Monday Monday...Sweet Memories and More...

Oh my goodness! What a weekend it was! There was a lot going on in so many different "realms", but I will begin with these wonderful photos that were sent from one of my paternal cousins in Pennsylvania.  I had never seen these photos before. She found them in a box of old photos belonging to my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Paul. (R.I.P.)

These photos were taken of our family, probably back in 1957, I'm guessing.   In the above picture is:

L to R": My mother, brother Russell, sister Doris, Daddy, me, brother Clifford. 

In the above pic L to R:

me, Mom, Doris, Russell, Daddy, Clifford.

In below pic, I think  that is Doris in the front seat, my Dad, me in the back seat, and my brother Russell.

I'm not positive which is which between my sister and me...not that we look that much alike, but it is difficult to tell in this photo which is which. 

Anyway, the occasion was when we had gone back up to PA. from Florida to load up more of our furniture, etc., from my Uncle Paul's barn, where it was being stored since our move to Florida the year before. You will note in the above photos that we had a little cargo trailer attached to our 1955  4 door Chevy Belair sedan.  We also had a cargo box attached to the top of the car, with a canvas tarp over it, to help hold all our luggage, camping gear, etc., because, yes, we camped in tents all the way up and back on this trip (and many others each summer).  How all six of us ever fit in that car for such a long trip, without AC, I might add, I'll never know. But we did it, and we survived.  We made lots of fun memories playing different road games along the way, like the Alphabet game, The Horse Game ("Cemetery! Bury your horses!) among others to keep us entertained along the way.  There were no interstate highways back then, and we took the long,  winding, mountain roads through the Smoky Mountains, where we could find good campgrounds at State Parks, and roadside parks to fix our lunches on the way.  (and sadly, for me, places to pull over quick because I would get carsick frequently!)

These were special times for our family, times I will never forget.  My parents were amazing to organize and plan all of this so well, so that we always had food enough to eat and places to camp (without the aid of GPS to guide us...all my Dad had was the road atlas and a keen sense of direction, well, most of the time.  If he ever got lost he never admitted it and just made it more a part of the adventure!) Oh, and no credit cards back then either! If you ran out of cash, you were out of luck...which we almost did on the way home on one of those trips, because it rained so much we ended up having to eat in a restaurant (no McDonalds' back then) and that pretty much took the last dollar...but we still managed to arrive home safely even if on fumes! LOL. 

Now, this photo (below) was taken a few years before, while we were still living on our farm in Pennsylvania. This was in 1952.

L to R: Russell, Clifford, Daddy, me in my mother's arms, and Doris in front. That is our old farmhouse in the background:

That corresponds with this photo I already shared a couple of months ago. At first I thought it was taken at the same time, but after looking my sister's dress and mine, I decided this must have been a different Sunday afternoon, even though my mother is still wearing the same pretty sundress.

Also, in the photo above you see our dog Laddie.  Here is another photo of Laddie below:

Now back to the present...

Yesterday, July 23, 2023, was my sweet Mother-in-law's "heavenly" 100th birthday.  HERE is a link to a tribute I wrote about her several years ago.  

She was a one of a kind Mother in law, and I miss her a LOT!  

Well, yesterday, on what would have been her 100th birthday, one of her dear "cousins" (by marriage), joined her in heaven to celebrate:

Yes, our "cousin Jane" entered heaven's gates yesterday morning, and I am sure there was a real celebration going on once she arrived.

These pictures are of Jane and "Nanny" (Vivian) together in happier times.

Jane had just turned 93 a few weeks ago, and passed away rather unexpectedly yesterday...but it wasn't unexpected to Jesus...I'm sure He was there to welcome her "home", where she joined her husband, one of her sons, and many others that she was looking forward to seeing again in heaven.

We will miss Jane. She was one of those unforgettable characters that you love to know.

Here's a picture (below) of the last time we saw Jane, (with my hubby) when she came with other family members to visit us at "Dixie Cottage" earlier this year. At that point, she was still able to live in her own home alone, even though she was legally blind and practically deaf, but one determined lady! Not long after this picture was taken she became ill and it was decided that she could no longer live alone, so she went to an Assisted Living home. She was doing well there until this past weekend, when God said it was time to call her home to heaven.

Rest in Peace, Jane. You will be missed by all who knew and loved you here.

In other news this past weekend, we had an interesting day at church yesterday.  Interesting how things happen in twos...there was two different kinds of "bad news", and then two different kinds of "good news".  I'll go with the "bad news" first and finish up with the good to end up on a pleasant note.   The two items of sad or bad news was one dear lady recently found out that she has Stage 4 Cancer. That was very sad news to me, as I truly appreciate this dear soul and hate to see her have to go through all that she is going to have to endure in the near future. I am joining her in prayer for God's mercy and perhaps even a miracle on her behalf. I know God is still in the miracle business, and I am going to pray that way.  The other disturbing news was another dear friend announced that she and her husband were going to get a divorce. That truly was upsetting, because I know and love both of these people, and I pray that God will again work a miracle and save their marriage if at all possible. I know there are times that it seems that divorce is the only answer, but again, I pray God will intervene on their behalf and help them to work things out. 

Jeremiah 32:27

27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. 

Is there anything too hard for Me?"

And now for the good news:

We have a lady in our church who is a single older woman on a very fixed income. Her car basically died and had to be sent to the junk yard. She had no means of purchasing a new car.  One of the men in our church had an extra vehicle that he was not using since his wife passed away, and so he literally gave this vehicle to this lady free and clear...just because she needed it, and he didn't need it, so why should he keep it when she needed it? That was his attitude of true Christian love.  What a testimony of God's amazing grace!

And then, we were surprised when two teens who were here visiting their grandparents for a few weeks both decided that they wanted to be baptized!  And so there was a baptism of these precious young people as a testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ!  Here they are below with our Pastor and his wife and also one of their relatives who stood up with them...

And here with their very proud and happy grandparents:

What a joyous way to end a day that had its share of trials and difficulties.

Okay, that about wraps it up.  Oh, we had our house pressure washed over the weekend:

This was done by our DIL's sister and her son. They did a great job and our house is pretty and clean again!

And then our DIL and son brought over supper on Saturday night! What a blessing!! I forgot to take pictures of that, but we ended up the night playing Dominoes...and that was a lot of fun.

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope you had a blessed weekend and that you will have a wonderful week ahead.

And remember,

Luke 1:37

37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”