Easter Blessings

Inspiring church service---
Family gathering at our house--
Wonderful food contributed by everyone---
All in their Easter best outfits---
Beautiful, sunny day---
Kids table set up outside---

And why did I only manage to come up with two pictures? I don't know!


However the Karsten family was so beautifully dressed and matching {and came early} that we had to snap some of them as soon as they arrived.

Leif helped me with this fun cake a couple days earlier so it was fitting he have his picture with it before we cut into it. {Idea gleaned from the back of the Easter M&M bag.} He was very excited about it and trying to keep it a surprise. "I'll tell them we didn't work on anything like a cake!"

It's good to have my blog back. I've been having 'Issues' with it for a few months so I've totally gotten out of the habit of posting and probably have absolutely no readers left. {Except Mom and Dad who, of course, keep waiting for more pictures from here}Thanks, Russ, for fixing things! Seems we just can't manage around here without you! This will be a good note to start back up on.

After a Long Pause

To any readers I may have left after this long pause, forgive my lack of attention to this blog.
I have had a husband recovering from heart surgery and my time has been otherwise directed. [ understatement ]
He is doing well and things are getting back to normal.
We look forward to Christmas with the family together and celebrating so many blessings we often take for granted.

Thanks, Dad, for the suggestion and shove I needed to get a new post up !
Wish you and Mom could be here too.
Unfortunately your own heart surgery is keeping you close to home as well.

The Company Of Children

"Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need be taken seriously, and that

Christmas Day in the company of children

is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive."

~ Robert Lynd (1892-1970)~

"It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart."

~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer~

So let's rejoice in the art of giving and soak in the good feeling that comes from the simple, beautiful act of giving away.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever."

~ Bess Streeter Aldrich (1881-1954), American author, 'Song of Years'.