Family Fellowship

We've rented a sprawling home here that comfortably sleeps 17.  With a crowd of 21+ coming and going, we have managed to accommodate everyone and then some.  One of the nicest features about this house is its very large dining table (one indoor and one outdoor) and the spacious common area to share our family fests.  

The lunai covered pool? -- now that is a serious treat for all!  


There is nothing like Little Einstein's from the cozy comfort of Grandpa's lap.

Not showing, is Baby Elyse.   She's in the bouncy chair on the floor and makes for five under three around the dinner table.   As you can well imagine, this made for some incredibly memorable meals where comfortable routine was simply pitched out the window.    

Oh so captial c Crazy....but also the stuff that great memories are made of.   

I cracked up when I saw Julsie take to my Ipod like this!  I downloaded Dr.Suess' Green Eggs and Ham before I left home thinking it would be a good distraction on the airplane.  Turns out to be a great way to spend quiet time too.

Cards and games at the dining room table.  *sigh*  We've done a ton of that too!   You see that little desk in the far corner of room?  That's where this beauteous MacBook Pro sits - quickly earning the adoration of every e-mailer in the house -- which is why I am so far behind on my blogging!

You got it right Jules, it's all good here....good to the last drop!

Family Vacation

We're enjoying the sunny south for a few weeks.  This past week was unseasonably cool - most unfortunate for the one family that has already come and gone but I think we succeeded in making the best of it anyway.

Snowbirds that we are, we used the heated pool regardless and even managed a photo shoot on the luxurious beach in shorts and sandals.  Locals spot us out easily on account of that....as if they even know what 'cold' really is.   Pfft!

Am I having fun?  

Here's a pic or two that say it all for me....

On the upside, the cool weather was bonus for shore-fishing.  Our son and his fiancee biked all over the place in search of the choicest fishing hole.   As a result, our freezer is stocked with a few meals of Sheep-head and spotted sea trout.  Yum.  

Fun is what you make it eh?  Eh?  LOL

Below, Diva Julsie enters a restaurant incognito with her designer Winnie the Pooh sunglasses. My mom took the gang out for a seafood dinner at the highly acclaimed Snug Harbor.  

As it turns out, her disguise was of little use.  In this Floridian retirement zone, children, (and the smaller the better) elicit an inordinate and even laughable amount of attention everywhere they go.  

The sun.

It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;  

no thing is hidden from its heat. 

Psalm 19:6

This Pilgrim's Progress

Announcing a new blog on the block!

Just click on the title to find my new place to unload (download? :)

It includes lots of pic's and stories concerning my new main mission....at least for the next little while....

And that happens to be the search for our long lost niece/cousin/grand-daughter Nicole Kristine Peters.   The blogosphere opens incredible opportunity to cut through time & distance and (re)introduce ourselves to her through cyberspace.

That is our great hope.  That she will find this blog and know for certain that we love her, miss her and have never forgotten Yvonne's beautiful little daughter.  

Feeling Euphoric :)

My new MacBook Pro is a dream.    Presumptuously, I loaded it with Adobe Photoshop Elements and am presently glued to the thing - taking a ton of helpful advice and encouragement from daughter Amy as I learn the ropes.  This single little page cost me easily 5 hours of time but I am proud none-the-less because it is my very first attempt!  

The good news is we are about to embark on a family vacation in Florida.  The bad news is, the house we've rented is equipped with WiFi....

Uh, lemme see:  swim in the ocean with grandbabies? or digiscrap extensively with Amy? or digiscrap on the beach while Grampa swims with the grandbabies or....

It IS an addiction, isn't it?    

Oh the pictures are vintage shots of my siblings (some of them) and myself that I've recently come across.  

The black and white on the far left (askew) are the "triplets" my mother had.   I was born in the same year as my eldest sibling and my second brother was born 15 months after me!  It must have been crazy for my mom but I only remember the time with great fondness.  That's me kissing my mom.  She's coming to Florida too.  I can't wait.

N'other Fork in the Road

With the savvy and digiscrapping prowess of my daughter Amy, this blog is going to become a fine hardcover blurb book which I hope to enjoy for many years to come.  I am thankful for her initiative to offer such a service and wish her blessing and success in the endeavour. 

My intention is to carry on with the intrigue for journalling and "scrappin'" in a new blog entitled 

This Pilgrim's Progress .

Not too original I know, and you'll discover that for yourself should you ever google it. 

Most of what appears is connected in some way to the life and journey of the believer and/or Christ follower and that is my whole point as well.  It's a journal of my sojourn but it starts with diary type data from way back.

Travel companions are most welcome.

Pfft!

I'm annoyed.
About ten days ago I spilled a coffee over my laptop.
I killed it dead. I cannot believe how naive I've been about that inherent danger.
My beloved husband has graciously & speedily enabled me to replace it, this time with a Mac!
The switch has posed many hours of inertia for me reading manuals and pacing myself through myriad tutorials....a strange mix of fun and frustration.
Last night my shiny new (two day old) MacBook Pro froze on me. Froze. I can open the lid and I can manipulate the cursor on the typepad but that's about it.
Another trip to it's place of origin this morning. I'm hoping it's a simple thing to fix.
The launch of my new blog is postponed a little longer. Thanks for your patience, I am definitely learning a thing or two in that department myself.

A Satellite Out of Sync

Dear readers:
I am both astounded and humbled to see the number of visitors to this blog and am making this 'oh-so-brief' entry to express my appreciation for your patience.....
First of all, our country existence confines us to satellite service for the internet and the winter storms of December did a number to the dish on the roof of an outbuilding on our property.
Without getting too technical, the heavy snow and high winds messed with the alignment and rendered us signal-less for the entire duration of the holidays.
I had hoped to use the holidays to launch my new blog This Pilgrim's Progress.
It is a work in progress (the blog as well as my life :) and I assure you - it is coming soon to a screen near you!
But I am fussing and fretting over the inaugural post - a memorial of my sister Yvonne on the 20th anniversary of her death and the search for her offspring whom we have not seen since she was whisked from the country more than ten years ago.
It's a bit of family history that needs to go public for the sake of justice, but needs to be shared respectful of so many variances.
When the time comes - and I trust it will be soon, (my sister Yvonne died at age 21, January 8, 1989) I will publish a link to the new blog and invite you to walk this new 'bend in the road' along with me and mine.
God bless your life in 2009!