Tuesday, 3/18/25, Celebrated my 76th Birthday, Breakfast with Bill and the girls, Space X amazing rescue of 4 astronauts, Cake and Ice Cream,

Us at breakfast this morning 

It got in the mid 60’s....I read my Bible on the deck...Kit Kat joined me

Cute Apron Lisa from church made for me for my Birthday.  She gave me a cute ceramic egg with the word HOPE written on it and a cute decoration about Jesus and his resurrection.

We watched the return of the four astronauts to earth....It was amazing.  Thankful for Elon Musk and Space X.  What an amazing accomplishment!  Thanking the Lord for the wisdom He gave them and His protection for their return

I walked 1.01 miles on the treadmill today.  Next week I will increase my distance Lord willing

Loved having everyone over for my birthday celebration.. Thanks Bill for arranging it!  I love you!  Fun pictures with my grankkids who could come.  

Kody is going to be taller than me soon

Adam was the first one to send me a Happy Birthday text.  Jack was next to text me, then Peyton, then Isaac, then Hailey, then Jacob.  Such sweet grandkids!!! Eli was going to text me, then he realized he forgot his phone Kimmy said.  Kimmy came here in the morning to ride with us to pick up Melissa and then meet Vikki at Tony’s for breakfast.  Our food was delicious, and we had around 1 1/2 hours to sit and visit  and eat and drink our coffee.  Melissa had juice.  When it was time for Vikki to go to work, we left and took Melissa home, then Bill, Kimmy and I came back to our house.  Bill took a nap while Kimmy and I looked at mats for under our treadmill.  I found a really nice one for a good price and ordered it.  Kimmy went to order the same one and they were out.  I got the last one in stock.  After that, Kimmy and I took thread rippers and took the velcro tabs off from the cushions to the outside swing.  She put tear aid on a couple of rips in the material of the worn side.  After we  got the tabs off, we could put the cushions with that side up and it was like new material.  We should get a lot more use out of them.  We were so busy working on it, that Kimmy was late to leave to go pick up Eli who was getting out of school at 1.  She was looking at our clock in the family room that hasn’t sprung ahead yet.  I thought she had her watch alarm set, so I didn’t pay attention to the time.  She left quickly, but couldn’t have Jared text Eli to let him know that she was going to be late because no phone...  Eli waited and walked around while he was being patient.  Poor boy.   I got a text from Eli as soon as he got home wishing me a happy birthday and telling me I should spring ahead lol.  He told me he was going to bring his gun in case he saw a squirrel here.  He never saw one.

We watched the Splash down which was very cool.  It was especially cool to see all the dolphins swimming around it.  The kids were outside playing basketball.  After we saw the 4 astronauts, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, come out, everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and we ate cake and ice cream.  Kimmy made a delicious white cake and decorated it really cute, and I made the angel food cake because I know Kimmy loves that kind.  I thanked everyone again for the treadmill, which I am getting exercise on.  I needed to get back at it.  Kimmy and family gave me a really cute mug from their unique clay.  It is dark brown on the outside and light tan on the inside.  It is so cool!  I should have taken a picture of it, but I put it in the dishwasher so it’s clean tomorrow to use.  I love the Russell mugs.  Bill went in on the treadmill and also got me a gift card to Outback, a picture of a swivel to put ,on my lazyboy...he has one on order that he needs to pick up, and a snickers bar.  It was funny because I put a snickers bar in his drawer yesterday.  I thought he had found it and gave it to me in my card.  He hadn’t seen it yet.  We both had the same idea...I had to snicker a little lol.  We hung out more, and the kids hung out in the basement.  They helped clean up, then left for home.  What a fun day.   

 Bill and I relaxed after that and I did my blog.  Tomorrow Melody is coming for mentoring at 10, then Wes and Gayla are picking us up to take me out to dinner for my birthday.  Thursday I’m getting to gather with Maddy, and Friday I am getting together with the girls, then going to meet my BFF at Zehnders for our birthday dinners...Monday I am meeting my friend Sue to go out for my birthday dinner.  I am so blessed with wonderful family and friends.  I am going to really have to be walking on that treadmill.

