The month of LOVE...FLOWERS...and an ANNIVERSARY..

Wow its been a month since I've been on the blog.
January was busy, I've been working HARD on getting 22 pairs of shorts done for the village boys.
I made them all in shades of blue, finished, and sent them on their way to Vanuatu. A huge accomplishment if I do say so myself. Hopefully they will be as big a hit as my skirts. Check out my other blog to see the thank you notes the girls made me.

This last week I am feeling better. Pain and stiffness still there, but energy is better. I seem to get tired later in the day instead of waking tired.

I find it hard to believe that it is already February...One of my favorite months. All those hearts and flowers, red and pink, valentines and love. yes it was appropriate that we married in February, forty one years ago this year. That is Really lots of years. So much has happened but it seems like yesterday that we tied the knot, took the plunge, became one :)

LOOKING BACK ON 41 YEARS OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE....

OUR TWENTIES....
We married 2 months before my 20th Birthday on Feb. 1, 1969.
Joe was born in 1970.
Art was drafted, and Erik was born in 1972 in Alabama, he was 3 months premature.
Art got out of the Army and we bought our first house in Aurora, Colorado for $22,950.
Art's parents were killed in an accident.
Art got his apprenticeship in glazing.

OUR THIRTIES...
God saved us.
I went back to college.
Art started Builders Glass.
I had to quit school when I was diagnosed with Lupus.
My father died.
Our marriage went through crisis.
Art went to treatment and quit drinking.
Both boys graduated from high school and went to the military.

OUR FORTIES....
We became grandparents for the first time.
Jonathan was born on Dec. 30, 1989.
We had custody of him while Joe was in the military.
Both of our sons were married and blessed us with 5 more grand children.
We moved from house to townhouse.
Builders Glass struggled due to the recession.
I began to teach a Bible Study and continued weekly for 11 years.

OUR FIFTIES....
Builders Glass flourished, and we had our best years.
Two more grandsons were born, Joel and Toby.
Erik continued on the mission field, Joe moved to Kiowa.
We bought the Nebraska land and moved a house onto it.
Art and I continued in good health, but its these years we began to feel our age, the wrinkles set in, and the gray was not so easy to cover.
We sold Builders Glass.

OUR SIXTIES...
We have only just begun.

Whew I feel like I've just run a marathon, and I barely touched the surface of our lives.

The big news this month is that as of last Friday, Art officially retired from Builders Glass.
He is thrilled to be free it has been a hard two years for him working there.
Its a new season in our lives. Art says it is an adventure, of course Art is more adventurous than I am.
The great thing is that we still love spending time together.

The next few months I will be cleaning up this place so we can try living in another place.
We have lots of company coming in May and June and I'm so excited.

Erik and Michele will be on furlough from May to January. Erik will be teaching at Moody in Chicago.

Well enough....
I caught you up on the then and now, and I'm blogged out. I promise to not let another month go by.