Mother's Day Menagerie

I had an absolutely wonderful Mother's Day a few Sundays ago!  Ally made these delightful rainbow cupcakes....

...and she also put together this photo display of the kids throughout the years.  Isn't it awesome??

Each of the kidlets made me a card with their own personal, loving touches.  They and their dad gave me all sorts of treats like granola bars, Wheaties Fuel cereal, a running shirt and capris, and my very own bag of Peanut Butter M & Ms!!  Food for the Gods, an old friend used to say!!

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. (I know I've told you that before.)  After Sunday School and a lovely church service (where many thoughts of mothers and grandmothers in heaven were shared), we went over to Mark's mom's house to visit with Great-Grandma, Grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins.  The boy on the slide is the neighbor kid, and Mady Boots is at the bottom!

It was a surprise to see Doug and Paula with their girls (like lovely little Lauren here), because Paula was due to have their next baby any day.  Congratulations to their family on the arrival of Girlie #3, Payton Patricia (8 days later)!!

Springtime means BUBBLE BLOWING :) :) :)

Clockwise from lower left:  Brooke, Paige, Shae, Mady, and Lauren

Trevin showed Wynne how to race cars on his concave track!

Then it was over to Mom and Dad's (and yes, I am still calling it Mom AND Dad's because he is very much present and worked his whole life for that house).  More cousins and more food and more family.  Plus a new puppy!  Who could ask for anything more??

Payton (in cap) and Sammie have a new little guy at their house...Elliot Charles!   Of course, everyone was enamored with him.  Fuffer!!!

Grandma & Grandpa live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac, tailor-made for scooter & bike racing.  And probably chipped teeth.

I can't remember if Cy beat Gabe here, or if Gabe beat Cy.  Payton is over by Shae and had just thrown a ball at the boys, to make the race even MORE exciting.  (and cringe-worthy!!)

Whew.  Nobody hurt.  Man that was fun!!


After supper my sisters, Mom, niece Kaycie, E.C. the puppy and I walked over to the cemetery to visit Dad's final resting place.  The dirt mound fresh, the flowers fading, but the memories of it all still flooding our hearts and minds.  As we await the head stone, the reality of it all sank in deep, and the tears flooded as they often do these days.  I miss my daddy!  But I know he isn't lying in the ground there ...his soul is in a new body in heaven with all of his believer friends and family!! And he gets to see Jesus now, which is truly mind-blowing.

We looked down over the family farm, which is nearly adjacent to the cemetery.  A new Engelke family (my brother's) occupies the house now, but the legacy of Dad lives on in all of it.  His love for the promise of spring, the new calves born, the upturned soil receiving new seed, the green grass and young growth on the trees.  To cap it all off, the puppy sniffed around on Daddy's grave and laid down, as if in respect and love for  this man who loved nature and animals.  It was like he was snuggling in Dad's lap.  The exclamation point to a perfect day!

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.--2 Corinthians 9:6