Easter 2011

We had an incredible Easter week!!! We stayed busy the entire week in preparation for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt, which we are in charge of and it was another great success! We didn't quite make it in time for the Easter Church Breakfast, due to not wanting to have full stomachs for singing, though Aly did get to enjoy a bit of the morning goodness! Our Worship Service, mini-musical and sermon, has been said by several who were in attendance, to be the best Easter service they had been to in years or even for their entire lifetime! We must agree, the Spirit was there in a way that just gave you goosebumps from the first note of the first song! One of my personal favorites this year was, "Finished Indeed"..... ♫♪ "The road to Calvary's hill has been travelled, for Jesus took upon Himself the burden of our blame, so why do we feel the need to bear that cross again, to struggle so with all our guilt and shame. When He said it was finished, it was finished, indeed? We're no longer bound to what sin had decreed with the blood that was spilled, His Grace was revealed and it was finished, indeed!" ♪♫ Of course, Easter isn't complete without a fun Egg Hunt, lots of candy, a visit with the Easter Bunny, a wonderful meal with the family, etc. So, I've added a photo album below for you to have a glimpse of our Easter celebrations this year! Our dinner menu consisted of Glazed Ham, Chicken & Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on Cob, Broccoli Casserole, Strawberry-Almond Salad, Deviled Eggs, Hot Homemade Rolls, Cream Puff Dessert and Swedish Nut Cake! Thanks to each of the family members for bringing in such delightful foods!!! I'm afraid my diet was in jeopardy! Trust all of our friends had an enjoyable weekend, filled with the knowledge of God's divine love, in that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us and the through the goodness of quality time with those you love! We love you ALL.....

Easter 2011

Thank You Lord for Your Blessings…

As the world looks upon me (us), as I (we) struggle along...
They say I (we) have nothing, but they are so wrong.
In my (our) heart(‘s) I'm (we’re) rejoicing, how I (we) wish they could see.
Thank you Lord, for Your blessings on me (us).

Now, I (we) know I'm (we’re) not wealthy and these clothes they're not new...
I (we) don't have much money, but Lord I (we) have You.
And to me (us) that's all that matters, though the world cannot see.
Thank You Lord, for your blessings on me (us).

There's a roof up above me (us)
I've (we’ve) a good place to sleep.
There's food on my (our) table
And shoes on my feet.
You gave me (us) Your Love, Lord
And a fine family.
Thank you Lord, for your blessings on me (us).

Happy Thanksgiving One and ALL!!!

A "Southern" (Belated) Anniversary Vacation

Greg and I have just returned from our belated Anniversary trip… to Nashville, Tennessee! We truly enjoyed our brief 4-day/3-night stay there, our only wish would have been to be able to stay a little longer! It was quite simply a wonderful vacation!!! Our precious Aly-girl was reason enough to head back to Indy on day #4, though! LOL

Greg, thanks for the wonderful get-away trip… it's always fun to celebrate with you! I'll love you forever… with all of my heart!”

Celebrate Spring with Us!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/BouncerTownUSAMoreApril2009?feat=directlink

As it is quite obvious from the above Photo Album... we are enjoying our Spring and wanted to share a bit of it with you! On just about any given day, especially the sunny ones, we have ventured out to have some fun, even a rainy day or two hasn't stopped us! City life is perfect for finding things to do and one of our newest and 'bestest' finds so far, has been "BouncerTown, USA", in Greenwood!!! Of course, you can't go wrong with any one of the many City Parks, either! Aly is all-girl, but that doesn't stop her from having a ball outdoors and we're all three looking forward to a great rest-of-the-Spring and the up-and-coming-Summer together!
We had our Family pictures taken last week for the Church Directory and are anxious to see the final outcome in a few weeks... even though Aly was 'down' with a cold and a bit of an eye infection that day, she went through the photo shoot like a real trooper and we were so very proud of her! We'll be sure to post the pictures for you to see soon.

I want to take time to add a special thank you at this time. This past Saturday, after a very stressful week, Greg gave me an offer I couldn't resist... a SHELLY-NIGHT-OUT! Before Greg and I married, this was something of a 'norm' for me and even after we married, (before we had Aly) I would 'take' one of these every month or two. However, since having Aly I hadn't done so. I have 'splurged' several times over the past year and spent little bits of time with a friend/friends, my mom, Greg, etc., but not anything I'd call real 'personal-time'! So, needless to say, I took full advantage on Saturday evening and headed out on the town. LOL I made my way to Family Christian Bookstore, Dealz, Kohl's, WalMart and stopped off at Panera Bread for a late supper. A few hours to re-vamp, re-new and re-lax were just what I needed!!! To top that little story off, Greg also grilled Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, California-Style Veggies and Sweet Tea for Aly and I last night! WOW!!! A mere thank you isn't much, but I'll say it anyway... THANK YOU BABY, YOU'RE THE BEST AND I LOVE YOU! You are the best hubby and Daddy...

This Is the Month of Love...

It's hard to believe, that one Christmas could change someones life forever, but that's just what happened to me. Greg and I fell in love during the Holiday Season of 2003 making this our 6th Valentine's Day together 'In-Love', 5th as husband and wife and 2nd to share with our Aly-Girl! Where has the time gone? "Love is a many-splendored thing, Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living, Yes, true love's a many-splendored thing." (by: Frank Sinatra---a perfect way to put "LOVE" into a song, if you ask me!) God has been so good to me and given me an almost-perfect life with an ideal husband, Greg and a lifetime dream come true in little Alyson. Life really couldn't be much better...

