HORSES!!

Watching and

riding.

Friends Of Coal

We stopped by the local carnival and Sophie won a baton. When we got home she even locked herself in the bedroom to practice!

Me, laughing hysterically at the lion in the sidecar of a mini motorcycle. Let's blame it on jet lag and move on.

As you probably recall, Sophie loves horses so she had to stop and look with Nanny when these strolled by.

Meeting Abbie

We are back across the big pond for the summer and to meet the newest member of the family. Shh, her mommy doesn't know it yet, but that sweet little girl is coming home with us at the end of the summer!!

For Phillip, Jennifer and Savanna

We were inseparable in the summer and the laughter that filled the house whenever we got together was unmistakable. We gave each other silly nicknames and played "talk show" (Okra Winfrey) while the adults visited upstairs. Phillip, Jennifer and Savanna. My cousins. My friends.

This week, they will bury their mother, and I can't help but think how precious, how fragile life is. Words fail me now, but I hope that my cousins know that seldom a day goes by that I do not think of them, wish the best for them and hope that they are doing well. Although it has been quite a while since we played talk show or drank champagna together, my love for the three of you has never changed. It is still as strong as ever. I am sending that love to all of you now. Even though I can't be there physically my thoughts and prayers and love are always with you.

Good Beginnings

You never really know what you have until it is gone- or until a plane ride and several hours separates you. People often ask me what I miss most about the United States and every time the answer is the same, it is the people that make me sick for home.

But, now I take that all back. It is a person, not people. That person that is really the center, the heart of me and everything that I do. The one person that could hear a whisper in the middle of the night. The one person that was always there and never gave up. The one person that makes home, well, home. The one person I admire most. The one person that holds all three of us sisters together no matter where we are scattered.

Thank you, Mom for being simply the best. Happy Mother's Day.

Just A Song?

I blame it all on country music.

Lately, thanks to the IPod I got for Christmas, I have been listening to a lot of it is new to me music. The majority of it has been country music.

There has been Jason Aldean's Good To Go with the lyrics:
And it made me think about where I'm at
On my not so straight and narrow path
All the generous and mostly undeserved blessings that I've had

Then there is Carrie Underwood's Jesus Take The Wheel:
Jesus take the wheel, take it from my hands,
Cause I can't do this on my own,
I'm letting go so give me one more chance,
To save me from this road I'm on

Craig Morgan's Tough
No room for fear, full of faith,
Hands held high singing Amazing Grace

Also by Craig Morgan The Song
Simple words put into lines
Just a melody and rhyme
But at that moment seemed so strong
How can a piece of poetry
Knock a grown man to his knees
And lead him by the heart to where he belongs
Like a song

I blame it all on country music for the path my thoughts have been taking. Going to church and gospel sings and bible school and church camp. All things I haven't done in a long, long while.

I blame it all on country music, but I know it is the hand of God.

To The Folks Back Home

To Michelle, Amanda, Stephanie and anybody else back home that reads this,

Even though we are a few weeks behind here in Japan, I have been watching American Idol whenever I remember that it is on. And, the more I watch, the more I am sure that if Uncle Pete were British, he would be Simon Cowell up one side and down the other. It is his mannerisms- the way he holds his pen or his facial expressions. Anybody else think so??