LIFE TIMES TWO!

 I think life around here has been moving at the speed of light! I last told you Avery saw his Pulmonologist! Well things with his asthma went from bad to worse! He had a dose of steroids which did nothing, he had a dose of anti-biotics which also did nothing . On the eve before Thanksgiving he said I want to go to the emergency room. So Rebekah and Zach had been preparing for this. If anything, my sweetheart is stubborn! He never wants to inconvenience anyone! The very opposite of me. I say this because, when you are hurting. When you can not breathe, inconvenience whoever is near to you!

We headed to our hospital ER and upon arrival one older lady and a younger woman were waiting. They triaged Avery and the next thing we knew, five medical professionals pounced on him! Rebekah and  I were scared but we tried to keep our happy smiling faces on for Avery. They all wore masks but when they ran some tests and a chest x ray they knew he had bacterial pneumonia and off those masks came.  Bacterial pneumonia is not contagious!!!!! He was admitted and it took all my strength not to lose control and have to leave him there. I knew he was in good hands but it was hard going home. A young doctor took care of him and 2 Respiratory Therapists were so kind and knowledgeable.

He spent three nights in the hospital. Before he was released Saturday late in the afternoon Zach and Rebekah took me to At Home to look at CHRISTmas decor! We had fun and we left there and joined Avery at the hospital.  The doctor had to sign off on at home oxygen until his lungs are clear,  so it was not very long that we were zipping down the road to Home Sweet Home. 

I thought of my late dear friend Mike B. He was an engineer on the railroad and our hometown was so proud of him. He passed away shortly after his retirement but we had many great conversations and he would always end those talks with this, "How can you live so far away from your hometown? There is nothing like Home Sweet Home!" After he passed away I became friends with his only daughter Ashlee. The girl is her daddy all over again. But she married and her new husband took her to Florida where he practices law with his own father. 

Today we will see how Avery does with his portable oxygen at work. He does sit down a lot as his work has to be precise as he and Geraldine prepare documents for court. One error and out that lawsuit goes! He has always been a mover but as we grow older he is learning to slow down a bit. Prayers have been so helpful and you may pray if you choose. God blessed me with a wonderful husband and he took such tender are of me when I had my surgery last Spring. So now it is my turn and like my own mother before me, it is my privilege and honor to help this sweetheart of mine heal.

Celebrated my birthday yesterday and if you were at my other blog Anne's Phamily Blog and saw me with my sweet Snoopy and soft blanket throw from Rebekah and Zach.

Last night Noelle hosted a spaghetti with meat sauce dinner for me. Being with all of Colton's sweet phamily, Jacey, Harrison James and Shea Avery Marie was a blessing. Noelle and her beau Scott were wishing me well and Noelle cooked a great meal with cheesy garlic bread and a wonderful salad. She had Dairy Queen make me a butterfly birthday cake. 

  

I can't get my butterfly cake to post but please trust me. It was so beautiful. 

How old would you be if didn't know how old you were? Satchel Paige

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you! Dr. Seuss

Age is a case of mind or matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter. Satchel Paige

Your birthday is the first day of another 365 day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip!

I will figure out these photo resets someday. Meanwhile today is a good day to have a good day!

ENJOY!

Something is bonkers at blogger! It could be me but my posts are not showing on the reading list. I did post here https://annesphamily.blogspot.com and https://mytatascottage.blogspot.com

Brian's Home Blog

Mister Kitty  a/k/a Tiger. He was quite the shy one back in 2015. Miss him always.

Sp by and say hi to Brian's gang of cool cats!

THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS & THANK GOD FOR KIDS

 MAY OUR LIVES BE FILLED WITH THANKS AND GIVING

I hope and everyone of you enjoys a beautiful THANKSGIVING filled with blessings.

My sister Mary sent us this beautiful card for THANKSGIVING. The words reminded us both of our childhood. We will spend time with our children. Except Hannah and Jake and their nearly two year old little boy.

Such a beautiful reminder of our own childhood. What blessings we see in those memories.

