Recap of the week; new song

Another week packed full of work and music.  And now I have some down time today.  Here are a few glimpses from my week.

Monday was a lovely, sunny day, and as I left for Anthony and Lori's place I spied the first green in front of my house.  I was elated.

Then I got to their house and saw this when I walked in.  I was even more elated!  Just a couple of weeks till due date!

On Wednesday I stopped on my way home to pick up my Girl Scout cookie order.  What a bad combination - a hungry belly and a box of these.  Yikes!!

As I drove home I was noticing the brilliant sun peeking out from under dark, heavy rain clouds.  The pictures I took with my phone did not get good at all.  What I did not realize was that I was driving in the opposite direction of this amazing rainbow!!  My friend Peg posted this picture taken from her deck.  

Meanwhile Anthony was posting this picture taken over the YMCA!!

When I got home I ran inside for my camera to take a picture of what I was seeing in the other direction.  I completely missed the rainbow.  

On Thursday morning Sammy had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  I could hardly stand to think about it, because I have such bad memories of things gone wrong the night after Lisa had hers removed at age 12.  But when I texted them to find out how he was doing that evening, they assured me that he was doing quite well, and was eating!!  He wanted to send me this picture!  Is that ice cream in that bowl???  Makes it all worthwhile, haha!!

Last evening I made a black walnut cake for the first time in many, many years.  Maybe I never made one before.  I really don't remember.  Dick's dad gave me a jar of shelled black walnuts from his tree last fall.  They've been in the back of my fridge, and every time I would see them I would think, "I should make a black walnut cake."  So I finally did.  Unfortunately, I don't like it as much as I thought I would.  I probably won't ever make another one.  I make very, very few cakes anymore (maybe one a year, maybe not even every year!)  Too bad I wasted my time on one that's not delicious!

A few months back I started hearing the Chris Tomlin song At the Cross on the radio.  I immediately loved it and knew I wanted to add it to our Houserville praise team repertoire.  Finally I got it ready and will be leading it for the first time tomorrow.  

Meanwhile, I ordered a choir arrangement of it and have introduced it to the Fillmore choir.  It is so beautiful and the message so rich.  Here are the lyrics.

At the Cross

There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies.
There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide.
Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood,
Comes flowing down.

At the cross, at the cross I surrender my life.
I'm in awe of You, I'm in awe of You.
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white.
I owe all to You, I owe all to You, Jesus.

There's a place where sin and shame are powerless,
Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness.
Where all the love I've ever found
Comes like a flood, comes flowing down.

At the cross, at the cross I surrender my life.
I'm in awe of You, I'm in awe of You.
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white.
I owe all to You, I owe all to You.

Here my hope is found, here on holy ground,
Here I bow down, here I bow down.
Here, arms open wide, here You saved my life,
Here I bow down, here I bow.

At the cross, at the cross I surrender my life.
I'm in awe of You, I'm in awe of You.
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white.
I owe all to You, I owe all to You, Jesus.

Your love ran red, Your love ran red!

Sammy and Bianca time

Ever since Christmas I have been hoping to have Sammy here for a weekend.  It seems that every weekend there is something that makes it impossible.  I was sure we could work it out for a weekend in February, but alas, the weather got in the way.  And then my aunt Alma passed away, and there was no way I was going to miss her funeral on Saturday.  So at least the weather cooperated and I was able to drive to Sam and Jenn's place to spend Friday evening and Saturday morning with them.  I went without Dick this time, since he does work Saturday mornings, unless he has to ask off, which we try not to do too often.  

I DID check with Lori before I left, however, wondering if there were any signs she might go into labor.  She said, "I'm still three weeks away!"  I replied, "People DO have babies three weeks early!"  Lori's reply to that was, "Well, I'm hoping he stays put for at least two more weeks!"  That made me laugh.  I guess we shall see!  I can hardly wait!

I had the greatest time hanging out at Sam and Jenn's.  Sammy and Bianca just give me no end of delight.  Here are my pics. 

