Grandma Black has joined her sweetheart in heaven

Two weeks ago our family enjoyed the dedication of my nephew Isaiah Black. Grandma Black was there and she was so sharp that day. She was so full of joy and life, it's hard to imagine later that same day she would become very sick, enter the hospital and a week and a half later she would be in heaven. Grandma was precious to me. She was gifted in so many ways and many of the talents she developed started when she was over 70 years old. She loved to sing, play the organ and accordian, paint, sew, crochet, write poetry, travel, garden and the list goes on. She was deeply devoted to her husband, Larry and she loved her children and grandchildren dearly. I think the greatest legacy she has left is her faith in God. She and my Grandpa were part of a church plant 50 years ago in Greenville Michigan. They believed in their mission so much they morgaged their house to build the church. 50 years later my husband and I have the privilage of being a part of a church plant here in Traverse City. I want those who follow behind me to find that I have served my God faithfully as well. Grandma often said, "To love God is to serve Him." I guess that about sums up her life.

Westwoods Open House

Shawny and his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wright.
Sierra and her first grade teacher Mrs. McMellan

I think the kids are in for a great year.

Bryan & Suzanne Deeren Family

Last weekend we were priveldged to spend it with Lyle's brother Chip's son Bryan and his wife Suzanne and their busy little family. 4 kids 6 and under. Now that's a busy mom. We had a lot of fun and took some cut pictures to share. The cousins had a great time playing together but boy were they all tired after all the fun.

Daniel with his sweet smile.

Say cheese Clara. This is her pretty smile for the camera.

Back to School

First Day of School Sept. 5th 2006. Sierra entered 1st grade and Shawn entered Kindergarten. It was so exciting for them to get to go to school together on the big bus. They are growing and changing so much. I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me with a precious family.
The traditional picture on the front porch name tags and all.

Shawny, Sierra & Jon Michael go Camping

Shawn & Sierra play with their friend Jon Michael almost daily. As you know we live in the country and the kids have been discovering new worlds, Sierra's world, Shawny's world and so on. One day the kids came in and announced that they were going to camp overnight on the hillside to the east of our garage. They built a pretend fire pit(top picture) and a bear trap (pictured below). Long story short, they got all set up to spend the night and after about 30 minutes got scared and came in. They made it until 8:30 PM.

Happy Birthday 5th Shawny

I will never forget the phone call from my dad. "It's a boy!" We were so happy. I was hopeing Sierra would have a brother. A girl would have been fine but haveing a little boy seemed to make our home complete. Since that day he has grown into a boy I am extreemly proud of. He is kind to others, full of a love for life, smart and he gives the sweetest bubby kisses. Today we invited a few friends to celebrate with us. We went miniture golfing and enjoyed a petting zoo at the Lake Ann Baptist camp. Following our time there we went to Bertram's for pizza, arcade games and cake. We had such a great day.
Jerad was so sweet to give Shawny the stuffed animal her won.

Devona/Dorcas Family Picnic

The Whole Family. I believe there were 47 in attendance. We met at the Almira Township Park north of Lake Ann. We had a great time.

From left to right. Back row: Sierra, Lyle. Paul, Kim, Samantha, Jamison, Brooklyn, Seth, Josh, Troy, Chip, Jay, Forest, Lynnette, Ben, Tim, Matt and Asa Front Row: Katelynn, Leanne, Shawny, Judy, Devona, Brittany, Yvonne, Linda, Patty, Amy & Iris.

Sisters. I had trouble getting them to behave for the picture. Dorcas still can't make mom behave, or is it the other way around? Jamison and his twins were ready to eat.

After a wonderful meal we enjoyed a friendly game of softball. The twins were some of the best chreerleaders. Aren't bleachers fun.

Shawny even got in on the game. He got three hits and with a little grace, I mean a LOT of grace, he made two runs. He always has to get in on the action. I love to see his enthusiasm for life.Chip with one of his 13 grandchildren. Iris is the third to the youngest of them.

My garden

Thanks to Mary Flowers I have a garden to be proud of. She helped design the layout and between she and her friends in the Maple City area, they divided the plants in their gardens to create mine. I will always be greatful to them. I hope I can be a blessing with my garden as well. Let me know if you ever want a start of a plant. I would be glad to share.

