Monday, May 31, 2010

Let Us NOT Forget!!!


Let us not forget those who have so bravely fought for the freedom's we enjoy!









Let us not forget the


Mom and Dads


Spouses


Children


Aunts and Uncles


Brothers and Sisters


Grandparents


Friends


Who have Lost Loved Ones



Let us not forget those
who continue to serve today!






Let us Not Forget:
Freedom Is Not Free!!!
We are thankful and we pray!!!

Friday, May 28, 2010

This Week~~~

Hi Peeps and Welcome to my blog this week.
Unfortunately this week didn't start out great, as I was attempting to function with some sort of stomach virus. It only lasted a couple days but was NOT fun. And now my poor hubby has it. All I have to say is Yuck!!!

I was however, able to fit in a couple of fun events this week, in addition to work.

Tuesday nights I teach a New Believer's Bible Study "All Things New" which I absolutely LOVE. It brings so much encouargement to share with other's the Greatness of Our God! Check out our church here. We also have live sermon feed on Sunday mornings if you can't make it to church.

Wednesday I snuck away from work for a little while to watch my granddaughter graduate from kindergarten. I cannot believe she is almost 6 and going into first grade. She has grown up so fast. I miss her 'babiness' so I am thankful that we will have a new little angel in September.

Here are just a couple of my favorite pictures from Wednesday.
Kori and her cousin Bella who will be in Kindergarten next year.
Mrs. Randall, her Kindergarten teacher.


This is such a nice little family picture. I love it!!
Silly me ~~ I forgot to have my picture taken with her!

On Thursday I was able to go to the barn (our second home) and watch as Matthew continues to learn more and jump higher and higher. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that he finally jumped the roll-top, well here are a couple pictures.

Jumping the Brush


Jumpiong the Roll-top


As far as weekend plans, we don't have much going on. Well, except Matthew and Mark will be at the barn on Saturday and Monday mornings. I may actually sleep in until 6am on Saturday:) We have church on Sunday and maybe a small family graduation party for our Kori. Monday is yet to be booked, however we have a few invites.

We may also attend this, a Buycott Arizona rally. I'm sure many of you have heard of the new 1070 bill that just passed here. Some states are boycotting AZ and others have chosen to Buycott AZ. In any case, and whatever your choice, I live here and choose to Buy Arizonan.

I pray you have a super and SAFE Holiday weekend! Make sure to honor our Vets!!! We still have Freedom in our country because men and women fought for that right!!! I am so thankful!

Considering This Week with Joy,
Cindy

Friday, May 21, 2010

Friday Night Five #10




It's Friday Night and that means I get to share some things I'm thankful for. Tonight I will use pictures because my brain is a little too fried to think of many words:)








I am so grateful for this little sweetheart. I cannot believe it but she is graduating from Kindergarten next week. Where does the time go?











I am thankful that God has provided an at home business for me that produces a residual and on-going income for our family. This was awhile ago when I received my first check. Now they come regularly:)





I can say that I am quite thankful to know that I have been married to the same man for 29 years. And he still (kind of) laughs at my silliness:) Amazing!





This little fellow showed up on our back patio the other day and has taken up residence. He is sweet as can be and LOVES to be pet. He is on that same chair every morning, waits for us to come out and pet him and then disappears until the next morning. I don't know where he lives but he sleeps at our house. OUTSIDE!!!





Mostly tonight, I am thankful for Forgiveness. Forgiveness from family and friends, but especially from God. Everyday I need His forgiveness and I cannot imagine life without it.

What is your Friday Night Five? Won't you share with us?

Have a super weekend!

Considering Thankfulness with Joy,
Cindy

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Friendly Thoughts

I received an e-mail forward the other day. I don't usually do forwards, I tend to delete most of them without even reading them, yet the below words caught my eye. I thought I'd share them with my bloggy friends tonight. If more of us took some time to do a few of the things below our days and our world may be a friendlier place.



Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversation skills will be as important as any other.

Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

When you say, "I love you", mean it.

When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.

Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

Believe in love at first sight.

Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

In disagreements, fight fairly, no name calling.

Don't judge people by their relatives.

Talk slowly but think quickly.

When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?".

Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

Say "Bless You" when you hear someone sneeze.

When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

Remember the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.

Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

SMILE when answering the phone, the caller will hear it in your voice.

Spend some time alone and with God everyday.

Considering a Few Friendly Thoughts with Great Joy,
Cindy

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Randomly Random

A little bit of randomness tonight.


Though our weekend get-away didn't turn out exactly as I had planned it, we did get to enjoy 30 hours away from the city. We landed at Tonto Natural Bridge just north of Payson and enjoyed the cooler weather. We were unable to do any hiking because the state wouldn't allow our little poochy to go on the trails but we did enjoy the views.




Someday *wink* I will have a new camera and be able to show off georgeous photos but for tonight the above is one shot SOOC.




Tonto Natural Bridge is a must see before they close it in September 2010.



On another note, I have reached an all time high, only problem is, it's my weight. I got on the scale this morning and nearly choked. So often I feel like Paul from Romans 7 where he talks about knowing what he should do but doing what he should not do. I know exactly how, why, when and what to eat, yet I constantly find myself stuffing my face with unnecessary, unwanted foods to 'fill the void'! EERRKKKKSSSS!!!