Lyrics THANK GOD FOR KIDS

If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought thank god for kids
And we'd all live in a quiet house without Big Bird or Mickey Mouse
And cool-Aid on the couch thank god for kids
Thank god for kids there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why?
The nearest thing to heaven is a child
Daddy, how does this thing fly?
And a hundred other where's and whys
You really don't know but you try thank god for kids
When you look down in those trusting eyes that look to you, you realize
There's a love that you can't buy thank god for kids
Thank god for kids there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Do you ever stop to think or wonder why?
The nearest thing to heaven is a child
When you get down on your knees
Tonight to thank the Lord for His guiding light
And pray they turn out right thank god for kids mmm thank god for kids

A reminder that CHRISTmas is right around the corner. This song means so much to me. My kids were small and I would wander around my home singing it. Another memory worth reliving.

Have a blessed , beautiful and new memory making THANKSGIVING. 

THURSDAY CATCH UP & THANKFUL THURSDAY

 I'm still here. Getting ready for some snow that they say is headed our way. Not my favorite season with the cold and slippery roads. Yesterday I was running errands and I left too late in the early afternoon. It was like a Demolition Derby! I was blessed to see Kevin, my favorite teller at our credit union and a new girl at the bank. They always put me in a great mood! Plus Kevin know the backstory with our B&B grandson's so his thoughtfulness is an extra kindness.

You are somebody's reason to smile!

When our Denver Broncos played on Thursday night football, I ran a quick trip to my local Marketplace. I was wearing my "lucky" Bronco shirt. This gentleman using one of the electric shopping carts says to "Hey, take off that shirt!" He was wearing a Raider's t shirt. I said, "You first!" Then he proceeds to ask me if I am happily married. At least he saw my wedding rings! hahaha......I said very happily married, nearly 42 years of happiness! So he tells me he grew up in San Jose and knew Jim Plunkett. Now he has my attention. Not only did I admire Jim in his heyday as the Raiders QB. He was born to Mexican-American parents but his mom had Native American ancestry too. This man, who three more times asked if if I was certain I was happily married, then said he knew Jim and told me he knew for a fact that Jim in one of the few people who paid back every penny of his college education at Stanford.  

After telling him for the 4th time I am extremely happily married he said, "Maybe I just need a weekend wife!" I said do you listen to country music, he said yes and I said than go home and listen to some Bill Anderson songs. He knew who Bill Anderson was so I was impressed, wished him well and told him to have a good day. I think he was just a lonely older gent. When I continued with my shopping I saw him turn his attention to a young lady working in produce. She smiles and winked at me. I assume he is just lonely and she was still chatting with him while stocking bananas and I smiled because it costs you nothing to use kindness!

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. "Aesop

My sweetheart Avery has been struggling with his asthma these past two weeks. But he had his follow up appointment with his Pulmonologist and that man is filled with kindness. After taking care of Avery's medical needs, he asked how our grandson's were. We met him in 2024 and we told him, rather I told him about our B&B Brothers! We have seen this doctor twice and he never fails to catch up with us about them. It is hard to find good doctors. A prayer for him is always welcome and we've prayed the meds he has to take will relive his symptoms.

"It takes courage to be kind." Maya Angelou

We went to my appointment with our PCP for my labs! She walked in the room and said, "Oh no, I see double trouble!" I said, "Excuse me, your triple trouble so you behave yourself!" She checked my blood pressure and quietly said, " I am always in trouble here!" We love that woman, she looks at you as a person, not a Big Pharm extra payday! 

" The world is full of kind people. If you can't find one, be one." Unknown

Thankful Thursday

Please stop by Brian's Home Blog and say hello and tell them what you are thankful for today.

I am thankful for all the kindnesses I have seen today. We are preparing for a winter storm. Often, the SONshine pops up and the snow melts away but we never know. So we are all thankful for our home with the cold weather brewing. Thinking of all the homeless people we have wandering around in this weather. I pray they all have shelter tonight. 

Thankful for the attorneys that took the case for our Pastor and another local pastor. The other pastor is from a larger church so they were dealing with the same thing. Someone at the Monday night city council meeting,  shared this:

Matthew 25:35–40.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in,

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me,

I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?”...

"He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Thankful for all who stepped up and shared their thoughts on this discrimination of feeding the hungry.

