Thirty Years Ago Tomorrow

Tomorrow Chad will be 38-years-old. This picture was taken on his 8th birthday at his Grandma and Grandpa Sowders' house in Indiana. It just so happened that Spring Break in 1984 was his birthday week. He was so happy to get to celebrate once again with his grandparents. It was a soccer cake as this was during his soccer playing days for eye therapy.

First Day of Disney Volleyball

So proud of Lindsay and her team at the Disney Volleyball Tournament.  They finished their first day by winning a couple and losing a couple. Not bad at this level of competition. Way to go girls!

Lindsay to Play V-Ball at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida

So excited for Miss Lindsay today. She is with her volleyball league team in Florida for tournament play this weekend. She will be playing at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. She is shown in action here at a GHS volleyball game this past season. Good luck Lindsay and have fun!

Carlos and Friends

Yep, that's our grandson with his arms around the girls!

Nine More Days

In nine days Chad will be having another birthday. In honor of that, I am posting a couple of the pictures I have posted on facebook recently. Wasn't he a cute little guy? How do you like those big glasses? When he was in elementary school he had to have eye therapy including the huge glasses. The first picture was taken in his Easter suit when we still lived in Indiana. He always wanted to wear an Easter suit so he could look like his papaw. The second one is his 9th birthday when we lived on Harvest Hill in Grapevine (TX).

Happy Birthday Granny!

I am getting old and forgetful but I think today would be my Granny's birthday. If not today, I know it is this week.  My grandma, Pearl Ruth Arthur Sowders, was another special lady in my life. Since her baby girl was only 14 months older than me, I spent a lot of time at her house as a child. But what made her really special to me was what she did for me when I was a new mother. Being from Indiana, I was an Air Force wife in New Mexico when my first child was born. My dad bought Granny a ticket and sent her to New Mexico to be with me. What a life-saver she became. I suffered severe side effects from giving birth and was even paralyzed from the waist down for several days. I also ran a fever of 106 degrees. When I improved enough to go home the doctors said I had to have someone at home with me. Thankfully Granny was there. I don't know if I would have made it without her. And I still miss her today even though we lost her in the 1970s.  This is a very poor picture but I like it because that is her smile that I remember. Happy Birthday in Heaven Grandma!

Thanks to my cousin Mark Sowders for enhancing this old picture.

Steffinee's Busy Day

Steffinee is really enjoying her Spring Break week. She got here Saturday evening. Sunday was church and Isabell's birthday luncheon. Yesterday she visited Dustin's college and went out for a Mexican dinner with Daddy and family. Today Aunt Cindy took her shopping, out for a Chinese lunch and then for a pedicure. Later Dustin took her to a movie. Here are a few pictures from her big day today.

Snapshots of Isabell's 12th birthday luncheon at Olive Garden.

Samantha Made Isabell a Birthday Cake

Helped Samantha bake this morning (she is not allowed to use the oven by herself). This is the birthday cake she designed and made for Isabell's 12th birthday tomorrow. I thought she was pretty clever to use 12 cupcakes to form an I for Isabell. As she put it, "Each cupcake can have a candle".

Steffinee is in Texas!

It is always good to have our granddaughter Steffinee in Texas for a few days. Aunt Cindy and Lindsay drove to Shawnee, Oklahoma and picked her up today. She is on Spring Break next week. She was 15 in January. Our grandkids are growing up too fast!

Way to Go Steff!

So proud of granddaughter #3 who is a freshman at Shawnee High School in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She competed this year on her school's swim team and did a great job!

My African Violet

I may be about to jinx myself here but I am so proud of my African violet. I kill almost every living plant I look at. My mother had a green thumb that I never inherited! Christy have a beautiful basket of living plants delivered to me last Mother's Day/my birthday. Two of the lovely plants bit the dust months ago but I was so excited to see this bloom my my African violet yesterday! My mother must be smiling from heaven.

Thank You Aunt Christy!

Samantha loves Hello Kitty. When she spent the night with us Saturday night she wore her Hello Kitty pjs and kitty slippers Aunt Christy gave her. We had to take a picture to send a lady at church that is a kitty person.

Samantha's Strawberry Cupcakes

Samantha made strawberry cupcakes for the family dinner at church tomorrow night. She loves to bake and she is quite good at it. She measures, runs the mixer, etc all by herself.

Rodney and Family

Happy Birthday month to our son-in-law Rodney shown here with Cindy, Lauren, and Lindsay a few years ago at Walt Disney World in Florida. He is a wonderful son-in-law, husband, and father. Cindy chose well.

Chad and Friends July 1995

Chad with friends who came by before we dropped him off in Dallas the day he left for the US ARMY in 1995. He was 19 and Dustin (on his lap) was 2. This was not a happy day in the Wilson household!

THANK YOU GRANDMA

Happy Birthday to my grandma in Heaven. I loved and adored my grandma so much. She was one of the greatest influences on my life. I grew up next door to her and she taught me so much about the everyday things of life like how to cook, how to iron, how to can, etc. But more importantly she showed me how to live by faith. The faith I saw in her as a child has carried me through so many rough spots in my life. When I was paralyzed from the waist down in a US Air Force hospital in New Mexico I lay in the bed thinking about the faith I had seen in her. When the doctors told us there was nothing else they knew to do for our daughter who was terribly sick and in a coma, I thought back to that faith as I prayed. I could list similar instances all day long. I am so thankful God allowed Leatha Evelyn Quillen Hawkins to be my grandmother!

Grandma Hawkins pictured here with her baby boy Morris Eugene. He died in their home on his 4th birthday. She always said that if God could see her through that, he could see her through anything.

Rodney and His Girls

Thankful for a great son-in-law who is a wonderful husband to our daughter and a special dad to our granddaughters. Have a wonderful birthday month Rodney!

Isabell is Our Second March Birthday

Since Isabell is our second March birthday (her's is two days after Rodney's)I will feature a picture of her today. This is a picture of her a few months after she was found and Mary flew to Oregon to get her. It is one of my earliest pictures of her. She was three in this picture of her with Papaw, Samantha, and Carlos. They are all wearing their clothes the Harts had just brought them from one of their Hawaiian vacations. She was so proud of that dress.

Lots of Family Birthdays in March

Maybe it's because I'm getting older but to me it seems like this year has been flying by and we are already to March! I say that with an apology to my Hoosier family and friends who no doubt feel like January and February went on forever since you have been having such bad weather. March is a busy birthday month for the Wilson family. Our son-in-law Rodney Hart, granddaughter Isabell, and Chad all have birthdays this month. Both my late grandmothers had March birthdays and I always think of them often during March. My aunt Sue and my cousin Beverly also celebrate birthdays in March. I'm sure I must be leaving someone out and if so, I apologize.

Rodney has the first birthday this month so I will start the birthday pictures with him (I know he will be thrilled). This is one of the earliest pictures I have of him. This was taken on Cindy's birthday in 1991 when they were dating. I wish I could remember what was in that present that caused such a reaction!