Happy Anniversary

Any anniversaries are times of reflection. Wedding anniversaries are special.


I still vividly remember our wedding May 15, 1971. I made my dress while in college. My sewing studio was a married friend's apartment. My veil was borrowed from my supervising teacher. My dad had recently died, so my very amazing grandfather was to give me away. He grew my favorite flowers - daisies - for our wedding. He grew every one of the ones used to decorate my wedding. He even had a beautiful canopy built for us to repeat our vows under just because I wanted it. He had always spoiled me rotten so nothing was too good for his Punkin'. It was months later that I was told that PaPa had a high fever as a result of pneumonia on my wedding day. Nothing was going to stop him from walking me down the aisle.


May 19, 2007 is the day Jeff and Rebecca married. This was such a special day. Everything was perfect. Rebecca was of course beautiful. The church was European looking; the music was inspiring; the minister was like an old friend. Clayton was the ring bearer - quite a job for a two year old. Instead of rings on his pillow he carried a action figure of Shrek. The reception was unique with an amazing ice sculpture.


June 24, 2000 is Wade and Sarah's anniversary. Their special day was packed with memories. A friend had kept her dress at her house. Sarah and I went to retrieve it. Little did we know that my friend's husband set the burglar alarm. As we unlocked the door and entered, the most horrendous wailing filled our ears. I was told the code but could not remember it. We were running late, so I grabbed the dress and raced to the church. My friend told me later that the police informed her the alarm had been tripped. Sarah and Wade had known each other since they were in the fifth grade so it was no surprise that they married. A video of their journey filled with a collection of individual photos played before the service. It was a beautiful celebration.
Happy Anniversary to all.

Drew's Dedication

Drew's dedication was awe inspiring. Our trip was long but oh so joyful. Wade had reserved us a perfect room - close to every place we needed to be, very comfortable, and LARGE. We were able to get to see Clayton "graduate" from his swimming class. He will be the next Michael Phelps.

We ate dinner at our old favorite north Dallas haunt - Joe's Pizza and Pasta. Memories of our girls growing up flooded over me. Sarah and Wade treated us to the private tour of their beautiful home afterwards. The next morning was exciting. Thanks to JD's expert maneuvering and the GPS we arrived for Drew's dedication at the church early. What a heart felt service. Both of the boys were perfect. The whole family group felt such pride. Sarah and Wade are amazing parents.

We all went back to their house for a home cooked "Paula Dean" southern feast. Sarah has become a expert chef! The next morning after a visit from Clayton and Sarah we left on our journey south to Houston - tired but oh so filled with love and inspiration.

Superman Meets Star Wars

Luke spots a strange cave. Can he hide from Darth Vader in this mysterious place? He decides to explore his options. Is there a demonic creature inside? Could this be his worse nightmare? Being the brave and curious young man that Luke is, he is intrigued by the possibilities.

The dark eerie cave is covered with spider webs. Yuck! He decides to use his light saber to guide him. That saber can multi-task. After he stumbles inside, he sees writing on the wall and old relics scattered around. All of a sudden, Luke discovers a stack of books hidden in a deepest, dark corner of the cave. What kind of books are these? He had never seen such brightly colored even though faded.



On the covers, there are strange creatures. Are they what Obi told Luke about in his tales of the past? Could these what Obi called Super Heroes: Spiderman, Hulk, Flash Gordon, Batman?



There seemed to be the largest number of cover with the face of a guy. Who is this guy? The man is strong with dark wavy hair. He has on a cape..or does he have on a business suit?



He is going into a box in a suit and comes out in a blue outfit with a red cape. How weird. What is this box anyway? It has a funny thing on a string hanging on the inside of the strange box.



What is under this blue suit? Is it what Obi called a letter?



How strange to actually write a letter to communicate. Didn't this culture just use mind transmission? The pictures are funny and seem to tell a adventure story. Luke could not believe the strange antics of Superman.



Apparently, Superman stories were the favorite and most cherished. How did this hero even get to this place? Luke remembers how Obi had taught him to read these strange letters. He began to read the story of who the books called Superman. The coming of Superman from a planet and given to an Earthling family seemed so strange.



This boy grew up with some unusual powers. He could see through rocks. His only nemesis seemed to be a compound called krypton. Luke could hardly keep from reading about Superman's adventures. He really is a hero. Superman seemed to rescue everyone even all of his backward world called Gotham City.



Luke could not wait to ask Obi if he knew the continuation of these ancient stories. Luke wanted to find out if Superman has a job. Who is this guy Clark Kent?

