All together!

I finally had all of my children under one roof this weekend. Of course I made them all go and take pictures together. My mom and I wandered around dowtown Rochester, while Ronnie and the kids went and found some spots to take pictures. It took a while to get serious, but they finally got some good ones.

My mom, Beth and I waiting for everyone to get finished.

Seriously? On the goose? Seriously?!?!?!

This wasn't a wade pool. It was one of the fountains dowtown.
Hunter decided to go check out the dolphine in the fountain. Again....seriously?!

I honesly have no idea

Poor Tim (my soon to be son-in-law)

This is Ninja...English had just left and he was looking for her.

English and Tim....and the flying boy.
All my kiddos

English and Tim.

Skipping? Must have been English's idea.

Awwwww......English, Tim and the engagement ring

The dogs were hiding

Phantom

My Little Guy

We have had so many things happening in our family lately. One of those things is that we no longer have a child in elementary school. Cole will go to the middle school next year. We are finally down to two schools.

Happy Birthday English!

Yes, I am a day late with this post. I feel horrible. But....

Happy Happy 22nd Birthday, English!!!

We love you very much! I can't wait for you to get here so I can squeeze you!

This is English and her fiance, Tim.

Graduation

See this family below? This family yelled loud enough to get this girl below..... To smile like this on stage while graduating.

After the ceremony it was a little like "where's waldo?" only we were trying to find Veronica.
We found her!Finally we got to be with our graduate!

Pics with the whole family.... Uncle Mike, Aunt Deanna, cousins Sam, Grace and Jessie all came up from Kentucky for graduation. We had a great weekend with them.

Hugs for Mama Jensen...(that's Jennifer Jensen for those of you who don't know that Jennifer is Veronica's other mother)

Finally, she is done with high school. Yea Veronica! Awsome job!

Happy 18th Birthday, Veronica

Happy 18th Birthday......Veezy Mil....V-Ray...Vern...Vernie...Veronica....Victoria...V...Roni...Mac...

We love you very much!

Truth

Continuing on with our devotionals...and let me say that I love my friend for sending me this each day...we will be meditating on truth for a couple of days. She sent me this yesterday:

Today let’s think about whatever is true. Concentrate on being truthful all day and be in prayer that God stop our tongues before it says things that we KNOW are untruthful. I’m surprised at how many times a day I can “white lie” sometimes. I want to be conscious of all my thoughts, words and actions today and that they represent and glorify God. I also pray that God impress His truth upon us and guard our mind against itself really. It’s so easy to imply, infer, and create truth. I want only God’s truth in my head. So rather than assume I know what someone REALLY means, I want God’s almighty truth and wisdom to press upon me.

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

This is from Webster’s original 1828 dictionary before political correctness came into play:

TRUE, a.

1. Conformable to fact; being in accordance with the actual state of things; as a true relation or narration; a true history. A declaration is true, when it states the facts. In this sense, true is opposed to false.

2. Genuine; pure; real; not counterfeit, adulterated or false; as true balsam; the true bark; true love of country; a true Christian.

--The true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1.

3. Faithful; steady in adhering to friends, to promises, to a prince or to the state; loyal; not false, fickle or perfidious; as a true friend; a true lover; a man true to his king, true to his country, true to his word; a husband true to his wife; a wife true to her husband; a servant true to his master; an officer true to his charge.

4. Free from falsehood; as a true witness.

5. Honest; not fraudulent; as good men and true.

If king Edward be as true and just--

6. Exact; right to precision; conformable to a rule or pattern; as a true copy; a true likeness of the original.

7. Straight; right; as a true line; the true course of a ship.

8. Not false or pretended; real; as, Christ was the true Messiah.

9. Rightful; as, George IV is the true king of England.

Traning Your Mind

Lately I have had some pretty negative things happen in my life. Nothing devastating, but I found myself thinking about them alot. I mean a lot!

A friend of mine was going through a lot of the same things as I was and she sent me this scripture:

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And shared with me....True, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy things. When your mind is training to look for such a list the negative become harder to see.

