"Happy 18th Birthday, Jonathan!"

Today, 10 November 2009, was our son, Jonathan's (we just call him "Jon") 18th birthday! It's so hard to believe that he's 18 already. It seems like it was only yesterday when he had to hold on to my hand when we went to the antique car shows with his brother, Joshua, his dad, and me. He would look to me for protection and security, and he used to be so little. But now...oh my goodness, just look at him now! He must be at least six foot three or four inches tall!

We're very proud of the man that he is becoming. He is a sensitive, caring, young man. For the most part, he is very good to his father and me--much more so than most young men his age. He has been a blessing to us for most of his life. He has been agreeable and helpful, and hasn't given us too much trouble when we've asked him to do things for us or even when we've asked him to just wait for something that he really had been wanting for a long time. He has always been wonderful about doing chores for his dad, like mowing the lawn or helping him clean out the gutters, and when we all got together to clean out and organize the attic and the dining room, he was right there, all ready to pitch in. And when we actually did the work, he was fast, efficient, and he gave me some great ideas to speed up the process that really helped! (In the photo above: That's my husband, Dion...Jon's dad...with Jon, the "birthday boy" himself, today, right on his birthday. I love my handsome boys!)




There are so many memories throughout the years, but I think my favorites are when I'm listening to the laughter of he and his dad as they watched movies/DVD's in the livingroom while I was in the bedroom, surfing the web on my laptop or reading, staying out of the way (they never put it that way—it's just a cute way of stating it) so that the guys could have some special "alone" time—I thought they needed it because they don't get much time together, really, and once the time is gone, you can never get it back.




So, Happy Birthday to you, Jon, and remember that we love you very much and always will.




Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may the Lord bless you all.

Cynde

Please check out my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"Happy Father's Day!"

First of all, I want to say "Happy Father's Day" to my husband, who I truly believe is the best father in the whole world. It's not easy being a part-time father when your children have been ripped away from you and then you can only have them every other weekend. Trying to keep a close relationship with the kids under those circumstances is difficult, at best, but he has done an amazing job, especially with Jon, the youngest.

For some reason, Josh, the oldest, pulled away from his dad almost right from the beginning. It tore Dion (my husband) apart, but my advice to him was to stop forcing him to come for visits. He was 13, he kept running away and hitch-hiking home, which was dangerous, and he was never punished for doing it by Dion's "ex" (which probably would have put a stop to it right away). I think "she" liked the idea that Josh didn't want to be here, but I believe it was because none of his friends were around and there really isn't that much to do around here. We were not able to ply them with every toy and gadget they wanted, like they were accustomed to at their other home, so being here probably seemed quite boring by comparison.

Thankfully, those things didn't seem to be as important to Jon as they did to Josh. Jon has always been insistant that he be allowed to come on his weekend, and he even tries to come on other weekends, too, if he can. He genuinely loves his father, and miraculously he loves me as well. Not to say that Josh doesn't love us, because I know that he does. I just don't think he knew that he did until he became a father himself in May of this year.

We are so proud of Josh. He's turning out to be such a great little daddy. He reminds me of the way Dion feels about him and his brother, Jon. I don't think they have any idea how much he loves them, but they will someday. Those two boys are the light of our lives and we both love them more than words can possibly express. And now, we have little Noah, Josh's son and our first grandchild, to love as well.

Men are such different animals, aren't they? Luckily, most are learning that it doesn't make you less manly to express your feelings or show your concern for someone. Quite the opposite, in fact. A man that can say, "I love you" or "I'm proud of you" to their son and/or daughter, is a big man in my eyes. I praise God that I had a father like that, and I'm proud to say that I have a husband like that, too.

Finally, I'd like to say "Happy Father's Day" to all those women out there that are having to/have decided to take on this role that was not originally/traditionally intended for them to fulfill. Sometimes, sudden changes can occur so that the family unit is no longer what it once was. It could be as a result of divorce; a death in the family; a parent in the military is away on duty for an extended time; or other unforeseen circumstances. No matter what the reason, the women that step forward to take on this responsibility should be commended. It's a big job, just as being a mother is, and that is probably why they each have their own special job duties and descriptions.

Like the former Miss California, Carrie Prejean, I believe that the Lord intended marriage to be between one man and one woman, just as I also believe that said couple was supposed to be fruitful and multiply, whenever possible, and if that was what they wanted (and no! I would never agree that an abortion was ok, because abortions are murder, plain and simple!). In addition, I believe, without question, that the Lord intended that "she" was to be the mother, while "he" was to be the father...and oh how far we have travelled from those simple truths.

At any rate, God bless all of you that have opened your homes to children in need of them, and who have given them love and direction. I pray that you give them proper direction, because we are all held accountable for what we teach our children, and rightfully so. Children are like open books, and it's such a huge job to be a parent. But it's also the best job, the most rewarding, and the only one whose benefits last generation after generation, while also increasing exponentially.