Let's see, where can I take you next? We have a little (BIG) kitty who has decided to take up residence on one of the chairs in our backyard. He is sweet and seems very lovable. I keep reminding myself that he MUST belong to someone and I do not need a kitty:)



On my nightstand I have a new book I'm reading that a friend wrote. Amy Clipston is a very gifted writer and I am enjoying a couple of her books. I am in the middle of this one. As a NASCAR fan I am definitely enjoying this one. She has several others, check out her website here.



And finally, when I saw this sign below up in Payson I had to laugh out loud and then I told my husband he better be careful because I might send him there, like Dorothy did her ma (Sophia) on Golden Girls.


Shady Pines - Here comes Mark:)



Have a super rest of your week and enjoy some randomness~


Considering Random A Treat,
Cindy

Friday, May 14, 2010

WE


As We prepare to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary I thought I'd share a little bit about the We in our lives.

We met in December of 1979 when my parents purchased a restaurant in a small town on the Eastern Slopes of the High Sierra Mountains of California.



What happened to that size 4 body?



We spent the next several months getting to know each other as our lives became intertwined through work, play and many trips to Mono Inn for Teriyaki Steak and Mud Pie:)


We became engaged and then married on May 16, 1981.


We were married in the ghost town (now State Park) of Bodie, CA which my husband's family owned at one time.


We walked through many years of infertility, the ultimate removal of my womb and the death of my lifetime dream of having children. I cannot express the grief I experienced as a very young bride.


We opened our broken hearts to an angel sent by God ~ And the word adoption became our newest friend. This 21 month old cutie was the child we had longed for and God had chosen for us.

Andrew's 1st Christmas with us.

We again opened our hearts and along came this precious one ~ though we were told he would never live one year we knew in our hearts that he was to become part of our family. We would love him for whatever length of time God chose to lend him to us.


At 6 months old Matthew only weighed 10 pounds. He loved his big brother.



We had our boys dedicated to the Lord and we were both baptized on the same day.






We watched our boys grow through Birthdays, Holidays, T-ball, Baseball, 4-H, Football, Special Olympics, Fishing, Skiing, Vacations, Broken bones, Illnesses, Dedications, Graduations, Baptisms, Major injuries, Hospitalizations, Surgeries, Bad choices, Swim lessons, PT, OT, ST, IEP after IEP, and of course Horse lessons.



We have landed on our knees more than our feet, but that has kept us close to the Lord and each other.


We made it through one of the darkest, most difficult seasons in our lives when I was hospitalized for a month but came out stronger than ever.

Glad there are NO pictures of that season!


We left the beautiful wilderness of the High Sierra's for the heat of the Arizona deserts. Why? I am really not sure but here we are and we are blooming where God planted us.





Christmas Time one year.


Christmas Time the next year.

We have survived a failed business and the heartbreak of bankruptcy yet God has always supplied our every need and so much more.

We have laughed, cried, fought and made up more times than I care to remember. We have struggled and been victorious sometimes on the same day. We have played hard and loved even harder.

We have faced many losses including all of our grandparents, our dad's and numerous pets along with very some special friends. We have also lost jobs, friendships and church families throughout the years.

We have also added members to our family with the addition of Andrew's birth sister and her sweet family a few years ago. We added a daughter-in-love and a granddaughter, and soon another granddaughter will be here to hold.

We have walked through the diagnosis of a terminal illness when Mark received the news of End Stage Renal Failure. But God had a plan which included dialysis and a transplant. Did God know all those years before when he closed my womb that Andrew would be a perfect match for Mark? I Believe!




1 day post surgery for Mark and Andrew ~~~ December 2003

We are here today because this is what God has chosen. We live, We love, We laugh!

We are not perfect, yet somehow We work!


And now We are going to turn off all computers and enjoy each other's company, make new memories and take more pictures so We can do this again next year when We celebrate '30'


Considering 29 Years With Great Joy,

Cindy

Sunday, May 9, 2010

A Beautiful Day

Today was a beautiful day to be a mom.


I realize that some of you reading this have lost your mom or would like to be a mom and that has not happened in your life yet. For you, I send my love.


I walked through many years of infertility when I was younger and am so thankful that God chose adoption for our lives. We have two wonderful boys and I am so grateful to have been able to spend today with them.


Though our boys are adults (28 & 24) we are blessed that they have chosen to attend the same church as my husband and I so we were able to see them early this morning.




After church Andrew, his wife Melissa and their daughter Kori (and of course soon-to-be baby Katie) came over for lunch and a little pool time. They decided to stay and have dinner also. My tummy is way too full!!





Melissa has such a cute little 20 week tummy:)


Though we miss Cindy, Joe, Adrianna and Emaly we were certainly grateful to have this small family picture out by the pool. No editing (sorry Gretchen) - just SOOC with too much sun shining but a happy family picture none the less.




A day of relaxing and enjoying the company of special people in my life.


No flowers, no presents, just the presence of the Lord and family:)
Could not have been a better day.

Thursday I will get to spend the entire day with my mom and I am looking forward to that!!!

Until next time ~~ Happy Mother's Day to All.

Considering It All Joy,
Cindy

Saturday, May 8, 2010

A New Door~~~

Today...

God opens the door to new opportunities,

Do we dare walk through?







"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,


I press on toward the goal to win the prize


for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."


Philippians 3:13-14



Yes,



I am stepping through!!!


Considering It All Joy,
Cindy

Friday, May 7, 2010

Brink

I have begun several posts...unable to complete!


I have so much I want to share...stopped at every attempt!


It seems there may be a crack in the dam...


And it's just about to burst...