Jehovah's Wonderful Creations......

I woke up this morning and it was an over cast and gloomy day outside.  You know those days that you just want to stay under the covers and just veg all day....Well with the district convention starting tomorrow and there is lots to do, I knew that wasn't going to happen....


It amazes me how it could be so gloomy outside and all I have to do is make myself a cup of coffee (real strong coffee) and walk outside into my back yard and I instantly get a smile on my face.....


It doesn't matter that it is a small space....or that I don't have any grass back here....but it is MY space....


You could have a small patio....a balcony.....a doorstep....whatever!  But as long as it has flowers and life added to it, it will add to your life....


I just love the way everything in the garden smells and the way it looks back at me....I love the colors.... the way it is responding to my care....the rewards it gives me...are theraputic!  Here are some of the photos I took this morning in my happy place.....ENJOY!

The annuals are so colorful!!!

I harvested my first zuchini this morning, can't wait to have it for lunch!!!

My garden sign....

The garden.....

Brilliant colored geraniums....I love them because I can't kill them....

The herb garden.....

Even the patio lime tree is showing me it's happy with it's blossoms....

Flower pots with more color...

I don't know what this bush is called but the hummingbirds love it and so do I....

My love bird feeder....

Beautiful Rose Bloomed....

Look at all the buds on this rose bush!!!

And I know the Rubber Ducky is happy too....



Tomato's are happy....



Zuchini....



More wildflowers...



We did a collage of our iron on our back wall.  Candle holders and iron and planters... I love lighting the candles at night and illuminating the backyard....



Wild flower seeds are doing great!!!!


All I know is that even though we live in a very stressful world today, it makes me really appreciate what Jehovah is going to do for us on an even grander scale when the whole world is a beautiful garden.  I have just a glimpse of the amazing beauty that Jehovah has created, and I'm reminded of how great he is each time I harvest something from the garden or each time I pick a beautiful flower to put in a vase and each time I step out into my special place.....



District Convention Day for the Grand Babies....

Oh, yeah....Look out girls!  Do my grandchildren look sharp or what!!!  They were all decked out for the district convention this last weekend at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

What a great big brother......Kim and I have really been enjoying our role as grandparents.  Now we know that feeling that all grandparents talk about, when they talk about that "special love" you have for the grandchildren.

You know... that love that is so different from the love you have with your children.  Oh yeah, Kim and I have been bitten by that "Love Bug". 

We can't believe how naturally this came, and how quickly we became attached!  We are already worrying about them and thinking about them all the time!  They are going to be leaving us for two weeks (they are going on vacation) and we are already going through withdrawals!  We can't wait til they get back..... 

Let Me Introduce You.......

Everybody who knows Kim and I , knows how long we've been wanting grandchildren.  Everytime one of our friends has a baby we let them know how jealous we are!

Well we are no longer wanting or waiting!!!!

I am now "Grammy".......

We have two beautiful children who needed grandparents as much as we needed grandchildren.

 Let me introduce you to
Micaiah Joseph Coleman & Micaelah Angellé Coleman our newly adopted grandchildren.
Aren't they beautiful!   Micaiah is proudly holding his little sister while he plays his video game.












Here are the proud parents, Hiram and Liz. Their family is in our congregation here in Sun City. They came over this week and visited us with the grandbabies.  We really enjoyed the time we spent with them and we love our new role as grandparents.

 And here is Kim the proud "Papa" holding the new addition who is only two weeks old.  We actually have to pry her from Kim's arms if we want a chance to hold her (does that surprise you?)......

Oh my goodness!!!!! Look at that precious face!!!!! We are in love!!!!!!

Mom caught a smile......TOO CUTE!!!!

My Yard is Happy!!!!!

My yard has been a work in progress, but as the weather warms up I see that my flowers are singing to me!!!!  Check out how happy the yard is......

We are over-flowing with color!!!!! I love it!!!!!

Kingdom Hall Inside....

We can't believe how the interior has come together so quickly....It seems like we were just meeting in the old Kingdom Hall and "poof", now we are almost ready to install the chairs......Check out how beautiful it is coming along.

 The stage area is an eggplant color and the side walls are a rich buttery yellow.......

These announcement boards are in the lobby.....

The stalls have already gone into the girls restroom.....

These are the bookcases for the second school.....

 We have beautifully made shadow boxes adorning the literature room.....

