JANUARY 1, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

Christmas at our house

We had a wonderful Christmas with family on Saturday. We missed our son, Steve, and his family but they are always a part of our Christmas. Steve and Tracy live up in MN as do their children.

Vanity

I do believe God is trying to teach me a lesson on vanity. A few months ago our class had it's 50th reunion. Yes, I went the extra mile to try and loose those couple extra pounds, get my hair done and tried to take years off this ever loving body. I thought I was looking pretty good till today when we received our class reunion photo's in the mail. My first reaction was "OH MY GOSH"!!!!. This was even worse then my drivers license photo. I started laughing thinking Boy! did God want to teach me a lesson. I had to post the picture so you knew what I was talking about. Maybe those who did not attend the reunion and receive the pictures in the mail will think possibly I was recovering from a stroke and take pity on me. Oh! the pretty woman in front of me is my good friend Fran. Oh Well! That's Life. :)

Bible Study Ladies Christmas Party

Our Ladies and one husband met today at a local restaurant for the annual Christmas Party. We started with devotions, shared stories and ordered our meal. There were games played and gifts exchanged. Why is this party so special? Every person there has been touched with life tragedies that only Jesus had carried them through and came out with a stronger faith,love and devotion for Christ. Each one has a testimony to share of what God has done for them. We take this day to honor Him and give Him all the Thanks, Praise and Glory for loving us and taking the punishment for our sins. May all who read this have a Happy and Blessed Christmas.

Kyle Diving

On Saturday Grandpa and I had the privilege of seeing our grandson, Kyle, dive in competition at Hiram College. Kyle is a senior at Grove City College majoring in Molecular Biology. I wish I could tell you what the dives are in the pictures but it's to technical for me. Some of the pictures might be blurry but that's because of the speed in the dives. Kyle did fantastic and received high scores. Yes he won but unfortunately Hiram did not have any divers to go against him.
Kyle's Dad and other grandparents were there along with Debbie our daughter-in-law and Michael our grandson whom you met in a previous blog. I can tell you what impressed me the very most is the divers held hands and prayed before the meet started.

Festive

One of our girls from the birthday get togethers invited us to her house for a Christmas lunch. I wish I could say this was my house but I can't. Dora was complete with her holiday decorations. She had three large Christmas trees each with a different theme and some small trees set around for ambiance. The table was set with it's best Christmas attire. She served homemade vegetable beef soup, homemade scones and the most incredible tea I have ever drank. We all brought cookies to share which topped off the lunch. After lunch we took a drive to Sunrise Farms to shop and just admire the beautiful Christmas decorations. We had a wonderful afternoon and I thank Dora for her most gracious invite. She is the Hostess with the Mostess.

We Are Blessed

Friday evening I went to Stow Cornerstone Church to see our granddaughter, Tori, perform in concert. Brent Vernon and his dummy, Sam, were the featured artist for the evening and Tori performed during the concert. Tori sang one song with her voice teacher accompanying her on the piano and the second song Tori played at the keyboard and sang "Power of the Cross". The picture is of Tori and her voice teacher, Angie.
Our second blessing was when our son, Steve, came in on Saturday from MN to spend some time with us. Steve is working in PA this week and took advantage of the weekend to visit with us. We relaxed, drank coffee and tried to catch up with families. On Sunday afternoon, Kathy, Tim and Tori came to visit with Steve. All I can say is it was fun,fun,fun. The picture is of Steve talking to his wife Tracy on the phone.
Another blessing this weekend was Kyle diving in an invitational swimming and diving meet at Grove City College. Kyle took a first place on the one and three meter diving events. Congratulations Kyle!

My friend Eric

Why is Eric my friend and so special to me? Eric has a form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome which has a symptom of impairment in social interaction. Eric is 13 and in 7th grade. I've known Eric probably 5 or 6 years from church. Every Sunday before Sunday School starts Eric always comes in to say "Hello Mrs. Belden" and brings along something to share whether it's a book,or one of his favorite hobbies and even food. Eric has been very excited since he joined the wrestling team and shares what he has learned through the week. Today was his first match with two other schools. I just had to go see him wrestle. I was so impressed by his strength and knowledge of the game. No he didn't win but he scored points and didn't get pinned. His victory is what he has accomplished in such a short time. I am so proud of him that I just had to share it with you.