HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

Can you believe that 2008 is just around the corner? Needless to say, it's been a year of many different happenings in our family. In January 2007, all our kids and grand kids were able to spend a couple weeks in Georgia and Florida. This was our Christmas gift to our kids. What a blast! Then we found out in January (while in Florida) that Nick and Amanda were going to have another baby (grandchild #3). Cory and his new wife Shannon (married in August of 2006 were there with us. A couple months later we found out that we were going to be grandparents again (grandchild #4). Cool, huh? On September 8, 2007 our first grand daughter Arianna Jane Church was born to Nick & Amanda. Then one month and 3 days later, October 11, 2007, Cory and Shannon had their first son Cian Andrew Church. I wish we could be grandparents every month. :)God has blessed us with 4 beautiful grand children. Bryson Church just turned 5 years old, December 27th, 2007. Ezekiel Church turned 3 years old last July. Nick and his family live in Rincon, Georgia where he is a youth pastor and Cory and his family live in Spearfish, South Dakota where he is a manager of a car dealership that his father-in-law owns. Cristal lives home and is working at JCPenney at the Midland Mall.
On May 16, 2007, I had major surgery here in Midland. I had what they call DBS surgery. Deep Brain Stimulation. I had tremors for 6 years (which they were doctoring me for Parkinson's) I do not have the disease and tried telling them that as for 6 years I was taking medicine after medicine that never worked. I finally was told that this brain surgery would be my answer which I can joyfully say it worked. I am typing this letter which was impossible to do for the last couple of years. At this point, I am doing great with operating the stimulator (which I turn on and off at night with a powerful magnet). I praise the Lord over and over for his healing power and for all the many people all over the country that prayed for me and my family during this very difficult time. Now I just have to deal with the other arm coming down with a frozen shoulder due to having to adjust to the stimulator being in the way but I have been getting use to its limitations but because of this my muscles have become frozen so getting a cortisone shot soon will relieve that hurt. It will always be an adjustment I have to live with but it has given me back much of my quality of life.
Now we are working on getting Kevin healthy again. For over a year now he has had terrible back pain. Now he has gone through many different tests and as of today he had what they call a discogram (very painful) but it will tell the doctors what the next step will be which we will find out next Friday, January 4th, 2008. All in all, it's been a year of many praises and a year full of ups and downs but GOD has always been with us through each one of them. We praise the Lord for our wonderful children that are serving the Lord and for the awesome grandchildren they have blessed us with. Having Cristal here during my recovery was a blessing because she was able to do many things for me that I was not able to. I didn't have to have anyone come in (outside of my family) to help me.
Mostly, I need to give many thanks to my wonderful husband for standing by me through all these years of going to doctors and other appointments. I love you forever.
I will be there for you throughout this new year with you facing uncertainties with your back.
What would we do without family and friends and mostly what would we do without GOD?
May you have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

After Christmas fullness

Well, if you are like us you probably ate to much and feel like Santa Clause (a bowl full of jelly) :) Why do we always eat to much? BUT--we always enjoy our time with family celebrating Christmas. Our family enjoyed a quit little Christmas with just Kevin, Cristal and I and then later on Kevin's dad and Marilyn and Uncle Clark came for dinner and then my folks came later on in the evening as they had to travel around to celebrate with other members of the family. The day was busy but we had a very good holiday together. Now we can think about bringing in the new year of 2008. MORE FOOD!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

The blessed season of Christmas is just around the corner. WOW! Kevin, Cristal and I would like to wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas. Let's remember the real reason for the season and that's the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord has blessed our family over and over through 2007. We have three wonderful children who have in return blessed us with 4 of the greatest grandchildren. May you all have a great holiday season and GOD bless you all.
We love you all and are very thankful for each and everyone of you.
Kevin, Tammie and Cristal

Can you beleive that Thanksgiving is over?

It's unbelievable to think that the holidays are all ready here. Thanksgiving has arrived and has left us. We had a great Thanksgiving with Nick, Amanda, Bubba, Zeke and Arianna in Georgia, and by the way, it was much warmer there also. Nick decided to deep fry his first turkey for Thanksgiving. It was so tasty. Our trip down there was to also bring back yet another Bricklin that Kevin bought a couple months ago. We also enjoyed seeing our grandchildren. They are growing so fast and especially AJ as you can see by the pictures. Make sure you check out Nick's blog to see some new videos of the boys saying their Bible verses they learn every week in their home schooling. I trust all of you had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING holiday.

