Thank you!~

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the prayers, emails, comments, and cards during the loss of my beloved Father-in-law.  Life will never be quite the same, but we know to be absent from the body is present with the Lord.  I have much more to write, but am just too tired right now.

My mother-in-law continues to have mini-strokes.  Please keep her in your prayers and keep praying for our family.  It is going to be quite an adjustment without Dad.

Hope all the kids had a happy and safe Halloween.

Blessings!~

Susan

Prayers Needed for Hubby's Family's Loss!~

Clarence Houston R*** peacefully entered Heaven's gates at 8:05 PM tonight while sleeping.  He was surrounded by his loving family.  We were singing his favorite hymn, Amazing Grace, when he drew his last breath.  We started singing the words Praise God!  Praise God! Praise God!  Praise God to that tune after singing four verses and before the third one, he took his last breath on this earth.

While we are saddened at the big hole that will be left in our lives now, we rejoice in the fact that we know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord as Dad accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior many years ago.  Dad suffered from emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  He no longer has to wear that old sick body, but has a well perfect new body and is now walking the streets of gold rejoicing and praising God.

He had told us he was tired of fighting (to live) and he was ready to go home.  We told him we knew he was going to a better place and if he needed to go we were okay with it, for him not to worry about anything, we would make sure Mom would be taken care of and any loose ends tied up.

Mom is still in the hospital and after talking to her doctor, we decided not to tell her tonight, but we will go together in the morning to break the news to her as a group.

It would be doubly hard on my husband's family to lose their Mom too, so I am asking for God's healing for Mom and for God to give her a peace about Dad's passing.  Mom and Dad have been married 60 years.  They were married on July 14, 1946.  He leaves behind 9 children, 26 grandchildren (1 deceased), and 30 great grandchildren (like I said, my mind is foggy, I may have to come back and make some adjustments, as I sat by his side all night long and have only had about four hours sleep in the last 24 hours).

I request prayers for my husband's family during this very difficult time in our lives.

May God Bless each of you,

Susan, devoted daughter-in-law

Prayers needed!~

I have been up all night with my father-in-law.  I feel we came close to losing him last night.  I would not leave his side.  A family friend came to sit with him today so I could get some rest.  My mother-in-law had what her doctor thinks is a stroke and is in the hospital.  I am a zombie.  Please keep our family in your prayers and good thoughts.  I thank you in advance.  Will elaborate more as I have the time.

Blessings!~

Susan

I want to play too..........

 

I want to play too...

1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!

6. Tag 5 people

Those were the towns where the problem had gotten so bad so fast that the army had been sent into quarentine.  The computer had a list of twenty-five other towns in ten states where traces of Blue were beginning to show up.

The Sipes Springs situation wasn't important because it wasn't unique.  They'd had their chance at unique in Arnette--well maybe, and flubbed it.

Tag, You're it...

Blessings!~

P.S.  Anybody out there watch Grey's Anatomy?  I have missed it the last two weeks.  ::sigh::  They changed the time on me.  Leave me your link if you played!!!!!!~

Catching up!~

Yes, I know it has been a while.  Sorry, lots going on.  First, let me say, I left the kitchen as is for now.  It still has the colonial blue at the bottom, which I love, and for now, the antique white on top with white trim.  Until we change the ugly terra cotta counter tops, I don't think a color is going to look good either on the trim or above the wanescoting, but I will say I am very happy with how pretty the blue turned out.  It had been green for probably 8-9 years so it was time for a change.

My father-in-law is still in our local hospice house.  My Hubby and I went to see him on Sunday night.  He is not doing well at all.  His mind is wandering now and he can do very little for himself.  It pains me to no end to see him like this.  He will be 84 on November 6th.  I pray for God to just take him on.  I do not like to watch him suffer.  His doctor is talking about letting him come back home, if that happens, we will all have to pitch in to help with him because my MIL is not able to care for him by herself.

While we were there, I saw a nurse I knew.  We had gone to school together.  She was telling me about one of our friends who was dying from cancer.  She was in the room next to my FIL.  I knew this friend had cancer, but did not know she had gotten bad enough yet that they had taken her to hospice.  I went in to see her.  It was most upsetting.  She was really suffering.  Her pain was so bad, she was talking out of her head a lot of the time.  She asked me to pray for her right then and there.  There was a room full of people, but I did my best for her.  She was diagnosed with cancer about five years ago.  Her husband left her when he found out she had cancer.  I don't know how the creep lives with himself.  Did he not mean his vows "In sickness and in health?"

