APRIL WAS A VERY EVENTFUL MONTH!!
It began with our sister, Beverly coming to Arkansas for a 5 day visit to celebrate Mom's birthday. It was great to have her!! The first night, Mom's birthday, April 5th, Jeff, Rob, Kaye, Bev and I enjoyed a delicious meal at Mike's Place to begin the celebrations that Bev insisted on buying! Thanks, Sis! In the days that followed, we enjoyed another delicious meal at Kaye's, game playing a couple of afternoons on her patio, shopping for some items to decorate Mom's front porch, visiting, catching up and laughing!
On Bev's last full day here, Kaye wanted to take us to Hot Springs to Garvan Gardens. On our way, Kaye suggested we just "drive" by Rachel's home since it was "kinda" on the way and show Bev where she lived. We had no intentions of stopping. However, Rachel just happened to glance out her upstairs window at the exact time we drove by and she told her friend (who was there visiting) that it sure looked like her Grandma and her Aunt in a car driving by (she didn't even know Aunt Bev was in town). HA! So she came out on the porch and flagged us down 😍 and invited us in to give Bev a tour. So that was fun. Then on to Hot Springs we headed! Ate a really good Mexican meal downtown and then out to the Gardens. There was over an hour wait for the golf cart tour, so we took some pictures in the pretty garden:
Since Mom has a hard time walking (mainly due to her back pain), we sat her down on that bench with instructions to stay there and Bev, Kaye and I decided to stroll the beautiful gardens nearby! So, so pretty!
Surprisingly after 30 minutes or so, we heard them say "Would Dorothy Boore's family come to the front." We were thrilled thinking our wait was over!! As we were hurriedly walking back to the front, we couldn't see Mom on the bench!?! Up ahead a little ways, we could see some people gathered around someone on the ground and then I saw Mom's walker....😢😢 Several hours later, we determined that Mom got hot and saw a shady area and using her walker went over there and decided to sit down on the walker not realizing there was a fairly large dip off the edge and the wheels went over that, flipped her in the air and her body landed on the walker and the back of her head hit a HUGE rock (probably 4X4). I wished later, I had taken a picture of that doggone rock!! 😬
When we walked up, we could see lots of blood, vomit and people trying to help her. Scary sight!😲😵
The Gardens' personnel had already called an ambulance prior to us getting there (they found an envelope in Mom's purse and that is how they got her name to page us). This is the EMT's trying to fix her up before loading her into the ambulance. She was able to talk a little but had no idea what had happened (or why she got up off the bench). We are so thankful for the Gardens staff as well as some Good Samaritans who helped take care of Mom prior to us and the ambulance getting there!
She was transported to St. Vincent's in Hot Springs where they did a cat scan but did not find any internal bleeding/brain bleed (thank you, Lord!) They put 4 staples in her head and sent us home. Whew! Kaye took this pic of Mom in the ER room - still had a smile for us!
Beverly graciously offered to stay a few more days and help out as needed - which Mom did need her and Kaye and I were so grateful she was able to do that! Mom was very sore in her chest and most probably bruised her ribs but overall, for that hard of a fall, and being 92 years old, she did amazingly well!! Bev went home on Wednesday (5 days later than planned).
Jeff and I had plans to go visit Andy and his family that weekend (April 16-19th) as we had not been since June of last year. Carman's Mom and sister were moving in with the kids the first of May for a little while til Donna secures a job and a place to live, so we knew we needed to go before then. However, Jeff started feeling really sick mid-week that we determined was a flu bug. Mom wasn't doing as well either by this time (9 days after the fall). On Saturday, I thought I better get her to ER as I feared another UTI. Kaye was out of town, so I went to her place and insisted that she go (she didn't argue this time!).
She did have a UTI and was slightly dehydrated. X-rays did not show any ribs broken, however a cat scan a few days later did show a hematoma in the back of her head. Thankfully, they didn't see a need to admit her, so sent her home with medicines (which did help her get to feeling better soon) and she has fully recovered from it all! She's a strong woman, for sure!
Back to that day, Kaye had gotten back to town while we were still in ER, so she came to relieve me and took Mom home and I came on home, knowing I wasn't feeling well. Sure enough, as the afternoon/evening wore on, I was pretty certain I had whatever it was Jeff had a few days before 😟. So I spent a couple of days recuperating from that.....and we realized it was a wise decision that we did not go to Texas (although we sure were sad about it, as was our grandchildren!).
That next week began our family's "marathon" Birthday Week!
💜Saylor Faye turned 3 on April 22💜
💖Ellie Kate turned 9 on April 23rd💜
My baby sister, Kaye Lynn, turned 60 on April 25th.💟 Her husband Rob threw her a surprise birthday dinner party! Kaye's kids/grandkids (all but son-in-law, Mike, who had to preach on Sunday), Rob's daughter/grandkids and family and Jeff, Mom and I were all treated to a delicious meal at Mike's Place (probably the best restaurant in Conway).
