Precious Blessings

We are going to be grandparents again!!!!!! Our daughter is expecting in October. We trust God for His protection for both Lisa and baby as the days go by. We pray that all will go well this time, that mommy and daddy will have His perfect peace as each day of this pregnancy gives hope that all is going well. They will go to a specialist in Spokane next week. We can only trust that God is in control of all things...He knows best in all cirucmstances of our lives.....we rest in His peace and care.

Storms of Life

Sometimes God calms the storm....sometimes He calms us. Peace.....God gives peace in the midst of the storms of life. Right now our friends are going thru a storm. Our hearts are aching. Our friend Derek has recently been diagnosed with acute lukemia. Things have not gone terribly smooth but God has given them His perfect peace as only He can give. The storm is far from over but God has blessed them abundantly time and time again, drawing them closer and closer to Him. The storm has deeply affected our daughter & her husband and their children as they are close friends with Derek, Brenda & their family. We know God holds them in the palm of His hand...we trust Him and pray for His healing hand upon Derek, asking for a miracle.

Celebration of a Life

Today my sister and I traveled over the Cascade Mountains to be a part of celebrating the life of our Aunt Fern, 89 yrs,......a woman of God, who loved Bible Study, was an amazing cook/baker of goodies, always had a little quip to share, mom of 5 boys-and survived them- enjoyed family history, grandma of 15, gt grandma of 30, and gt gt grandma of 3.......it was good to be together with so many family members, coming together to celebrate her life.....what a blessing to know that one day His children will be reunited. It is hard to say goodbyes, but we have His perfect peace to comfort us and the hope of what is yet to come!!

Dad and Mom were to come with us but Dad has not been feeling well all last week, and still not up to par, he did not feel like traveling. We spent half the night at the hospital trying to rule out all the "could be's" with a diagnosis of : probably Virtigo (spelling?). Another test next week and hopefully another "could be " will be ruled out! Doing better today! Soooo thankful!!

In spite of why we were traveling, Cheryl and I had a wonderful time reminiscing, laughing,talking and just being together!! Sunshine, my sister....great day!! To make the day even better....my hubby came from Olympia and met us there for the service! Was good to be with family.....we were a large group ( & that isn't even 1/4th of us!!!!) so good to be together!

Thankful for family....He gave us JUST the right one!!!

In the Blink of an Eye

Just in a blink of an eye.......all can change ever so quickly. Gary's brother, Bob, passed away 2 days before Christmas. My heart breaks for Mom C, losing her first born, and for Jeni, now alone. My heart wants to "fix"the heartaches of our loved ones, but most often that is not something possible to do. We grow, learn, stretch, become stronger, and become more like Him who created us through the difiicult times we go thru. Still my heart aches to see them go thru this devasting time. We stand strong in our faith in God, not always understanding His ways, but believing He is in control of all things & has a perfect plan. He is the way, the truth and the life....we can rest in His perfect peace knowing He is the Healer of the brokenhearted and will one day reunite us all with the loved ones gone on before us. For this we are grateful.

Tis The Season!!!

December has arrived and with it a flurry of activities! I have always loved Christmas...the lights, the decorations, the caroling, family gatherings ...Santa fun, giving gifts.....but most of all the very reason for the season...the celebration of Jesus birthday.

Owning The UPS Store makes the month of December extremely hectic and to say the least very exhausting!! It is the busiest time of our year. It is always fun to see customers come in to ship their loved ones gifts, share some words of cheer and wish a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. My daughter -with the help of her daughter and a bit from me-bakes up a storm and puts out cookies & Starbucks coffee for our customers to enjoy while waiting their turn to get help at the counter! Everyone loves the cookies and are soon out the door, their packages on their way. We see friends, neighbors and "once a year shippers" that we haven't seen all year as they pass their packages over to be shipped. It IS fun but we are sooooo glad to close the door at night.....we are on the run the minute we open til we close! It is hard to keep focused on what Christmas is truly about when you get so tired and caught up in the busy days.

Last night we attended the Christmas Dinner at our church. The church was beautifully decorated, dinner was catered by Michael's On The Lake, Christmas music provided by the MLHS Swing Choir, harp & cello by Rena Harrison & Tracy Estrellado and we all sang Christmas carols together. Tonight, we attended the Christmas Musical at the Moses Lake Alliance Church.....wonderful music praising God.

