Hast Thou Not Seen?

Yesterday we took the opportunity to go visit Erdbeere and her family at their new house.  They recently moved and are still in the process of unpacking and settling in and putting their mark on their new place.  Its coming along very well and is a really nice place.  Much roomier than where they moved from and meets their needs and goals in a lot of ways. They chose carefully and it is turning out very well. I thought they did very well.

The nice thing about this visit was that only Brombeere and I went so we had the time to visit all the way there and back.  She sometimes accuses me of not talking very much and I’ll be the first to admit that whenever someone says “Talk to me” the next thing that happens to me is that my mind goes blank. Anyway, we talked and I thought it was very good because we had all this time together, which is sometimes hard to come by in this very busy life we find ourselves living.

Even though it was never a subject we addressed directly between us, I found myself, as we talked over a wide range of things going on in our lives, thinking over and over again, like a prayer, that See? There is another reason why we need additional blessings in this area or that one.  I sometimes get to praying about things where I feel there is need but don’t feel like the blessings are quite covering the need and pleading for more help.  Maybe that’s an ungrateful practices that I need to do better with but nevertheless, that is how it is at times.

So today in church we were singing the closing hymn, which was titled “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”.  As we sang the second verse it suddenly hit me how much the Lord really has blessed, and continues to bless me.

Praise to the Lord! Over all things he gloriously reigneth.

Borne as on eagle wings, safely his Saints he sustaineth.

Hast thou not seen

How all thou needest hath been

Granted in what he ordaineth?

I felt like I had been ambushed by the answer to a prayer. Well, that’s how I felt. But the point is that once again I knew I was getting an answer to my prayers. I knew that the Lord was aware of me and my situation and was sustaining me at the level He wanted me at for the time being.

I used it later, during a lesson I was teaching, as an example of how the Lord uses scriptures and hymns to answer our prayers and communicate with us. So I didn’t hear a voice, but the Lord got his message across.

It Was a Very Good Time

What a wonderful couple of weeks its been!  We’ve seen all our grandkids and kids over the past couple of weeks, since the beginning of the month.  We’ve traveled a lot, got sick of being in the car (all the travel was driving) and, the one sad part of it all was a funeral. But as is so often the case, coming together for funerals leads to some wonderful times with family and friends. So we traveled out west for a funeral and got to see Heidelbeere and her family, along with my brother and sisters. Got to make muffins, do exercises, with the help of the kids and the family dog. Got to do lots of stuff together with kids and grandkids we don't get to see very often.  It was great!

Then we came back and Moosbeere and his family came to visit because he was in the wedding party of his best friend from high school.  This friend of his was over at our house so often as they were growing up that he felt like just another one of the kids. It was good to see him doing so well.

Himebeere had a birthday so we got to have cake and ice cream.And in the midst of all that visiting Erdbeere and Blaubeere and their families came to visit as well.  So its been wonderful, if not crazy and hectic at times.

We went to a couple of the parks here in the area and played around. Stachelbeere showed off his prowess in log walking. Everybody was sure he'd end up in the drink but he made it across dry with no problems. At this playground his niece came down the slide after him without waiting for him to clear out. It was fun.

Then at the end of the day we found some ducks to feed and got to spend some time doing that in the evening. Apparently the ducks get fed often enough that they knew the drill. Our granddaughter had a great time throwing them bits of bread.

It was such a good time. Makes me wish we were able to see them all more often. So we'll be grateful for the ones that live close enough to see more often and reveal in the times when we can see the others. Families are so fun, kids and grandkids are such a blessing. I love them.

A Happy Thing

Life is generally day after day, filled with the same old stuff, life goes on. Then, every now and then, a special time comes along that is either a high point or a low point. Fortunately there are more high points than lows. It has been my experience that the high points in life are generally some how associated with family. We recently had a high point. Maulbeere came to visit. That was so nice.

 

 A little over a year ago, Maulbeere decided to seek her fortune else where, get away from home and get a change of scenery.  That was okay and so she arranged to go live with her sister, Heidelbeere, who lives far enough away that we haven't seen much of her since then. In fact, this was only the second time she's been home since leaving. 

 

So Schwartzbeere and his brand new fiance, who decided they wanted to come pick her up from the airport, piled in the car and we went after her. All the way down the two of them were busy working on wedding plans. All the way back they were busy talking and playing with Maulbeere - not much serious planning got done.