Balloon flower

Gaillardia (blanket flower)
Monarda (Bee Balm) & Yarrow (yellow)
Purple Cone Flowers
Annabelle Hydranga

Andrew & Charity Thompson

August 5th we attended the wedding of my neice Charty Henderson & Andrew Thompson in Hart Michigan. Shawny had the privilage of being the ring bearer and Sierra was a flower girl. Andrew & Charity make a great couple. We couldn't be happier for them!



















The morning of the wedding Sierra got her hair done. What an up do! She looked like a princess! I think she felt like one too. She is on the lap of one of her favorite men, Grandpa Mel.

Like Father Like Son

Shawny was given a toy magazine at Toys R Us a couple months ago. Yesterday I looked out in the livingroom to find Shawny reading his magazine just like daddy. Aren't they precious.

CC Lost another tooth

Tonight Sierra went downstairs with her daddy for a bedtime story (actually 3 of them that she read herself) and before you know it she was headed up stairs to pull her tooth. Daddy promised her she could stay up for an extra half hour if she would pull her tooth. After another 15 minutes or so she had success. We tied a heavy piece of floss around it, applied a bit of oragel and she began the yanking. She yanked so hard the tooth popped out and we lost it. Seriously! We (Sierra, Mommy and Daddy) were on our hands and knees for about 10 minutes but we couldn't find it. Sierra wants you to know she is kinda sad about it but she is happy to have it out anyway and I think the tooth fairy will probably understand.

Fun in the Sun

Who has time to post when there is a beach just waiting to be occupied. Today, after Sierra's doctor's apt. the kids and I went to the beach at Miss Leone's house on Silver Lake. We soaked up the sun with Miss Tammy Stricker, Michele Clark and the kids and Rebecca & Isaac until the first roar of thunder around 2:30. We thought about waiting it out but a few minutes later we saw a crack of lighting so we packed up and went home. Our house never saw a speck of the rain but I did get my flower garden weeded and enjoyed the remainder of our afternoon at home. Better luck tomorrow. Every day this week has been forcasted for thunderstorms but I will expect sunshine just like my friend Tammy (a true sun goddess).

107 and Great Grandma Unsworth is now enjoying heaven

Emily Maude Blanch Unsworth, Born May 29, 1899 and died June 12, 2006 in Dresden, Ontario, Canada. My Great Grandma Unsworth lived a life spent on others. My mom says she was truely a Proverbs 31 woman. She was a strong confident woman who wasn't afraid to try something new. She could sew, knit, crochet, hang wallpaper, cook "burnt offerings" for a housefull and garden like nobody. She had a special fondness for green onions. She passed on some good genetics for teeth. She had all her own teeth at 107 years. She also had a deep and abiding faith in the Lord. She loved to sing the old hymns and enjoyed plunking them out on a keyboard even up to the end. She enjoyed playing games. A few days before she died she played my Aunt Margaret in Checkers and Connect Four and won. When Margaret asked if she wanted to play again Grandma replied, "I would if I could figure out how." It's pretty bad when you are getting slammed by your 107 year old Grandma. A couple other interesting things about her; she could say her alphabet backwards and she was a shutter bug with her camera. If you came to visit her she would always want to take your picture. We will miss her but we are confident we will see her again someday.

Spring Photos

Shawn is 4 1/2 & Sierra is 6

A Visit from Great Grandma Black

Last Tuesday Great Grandma Black came to stay with us for a week. We had a busy week but I think she enjoyed herself. She went home this past Tuesday and I'm sure she was ready for some peace and quiet.

Grandma has aways enjoyed drawing and she joined the kids at the island with their markers. She was trying to help Shawny learn to not get upset when he had trouble drawing certain things. He was having trouble drawing a man and threw a little fit. Grandma told him throughing a fit wouldn't help anything but to keep trying. Eventually he succeeded. CC was busy writing words. She is getting very good at her penmanship.

