Christmas Picture Update

Here are some fun pictures of our family throughout the year. If you got a Christmas Card, these were included. If you didn't get a Christmas Card, we probably don't have your address, but we love you anyway.

Merry Christmas!

"The other blog..."

Some of you may have noticed that I have another blog: angles. I don't mind who reads it, but be warned that the content is what comes straight from my brain to the page. I started that blog as sort of a personal outlet for thoughts and feelings I have that don't have much of an outlet in my life. (Blog therapy if you will) Some of it is personal about my health struggles and other things. Some of the content is just random thoughts. You are welcome to read it, to comment, but know that since the posts sometimes reflect raw emotions, they are not always how I feel at the end of the day. My trust is always in my God--maker of heaven and earth--to guide me and give me strength from day to day, regardless of the thoughts and feelings that rise in any given moment.

Autumn

It's fall. Getting cooler, leaves are turning, and the nights are coming sooner. I am glad for all these side-effects of the earth's rotation around the sun! Cooler weather means I get to wear sweaters and corduroy, and drink hot beverages whenever the mood hits me. Leaves turning means we all get to see the brilliant colors that had been hiding under all that chlorophyll. I love the pictures that are painted on the branches of trees! If only we could keep them there longer, without their all-too-soon drop to become heaps of dull moldering reminders that winter's coming. Early nights mean that I no longer have to convince my children that it is time for bed--in fact tonight Rina said, "It's almost bedtime," and it was only 6:30! God blesses parents everywhere with Fall!

Tonight I am reminded of an old song from a musical I was in exactly 6 years ago. The song's melody wistfully accompanies the words:
Autumn, shall we all meet in the Autumn
Golden and glowing by Autumn
Shall we still be best of friends, best of friends...
Let breezes blow and turn cold
As we continue growing old, this Autumn
Love newly found, may yet last...
I don't know why this song was in my head, maybe just the season and nostalgia. But I do love the thought that come what may, we can choose to love and enjoy life. Kind of like the verses in Ecclesiastes that say we should live and enjoy the fruits of our labor because they are blessings from God. So, this Autumn, I plan to live to enjoy the life and blessings God has given me; even if, and perhaps in spite of their arrival in an imperfect package!

Kathrina's Fifth

Kathrina had another birthday! She is now 5 years old, as she will tell anyone who will listen!

We had great fun watching her open presents and hold the tissue paper high so that we could snap cute pics.














She pulled in quite the haul of presents, not pictured here are her new bed and comforter as well as a barbie doll, but keep scrolling, you will see them soon enough!












She requested a very similar cake to last year's birthday cake, so if it looks familiar, that is why.
She specifically wanted a basket, flowers, a heart, "happy birthday Kathrina" and swoopilies... Mommy did her best to accomodate:)







I know she does not look enthused in this pic, but trust me it is just because she wanted to get to the real presents!
















For her birthday last year, Mommy painted lattice and flowers on the wall to make a garden. This year it was a bed to match. We picked this bed up at a garage sale along with a dresser/mirror, and desk for $25. Not bad with a new coat of paint!

And Grandma Ruth E. found bedding to match! Way to go Grandma, and Target!











It looked so good, even Bella got in on the bed celebration!










Just as we thought we were done, the Barb's dropped by with another present, Kathrina's very first Barbie doll!

















And some rubber duckies for Bella, just so she didn't feel left out! What sweet people!

















Just thought I would throw in a fun unexpected pic. This one is courtesy of Grandpa Flurry, who snapped a pic just as we all looked up! So, here we are in all our unprepared glory!

Rina's Flower

Rina has been wanting to get a pet; she wants a dog or cat. We told her that she was too young for a pet and that she would have to keep a plant alive for a while before we would even consider getting a fish, let alone a puppy.

So we put a seed in a flower pot and she watered it well. Every day she would check on it's progress as it sprouted and grew on a sunny ledge in our enclosed back porch. Soon it had out-paced the other identical seeds we had planted in another pot right next to hers.

...And after a while it seemed we had a phenomenon on our hands.







The zinnia which usually grows to 15 cm to a maximum of 1 meter, has now outgrown our 4-year-old daughter at an amazing 4 feet!

Now that she has out-gardened our plan to keep her pet-less, how to explain why she can't get a puppy...I guess we'll have to think about that one!

