Tag Archives: Birthdays

Birthdays

This past weekend was full of family birthdays. Our dear Maddie turned 18 on Saturday- and we’re still trying to figure out where all of those years have gone!
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She’s a senior this year – and I know God has great things in store for this young, beautiful Jesus-lover!
Maddie
And then on Sunday, THIS senior turned 74.
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As birthdays go, it was a pretty quiet day since we were driving to Louisiana to help out at a favorite ministry for a couple of weeks. But through the modern miracle of cell phones and Facebook, I had so many lovely birthday greetings that even without a piece of cake, it was still a pretty fine day!
And then providentially this morning a friend shared this video.

Whether you’re wrapping up your second decade like Maddie, or almost halfway through your eighth, these lyrics still ring true –
Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still good news worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord

Amen!
Thanks for stopping by,
Steph

A two-fer

September third is a good day in our family. Back in 2010, we welcomed this little guy into our family –
Noah-5
He was the first boy in that generation, and was instantly loved by his three older sisters.
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Today he turned 15!
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And while he is still adored by his sisters (most days, anyway!), he is  quite the commanding presence these days!
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(That’s his big sister he’s standing by!).
Happy birthday to one sweet, smart, kind (and pretty darn cute), guy!! We love you!
And in other news – Back in 1971, these two kids were getting ready to tie the knot!

And today we celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary with some shopping and a fine dinner out!
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Hope September 3rd was a good day in your neighborhood, too!
Let’s PAARRTY!
Steph

Celebrating the Day that Changed Everything!

The day you become a parent for the first time (well, for every time actually, right?) will always be remembered. And it is not different when you become a grandparent. We’ve been incredibly blessed to welcome twelve grandchildren into our family, but today we are celebrating the one that started it off! The one who taught us all of the ins and outs of how to become Grams and Pops. And today this little smiling imp
Ellie at 6 months
turns twenty-two!

Ellie is in her last semester of college, doing her student teaching in Art Education. She’s all the things – kind, compassionate, smart and quite beautiful! She’s hard worker and a great big sister – and we love her to the moon and back!
Happy Birthday, Ellie! You’ve done a great job of leading the way!

A couple of glitches and some birthday wishes!

Just like any 20-year-old dwelling (whether it’s on wheels or not), things are bound to break. When we got Lizzie back from her spa treatment (and new turbo thingamajig), we noticed that the levelers were not working. It wasn’t a big deal at the moment since we were parked on a nice level concrete pad, but that is not usually the case. Gary did a bit of troubleshooting, contacted an RV tech, zeroed in on the problem, and while it took a bit of time, finally got the parts on order.
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They have just now arrived and hopefully all will be well by the time the weekend is over! Our spot here at Forest Glen is level-ish, and I just have to chase after our wheeled chairs now and then. It’s all good!
We also noticed when we set out from Kentucky to drive to Texas that our water pump wasn’t working. Really??? Well, a stop at Walmart to pick up several gallons of water and we were good to go. We’ve spent weeks and weeks at our Vermont cabin without running water, so we are well-trained in life without water coming out of the spigot. And the toilet still flushed with a little water rinse so no problem there. Now that we’re hooked up to ‘city water’, the pump isn’t necessary, but the part is in hand and hopefully is also on the “needs to be fixed” list for the weekend.
Meanwhile – a slightly bigger glitch appeared when we were at our Lindale house and Gary started working on the shed space that is destined to be my very own sewing studio. (Ok, it’s just a sewing room – but “studio” sounds pretty fancy, right?). First up was addressing those soft spots on the floor. His first thought was some water damage, so he was quite dismayed to discover that it wasn’t water damage, it was termites.
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And they had been busy!
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So what started as floor repair has turned into a floor rebuild – with a good termite treatment thrown in!
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He cut back the drywall to make sure the wall studs weren’t damaged
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and got to work doing the rebuild.
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I failed to get a picture of his most recent progress, but when we get back to the house later this month, I think we’ll (let’s be real – he’ll) be ready to put down the subfloor. And then I will have to decide on flooring and paint colors (since we’ll want to paint before we put down the final flooring, right?). It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!
So there you have it – just some of the Life that has come our way in the last couple of months. But even with those unfortunate (though manageable) glitches, we still have so very much to be thankful for! First of all, we’ve had our dear Lizzie for all these years and she has rarely given us any trouble. And now we have a house – and all the fun stuff that comes with it! While I’m trying to figure out what cupboard to put the peanut butter in, he’s out there fixing things – levelers, pumps, and yes – even floors! He truly is my superhero! And I thank God for him every day!

But wait – the Birthday wishes!! I cannot let the day go by without sending out special birthday wishes to our precious granddaughter Alex –
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who turns 10 today on the 10th.
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It’s her golden birthday – and her entrance into the double digits! Happy birthday, darlin’! We love you to the moon and back (with or without that crazy hat!)!!!

Thanks for stopping by, friends!
Steph

Birthdays

Birthdays – I’ve had a few.  In my case –  72! But my November Family Calendar is filled with much more than just my birthday! There are 7 other birthdays in our family starting with –
FitzandJoie2021Dear BIL Fitz! He’s the “ancient of days” member of our family these days and he turned 80 on November 4th! He drives me a little crazy sometimes, but I still love him just the same. I especially love the way he loves his family and his Lord! He’s a keeper!
Next up is Maddie on the 8th –
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SIXTEEN!!! How can that even be??? She’s a love – and seeing the beautiful young woman she is becoming is exciting!
Then comes me on the 9th!
Baby Steph
My day was filled with a little work, a little play (i.e. ice cream), and a good solid nap! Throw in calls and greetings from folks whom I love – and it was a very good day indeed!
Today (the 10th), this young man turned 7!
Hugh
Hugh is a great-nephew and a fabulous game player! We’re looking forward to some great competition at next summer’s Family Reunion!
Coming up on the 17th is another great-nephew, Noah, who turns 14.
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He’s the oldest of 6 -and from all that we can see, is a great big brother!
Great-nephew Stephen turns 16 on November 20 – he’s quite the athlete and hunter (and much less grainy than this picture would indicate!).
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As we wrap up the month, we wish my lovely sister-in-law, Sharon, a very happy (mumble)th birthday on the 21st! We’re so glad you’re part of our family!
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And finally – our Thanksgiving grandbaby, Hayley, turns 19 on the 26th!
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Oh.My.Goodness!
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These years are going by way too fast. But we are thankful for each birthday we get to celebrate.  I consider November my Birthday Month (and I like to celebrate all month long) and I’m so very happy to share the month with these beautiful family members!

Birthdays. Yes, I’ve had a few…..