Merry Christmas!!!

I love pretty bows!! A present just doesn't look complete without a lovely bow perched on top of it.

Just wanting to wish all my blog readers a wonderful and Merry Christmas this year! My thoughts and prayers are with several different people this morning.....

My dear friends Bruce and Bev who lost their son tragically last week....

To the people who are homeless and have no where to go and have to sleep outside in this kind of weather.......

To our son Tony who I pray will have a safe and blessed trip on his way home to us, he will be here tonight......

To all our employees that we had to lay off this quarter due to the hard economic times that everyone seems to be going through.....

To all the soldiers overseas who are unable to be with their families, I appreciate and understand the sacrifice that they so willingly give to us.....

To Sara as she prepares to leave this Sunday......

To my mother-n-law who lost her husband in November......

Even though I'm not real big on the holidays......I still have compassion for those who are and are suffering at this time. Holidays should be a time of happiness and joy. But for some people, they are the hardest times to get through. They have a way of bringing to mind the loss that we have suffered and the things that we had at one time but no longer have in our lives.

To me, Christmas is another hallmark holiday. It's true meaning doesn't really have true meaning to me. This is due to the fact that I know Jesus was born in the fall (the Hebrews were required to pay their taxes in the fall) and the shepards would not have been laying out in the fields during winter time (it does get cold and snow in Israel!). There are also a lot of pagan rituals and traditions that the Catholic church allowed to influence this holiday in order to keep the people happy. The Catholic church named December 25th as the official day of Christ's birth because it coincided with the birth of the Sun god that the pagans were allowed to continue to worship in the church.

Nobody knows the exact day our Lord was born although our entire history's timeline is based on the year of His birth.......B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (The Year of our Lord).

He was born in a cave......in the side of a hill. He was two years old by the time the wise men reached Him. There was no little drummer boy thumping away at His birth.

I guess it's true to say that I'm a realist. What I love about this holiday is blessing the people in my life with beautiful gifts......spending time with my loved ones......and just the overall feeling of good will and joy that seems to be infectious during this season. Most people just seem to be nicer! lol More considerate, kinder, more willing to go out of their way to smile and be pleasant towards one another.

If we could just be like this all year long.........I always loved my dad the most around Christmas time. He literally was a different person. It just seems to change people.....for awhile. :)

But anyways......Enjoy your families!!!!! Enjoy your good food, wonderful presents and just being together. God Bless all of you.

Five More Days.......

It's Christmas Eve and what's on my mind right now? Well, my little friend Sara is on my mind right now. As most of you know, I just went through the whole Marine bootcamp thing this year with our son Tony who is now stationed in 29 Palms, CA and will not be deployed until next August (YEA!!!!). Thank you, Lord. But.....here we go again!!!! Miss Sara leaves on December 29, 2008 to Paris Island, CA for her own MCRD bootcamp experience! Sigh........you see, she's my girl. My second daughter. My little friend. :) And I love her very much and will miss her like crazy!!!! I try not to think too much about her leaving but the time is fast approaching and I've never been able to stop time! Sara actually dated my oldest son for a period of time but after that didn't work out.....well, she just kinda "stuck" around. I just can't explain it. I really believe that the Lord brought her into our lives to be my little friend. :) Her and our oldest son are great friends now and she's just a permanent part of our family. Its probably due to the fact that once I love you.......I will always love you! I don't take that lightly. So Sara......if you read this.......just know that I love you, will be praying for you, will miss you, will definitely come see your graduation and can't wait for you to get back home!!! And your not even gone yet! lol Sara.......................I love you.

Random Winter Photos......

My favorite hummingbird feeder..............

Awwww, my little man Vaughn.....

Sweet Kiera.....................

Mindy.................

Just playing with my camera.........................which I love to do! I'm beginning to love winter. :)

Hold Your Children Close to You........

