Happy 1st Birthday Lainey-Bug

Twelve months ago today, we were blessed with one of life's greatest gifts!! A grandchild!! We had waited a long time to become grandparents and yes, we are very much your typical grandparents: "head over heels in love" with this granddaughter! Laine Virginia Swart was born to our middle child, Andy & wife Carman on April 26, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. weighing 7 lbs, 6 ozs., and was 19" long. Hearing that first cry outside the hospital door brought tears to our eyes and it was a very long 45+ minutes until we finally got to see her and hold her. Here is Papa and DeDe and that precious bundle of joy a short time after birth! Some friends of the kids brought this bunny to her at the hospital and I tried to get monthly pictures with it, but didn't do a real good job. But here she is about 18 hours old.

And an hour or so later when we dressed her all up :-)

Her momma, Carman, has done a great job of getting monthly pictures of her and writing monthly posts on her blog (http://carmanandandy.blogspot.com/). The following pictures are ones that Carman used for her blog:

Last month for the sign :-)

Nine Months......
Ten Months......
Eleven Months.......
And One Year Old!!! (doesn't seem possible!)
We are celebrating with a family birthday party on the 30th. Can't wait to see her reaction to her first bite of cake and ice cream!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us this precious little girl to love and watch grow. Our daily prayer is that she will bring joy to all who know her, that she will grow healthy and normal, that she will be protected from harm and evil people and most importantly that she will trust Jesus as her Savior at an early age!

WE LOVE YOU, SWEET LAINEY-BUG!!! HAPPY, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, BABY DOLL!!

Holy Land 2011

It seems the days have been so busy since returning from Israel two weeks ago tomorrow and I apologize for being so slow in blogging about it. Today is Good Friday and two weeks ago today, we were right there at Calvary and in the Garden Tomb, where Jesus was crucified and then buried. WOW!

Jeff with Golgotha/Calvary in the background: Jeff & I at the tomb of Jesus. This is the caption I put on the picture of the tomb on Facebook:

After General Gordan called attention to the rocky hill he thought was Calvary, excavations were made nearby and a garden was discovered and a tomb in the garden (1867). It is believed by many that this garden tomb is the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Christ was buried (Mt. 27:57-60; Mk. 15:42-46, etc.). After its discovery, the Garden Tomb was carefully excavated and all material collected was shipped to the Scientific Association of Great Britian. Every part of the debris in the tomb has been analyzed and NO trace of human remains were discovered (because our Savior didn't decay there - HE AROSE three days later!). Praise the Lord!
It was another amazing trip and such a joy to travel with this great group of folks. We laughed together, we learned together, and at times we cried together as we pondered all that occurred in this Holy Land!! Since the majority of my blog readers are also my Facebook friends, you have seen my "hundreds" of pictures, so I will take a shortcut here and just post the one group picture and maybe if life so slows down some, I will get additional postings written.

Thank you to each one that traveled with us, for being such a joy to get to know and for your positive attitude and encouragement along the journey!!

Jeff hopes to take another group in a couple of years, so if you are interested, please let us know! There are not words to describe what it is like to be in the land where Jesus walked, taught, lived, and died! It is an incredible experience and one you will never forget!

Yes, it's Friday, but Sunday's coming - Hallelujah!!



HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!