Monday, 3/17/25, 43 degrees as the high today, Bill went to dr. appt., I met Marie and Roy at her doctor’’s office, went to Meijer to get ice cream and a few other things, cleaned downstairs, talked to Marie,

Two geese in our yard today.  One is mostly hidden behind the tree

Goose taking off

Ate my left over meal from yesterday.  So much food.  I still have more left for tomorrow. Monterey chicken and mashed potatoes.  Lucky’s food is so good and you get so much.  Three meals is pretty good for the price

Bill got up before me and went to his dr. appointment.  The shots in his neck didn’t work, so they are giving him a referral to see his brother’s surgeon.  She is an amazing surgeon so we are thankful they referred him when Bill asked.  I got up a half hour after Bill left.  There was a dusting of snow on the deck.  I walked a mile on the treadmill, then ate breakfast.  

So thankful to be walking again.  I cleaned the downstairs while Bill was gone.

Kimmy texted me to let me know the bank is repaying the money stollen out of their Etsy account.  I am so so happy for them.  It’s crazy how people scam and steal from people these days.  

I made a coffee and then read my Bible.  Bill read his later after he got home.  He called me when he passed me going down State Street.  I told him I was picking up some dry shampoo for Marie and taking that and some cabbage buns to Marie.  I went to her doctor’s office and saw their car was parked close to the door.  I went in and said hi to Marie in the waiting room and then Roy came outside with me and I put the things I brought for them in their car.  I went to Meijer after that because Bill said I needed to pick up more ice cream for tomorrow.  I got 8 jars of Meijer spaghetti sauce on sale for $1 each.  Regular price is 1.69,

so it was a good savings.  Kimmy called me while I was in the store to get Fred’s address, so I told her about the great sale.  I also got strawberries for 99 cents.  Kimmy had told me about that deal yesterday.  She also told me Steve the cat was doing good.  Yay!

The girls are meeting Bill and I at Tony’s for breakfast for my birthday in the morning.  I am looking forward to it.  Sue called and wanted to go out to lunch this week for my birthday, but between the two of us, no day was open.  We are going next Monday now.

Gayla called me in the evening and she and Wes want to take Bill and I out Wednesday at noon for my birthday.  Thursday my BFF from Grand Haven wants to go to Frankenmuth to Zehnders to celebrate both of our birthdays.  Busy week of celebrating ahead.  It’s so nice to have so many loving friends. 

I talked to Marie in the evening and she was doing good after her doctor appointment.  Her doctor is having a visiting nurse help her.  She can’t wash her hair herself with her broken shoulder.  I told her she needed someone trained to help her because of her shoulder.  I am so glad it all worked out.  

I heated a couple of Cabbage Buns up for Bill.  In the evening he and I relaxed in our recliners.  

  

 

Sunday, 3/16/25, went to prayer, than church, went to Lansing to meet two CMA couples to plan State Rally, visited Fred and Lourdes, watched a movie

Snow/rain mix....Kit Kat picked this for her spot to lay

I was happy to hear this morning that Steve is eating and drinking now.  Yay!  We went to prayer before church, then went into the service.  Worship was so awesome this morning.  Pastor Ken preached a great message too.  We visited with friends after church, then headed home to pack up the cabbage buns and lemon pie on ice to stay cold for our long day of riding and visiting.  When we headed out it was cool, windy and rainy.  We met Bev, Ron, Sue and Doug at Lucky’s in Okemos for lunch and then to start planning for the CMA Michigan State Rally.  We had a great time together and got lots of planning done.  After we left there, we went to Bill’s brother Fred’s house to visit him and Lourdes.  They were happy about the pie and cabbage buns, and cashews.  Fred is doing so much better after his back surgery.  Still having some pain, but not as much.  He said it was better than his first back surgery.  We were happy to hear that.  Lourdes had a piece of lemon pie right away.  Fred had just ate a chicken dinner from Frankenmuth that he had Debbie bring him so he was full. We visited for about an hour, then left for home.  It was snowing while we were at Fred’s and it snowed part of the way home.  We talked to Vikki and Kimmy.  Marie left me a message she was going to ER.  Waiting to hear how it went.  We watched the movie, In the Blink of an Eye.   

 

Sat. 3/15/25, Hail storm during the early morning hour, made 2 lemon meringue pies, made cabbage buns, walked a mile on treadmill, went out and sat on swing for a few enjoyable minutes,

Had a Flicker visit this morning

Poor Steve is what got caught in Eli’s trap and wandered off.  Sure am praying he gets better fast!

They are taking good care of poor kitty.  His foot is bandaged nicely.

He’s in the house getting lots of attention.

The two lemon pies I made

Maddy sent me these cute pictures of her kiddos

Brielle trying to tell the stray cat to go in her play house.  She loves cats.

Bill walking his mile on the treadmill.  My turn was after he was done.  I got lots of steps while baking and cooking in the kitchen too.

