littlealma

Some Good Thrift Finds!

2011-10-01T02:29:00.004-04:00

Well, I think I will just add a little blog update, the big wedding bash blogpost will take a good chunk of time, so will do that later..... in the meantime, here are some neat finds I gathered from various places, and it looks like most of them were .25 cents, so what a lot of wonderful stuff for a buck!!! Hope you enjoy looking as much as I do!

Another Wedding - this time it is Our Son's!!!

2011-07-30T00:53:00.003-04:00

Well, well, well, I have a lot of catching up to do....... but think I will start with putting up a few pictures of our son, Ben's and Kristen's wedding! I didn't take any pictures of the wedding itself, and am anxious to get the official ones, but these will have to do in the meantime. We are SOOOO happy for Ben & Kristen - a wonderful girl, and we love having her join the Carlson family!!! We had the wedding here in St. Joseph, and I got to be pretty involved with the planning of this gala with them being in Washington state! It was lots of fun, and so glad I had the summer off and the time to be able to be involved! Big hugs to you Ben & Kristen!!!

Oops - I just realized that I need to put up the shower pictures first, before the finale! So this is just their engagement pictures - I may be prejudiced, but I think they are such a cute couple!!!

Ineke Original: Mijn patchwork is in elkaar gezet

2011-03-29T23:08:00.000-04:00

Ineke Original: Mijn patchwork is in elkaar gezet

Oh dear - Ik kan neit Nederlandse praaten (nor figure out how to translate it!) I also remember - De taal is moilijk to leearen!! (?)

Anyway, I have a Dutch heritage and was fortunate enough to study in the Netherlands for a semester of college..... Would love to read your blog, but haven't been able to figure out how to translate it! Kaan ik oo (?) helplen?

Thanks - Diane (Vruwink) Carlson

Sally's Wedding

2010-11-03T23:41:00.008-04:00

Ginny Eernisse (my sister's good high school friend) and aunt of the Groom, and her husband.

Julie Westerbeke (in the middle), and her daughter on the left and mom on the right

Ginny Eernisse, her husband, her nephew and her mother

Sue Meeusen - from my high school class

Lynn Huibregtse's Mom

Lynn TenHaken and her dad Ken TenHaken

Wedding flowers!

My sister, Connie Dekker, mother of the bride!

Tom & Debbie Huenink

Connie enjoying the dance - what is it again??? (not the chicken dance!)

Connie & I

Connie & Paul Dekker

Harold & Donna Veldboom

Joan (Molter) Meeusen - another class mate

Betsy (Beernink) and Dale Theune - Growing up neighbors!

Mary & Jim Mills - more classmates!

Dan & Leona Theune

Friends!!!

Tina, Sally & Gary Eernisse and Jenny

The Dekker Family!

Sisters!

Mother and Daughter

The girls!

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Emily & her Alice in Wonderland costume

She sewed it herself!!!

My friend from college and her husband - Melita & Norm Swier
we met in Saugatuck for supper one evening, catching up!

Melita & I

A storm coming in over the lake

Saw this one Sunday afternoon as another storm was coming in!

I posted all these pictures for my friends and family to see the wedding going on in Cedar Grove, my old hometown....... And a few other shots I threw in........ just fyi!

Eat, Pray, Love - Book Club

2010-08-20T00:34:00.003-04:00

Had a wonderful evening of fellowship and food at Julie's house this week. We celebrated Pam's Birthday, and discussed (kind of) the book "Eat, Pray, Love". And we were treated to a wonderful meal of Italian cuisine, made by Julie after some of the things she and her hubby had experienced while traveling in Italy for a couple of weeks this summer. The food (and her photos!) were fantastic! If only I could remember the names of the courses - I will have to add those later I guess. It was a fun night, and reminds me of the other book I am reading right now called "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist, a good book talking a lot about the importance of building community when you share a meal....... I LOVE these ladies!!!

(oops, forgot to get rid of the flash!) - note to self to fix!

Dessert

Happy Birthday Pam!!!

And tomorrow I go back to my knee doctor - I am still have kind of like spasms in my knee, at odd times, that I can't really figure out a cause and effect for! It then benches me for a few days so I can ice it. I have a knee replacement (as of last year), and had my last physical therapy a week ago, I have been going for one whole bloody year!!! So now I just go on my own as part of a Medical Fitness program. And I must say, I went shopping today, for like the first time in AGES it feels like. Of course it helps that now I finally have a vehicle again. And by the last store I used the little electric cart, but I walked at all the stores before that. It was fun! So anyway, sure hope I won't be having to have a fourth knee surgery! (had three within the last year) School is starting soon, and I need the job! So think good thoughts for me would you please? Anyway, you know what I mean!

Lots of Family Fun!

2010-08-09T00:37:00.012-04:00

Congratulations
Aaron & Marissa

(remember you can click on any picture to get a better view yet!)

Last week was a busy, wonderful week! We started out going into Chicago for Jeff & Ginny's son and daughter-in-law's wedding reception, since they had gotten married earlier in California, a long way from Michigan. Had a very nice time chatting with new and old friends. We with a neighbor of Jeff & Ginny's who I think had known and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, and had a house built in that style, it was neat!

And here is Ginny at work at Trinity Christian College, the same place I went to college many years ago!

Then after saying good bye to Ginny, we went to Ikea, and that is always lots of fun too! Then stopped off at home, dropped dad off, and Emily and I drove on to Grand Rapids. And Tuesday she got to pick up her "new" car, her '97 Mercy Tracer. And thank you very much Mr. P. for helping that all get done!

That night I took the girls all out for dessert - doesn't this look like a fun group of girls to live with?

Then the next day (since I now have my van back, YIPPEEE!!!!) I drove up to see my sister Fran at her place. Also got to see her son Chris and three of his four kids!

A hummingbird at Fran's house.

Then also that night Fran took me to see her towns new library, and sure enough, they were getting organized for a garage sale.... I haven't been to one of those in a LONG time! So let me show you just two goodies I came home with for $1.00 total! And I think the kitty is a real Mccoy, if you know what I mean!

I spent the night at Fran's and after a good breakfast at Big Boy, we went together to see our brother Paul and his wife Gwen.

And we all had a chance to chat and catch up a bit, and they even let me take a picture or two!

Then the week wasn't over yet - so that Thursday I sped back home to make my last physical therapy appointment!!! It has only been one year, one whole bloody year, of physical therapy, since I have had knee surgery three times in the last year!

And then from there we waited till Emily got home from G.R. and then we went over for supper to John and Janet's to visit with them and Holly and Pete since they were all in Bethany Beach. We had a great time catching up with all of them also! Pete was even able to help us all tell what kind of feet we had, or actually what kind of shoe we needed. I had absolutely no arch at all, mine looked like duck feet!

The next day I saw these yellow beauties (below) at my bird feeders!

Oh, and these are flowers from my garden, with a pottery vase made by my hubby.

And also wanted to show you I have done a little crafting of late - made up some note cards with the stamps that I have, now if only my handwriting wouldn't be so shakey!

So there you have it! That was what I did last week! But this is hard writing on these blogs - I am not so good at being bright and creative and original, but oh well, at least I have finally put some words to some of my pics!

And I still have pictures from our Mackinaw Trip to show you too yet! And oh my, August is going bye so very fast! School will be starting very soon, yes very, very soon!

So hope if you are reading this, that you will be so kind as to leave a comment or two! It would be ever so encouraging! Big hugs to you all! (and thanks for letting me take your picture!!!)

Phew!!!

Memorial Day - Plant Swap

2010-06-16T02:10:00.003-04:00

Thought I would share a few more flower pictures - these are from a Plant Swap we were invited to over Memorial Day! It was wonderful, very casual and friendly swap, it was great! Thanks to Jessica and Sherry for inviting us! She had a lovely raised flower garden, it was breath-taking, the beautiful flowers she had. And we were even shown around their "back 40" on a wonderful electric golf cart! Aren't these gorgeous?

Just a few Pics-Family, Friends & Graduation

2010-06-09T00:25:00.009-04:00

Good-bye Griggs House!!!

(why is it, when you post pictures, they always get put in backwards!!!)
So start from the bottom!

Ahhh, she spotted me!!!

Grigg's Street Girls

Love this picture of Emily and her dad!

Family!!!

Well, once again, I am hoping to have some time to actually write on my blog - but once again, I am just going to add pictures tonight. It seems like this is the time consuming part, and calls for no creativity - so here are a few pics of happenings lately!

Graduation Day!

2010-05-19T21:34:00.004-04:00

Well, notice that the blogging catch up didn't happen! And now we are packing for going to our daughter's college graduation this Saturday!!! It doesn't seem possible!!! We are so excited for her, and so proud of her!!! Hopefully I will get a lot of graduation pictures up when things slow down (do they ever???) And here are a couple of pictures I have taken lately.

This is Mother's Day visiting Emily at "her house".

And this is a picture of Emily with her $10.00 dress. I like it this length (the length it came in). But she likes it the length in the picture below the first one.

And check this picture out - the picture behind her, on the left, is a picture of her and all her housemates, good friends who all together are moving to a new house on the first of June. (if she can find a job that is!) And then notice the word in the window to her right! It was meant to be! I just thought this was kind of cool!

And this is Emily and Lauren - who got a job at the hospital in town - who we are going to see getting pinned tomorrow night! (along with her other roomie and friend) (no more nurses caps I guess!) Lauren was the one that God gave Emily as her roommate when she was a freshman, and has been a wonderful young lady to get to know! She is from California, so we have gotten to be her "foster parents" a time or two, like when she is a star in a dance recitals.

Okay, so gotta pack, no more procrastinating!

One of these Days.....

2010-04-27T02:44:00.003-04:00

I am just gonna put up a few pictures to get me started...... then in the next few days I will actually post something - I hope!

St. Joe Lighthouse

2010-02-09T00:48:00.005-05:00

Just thought I would throw in a couple of pictures of our lighthouse. We went for a drive around town after Church yesterday, and since the sun was shining (surprise, surprise) I brought my camera along. Next time I will have to bring a tripod along too tho. But it is always enjoyable to watch the waves come rolling in. Hope you enjoy the pics. This is on Lake Michigan by the way.

a Christmas Family Photo!

2010-01-28T02:43:00.004-05:00

This was taken at around Christmas Time, but there are a few folks missing. I wonder if I could figure out how to add them in???

Ha ha - can you tell I have been playing around? Still haven't figured out how to fix it tho!

I have another question - when I post something new, I get lots of visitors according to my counter, but very, very few comments. Do you think these visitors are regular nice people, or are they people looking to do bad things to my blog? I wish I could tell more from my counter thingey.....!

Oh well, - more Christmas pictures will be coming in the days ahead!

Hugs from Michigan - Diane

Ladies Night Out & Happy Birthday!

