Morning!

YUP, yup ... my God has been good to me!

HI GALS ~ :wave:

Well Angie and I are home and finally "finished" with the wedding stuff. It was the best wedding ever ~ just as you said it would be GWYN. We were pretty busy with all the "going ons" from Friday afternoon until Sunday night here at home. We actually carried it over, until this morning, when Angie and I drove up the coast 70 miles to her sister's house. Her sister did Amanda's and my ex-wife's hair for the wedding, she left her hand dryer at the house they used but mistakingly took Angie's curling iron. This morning we headed up early and made the exchange, then drove the coast home and had breakfast in Laguna Beach.

The rehearsal and dinner went very well. I will post pictures, but I think I mentioned that the wedding was where the kids graduated college from, it is on the coast here and over looks the ocean. The groomsmen went golfing for the day, my son lost and had to wear a pink outfit to the rehearsal, quite a site but he is always a good sport! The girls all spent the day doing lunch then getting their nails done at the spa. The dinner, in a banquet room on campus, was mexican...my favorite! chicken fajitas, rice, beans and all the toppings.

After the rehearsal Amanda, Zac and all the groomsmen, bridesmaids, young friends and relatives, around 30, went to Petco Park for a Padres game. The rest of us split up, some went home (we live about 50 miles from the wedding site) though of us that were staying in hotels, down in San Diego harbor, went to the U.S. Grant hotel, where one of my brother and sister's in law was staying, and had drinks in the lounge. WOW! What a classy joint!

After the ballgame the girls all went to the alumni house on campus. They stayed there and in the mrning they all had their hair and make-up done by my sister in law and a couple of other girls my daughter had hired.

The boys went golfing, again, on the morning of the wedding day.

Wedding day was fabulous! Amanda was the prettiest bride EVER! It was a wonderful ceremony, Amanda's uncle came from Oklahoma, where he is an LCMS pastor, to do the service. It was the cryingest wedding ever! Everyone was so happy for the kids. They were crying, Pastor (uncle), of course ME and I think just about everyone else was.

The reception was held at a restaurant on the San Diego harbor, food was incredible, with your choice of steak, chicken or vegetarian lasagna. My toast was quite a riot I guess...I didn't stick to my written plan and ad-libbed a lot but I got great reviews! I was funny and so nervous that everyone loved it.

After the reception the kids headed off to their hotel... no one knew where it was, Zac didn't want his sister's playing pranks on him. We went back to the hotel to take a short nap, then met up with Ryan and Nicole and all of Angie's family for a nice dinner at an Australian restaurant in San Diego.

Monday morning we headed home and had a BBQ that lasted all day from 11:30 until 9:00 with 30 plus family and friends. Playing shuffleboard, bocce ball a group video game, watched the Indy 500 and just chilled all day! It was a wonderful week-end for our family!

The kids have called me twice from Hawaii, they are having a great start to their new life together.

I want to tell all of you that I have kept your concerns in my prayers, I have read ll of your posts and I will post to each of you later.

Now I will try to send some pictures of the wedding on another post.

I am having trouble trying to post pictures...I will be back when I figure (ANGIE! HELP!!) it out.

OK ~ we have a new digital camera, Angie said we have to go through a third party like photobucket, in order to post them. She is exhausted now but will help me this week or by next week-end get them up.

I have also posted in General Chatter ~ Daughter leaves altar crying ~ for a little different version of my story.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. :sunny: God has been good to me here, too Susan. My DH is in Canada for the next week fishing, so I am trying to "hold down the fort" here. ;) Today, I took the kids shopping, and of course we HAD to eat at McDonald's. :mcd: Let me just say that there is will power in me today that wasn't there a few short weeks ago. I had a salad, never once even considering one of the burgers. It is so true that God supplies our every need.

Gary - It sounds like the wedding was superb. I know the weeks and months leading up to the big day were hectic and tiresome, but know that your work will not return void. Your kids will always remember the work you put into their big day and be thankful.:D

Gwyn - I know from a worldly perspective things look mighty bleak on your front, but as I was reading your post this scripture came to mind. It is a PROMISE from the Living God.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to PROSPER you and NOT HARM you, plans to GIVE YOU HOPE and a FUTURE." Jeremiah 29:11
Isn't that awesome? :dance: God wants YOU to prosper. He doesn't want to harm you, and He has plans to give you hope. Your life is a walking testimony already of the goodness of God, but I just wanted you to know that God has already promised to prosper you, too. I will be praying for you and your family - for work, for manna, for peace.

