Kristen Joy

Wendy's World
Some facts about my girl.

She's been married for a half year already!
She lives 1068 miles from me.
She is giddy happy.
She has a great job.
She loves to cook.
(especially anything that can be placed between 2 piecrust)
She is coming to see me in two weeks.
She contacts me daily.
She loves Texas.
She loves Felix.

It does this mothers heart good 
to know her daughter is happy.
I can't think of anything better.
(except maybe if God would like to move her 1100 miles east)

I do love having a daughter. 
I know I am blessed.


Wendy Is A LuLu

Happy Sunday friends!
I haven't sat down and blogged in forever.
My life has been cray cray!
or maybe its me that's a little cray cray.
Probably the latter.


No worries...
all is well.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.
The family came to the river 
and we spent the day being thankful.

Actually,
we cooked and cooked and ate and ate.
I don't understand why we put ourselves 
through this misery but we do.
It's somewhere in the rule book.

Maybe Trump will fix it.
I think 1/2 the country thinks he is gonna fix everything.
Go Trump!

We are in full Christmas mode here in Wendy's World.
I have a few (or more) trees up.
I did a coastal tree with teal and gold.
I love it.

I recently got a new computer which is a big reason that my blogging has slowed.
I haven't figured out where to plug my camera in.
I don't like change.
I rebel.
I have every intention of taking pictures of my Christmas 
this year and sharing them with you.

Are you finished shopping yet?
Me either.

It's going to be here before you know it.

My DIL took this picture of the kids and I just love it.


Must they grow up so quickly?
I don't like it.

I hope you are having a wonderful December!
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
Are people happier this month?
Seems like it.
Maybe we are all a little lulu 
and it comes across as happy.
I'm good with lulu...
fits right in with my cray cray.



4-H Projects

The county fair is in town right now and 
the 4-H club the kids are involved in 
encouraged entering a project.

Each kid got to choose what they wanted to enter.
They handed in their projects this week.

Elijah chose photography.
He has a good eye for pictures.
So impressive!

Wendy's World

Kacey loves anything artsy. 
She loves to paint, color, draw, write and anything that is creative.
She chose to do a sewing project for her entry.
She sewed this adorable bag she plans to carry her 
Bible to church in.
She did it all by herself on a sewing machine.
Yeah Kacey!

Wendy's World

Wendy's World

Dani loves baking.
She decided to bake cookies for her entry.
The whole family benefited from her choice.


Wendy's World
Wendy's World

Wendy's World
Her favorite part is getting to lick the beater.
Can't blame her! 

Wendy's World

Had to add this shot of Elijah at the 
Georgia State Fair last week.
Looks like a natural.

Wendy's World

We haven't gotten the results from their entries.
It was rewarding for me to witness their excitement in creating something all by themselves.


Grandkids At Wedding

I have been wanting to share about the grandkids at the wedding that seems only weeks ago but guess what?!
It's already been 6 months.

Kristen & Felix's wedding was so wonderful.
All the family together makes for a happy mother.
We all flew out to Texas.
Can you imagine how excited the grandkids were?
They love flying.
They were thrilled to be in Aunt Kristen's wedding!
Add the fact that they were getting a new uncle.
They think Felix is a prince.
They even call him Prince Felix.

Joyful is how I describe the whole occasion.
I have a katrillion pictures.
I thought I'd share a few of my grandkids.


No one looks all too happy in the picture below but I had to document Abigail.
Her dad pointed at his eyes to remind her to look forward.


She cracked us up when she pointed at her eyes and told him to look forward also.
Really funny if you know how weddings 
are not my sons favorite thing. 




Elijah feels like his Pops.
Mark always said he wanted to find the inventor of the tie 
and hang him with it.

I'm not sure how the tie came about but they sure look handsome.


Hope you are having a wonderful week.
We are expected to have cooler here in Florida this weekend.
Halleluiah! 

Love to ALL!


How 'Bout A Little Fire, Scarecrow!

Wendy's World

The Anchor Holds

I don't know about you but I sure am glad the past week 
has come and gone.
I have always loved a good storm.
When I was young, my mom celebrated EVERYTHING.  Hurricanes were no exception.
Growing up in Miami, we had regular afternoon thunder showers.
It was a party. We would count one mississippi, two mississippi to see how many miles that lightning strike was from us. 
We would go ahead and turn the lights off 
so we could light the candles.
Today, the media encourages buying water, 
cases and cases of water.
Back in the day, mom would clean out the tub 
and we'd fill it just incase we needed good drinking water.
Today, we fill our tubs so we have flush water, 
which I might add is quite enjoyable.

