Jesus is the Reason

For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given , and the government will be on his shoulders.

And He will be called Wonderful counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6

The igloo and figures are from Alaska.

The grey Nativity was made for ash from Mount Helens.

This white egg shaped Nativity was made from sands at White Sands, New Mexico.


The aluminum painted Nativity is from Mexico.

My God bless you and your family, especially during this Christmas season.

Christmas Surprise!!

What a difference a day makes in southeast Texas. Yesterday, Dec. 10. I walked Sassie at 6:30 A.M. The temp. was 70 degrees.

This morning we woke up to temp below 30 and six inches of fresh powdery SNOW!

What fun!! Mother said to hurry up with the pics.
She was ready to go back in the warm house.


Snow frosting on the Oak trees.

Sassie and I are acclimating for a trip to Alaska.

Sassie is looking for a sled to pull

Neighbors and rare, allusive snow people.

May everyone have a Blessed Christmas, and all the excitement and joy of celebrating Christ's Birth.

Ch!ristmas Surprise

Christmas Surprise!

Wednesday, Dec. 10, I walked Sassie at 6:30 am. Temp was 70 degrees.

What a difference a day makes!! This morning the temp was below freesing and there was six inches of powdery SNOW on the ground, in the trees and coating the cars.

Aren't we having fun!!! Sassie is looking for a sled to pull.

Mother is smiling, but urging me to hurry so she can go back inside!

Sassie and I are acclimating for a trip to Alaska.

Snow frosted Oaks and cactus.

Neighbors and rare, allusive SNOW people.


Wishing everyone a wonder spiritfilled Christmas. May the Joy of the season of Christ's Birth cause you as much excitement as the rare snowfall in southeast Texas.

Christmas Surprise!!

Aren't we having fun! Mother, Sassie and me.

Magnificent snow frosting on the oaks.

And cactus

Neighbors with rare, allusive SNOW people.

Friends

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Pre Christmas Busy. Busy

Sorry no photos this time. Last week was filled with Writer Critique Group.
Congratulations to Debra Johnson for her published receipe that won honorable mention AND monery! Laurie Kolp was feature editor in the Beaumont Enterprise. Way to go!
First Friday in Groves was cold, but with Lisa and Debbie joining Melanie and me warm friendships kept us from freezing.
Saturday, Westend Baptist Church hosted a baby shower for moms from the Hope Pregancy Center who delivered within the last quarter. We had two mom's who had new born twins! Another mom was due any minute, one due on the 17th, one on the 24, and one on the 25th.
What a busy Christmas season.

Tomorrow night Golden Triangle Writers meets at Barns and Noble. Hope to see you there.
Put next Friday and Saturday on your calendar. I will be signing at during the Old Timer's Days in Sour Lake. Other writers are invited to join me. Just give me an e-mail.

Answers to Thaksgiving Trivia

The first Thanksgiving was in Dec, 1621, held in Plymoth, Mass.
Linclon proclamed the national holiday in 1863.
The four most popular menu items are turkey (ofcourse) cranberries, dressing adn sweetpotatoes, except for yankees who prefer whites )Did you get all four?)
On average
256 million turkeys
640 million pounds of cranberries
1.6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes and
998 thousand pumkins are eaten (seems like I ate most of it!)

Turkey Creek, TX
Turkey, Tenn
Turkey, NC
and bonus, the country of Turkey.

Approx 107 million families celebrate Thanksgiving annually. Families, Friends and Food. So much to be thankful for!!

Thanksgiving Trivia

The turkey is now a carcass. The pecan pie reduced to crumbs. We've caught up with the lives of relitives and expressed thanks for blessings we've received.
Now is time for a little Thanksgiving trivia. Answers will follow.
When was the first Thansgiving?
Where was it held?
Who proclaimed Thansgiving as a national holiday?
What year?
What are the four most popular menu items? This should be easy.
How many pounds of turkey are consumed on average?
How many pounds of cranberries?
How many sweet potatoes?
How many pounds of pumpkins?
Name three cities named after the main course.
Approx. how many families celebrate Thanksgiving annually?
True or False: the day after Thanksgiving is sthe most popular shopping day in America.

Watch for answers. See how you did.

Time to give thanks

I have so much to be thankful for this year. My writing has been very successful with my first novel, "Beneath the Surface" to be released soon. A second novel, "Venture in Faith" is with an agent.
I contributed a short piece to "Write Before Christmas" andanthology which will be available soon.

This month I've had several book signings in the Beaumont area, spoke for the Writer's Guild in Jasper and attended the Bayou Writer's conference in Lake Charles with several writer's from Beaumont.

I'll have a booth at Groves First Friday in December and a booth at the Old Timers Festival in Sour Lake, Dec 12-13. Stop by for a visit!

Hope Women Clinic Gayla

Hope Women's Clinic of Beaumont hosted a fundraiser Gayla, Nov. 11, 2008. Over 400 attended the event at the Elegante Hotel.

Guest speaker was W. Paul Young, author of "The Shack". He spoke of himself as an "accidental writer", because he wrote this book as a gift for his children. He planned to print 15 copies at Office Depot.

He was rejected by 26 publishers, and self-published with two friends. Today "The Shack" has been on the best seller list for 24 weeks, has sold 4 million copies and is in 35 languages.

"The Shack" is true, but not real." Young says, explaining that it's his interpretation of the human soul. God cares about each one of us from conception.