2010-01-23T17:41:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful evening last night - with 35 women! We went out for supper, and then went to go and see "Menopause, The Musical" in South Bend. We also celebrated three birthdays (mine was last week) and we had a marvelous time! Flori orchestrated the whole thing, and started out being the five from our book club going, but it just kind of blossomed, it was so much fun! Saw a lot of good friends I haven't seen for a long time, and met some new friends too! And the musical was great - I will never think of those old 60's songs the same again. If you get a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it! So anyway, I am way behind in my blogging, and hope to catch up with Christmas and all that other stuff since I last wrote (Thanksgiving I think), but will at least get these pictures up yet now. Have a good one!

And don't forget - if you wanna see the picture up close and personal, just click on it, you'll see! And don't forget to leave a comment or two also - please! You can always do this under anonymous, and then sign your name.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-27T01:55:00.006-05:00

Myself, Fran & Clay

I am not even going to apologize for not writing for so long - oh well!!! But thought I would take a minute to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving! This year both of our kids were not able to be at home - Ben is out in Washington state and Emily is in Spain - so we went out to eat to a wonderful restaurant in Holland, that was half way between our house and my sisters. So it was just hubby and my sister and I, but it was a great restaurant, and they had an incredible buffet, with everything you could ever want for a feast! And we have lots to be thankful for - we have been blessed many times over over - thank you God!

So here are a few pics of our feast....... and the young men cutting the prime rib, turkey, or ham, asked me not to include them in my photos, so there was more to eat than just the desserts and salads! Hope you all had a good dinner too!

Ahhhh, the desserts!

Mozart

2009-09-02T01:09:00.002-04:00

Or Mo Mo, our kitty! Here he is awhile back when I was sewing, and he just seemed to think that all those pattern pieces were put out there for him to sleep in! Well, weren't they? (doesn't he have the prettiest green eyes?)

Birthday Girls Book Club

2009-08-29T00:39:00.007-04:00

Okay - I wanna tell you about this fun evening we had last week! It was MAGICAL! We have our group of ladies who get together to celebrate our birthdays, but now we have begun to have a monthly book club gathering also. This month we read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Flori had it at her house - and she decided to put together a meal similar to what they had at the beginning of the book. So we had Roast Pig (ribs), corn, and Potato Peel Pie. Then fruit and ice cream for dessert! There were also a few things they didn't get to have in the 1940's, like Sangria, but whatever.... Then we had supper on her patio that overlooks Lake Michigan, as the sun was setting, AND we were served by two very handsome gentlemen (Steve & Clay). It was truly wonderful.

And we also were able to find some vintage hats, so we could even dress up a little.

The book is a good one by the way - it was a good read!

And here is dessert!!!

And then couldn't pick just one sunset picture!

Garden Walk

2009-08-23T02:16:00.012-04:00

Well, for me this should probably be titled "Garden Hobble!" I was going to do a post about our wonderful Book Club gathering, but I realize now that the pics are only on my card, in my camera, that is in the other room! And my knee has me pretty much back to square one pain-wise, stiffness wise - even tho it has been like six weeks (or more?) since my knee replacement! Oh well - So anyway - I will do that post tomorrow, and share a few things in my garden and birds that I see from my window! I have really missed working in my garden this year, especially since it hasn't been so horribly hot, But they will be there next year too!

I hope no one gets sick of looking at bird or flower pictures! It is just so much fun trying to get the perfect shot. And then since it is digital, you might as well take a million shots in trying! So here are a few visitors in our yard.

Loving These Visitors!

2009-08-18T01:54:00.008-04:00

Okay, I will stop reading everyone else's blogs for a minute, and post something on my blog! It has been a long four/five weeks - and I have been going stir crazy being cooped up in the house, mostly by myself!!! I have been begging people to come and visit - and have had some response - so that has been wonderful! So here are a few of my diversions, from my recent knee replacement!

The first is my niece Kim and her hubby Tom - who were on their way back driving from Michigan back to California - and graciously stopped in to see us! Kim and I are only four years apart, so she seems a lot like a sister to me! Anyway - here she is with her family! I can't believe the kids have grown so much! And Tom even let me ask him a few photo/scanning/computer questions! Thanks Tom!

Then another day I got a wonderful visit from my "old" friend Melita! We were college friends, and have kept in touch all these years! And we get to see each other at least once a year. She came down to visit me (a couple hours drive, mind you) and even brought lunch along with her! We had a great time catching up on what our families are all doing. And you know with some people it seems like you haven't been apart at all when you get together, well that is the way it is with Melita. She has a gift for making you feel comfortable and loved!

And then one more get together here - this was our Birthday Girls Book Club Meeting - and we had it at my/our house, but the girls brought everything! Wasn't that nice??? My knee had newly been done, so this way I didn't have to travel far! We had read The Glass Castle, which was excellent by the way! So here we are, with my knee and all!

And here is a picture of what I hope to be doing soon - notice the lovely stitch marks on my knee? (should have made them a little bigger, they don't show up too much.... so just click on the picture, then you can see them!)

This group is meeting again tomorrow night - and we are discussing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book and we are having the meal together that begins the book, along with Potato Peel Pie, and we are to dress according to the 1940's.... complete with hats. Hmmmm, going to have to put my thinking cap on for this one! So I will have more pictures coming soon!

So there is a little of what we have been up to....... and I have also been taking lots of bird pictures, will put those up some other day.

A New Knee & Lots of Love!

2009-07-21T01:53:00.006-04:00

Well - tomorrow when I am uprighy for a bit I will check this out

to get a really good look---click on this pic so you can see a bit more of my throat!

My wonderful surgeon!

I have a new knee - and everything went well, thank you Lord! And I was visited by friends bearing gifts and flowers (I will have to have surgery more often - jk!) And more flowers and more flowers 0- I felt sooo loved - thank you everyone. This isn[t working so great having this on my tummy, along with vicodin in my tummy!So will write more soon, butcan at least put a few pix in. Beware the pic if the throat - I think theytried to give me a new eso0hagus while I was out and it hurt worse than the leg! more later XOX

Eeeekkkk!

2009-07-12T23:18:00.003-04:00

Nope I didn't see a mouse! Tomorrow I am getting a new knee!!! I am a little nervous, and twelve hours from now it will all be over! And I am covered with tons of prayer - so there is nothing more I can do for now......... but PRAY!!! And the surgeon I have is a wonderful man, who I trust 200%. I took before pictures, but will post them along with the after, the before is gross enough! I am hoping after all is said and done I will be much more prone (and able) to walk, and get up out of my lazy boy! Hmmm..... doesn't prone mean to lay down? Oh well, you know what I mean! And Dr. K. says I have suffered enough, and that my leg is bow-legged because of the two (or was it three) places where bone is on bone.

And I will leave you with a sweet picture of Emily and I. See you later!

You can surf on Lake Michigan!
This is my hubby!

And his surfing buddy! Waiting for the perfect wave, which eventually did come!

Where Does Time Go?

2009-06-23T03:23:00.005-04:00

Emily - Accomplishing two of her summer goals at one time! Camping and reading a classic!

The Birthday Girls Book Club - our first meeting!

My sister and I

There will be more to come soon - but tonight I am having trouble getting the pictures to work! Will try again tomorrow!

Mother's Day at Meijer Gardens

2009-05-11T23:08:00.007-04:00

Lots of Pink!

This brown moth above, was HUGE - like8 to 10 inches across!

For Mother's Day we went to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. It was kind of a cool day, and we wondered what would be blooming this early, but were amazed - the tulips were OUTSTANDING!!! And being Dutch, I will admit to being a bit partial to tulips! Anyway, they were gorgeous!

Mind you - oldest son is out in Tacoma, at a new job, and daughter is in town, but studying for exams this week (these colleges should take Mother's Day into consideration when they schedule these things!) From when the kids were babies we would take a picnic lunch out to a local nature center (Fernwood) on Mother's Day and other than one year when we were rained out - this is the second time we celebrated without kiddoes. But we did get to take studious daughter out to eat for supper afterward. We went out to Rose's, they have my favorite soup, or is it bisque? Ah yes, it was Butternut Squash Bisque, that is just out of this world! (we were given a copy of the recipe, ahem - the brown sugar and heavy cream must have been what made it so good) So we had a lovely day! Oh, and I almost forgot my breakfast in bed! My hubby takes very good care of me!

2009-05-09T04:14:00.006-04:00

Yep - just more pictures, hopefully words will come later - but did want to get these mother/daughter pictures (and others) up for Mother's Day. I did realize though that I have nearly everyone in "the house" except a picture of my daughter and myself! Darn! These were taken at a recent Dance Guild program, and so nearly all the parents were there - from California, Illinois and Indiana, since the girls all danced together in one of the dances - it was great! So here are a few pictures from that.

Hodge Podge & a little catch up

2009-05-06T01:08:00.006-04:00

Every weekend, I promise myself I am going to blog, I am going to blog (or is it I am going to post?) And every weekend, I end up just reading all the blogs instead, and I am STILL 1,000 posts behind! How do you all keep up? That is my question - just how the heck does everyone do it? So I need to be going to bed here, it is 1:15 AM, and I should do SOME picking up, but I thought I could at least make a dent and put up some of my pictures. I am taking pictures all the time, thinking I will be using them on my blog, and see where it gets me? So, since I have lots to catch up on, here at least is a start! I would love it if you would leave a comment also, if there is anyone out there reading this! Hugs - Diane (I will be working on writing something to go with the pics tomorrow, I hope!)

Another Birthday Past

2009-03-02T01:31:00.004-05:00

And there was also Emily's 21st birthday - while she was biking in Australia for her interim. So we celebrated that after she came home. She has been so anxious for this birthday, when she can finally drink alcohol! She has been so good and patient about that - I am amazed - and proud of you Emily! She had a white Russian for one of her first drinks - mmmm, doesn't that sound good right now? So when she got home, her friend Lauren, from school, came for the weekend, and we also had Kathryn and her parents over too to celebrate. We had a wonderful time!

Of Birthdays Past

2009-03-02T00:37:00.008-05:00

Well, where do ya start? I can't start out every post about being so behind, and apologizing - but here it is again...... oh well....... Time just does whiz bye these days! So, once again, playing a little catch up - here are pictures of our Birthday week!

The Carlson Family does it up big in mid January! DH's birthday is at the end of December, and then me and the kids have our birthdays January 13th, 15th & 17th!!! So when the kids were young, we would all get sick of cake that week, especially as our family all wants confetti Angel Food cake for their birthday. So this year, Ben was still in the U.P. (that is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) for his 24th birthday, and Emily was in Australia for her 21st birthday! But I was home - and got to celebrate with my wonderful Birthday Babes at the local Chili's Restaurant. We go there for each of our birthdays, and usually sit there talking and catching up until hours later, and we always have a great time. We all have girls the same age, so we have been doing things like dance lessons, soccer games, tennis matches together for many years. And it is always comforting to find out that their girls are doing the same type of things as my girl is! We also like to come up with some goofy cards - and pictures get cut up, and heads get pasted on to new cards, but we are running out of cards that have pictures with five women on them. But anyway, here are a few of the cute one's that I got this round, along with pictures of the five of us.

