BLESSINGS AND MORE BLESSINGS!

I am freezing!  Our house is cold.  It is a beautiful blue sky but it has been chilly outside. I can't complain because 34 years ago it was pouring rain!!! It was on our wedding day!  We were married in Miller Bay Clubhouse in a small ceremony with our friends and family.  It was so nice.

These are some of my favorite pictures with the kids, me dancing with my dad and my parents dancing, Jeff toasting "Here's to the biggest Black family in Kingston". I think we were except Kevon and Karla were Ellis.  I watch the movie back and it really was a wonderful day, despite the rain.
They say it is good luck for it to rain on your wedding day! So there.

So, last week was a good week.  Brad changed our oil in the car.  It was such a relief for Lanny to have it done!!!!  He is more like a son to us than a son in law.  We love him.

We heard from the insurance and we will only be getting just over $3,900 for my van.  We got an estimate on what it would cost to repair it and with everything plus the labor... we would be looking at over $9,000.  Ouch. It would be worth it to me emotionally but not financially.  We have Lanny's car to drive for now and I don't even know if I need one.  But we'll wait and see what the Lord wants for us.  I can't stress about it.

I got my new land line phones on Tuesday.  Took a while but they are awesome!  They work great.  One thing I like is when we are gone it calls my cell phone to tell me my message left on my home phone.  How cool is that?  I amuse easy.

Lauren has been driving with Papa every day to and from school.  He let her drive to our house too.  She doesn't have her dad here to teach her so he has taken the responsibility.  He is a good papa. She loves driving.

Madi started drivers ed last week.  I am so excited for her!  She turns 16 in July and that is when she'll be able to get her license.  Riley completed drivers training and she will get her license next month. Lauren starts drivers ed in January and will probably get hers right after her birthday.  What an exciting time in these girls lives.  We will be praying and trusting the Lord just like we did with our kids.

I got my mammogram on Wednesday.  The hardest part is walking all the way in there because it hurts my back so much.  And during the test I have to take breaks and sit on a stool.  But it is over for this year.

My niece turned 20 yesterday!  I remember when she couldn't wait to turn 18.  I love her so much!  She has always been so sweet and good to me. Even when I am nosey with her!  I've always felt kind of protective over her and her sister.  Isn't she beautiful????

Yesterday was also Don and Heather's 16th anniversary.  The years flew by it seems!  They have done a great job with their family!  I am proud of both of them and so happy to see the love they all share.  It really touches my heart!  Their wedding was beautiful. Here are the pictures. Parker and Patrick were little guys and such a cute part of the wedding! Don became their dad long before he officially adopted them and has been amazing ever since!  He is their dad in every way and the boys love him so much!  As do all of us!

Lauren and Madi spent the night last night.  They always have so much fun together.  We had a seafood dinner of clam chowder, shrimp and fries. It was really good!  Then they disappeared into their bedroom and played games on my computer.  Papa and I could hear them laughing. I love that sound!!!!  This morning they shared the game with me and started laughing all over again.  Papa made Madi her favorite breakfast. Then he took her to her drivers ed class.  Lauren and I played Phase 10 and then I taught her Cribbage. That is a hard game to teach!

Well, I am done for the week. Except my custom is every day in November I post something I am thankful for...or someone.  I would like to share what I have done so far.  Day 1 my blessings from God.  I am thankful for all the blessings God has given us and our family. He has given us good health, love, and everything we could possibly need. I am so thankful!!!!

DAY 2:   My beautiful daughter, Karla, is such an exceptional person. She is so, so smart and always has been. It is exciting when I see others recognize how amazing she is! Besides her brains she is so pretty, caring, and a great mom, wife, sister, and daughter! I love her so much and I am so thankful God gave her to me and the rest of the family! We are blessed!

DAY 3: Our blessing for today is Jordy, our first grand daughter. She was such a blessing after having 3 grandsons! Besides the fact she is beautiful and a sweetie and will always be our princess!

 Day 4: As I write this our son (in law) Brad, is in our garage changing the oil in Papa's car! I think he likes to do for papa and papa really appreciates it. Brad has been in our lives for about 30 years! He has been so fun and caring and a good son, brother, dad and husband he is our blessing today! Thanking God for Brad in our lives!!!!

 DAY 5: Patrick grew up overnight! We are so thankful for the direction God is taking Pat! We are so thankful for the protection He has put around Patrick! Our Pat makes us laugh and we are just so blessed to have him for our grandson! Thank you God!!!!

DAY 6:  Today I am so thankful for our grand daughter Lauren! We have laughed with her, cried with her, and been blessed by her. She is beautiful, funny, smart and we are all thankful she is ours! Thank you, God!!!! 

