Raised In Love

This night we celebrate the baby of the family. LOL He towers over us all.

Missing our sweet daughter and he family.

S. clearly got his height from MeMaw's side of the family.

PePaw made the long trip with MeMaw, Aunt Leslie and Austin.

We are so thankful to have had part of our family make the effort to drive in.

Our amazing boys!

Saturday Celebration

Saturday found us with friends who've had great roles in this young man's life.

His pediatrician who has known him from day 1. 

We are blessed to have a life-time friendship with this couple. 

PePaw's twin, his wife and cousin Gary

Carol, baker of our brownies, our friend of 20 yrs.

Mr. Neal.

He continues to be young Stefan's friend and he goes to their house for lunch

since he works near them. So glad my kids appreciate an older generation and 

all that can be learned. Mr. Neal always opened his shop and loaned his tools to our boys.

They had a great experience homeschooling with the country folk.

Three generations. Mom, Dad, Me & S.  Love that my kids

could walk down the path to MeMaw & PePaw's house.

A glimpse of Mrs. Neal whose real name is Jimmie but as a little boys S. learned to call everyone

by a proper title, Mr or Mrs. and by rights, her title became Mrs. Neal....its tickles her pink.

PHS Graduation 2012

My Senior

The time has come and gone. It's been a month now so Pomp  Circumstance isn't

stuck in my head. The whole day played out so quickly.

The Sr. stopped by the house to grab his cap &  gown. 

I wanted several pictures but he just didn't want to take time to pose.

Ahh, boys. Mine were not camera hounds. 

I found these two walking around together. When S. first arrived at PHS he played football the very first day and made friends with Trey. Those guys have been through thick and thin together.

It did my heart good to catch them one last time. They boys were surprised to hear that for four generations our families have been friends. Their great-grandparents, their grandmothers, their moms (that's me) were best friends in 3rd grade....we go waayyy back and they didn't know.

Oh, the waiting....

Ha ha ha my little fashion statement.

To his credit I must say...From day one at PHS he wore his jeans

hanging over his boots like this. They called him "Cowboy" and he was the only

one who did that. Everyone else tried to be preppy; Son had no need for preppy. He was who he was and didn't get intimidated over not looking like the others. I love that he was secure and confident.

And while I feared he would actually walk across the stage like this, He did not. 

It's only for a moment you are mine to hold
The plans that heaven has for you
Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray
For all that you might do
But most of all I'll want to know
You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you
I want you to know
As I watch you grow

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings 

The days of lining up are over. 

Pomp & Circumstance plays.

As his first teacher I tear up. I remember well the struggles and triumphs

of home educating this, my youngest son. His decision to enter into public school

did not come lightly. Never once did I have to remind him to take his books nor did he leave his work behind and forgotten. It was a serious decision. He boasts that he's the only one who finished 

public high school in our family.....and he is. 

Coach H. spiffys you up before you walk across the stage. 

I notice his jaw clenched in every picture and I wonder what's going through his mind.

Tassels are turned.

The students walk off the field one last time.

And now, the night they waited for and dreamed about is over.

Congratulations Class of 2012

Paris High School

The Recipe

Seven Minute Icing

1 1/2 c sugar

1/3 c cold water

2 egg whites

2 t light corn syrup or 1/4 t cream of tartar

1 t vanilla

In the top of a double boiler combine sugar, cold water, egg whites, corn syrup or cream of tartar and a dash of salt. Beat 30 seconds on low with your electric mixer. Place over boiling water (upper pan should not touch water). Cook about 7 minutes while beating constantly on high speed -or- until stiff peaks form. 

Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat 2-3 minutes or until spreading consistency. Frosts tops and sides of two 8-9 inch layers or one 10 inch tube cake.

*********************************************************************************

In the day before canned frosting...there was homemade. 

If you don't have a double boiler you can improvise. You need one large pan on bottom with an inch or so of water. Place another pan inside to create the dbl. boiler. I have a steaming rack that I place on bottom of the larger. It folds open like a flower and it lets the top pan rest there while cooking.  

This is NOT a seven minute icing. You will cook longer than that so don't be discouraged when you've been standing there for 10 minutes beating this icing. 

Traditional birthday cake for my family is:

A box white cake mix (or white cake from scratch) with drops of food coloring dropped into the pan before baking. 

You will gently swirl it around with a butter knife but not so much that it becomes muddled.

If you look closely you can see the green peeking through. I have nearly run out of coloring with all the birthday cakes and need to purchase more. The blue and red are beautiful together.

You will see below the soft peaks form easily. Buttercream icing is supposed to be easy to work with

when decorating but it's not to our liking. We prefer the taste of this egg white base.

The weather will play a huge part in your success. If it is cloudy or the humidity is too high you set yourself up for failure; this results in a sticky icing that will only run down the layer of the cake. Try to make this on a sunny day. Good luck and don't forget to lick the beaters!

Sailing...Take me away.....

I had a thought a few weeks ago. I realized I had to miss a week of work during Spring Break...my adult kids would be out of college and high school...no one was working a job they couldn't miss.

In ten years we have not had a vacation with our boys. That's too long.

Enter: Spring Break Carribean Cruise 2012 

We left at 3:00am to drive to New Orleans. Tops, we had 1.5 hours of sleep and took turns driving.The boys were excited to cruise and we quickly unloaded to jump aboard.

Walking across the gangway to board. We can't wait!

A look at the Voyager of the Seas, Royal Carribean's huge ship that R & I took

a few years ago. It was docked behind us and looked enormous. How quickly we forget.

We were starving and so happy to have pizza and fruit for snack.

Our first dinner the boys came and after seeing the menu opted out.

Dustin did try the smoked duck with Thai glass noodles.

It was wonderful.

Oh the beauty of passing another ship at night.

R & I enjoyed more pizza for late night snack on the back of the ship.

From here on we would only get glimpses of the guys...like

this one as they enjoy breakfast the day we docked in Progresso.

What's in a Name?

Hello! My Name Is Zanetta

and I am a: daughter of the Most High King

Do you love your name?

Do you even like it? Know the history behind it?

Was it family name or all your own, have special meaning 

or is it connected to a memory?

I am so happy with my name. You won't have heads turning

to see if someone is callin you from a crowd. It will be just one, me.

My mother found my name in a baby book in the 60's and after that it kind of disappeared from the scene. One lady in our town had the same name as me...One. In the 80's a friend told me it had a Hebrew origin. I thought for sure he'd made that up!

Later I learn Cassanova's mother and I share even the same spelling of our name.

Jews give a lot of thought to the meaning of names and quite often we see something of the owner's character duplicated in that meaning. Or maybe it's prophetic in a sense of that person's future.

Mine means "God is Gracious". It does have Hebrew roots, being a feminine version of John.

Who would have guessed that it would belong to a girl who would one day surrender her life for missions in Israel?

The Senior

It's almost time for competition. 

Stefan's Sr. year is winding down. Time is going too fast for me...

for his Dad...for his sister who left home when he was so young. 

The boys are men now and set upon discovering their careers.

Who would have guessed a welder purchased at the pawn shop would have

led to a career path?  The boys were surrounded by tools to experiment with.

It was one of the joys of growing up in the country.

Never did they lack for anything to do.

One too many football injuries led him here. 

A good man can work with his hands and his mind.

For all the areas he does not regard details, he completely makes up with his welding.

He is attentive and detailed in his work.

“So send me a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron..." He must be skilled... 2 Chronicles 2:7

Every day after high school he goes to the local junior college and learns 

from the teacher and students to become more proficient.

They have embraced his eagerness and determination

to be the best he can be.

Late night practice for this one who is probably the best welding studentthe high school has had in at least 10 years.

Bragging?  Well, yeah, he is the first to be able go to competition.

We're proud!

Good Luck Stefan! 

Keep practicing! God Bless You in all you do.