December 2012

Last week was such an emotional week. We had to say goodbye to our brother-in-law, Eddie Casteel and two wonderful women...Marion Tschiemer and Betty Lou Allen. I know that they are in Heaven and will be celebrating Christmas with Jesus this year, but oh, how they will be missed! None of us have the promise of tomorrow...we need to love and live each day to the fullest! We need to tell our loved ones how much we love them and what they mean to us. We need to follow Christ in our everyday lives. We need to show God's love by helping others. I know how much Barb is going to miss Eddie and how much Julie and Patti are going to miss their precious Mothers. They know how much they were loved! I know that I miss my precious Jennifer, parents and other loved ones everyday of my life, but it seems to be more intense during the Christmas Season! I am grateful for all the precious memories I have of Christmases past, and am so grateful of the promise that I will see them again. When I think of all the innocent children and teachers that lost their lives in the most tragic school shooting on Friday, my heart is broken. We must pray for the victims and their families, as well as the survivors. What a tragic, tragic day! So many families no longer able to hug their children....so many surviving children having their innocence stolen! It is so heart wrenching...we must pray for everyone and pray for safety for all of our schools!! Let us all know that Jesus is the Reason for the Season...let us keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas! Merry CHRISTmas to all!

THANKSGIVING 2012

We are so grateful that we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving here at the "Eagle's Nest"! This time last year, Pete was in the hospital due to a heart attack and I was just beginning to get back on my feet after a very scary six months of fighting cancer again. We lost our home here due to a house fire in January, and have had many health battles with Pete. We are so blessed and thankful for all that everyone has done to help us rebuild our lives...there is just no way that I could even start to express our gratitude! Kimberly came over on Wednesday and helped me cook. I enjoyed her visit so much. We had about 30 family members here for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a beautiful day outside and everyone seemed to enjoy being with each other...we are truly blessed!

FALL!!

I think that fall has finally fallen!! YAY!!! I love the fall of the year...the gorgeous colors, the cool crisp air and the crunch of leaves as you walk. God sure does provide us with such beauty! My sweet sister gave me some wonderful new stamp sets for my birthday...am having so much fun playing with them and making cards. Card making is such good therapy for me...you just lose all your worries, when you start playing with paper! Who would ever think that a 61 year old woman would have such a good time cutting, coloring and pasting! Love it! Hubby is having an echo and nuclear stress test on Monday. His doctor thinks the stent they put in last November, may be too small. We are praying for good test results. God is good and He is good ALL the time!

61 TODAY!!

Again, I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have written on here. It is always on my list of things to do, but somehow, it gets moved to the bottom of the list. As Thanksgiving approaches, we have so much to be thankful for...we are truly blessed! We are getting our lives back together after the fire...and it is starting to feel like home again. I have always said that home is where your heart is, and our hearts surely live here at the "Eagle's Nest"! Hubby has had some health issues, but we are so grateful to be here...a year ago today, I celebrated my 60th birthday with friends and I still had my trach. Today, as I celebrate my 61st birthday, I have no trach and am once again, cancer free! Here's looking to another year with friends and family! GOD IS GOOD AND HE IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!

Where has the time gone??

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. Time has gone by so quickly. It is hard to believe that we lost everything on Jan. 17th and here we are in a home that has been given to us, remodeled and furnished by wonderful people. Everyone has worked so very hard and we will be grateful the rest of our lives. We have been married forty-two years today and as we start to rebulild our lives here at the"Eagle's Nest", we will give thanks each day for our blessings and look forward to many more years to come. GOD IS GOOD AND HE IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!! "

ANGELS AMONG US!!!

There really are angels here on earth doing God's work. Since the fire, we had been looking at manufactured homes. We knew we couldn't afford a mortgage. The new homes were very expensive and the older ones needed alot of repairs. I prayed every night for God to guide us in the right direction. We wanted a home that didn't have a hallway (because of the fire) and we needed a walk in shower for me. God sent us angels in the form of Joe and Cindy! They had seen the newscast of our story and called Cathy (her number was on Christina's blog in reference to the chili fund raiser) and asked if we might be interested in a home they had. I called them and we met them Friday morning to see it. It had a walk in shower, no hallway, the most beautiful kitchen, two bedrooms and two baths. It even had an add on room that would make a perfect craft room for me. It was just PERFECT...and they wanted to give it to us and have it moved and set up for us!! We had been working three weeks to try and clear the land where the fire was. Joe and two of his sons came out Saturday and cleared it in one day! How can we ever thank them for giving us this new start on rebuilding our lives?? The outpouring of love, prayers, donations and encouragement has been so overwhelming...I can't put into words how humble and grateful we are for all that has been given us. We hope to someday be able to "pay it forward" to others in need. We hope to have a big garden and be able to share vegetables. I just want to get out of bed each day, following God closer and doing something for others. God is good and He is good ALL the time!!!