Stopping In to say Hi

 Checking in to say hi. I feel so badly for missing you all and neglecting my blogs. Lots going on for us, but everything seems to be in happy mode!  After my surgery March 3, 2025 I was miserable. I don't like to put that on others so I stayed quiet. I will say the one negative which I truly dislike is the fact that my surgeon never once mentioned I could and I do have permanent nerve damage in my neck. I know how blessed I am to have survived it all but that was a hard pill to swallow. The only advice doctors seem to dole out is, we have give you medication to help! No thank you. I have better methods to deal with it, it just took a long while.

So on to better days...yesterday we attended the sweet little church our grand daughter Jacey attended when she was a youngster. The pastor  who celebrated sweet Alastor Avery's short life in 2019 for the phamilies and spoke at  our son-in-law Roger's celebration of life in December 2022 is still that same wonderful kind hearted gentle man. So Jacey said let's all go to church together. Rebekah our middle and Avery, my husband's twin (they are both middle children) mentioned it to Jacey and as  these precious gals attended our city's meetings regarding several issues these past two years. Pastor  was criminally fined for feeding the homeless in our city's park. It is a very sad situation but our girls went to bat for him so he was able to sit with some city officials and talk respectfully about this difficult subject. 

The homeless crisis is all over our country. If compassionate people do not reach out and feed them are any of us really following Jesus? It is a hard question many officials do not like to address. Sweep it aside and it should disappear. 

We attended church with the pastor and his small but amazingly wonderful congregation last weekend. They share a church building with another pastor so they celebrate on Saturday. It was a wonderful service and the young people impressed us. They were worshipping with their whole hearts. Kids today have so much thrown at them, school shootings, bullying, all the craziness of the world . Something my generation never had to deal with. I never regret one moment I spent worshipping in church as a kid.

At church this weekend  many in the congregation spoke about needs. One gentleman is involved with an organization that helps provide wells for clean water in small villages in many third world countries. One gentleman spoke as he and his wife were once homeless and that is something he knows first hand about. I personally felt the Holy Spirit moving in church yesterday. A lady spoke about spending time at a Jewish synagogue in our suburbs where she learned much about her Jewish history she was unaware of. Although this particular synagogue has had many threats they keep worshipping.  Other people from the congregation spoke about needing prayer for others and shared many answers to prayer as well.

The music, which pastor also participates in was wonderful and I love the simplicity of the church. They serve dinner afterwards. Our kids Rebekah and Zach and grandson Colton and grand daughter Jacey and their two kids  Harrison and Shea stayed to visit with others and enjoy the wonderful meal. Avery and I had to skedaddle. The B& B brothers were at their late summer baseball league. Oh the joy of watching them. Both teams played really well and it was fun to see them. They just returned from their Disneyland adventure. 

                                                       A game so fine it's played on diamonds!

The boys have two more games this weekend and next. Then they will start flag football in November indoors. Keeps them busy. Yesterday celebrated their one year anniversary since their accident. We are all so extremely grateful  for their recovery. Our son Jeremy is doing well also.

Next week I will snap a few photos at church. It is so nice to be here with you and thank you for the friendships.

Feline Friday

I hope you visit Mimi and share your feline too. I will get back into the regular groove soon. Thanks!

 

Pondering God's Word for Graduates Tuesday4 Aw...Mondays

 

Sunday, June 1, 2025

~~The Best Part of Waking Up~~

Well hello again!  I am so glad you stopped by and I do hope you are here to join in for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

We ask 4 questions each week to get you blogging, thinking, discussing and visiting with other bloggers.

The commercial song said "the best part of waking up in Folger's in your cup".  

1. What is in your cup in the morning?

I am a yea lover but lately my husband has me on this iced coffee kick. Our youngest girl Hannah uses Nescafe for Lattes and although it is really strong it is also really good.

2. What brand of coffee or tea is the best in your opinion and why do you think so? We like the Kaui Vanilla Macadamia Coffee but we also have used Tim Horton (not impressed), Folgers (great long time coffee) and Dunkin.

3. Where do you drink your cuppa in the morning? Do you have a nice view?

Usually on the patio but we had some cold days with lots of rain so indoors. I like to 

watch Tom & Jerry cartoons in the morning. Lots of pet owners all around us so yes I love the view and love the birds singing, the squirrels getting into mischief. It is a funny scene most days.