Baby Dedication

My youngest grandson will be dedicated in a few weeks. His parents invited us to share in this special day with them. They are amazing parents who know and fulfill their desire to instruct both of their sons in God's plan for their lives. We are excited to get to go. He is going to be eight months old soon after his dedication. I am sure it will be a memorable service.

Memorial Day 2009

Our soldiers often are treated with disrespect. I remembering hearing stories of brave men coming home from Vietnam. My older brother returned home a changed man. "The War" was not even talked about by most. Most veterans, I am sure, felt betrayed. I even feel at a loss when trying to rationalize how our brave men and women were greeted. I knew friends that were either afraid of going or feared actually being there. If the battles were not enough, Agent Orange or the mere jungle itself had to be contended with for the soldiers. As a high school student, I vividly remember dating a young man who was about to go to this war. The night before he left was a scary time for him. He talked about coming home in a body bag. He did.



I pray that no one else will be treated the way that many of our vets were and even unfortunately still are when they return home. Thank you for all those that serve; you have paid the price in order to give us freedom.

Star Wars - part 3

Star Wars Revisited

Luke and his band of friends were revived and refreshed after their vacation in Yensid. Now it was time to continue their epic journey to free the world of terror and chaos. The only long lasting freedom will be achieved when the world is free from the such leaders as Darth Vader. Luke feels that he has known this nemesis for what seems like all his life. He could remember being told of the horrors of Darth even when he was a child. Darth seemed to be the center of all his nightmares. He has become Luke's symbol of pure evil.

Luke travels to Darth's last known location in order to trace the final destination of Darth so that Luke can destroy him. Darth proclaims his desire to rid the world of truth and light. Luke and his buddies must be defeated. After a very long and difficult battle, Luke is victorious. Luke is able to capture Darth. But Darth has another trick in his evil plan. Darth tricks Luke in releasing him by saying he was sick and going to die. Luke is so angry at his foolishness. How could he be so humane.

After Luke has to listen to his gleeful evil laugh,Darth chains Luke to the wall. Darth knows that he has won! Luke uses mental telepathy to tell Leia of his situation. Through Leia, Hans, Leia, Chewy, and robots learn of his delima. How can these brave friends save Luke. Luke's rescue is tricky. The battle is dangerous. But Truth will preserver. Darth and the Storm Troopers attack and try to stop the defeat of Darth. But the weary band of friends will not give up. After a scary, exhausting war, the friends rescue Luke with the assistance of the Jedi warriors, Hans, Chewy, and Leia. Darth begs for his life after the final fight.

Luke is confused. What should he do with Darth? Does he decide to imprison Darth in the dungeon? Darth has a dark and mensing look on his face. He is willing to do anything to continue to spread his evil ways. Darth decides the only way to defeat Luke's view of life is to share his deep secret. He is really Luke's long forgotten father. Luke assumed his father died after trying to protect his family and destroying the evil in the world. Little did Luke know that his own father is the source of evil. How can Luke be like Darth and destroy the Evil in the world? How can he do this to his own father? Is any dungeon able to keep Darth from inflicting more destruction? Luke must decide whether to free his father or save the world as he knows it from being under the power of sure destruction from a person who is only seeking his own agenda – the spread of evil. Little does Luke know that Darth is sure that he can manipulate Luke's tender heart. Darth is sure that his plan will work.

Luke frees Darth. His friends try to convince Luke that Darth is only using the new found knowledge that Darth is his father to trick him. What is Darth really up to? What is his plan?

Six months???

Isn't he the happiest six month old ever?! I can hardly believe my youngest grandson is growing up so fast. This photograph was taken by a very talent young lady named Sheri. Her business is in central Texas. View her web site at www.naglephotography.com

I pray that all of you moms had an amazing mother's Day.

Star Wars - Part 2

This is the first time Obi-Wan Kenobi was teaching Luke to be a jedi so he would be good. Then Darth Vader came out of the glass door. Then Luke and Obi-Wan were fighting him.



Luke continued to fight Darth Vader. Luke was victorious; Darth was soundly defeated by the younger and stronger Jedi. Luke was actually sad to see such a worthy opponent go down in defeat. Darth stumbled down a creepy black hole. Luke wondered if he would ever see Darth again. Maybe some other day....

Luke decided to go on vacation in order to lift his spirits. Hans, Leia, Chewy, and his faithful robots would go with him. The choices of where to go are numerous – and confusing. A group decision was finally made. We decided to go to the Magic Land of Yensid. Luke is so excited; going to Yesid with his closest friends is awesome. These guys are like his family. Vacationing in Yensid is what he always dreamed about. They are so excited. It was so hard to climb into their snuggly space cabbels to sleep.

