Busy Week

Last week was a very busy week! School started for Carissa and Kaylee. I have always taken a picture of the kids in front of the front door on their first day of school. It is tradition, a given, you just do it and smile and act like you are happy about it. In recent years, I have FORGOTTEN a couple of times, and the picture gets done a couple of days late! That was the story this year, again! In moments like this, I have to remember what my dad always said..."A hundred years from now, they'll never know the difference!" Carissa also moved out this week. She is in a condo with Shannon. We have been to visit and check things out! We also had a funeral, a wedding, several appointments, a college luncheon, and just life in general! Josh and Jen came over on Thursday night to visit. I'm hopeful that things will slow down a bit this week and I will get my house back in order!

Uncle Oscar dies

On Sunday my mom's only brother and the last of her immediate family died. We always called him Oscar, and until the obituary I didn't know he had yet another name, Dusty! He always lived in Texas and I probably saw him no more than five times in my life. After mom died, he became a source of information, as he was very sharp and seemed to remember a lot. I'm glad I talked to him several times as questions would come up that I figured only he could answer-and he usually could. Even though I didn't know him well, this has been very sad for me. Another chapter closes and I'm reminded that I am left to carry on. His service tomorrow will be a military service with the 21 gun salute. Mom would have loved that-she had a great love for her country and loved her country in a way I could never understand. I always thought she loved more because she had lived through so many years of watching her country be fought for. I love America too, but I certainly have never lived through anything like what the people of her generation did. Below is the obituary from the Lubbock, TX paper.

W. D. "Dusty" Miller, 88, of Lubbock, passed away Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. Celebration of life services are planned for 1 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 23 in Resthaven's Abbey Chapel with Pastor Rick Oliphint officiating. Interment will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park.
Welborn Duke Miller was born in Durham, North Carolina on Dec. 6, 1918. His parents were Olin S. Miller and Nora Duke Miller. He graduated from Floydada High School in 1937. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture from Texas Technological College in 1942. He served in the Army Air Corps from September of 1942 through the end of World War II in 1945.
He worked as an appraiser for the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation from 1966 until retiring in 1985. He married Dola Zara in Lubbock on May 20, 1985.
He is survived by his wife, Dola Miller; a daughter, Julia Ann Conner of Amarillo; a son, Larry Bob Miller of Lubbock; a son, Johnny C. Miller of Houston; a son, Jesse Miller of Ft. Worth; a stepson, Sergio Ceja of Lubbock; a stepson, German Ceja of San Antonio; and his grandchildren.
He is also survived by stepson, Gene Zara of Abilene; stepdaughter, Debra Robertson of Lubbock; and stepdaughter, Helen Burke of Lubbock.
The family requests memorial donations to The Salvation Army, 16th and Ave. K, Lubbock, TX 79401.

Spike's A Teenager!!!

Bless his little heart, he's the love of my life and TODAY he is 13 years old! Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen? I thought so. He's been a bit under the weather-had two ear infections and an infected cyst on his side. He finishes up his medicine tonight, and he's doing much better. Today has been a pretty uneventful day, other than telling him Happy Birthday every time I look at the little darling. He has brought the Robinson family TONS of joy and smiles, he's such a gift. Happy Birthday Spike!

My Kids

I don't remember ever having a dream other than to marry a minister, stay home and have babies. Never cared about any kind of career. Never cared if I had a dime. Just give me a husband to minister with and babies. The photo you are looking at is my screen saver. I see it ALL the time. It was taken the night of Josh and Jen's engagement party. Everytime I look at it, I am at peace. Don't get me wrong, they have delivered their share of grief to my heart! But mostly, they have brought joy that I never dreamed of. When I look at them, I see a process. They have their own stories, and God isn't finished with them. I see a process where God used them to bring me closer to His perfect plan for my life, a process that brought me closer to Him because I SO had to depend on Him working in their lives. And now, when I look at this picture, I feel like someone is missing. God has engraved Jen on my heart. She IS my forth child. My family picture wall just isn't complete-we have to get pictures made! We want to do them outside, so we are waiting for a little cooler weather! God is good. He has done what ONLY He could do. I'm proud of each one of them and the journey they are on. Dreams have come true, and the process continues, it's not over! These are my trophies-all I will leave in this world when I go. And for today, I get to enjoy them while I'm here! Wow, God has great ideas!

Home Again!