I will always love you, Greg!
~Aly, Daddy and I both love you more than you'll ever know!
Happy Valentine's Day to my two Valentine's... XO

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

(As all of my blogging friends are aware, we're in the middle of V.B.S. this week... and many of you will also understand THAT enough to know just how busy we are right now!!! LOL Needless to say, I've not any 'extra' time to write a very lengthy blog. However, there is ONE very important and most happy Event coming up... on July 24th and I refuse to ignore it!!!)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY!!!

It's hard to believe... time has simply FLOWN by, hasn't it, Greg? God has been so good to us, we are the best of friends and the best part is that we're more in love today than we were then! WOW!
Well, being as we're both quite busy this week at Church, I thought I'd post a few lyrics to OUR wedding song. (These bring back such wonderful memories!)
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
Greg, I want to say, "THANK YOU for being the best husband I could have ever dreamed of... I'll love you 'till the blue bells forget to bloom. I'll love you 'till the clover has lost its perfume. I'll love you 'till the poets run out of rhyme. Baby, I'll tell you true... Until the twelfth of never I'll still be loving you."
Due to a 'nasty' computer with quite an attitude and lots of problems, I've posted a LINK below to our most recent Album, just a few photos that were taken at our Faith, Family and Freedom Rally (at Church), a couple of Wedding (Engagement) Memories, etc. I'll also continue to add other pix of our July happenings to this album over the next couple of weeks, as well.

(Just 'copy and paste' the LINK below to enjoy a look into our lives!!!)

http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/AVeryPatrioticJuly2008FilledWMemories

Alyson's 2nd Visit to the Photography Studio

Alyson is our DREAM come true... the best of babies, she did an excellent job at her second visit to the Studio... Here are a few photos that we had taken of her last week!!!

A baby is cuddles
and tickles on toes,
the sweet scent of powder,
a kiss on the nose!
A baby is Teddy bears,
rattles, and pins,
meals at midnight,
giggles and grins.

Alyson Dawn's Photography Studio Session #2

Here are a few quotes we found online and thought were pretty cute... (We will soon as possible, be adding pix to the Album so, be on the lookout for more!)

• I love these little people. And it is not a slight thing when they, who so fresh from God, love us. (Charles Dickens)
• It's the 'little blessings' that help us see just how lovely life can be. (Unknown)
  
• Reach for the stars and don't worry about falling - Mommy and Daddy will catch you! (Unknown)
  
• Roses 'round the door, babies on the floor, who could ask for more? (Unknown)
  
• We are always surprised to see girl babies behaving like girls from the very beginning, and boy babies behaving like boys; we seem to imagine that we had to learn it! (Unknown)
  
• You rose into our life like a promised sunrise, brightening our days with the light in your eyes. (Maya Angelou)
• Babies are God's opinion that the world should go on. (Carl Sandburg)
• Babies are such a nice way to 'start' people. (Don Herold)
• A good example of minority rule is a baby in the household. (Unknown)
• Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body. (Elizabeth Stone)
• People who say they 'sleep like a baby' usually don't have one. (Leo J. Burke)
• A baby is born with a need to be loved -- and never outgrows it. (Frank A. Clark)
• A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men. (Martin Fraquhar Tupper)

The Valentine Heart

Chocolate hearts, lace hearts, paper hearts of red and pink...hearts in supermarket ads, heart-shaped cookies, even heart-covered silk boxer shorts! ;-)On Valentine's Day, everywhere we look... we see hearts.
In early times, we're told the liver was the part of the body that symbolized love. But hearts have long been connected with the feelings of love.
After all... you can feel your heart beating faster when you're excited by seeing someone you love. That's probably how all this Valentine stuff began. :-)

However, scientists think that emotions actually begin in the brain. The part of the brain called the "thalamus", shows the most activity in tests, measuring an emotionally excited person. I'm pretty sure that placing a piece of brain on a Valentine card probably wouldn't thrill too many people. Certainly not me! ;-)

(BTW! Thanks to my wonderful hubby for the beautiful flowers and gifts... they were much more my style than brains and livers! LOL I love you, Baby!)

Come to think of it though, even a picture of a "real" heart with blood vessels and everything, isn't how I view romance either! I'm thinking we should just be glad we have the traditions that we have! Anyone else agree??? :-)

We'll be BLOGGING again in a few weeks...

! Happy "Hearts Day"
from Our Family to You and Your's !

Looking Back with Fondness While Looking Forward with Excitement

Recently, I was looking through my Mother, Trisha's BLOG and found several photos that brought back MANY fond memories of my childhood... I had such a blessed childhood filled with fun and laughter! I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!
While thinking of the past, I couldn't help but think about the present and the future that lies ahead... I have a wonderful life filled with love and excitement! More than any girl could ask for!!!
I look forward to a future filled with even more fun, laughter, love and excitement! I'm sure there will be many other life-experiences ahead for me to learn from! I have to say, "It's just great to be alive"!!!
Try to take time to check out my Mother's BLOG out at: www.trishastimelesstreasures.blogspot.com
I thought I'd share a little Album of my "Past, Present and Future" with you. Hoping you'll enjoy this little peek into my life!

shelly's past, present and future