Mimi's new digs

Mimi was moved yesterday from MCE to EAST GLEN (sounds like a play on words from the old place, EAST END:EAST GLEN!!). Anyway, we got her settled and she seemed to be doing great. Of course, she is very weak and we had to tell the people there she needs help with everything but, they will make her start doing for herself which is good! Of course, we tend to try to do too much for her---now it's time to step back and let the physical therapists help do their "magic" and help her learn to help herself! We won't always be there , so she has got to get stronger and to do that she has to have the physcial therapy!!! I know it is going to be so hard for her, but I also know she has a fire in her spirit that will enable her to do it, IF her body co-operates!! And at 92, I hope her body is listening to her MIND!!! The excercises will help her, of course, as well. I am going to visit for awhile, but I also need to see my babies so it is also time to step back a little. She is getting great care there and I'm thankful for that!!!! The next 21 days should tell us a lot about how she is going to be in the future! Praying she will continue to improve........! The first photo I made across the street from East Glen at Medical Center East. That's how close it is from the hospital!!! I put a few pictures of HearthStone (I went there to pick up a few things for her to wear, etc) and one of her new (hopefully) short term place, "East Glen". Her room at HearthStone looked sadly bare!!!!!

Mimi

Tomorrow will mark one week since my sweet mama fell at HearthStone and broke her hip.  She had surgery on Wednesday morning. We, (KT and I ) ,stayed all day and came home late that afternoon , grabbed our sweat suits and went straight back for the night. Katie and I spent that first night with her and we didn't shut our eyes the entire night!  We brought in 2 chairs but I don't think we even sat in them longer than a couple of hours!!! Bless Mimi's heart, ALL night they were in there checking her blood pressure b/c it dropped dangerously low.At 3 A.M. she had to have an EKG and they called her doctor (yes, we watched the sun rise !). She ended up getting blood and they pricked and prodded her all night! Poor thing.  Katie and I left around 10 the next morning;  headed home and on the way grabbed us something to eat--got home and laid on our new COMFORTABLE couches; turned off the phones and slept for about 4 hours!!!! I was ready to go back the next day--ALMOST fresh as a daisy! HAHA......Mimi rallied and is continuing to do improve. Her mind is sharp but her body is weak! So, we are praying that she can get more strength as time goes on!..........I've taken the 30 minute ride there and back everyday for a week now!!! hmmmmmmm, how many MILES does that come to? I can't count that high!!! Glad I drive a VW BEETLE or I'd be broke with buying gas!! HAHA!  I've had to change some things on my calendar around and I haven't be able to keep my Lily and Kemp for a week! I miss them!  I hope that by the next few days she will be better and I won't  have to be going all the way there daily. She will probably be going to a nursing home/rehab---maybe even tomorrow!!!! I hope that she can go back to HearthStone eventually, but it all depends on how well she heals and can do for herself! I  do so hope she can get back to HearthStone b/c I know she wants to go back there. .......Mimi has had gazillions of e-mails sent to me that I have read to her and all 4 ministers from Riverchase have visited her everyday since she has been there!!!! They are wonderful! We are blessed to go to such a caring/loving church:Riverchase United Methodist! AWESOME CHURCH!........Here's a few pix from Saturday! Don't you love Nat's shirt??? It says: GLAM-MOM! HAHAHA! Mimi loved it, too!

 

EVERYONE, THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS! They are working!

JAMAICA TRIP PIX!

Here they are! The beautiful pictures from Donnie!!! He's such a sweetie, he put them all on CD for us and then I just transferred them to my AOL. They are great! Some of you have gotten them via e-mail, for those who didn't see them, here they all are. (Some computers just won't load the pix!). I just love them all and I am going to make Terry a scrapbook of his trip with them!! (of COURSE!). Enjoy and don't forget to keep this team/project/place in your prayers!.......

JUICY Birthday Pix!

The birthday girl came over for her  FAVORITE traditional birthday dinner: Chicken Divan; twice baked potatoes and Sister Shubert orange rolls. For her b'day cake, it was MIMI's famous chocolate cake recipe. YUM YUM! Michael , Kadie and Lily joined the HORNES as well as Katie. Nat had some help opening gifts this year from Lily! She loved all her gifts---her uniquely cool lanterns Kadie gave her to her  JUICY COUTURE stuff she got from Katie and MOM! She got a charm for her JUICY charm bracelet (Music notes of course!) and her first JUICY black leather purse! SHE LOVED IT! Also, Katie got her a beautiful top from Black/White shop as well as some other shirts. She got money from her daddy and , get this, CHANEL sunglasses from BRAD!!!!!!!! She is one FASHIONABLE girl!!! I hope she enjoyed her birthday as much as the rest of us did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My BEAUTIFUL birthday girl!