I saw a devotional in the making so I asked her to expound on it for me.

You literally have to retrain the neurons in your brain when you are developing a new thought. So when you intentionally focus on what is good, you are working your neurons so hard that the bad isn’t seen as much. These aren't my thoughts, I’m stealing them from John Ortberg’s book "Me". I am refusing to let the negative take plant in my brain so that I can instead make way for the positive, which what God put out for us to think on, pure, noble, right, etc.

After she sent this to me we decided that Lovely was the word of the day. Focus on whatever is lovely to you. I am looking out my front window as I type and I can see all kinds of lovely-ness. God's creation is all around us at any given moment. My kids, husband, and extended family are all lovely to me. Thinking about God's continuous and never ending blessings is lovely.

So what is lovely to you today? Meditate on those things as you go about your day.

Deep Thoughts with Ebby Ray

So lets have some deep thoughts.....nah! You know me...I am not one for deep thoughts.

But I do wonder why us ladies get so upset when the toilet seat is left up? This is been going on for years and years. Why do we get so upset about it?

Why don't men get upset with us for leaving the toilet seat down? Why is it so acceptable for the toilet seat to be down but not up?

Isn't the universal sign that a toilet is clean is for the toilet seat to be left up? You go into resturants and the seat is up, BUT that is ok. Go into a school and the toilet seat is up, BUT that is ok. Go into the hospital and the toilet seat is up, BUT that is ok.

What is up with that?

I asked the boys in my house something about the toilet seat being up, and Hunter asked me why I didn't put it up after I was finished using the restroom.

Good point, son!

So there you go. That is as deep as the thoughts get with Ebby Ray.

What Color?

Last night was the final meeting for a bible study I was part of. One of the ladies shared her gift of writing poetry with us.

What Color?

What color is Patience?

As pastel blue as a robin's egg, tucked safely in the nest.

What color is Peace?

As dusky purple as the shadows cast curing the last light on a mountain.

What color is Gentleness?

As white and sparkling as the first snow of the year. Falling so lightly gathering on the dry oak leaves, barely hanging on the trees.

What color is Kindness?

As creamy brown as cookie dough. Promising a wonderful treat to share.

What color is Goodness?

As pink as the skin of a newborn baby. Perfect and glowing, made by God's hand.

What color is Faithfulness?

As grey as the rocks on a well worn path. Rocks surrounded and held in place by packed earth to hold them during our life walk.

What color is Self Control?

As flashy as the yellow caution sign. Warning us to be still and know that through Him all things are possible.

What color is Joy?

As vibrant green as the leaves of brave spring flowers. Breaking through the cold ground greeted by the warm sunshine.

What color is Love?

As shiny and golden as amber. Warm and comforting, keeping our hearts full forever.

What color is Hope?

As red as the sky sunset. Promising a fresh new day, never seen by any eyes, but perfectly planned for us.

Where art thou June and July

I have some great things coming up in my life. I can't wait for June to get here...June 12th to be exact. My second oldest child will be graduating from high school. What a milestone in our lives. I am so proud of Veronica. This year she worked on the year book, she designed the t-shirt for the school play, and now she is an intern for a local photography studio (I will write more about that later). Graduation...is just around the corner. In July another great thing is happening. English will be coming to Minnesota for a visit. She will be returning from Kuwait in June then she and her guy, Tim, are coming out to see us. It has been way too long since I have been able to hug my little girl. Well I guess I shouldn't call her that anymore...she turns 22 in June. She's not so little anymore.

I thought that I would include these pictures of English over in Kuwait. I feel so bad for her having to work so hard out in the desert. How can then be so cruel to my little girl?

This is the scarf English wears during sand storms. Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles! I wonder where my kids get their goofiness?
I really can't wait for June and July. This is going to be a great summer! Even better that my mom will be here in July and my mother-in-law, Jan, may possibly be here at the end of May. What a great summer this is going to be!