We haven't gotten her a proper pet yet, but we did let her bring in a garden snail to watch in a mason jar complete with a snail-happy habitat of damp dirt, old leaves, and fresh green leaves every few days.

Zoo trip

We took Grandma, Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa and the girls to the Emporia Zoo.
We had a great time looking at the bob-cat, lemurs, prairie dogs, turtles, owls, fishes...and eating a picnic lunch. Our zoo is free, and happens to be the smallest accredited zoo in the nation, something we are proud of and take advantage of often.







Rina usually wants to be the one taking pictures, but a four-year-old standing by the water with a digital camera is probably not the best scenario, so she settled for posing dramatically by the fence.









Bella rode in her chariot for the excursion.
(And looking at these pictures, I know I will never be able to deny the resemblance between my mother and myself.)










Rich took some great picture postcard quality shots. This is in the Koi pond.











Along with animals, the zoo has a great mix of domestic and exotic plants.













And they use every possible inch available to create micro-landscaping masterpieces!

Cake!

Yes, make no mistake, this is my 18 month old eating cake in her pajamas!













The leftover angel food cake from the 4th of July family gathering was left on the table overnight, and she was merely helping with the clean-up efforts!



















It was too cute, and angel food is full of egg-white protein, so we just stood back and snapped pictures as she munched on the unusual breakfast treat!

Gardens and Pool!

Rich has been growing a nice garden this year! We have already harvested radishes and lettuce. We have tomatoes on the vine and our squash and cucumbers are blooming. We even have a couple of bell peppers starting on our pepper plants. Still to come will be carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. I almost can't wait!



One nice way we have found to conserve water is to use the water from the kid's swimming pool to water the garden. We feel less guilty about using the pool and we have a good excuse for emptying and refilling the water to keep it fresh! One afternoon, (decidedly unpictured here!) the girls and I were all in the pool while Rich worked in the garden. Fun was had by all!

Greensburg 1 year later

It was the first time we had been back to Greensburg, and the absence of familiar landmarks was disorienting. Greensburg was the place where Rich and I developed our friendship. We went on Kwick-shop dates sharing bad coffee and a bag of Reeces Pieces.

Our daughter Rina had played at the Big Well Park, and much of my pantry-stocking was done at WB's Bulk Food Store. All of those things are gone now, or are drastically changed. But the biggest reminder of the devastation, and the greatest testimony to life pressing on in the midst of suffering were the trees. Naked trees that had been stripped of branches and leaves. Precious trees that had been nursed and cared for in the middle of the Kansas Prairie. Proud trees that, in spite of their assault, were shooting out tiny branches like fur, struggling to survive.

The people of Greensburg are like their trees. They have been stripped bare. No homes, no clothes, no possessions. They lost all that they had cared for and built up. A year ago they appeared to have lost both their past and their future. But today, like their trees, they are sending out shoots. They are branching out. They are pressing forward with life. They will rebuild. They will go on. The scars of that aweful day one year ago will remain, but those scars testify to the triumph of life over hardship.

The Kansas State Motto is "Ad Astra Per Aspera," To the Stars through Difficulties. The lives of those living in Greensburg are a testimony to the reality of that theme for all the world to see.

Where has the time gone?

Having just realized that I have not blogged since April, I decided it was time for an update. May ...what can I say, I think it may have been even busier than March and April--if that is even possible.
I spent my birthday with my Aunt Jacque and Uncle David in Colorado. It was fun to see them and catch up. We were on our way back from Estes Park and Pastor's Retreat. From there we drove through crazy 60-70 mph side gusting winds back to Kansas and then South into Greensburg.
The original purpose of that trip was to join in the alumni festivities in Haviland for Rich's 10 year college reunion. On arrival, we found that no one was really there from his graduating class.
We spent the weekend, instead, with our friends in Greensburg commemorating one year of recovery from the tornado that left the town bare.
We ended our trip in Wichita staying at my Mother's and heading to Institute Monday night. Then back home on Tuesday morning, May 6th.
I had an appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed on Monday May 12th. Two went with an extraction, two surgically, and by Friday I was eating fairly normally. Having recovered from my oral surgery, I came down with a viral infection that stole my voice for four days, and left me coughing for the remainder of the month!
Now it is June, and I have no idea where all the in between time went. It seems we have jumped from activity to activity, and week to week until here we are, and it is almost officially summer!

Busy months!

