Finally! Balloons!

As usual, it was too windy for

the balloons to launch, but they

inflated!  We watched them do

that which was so fascinating

and we were as close as they allowed

us which was pretty close.  After dusk

they did the glow.  That was so fun!

We also talked to one of the pilot's wives

while they were inflating and she 

answered questions that dad had so

that was really neat.

Those things are HUGE!!! The person you see with

the rope was holding the top as it went up.  Each

balloon had at least one person doing that.

As the balloon would rise it took them for quite

a wild run!  One of the questions I had was

what did they do with the ropes in flight.  The pilot's

wife said that if they were going to fly he would

shout "bring it in, bring it in" and they would

anchor the ropes to the basket so they didn't

get caught in trees, power lines, etc.  It was

so awesome to see!!

 

I'm not super enamoured with this 

card, but I wanted to play with the daisy

embossing folder.  What I intended to

do (which I don't think would have made

much difference) is to pop it up with dimensional

tape.  I forgot to do that, naturally.  But it's an

OK card, I guess.  I have a much

nicer one to show, but I wanted to

put up pictures of the balloons first.

 

 

A temporary goodbye

It is with a broken heart that  I  must tell you Mya

has gone Home to her Savior.  I've never met her

or her family, and met  her grandfather only once

last year, yet I share in their pain and sorrow.  The

Bible tells us in Romans 12:15 we are to:

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

And in Job 2:13 it says:
Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
 

When part of the body dies, we all suffer. 
  

 

I remember a woman in a grief 

group I attended saying that she didn't understand that
dying meant dead.  As strange as that sounds, I realized
that I felt the exact same way but had never been
able to put it into words.  When we experience a slow
death from cancer, sometimes we wish their pain
would just go away.  But we don't want them to die!
 They are still there with us. 
When they die it is a shock  How do you
process something like that, especially when
it involves a child?  God has mercifully given us
an  anesthetic so we are able to process our
pain little by little.  As we experience the pain
of our loss He is with us each step of the
way with His comforting touch.  As Believers
we know that our loved ones aren't truly
"lost" though. We know exactly where they
are; with the Savior.  But that doesn't take away
our pain.  Jesus understand this.  He also
understand when sometimes our pain turns
to anger.  My sister once told me that God
"has big shoulders"  He understands our anger
and that it is only a result of pain, not the loss
of  Faith.  We aren't angry at God, only
the unfairness of it all.  We know that our
 Heavenly Father understands all these emotions
because He experienced them as well. 
What better way to understand than to become like us.
Please continue to pray for Mya's family.  They
will need the support of the body as they
travel through these uncharted waters.
 

Today belongs to you

Technically it belongs to God,

but our decisions are ours,

so we need to make good ones.

Like Paul said, I know whats right, but

I do what's wrong anyway, like

buying that candy bar when the

doctor says I have gained weight...

Well, OK, Paul didn't talk about

a candy bar, but it they had had

candy bars in those days I'm

sure he would have bought one too!

I like how this turned out.

Add a little grunge and it really

spices up the card. Those stamps

and the die set for the flowers were

really a good buy.  Kind of expensive

but I'm getting a lot of mileage 

out of  them.

It rained a lot last night, all at once.

Lots of wind and I found some 

sizable branches in the front yard.

So if it warms up a little and the

grass dries I'll have to go out

and mow the lawn.  I praise God

every time I mow, that I am strong

enough to get out there and do it.

I know people who would love

to be able to do simple things

easily, like my mother, not to mention

physical things such as mowing the

grass and I am reminded of it every 

time I do it.  So, thank you, God,

for being able to mow the lawn-

and for the warmth.  I'd rather mow

than shovel snow any day!!!

Mighty Mya

Mya's family posted yesterday

that everyone is calling her 

"mighty Mya".  

She is hanging in there.

I'm still praying for a miracle for

her and I hope everyone who

reads this will pray for that as well!

My grandson, Sammy, has a birthday

coming up so I thought I'd try this

monster card.  It was supposed to

say "have a monster of a birthday"

on the outside but I forgot to write

that, so on the inside I wrote, "have

a monster of a day".  I'm not happy 

with it.  You can't see the teeth very

well.  I think he'll be more interested in the
money inside anyway.
I know the sentiment looks crooked

but that's just how the card was tilted

when I took the photo.  Surprisingly

it's fairly straight!

I ordered this bumper magnet yesterday

Vote parrot party!!   He's the right
bird for the job!  The captions they

put on Felix's pictures are hilarious

He's my candidate!

