Betsy loves Stokley! 

Betsy's "million dollar smile"! 

Joel and Wendy at their church 

What a wonderful weekend!

We had such a great time this weekend. We headed to Lansing around 4 Friday evening. It was a beautiful, sunny day. John and I really enjoyed the drive up there. We listened to some great worship music and admired the spring scenery. In the Berne and Decatur area we passed lots of Amish homes...it was like a scene from the past. The children were playing outside in homemade swings...the fathers were unhitching horses or working in the yard. One couple walked hand in hand across the field carrying a pie to a neighbor. It was an idyllic scene. We arrived at Joel and Wendy's home around 8 and enjoyed catching up on their news. Joel had spent the day studying for his next actuary exam. Saturday, John, Joel and Myron babysat for Betsy while Molly, Wendy and I attended a women's conference at Wendy's church. It was a wonderful day. There are so many sweet, friendly and gifted women at her church. I was left with so many encouraging spiritual insights...I'm still processing all of it. One gal spoke about Fanny Crosby. She wrote over 9000 songs even though she was blinded as a child. Her joy in life and her love for the Lord shone through all the lyrics of her hymns. Despite all kinds of tragedy and heartache in her life, she lived into her 90's and seemed to always cheerfully depend on the Lord. I found myself imagining her joy as she arrived in heaven and was finally able to view the glory of God and His creation. It was such a wonderful conference. Then when we got back to Joel and Wendy's, I finally got to play with Betsy! She is so much fun! She's such a round little bundle of love and happiness. She's growing and changing and learning so many new things. She actually seemed happy to see me even though we hadn't seen her for a few weeks. Joel and Wendy served a wonderful barbecue with chicken, shrimp, baked potatoes, salad, veggies, fruit and Wendy's yummy homemade cookies! Molly and Myron had to head home after supper and Betsy gave me a big juicy kiss. I love it when she moves her chubby little hands on both my cheeks and puts her little mouth right on my face. It's a special kind of love I've never experienced before!
Today John and I went to church with Joel and Wendy. Joel led the worship band...he's really getting good on the guitar...acoustic and electric. They have a very upbeat modern worship with music aimed at young people. John and I were discussing the fact today that even though they reach out to young adults and really touch them with their music and videos, the gospel is never compromised. Every sermon we've heard there has always been right on target doctrinally and theologically. I'm so glad the kids have found such a wonderful church home. It's always hard to say good bye to them...their lives are so full and busy with work and church and their small group. Our visits become very precious because we see them so rarely. One positive note though...Myron has a business trip next weekend so Molly and Betsy will be staying with us for a few days! It will be so much fun to have them here!

Betsy with her new cell phone! 

Joel getting ready to lead worship at Riverview Church 

I like Grandma's lap! 

Betsy Blue Eyes! 

Wendy making cookies! 

I love my Grandma! 

"Miss Hollywood" 

Betsy playing with her daddy 

Molly and Betsy 

I'm back...

Well...one procedure is finished! We left for Muncie at 6 this morning and I had the epidural injection around 8. It wasn't too bad...it hurt a little more than the last time...I could feel it down both legs. But I'm hoping and praying that it will help for a long time...I don't want back surgery! I came home and slept for 2 hours...it really wiped me out. I'm so glad I get to go to Michigan to see the kids this weekend...I can get my mind off my own aches and pains and enjoy them!

What a Wednesday!

Wow...I'm beat. I worked from 8 to 2 today since I had a dr. appt. at 3. I had two groups in...8 preschoolers in the morning and our regular home-school group in the afternoon. The kids were all great and so much fun...they helped me forget my pain for awhile! I arrived at the dr. in Muncie at 2:50 and got back in my car to go home at 5:30. That was so tiring. More x-rays and more waiting! The result is my knees are bad due to arthritis...(I knew that ) and I'll probably need a replacement in the future . Right now they're going to do arthroscopic surgery on May 16 and try to repair the tears in there and clean out the * loose stuff. *(My Medical Terminology) Then after it heals from the surgery they plan to inject it for 5 consecutive weeks with joint fluid made from....now get this....rooster combs! It's called Supartz. So...it looks like I'm getting a spring vacation...but I'll be spending it healing from surgery!

I saw the Dr. this week about my back situation. He said that the stenosis is worse and I'll probably eventually need surgery. But I asked him to try the injection at least once more. It helped for awhile the last time. I see my other Dr. about my knees on Wednesday, then have the epidural on Thursday for my spine. If all goes well, we're planning to go to Michigan on Friday evening to see the kids...that gives me something to look forward to!
Friday night we had a great time at my sister's house. All of my brothers and sisters gathered to plan my Dad's 80th birthday party in July. We shared pizzas and funny stories with each other. I think it's the first time in years that we've all been together without Dad and Mom. We're planning to have a photographer at the party to take a group photo. Each family will wear a different color...there are nearly 60 of us! So it will be a neat surprise for Dad!

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
Lamentations 3:23

Thanks for your prayers...

