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Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord

and if anybody asks why you believe as you do,

be ready to tell him,

and do it in a gentle and respectful way.

I Peter 3:15 TLB

Another Day With Three Grandchildren

Jana was ready for school when it was time to go out the door at 7:10 a.m.

Ian created a space on the window to watch for the bus.

Jared was more interested in adding plastic squares to his yarn.

I introduced them to a video that they haven’t watched yet, even though it was a favorite of their older brother and sister when they were younger.  It became their favorite today.

I lost count of the times Jared came to me today and asked, “Can we watch the bird movie again, Grandma?”

Ian liked it too, but often played a computer game while listening to it.

~~~

Later this afternoon, I received a photo of their younger brother, Jesse, who is staying with our daughter, Deb.

He’s still as cute as ever!

~~~

This evening when I came home from my once-a-month body massage by Carla (oh, yeah!), I noticed a beautiful sunset .

When I walked to the end of our driveway, several flocks of geese were flying overhead.  It was so warm today, maybe they think it is springtime.

The sunset

After going inside, I noticed that the sky was getting even prettier.

~~~

Tonight when we received an e-mail from Jere and Kristen, giving us an update on their day, it included another picture of the beach outside their motel room in Florida.

..but those who hope in the LORD

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31, NIV

Scenes From Today

Hi Dad and Mom ~ this is your handsome threesome after church.

Jana is trying to stitch two squares of plastic canvas per day.

So far she is right on target.  Notice she has finished three.  Since that picture was taken, she finished the fourth.

Ian wanted me to take some pictures of him jumping on the bean bag foot rest.

While all this was going on, Jared fell asleep.

With his “partner in crime” sleeping, Ian needed something to do, and wanted to stitch like Jana.

Since this was his first time, I taught him a simple, straight stitch, but even that frustrated him, and he soon gave up.

 After Jana finished her fourth square she wanted me to take pictures of her giving Ian “airplane rides.”

After Jared woke up, he wanted to stitch like Ian and Jana.  Since Ian wasn’t successful, I wished I had beads or something for him to put on a string. 

Since I didn’t, I got creative and cut some left-over plastic canvas into small pieces – making sure there was at least one hole for Jared to thread onto the yarn.

I tied a bell on the end, and Jared proceeded to add plastic canvas pieces.  It was quite a hit with him, and he continues to come back to add a few pieces every now and then.

After supper it was bathtime.

They are now in bed for the night, and Cerwin and I have a little bit of quiet time. 

This is too glorious,

too wonderful to believe!

I can never be lost to your Spirit!

I can never get away from my God!

Psalm 139:6-7 TLB

Don’t ever stop being kind and truthful.

Let kindness and truth show in all you do.

Write them down in your mind as if on a tablet.

Proverbs 3:3 ICB

Three Grandchildren Are Staying With Us for the Next Five Days

…while their parents are on a business/vacation trip to southwestern Florida

(Baby Jesse is with our youngest daughter, and their oldest son, Josh, is staying with friends.)

It seems like a long time since I helped someone get ready for school.

How nice that the bus driver agreed to pick up Jana at the end of our driveway. 

The boys (Ian and Jared) spent the first hour playing a GameCube game.

I proceeded to set up the new “tent” that their parents brought UNASSEMBLED last night.

The boys love it, and at times pretend they are dogs in a doghouse.

Later in the day they had a snack in their tent and enjoyed playing with flashlights.

Abigail, these pictures are for you.  The boys are smelling their new hand foam.

Look Mom, we are washing our hands.

Ian wanted to teach me how to play GameCube.  He did a lot of frustrated sighing, so I don’t think he figures I will ever learn this!  After awhile he said, “I think you better drop out grandma.  I will play this alone.”  How does a five-year-old know how to do this stuff? 

Time for “school.”  Today we were matching colors.

They enjoyed watching “Seventh Brother” while resting on our waterbed.

Ian building a tower with Jenga blocks.

I enjoyed watching a Dark-eyed Junco while waiting for Jana’s bus this afternoon.

A White-breasted Nuthatch arrived just before the bus.

She kindly brought the mail in for me.

~~~

This evening their parents e-mailed this picture.

This is the view outside Jere and Kristen’s motel room – that is a big contrast from the scene we just left behind in Maine!

Traveling Home from Maine

Thursday, January 3

We left the Myers’ house just before 7:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.

Just before leaving town, we noticed that the temperature was zero degrees.

As we approached southern Maine, then traveled through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and into New York, the snow on the ground and trees became noticeably less and less.

By the time we arrived in southeastern Pennsylvania it almost looked like springtime.  We noticed at one place of business that the temperature was 26 degrees. 

Our CRV was covered with snow when we left Maine, but it gradually blew off as we traveled.  This  chunk of snow (tucked between my window and rearview mirror) turned to ice, and was the only piece that survived the entire five hundred miles.

Our snow-free yard looked bare after seeing so much snow for the past four days.

I love traveling, especially to visit the Myers’, but it is always good to see the sunset outside our own western windows.

Beautiful Snow

Wednesday, January 2, in Maine

A few more pictures from my morning walk.

Our CRV looked to pretty in the snow.  We weren’t sure if we were going to leave Maine on Wednesday or Thursday, but the extra snow on Tuesday night helped us decide to stay and extra day.

~~~

After my morning walk and breakfast, Mark, Diane, Josiah, Cerwin, and I decided to go to town to get on the Internet ~ so Mark’s could check their e-mails, and I could do the same, plus post on my blog.

I asked Mark if he would drive to Brunswick the “back way” so we could see some snow scenery.

The scenery was so pretty, I felt like my eyes could not take it all in.

If you think these pictures are beautiful, you cannot imagine how pretty it was to see the entire landscape.

The lens of a camera cannot capture enough on a day like this.

I took ninety pictures in a ten minute drive!

Mark and Diane checking their e-mails.

It was a great day for relaxing.  Lydia and Cerwin reading.

Cerwin, Josiah, and Hezekiah discussing one of many subjects.

We spent many spare hours playing “Scum”, which works well when playing with a lot of people.  There were only seven in this game (Hannah, Abigail, Diane, Elizabeth, me, Cerwin, and Josiah), but many times there were ten.  Mark was at work and Hezekiah and Lydia chose to opt out of this one.) 

Winners and losers move around the table after each hand, according to their winning or losing record for the previous hand.  In this hand Elizabeth was at the head of the table because she was “President” and I am at the foot of the table because I was “scum.”  It seems I spent way too much time on the losing side of the table!