Dad’s Memorial Service

Finally Friday

Daddy’s memorial service was last Saturday afternoon. My sister took some pictures before the service.

This is the guest book table at the entryway.

We went together and got this large piece for the table. The lady at Reasor’s that talked with us and actually ended up making it herself, which is good because she actually is the one that helped us pick out the flowers and design the piece.

The piece we based it off of had four tapers and 4 shorter pillar candles but they were out of the pillars. We decided to put one taper for each grandchild.

Then we decided to add four short pillar candles for Mom and we three girls with our spouses. Finally I decided to grab some small battery operated tealights for the four great grandchildren.

That’s Daddy on the left and Mom and Dad at their wedding reception.

Mom suggested that we have everyone light their candle at the beginning of the service. It turned out to be a nice thing and different.

The associate pastor, John, did a great job moving things along and reading the written pieces.

I wanted people to know that first and foremost, Daddy loved God and followed after Him with all His heart, so I agreed to speak but needed to speak first. Even though I helped plan the service, I didn’t realize I’d have to endure the reading of the obituary and hearing the song that we sang to Daddy as he passed away–it also happened to be the song my mom had sung to my dad’s dad when he passed away. But I managed to pull it together and speak without much tears.

It was such a blessing to look over the assembled group and see a couple dear sweet friends sitting there smiling back at me. :) (Thank you Kim and Sharon; it meant so much to me.)

We had the grandkids that wanted to speak come up together, to support one another. The youngest one, my Tiffany and Brian. It blessed me so much.

After they finished, my nephew jumped up and spoke too. :)

Then we transitioned to the video sent by Daddy’s lifelong friend, who was our pastor for about 20 years.

Next were words from my middle sister and then Mom and Dad’s dear friends, Carl and Doris.

Their pastor spoke then.We finished up with the slideshow put to Through the Years and Daddy’s Hands. Here are some of the pictures. Angie, the lady that put it together, did an AMAZING job.

These ornaments that they are hanging are from their first Christmas tree they year they got married. They put them on every year. Daddy was being a bit mischievous this particular year.

Thanks for your understanding and patience,

Michele ºÜº

~ Lifeofjoy.me

The Gift of Tangles and a Knit Dish Cloth

Wonder Wednesday

Over on the facebook group Tangling All Around, Alice has a project for December called The Gift of Tangles. I have been enticed to try it but I’ll be honest, my go-to when I’m relaxing is to play games on my laptop (hidden object or match 3) or Switch (too many to list ;) ).

However, having said that, she has shared a couple of tangles that I will attempt when next I feel like putting pen to paper. Walk the Line which you can find on Tangle Patterns here. The other is Frosty which can be found over on Pattern-Collections here.

The other thing I like to do is watch movies. And since it happens to be Christmastime, there is an abundance of Christmas movies available. I either play my laptop games or some kind of handwork while watching movies. I knitted this dish cloth this week.

I promise to get back to normal after the new year, although I am considering taking a hiatus and doing some major overhauling on the website in the new year. So much to think about.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Special Candy Treats

Desserts, Tasty Tuesday

Several years ago I tried Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark candies and absolutely loved them. They became my Christmas candy favorite. When I started eating sugar free, I was afraid I wouldn’t ever eat them “legally” again. ;)

Then I found Carolyn’s Peppermint Bark recipe on her blog, All Day I Dream About Food. Tiffany makes them for me every year. I bought a thin square candy mold that is close to the size of Ghirardelli candies. Unfortunately this year I cannot find the thin one so I have to put up with the thicker smaller square ones. ;)Not the best picture but Tiffany just made these for me.

They do take a few special ingredients like cocoa butter, sugar-free peppermint candies, and sugar-free dark chocolate.

I hope you’ll enjoy them, as much as I do.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Busy Week

Finally Friday

Over last weekend I just chilled and played games mostly. If I remember correctly, Sean came over for Saturday morning breakfast and made it for all of us. :) We decided it was best for us not to go to church Sunday, since we were at the hospital on Thursday. However Tracie’s family and Mom spent the weekend combing through photos for the slideshow for the memorial service tomorrow.

On Monday we had a busy day visiting with their pastor, making the final cut on the pictures, getting the memorial picture printed, and figuring out the flowers. Then got Mom settled back at her place.

On Tuesday my sister’s family, Tiffany, and I went over and helped Mom put up her Christmas tree. Holiday decor brightens the mood a lot. Tiffany put up the rest of our holiday decor on Thursday! I love it!

Brian, Lauren, and Liam came up. We had a nice visit Thursday evening. They got us hooked on The Mandalorian. We watch a few episodes whenever they come over. :) Earlier in the evening Liam got Papa to play a game on the Switch with him. So cute.