 

This day reminds me of the PURE joy I felt 31 years ago today! Today, Jan.22, is Natalie Ruth Fry Horne's birthday!!!!! I will NEVER forget this day! I went to the hospital that morning  sent off with the love and hugs from my adorable and precious little boys---Charles (age 3) and Michael (age 2). I just KNEW I would be coming home from the hospital with another little boy (ANDREW?)a brother, for them. I wouldn't/COULDN'T even think of the remote possiblity that I could/would have a little girl---a little SISTER for those cutie boys to love and protect. But, OH, how I secretly wanted one!!! I would ask the doctor every visit, "Do you think it's a boy or girl?" He would laugh and say, "50/50 chance of girl!" He also knew I wanted one! HAHA~!  I secretly placed in my suitcase , under all my clothes, some teensy tiny little ribbons. JUST IN CASE!!! (I was determined to put ribbons in my little baby girl's hair if it was a GIRL). Labor was longer than the boys labors! It was hard and I was tired! I was ready for this baby---! FINALLY, I remember sitting up in the labor room and telling MIMI (She was in there with me at that time), "The baby is coming!" She freaked out and ran and got the nurse! The wheeled me into the delivery room and THE BABY was coming! The doctor was calm but I was NOT!!! I was freaking out! FINALLY , out the baby popped! "WHAT IS IT?!" The doctor , who was Egyptian said,

 "IT is a little girl!" WHAT?????????????????? WHAT DID HE SAY?????????????? I freaked out! I shut my eyes and remember thinking I was just dreaming. I sat up and screamed, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" He said, "it is a girl!" I kept saying, "I don't believe you!" Finally he brought the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen over to me and said, "SEE?! IT'S A GIRL!" I cried and cried and CRIED!

How could God be that good to me? To have blessed me with 2 beautiful little sons and now, the icing on the cake, a DAUGHTER???????? ! I was astounded/shocked/grateful/emotional! Terry was even worse!!! He kept saying, "Janice, she's BEAUTIFUL!" We hadn't really talked about names that much, ANDREW was the name of choice b/c I just knew it was boy number three for me! BUT, I always loved the name Natalie. Terry was holding her and said, "She looks like a NATALIE". I was thrilled! I've never seen a name fit such a person before as hers did/does. The name is just beautiful and so is Natalie. Not to BRAG (haha!), but she was and IS so beautiful. ALways has been!!! Everywhere I would go, people would stop  me and say something about her! Now, just add a beautiful VOICE to that face and you have STARDOM!!! That girl---she came into the world SINGING and she hasn't stopped yet!!!

Sometimes when I see her singing on Sunday mornings, I have to look away because she still takes my breath away. Just like the night, January 22--1976 that she did the very first time I laid eyes on her. She is breathtaking! I am STILL grateful to God that He blessed me with a daughter.  I didn't know it then, but TWO  beautiful daughters!!!!!). She has been everything I hoped for/desired and prayed for!.......

I LOVE YOU, NATALIE and wish for you the happiest year ever!!!!!!!!!

Kemp and his JAY JAYS

Kemp is, what I guess you'd call, OBSESSED, with JAY JAY the Jetplane!!! It is the sweetest  Christian series about a little airplane and his friends! You might recall , from reading my journal, that Kemp has quite the collection of movies/Jay Jay collectibles and everything to do with JAY JAY. (He loves Thomas the train , too, but Jay Jay is his favorite). I decided Kemp needed a few Jay Jay's to leave at GranJan's. He was so happy and surprised to see them when I brought them out yesterday. He knows all the planes names and what they do!!! (Even Lily sings the "Jay Jay" song!!! She likes them, too, but her favorite is still Barney!).I made a few pix of him playing with them last night. He spent the night last night and we so enjoyed having him here, as usual! (the pictures where he is holding his nose are from when we ask him about the COWS. He saw some at the Zoo  and Natalie said when he saw them he held his nose and said, "Those cows STINK!" He is still talking about those STINKING COWS 2 weeks later! HAHAHAHA

HE'S BAAAAAAACK!

 

He's back!!! Terry got back last night---not too tired and  actually soooooo happy and full of excitement and plans for the NEXT trip!!! The trip was very successful in that doors were  incredibly and miraculously

 opened for future trips and plans. He said that they went not knowing exactly what they wanted to do

and with no set itinerary,but  not surprising, God knew EXACTLY why they were there and He prepared the way!

