What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Monday, September 26, 2022

Birthday Blessings

Warning! Photo Overload!  This was a BIG weekend for me and so as you well know when you are dealing with me, "a picture is worth a thousand words"...so I will try to limit my words and just show you pictures of this wonderful birthday weekend.  I am still feeling overwhelmed with joy and blessings from so many who took the time to wish me a happy birthday on Facebook...that's truly one of the "good things" about social media...the way we can bless each other on special days and lift up one another during the difficult days. For that I am truly thankful.  And so, without further adieu, let the pictures and story begin...  
This butterfly started our day out when we took our early morning walk at Dixie Cottage.

My real birthday was on Sunday, but on Saturday we drove about an hour + to my home town to meet my sister and her hubby and my husband's brother and his wife for lunch at a fun restaurant on the shores of Lake Dora.  My little old hometown has turned into a kind of tourist destination for seaplane enthusiasts, where seaplanes can land on the lake and people can "fly in" for lunch at several different restaurants along the shore.  
Anyway, before we got to our destination we took a scenic route along the "Lake Shore Drive" of Lake Eustis...yes, there are many lakes in the area of my old hometown, because it is actually in "Lake County"...and there are lakes every where you look.


There are many lovely old oak trees lining the shore...


And in the distance you can see many sailboats...there is a sailing club in that area and I guess they were out enjoying the beautiful day on the lake...

We finally made it to our destination, and here is the view from our table:


It was a very special day as there was an event scheduled to have a group of retired Army Rangers parachuting down from planes onto the lake, and then boaters would come and pick them up.
This went on for several hours...






It made for a very interesting and entertaining lunch with our family...

Speaking of "entertaining"...
My brother in law loves to cut up...but you can see below he's really quite handsome, like his brother (my hubby). Can you tell they are brothers?


And my pretty sister Doris was enjoying the "entertainment"...

While her hubby tried to maintain his stoic composure:


And my lovely sister in law just beams...


And here I am with my hubby and my sister...I call her my "little big sister" because she's my "big sister", but she's much littler than me. LOL.


Now here Peggy and I are trying to figure out how to light the candles on the apple pie that my sister Doris brought. There was a fan overhead and it was blowing out the candles as fast we could light them, so we just gave up...


And they sang to me without the candles lit:


Happy Birthday to me..


And the BIG BLOW! LOL.  We have to have one of these pictures every year. It's a family tradition. Even if the candles can't be lit...


So that was that, and then on our way home we drove by my old "Alma Mater".  This building of my high school hasn't changed much, but the rest of the school is totally different. I'm glad they saved this historic building...


Speaking of history, my sister brought this old book to me that she found among some boxes from our parents' home that she has stored in her house and is gradually looking through...


This little devotional book was a gift to me from my Pastor and his wife for my high school graduation. I was so happy to get it back after all these years.  Pastor Parsons was also the pastor who married my husband and I 53 years ago.  He was a very strong and godly influence in my life and I am very thankful to God for bringing him and his family to our church when I was a teenager. I once even wrote a theme about him in high school as my most memorable character.  I may share that with you sometime, but not today.


This inscription means so much to me...


And now moving right along to Sunday, my "REAL" birthday!  Of course we went to Sunday school and church and it was a blessing as always.  These sweet little children from our "children's church" sang a song for the congregation, "I'm In the Lord's Army"... They were marching as they sang:

"I may never march in the infantry
Ride in the cavalry
Shoot the artillery
I may never shoot for the enemy
But I'm in the Lord's army!
I'm in the Lord's army!
I'm in the Lord's army!
I may never march in the infantry
Ride in the cavalry
Shoot the artillery
I may never shoot for the enemy
But I'm in the Lord's army!"

I have very sweet memories of my own sons singing this song in church when they were quite small.  This brought some tears to my eyes.  (happy tears).

And speaking of my sons...Here we are after church and lunch, which we had gone out to eat together with a few of our church friends as well, but I forgot to get a picture of that...but afterwards just the boys and us came home to finish off that apple pie.  My sweet DIL Rose is out of town currently, visiting her family up in Minnesota.

And hubby was there too of course...

And this time we really were able to light the candles:



It was a wonderful celebration and I am so very very thankful to God for my family and friends...and for all these years of blessings and good health and home, and for YOU.

And now we are getting things ready for the potential hurricane that may be coming up our coast later this week. We are pretty far inland and north and are praying that we will not have much of a bad impact here, but you never know with these storms.  They still don't know for sure which way it will go, so we have to be ready just in case.  And so with that I will say so long for now and will keep you updated as things "develop".

