Are You Unforgiving?

I just ran across another one of my slips of papers where I had jotted down something I read about forgiveness. I think this is probably one of the hardest things to do when you feel as though you have been wronged in some way. I have found these to be very helpful when I have been in that position.

~Being willing to unforgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

~Unforgiveness is a form of self abuse.

~ Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past would have been different.

Too Much Information...

Our new grandson, Alec is now settling in at home with Mom, Dad and siblings. We stopped in the first day home to see how things were going and April was changing Alec's diaper which caused some interesting conversation.

He was laying there so nice and I was impressed that he wasn't crying as many newborns do when they are uncovered and exposed. Our granddaughter Caitlyn was hovering over the baby and taking in all the conversation when April smoothly transitioned into a comment that he didn't even cry when he got circumcised! I went on to say how I could hear one of my sons cry all the way down the hallway when his was done, and April went on to say that she was glad she didn't have to hear that.

Caitlyn being confident about our conversation easily asked, "Did I cry?" We smiled, and said, "Oh honey, you didn't have one because you aren't a boy." She kinda stared at us, so I went on to gently explain what a circumcism is using terms like foreskin, and removing, etc... trying not to traumatizing her and ending it by saying that the baby is fine.

There was this moment of silence as she stood there looking at me with this blank expression, when she calmly said,

"Grandma...I was just asking if I cried when you changed MY diaper?"

Well of course we had to laugh, as I commented to April, "Well, I guess I gave out more information then I needed to!"

Isn't that just the way things just go sometimes:)

Announcing A New Miracle!

We had great excitement this weekend when our oldest son Boyd, and his wife April had a little boy on Saturday! His name is Alec Boyd and he weighed in at 8# 12 oz, 20 inches long. He joins big brother Billy and sister Caitlyn who are over joyed with this new sibling. As Caitlyn said, "Now I am finally a big sister!" What adds to this fun is the date he was born. Caitlyn's birth date is 5-15, Billy's is 6-16 and now Alec's is 7-17! No way you can plan that sort of thing-interesting isn't it? Must be the way the stars were aligned for this little family:)

This makes grandchild #7 for us and we couldn't be happier. While this is Boyd's 3rd child, this is April's first baby so she will be experiencing a world of new emotions and adventures. These are special days for all involved. Whenever I see a baby I am reminded of this saying;

A baby...To prove again if proof need be...God lives:) How perfect is that?

Windy Wordless Wednesday

I love hanging clothes on the line to dry in the sun and breeze!













This picture was taken at the farm and shows me, Kyrstin and my mother-in-law putting clothes on the line.

Why The Name?

I had an interesting chat with the receptionist at the eye clinic last week. I was making an appointment for my daughter and she commented on how she like the name. After confirming the birth date she again said, "I REALLY like that name!" I kinda chuckled, thanked her but she went on to ask how I came up with that name. I then briefly explained how we got that name.

I am often asked that question about my kids names. While they may be a little different, they aren't unheard of.

Our firstborn is named Boyd. I knew in high school that I wanted to name my first son Boyd after doing my family genealogy. The story goes that two young boys were sailing from Germany in the mid-1700's with their parents to settle an estate in the Carolina's. The parents became ill on the ship and before they died they turned their sons over to a man to care for them and the estate until the boys were old enough to take it over. Evidently the man was indifferent to the boys and did not treat them very well, so when they were old enough they ran away changing their last name. The two brothers were named Boyd (my 3x great grandpa) and William.

The name Boyd means yellow haired (Celtic), and he indeed was a yellow haired little guy! To add to coincidence, his first son is named William:)

Here is Boyd at 20 months in 1974

Our second son is named Blake. We had a couple of names that we liked when I was expecting him; Burke and Barron were our first choices. My husband said we could name him Barron Von Bodenburg- a good German name! We didn't intend to have another name start with a B, but those were the ones that just kept jumping out at us. About two months before he was born I noticed the name Blake in the baby book, and it just hit me. I must have seen it before, but this time it seemed perfect. I didn't know of anyone with that name, but it sounded so right. Years later there was a Blake Carrington of the TV show Dynasty, and I thought for sure there would be tons of Blake's after that. I have seen and heard of many since, but there isn't an overkill on it.

The name Blake means, Black or Pallid (Celtic), and once again, he had black curly hair!