A little shuffling here:

Look at me, kickin up my heels!

And hubby and I got to go out to eat at my fave restaurant later that week, thanks to another gift! It was a wonderful birthday!

Only a Little Late!

2009-02-16T02:30:00.006-05:00

This weekend I have promised myself I WILL blog myself! And I WILL, but quickly tonight before I go to bed, I do want to quickly squeeze this one in. I have been cleaning boxes and crates filled with soot/wood bits/who knows that got all over (and in) everything in our tiny attic when we had our 150 year old farm house re-roofed last year. And tonight I came across a crate from a long time ago. Anyway, since it was just Valentine's Day I wanted to show you this vintage card, but not just any vintage card, but one that my dad sent to my mom many, many moons ago. They have both been gone for many years, but I am glad it was one of the things I saved! By the way, my dad's real name was Harold, but everyone called him "Friggy". So let's see if I can make this work...... (hint - if you click on the picture it becomes crystal clear!)

Isn't this just sweet? I think so!

Let it Snow!!!

2009-01-12T01:05:00.006-05:00

Click on these pictures - you will be transported!

Here is the view out of my living room window, these are to block the noise of the rather busy street on the other side. You would never know would you...

Well, here is hoping for a few more inches, and maybe a snow day from school tomorrow - maybe then I would have time to catch up! My decorations are down, but I still have a few Christmas pictures to show everyone! So hang on/be patient! In the meantime pray for snow! I LOVE IT!
Everything looks so fluffy and white! We got twelve inches since yesterday, and it is snowing again tonight, so there is hope! But it has been coming down nice and gently, with no wind blowing it around, so we shall see. But here are a few pictures I just couldn't resist taking. I think this resident cardinal is starting to smile for me when he sees the camera coming out!

And hubby was even able to go cross country skiing today. When we moved here 30 years ago and bought cross country skis, we loved to go out along the trails along Lake Michigan. But we haven't hardly had sufficient snow the last fifteen twenty years, and now with my arthritis in my toes and knee, I really miss being so mobile! But I am glad DH got to go!

And here are a few Snow Flowers from my garden - through the living room window mind you. When I first saw these on blogs, it took me awhile to realize what they were - just flowers adorned with snow!

Oh, another neat thing about snow - in our old farmhouse we put in a sky light and it is right over our bed. Much to my hubbies chagrin, I like to have it just a little bit open year round (well lots open in the summer), but when there is snow all around like now, the sound is so cool. I even had hubby get up to listen last night - when you stick your head out the sky light, there is NO sound, it is like the snow has swallowed up all the sound! It is the strangest thing - the silence is very loud!

So snow - come on down!

Hugs from Michigan - Diane

Starting to Roll (into Christmas)

2008-12-23T03:00:00.005-05:00

Okay, okay - it is three AM, but that is the time I work best! It is just who I am and have always been! Man, I love looking at blogs! There is just a ton of wonderfully interesting stuff out there! Wonderful crafts I want to try, great recipes I would love to try (or at least give to Clay to try!) and beautiful pictures, etc., etc. Anyway - and now I am listening to a very interesting interview with Charlie Rose and he is interviewing Bill Gates, so I might as well add a new blog! What the heck, it is vacation, and I don't have work tomorrow! Let's see what good pictures I can find!

You know - I need to tell a little grateful to God story here - See the picture of my family below?
Well, that wasn't always the way things were. For MANY years it seemed to me that God didn't want me to have a family. My father was killed in a car accident when I was in first grade, and my mom died when I was in college. Then several years later, when I was married, we were wanting to start a family. Ha, ha.... little did I know - I got pregnant the first month we tried, had a miscarriage, and thought, oh that was easy, I am sure I will be pregnant again soon. Ha, ha. Seven LONG years later - and after many, many pills, shots, surgery, etc., and much, much prayer and pleading with God, He blessed us with Ben and Emily. And you know if someone had told me, you will have a child in seven years that would have been so great, but you never know if that seven years is going to be seventeen years, or never. So anyway - before I get too too lengthy here, I am VERY GRATEFUL to God for my wonderful family, and I so look forward to being all together in a few days! My life is very blessed! (and if anyone needs Christian information/encouragement on infertillity, let me know!) Gee after all that I will have to include more kiddo pictures!

The angel below here was given to me by my mother-in-law many years ago. Isn't it just the most beautiful and sweet thing? It plays music too when you wind her up. This is one of my favorite decorations - I love it.

And here is a cardinal on our bird feeder, look at that red!
And here is Mo Mo (Mozart) our cat that we said we would babysit two years ago, and somehow ended up staying with us! We LOVE this cat - he just lives for us to pet him, and he is the softest thing ever! He looks like he is half asleep here, which I think he was until I had to get him to look at the camera for me!

And then here is one of my current/new decorations. I found this lovely bird cage at my neighbor's garage sale. I will have to show you the whole thing later, it has all hearts around it and my neighbor used it for envelopes at her wedding. She was glad I was taking it and giving it a good home. So, I first started putting in only gold and silver balls, then thought what the heck, maybe it needs some color, so I added some red ones too. Hmmmmm, don't know though yet!
Well, we are getting up early tomorrow to do some final shopping. Mostly for my daughter who is going on a bike trip in Australia in two weeks. We don't have any bike shops in town so have to go an hour north, east, or south to get to a bigger city. We are also supposed to be getting a new snow storm, so we will see which direction gets the least snow!

So good night everyone!

Hugs - Diane

This is the picture outside of our living room window. It has been snowing quite a bit lately, and is also quite cold! I LOVE it!

Found my missing Scans!

2008-12-23T01:09:00.003-05:00

Well, I found the two I was looking for! So here you go. In this first one I am the little blondie and was three, going on four, because the pajama top my dad is holding up my mom made for the new grandchild soon to be born! (my brother was 22 years old when I came along!) My brother and his wife weren't in the picture, and I think that is their pajamas in the foreground, but see how the tiny one has "baby" written on the pocket? Isn't that cute? My mom made all those pajamas - pretty talented lady. And don't you love the vintage tree in the background?

And in this picture I was a little older - and I think Santa was Mr. Duenk, who lived across the street. I think I was trying to figure it out here - I could tell the beard was fake! And again, a corduroy dress my mom had made. I remember this Santa visit, wasn't it nice he came to see me in my neighbor's kitchen?

Oops, my 20 year old daughter is calling me to come and tuck her in - can't pass that invitation up! In two weeks she goes to Australia for a Bike Tour!

Still Decorating!

2008-12-22T20:39:00.004-05:00

Help - I am still decorating (and trying to put stuff away!), but I did find some old family Christmas pictures, that I thought I would share with everyone. Well, that didn't work so well! I did get one, nope two pictures to work, but all the other ones I scanned have disappeared - can't find them anywhere, and besides that I couldn't get the pictures to upload - everything would freeze!

The top picture was sent out as a Christmas card, with me in my little green felt skirt that was made by my mom, and I have it still. It was used as a Christmas tree skirt for many years!

Then this picture below, I couldn't resist showing it here too. Don't I look like I have something naughty planned? I love that little glint in my eye!

And if anyone has any ideas about how to find the other pictures I had scanned, please let me know! I am hoping my computer-wise son, who is coming home in a day or two, will help me out here!

See ya soon!

Diane

Tagged - Sixth Set, Sixth Picture

2008-12-16T20:39:00.005-05:00

My son tagged me for a picture from my Flickr account. I had to show the sixth picture in my sixth set. Well, here it is, and I guess it is fitting since that is my handsome son on the right! That is my niece, Ilona, on the left, and great nephew Simon in the middle. What a bunch of cuties if I do say so myself! This was taken at my father-in-laws funeral, and of course it was a sad time, but also happy - he was 96 years young, and very ready to be with his Maker!

Now I am supposed to tag six other Flickr people, but other than my kids I don't know of anyone else using Flickr. So if you who may be reading this, has a Flickr account, would you please join in with the game? It really is kind of fun to see what picture fits the bill. Have fun!

Oh Dear, Oh Dear!

2008-12-16T01:58:00.003-05:00

I am still here guys!!! I am just having a terrible time decorating! I am just not gifted in the area of putting stuff together, making decisions, knowing how to do this decorating stuff. We do have the tree up and decorated now (I do love those red ornaments!) and have begun moving things around in my other decorating spots - but am really struggling with what looks good! I have this lovely new (garage sale) white bird cage that I filled up with silver and gold balls I bought last year (plastic and cheap - don't tell anyone!) and they look pretty good. Then I find some red balls, and think, oh maybe it needs some color too - so there I go - not sure which way to go! and then I think, well maybe I should put a tree and something else in there - hmmmmmm - decisions, decisions! And I know it doesn't make any difference, and I know it is no big deal, and yada yada yada - I still struggle with it. So tomorrow I will take some pictures of my decorating dilemas, and ask for help/opinions!

In the mean time here is a box of vintage ornaments I got at a church rummage for four dollars - aren't they beautiful?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T02:10:00.004-05:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hope you were all able to get together with family and friends and enjoy the day!

We went to have Thanksgiving at my sister's house - and had a lovely time! Only one downside, oldest son wasn't able to come home and join us. This is the first holiday we haven't all been together. He was well taken care of though - he was invited to friends, had a great time, and had three or four other invitations also. He was even sent a package of his favorite Pumpkin Cookies from his friend's mom back home here in St. Joe.

Lovely dishes aren't they? My hubby made those! On his pottery wheel! Very talented guy if I do say so myself!

And here is my dear sister, the host. (mmmm just look at those sweet potatoes!)

Oh, and can't forget an actual craft I did. See the banner I made? I couldn't pick which one was better (neither one is too in focus), did that after seeing all the lovely banners done on other blogs. Come to think of it, mine are pretty plain looking! Oh well, it is a beginning!

Thinking about Christmas?

2008-11-25T22:45:00.005-05:00

I don't know if this is going to work or not, but I was out with my Birthday Lady Friends tonight - and heard about this video. It is GREAT! Altho I should add I haven't been able to LISTEN to the video, some kind of glitch with my laptop, where is my son when I need him???? But I sure liked the video part! I always struggle with the giving and getting part of Christmas, and trying to teach my kids to really grasp what Christmas is all about - altho they really do understand very well already! And you don't hear much either these days about only giving something hand-made, but oh well, can't change the world I guess, but I can at least pass this on: So hope it works, check it out and let me know what you think, would you please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

All the best,

Diane

Fall Fun

2008-11-21T00:25:00.007-05:00

The picture below, with the leaves is a good one to click on to get the full effect!

