Finally!

 Happy Flag Day!  I love this picture with the flag and the Bible because out country was founded on Biblical principals.

I am having trouble downloading pictures again but today I was able to download a couple...finally,.  This last one is the pretty Starbucks tumbler that Don got at Costco.  I have used it everyday for my Latte.  Don used the green one yesterday for iced coffee.  

The little boot picture is a planter I made up yesterday with Super Bells and the herb Thyme.  it's the last thing I'm going to make up.  We are done and Don is in the process of weeding the flower beds and mulching them.  He did the herb garden yesterday.

The second picture is of Cavan, Ryan's brother just before he headed out for Upper Peninsula Bible Camp to be on staff for eight weeks.  Good for him-he will love it and do a good job.  He was on staff last year also.  So Kristen has an almost empty house.

And finally Kristen heard from Ryan.  He called yesterday and today she got quite the letter from him.  He told some amusing stories.  One guy went AWOL already and got caught.  Another guy peed himself because he was afraid to ask the Drill Sargent if he could go to the latrine.  Our boy is tougher than that!!!

I stopped reading "The Last Jihad," it was too violent.  I am now reading "The Paris Wife."  It is about Ernest Hemingway.  So far I like it.  I am also reading  "Passion For Jesus"  by Mike Bickle.  It is for my book club at church.
Going to have my Latte now.  Enjoy your day!

One week

Well it's been one week since "The Day."  Kristen is still waiting to hear from Ryan.  Some of the other mothers on her Facebook group have heard from their people who deployed at the same time.  So Kristen waits...It's hard!

And it's been a week since I have blogged.  Lots going on I guess; it is hard to keep a daily log of your life.  

Mostly Don and I made pots last week and I made 11 fairy gardens. I think it is probably too many but I love to make them and they look so cute.

Yesterday our first rose of the season bloomed; It's called "Stairway to Heaven"  and I planted it years ago in memory of my mom.

Today we went to Barnes and Noble because Don had a gift card and he bought,what else?  A cookbook!  I looked around for good books I could get on my Kindle.

And today at Costco Don got me some tall plastic,insulated Starbucks drink cups in pink and green.  Two came in a a box.  I love them!

Currently I am reading "The Last Jihad" by Joel Rosenburg.  All I can say is his books are riveting.  

Hope you had a good week!

The Day

 I won't say I didn't cry, because I have several times today, especially when these pictures showed up on Facebook just after he was going to leave at 12:00 noon central time today.  I wonder how Kristen feels letting her first child leave after taking care of him for 18 years.  I think every mother grieves when letting a child go.

And of course I always think of my sister in this situation who can't see either of her boys. I'm not immune to that pain either because I have seen how it has hurt her.     

And here is the emotional grammy, who can't quite believe he actually left.  We won't be seeing him until after Christmas unless we go to Arizona where he does his intel training.  He goes there after his basic training in August.  I can write him while he is in basic training, and you can be sure I will.  He's planning to come to Florida in February or March when we are down there. 

I wonder, even though he chose this and is excited about it, does he really know if he is going to like it.  I guess he will find out soon!  He has strength of character and body that will help him through.  And I wrote in his journal "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."  

And I am so proud of him and thankful that he is serving our country.  

Plants

  Now that the weather has cooled down a bit we are getting to the plants that we bought a couple of weeks ago.  We repotted the orange or lemon tree-I'm not sure which one it is but it was root-bound from being in the house all winter.  The roots were soaking up the water and turning the green leaves yellow.  Too much water is sometimes worse for a plant than not enough water. So we planted it in a bigger pot and gave it some more dirt and room to grow.  It is on the "injured" plant list, along with some Cana Lilies that need to rebloom.    

We potted the cana lilies (not shone here because we had to snip the dead blooms off).  We planted some Superbells around them in big pots.  I like to have tall plants and then smaller trailing plants around them.  So hopefully, the Cana Lilies will recover.  

The plants are loving the sunshine and the Superbells are just blooming away.  Tomorrow we have more plants to pot especially some fairy gardens.  Hopefully we can get them done.  
We put most of our plants on the deck now because the deer eat them out in the flower beds. 

This is why I love spring and summer.  I love flowers and wish I could plant more the way I used to.    

Why I Scrapbook

I think scrapbooking or crops as they used to be called started out as a social entity.  
Women got together and scrapbooked like they used to get together and quilt,  I belong to a group that meets at a Scrapbook Store once a month, although I must say, I haven't been there in a few months.  I love the social part of scrapbooking with friends but I do not like lugging all my stuff there.  I can scrapbook at home because I have a room, a closet and a table and all my supplies are withing reach.  