Thank you for visiting today, and I hope to get caught up with reading your posts throughout the week. It's been a whirlwind of activity these past few days so I've been a bit behind.  Sending love to you all. Bye bye for now.





 

17 comments:

  1. Linda in Texas, you and I in one week…happy birthday…daughter flies down every few weeks from Indy…she is due Thursday for my 75th Friday…we are low key about birthdays so we plan to get Mexican Friday with family here…we don’t go in restaurants yet…not safe at my age and with my health…however…we are in the path of the hurricane…at least one path…her flight probably will be cancelled…that is okay…this summer we were together for her 50th…alas Covid hit…and did I mention my son turned 50 during Covid? Best laid plans…I am doing a couple of errands today…will move to son tomorrow evening…condos probably not safe…we will see..I have lived through hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes…maybe I should get serious this time…I live in Palm Harbor at the ocean…prayers for all of you and your store also…happy happy happy birthday…I remember teaching the little ones the songs in church before I started teaching Bible study to the ladies…we started a church in Ohio in the 1970’s…when we started, I requested a couple of things…no politics…no looking at other denominations negatively…it was a Southern Baptist…love your church pictures…and the music…I will be humming Victory on Jesus and Because He Lives next few days…prayers prayers prayers

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  2. What a wonderful celebration for your birthday. Two whole days of it! I can sure tell you hubby and his brother are related. Too bad about the candles on the pie..but ..oh well! I am so glad you had such a wonderful day. Great pictures!!! xo Diana

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  3. Aw, all these images make my heart smile! Wow on those retirees parachuting down, right in front of y'all. I'd love to have seen that, and possibly forgotten to eat. (ha) And aren't you fortunate the weather was so beautiful? We're keeping our eyes on the storm's path and lifting our Florida friends in prayer!

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  4. What a blessed weekend you enjoyed. Happy Belated Birthday🎈

    Praying that all your preparations go smoothly and that, in the end, there
    will have been no need for them. Praying for Florida and all involved.

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  5. I'm so happy for you that you had such nice celebrations for your birthday. Hoping the storm misses you, or even better that it would just weaken down and fade away.

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  6. Happy, Happy Birthday Pamela!
    Seeing all of your pictures is such joy!
    Lately there have been several butterflies around my little garden area. The lake pictures are lovely, and those of your family. How very special that you all can get together for birthdays and make cherished memories. The pictures of you with your sons and your husband are just wonderful.
    I know everyone down there is preparing for Ian, as we in SC begin our "wait and see".....Do take care.
    Blessings, Linda

    (PS. From your candles, I'm a year older than you!)

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  7. What a delightful birthday weekend! I love the pictures, and yes, John and his brother look related. Your sons, handsome as always. I'm glad this hurricane is not hitting on your birthday, although I suspect your birthday has usually been threatened with this kind of weather all thru the years. Thanks for sharing such a happy time!

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  8. What a wonderful weekend! Praying for safety for all in Florida.

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  9. What a marvelous birthday celebration, Pamela! I loved all the photos you shared here, and got such a kick out of the air show; what a fun thing to witness on your birthday of all things. I think my favorite picture is the one of John and you toward the end of the post - y'all look so cute together! And I do like the idea of pie instead of cake on birthdays; my brother actually prefers that himself.
    Continue to celebrate throughout the week, and we will be keeping our eyes on that impending hurricane. Prayers!

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  10. Happy Birthday to you! The pictures are all so amazing and beautiful. Sounds and looks like your birthday celebration was awesome.

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  11. Pam: I'm glad you had a happy birthday. I'm glad you shared the pictures of the lakes and the activities you saw on Saturday. Peace and blessings to you and yours.

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  12. Pam, I just love this post and all the smiling faces celebrating YOU!! What a great weekend you had. As always, your photos are lovely and do speak louder than words! Love & hugs!!

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  13. You had a whole birthday weekend and I am glad to hear it turned out so nicely. How great to get back the book from your graduation. I imagine you will read it once again. What a great gift to give. Have a lovely Tuesday Pamela.

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  14. Pam, your birthday looked like so much fun and that view with the parachuting rangers is spectacular. I love the candle blow out great job. I also remember as a child singing I'm in the Lord's Army. So glad you got your precious book returned how cool is that? Prayers for you my friend over this hurricane. I will be posting here in a few, off to bible journaling

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  15. Thanks for inviting us in - I enjoyed the photos - You are blessed.

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  16. Happy Birthday sweet lady! You are FINALLY as old as me now! Take care during this terrible storm. We are cooking this morning and doing more things to prepare! Lots of hugs, Diane

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