Old Friends

So I am not an expert on Facebook yet (..and may never be..), but I did locate some old friends that I have thought about often in the past 30 years. It has been so much fun to catch up with them and learn about their families and lives. It seems like just yesterday we were living in Macclenny, where there were only 2 red lights and lots of dirt roads, 1 high school, 1 Church ward, and everyone knew everyone else. There is a current song on the Country music charts called "You're Gonna Miss This" ... and I do. Who knew all the turns each of our lives would take as we left that small town. I was blessed to live there and more importantly to meet the friends I did, and know even though we are located all across the country now, the friendship will always remain.

Sons

So they may not have been thrilled about attending church with me, or didn't care to spend the day or eat a meal together, they did smile for our annual "mother's day photo"---so I'm counting it as a blessed day.

A Day Off from Work

Don't get me wrong, I am thankful that Bill and I are employed during these economic hard times, BUT, it was so fun to take a day off last Friday!!!!! We spent the day at the Fort DeSoto Pier, fishing and sunning. It didn't even matter that we caught zero fish! We did get to see quite a few dolphin playing around the pier, and my tan is off to a good start for the summer.

Sonnys & Easter

I'm not sure which is better....celebrating Easter or eating lunch at Sonny's BBQ to celebrate!

Thanks, Jillian, for the tag!
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.

2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

This is Jordan, Christmas 2006. Notice the short hair!!! We were living in Denver, and had a snow storm for Christmas, so he couldn't actually use the new skateboard as intended, but I think he did slide down some snow banks on it.

Since the only 3 friends I know that have blog sites have already done this...no one to tag for now.

Baby Jett

The newest addition to the Ferreira family.

My Quilt

A good friend of ours, that we know from Church, made this quilt for me. Isn't it beautiful?? I saw one he had made about a year ago, and asked him to make one for me with blue as the color theme. I have no idea how many hours it took, but the workmanship is awesome. He makes a variety of crafts and displays them at many of the local craft shows. Check out his website http://www.kenscountrycreations.com/outside_home.asp .

My quilt reminds me of the many that my great grandmother made. Only a few remain in the family, and they were all made by hand.

I am thankful for and very blessed to have a friend that shared his talent by making this for me. I love it!!

Funnel Cakes......Need I Say More??

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have been seriously watching our calorie intake and increasing our gym attendance, but.......how can you go to a Fair and NOT eat a funnel cake??? You're right. It would be impossible. So, I have to just say this was definitely a blessing I enjoyed at the Strawberry Festival in Plant City on Saturday. Bill and I spent the afternoon/evening looking at the exhibits and watching part of some of the shows. The weather was beautiful for spending the day outside. The boys didn't go with us, but we watched the XTreme BMX & Skateboard show anyway. The riders will very good and completed a lot of the tricks that Jordan and Linden work on at home. There were plenty of displays of art, needlework, quilts, clothing, jewelry, cows, pigs, rabbits, and chickens. It was a fun day! And yes, if you have to know....we ate corndogs & boiled peanuts too!

FREE Movie Rental

Blessings can be simple & fun! Our free monthly movie coupon arrived today from Blockbuster. AND they included a coupon for a 20 oz Coke for only 99 cents! What more could I ask for, for our Friday night date??!!

Baby Books

I saw a posting on my friend, Desiree's, FB page this morning, which talked about the birth of her first child. I couldn't help but drag out the Baby Books for Jordan & Linden; then I decided to transfer some of those pictures to the computer. So, lucky for you-----YOU get to see just a few of the cutest baby pics ever taken. I am hoping Linden won't notice he has zero pictures of his little newborn self. I guess delivering a baby at 2:00am wasn't the highlight of everyone else's day; and who knows why no one had a camera in their hand until the child turned 1 month old. At any rate, we've certainly taken enough pictures of them both during the past 16 and 14 years to make up for what was lacking during his first few days.

