Category Archives: Family

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Cute “Good byes!”

. Family, Parenting . , , , ,

I know you all get to hear cute things from your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, but I have wanted to write this one for months now. We have a set of 7 cypress trees, and Ammon and Carter started calling them “Christmas trees” last December.
During that Christmas season if we left our driveway to where we had full-view
of the “Christmas trees”, Ammon especially would wave out the car window, and
she would say “Bye Christmas trees!” She still does that every once in a while;
however, on our way to church yesterday morning, and as Carter and Ammon made
their way out our kitchen door, down the step into the garage, and headed to
the car, they both said, “Bye house!” I loved it, and it made me smile and
laugh.

How many of us do the same in our minds as we leave our
homes, our places of work, our schools, or our places of worship. Ammon and
Carter even said, “Bye church!” as we left worship on Sunday morning. Well, you
may have completely given up what we may think of as “childish” acts, but,
seriously, in the recesses of your mind, do you ever do something like say, “Good
bye, house” in your mind as you pull out of your driveway? As I’ve gotten older
and developed my relationship with God, I always add a prayer to my “Good bye
house” (which I have done often as an adult even before Ammon and Carter) with
a “Thank you for a blessed home. Please keep me protected until I return to it,
and please bless it until I get back to it.” I’m still a child: A child of God.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

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“Peace be unto You”

. Family, Holidays, Jesus Christ Follower . , ,

Jesus the Master Teacher: Lladró

John 20:26

“…Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in their
midst and said, ‘Peace be unto you.’”

As I said a few days ago, I wanted to introduce you to my
favorite piece of Lladró. In 2000, I landed in Spain June 7, and I returned
about June 27. For almost three weeks, I searched from Madrid to Málaga to
Santander back to Madrid for the perfect piece of Lladró that fit my budget and
my life. My next to the last day I found it: Jesus the Master Teacher. Not just
Jesus the Master Teacher, but Jesus my friend, my brother, and my Lord and
savior. I also got several other pieces.

Jesus sat on my Nanny’s sideboard until 2004 when we moved
into the house we live in now.  He then took his rightful place over the fireplace mantel that is in our living room which is situated in the middle of our house. No matter what season of the year it is or what seasonal decorations are in the living room Jesus doesn’t leave his place. All decorations as well as the entire house have Jesus as its center. It is symbolic because he needs to be the center of my peace and my life. I hope this picture helps you  fix yourself for a few moments on Jesus, and I
hope the words I’ve written fall upon your hearts  and help bring you peace today.

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Lladró (Porcelain, not a sneeze) ;o)

. Family, Jesus Christ Follower . , ,

In July of 1990, a friend of mine, Kim Legg, an American who
I met at the University of Madrid in Madrid, Spain asked me if I wanted to
accompany her to shop for some Lladró. If you don´t know, Lladró is porcelain
that is made exclusively in Valencia, Spain. It is also world renown. In 1990,
I had NEVER heard of Lladró, but I told Kim, “Sure. I will go and learn.” I
didn’t find any that I liked that day nor did I see any I wanted to buy until I
returned to Spain in 2000. It was then that I bought several pieces. I plan to
show my first and most important piece this coming Sunday.

The Father’s Day of 2008 Carter and Ammon were still
gestating. However, Sean and I bought each other a Father’s Day gift when we
were in New York City. It was two pieces of Lladró (both the same piece) by the
name “Fatherhood”.  Both of them are placed on our mantle, and it is a constant reminder of how God blessed me to be a father. I am in constant prayer that I will not let Him down.

In the next few weeks, I want to share some of my most treasured Lladró pieces with you. I hope you enjoy them.

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Praise the Lord for Mamaw

. Family

Mamaw & Carter Summer 2011

Mamaw & Ammon Summer 2011

I’ve mentioned how grateful I am to my mother for helping
take care of Carter and Ammon. Well, I am doing it again, and it won’t be the
last. When I leave Ammon and Carter with my mother (their Mamaw), I don’t have
any worries. I know they will be fed, clothed, played with, entertained, and
most importantly loved. If I knew I had to die in a few hours, I would be
satisfied knowing that Carter and Ammon would have a lot of love and nurturing
from Mamaw in the coming years. I have never known anyone who loves children as
much as my mother does. I was so blessed that God gave me my mother and my
father to be born to.

