Merry Christmas from a Distance!!

Drove up to Washington-Crossing, PA with my Mom and sister to be with my daughter, her husband and three kids for Christmas. It is beautiful here and tomorrow on Christmas Day we'll go and watch the reenactment of Washington crossing the Delaware. It is crazy here so I hope to post photos later. Merry Christmas to everyone!!! Missing the rest of my family that isn't here!

Beach in the Winter

Took my 90 yr. old Mom with me on some errands yesterday and we stopped to watch the ocean from the car and opened the car windows to hear the ocean and to smell the salt air.

On Wednesday a friend had some of us over for lunch at the condo she was staying in - on the 14th floor. It was really beautiful but I think I still prefer my beach at ground level!

The Manger Scene

The Dorman family very kindly lent me their manger scene to put up in front of my townhome and today I got it out of the back seat of my car and tried to set it up. It is 37 degrees outside right now at 7:20 pm so I was really cold setting it up and having a lot of trouble figuring it all out. I like to do jigsaw puzzles so how hard could this be?

I found the top photo after I came inside and searched "manger scene" and then took a photo of what I actually did. I'll change it in the morning - just wanted to give my blogger friends a good laugh!

Master Gardener???

Quite awhile ago my daughter's boyfriend gave me this Christmas cactus. The plant would grow flower buds and then they would all drop off. This happened over and over again. At the beginning of the summer I put the plant outdoors and told it that it was on its own - live or die - go or stay - whatever!!! I did water it - and - here it is!!! The miracle Christmas cactus because you know I had nothing to do with this!

Lauren's Birthday

Today's my third daughter's birthday! She's all grown up now with four year old Caedmon, and twins, Aldan and Theron, 18 mons. old. But today I remember her as my new baby girl.

When she was born my husband and I couldn't agree on a name - it was so embarrassing to me! Every name I suggested he said no to and every name he suggested I would say no to - they were coming around with the birth certificate and I called him at work and asked him what he thought about Lauren Merrill Adare and he immediately said, "Yes!" We both knew it was right. Merrill had been my maiden name and Lauren just seemed right.

My #2 daughter had been a C-section so Lauren was going to be a C-section and I was having her in a small hospital in Carlisle, Pa. and back in those days they didn't allow the husband in the delivery room with C-sections. The Dr. was a friend of ours and when he came out of the delivery room he told Alex that he was sorry that it was another girl. Well - Alex grabbed him by the front of his scrubs and got in his face and told him not to ever say that he was sorry it was a girl again! The nurses all told me this story - they were so proud of Alex! Lauren was the smallest baby I had at 8 lbs. 4 ozs. - her sister before her had been 11 lbs. 14 ozs. so we treated Lauren as though she was a preemie - I still laugh to myself about that!

Lauren was my first baby that I was able to have an actual decorated baby's room. It was a small room in an old house - maybe it had been a "sewing room" - but I loved it and it was perfect for her. We painted it "Winnie-the-Pooh" yellow with white trim - Sears had a crib, curtains, bumpers, sheets, lamp, hamper, and blankets all in "Winnie-the-Pooh" theme and we had it all for her. The room had two windows that looked out the front of the house and one on the other wall so it was always light and airy and mostly sunny.

When I took her to the doctor for her check up when she was almost one year old I told the doctor how she wasn't even trying to walk and I was concerned (my first daughter had walked when she was almost 10 mons. old - not that I wanted that again!) The doctor examined her and told me to go home and tell everyone they weren't allowed to pick her up - her two older sisters, Kristen and Heather. I soon realized that the reason she wasn't walking was because her sisters were carrying her everywhere and once we put a stop to that she was walking within a week.

I am blessed to have four wonderful daughters and each one is different and each one has so many special qualities. I admire Lauren because she lived through some really hard times that we had as a family financially and was able to accomplish graduating from Liberty University working very early in the morning at a bakery. Her sisters supported her in many ways, especially one time when Alex and I wouldn't give her permission to live off campus, they wrote or called the school supporting her desire to rent a house with other girls and got permission from the school.

Lauren is now a work in progress becoming a "Proverbs 31" woman - as a woman who loves the Lord and looks for ways to put her faith into action, wife, mother, keeper of the home, and marathon runner. I love you precious Lauren!

Sunrise at the Beach

Went to the beach the other morning to watch the sunrise. There were only one or two people there and they were far down the beach so it felt like a private showing.



Couldn't aim the camera right at the sunrise so I took this "reflected sunrise" photo.






When I headed back to my car I turned around one more time and saw this view:

Memories

This photo was taken on a camping trip we went on with friends in upstate NY.

Alex loved his four daughters - he was always singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" from the movie GiGi in a fake French accent:
I guess this was a serious moment for me!:

We knew each other in high school and we both went to the same church. He was friends with my older brother and would come over to our home all the time and hang out there. He dated all my friends and I took his photo with me away to college. Yes, I had a "crush" on him - I smile as I write the old-fashioned word.

When he came back from Viet Nam I was working for Eastman Kodak in New York City - I was a blond by then and when he came over to our house he finally noticed me - smile. We starting dating in October and he asked me to marry him in January and we were married in May.

We had a lot of really good times and good experiences and a lot of really really hard times but through it all I always knew that Alex loved me and only me and I will always treasure that knowledge.

In memory of Alex Adare who died six years ago today.