homecoming, harvesting, and happily ever aftering

Dad is home now and was recovering as expected

until he took a fall this morning. 

Thank goodness my brother was there.
My big strong, independent dad is still
experiencing a great deal of pain. 
It is difficult to see him looking so weak and pale,
but the nurses asure us he is doing well. 
 Any prayers offered on his behalf are so appreciated.

My husband and I
attended
the wedding of
my best friend's
son
on
Friday
evening.

The church was extraordinarily beautiful.

The reception was held in a lovely New England Inn.

I had fun playing with pics of

the Bride and Groom...

My friend looked amazing in her

mother of the groom gown,

and her grandsons were adorable in their tuxedoes. :)

Each of the bridemaids chose their favorite style dress

 in cranberry (I think, or wine?)

The bride carried this bouquet.

This is one of the bridemaid's bouquets.

I loved the hypericum berries in the centerpieces.

And you dog lovers will love this...

Fun, huh?  I liked this idea.

All of this took place after I took my class on a field trip

to the apple orchard.

 
The weather was blissfully sunny and cool.
 

...a pretty full day,

don't

you

agree?

the blessing of flowers

Flowers for my daughter...

...the same flowers after enhancing them with picnik

kinda "artsy"

flowers for my Dad in the hospital...

and for me...

When you have only two pennies left in the world,

buy a loaf of bread with one,

and a lily with the other.

~Chinese Proverb

prayers and pies

My Dad is recovering from his surgery

and the doctor & nurses say he is doing really well

for such a major procedure. 

He'll remain in the hospital for a week to 10 days.

Thank you for your prayers on his behalf. 

They are very much appreciated.

Got back from the hospital and made a few pies...yum...

Will send one

to my Mom and my brother

who is staying with her. 

It's late...

until next time...

blessings!

Apple Picking

On an absolutely beautiful day last week

my three daughters took my grandkids apple picking

at the orchard that's practically

 in our backyard! 

They LOVE apples!

The only disappointing thing about this afternoon outing

was that I wasn't able to join them!

But...they brought home a plethora of apples

that I'm anxious to bake into pies.

Mmmm...

that

incomparable

aroma...

There's NOTHING like a home baked pie made with

Gramma's recipe, sweetened to perfection, slightly cooled,

and served with a  colossal scoop of vanilla ice cream!

I'll post pics of beautiful pies this week-end (I hope!).

It's getting late and I will be getting up early (3:45) to go with my Dad to the hospital in the morning. 
He is scheduled for surgery to remove his bladder and hopefully eradicate any and all cancer in his body. 

I would appreciate your prayers for him.

And, please, 

pray for

 a cure

 for

cancer.

thanks for the memories

Thought I'd share a couple of my favorite old photos. 

*

 

*

I believe we were at a shop called

The Enchanted Dollhouse in Manchester, VT in this pic...

just the place little girls {and their Mom and Grandma} loved to explore!

{Dad and Grandad, not so much, but they were very gracious...}

*

While my son-in law has been staying with us, he decided that my old dinosaur computer just wouldn't do, so he brought me a new one that's quite fancy with a flat screen and takes up only a portion of the room on my desk that my old computer did!

*

My other son-in law brought over a scanner that he and my daughter weren't using so my youngest scanned these oldies but goodies into my computer.

*

I've got  a bit to learn, but I'm enjoying all the extras,  and I'm optomistic that all of these things will help to  enhance my blog and make it more like I want it to be.

*

*

Here's another of my favorites.

~my girls~

These kiddos sure did make the holidays delighful!  

My oldest asked just the other day if she could host our

Christmas Eve gathering at her apartment this year.

I was thrilled that she offered,

and I am already

looking

forward

to

  it. 

*

Labor Day Birthday Boy

LOOK WHO'S

D's birthday is actually September 3.  He's a Labor Day baby. 

His Mom invited a few people over for cake and ice cream on the 2nd. 

He'll have his BIG party when they move into their house. 

 The night before the party his Aunt and Uncle

(my oldest and her husband) moved back to town.

YIPPEE!

And I started school.

So, it's been a little hectic around here!

But it's all good things, so I keep counting my blessings!

This little boy just melts my heart.

He is such a BOY!

It's fascinating watching the way he plays with cars and trucks...

the way they vroom and crash!

One of his favorite things to do is go with Grampie

to see the cows at the farm next door.

The  Disney movie Cars is his favorite.

And he loves being outdoors.  He'll stand at the door and say "A walk?"  :)

He's adding new words to his vocabulary every day.

I love baby talk!

When I'm at the computer he'll motion for me to pick him up

saying "Monta Tuck, Monta Tuck"

 meaning 'I want to watch Monster Trucks on You Tube!'

And he loves the "Mo Mowa."

He once fell asleep in Grampie's arms on the rider!

He certainly isn't lacking a sense of humor!

But, gosh, I even think he's cute when he's crying real tears because his candy bar broke in half!  :(

Do you think this party boy is getting tired? 

Oh, yeah, but he rallied...

and after a good night's sleep was ready for round two on his real birthday!

What a trooper, huh?!  :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet boy.

Mwuh. I Luh You...

all to pieces!

back to school surprise

Last year, one of the second grade boys at school brought in his lizard to show his classmates.  We often have pets visit.  Unfortunately, however, around snack time, S. discovered that his lizard was missing!   We, literally, searched high and low for that creature!  The kids posted MISSING signs, and we sought the advice of anyone who we thought knew anything about lizards. All to no avail...Well, imagine my surprise (understatement) when I'm sitting at my desk preparing for Meet Your Teacher Day today, and I look down to see THE CREATURE right beside my chair!  Needless to say I jumped up, called for anyone within earshot, and even had the Principal paged to come ASAP!  What would you do? 

Anyway, we reminisced about the search, were indeed impressed that this lizard made it through the ice storm of '08, and scooped it up and put it in a terrarium.  On the way home I stopped to buy crickets. 

                                                     They kinda creep me out.

I'm thinking, in addition to How I Spent my Summer Vacation ,

this year we'll be writing about The Imagined Adventures of The CREATURE Lizard! 

Oh Yeah...the kids are going to be SO excited!