4.Besides the morning, do you take little tea or coffee breaks during the day?    If you are out and about where is your favorite place to get some tea or coffee?

We go to McDonalds. Very impressed by the people who work at local one, polite,

always making the iced coffee drinks perfectly and it gives me a chance to leave some money in the Ronald McDonald House box. Two people I know personally used their services and 100% of your donation goes to fund the houses with free shelter and food for parents staying at local hospitals with sick children. Otherwise I have so much tea so I can whip up a tea hot or cold to enjoy mid day.

Devin, Christal and Alex's youngest child graduated high school. Avery was having a time with his asthma due to the allergies and all the rain so we had to stay home. Rebekah and Zach went and enjoyed seeing everyone. Jaslin works at a Starbucks in Boulder , attends classes and dates on of the CU Buffs kickers. He is a handsome young man, but we have not had the opportunity to meet him. Alexis attends Creighton U in Nebraska while her sweetheart takes his classes at the university in Billings, Montana. It is hard to imagine the kids so grown up. Oh I failed to mention Devin is an excellent soccer player and has been great at kicking that ball since he was able to stand up as a small child.

" For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." 1 Timothy 4:4-5

Saturday, we went to pet the goats at the open spaces near our home. Oh the goats! There were so many of them and they came to the fence looking for us to give them food. They are actually quite polite when taking the treats out of your hands.  Please visit Aw.....Mondays

Saturday morning we were bright & early to get some fresh veggies at the Westminster

 Farmers Market. The cool guys who make the best smoked salmon and latkes were there to fill our bellies. We always split a plate because it is plentiful. They also have yummy pastries which we had later before leaving the market.

Sunday Stealing -- Stolen by Christina

 

May 30, 2025

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week we're stealing from Christina at Call Me Patsy. Back in 2008, she admitted she stole these questions from a blogging buddy named Liz. Here we don't judge. We celebrate such theft.

Questions Christina Stole from Liz

1. What bill do you hate paying the most? The mortgage

2. Which restaurant would you recommend for a romantic dinner? Saltgrass Steak House

3. Who was your first grade teacher? Sister Leocadia

4. What should you be doing right now? Laundry hahaha

5. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Annie Oakley

6. How did you choose the shirt you're wearing right now? I have a sundress on. First day without rain. Thought we were gonna need an ARK!

7. Gas prices! What's your first thought? Less than $2.75 here and we had a dollar off at our local King Soopers so $1.75 was sweet!

8. Do you have a teddy bear? YES! His name is "Old Friend" I love that silly ole bear

9. Do you own the last book you read, or did you get it from the library? I own way too many books. I should go to the library instead but I do love my book collection.

10. Did you more recently send a text or write a Post It? Text to my sweetheart. He is at work.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

 

 Brians Home

Such a precious share. Hi to everyone here in blogland. Missed all of you. Life is hard. I still pray harder.

Tuesday 4/ Friendly Fill In's and Feline Friday

 STAYING PUT MOVING ON

Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Sometimes we live in the same place where we were born and remain there all of our lives.

Sometimes we move away and never come back because of jobs, marriage, circumstances of all kinds.

Sometimes we choose where we will live and we have definite reasons for staying there even though we might be far from family.

1. Are you far from family and if so why? Would you like to have them closer and have you discussed that with them? All of our children are very close to us except one. Hannah and her husband and little boy are in upstate NY. My sister & one brother are 120 miles away from me and another brother about 1 hour away.

2. How did you come to live in the state you are in? How about the city/town. Both my husband Avery & I are Colorado born & raised. We have lived in this state our entire lives. He has lived in the Denver metro area since his 20's but I have been here in the Denver area since July 1983. My husband lived in KC, MO and Las Vegas, NV too. Ah...youth!

3. What good things keep you living where you are?

What's good about your state and town? We love Colorado except for the politics. We have lots of sunshine even on days when it is raining or snowing. There are lots of things to do and we love it. We love our town and neighborhood but the city recently put in place this pet limit. Instead of going after those who mistreat their pets, those who let them run wild even though there is a leash law and those that just don't care about their pets. But now we all suffer. Our daughter Rebekah went up against the city and we will remember this when it is time to vote. But of all the people there, the chief of police, the city attorney they stuck behind her when she spoke at a town meeting. So all the council people will hopefully be booted at the next election.

