HEAVEN! IT MUST BE HEAVEN!

On June 6, 2010 heaven on earth came to me!

My oldest daughter, Chelle, her husband, Kris and my four granddaughters, Kaitlyn, Whitney, Sierra and Breanna Stire arrived at our home in Somerville, TX. to stay for 6 days!

As you can imagine, for weeks I had been preparing my heart and home for this time and when it arrived I could hardly contain myself.

The following photos are only a fraction of what we took during our short time together, but I wanted to share some of my blessing with you.

If you enjoyed the venture, please make a comment at the end of the blog.   Thank you.

Oh, my, how my Kaitlyn has grown up.  She is a tall and beautiful girl.  In fact, she is just about as tall as me!  And she is 13 yrs. of age!  What a delight she is! 
In this photo she is laying in the porch hammock.  If we wanted to find her she was either here in the hammock or in her room reading.
Now, won't you agree with me that she is a beauty!

A day together!

Chelle and I went to The Woodlands where we took care of business and had lunch here in one of her favorite restaurants -- Bennihan's.  I will never forget the wonderful drive from Somerville to The Woodlands as we had just mother/daughter time of talking, laughing and just enjoying each other!  I will never forget our day!

One of the favorite of all sports the girls enjoyed was the "Mud Pit" behind our home.

If you will remember I had the small storage building removed from the property.  Well, remaining was bare ground which I spent one entire Saturday levelling.  It rained on Sunday and Monday when the Stires were with me and the ground became sheer mud!  The girls discovered they could have such fun in it.  Breanna found there were some spots where she could sink up to her thighs! 

They enjoyed it and I was so happy I had had the building removed...

 just for them!

It was my plan to spend special "Grammie" time with each of the granddaughters.

Breanna wanted to go to Diane's Donut Shop in Somerville and have breakfast with me.

So we did it!

She ordered her chocolate donut with sprinkles on it.  In fact, she asked for TWO!  And she had her chocolate milk. 

What a grand time we had together.

  One I will never, ever forget!

What a sweetheart!  I love this gal!

When Whitney had her special time with me I planned with my friend in Somerville, Annie Wight, to come to her home ranch and see the new colt.

Whitney was so excited! 

We had so much fun! 

Then on to the next venture...

Brenham, TX and shop!

We went to the Main Street of Brenham and searched for some clothes for her.  We did find some great discoveries! 

Then off to Must Be Heaven restaurant for Blue Bell  Dutch Chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone.

What a dear, dear child that I love so much!

Sierra and Grammie had a purpose in our special time!

Grammie was told that Sierra really loved rings so to College Station's James Avery store we went.

There Sierra made a beautiful choice of a Remembrance Ring with a blue stone hugged in silver!

What a joy to watch as she made a selection. 

Then off to Charming Charlie's to select some more treasures.

For lunch she wanted Chinese (Grammie's favorite food as well).  We ate until we nearly popped!

We had fun opening several Chinese fortunate cookies until we got the one we really liked!

Memories!

My heart is filled with love for this sweet gal!

My family!

Standing:  L to R:  Kris, Kaitlyn and Chelle

Sitting: L to R:  Whitney, Sierra and Breanna

This was the family photo taken just before they got into their vehicle and went on to their ministry in Montgomery, TX.

Kris, the wonderful father (and husband to Chelle) is here playing ball with Kaitlyn in our side yard.

Chelle had her hair cut the day we went to The Woodlands.  We made comment that the gal who was Chelle's hair stylist reminded us both of Kris' sister, Kimberly, who is a hair dresser in the Los Angeles area.  She has a bubbly personality and so sweet!

Chelle looked so beautiful when she finished!

My heart filled with pride as I listened and observed my first born interacting with Kimberly. 

I surely do love my Chelle!

Kaitlyn and I went on a shopping spree in College Station.  We headed right to the Post Oak Mall and got our exercise going from one shop to another.  She chose several beautiful garments and assessories.

When we finished we went to the Little Tokyo restaurant for California rolls and other goodies!

We had such fun together.

Kailyn has such a sweet spirit, caring and loving heart. 

Her love for Jesus is so evident as well!

I love her so much!

Chelle on the computer as she sits on the side porch!

The Giga Ball was a hit!

Getting inside and rolling around the yard or having someone push them around was grand!

The Slip N Slide was also mega fun!

We went to see Annie Wight's new calves on her out-of-Somerville ranch.  Every time the girls moved closer to the calves, they moved away.  It was quite the dance!  But fun to watch because the girls loved the adventure.

Kris and Chelle sit in their room working on their computers.

At this point I was going to put into this collection of photos one I took of Kris and Chelle doing their exercises by computer, but I knew they would hunt me down and make me do the exercises.  So, I know how strenuous the exercises were and I chose not to show the photo.  Sorry!

I was so impressed with their diligence and dedication to fitness!

(If only they had passed on that dedication to me! Oh, well...)

You go, Kris and Chelle.  I will be your best cheer leader! 

The family sang songs in Albanian for me.  What a joy!

Their heart for Jesus rang out in our home!

How precious for me to hear!

Those angel wings behind Kris and Chelle are not coming from their heads!  Angels they are, but I am not sure angels can devour a Freebird's burrito this large!  Amazing!

Freebird's is one of Chelle's favorite restaurants.

Are these not the most darling girls you ever saw?

I think so!

L to R:  Breanna, Sierra, Kaitlyn and Whitney

And is this not the pride of a mother's heart!

I love this girl of mine!

"Thank You, Father, for this gift from Your hand that I give back to You!"

I love you, Chelle!

I will never be able to hug all the wonderful memories I have floating around in my heart as I have tried to share them with you.

My prayer is that you have enjoyed these photos as I have loved selecting them.

What a joy to KNOW that my children are walking down the path that they KNOW God has chosen for them.  They have such inner contentment and purpose -- just what this mother wants for them!

Let us continue to pray for their stay in the States.

Thank you, my dear family, for filling my heart with such joy and love while you were with me!