Quick, Pictureless up-date!!!

I put all my pictures on a disc and now am having trouble getting them off! You may just have to see the finished project instead of the series of pics that I wanted to give you! We are in our house as of night before last! The last two nights of sleeping in our own bed has been so restful! I just laid in bed Saturday night and thanked God that I was there! Moving back in has been extremely difficult, to say the least. I thought the worst was over! Now the new house is full of boxes, which have to be unpacked and put in their new places or thrown away, or put in the rummage. Many of our things are damaged from the fire and I am having to sort and write down all those details! I told Manuel this morning that I don't think I will ever get done any time soon! We love our house, or we will when we get situated! We did have lunch together yesterday: smoked briskit (Manuel's smoker and his great cooking!), potatoe salad (Wal-Mart), baked beans (canned) and yummy bread (Wal-Mart). It was great to be around a dining table again together, well mostly together! Mandie came in from Arizona about 1:30, so she ate later. Please pray that things will fall in to place quickly for us. I have a wonderful boss who let me come and go as needed last week on company time, for which I am very thankful, but I am back to work this week and I only have so much time in the evenings to tackle the many, many boxes surrounding me!!! Help!!!! Just kidding! It will work out and we will finish some day! Hopefully I will post pictures soon.

Mandie's Bridal Shower in Florida

My sister, Bev, and her daughter, Robyn, hosted a beautiful surprise bridal shower for Mandie while we were in Florida. She was so happy to see some of her special friends and everything was very nice! Thank you, Bev and Robyn for doing this! The picture of Wyatt and Payton was a documentary of Wyatt suddenly deciding to chase Payton around the room and try to bite her hair bow! Go figure!!! Who knows what kids are thinking! He is usually pretty quiet!

Happy Birthday, Binky!

This picture is from last July, but it's what I have on hand, so it will serve the purpose! Happy Birthday, Bianca! This is a day late, but we enjoyed having you "home" so much on your birthday yesterday! That's a first in I don't know how many years! You are a wonderful daughter, a great sister, an organized and loving wife and a precious mommy to our little grandson! You have been a blessing in our lives for 26 years, from the moment that we saw you first and Daddy said, "That's my little Bianquita, isn't it!" He especially remembers the colic filled nights that followed, but through it all, you have been our special blessing, occupying the sometimes great and sometimes unpleasant place as the "oldest"! I always know you will tell me the truth when I need your advise and we love you so much! Thank you for everything you have done for us and for shouldering the load many times, when your little shoulders weren't very big, but you saw something that needed doing! We're proud of you!

Love and prayers,

Mom

Well, as things go. . . . . . I did remember to take my memory card to WalMart, but of course, their instant kiosk was out of ribbon (whatever that is for) and so I am still waiting to get pictures to download on here. I have lots! But while we are waiting for that, I decided to share a few things with you that I thought of last night.

It was late, probably 11:30 p.m. Dafne had just gotten back from a deputation service and was seeing Scott, Binky and Wyatt for the first time in 7 months! It had been a busy day~~~~we were all tired and winding down for the night, to be ready for work and school today. Yesterday was Binky's birthday (more on that later) and we had celebrated that, also, gone to our new house and peeked around inside (not done yet~~more on that later!) and were tired. After devotions Manuel and I headed to bed and as I lay there, not feeling sleepy particularly, I just listened to the sounds of the apartment, the soft breathing of my husband as he was falling asleep, the murmer of our girls' voices and occassional laughter as they continued to "catch up", silence from Noel (he plays hard and sleeps hard! Once he's out, he's out!), and by this time, silence from our adorable grandson and Scott! I thought, as I lay there, how very blessed I am! My family was all under one roof for the first time in seven months, and even though it isn't our own roof, it is a roof! I realized that even though I don't even know at this point what of our material possessions have survived, it is not important in the light of what we do have, which is God and our family! My love for God and my family swelled in my heart at that moment and I fell asleep with that thought! I am so blessed!

Some have told me that they are unable to comment on my blog due to not having a yahoo account and I didn't have an option for anonymous comments. I didn't realize that, and have gone in and fixed it, I hope, so comment all you like! I love hearing that people are reading my blog! Makes me feel connected! I have a bunch of pics and stuff to say about our recent trip to Florida as well as our house situation, so keep watching!