February 2025

On February 1, we went to a dear friend's 80th birthday party.  Floyd Hyatt's family put on a party for him.  He has been a teacher or staff at God's Bible School for more years than about anybody else.  Right now, he is in charge of all of the security cameras on campus.  It was good to see him and many of our GBS friends at this event.

Afterwards, we were driving through Taylor Mill where we used to live, and we decided to stop at Graeters and buy some ice cream with Elizabeth, like we did with Emily when she still lived with us.

My cute mug that Brittany Stamper gave me.  "If life gives you scraps, make a quilt!"

February 3rd was an unusually warm day, and we took our first walk of the year.

We had our friend Erina along with us.

I made some wheat bread.  Probably Emily and Elizabeth had made it more recently than I have, though I try to make sourdough bread every week.

We had our back tree trimmed 

and a tree cut down behind the shed.

I finished Lynell's quilt "Yes, He Loves Me."

Messages quilted into the quilt

I sent the quilt to her and she loved it!

On February 7, I started on an Americana quilt God and Country for Stacey Stine.  First, I made a lot of flags!  I was thankful to have striped material rather than having to piece the stripes.

That evening, we had Jimmy and Danette Garcia over for supper and visiting.  It had been over a year since they had been over, so hopefully we will do better this year and see them more often.

On Sunday, February 9, we had Chris and Chandra Faulkner and their sweet girls over for Sunday dinner.  Elizabeth played dolls and toys with the girls, so the other adults could have good conversations.

That evening, the Youth had the service and each told something about their trip to the Central Pennsylvania Youth Conference they had been to.  Here they sang the song they sang at CPYC.

On February 11, we had snow again.

On February 12, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and enjoyed spending the gift card Janet received at the GBS Staff Christmas Party.  Everything was very yummy.

It was our Valentine date, since we had a beautiful wedding to go to on the 14th.

Where we were seated, we didn't have a very good view of the wedding, but we enjoyed the music and the words at Breanna Loper and Stewart Quesenberry's wedding on Valentines' Day.  We could see Breanna and Stewart a little bit while they lit the unity candle.  Amy Redmond and Ethan Bender sang beautifully We're Seekers of Your Heart and In Our Lives (Home), Lord, Be Glorified.

The receiving line in the foyer after the ceremony.

A picture at the reception of the beautiful bride and handsome groom.

I got this off someone's FB post about them.  I don't remember whose.

It snowed again on February 16.  It had rained first, so where there were puddles of rain, the snow didn't cover.  It was snowing so hard that we couldn't have church in the morning, but the parking lot was able to be cleared by evening, and we could have church then.

We had planned to have the Bennett family from PA for dinner, but we ended up having them after the evening church service, since that's when the roads were safe to come.  They had come to GBS for the weekend visit.  Rebecca and Kristy were "our girls" the whole time they attended GBS, so we were so glad to see them and their family again.  Mary Matias, theirs and our good friend (who is still at GBS) came too.  We had an enjoyable time with them.

On Monday, February 17, I went to see my ortho surgeon.  He was willing to schedule me for the other knee replacement.  That will take place on March 14, Lord willing.

Our Kalanchoe has been blooming like crazy most of this year so far.  I moved it over by the Mandevilla, which we brought in the house last fall to try wintering it.  Apparently, the Kalanchoe was a good influence on it, because the Mandevilla is blooming and has at least 14 other blooms coming on!!.

On February 22, I got the God and Country quilt completely pieced!

February 22, we had such a gorgeous sunrise!

On February 24, Rowen and I got the God and Country quilt in the quilt frame,

and I did four rows before quitting for the day.

This is the name block "made with love for Stacey Stine."

My signature on one of the blue fields.

God bless America on the bottom of the quilt.

The finished quilt (2-25) with dark blue binding

Modeled on our bed.  It was given to Stacey on February 26.

Our Youth Pastor Eli's 29th birthday is February 27.  One of the youth, Emma Wilson drew and made stickers of Eli for his birthday.  I stuck it on the candle we were burning today.

February is a short month.  March will be a very full and busy month.  We just hope the snow is all behind us.  We have taken several walks this week, taking advantage of every day we can be outside.

January 2025

 On January 1, we had Brittany Stamper over.  

Brittany and Emily enjoyed playing songs together.

We also played games together.

We wanted to try out a new restaurant with the Darrell and Regina Stetler and Lonnie Witt while Emily was home, so we went to Spear Ridge for lunch.  Elizabeth was training Erina M. for Shepherds Global Classroom, so she went with us.  Elizabeth took the picture.

We got a late Christmas gift from Tim and Brenda in the mail.  It was a puzzle of a painting Brenda's mother did of Jesus and her grandchildren.

Emily is not a puzzle person, but she helped me put it together 

and probably put more pieces in than I did.

It was a fun puzzle to do together.

Our last evening with Emily, we played Play Nine and Probe together.

Two of our Probe words.  Can you guess what they were?
Emily flew back to Tulsa on Saturday, January 3. 
We were happy she got back before bad weather started happening.

The next day was our blizzard day.  There was no church that Sunday.  We had church at home with online services.  This was the biggest snow we've had since we moved to Kentucky.