It seems like Luke never went to sleep, but the horizon finally brightened. Luke and his band of friends gathered all their necessities. Luke made sure he put in his trusty light saber. Off they flew to Yensid. It seemed to take forever, but they finally arrived.



They flew through strange and scary places. They even flew through some caves. The very first realization that they had arrived was seeing the amazing castle. Could it be the same castle that had the glass door? Luke and his friends could hardly wait to get to the grounds for their fun filled adventure. As soon as they got inside the gatessey, each friend magically became a character. Luke became the prince and Leia became Cinderella. Hans was so jealous. One of the robots even became Alice while the other was the Mad Hatter.

What a wonderful day! The friends rode the swirling tea cups, the flying ewokes, and a scary missile ride. But their favorite was It's a Small Galaxy. It was amazing to see all the galactic creatures. How could anything be as much fun. But off the crew went to the next.....

Clayton's sleepy eyes finally pried open. He was landing at DFW. Drew was still asleep. Mommy was eager to get home and start washing clothes. Clayton looked over to say something to Dad. Then he remember that he had to stay in California. Clayton was sad, but he knew Daddy would be home soon. Clayton could hardly wait to get to preschool and share his dream. But was this really a dream??!!

Family Jewels

Clayton's response to my first story is precious.

This is the first time Obi-Wan Kenobi was teaching Luke to be a jedi so he would be good. Then Darth Vader came out of the glass door. Then Luke and Obi-Wan were fighting him.

I plan to continue this epic.

Wade's birthday was great according to all accounts. Rebecca was there and totally enjoyed the rad celebration. Check out Sarah's blog: www.carpenterscorner.blogspot.com

Valentine's day was memorable. We visited with Rebecca; she and JD did a Sam's date to get food to prepare for her friend Jenny's baby shower. We got precious pictures and a card from Clayton and Drew. JD surprised me with a Charlie Brown card, flowers, and my favorite chocolate covered strawberries. What a treat!



Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.

The Glass Door

This is my first story for Clayton:

In a land far, far away many years ago, Luke decided to embark on a journey to say thank you to Obi-Wan Kenobi for teaching him to be a Jedi Knight. The lessons were invaluable; Luke could never have reached his goal without these many secrets told to him by such a good friend and mentor. How could Luke ever be able to truly thank His Master?

The answer finally popped in his head. Luke would complete a mission Obi-Wan Kenobi could only dream about. Obi could no longer travel like he once was able to do. He was getting too old and feeble. It was too difficult to fly his space craft to the planet with the glass door. Luke knew that dreaming of the secrets behind the door was not good enough; he must open the door, walk through it, and find the treasures. Luke packed his gear: his protective suit, his light saber, his professional digital camera and a unmanned instant video camera. His video camera was a recent invention by Luke. It would send instant projections to Obi of the complete interior of the room behind the glass door.

Luke, Leia, Hans, and Chewy loaded Luke's necessary cargo and tools. All of the travelers zoomed off to a destination that would put a smile on Obi-Wan Kenobi's troubled face. He had given up on the ability to ever reach his goal of the secrets behind the glass door.

After many light years, the friends reached the destination. Luke could hardly contain his eagerness to grant his Master's wish. After landing on the planet, the journey to the Glass Door was perilous. There were fiery furnaces to go through, giants to fight, armies to defeat, and struggles with the unknown. Luke and his band of friends were finally able to see the Glass Door. It was enticing; what a mysterious sight. Luke knocked on the door trying to gain entrance. No one responded to his knock. Tentatively, Luke pulled on the handle. It opened. There was an unique, decorated truck just inside the door. The room surrounding them was amazing. The crew had never seen such a place. The walls, floor, and ceiling were adorned with gold, silver, and every precious jewel known to man.

They all were in awe. Luke approached the trunk. What could possibly be contained within? Could the contents put a smile on Obi's face, a spring in his step. but mostly joy in his heart? He had been so unselfish to give unconditional (agape) love to Luke. Very carefully Luke opened the truck. He was dumbfounded at the contents. Obi-Wan Kenobi had telatransported himself to the trunk. With tears in his eyes and a smile Luke had never seen, Obi began to speak. "Luke my son, you have proven to me that all I tried to teach you was to no avail. You are the man I knew you could be. You embarked on this difficult and unknown journey to discover what would truly make me happy. I love you Luke."

The journey returning to Obi was much faster and less frightening. Luke was most anxious to thank Obi-Wan Kenobi for his journey to manhood.

The End.

PS
Gran loves my boys!