Saturday morning

Saturday morning and a busy day ahead. I need to do little things in the yard that amount to a lot. I need to trim some hedges, some trees, etc. I want to move some plants, etc. Then there is inside stuff I really must do: sweep, mop and re-shine the wood floors (it has been months!). And some office work, as well.

Here are some things that I ponder on a daily basis. I am so thankful that the Lord has given me these things for consideration. They bring such joy to my life.

That Olivia is reading, and absolutely loves it. Here is a girl that would take time out of play any time to have someone read to her. And every book she has, over and over! Now she is reading by herself. How is that possible that one so tiny coming into this world is now such a reader. When the doctors weren't so hopeful at times!

I ponder that Caitlyn has such beautiful, thick hair that already needs to be cut, at 3 years old! She looks so grown up in pictures (and she thinks she is, too!). I ponder the great friendship she enjoys with her daddy, and remember the times I had with her mommy. Her dad is so wonderful to her, and she so appreciates him.

I ponder on a very special miracle. Ava makes full sentences AND we can understand her! For so long she seemed to stay away by herself and play, and when she did try to communicate it was in some other language. Now she says whole sentences to me, and even on the phone, and I actually understand her. She is becoming such a little lady, and I find myself thinking all sorts of things about her.

I wonder what Brent will be when he grows up. He has such an angelic face, and such a peaceful countenance and attitude (which could change at any time, being just 7 months old). How will he interact with his sister and two female cousins. Will there be a day when he will knock Caitlyn across the floor for all the times she has tried to mother him, and been so rough at it? Or will he just take it in stride. She means well, but typically has to learn what 'gentle' means.

As you can see, my future is very full of important ponderings. If you see me gazing off into space, it isn't idleness or senility, I am really very busy with important considerations.

Please take note of this!

For all of you who read my blog, please note the new addition to my favorite links: "Dr. Swails on what is happening in Israel." Dr. Swails is a good, personal friend of mine. He is a leading authority on what is going on in the Middle East. A solid Christian conservative, he blends the present with the Bible, and let's you in on happenings in Israel. He has an article on the president of Iran which is a must read. And the home page always shows his latest blog. To see past writings, click on News, Issues.

Check it out and keep up on what is happening, things that the news fails to report.

Last week was a busy week

I am afraid this is more of a journal writing than anything else. But here goes.

Last Monday, we decided to head off to St. Louis to be with our kids for a few days - Jim, Kari, Olivia and Ava. The purpose was to be one of Olivia's VIPs at her preschool. It was an evening preschool instead of her usual morning time. She was allowed to bring 2 VIPS with her to see what she did in a day at preschool. Olivia chose her Daddy and her Papa. It was fun to go with her, and an honor. Here is a picture of her interacting with her Daddy.

Well, on Monday we quickly transplanted 3 crepe myrtle bushes and another shrub (part of the landscaping scheme of our back yard), then packed up and took off for Missouri about 3:30 pm. We got to Springfield just in time to have dinner with Judy's parents who had been working on a rent house. Then went on to Lebanon with them to spend the night. We have such wonderful parents, and it is always a treasure to be with them.

While in St. Louis, the girls were able to bring their new puppy home. He is a delightful 8-week old miniature American Eskimo. He is all-white and has a wonderful sedate personality. That is good with a 3- and 4-year old around. His name is Shelby (or Tubby - Ava's attempt). The vet checked him out on Friday before we headed for home. I went with Kari to the visit, and the vet was very impressed with him. (He is chewing a bone in this picture.) On Thursday we took him to preschool for Olivia's class to see. Imagine all these little kids gathering around. He was very relaxed and allowed them to pet (translate: poke, pull, etc.) him. We fell in love with the little guy.

Here are our beautiful girls. Olivia has her special VIP-night dress on sitting in my lap. Ava is such a happy child. She has an unbelievable cherubic face that lights up any room.


Our little Dylan (who is really in heaven, not our backyard) enjoys flowers as much as we do. Here I caught him smelling one of the flowers that lives just in front of him in our back garden. (Click any picture for a larger view.)