After I left Cindy's room, I ran into another mutual friend of ours.  She told me that Cindy had become unresponsive earlier in the day.  The nurse had told them she probably would not come back out of it, but she did.  She told everybody in the room she had been on a little trip and had glimpsed into heaven.  She was describing the trees and the flowers and telling everyone how beautiful it is.  I pray for her not to suffer anymore and that God will take her on, as I know she is going to a better place where her body will be whole and her pain will be no more.  She was in sooooooooooo much pain.  It really hurt to see her like that.  I have always adored her.  She is such a beautiful person.  Please keep her family in your prayers and pray that God will take her on.  If there is one thing I know about Cindy, she is a Christian and ready to meet her maker.

It is a beautiful day here in the deep south.  Hope it is nice where you are.  I so love this time of year.  I saw on the weather channel a couple of days ago where Denver was 26 and it was snowing.  I always loved the snow in Colorado, but I hated my Hubby having to drive in it.  I would be praying the whole time until he walked safely through the door.  For once, I am actually glad to be in the deep south!  It was a little chilly yesterday, but it was nice.  Perfect weather for roasting marshmellows.  I have so gotta get my firewood ordered!

We are having our annual Halloween party at my Mom's on Friday night.  I hope to get pics for that.  It was really fun last year.

Guess that is all for now.  Have a blessed week and be safe!~

What Have I Been Doing?~

What have I been doing, you ask?  Okay, so ya didn't ask, but I'ma gonna tell ya anyway.  You could go ask Amy, she knows, lol.  I have been painting my kitchen/dining area.  We painted my daughter's room purple and white.  It got me in the mood to start doing other jobs around the house.  I have been wanting to change the color of the wanescoting in our kitchen for quite a while.  You see, I LOVE Americana stuff and have dreamed of having a red, white, and blue kitchen for sometime now.  The thing is, now that I have done the blue, I am having second thoughts on putting any red.  What is it with us women?  Why is it so hard for us to make up our minds?  I got before and after pics to show.  Just keep in mind, the trim has not been redone yet cuz I can't make up my blooming mind.

Do I change the color on the top and the color of the trim, and if so, what colors?  I had thought about doing the top the taupe color we have in the living room to tie the living room and dining area together, but I don't know.

I am entertaining the idea of leaving the antique white on top and going with Victorian garnet for the trim, it is a sort of burgundy color.  The trim around the new French doors still hasn't been painted anything yet.  What to do.............what to do.................

Actually, I think I am going to leave as is and touch up white trim until we replace the kitchen counter tops because red ain't gonna go with those ugly terra cotta counter tops (see pic).

Will let you know what we decide and thanks in advance for your input.

Blessings!~

Susan

Trick-or-Treat Through J-Land!~

Thanks to Amy for putting the Fall Frame around my photo.  The photo was made during a marshmellow roast last year.  It is that time again!~   Yippee!~

 

Make a journal entry titled "Trick Or Treat Through J-Land" and copy these instructions so others can play along.  Visit as many journals as you can with the "Trick or Treat Through J-Land" title and leave them your link.  Hopefully all those who actively participate will get many trick or treaters and meet some new J-Land pals!~

Happy Treating!~

Thanks to my dear friend, Anna (Anna's Anomalies) for the beautiful graphic.

 

I love this time of year!~

You just gotta love this time of year, eh?  I love all of my cool Fall graphics.

Crisp cool days.  Leaves turning colors.  It won't be long before it will be time for roaring fires in our two fireplaces.  Then I can do one of my favorite things which is to cuddle up in a blanket in my reading chair near the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.  My family will be nearby, as well as my pets.  You should see the three cats all scrambling to see which ones will end up on my lap, lol.  Mary Jane will rest at my feet.  Dogs are so loyal, aren't they?

The kids around here are on Fall break.  We are EXTREMELY low on groceries, yet somehow I still managed to cook a good old southern homecooked meal.  We had meatloaf, stewed potatoes, corn, and cornbread.  We crumble the cornbread up and put the taters with the soup from the taters over the cornbread.  This is one of my favorite southern meals and I don't mind telling you it was delicious!!!!!!  And what did we have to drink you ask?  Why we had sweeeeeet southern iced tea.  Is there anything else?  ;-)  Oh yes, I had two helpings of the taters and cornbread, it was soooooooo yummy.

