Memories

New day. New month. New year. New adventures.

Where in the world did 2014 go? Wasn't last night January 2014 and today it's already January 2015. My how time flies the older you get and when you're having fun!

While reflecting back on 2014 all I could think about was how blessed I am and what a great year it was. Yes, we had our troubles but our blessings far out weighed our difficult times. Saying goodbye to our sweet little Spice Girl in March was the most difficult thing I was faced with. It is amazing at how those little four-legged babies can touch our hearts. There still isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about that little girl. Then there were a couple of times that LC just wanted to act plain stupid. Not sure why he insisted on breaking down and making us spend a lot of money on him. I know he wants a little TLC also, and we do give him plenty, but when he makes us dig deep...and I mean DEEP into our pockets...it's time for a talk and maybe even a change. Our goal this year...sorry LC but we may just have to say goodbye and hello to a newer and less needy LC.

When I think about the blessings and the grace that was shone upon us this past year, I am brought to my knees. In April, My Love said goodbye to that horrible, stinky, life threatening thing called smoking. I am so very proud of him! I know it is a struggle for him but prayer and the Lord got him to put them down and prayer and the Lord will continue to get him through each day and each temptation of wanting to pick another one up.

In July, Carlos and I actually spent our family vacation time on vacation. For the past several years something has happened that caused us to either be late or have to leave early or him not getting to go at all. But this time we arrived on the same day as everyone else and we all left the same day. What a blessing it was to spend the week resting, relaxing and enjoying time with the rest of our family.

At the end of November Timothy and Haley's little chihuahua had four beautiful little puppies. It was amazing watching her go from a rambunctious little dog to a protective, caring mother. Watching her motherly instincts take over was so sweet. She was doing exactly what she was supposed to do. She was doing just what God created her to do. What a miracle it is when babies are born, no matter how many legs they may have! There were several times that tears welled up in my eyes as I watched her bathe, nurse and snuggle with her babies.  Now y'all know that it doesn't take much for me to cry and I did a lot of crying during the Christmas season. I think my hormones just went whacko.

Pinky and her babies

My sister and her husband and family followed God's calling to be a host family to an Ukrainian orphan girl during the Christmas season and half of January. She doesn't speak any English and none of us speak any Ukrainian but that certainly didn't hinder us from being able to communicate. The first day we all met her was on our traditional Christmas Cookie Day and oh my goodness, I shed so many tears that day, it was just crazy. Just seeing her eyes light up and the smile on her face when she saw a cookie that looked good was all it took for me to just lose it, but when I saw her and my niece working together to cut out Christmas sugar cookies...the flood gates were opened! Pure innocent sweetness! We take so much for granted and don't always appreciate the little things in life. But those little things meant so much to "T". Sugar cookies...simple star shaped Christmas cookies put the biggest smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes and the smell of cookies coming out of the oven received a huge, enthusiastic thumbs up. There was so much laughter, fun and excitement in that kitchen that day. Have mercy, I'm losing it just trying to write this! And then, on Christmas Eve during our brunch  when the local news station came and interviewed my sister, her husband and my eight year old nephew about having "T" with them, I lost it again! They opened their doors to a young 15 year old girl who has probably never experienced the feeling of real love from a family before. As my brother in law said, "We wanted to be a blessing to her but instead she has been a blessing to us." Not just to my sister's family but to the whole family. I was only able to see her a few times before we had to go back out on the road but each time I saw her she ran up to me and gave me a great big hug and kiss. Love...love is the universal language. With the help of a Google translator app and lots and lots of love T experienced true love, joy, happiness and family. As my nephew told that news reporter, "She has a family!"

A sweet, fun mess!

Sharing his love for "T"...let the tears flow!

 

Laughing at some silly pictures "T" found on the iPad

And then, on Christmas Eve afternoon more tears were shed...Timothy proposed to his long time girlfriend! There were tears flowing from everywhere...Haley, Timothy, me, Carlos, her parents and sister. Tears, tears, tears...tears of  joy, happiness, excitement, thankfulness and love. This was probably the sweetest and most humbling Christmas I have ever experienced.

