I took these so Annika could see invitation progress while she was down South. I post them here because they're on my phone. Sorry.
230 adults invited. 225 children invited.
Now that's an ideal percentage for wedding guests! Modern brides with adult-only cocktail hours, take note.
John made me a delicious sub. As usual, I texted this picture to make my children jealous. (Because that's what a loving mother does, that's why.)
So many, many, many things fell off the map for a year straight while I wore the hat of a reluctant wedding planner-- home education, weeding the gardens, canning the harvest, feeding my children, clothing my children, etc., etc.
As head of the Ketchup Oversight Committee, I realized my oversight when I looked in the cupboards and refrigerator to take the Ketchup Census.
Surely we deserve some kind of award for this.
When Mildred was born 22 years ago, Grandma Owen arrived the same day, though she lived six hours away. She cradled Millie in the hospital before we even made it home. She had warmly welcomed me into the Owen family, but this was my first introduction to the deep reservoir of love she held for her grandbabies.
We lived in Buffalo when Annika and Susannah were born, which was farther yet, and she cooed over each one of them during their first days of life, too. Every time John and I welcomed another "cunning" baby, from Piper and Lucinda all the way through to Mallory Mirth and sunshine Glory-girl, we knew she would join unstintingly in our joy, greeting each child soon after birth with limitless love.
Through the years, she poured love and unbridled generosity on the entire family, but her greatest delight remained in her grandchildren. At every family gathering, a common sight was Grandma sitting with her lap overflowing with children. Over the last year as we all faced the knowledge of her mortality, one of her comforts was that when God took her Home, grandchildren would be among those to greet her. She'd leave her grandchildren here for a time but would immediately be with the grandchildren we long to meet one day.
On the evening of December 21st, the woman we can't imagine being without was absent from the body and present with her Lord. Our great loss is her great gain, yet we miss her more than words can say.
Until God fulfils our Hope, we love you. Kiss those grandbabies for us.
...are what Keith and Teman deserve. (Never mind that the mental picture of either of them wearing a crown is incongruous.)
Well, Dad--
If old habits die hard,
you bear some blame
when I take the bait,
open my mouth,
and let hounds race
baying from my lips.
But tonight, it's mine.
I chased those hounds down
driving home in the dark,
as rain-slick shapes made me start.
Ten years today
since you were gone.
In blue-moon light,
I still send dogs barking,
but there's no thrill to this hunt.
What did we seek
past the gleam of sharp wit
and sharp words?
Each solid hit is empty
if it lands on one you love.
Time and loss taught me
what nothing else did.
Peel back pride, and
only love remains.
Overheard upstairs this morning while Cadence and Skylark were cleaning the room five children share:
Cadence, frustrated with her little sister's lukewarm work ethic, "Skylark! You are so lazy! You're the laziest person in the whole United States! Even THE PRESIDENT does more work than you!!!"
(I have no idea where she gets the idea that the President twiddles his thumbs all day, but, apparently, she thinks it's a pretty cushy job.)
This one's for you. I haven't even posted LAST year's Hallowe'en costumes, but here's this year's Hallowe'en gif (current! real-time! up-to-date!) to tide you over until I stop wasting time in other ways and start wasting time blogging again.
..for this wonderful and one-of-kind woman.
We celebrated our beloved Grandma Owen's 75th birthday a few weeks early this past Saturday. All the grandchildren sneaked into town for the occasion, and she met and held Tim and Annika's baby-- grinning Glory-girl-- for the first time. We're all thankful beyond measure for an evening circled around the warm and generous woman who is quite often the founder of our feasts.
We covet your prayers for her right now, as her body is currently struggling to fight off the leukemia. Please pray for God to cover her with peace and, in His good pleasure, to sustain and strengthen her body. We love her so very much. <3
October 6th!
I would never and could never have dreamed this:
our children, our girls and their husbands, our grandbabies.
I'm grateful for this unimagined life, and for you, their Papa,
my Heart, a best friend from then 'til now.
(Picture of John, me, and Mallory-within, taken by the incomparable Danielle B. at Annika's wedding last October.)