💜Laine Virginia turned 11 on April 26th💖
💙And Gideon Elias turned 4 on April 27th💛
As with his siblings, since they live close, he got an overnight stay with Papa and DeDe😍
We took him to eat, then back to Conway to the Pet Store and to get an Ice Cream Cone
The next day, Rachel and Jonathan brought the other 3 kiddos to us to keep overnight so that she and Jonathan could go on a date for her birthday.
MAY
On May 1st, our baby turned 35!! How can that be!! Thankful God completed our immediate family circle with Rachel Ann!💖
Rachel has stepped up in her "Cookie" adventures....she now has a You Tube Channel and posts some great videos! Please check her out--Rock City Cookies (and subscribe!)
Another blessing of living close the the McCrary grandchildren, meant that we were able to attend the closing program for Copeland and Eisley's Comm Central School (they attend 1 day a week/Mom homeschools the other days)
Eisley quoted a Bible verse and did great and Copeland was a lizard and also did great!
Rachel made his cute outfit by hand!
That tail was "removable!"
Mother's Day was a sweet day! We enjoyed church and a delicious lunch at Kaye's! I was blessed to get Facetime calls and videos from my kids/grandkids (and a tasty Marketplace meal on Saturday courtesy of Andy and Carman)
Our pretty daughter-in-law, Carman had a birthday on May 17th. Andy sure did well when he chose her! We are so thankful she is a part of our family!💓
💚Copeland Ware turned 8 on May 19th!💙
Two days prior, Jeff and I went to get him for his overnight stay with us
We took him to lunch in LR, then to Park Place Mall where he picked out a Cowboys outfit for his Bear. By evening time, I could tell he wasn't himself.....didn't want ice cream, etc. and said he had a headache. Later, I could tell he was running a fever 😢. I prepared a roast meal for all his family when they came to get him the next evening. However, Kipling was home sick, so Jonathan stayed with him and only Rachel, Eisley and Gideon came. By time they left that evening, Copeland again had a fever.
Sadly the next day on his birthday, all 6 in his family were sick and so it wasn't a very fun day (thankfully, they did celebrate a few days later when all were well!).
Shepherd graduated from Preschool on May 19th. One of the cutest little graduates I've ever seen!💙
Sure wish we could have been there to see him!😍
The boys Preschool Picture 💙💙
May 21st was a very special day for my husband!! He is involved in a weekly in-depth men’s discipleship group that has been such a blessing to him! The leaders of the group asked the wives to contact various people in their husband’s sphere of influence to send an encouraging letter, note or card to them. I was thrilled that 98% of those I contacted responded! THANK YOU TO EACH ONE! Jeff will treasure your words forever!!!
Michelle had a dear friend/high school classmate pass away recently. So she and Josh drove to Arkansas to attend his memorial service (and Michelle was asked to speak). They stayed with us coming and going.....we do love the fact that we are "on their way" to NWA and enjoy having them stay overnight most of the time. Michelle's Mom had driven to Tennessee to stay with the girls during this time. We took the kids to Stoby's for lunch as Josh wanted to see if the cheese dip was still as good as he remembered when he lived here 20 years ago. He thought it was!
JUNE
On June 1st, Jeff stepped back into a "ministry" role....as the part time Senior Adult Pastor at Antioch Baptist Church in Conway. These Senior Adults have been a blessing to us for over 20 years, when Jeff was on staff at Antioch before and then through the years as they graciously requested he come back year after year and do their Winter Bible Conference. So they are "family" to us and we look forward to ministering together in the days ahead. Another "full circle" event for us (similar to the Mooney/Swart relationship): at one time, Jeff was Dean of Students at JBC and Jason was the Student Gov't. President and then Jeff was the Senior Pastor (and Jason's boss) when Jason was the Youth Director at Craft Baptist Church in Jacksonville, TX....now Jason is our Senior Pastor (and thus now Jeff's boss) and we are thrilled about that. I don't take credit for the picture below of our church, but thought it was really cool, so am including it!💛
I don't take credit for the picture below of our church, but thought it was really cool, so am including it!💛
The official announcement in the church newsletter:
Jeff and I with our Pastor and Wife😍
Backing up -- just a little....Andy, Carman, Laine, Ellie, Shep and Mack came for a visit over Memorial Day. It was SO good to see them! We hadn't seen them since Christmas! Too long!!! Everyone looked like they had grown a foot!!! How we love these kiddos!😘😘
I didn't get a picture of just their family while here, so will use this one from Shep's graduation a couple of weeks prior.
