It's a Jungle out there!!

It all began with her mama's love for the Safari (because of her daddy's love) many many years ago (well, maybe only 30-ish short years ago)...And now it's becoming her love (she just doesn't fully know it yet)!!

Pop-pop was SO jazzed to take his 2nd favorite baby girl to the crazy walk-thru-jungle for the day...

Lions and tigers and OWLS oh my!!

About 2 seconds before a snorting hungry donkey blew all over her face. Let's just say it didn't make her the happiest baby in the jungle that day...

Trying to share her lunch with the screaming monkeys "do you guys like turkey and string cheese?"...

Trying to make sounds like the screaming monkeys...

1 of the screaming monkeys (and seriously, screaming was an UNDER-statement)

"Look mama, the man said it was a half-price special for them to buy her, since she only has 1 leg"...

Wasn't he the funny walk-thru-jungle tour guide for the day?

She gets very intent when taking in new sights, especially when it comes to red-tailed lemurs...

It was quite the wild adventure!

"In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air." -Acts 10:12

She's 91 and she's just almost 1...

She's needing her carrots steamed and cut because she's losing her teeth...

she's needing her carrots steamed and cut because she's just gaining hers...

She's walking with a walker because she doesn't quite have her legs steady and strong anymore...

she's walking with a walker because she's just gaining the steady strength in hers...

She's struggling with conversations because she just can't seem to recollect her words...

she's struggling with conversations because she's just starting to collect hers...

She's asking for help with eating her meal because her hands just can't quite seem to hold spoons quite the same anymore...

she's asking for help with eating her meal because her hands are just learning to use them...

She's needing to get her hair fixed weekly because they just don't seem to stay in their follicles like they used to...

she's just starting to get her hair fixed because hers are just starting to pop in...

She's mentioning that she just doesn't quite have her head in the game today...

she's just starting to get hers in the game...

She's struggling to see the cookie that she's already taken a bite of, so she just keeps taking 3 more...

she's just starting to be amazed at the sights these amazing lenses can take in...

She's needing to get home to take in another nap because her body just seems to wear out and tire quicker than it used to...

she's needing another nap because her body is just starting to rev up and she's going so fast, she just wears herself out...

She's needing help with her potty times because she just doesn't seem to have the control she used to...

she's needing help with her potty times because she's just learning to have that control...

She's wondering who in the world we really are because her memory just isn't the same as it used to be...


she's just learning and building memories day by day, to formulate who in the world we really are...

It was quite the contrast and evidence of the cycle of life at our dinner table tonight, and I just soaked in every last drop of it.

Thoughts on Pride, Fear, Humility and Courage...

I'm loving this new blog I'm following for women, called (In)Courage http://www.incourage.me/. It features multiple women sharing their "I'm a real live gal, just livin' real life one day at a time, Jesus-style" stories.
Today's post totally spoke to the heart of this OCD-perfectionist-who also tends strongly towards fear and anxiety-since-birth (of which I used to be in denial of, or at least desiring to cover it so no one else would know about it...and now just acknowledge my need for my Savior to cover this prideful weakness on a moment-by-moment basis.)
I'll give you a glimpse of a couple of this blog-author's (Ann Voskamp) quotes and then pass on the link of this particular post "Only the Lowly", if it seems to tug at your heart strings as well...

"It’s only pride's hunger for perfection that paralyzes a heart, keeps us enslaved to fear."

"Jesus didn’t find courage for the Cross in the pride of who He was or bold illusions of self-sufficiency. He didn’t find Calvary courage by pulling himself up by the bootstraps of self-confidence and self-determination. Jesus found the greatest courage of all in the lowest place of all: “he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8)."

"Courage lives in the heart of the lowly... those who can embrace humility and the possibility of imperfection ... because that needy place is where God meets us."

For the rest...
http://www.incourage.me/2009/08/only-the-lowly.html

Anna gets a tree!

A muraled one that is! Auntie Em came over yesterday into A-bug's room and added some personalized artistic luuuuvvvv!

She'll be back to add more artistic love to the other walls with a little more splash of color (some pink of course, she IS a girl!) next week....branches, birdies, berries and flowers! More to come soon!

Thanks Auntie Em! Anna can't wait to grow up and appreciate it, just like her mama does!

Summa, Summa, Summatime, Summatime. Time to sit back and unwind...

A glimpse of June 2009...



or the LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/turtle.irwin/AGlimpseOfJune09?authkey=Gv1sRgCIXTj7_u14qlYw&feat=directlink

A glimpse of July 2009...



or the LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/turtle.irwin/AGlimpseOfJuly09?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyE1vL59JzU2gE&feat=directlink