BACK FROM SOUTH DAKOTA HEADING TO GEORGIA

Can't believe it but the two weeks spent in SD is over. We had beautiful weather and unbelievable views of the black hills, Devil's Tower, prairie dogs, mountains, hundreds of deer and of course the main reason was to see Cory & Shannon and our newest grandson Cian Andrew. What a lovely funny baby he is. I will miss mostly the meme and Cian time we had. Every morning we would be up together alone to watch the sunrise come over the black hills. Every minute the beauty would change just like the growth of Cian would change before I would have to leave. The little guy grew so fast and how fun it was to watch him do so. Cory & Shannon you are very good parents to our grandson.
Believe it or not, we are getting ready to leave a week from tomorrow (Tuesday) to head down to Georgia. Yahoo!!!!! We will be spending Thanksgiving weekend with Nick, Amanda, Bryson, Ezekiel and Arianna. Can't wait to see them all especially our little AJ as she is 2 months old now. She is growing so fast. Check out the blogs for Nick and Cory to keep up with the events. Kevin and I are looking forward to another trip as we are driving down for this one and we are also taking my mom and dad with us so they can see where their grandson Nick and his family live and visit their great grandchildren.

visiting Cian

Here is our little South Dakotan. What a blast we have been having with him and of course, Cory & Shannon. The mountains are beautiful and we were able to go to Devil's Tower. What an awesome sight! How can anyone say, "There isn't a GOD!" It's absolutely breath taking.
Cian is breath taking also. How alert - all the time. We are enjoying the time of spoiling him. He will be growing up so fast when we leave but he has great parents that will rear him with lots of love, care and memories. Like Nick always say, "they will have to degrandmatize" when we leave to go home. :)

Flying to South Dakota

Here we are finally heading out to see our latest grandson Cian Andrew Church.
Today, October 25th, he is two weeks old. On Saturday, October 27th, we will be seeing him for the first time and we are so excited. The time we have to spend out there will be to short but we are going to enjoy every second that we can and cherish our time together.
Cian has all ready filled our lives with happy moments and I am sure he will
continue to do so. Our three other grandchildren living in Georgia have also
filled us with much joy and laughter. Praise the Lord, as grandparents, he has given us the ability to take advantage of being able to fly and travel to see
them all. Pray for our safety there and back.

The BIG 50

I made it to 50! Half a century year old! Sounds nasty doesn't it? BUT I am so thankful to my Lord for his healing power this last year. I enjoyed this birthday much more than in the past because it was pain free and tremor free. I praise the Lord over and over.
Kevin & I had a great weekend together as we celebrated then as my birthday was in the middle of the week. We did a lot of shopping and Frankenmuth. It was a lovely day. Then Kevin surprised me again in the evening of my birthday with friends and family showing up to have snacks and cake & ice cream. It was a fun evening. Thanks to everyone that came. Thank you Kevin for being such a wonderful husband and standing by me through my surgery and recovery time. I love you!!!!

Cian Andrew Church

He's here and boy are we excited. Cian was born on Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 10:30 pm and is 20 1/2 inches long. What a beautiful baby boy. God has blessed Kevin and I with four beautiful healthy grandchildren. We have enjoyed being grandparents again the last two months. Infact, having a grandchild every month is quite fun. :) We will be heading to South Dakota on October 27th---13 more days. Can't wait!!! We are anxious to see Shannon's family and enjoy the birth of our grandson with them.
Shortly after we get home from SD we will be heading to Georgia for Thanksgiving to see Nick and Amanda, Bryson, Zeke and Arianna again. Our latest granddaughter. We miss all of them. So a reminder to all who read this please pray for safety for flying (SD) and driving (Georgia).

FALL HAS ARRIVED

Unbelievable!!!!
It's hard to imagine but FALL is here although the heat this last weekend makes it feel like summer. It has been in the low 90's for October, Unusual.
Before the week is done it will feel like fall once again. In the 60's and maybe 70's. Any way, just wanted to share a couple pictures of my fall decorating in the front yard.

Our new addition to the church family

Well, it's been an exciting month of September. Sadly to say, I am back in Michigan now, although, I did miss my husband and daughter while I was there. I had the privilege to stay with Nick & Amanda and the boys during the arrival of our new grand daughter Arianna Jane. I was there for about 3 1/2 weeks. Now I am home waiting the arrival of yet another grandson due in October. I can hardly wait to make that trip.
Our grand daughter is such a blessing and GOD gave her good health and she is doing great! She is a very content baby and very good.
Our grandson's Bryson and Ezekiel are so proud of their little sister AJ. They love to sing to her and help mommy take care of her.
Nick and Amanda are wonderful parents to their children and GOD has blessed them and us as well with three very healthy grandchildren.
WE ARE SO BLESSED!!!!

