Cactus Flower

25 years and many miles together...  click on the image to go to Picasa Web Albums and view this short slide show.

top of barragem, 2010 Greyson and I walked up to the dam this Saturday.  It took us about an hour.  So glad his "poofy" legs made it!  Thank you, pal. Mama

What "Mother" Means "Mother" is such a simple word, But to me there’s meaning seldom heard. For everything I am today,  My mother’s love showed me the way. I’ll love my mother all my days, For enriching my life in so many ways. She set me straight and then set me free,  And that’s what the word "mother" means to me. Thanks for being a wonderful mother, Mom! Karl Fuchs (used with permission:  poemsource.com) Happy Mothers' Day to my mother - a wonderful woman, incredible example, and extraordinary inspiration!

This weekend the church in Joao XXIII is celebrating its anniversary/homecoming weekend.  Doesn't seem like all that long ago in some ways, and very, very far away in others...I don't remember it being on Mother's Day weekend that year (1998), the first inauguration services and all.  It may have been.  My life was so busy, I may have not even known!  There's cute little Dalton with his thumb in his mouth and juice in his bottle, or maybe iced tea!  Isn't William darling and Byron so skinny! I was apparently known for always carrying a bag of some sort and always having lots of snacks for the boys to eat and other wonders.  I often pushed the boys in a baby buggy made for two that my Uncle Regene had sent down or rode my bike with Dalton in the baby safety seat and William in a little over the handle bar chair made of metal tubes and plastic strips.  Those were the days.  While the church was being built and lots of boards were here and there, D...

As I walked along the beach taking photos during the retreat of the various waterfront activities I came upon a group of bushy plants with small purple flowers.  At least ten hummers were buzzing all around.  Several flew right near my head!  I decided to try to capture some photos of the little fellows and just stood still.  This little one came near and landed quietly on a small branch of another type of vegetation.  I moved slowly in to get my picture.  After taking the shot, the little thing looked right at me.  I reached out my hand and gently touched his feathers.  He did not fly off but just moved over a little on the branch.  As I moved my hand back he did fly away. I often chatter with the hummers on the island and chirp at the green parakeets and whistle with the redheads and sabias.  This was a unique blessing for me during the long weekend with several personal disappointments.  Seems that every new group of p...

Was thinking about all the pets in my life.  Seems old Blackie is getting a little slow these days.  Pets on the mission field are important to family health in my opinion.  Furloughs are often rough though and I've been hoping that dear old black dog goes on to doggy heaven peacefully before our next big trip to the States. Dogs for us provide friendship and true protection in a world full of petty and big crime.  We are thankful for our good dogs.  Below is a repost from a few years back... Tippy was the name of one of my uncles dog's when I was a girl. Tippy was a good old dog. She seemed to live a good life. I remember as a little city girl thinking that some day I could have a dog, too. That day came after we moved from the big city to the country hillsides of Virginia. Daddy went to see a man about a dog and came home with Star. She was a pretty black dog with a small white patch that earned her the name of Star. She was an outside dog and a good one....

In February I had a toothache during a retreat out on the island.  Got home on a Tuesday...   On Thursday I went to the twice-a-week-comes-from- the-big-city dentist.  She was nice and took an x-ray but said that it looked complicated and root canal-ish.  Told me to go to the "root canal" dentist that only comes on Thursdays and Fridays.  She told me to take the name of a good pain killer.  It was too late to go right then...   On Friday morning I called the "root canal" dentist only to be told that their schedule was full with no available appointments until March.  My husband called them back and convinced the secretary to see me quickly for an evaluation in the late afternoon.  I took my x-ray from the day before.  The dentist saw me after an hour and a half wait for five minutes only to tell me that she could only do any work in March.   On Saturday I called a friend in the big city, who called his family's dentist.  ...