 

 While here, Maulbeere spent some time with Himbeere, helping change the brakes on Mom's car. Maulbeere performed the valuable service of holding the tire down while it was off the car. Couldn't have it floating away - that would never do.

 

Erdbeere and her little boy made it to our house for a few days to visit. He's a cutie. When coloring he had to make sure that every crayon had an opportunity to be used. 

 

 Stachelbeere is staying with us right now so he and Maulbeere got to spend some quality time together.

 

 While she was here we made it out to a covered bridge not too far away and Maulbeere got to dip her toes in "the old millstream." It was Memorial Day, the official beginning of summer, and the weather was nice and warm as well.  A very nice day trip.

 

 Blaubeere and her kids came over a couple of times. They played in the backyard. You can't see it in this photo, but Dragon, the younger boy, has his right arm in a bright, red cast. He was playing in their living room a few days ago and broke his arm. Didn't slow him down much at all.

 

 Blaubeere's youngest is learning to walk. Actually, she could walk by herself if she wanted to but I guess its a confidence thing. She thinks she still needs to be holding onto something or someone to be walking. But one day we distracted her with some toys and she forgot she couldn't walk on her own enough to take a few steps all by herself. She's a cutie.

 

Then, all too soon, it was time to go back.  The time just zipped by. So it was back to the airport and off in a big silver bird. It was so nice to have her here. She is such a breath of fresh air. She brings smiles to faces everywhere she goes. We'll miss her.

A Happy Gramma, Part Two

So I was wrong. I thought she had finished it up and mailed it but that wasn't the case. In fact, it still hasn't gone in the mail. But it is done, wrapped and ready to package up and put in the mail. A cute little pink apron. All it needed was a couple of buttons sewed on and the ties put on. So Brombeere got it back out and got that stuff done the other day and it turned out really cute. This gramma loves sewing and especially if she can sew something for a grandbaby.  Maybe when she finally retires and has more time. She keeps looking at blankets and other things she can sew. She used to sew things for herself and all the kids back before she went back to work. When she doesn't have to work any more I expect there will be a lot more sewing going on. Until then the summer usually includes a couple of sewing projects if at all possible.

A Happy Grandma

I am married to a Gramma. I thoroughly enjoy that but that's another story. Anyway, this gramma I am married to has a number of grandbabies, only a few of which live close enough to us that we get to see them with any regularity. Ah, the down-side of our mobile society. We follow the job and it results in families being all spread out across the country. Such is life. We did it to our parents and some of our kids have done it to us. Fortunately, we also live in a society where communication is quick and living spread far and wide is not the problem it used to be.  But I digress.

This gramma I'm married to has several grand kids and they have birthdays.  This gramma I'm married to also loves to sew. She'd sew a lot more if she could find the time but other things seem to keep getting in the way.  She teaches kindergarten and usually gets to sew a couple of projects each summer.  That makes summer a happy time.  But I digress again.  One little girl, one of our cute little grandbabies, who lives many hundreds of miles to the south of us, is having a birthday in the near future. So this gramma I'm married to sewed her an apron. A cute, pink little number. Snip, snip here. Stitch, stitch there, in the merry, old land of ... well, my house.

 

This sewing usually has to take place late at night. And fortunately, for this talented gramma, a child's apron is a pretty simple project. Anyway, I was unable to get a picture of the final product because it got late and I had to go to bed and the apron got packaged up and mailed right away so it would get there in time for the birthday.  This gramma loves her grandbabies and she loves to sew. A wonderful combination.

An Engagement Party

 

Recently Schwarzebeere and his girlfriend announced they were getting married. To celebrate they held an engagement party and invited lots of family and friends. A new tradition to me but hey, who am I to complain about an occasion to party and celebrate. So the happy couple hosted a dinner, cut a cake and we all had a chance for the two families to get to meet and get to know each other. Family and a bunch of friends. It was a good time. The wedding is scheduled for later this summer, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. It would seem that one of the reasons for long engagements in this part of the country is that the places to hold weddings and receptions are booked up that far out. But they're working at it and there are a number of options that remain available, even if not the first choice. But in the meantime, they move forward and are excited.

An Exciting Time

Yesterday after Himbeere got off work (he works third shift) he had some breakfast and then jumped in his truck to go visit his girlfriend.  She lives several miles away and part of the trip involves a long, straight stretch of dirt road.  Long enough to lull an already sleepy boy off to sleep.  So Himberre fell a sleep at the wheel.

He said later he felt a bump and opened his eyes to a small cloud of snow in front of him, snow he had knocked into the air. Then he saw trees rushing at him and thought, "Uh oh.  This isn't going to end well."