"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 (NIV) Over 2000 years ago God sent His one and only son to us. A young, poor, virgin girl from a small town gave birth to a son...a son we call Immanuel...a son that saves...a son that forgives...a son that rescues...a son that loves...a son that took on human form...a son that was/is perfect...a son that hurt and felt pain...a son that was born just so he could die...for us. He was born for me and he was born for you. His blood was shed so that I may have eternal life and so you may have eternal life! That is real love! Because of the love that God showed us and continues to show us each and everyday, we can show love...even when we can not understand each others language. With love there is no language barrier!

One of my favorite songs is by for King & Country "The proof of your love."

(Bible Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 is the scripture this song is based on)
If I can speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy
But don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rust gate
If I speak God’s word with power, revealing all of His mysteries
And making everything as plain as day
And if I have faith to say to a mountain jump and it jumps
But I don’t love, I’m nothing
If I give all I earn to the poor
Or even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr
But I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere
So, no matter what I say, no matter what I believe, no matter what I do
I’m bankrupt without love

Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

I want my life to be the proof of His love! What about you?

I hope each and everyone of you had a very Merry Christmas and will have a blessed New Year. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for my family and me in 2015.

Til we meet again!
Only by His Grace,
   Lynne

Pete and Repeat

 Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way

This would make a pretty good theme song, don't ya think! I have no idea why but this verse just popped in my head and I haven't been able to get it out. Not the whole song, just this verse. Drives me crazy, and then I start making up my own words to finish out the song. Timothy told me that I take five or six songs and put them together to make one. He never knows what song I'm trying to sing.

Anywho..I was recently informed by my sweet and candid son that my blog posts are always about the challenges we encounter with our job. "You are always writing about the problems, troubles and frustrations. You never write about the good things. People are probably wondering why in the world you and Daddy are still in the trucking business. And, you never include me in any of the blogs. Wait a minute, I have to catch my breath. Wow! He actually reads my blogs. "I know but the crazy things we deal with are what makes it interesting and yes, I have included you in some. I can't help it if you're not always with us."

So, to make Timothy happy let me just say that not every load causes us to grit our teeth, roll our eyes, sigh in disbelief, clinch our hands or stomp our feet. Usually we are just doing the eye rolling thing and sighing. Carlos always just looks at me and says, "They don't want much do they!" "You can handle it! You are a professional!"

Thank goodness, for the past several weeks we haven't had any fist clinching or teeth gritting loads. Since returning to work after vacation, Timothy has been with us pretty much the whole time. I think we've only been apart for 2 weeks. I love how the Lord works it out for us to travel and do trips together. Los and I have been one happy mama and daddy. We just have one little problem when we are all together. Toot likes to get up early...ride, ride, ride and get a good nights sleep...at least 8 hours. If he says he's leaving at 7:30 a.m. then by golly he's leaving at 7:30...not 7:35...7:30! Then there's Carl and me...complete opposite! We say 7:30 but it could be 7:45 or 8:00 before we actually pull out. Then, we like to ride for a couple of hours, stop and stretch our legs, ride some more, stop for an ice cream, ride some more, stop and stretch. It's a constant ride, stop, ride, stop...THIS DRIVES TIMOTHY INSANE! We may not have had any teeth clinching loads but there sure has been some breath holding. I am so glad we are in separate trucks and have CB's for communicating because every time Carlos grabs that CB mic and says, "Toot, we need to hit the rest area!" I  just hold my breath and wait for it, "Really, again!" I have absolutely noooo idea where he gets his promptness and drive to go, go, go...certainly not from his mother or father. Carlos' philosophy is slow and steady...gets the job done! Yes, it does! I'm not sure how but we are never late for an appointment. We may be a day early or two days early or it might just be 15-20 minutes early, but one thing is for sure...we are never late! My man may be slow but he gets the job done and that's all that counts!

