Then around 4:00 we made our way to the big-top to see the circus. It truly was nostalgic. The owner of the circus was a member of the Ringling family who wanted to preserve the big-top and side shows of an era gone by. There were tents set up with side shows; there were tigers, horse back acrobats, clowns, trapeze artist, jugglers, balance masters, trained dogs - the show lasted 2 hours. Then to add to the nostalgia, the circus only sold circus peanuts, drinks, cotton candy, circus coloring books, and face painting. It was a lovely time and I'm really glad that Jason/Kendra allowed us the joy of experiencing it with our grandkids.

Grandma's ready to party!

The circus is coming to town! I read it in the Kokomo Tribune. I hear that the circus is making its debut with an old fashioned parade followed by the elephants putting up the big top! Now, this sounds like a party to me. So, I call Jason and Kendra to see if they want to share their children for a day! So, we picked up the kids at 7:30 pm on Tuesday evening; they spent the night and we got up bright an early to see the parade and the novelty of seeing the big-top go up by elephant power! What a treat. I have heard stories of the circus coming to town, but never actually have experienced the nostalgia of it all until today.

Here are the workers and elephants setting up the big-top.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love spring. Mushroom hunting, Robins building nests, baby Canadian geese waddling across the road, lush green grass, gardening and flowers! Yes, my flower garden is beginning to come to life once again. The yellow daffodils, jonquils, and early red and yellow tulips were lovely this year. I missed getting pictures of them. However, the later tulips are blooming right now, along with the bleeding heart and the lily of the valley. This morning I saw a hummingbird at my nectar feeder, so Spring is officially here in my mind! See how I planted short tulips right alongside tall tulips? cool . . . huh?

Mushrooms Everywhere!

Boy did I have fun hunting mushrooms today! My brother told me that he had hundreds of mushrooms at his house, so I took off today and went to Leiters Ford to hunt them with Jon. I thought when he said there were hundreds that he was stretching the truth, but when I walked into the woods I was simply amazed. There were mushrooms everywhere... well, after I got my "mushroom eyes" on. They are really hard to see. They look just like the leaves. Look at these pictures.

Easter was wonderful again this year! Jason, Kendra and the kids came for dinner on Saturday night. We had wet burrito's. I found a recipe online that we think is better than Hacienda's wet burrito. I made it for Jason 3 weeks ago, and when he told me they were coming, he asked me to make them again. Oh, they definately are not heart healthy - they are smothered in cheese. I do my best to use fat-free cheese, sour cream and no salt - but they still are artery blockers I'm sure. Nevertheless, they were great once again.

We had an Easter breakfast at church along with a sunrise service, then on to the most glorious worship service we have had at Grace UMC. You know, one of those Sunday's where everything was glorious and ran perfectly. We began with horns, trumpets, and choir fanfare - children processing the aisle with small flag banners, followed by adults carrying large "He is Risen" banners, the choir processing and the congregation joyfully praising Christ. Stephen knocked the sermon out of the ball park - and we concluded with the Hallelujah Chorus. Kinsen and Jaybin go to a very small house church, so I enjoyed watching their intrigue with the handbells, the horns, the acolytes, the banners, etc...

For Easter dinner I fixed baby back ribs - once again, not heart healthy. But Jason likes them. And anyone who is a mother knows that you like to fix your kids things they like to eat! Stephen got to eat three bones! He sure took his time to enjoy every bite. Jason/Kendra took the leftovers so as not to tempt Steve. And, yes, even with us working hard at keeping the fats, etc out of his diet, he did gain 2 pounds! Oh, the task master I will turn into when the kids are gone!

This is spring break week for Stephanie and Daniel - they are going to go to Savannah Georgia for the weekend. Sara and Chris are coming up from Florida and they will get to spend a couple of days together. Then,,, in 40 days we will all meet in Orlando for our great celebration of everyone's Doctoral or Masters degree!

