18 March 2012; a very busy, very family day

It isn't very often that I get family in town to join us on Sunday. But this weekend was different; we had family in from New York, West Virginia, and Nebraska. We had ourselves a mini-familiy reunionThey joined Joanne and me at Timberlake UMC East for breakfast and the morning service.

 My sister Dawna and Randy Lewis and my sister Paula and her daughter, Mariah Kohrt were in from Omaha. My dad joined us, along with grand-daughter Lila Harrington at the table.

 Dave and our daughter, Courtney Harrington, along with our other grandchildren; Thomas, Taisie, and Levi were in from Albany. My brother Aaron Johnson was in from Charleston.

 Along the other members of our church we had a great breakfast of egg, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, pastries, juice, and of course coffee.

After Sunday service, all the girls went to a baby shower for Jeremiah and Kate. Jeremiah was the only guy there, the rest of us abandoned him to all the ooohs and aaahs of the opening of baby gifts.

cupcakes on a stick

It won't be long, at least that is what we all thought at the time.

Paula and Dawna at the shower.

Courtney with her little brother.

Leah helps opening and inspecting the gifts.

"Help me, please!"

That same evening we all gathered at Charley's restaurant to celebrate Paula's and my birthdays. Paula's was on the 17th and mine was coming up on the 23rd.

Paula had already had her cake and this one was waiting for me. Ol' Grumpy sitting on the edge of the stream. Joanne's cousins, Charlene and Mary Beth, made and decorated the cake. A fine cake, as is expected for someone turning 60.

Dad and Randy

Jeremiah giving Mom and Karen the baby shower details

Taisie

Aaron and Kate, along with Lila and Leah.

Joanne and Dawna

Lila and Leah

Thomas, Taisie, and Levi

Jeremiah and Lila

Jeremiah and Kate

Aaron trys a reenactment on Dad

Joanne and I with our grandchildren, r to l, Levi, taisie, Leah, Lila, and Thomas.

Mom and Dad with their 5 children. Front - Karen, Dawna, Paula. On the sofa - aaron and me, with Mom and Dad.

Mom and Dad with grandchildren ans Great-Grandchildren

Christmas Day 2011

Our First Time in the Snow with Tiger and Princess

Yesterday we got our first snow of 2012. It was also our first time to have Tiger and Princess out in the snow. We were wondering how they would react to it, since our last dog, Millie, absolutely hated the snow.

I have to admit, I was very surprised that after a short while of walking and burrowing, Princess sat right down in the snow watching Tiger chase birds.

They both ran and jumped through the snow. Our little "snow angels", just look at them fly!

Joanne tried taking pictures of the children with her phone, but they moved too fast. By the time the picture took, they had moved to another part of the yard.

They were so much fun to watch, checking out the whole yard. The would stick their noses down in the snow sniffing. Talk about brain freeze!

Tiger a very intent on watching and chasing any birds that landing in the the trees or the brush pile we had in front of the house. He really got upset about a Robin that had landed across the street in a neighbors driveway.

Later when it had snowed more, covering the street, we went back out. Princess didn't care to stay out very long that time, she got chilled quickly. I took her inside for Joanne to dry off. But Tiger had no desire to come inside. The snow was up to his chest, but there were still birds to chase. I finally had to pick him up and carry him in the house.

I was going to try taking them down the hill on a sled this evening, but the temperature has gotten up and the streets are now clear of snow. Maybe next time we get some snow I can teach them to make snow angels.

Ash Wednesday at Timberlake UMC East

On the evening of Ash Wednesday we had a really sparse crowd. Actually, besides Joanne and myself, we had our piano player and one member of the congregation. Nonetheless, we had service.

 Debbie Johnson, our piano player at Timberlake UMC East

Henry McClanahan receiving his ashes.

Even though we were few, we still had a meaningful service. Sometimes, God just blesses the little things, just as much as the big. He is no respecter of persons or numbers.