But why do I keep doing it?  I wonder myself sometimes and I wonder who is going to look at them all.  But I decided they give me pleasure in looking back at things and remembering what we did.  

It also appeals to the creative side of me that wants to put colors and shapes together.  I love the paper; it's like having a piece of material to work with.  I love the embellishments; it adds form and body to the page.  And lastly I like to do it because when I don't feel like doing anything else, I do it to have a sense of accomplishment; saying "at least I got something done today."  It's an easy way to put off something you probably should be doing,

Scrapbooking isn't for the faint of heart though.  You have to be in a good mood because if you aren't the ideas won't come.  I find once I start I am okay and can keep going for awhile.  

I have done it for about 19 years and when our first-born grandchild came around it really picked up because there were pictures galore. Now vacations also go into the books and the page about is from our time in Florida this winter.   

I have always liked taking pictures and what better thing to do with them but put them in a nice album.  So I keep plugging along all the time knowing I will never finish putting all the pictures I have in an album.  When I'm gone I'm sure they will go out in the trash with all the other things my children don't need.  

I am not being harsh just realistic, I think. 

A Letter To My Mom

 Sometimes when our moms have gone to Heaven we wish we could just talk to them.  I have wondered sometimes if they know anything about what is happening on earth. I used to feel really close to my mom when I was at her cottage at Dear Lake.  One day I sat down by the lake and told her everything I was thinking.  I know my sister would like to talk to her about her cancer because my mom had cancer four times.  But today I would like to write her a letter. They say the angels in Heaven rejoice when one sinner repents.  

Dear Mom, 
Your neighbor Jacqueline was saved finally on Sunday afternoon after we went to church.  I had prayed for her that I might get a chance to talk to her one more time and God gave me that chance.

You remember how you used to witness to her and put tracts and letters in her mailbox.  Remember how she resisted with all her might because as you know, she is a stubborn woman.  After you moved I carried on like a little soldier but she would have nothing to do with it.  

After Jim died she was mad at God and said she didn't believe in him or heaven. She started getting dementia and I thought "well it's too late now."  Then I heard she had breast cancer surgery 2 weeks ago and the anesthetic made her dementia worse.  Suddenly I was moved to speak to her.  At our prayer service last Wednesday I prayed that I would get that chance or that she would get a Christian care giver.  

Sunday she was out sitting on the porch quite disturbed because she knew something was wrong with her and she wanted to be her old self again, or worse yet, she wanted to die and get it over with.  Well, mom, I knew this was my time to speak so I told her again how God loved her and how she needed to ask Jesus into her heart.  She wanted more than anything else, peace.  She wanted the peace I had.
So I led her in prayer and she folded her hands and prayed out loud after me. The change wasn't immediate because it was so new to her but I kept reinforcing God's love for her.

Today I walked over to her porch again and we talked for a few minutes about God and she had a Christian caregiver with her who gave testimony to everything I said.  What a wonderful thing, mom, I wished you could have been there.  I even told her Jesus was coming back again and she would go to Heaven with Him.  

Well, I went home for awhile and then went out to mail some letters and she called me over to the porch.  She sang "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.  We sang it over and over and I was overjoyed. 

I told her she would see Rosemary in Heaven and that seemed to give her more peace.  So you see mom, never give up and never think that God can't do the impossible.  I know you know that from being in Heaven all these years. But I want to know if the angels rejoiced for her on Sunday afternoon.  Because that would be an awesome thing and maybe just maybe you know that you will see her again someday. I love when God answers prayer! 

Love, your always loving daughter, Marlene 

Memorial Day 2018

 When I posted this picture on Facebook I think one of my friends thought it was my yard.  It just caught my eye on Pinterest and I copied it.  It is totally something I would like to do that's for sure.  Oh, to have the energy that I used to have when I was younger!  
I love the sign it says what Memorial Day is all about.

We had an early burger lunch/dinner with Karen and Raymond and kids.  It was very good.  Brady and I went to Michaels with my coupon and then Karen and I went to Kohl's.  Yes, we celebrated in style.  

Now the evening is here and it's "what do I do?"  I am reading a new book (for me) by Joel Rosenberg called "The Last Jihad."  It is the first in a 5 book series.  He writes a lot of series books and once you get into his books; they are hard to but down.  I just can't get into it right now.  

I used to be a night person, but I am not anymore.  I have reverted to being a morning person most of the time. Right now, bed sounds like the best thing to do! 

I have set my alarm tomorrow for 6:30 a.m. so I can get up and walk, but that remains to be seen.  I would like to do some stretches too...

The most impressive thing about this Memorial Day is that it was 96 degrees!  Happy Memorial Day to you!