We decided not to go shopping on our anniversary, so after a great dinner at Cantina Laredo, we went to see "Becoming Jane." We love the guacamole and the desserts at Cantina, and we just happened upon one, so we decided it was a good choice! We have had plenty of pool time, relaxing and reading, now we are back in the swing of things! Last night we went to a great spot in West Palm. It was a beautiful outdoor shopping area, lots of fountains and different places to eat. We ate at a place called El Bellagio, sat outside and had a wonderful meal! We had to wait forever to leave the hotel to go to dinner because it was raining really bad, but that cooled things off and we were very happy to eat outside! We walked around the shops, then got cheesecake to go from the Cheesecake Factory, and took it to Starbucks! Now, let me tell you...they have created a new cheesecake, and it's a winner! It was called White Chocolate Macadamia Carmel, and I honestly don't think I've ever had anything so wonderful! Kaylee has already informed us that we didn't stay on our diet too well while we were gone! Well, the official celebration is over, and now Mr Wonderful and I will just enjoy our "normal" life!

Happy 24th Anniversary to US!!!

We are away for a couple of days, celebrating our 24th anniversary. We spent a lot of time at the pool today. We decided that we are cheaply entertained, people watching is good stuff to us! We are finding topics for my first book and we think the title will be "Things I will never understand before I die." I can't tell you about all of the chapters we've come up with so far, but I will tell you what two of them are.
1. Why do people cover their bodies with tattoos?
2. What makes a twenty year old girl interested in a 60 year old man?
Well, now we are off to do some people watching while we shop and eat!

Our Favorite Guatemala Story

This story has "stuck" with us and seems to be our favorite! Last year when our team was in Guatemala, they went to a small village that had suffered terribly from a huge mud slide that had killed many. Many children were left orphaned, over 500 bodies were never recovered. This village is an Indian village, they don't speak Spanish, but Mian. The plan for this year was to go back and do the program in the temporary school that has been set up and to visit the refugee camp, similar to what we see in Florida after a hurricane, except we have trailers and they had tin leaned together and out houses. We did those things. A few months ago, the pastor from this area had requested money to build a home for one of the families that lost theirs in the mud slide. Their homes are much simpler than ours, and the cost for a home was only $1500. Cary sent the money down, and another team coming before us built the house. The missionary we were working with, Kenneth, wanted to take his youth group from Guatemala city on a mission trip and finish up the details on the home. He only had two youth sign up, because they could not afford the cost of $35 to go on the mission trip. Another team that was there heard and offered to pay for any of the youth that wanted to go, thus, Kenneth took a team of 14! They finished up the house and were able to lead this lady, her sister, and her mother to the Lord! This happened the week before we arrived, and the lady knew we were coming and she said she didn't want to move in the house until we came and prayed over the home! So, that we did! Speaking in Mian, then being translated to Spanish, then to English, this lady told us her story. Her husband had left her 7 years ago, with two small girls. Since the mud slide, she and the girls had been sleeping on the dirt floor of her parent's home. She also had taken in the little girl in pink because she lost all her family in the mud slide. The woman does not read or write, and wants better for her girls, sending them to school and encouraging them to make good grades. The lady supports them by weaving, and she showed us her work, which we quickly bought up! She could do nothing more than to say "thank you" for providing the money that built the home. She was very humble and appreciative, knowing the only thing she had to offer was to give her girls a better life and break the cycle. After she spoke to us, Cary prayed and the translation reversed from English, to Spanish, to Mian. What a moment that was! (Kenneth is in the green shirt, Cary in the blue, and the local pastor in red.)Being a part of the story was something we will never forget. More than that, it is such a perfect picture of the body of Christ. Some provided money for the home, some built it, some provided money that allowed the Guatemalan youth to be a part of leading these ladies to the Lord...and on it goes! WOW!

Random Guatemala Pictures

1. Ladies making tortillas in a squatter village. I assume they make them and sell to people that walk up, but I really don't know.
2. Soccer game between some of our group and some of the locals. They are on concrete, in Guatemala, and yes, that is my daughter playing and the ONLY female!
3. Just poverty, I don't know what else to say!
4. Victor! He was our bus driver for the week and we loved him!

Growing Up

Kaylee is killing me today. With the start of school in sight, she's decided to use the last bit of summer and clean out her room. Kaylee was a "ladybug" nut almost from birth. A couple of years ago she decided to re-do her room and get rid of the ladybug comforter. Today, it seems, every hint of ladybug is being rejected. What is a mother to do with a ladybug backpack that has her child's name embroidered on it? Well, I think she saves it for the grandchild to use when he/she comes to Grandma's for the weekend, right??? What about the ceramic ladybug we made together at the ceramic shop? Save it. What about??? Save it! What about the trophies from 5th grade safety patrol? The children's CDs? I'm having a hard time with this, can you tell? Growing up and throwing out your roots just isn't an easy thing!