This was the beginning of HOURS of building and rebuilding.  Sammy couldn't get enough of making elaborate designs and just-as-elaborate stories.  His imagination is off the charts!

Please notice the secret hiding place.  That was his favorite thing, and he had crazy stories about the purpose of that secret room.  

He wanted me to again read the story about Bjorn to him!  

Sweet girl, as busy as a bee, but then content in mamma's arms with her sippy cup in hand.   She was soon asleep. 

I slept on a mattress on the floor in Sammy's room.  At 6:00 AM I opened my eyes to see him standing beside me.  I wondered if he wanted to crawl in with me, and of course he did.  He's such a snuggle bug.  He was soon sound asleep again.  


Bianca is the funniest little girl, walking around with her swagger, looking to see if you're watching her, talking her own little language, although she clearly says any word you ask her to say.  She sings, especially "The Wheels on the Bus."  You can clearly hear the "all through the town" at the end.   She dances as cute as can be.  But the funniest thing about her is how she suddenly turns into a little whiney face when her daddy comes home,  hahaha!!  As though she's been just miserably neglected and unhappy and he's finally come to her rescue and will give her anything she wants.  It's hilarious!! Way too conniving for just eighteen months old!!!

Here she is on Saturday morning, dressed for a birthday party they were going to at Jenn's mom's house. 

Around noon I said my goodbyes to them and headed to my aunt's funeral near Lancaster.  (I wrote about that in a separate post.)  I so wished I could figure out some time to be with Destiny, but it was just not possible this time.  I got home last evening around 8 pm.  

This morning we had both church services and then came home and relaxed and napped the rest of the day.  I needed a day like this.  

The other week we extended the dining room table so Dick could do a jigsaw puzzle.  It's been YEARS since he did one.  Little by little it's starting to come together.  But there's an awfully lot of blue sky.  I have no patience for or interest in puzzles except the ones the grandchildren do.

Aunt Alma brought us together.

Yesterday I was at the Mellinger Mennonite Church near Lancaster to remember and honor my aunt Alma Brackbill, my mom's younger sister.  As I arrived I realized that everywhere I turned there were cousins and more cousins!  I'm sure that the fact it was held on a Saturday made it possible for more of us to be there.  Some of us counted and decided that out of the original ten siblings in our parents' generation, there are 42 cousins.  And of those, 23 of us were there yesterday.  I suggested we get a cousin picture, and it happened before the meal that was served afterward.  Here we are!  We will TREASURE this picture!

I did some searching in my "old pictures" file and came across this picture of the original ten Myers siblings!  I don't know the year it was taken, but I know it had to be before 1979 when my aunt Esther  passed away.

I cropped the picture for a better look at their faces, because I know my cousins will be interested in seeing this.  Left to right:  Elmer, Anna, John, Esther, Paul, Bob, Mabel (my mom), Earl, Alma, Lloyd.  Their mother died when Lloyd and Earl were just two and four years old respectively.  Through the years older sisters took care of younger brothers.  There are so many stories, some we are even now hearing for the first time.

Lloyd and Earl, pictured below in September with Earl's wife Irene and sister Alma, are the only two siblings remaining now.

Alma and her husband Norman (who passed away in 2009 just weeks before my dad did) had two children, Joanne and Ken.  They were just eighteen months apart and right near my age.  I remember especially going to their house, a rancher with a big cement-floor basement, and learning to roller skate.  I thought that basement was the greatest thing in the world!