Aha - we did this last month, but I am so behind in blogging, I just have to start somewhere I guess! The more behind you get in blogging the more daunting the job seems, so you (I) just keep putting it off and pretty soon the snowball is HUGE! Maybe I will try and blog a little bit at a time.

Anyway - last month, on a beautiful 70-ish fall Saturday hubby and I did something we have wanted to do for years and years! Instead of finishing up the raking, and other yard work, we went camping! To make things as easy as possible, and since it was 6 PM when we finally decided to do this (maybe it was 5) we rented the little "cabin" at the local state park, Warren Dunes, along Lake Michigan. The trees were right in their height of colors, and we knew the campground wouldn't be crowded (always a nice thing!) and the temperature was unbelievable! So we grabbed some hotdogs, some marshmallows, graham crackers some wine and our sleeping bags and off we went. It was lots of fun - it was nice to be able to be somewhere where you CAN'T do any jobs around the house! We don't do this too often, and besides it is such fun to do things spontaneously! A friend came to sit around the campfire with us for awhile, and then we stayed up till very, very late enjoying the campfire with just the two of us! There is something magical about campfires, and they become quite mesmerizing. Of course I took lots of pictures, and will try to hold it to a minimum here, and somehow the vivid colors that you see before you don't always show up on the photo. I will have to check and see if when you click on them to enlarge them it helps or not. And I think I have a million pictures of campfires by now, but of course I took quite a few this time too. (surprise, surprise!)
Can't you just hear the fire crackling in the picture above?

Oh dear - everything froze on the computer when I tried to put the pictures in, and I am afraid it lost the last half of my post!!! Doggone it - and it was said perfectly too! I wonder if there is anyway to get that back????!!!!! Anyone know? And I will have to add the pictures tomorrow night - see you then!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Trying again---- so last night when I tried to add pictures to my late night post my computer froze, and I tried doing several things to get it unfrozen,, but finally had to resort for a "force quit" and I was hoping it would still be in the automatically saved draft form, but only a small portion did....oh well..... I think I was talking about campfires..... I was also telling about how there was a family near us, with several boys, and they kept coming closer and closer to us and our campfire - I think they were wanting to chat! But hearing them also reminded me of when we would go camping with the kids when they were little. It was always lots of fun. And then there were the campfires we have at home too......lots of good memories......we didn't have a family room, so we would encourage our kids to have their friends over for a campfire where there was plenty of room. We would supply the marshmallows 7 graham crackers, brownie sundaes, root beer floats or popcorn. This way we could keep going out there to check on everyone - pretty sneaky, huh? But we all loved it and a couple of weeks ago when Emily was home from college, she had a couple of long time friends that were also home from college for the weekend, come over to have a campfire - it was like old times! And I love it when they would let
me join them!!!

So we are supposed to be getting a lot of snow tonight, but so far it is only a dusting. But before winter sets in, I wanted to reminisce about this great fall weekend. Thank you God for wonderfully unique seasons, and the beauty each one has!

A Few Good Finds

2008-10-13T22:51:00.008-04:00

Wanted to show you, very quickly, a couple of things I bought at last week's Bluff Antique Show. Once a month they have a wonderful open air antique show on the bluff, overlooking Lake Michigan. It is a walk in the park, and always has lovely breezes, and look what neat things I found for a couple bucks! I have this plate holder that holds large plates, and so far, all I keep finding are pretty little ones. But these were a good start tho! Isn't the one with the bluebirds beautiful? And the Dutch one is neat too -it says it is an autumn scene, I wonder if there are the other seasons out there too somewhere? Some day, if I ever get caught up, I will show you lots of other finds I have collected over the months, thrifting/antiquing is so much fun!!!

This glass dish was only $1.00 (I haggled!) and my friend who was with me, and knows her antiques, says it is crystal, but I don't know - I thought it was pressed glass, but the edges are a little sharp, and I couldn't see a mold line, oh well, whatever, it is very pretty!

Ahhh, Fall or Pumpkins & Grapes

2008-10-12T01:12:00.008-04:00

I love Fall - I love living in a place that has four distinct seasons - I love each one, and each season has its own part that I love! I love the cooler temperatures, the crunch of the leaves when you walk, the earthy oranges and browns and golds. I went out last weekend, and took pictures of grapes and pumpkins that are both right down our street here in Michigan. The pumpkin farm is always so much fun, we took the kids there every year, and took a yearly photo (or two or three or four!) of them picking out their pumpkins, and posing with the scary pumpkin creatures. Dad and I still have to go every year, and it always brings back fond memories. And once again, I just couldn't decide which pictures to include, and which to leave out, so believe it or not, I did leave a lot out - but the price was right to include lots too, so hope you enjoy them. And don't forget to click on them if you want a closer view.

Rows and rows of pumpkins!

Then there are also the grapes that are near to being picked. It was hard getting a good shot of these, because they seemed to all be hanging out in the shade! So I am putting a lot of grape pictures on here, but maybe tomorrow or the next day I can decide on which ones to delete..... oh well...

But what is great about living in Michigan - is at this time of year when you go driving down the country roads of grape fields it just smells HEAVENLY! It smells like grape juice, with every breath you take! Welch's buys a lot of these grapes I hear, but boy does it ever smell good there for a couple of weeks.

Look at all those grapes!

Well, hope you enjoyed your little drive down the country road here in Michigan!

Hugs - Diane

Garden Walk

2008-09-21T13:53:00.011-04:00

Well it is going to be "feast or famine" here. I know it has been a long time, but boy do I have pictures to share today. A couple of weeks ago we had a Garden Walk tour in town. We usually try and go to those every year, we really enjoy them. And seeing as we have been spending a fair amount of time doing funeral things, I thought it would be a nice break. So.... lots of neat flower pictures - and this is only a small portion of what I took! It was kind of a late Garden Walk this year, so was wondering what kind of flowers would be blooming, but sure enough, there were plenty!

Most of the gardens were at homes that were huge, beautiful homes, many of them by Lake Michigan. They were lovely to see. I took some pictures of them too, but thought pictures of flowers might be more enjoyable to look at.

The first garden we stopped at was at Tosi's, an Italian Restaurant in town. We were able to see their Herb Garden out back, that I am sure they must use in the cooking. And then we were able to walk through the garden area in front where you can sit when you are at the restaurant. I highly recommend the restaurant!

We also ran into some friends from South Haven that we made several years ago at the same Garden Walk. We got to talking, and realized we had a lot in common. We had them over to our house afterwards for iced tea those several years ago, and in return they later left a gift to us of some grasses that they were dividing, and sharing. Anyway, it was nice to see them again and catch up. One of these years we have to get up to their house to see their gardens.

This is some kind of bugs on a Milkweed Pod - isn't that interesting? This particular garden was more of a walk in the woods. They had a neat firepit in the woods, and a lovely path going all around their property.

This particular garden was my favorite, because it showed how you can do lovely things with just a "regular" type home and yard. I wish I had taken more pictures of the gazebo though, but hope you can get the feel of what they did.

Anemone

And then look at this house - notice the pretty pink and white border everywhere. Some places it was begonias, and other places it was petunias. And the pond was great too - and the birds were really striking too.

This was a water garden that had lovely water lilies.

Also included on the tour is a local grade school classes garden that they tend. We had a lovely tour of all the flowers and fruit they are growing, and have one area where they are growing flowers according to the alphabet. A different flower for each letter of the alphabet. You could tell the kids were very proud of what they were showing us, and knew a lot about the different plants.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little garden tour here in Michigan. And don't forget to click on the pictures for a much closer view!

Be Back Soon

2008-09-05T00:37:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is Friday, and this is our first week back to school. It is always a tiring week for everyone I think, and especially after our week before last. And we also brought Emily up to school, where she is living in a house full of girls (5 of them) on Tuesday night. We left after work, but dad had to put her bed together and assemble her computer desk when we got there, so it was a very late night again. So just wanna put one or two pictures up, okay? The first one is our (nearly all) family picture. And then I am going to try and find my neat rainbow picture - something that offers hope, and tells of God's promises, and all those wonderful good things. Have a good Friday!

See the faint double rainbow?

And did you notice I now have frames around my pictures? When Ben came home for the funeral he was able to do that - thanks Ben!!!

Jesus Loves Me This I Know!

2008-09-01T12:11:00.003-04:00

The funeral/homegoing was wonderful - will write more later, but thought I would quickly add this to the post for all the family members that might be reading this. I also hope you will add a comment or two, would love to know who is able to see this!

We Love You Wes!!!

2008-08-27T02:45:00.003-04:00

Grandpa Wes

Father & Son
Clayton Wesley (left) & Wesley Gustave (right)

Ben & Grandpa

Emily & Grandpa

Just wanted to let you know that my husband's dad died earlier tonight. (Tuesday night). He was 96 (mind you - he played tennis till he was 91), and anxious to join his Lord and Savior, wife and daughters, and siblings. He was a wonderful man who dedicated his life to serving the Lord. We rejoice with him for his gain, but mourn our loss here on earth. We will miss him.

Who Wee - Hang On!!!

2008-08-16T00:01:00.006-04:00

I only have just a minute here, but soon, very soon I will tell you all about our wonderful trip to the U.P. to see our son, who graduated from Michigan Tech in December and is now working in Houghton.
We camp at a wonderful State Park up there - McLain State Park, that is right on Lake Superior, and you get to go to sleep hearing the sound of the rolling waves in the distance. It is wonderful

And here are Ben and Emily climbing Jacob's Falls in the Upper Peninsula (Michigan).

My kiddos - Ben & Emily at our campsite.

Here Dad and Emmy are watching Ben play softball - and their church team won the championship that night! It was very exciting!

Then this wonderful past week, where I was able to get together with a dear friend (Melita) from college, (twice even!). On Tuesday Melita came down to St. Joseph, (and even brought lunch - thanx Melita!!!) for the day.

Here we are - myself and Melita.

Then on Friday, my good friend from high school, and her husband, came across Lake Michigan on the Ferry, and we met in Muskegon for supper. They were staying at the Emory House Bed and Breakfast place there - it was beautiful, maybe you would enjoy some of the pics I took when they gave us the tour. It was great.

And this is my hubby and I on the left and Susan (my high school buddy) & Gary, from Milwaukee, on the right.

Then we continued a little further north and went to visit my brother and his wife for a few days. Had a good time catching up and enjoying the peace and quiet in the woods!

My brother Paul, and his wife Gwen

Color coordinated dessert, now that is good!

The neat garden at the ice cream shoppe!

Sunflowers along the road to my brother's house.

When at my brother's we got to go to my friend Melita's church (her hubby is the pastor) and meet their first grandchild too!

My college buddy - Melita, her hubby, and their first grandchild!

