In Touch with Heaven

One of the greatest treats for me, that came out of our vacation to see Amy, Gary and our grandkids, was the chance to meet my granddaughter, Heaven. Heaven is now almost 11 months old and this was the first time I had seen her.



I was sure that she would come right to me, but this was not to be the case. I had to work on her a little, but it didn't take long before she realized that I was trustworthy. And once that was established she was very affectionate. I was amazed at how good she was at snuggling in and pulling me close.

I have so enjoyed that moment with each of my grandkids, when they have trusted me enough to fall asleep in my arms for the first time.



And Heaven didn't let me down. There is nothing quite like holding a peacefully sleeping child!

Justin's Style

Justin is the next to the youngest of Amy's kids, but he does a pretty good job of keeping up with his big brothers.



In this picture he is playing the part of Buzz Lightyear and defending us against some sort of alien invasion. But even the best of superheros need a nap from time to time.


While we were visiting, we took the kids to the nearby playground to play. Everyone was getting dressed to go when Justin emerged having fully dressed himself--completely backwards!

His shirt was on backwards, his pants were on backwards, and the cowboy boots he insisted on wearing were on the wrong feet. Talk about having your own sense of style! Nan helped get his clothes straightened out, but no one was talking him out of wearing the boots.

Gydeon's Viewpoint

One of the great joys on my recent trip to North Carolina was to be able to see how my four-year old grandson, Gydeon, has changed over the past couple of years.

He is full of energy, quite handsome, and speaks very clearly and precisely.

He has his own unique viewpoint on life. And he has a four-year old's way of explaining things.

While playing in the backyard while we were visiting, Gydeon, got into some water and as a result, got his shoe and pant leg wet. He explained it, as if he was surprised by what had happened, saying,

"Something made me step in the water!"

In the picture above, Gydeon was sitting with his brother eating raisins. But something tells me that there is a lot more than just that going on in this little boy's mind!

Winnie the Pooh and Shaney-Man, Too!

Our second oldest grandchild, Shane, will be six this year. He is quite a character as you can see from the pictures. He has a sweet smile and a sweet heart.

He also has a good memory. He remembered a trip that Nan and I had made to visit him and his sister a couple of years ago in Savannah, Georgia.

Nan and I had arrived too late to pick them up on the day that we got there so we got a hotel room for the night. Early the next morning, Nan got up and went to pick them up, leaving me asleep in the hotel trying to recover from not having slept for two days prior to making the trip. Shane remembered coming back to the hotel room and jumping on the bed to wake me up.

How could you not love waking up to a smile like his?

Nan's New Hairstyle

It has become a tradition, whenever we are fortunate enough to be able to visit our grandkids who are out of state, that our oldest granddaughter, Elania, who is now eight years old, does Nan's hair for her.

It makes for some interesting hairstyles, but Nan is always a willing subject. So I thought I would include a few pictures of the process from our recent trip to North Carolina.


In this first shot Elania seems to be looking into a mirror at her "beauty station" and deciding what style would work for her. (Actually, she was looking at a video game on the TV that her brothers were playing.)


This shot shows her busy at work on the now tangled mess.



Here we see how Elania really gets into her work by sitting on her subject's shoulder and pulling that ponytail tight!

Nan survived the ordeal and the tradition lives on, just as the bond of love between them continues strong.