What a summer we've had, and it isn't over yet.

We thought that when school was out, we would take the grandkids places, and do some things.
We did, in a way, but not nearly what we had in mind.

On May 12th, we got a call, Jerry's son, David, was in the hospital and they were looking at having to amputate his toes.  He has diabetes, and had gotten an infection in his foot.  The did first amputate his toes, but found that it was worse than thought, so they ended up taking his leg up to about 4 inches of his knee. He was in the hospital 18 days then in physical therapy for about another 3 weeks.

While this was going on, Jerry's brother was in a nursing home about 40 miles west dealing with cancer of the throat.  So there were days we'd leave the hospital, head  west and spend time with his brother.

Also during this time, I was getting scheduled to have total knee replacement.

David got out of the rehab and got to come home, he is now waiting to be fitted with a new leg.
Jerry's brother passed away and was buried just before the first of July.  Then I had a schedule to get my my surgery done on July 19th.

This is all behind us, I'm 2 1/2 weeks past replacement, but Summer is almost gone, School is about to start, and none of the things we had planned have happened.  But we made it through, and we are looking forward to a fall that will be much better.

Iris and other shots around the yard.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO RUTH by Kevin Foster

This book is very well written, and you can tell that the author put his heart into it. My favorite thing about it is the PICK OF THE CROP at the end of each Devotional chapter. They give a vivid description of what the chapter is about. I really enjoyed reading this, and I feel rereading it will give me a lot beetter insight into the book of Ruth in the Bible.

You can find this book on Amazon, either in Kindle or paper version.  This is one book that I preferred the paper version, just the right weight and size to hold in my hand.

You can go to the website: www.ruthgospel.com  for more information about the author.

I was given this book by the publisher, in return for an honest review. No other compensation was recieved.  I am not required to give a favorable review.  All opinions expressed here are my own.

No Return by Stacy Claflin

I have a new favorite author.  In the past two weeks I've read 4 of her books.

You are introduced to Rusty Caldwell in the Gone series.  He's lost his wife and 2 sons in a terrible drunk driving accident, so he goes out at night in his tow truck, and tows people who have had too much to drink home from bars to prevent other families from going through what he's had to deal with in life.

He sees a blurb in the newspaper about a suicide, and when he reads it, it is his sister, who he hasn't seen in many years.  He decides to fly to Florida to meet her husband and children, and find the real story.  Almost immediately, his brother in law is taken in for questioning, and he gets acquainted with her children.
The next door neighbor was his sister's best friend, and after talking to her, they start wondering if the story they hear is really what has happened.

This is the kind of book you don't want to put down, until you know the ending, and you may think you have it figured out, but don't count on being right, I wasn't.

Gone by Stacy Caflin

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Gone by Stacy Claflin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, it has lots of twists and turns, and every time you think you have it figured out, you find you are most likely wrong. Stacy Claflin has done a wonderful job of keeping the suspense alive and the book never gets boring at all. I actually went to Amazon and purchased the rest of te series, because I had to know the rest of the story. That doesn't happen often, in my reading. Thank you Ms Claflin for a wonderful reading experience.


View all my reviews

Lolli and Pop by Carolyn Snelling

Lolli lives on Happy Street with her family.  Her father brought a puppy home, because the little boy who it belonged to, was allergic to it, they named it Pop.
This is a cute story and has a few more words in it than most childrens books.  I think most young children will love it, and the artwork is just adorable, it is by Izzy Bean
Well worth the price.

I was given a copy of this book to read and review.  No other compensation was given, all opinions expressed here are my own.

In Thistle's Memory

At 10:25 this morning, her heart stopped beating, her wings spread, and she was Heaven Bound.
At 10:25 this morning, my heart was breaking, though I didn't know it yet.  In fact, it was almost exactly 4 hours later when the email came in from her husband, letting me know.

I 'met' Thistle about 13 years ago, online. We had both joined an 'older women's group called MiniSkirts and BellBottoms on MSN.  We found that we had relatives in common, both of us were into genealogy.  Before long, we were exchanging emails, and found we had a lot more in common, including husbands who were 'collectors'.  We would see which one had the most 'stuff'.  Our other friends on MSBB (mini skirts and bell bottoms) got lots of laughs out of us comparing their treasures.

When MSN closed their groups, we moved to another site and continued our group.  And then Facebook became popular, and a lot of the members went there, and didn't visit the group anymore.  Thistle never got on Facebook, but we continued to stay in touch, mostly by email, and irregular phone calls,and made plans to meet in person.

Then I got the email no one wants to get.  My sister in Christ had cancer, she went through chemo, and they thought she had it beat, and we cheered.  Her doctor told her to go out and work on her bucket list.  We put the meeting in that bucket list, and continued to plan.  Then she got pneumonia, and her cancer was back.  She never fully bounced back from the pneumonia, and had many problems, but she still had hope,   She sent me her husband's email, in case she ended up in the hospital, so he and I could connect.  He's kept me updated over the past few  weeks, and when she ended up in the hospital about 3 weeks ago he has made sure to stay in contact.
This afternoon, he sent me a message that she was gone.  I told him I had suspected that, when in the night, I smelled her perfume. she always wore Shalimar,  I even made her soap and body lotion in that fragrance.  Her postman told her he thought something was broken in the box when he delivered it, because his truck smelled of that box.

So Spread those Wings dear Thistle, and explore HEAVEN in all it's glory.
I know you'll be waiting just across Jordan for me, or maybe you'll be the one to come and lead me home.  We'll sit on the banks of Jordan, swing our feet, and enjoy some good silly giggles and lots of hugs.
This isn't goodbye to my special sister, this is SEE YOU LATER

JESUS Helps me by Callie Grant

Well Folks, I'm back to Blogging a bit, 

I'm doing mostly Childrens Books now.  

 Isn't this the cutest cover for a childrens Book

And what about this picture of a Swan and her babies?

The name of the book is 

JESUS HELPS ME

By 

Callie Grant

and 

art by

Missi Jay

I think that any young child will enjoy the photos and

the story is really sweet about all the different types of

birds and how different passages in the Bible fit with how the birds live and nurture their young.    

I wish that I had a small child to share this with, but my youngest grandchild will soon be 13, so I'm going to take the book to church,

and put it in the library there.

I think this would make a wonderful gift to add to a blanket or something to give at a baby shower.  It is all hard pages so they won't rip out easily,

and the cute pictures will draw their attention quickly.  

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Austin TX  78703

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