Catching up on life.....for my memory sake!!💓
Kaye had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal for many of Rob's family and several of her family including Jeff and I.
Mom with her grandson, Matt DeMott and his family💖
A wonderful Jensen Small Group Christmas Party at the beautifully decorated home of one of our members:
A last minute Zoom call with the kids to make sure we are all on the same page for our Disney trip!
AND NOW THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME FOR OUR FAMILY TRIP!!
Dec. 3rd, the kids have filled in all the days on their Mickey calendars!!💓💓
There are "numerous" postings about our trip on this blog....so you can read those as you desire. The trip was December 4-10. We did miss three big events at Antioch while we were gone (and hated that, but our trip was scheduled long before anything else was scheduled): Our Promise Class S.S. Party, the Ladies Christmas Dinner and Bethlehem Revisited, which from all reports, were great events.
During our family time in Florida, Avi turned 18 years of age!! We love you, Avi!!💗
December 13th was our Staff Christmas party--always a fun time!
Staff Spouses.....
Dec. 16 was our Sr. Adult Christmas party at the Hole in the Wall restaurant:
Dec
21st, Jeff, Mom and I had a wonderful visit from Carman and the kids and Rachel and her kids. Rachel's kids didn't know they were coming, so it was a great surprise!!💕
December 22nd was our 50th Wedding Anniversary! I have a whole post about that below this one, but will include a little more here. We started off the day at Stoby's for breakfast, then went to Little Rock and spent the night. It was very enjoyable.💘💘
However, I woke up sick that next morning in the hotel--upper respiratory junk and it lasted a week and sadly I gave it to Jeff who suffered even worse with the sypmtoms...his turned into a severe sinus infection and pneumonia. 😥 We did test for covid and thankfully it was negative.
We still participated in the activities that Christmas weekend. December 24th was a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Antioch (the exact same service on Christmas eve and Christmas morning--Jeff went to both services, Mom, Kaye, Rob and I went to just the Christmas Eve service)
I can sure tell I don't feel good here!
Christmas Sunday, December 25th, Kaye once again graciously feed us a delicious meal. I prepared several dishes that morning to take over there. It was just the 5 of us (Mom, Jeff, Rob, Kaye and I).
December 29th was my 69th birthday.....I was still feeling pretty awful that day so other than going out to eat, we didn't do any celebrating. Goodness, hard to believe my next birthday I will be 70!!😟 (pic below from the Disney skyliner)
Jeff and I spent the week between Christmas and New Years, resting and trying to recover from our "junk." Pastor Jason had asked Jeff to preach New Years' Sunday morning, January 1st and he sure wanted to be well enough to do so.We were told on Thursday or Friday of that week that Carman (our Texas daughter-in-law) was suffering from intense migraines. Andy had taken her to ER once during that weekend but no relief for her.
January 1, 2023
This is what I wrote, Sunday afternoon, New Years Day after making an emergency trip to Ft. Worth, Texas to take care of the grandchildren:
Sometimes, life sure can throw a curve ball! That's what happened when I woke up this morning with an urgent text from Andy asking me to come to Texas to help care for 4 of my grandkids. Their Momma has been vey sick/in bed for several days with what seemed to be a debilitating migraine, been to ER already this week and then Andy took her again this afternoon after he finished preaching this morning. She's been diagnosed with Shingles, that has greatly affected one of her eyes (and caused all the migraine pain). But thankful that it's not something even more serious with her brain, etc. We are concerned how this may affect her eyesight....sure praying it will all heal and soon!! I hadn't driven in Dallas/Ft. Worth traffic in over 15 years and was coming to a new home for the kids (they had moved this past summer) so was very nervous about the drive. But thankfully, google maps got me here with only one wrong turn. Very thankful for Andy and Carman's friends/church members who stayed with the kids til I got here and for the two sweet ladies who brought us dinner! Such a blessing! We would all appreciate your prayers for Carman. She is so loved!!💗💗(and yes, I missed Jeff preaching this morning....but thankful for technology that allowed me to listen to the livestream as I was driving)
I stayed with the family til Thursday and then Carman's Mom came that weekend to help out. As of this writing, Carman is still struggling with some pain in her eye, but the eye doctor assures her that her vision has not been affected. Thank you to all who prayed for her during this time! I didn't take many pictures while there, but here are a few:
Spent some time on a windy day at their neighborhood park:
Mack was at his Preschool on this day--so the 3 kids and I went to Taco Bell for lunch. In spite of the circumstances, I did enjoy spending time with my Texas Swart family!💗 Sure do love them all!
January 15-17 was the annual Mid Winter Bible Conference that Jeff does every year at Antioch. We had the largest attendance to date and delicious food and he did a great job teaching on "The Moment You Die."
Jan. 20th, we joined 5 other couples for our annual "belated" December Anniversary meal at Mike's Place here in Conway. Fun night!
January 22-25, Beverly and Don came for a visit. We loved having them here!! Lots of eating, visiting, playing games, going to a movie, etc.!💖
On January 24th, we got the very sad news that Jeff's 44 year old niece, Aimee had died from a massive heart attack😢. (Jeff's sister, Kim, Aimee's mother, suffered that same fate in 2020). We are so sorry for Aimee's daughter, Carlie, who is a high school senior this year as well as Aimee's husband, Josh, brother, Jeremy and her dad, Gary. The funeral service will be held in Kansas on January 30th and Jeff and I will drive up for it. We appreciate your prayers for this family!
Another reminder of the fragility of life!! And a reminder that each one of us must be ready for when it's our time to go! All that matters at the end of life is if you know Jesus as your personal Savior and have the assurance of a home in heaven!! Please reach out to Jeff or I if you do not have that assurance!
