We Love You Uncle Bob!

At 12:40 this morning, Our beloved harmonica playing Uncle Bob went home to be with the Lord, his deceased wife Polly, his son Norman, and many, many others, we are sure! He fought a brave and fierce battle with cancer, and now the battle is done and he is in a place where there is NO more  pain, no more sorrow, no more cancer! This is such a blessing!

Most of my memories of Uncle Bob involve playing the harmonica at family reunions, and other events. He was a wonderful harmonica player. So are his brothers, including my Dad!

Here is Uncle Bob (on the right), and Uncle Frank playing..."God Bless America" at Aunt Frances' 100th birthday in December 2007.

Here all but Aunt Pat are gathered for Uncle Frank's birthday party. I think there was Happy Birthday to You played on the harmonicas that day! Below is a video of God Bless America and also one of Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Both played at Aunt Frances' 100th birthday party.

Here is Aunt Frances on her 100th birthday receiving phone calls from folks who couldn't be there.

Here are all of the remaining siblings visiting with Aunt Frances at her camp in 2007. From Left to Right:  Aunt Frances (their mother's sister who is now 103), Aunt Alice, My Dad behind her, Uncle Frank, Aunt Pat, and Uncle Bob. They played their harmonicas that day, and it was great! Madelyn and Grace sang that day, too. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.

Remember Uncle Bob, 
We love you
A bushel and a peck
A bushel and a peck and  a hug around the neck,
A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap,
A barrel and a heap and I'm talking in my sleep about you!

You are our sunshine,
Our only sunshine,
You make us happy,
When skies are gray,
You'll never know Uncle Bob,
How much we'll miss you!
But we'll see you again someday!!

It's Great To Be Eight!!

It's so hard to believe that our beloved Jonnie Boy is 8!! What a blessing he is to our family. He's a constant bundle of energy, and he's our resident stand up comedian. We love you so much Jon! Happy Birthday!!

I just had to put a photo of Jon as a baby. This is in his crib at the orpahange in Haiti. He was 1 and a half years old here. Sooooo cute!!

And now he's super tall and 8! Wow! We have a tradition of counting down the days until a birthday. Here is Jon on his birthday!

Jon is ready for his birthday breakfast on the special dishes!

On the menu...a giant chocolate chip pancake and sausage and  apple juice. And a token small cup of coffee! Yum!

It's present time. Jon opens his gift from Grampa and Grammie sent from Florida!

Wow...a fire fighter! That is so cool!

Jon is super excited about his model rocket kit to build with Glenn!

Smile Jonnie Boy!

Jon loved his ice cream cake. We made it together! Happy Birthday Jon! We love you!

NH Gold Rush!

This is one of my favorite times of year! The sap is running, and we had our first boil down on Friday! Here is the result of 15 gallons of sap....17 trees with at least 34 taps....and it all boils down to this.....drum roll please!!!..........................................

 One pint of syrup....NH Gold at it's best! Labor of love but it is soooooo worth it! The sap is running great this week, so we'll definitely be having more! Yum! I see many pancakes and waffles in our future!

Counting it ALL Joy!!!

Well, if there is one thing I've heard consistently in this last month from folks around here, it's complaints about the weather, the snow, and the temperatures. Hmmmm...aren't we to count it ALL joy? Yes, we are! God is in control of yes, even the weather! So...when we complain about things like the weather, we are really complaining about God! Keeping that in mind...I dedicate this post to counting it ALL joy, including our winter weather!!

Thank you God for:  More opportunities to snowshoe. Something we LOVE to do!

Thank you God for plenty of snow to use my snowshoes!

Thank you God for cold enough temperatures to ice skate!

Thank you God for my siblings to have fun with while ice skating!

Thank you God for the largest snowbanks that we can remember! What fun!

Thank you God for keeping the snowbank in tack for a bit longer that is now holding up our mailbox! (Early in the winter the plow truck of our town broke our granite mailbox post)

Thank you God for the huge snowbanks outside our windows that are so pretty to look at!

 

 Won't you join us in giving thanks for ALL things, and counting it ALL joy?