These next two pictures are of a house on our walk up to Honor Heights Park. It is a lovely old house, well-taken care of. It really gets us in the mood to see the flowers, shrubs and trees that are fully blazing in color at the Park.


It is interesting to look out any of our picture windows across the front of the house and see people driving slowly by to enjoy Judy's and God's handiwork in our front yard. They even make a u-turn at the intersection and drive back by. If we are outside, we always wave. It is a beautiful house, not the most beautiful in the neighborhood; but I really believe they are drawn to the peace that is here. We pray daily for the peace of our house inside and outside, that people would come here and find the peace and joy of the Lord that He so freely offers us.

More later

Ugh! I can't believe it has been so long since last I blogged. I have great and new pictures of Honor Heights Park, new pictures of our new grand-dog Shelby (a beautiful white American Eskimo), and other great info to share with all. But because of time constraints on downloading, I must beg off till the weekend. But just wait till I do!

Pictures around Honor Heights

Today we went walking around the Honor Heights addition where we live. While walking we took some pictures of beautiful houses and flowers/trees in the neighborhood. This first picture is across the street from our front porch. (Click here to see more of the neighborhood. Choose 04-08 Honor Heights Addn album.)

Last September, when Judy's front yard gardens were in all their glory, I took some pictures of our house, inside and out. Of course, this picture is of the front of the house. (Click here to see more pictures. Choose 2007-09-01 Our House album.)

More Honor Heights Pictures

More pictures of Honor Heights. Click on a picture to enlarge it.

Honor Heights Park

Honor Heights Park is such a blessing to us. When we moved to Muskogee, we knew nothing about the town. The Lord has put us in a wonderful neighborhood that is just down the hill from Honor Heights Park. We are able to drive there, or better yet, to walk to the park. If we walk, we can go down into the park via a very steep sandstone stairway. It goes beside a waterfall. Going back up, at first, was done with about 4 stops to rest up. Now we can do it with only 1 stop (sometimes 2). Here is a picture at the bottom of the first part of the waterfall on the road that leads down into the park. (Click the picture for a bigger view.) Judy is at the bottom of the picture.

In this next picture, Judy is about 1/3 of the way up.

The part I have shown you in the first picture is about 1/3 of the entire stairway. It literally goes down to the bottom level of the park. Come walk it with us sometime.

In this picture, Judy is setting on a bridge (The George Washington Memorial Bridge), that is along the waterfall and one of the many pools it fills. The terrain in the background is about 1/2 as steep as the upward terrain in the first picture.

Honor Heights Park is known for the beautiful azaleas, dogwoods, red buds, flowering peach and flowering crabapple trees. That says nothing about the marvelous array of flowers everywhere. April is the Azalea month in Muskogee. Every street light pole downtown, and leading up to the park, has a banner on it advertising the azaleas. Each banner is different. Probably over 100 such banners. The picture below highlights some of the earliest dogwood blossoms. In the next few days, the park will simply blaze with color!! Come see us!

Busy, busy, busy

I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted. But we have been very busy. Let me recount it all, if possible.

On Friday last, I had a wonderful lunch with my former colleagues of the ORU Registrar's Office at Red Robin in Tulsa. What a delight it was, too. It is so good to have friends that stick together over the years. We rejoiced with Sharon at her promotion to registrar at the Winston-Salem campus of the NC State University. (Judy had lunch with her former boss while we were having ours.) (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

We left immediately for Dallas in preparation for a funeral service on Sunday of our dear childhood friend, Jimmy. He was part of our extended family. The 'enjoyable' part was that I got to work with my two nephews, Paul & Joel, in conducting the funeral. Here I am with Joel.

One really fun part of the weekend was my great-nephew Caleb. He is such a sweet tempered boy of 3 years. Isn't he handsome? We got along very well.
We got to play with our grandkids, of course. Brent is growing, growing, growing. And Caitlyn is becoming a beautiful young lady.

Hey! Want to see Judy in her beautiful Easter outfit? Here she is!