God is good and He is good ALL the time!!

This year has not started out as we had hoped! On the morning of January 17th, we were awakened by the sound of crackling of electricity. Pete knew exactly what the sound was! We got out of the house with only the clothes on our backs and by the grace of God, we made it up the hill (I still don't know how I did it without my cane),to watch our home burn. In about fifteen minutes, 41 years of our lives, was gone. I know that material things can be replaced, but not our precious dogs(we thought they had gotten out) and the pictures and things that Jennifer had given us! We will always have memories in our hearts...but some things like her journals with her handwriting and tapes with her voice, cannot be replaced.

The love, prayers and support from friends, family and even strangers has been so wonderful. We are so grateful!! There are days when I feel really overwhelmed about having to rebuild our lives....having to replace everything...every towel, kitchen utensil, piece of clothing, lawn mower, tool etc. It seems like we remember something else every few hours. Within hours of us getting to Kimberly's after the fire, friends were there with clothing and money for us. Mandy, Missy and Linda were there soon after we got to Kimberly's. Our church family has been there from the first day with donations, clothing, love and prayer. We are so happy to have the support of such a wonderful church...they truly are our family! Kimberly, once again has been there with us from the beginning...loving us and coordinating ways to raise funds to help us! Once again, she has proven to be the best sister and friend anyone could dream of having. Lisa has collected money from my ACH family and even brought me some of the cookbooks I had lost in the fire!
Missy helped getting our medicine replaced. A friend of Barb replaced our CPAP machines. Michelle replaced our tens unit and my arm pump. Laura brought me a Bible within the first couple of days, and the donations from family, friends and strangers has been more than we ever expected! Our nephews and George have been there every weekend helping with the clean up. This just proves once again that God is good and He is good ALL the time!

We stay at Kimberly's on the weekends for church and Bible Study. Jim and Joanna invited us to stay at their lake house. We are so grateful to be able to stay there while we are working on the clean up. It is alot closer than driving to Little Rock each day. It is so quiet and peaceful there and gives us time to think and examine our options. A fire fund has been set up for us and we have already had furniture donated to us. Missy even brought me an angel, like the ones I had collected over the years...this special one holding a dog!! Oh, how we miss our sweet Jazzabelle and Emma Grace...they were like our children!

We have been through many trials in our 41 years together...but we always get through them and we always come out a little stronger and more appreciative of the little things in life! When the fire happened, my nephew, Cory, called me. He told me that if I could get through losing Jennifer, then I could get through anything. He is right. I know that God is in control and that He is good and He is good All the time. It only takes faith as small as a mustard seed to know what a GREAT God we have. I totally trust Him and His guidance as we make the decisions ahead of us.

Home is where your heart is...not what kind of building it is! Whatever kind of home we are able to have, we know that it will be a home that love built from the outpouring of love, support and donations givareen to us.

Christina Munoz aired a wonderful interview with us last night. We are ever so grateful for the time and effort that she and her photographer, Martin, put into this segment. Not only did it show the devastation of the fire, but also my battles with cancer and a wonderful tribute to Jennifer! We will never forget this! Kimberly worked very hard providing her with pictures and other information she requested! We were so happy to have been able to meet them.


Angela Scott is having a Premier Jewelry show for us on Sunday for a fund raiser and the church is having a chili supper to benefit us March 4th! We plan on having a scrapbook crop and we welcome any ideas for fund raising! We had no insurance and are having to replace everything we owned.

God is good and He is good ALL the time!!! I will keep everyone updated on our progress. Thank you to each and every one of you!

WELCOME 2012!!!

I am ever so grateful for being able to sit here and type this post! I will never be able to express how very thankful I am for the love and grace of God, the power of prayer, the love and encouragement I received this past year from my family, friends and even strangers! I know that although I slept through most of 2011, I was able to beat this third round of cancer because of love and prayer!! In 2012, I want to follow Christ more closely, continue the Advent Conspiracy (spend less, give more, love all and worship fully), be a better friend, sister, wife, aunt, niece and sister-in-law, become more organized, be more creative and enjoy the little things in life...working in the yard and garden, enjoying the return of our little hummingbirds, being thankful for what I have, having more fellowship with friends and family, enjoying our furry daughters - Jazzabelle and Emma Grace, continuing with the "Jennifer Project" and making better health choices!

We were able to have lunch with Shannon and the kids. We had such a good time. Kimberly asked them what they remembered most about Jennifer. Treylon said she was sweet, nice and normal! They are so precious. Jennifer would be so proud of how sweet and beautiful they are. I hope to be able to spend more time with them this year!

2011 ended with Pete recovering from a heart attack and slowly starting to feel better!

I wish all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!! God is good and He is good all the time! Much love to you!