I fixed meatloaf and scalloped potatoes. It has been ages since I have fixed them this way and they did not disappoint. I did use gold potatoes and I even fixed them in the foodi. I attempted to pressure cook them twice, but it didn’t recognize the milk as liquid and said I needed more water. :(  Ugh! They were mostly cooked, so I set it to bake for about 15 minutes. They turned out great. Maybe if I put some milk in the bottom before I start layering the potatoes it will work better. Oh well, we shall see sometime in the future.

Lauren brought her nail stickers . . . I don’t know that they are really called that but that is what they are. Any way, I love them! They are so pretty!!! She is such a sweetie!!! She did both me and Tiffany’s nails. :)

Well, it’s been a long week and tomorrow is the memorial service where I have agreed to speak. I am pretty sure I can make it through. ;) We appreciate your continued prayers!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

A Few Stocking Stuffer Ideas and Activities Suggestions

Thoughtful Thursday

I saw this post with some neat homemade stocking stuffers. I really like the idea for the story cubes. Maybe there are some ideas you can use too. :)

If your looking for some activities to do, here’s this list of some fun ideas, which include

  • hunt for red things
  • make snow angels
  • find pine cones.

Hope you don’t mind the quick post today but that it is helpful to you and your family. (It’s been a tough week.)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

No Art Today; Dad’s Memorial Service Planned

Wonder Wednesday

I’m sorry. I have been doing so much the last week that I have not done one stroke of art. And honestly, I don’t have it in me right now.

Daddy’s Memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at 2pm. Here’s the obituary for him.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, they are felt and appreciated. We were not ready for him to leave us and it was extremely unexpected! We just knew he would be better soon and back home with Momma.

I hope you have a great day.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Homemade Artisan Bread

Bread, Tasty Tuesday

This bread is compatible with the THM way of eating and is an E fuel. We make this yummy bread is using mostly whole wheat flour and it sits for anywhere from 7-24 hours.

We got this recipe from Christine of the Frugal Fit Mom youtube channel. You can check it out and watch how she makes it. Just be sure to use the whole wheat option and let it sit for at least 7 hours.

We make a double batch because our dutch oven is larger than the one Christine uses. Ours is a 6 quart dutch oven.

Start with dissolving the yeast in the warm water.

Meanwhile measure out the flour vital wheat gluten and salt.

Flours ~ Lifeofjoy.me Then add the yeasty water to the flour and combine.

Let it rise for 7-24 hours.

You place the dutch oven in the oven while it preheats to 450º. Remove the heated pot with hot pads, spray the inside with oil, add the dough, replace the lid, and put it back in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.

We cut our huge loaf in half and then slice each half.

Print
Homemade Artisan Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups white all purpose flour
  • 4 1/2 to 5 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat)
  • 2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

Instructions

  1. Dissolve yeast in water.
  2. Combine dry ingredients.
  3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine adding only as much of the whole wheat flour as is needed to have a loose/wet dough.
  4. Cover and let rise 7-24 hours on the counter.
  5. Preheat oven to 450º with pot in it.
  6. Spray pot with oil.
  7. Add dough. Put on lid and put in oven.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.
https://lifeofjoy.me/homemade-artisan-bread/

I hope you enjoy this bread as much as we do. :)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

You Never Know

Marriage Monday

My dad was 79 years old and in relatively good health. He still had semi-annual check-up with his heart doctor because they were watching one of his ?somethings?. The first part of the month he and Mom both came down with covid. It affected them differently.

Nearing the two week mark, Mom was starting to feel a bit better, not good, just better. However Dad did not. Mom had been sleeping in the recliner in the living room because it was easier to breathe and thus sleep AND because she was coughing during the night and didn’t want to disturb Dad’s sleep.

Finally, she decided to sleep in the bed to tend to Dad throughout the night. She gave him ice chips and helped in any way she could.

I remember her telling me that one night, he reached over and held her hand. That just makes me cry; his tenderness and wanting to hold the hand of his love while feeling so miserable.

I believe it was the next morning that Dad was really struggling to breathe and wasn’t getting any better, so my brother-in-law, who was also sick with covid, ran him (with my mom) to the ER. Mom said that on the way back my brother-in-law was so sweet, he tried to keep things lighthearted. :)

Thus began a ten day stay in the hospital in the ICU. We had NO CLUE that he wouldn’t return home. I’ll always remember her telling me about him holding her hand that last night. :p (You can read more about what happened here.)

All this to say, you never know what will happen. Make every day count!!!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº