Our Next Adventure

We are packed and all the necessary details are complete in order to facilitate a peaceful and fun vacation this coming week. We leave for the airport this evening since Bob's flight to NY tomorrow is at 5:45 am. We will stop and see the grandkids for a while before heading out to our airport hotel. It is a way to park the car for free and saves us an extra 2 hours in the morning. I like going out to the hotel the night before a flight. Flight day is less stressful.

I fly to Chicago tomorrow to spend three days with my sister, Carolyn. I will get to see my niece, Melissa and meet her three little boys. Can't wait to hold little Aiden who is 4 months. Bob is flying tomorrow to NY for his quarterly meeting. On Thurs. we will both fly to Toronto and arrive (weather permitting) at about the same time. Then Friday - Sunday we will spend all our time with Joe, Miranda, and Elsa Jane. YEA!!!

I will be taking tons of photos of our little Elsa Jane to share with everyone when we get back. My arms are anxious to hold and cuddle with this new baby. Babies smell so sweet. You could just sniff and kiss them all day. Bob and I will be vieing for 'Elsa' time. Abby is so big and active now that we don't have any baby time any more. No more snuggles for her.

Being a Grandparent is a wonderful surprise and joy. I don't know anyone who does not love it and the pleasures of just loving without conditions. These little grandbabies need all the love and support they can get in this world. They need to know that Grandma and Grandpa are on their side, no matter what. What a privilege it is to be a part of their lives.

More later...........

Time Flies, Life Continues

I realize it has been over three weeks since I last posted to my blog. My Dad had knee replacement surgery over 6 weeks ago. His recovery has been very slow and painful. My brothers, Phil and James, went down also to help Mom and encourage Dad. My sister, Barb was down in AZ with my parents for 2 weeks to help out. And now my brother, Phil is back down in AZ trying to keep Mom encouraged and is helping with so many things. Carolyn, Paul, James, and I have been on the phone talking to Dad and Mom frequently. Dad has been in the hospital, in a Rehab center, in a nursing home, back to the hospital, and now back in Rehab. With the encouragement of the attending Dr. at the Rehab center, we are seeking a second opinion as to why Dad's knee is not healing like it should. He is a Diabetic and he does have Parkinson's Disease, so those things do contribute to his slow recovery. Monday, Dad will go to the CORE Institute in Phoenix to see a knee reconstruction orthopedic surgeon. (Center for Orthopedic and Reconstructive Education) The surgeon that will be seeing Dad was the head of Orthopedics at the Mayo Clinic for 17 years. His credentials are top knotch. Hopefully, he will be able to discover what is going on with Dad's knee and help with his recovery. We just wait and see. Please pray with us for a complete and swift healing of Dad's knee and for his body to recover.

Her Mommy's face, her Daddy's chin

Well, Elsa is now almost 5 days old now. She looks so much like Miranda, which is a good thing since Miranda is very pretty. However, she did get one physical characteristic from her Daddy's - a cleft in her chin. Joe got that from my Dad, and I noticed it right away. And Elsa now has it from her Dad. Very cool. Her skin is so beautiful and she is such a pleasant little baby. I can't wait to hold and cuddle with her. My lips ache to kiss her soft head. Here are more photos that Joe sent of Elsa at 4 days old. I love digital photography!

We are off on a trip for 9 days to Southern CA........business and pleasure. We will be back Mon. May 19. No photos for a week. More later.

New Baby Pictures

I just got these adorable pictures of Elsa Jane. Such a cute baby.

New Granddaughter

Well, on May 5, 2008 at 11:35 pm our new little granddaughter arrived. Elsa Jane Snyder weighed in at 7 lb. 14 oz. and measured 20". She has a little bit of dark hair and she looks so much like her daddy did as a newborn baby. The midwife says that she is very healthy. She is a good eater and sucks with enthusiasm. Joe says she is peeing and pooping a lot, so that is good. He even has changed two of the nasty meconium diapers. Both Joe and Miranda are smitten with their little girl. We are very anxious to get out to Toronto the middle of June to see her. I can't wait to hold and cuddle with this new baby. Being a grandparent is the best role ever!

Interesting bit of trivia......both Joe and Miranda weighed 7 lb. 14 oz. and measured 20" when they were born. Very unusual for all three of them to have the same statistics.

Miranda was induced at 10 a.m. Monday morning and really did not progress much during the next 12 hours. But then about 10 p.m. her body responded to all the pitosin and things began to move very quickly. She began pushing at 11:20 and in 15 minutes Elsa was born. By 3:30 a.m. the little family was in a cab on their way home from the hospital......less than 4 hours after the baby was born. The midwife said that healing is faster and the family bonds much quicker in their own home. Joe has the week off and he is loving this time alone with Miranda and Elsa. Miranda's Mom and Dad are coming in on Friday and are anxious to meet Elsa.

You can see from the pictures that Elsa Jane is a very pretty little baby. We pray the God will wrap His arms around her heart and that she will grow up to be a mighty woman of God.

April - A Wild and Crazy Month

April has been a very unusual month weatherwise. About the time my cherry trees began to blossom, we had several late spring snow storms and very cold weather. I got several photos of snow on the cherry trees. Hopefully the snow and cold won't hurt our crop this year. It does seem that winter is saying "good-bye" and spring is finally here. We are getting temperatures that are no longer in the 40's for daytime highs. Yea!

April was a very busy month for us. Jacob turned 3 and we had a big birthday party with lots of family. He understood what the presents were all about this year and had fun opening them. His favorite gift was a big blue truck from Uncle Paul. We combined his birthday party with Abby's 1st birthday. Their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart, so it is logical to have a joint party. Barb made a flower cake for Abby that was so cute.

My sister, Carolyn, came out from Chicago for a week and it was such fun to have her here. Barb, Carolyn, and I went out to the beach for a day. It was great to spend time with my two sisters - first time we have done that in over 7 years. We had a big family dinner while she was here and it was fun to have everyone all together.

This last weekend I went to a Women's Retreat at the beach. It was nice to get to know some of the women of the church that I had never really talked to before. The weather was great.

No word from Joe and Miranda on their baby. We wait daily for that phone call that will tell us whether we have a new grandson or granddaughter. Pictures will come when we get them. It does not look like she will have an April baby. It would be funny if the baby came on May 1, which is Abby's birthday. That would be easy to remember. We will have to wait and see.

April did not arrive or leave quietly like it normally does. But all in all, it was a good month.

Sad Memorial

I just got home from a memorial service for a 20 year old girl. She was driving about 100 mph and lost control of the car and hit a tree. The car broke in half and 6 of the 7 people in the car died. Three of the dead were children and three were adults. None of the children were in seat belts. The only survivor was the 2 year old baby of the driver, who was in a child seat. He is now living with his Mom's parents. What a tragedy that could have been avoided. This girl was troubled as a teenager. She got in with the wrong crowd and made some very bad choices for her life. The father of her baby is an illegal and in prison. Her parents were Godly people who tried to raise her to love Jesus and live a life following God's will for her. She rebelled and did not want to do what she knew was right. People said she had a very loving heart and a very happy spirit. But no one said anything about her faith or her relationship with Jesus. They just don't know where she was spiritually. What a horrible place for parents to be.........not knowing if you will ever see your child again. But they are commited to raising her son to know the Lord and to grow up loving Jesus. What a challenge that will be as people who are in their 50's.... to start over with a 2 year old. I pray for God's grace to cover each day. They will need it.