Hello to everyone else. I hope you are doing well.

Good Morning!
 

It's a gloomy rainy day here. Good thing I have to go to work. On the other hand I could finish my baby quilt or I could just read a book.

I am waiting for my holidays next week - can you tell? We are flying to Calgary to spend time with DH's family. We plan to go to the mountains for a day. Other than visiting IKEA we just plan on relaxing. My inlaw's have a walking path around their neighbourhood so that'll be used a lot by me.

Gary: The wedding sounded fabulous and of course you were funny! I am SO GLAD that all went well. Now it's back to work right? My DH got the room in the basement finished - just the insulation and tiling for the ceiling to put in. It looks great. My niece and I painted the room eggplant and dill pickle. sounds appetizing! It looks really good and she is thrilled.

Ellie's mom: Good for you for making the right choice at McD's. It's so hard but you did it! Where in Canada is your DH fishing? We have many beautiful places.

Gwyn: You have such a great attitude. Thank you for being my inspiration. Keep walking!!

Sue: Is tomorrow the big day? I am keeping you in my prayers that all will go well and that you will be well on the road to recovery soon.

I know I've missed people but I really have to get going. My van is in the shop so DS is taking me to work.

BTW, could you pray for him? He is looking for work right now and I would appreciate prayers for that. He just finished his schooling and is available to work. Thanks!!

Have a great day!

SUE ~ best wishes for your operation tomorrow; prayers for you and your surgeon (and his staff); will pray you thru recovery time as well. May GOD's grace be with you! :hug: ROSEBUD :hug:

:angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: Today should be the day for SUE'S surgery. Many prayers being sent as we wait for GREAT news! :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel:

:lol:WOW Gary I got pooped:faint: out just reading all that you have been doing! God has given you a huge store of streangth!:strong: WOW:strong:WOW:strong: WOW! I am sooo soooooo sooooooo happy:trampo: that all went well with the wedding and that it was beautiful! God bless you and your whole family Gary, in Jesus Name!:hug:

Willma thank you but I can not take any credit for my attitude for it was the Love:val1: of God that changed it. I must give Him all the Glory and Praise for that.
I can't tell you and all of you how very much I love and care! Care about all of you. God Bless you Willma and all your's in the Name of Jesus!:hug:

ElliesMom:hug: Thank you for the scripture and know that the Lord used that to speak to me today! :hug:It also lines up with what my friend Marsha sent me and she said this.. I have planted you and built you up, and I will not pluck you up nor tear you down. Refuse the temptation to allow frustrations, irritations, and minor setbacks to shake you, uproot or move you from your established foundation, purpose and direction. Quiet your soul and stand strong and resolute against the enemy's efforts to take you off course or move you away from your kingdom position, says the Lord. There is a marked difference between being moved by the wind of My Spirit and being blown away by the winds of adversity. Jeremiah 42:10 'If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you." Ellie May the Lord Bless you and all yours too! In Jesus Name!

Well I haven't gotten to weigh yet, I am still car less but that is ok. God has got me in His sights and I have only to trust Him and look to Him. I will keep my eyes on Him! I spent Memorial Day at my Mothers and spent the whole day in the pool swimming with my 2 grandchildren and my 2 daughter's in law.
We had a wonderful day!
:swim::swim::swim::swim:
I ate in complete moderation and I was so happy about that. It felt so good. I think it was the 1st time in my familys presence that they have ever wittnessed what changes God has brought in me.
I know they could see and tell!:bike:
Deep love for the rest of you my dear, dear friends!:grouphug: May the Lord God from whom all blessings flow, Bless your heart today in Jesus Name I pray! Amen
Love:val1: in Christ, Gwyn

HI GALS ~ :wave:

First of all sending more prayers for SUE (not that I need to, God heard the first one ~ just makes ME feel better!) as she goes through her journey :angel:

STUPID ~ STUPID ~ STUPID ME!

