Family gathered all around as we looked through old photo albums from Mommy D! Mommy D is still living in a retirement home but is fighting dementia. It's hard to hold a normal conversation with her these days but her health is still fine and she lives on! Because it's been a whole year now since Mommy was not living in her own little home right beside my parents, the children have decided to have a small family auction to sell Mommy's personal belongings. We knew this was going to be a bitter sweet day because now her home is empty and there are no more memories of her there anymore.
Family were the auctioneers! It was very simple and everyone wrote down the price they paid for any items bought! It was actually a really great day to see the Dienner family once again!
So many memories in those photo albums we were all looking at right before the auction began!
I thought it was so sweet to have Mommy D's sister come to the auction. Her and Annie have been best friends all their lives and it was sweet to see her there!
I was so happy to bring home some of Mommy D's kitchen utensils! I really needed some more nice wooden spoons! I was especially happy to bring home her puzzle tables! She had one small and one large puzzle table with skinny drawers for the puzzle pieces! I sat around these puzzle tables many times to help her put puzzle together! Of course, I bought some of her puzzles too! It's all so sweet to have these belongings that were once my grandmas!
I will miss not coming to her home now. Mommy has a very special place in my heart! Love you so much Mommy D!!!!!!
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The garden is full of peppers and I decided it's time to bring them inside and can them! I cut the peppers into strips and canned them! The wax peppers got sliced and put in the fridge as a refrigerator pepper! The cucumbers are finished. This is the last of them for my garden this year. Radishes are ready and they are spicy! I had the big boys in hiccups the other night eating the jalapeño poppers! These are so hot!
It's also pumpkin season and the house is being filled with the sweet smells of pumpkin, cinnamon and spices! These are so yummy!
It's also dove season and Austin is all into it! The boys have been dove hunting almost every night this week and on Tuesday night the cousins came over for dove fry! Jeremiah breaded the dove meat and fried them and everyone thought they were delicious!
I have been learning and hearing God's tender nudges this week and here's how! God has been showing me how life is sweet, life is hard and HE is good! I walked into school this week for PTF and my friend Martha was there pushing a stroller with a little boy sitting in it. Fostering is not an easy job and listening to her stories is such a reminder of how I am blessed to have been raised in a home with loving parents! I sat through the school meeting hearing about a family where a sweet momma is fighting cancer, AGAIN. I cannot imagine this as a teenager, going to school and watching cancer wreck your moms health. I have no idea how difficult this must be! We prayed and again I was finding myself so grateful!
And then the next day, I decided to grab a few ham balls at the grocery store for a friend who just had a baby! When I dropped the food off, I was reminded at how sweet and beautiful newborn babies are! Truly a gift from God! I drove to my workout class and on my way inside, I had a container of ham balls in my hand that I was gonna put in the fridge until after workout. I got out of my vehicle and a momma was just leaving and I had a chance to ask her for a quick update of their two year old daughter who is fighting leukemia. I just can't imagine this kind of journey! I handed her the ham balls as a simple gesture of love. It feels so little! After workout, we blessed another momma who has been working out beside me for the last few months and I had no idea her story! She's a widow with seven children at home. I could have never, ever picked this up from her attitude! She always has a smile and works hard in class! I drove home with tears in my eyes! Some people have really tough journeys! I guess I'm saying all of this to remind myself to be sensitive! Be very grateful of life's blessings! God really is good and His love is all around me! God is not surprised at any of these events and sicknesses but instead He desires that we turn our hearts towards Him!
Also in the garden there are these little critters right now feasting on my carrots leaves! These worms come every fall to our garden and they are so neat to watch!
It will turn into a beautiful butterfly in a few weeks!
We have been loving this new space on the back porch all summer long! We have watched many Phillies games and now the first of the Chiefs football game right here! Adding this roof to our porch really added another living room space to our home! What a blessing!
We couldn't wait for this to start again!!!! Go Chiefs!!!!!!
I am back to escorting school girls to volleyball games and sipping on a pumpkin spice latte adds to the fun!!!! The Warriors won one and lost two!
Autumn beauty!
The first batch of pumpkin pancakes were made this morning!!!!
Round two of these yummy pumpkin cupcakes!
I made another visit to see Mommy D today and I was gonna give her one of her watches that were going to be sold at her auction but she was too tired to talk. I'll give the watch the next visit!
The weekend is here! Enjoy this weather and some pumpkin flavors!