DAY 7:

Tara, she is our special person on day 7 of blessings. She really is a blessing in our life! She is a great daughter, sister, mom and wife. She does so much for others and is there for us whenever we need her. Love her so much and we thank the Lord for her in our lives!!!!

DAY 8:  Today is filled with thoughts of my grand daughter Madi!!!! This girl makes me laugh so much! She is funny, beautiful, smart and she isn't even aware of it! We love her so much and I thank God that He gifted Karla and Joel with a second child!

DAY 9:  Today I am so thankful for my husband, Lanny M Black! I am so blessed that he loves me so much! I know he would do anything for me and is so funny and I love spending time with him! He is awesome! He is a good papa and dad and husband. Thank you God for this man!!!

DAY 10:  Today I am so blessed for my marriage. We have taken it for granted, damaged it, have forgotten to be thankful... but God has seen us through. We wouldn't be here together today if He didn't love us so much and believe in us more than we believed in ourselves. Thank you, God! Thank you Lanny M Black for hanging in there. Love you!!!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND BE BLESSED!!!!

Crutches, concerts and another Homecoming!

I guess I am switching to posting on Sundays.  Much easier for sure. Right now I am sitting here watching house hunters.  Scruffy is sleeping, Lauren and her bf Lindsay are sleeping. They were still up at 1:30 watching scary movies.  I noticed this morning they slept with the bedroom light on.  Scaredy cats. Last night we watched The Bodyguard. I love that movie and I love Whitney Houston!

Been a nice week.  Except Lauren is on crutches.  She messed up her left knee dancing at the reception last weekend. Her mom took her to the doctor on Sunday and she had to leave on crutches!  Not good. 

The week was pretty quiet.  We went to Lauren's band concert which was really nice because it was just band.  Lauren played the Bari (Baritone Sax).  She did so good!  No solo but she will get one for the Christmas concert. 

Our daughter, Heather, had her 42nd birthday down in Arizona with Patrick.  She's been missing him a lot since he moved down there to go to school. 

The photo here is the little old German lady who lives up the street. She was putting moss killer on her roof.  Watching her walk and bend over up there made me very nervous. I wouldn't do it! I am afraid of heights.

My brother turns 56 years old today!  We had a gathering at Dairy Queen on Friday... me, Alyssa, Jessica, her boyfriend Charlie, and David!  Madi came and ate with me before they showed up and then went home with her mom when she got off work.  It was fun.

Saturday Karla came by and took a bookcase for Madi's room.  Madi is redoing her room.  She is getting Andrew's desk today so she is pretty happy. 

Riley has a boyfriend named Tyler. He is so sweet and nice.  Last night they went to the Homecoming Dance.  Here is a photo of how he asked her a few weeks ago.

And here is some from last night before the dance!

A few more pictures before I wrap this up.  We have these guys swimming around the Hood Canal Bridge all the time.  I think they are so cute!

Lauren and lindsay went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday and I managed to steal a few pictures!

Here is a picture of Port Gamble.  I lived here for several years and they say it is haunted (even the house I lived in) but I have never heard or seen a thing.  I used to jog passed the cemetery almost every night. It is a beautiful old town in the fall.
The community of Port Gamble has a wide range of shops from antiques to a tea shop to an old-fashioned general store. It is a popular tourist destination, due to its location near Bremerton, Port Townsend, Bainbridge Island, and Seattle and its downtown.^[3] Port Gamble is also home to the grave of Gustave Englebrecht, the first U.S. Navy sailor to die in the Pacific.  The community, originally known as Teekalet and later renamed Port Gamble for the bay which gave it access to ocean commerce, was founded as a company town by Josiah Keller, William Talbot, and Andrew Pope's Puget Mill Company in 1853.  The first school in the county went up in 1859, and the community took its present name in 1868. In 1966, the town of Port Gamble was designated a National Historic Landmark District.^[9] In 1985, Pope & Talbot, the successor company to Puget Mill, split into Pope & Talbot and Pope Resources,^[10] the latter of which took over the site and the sawmill. In 1995, the mill shut down after 142 years, making it the longest operating sawmill in the country. Where the mill was is to the right in this photo down by the bay. You can't see it in this photo. 

And finally... here is one of the prettiest pictures someone took of the Multnomah Falls in Oregon in the fall.  I love this and will be using it for a puzzle.

Final thoughts:  I had the weirdest dream last night of being at a large like city and Berta was there. I had a bunk bed where I was staying and told Berta she could stay with me. But then I couldn't find her. There were so many people wandering around. I saw Karla and Kevon (as adults) and they kept running from me. But I couldn't catch them and it hurt my feelings. So I started avoiding them. That is all I remember. Strange dreams are so real to me. 
I need to have a garage sale in the Spring. 
I love AXS TV and watching old bands and interviews and concerts. I have watched John Lennon, Billy Joel, Merle Haggard, Toby Keith, Paul McCartney, Shania Twain, Heart, and so many others! Love it!!!!
We've been watching Heartland on Netflix. If you love horses you will love this show!!!! I love horses now 
May you all have a great week.  I will be getting my mammogram and having a breakfast with an old friend, Candice Kolbas!  Should be nice. Madi will be getting her permit and Lauren starts drivers ed.  My baby girls are growing up so fast!!!!

