i'm-a-blogging....

one of my BEST gifts EVER!! my sister had my blog (2009) made into a book!!!!

she's really the BEST sister EVER!!!

alright people, i've put it off long enough. the thought of catching up on months of my Project 365 is bad enough but then throw the thought of blogging 6 weeks worth is just about putting me over the edge.

so i have choose to do nothing.

well THAT did a whole lot of nothing.

baby steps for me...starting here on my blog...today!!!

i'll start at the beginning-it's a very good place to start.

in late june, i headed to New Jersey to visit my sis and fam. the number ONE reason for my trip was MY KIT (http://www.morethanenough.blogspot.com/) graduated from high school. (have yet to get a grad pic but will work on that). my mom and dad were also there to help celebrate.

unfortunately for me, a few days before i left, i put out my back so those first few days there were a bit of a blur. thankfully, the New Jersey crew did a great job of taking care of me and before long, i was off and running (not really, i don't do that whole running thing). my week ended up being a relaxing time away, in spite of missing the kiddos and hub.

here's a glimpse at my week there.......

mom & dad, ben & mady synchronized 'swimming' in the hot tub. :)

my daddy baking gram db bananas bread. he's really concentrating if you can see his dimples.
can you see them???

great back therapy. this was ALMOST worth the pain. oh, the life.

finally, new jersey.

giving my livey girl some loving.

miss mady attempting the karate kid dance??

kit giddy thinking of all the new things she can buy with her grad gift cards.

my sis and i. please note the new blog book in my hands.the way i'm standing, you can tell i'm busting with excitement.

ben and dad playing chess. in case you couldn't CLEARLY see that.

i love this one of mady loving on dad. the way his hand is over hers is precious.

scrabble love...

caught this sweet vision of my parents playing scrabble, out on the patio, on a very cool night! i just thought this was SO cute!

my fav...

my nephew, ross took this shot of our house on the 4th/5th.

i LOVE this shot!

my michigan girls....

these are my people.

these are my cousins.

one of the worst things about living out of state is times like this.

they all live in michigan, i live here. boo.

but the great thing about these girls is that they all make a point of keeping in touch with me.

MOST of them are face book friends.

although most of my adult years have been spent in washington (i moved away when i was 15), i still feel 'connected' with these girls.

left to right is....drum roll...

heather

misty

dee dee

lisa (and her cute little bun in the oven)

jodi

sadie

aubine (jodi's sweet baby girl)

gina

and my dear, dear gram.

it was grams birthday on june 30.

she is just turned 85 but she doesn't look a day over 60.

i think she's aging beautifully!

since i've been meaning to share a little about my gram, i'll share.

for almost 6 years she has lived in assisted living.

shortly after my grandpa died in 2003, her health started going downhill.

we came close to losing her after a very serious heart condition but she rallied back.

she's a fighter this gram of mine.

however, her memory has only gotten worse. a few years back she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

thankfully, my gram is happy. so. very. happy.

and funny. so. very. funny. i wish i had the time to write down all her funny little stories.

trust me, she's funny.

let me back up the train and tell you about what a wonderful, sweet woman she is.

way back when, in my early years i always remember her & her candy holder. it hung on her wall. it was brown with cut out wood suckers on it. every time we went to her house, she would let us pick something out. she was always changing what was in it so you never quite knew what you were going to get. even as i kid, i remember thinking that she was SOO cool!

and this gram of mine was always put together. and pretty, i always thought she was pretty. i still think she's pretty.

in my late teens/early 20's gram and gramp (someday i'll tell you about this wonderful man!) let me live with them when i moved back to michigan. they put up with MUCH. let's just leave it at that.

they were gracious and kind, always making sure i was taken care of. they always looked out for me. feed me.

trusted me when i probably didn't deserve it.

she dried lots of my tears.

i could always count on lots of loving from my gram.

she's a dandy of a cook.

and knit, this woman can knit anyone of you under the table. even with her hands full of arthritis, she knit.

one of the best visuals i have of gram was walking into her living room and seeing her with her bible open on her lap.

i saw this often.

everything in her life resolved around how she could please the Lord in all she did.

and it shows.

she loves people well because she loves the Lord well.

she was always very patient with people in her life. some who didn't always deserve it.

i always admired that about her.

our jackson was named after her. well, kind of. her name is Hermina Myrtle. i don't think either one of those names fit very well with jackson. so we decided to call him jackson Roon. Roon was her maiden name and we think it fits him perfectly. when we called her, from the hospital, to tell her what we had named him, she just chuckled. she was giddy. and that made me giddy and quite frankly, i wanted to chuckle myself but since i had just given birth, i wasn't in a chuckling mood.

anywho....

i wish you could meet her (some of you have) because you would instantly LOVE her.

when you look at her, you can't help but smile because that's usually what she's doing.

i am so very thankful for her life.

her very precious, smiling, God-filled life!

i love you gram!

missing you everyday.