I had not been to that house in many years, when our son Jeremy was working for Blinds to Go in 2002.  He told me that he had gotten an order for drapes (or blinds - I really don't remember) for a big picture window from a lady that he discovered was my aunt Alma.  He was planning to go to her house to install it and wondered if I would like to go along.  So I did!  I loved the chance to see that beloved house again and to see Aunt Alma and Uncle Norman.  I especially remember being impressed by her amazing doll collection.  Another thing I was impressed by was my son installing the hardware for the drapes.  I had no idea he knew how to do such a thing, and it seemed complicated.   It was a hot July evening, there was no AC, and I remember how he was sweating.  But he accomplished it, and after we left I said, "Wow, I am impressed!  I had no idea you knew how to do that!"  He said, "Neither did I. That was the first time I ever did it."  I exclaimed, "Then WHY did you offer to do it?"  His answer just melted my heart as he said, "Because she's old!  And she's your mom's sister!"

Here are pictures from this past Thanksgiving.  Ken and Joanne with their mother, on the left, and Ken, his wife and daughter on the right.  

Ken has two children and six grandchildren.  Joanne has three children, seven grandchildren, and a great grandchild.  I took this picture of them yesterday.  Unfortunately, Joanne's oldest granddaughter and her baby had already left before the picture.  Joanne is in the middle (brown dress), her brother Ken is standing directly behind her. 

I'm so very glad I was able to be there yesterday.  We had such a good time during the meal afterward, telling old stories as well as catching up.  I was sitting with some of my aunt Anna's children.  We had fun reminiscing about the "talk of the town" when their mother gave birth to surprise TWINS at the age of 44!!  

Like I said, there are STORIES!!  Some that make us laugh and some that make us cry.  I'm thankful to belong to this big, diverse Myers family!

Aunt Alma

Earlier this week my mom's younger sister, Alma Brackbill, passed away.  Out of a family of ten children, there are now just the two youngest brothers still living. 

I so enjoyed seeing Aunt Alma, whether in person or in the pictures her daughter Joanne or son Ken shared on FB, because I felt she was a piece of my mom. I would look at her and imagine what my mom might have looked like as an older woman.  Mom was just 59 when she died. 

I especially remember how classy Aunt Alma looked on that special day when Uncle Bob called all his siblings together just a few weeks before his death in February 2007.  She wore a hat and blazer and necklace. 

Today (Saturday) we will gather to honor and remember and celebrate her life. I look forward to being with my Myers family. 

Happy Birthday, Jeremy

Happy Birthday to our son Jeremy!  He has made our lives exciting and crazy from day one!!  Here's the story of the day he was born as I posted it on FB last night.  I've written these stories before here on my blog, so you faithful readers probably heard them at least once or twice before.  

I was as "crunchy granola" as you could get back in those days, and so were my friends. Home births were all the rage in our circles, and I was determined to have this baby at home. And I did - in our family room, as planned. Jeremy made his appearance soon after midnight, with our doctor and nurse in attendance, Dick by my side, and my friend Elta Nissley watching our other two sleeping children in the next room. We celebrated afterward with food I had prepared ahead of time, and woke up Lisa and Anthony to meet their new baby brother.

After a few hours, the house was quiet. Everyone had left. Dick was sleeping in the living room with the other children, I was in bed in the family room, marveling over my newborn son. And suddenly there was a loud crash outside. Obviously a car accident, but it didn't sound too serious. I sat there in my bed, imagining that our house was probably the only one on the street with a light on downstairs. I was sure someone would come knocking on the family room door. (Remember there were no cell phones in 1980.) Dick didn't hear a thing in his exhausted deep sleep! Thankfully, I soon heard a siren and knew that someone else had apparently put in a call.

Over that time I was advertising drapes in an ad in the newspaper, because we had just redone the family room and had gotten new ones. On Valentines Day I had taken a call about the drapes. A lady was interested in them and wondered if she could come to see them the next day at 2:00. I told her she could, not realizing that I would be going into labor in a few hours. I didn't even tell her I was expecting a baby.

So the next day the lady did come at 2:00 to see the drapes. Imagine her surprise when I also showed her the new baby I'd had overnight, hahahaha!!

Frigid Day; family picture tour

Here I sit with a blanket around me on this frigid Saturday morning.  We've had a much milder winter than the previous two, but this weekend is certainly breaking this winter's mold.  We're hanging in the single digits with wind.  Not too much snow, however, in this part of PA.  I'm so thankful for our small, easy-to-heat house.  Here are a couple of pictures I took out my windows this bright, crispy morning.

