Post Number 299 Birthday Bash

 My Granddaughter Hannah celebrated her 12th B'day with us last night.  She asked Granny to make her a banana cake.

                                    Here are  her Mom and Brother eating dinner. (Gates has slaw hanging out of his mouth.)

                   Her creative Nana made a banner for the occasion :)

                                       She kindly allowed her Bubba to help blow out the candles.

                       She wanted to do the slicing.....and did such a good job she is now the official family cake slicer.

                                      She was nominated for this position by her paternal grandfather, Pop Pop, who said "this girl KNOWS how to slice cake"   He always asks for an acre size slice (you know he was a farmer) and she correctly estimated how much an acre of cake would be.

She is spending Friday with me and I have a surprise for her.....she is going to school with me!  This child came out of the womb wanting to be a teacher.  (I think that might be classified as a Birth Defect! LOL)
So she will love, love,love.....working with the kindergartners!

What kind of cake do you prefer?

From the Pan Handle to the Frying Pan

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Hubs and I decided to check out my second cousin's new condo in Panama Beach, Florida while I was out of school for the week.  We had never been to the Florida Panhandle.  Wowie!  These beaches made Hilton Head look downscale.

I was surprised at the waves there; but I guess the ocean causes them in the Gulf.  Also very smooth, white sand but no shells did I see.

On our way home our son called to tell us Granny's house had been broken into in the middle of the day.  Fortunately, she was out and about and didn't discover it until she returned home midafternoon.
Because she is a better hidder than they were burgler all they took was her flat screen television.  They did paw through her costume jewelry but alas they must not have been cross dressers.  We got  all 500 pair of earing paired back up today.  Hubs got the door so secure they will need an gatlin gun to get in the house next time.

The new bigger flat screen tv is installed and running.  Granny is still a little in shock so she is staying with us until she feels comfortable going home.

We are all praising God for his protection and mercy!  He is truly a Good God.... All the time!

Have you got anything to be thankful this Good Friday?

It has been the Best of Times and the Worst of Times

 Here are a few of my quilting buddies as we sat at Tommy Bahama's Restaurant at Market Commons at Myrtle Beach.  Another Quilt Guild Member invited us to a luncheon Fashion show fund raiser for the No-Kill cat rescue in Myrtle Beach....Road Trip....we are on it.

I had not been to Myrtle Commons (or whatever it is called). It is a relatively new shopping area built where the old Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was (after the base was closed a few years ago).  Surprise it is just like the city center in Woodlands Texas where we housesat a few years ago!  Lovely shops and restaurants, movie theater....NON TOURISTY!  I got to visit Anthropologie which I had heard of but not visited....very funky cool shop and of course the chocolatier shop :) 

On an entirely different note we celebrated grandson Gates 5th B'day April 2nd.  Note the cake motif...football, players, ref and goal posts.  This boy loves ANY kind of ball game.  Golf, basketball, baseball, football, soccer.....and we run through them all when he keeps me :)

The worst of times part came last Thursday when my dear friend and current boss, Beth Melton's husband died in a car crash.  Ten years ago he had a brain aneurysm and almost died.  It had been a up and down ten years as he tried to return to the work he loved as a house contractor.  BUT the best news is about three years ago he went on a mission trip to Philippines and came back recommitted to Jesus....full on....no holds barred..... The funeral was sad and wonderful.  Reggie was 47 years old, he left his high school sweetheart, Beth,  with two children a college freshman, Haylee and a daughter Kelsey who turned 16 the day before he died.

Beth's family has been plagued with tragedy the last three years.....a cousin who was a senior in veterinary school goes into a diabetic coma and dies in a wreck...an aunt who dies  from a brain tumor....the aunt's two sons have been felled by ALS and a stroke.....niece has cancer of the bone.... BUT THESE PEOPLE KNOW IT IS THE DOING OF THE ENEMY OF THEIR SOULS ATTACKING and they are drawing closer and closer to each other and GOD.

Tuesday I took Hubs for his colonoscopy...while he was "enjoying" that procedure I started talking with a family gathered to wait for their mother, age 86, to get her pacemaker replaced.  The Lord had told her when her 4 boys were little three would grow up to be ministers......two of them, ages 63 and 65 accepted the call a few years ago and both have church ministries in Camden (where we were at the hospital)  We had the best time sharing what the Lord is doing here and now in the End Times.  Gene Brown invited us to visit his church Wednesday night and we did with our friends Bobbie and Glen Milsap.

People God is on the Move....he is pouring out his spirit on the 18-30 somethings and the later reign has begun.....Hallelujah!  The Bible says as wicked ness increases so will righteousness....these days are dark with sin (pornography, rampant sex, homosexuality, abortion etc....) but God is gathering His People.... I hope you are ready..... are you?

Immortal Life

This is my latest read....another suggestion from two bookclub members.

It is a non-fiction book about a black woman who is treated for cervical cancer at John Hopkins Medical School, in Baltimore, Maryland.  She ends up saving millions of lives without ever knowing it.

One reason the book interested me was because I drove my mother-in-law to Baltimore to visit her sister-in-law, Christine Chapman States at John Hopkins.  Christine had leukemia and no health insurance or money for treatment so she went to Johns Hopkins where the treatment was free.  I'll never forget how she looked....frightened and alone in a closet of a room.

Books I've Read and Loved Recently

At our local library book club last week I got some suggestions from fellow participants and I have loved all of them so I thought I'd share them with you.

The Wives of Henry Oades written by Joanna Moran.  This book is based on a true story about a man whose wife and children were abducted but turn up alive many years later after he had married again.  It is surprising how the community reacts.

Half-Broke Horses written by Jeannette Walls.  This too is based on the true story of the author's grandmother's life in the West during the early nineteen hundreds.  She led a truly amazing life that helps explain the life of her daughter Rosemary the subject of the next book on my list.

The Glass Castle was also written by Jeannette Walls and actually preceded Half-Broke Horses but I think it would be better to ready them in the opposite order.  This is about the life the author led as the daughter of two "free spirits".  It is astounding the amount of dysfunction the children dealt with and overcame.

1,000 Gifts by Ann VosKamp.  This was recommended by Mary Bailey at her blog Bell, Whistle, Moon.
It has a premise that really has me thinking about my relationship with God.

Enjoy!