I asked Timothy one night if he was tired of us and ready to be on his own again. His answer was music to my ears, "NO!" I guess the grilling at night, the cinnamon rolls for breakfast, the home/truck cooked meals, the freshly baked brownies and the evenly toasted on both sides ham sandwiches, make up for our tortoiselike speed.

He won't admit it but he enjoys his mama and daddy time just as much as we enjoy our Toot time!

Instead of a building, this time we took a power skid to a new solar farm in California, which to us, is known as the snake farm. Yep, the snake farm! We had already heard horror stories about this place and were not looking forward to going at all. First of all, we were told that it was a nightmare to get in and out of...second, you have to wear snake leggings...third, there are snake handlers on sight and fourth, you have to stay within a certain perimeter of your truck. One driver told us that one of the workers drew a line in the sand and told him, "Do not go past this line!" Well, okie dokie then! "Carlos, it looks like you and Toot are going to be on your own. I'll just sit in the truck and watch for snakes and if I see one I'll yell snake. I mean really, how many snake handlers are on sight? If there is only one per truck then how can he watch for snakes for me and for you if we are on different sides of the trailer. I really think it's best if I just stay in the truck!" "Why don't I stay in the truck and you do all the work this time?" "Nope, I don't think so!" Can I just say that we were not the least bit excited about this load. We hadn't even got the thing loaded yet and there was already some eye rolling and A LOT of sighing going on...from all three of us! EVEN TIMOTHY! We were getting ourselves worked up in a tizzy. Finally I was like, "Maybe it's not as bad as everyone says. Let's just wait and see for ourselves."

After a week of wonder, we made it to the snake/solar farm. What a relief...easy peasy in and easy peasy out. The workers saw what a difficult time the drivers were having getting in and out of the farm so they made some changes a few day before we got there. Isn't God good! Carl and Toot did have to wear the snake leggings, although, one worker acted like it was totally ridiculous. He just kept telling Los, "Man can you just please put these on before you get out of the truck? I've already been chewed out once about these things and I don't want to get chewed out again. It's crazy! Just please put them on before you get out."

Now that was a hoot watching Carlos put those things on. He couldn't figure out which was the top, which was the bottom, which one was the right, which one was left, and then, it took him forever to get the things fastened. Toot had both of his on, was out of the truck and had walked up to our truck before Los ever got his on...and Toot got his AFTER Los.

 Wouldn't they make great models for snake leggings in an outdoor magazine?

When Timothy was little we would get so tickled because everything about him was just like his daddy. The way he looked...the way he walked...the way he talked...the way he stood...everything. Some things never change! Twenty-five years later and he is still the spitting image of his daddy. When I saw the two of them standing there like this, I couldn't help but smile! Love my boys!

Usually when we are traveling to California, I am fascinated and in awe of the beauty of the mountains. I told Carl that even though we have seen them hundreds of times every time seems like the first time. But for the past several weeks I have been admiring the beauty of the clouds. As I was watching the storms brew in the skies above me, it reminded me of the storms that brew up in our everyday lives. One minute we are enjoying a beautiful sunshiny day and the next we are running for cover from the lightning and rain. Our lives are much the same. One minute we are happy and healthy and the next we get a heart stopping report from our doctor. One minute we are enjoying our family and the next we are unexpectedly having to say goodbye. One minute we are off to work and the next we are looking for work. In an instance life as we know can change.

Just as I saw the beauty and grace of God's work in the clouds, we are to find beauty in our life storms. We do that through keeping our focus on Christ and knowing that He is walking through the storm with us. We are not alone. There are so many verses in the Bible where Christ is reassuring us that we are not alone. Joshua 1:9 says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." In Psalms 46:1 it says, God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Isaiah 41:13 says, For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Matthew 14:27 says, But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!!" These are just a few. I hope you find comfort in knowing that even though it may seem like you're all alone...YOU ARE NOT! Christ Jesus is right there with you!

