Sunday

Good evening everyone,

   I'm feeling the urge to write again so I'd better get my heart down on the blog before the urge leaves me for another month.  We are doing good, but Mack has had a bad cold, fever, chills for the last 2 days...but doing better today.  Since we have been living without TV since the fire we sure have been getting tons more rest.  I think Mack picked up a bug on our trip back to Prescott a week or so ago as he did most of the driving.  We had to get papers signed with FEMA for the clean up process to be done in the next few months, and we sifted through some of the ashes to see if there was anything left there for us to salvage.  nothing much was left except our round fire pit, a wind chime, a bird bath, and bird feeder (my daughter gave me) and a pumice stone, and a Tea Cup.  THATS IT!! yikes.  thought maybe alittle more might have survived but it didn't.  

  We were thankful to get to stay with friends and see the whole bunch of old friends we care about but won't be around much anymore because of moving to AZ.  Its always hard to say good bye to ones we have enjoyed so many good times with. We had left on a Wednesday, drove straight though 15 hours and dealt with the house Thursday and Friday and came back to Prescott Saturday late.  We left the cats in the apartment with David to take care of them.  They were much less stress not having to make the trip and it was so wonderful not to worry at all about them.  It felt weird not to have them with us all the time...guess they are really our cutie babies now.  

   

This is Keto before the fire!

This is Keto giving Wiley a bath on  the end of our Bed tonight!  

this is a nightly ritual!

This week I finished a String Bette Bag for Nicole for the new Grandchild baby bag.  So it was Blue and turned out pretty nice.  I just never know if it is gonna turn out or not as each one turns out so differently. Got it done and in the mail.  Yeah!  Now I am working on a quilt for a wedding a week from Saturday.  I do hope it gets done before the wedding.  Another PicNic Wedding quilt to celebrate life with.  I hope it is used for that as I just love picnics the best part of life.  So many fond memories with my kids and with my family growing up too of just enjoying some beautiful places together.  

    Got to talk to Eric, little Jase, and chatted with Nicole too this past week.  It is always so wonderful to see them on FaceTime.  It makes my day.  found this picture that Eric & Nicole and Jase scribed their names into Bamboo over in Hawaii one day on a hike this year.  Pretty cool to do that!  I bet Jase will remember this someday and do it for his little boy or girl too!  They are having such a full experience over there and now preparing for another little baby boy to be born very soon into our family again. I am so over the top with excitement and I get to visit March 20 to April 3rd.  The new little one will be 2 or 3 weeks old when I get over there and just can't wait to enjoy the welcoming of little Landon to the world!  God is just so good to us...he knows our hearts long before we know what we need.   I'm just thrilled.!!

This picture below is the sun setting on Indian Head Mountian in Big Springs, California.  I use to see this sight every evening when we lived there and would never get tired of the beauty there.  I will always miss it in my heart...even though it was a harder time of my life it was a very beautiful one though.  God knew I needed all that lovely stuff in my view to get through it all. Thank goodness I had the children to keep my heart together in  one piece.

  Below is a picture of our friend Cliff when he was fishing last year at Paradise lake with Mack.  I love that this picture captures the fun of enjoying the day fully by getting the line untwisted.  This is who we stayed with on our last trip up to Paradise.  Cliff and Fern put us up in their RV and fed us so sweetly with great dinners.  It was wonderful and we both thank you for your hospitality!

   this picture was taken a few months ago of Eric my son, as they prepared to promote him to Sargent Major.  He has done so amazingly in the military and I am so proud of him for keeping true to what he felt he must do.  Its been a full life for them, and he has accomplished much.  

Well, that is about it for now.  we are getting ready to call it a day.  Another exciting Friday night with no entertainment except the cats and our computers!  Thank you for listening and hearing all the same stuff you probably have already heard.  Love and miss you all!
God Bless, and I hope someday to see you all again when I visit back in California.
Hugs & Prayers,
   BJM

https://youtu.be/yOEviTLJOqo

After Christmas

January 4th, 2019
  Well Got my ticket to so see Eric, Nicole, Jase, Jayla & Landon--Newborn to be grandson in March.  He is due after Feb 28th, but I think they will deliver him March 6th, 2019.  I will get there March 20th afternoon and stay for 2 weeks.  Just can't wait to see them it has been so very long, over a year.  Only sent them gift cards this year for Christmas as there has been too much confusion in our lives to celebrate life normally.  So will look to the new exciting event that will be here before we know it...yeah!!!