A trip to the "beauty parlor"

B'Elanna just got groomed.  Isn't

she purty?!  I have them give her a 

"puppy cut" since it's hot out and I

don't want to mess with her long hair. 

When we first got her we just had

her trimmed and I combed her every

day.  That got old fast.  With a

great deal of maltese in her, her hair

can grow quite long.  So I keep her

hair short all year round, but I'm

sure she appreciates it most in the

summer.

My mother has a friend who just lost

her daughter to alzheimers  disease.

Here is the scary part.  She was

only 58 which is how old I will be

next month!  How sad is that?

So my mom called and said that

her friend had always admired my

cards and asked if I would send her

one.  While trolling on pinterest

I saw a verse right at the top and I

am pretty sure God put it there

for me to use.

Isn't it a great verse?  I offset the circle in 

the middle so there would be room

for the flowers and I think it balances nicely.

New phone and raspberries

I have had problems with

my phone since day one.  Cody

says it's my fault as I have had

trouble with phones before, but I

think I just got a dud.  So I got a

new one yesterday.  More problems.

I can send but  not receive texts.  After

searching online I found that I'm not the

only one who has had the same problem 

with this phone. I removed the battery,

put it back in and voila, it works.  I'm

convinced John is haunting me since

he told me I couldn't have a smart phone.

So....now I'm going to have to take it

back and see if I can find someone

knowledgeable to move the SD card

from the old phone to the new one.

I don't even know where it is!  But

I will when it's over.  I'm learning

all kinds of things that John always

took care of.  Not that I want to,

but he never would teach me anyway.

He always said he could do it faster.

Besides, he wasn't a very patient person.

But then, neither am I.

In order to show the photos today I

had to take them on the old phone.  It's

still good for one or two things.  If I

can get the screen to turn on.  That was

the problem.  The phone was on but

nobody was home.  Frustrating.  I'd

have to take out the battery and reboot

it.  But I do have pictures to show.

Dianne brought me some more raspberries

yesterday.  The golden ones are about gone,

but she managed to get some for me.

Guess what I'm having for breakfast?!

I made another triple time card.  This time

with a much easier stamp.  I think I got

it lined up, but it's still challenging.  I'm

thinking I should have used another colour

mat, though.  It doesn't show up as

well as I thought it would.  Plan ahead.

I'm not good at that.  Obviously.

Wow, it looks better online than it does in

person as far as getting it lined up goes.

I went back to my old church here in Fremont.

Friends have been asking me to come

for a visit and hear their new pastor.  The

church has grown!!!! And it is on fire!!!

I was so happy to see that.  They have

got lots of children now and it was just

full to the brim with people.  I don't think

I've ever seen it that full before.  Even on 

a holiday and that's when most people

go to church.  I miss the church, but

I love learning to sign in church as well

as classes and I think I'm where 

the Lord wants me right now.

Triple time

Before I get to the card, dad and

I thought  it was probably too windy

yesterday for the balloons to launch

and after being there at 530 am, decided

not to go.  The wind died down and they

launched and we missed it.  We were

both so disappointed.  Oh, well.  There are

other balloon shows this summer.  One is in 

Montpelier, Ohio later this month which

is about half an hour from here.

No news on Mya.  The last post from

her family was that the doctor said,

"it won't be long". As far as I know 

she is still fighting.  I was so proud

of John for fighting as hard as he did.

Sometimes, though, the body just

gets tired.  I still am praying for

healing for her, but I'm sure her parents

have turned her over to God and

will accept His will no matter how

hard that will be. Songs really touch

our hearts and say things that we

might want to say but just can't.  One

song that got me through was by Plumb

called "Need you now"  I would listen

to that song and sob.  But I always knew

He was there even if I couldn't feel

Him through my pain.  My prayer for 

Mya's family is that He makes Himself

known in such a way that there is no

doubt He is right there in the room with

them.  Peace that passes understanding.

Keep praying.  If God decides to take

Mya Home, the family will still need 

so much prayer.  It's hard to be left

behind.  We know they are in paradise

and that is a great comfort, but

it doesn't take away our pain.

This is a triple time card.  It is

so hard to get lined up sometimes

and I'm not sure I did it very well,

but I guess it's close enough!  Some

people set the middle one  off center

and it looks really cool.  I think I tried

it once and it didn't work very well

but maybe I will try it again. I love

how it looks, but it's a pain to get lined

up with a stamp like this.  If

I were to use a different stamp with just

a line drawing it might be a bit

easier.  Maybe I will try it for 

tomorrow's post.  

This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be happy 

in it.  

-Psalm 118:24