I have been following a sweet, young, newly wed couple on facebook who are currently going through a horrific storm. It's more like a hurricane. The husband is battling brain cancer for the second time and the faith and assurance they have that everything is going to be alright is remarkably strong. They are turning their storm into a true testimony of faith and love for Christ and for one another. Christ tells us to find joy in our troubles, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Sometimes I wonder, "Lord, how in the world can we find joy in our troubles...especially when our troubles are the size of hurricanes, like the one this young couple is in the midst of?" When he tells us to find joy, he's not talking about being all happy go lucky. He is telling us to have a positive outlook...keep our focus on him...remember the blessings in our life and to hold on to our faith in Him!

Some storms are short...some last forever...some are strong...some are light...some come with a vengeance...some come with a warning...some appear in the blink of an eye but one thing is for sure...they will come...and, they will go! When that storm comes, whether it is a wind storm, thunderstorm, tornado or a hurricane and everything around you starts turning dark, look up and there you will find that ray of sun, shining down on you, letting you know that you are not alone.

When life's storms come, I may look into the dark sky and say "God a little light please!" Then I remember - Jesus light of the world.  Max Lucado

Please remember to keep the young couple I mentioned earlier in your prayers!

Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of the snake/solar farm story. We did not see the first snake or the first snake handler. I was really kind of disappointed. I was looking forward to being on snake watch! Oh well, we have enough excitement without having to add snakes to the mixture.

Til we meet again!

Only by His Grace!

   Lynne

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Family fun in the sun

Summertime...sweet, sweet summertime!

Family...not just one family, but four families...10 adults and 4 children. Fun. Sun. Water. Boats. Jet ski. Fishing. Relaxing. Eating...oh, lots of good eating! Sounds like a great vacation to me! A wonderful time was had by all!

We packed up and headed south...Lake Weir bound. Ocklawaha, Florida, a little itty, bitty town in central Florida with one red light, a tiny grocery store, a few convenient stores, a church, a hardware store and a lake...a beautiful, peaceful lake with some sandy white beaches. It's a family tradition...a 40 something year old family tradition! Even older if you count the years my mama and her family went, but I won't go there Mama. I'll just say it's a L-O-N-G time tradition!

Fishing...that's what my boys love to do. When we were home getting the boat and jet ski washed and cleaned up and making sure they ran, Timothy said he didn't care if the fishing boat ran or not he was taking it. "I might have to get somebody to pull me to the fishing hole and come back and get me, but I'm going fishing!" Thank goodness, a tow rope was not needed. Each morning bright and EARLY and very quietly, because you know the Queen Bee did need her sleep, he and Carlos got up to go catch a mess of fish and each morning about four hours later they would return with...no mess of fish. We waited with anticipation each morning to see all the fish...each morning...we saw...nothing! They may not have caught any fish but they made some great memories. I told Carl I hated they didn't catch anything and he said, "That's alright. Spending time with Toot was all that mattered!"

Watching and listening to the little ones as they played, talked and splashed in the water, was such an enjoyable sight. They woke up each morning ripping and raring to go...breakfast, swimsuits, and a lathering of sunscreen then off to the water they went. That was their home for the day. Getting them out to eat lunch was a bit of a challenge for their mamas. We are a water loving family...from the big people all the way down to the little people.  The boys had a blast riding the tube, falling off the tube, trying to ski, falling off the skis, kayaking, riding the jet ski and catching "fish" (minnows) with their hands. It didn't matter what they were doing they enjoyed every single second of it. Even getting a certain little blonde haired boy to stop talking and focus while teaching him to ski was a bit entertaining. He'd have that rope wrapped all around him and he's just a yelling, "Ready!" or "Look! Mama, there's a plane!" Thank goodness Jen was in the water with him to keep him from getting rope burn and to divert his attention from the plane back to the skis. Now the girls, they had to do the more girlie things, like...doing belly flops in the water, digging in the sand, and dancing. Bet you were not expecting that...dancing! Yes, those girls do love to shake their groove thang!

