Skywatch Friday - The Grandcrew

Sunset after the rain Tuesday evening.

 Time flies and they grow up all too soon. Here is the Grandcrew at Disney World 2008.

A year later, and they're already looking a little more grown up. This is Easter Sunday 2009.

 Christmas 2015 and the children have been replaced by young adults. It only took 8 years to get from the top photo to here. Enjoy your children and grandchildren while they are young. They will become adults long before you're ready for the change.

Down Memory Lane

My final images in my trip down memory lane are of the oldest grandchild. This image is from our family vacation to Disney World in 2003. She was 7.

She is now 20 and entering her junior year in college! Wow, where did the time go? She's going to be a teacher, and I believe she will be a very good one. She loves kids and they love her. I suspect that she will be that teacher her students will remember long into adulthood.

Wordless Wednesday

Continuing my journey down memory lane, this is the middle grand daughter in 2008. She is wearing her favorite sweatshirt. If it still fit, she would still be wearing it. She is now Sixteen and has blossomed into a very good dancer.

Ruby Tuesday

It's been a little too hot lately to get outside and take some photos, so I have been taking a trip down memory lane. This is they youngest grand daughter in 2009. She will be fifteen in November and she still has that mischievous sparkle in her eyes when she smiles. 

Aww Mondays

I was cleaning out some of the files on my portable hard drive. That's where I store my images. I ran across this image of our grandson from 2009. I believe that was his first season of playing baseball, or T-ball in his case. The Big Guy was five when this was taken. He will be thirteen in September. Whenever I come across an image of the grand kids, when they were young, all I can say is Awww.  Have a blessed day.

Skywatch Friday

Whenever life makes me a little crazy and doubtful if anyone is in control, all I have to do is look into the sky and the Creator reminds me that "He's got this".

Inspiration Thursday

I have grown weary of seeing our flag at half-staff. I have tired of seeing ambulances, hearing sirens, and listening to detailed reports of yet another tragedy that has taken innocent lives far too soon. We can blame ideologies, weapons, abuse of power, or any number of things for such behavior, but the truth is, this is a heart issue. Slowly but surely our country has lost it's heart for life. We no longer respect life or consider it precious. If some people feel abused, bullied, or greatly offended by another person or group, that appears to be, to them, justification for taking the life of people they don't even know. 
We have abandoned the Creator of life and determined that His teachings are not relevant to us and not worthy of passing to our children and the world around us. God's Word teaches us, "the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7) Man did not create life and he has no authority to take life from another innocent human being.
We have become an angry nation. We are angry with the government, we are angry with terror, and we are angry with each other. Take heed of these words, "an ill-tempered man stirs up disputes, and a hotheaded man is the cause of many sins." (Proverbs 29:22). Behind each of the horrible acts that we have witnessed these past few weeks, you will find a furious human being. 
The answer to our problems does not lie in the government. It does not lie in gun control, revised immigration regulations or any other unenforceable concept debated and made law. The answer lies in the heart. When we realize that we were created by a loving God, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;" (Psalm 139:4), to live according to His will, then and only then will we find the peace that passes all understanding. Christ Himself said that He came so that we might experience the abundant life and He is the only way to have that experience. So what can you do? Pray! Pray that God's people with repent and return to Him. Pray that your family knows Christ as their personal Savior. Pray that your next door neighbor has a personal relationship with Christ and if not, pray that someone will share the Love of the Creator with them (that might be you).  Pray for your local, state and federal government. Remember, God promised that, "He hears the prayer of the righteous." (Proverbs 15:29). Have a blessed day.

Wordless Wednesday - Branson Dance Competition

Final images from Granddaughters performances at national dance competition in Branson, MO.

Ruby Tuesday Too

We spent the week of July 5th on vacation in Branson, MO. Our middle granddaughter was involved in a national dance competition. Over a period of 5 days she had five or six performances. When the lights dimmed and the curtains fell, she placed 4th overall. It was a great week.

Awe Mondays.

There's a full moon happening this week. Last night I stepped outside set up my camera and captured an image of it. Every time I look into the night sky I just stand in Awe of our Creator and His creation. Have a blessed day.

Good news, my desktop computer is fixed and back from the computer hospital. So far, so good. Like I said before, I think I will just be content with Win 8.1. If I feel the overwhelming need to upgrade to Win 10, I'll just save my pennies and buy a computer with it pre-installed.

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Our middle grand daughter is all about dance in general and ballet is particular. I captured this image at her studio one afternoon. Recently my wife and I attended her dance recital. If you scroll down you will see that there were tiny dancers as well as more mature artists participating. Here are a few images from the recital.

A couple of her dances were as part of a group. Here she got the opportunity to show some balance and flexibility.

Here she got the opportunity to show off some high kicks. I was NEVER able to do this...ever. She and the other girls make it look easy.

Her ballet number as truly breath taking. You could hear a pin drop in the auditorium during her solo.

 While you are reading this, we will be watching her compete in a national competition. Unfortunately there will be no photography allowed. There will be a paid photographer who has exclusive rights to photograph and sell the images to the families, so the rest of us will just have to enjoy the performance and take the memories home with us. Have a blessed day.

Ruby Tuesday Too

Tiny Dancer

Recently my wife and I attended a dance recital. The ages ranged from this tiny dancer to seniors in high school. I will be posting more images soon. One thing that impresses me is just how much work goes into these dances and then you are simply amazed at how talented the contestants are on "So You Think You Can Dance. I know I can't dance. How about you?

 

Aww Monday...Oh Snap!

My very few readers have probably noticed that my posting has been sparse lately. Well, you deserve an answer. I mentioned in my last post, that my primary computer had crashed and that I was having it repaired under warranty. That means that the computer company sends you a box, you send your computer back to them in that box, they take 7-10 days to fix it and then send it back to you. Well, I got my computer back the other day and proceeded to reload my personal software on it. Everything went well. I even upgraded to Windows 10 and it appeared to be a good idea. Then on the second day, the machine crashed again. So, I am getting another box shortly, I will send my computer back to the manufacturer and when it returns, I will NOT be loading Win10 on it. I am not saying that Win10 is the issue, I am just saying that my computer was working fine with Win8 and I will no longer take the risk of another crash. If it should crash again, I will be getting a new machine, which will really be annoying since my current computer is only 18 months old. I have a Toshiba laptop that is seven years old, running Win7 and I have never had an issue with it. Well now you know why I have been AWOL recently. I have a number of things scheduled so I may or may not get posts ready for the next few days on my laptop. In the mean time, know that I am still here and I am reading your posts, but I am not commenting as often as in the past. Hopefully I will be up and running by the middle of the month. Have a blessed day, or week, or month, or whatever.