A Tribute: Robbie Jean Henry

 Robbie Jean Henry

May 1, 1930-February 14, 2011

My Granny and Papa Henry had the sweetest love story I've ever heard, and it ended in the most perfect way.

Many years ago, my Papa walked into the Aldridge Coffee shop in his military uniform.  He was a tall, dark, and handsome man.  He caught sight of a beautiful waitress there, but as he began to talk to her he realized that she was already engaged to someone else - even at the age of 15 1/2.  Despite that, it was love at first sight for both of them.  He soon began to court her, but he refused to marry her until she was 17 years old.  So at midnight, on her 17th birthday they said "I DO" and they never looked back.

My grandparents were the ultimate example of a godly marriage.  They both took the Scriptures in Ephesians very seriously... my Papa loved his wife as Christ loved the church, and my Granny loved him above all else and was submissive and supportive of him in everything he did.  She waited on him hand-and-foot.  Not because he expected it of her, but because she truly found pleasure in pleasing him at all cost.  He was such a kind, gentle-hearted, soft-spoken, and wise man.  And his wife meant everything to him.  Several years ago when my cousin asked him for advice on having a long-lasting, happy marriage, he said, "Put your wife on a pedestal and never take her off."  And that he did.

Two-and-a-half years ago my Papa's health took a turn for the worse.  My Granny insisted on bringing him home so she could care for him until the end, and she would crawl up in the tiny little hospital bed in their living room and snuggle with him and stroke his hair and face.  When he passed away, part of my Granny passed away.  She was never the same.  She still had a smile on her face and a positive outlook most of the time, but her eyes didn't sparkle quite the same, and her health began declining almost immediately.  She fought a long fight with cancer, and then just a few weeks ago we were told that none of the treatments she had been taking were working and that it had spread to her entire body.  We weren't sure how long she had, and the last week of her life we were sure that every minute was the last minute.  As we stood by her bedside last weekend, my sister, aunt, cousin and I were talking about when we thought she would pass.  Although the nurses were telling us she only had minutes left, we all had the feeling that she would wait until Valentine's Day.  After all, there was nothing in life she loved more than Christ and her husband.  We knew that she would want to reunite with the loves of her life on Valentine's Day... and that's exactly what she did.

It was truly the perfect ending to the most beautiful love story.

The funeral was hard - especially since she was my last living grandparent - but I have to smile knowing that she has a new cancer-free, pain-free body, and that she is sitting at the feet of her Jesus holding hands with her "Bubber".  What a precious picture in my mind.

And speaking of pictures, I have to share my favorite picture of my grandparents.  I came across this picture as we were looking at old photo albums this last week.  Here they are, young and in love...

 

So, instead of saying, "Goodbye" I'm just going to remember that it's just "See You Later" because I know I will see them again someday...

Aamina-Kate

My cousin's family recently adopted a precious baby girl from Ethiopia.  They were blessed to be able to bring her home right after the new year.  I got to meet her for the first time last week and spend a lot of time at their house.  She is so precious that I have to share...

This is her on the airplane ride home from Ethiopia

Her shirt says "born in Ethiopia, loved in America"

 Look at the precious face!

 Striking a pose :-)

I think I've found a new model for my Designs by T business.  Here she is in a onesie I made her.  It has pink angel wings on the back and it says "lil' angel" on the front.  Isn't she absolutely adorable in it?  And I LOVE the leg warmers...

 Seriously...way cute!

 Here she is in another onesie I made for her with rhinestone "Glam Girl" on it.  I wish I could take credit for the adorable tutu, leg warmers and bow, but I cannot...

This last pic is quite blurry, but I love her smile.  This is her older sister, Camryn, giving her kisses.  Look at that face...the giggle would melt your heart.

I'll end with a short video clip of some of her little "talents".  In the first part of the video she is lip singing to a Justin Bieber song.  In the second clip she is telling us "NO" and in the last clip she is doing "Pat-A-Cake".

Valentine's Day

This year my Valentine's Day had a rough start.  I awoke to the news that my Granny had passed away.  She had been rather ill for the past year-and-a-half, so we knew it would be coming soon, but it still doesn't make it easy.  I think the hardest part of it was that she was my last living grandparent...now I've said goodbye to them all...BUT I know I will see them again one day in heaven... more about that in a later post...

Despite the rough start to the day, my friends and family did their best to cheer me up and help me have a good Valentine's Day. 

After our school work, some chores, and lunch we met some special friends who always brighten my day.  A new Cherry Berry has opened in Sand Springs, so we had some Valentine sweets together.  Thanks, Elisabeth & Sara, for inviting us along for a sweet treat :-)

Then, later that evening my husband treated all his ladies to a special dinner out at Spaghetti Warehouse.  We were afraid it would be packed with a life-long wait, but we got right in and the food was absolutely fabulous :-)  And the best part was that I didn't have to cook or clean-up!!!

The girls in the shoe-shining chairs at Spaghetti Warehouse

 Daddy's Valentines :-)

My hubby also bought me some beautiful roses - he always knows that will make me smile - but I forgot to get a pic of those before they wilted.

Random Pics

These are some random pictures that really didn't "fit in" with any recent post...