I love to see all the funny faces Jordan makes. He would sit in front of Linden and make silly faces, while Linden would laugh and laugh. He can still do that, if we catch him in the right mood.

Linden has been and will always be photgenic. How can he go wrong with his dark eyes and long lashes (he'll hates when people point them out).

I am sure you guessed the blessing in my day-----remembering all the special times with my boys when they were young enough to have fun with Mom.

Lifestyle Fitness Center

Not 1, not 2, but 3 blessings come from Lifestyles Fitness Center!!!! First, and most obviously, when we take advantage of our membership, our health improves and our weight decreases....amazing. Second, it is an "automatic" date for Bill and I to meet there every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (and, may I mention that we each individually go 1-2 additional times during the week). And third, in the last 3 weeks our sons have joined us, to make it a family activity. Jordan really enjoys the weight training, and prefers the free-weights, while Linden likes some of the other machines and is spending time on the treadmill and eliptical.

730 Days

730 days ago, on February 13, 2007, Bill & I were married. It has been a fast, fun, terrific, and BLESSED 2 years!

Water Fight + Brothers = Saturday Fun

At ages 16 and 14, it is not often that my sons "play" together any longer. But a Saturday at home, with the sun shining, and a little creativity and that is just what they did this weekend. Bill and I were working in the garden when we heard the laughing and comotion start ...and it just kept going and going. The fence and the back door provided a little protection for the opposing brothers, but in the end, both were soaked. Fortunately, both were still laughing too, which was definitely a blessing for this mom to hear!

Sister Norma

I happened to be at our Church building for a short meeting last night. When I got in the truck to leave, I noticed a little heart-shaped note on the windshield. Yep, I had been "heart-attacked" by the Young Women (girls ages 12-18). When I came home, Bill mentioned he had received a text message of a Valentine rose from a number he didn't recognize. Seems the YW provided a Valentine message to everyone in our ward. Their activity reminded me of my own YW leader, Sister Norma. We all loved her. Not only was she our YW leader, she was the Seminary Teacher also. I can't remember a specific lesson that she taught, but I always loved how she made us feel like we could live the gospel. That it isn't a struggle to follower the Savior's teachings. We just make up our mind to do it, and then we do. She is gone now, passing away much too soon. But I imagine she's still teaching youth the gospel and I am sure they realize what a blessing she is, just as I do.

I Hate Cold Weather

Holy cow!!!!!! It was freezing last night -- literally! The counties just north of us were in the 20's. The news channels are reporting this is as cold as its been here in the last 6 years. Our poor tomatoe plants may have suffered their fatal blow. They're looking quite pitiful this morning all drooped over and turning black. Fortunately we picked about 55 almost ripe tomatoes yesterday before the temperature started dropping. And the blessings in all this???? We have a very warm blanket on our bed, plus I put the thermostat up just a tad to keep us warm. A little hot chocolate and our fire place are added bonuses!

A Short Ride

The drive from Austin's house to our home is only about 10 minutes. I picked Jordan up from his friend's house, Austin, last night after he had helped them move. Teenagers don't care to talk much, but for that 10 minutes Jordan seemed pretty open to conversation with Mom. We talked of how well he is doing in the first few weeks of this current grading period and of his goal to start the auto body program at the local technical school next year. Typically, he is very up and down with his self esteem/mood ... but during this short ride, it was all up and I was blessed to have that few minutes with him to talk about his life as it is today.

A walk

A few weeks ago, my husband and I rode our bikes to one of the nature parks. There is a small museum, which displays some native American Indian cultural items, and other exhibits regarding our local habitat. We spent several hours walking through mangroves, along the Bay, just being aware of the different birds and wildlife found here. I am amazed at how many different birds Bill can identify by sight or by their song. We saw plenty of lizards, a few tracks that likely belong to a resident raccoon, and a gopher turtle. It would not have mattered if we had not seen any animals or interesting plant life.....the time spent walking and holding hands with my husband was the blessing.