Thursday, May 31, 2018

May: Mother's Day, Copeland and Gideon's Bday party, etc.

I just "thought" April was crazy and things would slow down.....well, it was followed up by a crazy, busy but blessed May!!
The first Saturday of the month, my cousin, Holly Viets, planned a wonderful event for our "Boore" moms and their daughters/daughter-in-laws at the Oakview facility in Pittsburg.  More info about that is included in the posting, "Ted and Gladys Boore's Legacy."
Rachel, Jonathan and the kids came for a weekend visit Mother's Day.  We loved seeing them--it had been a long, long time since the whole family had stayed with us.
 
 Saturday evening was our annual Mother's Day Banquet at First Baptist.  Rachel and Eisley went with me.  We got some pictures in the yard before leaving:
 
 The banquet was one of the best!!  Great job to all those who organized it and to Jenae for speaking!  I was too busy visiting with family and friends that I forgot to take any pictures.  These two were taken by our special photographers, Peggy and Tasha:
 
 Sunday was Mother's Day.  I'm so thankful for my own Mom and the Christian home she raised us girls in!  Love you, Mom!
 And I'm so thankful for our daughter Rachel and the wonderful Mom she is
 As well as our daughter-in-laws, Michelle
 and Carman.  All wonderful Moms!! πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–
 Rachel's family joined Jeff, Mom and I for church Sunday and a delicious lunch afterwards.
 Mom won a prize for having the oldest child present (yes, that's me! πŸ˜„)
 The next Saturday, we drove to Ft. Smith for Copeland's 5th and Gideon's 1st birthday party!
And this precious boy turned 1 on April 27th!

 Mom and Dad did great with decorations and a delicious meal for all who attended
 With the "super hero" birthday boys
 Our family that was able to attend (the McCrary family also came, but I didn't get a pic)
 Gideon was DONE taking picturesπŸ˜†
 Copeland got a Spiderman Bicycle
We got Gideon this outdoor water play toy and they all had fun and got soaked!
 And we got Copeland this flat swing
 The Swart and McCrary cousins that came to the party
 The next day, Sunday, we had church in Galena, then the Mooneys and Jeff and I made a fast trip to Mt. Olive, Girard (my home church) for their 150th birthday celebration!
Mom and her friend Anita Melhorn had driven up to Girard in time for the morning worship service.  They picked up Anita's daughter, Ilene, in Girard first: 
 It was so good to see my high school best friend/maid of honor, Sheryl "Ragonese" Bruns.  Sheryl will always be a very special friend of mine!  We were so sad to learn that her husband, Alan, has been diagnosed with ALS.  We are sure praying for him!
 It was good to see many "old" friends and family.  Lynda "Lee" Johnson drove from Conway, AR to be there.  Her Dad, Bro. H.L. Lee pastored Mt. Olive two different times.  My cousin Holly and Aunt Freda also came to the event.
 We hurried back to Galena to attend graduation and a party for 3 of our graduates.  Garrett Hall, Dylan Watkins and Gracie Shoemaker were just "babes" when we came to Galena.  Now they are all grown up and graduated.  So proud of each one!! πŸ’™πŸ’—πŸ’™
 On May 22, precious Saylor Faye Swart turned 1 month old!! πŸ’–πŸ’–
For 7 years, May 22 has been a day to bring sadness to my heart -- remembering the devastation and loss to so, so many after the Joplin tornado tore through our area. But on May 22, 2018. it's a day of celebrating Saylor Faye's first month birthday!! You are such a blessing to us, Saylor and we love you dearly!!! πŸ’–πŸ’–
 Over Memorial Day weekend, Kaye and Bev came to Galena to spend time with Mom and I.
 We had a great visit, good food, fun game playing, etc.  Holly joined us on Saturday for a visit and games.
Sunday, Bev and Kaye went to church with us.
 In the afternoon, we went to Pittsburg and Girard and decorated graves (Aunt Bea and Grandma and Grandpa Brunk in Pittsburg; Grandma and Grandpa Boore, Dad and our baby brother, Dwayne in Girard)
 