I really appreciate the prayers of all my friends. I'm feeling better this week and went to work Monday. The joint problems are ongoing but I'm seeing the Dr. this week and hope to get some relief. The day went quickly at the library. We're still putting away Easter eggs from the party last week. Most of the plastic eggs had to be washed because we had unseasonably warm weather and the chocolate eggs that we put inside them melted! I think next year we'd better stick to just hard candy! It's the middle of the month so I started working on the calendars and newsletter for next month. Our director wrote the newsletter when she was still the assistant director. Then after her promotion she asked me to take over. I enjoy it but it's time consuming! John is really getting into the yardwork since we've had such nice warm weather. He's tilled and mulched the flower bed and worked on the asparagus. Last evening he broke up the remainder of an old sidewalk with a sledge hammer! Needless to say he was really achy this morning! He does almost all the outside work due to my arthritis. I used to help a lot but just can't do it anymore. Joel called me on Easter and Molly and I talked on IM so that helped my "Easter blues" a lot. Both sent me photos through e-mail too so I put a few on here for everyone to enjoy. Thanks again for everyone's prayers and encouraging e-mails!

Betsy in the sunshine

Easter with Uncle Joel

Playing piano with Uncle Joel

Easter Angels

Easter

I hope everyone had a very blessed Easter. This has been a really rough week for me. I haven't really felt well since Wednesday. I won't go into details but suffice it to say there have been a lot of different physical problems crop up at once. I managed to work Thursday but missed work Wednesday and Friday. Saturday I forced myself to go to the grocery with John...we were out of everything. It was good to get out into the sunshine although I hurt a lot. I saw the Dr. Friday and she's scheduled an appointment with my orthopedist about my knee. So now I'm seeing two different drs. for bone problems. I think I'll probably have to have knee surgery. I've been putting it off for a long time. Now it's getting difficult to stand and walk for long periods. I'm hoping the dr. that I see about my spinal problem will just treat it with epidural injections again...I sure don't want surgery on my knee and back! On top of that the liver problem is always looming too. I know this sounds like a "pity party" but it helps to vent it sometimes. I was feeling really depressed and sorry for myself this morning. I really wanted to be in church on Easter Sunday and I was really missing my kids. We were invited to Joel and Wendy's for Easter dinner but I just didn't feel well enough to travel up there. When I got up I started watching a special on TV that featured Christian artists celebrating Easter through songs of praise. It really lifted my spirits and made me stop feeling sorry for myself. Two of my favorite artists sang too...Michael W. Smith and Nicole C. Mullen! I think God knew that was just what I needed to lift me out of my despair. I am so grateful for His love and forgiveness. I don't know how I'd go on if I didn't know that Christ was with me and that I will be with Him forever!

Molly, Myron & Betsy on Palm Sunday 

Jacob on his first birthday 

Betsy in Spring 

Busy weekend...

I had to work Saturday so I went to my nephew's birthday party a bit late. He was asleep but I got to see him for a little while. Jacob is the son of my youngest brother, Jim. He had his first birthday party with his cousins and other relatives at my folks' home.

Then and now...

Here are the then and now photos I had in the paper for our anniversary announcement. Our little hometown paper needs an editor...they captioned the photos Smiths Then and Smiths Then! :)

My cats...

While I've been working on getting my new printer going, the cats have been observing. Carson loves to perch on the back of my computer chair and snuggle up against my neck when I'm on the computer. Kit just likes to come in and pet my leg. He's the one lying on the couch. They're brothers and act like it too. When they get a spurt of energy they chase each other all over the house...running into everything and wrestling. They're a lot of fun...if you overlook the cat hair everywhere!

My new "toy"...

My old Epson printer bit the dust so I got a new one this week. It's a printer, copier, scanner! I make all my own greeting cards, print photos and generally use the printer for everything so I was excited to get this new one installed and working. I set it up on Tuesday and it worked great except the instructions on the page when I went to print were in French! After e-mailing tech support a bunch of times and getting varying suggestions, I got up this morning and decided to uninstall and try re-installing it. It worked! So I've been trying everything...copying news articles, printing photos and address labels. It even has a slot for my camera's memory card so I can print directly from it! I know...I'm a computer nerd!

Spring is on its way...

What a nice Sunday...it's been really warm even though it was a bit gray and rainy today...it makes one realize spring is coming! My mom's snowdrops and crocus are blooming and the forsythia is budding. It makes us anxious to get out into the garden and flower beds. We went to the early service at church today. Our new pastor is so great...I love to hear him preach. He spoke about the crown of thorns and the way it's a symbol of the thorns that appeared after Adam and Eve sinned and caused the fall of the human race. We are so thankful God has sent us this godly shepherd for our church! We went out to Mom and Dad's after church and visited with them and Ruth and Chip (one of my sisters). Then Mom, Dad, John and I went to lunch together in Portland. It was a really nice visit. I came home and took a nap! With daylight savings time we got up at six but our bodies thought it was five! I've been having lots of arthritis pain the past couple of weeks in my knees, back and hips...I think the changing weather has been part of it. I'm seeing my specialist at the end of the month to determine if I need an epidural cortisone injection again. The last one helped for over a year. They put it right into the spinal column...it really isn't painful and helps to reduce the spinal stenosis. Boy I hate getting old...my mind says I'm 21 but my body says...you've got to be kidding! ;) I'm going to include a really cute photo of Betsy that will give you a nice spring smile!!