Another Week! This Post Is Not What I Thought it would be...

Hello everyone in blogland!  I seem to have gotten off course for a few days and haven't been reading your posts nor writing my own.  It was a busy and beautiful weekend.  I think I mentioned last week that we would be celebrating my hubby's 70th birthday this past weekend...and so we did.  There were about 26 people scheduled to come for lunch on Saturday...we provided the main course/meat, and everyone brought side dishes...which is a big help to me.  As it turned out, several had to cancel due to health issues or other conflicts, but we still ended up with about 21, which is truly maxing out our table/seating space without having to send people outside or on the floor. LOL.  It was a great time, great food, and much joy and laughter.  Hubby was very honored and humbled by their presence.

Here's hubby blowing out his candles...just the number 7-0, not 70 candles.  He was grateful for that!

I won't share all the family pictures...they are on my facebook page if you are a "friend".  However, I was happy that my cousin from Ohio and her husband were passing through the area, and they came for the day.  Here is a picture of my sister Doris, my cousin Becky, me, and my niece Debbie...all "Mursch" family relatives:   

Becky is my Dad's  older sister Marion's daughter, and we grew up living about ten miles apart. We spent a lot of time together as children, playing games, Barbies and just getting into normal mischief whenever we could. 

Here is a picture of my 10th birthday party, and my cousin Becky is 2nd from the left and I am next to her in the middle. This is the year I got my Barbie doll from my grandparents...and Becky also got one that year, so from then on we played Barbies every chance we got. We made wonderful houses for them out of scraps of paneling for walls, and used boxes, plastic dish detergent bottles,toothpaste tube lids (for cups), scraps of fabric, and great imaginations to create very interesting houses that lasted for years and years. I gave mine to my niece Debbie (see above, last on right), when she was five, after she begged me over and over "Please, please may I have your Barbie house, Aunt Pam?"  I fixed it up, refurbished the worn furniture, and even gave her my beloved Barbie doll for her 5th birthday.  Later on in adulthood she gave the doll back to me because I told her it might be valuable since it was one of the first ones made. I'm keeping it safe in my china closet, and have stated that she will get it back in my will...  and she reminded me of this promise at our party Saturday! It really isn't that valuable because she was much loved and worn...not in mint condition by any stretch of the imagination. But valuable in lots of happy childhood memories for two different generations!

Below is my Barbie as she looks today:  She is wearing an evening gown that was made by my Aunt Ruthie, my dad's youngest sister.  I used to spend a week or two with her every summer, and she made several outfits for my Barbie doll. I wish I still had them.  Sadly, my Aunt Ruthie died from early onset Alzheimer's Disease at a fairly young age.  Even more sadly, all three of her children have since each succumbed to the same disease as adults. They were all younger than I am.  Very unusual and sad. No one else in our family has shown any signs of this early onset disease, thank the Lord.  However, the children of my cousins are being closely monitored.

Well, this post certainly has gone down a different trail than I thought! I really didn't have any particular plan in mind when I started writing...just decided to let it go wherever my thoughts wandered...(that could be dangerous!)

Another reason I didn't do much writing and/or reading of blogs this past weekend, besides totally resting after church Sunday afternoon and still resting today from the exhaustion of such a big party...I was engrossed in reading a very fun and wonderful little book:

That list is the list of all the books I checked out last week. I think I'll be doing a lot of reading in the days ahead.

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"...by Mary Ann Shaffer.  If you haven't heard of this book, you might want to check it out at your local library (or order it online)...no, it isn't Christian fiction or inspirational in that sense...but it IS inspirational in that it is historical fiction, written about the lives of people (fictional...but they could have been real...) on Guernsey Island during the German Occupation of WWII.   The reason I wanted to read this book is that someone posted the trailer for the movie that is coming out later this year based on this book...and it has my new favorite British Actress Lily James as the star (from Downton Abbey and Cinderella (2015)).  Actually there are several other cast members from Downton Abbey in this movie as well, so for you Downton Abbey fans, you may want to watch for this movie.   Here is link to the trailer:

The book was excellent...I think you will all enjoy it. It is good, clean, and keeps you reading and smiling as well as feeling the emotions and heartaches of the individual characters...you will wish you could be there with them...I hated to see the book come to an end, and I will definitely be watching for the movie when it comes to the US later this year.  

So, what else is new? Hmmm...not much that I can think of at the moment.  The Sand Hill Crane that I showed you on Friday is still sitting on her nest. I think she may have a baby already, but then again I'm not sure. Here is a picture I took this morning. Tell me what you think. I thought it was a baby "colt" next to her (that is what they call them) , but on second thought, the baby colts are usually more tan than grey in color....so now I'm not so sure:

I'll keep watching and let you know what develops.

Okay folks, that's all for now.

Here's the verse for today:

"Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

Lead me in Your truth and teach me;

for You are the God of my salvation.

On YOU I wait all the day"

Psalm 25:4-5 

Have a blessed and wonderful week!!