These are my babies......well, they may not look exactly like babies to you, my faithful blog readers, but my babies nevertheless. :) Jonathan is 9, Joey is 15, Tony is 20 and Mindy is 12. They grow up so fast.......seriously. I blinked.......and now Tony is a young man and Joey isn't far behind him. Mindy is becoming a beautiful young lady and Jonny has forever captured my heart. Our children are precious..........and life is so unsure. We never know what tomorrow holds for us. I could never imagine going through life without Jesus at my steering wheel. Tomorrow, my family and I will be attending a funeral of a 18 year old boy who took his own life. This young man grew up with our children.....came to slumber parties, went paintball shooting and camping with my boys, hung out with us, ate with us, laughed with us and worked for our company this past summer. We have been friends with his parents for over 10 years now. And he's gone.........................forever. Why did he do it? A broken relationship.......stress.......he failed his ISTEP test at school. It just seemed like on thing after another was going wrong. Seemingly small problems to us......but major issues to him. And he was deceived. Thinking that life was always going to be disappointing and that nothing would ever work out for him. He was lied to. Not by his loving parents, friends , cousins or even his girlfriend. They all loved him. He was lied to and deceived by the great Deceiver. Satan. Who wants to fill us with hopelessness and despair. Who wants to destroy us and our families..........sigh. I'm angry. But I'm angry with the one who is responsible. And I'm broken for this family. He was their only child together, formed and put together in a Petri Dish, placed in his mother's womb and brought forth into a loving family who adored him. He was smart, kind and loving...........he was different. He once tamed a garden snake and could get butterflys to land on his finger and stay there. He was a licensed scuba instructor and knew computers inside and out. He was only 18. His life was just beginning to get good! Parents, pray for your children. Love them, guide them, discipline them.......teach them the ways of the Lord. Kids need their parents to be their parents.......not their friends. I know that the Lord will take that which is meant for evil and turn it into something that which is good. So my prayer is that the parents of this young man draw even closer to God through this. That they find peace and understanding in the One that truly loves them. The One that gave up His own Son and watched Him go through the beatings, scorgings, being slapped, spit on, had his beard pulled out in handfuls and a crown of thorns pressed into his skull. I walked the Via Delarosa...........and could not even imagine being in His holy shoes. I hate the devil. And I am so thankful that the Lord has given us the most powerful weapon of all..................the Word of God. And the power of prayer. Put the two together and you've got an unstoppable force that cannot be reckoned with!!!! The battle is on...................

BEAUTIFUL SARAH.........

Sarah........what a sweetheart. She called me up and wanted some pictures done....well, I wasn't about to tell her no! lol I'm still looking for a certain look but I'm pretty happy with what we came up with. Great job Sarah!!!!! We'll do this again. :)

There's Dog Poo on My Shoe............

I'll never forget, blog readers, the day that I got dog poo........on my shoe. And your probably thinking right now...wow....thanks for sharing. :) Doesn't sound like a very good story, does it? But this is how it went down: It was a very, busy summer day. I had just yelled at the kids to go get in the SUV and do it NOW!!!! lol You see, we were running late! And I hate being late although for some reason, I'm always running a few minutes behind schedule. All the time. I even set my clocks a few minutes ahead......to no avail. In my subconscience I already KNOW I have the extra time. :) So, so much for that. Anyways.....we were running late! As I scramble for my purse and run out the front door, I bolt full speed ahead.........right into a lovely pile of dog poopoo. :) Nothing like a fresh pile of you know what, embedded into your brand new tennis shoe. So.......well, yes, I wasn't happy to say the least. So I hop over to the hose....don't want to mush it in more, rinse...scrape on grass.....rinse....scrape on grass. This went on for several minutes. After being satisfied with my handiwork, I begrudgingly walked back to my vehicle and climbed in with a look of despair on my face. Boy, I was late. My children said nothing. All looking away.....(probably trying not to laugh at me). So on the road we go........and as I reach the bypass, I pull onto the exit and merge into the fast coming traffic. We don't get very far..........and then I see the flashing lights and backed up traffic. You see, blog readers, there was an accident.....up the road a bit.....more than likely right where I would have been had I not stepped on the poo. :) If we could just learn how to trust God and not get upset when life brings us these little piles of poo. There's always a reason.....we may not see it, but He does. He sees, He knows and most of all He cares for us. I stepped in another pile of poo today. A different kind of poo, but poo nevertheless. I had these wonderful plans to fly to San Diego and spend the weekend with my Marine son. But, as fate would have it, he isn't able to get off on liberty and I had to cancel my trip. Am I disappointed? Well, sure I am! But through the disappointment, more importantly, I have peace. Because although all I see is the poo on my shoe.......He sees what the future holds for me. And He cares. So........sunny and warm California.......I'll see you another day! :) At least my baby will be coming home for Christmas.

Black and White Portraits in the Snow.......

Okay, it's true. After dealing with the snow for so many years you'd think I would just learn to love it. Well, I do love it.....the first time it falls. The first snow fall of the year is always so beautiful to me. It's a never ending glittery blanket covering the earth. Well, not the whole earth.....just as far as my eye can see. It actually takes my breath away. I look at all the trees covered in white fluffiness and wonder just how many actual snowflakes are on them. And then I marvel at God. He is truly so amazing. He takes my breath away. We take so many things for granted. So I'm going to learn how to love this snow all season long!!!!! So you just may see ALOT of snow pictures blogged this season. I actually took these pictures when we were leaving Splash Universe in Shipshewanna. It's a huge indoor water park that makes you forget that we were actually right in the middle of a snow storm. As we trudged back to our vehicle (with wet hair and all!) I decided to shoot.......and enjoy the snow in a new way! God Bless!