Christ is Risen!

Hi everyone. Ralph and I are so anxious to get to Portland. Just two more nights at home and we will be holding our new little granddaughter in our arms. Hold on Gwen, we are coming! Portland here we come!

It has been a lovely day. Happy Easter everyone, Christ is Risen! Where would we be without the Lord? How blessed we are in so many ways.

Amy, Jimmy and JT weren't able to come for Easter weekend, and Johnny had piles of work to do and also was unable to be here. We missed them greatly (but more food for the rest of us!) Not really, we just didn't have to share the candy with as many! Who says grownups are too old for egg hunts! The boys, Nathan, Turner and Parker had an Easter Egg hunt in the back yard this afternoon. There was a chance of rain, but it held off (passed us by, really). Amanda, Allen and I hid over 360 eggs. It took the boys 30 minutes to find them all. A beautiful afternoon.

Worship this morning was a blessing. Our new music minister arrived this last week and he directed for the first time this morning. He is very talented and loves the Lord above all. Our congregation will be very blessed by this man, Songwok Park. His family will move here in June when they finish the school year in Boston. Easter morning is my most favorite celebration of all the year as we remember and rejoice in the resurrection of our Savior Jesus.

Allen took Ralph's new pickup back to school. I am grateful that Ralph shared it, as Allen's little Meta is on it's last leg. So I guess Ralph is back to a beat up vehicle..... What else is new?
I have been up since way before the sun came up today and I am fading fast... Praise God for soft comfortable, warm beds..... Sleep well, know you are loved.

Gwen & part of her family

Proud Andy looks good holding our new baby Gwen. We can't wait to hold her too!
Gwen has some jaundace. It shows up a little more in the picture with Sam. They are letting her bask in the Portland Sun. Thank goodness there is some sun else she might have to be back in the hospital for a while according to Andy.

Cheerleader Has Arrived

Ralph and I are proud to introduce you to our new addition.
Miss Gwendolyn Edith Van Oostrum came into our world on March 1 just after 10: PM
She weighed in at 7 pounds and 9 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long.
Her proud brother Sam has already fallen in love and her parents, Andy and Molly are doing very well.
Her grandparents are so excited to see her. Unfortunately, she was born 2 weeks early and just two days before her birth, we made reservations (cheap tickets) to go to Portland on the 25th of April, just a week after her due date. We are crazy around here needing the 24th to come quickly.
Her birth ended a wonderful weekend (see previous post) with our other children and grandchildren. An hour after we fell in to bed and zoned, the phone rang with Andy announcing this wonderful new addition to our family. We didn't mind that he called us after midnight and that neither of us could sleep much the rest of the night.
I remember when Andy was at college and would call us at 2 or 3 am just to chat.

As you can see, they are both beautiful. We are so blessed.

Ralph has a new truck. I will just tell you that for the first time in a LONG time, he paid more than $500 for it.




WE had the best weekend! Ralph and I went to Tulsa on Thursday night and stayed with Amy and JT on Friday and helped them pack some things and paint the sun room in preparation to put their house on the market so they can get a larger home. JT did very well at the resturants that we went to. We ate at a very good steak house on Friday night and at the Full Moon on Saturday. Saturday, he just wanted to stay in our laps which was fine with Ralph.




Saturday we drove to Stillwater to check on Allen and his concrete canoe. they were just completing it when we got there. They are putting up a tent to have a mister for the canoe so it will dry slowly. the OSU is part of the canoe- Allen made the mold for the OSU logo. Pretty ingenious.


After Allen got cleaned up, we drove out to the bike track where the Coleman's were riding bikes. We sat in the dust for a while and then took Amanda, Turner, Parker and Allen to dinner at Mexico Joe's. The fahtias were not as good as I remembered them to be that first time we ate there with Andy in the 90's.
We got home at 11:15 and an hour later we got a call from Andy that our baby Gwen was born. A picture to follow..... It was a great weekend.