"sitting on a dock by the bay"

Just a little fun for the last one.....

Feet dangling,

smiles on every face,

All growing.

Having so much fun.

Cousins forever.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost and now am found,

was blind but now I see."

His amazing grace is for you too.

the glowing pictures

Jupiter Inlet, Jupiter, Florida

Pictures from our family vacation.....

Sometimes, not very often,

but occassionally,

you catch the sunlight just at the right time.

The light produces a glowing effect

on those it chooses.

Here are some examples...

Our Harry B,

engaging in a rare but beautiful

smile for a picture.

Aren't his eyes just so dreamy?

This group is really glowing.!

David and Erika glowing.

Love these two so much!

Eli and Jake lit up by the sun.

Thes two boys make my heart sing!

Uncle Mark and Gus.

Mark is strong and Gus is riding high.

You all see what I mean about the glow?

Its only for just a sprinkling of minutes.

You have to hurry,

but the light is 

amazing.

God does wonderful things.

The beauty of His creation always

takes my breath away.

Thank you God for the beauty of Your Holiness.

You alone are God.

There is no other.

Thank you for the love of my family

and time spent with them.

To You I direct All of my worship this evening.

once upon a beach ~ 2

A picnic with some sand

and the greatest view ever.

The day started with snorkeling

at Blue Heron Bridge.

Lots of big waves ~ lots of froth.

So much fun to ride them in.

Harry building a fort with a moat.

Always, the big desire is to get the moat to fill with water,

which involves a whole lot of

running to the ocean,

filling buckets,

bringing the water back,

pouring it in the moat,

watching it go away immediately.

They never stop though....

always think they can get the moat to hold the water.

so much fun to watch this process.

Sunscreen application...

never fun.

This pigeon is eating my Cheez It.

We stayed in the water for a long time.

We jumped the waves and got knocked about.

The water was so clear we could

see the bottom.

I love the beach so much.

My favorite place!!!

once upon a beach

We are saving to take a cruise next summer.

Amanda and Mark invited us to have

Family Vacation 2016

at their new home this year

in exchange for a little home decorating help.

We had a blast, and

the house ended up looking just fabulous.

The "POP" of color was chosen....

tropical green.

Erika hung the curtains in the common room.

She is really good at this,

but it is a very frustrating job...

mainly, everything drops to the floor,

and what you need at the moment

is always somewhere else.

In spite of, 

she did a beautiful job.

Bubba tore out an ugly old wine rack

that was part of the kitchen cabinets.

Amanda & I wept when we saw the results.

Erika knew just how to fix,

what to buy,

and how to make it a reality.

Decorations by Cathy.

I just love open shelves in kitchens.

We all fell in love with the finished project.

As you can see from the first picture,

our trip wasn't all work. 

Here, the boys are having breakfast with Granddaddy.

Uncle Mark cooked waffles and bacon.

This is David with Archie.

I bet you didn't recognize him.

The kids found the costume box and had a ball.

My favorite is Captain America...

they know, and he always makes an appearance.

There is a banana tree in the backyard.

Fascinating.

We had a most wonderful time

all being together

laughing,

remembering,

counting our blessings.

This travel blog will be continued at a later time.

Probably tomorrow.

Too many pictures for one post, :)

believe

"For God so loved the world that

He gave His only begotten Son,

that whosoever believes in Him

should not perish 

but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

cruising

I got into a nest of old photos.

Came up with a few priceless ones.

This was our very first cruise back in the eighties.

My Mom and Dad saved up

and took all of their kids and grandchildren

on the high seas.

There were eleven of us at the time.

We sailed out of the 

Port of Miami.

We had so much fun.

Bubba and I are planning to do this for our family.

There will be twelve of us.

I am selling on Ebay to pay for the cruise.

I found out last week 

that I will need to do a lot more

selling on Ebay for this cruise to happen.

I have four more years to save!!

Was going to do it sooner,

but cruising is very expensive!

Here we are leaving the port.

We all went to the front of the ship

to watch the land slide away.

Dad took it seriously and put his life jacket on.

Here are the girls on dress up night.

Moma was seasick...

don't know where Sally was.

Lots of eighties style here....

big hair,

shoulder pads,

crazy bridesmaid dresses,

huge smiles,

except for Moma.

She wanted to be back on land.

This picture cracks me up.

I have asserted myself with some food dish.

Bubba is not happy about it,

and

David is not buying any of it.

Looks like some sort of vegetable dish.

I cannot wait for us all to go do this!

Now I just need to really work hard.

Bubba,

will you match what I make

so that we can go sooner?

this cracked me up

For Lou....

Thirteen years old we were.