Our new (to us) house on the river is at sea-level. It brings on a whole new world of issues that we are just learning how to deal with.
Docks floating away, neighbors docks landing in our yard, 
toilets that have no where to flush,
water in the house.
I must say, it is no less fun. 
It changes up the daily mundane world 
that we have grown accustomed to. 
It provides an opportunity to purge and clean and redecorate.

This is our dock just after Matthew.
Doesn't look too bad.


Get a little closer.


Could have been worse.
We are in the middle of replacing the old pilings with new and improved ones. They were about 1/2 way done before the storm.

Doing without teaches me to be more thankful for the simple luxuries that I am spoiled to enjoy.
1. Ice
2. cable
3. flushing toilets
and in that order.

The sailboat below weathered the storm pretty well.
Can you see the boat behind it?

She is sitting on dry land.

Not sure if you can tell,
the rope connected to her anchor is right where it was dropped.
Reminds me of the song The Anchor Holds.
It reminds me of no matter what life hands us,
The Anchor Holds. 
Jesus is my anchor and He is always right there.
No need to stress.
No need for worry.
Trust Him.

Easier said than done!
The night before the storm hit us,
the news announced to expect a 9 foot storm surge.
Well, if that would have actually occurred,
our house would have had about 5 feet of water in it.

Mark and I decided to run back to our house and grab a few things. 
As I walked through the house,
we had already stacked things high.
It was eerie to look at all our "stuff."
I tried not to be anxious.
I know I trust Him.
It was emotional.

Our neighbor, who stayed and weathered the storm,
sent us a video of our property. 
Water did enter our house. 
The back den is lower than the rest of the house.
It got about 3 inches in it.
We had emptied it.
We have terrazzo floors.

When we came home to access the damage,
we walked in and the floors were dry.

The tide came in and went out just the same.
I was so surprised.
God is good!


Life is getting back to normal.
Hopefully, 
no more Matthew's for a long time.

Of course,
there will be other traumas and crises.
Hopefully, my faith is a little stronger 
and I will trust Him a little better.






One Glorious Summer

Fall is around the corner.
I've been ready since the middle of July.
I don't remember a summer so hot.
I am pretty sure it has something to do with my age.

I must say,
it was a glorious summer.
We moved to our dream location on the river.






Our daughter married the dream of her life.

Welcome to the family Felix! 
You are exactly what we needed.
Thank you for making my daughter happy.


We did a little traveling.
South Florida, Texas, North Carolina 
but pretty much stayed around home.

We have spent many wonderful hours 
with family and friends.
Logged plenty of beach hours,




and spend the night with MiMi hours.


Nothing cuter than sleeping kids.
They are worn out from the 
hours of searching for Pokemon.

It has been a jam-packed summer.
Did I mention I am so ready for Fall?

If you follow me on Pinterest,
you have seen these but I think I need them.
They speak to me.





So non-traditional.
Who am I?
I know!

I love them.
I need some pumpkins.

Bring on the Fall!















Get Me To The Church On Time


She is married.
My little girl.


A perfect match,
Kristen & Felix met 2 years ago at church.
I couldn't have chose a more perfect son-in-law.


With hearts for the Lord and a deep desire to serve Him and others,
these two couldn't make me more proud.


My cup runneth over.

You know I couldn't wait to post something.
I plan to write more after I go through all the pictures 
and  I come down from this cloud.
I am so blessed!








From Sea To Shining Sea

America, America, God shed His grace on thee.

Are you singing with me?

I love this time of year.
I am thankful I live in America.


I have several beautiful table scapes 
on my Pinterest page.
I thought I'd share a few with you.


Pinning them and sharing them with you
shows you my taste and I receive enough satisfaction 
from it that I find it's not necessary 
for me to get out all my decorations.
Win, win.


I always plan to go see the fireworks
but by the time July 4th afternoon arrives,
I prefer to just watch them on the TV.
I need to get my heart right.


Now, this pretzel/berry display looks doable.



How cute are these mason jars?
I could so do them!

I was going through past blogs and found some 
pictures of my beautiful grandkids.



Wasn't this just last year in Kansas?
Where did the year go?




I went a little further back to find this one of Abi.
I could just eat her.


I couldn't sleep tonight.
I did some praying.
I painted.
I mopped, did some laundry, wiped down things.

Then I thought I'd blog.
It's 5 in the morning.
Hope I'm not delirious.

Anyways,
I do love our country.
I am thankful for the freedoms we enjoy.
We are a blessed nation.
I pray blessings on you.

Have a safe 4th!!