My garden is producing...

Below is a pic of some of the first fruits of my garden. I have much more tomatos since I took this pic. This is the first year that I planted a grape tomato plant...and it is growing and producing very well. I will plant more of this next year. The Roma tomato plant (also a first time planting) is growing and producing but I do not like the way these taste, so probably will not plant this again. Thie Big Boy and Celebrity tomatos are doing great.

The green beans(although small plants) are doing well - but not as well as last years. I froze quite a few of last years green bean crop.

We continue to eat the lettace out of the garden. It's nice to have a salad with one's own lettace and tomatos. When I want a salad I just go out and pull up some lettace! We also had turnip greens and cornbread for a meal recently. There is just enough left in the garden to have one more meal of this...mmmmmmmmmmmmm...we love 'em! Just wish the garden had produced more. I'll try again next spring.

I have decided to NOT plant any more squash or zuchinni. No matter what I do, the stink, squash bugs kill them and their fruit. Only picked one funny looking small zuchinni the other day...that's out of 6 hills of plants. These plants produce...but then the fruit begins to turn yellow and shrivel up before they get very big. Ugh:(

I am getting some onions, but not as many as I planted. They just got too much rain this year.

I will just have to buy fresh butterbeans at a farmers market since mine just did not make this year. The bell pepper plants are doing great, so I will freeze most of these and cook them in a roast or chicken. My carrots are doing fairly well too, except they are growing too close together so they do not get that big, but the gkids sure do love picking them:)




My dad could always garden and had beautiful gardens to prove it with lots of produce. I should have paid closer attention to what and how he did it.

Oh...one last thing...the weeds are growing beautifully! UGH:( Wish I could get a handle on them...they grow so fast and just take over before you know it if you let them...a spiritual lesson here for sure:)

A Golf Pro in the family...

Possibly!

In our gson's own words...here is the scoop:

Parker Chips In!

Hey, I went on a golf trip this Tuesday with my dad and youth pastor. I was doing pretty good and on one hole we found a sand wedge that someone left and took so when we were done we could give it to one of the employees. Well, I started using it some and was doing pretty decent with it. Well, on hole seven it was a par 5 and I was on my sixth shot going for a bogie. Well, I wasn’t on the putting green...about forty-two yards away from the hole and used the sand wedge I found and chipped it. And guess what, I made it, the cool thing was that it went so slow my dad had enough time to walk to the see it go in.

Way to go, Parker Pro:)

News Flash...

We are SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and VERY THANKFUL...

Click HERE to see what we're singing and if you can:

envision Warren and I dancing around

stomping our feet, waving & clapping

our hands in the air!!

Todd, Jenny & the girls are moving back to Tulsa, OK.

We just got the news today...Todd called and told us he took a job position back at Flight Safety in Broken Arrow, OK. Todd has his resume out in many places and has had several interviews as far away as New York!

Actually, Flight Safety contacted him to see if he was interested in coming back. They have a great need for his expertise. They gave him a good offer. Now we are just waiting to hear back from them when his start date will be. They have asked us if they could stay with us until their house sales in Iowa and they find a home here. Of course, we said YES!

Please pray for their house to sale quickly and all the details of moving (especially with 2 small children) will be worked out and go smoothly and well.

I am still chewing on this one...I'm Full

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to say with the psalmist, "God, I am full! I'm stuffed full of blessings and I can't think of anything else I desire on earth besides you." Oh, to be that satisfied. When you become satiated in Christ, it is evidence that contentment has the definite upper hand in your heart. When Jesus says to you, "I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry," he is talking about gratification of the soul (John 6:35). To be satisfied in Christ means being full. Never wanting more. We need not ever be hungry for "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3).

The role of the Word of God is to feed faith's appetite for Christ. Contentment consists not in great wealth, but in having very few wants in this life. A divine arithmetic for contentment is to subtract your earthly wants so that something of greater value can be attained: satisfaction in the Lord.

Francis Quarles has stated, "As there is no worldly gain without some loss, so there is no worldly loss without some gain. If thou hast lost thy wealth, thou hast lost some trouble with it. If thou art degraded from thy honor, that art likewise freed from the stroke of envy. If sickness hath blurred thy beauty, it hath delivered thee from pride. Set the allowance against the loss and thou shalt find no loss great." Edythe Draper, Draper's book of Quotations for the Christian World, (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.: Wheaton, IL), p 101.

Father, not everything I desire is necessarily good for my soul. I pray that you will only give me what is good for my eternal well being and my happiness in this life. Help me to subtract my wants, so that eternal rewards might be added. Then I shall be content.

Devotional taken from Pearls of Great Price. Copyright © 2006 by Joni Eareckson Tada. Used by permission. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

You cannot out-give God!