Guatemala Story #3

These pictures are from another public school we went to. These two ladies (sisters) came in at lunch time and made snow cones to sell to the kids. They weren't like our snow cones, mostly it was ice with some spice on top. One of the ladies had two babies with her, Samantha and Christopher, the other had three daughters, the youngest one was Blanca and was there to go to school. Blanca was one of those that just had an extra dose of personality. She had a beautiful smile, and she was very confident, not afraid to try to communicate with me. Every time she would come to me and say something, my response was always that I had to find David, and I would drag her around until I found David to interpret for us! By the end of the day she would say what she had to say and then point across the yard and say "David!" I gave the adult women Bibles, and every time I looked their way, Blanca was sitting on the ice chest reading one of the Bibles. I finally decided I better give her one, so I wrote in the front of it and gave it to her. She told me that she went to an Evangelical church, and when I had given her mother the Bible she held it to her chest, like I had given her a great treasure. Before we left, one of the clowns gave Blanca some hair bows for her hair. Her aunt then came to me and asked if I had some so her baby girl, Samantha, could have some. I went and got some more and gave them to her. She woke Samantha up and put them in her hair and then wanted me to take her picture! As we were leaving, Blanca ran to me and drug me to David-she wanted me to write my address in her Bible so she could write to me, and I did. Later, Cary handed me an address and said some little girl had come and given it to him to give me. I already have copies of these pictures ready to mail to her. Maybe I'll have a new pen pal! If you want to read what the missionary wrote about our time in Guatemala, his blog is http://www.kennethanddiana.com/ (Yes, that's clown Carissa, front and center, on Kenneth's blog!)

Happy Birthday Kathy!

Today is my friend Kathy's birthday. I couldn't find a picture that did her justice, so I'll just have to write about her! Kathy's family had just come to our church when I was pregnant with Carissa. I hadn't met them, but Cary had-they had two in the youth group at the time. Cary kept telling me about them, but our paths just weren't crossing. We finally met when Carissa was two weeks old. My folks had left that day, and Cary thought we would go out to dinner. He kept telling me that Kathy would love to babysit, and he called her and they didn't have plans and agreed to keep Joshua and Carissa that night. That was only the first, they did that every Thursday night for many years. At one point they lived not far from our house and I would call Kathy, warn her the kids were on their way, send them out the door and watch them walk down the street until she was in sight to get them. Way too young to be a grandparent, but she acted like it. She gave them anything they wanted, even introduced my son to SUGAR cereal! She always sided with the kids. She always let Joshua think he was right. She came and took Joshua "miniature golfing" at the crack of dawn, just to protect him from his mother. Kathy has been there for a lot of thick and thin-20 years worth. We raised rebellious boys together. Quilted together every Monday night for several years. Back when I sewed, she helped me hem my dresses so they were even at the bottom. Killed a snake in my garage together. She took a little trip with me and we came home with Spike. She served her time at ball games and birthday parties. We do trauma together well. She and David sat with me while Carissa was in surgery for a broken arm, and Cary was out of town. She came running the night of the bus accident. Kathy is a giver. I am honored to call her my friend. Today was a busy day, I'm just now getting this written, but I did make it by to say Happy Birthday to Kathy! We hope for many more!

Guatemalan Humor

Forgive me if you don't find this funny, but I almost rip my side seams thinking about it. This is the ice cream man that came up after school let out for the day. We could hear him coming, but what I SAW when he arrived was just too funny! He was carrying the ice chest and the luggage rack and somehow ringing the bell on his pocket at the same time! The goods inside the ice chest were not quite as modern as we have either. It was basically water, or maybe even colored water, frozen in a cup with a stick in it. I can certainly say he was doing the best he could with what he had!

I'll get back on the serious side, but I just couldn't help sharing this one with you!

Guatemala Story #2

Meet Joshua and Jacob. Joshua approached me, speaking a little English. He said his mother had taught him. Jacob was his friend, and we met at a public school where we did our program. He had such a beautiful smile and both of the boys were very sweet, well behaved. Joshua came and got me to sit with him during the program. Being in such a poor area, there are some things you just "know" without being told. You know the children you see probably have little to eat. You know that no matter how good their lives are, yours is much different, and better, and in a few days you are going home, back to your comforts. You know that there is so much more to the story than what you can see in their eyes. Lots of pain. As we got ready to leave, one of our girls asked the boys if they knew Jesus, and they both said they did. The girl then asked them if they told their friends about His. They both said that they didn't as much as they should. Somehow, those tender hearts stole mine, and I was overcome with their honesty. Jody had been with me most of the time we had visited with them, and both of us started to cry while telling them goodbye. In unison, they both said something to us, and the girl that had been interpreting for us quickly turned around, and pulled out her Bible. They were quoting Joshua 1:9 to us. "Be strong and courageous, do not fear, do not be dismayed: for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go." Wow, it was a sermon all in one verse! They reminded us that God was with us-and with them, and there was no reason to worry over their welfare. It was a moment that held much more than I can put into words.