March was CRAZY!
We entered March having just completed our church Chili Supper, where we fed about 250, on Feb.29th.
It seemed the month hurtled toward Easter like a runaway train. I am not sure exactly how it all got done, but in the middle of that careening train I managed to make two spectacular Easter dresses for the girls, write 4 sermons for Easter weekend-two in Spanish, prepare six songs-4 in Spanish, teach a membership class, visit 2 doctors myself, shots and then check-up for Bella, all while adjusting to the early time-change and juggling all my other regular responsibilities.

I am always glad that I never over-commit...

Anyway, in a flash it was over, and now April is 1/3 of the way gone.
So far in April I have had three days down due to throwing my back out last week; Sunday regular schedule; Church Leadership Institute for Ministry in Wichita Monday, saw that KU three-pointer on our way out the door to come back to Emporia; more diagnostic testing to define whatever is causing my symptoms in Topeka Tuesday morning, Elder's Meeting that evening; visitation, Kid's Club, and Game Night on Wednesday. Thank God it is Thursday and my day off!

Left in April: Regular Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday church activities; Gideon Presentation; Special offerings; Hosting Northeast Area Rally April 27th; Drive to Estes Park for Pastor's Retreat April 27th & 28th; Pastor's Retreat April 28th-May 1st. (First weekend in May will bring Alumni Weekend at Barclay, Rich's 10 year reunion, so we'll be driving from Estes to Haviland.)

Next thing I know, May 1st will come and I will be a year older. How time flies!

Bella's First Birthday!

Bella had her first birthday December 29th!
Mommy made the cake and we had a yummy good time!





Bella got quite the haul, with books, clothes, toys, and even a dolly!
She had no idea what was going on, but the gift bags and new things were just fine with her!










(It seems we inadvertently had a green and blue theme going with the gifts and wrappings.)















Bella had her first cake!















Let me tell you, she didn't miss a bite!














By the end, I think she was a little cake-drunk ...don't worry, we put her to bed and she slept it off just fine!

Christmas Pics...Finally!

We spent Christmas this year at our house, just hanging out with our immediate family, and Grandma Ruth E.

Rina really helped this year to decorate the tree and we enjoyed the decorations and the lights for a little more than a month.











Grandma, Mom, and Dad enjoyed watching the girls open and get right to work playing with their new toys!
Of course there were the occasional snuggle breaks to remind everyone that the real fun was in each other's company.












Much time was spent just relaxing and enjoying the day and the family that God has so richly blessed us with!
Here, Bella and Rina sit back to savor some milk and sister time!

Grief

I was watching E.T. today, and it struck me how there are scenes from movies that seem to exist for the sole purpose of capturing specific aspects of human emotion. I am of course referring to the closing scene of the movie when E.T. and Elliot are saying goodbye. E.T. gestures toward his heart, then his mouth and says, "ouch." Elliot follows suit, and anyone who has lived for any length of time knows exactly what they mean. That sense of heart-ache that knows no expression in words, yet is so poignantly caught in this simple expression.
I have had the opportunity to spend time with some families this last year as their loved ones stood at the doors of physical death, preparing to go on to eternal life. This sense of saying goodbye, not knowing quite when they would see each other again filled each moment. That feeling so succinctly put in the word, "ouch."
Parting with our loved ones hurts so much that sometimes we can find no adequate way of expressing the anguish of soul, the heart-gripping, throat clenching, chest constricting pain that invades and threatens to swallow us whole.
We know we cannot change what is, that they must go.
And we must stay.
But even as we know that our love for them will continue, it is that very love we fear the most.
We fear being unable to continue in life, so consumed by the love of one no longer by our side.
We face the urge to flee, leaving our hurt behind.
We fear our grief will rule our days and nights until every moment is caught in a swarm of pain.
We also fear that grief will fade, and with it our love, so we wrap it around our shoulders like a warm blanket, and immerse ourselves in its darkness.
But if we are to continue, we must let the light in once again. We must feel the pain of grief, but instead of clinging to its folds, we must let it go.
We must allow the tears to flow and wash over us like rain, cleansing both heart and face.
We dance our dance with grief, but when the song is done, we remember the dance, but we go on.
I have danced with grief. I have faced my fear. I have loved.
And I go on to love again, knowing that the promise is true: Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. The joy is bittersweet, but love becomes richer when we know the risk we take.