The first picture is the size of the hail early this morning.  I was sleeping and the sound of it hitting the metal roof of our gazebo was soooo loud it woke me.  I screamed Bill what’s that noise; what’s happening to the house.  He didn’t answer, so I looked out the windows and saw it was hail.  I talked to Kimmy in the morning and she told me about Steve getting caught in Eli’s trap.  It made us all sad, but he is getting the best care.  I asked her if they had hail and she said no, but they had lots of wind.  It blew their deck furniture all to one side of the deck.  There was a wind advisory all day in Midland.  We had high winds here, but not as bad.

  

I was going to make bread dough and realized I hadn’t got the flour I thought I had.  I went to the store and picked some up, then came home and made two batches of dough.  Then I cooked the burger, onion and cabbage so it would be cold by the time I needed it to make the cabbage buns.  After that, I made two lemon meringue pies, one for Bill’s brother Fred and his wife and one for us.  It’s Fred’s favorite kind and we are going to go visit him.  I also am taking some of the cabbage buns for them.  I had Bill taste test everything and he said it was good.  Bill got his mile walk on the treadmill in.  I went outside and sat on the swing on the side of the house without the wind hitting.  When everything was finished, I did my walking on the treadmill.  It sure feels good to be at it again.  Such a wonderful health promoting gift.  

I called Marie to check on her.  Her phone was off the hook last night when I tried.  She said she slept the whole night after getting everyone to pray.  She thought she might have to go to ER because the pain was so bad when I talked to her.  We were praising the Lord together for the good sleep He gave her.  The pain is tolerable now too!

Bill had to work out some matters with a CMA chapter so was on the phone.  God blessed him and gave him wisdom (I sure was praying for that) and the person ended up being really humble and apologized and said he wouldn’t be creating a problem any more.  Thank you Lord for working that out so quickly.  

After I finished walking, I did my Bible reading.  I went through another highlighter, so need to get a new one.  When I was done, Bill and I had a piece of pie.  Bill said it was really good to the last bite.  

Melissa and I had a good laugh.  She had the day of going to Girls of Grace wrong and said she couldn’t go when she could have.  This morning I found out I had the date wrong and it wasn’t today, but is April 12.  Like mother, Like daughter.  

I texted with Maddy for a while in the evening.  I texted some more with Kimmy too. 

 

Friday, 3/14/25, SpaceX launch to rescue 2 astronauts stuck in space since June 6! Praying for God’s good success! Thankful for the wisdom and skill He gives people! Kimmy and Vikki came over, Jacob came over, Melissa came over, Jared and Eli came over, Eli has to have an ultrasound on his kidneys today. Lots of visitors kept coming , So much fun! Emmy the black Goldendoodle came with Vikki...she’s so cute and reminds us all of Wyatt

Papa and Jacob 

Working on setting up the new treadmill

Eli at his Ultrasound

Jacob warming up to Emmy the Goldendoodle.....she doesn’t like men for some reason

Isaac and Evan on this 73 degree day!

Peyton....so nice to be able to wear short sleeves

Happy to see Jack on this beautiful day too

We all loved Emmy!  Such a sweet dog!

My treadmill (I will have to take a picture of it in the house tomorrow).  It folds up small as the picture shows. 

Vikki took this cute picture of Kit Kat outside

Bill and I went to Old Town for coney dogs, fries and root beers...So good

Eli at his Ultrasound.  Kimmy sent me the picture.

I got up early, got ready and went to the lab to have my bloodwork done.  I was there by 6:45 and one person was leaving, and I was the only one in the waiting room then.  I got called back right away and the girl did a great job and I didn’t even feel it.  Yay!  It was still dark out and the moon was out when I headed home.

I relaxed on my recliner and went back to sleep until, Kimmy got here.  Vikki came right after.  I made Starbucks coffee and we had coffee and muffins that I picked up from Sam’s.

We were happy to meet Emmy, the dog Vikki is watching.  She is beautiful and such a nice dog.  It sure made us think of Wyatt and the great dog he was.  It was good for us all to have a dog who reminded us so much of our Wyatt.  

