Gift # 137- A Pink Carhartt

Hank is an excellent gift giver.  He always has been.  (Well except for that first married birthday that we spent together in Meridian)  Hank, you know the one.  :0)  Last night, he returned home from his Okinawa/Fallon trip with a pink Carhartt jacket for me!  He could not have chosen anything more perfect.  I am so very crazy about my new pink jacket, but more than that, I am grateful that Hank is so very mindful of me.  He has been from the very beginning.  Not that I am ever going to allow my children to get married, but if they ever did, I hope that they find someone that loves them like Hank loves me.  Sorry about the mush.  Just had to brag on my new jacket and my sweet husband a little bit.  He is a gift.  

Gift #136- Mom's Recipes

Today is my mom's 63rd birthday.  I am not sure how birthdays are celebrated in heaven, but I bet they are fantastic.  I picture a big section of Gold Street blocked off for a street dance.  And the more contemporary of the angel bands rocking some serious praise and worship music.  I picture moms tan bare feet dancing along and her hands lifted high in the air.  The music drifting down the street..."I'm trading my sorrows.  I'm trading my pain.  I'm laying it down for the joy of the Lord.  Yes Lord. Yes Lord. Yes Yes Lord Amen."  I love the thought of that.

My mom's all-time favorite food was Popeye's Fried Chicken and she usually chose it for her birthday dinner.  (Popeye's and Publix-brand cake with butter-cream frosting!)  Last year on her birthday, my entire family made sure to celebrate by eating fried chicken!  There is no Popeye's in Iwakuni.  So this year I decided to make one of her most famous recipes-  Oven Fried Chicken.  When I was younger, mom actually bought a whole fryer and cut it up herself to make this recipe!  Now that is love (and is also a little beyond my level of expertise and willingness).  :0)  Several years ago, she reminded me of something that I said when I was a little girl.  She said that once, while watching her cut up a fryer, I told her that the only reason that I would ever get married would be to have someone to cut up my chickens!

The best thing about this recipe from my mom is that it is handwritten.  She made each one of her children a cookbook with our favorite family recipes and gave it to us when we married and started our own families.  She made sure to handwrite our favorites.  The cookbook was a treasure when she gave it to me and it has only become more valuable over the years.  And no, my chicken did not turn out quite as good as hers.  It never does.  She was magic.

Gift #135- No Tears

Little Joshy cried almost every day of Kindergarten.  He continued the trend into 1st grade.  I thought that by 5th grade he would have grown out of it, but the poor little fella' still sheds a tear or two as he is driving away on his bicycle each morning.  It is hard to watch his little baby-faced self  peddling away with crocodile tears running down his cheeks.  But maybe we are turning a corner.  We are on day 2 of no tears!   I am praying that we continue on our streak.  

Josh is 10 years old, but he will always be his mama's baby.  

Gift #134- Real Life Super Heroes

The 343 Firefighters who lost their lives on 9-11.  True heroes.

Gift #133- Handwritten Notes

I love getting a handwritten note in the mail.  It always makes me feel so special.  In this day of email and text messages, the art of letter writing is not common practice any more- unless you are Macy.  She makes someone a handwritten card almost every day.   I need to follow suit and let those that I care about know it by writing them a little note.  It can mean so much.  It meant a lot to me when I got this one from Macy yesterday.  She doesn't just love me, but she loves me SO much!!!  I just felt a little tug on my heartstrings.

This is the card that Macy made for Josh on his birthday.  "Dear Josh, Happy Birthday.  I like you but you are men (mean) sometimes."  Ok- so sometimes her notes might sting a little.  But it is the thought that counts.  :0)

Gift #132- Hank's Photography

Hank has many talents.  He can cook, clean, build, fix stuff, fly an F-18, etc etc.  Of course I am most attracted to his cooking and cleaning abilities and owe much gratitude to his mom for those things.  ;0)  In recent years, he has become very interested in photography.  His work is quite demanding so I enjoy seeing him have the opportunity to get out every now and then and do something that he enjoys so much.  He took the above picture last week out on the flight line in Okinawa.   Pretty good huh?  We have his photographs all over the house and they make me smile every time I see them. 

Gift #131- An Impromptu Science Lesson

Yesterday, the Thomas family experienced yet another "first."  Our first little earthquake!  It only lasted for 10 seconds at the most and it only slightly shook our furniture.  In fact, only Josh and I noticed it at all.  The other kids were oblivious.  When I told Sam about it, he had no less than 1200 questions.  We googled tectonic plates and magnitude and the earths core. We learned some very interesting facts about our amazing earth.  Sam finally said "God must have been weally good at science."  I love that child-like faith.  So, while the little shake was just a tiny bit unsettling, the science lesson and the conversation that flowed from it was a gift.
God truly does work in mysterious ways.  :0)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.  Psalm 19:1

Gift #130- Cozy PJ's

Friday night.  

Popcorn, movie, and cozy P-Jompers!  Gifts Indeed.

Gift #129- Japan

My love for Japan continues to grow.  Every day brings some new experience.  Yesterday I went and sat in "Electric Chairs" with one of my new Japanese friends.  We sat on a green padded cushion and put our feet on a rubber mat on the floor.  The cushions and mats are hooked up to machines that send an electrical impulse to supposedly smooth and clean your blood.  My friend kept asking me if I felt the tingling in my toes and fingers.  I kept telling her no.  I could tell that she was disappointed.  So after a few minutes, I told her that I felt a slight tingling in my toes.  That made her so happy.  I am not sure how I get myself into these kinds of things.  But I do it well & consistently.  Before the session was over, the teacher gave me a frequent visitor card.  Now I can sit in the electric chairs & have my blood cleaned anytime my little heart desires.  :0)
Oh Japan, I love you a little more with every passing day.

Gift #128- A New "Hair Dude"

Macy got a new haircut!  She is super-proud of her new hair-dude (that is what she called a hair-do when she was younger).  She woke up early today to brush it just right so she could show her classmates.  She looks like such a big girl.  It seems like yesterday when she was getting her very first haircut.  We were in Beaufort, South Carolina.  I saved her wispy little curls in a silver box.  The days turn into years so quickly.  2 Corinthians 9 tells us that "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously."  I hope to spend my days sowing generously into the lives of my four little ones.  Because tomorrow, they will not be so little.

Gift #127- 13 Amazing Years

"What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?"

-  Lloyd Christmas

Happy Anniversary Hank.  I love you for always.