Those Blue Eyes

This week has proven to be one of the most challenging ones that our family has had to face in a long time.  Our oldest son was in a head-on collision Sunday night.  It's something, that when you hear the news, you go numb.  That happened.  

We had just gotten done celebrating my mom's 73rd birthday at a restaurant about 30 minutes away from the hospital where they had taken him.  The drive, crazy.  My mind, crazy as well.  We didn't know what to expect, as we weren't told much, only that "it was bad".   

The room was filled, cries, clutching, bad smells, people waiting and then some more.  Finally, I went back, I had to be strong, on the way and as I looked down.  Those words faintly spoken, "I'm sorry, I love you mom."  He was alive!  Those words gave me strength, hope, and yet too, I feared and felt lost, broken.   

There is so much I could say about those hours and days that have followed that night. What I do want to write is how faithful God is, in everyway.  He cares.  Some tiny, some big ways, some seen, most not.

That couple who happen to live where the accident was, come out and pray with our son immediately, stayed until the paramedics came.  Bless them!!  

His truck.  Demolished.  That space where he sat, too small.  How could anyone possibly NOT have been immediately taken to the other side?  He is ALIVE!!

Faithfulness again, as families that were somewhat fragmented, stitched back together with God-strong cord.  

And again, when pheumonia was "inevitable".  Well, not this time, not with our God. 

Really, the least of our worries, funds, we say "paid in full", because "He owns cattle on a thousand hills." 

Sitting in a chair? with a broken hip? all bones in his leg too?  It's coming...that fast healing is coming!

A new lease on life, in every way.  Clean, bright, hope-filled.

...and those eyes, blue and beautiful, that we can look into, safe still. 


Has it been hard?  A big an understatement.  The not knowing, the stress fueled by lack of sleep can cut deep.  It's all hard.  But really, how blessed we are!  We have life!  We have each other, family, good friends who have gone the extra mile and more & more, warm hospital nurses, time, love. We get laughing moments in the room, he still cracks jokes. Smiles from the kids seen for the first time, hugs, and love, handmade cards.  It's hard and joy-filled, and tiring and satisfying, knowing that we are there, we help, we extend grace and love in ways we can.   

 Life can be uncertain, yet we hold onto The One who is as certain and sure as the sun rising each day.  

It's only been a week, seems like longer, but progress is made each day, and our son will walk again, build again like he loves, and be stronger in so many ways than we could ever imagine.  We all will be.  

A Flurry of Goodness

With the holidays here, my blogging has been pretty non-existent.  With just starting this new blog, 

I didn't want that to happen.  BUT, that's life and now I carry on!!!  

That's one thing this year I'm going to try to work on... 

B e   E a s y   O n   M y s e l f!

  

This year was especially wonderful.  Our daughter came home from Hawaii, as well as her boyfriend Shea, to stay for one week this Christmas.  I am so grateful for the time we do get together now that she is living so far away.  This photo shows just how much love is shared between our family.  The grand kids love being together, and love holidays, especially all the goodies!!   

I just had to post a picture of the most wonderful & delicious thing I make at Christmas...

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies.

These little gems are so delicate yet are full of rosemary flavor.  

My daughter is eating Gluten Free, so unlike the usual shortbread recipe I use, I found

the best mix ever, Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Mix.   The cookies were perfect!!  

    What could be more perfect than all of our 

F I V E children being together for Christmas!! 

With our daughter living so far away, and all of our son's & daughter-in-law's lives so busy and full, we are grateful for this holiday that is made so special by all of them able to be here for Christmas.  

This make all our hearts so very full!

Pictured from left to right:

David, Chris, Lizzie, Andrew and Daniel 

"Five months...hello, five months!!"

(If you've seen Father of the Bride, you know that line!)

WELL...Lizzie and Shea got engaged while here!

This was the most delightful 

happening of the season.

We are now diving into wedding planning as they are looking at a  spring wedding here in North Carolina!! 

  Now that the holidays are over, and we can put our feet up and breathe a bit.

Dean had the most meaningful idea of writing out what we are thankful for that happened in 2013.  

Sometimes life hands you situations and experiences that are not what you had hoped for.  Bottom line, some things just really suck.  BUT, listing those things that 

WERE GOOD and BLESSINGS, written down with a thankful heart, 

is an avenue that then the Lord can use to send that miracle that you are looking for and make you aware of all those things in your life that are so very great.   

This Grateful List is hand written & a bit sloppy,  but hangs on our refrigerator to remind us of ALL that the Lord HAS blessed us with...bottom line, it is much.  

My hope, is that 2014 will be one that draws us closer to Jesus, in those small ways,

and the ones that are extravagant, and that HIS purposes will be fulfilled in ALL of our lives!!

Thanksgiving, making a profit and hard cider!!

Thanksgiving in our home is such a wonderful time for family, being mindful of that which we have and are thankful for, and glorious food!!  Over time, our family has evolved and it takes on a new flare every year, this one no different, as some that have always been around our table were celebrating with other loved ones.  This is a bit hard for our hearts, but life does change and we are grateful for those who can come and celebrate at our home!!  

This year, I decided to make decorations I found on Pinterest, you know, those things you pin then they stay in that neat little folder....well, I started with come cute turkey pops.  Very time consuming, but soooo cute and the kids LOVED them!!

I love setting a pretty table.  

Because we sold our dining room furniture before we moved, I was down to using two folding tables and some random chairs.  But, even with that, it was fun creating a nice place to sit.  Thanks again to a few Pinterest ideas, I think it came out pretty nice, and the little kids loved their coloring mats!

Because we didn't have as many here this year, our food table was a bit smaller, 

but OH SO GOOD!

I love the all the food that each one of the families prepare and bring.  