Carter and Ammon were with Mamaw on Monday night. There are so many things to get done at our house and in our yard, and Mamaw (Aunt Karen helps too…thank you Aunt Karen!) allowing them to stay with her for a couple of days and a night every now and then helps me get them done.  As I left them
with her on Monday morning (and as we always do) we all said “Good bye! I love
you. Be good, and be careful.” We also gave hugs and kisses. I left my babies
playing and happy, and I had no worries. Thank you God, for my wonderful and caring mother, and thank you, Mamaw for being who God made you.

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Summer’s Corn on the Cob

. Family, Learning, Parenting . , , ,
Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

Ahh, the Memories of Corn!

I love fresh corn on the cob especially Silver Queen (oh,
man I’m salivating just thinking of the ears of lightly-salted corn dripping
with melted butter/margarine). I could eat it for every meal for who knows how
many days in a row. On our way home from town Wednesday, Carter, Ammon, and I
stopped and bought some just-picked Silver Queen corn. The smell and later the
process of shucking it, brought back a plethora of memories of me and fresh
corn.

Shucked corn July 13, 2011

It was May 8, 1982, and it was also the day after my 16th
birthday. My father, my mother, and I had planted a good-sized garden, and we
had approximately 6 rows of corn that were each about 40 feet long. The corn
stalks were young and about ankle high. My father and I decided to give my
mother the day off as an early Mother’s Day gift, so he and I, alone, worked in
the garden. As I hoed the corn, we talked about Copper and Chief, the
coonhounds were we raising, but I also spent hours listening to the tales of
Daddy and the hound dogs (King, Queen & Bolivar) he grew up with.
Surprisingly, the warm, May morning flew by. Three weeks later, my father was
no longer with us. He died with an aneurism on his main aorta of the heart on
May 28.

In the middle of July, my mother and I harvested and shucked
the corn that my father had planted and taken care of. At different points
during the process, I cried and cried as I remembered my father. This week on
Wednesday, I shucked the corn and thought of my father and what a wonderful man
he was. I hope Carter and Ammon will make and nurture such memories of me even
if they are of corn on the cob.

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“Bubble-bubble toil and trouble…”

. European Destinations, Family . , , , , , , ,

Do we have any Shakespeare fans out there?  Some of you may not know that the title of the blog today is a quote from Shakespeare’s MacBeth. If you do, you may also recognize
Cawdor Castle, Scottish King Duncan’s castle from the play as well.  As enthralled and dedicated as some of us may be with the literary genius of William Shakespeare, he always didn’t write with historical accuracy…….ohhh, no! LOL King Duncan did not die at the hands of Macbeth but during a battle at Pitgaveny, Scotland on August 14, 1040. Cawdor Castle was not built until the late 14th century.

Ammon, Carter, Nana, & Haven: MacBeth’s Cawdor Castle

On Monday June 6, 2011, we took a tour of Cawdor Castle.  It was a few hours after we hunted for the
Loch Ness “Dinosaur”. It is still a real home after 700 years! The family moves
out for the spring and the summer so tourists can see the historical residence
(and get a few British Sterling Pounds as well.. woo hoo!)

Cawdor Castle

Cawdor Castle

As you can see by the pictures, it was quite beautiful.
Ammon and Carter had a great time. They were allowed out of their strollers and
got to experience the castle as free people…okay, except for the leashes.

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Princess Cruise Lines

. European Destinations, Family . , , ,

Crown Princess

Overall, our family had a wonderful time on our British
Isles/Iceland cruise. It was our first cruise with the Princess Cruise line,
and we highly recommend it. We believe Carnival is great, but it has such
limited itineraries for Europe. Royal Caribbean has better itineraries but
their customer service had hit rock bottom as far as we were concerned along
with about another 6 other couples we chatted with on our February 2011 cruise,
and we all vowed to no longer use it.

Princess =

Princess
did several things we appreciated. The first thing was that they corrected
every minor problem we had. They knew we were the paying customer, and they
showed us respect. Another thing was their food was so good. This was the first
cruise in over a year where we actually gained weight.  Next, their excursions were very organized,and the Crown Princess crew  was so
helpful with the babies and their strollers. Lastly, Crown Princess’ future
cruise associate, Gloria Mallard, was fabulous. She was so accommodating to our
future needs, she treated us with kindness and respect, and she loved Ammon and
Carter. One evening while we were chatting at Gloria’s desk, Carter and Ammon
each started “drawing” Gloria a picture. Two days later, Sean and I went back
without the babies, and Gloria had taped the drawings up above her desk for
everyone to see. We were honored, and she said she absolutely loved Ammon and
Carter and their drawings.

