Happy Anniversary Tim and Lauren

Life's Simple Pleasures

My backyard in the morning is so pleasant. I return from my walk, get my cup of coffee and sit down outside. The coolness of the morning, the soothing of running water and the cheerful singing of birds is very uplifting. We are still harvesting vegetables from our spring planting. It's been great eating fresh zucchini, spaghetti squash, green beans, and cherry tomatoes. We also have green apples growing and washington navel oranges. Lots of beautiful flowers to enjoy in the backyard as well. The cannas are blooming better this year than last year. This Orange Glory is one of my favorite day lilies and of course, our roses continue to produce. Miss Kitty is very happy when I'm in the backyard, she hangs out with me there and enjoys the morning before I must start the "to do" list and she must settle in for her nap. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift is from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. I'm thankful.

Madeleine

Tuesday, June 2nd was a remarkable day. The much anticipated birth of my granddaughter occurred. Lauren worked extremely hard through almost 24 hours of labor and the reward was a beautiful daughter named Madeleine Jael. Tim was an amazing coach and support to his wife. Madeleine made her appearance at 7:39pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 15 1/2 oz. and was 20 3/4 in. long. Of course she is the most beautiful child I've ever seen! ( along with my own three children who have each held the title of beautiful child at their birth) Lauren is recovering well and breastfeeding is progressing wonderfully. Tim will be home for almost a month to love his wife and bond with his new daughter. What a blessing! I get to snuggle Madeleine, and play with her. I am blessed!

Let Me Sum Up

Haven't spent much time blogging the last 4+ mos. Lots going on though. Just finished my first year as ATD as CBS. We had a great year! It encourages me so much to see women committed to studying the Word of God and allow it to change their hearts. The area-wide leadership conference in San Diego was full of inspiration and God-centered. CBS is an organization that prays and shepherds every member from the board of trustees to the baby in the nursery. Some of us gathered with Camilla Seabolt after the conference for a photo. Camilla is the Executive Director of Community Bible Study (far left in red jacket).On Valentine's Day, Alex and Keegan spent the day at Santa Monica and then to the Getty winding up in the garden at sunset. There, Alex proposed to Keegan and she accepted his proposal. They are planning a January 2011 wedding after both have graduated from college. Jared entered into the Paramedic Program at NCTI in March. He is working hard to keep his grades in the top percentile and will finish the didactic portion in September followed by his clinical and infield training. March also found Sally, Katie and myself taking a road trip to Utah. Our goal was to bring Mom home after she spent 3 mos. at Pat and Larry's home. What a sweet surprise to find that my niece Desiree is expecting. We thought that Avery would be their only child but now he will have a little sister, due in late Sept., early Oct. The Jonas Brothers Concert Movie was playing in the theatre while we were there, so we bought tickets and went to see it. Avery is all ready with his 3D glasses and popcorn. At the end of the movie, he was all tuckered out. There was much fun to be had, playing Wii. Kylie and Katie did "Dancing With the Stars". The morning we left to drive home, it was snowing. We hated to leave because we kind of wanted to enjoy some snow, but the schedules waiting at home demanded our return. April brought an engagement party for Keegan and Alex. It was that day that Keegan asked Lauren to be her matron of honor. A couple days later, Lori gave a very nice baby shower for Lauren at my house. Such an enjoyable time with family and friends....we are blessed! On May 1st Paul and I flew to Kauai with the Hermans for a fun and relaxing week. The Grittens timed their trip to coincide with ours and we spent some great hours with them as well. All my friends and family were praying that grandgirl would not make her appearance during this week. (More about Hawaii in another post) After returning from Hawaii, we drove up to Apple Valley with Tim and Lauren to look at a boat they'd found for sale. The boat was in very good condition and a great price so, they bought it! We went to Lake Elsinore to see how it would perform in the water. It runs great! May 16th, Sally hosted a baby shower for Tim and Lauren. It was a beautiful day in the park and lots of fun with family and friends. Sally and I experimented with fondant for the first time. Here is our pregnant lady... Lauren is holding the cute sweater that my Mom painstakingly crocheted for the baby. I also got to meet my new grand niece born on March 31st to April Valencia and Jason Rollins. Isn't she precious? So in addition to the celebrations of birthdays (Jared, Paul, Tim, Katie) and the usual holidays, that's what has been going on. Just in a holding pattern right now, working on the nursery layette and waiting for Baby Bergon to make her entrance.

P.S. to 8 Things

I have one more thing to add to the things I wish I could do: I would like to whitewater raft down the Grand Canyon.

Eight Things

Well, I finally have some time to do the 8's that I was tagged for.

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Becoming a grandma
2. Alex and Keegan's Wedding
3. Lake Mead in July
4. Lake Powell in September
5. Scrapbooking this summer
6. Bookclubs this summer
7. Seeing Jared graduate Paramedic school
8. Seeing Alex graduate from Biola

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Baked and frosted cupcakes
2. Sculpted a pregnant lady out of fondant
3. Finished binding the crib quilt for my grandchild
4. wrapped gifts
5. watched parts of the biggest loser
6. Had Peony's for dinner
7. Talked with Alex, Keegan & Marcus about childhood books
8. Ate breakfast in bed (thanks Love)

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Complete a Digital scrapbooking project
2. go to Yellowstone
3. go to Glacier National Park
4. Visit Canada
5. Waterski for longer times
6. Start walking again
7. See a broadway show in New York
8. Visit Spain

8 Books I have read/would like to read:
1. Feminine Appeal-Mahaney
2. Acts
3. Start Your Family-Watters
4. The Wise Woman & Other Stories-MacDonald
5. Moloka'i
6. Genesis
7. Humility-Mahaney
8. Sundays At Tiffanys-Patterson

8 Friends to tag:
Need more blogging friends :-)

Lake Powell

The annual meeting for the share holders of our house yacht Showtime was last Saturday. I couldn't attend because of a prior commitment, so Paul and Andrew made the trek to Pasadena and spent the day. The costs to moor the boat on the lake and to maintain the boat have all increased, which means our maintenance fees for this year have increased by 33%. One begins to ponder if it's really something we should continue in, then an e-mail arrives with a photo like this: *Sigh* Yup, it's worth it! In the row of houseyachts that are in the sunlight (middle of photo), the Showtime is 4th from the right side. Can't wait for September!

Christmas 2008

Make a Smilebox scrapbook