Guess who is "2" years old today. Our little blond sweetheart.

Tonight we celebrate her.

"Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest.

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

~Refrain~

"Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"

~Thomas O Chisholm 1806 - 1960

The "All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided" has been and continues to be, proven true to me through the daily routines of my life. Summer is on it's way out and another Fall season is quickly showing it's colors. Once again, the leaves that I just watched appear on the trees surrounding my porch, are starting to turn from green to gold. "Change"...it seems to be everywhere, in every realm of my life. In contrast to these ever evolving changes, are the characteristics of faithfulness. According to Webster, "faithfulness" is..."constant, staunch, steadfast, resolute..."

Today, even though I am thrilled to see the change of the seasons and the Fall season showing it's beginning beauty, I am even more thankful for the steadfast, unchanging faithfulness of God, and for the new mercies I see each morning of my life.

It seems to be universal...the candy dish that is. It usually appears at the grandma or the great-grandma's house. This happens to be the case. Bright colored little pieces of candy fill the pink glass bowl and the pull towards it is strong. The great-grandma who owns this candy dish provides a plastic spoon and tiny cupcake papers to accomodate the little ones.

When the visits occur, it is almost impossible to walk past the glass table where the pink dish sits.
The funny thing is, the dish completely disappears after the servings are issued. Great-grandmas are smart ladies. They know too much candy is not good...right???

Years ago, quite a few years ago, the adorable ones in the generation before were just as drawn to candy. The third cute little blond with the white ribbon in her hair is the mother to the twins in the previous picture. The country style candy store at the beach was almost impossible for her to walk past too. That is why she smiles as she watches their faces light up at the sight of candy...she remembers.



But it became puzzling to them when they discovered her other pink glass dish filled with candy, on the coffee table. You can tell by their facial expressions that they are perplexed.

What does one do with glass candy? It looks so good and pretty but eating it is another story. I can just imagine them saying," who would ever want this kind of candy?"

Oh, the little moments of simple pleasures in life.

What memories do you recall of candy dishes or the candy store?

Fresh tomatoes continue to give me happy tastebuds.

Our friends shared this box of tomatoes. I was not familiar with this breed of tomatoes but they sure tasted good in our salads.

Large, sweet, juicy red tomatoes from our neighbor lady...what a treat!

For many years, as long as I can remember, my mother would serve tomatoes in this way, over the summer. I asked her to do it for me again this summer, because for some reason when I try to create this recipe it just does not taste as delicious as hers does. To me, this is better than candy. She uses mayo, vinegar and sugar. She always served tomatoes this way with corn on the cob...summer food at it's finest in my book.

Last but not least, one of my all time favorite sandwiches. A BLT with lt. mayo and a slice of muenster cheese on what is now our sandwich bread of choice...the new Pepperidge Farms 100 calorie rolls.

It is Tuesday and there is so much to do. Thanks for stopping by.

It was a gorgeous summer afternoon and evening Once again we were blessed to gather at the farm. Even the frequent visiting Heron, made an appearance during the evening.

The water beckoned some among us to swim, float, fish and sail battery operated boats.


The dirt pile provided creative fun with the dumptrucks and the backhoes for the little guys.

The big, old porch provided time for laughter, conversations and time to just be together.

The potluck dinner provided amazingly delicious food.

And topping off the dinner...scrumptious, creamy homemade ice cream, made by my BIL with an old fashion ice cream maker that he turned by hand.



It just doesn't get any better than this!!!

Dinner was over, and the sun was setting. We all headed down to the pond in the meadow.

Grandpa(our BIL) has some good helpers to unload the firewood.




Our SIL and the gracious hostess of the evening, builds another campfire. She has become quite accomplished in this endeavor.l

The guitarists were warming up for some group songs.



Blankets were handed out, providing campfire hospitality at it's finest.

Another memorable family evening came to an end. Thank you for your visit to my blog.

Good Morning to each of you! Happy Labor Day weekend! Oh, I know for some of you and what you are going through, a "happy" weekend does not seem possible. But, here on this blog I want to share some beauty with you. "Beauty" can add some joy...right?


So, I am wishing you moments of beauty this weekend.


And time to recognize it.

My uncle did. He captured all these special moments with his camera. You know the camera that is always with him...thank goodness.




Think if he would not have had his camera with him. Think what we would have missed this morning.

I also wish you some moments of adventure. Time to try something you never tried before. Me...I would have loved trying this zip line in the mountains. I think I would have. What about you?
Speaking of trying something new, an adventure of sorts...you might want to visit
connie49.blogspot.com/...she tried canning tomatoes for the first time and did a beautiful job. She shared pictures of her finished project and I am sure she must have felt a sense of accomplishment. Now canning cannot be compared to this zip line experience, but go ahead try something new this weekend.



At the end of the day on Monday, I hope you can look back on some special memories of...

...Labor Day weekend 2010.
Thanks to my uncle for these skillfully captured pictures.

I ask you dear daughter, "how did this happen"? It seems like only yesterday that this was the two of us. I was young and inexperienced in the mothering department. We grew up together. I reminded you often throughout your growing up years that "what goes around comes around", and now it has.






Now it is your turn. I see you beautifully carrying on in this role.
Today we celebrate "you" and the 33 years you have blessed us with your life.
Never forget, you are loved and prayed for everyday.

Happy Birthday!