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, Tuesday was Fasnacht Day here in PA.  Some of you said you never heard of them.  They are cake donuts.  The tradition apparently was to use up all your lard, flour, sugar, etc. before Lent, since you would not be eating goodies during those weeks.  It is always observed the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the start of the Lenten season.

So the Greater Buffalo Run Valley church, which I am secretary for, made and sold fasnachts on Tuesday as a fund raiser for the building fund.  It was a LOT OF WORK!!!  I was not helping, since I had my own work in the office to accomplish.  But I told them to let me know if they dropped one on the floor, hahah!!  They really were delicious, warm and rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Other than that, not too much picture-worthy going on here this week.  So I'll share other family pictures.  First from Anthony and Lori's house.  Remember that I said Austin played basketball while we watched the Super Bowl on Sunday evening?  Yes, he has a basketball hoop in the house, and a light basketball.  This week Lori posted this hilarious picture.  Looks like it's not just a basketball that he aims toward that hoop!

And speaking of basketball, Anthony shared this really funny conversation with Austin one morning this week:

Austin: "I bet you're too tired to play basketball."
Me: "That is correct."
Austin: "You're always too tired for basketball when you wake up. But after you've had your coffee you're nice and perfect and ready to play."

And while I'm at it, here's another conversation Anthony shared a few weeks ago.  This boy!

Austin: "Why do we call a wall 'wall' and not 'floor'?"
Me: "........uh....hmm....well...I'm not sure you'd understand..."
Austin: "Really daddy, why? Who decided it would be called 'wall'?"
Me: "Most of our words come from an old language called Latin, and there was probably a Latin word for walls that sounded like 'wall'."
Austin: "Yeah, but who decided in that language?"
Me (internally): "You're 7, act like it."

And moving on to Miss Bianca now.  Recently Sam and Jenn switched the children to a new daycare/preschool.  Sammy immediately loved it.  Bianca resisted.  Last week they sent Jenn pictures of her finally participating in a craft for the first time.  And having fun!

Frank and Lauren moved to bigger house last weekend.  Frank posted this picture one night this week.  He said he was up installing a new floor and found his little helper fixing the bathroom vanity, hahahaha!!

Meanwhile in Florida....  Grandma Mary has been spending these cold weeks in Sarasota with friends, as she usually does each winter.  Yesterday Lisa and Sophie spend time with her.  Looks like they were painting a little bird house.

Look at those Florida tans!  Grandma Mary will make us all jealous when she returns next weekend!  Lisa has a new job as track and field coach at Sophie's school, thus her tan, even with regular use of sunblock.

And Sophie has now outgrown Grandma Mary!  On the left is last year's picture, and on the right is this year's!

Meanwhile over in Europe!  Jeremy and Mike, along with two of their neighbors, are visiting a few European cities this week.  They spent two days in Amsterdam, pictured below.  Today is the first of three days in Paris, then they'll move on to one day in London before returning home.  

In Sweden Miki is working on the illustrations for another children's book, which apparently will feature Katrina as well as Bjorn this time!  

And since I don't want to leave anybody out (even though I doubt if my kids even read my blog!), Thyda and I were having fun this week sharing the first pictures I had of her and Ray back in 2007.  Here's a really adorable one taken at Thanksgiving that year, after they had each completed Basic Training and their specialty trainings in the Navy and were AT LAST both assigned to orders in VA, which was an amazing answer to prayer at that time.  They were so young for all that they committed themselves to.  I'm so proud of them. 

And now one last thing.  Remember Jordan Smith who won The Voice this past season?  He already is coming out with an album!  The first song, which is an original that he says is his story,  became available yesterday.  Here's it is on YouTube for your listening pleasure.  As always, it just gets better and better thoughout the song. I think he's right up there with Josh Groban.