Georgia Peach

Well, here she is. Our ittle Georgia Peach is finally here. She arrived on Saturday, September 8th at 1 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. 8 ozs and is 19 inches long. Lots of dark hair which she got from her oldest brother Bryson. On her left eye she has a little birth mark which she got from her next older brother Ezekiel. They both had it in the same place. She is a joy to be around and so far so good with the sleeping and eating schedule. She is adjusting quite well. Lots of fun to see all the cute little dresses on her.

Zeke singing to AJ

This was Zeke's first encounter with his new little baby sister Arianna Jane. He ran into the room, gave mom a kiss and hug, and then threw down his toys and put his arms out and waited to hold his baby sister. Listen to him as he sings her a song!

On the Road Again!

This weekend we head down to Nick and Amanda's in Georgia. Can't wait to see everyone, especially Bubba and Zeke. Proud grandparents, can't ya tell!! I have to return on Labor Day to what else-labor, bring home the bacon, put the bread on the table, work for "the man", support uncle sam, well enough of that nonsense. Tammie will stay and help with the boys while little AJ arrives. She sure is lucky being a full time grandma(meme) and enjoys it very much. I'll go back down a couple weeks later. Hopefully AJ will be taking up residence in the nursery by then so I can see and hold her. Papa's first granddaughter. Do you think she will be spoiled? Yes, I think so!
Before you know it we will be heading out to SD to see little Cian. Nick and Cory's families are growing and Meme and Papa are prouder than ever. Cristal is doing great with her new job and we thank and praise God for all these blessings.

Once Upon a Cool August Morn.

Well, I really hate to rub it in to all you sweltering southerners, but I will anyway. This is mid August and when we got up this morning it was around 57 degrees. Burr!! We lit up the chiminea, sipped coffee and munched on cinnamon rolls left over from the fair last night. It is unusually cool this weekend for August, but what a delight to just kick back, smell the cool air with a hint of burning pine, and watch the birds and squirrels go about their daily business. What a great morning, just to sit beside my love and enjoy life.

Midland County Fair

Hey Bubba and Zeke,
Papa and meme went to the fair and we had remembered the fun times that we took both of you boys with us. Meme was able to pet a two week old miniature horse. I also petted my favorite baby calves and a huge black cow. The black and white bunny was so cuddly and adorable. We ate lots of fair food like cotton candy, elephant ears, ice cream, corn dogs and of course, the famous Omar's Cinnamon rolls. Those are papa's favorites. :) We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect for the fair this year.

Us. The Beginning

As we continue with our "beginnings" theme we thought you all would like a little bit of history. It was 1977, June, right after High School Graduation. I went to my best buds graduation party. I asked him who that girl was sitting on the couch. He said she was his cousin. What's her name? Tammie. She was sitting with his sister. She(Tammie) said to his sister, who's that? Kevin. Well like they say "the rest is history". We first met that day, and within the first week of dating, although we hadn't said anything to each other about it but we were pretty sure we would be seeing a lot of each other. Let's see, how about 30 years worth now. Well after our 4th week of dating we started talking about the "m" word. Yeah, marriage.
So, six months later we were married on a beautiful lightly snowing January evening. We honeymooned in Florida, and I don't care how old I get, the Magic Kingdom will always be a special place for us. We were young, but not foolish. We took whatever life threw at us and tried to make the best of it. "We" got pregnant early. Rats, no motorcycle trip to Niagara Falls, but we knew we were going to have a family to raise, and that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. You see we weren't exactly living a "good" christian life, although we were going to church. What hit me was the fact that I , whether I liked it or not was going to be an "example". What were our children going to see in me, their "father". Wow what a responsibility. Well enough rambling on. God has given Tammie and I three beautiful children. And I believe I mentioned before that the boys have married beautiful christian ladies(we prayed for them since the boys were born) and are now giving to us beautiful grandchildren, to whom I again must be an example to. We are still praying that our daughter will find the christian man that God would have for her , but we know that will come in His timing. Wow what a life God has given to us. We've had our share of medical problems, heartaches, and tough life changing decisions. No, life is not always easy, but we look at the family pictures on the walls all around our house and say "thank you God" and good night.

sunflowers

I planted sunflowers this year for the first time. How fun to watch them grow. My tallest one now is between 10.5 to 11 feet high. Unbelievable. The picture that you see has a bumblebee right in the middle of it. The span of this blossom must be close to 6 inches or more. They are all so tall that the neighbors are getting to enjoy them also. Have a great day.

We've only just begun.

Yes, we've only just begun. Sounds like a song does'nt it. Actually we've only just begun this blog site. Inspired by the talent of our children(I say children but now they are having their own children-save one)although she has a dog so that might count some how. They have blog sites which keep us updated on day to day happenings and pics. We laugh, we cry, we have LIFE! and we LOVE! it. Well we will try our hand at this thing called the Blog.