Its official also...Eric got promoted to Sergeant Major!  Wow and more Wow!  He never ceases to amaze me with his ability to do so much in his life.    

Our life now in AZ is settling down to a pattern.  Looking for houses in the area as often as we can and going to look at them.   the pictures are beautiful of the houses and usually when we get to the house it disappoints us and we become more sadden that we might not ever find the right place.  Next week we plan to go back to the Paradise house lot and try to go through some of it to recover anything that might be worth salvaging but as more and more time goes by i'm getting better and better about the letting go process.  New thing s will its place and a new direction will bring just as much satisfaction as before.  

   I'm really liking the new Canyon Bible Church that we are attending with Karen & Rodger Wynott. 

They are my neighbors from Van Nuys, Ca when Bonnie Jo was a Baby and they are helping us find a home as he is a Realtor.  God works in mysterious ways and I am so very thankful he has provided all our needs and more through this whole ordeal.  

The weekly podcast of their 3 pastors Sermons are excellent.  Last week it was on Psalm 73.  Very very well done!

           Every so often I get to talk to my friends in Paradise, Ca.  It just warms my heart to hear their voice again and usually try to catch up when I am sewing in the afternoons.   This sermon is excellent and was the week when both Mack and I attended together.  It was a great Sunday and will remember it always.  I trust that God is working all things to the good for us as he knows what is best.    So much pressure in the settling of our old house and property that there are tons of big decisions to make and Mack has been having to do it all.  I am so very grateful he has been handling it all. 

  http://canyonprescott.org/sermons/sermon/2018-12-30/is-god-really-good

   Here are some older photos of our old house before the sliding glass door was put in and the patio covering was taken down.  It was a very pretty back yard patio  and I do miss my plants.

 This Chinese Lantern in the background is the only thing in the back yard that went untouched by the fire storm.  We brought it back with us to Prescott and now it is sitting once again in David & Irene's backyard.  Mack was very happy it survived, as it meant a lot to him and he lost everything else in that darn fire.

This is how I feel with the New Grand Baby Arriving soon!  Just so unbelievable!

 I love these scrappy slippers that I found in my old pictures....maybe someday I will try to make them for my new wardrobe.

I think I need a birdfeeder just like this.!!

TJ made this more me on mother's day one year.  I think I still have it in storage still.  It was the funniest day I ever had at Disneyland.  All 3 of my kids were together and we had one laugh after another!  Nancey Joy was with us and took this picture too!  Many happy times together!

This is the top of it and Eric in his 4H outfit and  Mack at the top left over seeing us.  this was in my skinnier days.. 

Love Psalm 91!!

Well I have rambled on and on about a lot of stilly stuff.  Life has changed drastically and I think looking back a little helps me get greater perspective on our present stage of events.  Yes we will find a new home again and this is all in Gods Timing and God's hands.  We just have to shut down the worrying when it looks like nothing is happening in the right direction.  We are well, have enough food and energy to create projects (like for my new grandson etc) and I look forward to the new exciting things that await us this next year 2019!  

  I want to thank everyone (you know who you are) that have blessed us with so many gifts, unexpected gifts, and so much love from the depts. of their hearts.  Makes this bleak dessert sojourn not so terribly feeling like it could be.  Everyone has been so Loving and we both appreciate it all!

   Thanks for traveling along with us...it's been one heck of a ride.  Love you all!

P.S. I did finally buy some cowboy boots.   

