My daughter has given me three unbelievable little boys and my son added another one to the mix. I have been very happy buying spiderman and star wars figures and dressing them in outfits that make them look like mini duplicates of their fathers. I have often pinched myself because they have given me so much joy. Then..... God chose to bless us with the most adorable, angel-faced little God you have ever seen. I really think sometimes I have more than I deserve in these wonderful children. I love you Cora Jean.

Well, it happened. That horrible thing that ruins everybody's week-end and makes Monday morning even worse. Yes, it happened, Ohio State lost. I chuckle everytime this happens anymore, because I remember a season a few years ago when we followed the Buckeyes from a hospital room. We were counting our blessings that our son was still with us, and hoping he would be able to live a somewhat normal life after a terrible car accident. My husband was sitting by his bed reading the editorials and came across one that referred to a recent loss as if it was the end of his world. My husband replied to that letter and his was also published in the paper. When things like that happen, your world is turned upside down and when you come out of it, you realize you look at things from a completely different perspective. You are never the same. So... the Buckeyes lost, I went to bed and had a peaceful night sleep and the sun woke me up this morning and all is o.k. My kids and grandkids are happy and healthy, and life continues. I think I have figured out what is really important.

I leave tomorrow for a week-end in my favorite place - Nashville Indiana. Kerri and I are taking little Cora. I'm so excited. This has become such a special place, so many memories. This week-end will be a brand new one as I have a granddaughter to take. I'm sure it will be only the first of many such trips. I'm sure we will do a lot of the same things (my daughter and I love traditions) such as lunching at the Hob Nob, cherry and strawberry flavored cokes and searching for some fun things to take home to fill our homes with memories from a very special place. What a wonderful gift God gives us - our ability to make memories.

Then towards the end of October, we will be going to another beautiful place with special friends. I was determined to get my husband someplace relaxing after fall market, a little down time to relieve the stress. We will be spending a few days in Pinehurst, a beautiful golfing community. My favorite time to play golf is fall and doing it with friends that mean so much makes it even better.

We will be spending New Years in Oklahoma visiting my sister and her family. It's always nice to have be able to look forward to special times with family and friends. And of course the best time of the year is coming up, another holiday season. It rolls around so quickly.

Looking forward to a wonderful week-end. It's finally fall in Columbus...I love it. I took an OSU dress up to Cora yesterday and we found her a headband to match. Watch a little football today and then maybe shop for carpet for the house on Dunbarton. Church and golf with friends tomorrow, a little slower pace than last week-end. It was so good to see my sister, I really miss her. We planned a visit to OKC in December. Life is good. I have several photo projects I need to jump on before time gets away from me. I really need to work on my motivation.

Home from Puerto Rico. Very relaxing and so good to have time to spend with my husband. Also quite an experience to sit by a pool and hear God's voice so clearly, it brings you to tears. Luckily the pool was very empty and nobody noticed. They were good tears, healthy tears, growing tears, listening to my Father speak to me of things I needed to hear.

Now it's time to get ready for fall. My sister and my aunt nd cousin are coming this week-end. I have a couple days to get ready and I'm trying to get the fog out of my head from a late night flight home. It should be a wonderful week-end.

I had a good week. God is teaching me a lot right now. Slowing down, appreciating everything the moment is bringing me, and holding loosely to this world. I think I was beginning to get so caught up with the things God blesses me with, I was losing sight of the things He has in store for me. It's very tricky to live each day to the fullest, and count your blessings and not forget that this is just the journey, not the destination.

Looking forward to worship today, and then spending time with my husband. Then another week, hopefully getting some picture projects done. Looks like it's going to be beautiful weather.

Yesterday my daughter celebrated her 12th year of marriage. It's wonderful to see your daughter so happy in a healthy relationship. I will continue to pray for them as I see how living in today's world can take a toll on even the best of relationships. The past year brought about a lot of changes thank goodness, all of them have been good. Maybe this next year can be a little more quiet but just as happy. Happy Anniversary Kerri and Eric.

And today is my first grandsons's 9th birthday. I keep telling him I am going to put a brick on his head to keep him from growing. If only it was that easy to make time stand still. He is such a great kid. He loves to read, play basketball and come to Nana's house. I hope that never changes. Full of energy, we can't seem to fill him up. He loves life, may that also stay the same. Happy Birthday Riley.

Just returned from another week-end in Nashville Indiana. I really can't put my finger on why I love it there so much, but my husband feels the same way. I drive into the little town and I immediately have a smile on my face. It's a slow paced, gentle place. People seem to leave their cares at the city limits sign. We have a lot of memories as we have celebrated a family Thanksgiving in the hills of this town, and even brought our children here for vacations in a little cabin down the road in a place called "Bean Blossom". Mike and I drove out to the cabin and someone has moved in permanently and it is quite a showplace. One of my favorite pictures of my two children and Mike, hangs in my bedroom reminding me of a day at the state park I will never forget, picnicking, playing cards and hiking on the trails. I remember none of us wanted that day to end. I re-lived that day many times, drawing from the feelings it brought as we faced tough times a few years later. Memories, one of the most precious things God gives us.

Today turned out to be a good day. (most are) I haven't been feeling like myself lately but at one point today I realized I was feeling better. The little aches and pains of fibro had been worse and I was finding myself uptight and unable to relax. We had some great rain today, I fixed some half-runner beans with tomatoes and onions. Tasted great. Starting to look for a house for next year's vacation. Austin came over for a little while and ate dinner with us. Yes, a good day. I wanted to get to my scrapbooking but that didn't happen. Maybe tomorrow. We'll be heading to Nashville Indiana friday. Yea!!!!!!!!!!!! That will solve everything! Ha!

