Skipping Rocks with Dad

A Sunday afternoon with the family!

Wish you were here and would go fishing with us!

We are actually skipping dog food - not rocks :)

The fish love the dog food - not so much the rocks -

But a title of Skipping Dog Food with Dad just didn't

sound right! :)

I Don't WANT to die yet!

The other day (8 months 24 days and 8 hours to be exact) I was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. What is cardiomyopathy? Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should.

The doctor said it means I have a weak heart. (my Tears start) Some people get well, other people do not. I am praying to be in the group that gets well!!! I tell people it JUST means I have a weak heart; I have to pray, obey God, eat right, take the medicine and exercise everyday. I truly believe all things are possible with God. Jesus is in my heart making it STRONGER EVERY DAY! Praise God, family and friends are praying, (the word says, "pray at all times on all occasions"). I am praying And in the end I know I have Faith in God so well either way – God in me wins!

Let me tell you IT SHHOOOOOKKKK me up!!!

So I thought if I get to go to Heaven and Heaven is a better place WHY do I WANT to fight so hard to stay here??? You know there are so many reasons... Honestly I want to see the little hands, feet and smiles in my life grow up, to live and learn with them, to have some fun, laugh, play, run barefoot in the grass, see more sunsets and sunrises, hold that sweet, soft, PRECIOUS grand baby someday, be encouraged and encourage others, pray for my friends, family relatives and those I have yet to even meet, get the feathering of our nest to a place that feels restful/peaceful and yes JOYFUL, to receive grace and share grace, to learn more about my Father God I am going home to, to learn more about my brother Jesus I am going home to, to teach our little feet and hands to play golf, to see the grown up feet and hands win the Master's, to see my adult hand playing the baby grand piano I have dreamed of owning all my life right beside the the little child size hands in our home! I want to play golf on all the AMAZING courses around the world, (Tears stopped)

I am not a good golfer – it is not even about golf.. well it is – I DO LIKE LEARNING ABOUT GOLF – I get easily embarrassed about how BAD I AM but gosh there is something, something so rewarding to seeing that tiny little ball roll into that tiny little cup... From a distance the cup does not even look big enough to hold the ball but the closer I get the more I realize – maybe it will – and then yep I bet it will – then yep IT DOES!!! Once I hit that first putt into the cup and I heard that sound of the ball spinning around the cup and dropping in..... well, I just wanted to hear it again and again!!!Using the driver well that one I usually leave in the bag... “I have learned that when I drive in life I usually end up in the rough” so I play my lowest iron off the tee box. I am still looking for a one iron that has some loft to it...right now I play my four iron... In my mind it is better to hit it in the middle and be short than hit it with the driver and be long but an equally long distance in the rough :) and I NEVER spend but a few seconds looking for my ball in the rough because I dated a course pro once and he went on and on about how much men hate to play behind women because they think we are all slow... I HAVE HONESTLY NEVER PLAYED A SLOW PEACEFUL GAME OF GOLF I always FEEL I AM hurrying around the course... Honestly that sort of defeats the purpose of the game doesn't it... but it is like the game of life for me I seem to hurry around and miss the good stuff. I do the stuff I HAVE to – the stuff I NEED to – and on the rare occasion WHEN I do the stuff I WANT to I feel guilty :( I just have to get past this!!! Oh my how did I get off the track so far... I do this in our house tooo... I start the day cleaning the dishes, washing clothes, coaching (I use the word coaching for teaching/guiding/giving directions to the little feet and hands in our home because as a former elementary school teacher God taught that I can't sit behind a desk and grade papers and TELL children what to do, just like I can't MAKE a child learn BUT I CAN jump up and down with joy and dance around the room with them when the light bulb turns on for them, when they get something they were struggling to learn. God showed me I was in the honored place of JUST being along for the ride... I was in the honored POSITION to encourage and guide and INTRODUCE NEW SUBJECT MATTER TO THE the little feet and hands GOD GAVE Me to coach. Yep and model Christ's love to the best of of my ability. whoops I am off track again... I also want to SEE these golf courses! See the beauty of God's world. I want to dance! (Tears started again)

Now I am sleepy!!! It's 4:30 A.M. I woke up in the middle of the night and just had to start writing and get this stuff out of my head... I WANT to get Re-married in Kauai with all my friends and family and be in that beautiful WEDDING dress... At a NICE SIZE – God please help me not give up on this dream and the dream/reality to get in shape and be healthy and have energy!!!! Thank you God for all you have already done for me. Most of alll thank you thank you thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for my sins so that when I believed in Him as my personal savior I became your child and no one can ever take that away from me!!! Thank you for every minute of everyday of the last eight months you gave me and all the years before that. For helping me daily make new and different food choices, for calming my racing heart, hurting arm, tight neck, teaching me how to breath again, giving me a place to exercise with loving child care and people to coach and encourage me, for getting me out of the bed and out of the house to exercise daily. For letting me take baby steps to learn how to play again! For letting me learn to play the piano and take ballroom dance lessons with my husband! For the wonderful hours of jumping on the trampoline and playing with the little feet and hands in my life. For DAILY guiding and directing me in Faith and Grace to be a loving and God honoring wife, mom and coach! I love you Lord - goodnight. I am so sorry I do not want to die yet - when it is time I pray I am ready and it is God honoring.