And TOMORROW we are leaving at 5 AM (and yes, it is midnight now!) because hubby and daughter are riding their bikes from Grand Haven, MI to Grand Rapids (45 miles), along with about 200 folks from our churches denomination who are riding their bikes from "Sea to Sea" to raise money to fight poverty. And there will be an additional 200 people joining this group (like dad and em) to join with them. We also spent a night and a day bringing furniture up to GR to daughter's new house for this year at school, and I did this after suffering some terrible kind of injury to my knee, which is still hurting incredibly, and has left me tied to the couch, hoping we can get my knee to "settle down". - ha ha!

So I just wanted to let you know I am still here and
would sure love it if you left a comment! (does begging help???)

And then school starts in another two weeks - eeks!!! So I will throw a couple pictures in here but it will be pretty bare bones, I hope to write a lot more soon!!!

Hugs from Michigan!

P.S. Did I ever tell you all about my sister's birthday? Hmmmm....

Off we go!

2008-07-22T22:36:00.004-04:00

Well, I didn't get a chance to catch up on the blog yet - but we are off and on our way to see our oldest up in the U.P. It is a 10-12 hour ride, and we are camping, so lots of things to do to get ready. Here is hoping that we have good weather! See ya later (gulp - how am I going to live without my blogs? & how many thousands will I be behind in reading posts???) Oh, I wanna throw in one or two pics here quick too......well, maybe more .......

Here is the kiddo we are going to see ....... this was his mode of transportation up until recently.

Doesn't this look like PINK LACE????

Okay, I will get back to packing!

Bye!

Are You Ready for This???

2008-07-21T01:08:00.014-04:00

Wow - very sorry for the long absence once again! So I am ready tonight - so hope this one won't be TOOOOO long!? But I do have tons of pictures to share, so we will see how far Miss Chatty Diane gets tonight! And thank you to everyone who left comments - that is so much fun hearing from everyone! THANK YOU!!! Ah, where to begin? Well, I can't believe the end of July is coming up soon! Where does summer go? But it has been a lovely summer here in Michigan! Mostly in the 70's with no humidity, which I LOVE! And we have been able to enjoy quite a few sunsets over the Lake Michigan too! And there HAS been crafting going on around here too - don't let me forget to add pictures to this thing! The first I wanted to show you are our visit with friends Tom & Char who come up this way every year and treat us to a wonderful meal at some nice restaurant! Years ago when they lived in St. Joe, Char would be my travelling buddy to the fertility doctor way up in Grand Rapids. We made that trek many times, and then she got to be the lucky one to give me shots at a later point also! Anyway, it was a fun visit - I am always thankful for "old" friends! And here is a first showing of some of my trying my hand at crafting - I have PhotoShop, but really don't know how to use it too well - but check this out - we sat along the bluff in town to watch the sun go down, and the picture on the left is what was taken, and then I "removed" the couple sitting there to the right of us. Looks fairly well, don't you think? Still haven't figured out how to put the pretty boarders around the pictures tho. Now I wonder what you do if you want to get rid of double chins? Hmmmm??

Oh, and I also finally got my new scanner working.... I am having so much fun! So here is a picture of me in my younger days! I always thought I looked like a little chick here - with yellow fluffy hair!

I am guessing I was around five or six here - but don't you love the dress? I remember it too!
Anyway - I am taking old slides and copying them before they are all gone.....to age. I have all my old Vruwink family slides, so there are a TON of them, but I will try and do just a little at a time. They bring back so good memories! Sometimes tho they don't copy of jpeg, but to some Microsoft Office Document Imaging File, which I have no clue what it is, but people can't see it and I can't too easily either. Oh well, live and learn!

Then here is my first attempt at actual crafting - but don't laugh! It is my first try at antiquing, which is harder than it looks! It was a brown frame to begin with (I forgot to take a pic of that) and then I painted it white, just like you all said, and then I sanded it, so what do you think? Does it look old?

Well, I hope so. So do you put white on top of dark then sand, or dark on top of white and then sand? And then aren't some people buffing (and rubbing) stuff too? Just how do you know? Also having a bit of a tough time getting these pics to go where I want them to go. Oh well.....

And then there are the pics of what my daughter is sewing!!! I am so excited - she is making a t-shirt quilt, of all her old high school and a few first year or two of college t-shirts! She has never really taken an interest in sewing like I did (I used to be a voracious sewer - one time I came home from spring break, with ten days off, and I went back to school with 14 new pieces of clothes!) So here is Emily dearest: I am very proud of her!

And then I have tons of pictures of flowers to show you all - and I want to be sure to tell you all about: (list to myself - so I won't forget, or lose it!) frustrations of new dvd player - and digital junk, pics of grandpa on Father's day, flowers in the garden, and ones that didn't come back, going to Houghton - and Helen's book........etc., But since it is 2 AM I think I will finish up another load of laundry and then hit the sack. So thanks to everyone for their patience - Hugs from Diane (for now)

-----anyone know any tricks to getting the pictures to go where you want them to go? I have re-edited this thing like six times and it looks good on the "table" but when published to post all the pics are out of place! And what is with all this wasted space on the sides? I don't know how to add any of those fancy buttons anyway!

And don't forget you can always click on a picture for a better view!

How About A Blog A Month Group?

2008-06-06T01:17:00.004-04:00

I have just spent the evening looking at a lot of just incredibly lovely blogs - and been inspired to do all kinds of crafting, sewing, gardening, etc., etc. There is an awesome world out there in these blogs - just tons of other ladies like me - all with different stories of things going on in their lives. I had about 50 (slight exaggeration) sites open because I wanted to go back and check the whole blog when I had more time, but my computer seemed to be running slower and slower, and guess what. I needed to get out of all those sites! So that is what I worked on tonight. One of the last ones I read had a hugely long list of all people who were committing to blogging every single day for a month - holy cow! Now that is a commitment! So I am thinking I should start a group of people who commit to blogging once a month! (smile!) (And I am only kidding here - I would have no idea how to set up something like that - have you noticed I have nothing on my blog?!)

Tonight is Thursday, and tomorrow is my first full week being off for the summer - yippee! I made it! It has been wonderful. My daughter and I have been sleeping in till noon every day, since I am a real night owl, and always have been. But it has been a fun week! Emily is home for the summer and found a job at a cafe downtown and started this last Monday. And we have both signed up at the local racquet club and have been going to that this week, so that has been lots of fun. I see lots of the kids from high school there - but oh well..... and I can't do too much for too long, but I figure you gotta start somewhere. And as soon as I find my bathing suit I will use the pool too. But I was pleasantly surprised that it isn't that crowded at one or two o'clock and it is great having a buddy encouraging me along the way. Sure wish I didn't have a bum knee tho - would love to be able to play tennis again. I would show those high school kids!

So tonight I was on the way to visit a good friend who had surgery earlier this week, and pulling out of the driveway I chat with my "neighbor angel" and find out his wife, who is around my age, has stage four cancer, and 14 spots showing up in the liver alone......... glug....... that sure makes you think about your priorities! This is my neighbor angel who has helped our family out countless times, fixing cars, vans, brakes, assorted other car maladies, cutting down trees, or anything else mechanical that needs fixing. It just shouldn't happen to them! They are wonderful Christian people, and she called to our house while I was gone saying that it all really isn't that bad.... I will have to go visit her tomorrow! Oh my goodness! Please pray for Linda!!!

And right now my living room (and dining room) look like a war zone - and you know this is when some unexpected company will drop bye! Oldest son Ben, has given us the okay to switch over his room. He is all graduated from college, has his own car now (another story) and just moved into his own apartment up in Houghton in the Upper Peninsula! So, since our house is pretty small, with no closets and no garage, in order to get his bunkbed/futonbed and desk out of there to get rid of, everything had to be moved out here. His room looks quite huge now! What do I do with his BOXES of Magic cards? I wonder if he would notice if I threw them out....

And then last weekend we went to go and see my sister and her husband and their new home. We had a great time, and we were treated very royally! We drove to Indianapolis right in the middle of huge storms and threatening tornadoes, which was kinda scary, but we made it. Then on Saturday we went to the Indianapolis Zoo - and I got tons of great pictures of animals - I am loving my new Canon camera with the 10x zoom lens! It has been a long time since we have been at a zoo, it was a great thing to do again! So I will have to include a few of those here too. Then they took us out to eat with their son and family too, so that was great also, hadn't seem them for a long time! We had a wonderful meal and a great time catching up. Then on Sunday went to church with them, and saw all the trees that were blown down in the recent storms. Had a very nice visit! Thanks Grace & Will!

Well, see, once I get going, I just keep yacking on and on..... sorry about that. And it is 2:15 AM, so do I add the pictures to the post now, or wait till tomorrow? Well, maybe just a few tonight....Hugs from Michigan! Hope you enjoy the animal pics - trust me, I did leave lots of pictures out!

Spring is Here!

2008-05-02T00:03:00.008-04:00

Want to show you a few pictures of the flowers in our yard. Although I am having a tough time getting the camera to focus on what I want it to focus on. It seems the ground in the background is crystal clear in focus, but the flower is blurry, even tho I had the focusing box on the flower. But one thing I did find tho is that you can't use both the macro lens and the zoom lens! That was a surprise to me, but it did explain why I was having such a terrible time getting close ups. I also photoshopped some flower pictures, but do you think I can find them - NO! And the other day I went through and got all the pictures of my card, so don't know what happened to the zipped up pictures - oh well, if I find them I will add them on later.

I just love this time of year where all of a sudden you are made aware of all the forsythia around you, and then of the cherry trees in your neighborhood, and then all the tulips and daffodils in the different yards. And I love the magnolia trees, just hope they don't get hit by any late freeze here in Michigan. And pretty soon the crab apple trees will be blooming too, they are just about ready to pop at work in the courtyard at school. I have to work on the focusing tho!

Ahh - found the edited picture, I had saved it to Flickr, so getting it over here was a little different.

And I have also been trying to figure out how to put a border around my pics - I think I might have mentioned this before - but boy this stuff is complicated! How does everyone learn how to do this stuff? Oops, better insert some pictures before I forget...

And then had to throw in these two pictures too. This is Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal, who I think have come back to our house year after year. The picture on the left they see me through the living room window, and the one on the right they don't care anymore! And the bar going across between Mr. and Mrs. is my cafe rod going across the picture window. So it looks almost like two separate pictures, but they really aren't. Oh well, too much info! But we enjoy looking at them!

Borders anyone? And remember you can click on any picture to get a better view.

Gospel Choir Concert the Next Weekend!

2008-04-26T03:35:00.003-04:00

The next weekend we came back to Grand Rapids for a Gospel Choir Concert that our daughter sang in. It was wonderful, an hour of singing to the Lord (and us too!). It was great - I took several videos, but don't know if that is quite right to include on these blog things. But I will include a couple pictures of Emily as part of the choir group, and then family, if you would like to hear a few clips, just let me know and I can send them on to you. Emily is the short one in the back row. And unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the whole choir, this bottom picture is only half......oh well, next time.