 
While in Girard, we made a quick stop at Uncle Marvin and Aunt Judy's as Mom had left her Bible at Mt. Olive the Sunday before and they had it for her.  Always good to see them!
Thanks, Bev and Kaye for coming!!  We love you!
The last weekend of May/first 2 days of June were Galena Days.  As always, the days/nights are full with events each night and our church's chicken noodle dinner on Saturday.  It's a lot of fun and hard work for many, but a blessing to our community.  Jeff even won a little girls' bike that our granddaughters will enjoy riding whenever they visit us:
 
Galena Days ended about 11:30 Saturday night.....and Sunday night, VBS began (with 6 grandchildren and our daughter joining us)!! Whew and Whew!! 😍  A whole new posting for the week of VBS next! πŸ’“πŸ’“

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The Legacy of Ted and Gladys Boore

I was asked to give a devotional at a recent Boore women's Mother's Day event in Pittsburg.  I'm posting that devotional on my blog for memory sake and add some old pictures and a few new ones (from the event that weekend) at the bottom:

THE LEGACY OF TED AND GLADYS BOORE
The older I get, the more important family has become to me.  I’m so very thankful for the heritage and legacy that Grandpa and Grandma Boore passed down to all of us.  I have such fun memories of both of them:
Ø Memories of growing up in church with them
Ø Memories of those days of butchering (and the wonderful cracklins’!) 
Ø Memories of Christmas and that precious $5.00 that gave each grandchild! 
Ø Memories of a spotless house
Ø The water pump in the kitchen and baths in that big metal tub
Ø Lemon juice always in the frig (and Jan and I would sneak a sip every so often)
Ø Grandma’s delicious cooking (especially noodles and homemade tapioca pudding)
Ø Teaching us to drink coffee with lots of milk and sugar
Ø The outside building that Grandma kept so clean and we played in often
Ø The outhouse and then the beautiful purple indoor bathroom that always smelled so good 
Ø Memories of Uncle Wayne scaring the daylights out of Grandpa
Ø Of Grandpa eating a dozen hotdogs at a church Halloween party
Ø And, of course, the most hilarious memory – of when Grandma just knew she was pregnant on her 50th Wedding Anniversary!

I honestly don’t have any “bad” memories of Grandpa and Grandma.  What a legacy!!
I recently read this story about “legacy”…..

Proverbs 22:6:  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
In his book, A Spiritual Clinic, J. Oswald Sanders wrote about the lasting family legacies of two families from New York.
"Two families from the state of New York were studied very carefully.  One was the Max Jukes family and the other was the Jonathan Edwards family.  The thing that they discovered in this study is remarkable: like begets like.
Max Jukes was an unbelieving man and he married a woman of like character who lacked principle.  And among the known descendants, over 1,200 were studied.  Three hundred and ten became professional vagrants; 440 physically wrecked their lives by debauched lifestyle; 130 were sent to the pen for an average of thirteen years each, 7 of them for murder.  There were over 100 who became alcoholics; 60 became habitual thieves; 190 public prostitutes.  Of the 20 who learned a trade, 10 of them learned the trade in a state prison.  It cost the state about $1,500,000 and they made no contribution whatever to society.
In about the same era the family of Jonathan Edwards came on the scene. He was a man of God, who married a woman of like character. The study yielded the following concerning Jonathan Edward's descendants:  Three hundred became clergymen, missionaries, and theological professors; over 100 became college professors; over 100 became attorneys; 30 of them judges; 60 of them became physicians; over 60 became authors of good classics; 14 became presidents of universities.  There were numerous giants in American industry that emerged from this family.  Three became United States congressmen and one became the vice president of the United States."
The article concluded: “Never forget the impact your life decisions will make...in yourself, your marriage, and on your children.  In ways you will never know in this life, you are building a legacy that will last for generations!”