This is Rosey, one of our dogs.  This was during the last snowstorm we had.  I had let the puppies out to do their business, and I guess Rosey was proud of herself for finding a "treasure" (a sweet gum ball) amid all the snow.  She was sitting in one of our lawn chairs waiting to be let back in with her "prize" for me.  Too cute!

Zora is learning cursive and is doing quite well!  She has learned all the letters and is slowly beginning to practice words with her new knowledge :-)  Here is here name in cursive!

Here is the 15 week baby bump :-)

SNOW much fun!

Yesterday we started the day making valentine cards for all their friends.  We had quite a mess!  We had out paper, scissors, stickers, stamps, glue, glitter, flowers, and more!  Hopefully we'll actually get to SEE our friends next week for a Valentine party, but more snow is in the forecast, so who knows?

Yesterday afternoon it finally warmed up enough that I let the girls get out and play in the snow.  We stayed out there for almost 2 hours.  They had so much fun having snowball fights, building a snowman, making snow angels, eating snow and more!

making snowballs for a fight :-)

 Lily makes a snow angel

 Zora makes a snow angel

 Zora's snow angel

 my little snow flower :-)

 happy & rosy little cheeks!

 Our neighbor helps the girls out with their snowman

 Zora is so proud!

I took this random picture of a nest in one of our trees.  I thought it looked pretty among all the white.  I can't wait until spring returns and a little bird family moves in for us to enjoy :-)

After the girls finished playing in the snow and I got the porch, sidewalk and driveway shoveled off, we collected a huge bowl of clean snow to enjoy as a treat after dinner.  We poured strawberry pop on top of a cup full of snow for snow cones!  Mmmmmmmmm :-)

My Sentiments of Snow :-)

Baby #3 Update

Baby #3 is doing very well.  The doctor said the baby is very healthy and active and growing well.  The heart rate today was 150 and right now the baby is about 6.3cm (about 2.5in) long.  The doctor tried to tell the gender, but didn't get a great look.  She really thinks it is another girl, but can't be positive.  We'll see how cooperative the baby is next month!!!

And, yes, I am already in full swing with the baby bump this time around.  I guess when it's the third one you start showing right away!  The first trimester was not completely enjoyable because I was nauseated a lot, but I won't complain because I never actually got sick.  Lately I've had a lot less trouble in that department and seem to be eating everything in sight!  So far I've gained 6 pounds.

13 week baby bump :-)

So far I haven't felt any "flutters", but I should be feeling all that action in a couple of weeks :-)  Stay tuned!

MORE SNOW!!!

I can't hardly believe it, but it is snowing again!  Another large accumulation is expected and they are predicting two or three more snowstorms within the next few days.  I may not ever be able to get my car out of the driveway!!!  I'm just thankful to be inside where it's warm.  I do LOVE watching the snow fall - it's absolutely breathtaking.  I just don't like being out in it :-)

Yesterday I was finally able to open my front door.  Apparently the wind blew hard enough that it blew snow between our storm door and front door, and then that melted and refroze at some point.  So yesterday morning when I tried to open the door they were frozen shut together.  With the help of a hair dryer and some towels I finally managed to get the door open and then it took me over an hour to scrape off all the ice that had accumulated.  I got the biggest bowl I had in my kitchen and it was about 3/4 full by the time I was finished!

And my husband was able to clear enough of the snow drifts away from our front door that we can actually open the storm door now and get out into the front yard!  YAY!!!  But now, we are expected to have much more, so who knows what will happen?!?!

And, speaking of my husband, I just have to say that he is such a wonderful man.  He is a great provider and a very hard worker.  He left Wednesday morning around 10am to go snow plow and did not return until Thursday evening at 6pm!  That's 38 hours of work with no sleep!  Poor guy.  Needless to say he was happy to be home last night and we crashed earlier than normal.  But he's out there again today plowing away again.  Bless his heart!

INSANITY!!!

Remember this picture from my last post???

Well, that was only three days ago.  It was a beautiful 78 degrees and we spent it outside soaking up the sun.

Today it looks like this...

And the high today was 12 degrees.  

Seriously?!?!?!?!?! 

And, yes, that is my car, almost completely buried.  The snow started falling last night at 10:30pm and did not stop until about 4pm today.  That is a lot of snow!!!  We cannot open our front door.  The girls and I have absolutely no reason to leave the house, but Joel needed to get out to work.  So, he had to go out the back door and then realized that he couldn't get through either one of our gates because of the high snow drifts, so he had to jump the fence to get to his truck in the front yard.  It's a good thing his truck wasn't parked in the back like it usually is!  He would have been shoveling his way out the back gate forever.  This is the drift at our back gate.

Absolute insanity!!!

However, I must admit that I do enjoy being trapped inside.  It's a slow-paced life right now.  Nowhere to go, no important things to do.  I'm thankful that we have enough food to last for the next week or so and that we still have electricity.


It's been too cold to let the girls out in the snow, but hopefully by the end of the week the temperature will be at least in the 30s and they can get out to play in it!  So maybe I'll have some fun snow pics at the end of the week.  And my doctor's appointment for tomorrow was rescheduled for Friday, so hopefully we'll be able to get across town by then to get more pics of Baby #3 :-)