Popsy playing in the water with one of the little princesses.

This little girl loves to do belly flops!

Shaking her grove thang!

These boys loved tubing!

One of the little princesses even liked tubing!

Even the other little princess enjoyed tubing

Laughter was not only provided by the little people but us big people provided quite a few laughs as well, from sitting around at supper telling stories, to doing our own water tricks. Timothy loves to ride the jet ski but I'm not so sure throwing himself off was what he had in mind when he was hot dogging it. I'm not exactly sure what he did, I just know one minute he was on and the next minute he was off. It went left and he went right. I so hate I didn't get a picture of that but I did get a real good one of him and Haley Bug getting thrown off the tube. That's right... feet, legs and butts all up in the air and not just their feet, legs, and bottoms but mine as well. Yes, mine! I was sitting backwards in the seat at the back of the boat taking pictures...which by the way is a dangerous position to be sitting in...anyway, Clark "hits the breaks" when they fell off and then blam, blam, blam! He turns from looking over his right shoulder at them to look over his left to see what all the commotion was about... and there he saw it...me...flipping, flopping and a rolling all across the floor. Not only did Clark see 4 feet, 4 legs, 4 arms, and 2 butts flying around across the water but he also saw 2 feet, 2 legs, 2 arms and 1 butt tossing and turning across the bottom of the boat. Thank goodness nobody got a picture of that!

Looks like somebody should have been holding on a little tighter

Oops! There goes Toot!

Skiing...oh how we love to ski...about 20 years ago! We still ski just to prove that we can still get up and go but our go doesn't last near as long as it used to. We didn't have a ski boat this year so everything was done behind a jet ski, a float boat (aka pontoon boat) or a mini yacht. "Hey, Clark! You wanna give me a tow?" I look up and it's Carl getting ready to ski...behind the float boat. "Los, are you gonna snatch off? That thing's not gonna pull you up! You're gonna be dragging in the water!" Smiling the whole time, "Yeah it will! And then, "Go!" As we're all standing there watching my crazy husband, I'm thinking there is no way that float boat is going to go fast enough for him to snatch off. Woohoo! He made it...about 20 yards and then down he went...sinking lower and lower in the water. It snatched him off but just couldn't go fast enough to keep him on top of the water.  Well, that just wouldn't do! "Hey, Jeff! You wanna give me a tow?" That's right this time he tried it behind the mini yacht and just like the pro that he is...up and off he went. He and Toot both gracefully got up and gracefully returned back to the dock. Did I say gracefully? Yes, I did! Isn't that the way women are supposed to do things...gracefully? Well, let me tell you there was absolutely nothing...I mean nothing graceful about my skiing episode. It was more like a skiing girl gone wild. I am usually a pretty good skier...usually! First of all, I was unable to snatch off! Once again, feet and legs up in the air as I'm laughing and flopping over side ways, but there was no way I was going to let that ski get the best of me. And, I didn't! I made it! "Oh good heavens this water is rough! Dang, I feel like I'm going 100mph! That's it, I've had enough!" After a very short distance, and I mean very short, I motioned for Jeff to turn around. There are no words to describe how bad I wanted to just drop right there in the middle of the lake but I was not about to let my husband and son out do me. Big, huge, gigantic mistake! Graceful...nothing graceful about my landing. I let go of that rope at what seemed like an extremely high rate of speed in a lake that was full of ocean size waves and it was all she wrote. The worst wipe out of my skiing career in front of God, family and all the neighbors. Oh my goodness, when I finally stopped rolling across the water, my bathing suit was so twisted up that every private part of my body was exposed. Thank goodness for deep water and life jackets. Jen told me I looked like I was totally out of control. "I was totally out of control!" So much for not letting Carlos and Toot out do me, but then again, I did give everybody quite a show! 