Rowen had to work 20 minutes and then rest for awhile, shoveling it bit by bit as it was falling.

I thought this view toward the neighbor's truck was cute with the snow tips on our yard lights.

Out our back window.

I enjoy the birds at the bird feeder out our back bay window where my plants are.

Elizabeth helped Rowen get the last snow from the driveway.

It was a big job!  We didn't go anywhere for several days.

I loved this cardinal posing on the vines that grow over the tall stump in our backyard.

Our kalanchoe has been a beautiful bright spot in this winter weather.

My little mini-orchid has been blooming.

Our microwave went on the blink, so we got a new one that is very similar to our previous one.  We are glad to be done with the scary electrical issues we were having with our old one.

Sometimes on Saturdays, Elizabeth has time to sew with me.  She made a black skirt this month, and has a denim one cut out, ready to sew in February!  I was working on Rowen's quilt.

Here she is modeling her new black skirt!

On January 14, we had a Bridal Shower for Breanna Loper.  It was rescheduled from January 7, when no one could come and the church parking lot was covered with snow.  It was a fun evening, celebrating Breanna and her coming wedding February 14!

When Breanna started opening her gifts.  

This was a cookbook with her family's favorite recipes.

Parts of Rowen's birthday quilt when I got started on it.

We had to lay it out on the floor in the basement.

I took my little sewing machine downstairs to put it together.

I did finish it on Saturday evening, January 18.

January 19, we had Dewaine and Sandy Caldwell over for Sunday dinner.

They are new to our church since last November.  It was so good to get acquainted with them.

Sandy brought a yummy chocolate cake for dessert, which was perfect since Rowen's birthday was coming up on the 21st.

This is breakfast on Rowen's 67th birthday.

We put the quilt in the frame on the 20th, and I worked most of the day on Rowen's birthday to get it done.  It was amazing to quilt an extra large queen quilt in one day on our new Moxie quilter!!

I needed extra light on the subject to apply the black binding with black thread at the end of the long quilting day, so Rowen got out his headlamp for me.

We put it on our bed that night.  This is the view from the hallway.  

It is definitely a bright spot in our house!

The fabrics are "jewel tones."  Rowen had wanted a jewel tones quilt for many years.

The pattern is called Simply Serene.

We call it Rowen's birthday quilt!

I stood in the half bath to get the whole thing in the picture.

Quilted with lots of love and hearts and a few special notes.

Made with love for Rowen

Our previous quilt had been in constant use since August 2011, so it was really showing tears and wear.  It was time to retire it.

We had a Ladies Creative Night at the fellowship hall on January 23.  Pam Wilson had us make cards by embroidering on cardstock.  Some of the ladies had never embroidered.

Elizabeth made the snowflake card and I made the heart one.

Afterwards we had yummy soups and sandwiches and cookies.

Rowen and I went on a drive up to Amish country in Ohio to pick up a quarter beef we had purchased on January 24.  So far we are liking the beef, which was Holstein, instead of Angus that we are used to.  It tastes creamier!

My next quilt is in progress.  First I made 64 6.5 inch hearts out of pinks and reds.

Getting ready to sew the four parts of the hearts.

Elizabeth cutting out her denim skirt.  She has little free time to sew, but she is ready when she gets some more free time.

On January 26, we had the Harms family over for Sunday dinner and afternoon.  They are in our Care and Connect group this quarter.

Elizabeth taught them how to play Clue, and they had a great time with that.

Stephen and Korin were a team; Elizabeth helped Emmalee and Annabelle.  Stephen Jr. and Stewart played on their own.

I played a variety of games with Daniel:  I Spy, Snap, Uno Flip, Blink, and Qwirkle.  

We had a fun time together.

After I got the 64 hearts made and cross pieces cut, I laid out the quilt on the guest bed.

This is just the pieces laid out in formation.

I didn't want to carry pieces to the sunroom to sew the columns, so I brought the card table and sewing machine to the guest room.

As of January 31, bedtime, I have half of it sewed together.  The left half is done except for the border that will go on it.  The pattern is called "Yes, He Loves You."  It is being made with love for my "adopted little Sister," Lynell!

Next month I plan to have the finished quilt on February's blogpost.

Update on the beautiful kalanchoe with NO SNOW out the window

at the end of January!

Below: The mini orchid is out-doing itself, and the large orchid has started blooming. 

The large one is the one from Mother's funeral in September 2023 that

was a dark purple bloom at that time.  The purple was so pretty, but must have 

been artificial, because it has bloomed white twice since then.  

The mini-orchid is the one Connie Stetler brought me in November 2023 when she

brought us a meal, and afterward went to Trader Joe's to shop.  The clerk asked

her what she had been up to that day, and she said taking a meal to a friend who has

a broken leg from cancer.  He said, "Take this orchid to your friend!"  And she did.  It has been

faithful to bloom for me several times since then.  The one lone bloom on the right came out

last year's stem!

We have had doctors' appointments this week.  I think we are staying as healthy as we can.

I have a left cataract removal surgery scheduled for March 5.

We are grateful for a complete recovery from the knee replacement surgery.

God has been good to us this month, keeping us safe and warm through the cold and snowy days. 

We are grateful for a warming trend this week, which melted the snow away.