"Happy Father's Day and God Bless You!"


Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"Dion and Jon go to the Norwich Antique Car Show"

Today we celebrate Memorial Day, which is the holiday whose birthplace is officially recognized as Waterloo, New York and was traditionally set aside on the 30th of May, each year, to commemorate the U. S. men and women who died while in the military service. Throughout the years, this holiday has grown to mean so much to the people of the United States and its allies who have benefited from the sacrifices of the brave military men and women, and their families, as they have fought for our freedoms and sacrificed for the good of our country. God bless them, each and every one!




Before I got into the meat of my post today, I just had to show you the collage I made of our visit to see little Noah on his two-week-old birthday! It turned out so cute. I made it using a simple, free program, that I downloaded to my computer called Microsoft AutoCollage 2008. Try it. Once you do, you'll be hooked for life!







Ok...now let get on with my news. Dion picked Jon up yesterday (Saturday, 23 May 2009) and took him to the 44th Annual Norwich Antique Car Show at the Chenango Fairgrounds. They met Drew (Dion's youngest brother) and his son, Dana (our nephew) there. They live in outside of Ithaca now, so we hardly ever get to see them anymore and I really miss Vikki (Drew's wife) and Katey, too. (our niece--she was born on Dion's birthday)

The photo that you see above, is from last year's Norwich Antique Car Show, which Dion and the boys didn't make it to. However, I wanted to give you a little bit of an idea of what it looks like at one of them. There are usually hundreds of cars, motorcycles, and trucks, etc. all lined up in rows, so that people can look at them. Some are for sale and some are just for exhibit or just there for judging. There are also flea market items in booths and on tables. It's really so much fun to go to. Dion and the boys used to go with Dion's dad every year; it was a tradition, until he died, of course. We all miss Dad so much!

Had I gone to the car show, I would have taken lots of photos. Maybe next year I'll feel like it. This year, Dion and Jon stopped at the Honda shop outside of Ithaca where we bought Dion's motorcycle, "Punkin" from. It's called RiderSport-Ithaca, Inc., and we have both been doing business with them since we were teenagers, which is a lot of years ago, and before the man that owns the business now had it.

He took a couple photos of a beautiful, old, white 1967 Honda CB77 Super Hawk that some man just had on the showroom floor so that he could let people see what one of the old bikes looked like. It's in pretty good shape, too, but not in as good shape as either of Dion's antique Honda motorcycles! We stop in there to see what they have, windowshopping, and dreaming of what it would be like to have loads of cash to buy what we need so we could go on a nice, long road trip. That would be heaven!

I hope everyone has enjoyed the long weekend, which is quickly coming to a close. I think I end this post now so that I can spend a little time with my husband (which happens to be my favorite thing to do in life).

Until next time...stay safe, stay well and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

"Our Son Got Married!"

********************** Have you ever heard the phrase, "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words?" Well, I certainly think that the photo to the left, of our son, Joshua, embracing his new bride, Christina, at their marriage ceremony yesterday, qualifies as one of the pictures that are worth a thousand words, don't you agree? He looks as if he may be thinking, "She's mine now...we can do whatever we want!"







************ On Saturday, the eleventh day of April in the year of our Lord 2009, at 1:00 p.m., Miss Christina Elizabeth Scowcroft was joined in Holy Matrimony to Joshua James Hammond.






The attendees that were present to witness the blessed event, which took place at the town of Junius Court House in the State of New York, are pictured above. In addition to Judge Brian Laird, who presided over the event, from left to right they are: Chrissy's father, Terry Scowcroft; Chrissy's mother, Linda Scowcroft; Cynde (me, Josh & Jon's stepmother--but I love them as if they were my own and I hate that word step in front of mother!); Dion (my husband, Josh & Jon's father); Chrissy; Josh & Jon's grandmother, Barbara Hammond (back row, Dion's mother); Josh; Jon (our other son); and Josh's mother (Dion's "ex," also Jon's mother.)






Needless to say, Dion and I are very happy that Josh and Chrissy decided to get married before little Noah makes his entrance into the world, as there wasn't much time left to spare: he's due on the 18th of April! It's all in the Lord's perfect timing, right?

Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde

Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!

Happy New Year!

******************Dion, Jon and I had a wonderful Christmas this year (except for the fact that this was our first year without Josh.) First we went to Dion's mom's, where we had appetizers and visited with Dion's brother and sister and their spouses and the nieces and nephew of the bunch. After that, we had a nice lasagna dinner with lots of other entrees; it was a fabulous feast that ended with oodles of homemade Christmas goodies.

