January 2024
While Emily was still with us on her Christmas break, we had Brittany Stamper over for the New Year's evening, for supper, eggnog, and Play Nine (played with Skip-Bo cards).
Saturday, January 13, Sonja Vernon and Ozzie, Jessica Smith, and Heidi Nelson
came over for a fun visit!
Friday, January 26, Jason and Karen were over and we got our family picture puzzle put together.
Friday, January 26, Jason and Karen were over and we got our family picture puzzle put together.
February
Sunday, February 11, we had our new friends from church, who sit behind us,
Dwayne and Kristi Mann, over for dinner.
Here is the flower they sent me, when I was sick with pneumonitis.
March
Elizabeth came for a visit. We had ordered a 1/4 beef that had to be picked up in Winchester, KY. Rowen and she had a picnic on that trip.
Elizabeth came for a visit. We had ordered a 1/4 beef that had to be picked up in Winchester, KY. Rowen and she had a picnic on that trip.
I had sewed together a lot (I think at least 30) layette quilt tops for Anita Morley and their family's pregnancy center ministry. Elizabeth took the quilt tops home with her and eventually got them to Anita to be finished and tied.
This fruit salad represents the many times Judy and Jim Southerland came over this year and brought us fruit or beef vegetable soup!
Over the weekend, I started having horrible pain in my pelvis, like something was breaking. I had x-rays and then MRI of the pelvis. It showed that there were multiple lesions in my pelvis. I was put back on non-weight bearing restrictions because of the "pathological fractures" going on. This scared everybody and everyone came to see us!
Emily was coming for Spring Break, and everybody else came too!
Emily was coming for Spring Break, and everybody else came too!
We had a wonderful family time together!
Only Randy came from his family, and he flew in for over a week. Tim and Brenda and kids drove all night. Jeff and Lesa were able to come for several days, and Elizabeth for a few days. Emily was given two weeks off work!! Jason and Karen came when they were free to come.
We played games and did puzzles, and did a lot of visiting and eating.
The kids and Rowen did all the cooking.
Lesa made beautiful sour dough bread!
Piper and Aunt Karen enjoying something funny.
Brenda, Piper, and Karen
Mancala with Charissa
Lots of pictures!
Piper and Grandma
Felix and Grandma
So sweet to have my girls home!
Brenda, Piper, and Karen
Mancala with Charissa
Lots of pictures!
Piper and Grandma
Felix and Grandma
So sweet to have my girls home!
Jeff and Lesa had already spent so much time with us in October/November 2023,
that we were amazed they could come back.
Our original six blessings from the Lord!
Randy, our firstborn
Tim and Brenda, Charissa, Felix, and Piper
Jason and Karen, our Cincinnati kids
We were playing Wise and Otherwise.
It's kinda like Balderdash, but trying to sound very wise as you make up wise sayings.
We bought a hospital bed to have on hand for what felt like the soon coming inevitable. It was a great time to get it when all the boys were home to help.
Bringing the hospital bed into the sunroom.
Beautiful dishes crew!
When most people had to leave, Randy still had a couple of extra days with us, and Emily had another week. Randy helped Rowen make a new basement bathroom fan venting to the outside. Rowen had been dreading doing it alone, so it was such a blessing to have Randy helping him.
Sunday dinner together
Emily and Janet started in on piecing a quilt for Charissa. Emily was such wonderful help, cutting and pinning strips, ironing everything Janet sewed together. See the 2024 Quilts post for the results.
On March 25, Lyndell and Sharen had a trip to Ohio, and they stopped and saw us and visited awhile. Lyndell was very concerned as he read the MRI report.
Aunt Joyce Conley and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, came to see us while Lyndell and Sharen were here visiting. Randy and Emily were both here and they got to hear stories Aunt Joyce told about when she and Rex (Janet's daddy) were young. It was a sweet visit.
Aunt Joyce Conley and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, came to see us while Lyndell and Sharen were here visiting. Randy and Emily were both here and they got to hear stories Aunt Joyce told about when she and Rex (Janet's daddy) were young. It was a sweet visit.
It had been a long time since I had seen Aunt Joyce. I stood up for this picture with her,
but Lyndell told me not to do it again. He was really afraid something would break.
but Lyndell told me not to do it again. He was really afraid something would break.
Jason and Karen came over to see Lyndell and Sharen for supper that night.
The next day Joanna Johnston came to see us. She is one of our adopted girls, but also Randy's wife's sister. She needed to come and see Emily while she was here, because they have been best friends for 19 years.
The obligatory picture with Mother . . .
Another quilt Emily helped me get underway.
Also on the table are parts of another one--the red, oatmeal, and green.
We were quilting maniacs that week!
Also on the table are parts of another one--the red, oatmeal, and green.
Emily did a lot of cutting for me.
It was so fun to have a quilting partner!
One day, Regina stopped by to give out her sweet hugs!
We were so happy for the extra days Happy Hands gave Emily to be at home. The other employees took up money to pay for her ticket to fly here and back. That is how supportive they are of their people's family needs! We enjoyed every minute and sent her back to her responsibilities teaching ASL.
April
On April 4, Valorie and Kaley Quesenberry came by to see me and give me a gift for the editing job I was privileged to do on her two latest books.
(Behind Kaley is Rowen's walking stick by the door. Her hair was not sticking up!)
April 7-8, Randy's whole family came on their way to the Interchurch Holiness Convention in Gatlinburg, TN. It was so good to see the rest of our grandchildren who hadn't been here a couple weeks before!
Jason and Karen were available to come over too, to see everybody. In this first picture, Jewelyn is telling Aunt Karen all about a book she had been reading.
Uncle Jason played several games with the kids
while Aunt Karen checked out the rules!
Family picture time. We are so glad Jewelyn is doing so much better in her health, since being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in January!
Grandma and Grandpa with the South Dakota grandkids. These were taken Sunday after church.
April 9-12 Janet's sisters and sister-in-law came for IHC online at our house. We had a great time together. It was so special to have "sister time." Sharen had just made the trip with Lyndell a couple weeks back, but she was game for another road trip. We are in age order from the right: Brenda, Janet, Sharen, Sherry, and Marlene.
Sharen and Sherry both had birthdays that week (8th and 10th) so we had a cake to celebrate. The sisters did all of the cooking, so Rowen had the week off cooking duty!
I had Marlene helping me to quilt. She tied off threads for me from the back.
This is Charissa's quilt.
This is Charissa's quilt.
Sharen watched, but I don't think we got her to try it.
A sister picture before they all left.
I felt so loved because of my sisters coming so far to spend the time with me. We never know when it will be the last time to be together, so we treasure every moment!
April 17, my dear friend Brenda Conley came and brought lunch. I used to work for her taking care of her mother the first couple years we lived in Kentucky. We've known each other since we were about 12 years old. It was so good to see her!
April 22, Janet's daddy's cousin, Judy and Mervin Hershberger came to see us as they were on a long trip. We were out of their way, but we
so appreciated them coming by. They came to see us last November too.
so appreciated them coming by. They came to see us last November too.
April 23, Chandler and Melissa Witter came over again. They told us how God was leading them to move to Texas and take a pastorate there. We miss them a lot, but we are so thankful they are obeying God's call on their lives.
On April 26, all our guests were Browns from Johnstown, Colorado. First our dear friend and Colorado doctor, Cara Brown visited on her way from the airport to Wilmore, Kentucky for her daughter Hope's graduation. She has been such a support to me in my second journey with cancer, even though she is so far away.
Then later in the day, Richard and Lois Brown, other dear friends made time on their itinerary to see us before heading up to Ohio to see their niece. We had a nice visit with them. We had not seen them since the day before we moved from Colorado in 2016, when Lois dropped off monster cookies for our trip. (I'm not positive about that, but it was something she did several times when she knew we were going on road trips.)
April 28, we had the Tim and Patty Stamper family and Marvin Stamper over for Sunday dinner.
What a blessing they are to our church, and our family!
We had such a wonderful time together
and they gave me this soft blanket that I use almost every day!
The next day, April 30, Elizabeth moved home from Bedford. Brian and Paula Miller brought the trailer with her belongings. Elliana, Noah, and Sophia Wilson helped carry everything in.
The Stetlers came by to welcome Elizabeth back. They wanted to help, but the work was done too soon. They brought ice cream.
This is getting so long, I will start Part 2 next time.
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