fun family pictures

I'm so glad we took the time to get these done. I keep reminding myself that our boys will never be this little again. These pictures make me smile..






“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
~Laozi

Hello 2012!

Happy New Year!

I turn my mind from days gone by to that which lies before,
A sea of possibilities and I upon the shore;
There seems much that would invite;
So much that would dismay,
But courage rises with the thought -
that God will plan the way.
[author unknown]

I found this in one of Jean's notebooks....love the inspiration & encouragement from those books. It makes her feel so close again.

Quote for December

As 2011 comes to a close, my heart is full of gratitude for so many things. This is a special quote I want to keep with me thru the next year. I don't just want to be thankful, but live a thankful life.

Source: hankandhunt.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Thanksgiving quote #2

Source: remodelaholic.com via Madaline on Pinterest

favorite thanksgiving quote #1

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Emily on Pinterest

thought for the day

The good & perfect heart is...

Soft enough to be touched,
Hard enough to die to self,
Big enough to overlook the faults of others,
Small enough so there is no room for self,
Strong enough to conquer the battles,
and Weak enough to feel our need of God.

[excerpt from Grandma Jean's notebook]

what I love most...

"What I love most about my home is who I share it with."
tad carpenter

may 2011

janury 2005

[little hands nearly ruined our cruise picture. thank goodness for scanning & photoshop!]

Someone, Somewhere

Today I'm so thankful for friends who have made my life a little richer, days a little brighter, & helped me smile along the way...

Someone, Somewhere

Is it not something after all,
When paths divide, when shadows fall.
To know that there is someone who
Wonders a little, what you do?
Wonders a little where you are?
It may be near, it may be far…
It may be half the world around.
Is it not something to have found
Some soul, when other paths you choose
You cannot have, yet cannot lose?

Is it not something just to know
That when divided paths you go
You never quite completely part;
That each shall carry in the heart
Some memory of former days
Before you went divided ways?
Is it not something just to feel
What hills may hide, what clouds conceal?
Although you know no clasp of hands
That someone, somewhere understands?

Oh, we may part from many a friend.
Every song must have an end.
But in the heart the song sings on
When he who sang the song is gone.
So think of someone, somewhere, who
Wonders a little what you do?
Wonders a little where you are?
Though very near or very far
When paths divide, when shadows fall;
Is that not something after all?
[author unknown]

Poem for the week

DO YOU WISH…

Do you wish the world were better? Let me tell you what to do –
Set a watch upon our actions; keep them always straight and true.
Rid your mind of selfish motives; let your thoughts be clean and high;
You can make a little Eden of the sphere you occupy.

Do you wish the world were wiser? Well, suppose you make a start
By accumulating wisdom in the scrapbook of your heart.
Do not waste one page on folly, live to learn, and learn to live;
If you want to give men knowledge, you must get it ere you give.

Do you wish the world were happy? Then remember day by day
Just to scatter seeds of kindness as you pass along the way;
For the pleasure of the many may be oftimes traced to one
As the hand that plants the acorn shelters armies from the sun.
[author unknown]

Sow a Seed

Sow a seed of kindness as you travel on your way.
Twill return a lovely blossom greeting you some future day.

Sow a seed of gentle patience, though sometimes it is hard to do
It will make your heart much lighter and will make you stronger too.

Sow a seed of all forgiveness and in due time you will find
Growing there sweet understanding, leaving bitterness behind. [author unknown]

What inspires you?

Meet Molly.

She's a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA. She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pitbull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help.

But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was asmart pony with a serious survival ethic. Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built.

Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there. 'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse. The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb.

A human prosthesis designer built her a leg. The prosthesis has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports. And she asks for it! She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.' And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse', she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it. 'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life', Moore said, 'She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury,and now she is giving hope to others.
''She's not back to normal,' Barca concluded, 'but she's going tobe better. This is Molly's most recent prosthesis. The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind!