Home For Christmas

I love that Christmas song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" - Some years I am thrilled because all my children will be home for Christmas.  Some years I am sad because Ryan and Chelsa won't be home at Christmas.  This year as I was singing along on the radio with that song I realized something-----my Daddy is Home for Christmas this year!  Well done, good and faithful servant.

The Cycle Of Life

Yesterday was Thanksgiving - the first one I have celebrated without my Daddy in 58 years.  I missed him.  But God is good and He gave us a new little life to celebrate with this year - Leah Rose.  Here are some pictures of her first Thanksgiving...

We are in a season of mourning, but we do have much for which to be thankful.  Praise the Lord who is so faithful to us!

Daddy

Rest in peace, my sweet Daddy...

 We will miss you, but we will see you again!  Love, Sissy

Kisses From Leah

I took Leah shopping last week and was carrying her and walking around and all of a sudden she turned toward me, grabbed my hair with both hands (ouch) and proceeded to "kiss" me all over the lower part of my face.  She went back and forth, slobbering and drooling all over me - at times actually sucking on my cheek - all the while holding me by the hair with both hands.  It was fabulous!  The next day she did it in Whole Foods and today she did it while I was holding her in my chair and my camera was nearby - check it out...

 I can't think of anything more precious.  I am loving every minute I spend with her.

Seems Like Yesterday...

Six months!  I can't believe it!

Thank You, Lord!

Staying Young

I have had another birthday recently and although I am another year older, I have lately had the privilege of caring for my granddaughter who is almost 6 months old.  I have discovered a few muscles that I had forgotten  that I had and I am sure tired at night, but having her in my life has given me a new purpose - if only temporarily.  Of course, I wish and pray that my daughter would be able soon to stay home with her and experience and treasure the moments with her, but until that happens I want to make the most of my time with her.

 I was never close to either one of my grandmothers.  I loved them and I was around them often, but I never really spent much time with them one-on-one.  My fear is that one day Leah - whose birth was one of the most joyous occasions in my life - will think of me as that old woman that my Mother makes me visit and hug at holidays even though she smells funny.

Today when I took her to meet her Daddy, he said he looks forward to her smile when she sees him in the afternoon.  I feel the same way about the smile I get in the early morning.  Roger looks forward to seeing her every morning also.

I haven't sung any songs or quoted nursery rhymes to anyone in a very long time.  I caught myself actually looking forward to taking her to see a Disney movie.  I can't wait to take her to the zoo and the park.  I am looking forward to seeing her open her Christmas gifts.

I am feeling some aches and pains, but I think my upper body strength has improved and I know I am thinking more about kid stuff and less about how old I am getting.

Who needs Botox when you have this...

I Never Met a Pumpkin I Didn't Like

Fall is my favorite season of the year!  This picture makes me hyperventilate...

 I love the shorter days, the cooler temperatures (?), the leaves turning beautiful colors, and the pumpkins.......I love pumpkins!  I love to decorate my house for Fall.  I start with the leaves in September and then work my way up to the pumpkins in October and then add the turkeys and Pilgrims in November.  My daughter said it looks like The Great Pumpkin threw up all over my house.  I can't help it -- I love Fall.

 My children and I have carved pumpkins every year for as long as I can remember--it was a special tradition in our family.  When they were very little, I would carve the pumpkin.  But when they got older, I would get each of us a pumpkin and let them carve their own.

When my kids were all gone, I missed carving pumpkins with them....
Then, my daughter became a third-grade teacher....and one day she came home and asked me if I would carve a pumpkin for the third grade to enter into the pumpkin-carving contest!  I was thrilled!  Her school mascot was the tiger so I carved this pumpkin with the tiger on one side and the name of the school and the year on the other side...

I got second place ------- I was robbed!
Anyway, life goes on....but this year I look forward to carving a pumpkin with my granddaughter.  I know she will only be 6 months old then, but you have to start sometime.  I know her mother will make a pumpkin with her, too,  but Nana has a tiny, special one in mind.....

Falling In Love

Today is my granddaughter's 5-month birthday.

I have never been in love like this before.

I have discovered that love for a grandchild is a different love than you feel for your own children.  I adore my children--they are the greatest joys in my life--but just like a person feels a different kind of love for their children than they do for their husband or their parents or their friends, grandparent love is different.  Looking into the eyes of your baby's baby is a very special experience.

 I don't have to be so concerned with the everyday stuff, so I get to just have fun with her, laugh with her, play games, sing songs, spoil her a little...

Of course I DO have one great responsibility and that is to pray for her--which I do--every day--and will for as long as I live.  When I am gone, I want her to remember me as someone who loved her unconditionally and who prayed for her to walk with God and have His best for her life.  When she remembers me I want her to smile.

New Toys!

Leah has discovered that God gave her two new toys - her feet!  They are always handy and she loves to put them in her mouth...

 She also loves for me to take her picture...

 ...and she wants to play with my camera.
I went on vacation for a week and when I came home I went to see her.  I was afraid she wouldn't remember me, but when she saw me she smiled and held out her arms.  I melted....

What Are These????

My granddaughter has found her hands!

 How cute is that!!!!!!

I Can't Wait!

This Friday my family will be off on our "Family Vac" in North Carolina.  We have been taking these trips for ten years now and have gone to Colorado, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and now North Carolina.

This is a very special week for me since we don't get to see Ryan and Chelsa very often because they live out-of-state.  We pile Allison and Justin in the back of the Tahoe and strike out on a two-day road trip.  Then spend 5 or so absolutely heavenly days in a house together sitting on the porch, talking, cooking, eating, telling stories we've heard a hundred times but still love, playing board games and cards and Wii.  And laughing--man, do we laugh!  I love that!

 This year will be especially interesting with Leah Rose added to the family.

It is like the credit card commercial--
  Several hundred dollars for a cabin on the top of a mountain
  several hundred dollars for food and beverages
  several hundred dollars for gasoline
  several hundred dollars for motel rooms and food on the road

        FAMILY VACATION -------- PRICELESS!
                          

Leah Rose is Two Months Old!

We can't believe it has been two months since this angel came into our lives!  People used to tell me how much fun grandchildren are, but you just can't understand it until you experience it.  Holding your baby's baby is a precious, sweet, moving, emotional experience and I thank God for allowing me to experience it!

Happy Birthday, Leah Rose!

Four Generations

Allison and I took Leah up to Nacogdoches to meet her Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandfather and her Great-Uncle Bubba, Great-Aunt Susan, and second cousin Kristen.  It was her first road trip and she slept all the way going and coming.  What a good girl!
Here are the pictures...

I thank God that He allowed my parents to meet her!  Everyone loved her!