Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2015

This Man

 This is David.

He is my loving husband.

He is a Father to Eric, Michelle and Michael.

(l-r Billy, Michelle, Charlie, Jane, Miles, Eric, Michael, Jackie


 He is a special Papa to Charlie and Miles

 He has been an ordained Lutheran Pastor for over 40 years, now retired.

 He is a friend to many people.
He loves to fish.

He loves convertibles

He loves the Steelers and the Penguins

He loves the beach!!


Which is why we moved to Delaware in August, 2014

And now, six months after our move, David has been diagnosed with cancer.
A tumor at the Esophagogastric Junction.
(where the esophagus and stomach meet)
He was diagnosed 2 1/2 weeks ago and our lives have been a blur since then.
We have had scores of Doctor visits, lab testing, procedures and education meetings. As of this moment, he is scheduled to begin chemotherapy and radiation, concurrently, on March 23, but that might be subject to change. The Doctors here have been great. There has been much to coordinate and they want to get started as soon as possible. We have no time to waste. After he completes his course of treatment, they will evaluate to see if he is a good candidate for surgery to remove the tumor and involved lymph nodes, if they have shrunken properly.
This will be the fight of our lives and we getting ourselves armed and ready!
We have family and friends all over the country, praying and cheering.
We are being comforted with the faith and belief that no matter what happens, we are safely in the hands of our Heavenly Father.

I thought that I had finally gotten to the point where I could resume blogging and participating in swaps. It's amazing how your life can change in a moment.
Priorities have been all rearranged.

I am sharing this here today, because my friends in the blogging community have always been the most supportive and loving people I know. 
May I ask you to keep David and me in your prayers?
I will keep you posted on the progress here and while I am spending lots of times waiting while David has his chemo infusions, I will try to get around and visit my favorite blogs. 
Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

xoxo
Joyce

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween with Ivins and Prima

Happy Hallloween!
Only one day until the big Craft Show...I'm trying to get everything finished up today so that we can just enjoy seeing all of the kids tonight as they come around for Trick or Treat!
I wanted to show you the special Halloween card I made for my sister.
When we were little, we always looked forward to the Fall because that is when Ivins Spiced Wafers would appear in the grocery stores.



 Oh how we loved them with a cold glass of milk!
They are almost impossible to find anymore, unless you want to spend $18.95 for 2 boxes on Amazon!
Well, lucky us...every year my sister and brother-in-law take a jaunt to the New Jersey shore to visit friends and there is a grocery store there that carries Ivins!!! Barb always gets us each a few boxes and I bring mine home after we're together at Thanksgiving. David isn't so crazy about them so I don't even have to share! Ivins are one of those things that immediately take me back to my childhood.
In honor of my loving sis who always remembers, I decided to make her an extra special treat this year!

A Julie Nutting for Prima Paper Doll and Ivins Spiced Wafer Halloween card! Yup, I used the box front and built from there...




You know that I'm a "cute" Halloween person and not so much a "scary" fan. Of course, I had to add a little bling to my witch!
I hope you have a treat filled day..
.

I will be back after the Craft Show is over with pictures and 
Swap goodies! I may even have a give-away!
Happy Halloween!!!

xoxo
Joyce

Friday, September 6, 2013

End of Summer...the Mantel and A Visit From The Boys!

Before we're are on to raking leaves and such, I thought I would share some last summer photos...

The summer mantel & shelves...

pretty much the same as last year with a few new additions...

I found a box of all white shells at Target this year.


beach glass in a champagne flute


I purchased this wonderful old photo at an antique shop in Maryland

I've decided to use my new/vintage truck year round
(does anyone know where I can find tiny pumpkins...
I've looked at our local Joann's and Michael's with no luck!)
My favorite vintage image...

Last weekend, we picked up the boys to spend a weekend with Papa & Bam (that's us)
We had lots of fun...
helping Papa wash the car

hanging around...

driving

sliding...


waiting...

just having a good time...




It was over too quickly!
We were exhausted but cherish the memories!
This is all that was left on Monday...