 These young sisters sat at the tables and hand-wrote "thank you" cards for everyone that was there working.  What a sweet thing to do.......

 This is the precious card I received from the young sisters, isn't it cute, a tool belt is so appropriate.....

Ps. 127:1 - Unless Jehovah himself builds the house, It is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it. Unless Jehovah himself guards the city, It is to no avail that the guard has kept awake.

Kingdom Hall Almost There!!!!

Well we have been working on our Kingdom Hall for the past few months now and it is starting to come together really fast!  Last weekend we were down there helping out.  There were a lot of helping hands there doing their part.  The parking lot was being framed and prepared to the cement that will be poured this week-end. 

There were tractors........

Lots of helping hands........

 Landscapers.........

 Cement cutters......Jeff Rice.

Young and old helping hands.....

And even Steve found something he could help out with.......

Sunset This Evening....

I just had to share our beautiful sunset this evening here in Sun City.

Is that beautiful or what!

Working On Our Home....

Well in between my work in the office at home and the work on the Kingdom Hall project, we have been working on our home here in Sun City.  This month is the anniversary of Uncle Ducky passing away and I can't tell you how much we truly miss him.  I can't believe it's been two years since he's been gone.  I have been thinking about him so much lately especially since we've been working a lot on our yard.  He loved to be in the yard fiddling with things and moving rocks around.  Everytime Kim moves a rock around for me and we use it in the new landscape we start to laugh out loud and think... "HOW DID UNCLE DUCKY MOVE THIS ROCK?".               

 I am incorporating most of his rocks in our landscape as planters and borders and I'm even going to make a vegetable garden with a rock border. A lot of progress has been done on the outside of the house.  Uncle Ducky would just love it!  We now have beautiful vinyl fencing which has made such a big difference in the feel of the yard.  It opened up the yard on the sides as well, which made it seem so much more roomy.  We have been planting more ground cover and we decided to put grass in (We have a lawn!!!).  Kim has been painting the exterior and keeping himself very busy while he has been home.  It's been very theraputic working on the house...... 

My New Mini Pool.....

Ok, you know how much I love the water.....Well, Sun City is not the place to be if you love the water!  I toughed it out this summer without a pool and I just can't do it!!!!  I NEED WATER!!!!  Have you seen the size of my backyard?  Or should I say patio?  Well the only way to get water back here is to put in a spa.  But there was no way of even getting it through our side yards since they are very narrow.  So it had to go up and over!!!!!  As Ducky would say "Retracka"!!!! (I have no idea what that means but somehow I know that it applies to this)  Anyway here are the images of our spa going in as I am across the street, having a heart attack!!!!  Great job, Darrel!!!!

Kingdom Hall Remodel 2011

 Ok, your all probably wondering where I've been?  I haven't blogged in quite a long time!!!  We are working on our Kingdom Hall here in Sun City!!!  Wooo Hoooo!!!  It has been in dire need of repair and it has taken many voluteers to complete the work in progress which we started approx. 5 weeks ago.  Here are some pictures of the early stages of our project and of all of the wonderful voluteers who have taken of their time faithfully to be here to help.  This has been a great experience for Kim and I both and we hope to be able to do more.  As you see it doesn't matter what age you are young or old, all it takes is the desire to help......It truly has been a lot of fun! 

 All of the work on our Kingdom Hall has been completed by voluteers.  Can you see my 74 year old mom out there removing nails from 2 x 2's (bottom left photo).  A lot of work goes into a Kingdom Hall build and remodel.  It is very organized and safety is a priority.  The weather has been very cold and rainy some days but that did not stop the work.  And even through it all everyone just keeps on smiling.......

Here are some more images of our Kingdom Hall in progress.  We are already done with drywall and the stage is now on the other side of the original room!  They are ready to stucco the entrance.  And are ready for decorating inside.  This has happened so quickly.  No matter what the weather, when Jehovah wants it done, it gets done!  We even were able to get a rainbow in the process......Hmmmm.

And we can't leave out our wonderful brothers and sisters who kept us fed and made sure we had enough goodies and food to go around!!!!  They have been here everyday, rain or shine with their smiling faces and all of the wonderful snacks and delicious meals.  They even had sugar-free snacks for those diabetics who didn't want to be left out (namely Kim).  We can't thank them enough for all of the wonderful meals and snacks.