BITTERSWEET

Let's start with the sweet, shall we?


Today is my mom's birthday! And as I said on my Face book page, she doesn't seem to be slowing down at all!  (Yesterday was my sister's birthday - yeah, she was mom's little early birthday present!) We had a special day at church yesterday to both celebrate mom's sixty ninth birthday and to honor and thank her for being our pastor's wife. She was totally surprised which is what we were going after! As two of my little guys from our Children's Church class escorted her to the platform, she was weeping emotionally; then wept while on stage with the children as they sang to her; then wept some more while the kiddos presented her a huge poster board sized card they made for her; then continued weeping as her favorite soloists sang her favorite hymns/songs. After service, we had dinner on the grounds! (yep! We're good baptists and in the south! The only thing missing was the pimiento cheese! Hint, Hint Missy Bowden!)


Some things you should know about my mom:
*She loves God
*She loves my dad
*She loves hard work
*She has more energy than anyone else in our church
*She loves to organize other's homes
*She has been a faithful wife to a pastor
*She has moved all over the United States of America, alot
 (see point above!)
*She enjoys being invited to speak at ladies meetings
*She loves cooking for Ron and Ellie Kennedy
*She misses her great grand daughters beyond measure
 (they live in Paraguay)
*She misses her baby boy John, who lives and works in W.V.
*She still works full time
*She runs circles around me!
*She loves visiting with people
*She is very hospitable


Now just a few photos from yesterday---
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A few of my students from Children's Church presented their pastor's wife with a huge birthday card
 then sang Happy Birthday to her!
( Have I mentioned she wept?)

Sarah presented mom with a beautifully handmade scrapbook and a pretty bag full of birthday cards.

Tim confirms that this is indeed a special service to honor mom.

Some of my girls listening to Miss Stephanie sing.
(Steph is my teaching assistant.)

It was a blessing to our church family to see Becky Foust at services yesterday. She asked me to thank everyone for their prayers for her last week after an attack from a Chow Chow. The surgeon did an amazing job closing the tear in her face. A muscle inside also had to be repaired.

The pretty roses presented to mom yesterday.

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A closeup of the scrapbook and card bags presented to mom.

 Below, a tiny clip of Stephanie singing. I cut it short. I was sitting further back than usual and wasn't sure how well my camera was capturing her pretty voice.

Now, for the Bitter part of this post:


I was saddened to awake this morning to news of my niece Jackie experiencing a miscarriage this weekend. I had just recently blogged about her here. We rest in the grace of our Sovereign God who cares for each of us and knows what is best. Jackie and Brian are experiencing that amazing grace through this difficult time and rest in the fact of meeting their baby in Heaven.

Missing 'Em!!

Some days, I just seem to yearn for a hug or to hear a sweet giggle from these two precious little girls. They belong to my niece Jackie. She and Brian are awesome parents, raising their three little ladies up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. When I'm around these little gals, it seems all the cares of the world melt away. Sadly for me, they live on another continent! They are quite content there. It's where God has led them to minister. But still yet, I miss you Elena and Abbie! (Oh and baby Lexi too).

A Visit to our Neighborhood Park While Visiting With Us

What pleasant memories this photo brings! They were serving burgers and fries to us, pretending to work at a M*Donald*s. They would hand Tio Agustin handfuls of mulch. He would pretend they were french fries and act as if he was munching on them. They would just

GIGGLE AND GIGGLE!

Here's Elena in her Tia Pam's cowgirl boots. She found them in my closet - oh, I'd say within five minutes of arriving at our house! oh and notice the necklace, that's mine too! I'm smiling now as I recall how surprised I was that she found these items to play dress up in on her own and oh so quickly!

And now, purely for your enjoyment, a photo of Lexi Joy, the baby sister!

Dear Elena, Abbie, and Lexi:

Please don't grow up too, too much before I get to see you again!

Love,

Tia Pam

An Abby-ism!!!

My niece's little girl Abbie, recently told her mommy the following:

"Mommy, I miss Tia Pam and Taney Pooh. I call him Taney Pooh "cubuz" his is a funny boy!"

I can just see her tilting her head as she said that!

Just look at her! Who wouldn't miss such a doll?

Abbie, wearing a Paraguayan soccer jersey, eating her 4th of July watermelon. I'm glad her parents see the need to celebrate our American holidays even though they are ex-pats living in Paraguay.

Give-A-Way from Ally Jo's Erudition Blog

Some of the cutest stationary products you'll ever see are at Ally Jo's Etsy Shop! Check out my friend's Give-A-Way BY CLICKING HERE. I think you'll really love the Shakespearean themed note cards!

Go Paraguay!

My niece Jackie is too cute! Check out this link to her blog post. She put these photos up after Paraguay's victory over Japan today in the World Cup! The little country made history as they now move into the quarter finals of the biggest deal on earth to us soccer fans!

