruger. Can you see the sadness in her eyes? This picture was taken the day she and our son David came back from court in California with the bad news that the little girls had to be returned to their mother for the summer and the little girls whole future was up in the air and in the hands of the courts we had no faith in. This picture breaks my heart and still brings tears to my eyes. Our oldest son and his daughters live with our youngest son and his wife. They all have their own rooms because Daniel, David, Breezy and friend Josua helped make new rooms and special bunk beds for the girls. Breezy is there for the girls when their father has to work. Breezy is there to do laundry, prepare meals, and cuddle, love, teach and correct when necessary. Breezy was accused of terrible things by the little girls' mother , and slandered falsely in court documents. This last spring and summer have been a nightmare of filing court documents and proofs rebutting one ridiculous false accusation after another. They were easy to disprove, but boy...legal proceedings , even if the accusations are false, consume major amounts of energy and money and can sure sap the joy out of a person. ( the goal of them in the first place) Breezy, we love you and thank God for you! This is Daniel and Breezy posing for me, the perpetual photographer around here. They look pretty happy here, this was taken when we did not know how awful our summer was going to be.You might note in many of the rest of the pictures , most of the adults have a sad or strained look around the eyes, the set of the mouth, or carriage, because we knew things little girls do not. And in spite of our trust in God we could not completely cease our concerns for them, after all, we only had to hear about each nightly phone call from the girls mother and how the girls would be in tears and fearful...purt near EVERY night. This is my sister Joni holding our granddaughter MN. Cheerleader and prayer warrior for our son and his daughters. Joni has a soft spot for our men and women in the military and she , her husband, their extended family and church family have had David ( and many others in the military ) on their prayer list since his first deployment to Iraq. As they and others watched the tragedy of David's return home to , well, disaster, one after another- with the courts seeming blind to massive amounts of legal proofs of the need for the girls to be given to their father for their own safety and well being, and the people praying for them would be amazed at the depth of callousness and avarice on display in the court system. Why didn't anyone who could change things legally seem to care? My other sisters, Karen and Tricia, cheerleaders and prayer warriors too. They keep in touch, offer encouragement and love the little girls. Their families have been praying for us, and by the way, all the family has chipped in to help out with the massive legal bills we have acquired, believe me, none of us are rich. Whenever David's girls are in town my sister Karen comes over loaded with fun gifts and plays with them. They call her the 'Fairy Godmother'. Everyone needs aunties like that! My husbands' father has been in bad health and this crisis in his oldest grandson and namesakes' life has not helped. He has worried and prayed, prayed and worried. He himself raised his 6 children pretty much singlehandedly due to my husbands' mothers' illness much of their childhood. My father-in-law gives God ALL the credit for his 6 children growing up to be Godly men and women...and he has a legacy of many, many grandchildren who love and serve God and we are praying the great-grandchildren are drawn to God too....Thank-you Dad B. My husbands' mother,some siblings, cousin and nephew and niece....all have prayed for our son and his daughters and each other too. You know, many of the people I have pictured have gone through some pretty hair-raising experiences themselves, and trust God all the more. Thank-you God for these loved ones. More of the family, I am wearing red. This is just before a wonderful family camp fire where we sang hymns to guitar music, laughed and talked and ended in prayer for David who could not help show the strain of worrying about his daughters in California and the distressing phone calls he would get, not knowing where his daughters were except they were far away and legally he could do nothing about this but pray. He also hurt deeply because he had lost his dream of a happy marriage and family, and he could see his sister, brother, cousins , aunts and uncles enjoying happy families. This is a hurt that will probably always be there. Isn't divorce just yucky? Thank-you all for upholding us and him, and for giving Godly counsel of encouragement and wisdom. Thank-you to my husband, who has been hit hard in the heart to see such tragedy dumped on our son, and sometimes the sadness for this alone seems able to cripple, and like our son,he is also concerned for 4 precious little girls, but we KNOW God has protected them thus far and He has plans for them and us, and He is in control whether we feel like it or not. The judge gave our son primary custody of these four little girls, his daughters, our granddaughters. They will be turned over to their father tomorrow evening, and David and Breezy will bring them back home, where they will have to heal from the summer they have had, yes, HEAL.They will start back up in the school they thrived in last year, they will tend Snickers the pony and their cats, resume riding lessons from their Uncle and be free to read the Bible and sing songs of praise to God. "I will praise You , O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works; I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name O Most High. Psalm 9:1,2 note: there are many, many dear friends and family I have not mentioned that mean so much to all of us and who have upheld us in prayer. Thank-you all. And to my blogging friends, you caused me to weep with joy at your e-mails expressing the prayers of your hearts. Thank-you! Our son was humbled when I read him the many expressions of love and prayer from you all. And also, thank-you God for giving us a judge who read the documents and ruled justly.

Li-li No Eyes

~This is Li-li sitting in a dog food dish.No, she is not the dog's dinner, she is the dogs' boss! She is named Luck of the Irish but called Li-Li, because these are the initials of a long name. Li-li has no eyes. ~ Breezy, our daughter-in-law , found Li-li by the side of the road on a winter's night. A very, very, cold( 25 degrees below zero cold) night. She was a teeny tiny kitten with very badly infected eyes. It is doubtful she ever had the ability to see because her eyes were so infected at such an early age it is probable they were damaged before her kitten eyes ever opened.Our Breezy is very tenderhearted, and brought the kitten home to show our son Daniel, her husband. Now Daniel can spot a big vet bill in the making and here was a little kitty in sorry shape, one they did not own, and one he was not about to be responsible for. Yeah, right! ~Our son later told me that he firmly said NO!!! to the idea of taking the kitten to the vet, but when Breezy broke down in tears, well...what do you think?My son set a limit on the vet bill and said if the vet could not fix the kitten for that amount she was to have the kitten put down. Apparently the vet is a softie too, because the procedures should have cost a lot more but the vet stayed well within the limit set. Anyway, the vet discovered one eye had already burst from the infection and took it out and cleaned the socket , sent Breezy home with antibiotics. But alas, the other eye succumbed to infection too. ~You would not know Li-li is blind. From an early age that cat could control the animals in the house. She knows her way around and often will reach out and snatch me as I pass by her. I have seen her lift her head and seem to stare at things out the window. She is amazing. She is loved, and she is part of the family.