Which tells me that the very best legacy of Ted and Gladys Boore is the fact that they were strong Christians who raised their children in church and were taught to faithfully serve Jesus.  I believe they would be very proud of their family: A preacher son; a preacher grandson and three preacher great grandsons (and several others who are actively involved in ministry), missionaries, Deacons, S.S. teachers, schoolteachers and others in the educational field, nurses, PT and OT’s, IT’s, many quality professional people, farmers, hard workers and as far as I know, the majority of all their family are actively serving the Lord in their local churches!  Thankfully, I’m not aware of anyone in prison or a murderer!  Yes, each family has had their share of heartaches, divorce, and bad decisions.  We are definitely not a perfect family, but we are a very blessed family and I believe we owe a debt of gratitude to Grandpa and Grandma Boore!!
Think with me for a moment: if you could pass on ONE legacy to your children (or grandkids), what would it be? Oh man, I could think of so many….love, integrity, work ethic, courage, honesty, and on and on. But one legacy? You see, we are always passing SOMETHING on to our kiddos or grandkids. Things we learned from previous generations. Good things. Bad things. And even sometimes ugly things.  I want to encourage each of us to be like Grandpa and Grandma – and pass on the legacy of serving Jesus faithfully all the days of your life and loving your family always.
Let’s be more intentional with our legacy. A legacy of love. A legacy of faith.
Most all of you know I journal.  I won’t have much money or possessions to leave to my kids and grandkids, but I do hope they will treasure my journals and see how their Mom/DeDe prayed over them daily.  I want them to remember me as a woman of prayer who loved her Lord, loved her family and served Jesus.

To close the devotional, I read some of my favorite Scriptures on legacy:
“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children.
“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Isaiah 40:31:
“But they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”

DON’T GIVE UP!! Whatever it is you have been praying about concerning your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, push through your doubt!! Persevere!! Keep praying! 
I’m confident that Grandpa and Grandma did a lot of praying over each of us!

Let’s leave a legacy like Ted and Glady’s Boore!!

I did some research and came up, to the best of my ability, the legacy of Grandpa and Grandma to this date.  As of the end of this year (1 more grandbaby coming in the fall in my family and a new son-in-law for Brian and Patti a couple of weeks ago), Ted and Gladys’ legacy stands at 130.  I know this number will continue to multiply.   I appreciate Cheryl and Jan helping me with their family’s names and totals.  I am thankful for Facebook as that has helped to reconnect some of us who lived in different towns, states, etc.  Please forgive me if I “wear” you out with all my pictures on FB or my blog, but as I said earlier – family has become so important to me and I know I can never take a minute of it for granted, so pictures will be the memories I have, should something happen to one of us.
I love you all!

The Legacy of Ted and Gladys Boore
Edward, Wayne, Freda, Marvin

Edward and Dorothy Boore
Dwayne, Debbie (Jeff), Beverly (Don) and Kaye (Rob)
8 grandchildren and 25 (+2 coming=27) great grandchildren
Debbie’s family: Josh (Michelle), Andy (Carman) and Rachel (Jonathan)
Grands; Avi, Laine, Ellie, Copeland, Eisley, Shepherd, Gideon, Saylor, MacArthur and Kipling Edward (named after Grandpa Boore)
Bev’s family:  Shannan (Mike) and Shawna (Nathan)
Grands: Madyson, Zack, Tristan, Cooper, Noah, Alex, Hosanna, and Malachi
Kaye’s family:  Adrienne (Mike) and Matt (Kristin) and Rob’s daughter, Michelle (Steve)
Grands: Lincoln, Graham, Ellis, Nora, Owen, Megan, Nick, Ashley and William
Total:  52 (including spouses of children and grandchildren)

Wayne and Joan Boore
Janice (Carter), Cheryl (Kent) and Marsha (Marty)
13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren
Jan’s family: Emily (John) and David; grandchild: Madeline (Maddie)
Cheryl’s family: Heather (Lance), Corey (Annie),
Nicholas (Bobbi), Neal (Lauren), Sarah (Chris), Jeremy, Shaylene, Erika, Dee Dee
Grands: Colby (Jordan), Ryan, Damon, Hannah, River, Hunter, Tucker, Zeke, Arianna, Damien, and Ja’Kari
Marsha’s family:  Michael (Melissa) and Monica (Matt)
Grands: Michael A., John, Maddon, Maelee, Kamden and Mathis
Total:  48 (including spouses)
  