Dance Guild - Part Two

2008-04-16T00:21:00.004-04:00

Lauren is the one twirling in the front, kind of leftish side

The Grand Finale

Emily, Kristen & Erin from St. Joe!

Clay & I, and Fran & Judy

All the friends!

I took lots more pictures, but held it down to these few here. Another nice thing was that several of the girlfriend's parents were there, so we got to meet them too. (I won't post those pictures, I promise!) But what a great group of girls! And a friend of St. Joe came up too with her girls to come and watch Emily too - that was much appreciated! So we had a great time, and I am sure all the girls slept very well! Love you all!

I sure hope SOMEONE/ANYONE leaves me a comment tho!!!

And does anyone know how to put the line frames around the pictures in blogspot? I have tried every button I could, and haven't found the right one yet!

Hugs, Diane

Dance Guild

2008-04-16T00:07:00.006-04:00

That is Kelsey there!

And here is Beth in the middle in black!

And there is our Emily in the middle in the back!

And there is Lauren on the left!

And Lauren on the right! (Lauren choreographed this one to Amazing Grace, it was very good!)

Well here you go.... These are of the Dance Guild program that my daughter and her friends were in recently up at Calvin. Dh and I went up to Grand Rapids, met with my sister and a friend, went out to eat, and then went to see the program, it was really good! I thought there would be lots of ballet and maybe square dancing (kind of kidding here) but no, it was pretty wild (AND LOUD!!!) lots of hip hop and that kind of stuff. I didn't get too many great shots, those darn digital camera's you shoot the picture, then it is delayed so long the great shot is gone. So Emily is there in that one, she is in the back row with a black top and pink jacket - isn't she cute?
And her roommate Lauren, was in like five of the dances, and she choreographed a bunch too, we really enjoyed the whole thing!

Buttons

2008-04-04T04:06:00.004-04:00

Well I am adding a picture of my old buttons to all the other blogs that are showing theirs. These are from a neat blue bottle, that I am pretty sure belonged to my Grandmother Dirkse, who was no longer alive when I was born. My mom had saved them, and after checking out the other button blogs, I found out they were 19th century glass calicos and stencils, how cool is that? I wonder if these were saved from clothes, or new or what their story is. It is fun to imagine. I just always loved the looks of them, and knew they were old.

Drowning in Paperwork - Past Tense!

2008-04-03T01:17:00.003-04:00

Yippeee, all the paperwork is done or passed on! I have felt like I was drowning in paperwork the last couple of months. I have been doing paperwork for three generations - and it was getting to me! We refinanced recently, had taxes to finish so that I could then have all the numbers I needed to fill out the FAFSA forms for college financial aid, then also had had my father-in-laws paperwork to get and send in to apply for financial help for him at the new nursing home he was going to. I had the deadline/schedules all figured out, but a wrench got thrown into the works, and it all didn't go as smoothly as planned and I was having stress attacks along with chest pains - not fun! So now the deadlines are done, and other things were passed on - ahhhhh - that is a sigh of relief! Oh, and throw into the mix my daughter had a bout with identity theft, on a big scale, with her checking account, which involved a visit from a very nice policeman, and the bank was super about it, but it all just added up.

So now that I can breathe a bit, I am hoping I will have more time to blog I hope - altho, my google reader jumps very quickly! I had it down to 20 unread blogs, and in one day it went up to 160 again - how does that happen?

So I hope you won't mind if I play catch-up a bit - you may see some Easter pictures yet. Catch ya later!

Weekend with the Girls!

2008-03-06T00:00:00.012-05:00

Oh boy, it is going to be hard to pick which pictures to leave out...... I love my pictures, hope you do too! So the girls are friends of Emily - from college in GR, only a bit away from our house. So the girls came to our house for the weekend for a little home cooking and getting away from the old books. Friday night they made home made facials - what a mess! (grin!)
Remember you can click on any of the pictures to get a better look.

Check out the oatmeal in the ear!

Then Saturday after sleeping in, dad made Swedish pancakes for everyone.

Then the girls took a walk downtown and to the pier in St. Joseph - I am sure glad no one fell in!

Sunday morning, we all went to church (took up a whole pew!) and came home to a wonderful Sunday dinner, with pot roast, and all the rest of the works! Including, you guessed it....mocha torte.

Lauren, Kara, Beth, Emily & Kelsey

The girls are from California, east of Indianapolis, Valparaiso and Lansing, or was it East Lansing? The part that I think is so hard to believe - they are going to a predominantly Dutch, Christian Reformed College, and yet none of these girls had ever heard of the Christian Reformed Church, and none of them are Dutch!!! That is so ironic! They are the nicest girls, I am glad they are all friends, and I hope they come to visit here often! Love you girls!!!

A Teaser

2008-02-25T01:08:00.003-05:00

Ha ha - it has been awhile again, hasn't it?! But look who came to our house this weekend! Five College Girls! (the one with the pink collar coming in, is the one that belongs to us!) We had such a great time - the girls were wonderful - and dad spoiled us all by making all kinds of wonderful things to eat! Yes, you guessed it, we had to have Mocha Torte again!

And the first night we had a night of make your own facials! And this is just a teaser, I will tell you lots more about it in the next few days - but just wanted to wet your appetite! And please, please leave a message, okay? If you aren't a regular blogger, just go in under anonymous, and then sign your name as part of the message, that will be fine! So tell you more in a few...... Have a good week - hugs, Diane

Birthday Party at Home!

2008-02-02T04:40:00.001-05:00

So here is our princesses birthday at home. She got her wish - a Daddy-made Mocha Torte/Cake! This is just the best. I will have to have him show me the recipe so I can include it here.

It is three layers of goodness!

Oops, we forgot to put out forks!And after all that cake, we need a little rest, right? Look at that sleeping beauty!
Happy Birthday Young Lady!

Emily's Birthday!

2008-01-31T23:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a week again since I have posted! I am still hoping to get some very belated Christmas pictures posted yet! (grin!) But here are some pictures from Emily's 20th Birthday Day. We went up to GR to take her and her friends out to eat, then we kidnapped Emily and brought her home for the long weekend. Chef Dad made her a Mocha Torte for her birthday cake, mmmmm-m it is out of this world! So my baby is 20, holy cow, how did this happen? She is such a sweet heart and a blessing! We are so proud of her, she is beautiful inside and out! Okay, no more chatter, time for pictures!

Lauren - Emily's roommate (in pink) and 20 Year old Emily (in blue)
((since I can't get the words to stay under the pictures between the editing and the actual site!))

A little better look at the photo album I made. This is for Emily's pictures of her Alaska Mission trip this summer.

Birthday Week & a New Camera!

2008-01-17T00:08:00.000-05:00

This is our "Week of Birthdays" week! Ben turned 23 on the 13th, I turned 5_ on the 15th, and Emily will be/is 20 on the 17th! No more teenagers in the house! Happy Birthday everyone! This was the week when we would all get sick of birthday cake by the end of the week, because you know how it is - everyone needs their own birthday cake! And at our house birthday cake is always confetti Angel Food cake. But this year none of the kids are at home for their b-days, so that is a new change that I am not sure if I like. Hmmmm.....change!

I got to go out to eat with the Birthday Girls last night and that is always lots of fun. We all have girls the same age, so we catch up on each other's lives and the lives of our girls. But since my camera has been broken I couldn't take any pics - it has been killing me, not having a camera! But I got the one I ordered today! Yippee - I can't wait to figure it out! I went back to a Canon, since that is what my old 35 mm was, that I had for about 35 years and it served me very well. (that was one of the ways I knew my husband of 30 years was the right one for me - we had identical Canon cameras!) So the next birthday get together I will get pics of the margaritas. And hubby made me my angel food birthday cake, and I will take a picture of that tomorrow, if there is any left!

I am having a hard time taking photos with the new style of photography! I have a hard time not centering the subject, and having space all around it etc., etc. But there is certainly a new trend with photos of just taking very close close ups and just partial pictures of items - and to take pictures of people without their heads - I can't do it! Anyone else have a hard time with that?

And tomorrow is my sweet Emily's b-d, and since she is at college only an hour and a half away, we are going to drive up and take her and her girlfriends out to eat at Olive Garden - then onto Cold Stone's, sounds like fun doesn't it?

Then today, one day after turning 5_ I fell inside the school building on the win in this morning! We have snow, of course here in Michigan, and the floor had just been recently highly polished, so what did I do? Did a knee dive/splits! And it always happens so fast, you don't remember exactly what went what direction - but I remember sitting there on the floor, just glad nothing hurt severly, so I was hoping nothing was broken. Then some great kids came and helped me up, and it wasn't too bad, but as the day wore on it hurt worse and worse. We only had a half day because of exams (I am a teacher aide to a freshman in high school), so I HAD to do a few errands in the afternoon (one was going to Goodwill - a birthday treat to myself - will show pics tomorrow of the goodies!) and by the time I came home my knee was really hurting, and my ankle was also all swollen. So I iced that down, and it looks better tonight, but have been keeping myself to my LazyBoy so haven't tested walking for awhile. The thing is, last month I had three Synvisc injections to my knee because I have arthritis so bad and I have bone on bone there and the cortisone shots just weren't doing it anymore. And I had been feeling so great, being able to walk without pain - and who ever knew your knee was involved when you got up out of a chair - I could do that without pain too, it was great - and then this. So if you are the praying kind - please remember my knee!

And THANK YOU to all who remembered me on my birthday - I really appreciate the well wishes!

And then - ta da - my new camera! I am so excited! I can't wait to start using it! I tried to take pictures of the dog we are babysitting tonight, but he doesn't like getting his picture taken anymore than the kids! He sees me get out the camera and the darned dog runs for it! (I think it is the flash he doesn't like) But the cat (Mozart or MoMo) has cooperated, and she obligingly opened her eyes a crack!)

And I was able to do a little crafting of late! I made this photo album for Emily for her pictures from working in Alaska this summer. It was my first try at something in a long time - it was great fun! And I think I do have a picture of that......I have been able to use my friend's camera, thank you Robyn!!!, so here is that......

Oh oh, I don't think you are supposed to start every paragraph with an "and" hmmm.... And oh yea, I can't forget handsome Ben's birthday.... he turned 23, is now in the working world, but what do you get for a 23 year old son who just buys himself whatever he wants if he wants it.....hmmmm, any ideas? He would like a car/jeep of course, ha ha..... so Happy Birthday Bennie!

So raise a glass to everyone's birthdays - cheers!

Diane

Christmas Eve

2008-01-04T01:04:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve! We went to Ken and Dianne's house for a wonderful Swedish Supper! (sorry-I don't know how to spell smorgasboard!) and would love to share a few photos of the family that I took before my batteries ran out! So here you go...