Home-in Paraguay

My niece and her little family arrived exhausted but safe after an all night flight with a 2 year old, 4 year old and the new 9 week old baby. Thank God they arrived safe and sound to join my sister and her husband who were already there. We will miss them greatly! Sunday was difficult for mom and I as that is the day we went over to get our final hugs and kisses before the little family left on their long trip. I did well at keeping my emotions in check. Usually I fall apart when Rita and her crew have to leave us, but I know the girls were so so excited about getting back to their home (Paraguay). Their parents are wise and the entire year here, they spoke lovingly of their field of service and built up the excitement so that it was only natural that the girlies were filled with anticipation about getting back to their lives in Paraguay! Elena and Abbie have been speaking with joy about their garden they plan on planting when they get back home. And the cutest thing is how they both talk about how their mommy is going to have more babies and Elena squeals: "I'm gonna have lots and lots of sisters and a brother. We are going to name him Jacob!"

I mentioned earlier that I didn't break down and boo-hoo in front of the children as we said our goodbye's Sunday afternoon. ( I did however turn quickly to run to my car when I felt the tears start stinging my eyes and my lips started quivering after the hugs.) That being said, I did break down twice today! The first break down came over me like a ton of bricks when doing my laundry, I came across a pair of Abbie's little size 2 panties. the second break down flooded over me while on my walk this afternoon. As soon as I turned the corner and BOOM, there was the playground where they had so much fun while here. The tears started flowing. It passed quickly as I kept reminding myself how they deserve to be in their own home ; in the land to which God has called their family to serve. I'm sure they are thrilled to be back in their beloved Paraguay after a long year here in the states. It's okay if I miss them though, isn't it?

She's Here!

Meet Alexandra Joy McCobb!!!

My niece Jackie had her baby and it was a girl!

She arrived Friday morning, Feb. 26, 2010 at 9:35 a.m.

Brian and Jackie (the happy parents) are pleased as punch that this, their second home birth went very smoothly!

Here I am enjoying the little butter ball! She is chubby and oh so short!

Elena is a very proud big sister! Can you tell?

Does This Make You Want to Curl Up With a Blankie or What?

I love watching this video of Abbie falling asleep in the car. It makes me feel so relaxed! What about you?

You can also get a quick peek of Elena in the back seat.

Look Who We're Retrieving from the Airport in a Couple of Hours!

YES! Elena and Abbie are arriving today for a two week visit. Oh and their mommy is coming too!! We are really excited around here!

Short Video Clips of My Great Nieces!

Notice how the girls giggle when Shane asks Abbie if she likes Pooh! (she had a little Pooh Bear appliqued on her dress)
When Shane first asked, "Do you like Pooh?" they thought he meant another kind of pooh! What you're about to see in the last two videos are reenactments.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BRIAN AND JACKIE!

Isn't it awfully romantic that my niece was married on Valentine's Day? Today, she and her hunky hubby, Brian, are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary!! Hard to believe it has been that long already! It made me start pondering on all that has happened in those last five years! Whew! She could write a book. My sister put up a short post about some of those fascinating events in Jackie's life. Click here to see photos and read more.

I wanted a wedding photo of the two of them to post here, but tsk tsk, I have none of them together. I do have a wonderful DVD of the entire wedding which I wish I could share with you all. It was a fantasy dream outdoor wedding!!! So gorgeous was the venue and the couple! They were married in Venezuela; but before heading to South America for the big ceremony, some paperwork and formalities had to be taken care of here. My dad officiated in a small, family ceremony and I do have some photos of that day to share here.

Many happy years to you and Brian, sweet Jackie! I love you both so much and am so happy you have gifted the world with Elena and Abby! I'm looking forward to more of such gifts! *wink*

The gorgeous bride!

Brian and Jackie with their little family. This photo taken in their backyard in Paraguay. It makes me very happy to know she is blessed with a godly young man who knows how to treat her well and is an excellent daddy to these two precious princesses they created!

Jackie and I after the small, family ceremony. I'm holding a photo of the two of us taken in Mexico when I cared for Jackie as a baby.
I had such mixed emotions this day. I was so happy Jackie had found the love of her life and was moving on to create a new life for herself, BUT just when I was getting used to having her near again, she was off to far away lands! You see, after caring for Jackie as a toddler, her family moved to Venezuela, allowing us to see her (my sister's family) only every few years when they would fly to the states for furlough or health issues. When Jackie graduated high school, she came to live in Tampa with my parents while she worked to save money for college. After a year or so, she was off to college, and then engaged, then married, then moved to Costa Rica, then moved to Paraguay!! I did get to spend some time with her between some of those moves which was great. She can always make me laugh! Especially when we talk about one of our late night trips to Dunkin Donuts and the guy thought we were economists because we were both doing math trying to figure out a deal! LOL We almost wet our pants on the ride home due to laughing so hard! (Both of us stink at math, but the guy behind the counter seriously asked: "Are you an economist?" and he asked in a nasally voice which Jackie can mimick perfectly!)

Not sure what Agustin said to them here, but it must have been funny. Fortunately it was after the vows, etc.!





Cute story! Shane always challenged Brian while he was dating Jackie. Shane said HE was going to marry Jackie, and Brian could NOT! Through the years they had several wrestling matches, fighting for Jackie. This particular photo was taken after the small civil ceremony. Shane finally did secede Jackie to Brian on this day!


Dad in the background signing the Marriage Certificate.