Mema's Memoirs

He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

Blessed Easter Morning!

Our kiddos in their Easter finery!

Easter Sunday, 2014 will always be an especially special day for Jadon. He was saved about a year ago, but on this day he followed his Lord in baptism.

We went to their church so that we could celebrate his baptism with his family.

Since they had a leak in their baptistry, the pastor went to WalMart and got a blow up pool so that Jadon could be baptized. Another memory to add to this day.

Last minute instructions from daddy.

Being baptized by daddy......priceless moment!

The fam

Hug by Great Gran

Mom and Dad are so proud

So are Mema and Pappy Wallace and Nana and Papa Schmitz

Sunday evening we celebrated Todd's birthday with our annual shrimp dinner. Usually we have some delicious morels with it but this year there were none to be had. So we had french fries, corn on the cob, salads, fruit, and white cake with frosting. I filled some Easter eggs with quarters and Karla hid them for me so the kids could have a hunt while supper was cooking.

What a wonderful weekend!

The only thing missing was my brother, B.J. This is the second birthday that he has celebrated in Heaven. Since his birthday is on April 21 we always have his and Todd's together. I will always miss him being here for these dinners. Although, he would have been pretty upset that morels are late coming up this year and we had none for this dinner. He always started hunting them as soon as the signs were there. Todd has taken up that mantel now.....I'm so glad he had those mushroom hunting years with his uncle.

So blessed to know that I have a home in Heaven with a loving Father waiting for me...along with family members who have already gone on ahead.

Looking forward to that blessed reunion,

Donna

Happy April!

April used to be our big birthday month, however, May and October have caught up with it. We start off with Gary's birthday on the 9th. This year happens to be number 65 for him! Woo Hoo! That means he just has one more year until retirement.....and maybe not even that long. More about that later. Anyway we celebrated his birthday with a Sunday dinner of Swiss steak, mashed potatoes and German Chocolate cake.

Then.....every other event in April happened to be on the same weekend. Doug's birthday is on the 17th which happened to be on Thursday this year. Also that day was the Willard East school program. All of the classes were performing together so it was held at the high school gym.

Here's Jude's Kindergarten class singing "Houn' Dog" and "Here Comes the Sun." Jude is second row up, third from the left.

Haven's first grade class sang, "Rockin Robin" and "We are Free". She is second row up, fifth from the left.

Jadon's third grade class sang "Let It Go", and "Footloose". He is on the top row, third from the right.

It was a really fun program. Grand Finale was "YMCA" with the school superintendent riding in on his motorcycle!

Saturday, the 19th was Todd's birthday. It was also "The Big Hunt" at Springhill. So the day started with me,Jadon and Jude going over to the church. Todd brought Haven after her dance class.

The little ones were on the east side of the field and I caught these pics but as soon as this hunt was over, the bigger kids hunt started and I had to book it to get up there. When I did, I could not find Jadon, Haven and Jude in the middle of the hundreds of kids in the field. After their hunt, Haven kept going back out to see if there were any eggs that were missed.

It was a beautiful morning for the hunt and we had over 700 people there. The children played on the inflatables and everyone ate hot dogs and nachos. So fun!

Thanks to Jami and all who worked to make this such a great event!

Then Saturday night, we went to Todd and Heather's for a celebration of Jadon's baptism on Sunday. Todd smoked a ham and some beans and both families came to congratulate Jadon on his decision and wish Todd a happy birthday. (Ham and beans were wonderful, by the way!)

Having a great weekend,

Donna

March in Review: Part Two

The third week of March was our Houston grandkids' spring break, so Karla and I drove to Texas to spend a few days with them.

Here's some highlights from that week:

We were treated to a talent show by Micah, Ruth and Bailey. Micah is playing some songs that he is learning for school band.

Bailey and Ruth lip synced their favorite songs from "Frozen."

Micah performing his famous magic tricks.

Micah and Ruth Ann. I think they are looking more alike as they grow older.

Karla has wanted to go to the NASA Space Center ever since the kids moved to Houston. So we just decided this was the year. Doug had not been there either, so we all went on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Wendy and I pretending we are on the moon....

Oh, Ruth, you are so strong......on another planet.

When Lucas gets those wings figured out, he will take off.....

This is also the time for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo every year. It has been a couple of years since we went, so that was on our "to do" list this year.

Lookin' pretty good, Lucas! Won't be long before you are behind the wheel...for real!

Karla, Doug and Wendy would have liked to stay in this recliner section while the rest of us moved on to other exhibits.....

Bailey felt the need to pray for safey while we were riding this sky high tram...

Lucas, Micah and Ruth love this ride....I think its the "Superman" feeling they get.

The slide of all slides.......

Such a great day.....so much fun.

We headed for home on Tuesday. Hard to say good-bye, but Gary and I will make our trip in May for birthdays, ball games and more fun.

Love to all,

Mema

March in Review

So, it's been a couple of months since I have been on here and, as usual, I have so much to write about.

Willard's Spring Break was the second week of March and we just had to take our annual trip to Silver Dollar City. Actually, I think this was opening day. Here are a few of the highlights of that trip: