My Wonderful Weekend

May 7, 2011 Salem Alliance Church
Barbara prays over our precious Maggie.
Porter presents me with his handmade card. Love it!
Maggie & Grandpa
Beautiful table and yummy food.
A toast to all of us Moms.
Me with the kids & grandkids.
All 3 Moms and their kids.
Saturday, as Al & JJ were out doing guy stuff, I got to run around and do girl stuff. I went to Pier 1, and Macys, a garden shop and a shoe store. Later in the afternoon, Al and I met up and relaxed at home until church at 5:00. It was a special service because our sweet Maggie was being publicly dedicated to the Lord. Dear friend Barbara Fletcher, who not only is a Pastor at our church, but also one who stayed up the night Mags was born and prayed, dedicated our special girl. Needless to say, it was an emotional and beautiful time.
This morning, Mother's Day was another fun treat. Al and the kids prepared and served a beautiful brunch that included Mimosas, banana bread, ham strata, fruit parfaits and thick cut bacon. Everything was Mmmmm good! We laughed and ate and took pictures and opened presents. I got the girls big red hanging flower baskets and they got me Starbucks cards and my favorite lotion. It's just after noon now and the kitchen is cleaned up, Al's asleep on the couch and I'm enjoying catching up on my blog. So far, it's been a great day.

Easter Fun

Happy Easter

The Easter table before we started eating

Blowing bubbles with JJ

There's fun stuff inside these eggs

Finn checking out his Easter basket

Maggie in her Easter dress

I wasn't sure what to expect on Easter morning. Maggie had been admitted to the hospital on Saturday afternoon and was staying overnight. Maryanne and AJ were tired so we left all our Easter morning plans up in the air. Maggie was released around noon and AJ called and said that he and Maryanne wanted to do our Easter egg hunt and brunch early that evening. So at 4:40, the DeBackers and the Avisons came over and we had a fun time finding eggs, playing with our Easter goodies and eating our traditional Easter brunch. After a stressful Saturday, it was a lovely ending to the weekend.

Welcome Home

Another building at Petra

The Treasury @ Petra

Petra

If you're poor, you only get the goat's head. You boil it and eat it for breakfast

Very recently slaughtered goats hanging in the market...dinner anyone?

180,000 shards of broken glass =number of Kurds killed by Sadam. 5,000 lights = number of villages destroyed by Sadam.

More at the museum
Part of the Kurdish Museum dipicting Sadam's atrocities.

Where Al was asked to be the pastor.

The beach @ Aqaba.

Jordanian women at a class at the Alliance Life Center.

Giddy-up.

Aqaba Jordan

Where King David had Bathsheba's husband killed.

Amman Jordan

Al just returned from 2 weeks in the Middle East. He and 3 other guys from our church went to Jordan and Iraq to encourage the missionaries and visit some community centers. In Jordan, the team spent time in Amman and then the coastal resort of Aqaba. The community centers are doing a great job of reaching out and meeting the needs of their neighborhoods, something we want to do with our center here in Salem. After a week in Jordan, Al and the guys flew to Kurdistan Iraq. While there, Al had the privilege of preaching at the International Church. He preached from Ephesians and got wonderful feedback from the congregation. They even asked him to be their pastor. A great compliment...but no thank you. The noise and the dirt and the lonliness of being away from family was a clear indication to Al that he is NOT called to the mission field. God bless those that are. They serve Christ with incredible strength & determination. On their return to Jordon, the guys got to travel to Petra to see the amazing city that is carved into the canyons there. Al said that the structures were more impressive than the pyramids, and that's saying something. All in all his trip was wonderful. But he and I are glad he's home.

Happy Birthday Sweet Al

Lunch at our favorite restaurant at the Paris

A pretty good Beatle cover band

March Madness at the Mirage Rhum Bar

No explanation needed

The lobby of the Wynn


The beautiful Encore Hotel

On March 26th, Al turned 60. To dull the pain a bit, I surprised him with a trip to Las Vegas. We left really early on Friday morning and returned really early Monday morning. We have been to LV so many times that it feels like our 2nd home. But for some reason, this trip was really really fun. The fact that it was Spring Break and NCAA Tounament time added to the party that is always happening in Vegas. And for some reason, Al and I got invited to several parties...with fun young people buying us drinks, pretty girls fawning over Al (for a bachelorette party scavanger hunt) and lots of great basketball. We ate fabulous food, enjoyed the sunshine, took long walks and sampled beverages of all types. Mmmmmmm! Bust mostly we just had fun being together. Happy Birthday Al. Your wife loves you!

Happy Birthday Sweet Porter

Look who's 2! Porter Everett John DeBacker came into our lives 2 years ago today. What a precious gift he has been to us. His sweet gentle spirit, his kind nature and his curiosity are wonderful traits that he demonstrates everyday. Our 2 grandboys are perfect counterpoints to each other. Finn will teach Porter courage and Porter will teach Finn restraint. Someone once told me that until I had grandkids, I just couldn't imagine how much I would love them. And they were right. Porter, Finn & Maggie are my joy. Happy Birthday P-Man. Grammie loves you!

Happy Birthday sweet Finn

It's hard to believe that Finn is already a year old. It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming him into the fam. Finn is an incredibly fun and funny guy that does everything at hyper-speed. He cut several teeth at 13 weeks, rolled over way ahead of schedule, and walked at 11 months. His determination is becoming legendary and his approval/disapproval/joy/frustration and every other emotion is obvious on his beautiful little face. Truly, I have never seen a more expressive baby/toddler. There is never a doubt about where you stand with him. It's hilarious and delightful! Happy Birthday, Finn Boy. Grammie loves you!

The Playroom is Done!

After several months of planning and painting and shopping and ordering, the palyroom here at home is done and I love it! During the school year, I have the priveledge of caring for my grandkids 3 days a week. Porter is 2, Finn is 1 and Maggie is 2 months old. I knew that keeping 3 little kids at the same time was going to be a challenge so Al and I decided to eliminate 1 guest room and create a fun and safe place to contain the g-kids.We chose the downstairs guest room so there would be no stairs involved plus there was a connected bathroom. It was hard to come up with a decorating scheme that was winsome for the kids but also somewhat sophisticated as it's the first room you see when you come through the front door. I finally found a rug in the Pottery Barn catalog and I had my inspiration. We refreshed the yellow paint that was already on the walls, painted the brown on the bottom half and painted and put up the red chair rail. I bought the workbench in Redding last summer, we've had Dakota the Wonder Horse for years, JJ donated the easel (the chalkboard was green so I painted it brown) the table and chairs came from Costco, the little windsor chairs were picked up at a street sale in Silverton, I ordered the alphabet letters on-line and the rocking chair was ordered through Goodnight Room at Bridgeport. The last project was to clean out the closet so all the plastic toys could be put out of sight (someday the closet will become a fort or secret cave, a space ship or maybe an enchanted castle for Maggie). I'm so happy with the finished project and the best part is the kids LOVE it. And for this grammie, knowing that the kids are safe and contained and well entertained is the icing on the cake.