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

The more you give, the more He gives back. When we give our time, our talent, our energy, our money and care, God will return it all to us. A little girl was sent by her mother on an errand. Usually quite prompt, the little girl took much too long to return! When she walked in the door, the mother angrily demanded an explanation. The little girl said that on her way home, she had met a friend who was crying because she had broken her doll. "Oh," said the mother, "Then you stopped to help her fix her doll?" "Oh, no!" replied the little girl. "I stopped to help her cry!"

If you are open to those in need, God will be open to you and the prayers you pray.
(Taken from the online Bible Study of Light for the Journey by Mary Southerland.)

The 4 Charming Bledsoe Boys!

Just TOO cute not to share!

June RV Club Camp-out

We had a great time at our camp-out. On Saturday we went to 3 museums with Parker & Mallory: Tulsa Air & Space Museum Davis Gun Museum Will Rogers Museum. I do not have any pics of the Will Rogers Museum since my camera's battery died and I had no place to charge it until I got back to the campground. UGH! I am going to have to figure out how NOT to let that happen again! Hope you enjoy the photoshows:)

Sunday Night's Rain Storm

We woke up Sunday night about 2:30 am to a HEAVY, WINDY rain storm.

We did not think too much about it even though when I looked out our bedroom window I could see the canopy on our gazebo whipping around violently. I also saw that Warren had brought in all the cushions to our wicker furniture inside before going to bed. I was so glad about that!

I told him the couch had move out from the house. He told me he had moved it out a little when he brought the cushions in. He did not look so did not see that the couch had moved quite a bit on our patio, but I took him at his word and laid back down to go to sleep.

It was raining really hard so I (we) did not want to go out and rescue the canopy - just figured that if it blew off that would be that...and maybe we would find it in the yard somewhere in the morning!

I thought to myself...if there is a tornado...the siren would go off and we would hear it since it is close to our house...I did not hear anything but wind and rain...so I went back to sleep until morning.

Warren then looked out the window and saw what I saw at 2:30 am...the couch in the middle of our patio. He said he did not move it that far...and the canopy was twisted around the top of the gazebo. Further investigating...he saw that our side wooden fence had been blown down and our pool was so full that it topped the skimmer!

I guess we had quite a strong, swirling wind come up...doing the damage. We were very thankful that was all the damage and we were all right.

The pics below show the wind damage:

You are looking into our neighbor's yard. That's my garden...which you can see is not doing so well...water logged from all the rain...although the WEEDS are growing GREAT! UGH!

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Flood...

Below in an email from our son, TW, comments on the flooding in Cedar Rapids:

It is pretty bad here. The water crested on Friday at 31 feet I think. The Cedar Rapids water system was down to 25% of capacity so everyone was supposed to use water for drinking only. Our Marion system is totally seperate from theirs, but C.R. was tapping off ours for a while which caused us to have to ration too. They're not using ours anymore so I finally took a shower this morning, haha! The downtown is destroyed. One of our chuch families got flooded out. Part of the Interstate up here (I-380) goes over a lake/reservoir, and they closed the road because the water was getting too close. The Univ. of Iowa to the south of here is flooded bad. They just cancelled the summer session. We're doing alright though.

Pictures are worth a thousnad words...see below:

An aerial photo shows a flooded area of downtown looking North over Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Interstate I-380 can be seen at top while Mays Island, with Cedar Rapids City Hall, is seen on the left with its bridges under water. Floodwaters have inundated about 100 city blocks of Cedar Rapids, Iowa's second-largest city with 200,000 residents.

This aerial view shows Mays Island, the location of the City of Cedar Rapids City Hall, with nearby bridges completely underwater in downtown Cedar Rapids.

A man prepares his dinner on his roof as floodwaters carry debris past his house

Houses sit on a flooded street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

House boats from the Ellis Marina on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids lie jammed and destroyed against the Quaker Oats railroad bridge after breaking free from their moorings in downtown Cedar Rapids

First avenue looking southwest is flooded in downtown

An aerial photo shows Mercy Hospital as it takes on water in Cedar Rapids. The hospital eventually flooded and evacuated its patients after a levee break on the Cedar River
turned the downtown area into a shallow lake.

Abandoned cars sit in floodwaters in the parking lot of the
Quaker Oats plant in downtown Cedar Rapids.

A motorist drives down a flooded street in Cedar Rapids

Iowa's corn crop

Officials understand the frustration of Cedar Rapids residents who want to return home. They stress they are working to clear the evacuated area of all hazards to ensure a safe reentry. Sink holes, downed power lines and uncovered manholes remain a hazard. While the city’s water capacity has improved, residents are asked to conserve water.