 They all agreed that God definitely put the people in their paths who they needed to talk to and plans into action for the future!  Not coincidental, instead,sure signs all along the way as they went around to different orphanages and churches and met  ministers (some just HAPPENED to be in the same places they were at the same time!!).There will be more plans and meetings after being there and seeing what needs are most needed. ....They visited schools and the teachers were THRILLED with the tons of supplies they took and they took all the shirts and distributed them as well. (of

course, the candy is always a big hit! haha!)

 Right now the team are leaning towards getting a building started and to house and teach  the mentally challenged children---who really suffer in Jamaica because they have no place for them there. They are the little lost souls there. Again, plans just fell into place---now the work of getting the building started/people to help, etc. begin. They want to go back in July. Terry said if they worked continuously fro 15 years it would only scratch the surface of what needs to be done there. There are so many people and children who need help there and yet the teachers are so grateful and thankful for any and everything they do for them. That's what makes it all worthwhile....Donnie Cantley, "head honcho" from their team and who also was their

 driver ,that in itself a feat---driving those rough roads there !),was also THE photographer! his nickname on the trip???? You guessed it! "JANICE" b/c he took so many pictures! I can't wait to get some of them to share! ..........Thanks for the prayers but don't stop, they have a lot of work and plans ahead and they need lots of prayers as they try and discern exactly what needs to be done and HOW to do it! ......

HUGS and blessings!<><

P.S. one disappointing thing---the BLUE MTN. COFFEE!! There is a shortage of it (Can't remember why---too much rain? Not enough?I can't remember what Terry said about it! Anyway, there's not much of it right now!!!! that delicious Jamaican Blue Mtn. Coffee is now even expensive in JAMAICA!!! BUMMER! so, he only brought 2 bags!!! I'm having withdrawals! But, I did have a cup this morning and it was delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, if you come over for coffee, I doubt you'll get my prized Blue Mtn. Coffee! I'm

hoarding it! HAHAHA)

 

  Terry did bring Michael and Natalie some of their favorite drinks from there (Michael, Kadie and Natalie have all been on mission trips to Jamaica at the same place, too so they wanted their dad to bring them their favorite drink from there---called: TING & BUSTA!

 Jan <><

Kemp's Capers

While Aunt Cutie was busy getting dressed, Mr. Kemp sneaks into her make up and decides GranJan definitely needs a make over!!  Maybe I look better with make up slathered all over my face! ...I love these pix! HAHAHAHAHA

Bottoms UP!

Here's a couple of little BUNS!  HAHA! Lily, who is doing great with potty training and Kemp, who is NOT  potty training ,(haha!), decided they BOTH needed to "poo poo" . But what they really wanted to do was run around without pull ups! HAHA.......We went to Nat/Brad's last night---Brad invited Katie and I over since Terry is gone and Brad fixed burgers/chicken on the grill! Even though the first batch of burgers looked like lumps of coal (HAHAHAHA) the BUBBA BURGERS I brought came to the rescue! We had a fun time! Here's the munchkins being crazy little 2 year olds! See Kemp's adorable little bed? It's soooooo cute!.......BTW, check out Kemp's gorgeous black/white portrait! (I was using Katie's camera and forgot to take off the flash setting so that's why there is a "halo" on this picture--not of course on theirs).  Natalie has it sitting on an easel in her dining room. It's the first thing you see when you walk thro to the kitchen. It is absolutely stunning. Have you ever seen such a beautiful little face and such huge eyes?! Amanda really captured his personality and beautiful little angelic face! Lily's pix are gorgeous, too, and we just picked out hers!  I can't wait until her big one comes in, too! It is precious! I got 2 8 X 10's on photo board---it's cool looking. I can't wait to put theirs side by side on my mantel! They are the cutest little 2 year olds on the planet! (Does THAT sound like a proud granJan, or what?!)

Cutie's CUTIES!

Cutie loves her babies! We had Kemp on Thursday night and she got her "KEMP fix" and then on Friday night we had Lily spend the night so she got to get her "GIRLY Lil fix"! What fun! Here is Aunt Cutie with her CUTIES!

Jamaica Bound!

