New Years Eve

            HAPPY  NEW  YEAR.

2014........I hope all of you will be safe, healthy, happy and prosperous this year and years to come. Time goes by so quickly......let us treasure each and every moment we have with our family and friends.

My daughter-in-law and grandchildren were here yesterday so I asked them if they would each give me a New Year's message to add to our post.  Their quotes are so true and so sweet.

Garrett  - " I send you a message of Happy New Year from someone to everyone."

Amelia - " Happy New Year and have a good life each day."

Julie -  " May everyone have a Happy New Year and make a memory each day."

I thought New Year's Eve would be a good time to add photos of the favorite men in my life.They are all so loved, so handsome and so sweet.. I don't know how I was so lucky to have them and these rare photographs as some of us do not like to have our pictures taken.....   we had rather be on the other side of the camera. Billy will be smiling looking at this page....  we do miss him so very  much...it's been almost twenty years now since he went to meet his Heavenly Father.  It's really not  hard to believe that all our children and grandchildren have Billy's great sense of humor and his love of caring for others. He was one of a kind... I have been so blessed.

                HAPPY NEW YEAR...............................GOD BLESS AMERICA

                                                       

the puppy's mom did not make it.
Billy brought him home...our new baby

Billy was a person who was always there 

when anyone needed help

                                                               Jeanette    Junior     Wayne
        This photo was made not long after mine and Wayne's brother Junior had his heart transplant

                                                          Our Three Sons - 2002

Merry Christmas

I hope you enjoy these wonderful Christmas outdoor displays at Wayne and Brenda's home.  My brother and sister-in-law put so much effort into their place each year to give all of us a beautiful experience of Christmas.  It is about giving, and they always do their part.

Scott's childhood playmates..

let's go play at your house next door...

Happy Birthday

we are the neighbors

this movie is very interesting

sweet boys who are cousins

Christmas moments from the past

two happy brothers...Bryan and Mark

Penny - Suzanne - Danny

Scott

Steve was so proud of his red work table

Lisa and Matt

Christmas Photos

A Christmas Card from the past

So what do we play with first - Keith & Steve

Christmas in the 60's -  Steve

Scott & Troy -   Mid to late 70's

Christmas in the 80's -   Bryan, Sr. & Tonya

Scott and Steve - 1973

a message from Steve

Our son Steve was just a little fellow when he wrote us a very special Christmas letter.  This message would have to be 40 plus years old, but it seems like it was only yesterday.  It just has so much meaning, and it is a keepsake...

I will say it again...I am so blessed and so thankful for our three sons.  They are fine young men who have never forgot where they came from, and that makes me feel so humble and so proud of each one of them.

When I was reading this, a thought came to me.....the Bible verse..."And a child shall lead them."..Sometimes  we just need to listen...

Steve with his PaPa and his Daddy

Steve

Steve with his Uncle Junior

Our Centerpiece

A special time of year..that would be Christmas..we celebrate the birth of Jesus...I remember being in a Christmas play at church every year from the age of five on up to the time you were too old, and then you sang in the choir....this was special.....
We would go to the homes of members in our church on a cold winter night and sing Christmas carols...they would come to the door or out on the porch and be so moved....this was special....
On the Sunday before Christmas at church - after the worship service - everyone got a "treat" - nuts, fruit and candy in a brown paper bag...this was special....
When I was older and in the choir, we would have been practicing for about a month on the Christmas Cantata to sing in church ...and this was very special....
I know we all have so many Christmas memories as a child and as a grown-up....Most of these good
memories are when we are giving to others in whatever way we can.

This is one of my favorite Christmas memories...two of our sons (Scott had not come along yet)   looking so happy and propping up on the cocktail table that has a very special centerpiece that Mama and Daddy made.  I mentioned before that Daddy worked at Adams Millis Hosiery, and there was always lots of empty yarn cones.  They would glue these together to make a circle, spray them with snow; and add the red Christmas balls to each cone. In the center, they would put a round piece of styrofoam and add poinsettias and a candle.  Everyone always wanted one...it was time consuming, but they really enjoyed making these. I don't know who thought of this creative idea, but they made a beautiful centerpiece.

Steve and Keith

A Christmas home

My brother Wayne and his wife Brenda always have the most beautiful home...especially at Christmas.  I can't imagine the many hours it must take to have everything feel so perfect, but their reward has to be the joy and happiness they see in everyone.....young and old alike......It is a winter wonderland and it's magical...It is Christmas....It makes you smile...

Christmas 2012

a special year

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer...
Mark and Erin's Wedding

Amelia

a happy grandma ... great grandson Bryan, Jr.   and later that year grand daughter Amelia...

It was a very special  day when both of you were born ,
 and  you make each year a little more special..  I know you will always be as sweet and wonderful as you are now.

scott and family

Julie

Garrett

Amelia

Scott

Scott & Amelia

Scott & Julie

Garrett

A Christmas Memory

This post is an email I received from Scott this morning.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have....




At some point you should create  a random Christmas memory post.  I'd like to contribute the following:

The Christmas Coat...

I've always pondered what the true meaning of a gift is?  We all like nice things, but I'll sound a little cliched here..... the underlying sentiment is what really matters.  This memory made me think about gift-giving.

At some November in the early 1980's, Dad and I were sitting in the living room trying to decide what to get everyone for Christmas.  At this point ,Dad was typically in bed due to his illness:, and only occasionally went out when he had a good day.  These were few and far between at this point.

I was probably in the 6th grade at that wonderful crossroads of youth when you still have some sweetness, and the ravages of adolescence hasn't fully set in.  So, there we were in our living room (with which we had outfitted with a large bulky hospital bed up against a paneled wall) with my composition notebook and pencil in hand making a list of family members and possible gift ideas.

I would call out the name, and Daddy and I would brainstorm possibilities.  Of course ,my thoughts were extravagant, and I was completely unaware that we were a struggling middle class family without an endless supply of banknotes.  But, we usually came out with something that seemed manageable.

The list finally came to Mom.  Daddy wanted to get her something special this year.  We had been through a lot as a family, and it was time for a little something nice.

"How about a coat?" Daddy suggested with a sense of accomplishment.  He said that it could be both practical and stylish and "wouldn't cost an arm and a leg".  I agreed and asked where we would go to buy a coat?  The mall?

Dad said that he had a few ideas around town where we could look.  

So on the next "good day" we loaded up the Cadillac with the wheelchair, oxygen tanks and various other paraphernalia and set out to find the perfect coat for Mom.

After some visits we came across some small clothing store that I thought was still stuck in the 1890's.  I have zero fashion sense, but I wasn't one to question things.

We bought what was probably the ugliest coat they had.  It didn't seem that way at the time; but thinking back on it, I can't remember it being something that you would see down a runway.  Yet, it had lots of pockets and was practical.  They boxed it up, and I couldn't wait for Mom to open the box on Christmas morning.

The weeks went by, and Christmas came and went.  Mom seemed so pleased with the coat ,and father and son congratulated each other on our purchase.  

The coat was even worn a few times.   Which, I now give her a lot of credit.

It took many years later for me to realize that it wasn't the coat that mattered...it was the thought behind the coat that made a statement.


A brief footnote...Billy was diagnosed with A.L.S (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1981...he fought a good fight...but lost
the battle in 1994....almost twenty years ago, and sometimes it seems like yesterday...  Since 1958, he has been a part of my life everyday....      Scott, thank you for sharing this memory.....

mark and erin

the happy couple

Hunter

Lewanne - Mark - Celia - Kenneth - Erin

a moment before our wedding

the bride and groom -May 2010