Carlos showing us he's still got it.

My man still looks good on a ski!

Timothy doing his thing.

Such a graceful landing! Show off!

It was a short week of making wonderful memories that will be treasured forever. I love my family and can't think of a better vacation than spending time with each and everyone of them. In a few days all my bruises will be gone but my memories will last a life time. "Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates." Psalm 127: 3-5

Packed up and time to go home...still having fun and making memories!

Vacation is over and it's back to the working world. More adventures and memories to be made with My Love and My Toot Toot! That's right, Toot will be with us for our next trip...California here we come!

Til we meet again!
Only by His Grace!
   Lynne

Faith, Hope & Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

 But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

WOW!! It has been a while since my last post. Carl said this should be a short and easy post to write "I stayed home with my mommy and my daddy!" HaHa! He is so funny!

My sweet sweet daddy!

My silly playful mama!

I did stay home....for 4 1/2 weeks....and that still wasn't long enough for mama. She kept me hopping the whole time. She thought if I stayed busy I wouldn't miss Carl....yeah right! Every night when I would talk to him he would always ask "Well what does your mama have planned for you tomorrow?" And there was always something.

After being gone for 9 weeks our first stop....find Timothy!!! My how we missed that boy! I think he was missing us just as much because he called several times during the day wanting to know where we were. He was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his mama and daddy. That was the best looking face we had seen and the happiest laugh we had heard in 9 weeks.

Birthday parties, family time, football games, shopping with family, yard work, DIY projects, lunch with friends, Church, Prayer group, more shopping, family time, talks with Timothy, soccer games, Church, sitting on the front porch talking to Timothy and more family time....yes, it was a busy busy 4 1/2 weeks but I loved every sweet precious minute of it.

It was a joyous time but was also a difficult one. While at home we had to say goodbye to our baby girl Cheyenne. What an enjoyable 10 years we had with her. We called her our tornado dog. In 2002 our community was hit with a devastating tornado. The day after it hit we went outside and saw a new face with big brown eyes looking at us. Ginger and Spice had them a new sister. I don't think they were ever real happy about the new addition. But I sure did love her and will miss her!

 Before Carl and I started our trucking adventures together we prayed that if we were doing the right thing that God would open doors and clear the path for our new adventure together. I prayed very specifically for things to happen but only if it was God's will. Not only did He answer the prayers I prayed but He also went beyond that and met needs that we had not even prayed about. It was like a neon sign flashing.  Three months later our adventures began only to have them come crashing down 1 month later. I shared with you about the storm we went through and that I never asked God "Why us?" But I did let Satan get in my head. I began to question if we had done the right thing.  "Would it have happened if I hadn't been with Carl?" "He might have been in a different place maybe even at home." I knew in my heart that God had answered our prayers and had opened the doors for us, but I was letting Satan do just what he loves to do...get in my head and make me doubt. Well, we came through that storm stronger than ever...in our faith, our trust in God and our love and commitment to each other. This past week I had a real eye opener. As I was studying my Sunday School lesson Dr. David Jeremiah stated that opposition can actually be a sign that you heard God correctly and that Satan is doing all he can to discourage you and cause you to turn around. I would have missed out on so many blessings and adventures and moments with God if I had listened to Satan and turned around. The LORD opened that door for us and only HE can close it! What a blessing each and every adventure has been! One year of work, play and adventures down...and oh, so many more to go!

Well, my vacation has come to an end and it is time for me to join my sweet loving husband for our next adventure...can't wait to see what The LORD has in store for us this year!



"The LORD is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

Yes, mother I agree 8-9 weeks is too long to be gone and our prayer is that our trips will become shorter. But the LORD knows what needs have to be met and the time that is needed to meet each one. So be patient!

Til we meet again!

Only By Grace!
     Lynne