THEY'RE OFF! Well, not quite yet---he has only been gone 30 minutes, but soon the Jamaica team will be off to---first Atlanta; then Miami and then to Port Morant, Jamaica!!! I hope Donnie will make lots and lots of pictures so that I can post them when they return!!! I miss him already and he's only been gone 30 minutes!!!! ...We packed a big suitcase last night and as soon as he tried to zip the thing, the zipper broke! Then I remembered why I had bought a new, PINK suitcase for my trip to Australia! SOOOOOO, we UN-packed everything and tried to put it in Terry's old huge golf bag. BUT, it had a hole we discovered right after I had already packed everything again! I almost flipped! SOOOOOOO, at 10 o'clock last night, Terry made the quickest trip to Walmart on record! Grabbed a big duffle bag and was home in about 15 minutes! We jammed all the gazillion tee shirts (for the team); kids clothes; crayons; markers; Bibles; CANDY, etc. and FINALLY we got all those bags packed! He (and Kemp) fell RIGHT asleep---I didn't sleep that well and seemed like I had just fallen asleep when his alarm went off!!!...Katie set 2 alarms so she would be sure and wake up and kiss her daddy good-bye. Kemp slept right through us turning on the light and banging around!!! I think Katie is back in bed (our room!) with Kemp now. I'm WIDE AWAKE so I think I'm just going to stay up! I'm doing a TAG TEAM today! I'm keeping Kemp till 1:00 at which time I will drop Kemp off at Riverchase UMC to Natalie and Pick UP Lily! Lily is going to spend tonight (that sounds weird, I still feel like it's NIGHT TIME now!)!  I bet I'll have to take a nap with Lily this afternoon!..........more updates on Jamaica as I hear from them!

Prayers for Jamaica trip!

 

Terry, along with 4 other members from Riverchase United Methodist Church (including our new, CUTE  SonDay Live minister, Jack Hinnen! Jack, I get points for that one), are leaving EARLY for Port Morant, Jamaica on Friday morning!  YES, it IS  a mission trip! haha! They have been there several times before but this time they aren't actually working, they are going on a "scouting " trip to see about  maybe starting an orphanage for the kids there. Terry,  (and a couple of the others), have been many times to Jamaica before, but this time are on their own as the lady who headed mission groups, AUNT FLO, passed away. Now there is no one to officially head the group while they are there so they are pretty much on their own!  They are  going to try to re-organize for future trips and visit some existing schools and orphanages around Jamaica for ideas. Keep them in your prayers for the next few days as they try to figure out, with God's help of course, what it is that they can do in future mission trips for this very poor area. This is an area that tourists never see! Not far from where they will be, are high rise hotels and where they are---huts that people call home! Lots of drug addicts abound and the small and innocent children are left to wander the streets. That's why they go!  I know , I know, there are always those who say, "What about mission fields AT HOME?" Of course there are places, here in the U.S. that need help, but not many places in the U.S. where 2 year olds wander around as orphans, let to fend for themselves! These are the ones who suffer and who need to be educated and loved so that they can stop the cycle of poverty and drug addiction. So, pray that they can get some framework going for these tiny victims of poverty and abandonment and most of all, be able to show them the great Love of God that will give them hope and the joy that Christ alone can bring to their lives! I'll keep anyone updated that would like to hear how things are going! ... As a foot note: As I everyone who knows Terry, knows---his heart has always been the mission fields of the Carribbean! I am reminded of this story:   there on the beach was a man who was throwing starfish that had washed up onto the shore and people laughed at him and said, "Why are you throwing back the starfish? There are hundreds around you and you couldn't possibly save them!"----the man continued to throw back the starfish and turned and held one up and replied, "but I saved THIS one!"...........

A walk down memory lane--ELUM

It's Sunday morning and soon I'll be getting ready to go to Riverchase UMC. I was thinking this morning about my old church, East Lake UMC. Since we don't have stained glass windows where we meet, I find, at times, I miss them so much! I know it's not about the "things" that surround you---but still, there is something about the stories that stained glass windows tell that "get you in the mood" when you walk into a church that has them! I know I've posted pix before of the beautiful stained glass windows there, but I am going to again! It brings me such a feeling of rembrance; comfort; nostalgia; joy when I look at them. As a child, I would stare at the windows if I were bored or sleepy and when I did, I would feel instantly immersed in the story of the windows. I had my favorites and I still do! When I made these pix I went to the balcony and shot some up in the back up there. Some I had not studied so intently as I did those downstairs. They seemed "lost"  way  back  in the dark recesses of the upstairs balcony and yet, when I "found" them again, I felt as if I had discovered a new secret! I sat down up there---surrounded by the light the windows made (I shot these pix at JUST the right time for the sunlight to come thro!) and smelling the musty smell of the well worn wood of the pews and just breathed in and out of the ambiance of the moment. To be honest, I didn't want to leave! It was an "A-HA" moment for me! Taking me BACK and propelling me into the future as I suddenly remembered how grateful I am! To have been a part of such a wonderful church and how it set into motion for me my own journey with Christ. The foundation was set , even if I didn't realize it at the time! As I reflected  while sitting in the quiet of the upper recesses of the balcony that morning,  I so remembered when they were putting them in! I was a child and I remember how expensive they were , even then! How long it seemed to take and how wonderful when they all got in and how proud everyone in the church was! And then, when we had a huge HAIL storm, the first thing everyone said was, "OH NO! What about the windows at East Lake?!" If I remember correctly, I don't think there was any damage. It was this HUGE hail storm and the hail pieces were the size of golf balls! In my young mind, I think they looked like basketballs! HAHA!....It's nice to walk down memory lane and know that I had the privilege of going to such an incredible church family that I am still tied to many of the folks there now! What peace and joy. Kind of like the Christmas message!!!!!!!