So on he plows, into the snow at the side of the road.  And then the truck came to a stop.  He said he sorta just sat there, with a white-knuckle death grip on the steering wheel for about two minutes.  Then he began to realize his hands were beginning to get sore.  So he let go. Then he just sat there a few minutes, taking stock and deciding he wasn't hurt.

Then he called his mother.  That made her feel good, not that he was in a tight spot, but that he called her first.  It took some doing and several other phone calls but they finally got the truck out of the snow and back on the road.  He ended up getting towed back to a heated shop because the serpentine belt had been shredded and was all wrapped around a bunch of other stuff on and around the engine.  That plus the engine compartment, in addition to the engine, was now all stuffed with snow.  So they towed it to a heated shop, dug the belt out and replaced it and then left the truck there a while so the now could melt out.  Then he came home and slept for several hours.

As his big sister said, "God loves you, Himbeere. He took good care of you this morning!"  Amen to that.

Life

They say that life is mostly the same, old boring routine punctuated here and there with highs and lows.  We've had both this last week.  But the best part of the week began Wednesday when Heidlebeere and her kids showed up on our door step!

It is so nice to have them here. They drove out and it only took them two days. Sure feels good to get out of the car after all that.  Brombeere commented the other day how nice it is to have the sound of little kids laughing, playing and having fun - so nice to have them around.  Took them a little bit to warm up.  One of the draw backs to not living closer.  But once they did it has sure been fun.

 

They were here Wednesday night and then drove over to see Blaubeere for a bit.  Then they came back.  Last night we made shish kabobs for dinner - everybody helped.  Some by actually helping, some by staying out of the way. They were good.  We did them in the oven and that turned out to be real easy.

 

I have long maintained that Himbeere is like a cactus; sometimes prickly on the outside but soft as butter on the inside.  Its times like this that I think that is really true.  He may never admit it, but he likes having his nieces and nephews around.

A Family Affair

We recently had occasion to go visit Moosebeere and his family.  They'd had a baby a few months ago, our eighth grandchild, and we wanted to go visit them. Couldn't let this kid get too old before we came to visit. So we hopped on an airplane and make the trek to where they live. 

This trip provided a lot of contrast from our climate to the climate where Mooseberre recently moved.  When we left our house there was two feet of snow in the yard and it was below zero. We spent most of the day on airplanes and when we landed it was over 70. You know all those people who like to take a vacation to a warm place during the coldest part of winter? We'd never done that but this trip brought to mind some reasons why someone might do such a thing.

The actual occasion of this trip was to participate in the blessing of this new baby. That was very nice. We saw some interesting landscape on the way to the church. A small stream with a narrow bridge over it we had to cross.  Some cactus. A very different landscape from what we left at home.

Some interesting things were going on at Moosebeere's church.  They had only recently been made a ward, having been divided off from a different ward.  So during the business portion of the meeting, in addition to the blessing of the baby, there were quite a few sustainings as they worked on staffing this new ward.  I thought that was interesting, anyway.

The blessing was very nice. Plenty of family made it there for the occasion, mostly from the other side of the family. But that's alright. Afterward we all went back to the house for lunch and visiting.  Its a good thing Moosebeere has a fairly large house because all the company filled it right up. Lots of little cousins and cousins once removed running around. No kid pictures, though. Moosebeere has asked that no pictures of the kids be posted online. I think the sounds that families makes when a lot of them get together is a very sweet sound. And so it was that Sunday. It was a very good time.

But like all too many such times, it was too soon at an end and it was time for us to head back to the cold and home.  The weather was a bit merciful, I guess.  The temperature at our house had warmed up a little and at Moosebeere's it had cooled off a fair amount so that there was only 15 degrees difference between the two locations. That helped make coming home a little easier.  I've often wondered how people do it when coming home from that kind of trip.

As we said when we left, "This was fun. We'll have to do this again." So now the trick will be to not let it get to be too long before we do that again.  It was a good time. I'm really glad we went.

Snow Again!

 The other day it snowed again.  I asked Himbeere if he'd clear the driveway and he jumped right up and got to it!  I was impressed! It is such a help when he or the other kids are willing to help like that because I can't do it myself.  So he was out there, in the cold, working away and it hit me - he was wearing shorts.  Sixteen degrees and he's wearing shorts to clear the driveway. He's a bit crazy. Good thing it was one of the warmer days we had during January.