Jacob got here and I got my big hug.  It’s so nice having him home so he can come visit.  I love spring break for college kids.  Hailey is still on her trip.   Bill and Jacob decided to go look at a treadmill for upstairs for me for my birthday.  The one we had gotten didn’t have hand grips.  Kimmy tried ours and wanted it, so Bill texted  the guy who was coming to look at it today and told him it was gone.  Jared sent Apple Pay for my birthday gift (the treadmill) and for what Kimmy paid for the treadmill.  Bill and Jacob set up the new treadmill, but couldn’t get it to work.  They ended up taking it apart and going back to the store and getting a different one.  They came home and put it together while we girls (Melissa came over too) visited out on the deck in the 73 degree weather.  We came in and tried it when they said it was ready.  It worked right as soon as they got it set up.  It is so nice and easy and also folds up small. We all really liked it.  Happy Early Birthday to me! (and Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, and Happy Early to Bill) lol.  Thank you Bill, Kimmy, Vikki, Melissa and families!  Kimmy sent me a picture of hers and it looks really nice where they put it.  Now Kimmy, Vikki and I have them upstairs and handy....we can go girls go.

    

Sweetie Rehvyn today...Kenzie sent these and she faceTimed Vikki & us

Kimmy’s treadmill. It also folds up flat and goes against the wall

We sat outside for quite a while and  had Mac and cheese for lunch.  Jared and Eli came over too because Eli had to go for an ultra sound of his kidneys at 4.  Jared and Kimmy walked Emmy outside and Jared got her to like him.  Everybody left, then I went over to Melissa’s because Vikki went there and I called to see if she was home.  She wasn’t.  I stayed there until I thought Bill was done meeting with a person who called the church, Mick, and Paster Dan.  I left when I figured they would be about done and waited in the parking lot of Tim Horton’s where they were.  Bill brought him over to the car so I could meet him.  They had a great talk about the Lord and he and his family are going to come to church Sunday.  

I left my car at Bringer Inn and rode with Bill to Old Town Drive In.  It was delicious.  Bill headed home and I was a ways behind him and planned to stop and get ingredients for Lemon Meringue Pie.  I called Vikki and she said SpaceX was going up in 10 minutes.  I stopped at her house since I was only a couple of blocks away, and watched it go up.  So thankful the two astronauts are going to be rescued.  It was so amazing to watch it.  I stopped at Meijer and got what I needed, then came home.  Beautiful weather and beautiful family day!

 

3/13/25, raked the other part of the yard with Bill, FaceTimed with Kenzie and Rehvyn, Sat on the swing on the deck, went to Sam’s Club, started fasting for blood test tomorrow, Marie called for prayer

Kenzie sent me these cute pictures of Rehvyn

Such a cute sweet boy

He reminds Kenzie of Papa in this one.  Me too!

Bill raking his section....He blends in with the tree lol

Kit Kat very happy to be on the swing again.  Of course she had to lay on my sweatshirt.  I took it away as soon as I saw her.  Glad she doesn’t shed.  There was no cat hair on it.

Our piles we picked up....we kept the fire going

We read our Bibles first thing, then checked for additional people added to our church prayer list to see if there were any more prayer needs.  We like to pray right away so we don’t forget.  

We FaceTimed with Kenzie and Rehvyn.  He is smiley and on the go.  But we can usually get him to wave.  He is one adorable boy for sure.  Kenzie sent me some pictures she took of him outside, so I put them on my blog.

I texted my doctor and she said I could get my blood test done early and do them both at the same time.  Yay!   I plan on going at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so I can be back home for when the girls come over.

Bill took Max to eat and then to college.  I got the wagon out of the small shed, got the rake and started raking the other side of the yard.  Bill got home shortly after I started and helped me.  Then he raked them into piles and we raked the piles onto a small tarp and hauled them to the fire.  We had about 7 piles.  I took a rest while he raked them into the piles.  I sat on the swing with Kit Kat.  It felt so good to be sitting out there again.  

He had to leave to go pick up Max, so I rested in my recliner.  Marie called after her doctor appointment and was in lots of pain.  Her shoulder bone had moved because she didn’t have her sling in the right position...bummer....she may have to have a cast now, but we are praying she doesn’t.  She also was in severe pain where she had her incision for back surgery a couple of years ago and said it feels weak in that area.  I sure. prayed for her right away.  She doesn’t want to have to go into ER tonight.  She said praise the Lord but in a weak voice, but was still standing firm in her faith.  I am praying for Roy for strength to help her.  They are such a sweet couple.

Bill and I ate spaghetti for dinner, then went to Sam’s Club.  I started fasting at 6:30 for my blood test.  I am going to go to bed early tonight, so I can get up good in the morning.  Thankful the place I go for my blood test is only 10 minutes away.  

I talked with Melissa in the evening and texted with Maddy.  So thankful for loving people in my life.  I am so blessed by God.