and then he was ten

Walter hit double digits yesterday.

10

Happy Birthday to you!

We went to Outback for dinner and then back to Gram's house for his party.

He ordered a small sirloin steak and mashed potatoes.

He ate every morsel.

We came here and played lawn darts, and he won the prize.

$10.00

After opening presents, he gazed at his ten candles before blowing them out.

It took several blows. 

Ten candles require a lot of blowing.

No more baby grandchildren.

They are all growing up.

I 💙 you, Walter.

 

help me with this truth Holy Spirit of God.

"Ask, and you shall receive, 

that your joy may be made full."

John 16:25b

"I enjoin (direct with authority) you thus to pray, 

that not only may you be delivered from all despondency and heart trouble, 

But that in the enjoyment of all heavenly and spiritual blessings and in the possession of all that is necessary and sufficient to secure the success of the great enterprise on which you are about to enter, you may be filled with

 holy happiness,

 heavenly joy ~ 

joy in the Holy Spirit."

💗

"Rejoice evermore: Pray without ceasing."

I Thessalonians 5: 16,17

"The second is the means of securing the first.

 If we cease to pray, we are likely to cease to rejoice ~

 We must pray without ceasing that we may rejoice evermore.

And were we instead of being anxious, careful, troubled about many things,

 to be anxious about nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication,

make our requests known unto God,

with thanksgiving,

(Philippians 4:6)

assuredly,

the peace of God would keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus

and, amid external troubles,

 our joy would be full."

💗

From...

The exposition of the Gospel of John

Arthur Pink

 

tales of my climbing rose bush

In May of 2024, Lucy gave me this climbing rose.

I was like...

"We'll see.

I've never had success with growing roses before.

But thank you so much, my Lu.

Let's see what we can do!"

I took this picture just a few minutes ago.

Astonishing!

In just one year, it has become lush, healthy, and taller than I am.

The terrible hurricanes in the fall did a number on it.

The wind blew it in all directions.

It looked done for.

I pretty much ignored it during the winter.

It made me sad.

Back in March, I sprinkled it with some rose food.

I pruned it as best as I could and started watering at regular intervals.

In a little over a month, it has flourished.

Lucy is responsible for attaching the branches to the trellis and the fence.

This is the first bloom...

Amazing and so beautiful!

The blooms don't last long...

They fade away and drop to the ground in 24 hours.

Here is a bud.

By tomorrow evening, it will be gone.

Then I found three buds on one stem.

I love watching this rose bush,

It makes me so happy.

With all of this beauty, 

I can't even imagine what heaven will be like!

💗

One more Easter picture.

I've just put the last of my Easter decorations back in the attic.

I can sit in my big white chair and look out at my rose bush.

God makes the flowers, you know.

I look forward to enjoying heaven with Him.

Easter 2025

Table setting...

I always love it when the bunny plates come out.

To fill those plates we had...

Honey Baked Ham,

Red Rice,

Southern-cooked green beans,

Broccoli salad,

Pineapple bake,

Hash brown potato casserole,

Yeast rolls.

For dessert...

Lucy made carrot cake cupcakes.

I brought out strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

Of course, there were steaming cups of coffee

with fresh whipped cream topping.

It was a real feast.

Sadie had her first taste of sugar.

It was somehow fitting that she had it at Aunt Cathy's house.

She held that golden egg the whole time she was here.

She is a future golden egg hunter for sure.

I give monetary prizes for certain eggs.

The small golden egg was hidden in the palmetto bush.

Harry hid this one.

He asked me last week if I would let him.

I couldn't say no.

Notice the adults clamoring for the $.

Then that same group descended on my car.

They thought the big golden egg was hidden there.

I had to call for an exit as at one point, many people were inside the car going nuts,

opening the drawers, and looking in every nook and cranny.

And the hunt moved across the street to the mail kiosk.

The golden egg was found in my mailbox.

The kids still think I'm a master at hiding Easter eggs. 😁

Here is how it all came down...