In the midst of all the hectic busyness at the store, I once again feel a peace...my heart feels revived and more ready to face another week. The Christmas dinner and musical were just the remedy to remind me once again what the true "reason for the season" is all about. Thank you Lord, for the reminders!!

....and yet ANOTHER suprprise!!!!!!!!!

Lisa and Amador surprised Gary and me with a 60th Birthday Celebration!! I had wanted to plan one for Gary and while Lisa and I were "working on it together", they were planning one for the both of us!! Our birthdays are only 16 days apart! It was a huge surprise...they threw a wonderful birthday celebration for us. We had dinner at the Pillar Rock with many family and friends! Truely it was a wonderful blessing. Thank you with all our hearts to the kids for doing this and to all our family and friends for coming to celebrate with us!! You all are so very special to us and we love you each dearly!!

Surprise.....and surprise Again!!!!!!!

Tonight my husband, one of our grandaughters and I went to Wenatchee, WA. Gary had a dinner meeting, so Hannah and I went along to go shopping. Hannah suggested we go visit my sister, Cheryl and her husband. So I called to see if they would be home. Steve answered and I asked him to not let Cheryl know we were in town, but that if they would be home, we would stop by for a bit if it worked out for them. So...we rang the doorbell, Steve answered, directed us to the utility room where Cheryl was getting laundry into the washer. We "snuck" up on her and yelled "boo"! It worked....she was startled and we were laughing to see our surprise had worked!!!! Stayed for about an hour, visiting while they ate dinner!! Great fun!! Love you both much. Would love to have ahd a camera to catch her look of surprise!!! Didn't think to take in my phone!!!!!! Oh well.....another time!!!!! Oh....and by the way....the second surprise....Cheryl and Hannah.....I have blogged yet again!!!!! :-)

Vegas, Death Valley & Grand Canyon

We took a trip to Nevada and our best friends flew in to meet us there!!!! What a wonderful time we had! Took in a couple shows in Vegas, drove to Death Valley and then on to Grand Canyon. The desert was full of awesome flowers in bloom-made Gary stop many times so I could get a pic!!He grumbled but was a great sport about it all!! We took picnic lunches on our outings and had a great time together laughing, visiting, sight-seeing and just hanging out together!!


Dinner in Vegas on the strip.





Bill and Janet posing at the falls!


Ceasar Palace water show......fountains move in time with the music!!


Death Valley...hot & dry!!!!!


Gary and Debs turn to pose....Death Valley


Picnic lunch -this time in Death Valley!


Desert flowers...soooo very pretty!!


Grand Canyon.....such beautiful views....no matter where you look, it was gorgeous!!


Lookout tower at the Grand Canyon...



Janets camera episode.....


Janet's camera....you would have to ask HER about THAT story!!! God blessed us with awesome friends and we are ever so grateful for them!!

May 5th, 2010....Happy 30th Birthday, Amador!

My son-in-law, Amador...the birthday guy!!! Lisa planned a special party for the big event...BBQ, outdoor movie night, campfire-to keep us warm-was a very cold evening!! His mom came from Colorado to surprise him! Family and friends joined us to celebrate. We love you, Amador and are blessed to have you as a part of our family!!





Amador loves Mountain Dew , so Lisa had a special............"Mountain Dew" cake made just for him!!

BFF!!!!!!!!!!

Lori, Deb, Louise, Sylvia and Patti

Best Friends Forever!!!!!! That's what the five of us seem to be!!!!! We have been together since grade school!! Patti, Lori & I since kindergarten...Louise came to Lakeview School in first grade and Sylvia joined us in 4th grade. We all grew up in the same neighborhood-spending MANY hours together up though High School!!!!! Oh the memories we have!! It would make a book I am sure to record all of our memories we have shared!! We stayed in touch after graduation, some of us able to attend each others weddings...I managed to attend each of the weddings!! About five years ago we decided to have a yearly get together in Leavenworth, Washington. A couple of times not all of us have made it but we have done pretty well!! We keep in touch for all the "major" events in our families and share prayer requests in difficult times we encounter. We definitely are friends forever....amd consider ourselves blessed to have had our friendship for so many years now.....54 years since Kindergarten and counting!!!!