Happy Birthday, Grace!

Today, my baby turns 19. I can still remember when she was born. What a day that was!

Grace, you are a joy to your Dad and me. You've become a lovely young lady, and we couldn't be happier that you're faithfully following the Lord.

Happy birthday, Grace!

Grace and her dog, Kelly.

This is the card I made. The monkey face is from a $1.00 kit I found at Target. I used my new Spellbinders dies to cut the scalloped and regular circle for the "Happy Birthday."

"Blessings Abound"

Blessings Abound is coming along quickly. Hopefully I'll have it finished before too long!

"Love Ewe" Finished

Last Thursday, I opted for a cortisone injection in my badly arthritic knee, as opposed to moving directly to a total knee replacement.  I've done my best to comply with my doctor's orders and stay off my feet.  Every day I get a bit better.  This time of rest has afforded me an opportunity to work on my cross stitch, and I finally finished Love Ewe.  

 

  

  

  

I haven't yet decided how I'm going to finish this.  One thing I will do is iron it!

 

Father's Day

I found this poem on the Internet. I wish I could say that it is true of my own father, but sadly, he has never trusted Christ as his personal Saviour. It is true, however, of my dear husband, and I thank God that our girls have grown up under his Godly influence. Phil, thank you for being a wonderful dad. Happy Father's Day!!

My Father Is A Christian
My father is a Christian;
He leads our household well;
With instruction from the Bible,
Right behavior he'll compel.

Yet he steers us with compassion;
His gentle love is true;
He conforms to our Lord Jesus,
So we know just what to do.
He teaches us with purpose,
Guides us in all Godly ways,
So we will take the right path,
And serve our Lord with praise.

I'm glad you're a Christian, Dad;
You help me see things clearly.
I'll always look up to you,
And love you very dearly.

- Joanna Fuchs

Callie

Don't you wish you could sleep like this? She sure looks comfortable.

"Blessings Abound"

After completing my 25th anniversary sampler, I decided to work on something easy. "Blessings Abound" is a Bent Creek design, which I'm stitching on 14-count Oatmeal Aida. As you can see in the second picture, which is from the leaflet cover, the figure on the left is an ear of corn. Or at least that's what I think it is!

Leaflet cover

"Love Ewe"

"Love Ewe" is from the February 2008 issue of The Gift of Stitching magazine. I carried it in my purse for a long time, but recently removed it, as I didn't find myself sitting in waiting rooms for any length of time. All that remains is to finish stitching the leaves on the tree, and then stitch some grass under the sheep's feet.

This project is on my short list. We'll see how short that really is!

Yummy Dinner

I made fresh Tomato-Basil sauce and penne pasta for dinner a few weeks ago. The only change to the recipe is that I barely coated my skillet with olive oil to cook my garlic. I've made this before, and we like the fresh tomatoes and basil. It's also great diet food!

Pork Chops with Pineapple Chutney

There are two goals I want to accomplish this summer:  the first is cleaning our basement, which has become a repository for anything we can't find another place for.  The second is to lose 11 pounds.  While it won't get me to where I need to be according the the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's BMI calculator, it will be a good start, and hopefully, my clothes will still fit with minimal alterations. 

Between reading the information in various Weight Watchers cookbooks, and scouring the web, I have learned enough to follow a simplified version of their program.  It worked for me once before, and Sarah also managed to lose weight on it.  So far, I've lost three pounds.  I am keeping track of my progress and my daily food intake using the Weight Watchers Tracker on Facebook.

Anthony had requested pork chops for dinner last Friday night.  I found a delicious recipe in my Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook (c. 1998) for Pork Chops with Pineapple Chutney (p. 174). 

 

  Start with fresh pineapple, a Granny Smith apple, raisins, red pepper, red onion, hot pepper, vinegar, ginger, orange marmalade, garlic, mustard seed, cinnamon, cloves, and fresh ground pepper.  Lots of peeling and dicing!

  

 

  Simmer for 40 - 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Here we are at the halfway point.

 

It's finally done!  Serve on the side, so each diner can decide how much he or she wants with their baked pork chop.

Yummy!

Thank You Cards, Part II

The rest of the thank you cards I made following our anniversary picnic.

 

 

  Another card similar to the one I showed in yesterday's post.

  

 I used the "Top Note" die from Stampin' Up!, cutting one from white cardstock, and another from a red patterned paper.  I then cut each in half, reassembling them on the card front.  I used the ribbon to hide the cut.  The stamp is "Elegant Thank You" from Stampin' Up! 

Thank You Cards, Part I

As a good hostess should, I sent thank you cards following our anniversary party.  I wanted to use some of the new supplies I purchased recently from Stampin' Up!  Here is the first set of cards.

 

This simple card was made using patterned paper, which I

attached to the front, then two sizes of punched squares.

I don't know which company created the stamp.  This card

I sent to Anthony; the paper on the front reminded me of

the shirt he wore to the picnic.

  

As with the last card, I used patterned paper on the front

of the card.  The ribbon came from one of the local

craft stores.  I used a punch for the scalloped circle.  The

"Thank You" stamp is Elegant Thank You from Stampin' Up!

Below are two close-ups of the same card.

  

  

  This card is the same as the one above, except for the colors.  

I believe the ribbon came from Michael's.  I love the

elegance of the patterned paper.

25th Anniversary Celebration

I realized tonight that I never shared any of the pictures from our 25th anniversary celebration! We hosted a picnic on Memorial Day for our immediate families, which included our parents, and Phil's siblings and their families.  My brothers live out-of-state and were unable to attend.

 

  Anthony & Grace gave us this lovely rose.

  Phil waits for the festivities to start.

  Kelly thinks people are coming to see her . . .

  Phil's parents, Paul & Mary Jane Ingram 

  My parents, Jack & Kathy Uebel

  Our daughter, Sarah

Our daughter, Grace, and her dog, Kelly

Grace and her boyfriend, Anthony.  

Another reason we hosted the picnic was 

to introduce Anthony to our families.

Phil & me

We enjoy our cake.

Phil's parents gave us a money "tree" 

made of roses and baby's breath.

The day was lovely, sunshine and temps around 70.  It got chilly when the sun headed around to the front of the house, so I donned the shawl Sarah made me.

The following evening, which was our actual anniversary, Phil took me to dinner at Carrabbas.  We enjoyed our delectable food, and reveled in each other's company.  For dessert, we shared crème brûlée, a first for both of us.  All I can say is mmm, delicious!

We were asked several times whether it seemed that we have been married for 25 years.  In some ways yes, but in most, no.  I realized I have been married for longer than I was single, yet I wonder how my years of wedlock have flown by, while the 23 I wasn't plodded along.  What I do know for certain is that I am happier and more in love now than the day I married.  I love the multi-faceted depth of our relationship, the contented companionship we share, and the God-created unity of our spirits.  I am indeed blessed.

(Some of the pictures in this post were taken by me, but most were snapped by Anthony.)