We had a great time - and the kiddies played a fun scrabble game called "Take Two", and here are pics of our kids, and their kids - and of Grandpa, who turned 96 this month!

Lots to be thankful for!!!
And here are pictures of our family and their family (minus one spouse)! Have a great Christmas tomorrow everyone!

Miles to go before I sleep

2007-12-22T03:18:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a wonderful time up in Houghton, MI for Ben's graduation from Michigan Tech! We are so proud of him!!! And wow was it ever cold up there - minus three degrees at one point. So we enjoyed the pool and hot tub, as the snow and wind swept around the three glass sides of the pool area. I also picked up a lovely cold/laryngitis with cough while there! So now we can get started on Christmas. We put up our tree last night, (in the stand I mean)(it didn't pay to put it up before we left for Houghton, and have to have someone come in and water it), got the lights on tonight, and maybe, that is maybe, tomorrow the ornaments. We will also be driving to Lansing (a two hour trip one way) to pick up our son and may as well begin our shopping while we are on the way there. Our decorating is going very slowly - we had a new roof put on a few weeks ago, and when taking the five layers off, the last one on our 150 year old home must have been the next invention after thatch roofs, because it had one to two inch gaps between each of the roof boards. So our tiny crawl space we call our attic had everything covered with an inch of soot/grit/dirt - and everything is needing to be painstakingly cleaned. Hubby is doing a fantastic job doing that, but the soot got in everywhere, inside of boxes and inside of ornaments wrapped in tissue inside of boxes! Unbelievable! Our Christmas lights had also been wound around a board, and were also covered, so we spent two nights after work, looking for new LED Christmas lights - looked in six stores the first night, and three the second - no luck. So the old lights were dusted off, and put up one more time. Next year..... And gift lists just came in recently, so presents need to be bought - I do have one or two hidden, if only I can remember where!. And in order to try and recover from this cold, I am trying to take it easy, ha ha! BUT this year is WAY better than last year!

Last year in December, the 13th actually, I had a heart stent put in, came home, and then had a heart attack the next day, and spent 8 days in the hospital, and on the 22nd of December same son above had surgery to repair his ACL tear on his knee - so this year is just splendid, as far as I am concerned! I am going to enjoy every last minute of it! (I think hubby is enjoying it more too!)

So today was our last day of school, and what gets done gets done, otherwise, who cares! (dagnab those Christmas cards!) I just have to try and focus on what is important, not the long to do list! Deep breath in, and what is the yoga mantra? hmmmmmmmmmm - all is well! And I sure hope I get to do a little crafting somewhere in here, but it doesn't look good, but if I do, I will include pictures! Merry Christmas to you!

Hugs - Diane

Graduation Day!!!

2007-12-13T00:25:00.000-05:00

No pictures yet - but we are off for a few days to go to our number one son's graduation from Michigan Tech. in the Upper Peninsula! I am so excited - a few days away from all the things that need to be done (haven't started Christmas anything yet!) AND we get to stay in a hotel!!! (which we never do - but even we can't camp in December in the UP) And our family will all be together for a couple days, somehow I feel that this will be happening less and less. I am hoping number one son will be able to come home with us, (it is a ten to twelve hour trip) because he doesn't have a car up there. We live in "Southern" Michigan, which always sounds so strange, like it should be balmy and warm or something - ha ha! He is graduating with a degree in STC - Scientific and Technical Communications, I think it has to do with computers and websites, I think. And thank you Lord, he already has a job at Monte Consulting, in Houghton, where he worked this last summer, and also through the school year! We are SOOO proud of him. I am just hoping he will let me take more than one or two pictures, because he tends to not enjoy that too much, to say the least! I will see what I can do.

And our number one daughter is also home from college, yeah Christmas time! -doggone it--my computer is being VERY crochety (not the knitting kind!) it gives me the hourglass of death and then clickity clacks at me for let's see, this time it was 15 minutes! I always joke my computer is trying to teach me patience, but enough already! Anyway - number one daughter is home, she was able to finish exams early so she could come with us to the graduation. We all love our road trips.

Wanted to get one picture in here tho - it is of my Birthday Lady friends. One Friend is missing, so it isn't all of us, but nearly. We all have girls the same age (second year in college) and have been friends since they were a couple of years old - a long time. We get together for each other's birthdays and always love spending time together and catching up on each other's lives. It is a wonderful group of women!

And here is Flori's lovely home - this is her family room, and through that window there on the right, you can see Lake Michigan! Fantastic!

Well it is off to do laundry and packing! See ya later! Diane

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

2007-12-03T00:04:00.000-05:00

I have been so negligent about posting - sorry! I just so enjoy reading the blogs I can't think of anything clever to write in my own. But I do love to show pictures, so will do a bit of that! And besides, if I talk too much on here, I would probably get in trouble with someone for saying something that I shouldn't! But my kids tell me I have to write more often so more people will comment, cuz so far it is mostly only my two kiddos that are commenting.

So first we had to go pick Bennie Boy up from Lansing, where he hitched a ride with his three friends/brothers, who all go to Michigan Tech - such goofs! - oh,.. I meant nice guys!!!! He got to be home for a whole week. (and I am trying really, really hard not to use the exclamation point after every sentence, although that way what I say seems so bland! And not filled with enthusiasm, like I usually am!) And we took Grandpa out for supper one night, then Emily got to come home Wednesday night in time for church, and then we had family over for Thanksgiving day. And that is my dear husband spending the morning in the kitchen, cooking away! I must say tho, that since the nephews and nieces are all grown and or married, I really miss the big family holidays together! It seems like once they are grown up, we don't see them nearly enough! We missed you Rad & Ilona, Holly & Pete, Erin & Paul and Brook!!! And John and Janet too!!!

It was great having everyone home again! Come to think of it tho, our kids were gone a lot of the time too. That is good too tho. And we got to spend time with some friends. And I got to make some caramel apples too! Here is our dear friend Robyn, whose camera I have been using lately, since mine no longer works-GRRRR! the lens won't come out. So I am finally able to take some pictures again - I HATE being without a camera! Could you tell I ran out of battery juice on Thanksgiving day? My family was SO happy for that, they get a little sick of my picture taking! But it nearly killed me not to be able to take any more pictures on Thanksgiving Day! So here is Robyn - she is like a sister to me - a dear heart! Usually after church on Sundays we go out for a bagel and coffee. We are babysitting her dog while she is in Grand Haven helping her sister who is sick. But the darn dog runs everytime a camera is pointed his way, so will have to work on getting a picture of Bruno.

And then we got to see our "old" friends Gail and Bill from Chicago. I have known Gail all my life, as my mom and I worked for her dad at the Corner Store in good 'ole Cedar Grove. Had a great time catching up with them too! And it was great getting to spend some time with Emily too, it was the first weekend she was home since August, so loved being able to tuck her in at night again too!

And then lastly, be sure to click on the tree picture, they all look so much better up closer, don't know why tho?! But the colors this fall were just fantastic! What a beautiful display God gives us every fall! And I want to be sure to say a few things I am ever thankful for - my family, my friends, our home (with a new roof-to boot!) and our health (which I promise to try and never take for granted again!) our church, and the loving care of my God!

And oh yea, we had enough snow on Thanksgiving day, which was just enough to make everything look pretty, and Ben and Fran went out and made a snowman! But since the batteries weren't working that day, it didn't include them in the picture, so just so you know, that snowman is about three of four feet high! Which is pretty darned good I thought!

So we had a great time, and hope you enjoyed the pictures - and please be sure to leave a comment or two!

Hugs, - Diane

Beautiful dishes, pumpkins & ghosts

2007-10-30T17:26:00.000-04:00

Oops - ended up falling asleep on the couch, and now it is time to go to bed! Will write something tomorrow - goodnight!
___________________
I am back, albiet two weeks later! It is SOOO easy to get lost in time by reading blogs! I sit down, and the next time I look at the clock it is several hours later! And I had meant to write in my blog, instead of just checking everyone else's out! Such fun! But it is easy to post pictures - I could easily just do that!

I wanted to show a couple things - I had to quickly rush to show my ghost cookies. We used to make them every year with the kids, both mine and all those that I babysat over the years. It is just Nutter Butter's dipped in white chocolate, and mini choc. chip eyes, which were always a bugger to put in - and still is!

And then I had to show you the beautiful, beautiful dishes that my sister recently gave me! They had been my mom's, and sis thinks they were an engagement gift from our dad to our mom - isn't that just the neatest thing? And they are just gorgeous - they have a beautiful pearlized finish on the insides of them! My sis said she had enjoyed them for years, and since she was down-sizing, she wanted me to enjoy them next - how wonderful! Thanks Grace!!! And then a friend came over to help me figure out how to display these beauties, and I think she did a great job! So they sit atop my old piano.

And then I had to throw in the table decoration I put together. I am trying to be creative! I will leave that picture at the top I guess......

So this brings me a little more up to date - catch ya later - Diane

Wow!!!

2007-10-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

Okay - I am only going to write for a minute here, but I wanted to say how exciting it is to be listed under someone's "sweet friends and inspirations" - that is just the coolest thing! I think that will keep me smiling for a month or two! And it has been an age since I posted, but will just add a few quick photos I would love to share. The Moonflower picture I had just been thinking about writing a blogger who had shown their beautiful Moonflower to ask for help because I had started a package or two of them this spring, and they seemed to have disappeared. And wouldn't you know it - that night there was this huge white thing on my trellis - and sure enough, it was a Moonflower! Aren't they gorgeous?

And the other picture is of our High Bush Cranberry bush.

And one more little tale - There is a lot of stuff going on with us these days, but on Sunday I was getting ready to study for our Bible study - and my husband had left to go see his dad, so I had the house to myself, and I picked a classical (my fave) CD at random (ha ha) and cranked it up and hit play. I went and sat at the table, and all of a sudden the house is filled with Handel's Messiah - the Halleluia chorus! That was God's gift to me - thank you Lord!

And very soon I am hoping I too will be able to post about a craft I am wanting to do. You know it is fun (and easy) to gather the things to do the crafts, but another thing altogether to DO the craft! You have to make all kinds of decisions, and then actually cut into that pretty material (gasp!) but soon..... very soon!

Hope you all are well - hugs - Diane

Phew!