Haven, Ammon, Gloria Mallard, Carter, Sean, & Nana

So, once again, if you would like to take a cruise we HIGHLY
recommend Princess Cruise lines. We, ourselves, have three more cruises booked.
Let’s hope we remain satisfied! I think we will.

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Dublin, Ireland

. European Destinations, Family, Family Travel, Parenting . , , , ,

“The only thing to see in Dublin is the Guinness Brewing Factory” was the reply we got from a fellow traveler with whom we shared a touring train in Monte Carlo, Monaco last October.  The question to this family from Northern Ireland had been, “What do you recommend seeing in Dublin?”  The truth of the matter was that we were not anticipating much out of Dublin, but, oh, my goodness! It was such a nice surprise.

Carter, Haven, Ammon (enjoying the vaulted ceiling) & Nana:St. Patrick’s

We had a short excursion that morning, but we had a great afternoon of shopping. We’re looking forward to wearing our Ireland-made sweaters we bought this coming winter. ;o)

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Happy Independence Day!

. Family, Holidays . , , , , , ,

Every year during our holiday of Independence Day (July 4th),
I think of my Caylor ancestors. They had come to the colony of Pennsylvania in
the 1750s from Germany. They were Caylors (Kahler & Humbert were two of the families I know for sure) I am not an expert on the genealogy of that group, but
knowing linguistics like I do, I doubt those that came in the 1750s were very
good with the English language by the Revolutionary War; however, their teen-age children who were born in the colonies probably did quite well with English. The Caylors
must have been visionaries. They first came here to get away from over-population,
land shortages, and food shortages in Germany, and when they arrived, they
arrived to a group of disgruntled colonists who were tired of Great Britain’s
tyranny. In their vision of the future, they could see the importance of the
colonists (British, German, or French descendants) working together for freedom
and for making their own country, so they did it. They fought with all the
colonists, and they won the United States Revolutionary War. In a few years, the rest of the world looked upon
these rag-tag freedom lovers who ousted an empire and bestowed them the name “Americans”.

What an honor it must have been. They weren’t German -Americans, or
British-American, or French-Americans. They were AMERICANS equaling a group of
people of different nationalities, languages, and cultures that had come together to make the United States of America. My German ancestors knew they were doing something special, but they had no idea that they had laid the ground work for the
greatest country this world has ever seen or will ever see again. I am so proud
of my ancestors, my country, and my freedom. I am so looking forward to Carter
and Ammon knowing the love of freedom and of country and understanding their
proud heritage. God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America. Happy
Independence Day!

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Ammon Moment

. Family, Scotland . , , , ,

Ammon in Reykjavik

I’ve wanted to share this Ammon moment for several weeks now. It happened on Monday
June 6, 2011 at Loch Ness, Scotland.

The family and I were touring Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.
There was an hour bus ride to Urquhart Castle that morning, and our tour guide,
Mr. Munro, kept giving us the logistics of the day, and he would often speak of
Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Monster. Ammon and I were sitting side by side, and
one time after Mr. Munro mentioned the word monster, Ammon inquired, “Monster?”
My mind went into overdrive trying to go through Ammon’s schema to prepare her
for what we would be hearing around the Loch. All Ammon and Carter know about
monsters is what they have seen on cartoons such as Scooby Doo.  In a few
seconds, something came to my mind that Ammon could connect with from her
former knowledge. I said, “We are going to try to look for a dinosaur that
swims. It’s called the Loch Ness Monster.” In an excited voice, Ammon
exclaimed, “A dinosaur that swims?” I replied with, “Yes!, However, it’s very
shy, and it doesn’t like people so we might not see it.” Ammon continued with
pitiful interrogation, “It doesn’t like me?” I continued with, “Well, I’m sure
if it met you, if would like you, but it’s just too shy to meet people.” In a
satisfied tone, Ammon surrendered with , “Okay!”

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness: June 6, 2011

Ten minutes later we arrived at Urquhart Castle that looks
over Loch Ness. After a wonderful historical film of the castle, we headed down
toward the Loch and the castle. Ammon and Carter had on their leashes. Sean was
with Carter on his leash, and I was with Ammon on her leash. Ammon and Carter
had been cooped up on the bus for a long time, and they were ready to run, so
Ammon and I took off toward the castle. As we were running Ammon cups her hands
over her mouth like a megaphone and begins to yell, “Come out dinosaur! Don’t
be shy! We’re hunting you!” I was running and laughing at the same time. What a
girl!

Ammon (the dinosaur hunter), Carter, Nana, & Haven: Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness