Family & Friends
Traveling Umbrella Girls – Update 1
The Umbrella Girls are coming along nicely!
Having a bit of sewing experience, I thought I could figure out how to do the hand applique/embroidery stitches on my own. Ha! That was definitely not the case. I was so thankful for the Wi-Fi at our hotel and the great tutorials that I found online. When I first got started, I thought it was really slow and tedious, but after the first couple of blocks, I really began to enjoy it. Now I’m thinking that I can really understand why people enjoy doing hand embroidery so much.
Here’s a picture of me working on one of the girls on the front porch at Florida Black Bear Cabin.
Summer Support Trip 2009 – OHB & A Little R&R
We had a wonderful time sharing with Orange Heights Baptist Church in Orange Heights, Florida, last night. It’s been about four years since we were there last, and I think everyone enjoyed the update to what we’ve been doing. What an amazing group of believers!
Before coming here, we spent two nights at the Florida Black Bear Cabin in Wellborn. We had planned our little side trip there for some rest and relaxation, and time to just enjoy each other. When we arrived, we were amazed at what a beautiful cabin it is. The pictures on their website really don’t even do justice to how welcoming and comfortable it is. It was the perfect setting for a few days of peace and quiet. (I wish we could have stayed a week!)
We played hours of “Speed Scrabble”. Allen and Ray played badminton, and Allen worked on his badminton serve nearly the whole time we were there. We curled up inside and read books that we’d brought with us and books and magazines that were on shelves throughout the cabin. We ate yummy food, including chicken, zucchini and bread that Ray cooked on the grill our last night there.
We picked blueberries from the bushes right next to the cabin.
And, we made blueberry muffins to snack on.
We checked out some cool bugs, including some really pretty spiders and skins that had been left behind by locusts.
I gave Samantha some cross-stitch lessons, and she picked it up really quickly! She should have a completed project to show off soon.
And, Ray and Sean built a campfire so we could roast marshmallows and have s’mores.
We are definitely planning to come back here again!
Update on My Stepdad
Thanks so much for praying. Things went really well with his heart cath. They were able to put a stent in to relieve the blockage. He’ll spend tonight in the hospital and should be able to go home tomorrow!
Prayer Request for My Stepdad
We’re enjoying our relaxing stay at the Black Bear Cabin in Wellborn, Florida. I’ll post some pictures of the fun tomorrow morning. We’ll be driving down to Gainesville tomorrow. I just heard from my mom that my stepdad is going into the hospital there tomorrow morning for a heart catheterization. He’s been having chest pains, and his doctor believes that there is a blockage that needs to be cleared. Our prayer is that the doctors will be able to put in a splent during the heart cath tomorrow, and that he’ll be able to go home on Thursday. Please join us in praying for this procedure.
I will update tomorrow afternoon, or as soon as I know anything more.
Traveling Umbrella Girls
If you know me well, then you know that I can’t stand to be idle for very long. When we travel by car, I really enjoy having something to keep my hands busy. My mom recently let me bring home an umbrella girl quilt that my grandmother made when I was a little girl. I remember how much I loved it then. The primitive, handmade look that it has to it really appeals to me. I have wanted to make a quilt just for me for a long time, so I thought I’d try to recreate this one with my own flair. Since all of the umbrella girl pieces are hand appliqued, it’s a perfect traveling project.
The original umbrella girls:
My new blocks and applique pieces all cut out:
I’ll update with my progress as we go. My goal is to finish all 24 squares by the time we get home.
A Last Minute Kilting Project
Yep, I said, “kilting”, and not “quilting”.
I love to sew, and I love a challenge, so when I received an email last Tuesday asking if I could find time to sew up a kilt before the weekend retreat, I jumped right on it. Rather than actually using the pattern that I was given, I just measured my husband and looked at the pictures on the front of the pattern, and made things up as I went along. The kilt needed to be adjustable because it was to be used for a “pole-throwing contest” by multiple contestants, so it’s fastened with Velcro (actually it’s Aplix because that’s what I had on hand).
Front:
Back:
Modeled by my champion pole-throwing husband, Ray:
Ray’s winning pole throw:
Fun and Refreshing at the GFA Staff Retreat
We had a great time of worship, fellowship and fun at the GFA Staff Retreat this past weekend. I enjoyed being out of the city so much. It was such a blessing!
There was canoeing.
Ray, Allen, Jamie and I went out together, but we didn’t stay out long. Jamie’s wiggling made the canoe really rocky which made mama a little nervous.
There was a pinata.
Jamie was so excited about his candy–he wanted to eat it all. I got him down for a nap not too long after the pinata. I thought I’d put the candy away, and he would have forgotten about it when he woke up. Ha! The first words out of his mouth when he sat up were, “Where’s my candy?”