Grandma has always enjoyed playing the organ so I put my keyboard on an organ setting and Grandma played. She played a hymn, "The Love of God" beautifully. We sang together as well and Grandma sang a clear alto. Shawny and Sierra just had to get in on the act as well.

On Saturday Grandma went to Sierra & Shawny's soccer game. It was a little chilly but that didn't stop the kids. I think Grandma was our lucky charm, our team won 5 to 0 and Shawny scored one of the goals. Grandpa Mel was able to see the first half of the game. It was hard for him to pull himself away.

On Monday, Grandma was able to attend Grandparents day at Sierra's school. Sierra took her Grandmas on a mini tour of the school, she served them a snack, she read to them in the reading center, made a bookmark in the creation station and did an activity page in the activity center. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad my children will feel like they know their Great Grandma.











I enjoyed having my grandma visit but I think the best parts of her visit were the times I was able to just sit and talk with her. After all she has made a huge impact on me. She is part of who I am. She is so creative and I love that about her. She has played the organ and accordian, crocheted, sewn, gardened, arranged flowers, painted and tried about any other creative thing there is, but best of all she has loved me and shown me Jesus.

Dan, Dan the Yo Yo Man

Dan is doing a great trick where is pretends to eat spaghetti (the string of his yo yo).
Last week my "little" brother Dan and his family came for a visit. Well it wasn't actually just for fun, my brother was doing a yo yo tour in the Traverse City area. Dan travels throughout Michigan, England and Australia putting on Yo Yo shows in schools. He teaches kids to Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best, and the vehicle for this message is his yo. I was surprised at how great his performance was. Not really surprised at Dan because I always knew he was amazing, but at the assembly it's self. He held the kids attentions for a good hour and there has been such a buzz around Traverse City since he came. Kids all over are learning how to yo yo. Even kids that I have spoken to who have attended this assembly in past years can still remember what the word NED stands for. Dan is truely amazing with his yo yo. I am so happy that he has found a job that fits him and where he can feel a sense of accomplishment in knowing he is making kids lives better. I'm so proud of him.
He made a crazy balloon hat for the girl that remembered the "Encourage Others" part of NED.

Wrong Way Sierra!!!!!

Shawn and Sierra enjoyed their first soccer game on Saturday. They both did great, however Sierra had trouble remembering which way to run. I knew this would be a potential problem. No matter how many times her coach and parents would holler, turn around, she just kept going. She has some legs on her. She can go! Thankfully she never scored a goal for the other team but she did give them a distinct advantage. She is an aggresive player. Shawny did great for a four year old. He held back a bit. I think he is just taking some time to figure out the game before he shows his stuff.

Wrong Way Sierra!!!!!!!!!!

As for mom and dad, we came home with sunburns. I dressed the kids warm thinking it was kinda cold. Unfortunate for them, the sun came out and I felt like a terrible mom as Shawn was sweating to death in his long sleaved sweatshirt. I have learned my lesson in layering.

Kindergarten Soccer

Shawny and CC got to go to their first soccer practice. They were pumped! The coach did a great job with the kids and they are already learning the ins and outs of the game. Their first game is Saturday at 12:45. We can't wait! I'm not sure how they will do as they have only had one practice. This should be interesting!

A Visit from Aunt Judy, Kim & Melissa

Last Tuesday & Wednesday we received a visit from Lyle's brother Chip's wife, Judy, and their two grown girls and their children. Kim has twin girls and Melissa has a little boy, Ezra, and one on the way. Shawny had a blast with Ezra. Sierra and Shawny are so good with children younger than themselves. Shawny crawled around the room with Ezra and fed him his bottle. It was really precious. We will look forward to their next visit and a chance to see Melissa and Mark's new baby.

Shawny's House

Last night Shawny spent about 30 minutes drawing a picture. When he was done he told Lyle and I to keep it so we could find he and Kyla's house. He drew Sierra on top of the house, mommy in orange next to the house with daddy beside her. Kyle is below me in blue and Shawny is in green next to her. The way you can tell boys from girls is the pony tail on the left sides of our heads. He wrote all of our names including the words, bed and Patty. I think this is amazing for a 4 and a half year old. What a sweet boy!