There were all kinds of peanut-butter balls; chocolate-covered pretzels; light and dark "trash" (a mixture of nuts, pretzels, M&M's, and cereal covered with either white or dark, melted chocolate--yummy!); and all kinds of cookies! You name it--it was there. Most of it was made by Dion's brother's wife, Cheryl, and we got to take a huge bag of it home, which made Dion happy, because I'm not able to do much baking due to the problem with my hands.

While we were eating, we all caught up on the latest news of each others' families and Dion passed around some photos that Josh had just given him of himself and Chrissy together so that they all could see what Chrissy looked like. Everyone was very impressed by how cute Josh and Chrissy looked together and how pretty she is. I was so relieved that I had just gotten to meet her, even though it was just for a minute. She seemed very sweet and I'm looking so forward to getting to know her better, even though I'm nervous about it. (that's what I get for being shy, huh?)

Following dinner, we opened all our packages. Donna (Dion's sister) and Cheryl passed them out and Bob (Donna's husband) was taking pictures while we opened them. I feel bad every year when it's time to open the gifts. Dion's brother and sister always give us some little gift, but we just don't have the funds to give anything to them--especially this year, after Dion missed three months of work! I think they understand, though. There's nothing I love more than giving, but when you owe money to people, you can't put them off to buy gifts for others, IMHO. Someday...I'll get all caught up and then I'll buy, buy, buy! (not really! LOL!) I won't go hog-wild, but I will enjoy being able to give again!

The next order of business was to take family photos. They really have it down to a science where they do it by family, and at least two different people are taking a set of the same photos on two different cameras, so they have backups, just in case something happens with one of the cameras.

They took a set of the grandchildren together: Jennifer, Dara, Matthew and Jon. (I really missed Josh, Dana and Katey!) Then they added Gramma (Dion's mom, Barb) and her dog, Max. Those will be adorable photos and I can't wait to see them!

Next, we took the group family photos. They did the photos of Daren, Cheryl and Dara as a family, then with Gramma and Max, then Daren and Cheryl as a couple, then a couple of Dara and Jennifer together.

The next group were the Harts, which were Donna, Bob, Jennifer and Matthew. Then they added Gramma and Max, then Donna and Bob as a couple, then they did a couple of Jennifer and Matthew together.

Then it was our turn. Dion, Jon and me, then we added Gramma and Max. We had already been seated when I remembered that we didn't get our "couple" photo, so Dion said that we'd have Jon take it of us later on when we were at Mom's, but it never happened--we got so busy that we forgot it. It felt strange not having Josh there, but maybe next year we'll have Chrissy and the baby and Josh with us. Wouldn't that be awesome?

We hated to leave everyone, but we were also very excited to go to my mom's house and see my side of the family for Christmas next,(we don't usually get to do that) so that's just what we did. When we arrived at Mom's, we were just in time to pack up leftovers to bring home with us. After I said "hello" to everybody, I sent Dion and Jon in to visit with the folks and I got busy packing so that I would have time to visit, too.

My twin sister, Sande, her husband, Allan, and her youngest daughter, Amity, were there. Sande's son, Miles and his girlfriend, Brianne, had been there earlier and had already gone, plus her eldest daughter, Ashleigh, had other plans, so she didn't come at all. My other sister, Carol, her husband, Foo, (his real name is Allen) and her son, Bret were there. Carol's daughter, Audra, and Audra's husband, Russ, and their daughter, Olivia, were there also. Olivia is only six years old, so she was having a ball because there were presents there for her and the Christmas tree looked beautiful. My cousin, Stuart, was also there and then when the three of us popped in, and you also include my mother, you have a pretty full house!

After I packed the leftovers and helped a little with clean-up, I went in to join the others in catching up with the family gossip, but sadly, Carol and Foo had to leave and Bret followed shortly thereafter. We had a great time anyway, though, with lots of joking and laughter. Thankfully we remembered to pass the pictures of Josh and Chrissy around the first thing we got there, so they all got to see what Chrissy looked like. Foo didn't remember meeting Jon before, but I think he met him at Audra's wedding. No big deal, though...I think Jon's grown several inches since then, plus Foo met a lot of people at Audra's wedding, and he's quite shy, so it's not to be wondered at.

Oh well...overall, we had a really nice day! I kept thinking about the loved ones that were missing around the table, but I'm so thankful to God for what we have and the miracle of His Son. The Christmas miracle is the beginning of what has made it possible for us to be able to see our loved ones again.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."(John 3:16,King James)



For the New Year's, Dion and I stayed home and watched movies like we usually do, and we cuddled together, bringing in the New Year. Every year, Sande calls me from wherever she is, right around midnight, to wish me a "Happy New Year," and she did again this year. Then I call Mom. In fact, Carol, Sande and I all call Mom around midnight, because we know she still misses Dad, even after all these years. Happy New Year, everybody!

Until next time...stay safe, stay well, and may God bless you all.

Cynde