More LILY

Here's some more of MISS LILY at GranJan's house! She loves ARIAL, the Little Mermaid.  She really watches it now---at least for awhile! I saw her today when I went to pick out my pictures of her at Amanda Traywick's and she ran over and grabbed my legs and screamed, "I want to go to DRAN DRAN'S HOUSE!" HAHA! Makes me feel good that she loves to come here! I love having both my little munchkins come and stay with me! Kemp is spending the night Friday night so I'll get to stop watching The Little Mermaid and start watching JAY JAY the JET PLANE! HA!

Our little CHEF!

Lily is going to be a good cook just like her mama! How do I know that?! Well, 2 reasons! ONE, she got a "chic-chen set" for Christmas and TWO, she loves RACHEL RAY!!! HAHAHA! Kadie says she loves Rachel Ray and loves to watch her show! How funny is that?! She also loves Katie's old kitchen set that Daddy gave to Katie 17 or 18 years ago. We keep it upstairs, here, in the computer room and she LOVES to cook while we check e-mail! She made some PIZZA and said, "Careful! It's HOT!" (that PIZZA is ALSO 18 years old! You know what they say, cheese ages great! HAHAHAHA)........

Gatlinburg kids!

Katie and Jon just got back from Gatlinburg! They had a great time! Here's some pix from their little vacation to the mountains! Looks like they had a fun time!Katie tried to talk Jon into taking her to the DRIVE THRO wedding chapel to get married but he wouldn't! (see pix above---the "wood" building--that's the DRIVE THRO wedding chapel!) ......The pix of the Aquarium are from the "Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium of the  Smokies" (That's the longest name of an aquarium I've ever heard of!)! I love the pix of Jon that looks like his head is in the aquarium!

HAHAHAHAHAHA

 

 

Times Square--Happy New Year!

In case you didn't make it to TIMES SQUARE or FELL ASLEEP at 12:00 (11:00 our time----hey! You should've been awake then!) anyway, here's a few shots of it! NO, I didn't make it to New York, I made these off of our new big screen T.V.!!! Great shots!.........We ate lunch at the CHEESECAKE FACTORY and decided to drop by Nat/Brad's and check on Brad ! He has some kind of cyst/staph infection on his head, by his hair line, and had to go to the doctor on Saturday and it looks terrible! He has to go to a surgeon on Tuesday to make sure it doesn't have to be lanced again! YIKES! (He and Katie have both had a time with staph infections)!We called him QUASI MOTO and teased him a bit, even if it isn't funny, but Brad is such a good sport we had to give him a bit of a hard time! Even his mom saw it on SKYPE last night and freaked out! His eye was even swollen shut on Saturday but it is looking better now. Hopefully, the meds will work and he won't have to have it lanced anymore (they already lanced it some on Saturday !). Poor thing, he felt so bad on Sat. he had to get Michael to go and pick him up and bring him home from the doctor's! I sure hope he feels better today! Anyway, we  stayed there for a few hours and played with Kemp (and his JAY JAY's and THOMAS) until they put him to be around 10. He was going like a wild man until then--maybe he will sleep late this morning!Then we came home and watched TIMES SQUARE but I think I dozed before it was 12 here!.......Katie called last night from Gatlinburg where THEY watched, LIVE , the ball drop there! Said it was so foggy that the fireworks were even hard to see! They are going to the Aquarium there today---probably a good time to go! Most of those who drank too much won't be up to go there today! HAHA!........We have been invited to go to Diane Baker's for lunch! HURRAH! Black eyed peas/cornbread ---sounds great to me!          HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!!!!!!!!!!