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.

End of March Snow

We are a week into Spring 2008, and the snow does not know that. We woke to an inch of the white stuff this morning. It was so pretty, but very unusual for this late in the season. It has been the coldest and winteryest Spring Break I can ever remember.

Jacob was over at Grandma and Papa's for 3 days and he had a blast. We took the opportunity to go to the park and play outside several times. He loves to go down the curly tube slide by himself.

Well, I just looked outside and it is currently snowing and the temp. is only 33', so this snow is not going to melt soon. It's 10:30 pm Friday nite.

All for now. I will take more pictures of the snow tomorrow.

He is Risen!

Easter is all about the cross and the empty tomb. It is incomprehensible to me that Jesus willingly went to an excruciating death on the cross for me. I can not wrap my mind around it, but I am so thankful for what that means to my life. My prayer is that I will daily live a life that brings honor and glory to my God. And that I never forget the price that Jesus paid for my life. The fact that I was chosen to be a daughter of the King of Kings and joint heir with Jesus of all the riches of the Eternal Kingdom, is overwhelming.

Thank you Father for choosing me. Thank you Jesus for dying for me and paying the price for all my sin. And thank you Holy Spirit for coming to live in my heart and for teaching me the truth about God's Word. I pray that I will always live to glorify You! I love you with all my heart!