Merry Christmas!

We will have an "unusual" Christmas this year - plans are near finalized. Jonas & Anna-Lena (in the picture with mama) are coming to our home (building in the background) in Florida. They will bring their two children Sam age 4 and Sanne age 4 months. There will be 7 of us together for about 4 weeks.

Now if that were our home in the background we would have plenty of space. However, we have a single wide trailer in Florida!! Yes, we will be cozy and close!HA! The building in the back ground is actually the king's home in Stockholm, Sweden!

Did I mention they are flying from Sweden ??!! We are all very excited!! They are precious family!! We shall have lots of fun!!

A Special Day!

Today is a very special day - Sara's birthday. When you look at this picture (Paul & Sara) you can't help but be pleased and thankful. You see this could have very easily been Paul's last picture alive. The picture was taken yesterday.

As you probably know Sara is my adopted grand daughter from China. Sara joined our family in February 2009. Paul and Sara were friends in the same orphanage in China and were adopted at the same time by different families. The exciting news is that they live only 45 minutes from each other here in the USA !! Yesterday Paul came to Sara's birthday party - she was 4! A happy day for all - but almost ended in tragedy.

Paul and Sara were dressing up and having lots of fun - Paul even had a pair of high heels on - cute. As we adults talked all of a sudden we heard a loud thump and then a series of many "not good" thumps. Paul had tried to navigate going down the basement stairs - not good in high heels! He rolled and bounced down probably 90% of the stairs - several adults rushed to him. He had scraped his head but was okay, crying and terrified. His mother cradled him in her arms - after all he was her adopted child.

You and I also have the option of being adopted into a family - God's family. And just like Paul's mother and father our Heavenly Father wants to embrace us. Not just when we are fine but also when we are hurting. He loves us.

Choices

Last night I rode Amos - I know, I said I was not going to ride anymore. I struggle with the decision to ride almost each time I ride. My biggest concern is that I could fall and obviously be injured. With my Parkinson Disease that probably increases that risk.

However, I feel great and think I can do this. I have been on medication since the first of August and feel much better. I feel relaxed but have quicker response and I am more alert. So I am going to ride.

Thank you Susan for letting me ride Amos. Susan has been glad that we can ride the trails together. We try to encourage each other. I do not like to ride alone.

Some times making choices are not easy. I have weighed this decision quite hard. I think the exercise has been good for me, I am a confident rider, I think a good rider and I love being around horses, so, I am going for it. I can only ride until late November then go to Florida. So next Spring will tell the story.

God bless and I would appreciate your prayers and your counsel.

Papa

Whoops !!

A couple of weeks ago I "goofed" with Amos, the horse I use to own.

I was going riding with Susan so I was planning to ride Amos. As I approached the gate to take Amos out of his paddock he had seen me and got to the gate quickly - he is always anxious to meet me and come out.

There is a one strand electric fence wire that goes around the top of the entire paddock, to keep the horses from leaning over the fence. Before I opened the gate I disconnected the electric fence wire that goes across the gate. Amos then came up stuck his head over the gate and as i reached to touch his nose he "bumped" his nose on the 'hot' side of the electric fence - ouch! He bolted and ran about 30 yards back into the paddock - looked at me, and stood there - not sure what had happened. He was apparently not sure if I had done that. He was now trying to decide whether to approach me or not - could he trust me?

Deb, a blogging friend just did a post on trust. It has made me think, can I be trusted? To me trust is a major factor in our relationships - maybe the most important factor. Look at those who are closest to you, how important is trust? And, remember it works both ways.

As Amos stood there waiting to decide what to do, I opened the gate and went to him. He waited for me to come, but did not come towards me, I had rattled his trust in me just a little. After I stroked him on the neck, talked to him, he was fine and our relationship returned to normal - but if it happens again - he will even have less trust.

How are you doing with trust?

I do not know the people in the back!

What would you do??

You are walking down the street, in a town you have never been to before, minding your own business and these two people come up to you and beg for food!

You look at their faces, you know they must be related - same noses, same eyebrows, same small mustache (even the lady!) under their huge noses, and even their glasses are the same - what do you do ?? I looked for the police, but it was early Sunday, no donut shop open so couldn't find a cop when you needed one!

We tried to ignore them - but - they just wouldn't leave! So we had lunch together and found out the "lady" (term used loosely) has a blog, LIFE ADAPTED (how fitting) and it is a very interesting blog.

If you ever decide to go meet bloggers that you have never met before - be cautious! Some are pranksters! LOL

We had a great time and as you can tell, lots of fun! Very special time.

We had a great Visit!

We would like you to meet Ed! The one in the blue jacket is Ed! We met in New England, CT on Tuesday the 6th. We had a great visit! We had lunch at a restaurant along the boardwalk on the coast of CT. We chatted about our lives and had a great time together.

Meting Ed was not a meeting of new friends even though we had not met each other physically before - this is a meeting of existing friends and a friendship that both mama and I cherish!

Friendship - you need to make it work!

As I do this post I am several hundred miles from home. This trip mama and I are on has confirmed some "old" friendships and some "new" friendships. Do we really grasp that to have friendships we have to be a friend? In other words, we have to work on it.

Last Friday we stopped and saw Vicki - a young lady who we had not seen since she was 15! She is now a mom of three children - a friendship from the past that was renewed. Shortly after seeing Vicki we went and saw Scott & Darla and family - for a couple of days. What a special time. I taught their boy how to bowl (Heh Heh) and advised their 18 year old daughter no dating for several years yet - oh what precious friends!

Then on Sunday at lunch mama and I met "Life Adapted" (see my blog roll) and her hub! What a precious couple. God has blessed us again with new friends.

Yesterday, Tuesday, we went to the "Sound" along the Atlantic coast line and walked the boardwalk with Ed (see my blog roll) also a friend who we met for the first time. I wept (as I am now) as I hugged Ed - he is a very special friend - now with a face.

In a few hours mama and I meet Butch (on my facebook list) and his wife. We are going out to dinner together - we are excited. THis trip/vacation would be nothing if it were not for family and friendships.

I challenge you to work on your friendships - they are precious you know! By the way how are your family relationships doing?

All is well!!

Well it looks like we will walk side by side for awhile yet. The additional testing came back favorable. They wanted to do additional testing to make sure some shadows / pockets were okay. All went well!

We praise God for granting us our petitions and answering our prayers. We love Him supremely.

We will be gone for a few days - so be good.

God Bless!

Papa and Mama too! X O