Here is Blake at age 15 months in 1977.Our first daughter is named Kyrstin (pronounced, kearstin-long e, short i) There use to be a soap opera on called Love Of Life, which ended in the late 1970's after being on for as many years as I could remember. Towards the end of it's run, there was a little girl on the show named Kirsten. It was pronounced with the long e sound even though the Scandinavian spelling is with an i. Once again, I loved that name but the challenge was having people say it correctly. We played with spelling it phonetically- Kearstin - until a friend of ours suggested using a y instead. She had challenges with people calling her Kristin, but became good at giving her ear lobe a tug and telling them to think of "ear" when saying her name:)

The name Kyrstin means the Christian or anointed one, (Scandinavian) and is also a form of Christine. Coincidentally, we were visiting my pen pal in England when I found out I was expecting Kyr, and my friend's name is Christine!

Here is Kyrstin at 18 months in 1981.

Our next daughter, Tyne is the one the receptionist was commenting on last week. I think we had the hardest time coming up with her name. We went through all kinds of K names seeing the boys were B's, we may as well try to even it out. When the boys were little I had seen the name Tyne roll by on the credits of a TV movie and had kept it in mind. Finally, I suggested it, and even tho it wasn't a K name, we liked it. Later when the Cagney&Lacey show was popular on TV, I realized it must have been Tyne Daly's name that I had seen before she became well known. I also heard later that President Ford's daughter, Susan, has a daughter named Tyne. She gets many compliments on her name and often times has to spell it for them as they think she is saying Time:)

The name Tyne is an English nickname (Tine) for Christine, again, meaning Christian. Oddly enough, my pen pal from England lives by the Tyne River:)

Here is Tyne as age 24 months, in 1986.

Last, is our daughter, Kinsey. When Tyne was just a month old, I was shopping in JC Penney's, when I heard a mother call to her little daughter, "M'Kensey, come here." She probably said MacKensie, but I only heard what sounded like the "Kinsey" part and immediately said to my husband,"There is our second K name!!"

He responded with "Too late, and NO we are not changing Tyne's name.":)

At that point we thought we were probably done having children; after all 2 girls and 2 boys was a nice even number. Even so, I held on to that name just in case. Well, talk about the power of

thought...so when I was expecting #5, I knew that if it was a girl, I had the perfect name!

The name Kinsey means royal, victorious one, (Old English). Who know, maybe she will marry royalty someday...? If not, we are royally happy she is a part of our family.

Here is Kinsey at 22 months, in 1989.

Here is a more current photo of them.

Left-Rt: Kinsey, Tyne, Kyrstin, Blake and Boyd.

Front Porch Moments

Sorry I have been "missing" for a good week! Gary took a weeks vacation last week and then we went to his Moms over the 4th of July for a four day weekend. It's always nice to go to the farm where time seems to stand still and a person can just kick back and relax.

One of my favorite things to do when I am there is to sit on the front porch and rock in the rocking chair ~ I sound like a grandma don't I?

The house sits on the top of a hill where there always seems to be a breeze blowing through the screened in porch that is attached to the front of the house overlooking the hay fields, woods and the neighboring farm.

I usually sit with my books and magazines, reading and enjoying the quiet with the wind chime clanging in the wind. Sometimes I just lay my head back and close my eyes, enjoying the peacefulness of the birds singing and the whispering of the evergreen trees as they sway back and forth.

When my babies were little I would sit out there to feed them and rock them to sleep.

Now, I often find myself being joined by my grown children and their families. We find ourselves reminiscing about when they were little, what it was like when I was growing up and asking Gary questions about living here on the farm. Most of the time we are laughing at the stories that we have forgotten about, or learning about things we never asked about at that time.

Usually time has no meaning on the front porch, as suddenly we realize it is well past bedtime and the rest of the household members have gone to bed, leaving us in our own little world on this now darkened porch that has taken us back in time.

~This photo was taken on the front porch in July, 1959 when Gary's grandparents lived in the house. Gary is the oldest on the right, with his Grandma holding his brother Paul, and brother Chris on the left. ~

~Here is Gary's grandpa on the porch holding our son Boyd,(his first great grandson to pass on the name) August, 1973.

August, 1988 finds our daughters Kyrstin and Tyne playing with their Dad's old farm set on the porch:)