Well, it has been 5 months since Stephen's heart attack. I would have to say that the past five months have been the longest, hardest months that we have ever had to experience. Yes, the healing is going well - and Stephen does get stronger every day. Yet, the process of healing is so much slower than I ever dreamed it would be. The anxiety that something is wrong is so very real all the time. If his arm aches, I worry. If his jaw hurts - worry. If his chest feels heavy or he has trouble breathing, I'm anxious. We have no idea what to expect in this healing process. Five months seems like a reasonable amount of time to heal and be back to normal, however, Steve is far from being back to his old self. He looks great and sometimes he even has energy, and other days he is exhausted, weary and drags around the entire day. There are days that his aches are excruciating. The doctors say that it is all part of the healing process.

Steve has a hard time calling the doctor with all of his aches and pains and Jayna wants to call with every thing. This morning Steve met one of his pastor friends who had open heart surgery 8 weeks after Steve's surgery. This pastor friend really put my mind at ease today as he declared (tearfully) that this was more than he can handle. He is still in terrible pain and has gone back to the emergency room 5-6 times, only to be told that his bone and muscles were cut and the pain is just part of the healing.

I should be more patient with Steve. He really has done a wonderful job of taking responsibility for himself. He has totally changed his eating habits. He exercises every day. I could not be more proud of him taking responsibility for his own health. I enjoy learning about nutrition and trying new recipes. He never complains about what I make - and I even laugh when he gets a popcicle instead of ice cream at night and he declares how wonderful it tastes.

We are supposed to go to Disneyworld with all of our children/grandchildren in 8 weeks. I jokingly tell our kids - "Daddy and I will take the kids mid-day back to the hotel for a nap - Daddy will need one by then!" I think our children are planning on having the time of their lives while Grandma and Grandpa take care of the nap routine. Sounds wonderful for the grandkids and Stephen . . . but I think Grandma will get the raw end of this deal! Or, maybe not. . . I am over 50 now, perhaps a nap will be welcome??

This will be a very busy holy week, with Easter coming in a few days. Jason, Kendra and the kids will be coming to our home for Easter Sunday. I have already purchased some easter eggs to hide. Kinsen called the other day to tell me about the new dress that her daddy bought her for Easter. She just can't wait for me to see her in it. Hummmm.....I don't have a camera. I'm going to have to fix that dilemna very quickly.

March 18-28

I certainly was blessed this past week. I packed up the car and drove all the way to Jacksonville Florida to see Sara's family and to celebrate Mason's first birthday. With it being "March Madness" Sara decided to make a basketball birthday party for Mason. We made basketball cakes, served concession food (you know . . . hot dogs, hot pretzels, nachos and cheese, cokes, popcorn, etc. . . then for the health nuts, she had fresh fruit).










Isn't Mason a mess!?


Stephen wasn't able to spend the entire week in Florida, so he flew into Jacksonville on Monday after he preached in Kokomo. We saw the hospital where Chris is doing his medical internship. We saw the naval base and we also were priviledged enough to be with Sara and Chris when they purchased their first home. Well, actually the realtor told them that their offer was approved and then suggested that they could take Steve and I over to see their new place. WOW! It is a beautiful home and we are so very happy for them.


While in Florida, we went to a park, went to Amelia Island; went to the beach; potted tomatos, green peppers, and herbs; went to St Augustine's light house festival; spent one entire day at church and enjoyed the grandchildren.

See how well Steve looks now?














After 2 days in Florida, we took off for North Carolina to see our other daughter, Stephanie and Dan. Steve went with Daniel to one of his theology classes and readily admitted that the professor was way over his head! Jayna and Stephanie went shopping at one of Jayna's favorite places to pick up Christmas ornaments. And yes, she found another perfect ornament for Daniel's Christmas tree - For those of you who don't know it, Jayna buys her daughter-in-law the most obnoxious Mermaid Christmas ornaments she can find and lovingly presents this hideous mermaid to Kendra. For Daniel, she has found the most "precious", "lovely" animal character ornaments and this time she found a "kitty" that will adorn Daniel's tree something wonderful! For Chris and Sara, well Jayna finds motorcycles (and harley davidson stuff) to adorn this tree. One of the ornaments sings "Born to be wild"! Chris loves these ornaments, and Sara . . . well . . . let's say that she just rolls her eyes. My camera was dropped and thus broken, so I don't have pictures of our time in North Carolina. however, we had a wonderful time and Steve seemed to weather this little trip fantastically!