Must have been my birthday.

We're on 35th Street.

Not a care in the world

Top row left to right...

Geri Woods. 

Nancy Fountain, 

ME, 

JoAnn Deloach,

Suzanne Moore,

Nancy Witherington. (I saw her at the reunion.)

Bottom Row left to right....

Carla?,

Debbie Sevier,

You.

And,

Out in Front,

My Brother Frankie

stealing the show.

What a precious, crazy picture.

Who knows what Suzanne is doing to your head.

I had gotten a perm :(

Geri is giving Debbie bunny ears,

and Debbie seems to be praying.

But how cute is Frankie...

he is posing with all of us girls,

looking so cute

and thoroughly enjoying his role as baby brother.

My the time has flown!

Love old pictures.

sleeping with a bar of soap

This has been one of those weeks...

so rare and unusual.

It was quiet,

productive,

restful.

A stay at home week,

A get a lot done week..

Lots of time to read,

rest.

and reflect 

on the goodness of our God.

One thing...

Always lock your car.

Bubba's trusty van was broken into

on Wednesday night.

Most of the time he doesn't lock.

We are lured into a false sense of security out here.

They didn't get much...

just a little cash and some loose change,

but still...

somehow you feel violated when

someone pilfers through your stuff in the middle of the night.

Another thing....

Bubba has leg cramps,

those jump out of the bed in agony kind.

He inherited these from his mom,

Nothing has ever worked.

About a month ago I listened to a woman

on facebook who swore to a cure.

All you have to do is,

wait for it....

sleep with a bar of soap in your bed.

I went out immediately,

bought a bar,

the best I could find,

lavender scented,

nice and thick.

I put it under the sheet in the middle of our

king size bed.

Believe it or not,

He hasn't had a cramp since.

It works!!!!

Old wives tale?

I don't think so.

We are both sleeping like babies.

Thankful tonight for a very good day.

a bar of soap,

locks on doors, 

a clean house,

and a husband who loves to cook.

God is good all the time.

I praise Him and thank Him tonight!

salt marshes

Someone shared this with me this afternoon....

"In the depths of winter,

I realized I had within me

an invincible summer"

Camus

Thank you God for hope!

Cathy

summer

Yes, it is hot!

No doubt about that!

But it is that wonderful time of the year when....

you can jump in the pool,

relish in an occasional cool breeze,

wear next to nothing,

get fresh veggies and fruit beside the road,

boil peanuts and eat watermelon,

go on vacation with your family because the grandkids are out of school,

feel like you really deserve an afternoon nap,

drink sweet tea and lemonade for the pure joy of it,

be really thankful for overhead fans

and air conditioning.

Sadly,

I lose all interest in my yard because of the heat,

but I sit and dream about a really

amazing afternoon thunderstorm to "cool things off a bit."

I go on the back porch to watch

the clouds roll in,

the thunder and lightning snap and crackle,

the rain falling in sheets of water

to the dry, parched earth,

which drinks it up

like a cat lapping up its milk.

Regretfully,

there is beginning to be talk of school starting again.

Time to buy uniforms and backpacks,

paper and pencils.

but we can't speak of that yet!!

There is still plenty of summer left for us to enjoy.

By the way,

the crepe myrtles have outdone themselves this year.

They make me happy!

I thank you God for the season of summer,

the long days,

the beautiful flowers,

the green, green carpets of grass.

You make everything beautiful.

"And the heavens declare the glory of God."

On Monday night,

just before the fireworks began,

God put on display in the heavens

His own work of art.

It had rained earlier,

and these were some leftover clouds.

The sun was setting,

giving off the last of its relentless heat,

igniting the clouds,

painting a picture in the sky,

letting us know that,

ultimately,

 it is He who is the Master of this earth.

Most amazing of all,

I see a tiny cross,

a little off,

whimsical,

but very

real.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life,

No one comes to the Father except through Me."

John 14:3

The cross of Christ Jesus is the way to God,

the way to life eternal,

to all that He has prepared for us who believe.

In Christ there is peace with God

and joys forever.

The cross is a reminder.

A blatant message of hope,

A ray of sunshine lighting up the world.

Christ died there,

and when He died 

He paid the price for our sins

and reconciled us to a right relationship with God.

my tattoo and the golf cart story....

I chose this picture so that everyone could see my American flag tattoo.

See it there on my right arm?

So proud!!!!

The Untold Story of the Golf Cart

The fireworks were over.

David and his family left in their car.

We found our golf cart among the sea of other golf carts.

It felt good to sit down. 

 I was looking forward to the ride back to Frankie and Sally's house 

where our car was parked.

Time to relax after the excitement of the fireworks.