Remember to pray for those during this time of need.

Busy, Full Weekend...

As I'm writing this...I am just plain ole tired...so this will be short!

Tomorrow I will post a photoshow of our RV camping weekend.

Below are some more pics of Cedar Rapids, Iowa that Jenny emailed me.

Jenny and Todd continue to be doing well...and are on dry land!

Thank you for your continued prayers for those living in this flooded area.

Above is the hospital that Savannah was born in.

Happy Father's Day...

"A good man obtains favor from the Lord." Proverbs 12:2

Fathers and Children
A - Always trust them to God's care

B - Bring them to church

C - Challenge them to high goals

D - Delight in their achievements

E - Exalt the lord in their presence

F - Frown on evil

G - Give them love

H - Hear their problems

I - Ignore not their childish fears

J - Joyfully accept their apologies

K - Keep their confidence

L - Live a good example before them

M - Make them your friends

N - Never ignore their endless questions

O - Open your home to their visits

P - Pray for them by name

Q - Quicken your interest in their spirituality

R - Remember their needs

S - Show them the way of salvation

T - Teach them to work

U - Understand they are still young

V - Verify your statements

W - Wean them from bad company

X - eXpect them to obey

Y - Yearn for god's best for them

Z - Zealously guide them in biblical truth
Author Unknown

Fathers Are...

Fathers are wonderful people

Too little understood,

And we do not sing their praises

As often as we should...

For, somehow, Father seems to be

The man who pays the bills,

While Mother binds up little hurts

And nurses all our ills...

And Father struggles daily

To live up to "his image"

As protector and provider

And "hero of the scrimmage"...

And perhaps that is the reason

We sometimes get the notion,

That Fathers are not subject

To the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad's heart,

Where no one else can see

You'll find he's sentimental

And as "soft" as he can be...

But he's so busy every day

In the grueling race of life,

He leaves the sentimental stuff

To his partner and his wife...

But Fathers are just wonderful

In a million different ways,

And they merit loving compliments

And accolades of praise,

For the only reason Dad aspires

To fortune and success

Is to make the family proud of him

And to bring them happiness...

And like Our Heavenly Father,

He's a guardian and a guide,

Someone that we can count on

To be always on our side.
Helen Steiner Rice

Todd & Jenny & fam are safe...

Record flooding forcast for Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - The Cedar River poured over its banks here Thursday, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 homes, causing a railroad bridge to collapse and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets.
Officials estimated that 100 blocks were underwater in Cedar Rapids, where several days of preparation could not hold back the rain-swollen river. Rescuers had to use boats to reach many stranded residents, and people could be seen dragging suitcases up closed highway exit ramps to escape the water.
"We're just kind of at God's mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start," Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. "We're going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding."

We talked to Todd and Jenny several times yesterday. They said it is just devastating to see...and that the water is still rising. They live in Marion - about 10 minutes from Cedar Rapids...and on higher ground...although there is a creek that runs through Marion that is beginning to rise.

Here are some more pics of Cedar Rapids flooding from the internet.

An incredibly dangerous flooding situation is occurring. This is a historic event and catastrophic flooding will occur in many communities through the next week or longer. Area river levels are cresting higher than first thought because these levels have never been seen before.

We have driven on some of these downtown streets and bridges and highways. Incredible to think all is under water! Appreciate your prayers for our kids and the people there.

The Pool is Officially Open...

This year opening our pool was somewhat harder to do.

We first had to drain off all the water that collected on top of the cover.
Now we had to do this over past years, but this year it seemed to us that there was a whole lot of water on top of the cover...and I might add...very yucky, murky water! See what I mean from the photos below:

Warren used the shop vac to drain the rain water off the cover.

Back breaking work for sure.

After we took the cover off...we could see that the water level inside had dropped over 2 feet...indicating a leak somewhere in the liner. Since we knew about another larger tear in the liner near the top...we decided now was the time to replace it.

The rest of the story can be viewed in my photoshow below. Enjoy

Creating Fathers...

When the good Lord was creating fathers, He started with a tall frame. A female angel nearby said, "What kind of father is that? If you're going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put fathers up so high? He won't be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending or even kiss a child without a lot of stooping.

And God smiled and said, "Yes, but if I make him childsize, who would children have to look up to?"

And when God made a father's hands, they were large and sinewy. The angel shook her head sadly and said, "Large hands are clumsy. They can't manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on ponytails or even remove splinters caused by sticks used as baseball bats."

And God smiled and said, "I know, but they're large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets at the end of a day, yet small enough to cup a child's face."