There were basketball, volleyball, soccer and capture the flag.
I’m pretty sure that Sean and his friends played basketball every waking moment of the weekend.
There was plenty of swimming.
And, some just hanging out at the pool. I don’t think Morgan and her friends stayed dry much after this picture was taken. There were at least a dozen kids in the pool who were determined for them to be soaked.
And, there was the excitement of launching people into the air on the Blob.
That’s my husband flying through the air! I opted for the safer choice of watching and snapping pictures.
A Wonderful Mother’s Day
It’s funny . . . when Ray asked me a few weeks ago how I’d like to spend Mother’s Day, I said that I’d love to just be able to do what I want to do all day . . . no cleaning, no diaper changing, no cooking . . . but maybe some sewing. My Mother’s Day plans changed, though, when we traveled to Florida for my dad’s funeral the day before. It ended up being a great blessing to be able to spend it with my Grandma and my Mom instead of spending it doing nothing.
We woke up Sunday morning and drove from my Mom’s house near Gainesville to north Jacksonville to go to church with my Grandma (my Dad’s mom). After church we went out to eat, and then we went back to Grandma’s house to hang out for awhile.
It’s such a blessing to see my kids enjoy time with their Great Grandma!
We left Grandma’s house in the early afternoon and headed back to my Mom’s. We stopped on the way and picked up some dinner for everyone. My sister, Bobbie, came over with her girls, and we all enjoyed dinner together.
Mom and all her grandbabies
After dinner, Papa and Nana took the kids for a ride.
Then Papa watered the crops . . . and the kids . . . at the same time.
When the sun started to go down, we all headed inside to relax together and watch a movie before we packed things up to head home the next day. It was a great day spent surrounded by love!
Lessons My Dad Taught Me
My dad, William Robert “Smooth” Warren, passed away on May 3 from melanoma which had spread throughout his body over the last year. I was blessed to know that he knew Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, and went home to be with Him. I’ve been reflecting a bit since he died on the things I learned from him. His funeral was held in Palatka, Florida, this past Saturday. The church was packed with people he loved and people who loved him. It wasn’t your typical funeral gathering . . . most of those gathered wore jeans, black t-shirts and boots, and the roaring engines of Harleys announced their arrivals.
My dad taught me to never judge people by their appearance, by their past, by their situation.
He taught me that family is family, regardless. Family means forgiving, loving, accepting, looking ahead and not looking back to hold onto grudges.
He taught me to stand up for the underdog . . . and to never give up on your favorite NASCAR driver.
He taught me to be generous with what you have, even when it’s not very much.
He taught me to stand up for what you believe in and to stand up for freedom.
He taught me that when you make mistakes, you learn from them and move on.
My dad wasn’t perfect–I’m not either. It warmed my heart, though, to hear story after story at his funeral of how generous he was, of how he made people feel as if they were old friends when they had really only just met, of how he seemed totally at peace even just before the cancer finally took his life, of how much love he gave and how much he was loved. My dad and I didn’t have a traditional father-daughter relationship while I was growing up, but I’m so thankful for the time we had together after I was an adult. I think he was proud of the person that I grew up to be, and I know I am proud to say that he was my dad.
Fun with Nana & Papa
My mom and my step-dad came to visit a couple of weekends ago, and we had a great time!
They arrived Saturday afternoon, and we headed out to Mesquite to watch a rodeo on Saturday evening. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you come to Texas, right?
Nana, Morgan and Me
Sean and Papa
There was a petting zoo before the rodeo started, and we thought Jamie would love it . . . um, not really . . .
He wouldn’t even pet the baby chick if Daddy held it.
On Sunday, after church, we headed to McKinney for a Civil War re-enactment at Chestnut Square Historical Village. We learned about how the women dressed during that period of history.
Samantha, Allen and Morgan did some studying and goofing off in the one-room schoolhouse.
We got to see some pretty grotesque methods of battlefield surgeries.
Then we all found a seat on the steps of one of the houses to wait for the battle.
Those brown eyes are so sweet, aren’t they? You’d never believe that face could look like this one second . . .
. . . and this the next.
When the battle was over, Allen tried to convince us he was old enough to join up.
On Monday, we visited and did a little shopping together, and Tuesday, I got to do some sewing for my mom and Ralph before we headed out to dinner at Angelina’s.
(That’s the new purse that I had just finished for my mom on her shoulder!)
Jamie thought he’d try some salsa. “Too picy . . . too picy!”
Poor baby!
Mom and Ralph packed up and headed up to visit with Ralph’s children in Oklahoma on Wednesday. Jamie helped load the car.
It was a really nice visit. It was so good to spend time with each other!
