December...A First

December! Just the word itself brings a flood of thoughts and emotions to mind. Christmas, shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping, get togethers at church, work, and in the neighborhood. I'm sure I've left out something. It's a wonder we're not all spinning by December 25th.

This December however brings on a different blanket of emotions for me. Every Friday after Thanksgiving, my daddy would go with Tony and me to a local hardware store back home to buy old fashioned Christmas candy to kick off the Christmas season. It always brought a smile to daddy's face when the grandchildren would come along and get a scoop of their favorite.
We'd come back, candy in small, white paper bags, and sit around the kitchen table, and eat chocolate covered peanuts and orange candied slices until we could eat no more. A memory to last a lifetime.

Tomorrow would have been daddy's 86th birthday. What a wonderful life the Lord gave him. This first for me will be different, but I know that I was truly blessed with a Christian father for so many years. Blessed by how he raised me and taught me..that will last a lifetime.

So just like November, this Christmas, and December along with all the other months and holidays will be filled with firsts. I have peace knowing that God will get me through this first along with the others to come just knowing that daddy is with our heavenly Father.


Embrace the firsts in your life,
Ginger

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

It's been such a long time since I've sat down to write. I've thought about it several times, but with our computer being down for several weeks and weekends being filled with one activity after another, time has just slipped away. Hope to be back blogging again soon.

My very best to you all as you spend time with family and friends this Thanksgiving season.

Blessings,
Ginger

Catching Up and Sharing

For the last few weeks, it seems as if I've been going in circles trying to catch up at home and work as well as travel back home to check on my mother since daddy passed away.

This journey is a new one for me...one never traveled. The loss of a parent...that fixture in your life that in your mind's eye you think will always be strong...always there. A daddy's girl I was. This new chapter has opened up many new experiences and a whole realm of emotions that I didn't even realize existed. Empty at times, a moaning of sorts inside, good and warmth when when God wraps His arms around you through friends and family...other times are numbing to say the least.

However, God is good in all things and shows us his love, grace and mercy when we're going through what seems to be the most unbearable times in our lives. Often He shows us in the simplest of ways.

A couple of weekends ago a friend of mine back home, a photographer, took some pictures of Katie for her senior collage on what was supposed to be a rainy Saturday morning. The rain held and held and held until we finished taking the pictures outside on the farm at mama and daddy's. (Over 2 hours)

We had hoped to have gotten these before daddy died and included him, but he got too sick too fast. So my friend Sue tried to shoot as much of what he loved in life...those simple pleasures, and included those precious things in the pictures that morning. After we finished...the rain came. I think that we had a little farm angel on our side that morning. Embrace the simple pleasures that God gives you everyday.

Here are just a few!
Katie and Daddy's Cows



Katie at the old house


By the hay rolls


Katie and Mama


The tractor..daddy used to take all the grandchildren for rides when they were little.


Ginger

Thank You

Just a note to say thank you to everyone for your thoughtfulness, kind words, sweet emails and messages during my father's recent illness and passing.

I've missed blogging with everyone and hope to start again soon. Y'all are just the best!

Ginger

A Time for Rest

December 2,1923-September 12, 2009

My daddy lost his very brief, yet courageous battle with cancer on Saturday, September 12, 2009. My mother, sister and I were very blessed to be by his side along with his sons-in-laws and the grandchildren when he went on to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just the way he had hoped.

The last few weeks I've spent with my daddy, mama and sister have been such precious days and moments.

Daddy was truly a godly man. He was a loving and devoted husband of 61 years. A father we called daddy and a very proud papa. A father-in-law that set quite the example for what he called his boys. A man of conviction, a true friend, and one that never met a stranger.

To the very best memory maker ever!

I love you Daddy.
Ginger

Banana Pudding Recipe...I Promised!

This recipe has been a tradition in our family for as far back as I can remember. For every bowl of banana pudding dished out, there was a story shared at the kitchen table. This recipe is layered with lots of love.


Ingredients
5 eggs
6 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pkg. or box vanilla wafers
6-8 bananas

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Set aside egg whites. Beat egg yolks with mixer. In a separate bowl combine flour and sugar, mixing well. Add to egg yolks. Add vanilla and milk. Beat well with mixer.

In double boiler, fill bottom part about half full of water. After water starts to boil, put mixture in top part of double boiler. Cook until mixture is slightly thickened.

Place a layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a baking dish. Slice bananas crosswise and add a layer of sliced bananas. Add another layer of vanilla wafers, then another layer of bananas. Spoon the mixture over the bananas and the wafers. The mixture will blend into the wafers and bananas.

Meringue:

Add a small amount of sugar to egg whites. Beat egg whites with mixer until they form in peaks. Spread over pudding.

Set oven on low broil. Place pudding in oven just long enough for the meringue to become slightly golden brown.

Serve warm with a glass of sweet tea.

This recipe serves 4 adults, 2 hungry sons-in-law,and 3 grandchildren with just a few left overs!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we have over the years! It is a labor of love, but so worth the effort! Delicious anytime of the year and tops off any meal just beautifully.

Ginger:)

Lift a Prayer for Nastya!

Sunday evening we traveled back home to visit our family for a couple of days. Our friend Nastya was leaving yesterday to fly back to Belarus. Since she is 18, chances are she won't be able to return to the U.S. again with the ABRO program unless she comes as an interpreter.

We've tried to encourage her to come here for college on a student Visa, but she really doesn't want to leave her mother, which I completely understand. For now her plans are to go to school there at what we think will be like a community/trade college.

Every time I'm feeling a little down in the dumps and would like to remodel or add things on my "to do" list, I think of this child and her home and how little she has there. Her home is about the size of two small bedrooms put together. She and her mother have very little. Her mom makes less than $40 a month in a factory and most of the time they have no electricity and their bathroom is outside. I can't imagine having to get up and go outside during the middle of the night during their winters when it is below zero and snowing to go to the bathroom.

How many times do I get so caught up in my own stuff that I forget how richly blessed I am!

Please keep Nastya and her mother in your prayers as they face tough economic struggles daily.



Katie and Nastya after one last trip to Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ!







I ask today too that you keep my daddy in your prayers as he goes to the doctor for a check up. He has not been well lately...just not himself.
Mama, Katie and Daddy!





Katie and my sister, Jan. They look more alike than Katie and me!






Callie, my niece (Jan's daughter) and me! Eating made from scratch banana pudding and having a glass of sweet tea! This was the third banana pudding mama had made since Saturday and this picture was taken on Monday! There had been several deaths and illnesses in the community so she whipped up several to share. It takes me a while just to whip up one! There's something about mama and bananas! I'll share the recipe this weekend. This post is already long enough.





Below are just a few pictures Katie took just before we left to come home. There's probably over 100 geese on the farm this time of year. As pesky as they are, they really are beautiful. She also wanted to capture the old barns and the cows. Enjoy!








Ginger:)