And then God molded long, slim legs and broad shoulders. The angel nearly had a heart attack. "Boy, this is the end of the week, all right," she clucked. "Do you realize you just made a father without a lap? How is he going to pull a child close to him without the kid falling between his legs?"

And God smiled and said, "A mother needs a lap. A father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, balance a boy on a bicycle or hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus."

God was in the middle of creating two of the largest feet anyone had ever seen when the angel could contain herself no longer. "That's not fair. Do you honestly think those large boats are going to dig out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries? Or walk through a small birthday party without crushing at least three of the guests?"

And God smiled and said, "They'll work. You'll see. They'll support a small child who wants to ride a horse to Banbury Cross or scare off mice at the summer cabin or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill."

God worked on, giving the father few words but a firm, authoritive voice and eyes that saw everything but remained calm and tolerant. Finally, almost as an afterthought, He added tears. Then He turned to the angel and said, "Now, are you satisfied that he can love as much as a mother?"

The angel shutteth up ....

This originally appeared in a newspaper column by Erma Bombeck. She was a well-known humorist and author. She died April 22, 1996 in San Francisco, California.

GREAT TRUTHS...

That Little Children Have Learned:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a dust-buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

10) The best place to be when you're sad is Granddad's lap.

Camden's Vacation...

at Neenee and Granddad's house for a week!

We had the joy of keeping 9 month old Camden for about a week while the rest of his family traveled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A day before the Bledsoe's were to start their vacation, Camden got another ear infection and snotty nose. We were delighted to be asked if we would consisder keeping him! It was better for Camden to be here with us...staying on a schedule...taking his meds...and getting the rest he needed. And it was better for the older kids to have some big kid fun time with mom and dad!

Camden had a great week...his ear infection and snotty nose got much better, he slept through the night every night he was here (thank you, Lord). Amy told me he was not always sleeping through the night), he took 2 + hour naps twice a day, ate well, learned to hold his bottle by himself and to pull up on our coffee table. He didn't really like to see me leave his side or the room he was in...so we played alot together.

An update on his health issues: Cam got tubes put in his ears about 3 weeks ago and has continued to have ear infections...the ear, nose & throat doctor said Cam is a prime canditate for having his adnoids taken out. So he will most likely be facing another surgery later on.

The CT scan he had about a month ago showed NO abnormalties...his large head is the results of his cranial fusion at birth and his body should catch up with the growth of his head between one and two years old.

Thank you so much for your prayers for him. Now enjoy his photoshow:)

Brag Time...

Our grandsons, Parker and Isaiah are showing me their end of year school awards.

Za just finished 1st grade. Way to go, Za!

Keep Reading!

Parker just finished 5th grade.

He received the President's Education Awards for great grades!

Way to go, Parker!

He even got a letter signed by President Bush!

We are sooooooooooooooo PROUD of you, boys:)

She is not gone...

a tribute to a beautiful, godly lady, Betty Martin,
who went to be with her Savior yesterday, afternoon,
Wednesday, June 4, 2008.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."
Psalm 116:15

In death comes sadness and joy

I am standing upon the seashore.

A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she lands like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says: "There! She's gone."

Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her; and just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There! She's gone," there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to
take up the glad shout, "There she comes!"
And that is Dying!
Author Unknown

The length of our days is in Your hands, O Lord. What counts, though, is not how long we live but how we spend those days. Give us wisdom to know how short, how fleeting life really is.

Don't Go Through Life So Fast...

that someone has to throw a brick

at you to get your attention...........

I just love this story illustration - taken from a devotional by Mary Southerland - Girlfriends in God. You may have heard/read this before, but it is worth repeating!

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop."

With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. "It's my brother. He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you and God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!"

Mary continues to write in her devotional these words below...take heart...be encouraged...be disciplined...

Let's face it. If we don't set priorities - others will. Time thieves will steal the hours and days as we allow them to impose their plans and demands on us. While it is true that different women have different priorities in different seasons of life, it is also true that one priority remains steadfast. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33 NIV). Once that priority is firmly established, the rest of life will simply fall into place.

Godly priorities embrace God's plan. I am convinced that much of our frustration comes from doing things we were never intended to do. We create the plan as we go instead of resting in the plan He has for us. Discipline guides each step and establishes a basis for obedience and success in ministry. I am, by no means, an expert in the area of discipline, but have made a new commitment to invest my time instead of just spending it.

Father, I am sorry for the time I wasted and spent on things that don't really matter. Please forgive me and help me to see every minute of every day as an eternal investment. I want my priorities to be Your priorities for my life and I want to guard those priorities through godly discipline. Today, I surrender the minutes and days of my life to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Cousins at the Park

If you are having trouble viewing this click HERE and it will take you to my photoshow webpage.