Be back soon...

xoxo
Joyce

Monday, August 13, 2012

NYC Trip Part II

After we enjoyed our lunch, we hopped in a cab and went to
M&J Trimmings on Sixth Avenue.
I have been there before but I never tire of seeing all of the dazzling ribbons, laces, buttons, silk flowers and crystal embellishments. Michelle had given me a Groupon coupon for Mother's Day so I was all set to have some fun! (I love Michelle-she's so thoughtful!)







A wall of laces!
The last time I was at M&J I bought some unusual buttons,  but this time I had a goal.
I want to make a purse like this one...
I saw this beautiful tote bag on Lisa's blog...A Thing for Roses..two years ago and fell in love with it.
M&J was the perfect place to choose some beautiful laces and a pink velvet rose to trim out the bag when it's finished. (The blue flower pin is just for fun)



Aren't they gorgeous?
After scooping up my items from M&J, we then proceeded to Mary's, Harold Square, to do some make-up shopping. I had a nice gift card from Macy's that David had given me for Christmas that I hadn't used. Michelle decided that I needed to go to the Bobbi Brown cosmetic counter for a do-over!! Yikes! We were hot and sweaty dewey, but that didn't deter the little make-up person one bit. She stripped my face of all make-up and cleaned it, moisturized it and then began layering. Now, please know that I spend about 5 minutes in the morning putting on make-up. Spackle, foundation, blush and mascara. Suddenly I needed corrector, concealer, foundation, eye-brow make-up, 2 eye shadows, eye liner, bronzer and blush, eye liner and mascara. It was pretty funny. I must have said "Now I'm not buying all of this" about 20 times but undaunted she went on.


OK, that was fun and I purchased some of the items and then returned some (unused of course) when I returned to Pittsburgh. It's easy to get caught up in the moment!

After our stop at Macy's we were ready to go home to Hoboken. Michelle's boyfriend, Bill, returned from a business trip and the three of us enjoyed dinner together, again cooked by Michelle. The cookies and sweet treats we had toted home were our dessert.
After some talking, email checking and a little reading, I crashed and went to bed early. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day....

On Saturday, Michelle and I took the train and the subway back into the city (she does this like I jump in the car and drive 3 miles to the Mall) We were meeting Michael and Jackie (our son and DIL) for lunch at Eataly, at 200 5th Avenue near 23rd. If I tell you that two of the partners in this endeavor are Mario Batali and his Mama, Lidia Bastianich, that will give you an indication of the quality of this place. It's part market, part restaurant and interesting things can be found at every counter. Homemade pastas, breads, meats, cheeses, chocolates,  produce, seafood and wine and beer in addition to supplies and cookbooks can all be found here. I highly recommend it!

A produce stand with magazine worthy fruits and veggies. (Unidentified woman)


 The homemade pastas looked wonderful...see the squid ink pasta in the back of this case? Mmmm-no thank you.
 Lots of pastas I had never heard of.
The meat counter.
We decided to have lunch  in the portion of the market where you can have table service.
(Michelle, Jackie and Michael)
While we waited to be seated, the kids enjoyed a glass of wine.
(Not a $5,000 portrait but a cute picture nonetheless)

For lunch, Michelle and Jackie shared a plate of homemade pasta (I can't remember the sauce) and a pizza.

Michael & I each had a calzone, unlike any other. The dough was light and the homemade ricotta cheese inside was delicious! I should have taken photos before we chowed down but we were hungry!

Happy, full faces!
After lunch we went outside and around the corner to another part of Eataly where they sell gelato....the line was long but it was worth the wait. Creamy goodness on a hot, summer, New York day!
Michael and Jackie went to catch a train back to Long Island and Michelle and I returned to Hoboken again and collapsed! We decided on a pizza for dinner and then early to bed again. 95-degrees in NYC is different than 95-degrees anyplace else!
 I had a wonderful time visiting with Michelle, Bill, Michael & Jackie and seeing, doing and eating some great things in New York City.
Thanks for the fun time kids!

For those of you, besides my family, who have followed along on this journey...thank you.
I will be back next time with a bunch of crafting projects I have been working on!

xoxo
Joyce

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