Last night we had some visitors who we have never met in person - just here on xanga!!  We knew that Doris and Cerwin were going to be passing through our area here in Virginia, and so we planned a get-together.  Doris has a wonderful blog that I have been keeping up with for about 4 years.  We have become xanga friends!

They came for dinner and we had a wonderful time!  Jim and I really enjoying meeting and chatting and visiting with them.

                                        

                                       

                                          

They were talking about how much they love mountain music, so Jim got out his Bowed Psaltery - he has two of them, actually - and he and Cerwin were enjoying that together.

                                         

                                         

What a delightful evening we had together!  We chatted with them about families, travels, churches, music, their ministry - we were thrilled that they could take time out of their schedule to be with us!  Doris is such a wonderful photographer and she took lots of pictures that she will be posting soon!

                                          

Enjoy these pictures from one day last week when I babysat for my grandchildren -

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

Ooops, lost a shoe!

                                         

Now the hat is gone -

                                         

Playing with the telephone that doesn't look at all like any telephone he has seen!  You all recognize this one - we all had one for our children!  This one is at least 30 years old!

                                         

                                         

Snack time!  They both wanted cereal - well, Charlie wanted cereal, and Megan wants whatever Charlie wants!

                                         

                                         

                                         

Many of you have been following my Luna stories on my blog.  Luna is the Australian Shepherd that we are training to be a hearing dog for Betsy.  We are working with a private trainer to train Luna in obedience, and in being a service dog and hearing dog.  In her hearing work, Luna is learning to recognize Betsy's name, and then move in front of her to let her know that someone has called her name.  One of the places you get your name called is in the doctor's office, so we had a training session there.  Jim's office staff was more than happy to give up a little bit of their lunch hour to help!

                                       

                                       

One of them would call, "Betsy" and Luna, if she moved in front of Bets correctly, got a treat!  She did a pretty good job!

                                       

                                       

About 3 1/2 months ago I wrote about my efforts to lose weight and get my cholesterol and glucose back under control.  In the 14 weeks since I first saw my doctor, I have lost 14 pounds!  I am eating better and walking everyday, or at least 6 days a week, for 1 - 2 miles.  I had my bloodwork re-done, and my glucose was normal!  Yay!  But my cholesterol and triglycerides were a little higher!!  So, I still have more work to do!  And 41 more pounds to lose!  But this is a life style change, not necessarily a weight-loss program, so I am taking it slowly and sensibly!  I want to keep these pounds off when they are off!

Meanwhile, I have started a quilt for my granddaughter, Megan, who will be moving into a big-girl bed sometime before February when the new baby arrives!  I am making a twin-sized quilt - Amanda picked out the pattern and fabric, and it is so much fun to sew!

Here is the fabric, mostly cut out, from when I started last weekend -

                                       

So bright and cheery!  Here is the pattern -

                                       

And here is what I have done so far!

                                       

Happy Birthday to Laura Norwood, a very dear and special lady who is now 90 years old!
                          
                                          

Pink is her favorite color, so the fellowship hall at church was decorated in pink with lots of flowers, pictures, and lovely place settings for a birthday party for Laura.

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

And here with the food all set up -

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

I heard comments that the fellowship hall had never looked so beautiful!  And lots of people came -

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

On the right here, is our minister's wife, and that is a friend of hers with her -

                                          

One of Laura's nieces is Janet Yancey, who is the wife of Christian author Philip Yancey -  she is standing here with Jim -

                                          

It was a lovely luncheon and a chance to wish Happy Birthday to one of God's faithful servants!

                                          

Several friends have asked me for pictures of the smocked sundress I made for Megan.  I finally finished it - I sewed the hem this morning!  This one was a challenge to my sewing skills - not only the smocking, but understanding the directions (from an old issue of Australian Smocking and Embroidery that I borrowed), making my own piping, and putting in buttonholes for the first time with my Elna sewing machine.  That part was easy, once I got the hang of it!

I love the way it turned out!  I am hoping that Megan will wear it to church tomorrow!

                                  

                                   

                                      

                                         

I just wanted to ask all my xanga friends if you would please pray for my friend Kim this morning?  She is the mother of two little boys, ages 5 and 7.  She is starting chemo today for her breast cancer that has already metastasized to her liver.  Pray for her and her husband and boys as they all go through this difficult time together.  Pray that the chemo works and the tumors disappear!  Our God is a God of miracles and He can heal Kim!

Today I had Charlie and Megan here while Amanda taught piano lessons.  And then she practiced some music for a wedding that she is playing for this weekend.  I enjoyed lovely music coming up from downstairs!

For Charlie's birthday, one thing we gave him (that Amanda was happy for him to keep here at Grandma's house because it has too many little pieces to keep up with) was set of large beads that you string onto colorful shoestrings.  We did for awhile and then he wanted to build a tower with his beads.  It got very tall!

                                       

                                       

Megan was really walking a lot today - more than she has before here at my house!  Starting in the kitchen. . .

                                       

Through the hallway and into the living room. . .

                                       

Ooops, down she goes!

                                       

Back up again!

                                       

                                       

And back through the hallway -

                                       

What fun!

                                           

Happy Birthday, Charlie!  Today was his 3rd birthday!

                                          

Amanda and Sam had a party for him at their house with lots of  family friends.  I'm just going to put up pictures for you all to enjoy.

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

I babysat today so that Amanda could go shopping!  This young man will be 3 years old on Sunday!  And his mommy needed to shop without him!  As she says, she can't get away with trying to hide anything from him anymore!

                                         

Megan, who is 15 months old, is just starting to walk.  She takes a few steps at a time, but she still likes to crawl better.  I am sure it is because she can keep up with Charlie faster by crawling than walking!

                                         

Here are some pictures of our morning:  Here Megan isn't very happy because Grandma told her no, that is not the cabinet she is allowed to play in -

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                         

There were very happy when Aunt Betsy arrived home -

                                         

More playtime -

                                          

                                          

                                          

                                          

It's so much better to read when you are INSIDE the bookshelf!

                                          

Charlie is too big to sit there!

                                          

On a sadder note, my heart is breaking tonight at the news that a young friend, a mother with 2 young boys, got some bad news today about her breast cancer.  It had metastasized to the liver quickly, and she has been on a course of hormonal drugs to suppress her estrogen in an effort to get the tumors to shrink.  But that hasn't worked, and the tumors are a little larger, actually.  She will start on chemotherapy soon.  But, she is trusting in the Lord, her Savior, who loves her and is in control of all things!  Please pray for her, for her husband and sons, as you think about them!