Sally, the mother of adorable Malachi, spoke about her son who was diagnosed before birth with down syndrome and serious heart problems. She refused doctor's suggestions to abort. Sally and Malachi's daddy, Chip, put baby Malachi into God's hands. Today he is a happy toddler, walking, talking, singing, and a blessing to all who meet him.

Pres. Bush has signed into law a bill that requires parents of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, spina bibida, cystic fibrosis and similar maladies to be provided the latest info. on the condition and be informed on services available. A registery of families willing to adopt special-needs children will be established.

Texas lawmakes propose a bill that would require women who want to abort to be required to listen to the heartbeat and get ultra-sound images before undergoing the procedure.

Does the mom-to-be who goes in for an abortion know that the "blob of tissue" that gave her a positive pregancey test had a heart beat? Had she seen an ultrasound image of her baby? Would she choose abortion if she'd been honestly informed?

Planned Parenthood of Houston has purchased a 6 story building in southwest Houston where an entire floor is to be dedicated to third term, partial-birth, abortions. Babies who could live. Houston is the third largest abortion provider in the nation now, and soon will be the largest.

More babies are aborted daily in the United States that the number of people killed in 9/11.

What you believe counts.

Pregnancy Resurce Center East, Baytown

Banquet speaker, Khristey Walker, director of the Community Pregnancy Center, Houston, gave an awsome testamony of being "Forgiven and Set Free" from the guilt and remorse of having aborted her first two children.


Khristey said that 1 in 4 women have experienced abortion and continue to suffer heartache and depression from a problem pregnancy that was not solved, but exchanged for surpressed memories, grief and shame.


Although raising a child was not in Khristey's life plan at the time, no one suggested that she make an adoption plan. Today, a mother-to-be has the option to make a life saving choice, to give life to her child, enable another family to cherish a child, and to remain a part of her child's life if she chooses.

Loving, caring families wait, not only for a newborn, but for children with special needs. Moms who are not ready to parent can make an adoption plan and find the perfect family for their child through one of the many reputible agencies.

Nov. National Adoption Awareness Month

"There are no unwanted children, just unfound homes." Nat. Adoption Center states that there are 114,000 children waiting for a Forever Home in the U.S.

6,000 children with special needs wait in Texas. Darrell was one of these children.

I adopted Darrell when he was 3 1/2 years old. He is blind and profoundly retarded due to shaken baby syndrome- child abuse.

This is his story. And the story of his impact on my growing family. Darrell joined my two daughters and older adopted son in our single parent home

My family grew through adoption to 12 children. Most of these kids fell into the category of special needs: physical, medical, emotional abuse and neglect. Some were older, some were members of sibling groups, some were of a minority race. All were children who craved love and a Forever Family.

My children are now adults, most with children of their own.

Why would a single, working mom take on such a task? What is the purpose for Darrell's life? How did he influence our family? Would I do it again?

Interested in adoption? Check out some of the links in my website: grandmas-bookshelf.com.

For a special copy of "Adopting Darrell" for $5.00 to cover shipping, leave a post with e-mail address.

Nov. National Adoption Awareness Month

"There are no unwanted children, just unfound families." Nat. Adoption Center states that there are 114,000 children waiting for adoption in the United States.

6,000 children with special needs wait in Texas. Darrell was one of those childdren.

I adopted Darrell when he was 3 1/2 years old. He joined my two biological daughters and older adopted son. He is blind and profoundly retarded due to shaken baby syndrome- child abuse.

Why would a single, working mom take on such as task? How did he influence our family? Would I do it again?

My family grew through adoption to 12. Most of these kids fell into the category of special needs; Physical, medical, emotional abuse and neglect. Some were older, some were members of sibling groups, some were minority races. All were children who craved love and a forever family.

My children are now adults with children of their own.

Interested in adoption? Check out some of the links in my web site: Grandmas_bookshelf.com

Volunteering in Galveston

My friend Mercedes and I joined Diaster Relief volunteers from many states to prepare and serve meals for Galveston residents and volunteer workers.

This photo is an overview of the feeding site at the airport on Oct 18, 2008. The tan buildings in the background are airplane hangers. Yellow tents housed the cooking facilities. Visible are pot washing areas, red cambros (food storage containers) and a Salvation Army feeding unit.

We served three meals daily to Salvation Army and Red Cross volunteeers as well as Security personel.

The photo on the left is of the canteen were volunteers were served. Salvation Army trucked meals to 15 permanent sites twice a day, while Red Cross sent 50 trucks on search and feed missions twice a day.

It was a blessing to see the vast number of workers cooperating and working together. We provided a surprise bananna split desert one evening.

From Sept 24 to Oct 18, 670,000 meals had been served!!

Signing at Escapees

Mother joined me at the Escapees RV Club head quarters at Rainbowsend in Livingston for a book signing.

Met lots of new folks and renewed friendships.

Sold several copies of each book, too.

Wheee! Look Who's 90!! (not me!)

Yesterday we celebrated my Mother's 90th birthday. She is sharing her cake with great granddaughter Julianna who turned seven.

We evacuated from Ike to Lake Charles to

stay with my brother and family. While there we were invited to attended a Keenager outing and fish fry at Dry Creek Baptist Camp. With coaxing and help, we got Mother into the Paul Bunyon's style rocker on the porch. Anyone having this much fun can't possibly be ninty years young!

Happy Birthday, MOM!!