Saturday/Birthday Revue

 Good Saturday Afternoon dear friends! I'm sorry I've been M.I.A. today.  If you are a Facebook friend, you've already seen all the wonderful pictures from our trip yesterday to celebrate the Baptism of our niece and my birthday.  But for those of you who aren't on Facebook, I will share this wonderful day with you now.  I intended to do it first thing this morning, but alas! Last night after we got home from our long and wonderful day, I was hit with a bout of vertigo just as I was getting ready for bed. Suddenly the room felt like it was spinning around and of course, if you've ever had that, you know how that makes you feel in other ways as well. I finally took some Meclizine (Dramamine) for motion sickness/vertigo, and went to bed. I slept  quite well as long as I didn't need to get up, and then this morning I still wasn't able to get up and move around too much without dizziness.  Finally hubby made me a really good breakfast of two fried eggs, "dippy eggs", and buttered toast. I was amazed at how beautifully and perfectly he did that...I need to encourage him to do that more often...and it was exactly what I needed.  And then I went right back to bed and slept until lunch time, had a bowl of chicken noodle soup and crackers, and went back to bed again. Finally around 3:00 p.m. I felt well enough to get up and stay up for a while, and I am trying to keep moving forward one step at a time ever since. Still woozy, but sometimes it feels better to stay upright rather than lay back down. 

So here I am.  Having a cup of tea...and using two of my special birthday gifts...the little china saucer came in a fun package from one of my dearest blogging friends, and the little tea bag holder from Holland was a gift from my sister in law, who just returned from a trip to Germany and surrounding areas!  I love it! And it reminds me of my blogging sisters in the Netherlands...you know who you are...Syl and Aritha!

So I haven't been able to fully bask in the afterglow of such a wonderful day that we had yesterday. Now I am trying to make up for lost time, and I will share the pictures from what I would call a perfect day...

First things first...We had the baptism of our niece Shannon first thing because she thought she was going to have to leave right away to go to work...and then after a while she got a text from her boss telling her she didn't have to come in afterall, so we could've done things differently, but it all worked out for the best and it really couldn't have been more perfect.

I hope this works. I had to create a youtube video so I could share it on this blog, since it was too long for a traditional video.  I've never done that before, so I just learned something new.  This is the actual video of Shannon's baptism, and her words of testimony afterwards. You can tell by her excitement that this was a very special day for her in every way. We praise God for the work that He is doing in this very dear young lady.  May God continue to help her grow in faith and His love as the days go by.

On a funny note, don't you just love John's "Frog Togs" that he wore in the pool? He said that when he got in the pool, they filled up with air and he almost started floating. LOL. But they did the job they were intended to do,  and he stayed dry and warm enough. Yes, the water was cold. LOL.

And here is Shannon and my hubby, her Uncle John,  again, beaming after receiving her Baptismal Certificate. She said she can't wait to frame it and hang it on her wall!

To me, this was the highlight of the whole day...seeing how excited she was and how happy it made her to finally be baptized.  That gives me great hope for her in the future. God is with her, and He will not let her go.

So after that we had a delicious lunch. My sister in law Peggy had put together a veritable feast of bbq meats, potatoes, salads, fruits, macaroni, beans...all of the above. It was wonderful.  Then after lunch we moved into the dining room where she had set up a table for a tea party to celebrate my birthday! She knows how much I love tea parties, and I rarely get to have one with real people! Let me tell you, she thought of everything.  Here's the video of them singing Happy Birthday to me:

Just look at this cake! I've never seen such a beautiful cake before!

And everything was set so perfectly lovely...fit for a princess!

And yes! My sister Doris did bake a wonderful apple pie for me, just like our mother used to do for my birthday! It was so good and delicious and perfect in every way! Our mother would have been so proud!

Here's my plate, with pie and cake! 

And there were these beautiful cookies baked and decorated like tea cups! I couldn't eat one just then, but I brought some home for later.

Then there were gifts...Oh! look who showed up! Blackie is going to be featured in our yard for Halloween! LOL.

And guess what else I got?  A porch Goose!!!  I've seen several others who have these, and now I have one too!! And she's all dressed for the birthday party! LOL.

And here's the "silly goose" sister Doris who gave her to me! LOL.

Isn't she lovely?  I think I will name her Lucy Goosey!

There were other fun gifts too numerous to mention, but here's a sampling of the sweet things I got...

This cute little teapot and teacup salt and pepper shaker was a fun gift...

Here's that wonderful tea bag holder and also some wooden shoes from Holland:

And this is one of the cut paper bouquets that are all the rage now...I love this one in a little teacup...

Such amazing detail! They look so real!

Today I had the last piece of the apple pie on that beautiful little saucer that was a gift from a dear blogging friend, along with the pumpkin and kitty face placemat, the Birthday Badge (which I wore on my birthday), and those two little geese salt and pepper shakers that must be babies to my new Lucy Goosey! LOL.

We finished off the evening with this beautiful Full Harvest Moon...

Also, when we got home, there was a bouquet on the front porch, with no card!  However, I checked our "Ring Camera" and figured out who had delivered them, and then also found a text message that I had not seen from a dear friend from our church, who had brought them by in the afternoon...such a blessing! She recently lost her father, and now she is taking care of her mother, who has a lot of "emotional issues", and it is very challenging...and yet she took the time to bring ME flowers!  I honestly don't get it...I should be taking HER flowers! Some gifts are just very very humbling and really make me stop and think about what I should be doing for others.  

All of this was just so amazingly beautiful and special and very surprising. I was not expecting any kind of big to-do party like that, and the Tea Party was just something overwhelming to me. I am truly grateful to the Lord for these dear people who are in my life.

I feel badly that we didn't get any pictures of all the guys that were also there...you can see my hubby with his head cut off in this picture, and his brother Bill in the background, and my dear two sisters here ...Peggy cutting the pie, my sister in "love",  and Doris on the right, my sweet "little big sister", as I call her, because she is littler than I am, but still is my big sister.  Her hubby was also there, as was our son Benton, who drove us.  Rose had to work so sadly she had to miss this.  And also Nicholaus, Shannon's brother, (our nephew) was also there, and you can catch a glimpse of him in the pool at the baptism.

I was happy that Benton and Rose  ("Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop") created this fun "FALL" decoration for Peggy, as a hostess gift. 

Here's where she put it...and it goes perfectly in that spot!

So all in all it was a day filled with such amazing blessings and surprises and joy. I thank the Lord for every moment of the day, from beginning to end, even though I did end up with vertigo! I am better now, praise God, and actually I probably needed that extra rest today.  God knows.

I hope you enjoyed this long post...I couldn't leave anything out...it was all so wonderful!

In closing, a couple of passages from the Psalms that are a fitting kind of prayer to finish this day...

Psalm 18:1-2

1 "I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Psalm 90:16-17

16 "Let Your work appear to Your servants,

And Your glory to their children.

17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands."

Now you better go outside and look at that full Harvest Moon while it lasts! This is right now in our front yard:

Good Night, and God bless you everyone!!