My Mom is planning her annual Halloween party back at her place on the lake.  We can dress up if we want to, but we don't have to.  My daughter and I both love to dress up.  We did last year.  My favorite costumes were when we lived in Colorado.  I was Vampira.  I looked for the pics to post again (the ones of my daughter and I in Colorado, but could not find them).  It was so much fun.  We had the cutest trick-or-treaters.  Living in the country now in Alabama, we don't get any.  ::sigh::  I sure do miss living in Colorado, but I can say that sometimes it is nice tobe home too.  Can you believe I said that, Amy?  Hee!  Hee!

Have a blessed week!~

Susan

 

Happy 28th, Darlin'!~

My 28th anniversary was spent with me organizing things in the house and going through my file cabinet and Hubby working.  He came home and we grilled out steaks.  We fixed baked potatoes, baked beans, and a salad to go along with it.  He has gone to bed because he has to work tomorrow.

Most of our 28 years have been happy ones.  Our greatest joys were the births of our children, a son who is now 24 years old and a daughter who is 14.  There is nothing like becoming a parent.

The saddest parts have been losing our beloved grandparents, my Dad, my youngest brother, and a nephew through death and our daughter-in-law when she threw us away like garbage.  The picture posted of all five of us on their wedding day is the only one I have of the five of us together.  We still live with the pain of that loss.

I feel the absolute happiest time of our marriage were the three years and four months we lived in the beautiful state of Colorado.  We have dreams of going back one day to stay.

I have more to say on this issue, but I am so tired and I still have to run daughter's boyfriend home.  So for now, I shall say good night.

Blessings!~

Susan

P.S.  Please remember our men and women in the military in your prayers tonight.

A Moment of Silence, please!~

 

This refers to two very sad incidents that occurred in late September 2006, but the message is for every day of the week, 24 hours a day:

INFORMATION FOR ALL

This has been a very sad week for all of our fellow law officers and their families.  As a wife to one of those officers, I just need to vent for a moment!

Two police shootings took place on Thursday one in Florida and one in Montgomery, Alabama.  Vernon M. Williams' from Florida autospy revealed him to have been shot and fatally wounded by 8 shots.  The suspect also injured one officer and killed a K-9 dog. 

Officer Keith Houts from Montgomery, Alabama was shot at 3-4 times at point blank range and only hit once which completely severed his spine.  He died Saturday night.  One thing that keeps running through my mind is that the suspect would only face attempted murder charges had Officer Houts managed to survive through this horrific crime.  Would never breathing without assistance, walking, talking, or living in a "vegitive state" be considered living?  I know his family and friends are going through thetoughest moments of their lives and there are many opinions on the matter of living, and I cannot imagine be faced with that reality.  It really makes me question how criminals should be punished for their crimes. 

 Headlines were made again today concerning the examination of the Florida suspect's body.  Out of the 110 bullets fired by the ten-member SWAT team, 68 bullet wounds were found in Anglio Freeland's body.  Of course the question is raised is that excessive?  I absolutely support and applaud Sheriff Grady Judd's comment "I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had."  No questions asked. 

Our law enforcement officers fight our War at Home everyday and are the first responders to our daily needs.  It is very comforting for me personally to see our top officials stand up for our officers with such boldness.  These issues are not political, racial, or any of the other things we blame events for; the issue is right or wrong period.  I have deep respect for all of our law enforcement officers. 

Please take a few moments to pray for all of our Law Enforcement Officers and especially Officer Houts, Officer Williams and their families.  Please also remember the fellow officers of these men as witnessing such senseless crimes makes it a little harder to put on that uniform everyday and go out to protect and serve. 

 Funny how that last statement does not include "defend"; however, most LEO'S just want to go home at the end of the shift.

Thank you once again for my family and friends who are officers and who support them.  All officers just remember you can never be too careful.

 Kim Sanders

Montgomery, Alabama

***********************************************************************

I thought this email was well worth printing.  Montgomery is one of the towns my husband works in since he started his new job.

Let's remember our law enforcement officers, our firemen, and our troops when we pray and hold good thoughts.

Blessings!~

Susan

I've Had Mine, Have You Had Yours?~

I have had my mammogram this year, have you had yours?

Hugs and prayers for all who are suffering with breast cancer, who have suffered with it and beaten it so far, and who will suffer with it in the future.

Praying for a cure for breast cancer.

Blessings!~

Susan

P.S.  Don't forget to pray for our troops!~