Another wonderful 2 weeks at the beach is over. We had such a good time. There were times I had to pinch myself as I looked around at my family and the beautiful place we were spending time together. Cora is amazing. Kerri's three boys were all good babies, but honestly, Cora puts them to shame. She has a ready smile that lights up the room not to mention your world. We were in Topsail last year when we found out that she would be joining our family. We were all a little in shock, well o.k.... a lot in shock. God blessed us beyond measure. Riley, Trey, Evan and Austin had so much fun together. It is fun to watch them sharing life together as brothers and cousins. I just hope my husband can relax a little more next year. The job is becoming a little stressful, we'll see what this year brings to that situation.

I had Riley and Trey for a few days so they could finish the school year. What great kids!! They were so much fun. Yesterday we went to Target and we found a new Legos movie, some walkie-talkies for their new adventures outside and of course dinner at Chick-fil-A and dessert at Sonic. If those kids told me thanks for everything once, they told me twenty times. They are such good boys. this morning when they got up, I reminded them it was their last day of schoo. Of course they were thrilled at that thought and then Trey looked at me and said, "there's just one bad thing. we won't be seeing you tonight". OMG, yea, I melted in a pool on the floor! I am so happy that these kids are getting ready to have the kind of summer every kid should have - playing in the great outdoors. I almost feel like a kid again.

My emotions seem to be right up on the surface today. Not sure what is going on. The feelings are all mixed up but primarily good. The tree my dad and Ralph planted for me is sick but they have promised me it won't be fatal. I love that tree, I really enjoy watching it. It makes me feel like all is right with the world. It reminds me of the people in my life that helped me get grounded. I've been thinking a lot about the people that I miss and about the people that are still here filling up my life and making it so rich. Love to you all.

I can't believe it but we are counting down and there are only 18 days til vacation. What happened to the year? It can't possibly be time for another 2 weeks at the beach. But.... here we are. Two weeks of surf and sand, fudge, sea gulls and crabs, fudge, beautiful sunrises and the sounds of the ocean, and fudge. Oh my, sounds like heaven to me. I can't wait.

Two weeks of jury duty over. I'm glad for that but also glad I had the experience. It wasn't easy. I was on a difficult case with nothing but circumstantial evidence. I wasn't able to do what I really wanted to do. I learned a lot about the justice system, about how some people live and make choices and about myself. It's not a perfect system but I am glad we live in a country that believes in not guilty til so proven. Unfortunately, it sometimes CAN'T be proven.

Mother's Day 2010....another blessed day. Kerri visited Eric's mom this year so it was just Mike, Nicole, Austin, Mom and Mike. We had a nice lunch at the countryclub. Austin made us laugh and once again, I was in awe of how lucky I am to be so loved. My son gave me a card that is hard for me to believe it wasn't written especially for me. I really want to share it. Those of you who are familiar with our history will see how special this card really was.

From your Son... When I think about all the times I made you worry, it makes me appreciate how well you handled the challenging job of being my mom. The good news is, those days are behind us now, and we both made it through. And you know what? You did good. Really good. Happy Mother's Day.

Oh, he was a challenge. But I wouldn't trade him for any other son on the face of the earth. He has grown into a very good man. Thanks for being my son Mikey.

Trying to bring some sort of closure to the way Kerri's adoption journey has ended. I gave my heart away to this little girl a long time ago and she will ALWAYS have it. I worked on something today to help me remember and at the same time move on. I framed her beautiful picture with some scripture and it will be placed in a place that I will see often. I just hope she feels the prayers from some people in the USA that have been and will always be prayed for her.

It's been such a long journey and this is not the ending we were hoping for. But our little Nana will not be coming home. Pray for this child. May God keep her in His love and may she grow strong and always know there are people far, far away that love her very much.

I love walking around my house after the kids have been here. Kerri and Cora and the boys spent the week-end and the typical signs are everywhere... a drawing with "to nana from trey" scrawled on top, catalogs with dog-eared pages to mark the spot (things they must have) and pieces of toys found everywhere for days. I LOVE it. I wouldn't want it any other way. I smile everytime I find a marker or a candy wrapper and that usually happens for several days. I hope their memories are as wonderful as mine.

I was just reading my daughter's blog about delivering our beautiful little Cora Jean. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that God is really in control. We make plans and think we know what will be. Nobody expected to hear the words "I'm pregnant" from my daughter again. They had other plans. But so did God. She is beautifully perfect and I already find myself thinking how empty our family would seem without her. Kerri and Eric had plans for a little girl to enter their family. None of us really know where those plans are right now, only God knows. But for now, I am so happy that God had Cora in mind and I can't wait to get to know her. God has blessed our family... once again.

A song I really love by Elton John says, "all life is precious and every day's a prize". Days can certainly bring "sur"-prises too, some good, some not so much. At least it may not seem so good on the surface. But I choose to believe that even what may start as troublesome, can really turn out for good. I really want to take hold of everyday and squeeze it and learn from it and move on from it. As I get older, I find I'm not wanting to move on so quickly and I would even like to stand still from time to time. But that's not possible and so I just hope I can move on for a long time to come. (LOL=facebook speak, meaning laugh out loud!) So here are some pics that remind me that Elton just might be right.