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sermons/id964702369?mt=2

The Hope That Overcomes the World (John 16:23–33)

Hello Everyone!!!
          its only been forever since I have been a blogger! Its been a really busy year and has ended up with a Life Changing event of moving to another state.  I started this post way back when and saved it to draft.  Now I have a better computer I think I  can start writing again about stuff that has been going on in our life,....which lately has been a lot.
           The year started out the same as most other years with lots going on.  Teresa Jo and I went the last 2 weeks in January to visit Eric, Nicole, Jase, & Jayla in Hawaii!  Was a perfect vacation ever with her and we just had too much fun!  Little Jase is at a perfect age to have fun with and he was such a little cutie in all we did!  Many fun memories made and was very hard to leave!
         Then it was back to reality for us and when we returned home we went on a few smaller weekend trips throughout the spring and summer. In the fall (September) I went to Scotland with several friends from Paradise for 3 weeks.  What a trip of a lifetime we enjoyed and so thankful I was able to go and see the beauty of that country.  To top off the wonderful time there we went for a whole week to Denmark also and visited Patti Elkerton's very close friends there too.  They were most gracious showing us all over the countryside of how beautiful their country is.  It was just so marvelous I was in amazement the entire trip. It totally changed me in so many ways and I couldn't take enough pictures because I thought I would forget what I saw if I didn't keep taking picture after picture.....over 3000 I took.  lol.. I know it is overload.....but it was part of my experience and memory. Never do I want to forget all that I enjoyed.
      After we got home, it was pretty close to October and we started into our fall routine of getting ready for colder weather etc.  We thought the hottest part of the year was over, which it really was, but little did we know that the hardest day of many was about to approach into reality.
      November arrived and with my thoughts of how far behind Christmas shopping I was amazed me that I felt like a bad Grandma for running all over the place all year long and not being better prepared for December.  So I was starting to get a game plan in place and was working on a quilt for a friend that I had drawn a name for this year.  Was almost done with it when the Firestorm hit on November 8th, 2018.   We only had about 5 minutes to get out of the house with the cats, and what little we could grab and remember to scoop up and run out the door with.  I never thought it would burn the entire town, our house too, as when we were leaving, I looked in my sewing room and told myself," I'll be back, don't worry, we'll be back!"  I was so very wrong.  it is totally gone and we will probably never forget that morning for the rest of our lives.
     Took us 3 hours to get down the hill  to safety of Chico.  We slept in Mack's truck the first night and after that we were fortunate enough to live in a condo for several weeks before we decided to go to Arizona after we realized there was nothing else we could do even if we stayed there.
     So on November 29th we traveled to Arizona  with our 2 cats and 2 cars and arrived late that night at David and Irene's home.  They have a little studio apt behind their home that was available for us so that is where we have been staying since then.
     Before we left Chico I was given a sewing machine from a good friend in Bend Oregon that was able to send it down to me via other friends too.  She was so very generous to send me such a beautiful sewing machine, brand new, an material, and scissors, and  all the extra stuff you need to start fresh sewing again.  I was so very blessed by her generosity and love.!  thanks Eileen!
      Then before  we left California, I went up to say good bye to TJ and good close friends in Siskiyou. A quick 4 day trip and celebration of Thanksgiving.  Missed Macks Birthday but called him.  I got to see everyone and it all went according to plan and smooth no problems or upsets.  So thankful I got to go and the Turkey TJ cooked on the Barbecue turned out the best I have ever had!  She really did fantastically on the entire Dinner, being her first Turkey she ever truly cooked on her own and all I did was tell her how to do it!   Greatt visit and just a fun trip all around!
     So this is Part 1--of our exit from Paradise and all the energy I have tonight to write.  Maybe tomorrow night I will write more of some of the events that have happened since getting here to AZ., and the crazy stories of the people I personally know and their exits from the fire.  I just don't have the energy tonight to revisit the emotion of that day.  It really was kinda horrifying for everyone that lived through it.
   God was Gracious to us all and we came out on the other side alive, and Thankful to be alive. All the other material things are just stuff...and although some can't be replaced we can remember and write it down from what we do remember.
    Hugs & Prayers,  BJM   (I'll follow-up very soon)  thanks for listening!

Early Church Small Group Bible Study by Ray Vander Laan - Faith Lessons ...