4. What things might convince you to move to another state or just another town?  My lifelong friend Karen and her husband Chris live in Boise, Idaho. It is my kind of place. The citizens rule, the police protect the citizens and if we could move it is the one place we would go. Their governor is no nonsense and they do not have the illegal problem so many of this sanctuary cities and states have. They have homeless people but nothing like we have.  I would also love to be a homeowner in our hometown. But unfortunately the liberal government has literally destroyed our town with drugs and illegals and homelessness and they could care less about their citizens who pay the taxes. My once beautiful childhood neighborhood as well as my husband's has been turned into a real hell hole! Very tragic and sad but again when the people keep electing the same sorry government you can not expect anything much. Like jobs or low crime.

"We have, as all will agree, a free Government, where every man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed." Abraham Lincoln

FELINE FRIDAY

Felix the Cat was a favorite of mine and I always wanted the wall clock of Felix with his tail as the pendulum. Stop by and say hi to Mimi today.

FRIENDLY FILL IN'S

Ellen and her co host Lorianne choose what we fill in. Thank these ladies for keeping this meme going.

 1. I know you are __________________when________________________.

 2. I am pleased with ____________________.

 3. I wish I had the super power of ______________so I could __________.

 4. I still have _________________from my childhood.

My answers:

 1. I know you are an animal lover when you care about pets so much.

 2. I am pleased with the results of my five star pancake recipe which I misplaced a long time ago. I made a batch today and they were delicious.

 3. I wish I had the super power of making lots of money so I could renew the old neighborhoods where Avery & I grew up. 

 4. I still have all my memories in my heart from my childhood.

" A house is made of bricks and beams. A home is made of hopes and dreams."

"The magic thing about home is it feels good to leave and feels even better to come back."

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND

 

                   HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE IN BLOGWORLD!

So many mom's will celebrate this weekend. I had an aunt who was unable to have children yet she was one of my many role models. Miss you auntie Ang. Loved celebrating with my mom and since both of these exceptional women are gone I celebrate them still.

" Mothers are like glue. Even when you can't see them, they are holding the family together." Susan Gale

            I need to think about this, a favorite of mine and recreate one for daughters too. 

 

Myself with my mom in about 1972. I sure miss her wisdom. Her strength, everything about her. She has been gone for 24 years this year and it is hard without a mom, especially a good mom.

Proverbs 31:10 " Who can find a virtuous woman? 

A mother is her daughter's home base. As she grows up she holds on to her mom's hand to steady her walk. She will be dependent on you until that day comes when she is not. She will open her wings and fly like a bird and start to live her own life. But no matter how old she is, how far away she lives, she will remember your strength when she was small and she will reach out to you when she needs advice regarding her own child rearing. Sometime she will see you in herself. It is funny, I have three daughters and one daughter-in-law. Our oldest girl is mom to three. We have always been very proud of her. She took her her late husband's two kids and raised them along with her one son. They are good people. You feel like you did something right. Our second girl is a "dog mom". Everyone has their own path they follow and this girl loves her pups. She is very much like me, if she reads this, she will knows it is the truth. Many times she has said, "I was shopping and I saw this, so I bought it! Oh no, I am turning into you!" She makes me proud. Our youngest girl is mom to one and she is a very good mom. She was a pre school teacher so she has lots of experiences with other peoples little ones. Their little boy is a wonderful child. He is her shadow and there are days he looks just like her  and in the blink of an eye, he is his father's son.  Then our daughter-in-law. She is a good mom too. She can balance a teenage girl and two boys that have been a difficult road after a horrific car accident. She balances everything with grace. It is a blessing all of our children have had soulmates and they have worked together with their children and pets too. My mother would often tell me I was very blessed. She would say God gave you a good husband and healthy children. What more do you think you need? and.....she was so right. 

"Children, if you want to  be wise, listen to your parents, and do what they tell you, and the Lord will help you. For the commandment "  Honor your father and your mother , was the first of the ten commandments with a promise attached; y" You will prosper and live a long, full life if you honor your parents." Ephesians 6:1-3