2007-09-21T00:07:00.001-04:00

Well it has been an interesting day to say the least. I have been wanting to post more cute stuff going on here, but other stuff just keeps happening...... like.....got a call from our fifth year college student son, who is 11 hours away in Houghton, MI that he was in a car accident. (Thank you Lord - no one was hurt, just big car damage) Learned this as I was walking out the door to meet with a bank lady to see about refinancing our home (again) so we can put a new roof over our head and pay some medical bills. (yech!) and have one friend who I visited last night, who is in the hospital, and another good friend who has a sister in the hospital in Muskegon, and now in Ann Arbor (we got to babysit her lovely dog for a couple weeks while she was with her sister), and I have a tooth ache (inconsequential-I know) and my brother just had surgery on his Achilles tendon this morning (Thank you Lord - all is well) and I am leading our Bible Study on Monday (Hebrews ch. 2) and need to go and start that! Who - whee - I hope things slow down soon. So am feeling a bit deflated myself. But I know tomorrow is Friday, and I have the weekend to recoup, not going anywhere, so hope to catch my breath. But here is a neat photo I took a few days ago, of the light streaming in (could be reflecting off our neighbor's car) through our kitchen window with the shade pulled. I just thought it was kinda neat.

And we did get to see an old friend last Saturday - Neil Culbertson - who was in GR (he is a pastor in Guam!), and was doing a seminar on a book/prayer journal he has written. It was so much fun catching up with him and learning about he and his family!

We also got to see our baby girl up at college - it was great seeing her too! It had been awhile!

So all is well, and life is never dull - give me a good nap and I will be fit as a fiddle again! Have a great day all!

P.S. - a few thrifted finds!

2007-09-09T01:16:00.000-04:00

Oops, I forgot to show the things I got recently at a church rummage sale! - It was fantastic! It is so much fun - the hunt - for the really neat things you can find in amongst the stuff you don't care for! Look at my great bargains! I love to find these hand embroidered things - think of the time spent making them! And I love finding things with a history, and a story long before I got them.

Like look at the beautiful vintage photo album, and the pink planter, and the crock! And since my son is living in the U.P., who could pass up a Zane Gray book about it! And I love the little praying angel planter, and the two watering cans - how neat! And all for a couple bucks! Such fun! Oh, and the lace tablecloth too - wish I could find a matching one, curtains would be made!

And more lovely linens, and the "This is the day" plaque, that is what Clay's dad used to say when he answered the telephone, so I brought over to him for his wall, ahhh, such treasures!

And then there are these two lovely purses. I paid $3.00 for each, and am using the one on the left (I love it!) and the one on the right I googled it, and it sold for $130.00, so such a deal I got!

Sharing

2007-09-09T00:33:00.000-04:00

Well - Emily and I made it through the first week of school - yahoo! I had a few pictures from the last couple of weeks that I thought it would be fun to share. You know me and pictures! So here we go. The first is a picture of the Benson's, who spent an evening with us - I am so glad they stopped in!

Then here are my hostas in bloom, and Emily standing there is the loveliest flower of all!

Then one fine day we had our Sunday dinner outside, so here we are at the picnic table, using a pop can for a tripod!

And then recently, on a lovely cool day (at last) while sitting outside, I was able to get a picture of the hummingbird at our feeder.

And I was going to quit there - but decided to add two more of bringing Emily up to Calvin. So here she is all packed and ready to go and then there she is with her roommate from last year, Lauren, from California.

Happy 95th Birthday Wes!

2007-09-03T03:23:00.000-04:00

We were recently able to celebrate a wonderful event! Wes turned 95! We had kind of a smallish party for him at Woodland Terrace, and he was happy and alert and really seemed to enjoy himself. We started out singing hymns and visiting then we all had a chance to tell Wes what we loved and appreciated about him, or what encouragement he has given us. It was very touching, and it was great having something positive to celebrate. Of course I took tons of pictures, so will try not to share them all, but here are a few (a-hem) and if you want to see the rest you can go to Flickr.com and search for "wescarlson". I also really appreciated the comment from Barb when she said this was one of the best birthday parties she had been to. Thanks Barb! Now I am only hoping that Wes will remember he is 95, not 100 as he has been insisting when I take him to his various doctor appointments! (grin) Wes has been a great example to many people about what it means to be a Christian. You can't find too many people more generous and loving! It has been a privilege for me to call him "Dad"! I know he longs to be with his Lord and wife and daughter, but we on earth still need him as our prayer warrior! Please keep those prayers going Wes! We love you!

Remember you can click on the photos for a better view of the picture, and also would love it if you would leave a comment - you can always sign under anonymous, and then just sign your name at the end of the comment. And I only had one shot at taking the "whole family" picture so if any of you guys took that photo too, would you mind emailing me a copy of it please?

Here we are - missing number one son!

And here is a picture of as much as the family was able to make it for the event -
Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Family

2007-08-27T02:16:00.001-04:00

Well, here is the family! We all got together in Grand Haven, where Grace & Will were staying for a bit of vacation - it was great getting to see everyone again! And I will include one more picture, just Clay is missing since he was the photographer!
No one was in the mood for more picture taking, so this is it, sorry to say! You can see the picture much better though if you click on it. The day was lovely tho - weather was perfect, there was a beautiful sunset and we had a great meal together!

Camping in the U.P.

2007-08-20T00:29:00.000-04:00

More catch-up! And I have so many pictures I want to put on here, it is ridiculous - so tonight I will just make a stab at catching up, and get as far as I can.

The end of July and into August we drove up to Houghton, Michigan to see our son Ben, who is going to Michigan Tech and is working up there for the summer also. We camped at McLain State Park which is right on Lake Superior, and had just a wonderful time! One afternoon we went to Brockway Mountain with the family and Ryan. Let's see if I can keep the pictures to under a dozen. First off here is the family. We will be using this one for our church directory I guess, since this is one of the few times we can all get together! (if you click on the picture, you can see things much better!)

Oooh--I played around with photoshop for a bit to see what I could do with this picture - look at the difference! That is so much fun! I tried to keep Emily's cross necklace, but that didn't work out so great, but notice I did make my hand and the camera dangling there disappear!

Then here are just Ben and Emily

And here are Ben, Emily and Ryan

And here is Emily looking very pensive, and I would love to know how to make it look like the lake is a speech bubble with some great quote from her in it.

We made hobo dinners one night and boy were they delicious!

Then here we are enjoying them, altho I look a little goofy!
And here is a cute one of Adam as our official salt shaker, since we had salt, just had forgotten the shaker!
Then each night was spent having s'mores and enjoying the campfire for many hours. I took lots and lots of pictures of campfires, but will only show you this one, that has only a bit of the color left from our copper tubing and rubber hose. I grabbed the camera too late to show the fire filled with all the colors it gave off at the beginning! Next time.

Another night we went out to Ben's favorite place to eat - Ming's and have to document that!
And then here's my cutie baby girl!!!

We also got to spend one day at the beach, and everyone tried their luck at using Ben's windsurfer even though there wasn't much wind!
Ben
Emily
And dad

Plus a few more beach shots.

We also made a trip up to the Jampot Bakery and the Falls next to them.

And finally we were able to hunt down some Thimbleberries!
And there you have it. We did pretty good for spending two days traveling and three days there! We covered a lot of ground. Told you my post would be a long one Bennie! And I DO love taking pictures, so hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
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P.S. Gee, how could I forget THIS??? We also went to a concert and heard Leo Kottke!!! (I know how I could forget it - I didn't have any pictures to remind me!) The concert was fantastic! It is so great to hear music live! And we've been big fans of his for YEARS!

Catch Up!

2007-08-08T00:43:00.000-04:00

Oh dear - it seems the faster I go, the further behind I get! We just got back from camping up in the U.P. and will write more about that - but first have to catch up with family visits at my brother Paul and Gwen's house. I got to see my nephew Mike and his wife Bonnie, and their two kids this time - it was great getting to see them too!!! But I am going to start out with a picture of Kim. This is just such a perfect picture of her and the day. My niece is only four years younger than I am, so I feel quite close to her, but here she is coming up from the beach where we spent the afternoon relaxing and visiting and just catching up with eachother.

And then here is Mike & Bonnie, who I hadn't had a chance to see either for several years with them all living in California!

Then here is the whole group, ah what the heck, several of the whole group eating supper.

Then Jessie and her boyfriend Jason

And finally, the Mike & Bonnie family!

There - hope everyone enjoys looking at the pics. Sorry the ones of John & Jessie didn't turn out too hot - so had to skip those! It was great seeing you all! Love ya!

Busy, Busy Busy!

2007-07-28T23:53:00.000-04:00

In this last week we have been to Chicago two times, and and then also two times two hours to up north of Muskegon to see my brother & sister in-law and their kids (who are closer to me in age than my brother), so we have been putting on some miles lately! The one trip to Chicago was for the memorial service for a friend's dad, who had been ready and waiting "to go home". And then to the airport in Chicago again the next day. Then the first trip up to Paul & Gwen's was to see Kim & Tom and kids and Dot & Dave and kids - we had a great time! Will include some of the pics from that jaunt. And here first is Kim, with Wurtzie (sp?) who doesn't leave her side. Notice the possessed eyes! The red eye removal just doesn't work with pets I am afraid!

Then here is a neat pic of Elliot and Molly - who were kind enough to hold hands for me a minute! Watching the sunset over Lake Michigan.

And here is another photo of the two, probably more accurately portraying their feelings....(just kidding!)

And then I challenged everyone to a mean game of Big Boggle - only to be whupped by Dot and her boys!!! Boy they were good!

After church I "made" everyone stand on the very steep driveway, to have a group shot taken - so hope that explains things a little bit....

And here are Kim & Tom & family

And Paul & Gwen

And it was Dot and Dave's 23rd Anniversary, and Dave had made a beautiful bowl and plate carved out of wood for his lovely wife - it was gorgeous!

Wow - that was some finagling to get this to come together - the blog thing won't let me keep using the same font, you have to fight it for each sentence you write! But I am getting better on the photoshopping - I don't think you can tell where I touched up a few things, can you? And family, if you want to see lots more photos, go to flickr and then search using our original family name, which is quite unique!

And then I had hoped to get to see my other sister and her hubby at their new house yet before school starts, but that may not get to happen - since next week we are going up to the U.P. to visit Ben (and camp!) up in Houghton. And lots to do before we leave!!! So anyway, goodnight!

Fran's Birthday!

2007-07-26T21:29:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Fran! My sister celebrated her birthday by going to the Bay Pointe Inn on Gun Lake - and very nicely asking me to join her! We had a wonderful time - the landscaping was beautiful and peaceful and we just soaked it all in! And knowing me - I have more pictures I want to share, so forgive me for a few more photos -- and lets see if I can get them so they don't overlap eachother this time. So there is Fran sitting on the grounds, enjoying the view.

So this was our salad - aren't those "bowls" neat? I just thought that was so cool! We ate out on the veranda of the hotel's restaurant, overlooking the lake, and here the two of us are, I am actually coming out from behind the camera myself! I am the one on the right....
And then one, mmmm, maybe two more pics:

So there you go.... that was Fran's birthday! It was lovely - we may make it two days next year, cuz we never did have time to just sit and relax and read.

And since that weekend, things have been FLYING time wise - where does it go? So I will update on that later, when I have a moment, so there is more to come soon, I promise!