Papa took them both driving in my van at the school parking lots.  Crazy!  He is a braver person than I am!  Praying for them all! When they get back the turkey will be done!!!! Love turkey dinner!  God bless!!!!

Jordy's wedding!!!!

A couple days late but I have a great excuse!  We had a wedding in our family!   Our first born grand daughter, Jordan, got married Friday to Tyler!  Jordy is Brad and Tara's daughter and our princess. She is so precious to us and I can't believe she is now married!!!  Seemed like yesterday she was just a giggling little blondie that always made us happy!  Now she will be making Tyler happy and he will be making her happy.  We pray for a very long and beautiful marriage for them! Here are a few pictures we took and borrowed.

church where wedding was performed!

It was a very quick wedding.  We couldn't take pictures during the wedding but we could during the reception.  The reception was a blast! There was a really good dinner of different pasta, fettuccine or marinara sauce, meatballs or turkey meat, garlic bread, salad, etc...  There were drinks served, cupcakes, and lots of dancing!  In one photo you will see that Lauren dragged Madi up there and they are laughing!  Kevon finally got Parker up there.  I am sure it shocked Heather!  Never got Dylan though.  I even got Papa up there for an Elvis song.  I got to dance a few times.  I could only last for part of the songs because of my back pain. That was the hardest part. But I still had fun! I think everyone did!  I thought I would be in pain the next morning but I wasn't.  We took a couple naps during the day.

It has been a tiring week so I a glad we've had these couple days to relax before the week starts again.  I am glad the grandkids have more energy than us because Lauren had an all day competition for band down in Tumwater on Saturday. Andrew had a photo shoot. Madi had her homecoming dance.  She looked gorgeous!

Trying to get myself together for this wedding was hard.  I ordered Papa two shirts which were both nice.  He chose the lighter one and it made his eyes look so green.  And he wouldn't get hot. Well, he froze most of the night.  It was a beautiful day and night but it was chilly outside.  He looked handsome.  The three boys (Kevon, Andrew and Dylan) all wore black shirts.  Dylan and Kevon wore grey pants but Andrew's were black so that made him the leader of their group. lol!  Everyone looked so great but mostly Jordy!

Anyway... I order two dresses and didn't wear either.  I was worried about freezing so I wore black slacks.  Found one shirt in silverdale but it was too big and I had to return it.  Then I found a pretty rose colored sweater that was really soft and warm and went with that. It had sequins and pearls on the front.  Everyone said I looked good which surprised me given the fact that I went and had my hair colored on Thursday.  Way too light!  I wanted some highlights so my gray wouldn't come out so obvious when it grows out.  Well, it doesn't look that highlighted to me...it looks a blondish silver color.  I think I look older but I got a lot of compliments there and on facebook.  So that made me feel better. 

The rest of the week... I picked up Madi after school with Dairy Queen chicken strips and blizzards.  She came to my house and we had a Pink Floyd marathon of a video and games.  It was fun!

Tuesday was a laid back day and on Wednesday was running around getting hair done and shopping for a shirt. We had lunch at Skippers which was really good!!!  Then Lauren came over to our house after debate for a while.  She came over Sunday too. We picked her up at Lindseys' house and she came over for Meatballs, Mashed Potatoes and Corn.  She loves it.  Then she had to go to Port Gamble to sell roses at a play.  She's always so busy it is hard to keep track of her. 

Birthdays last week were :  one of my favorite nieces, Alyssa, turned 22! Happy birthday Aly!!!! Love you!!!

My sister-in-law (more like a sister) Rita! Happy birthday Rita!!!  Love you!

My favorite drink at the moment!

My lighter hair

My dog waiting for Papa!

Today is our dog's 10th birthday!  Papa loves that dog more than anything!  He is sad he is aging.  For his birthday we are watching the Seahawk game with no volume.  Hearing the game freaks him out and causes him a lot of anxiety.  We've tried pills to mellow him out (natural for dogs) but it didn't help last week. So we read the game as we watch.  We are winning 20-0 gainst the Raiders right now.  And I get to see Marshawn Lynch (used to be a Hawk but got ready to desired and went to his home town where he grew up and decided to spend a year being a Raider.)  I do not understand why the NFL plays games in London. Don't the British call soccer football?  Who does it benefit to go over there and play?  Oh well, I don't run the NFL.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCRUFFY DOG!!!!!!

I've scheduled my mammogram for the 24th!  Have you????  Have a great week!