# 59

I celebrated a birthday yesterday!

Hubby took me to dinner at a place I had never been...

 La Parilla Mexican Restaurant.

It was a beautiful pleasant night,

so we ate on their patio

 Little E was there, too...

and her parents!

The three of us "girls" waiting for our dinner.

My gift from my sweet daughter and family

 was very thoughtful and creative.

The red "milk" bottle (you can see it in first picture)

held a colorful fall arrangement,

a cute "country" sign that says

"My Kitchen...Help Wanted",

 and a coupon book made just for me.

 I can redeem each one to spend special

 time with my sweet girl doing the things we enjoy!

Sure look forward to cashing those in!!

When I wasn't looking, the servers surprised me 

with a song, dessert, and a sombrero!!

It wasn't too embarrassing!! :-)

It was a fun way to end a nice day.

Friends and family were very kind and thoughtful

with calls and cards and texts and emails.

(And I had a wonderful lunch with a dear friend, too!)

I've reached the end of a decade...I have

a year to decide if I'll enter the next one or not!!:-)

signs of the times

We are back from our camping trip. It was a beautiful park and we had a fun time with the "grands"! More on that later when I'm not so tired! We traveled the back roads to get to the park and to get to our son's house in Tenn. So, we saw some country churches and their signs. Here are three sayings that I thought were worth mentioning:

"You can't sweeten the water

by painting the pump."

"When you are down to nothing,

God is up to something."

"Trouble looks back,

worry looks ahead,

Faith looks up."

What do you think? :-)

popping the pop-up!

google image

That's where we are headed tomorrow! Going north to the mountains for the weekend. We'll be picking up our two oldest grandgirls in TN on Friday and are looking forward to having a special time with them.

We have a campsite reserved at a state park that we have never been to before, so we are counting on a great adventure! There's a lake, miniature golf, a playground, and hiking trails. Plus Gran is going prepared with games, puzzles, and movies! Of course, I will have my trusty camera along...so there will be pictures to document it all! Hope you have a great weekend, too!

adoption

I heard something last night that I had heard once before, a long time ago.  I think it spoke to me more this time because I know or know of many couples who... have adopted or are in the process of or are open to...adopting children. Even some who have natural children are hoping to enlarge their family in this way. Anyway, this is what I heard... we all know that natural parents have the right, by law, to disown their children. And most of us have heard of parents who, in extreme circumstances,  have done just that. Did you know that adoptive parents can't do that? When they appear before a judge to finalize the adoption, they have to take an oath to provide for, protect and care for the child. They also swear to never abandon or disown them.They are bound by that oath forever.

With that in mind, Ephesians 1: 5 takes on an even greater meaning...

"God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family
by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.
That is what He wanted to do, and it gave 
Him great pleasure."

This is the New Living translation...not so good for study or memorization...but it's nice to read. And in this case, makes the truth much more personal. Just like other parents, He adopted us because He wanted to and it pleased Him. We are His and He is committed to us...forever!

pre-labor day labor

Saturday, the Hubby and I spent the afternoon at our daughter

 and son-in-law's house. They bought it (their first house!)

 in May. It is an older home, so it needed some repairs and some"sprucing up". They have installed a ceiling fan and some light fixtures and painted their bedroom.

A few weeks ago, she decided she was ready to tackle the 

kitchen. She started with the cabinets. She sanded and painted

(top white, bottom black) and replaced hardware. Her new

counter tops will tie the black/white together. They look great!

She decided to leave the doors off this one...and paint the inside this lovely aqua color to show off her pretty white dishes and crystal. Doesn't it look nice?

Saturday, the two hubbies installed a microwave

with an exhaust fan over the stove.

First, they had to remove part of the cabinet.

 Then after wiring, mounting brackets,

 and numerous trips into the attic...

it was time to put it in place!

Ta-Dah! The finished product!

All the while, the lady of the house was painting the walls!

( a lighter shade of the aqua in the cabinets)

My responsibility...

was keeping this little one happy...

and from getting stepped on!

I think I had the best job!

What do you think?

P.S. We tried the Frosty recipe. We had it in the freezer almost four hours and it was milkshake consistency. I'm not sure I would say it taste "exactly" like it, but it was pretty tasty! Our girl loves Frostys and she was impressed...so that says a lot!

our doll babies...

are growing and growing...

Little E...10 months!

 Little L...5 months!

And our other grands are growing, too. 

We have two in kindergarten and one in fourth grade!

Where did those years go??

There is no way to describe or understand the joy
of having grandchildren until you hold your first 
one in your arms. They are special, delightful,
beautiful gifts from God.
How grateful we are for them!

a little "frosty" at home

IDK...I haven't tried it, but I just saw this recipe
 for a frosty like Wendy's...

1 quart rich chocolate milk 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Blend in blender until smooth.

Pour into freezer safe container with lid.

Freeze for two hours, stirring every 30 mins.

I bet my grands would like it...

and my daughter...

she loves her Frostys!! :-)