We inched carefully into the line of carts

making their way home.

This procession is somewhat slow,

but very orderly.

Everyone gives a little 

and things move along at a nice pace.

Then....

we took a wrong turn, 

got momentarily lost, 

saw where we needed to be,

turned the cart around,

and then.....nothing.

Dead as a door nail.

the cart would not budge.

Luckily we were at a guard gate.

"We can stay here,

call for assistance,

be safe,"

I said to myself.

Where we needed to be was right in front of us.

The cart path to our destination

was over a bridge with a rather steep incline.

Rather than be safe and wait for help,

Bubba decided to forge ahead.

He worked up a rather weak bit of power,

pulled out in front of another cart headed up the hill,

and then,

nothing.

The cart went dead again.

Now we are stopped on the narrow path,

blocking the way of the hundreds of carts behind us.

So Bubba does what any other 72 year old man with heart problems would do...

he jumps out and starts pushing the cart up the rather steep hill

with me in the passenger seat.

I am freaking out.

He is yelling at me to drive the cart.

I am not understanding what he wants me to do.

He finally says,

"Get in the driver's seat and drive us to the house."

Now I am speechless, still freaking, and at this point really angry.

As He always does,

God sent an angel to help us.

A man from the cart behind us jumped out and helped him push.

I have no idea what he looked like.

I never looked back because I knew

when we got to the top,

with no way to control the cart,

we would go careening down the hill at the speed of light.

I keep yelling at the top of my voice....

"Thank you, thank you so much."

At some point in the drop,

Bubba jumped on the back of the cart.

He was right behind me yelling instructions in my ear.

We couldn't stop because the cart would lose power again.

In the pitch dark, 

with stray fireworks going off all around me,

with lightning in the sky,

with cars and carts passing on my left,

I pulled into the driveway and stopped the cart.

Still shaking,

I got in our van to recover.

I didn't say a word on the drive home.

Came in the house, went to bed.

It took me a long time to fall asleep,

but I finally did.

Yesterday afternoon I finally said to Bubba very calmly,

"We need to talk about what happened last night."

The fourth of July

Hot dogs on sticks with stars.

Our wheels...

There is a story about this golf cart

just waiting to be told.

Hurray for the red, white, and blue!

Granddaddy waiting for the fireworks.

All decked out and ready for the lights in the sky.

Charlotte Bell or as some call her CB.

She loved the fireworks,

wasn't scared at all.

The July 4th princesses.

The first!!!

Watching the show!

Love the look on David's face!

Amazing show!

Thank you Lord!

You have blessed our country .

"We the People"

have freedom to live in peace,

 to worship God,

 to make a good living,

to thrive and excell.

Give much wisdom, I pray, to our leaders,

the one who make decisions,

the ones who You have placed in authority over us.

Show Your glory, O Lord!

We have much to be thankful for.

took a ride in a golf cart....

... went way down by the marsh.

 Found a magic tower,

 climbed up 37 steps.

and there at the very top,

with a howling wind blowing cool breezes 

around our heads,

I got this most astonishingly beautiful shot

of our babies.

Thank you Lord God for these children.

*To get this one amazing photo,

I took over 25 pictures.

All of the rest of them were completely nuts,

but this one,

I got this one,

and it made it all worthwhile.

This is what they really want to do when I take their picture...

Happy Fourth of July!!

last night ~ merriment

Make a broccoli ~ chicken casserole,

make a pie,

invite a crowd,

and this is what happens....

David & Erika

start holding hands.

Amanda & Mark start acting goofy.

All six of the kids are running around outside the house.

Every once in a while,

we see one or two of them pass by the window

and we know they are having a ball.

Meanwhile,

we are sitting around the table,

cracking up as you can see in the above and below pictures.

Mark seems a bit skeptical.

We were discussing David's trip to Nicaragua,

and the Hollingsworth's hilarious adventure

with the bears in Gatlinburg, Tennessee,

among other things.....

Nothing like being around the table with your family!

Next we moved into the sitting room.

I revealed the cruise details

and everyone was thrilled.

We had lots of fun talking about that~

David needed lots of rest recovering from his trip,

so we let him lay down during the conversation.

He loves my big, white chair and 1/2.

He gets it when I'm gone!!!

Right before bed,

Jake ate two fresh Krispy Kream donuts

and then he and Eli

snuggled in the chair after their baths.

The Hollinsworths left to go back to South Florida this morning,

and the house is quiet again.

Looking forward to celebrating the Fourth

at the Landings with the O'Quinns.

Meanwhile ~ rest!

Busy, busy, busy summer so far.

I need time to get going on Ebay again.

Need to pay for the cruise!!!