Freedom or Control

If you've been tuned in, you know that our daughter, April, and her family were here to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would like to have everyone of our kids here, but that is not possible.  We really appreciate that April comes to be with us regularly.  This year, Lauren opened her presents here since they were pressed for time. It was good to share that special joy with them.



I really can't tie this is with the layout in any way, but I'd like you to watch  Henson Ong, a legal immigrant testify before Congress. Henson is Anti-Gun control and states the facts indisputably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyYYgLzF6zU

My Grandmother

My grandfather read everything he could get his hands on, but was quite bored in the one room school he attended. The teacher didn't like him because he was the 'class clown', so each year she failed him.  

He grew up and married Lillian, the beautiful girl in this picture taken in about 1918. 

I could write a lot about her life in Texas, but tonight I'll shorten it: Her family was lost in the Galveston, TX flood in 1900  when she was just a baby. She was raised by a wealthy family. But they disowned her when she married my grandfather. My father was the first of her seven sons.

Live Music

It's Caleb again. I am very thankful that his mom, Beth, supplies me with lots of cool pictures.

While it was still early, it is still difficult for me to tell you that her pregnancy failed today. We will be comforted by knowing that God knows best.

Letter Sounds

Surely a grandmother has the right to blog about anything she wants. It is still a free country. So, here we are with another Christmas day layout of Caleb.  The teacher in me fell in love with the magnetic letters that make the letter sounds when pushed. He's only two, but almost three and...oh well better to have them now than to never have had them at all.  

I did say it is a free country. Of course daily I hear of new challenges to that. Someone got in trouble for putting a comparison  on FaceBook of our president to Hitler with his confiscation of fire arms.

So you have free speech...unless 'liberals' don't like it.

Senators will not obey the Senate's own rules.  Those rules call for publishing a bill online at least 48 hours before they vote on it.  But Democrats will bring up a bill one morning, not put it online and vote on it the same day...even one that is 600 pages long. 48 hours are not even enough! Tell me how many of you would actually read a 600 page bill in a few hours and understand it well enough to make a decision that affects your country?  Oh by the way and attend to your other duties as well?  No wonder we are in a big fix. All sorts of things are becoming law without the benefit of Congress even knowing what they are doing.  A bill entitled one thing may include lots and lots of clauses that have absolutely nothing to do with it, but in some way increase taxes or inhibit the freedom of our people. No one knows until after  it is law. Like Nancy Pelosi said, "But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy." 

Sparkling

The triplets and their mother, Chelle, celebrated New Year's Eve in Florida at Greg's  parent's home, with a bottle of sparkling grape juice.

In Ohio, my hubby went to sleep early and I watched a surprise show of fireworks from my computer chair. They were set off by the lake right across the water from our house and were quite lovely for a private display. 

 New Year's Day was our time to celebrate together. I told about that on January 1. However, I failed to mention that friends brought sparkling grape juice. I love the stuff but try to drink in infrequently so that it remains a special treat.  

As the days  go by, I feel more and more concerned for our country's well being.  Please join Christians around the country in praying that God accepts our repentance once again and saves our nation from moral decay without turning us into a third world nation in the hands of a socialist dictator. Pray that we can preserve the Constitution and especially the second amendment which gives us the right to our guns for our own protection.

As we try to wipe our slates clean and start over each year with new year resolutions, God is faithful and His compassion never fails...He doesn't wait until a new year, but each day his compassion is renewed.

Lamentations 3:22-24

New International Version (NIV)

22. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never               

      fail.

23. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Layout Redo

I enjoyed doing the layout at the top; but when I was finished, I wasn't satisfied. Generally, when that happens, I keep it anyway. But this time  I looked it over the next day and  decided that with the pink  trim, it may be a little more feminine than what I'd like for Caleb. It was at that point that I broke my own rule. I put Caleb's pictures back into  Photoshop Elements and took a different path. It is more to my liking and now I have a lavender layout all ready for a little girl.  At the time, I didn't know what I do now...

 

John and Beth are expecting a new little sibling for Caleb in the fall!  Either a boy or girl would be great. But I do have a lavender layout ready for  some girly pictures.

Seeing both the  pages here, I'm torn. I like them both  for Caleb. However, I'll keep the top one for a girl...just is case.

The WOW Gift

You'll need to read this layout to find out why Aussie is so Wowed by this gift. 

No Budget, No Pay passed the House! 

 

Let's keep the momentum up and make sure the Senate passes it too -- click here to write your senators:  http://bit.ly/Vs43SG

 

Debt-ceiling bill would halt lawmaker paychecks if Congress doesn’t forge budget dealLawmakers agreed to freeze congressional salaries as part of the short-term deal they reached to avoid the fiscal cliff,
but a new debt-ceiling proposal introduced late last week could affect their pay more severely — at least in the short-term.