Back home and a BIG birthday

This post is to celebrate life.
Today Jeff turns 31.
I can't believe how fast the years have flown by.

I love this school photo.
Jeff was 6.
As I look at this photo, I can see Jayde and Hailey at this age.

The teen years. A time of learning and growing for both of us.
Enough said-hehe.

The photo above was taken at Fort Jackson.
The Ladies had sent this T-shirt to daddy for Father's day.

This photo was taken over Valentine's weekend when Jeff was
on leave.

Jeff, I want you to know that I have always been proud of you.
I have watched you grow from a precious little boy into an
amazing man.

I am in awe of your dedication to your family and to this country.
You are brave beyond belief.
May God continue to Bless you with his favor and grace.
Your mama loves you very much.
******************************************P.S. The funeral for Ray's mom was beautiful.
We flew home yesterday.
Yes, I did the Eulogy and God provided the words.
What a privilege I was given.
Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you

I wanted to do a quick post to thank you so
much for your comments
and emails and even a couple of phone calls.

This week has taken us on a wild ride of emotions.
From high with the kids, to LOW.

We have been busy making arrangements.
The funeral is next week in Colorado (this gives everyone time to plan their flights).
I have been asked to give the eulogy.
I don't have a clue what to say but I know
the words will come.

Orders placed this week will go out as scheduled.
Orders placed next week will ship out at the beginning of the following week.

Again, hubby and I are very touched by your kindness.

A new Angel watching over us

In my earlier post, I had mentioned that my mother-in law
could use a little prayer.
She passed on this evening and is now one of Gods Angels.

She was an extraordinary lady.
She was a single mom years before you really heard that term.
She worked 3 jobs at times, to keep a roof over her family's head
and food on the table.
She was selfless.

She raised 3 children and buried her youngest son when
he was in his early 20's.
She LIVED, and made this world a better place.
I am so fortunate to have had her in my life
for the last seven years.

Heaven has a new Angel watching over us.
God Bless you. We love you and we
know we will see you again.

Happy Valentine's Day- A little Swiss eye candy

Wednesday was Laduree,
today is Teuscher.

When I lived in Switzerland, this was
my chocolate of choice.
O.k, it wasn't always in my budget
but
when I would splurge....
this was it.

Doesn't it just make your mouth water?
Or is it just me?

They have the cutest character boxes
to put your chocolates in.
Adorable!

images from Teuscher

Best of all, they even have chocolates for diabetics.
These are delicious.
My son can vouch for that.

If you would like to see more Swiss eye candy,
click here.

The kids are on their way so this very happy
lady is signing off.

Have a wonderful weekend filled with hearts and love.
I know mine will be very special.

A little French eye candy

image from Laduree

A girl can dream, can't she?

image from Laduree


These treats from Laduree shout Valentines Day in a big French way.

While we will be spending Valentines Day here in rainy/sunny AZ,
I can dream about Laduree goodies.

If you want to dream along with me, click here.
This version is calorie free.

Enjoy.

Waiting patiently

You can go ahead and ignore this early morning photo of me.
In fact you should ignore it, but OH what a background.
A couple of years ago at this time, we were patiently
waiting for Carnavale in Nice.

A lovely place to wait if you must wait.

Waiting for the bleachers to fill up.
Waiting for French fun at its best.

But right now, we are waiting for Jeff, Dorothy and the ladies to arrive later this week.
Even Tommy is patiently waiting.
I can honestly say that I am more excited about seeing my
Soldier son and family
than I was seeing Carnavale in Nice.
I guess that makes me a true Grandma-hehe!

While I have been waiting, some changes
have been made to The French Elements website.
It has truly been "Frenchified"
by Victoria.

I'm so excited about it.
She is lovely to work with.
She even fixed my blog.
Notice the yucky brown has been replaced with
the beautiful blue sidebars.
I've been trying to get that done for months.

What do you think?
Am I Frenchified now?

The birthday girl

Happy 8th birthday Miss Hailey!

I can't believe that you are 8 years old today.
The time has just flown by.

I want you to know how proud
I am of you.

You are a beautiful young lady
both
inside
and out.

You have a heart that is soooo big.
I am always amazed by how compassionate
you are.
You put others ahead of yourself and this is a quality
that is very rare for one so young.

It is a true privilege to be your Grandma.

I can't wait to see you and your sisters (mommy and daddy too)
next weekend.

Be ready to get your party on!

I love you.

***************
I also wanted to thank everyone that left a comment or sent an email
regarding J.W and his Guardian Angel.
I read him each one and he was so excited
and wanted me to tell you "thank you".

I hope to be swinging by to visit this weekend.
Thank you so much for caring.

The blogging community is just THE BEST.