Notice that Sadie still has her golden egg.

She was mesmerized.

Lucy and Harry split the prize for the big golden egg.

She figured out that it was hidden in my mailbox.

He found the key.

They split the prize...

$20.00.

Lucy also found the most eggs.

$10.00

Anna found the small golden egg buried under the palmetto bush in the picture above,

the one Harry hid.

She has the scratches to prove it.

$10.00.

Gus found the smallest egg.

It was inside an old volleyball that I split with a knife.

$5.00.

I also had a prize for the one who chose the smallest basket.

Humble, you know.

Not expecting to find many eggs.

$5.00.

It was a truly beautiful, happy, and fun afternoon.

Lots of laughter and good food.

Being with family celebrating Resurrection Sunday is always the best!

💗

I'm getting ready to put these in the attic until next year.

This is the clue that I wrote to lead the lookers to the golden Egg...

"The KEY to finding the golden eggs involves a BOX and the number 47-3."

The key was hanging on a nail by my back door.

The box was my mailbox in the kiosk across the street..

The number of my mailbox is 44.

Clever?

I had put a bunch of boxes by the door to the outside as a decoy.

Everyone heard the box clue first and went to those.

I kept repeating the clue.

Lucy and Harry finally caught on.

👏👏👏

 

Jesus, our Lord and Savior

He is Risen Indeed!

💗

 

The way to God...

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying on the cross.

You bought us back with Your blood .

You forgave our sins,

You granted eternal life to all who believe.

I am overwhelmed by this truth.

You suffered so much for us.

I am humbled.

I bow before You in praise and worship.

Again, thank You!

💗

 

it all went by so fast

Cathy & Bubba

April 11, 1970

💗

Today would have been our 55th wedding anniversary.

I am finally at the place where I can look back and not be so sad.

I am thankful for the life God gave us,

for the fruit of our marriage,

 the trials and joys that shaped me into the woman I am today.

Bubba was a good husband.

He was devoted to me.

He took good care of me and loved me so well.

I know that he is in heaven with Jesus.

He loved our Lord.

He was studying the book of Hebrews when he passed from this earth.

He spent much time out and about speaking to others about Jesus.

He was a good dad and granddaddy.

He made a huge impression on his grandchildren.

They were devastated when he left us.

Our family is never together that we don't remember him and share funny stories.

He lives on in our hearts and minds.

I have learned so much.

Living alone is not so bad.

I am not afraid.

The family that we made supports me in extraordinary ways.

All of my needs are met from God's rich storehouse in heaven.

I am deep in His Word...

finishing up a lengthy study of the end times.

I am so excited about eternity.

Honestly, I can't wait to know by sight.

Rejoice always!

Give thanks in all things!

Pray without ceasing!

Rules for living ^

 

yesterday...

Archie turned seventeen.

The older I get, the older my grandkids get!

Fancy that!

Every year, they get better and better!

They get taller and funnier and more interesting.

Arch is getting his driver's license next week.

He has worked so hard on this project and has improved so much.

We are all cheering him on!

Driving brings a measure of independence,

but with it so much responsibility.

He is applying for various jobs but hasn't landed one yet.

He made a great birthday wish list of things he would like for his birthday dinner.

On it were the following...

Cheeseburgers with bacon,

pigs in blankets,

Grammy's delicious baked beans covered with bacon,

Grammy's much loved red rice,

Potato chips with Grammy's homemade dip.

There were a few more things on the list,

but I told him I would fix them for our Easter feast.

He loved his meal and was very pleased,

For dessert he asked for, wait for it...

Root Beer Floats.

Erika made them in my new heart glasses.

I always love these pictures of the kids together.

In this one, we have to the left those who are fully engaged and smiling.

On the right stand those that are zoned out.

Harry had just finished his track meet, so he had an excuse.

You never know what you will get.

😒

Happy Birthday, Arch!

17 looks good on you!

🎂