Friday night, we enjoyed just having them here. I had fixed dinner for them and we just relaxed and caught up.
Saturday, Rachel's family came over and spent the day with us/them. These cousins sure do enjoy each other!
Great Grandma joined us for dinner Saturday night
Sunday morning -- Papa and his handsome Swart grandsons
We loved having them go to S.S. and church with us! Wish I had gotten a picture of all the family that day, but didn't 😞 After church, we enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant with Great Grandma and Aunt Kaye and Uncle Rob.
Jeff was publicly announced to the church that day (May 30th) as the new Senior Adult Pastor
Love these boys!
After naps, Rachel and family came back to Conway for one last day of fun with the cousins!
We hated that Josh and family couldn't also be with us that weekend. But with the memorial service the weekend before that they came back for and then Michelle's stepdad's memorial service the weekend after, there just wasn't anyway they could make that long trip 3 weekends in a row and of course, we all understood!
We were thrilled though to have them with us this past weekend. Saylor, too, is growing so fast! Such a joy!💗
We had gone to the school playground and I caught this picture as we were walking home. Melts my heart!!💙💖💙
I was showing Saylor pictures of her cousins on my phone (from the previous weekend)
Saturday morning, before they left to go to NWA
Avi had gone home with her other grandma the week prior (when she was there keeping the girls). So she wasn't with the family when they stayed with us this time. After the memorial, she went to her Dad's house for a while/and a beach vacation with his family. I love her "new" look/hair color/glasses! Such a pretty girl!💖
Michelle's Mom, Brother, Tim and all the family at the Memorial Service
Love our Swart Tennessee family as well!!😍
We brought Saylor home with us after the service so that Josh and Michelle could help Sheila wrap things up there. They followed a couple of hours later.
Papa loves it when he gets some snuggles from his girl
Laine attended her first church/youth summer camp this past weekend. Her personality is shining bright and I'm sure she had a blast!! So glad she got to do that! My favorite childhood memories were of summer camp...at Saginaw (near Joplin, MO)!
MacArthur Joshua (Mack) turned 3 on June 9th. This kid.....he is so cute but is so ornery!😃 He's definitely giving his parents a run for their money -- but we wouldn't trade him for anything!! Love the kid! Dad's collage:
My collage:
AND NOW IT'S ALREADY THE MIDDLE OF JUNE!!
Along with all the activities posted above, we have enjoyed 2 Connect Group Fellowships - one at the Jensen's and one at the Stitches and looking forward to another one next week at the Jensens. I loved getting to go to Pam Glover's home for an end of the year BSF Fellowship and meeting several of our ladies in person that I had only seen by Zoom all year. It was a wonderful study and great group and I'm so glad I was a part of it! In the last couple of weeks, we also helped with a fantastic event that our church hosted for area teachers....thanking them for all they did this year to survive covid and all the craziness. Very nice event. We also were blessed to attend our first Antioch "staff" fellowship at the beautiful home of our Pastor and wife. So good to get to know those we didn't know previously and to renew friendships with many of the others. Jeff and Laine went out to Toad Suck Park for Antioch's Memorial Day picnic. They had a good time (the rest of my crew were all here at my house eating pizza).
Jeff and I will join our Girard High School classmates in Kansas on June 18/19th for our 50th Reunion!! How can it be!?! I have been working diligently for several months on a slideshow of each classmate (102) with their 1971 yearbook picture and then adding to their slide any current pictures they sent me of them and/or their family. The slideshow will then be made into a video with "hopefully" music from the 70's that I can share with the classmates. It's been quite a task, (and one, at times, I regretted ever volunteering for😆) but it's also "stretched" me and I've learned some new things and it's been fun to reconnect with those who have graciously sent me pictures and to relive many old memories from those high school days so long ago! I appreciate Rachel, Jonathan and Andy in helping me complete the project (which won't be finalized until after the reunion and I can add pictures of our event that weekend)!
This is the slides I created for Jeff and I:
We are once again disappointed that our Alaskan cruise (that was originally scheduled for July of 2020 and then rescheduled to July of this year) has been cancelled...again!😥 Norwegian Cruise Lines has given us a full refund so we are trying to decide what we will do with this "gift" that FBC, Galena gave us upon Jeff's retirement in 2019. We are sure ready for a vacation since we've not had a "real" one since retirement! We will keep Alaska on our bucket list and pray that we will eventually get to visit there someday!
SUMMER HAS ARRIVED AND IT'S HOT THIS WEEK! Jeff and I continue to walk 5 days a week but are having to do it at the city facility lately due to the heat.😳
Sorry for the LONG length of this post!
Busy, busy days and I don't see that changing anytime soon😄!