Bible verse God gave me on 8-28-08 my birthday!!! Psalms 30:11-12

Garage Door Makeover

First Picture - Finished and stained Garage Door and Wood trim on the side of the window

Second Picture - Almost Finished Garage Door

Third Picture - John cutting wood

Fourth Picture - The back side of the garage door showing the screws that hold the wood on

Fifth Picture - The scrapes of the picket fence pieces

Sixth Picture - BEFORE

Seventh Picture - BEFORE

Instructions

1. If I remember right the panels are 21inches wide, so I set a block on my mitre saw so I didn't have to re-measure, and started cutting. Sure takes an awful lot of those suckers.



2. Then I took the door apart, one section at a time,and started screwing the boards to the panels from the backside of the aluminum doors. (using 7 X 7/16" 1.111 cm Sharp Pan Head screws)



3. Re-assemble the doors, after all of the panels were covered, and adjust the tracks so that it will fit, as the door is a little thicker now.



4. I had to remove the locking hardware, so you can't really lock the door from the outside anymore, but in all the years we've lived here, I had never done that anyway. Not sure where the key is if I wanted to.



5. It definitely takes 2 people to get everything lined up and in place, cause the sections are much heavier after the wood is on. It's cedar, so it isn't really heavy as far as wood goes, but it is much heavier than the plain aluminum doors.



6. You have to cover the cracks where the sections of the door bend. Be sure to attach the board you use to the bottom ONLY. If you attach to both sections, something has to give...



7. Then I adjusted the spring for the weight. Be careful with that. I've heard several bad stories about people getting hurt.



8. We had 2 old cheap garage door openers, and one of them was strong enough to open the door afterwards, the other wasn't. I plan on replacing it, eventually, but so far, I just help it when I need it open. sigh... another project.

The wood is just cedar fenceing - cheap - about a $1.50 a 6ft by 4 inch board.

Thanks for viewing and good luck with your project... God bless your family. :)

Candle Light Easter Egg Hunt

Giving thanks with a thankful heart

Basking in His Beauty

Butterfly Hunt

Butterflies

gifts from God

They flutter and fly

Oh how the time goes by

Butterfly hunting

just you and I

memories

of time spent in His world

so sweet so calm so peaceful

Walking through the tress and tall tall grass

Daddie I am scared of snakes

God is with us trust Him

Butterfly hunting

it cost nothing

but the memories

are priceless

Enjoying the beauty

of God's world

hand in hand with dad

"The butterfly has long been a Christian symbol of resurrection,

for it disappears into a cocoon

appears dead

emerges later

far more beautiful

and powerful than before.

As a symbol of Christ's resurrection

after three days in the grave

the butterfly is seen

especially around Easter.

The butterfly is

a symbol of every Christian's hope

of resurrection from the dead."

1 Corinthians 15:5

"that he was buried, that he was raised

on the third day

according to the Scriptures"

God's View

I am from a very small town of 1,072 people

the town had only one blinking traffic light
We had to drive 30 miles to see a movie or shop for clothes
My husband was raised on his grandfather's Dairy
by the time my husband was a little boy the dairy farm was out of business
his parents began to raised cows, gardens and boys on the 200 acres :)

moving to the fastest growing city in the U.S.A was a sock to us
The city now has a population of over 107,500
and
it is STILL growing

Our small town hearts hurt to see the city backyard views

It was emotionally claustrophobic
We prayed for a view of trees, trees, trees, and if possible a pond
Impossible you say – in the heart of the city

Well not for God

This is God's view

because

ONLY God could give us a view

like this

right smack in the middle of a town of 107,500 people

We Praise God and give Glory to Him alone

He is so kind to let us enjoy His beautiful trees, trees, trees

and

yes a view of a pond!

When we became stewards of this property

I was a teacher and my husband a programmer
and at the price of $160,000 we were able to make the payments
IF
I continued to work

A couple of years latter God blessed us with a child
and my heart was at home
My heart's desire was to be with her all day
but how?
We prayed again
and
we Praise God!

He has graciously allowed me to be home
where my heart is
for the last 7 years
WOW!
How?
We still can't explain it
but

God is Faithful!

This year we found out I have a heart disease
again

God is good
He has shown me how temporary life is
and
to share His Hope and Love daily

May God
give you peace and hope
and
showers of Love

Luke 1:37

"nothing is impossible with God."