        Well all-- its been since November that I've entered a blog entry.  Haven been trying to just keep up with business of retirement.  We celebrated Christmas here in our new home here in Paradise ca and it was a good one.   Still adjusting to city life but am learning to love it!  Thankful for all the many unexpected surprises and blessing that God has showered on us.   Teresa Jo cane to spend a few days at Christmas with us, and we kept busy.  Was wonderful to spend time with her.  Miss her so very much-- so I visit every 2 months. Looking forward to seeing little Jase, Eric and Nikki and Jayla this June when they are traveling thru to Hawaii for their next station.  Great spot to end their tour of duty.   

So excited to see them I just can't wait.  

Little Jase will be 2 in July!!  They are excellent parents! 

     Fast forward to early April.....we got to enjoy a fantastic visit with Kristen , Troy, Piers & Jessica for a early Easter celebration. What a grand time we had together and made some great memories!  Fun times. Was a fun opportunity to celebrate, laugh, and spend quality time with family!  It's been a few years since this has happened!   Thank you Kristen for getting down here. 

     

  

    Today we got to participate in a multi-family Garage sale with our circle of friends here!  I made 1$ and spendthrift $2.00. Didn't have a lot to sell but everyone else did and made tons of money.  We had fun all being together! 

Since last October I have been busy. Helped facilitate Daniel (Beth Moore Bible study) with Patty Burell our fearless leader!  I could focus on not much else during these weeks because we had to put on our thinking caps and had lots of homework each day!  God blessed our hearts and minds and just fully grew our group together with so much love!  It's been an amazing journey!   From those 12 weeks of study-- we proceeded to 2 weeks lecture of " Bad girls of the Bible" & "Really bad Girls of the Bible" by Liz Curtis Higgs -- she is very captivating speaker and shed a lot of wisdom and unknown details in Gods Word we had all overlooked. We then we're blessed by my friend Kathy Presyler in Siskiyou county with another Beth Moore series on "Deuteronomy" but it was a lecture series and very detailed! 

We all enjoyed the time we spendt understanding a hard book I have ad voided because I didn't understand it enough. Now I feel a little clearer on what it entailed!!!!   So after we  did those journeys we are dedicating our remaining time to putting a church library together in Pastor Art Worthingtons old office!  It's gonna be cool!... So thrilled to be apart of this church excitement.  

Been working on the evolved "Bette Bag" projects. Have made 9 of them now and probably will teach the ladies at church to do them also in May.  I do have an original idea and they turn out beautiful!  

Love the purple ones best. 

  All and all life is full and good!  Miss my family so much and love them all so dearly,,!!!! 

,love you all-- BJM.  

  

Early December. Tutorial of scrap bag

Hi everyone...this is my first tutorial for SCRAP BAGS---
  it is for everyone to learn from..but mostly Rebecca Joy---::::

Ok. Rebecca joy-- here is my explanation of my new creation called a scrap bag tote.
I am working on bag # 3 already now  ....
  first step is to create alot of scraps strips--kinda same color turns out better...make them any lenght but mine have been from 6" to 18" long--- by almost 1 inch wide..

then add to your strips by overlapping the material on the wrong side of material...  1st row is a straight stitch with the cotton string in middle of the fold.

then the first few rows are tough to go around the corner --making it a full circle around the first row--see the brown left side here...ease in the ziz zag stitch at each end..  start zig zag stitch on row 2 .
   down below is the 3rd bag I started today..each one has been a different color.
great way to use up scraps!  it takes me about 4 hours to work on these from start to finish.
put the zig zag on 4.5 and 5.5 for lenght and width of your zig zag.

down below is the corner--a tight turn --go slow.--and it will work--ease it into the turn...after row 3 or 4 it will be much easier...  you want to catch the material flap...and the new strip with the cotton string int he middle too..  if you don't catch both sides you will have weakness in the strenght of the bag.

they turn out beautiful--any design you can figure out is fun!

so that is it...good luck...any questions text me or ask by IM on FB.
                  hugs. & Prayers,
                    BJM