my little baby girl turned 50

This was the big one,

The "Over the hill" birthday,

The one where you realize that you can't hold on to your 40's another day.

When we went to the hospital to deliver her,

I was firmly convinced I was having another boy.

It took me a while after delivery,

because of the drugs in my body,

to believe my dream had come true.

God had sent me the girl that I wanted so badly.

She didn't disappoint!

I clothed her in smocked dresses and taped tiny little bows in her nonexistent hair.

She became a little ballerina, but she played basketball too.

I have loved being Amanda's mom.

Now she watches out for me.

We are so close sometimes I think she can read my mind.

She, Mark, Jake, and Eli spent her big day down in the Florida Keys.

I'm hardly ever with her on her birthday anymore.

They went on a summer stay at a resort with lots of peel-and-eat shrimp.

Such happy faces all around.

I was close, though,

remembering those 50 years and how grateful I am to have her...

The special, loving girl that is my daughter, Amanda.

💗

 

Hope Bible Church ~ VBS ~ 2026

Every summer, we do a thing.

Hope Bible Church puts on an absolutely amazing Bible school for our kids.

It's for nursery-age through fifth grade.

Our older kids are the volunteers along with the adults.

We invite others to come as well.

This year, we had a cowboy theme.

Lots of colorful bandanas, guns and holsters, and cowboy hats.

We all wore the same T-shirt.

Our Bible Study was the Life of Christ.

I'm praying that many seeds were planted and hearts were strengthened.

The glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ went out.

Praise God!

He is Risen!

He is able to save us to the utmost!

💗

 

family council

I found one more picture that I wanted to share from our trip.

 Taken in the living room of our Airbnb.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I agree.

No more words, just this pic.

 

the last of my Palm Beach pictures ~ 2026

My grandchildren

I count myself very blessed to do life with these people.

They keep me laughing and entertained.

I could talk for hours about how wonderful they are.

My children

They have been holding me up since Bubba went to heaven.

Words cannot express how thankful I am for them.

They are gifts from God.

All of us except for Amanda.

She was taking the picture.

I pray for these people every day,

individually.

We all have very specific needs.

I can see God working in their lives.

He hears and answers our prayers according to His will.

The Bible tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

I look forward to spending eternity in heaven with all of my people.

Thank You, Jesus, for shedding Your precious blood on the cross as payment for our sins.

💗

 

Harry Cleland ~ Class of 2026

Congratulations Harry!

You did it!

Your Grammy is so proud of you.

Your Granddaddy in heaven is too!

His family celebration was held on Singer Island in North Palm Beach, Florida.

We all gathered outside by the pool to hear Uncle Mark deliver the keynote speech.

He offered up some humor and some truth from God's Word/

It was all very inspiring.

Everything was very casual...

Beach attire and absolutely no shoes.

For dinner, we had lasagna, salad, and french bread with cheese spread.

And, of course, there was cake for all.

Opening gifts and reading his cards.

Then down to the beach for more pictures.

Best graduation ever!

💕🎓

 

happy days

We are just back from a wonderful trip to South Florida.

The sun shone the whole time until we got ready to load our cars to come home.

That was when God sent a deluge of rain.

It was long and hard and delayed us for quite a while.

This picture is our annual Jupiter Inlet setting,

always taken on the last night of our trip

We have duplicated it every year.

Everyone is in the same place...some wearing the same outfit. (me)

My grandchildren have grown so much...

most of them changing from kids to young adults.

Jake turned 21 and is now legitimately an adult.

Coming home yesterday,

David drove my car, and I rode shotgun.

On the last leg of the journey, we listened to his Spotify playlist.

I felt young again,

gloriously happy,

singing along joyfully.

The best of times!!!

💗

Erika drove their car with 3 kids and Daisy the dog.

We kept up with them all day and had lunch together at Culver's.

More pictures later.

We graduated Harry out by the pool at our Airbnb.

🎓

 

remembering Bubba's birthday

He would have turned 82 today.

I can't even imagine what we would have been like.

We always had a big party.

He loved having his family gathered around him.

Sometimes, when I see other couples living their "old age" together, it makes me sad.

Being alone is hard.

I've outlived him by six years now.

I never thought about being without him.

But this is what God had for us.

He would go ahead to heaven, and I would learn the hard lessons

of what it means to trust God in the wilderness of widowhood.

I have to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

I am so thankful!

I have learned so much.

I look forward to heaven and seeing him again.

I picture him among the great crowd of witnesses cheering me on.

Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

💙