I need to explain about the title!! 
1. When I opened the turkey to get it ready to stuff, I thought I was going to vomit.  IT HAD GONE BAD, REAL BAD!
So off to the store my husband went, returned the turkey, found another one at another store,
 and netted a $35 profit!
This is what you get when Hanakkuah falls on Thanksgiving, a real blessing!!
2. After about half way through the meal, someone asked why the apple cider tasted so weird.  Yup, it was hard,
 and all the kids had that for their drink.  Oh boy!!  

Thanksgiving is my husbands favorite holiday.  He loves the time spent with his most cherished gifts, his family.  

 Our youngest child who still lives at home always makes us laugh and is such a fun person to be around. We are grateful for him!

My List of Gratitudes 

and some of the ones that make us smile!!  

Happy Hanukkah

We ended the night with the lighting of the second Hanukkah candle.  Our grandkids love hearing the story and being able to partake in lighting a candle.  

Peppers and Sonic Eggs

Every so often, my husband goes out of town.  Well, that's the time for me to whip out all my recipes that have any form of peppers in them.  He detests them sooo badly, that "that wonder of a veggie" can't even step foot in our house.  I know, I'm deprived, but honestly that small challenge is hugely outweighed by the wonderful person that he is, so I live with it.  BUT, when the chance arises...I go for it. 

Glorious Peppers 

Well, I found this recipe on Pinterest and wanted to share it with you.  It's easy to whip up and is full of wonderful coconut and red curry flavor, plus it abounds with colorful veggies!!!  Excuse the few chips in my favorite bowl and the picture a bit fuzzy. It certainly did the trick though and held that bowl of yumminess perfectly!!  

Laska Soup 

Here's the link if you want to dazzle your family with it!!

http://www.zenfamilyhabits.net/2010/01/5-ingredients-5-minutes-5-meals-simple-noodles/

Part B for the day.....
Barking Dogs and Sonic Eggs

Oh Boy!! Little did I know that a device so seemingly wonderful would cause such a stir!!  

We live in a neighborhood where the backyards are pretty much non-private and extremely close.  Well, that's fine if you have a dog like ours who does not bark, she has probably 10 times since we got her 9 years ago.  And we love it that way.

Well, the neighbor to the left has 3 dogs, and takes in dogs.  Now this seriously is a wonderful thing to do for those poor creatures that have been neglected and/or abused.  Good for her!  BUT, when they bark, waking us up every morning, or anytime we step out our back door, or when another pooch is being walked by by his master, and there is no consideration for those around... NOT COOL!  

Yay for Husband's Great Ideas!!

My husband had a brilliant thought.  Get one of those gadgets that omits a noise that stops dogs from barking!!  So off to PetSmart we go and the nice lady helped us pick out one that was "Pet Friendly and harmless" for dogs because we didn't want to in anyway hurt them, just get their attention anytime they barked by our fence that said in dogs terms, "Stop"!!  Well, let me tell you, it worked like a charm. Our meals with barking dogs, our noisy evenings on the deck, and our early morning wake up calls were done!!  Sing Hallelujah!!

    

So, next day, I'm enjoying a nice afternoon with one of my daughter-in-laws and 4 of our grandchildren, here to watch "Planes", which I've wanted to see so badly with them. Just when the movie starts, I get a knock at the door from that certain neighbor.  Little did I know that when I opened the door I would be hit by a barrage of ugliness, told she would call the cops, being called "Sick Ba@*+#rds", and so on, all because her dogs were nervous after coming in, due to the Sonic Egg doing it's thing. I kept my cool, talked calmly, but closed the door after she yelled those last nasty words in earshot of my grandchildren.

The reason I'm  telling you this seemingly insignificant story, is we are faced with people in this world who are just not very nice and it's sometimes very hard not to "engage" in a crazy situation, and also, to not take offense.  But to go even further, how do I show this person love, especially after making one of my grandchildren cry because of the situation?  I just have to bring to my mind the person who showed the greatest compassion, that being Jesus, who when beaten, stripped of his life, who chose love over hate.  He chose to not be offended, but asked The Father to forgive them.  This is my greatest example, this is who I'll try to emulate.  It's hard, but so was what He went through.  

So, the egg will stay "on" if they continue to bark, not because I'm trying to get back at her, but we like our peaceful home and surroundings now. My dilemma is how I get her to actually see God's love for her through us, after this situation?? 
This I need to know how to do.

Blessings and Love....


PS  The police did come, but at our request. He talked to her about her confronting us like she did, and to let her know that "the egg" is perfectly safe and OK for us to have. 


Now on to make some taquitos filled with, yup, salsa with peppers.:)    

And Away I Go....

If you've stumbled upon this or were one of the kind people from Facebook who felt compelled to read it after I shared about this new entry...Hello and welcome!! (wow, that sounded kind of cheesy)

So Ok, another blog??  There are so many out there so why would I want to contribute to the overflow of people wanting their voice to be heard??  I guess it's because it's in us, that need to want to be heard, for our words to make a difference, so.....here I go, adding to the blog world!!  But I'm excited to do this!!  I have another one that is mainly for my art, but I always found myself wanting to post other things about life and that one was limited.  So this one will encompass it all.  Every good, bad and ugly thing that happens to me....not really, but I would love to share with you things I find interesting in this world that are beautiful, real, raw, and hopefully will bless you in some way, and make you smile.

Oh...the name!  How Jenny Says It.  Well, I have a habit of screwing up sayings.  My husband is writing them down and putting all of them in a folder called just that, with the hopes of writing a book and making millions.  Not really, but it got me to thinking.  This is my new blog, and what I share are things I feel passionate about and want to express, and thus...How Jenny Says It!  So there ya have it!   (I might share a few of those mixed up saying if I'm feeling like totally humiliating myself one day, just so you can have a good laugh)  

Blessing and Love!!