I haven't been here much for the last couple of days. Seems my eye is a little blurry and sore. It is embarrassing but here is my story ~ On tuesday night I went down to the garage and filled the dogs bowels with their food, I put the bowels in my left hand and then reached into the fridge for a beer with my right...only my second beer in case you were wondering ;), anyway I grabbed it and closed the door, beer in hand.....somehow closing the door the beer bottle dropped straight down onto the concrete floor...exploding like a missle, shooting half of the bottle, cap still on, into my right eye. After spending the evening in urgent care and going to an eye specialist yesterday I am doing a little better. So far I have 4 stitches just below my eyebrow and I have two lines across my eye...on top of being really sore..The Dr. said that I will probably have scar tissue which will cause some blurry vision. All in all it could have been much worse (PRAISE GOD!) I was hit with so much force that it knocked me sideways a step or two.

The doctor wanted me to stay home for a couple of days then see her tomorrow for another exam. :mag:

The newlyweds are still doing good...calls have slowed down (roaming charges ;))

I wanted to share another story about the wedding that I didn't mention before. Since she was a little girl I always told Amanda that she could never get married and leave her daddy but, to ease the pain, I would buy her a really nice car instead!. Of course as she got older, especially after her and Zac became serious, she would mention that marraige at some point just may happen. As the relationship grew, so did the car comments. About a week before the wedding, as Zac was telling me his honeymoon plans, I just mentioned "Well, we'll see...I have been looking at some real nice Ferraris!"

Fast forward to the big day ~ Amanda and I stood out of site while the flower girls bridesmaids and groomsmen made their entrance, as the Maid of Honor started her entrance, I squeezed my kiddos hand really tight and said "Well Sweetie-Pie, how are you doing?" She says "I sure could use that car about now" Guess who had one in his pocket? Yep, ME! I had picked up a little yellow Ferrari matchbox car and had placed it in my pocket. I had intended to give it to her at the rehearsal, but changed my mine and decided that just as we were to take our first step towards her ENTRANCE and of course out of site of everyone, I would flash it at her, hopefully relaxing both of us and slowing our steps down as we made our entrance (we both have a tendency to race things when we are nervous). Perfect! I placed the car back in my pocket and gave it to her at the reception...she got the guy and the car after all ;)

GYWN ~ Great job :swim: swimming all day! Sounds like you had a great Memorial Day. Yep, we were pooped out too after the wedding festivities, but oh what fun we had! and the memories we will have forever (the ones I can remember ;) anyway!)

ELLIES MOM ~ Your story reminded me of when we were kids, when my dad had to work over night on a job, which was rare, we got to have fish sticks! My dad hated them...every now and then my mom would give us fish sticks and make him something else, but we always knew that when he was gone we got 'em! Can't stand them now! :D Thanks for the wedding wishes, it was truly special. My niece even said "Uncle Gary, she is so beautiful! Everything is...it's just like a DISNEY WEDDING!"

WILMA ~ Yes, the wedding was fabulous, see DISNEY above :) And it was "back to work" until I decided to take my eye out :s: ....anything for a day or two off :rolleyes: Your DH sounds quite handy around the house...he's a keeper! The colors do sound a little apppetizing :hun: Glad you are having a good time with your niece.

I will check in later....Prayers for everyone!

Wow, so much has been happening! The wedding! - ah,Gary, you are a "real" dad to have that car in your pocket. Now that will be a real special memory you and your "little girl" can share forever! Oh, yes, she will be passing that memory down to the next generation, you can bet on that! Really glad it was a "Disney Wedding Day"for all! Poor Fellow, knockin your eye out (- trying to get into the "rocket" science dept.? ) - Sorry you got hurt and really hope that eye will clear up in time!
Yes, prayers for Sue. I guess it's over now and she is in recovery. Does anyone know what the hospital time stay is? These days, I'm sure it's not long.
Everyone, have a blessed day!

HI EVERYONE ~ :wave: ~ We had a fabulous day shopping and running errands, but now my legs and feet are a bit sore, which can be expected. Now, I'm takin' it easy while doing some posting. We've had a busy and challenging month of May; but I made my exercise goal for the month, and I am very happy about that.

Now, I hope June will be fun, but much more relaxing; DH picked up his fishing licence today, so we'll be off this month to see what we can catch; hope it's a good year for pickerel & perch.