Freda and Jack Hardister
Holly and Greg (Michelle)
4 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild
Holly’s family:  Joel (Lindsey) and Shawnee (Josh)
Greg’s family:  Caleb (Lindsey) and Cara and grandchild: Bo Ryan
Total:  13 (including spouses)

Marvin and Judy Boore
Mark (Nancy) and Brian (Patti)
5 grandchildren
Mark’s family: Chelsea (Caleb), Morgan (Preston) and Aaron
Brian’s family: Paxton (Scott), Josh and Patti’s first little girl, Kayla
Total:  15 (including spouses)

Total in Ted and Glady’s Legacy as of
December, 2018:
130……and growing!!

Theodore J. Boore was born Sept. 14, 1901
Gladys "Geier" Boore was born March 22, 1904
They were married December 6, 1922
 They had 4 children:  Edward, Wayne, Freda and Marvin
I scanned some old pictures I found (some had dates on back, but many didn't):
1976 (possibly at the farm?)
This was taken for their 50th Wedding Anniversary, December 1972
Taken at Mom and Dad's -- 4 Generations:  Grandpa and Grandma, Dad, Beverly and Shannan-- possibly summer of 1979
 This was taken at Grandpa and Grandma's farm and that looks like Shannan in Bev's arms, so probably Christmas 1979
1980 
 1981
1981--Josh and Shannan on Grandpa's lap; Andy standing in front of Grandpa and Adrienne standing by Grandma (and not happy)
I don't know date
Grandpa and Grandma with Andy & Josh--possibly 1983 or 84
At the Girard house that they lived in their later years--this was Grandma's 80th birthday, March 1984
 1985 
 1986
1986--with Edward and Dorothy's grandchildren

At Mark and Nancy's wedding in 1987--Adrienne was flower girl and Andy was ring bearer
Grandpa Boore died 11/7/88 at the age of 87.  He was living in a resthome in Girard at the time. Grandma Boore died 10/8/1990 at the age of 86 and was living in a resthome in Pittsburg (she moved there after Grandpa died) 
This possibly was 1988 or 1989 after Grandpa died (Christmas)
With the kids:
 With all 10 grandkids:
 With the great grandkids:
 All the family will cherish the memories of all the July 4th's at Mom and Dad's farm in Radley.....lots of laughter!!  We appreciate Greg and Michelle carrying on that tradition in the many years since Dad died and the farm was sold.
Picture of Ted and Gladys' children and their spouses on their Alaskan cruise (August 1999)  Their oldest, Dad, died in 2000 and Uncle Jack died 2006.  Thankfully, the remaining children and spouses are still living although each have their share of health issues.

How I loved my Grandpa and Grandma Boore!!!

The recent event was just for the "Boore" women and their daughters/daughter-in-law's.  There were 12 of us present.  We missed our "out-of-state" daughters: Jan and Bev from Texas and Kaye from Arkansas.  Holly did a wonderful job in the planning of the event.  We had several fun games, a mini concert by some local PSU folks; a delicious catered meal; a paid PSU student/photographer and lots of memories and laughter shared.  Holly had requested each daughter/son of Dorothy, Joan, Freda and Judy to write some things down that they remember about their mothers and their childhood.  For me it was very heartwarming to dig deep and go back in time to remember what a wonderful mother I had growing up and still have today.  Holly took those memories and created a beautiful jar with the memories tucked inside for each mother to read and be encouraged.  Jeff had me and my 2 sisters send the documents to him as he said that will be great memories for Mom's funeral (I'm just glad she got to read them while she is still living) πŸ’–πŸ’–  Thanks again, Holly for all your hard work to make this event so very special!
Those present were:
Dorothy and Debbie
Joan, Cheryl and Marsha
Freda, Holly, Michelle and Michelle's mom, Terri
Judy, Nancy and Patti

The "Moms"
Left to right:  Aunt Jo; Aunt Freda, Aunt Judy, Mom and Terri (Michelle's mom)
Mom and I
I will always be thankful for my heritage and legacy and that I was raised a "Boore!"