My 30th High School Reunion! Yikes!

Last Saturday, Glenn and I attended my 30th High School reunion. I graduated from Spaulding High School in Rochester, NH in 1982. I hadn't been to any of the reunions up until now, and decided it was time to go to one and be a testimony for the Lord, and that we did! It was actually a very enjoyable evening for the first few hours!

Here is the whole gang! I think maybe about 50 people came or so.

 My whole thought was to share my testimony with as many of my classmates as I could. I started by putting a profile on the reunion website. That was really neat! Many of my classmates commented on my profile and our family! It was fun to put it together!

         Then                       

                                       

and

Now     


State/Prov.:  NH
Occupation:  Home school stay at home Mom!!
Website:  www.winslowsix.blogspot.com
Marital Status:  Married
No. of Children:  8
Grandchildren? How many?:  1 grandaughter age 18 months with another granddaughter on the way in September 2012
What's the furthest you have traveled?:  Papua New Guinea, Hungary, Haiti, Australia
Have anything else would like to share? Please do so here:  I have been married to my wonderful husband Glenn for the last 24 years. We have 2 biological children, Brittany age 22,(she's been married for 3 years and has our 1 granddaughter and the other one on the way!) and Madelyn age 17. Our other 6 children are adopted. Grace age 16 and Jon age 9 from Haiti,(My now photo is a picture of me with Grace when I first met her for the first time in Haiti)We are licensed foster parents and so we have: Edward and Elisha age 12 year old twins from foster care, (they've been with us since they were 10) Nicole age 7 from foster care,(she was 5 when she came) and now our precious Rosalinda age 6 months as a private adoption. We brought her home from the hospital! We live on a small farm we have named Grace Abounding Farm, and truly here, God's grace does abound! We just completed our 12th year of homeschooling and that's been a wonderful thing! Our family Bible verse is: "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and NOT to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11-13. God truly has known the plans He had for us, and He truly has prospered us and grown our family, and given us a wonderful hope and a wonderful future! We praise Him daily for it! I'm looking forward to seeing you all again!


At the end of the night, Glenn and I drove home and I reflected on how much I had to pray for regarding a lot of the folks that were there. It truly was a mission field, and I'm glad we went.

Grampa's 1928 Model A Ford and the Freedom 114th annual old home day celebration!

On Saturday, August 4th, we had the pleasure of joining Grampa Dave in the Freedom Old Home Day parade. Amidst the difficulties of Mom being in the hospital, we were able to take a morning and have a wonderful time. It was such a blessing! Check it out!

Here's grampa's whole crew, dressed in some period clothing! 
Yup...6 kiddos and grampa all piled into the Model A!

It sure was a tight squeeze, but they had a blast! 
They even had candy to throw out.

Rosie sporting an Old Home Day flag!

Here they are coming down the parade route!

Thank you Grampa! What a treat!

Rosie was so tuckered out from the parade that she took a snooze
 on Grammie and Grampa's bed.

Grampa took us out for lunch at Old Home Day, and then to
 Bobby Sue's for home made icecream! Thank you Grampa!

Rosie says...mmmm  mmmm  good! She loved the coconut icecream!

Thank you so much Grampa! It was wonderful to spend the day with you!!!

Boating with the Doanes on Newfound Lake!

Last Wednesday, July 24, we enjoyed a wonderful day with some of our favorite people,  Ruth and Peter Doane. Ruth and Peter were Edward and Elisha's foster parents before they came to live with us. They are a wonderful Christian family and they laid an awesome foundation in the lives of our beloved twins. We spent the day on Newfound Lake and everyone had a great time!

Edward and Elisha got to see one of their best friends, Abby Robison. They hadn't seen her in over 2 years! She came with us that day.

Edward and Jon enjoy tubing fun!

Elisha and Abby's turn on the tube.

Maddie and Grace loved their tubing time!

It was a beautiful day!

Just had to include some up to date photos of our twins!

Thank you for a wonderful day Ruth and Peter! We love you!

M

We love you soooo much Great Grammy Winslow!

James 1:27 tell us:
"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

For the last year and a half, since Grampy died, we have had the honor and joy of caring for Glenn's 92 year old grandmother 2 days a week. She would come every Tuesday afternoon and stay until Wednesday afternoon. Oh how we treasured those times. She'd love to take part in our homeschooling lessons, read aloud to the children, enjoy meals with us, tag along for errands or piano lessons. Such a joy!!

This past Tuesday to Wednesday was her last time with us. Her family is moving her to the Inn at Deerfield as of today, August 1st. Oh how we'll miss our times with her here, but we won't be a stranger to the Inn, and we plan to visit her weekly there as part of our history lessons with the children.

While Grammy was here she had some favorite sayings that I'll share with you..we heard them from her hundreds of times: 

"A son is a son till he gets him a wife, but a daughter is your daughter for the rest of your life!"....she loved that we have 6 daughters and loved saying this to us over and over.

"My mother used to say..."I have good kids" and that was so true" Grammy loved talking about her mom and how she dealt with her 7 children.

"Mary, I truly believe that raising a big family is a lot easier than raising a small one." Grammy was one of 7 children and then she had 7 children herself. She loved sitting around our table with our 7 children at home and Glenn and I. It brought her right back to those years.

Over the last year and a half I've posted many "Tuesdays with Grammy" posts that you can look back over and enjoy. This post, though, is Grammy's biggest fan, Rosie, showing just how much she LOVES her Great Grammy! (even when she is getting her breathing treatment!)

Great Grammy loves Rosie, too! It's mutual!!! So Grammy, we'll miss you greatly, but we know that you are in great hands, and we thank God for the time we had with you! We love you!!

All us Winslows in Barnstead!!