~Breezy still rescues cats, and Jack Russell terriers, and people. Our Miss Marple is one of Breezy's rescues. Thank-you Breezy, we love you.~

It's Breezy's Birthday!

~Breezy is the wife of our youngest son. Breezy is our daughter-in-law, and we consider her a daughter-in-love, because we love her very, very, much!Above is a picture of Breezy on her wedding day( to our son) , with her dog Birney (rt.) and our son's dog Taz . Birney and Taz were in the wedding and a part of the festivities and are still very much part of Breezy's and our son's life. ~Christmas family portraits. Here are our son, Breezy, and Taz. Taz is wearing a bow tie too.My Hubby requested I post this picture because he likes it very much. He also wanted me to make sure I had a picture of Breezy with her blue hair.Breezy sometimes has pink hair, and sometimes it looks purple. The nieces think this is so cool, and they do all say " Aunt breezy is the coolest." ~Breezy is the coolest...she can shoot ( guns), ride (horses), drive big rigs, cook, and keep our son fed! And she also is very hospitable to groups of family, feeding us all well..and our animals, should we bring them along for the visit. All this and look great! Manicured nails, beautiful hair...super woman!Best of all, she is fierce with her love for our son I tell you, fierce! Our son has no better help mate and defender, love and wife than Breezy! We just know God knew right from the start the wife Daniel needed and good thing Daniel recognized it...Happy Birthday Breezy!

~"And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him." Genesis 2:18

~Happy Birthday to our daughter-in-love, and you're a blessing to us all.~

What A Weekend!

~We started the weekend sharing brunch in our home with our youngest son and his wife, and a friend of theirs. Hubby cooked up a fine early feast of farm fresh eggs, hash browns, bacon, eggs, sausages and toast smothered in home made jam and home raised honey.We had a few hours of catching up time and enjoying each other, then they were away! They live 6 hours drive on the other side of the mountains and weather and time often make family visits rare occurrences. Our daughter-in-law also has a lot of family in the area so they have to share their time here with many of us. We are always happy to have them here and sad to see them leave...but we know where they live and will visit in the spring!

~Sunday we had a Tinkerbell Party to attend! Our great-niece, (granddaughter of Hubby's youngest sister and her husband, who also live next door) was celebrating her 3rd birthday! I'll call her Little 'A'. She is so cute!~

~Here she carefully unwraps one of her many presents. There were a lot of her uncles, aunties, grandparents and cousins here. Lots of wonderful food, and her Grandpa S, our brother-in-law, also known as the "Ice Cream Man", had a soft serve ice cream maker and served us all pink soft ice cream cones! YUM! You know, as Little 'A' knows. PINK ice cream is the best, because it is pink! ~Here is Little A holding our youngest grandchild, Little J( above ). Aren't they cute together ? Little A is so petitie I am surprised she held our grandson so long. He is NOT petite. ~Here I am holding my youngest grandson. I had 4 grandchildren present, but they were very happy playing with all the cousins and the cousin's cousins, and enjoying the snow outside, the ice cream cones...sigh. Grandma's lap cannot compete. But hey, the Little J can't walk or run yet and was happy for laps to sit in. ~And looky here, I got Tinkerbell party favors! I think I will wear my fairy crown tomorrow while I do my chores. The weather calls for clear, sunny, very cold weather, so I just might need these sunglasses and wouldn't it be pretty to blow bubbles in the sunshine while I snack on the candy treats? Blessings: family, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, family

Spot On "Family Trip" to Vegas

~We've loaded the car and we're on our way to Vegas ! Youngest son Daniel and his wife Breezy are going on a business trip and since oldest son and his 4 daughters live 2-3 hours away from Vegas in California, they will join us for a family get-together! Daniel and Breezy. Daniel is a farrier (horse-shoer) and horse trainer. He used to ride bulls and bucking horses and calf-rope too. Fortunately for me, his Mom, he doesn't rodeo anymore .

~Oldest son David, fresh out of 12 years with the U.S.M.C., and 2 tours of Iraq as a tanker. Last tour as a tank commander . I am also thankful he is not active U.S.M.C. anymore. Here David poses for me with his 4 daughters, 4 of my 6 granddaughters .

~Aunt Breezy swims in the hotel pool with # 6 Granddaughter ! The hotel pool was one of the trip highlights for the little girls. 

Uncle Daniel also takes a turn at swimming with #6 Granddaughter. 

Uncle Daniel, the Human Water Park !

How many little girls can grab and hang on ?

~~~Help!~~~

I get to cuddle #3 Granddaughter.

Aunt Breezy is the coolest! Really, that is what the nieces and nephew say !

And Uncle Daniel rocks !

~I had a great time, with 4 very energetic and friendly little girls. I am blessed with good health and lots of energy so I was able to keep up with them, and I slept well at night. We swam, played in the sand , took walks around the beautiful and vast gardens and pools of the Vegas Marriot Hotel and just hung out together. ~We did spend one hectic day on the Vegas Strip, to see the 'Kid Friendly" attractions. More on that tomorrow. But I say, vacation wise, Vegas is for adults and if kid friendly is your priority there are hundreds, probably thousands of other places you should choose !