GARY ~ sorry about your eye; hope not too much long-term damage there.
WILMA ~ prayers for a job for your DS; have fun on your holidays.
LENA ~ where are you? Is that new boyfriend of yours keeping you away or are you on holidays somewhere wonderful, warm, and exotic???

HELLO TO EVERYONE ELSE ~ keep up the good work!!!

MORE PRAYERS FOR SUE'S RECOVERY ~ AS WE WAIT WITH BAITED BREATH!

And, do take care all and GOD BLESS; your fellow encourager ~ ROSEBUD. :hug: (^ Prayers are flowing upwards ever still ^)

Wow, Gary! I'm sure glad you didn't take your eye out. At least you did it after the wedding. Pics would have been colourful!!;) :D I'm glad you're okay. will the vision clear up or is this permanent?

That was a really touching story about you and your daughter. I think it's great you have such a good relationship with her. Special between father and daughter!! She will cherish that car for the rest of her life as much as she cherishes that boy you let her marry!!



Please keep praying for my son. He has had no calls for interviews yet but I have faith in God that it will happen!

Thanks WILMA

The pictures have been posted on shutterfly. We had captions explaining everyone but they didn't show up. Basically pics are of Amanda and Zac of course ~ Angie and me ~ my son (in the pink) and my DIL Nicole ~ Son Ryan with Angie and my ex-wife Brenda walking down the asile at rehersal ~ Nephew Ron in the blue shirt and tie ~ Angie and my step daughter Lara ~ me and nephew Jet ~ The rehersal ~ the wedding and the reception. The Pastor is Amanda's uncle

go to

I have removed the link..if you wish to see them PM me and I will give it to you ~ Gary

Hey ya'll! I've been busy helping to get my brother's car towed away to the junk yard this week. Thank God I was able to find a place that would not only tow it, but for free!!! Thank you Lord! :)

My CI (cochlear implant hearing aid) recently malfunctioned, which is a bit of a pain since that means I have to travel 2 hours to see an audiologist trained in repairing this. Oh well. Gives me time to reflect on the state of the highways, I guess.

I'm planning a trip tomorrow to go to Trader Joes and see about getting some environmentally friendly products through this store. It's about a good 30 mins to an hour out of my way, but it's the closest store to me. I figure since it's the weekend, I might as well have a trip for the day. It's honestly been a few years since I've been inside one of these stores, so I can't wait!

elizbennet: I came up with the name NemesisClaws based on one, I hate using numbers in my screen names, and two, Nemesis sounded cool and with my tendency for long fingernails, I just added the Claws part to it. :) Am I right in assuming your name is from Pride and Prejudice? Love that novel!

EZMONEY: glad you had a blast at the wedding! :) Hopefully your vision turns out ok though. I have to admit, that's the first time I've ever heard of that happening! Bet the surgeon general never thought of this one....:)

wilma12: I hear ya with the troubles on interviews. I'm still going through that process myself, and quite frankly, I'm most annoyed by all of this latest "assessment" aspect that they've added to the application these days. Very time consuming. But tell your son to hang in there! God will provide!

Gywnditmars: girl, your posts always leaves me smiling! :)

Everyone else, God Bless!

what can I say about those most, beautiful, awesome, lovly wedding pictures but
:love:WOW!!!!!!!:love:
Those were just perfect! what a beautiful daughter you have and a handsome son in law now too!
Your wife is a lovly woman too and it is easy too see where she got her looks from! The both of you!
Just picture perfect! All of them were!
:dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy:: dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::d izzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::di zzy::dizzy::dizzy::dizzy:
I am stunned and dumbfounded by them~ really:)
Love your forever friend and sister in Christ, Gwyn

:hug:NemesisClaws
I am so glad that your name is about pretty fingernails and not about the hairy claws of a crab!:lol:
hahahahhahhahahhahahaah

Hello to everyone else:wave:
Hey I wanted to tell you all to check out my thread> I have a long weigh to go! Here in the faith based forum. Because I have posted my True story about the Time I was almost drowned in a RIP TIDE! It is really good and GOD gets all the glory too.
also let post there and let me know if you liked it.

well bye for now. Love:val1: in Christ, Gwyn