April 5th was Mom's 85th birthday. My sisters came to Kansas (Bev from Texas; Kaye from Arkansas) to help us celebrate. I had kept Copeland a few days for Rachel and Jonathan, so Friday he went with Jeff and I to Girard to start the birthday festivities.
Our first party was with Mom's siblings and some of their children. We ate at the SSS Steakhouse in Girard
Mom's friend, Howard, also joined us
Mom and her sister, Mildred and niece, Christie
After eating, we went to Mom's house for dessert and visiting.
Uncle Harry, Aunt Betty and their son, Randy and wife Kimbra
Aunt Mildred and daughter, Christie and husband Wayne
Mom and her brother, Harry and sister, Mildred
and with Aunt Betty
Us :-)
My sweet friend, Judy Hall made this delicious Heath Bar/Carmel/Chocolate cake and I made a pecan pie for our dessert that night
Then on Saturday, we had birthday party #2 with some of the Boore gals at Sandstone Gardens in Joplin
Aunt Judy and her daughter-in-law Patti and two granddaughters, Paxton and Chelsea
Aunt Freda with her daughter, Holly and granddaughter, Shawnee
Just visiting
After eating, a few wanted to go to my house and meet Copeland (he had stayed at the house with Papa and Daddy)
Mom, Kaye, Bev and I then headed back to Girard. We were thrilled that Mark and Nancy (Mom's nephew and wife) came by that evening for a visit. Nancy was out of town earlier and wasn't able to join us at Sandstone.
Sunday morning, we accompanied Mom to her church (and the church where all three of us girls grew up). However it's a different location and building from when we were children.
My Uncle Marvin Boore is the interim pastor at this time since their last pastor, Bro. Ernie Watson passed away a few months ago. We appreciate your prayers for God to send this church a pastor to lead them. We were doubly blessed this Sunday morning, to hear Uncle Marvin sing and also preach. Uncle Marvin officiated Jeff and I's wedding and sang also. He's a special man to us and we love him and Aunt Judy.
I personally was also blessed to hear Barbara Watson (Bro. Ernie's widow) play the piano. It had been a long time since I had that privilege. The Watsons were our pastor, their first time, when I was a child. And then Jeff's first ministry position was under the Watsons in Independence, Kansas in the mid 1970's. Barbara taught me many vital things in the role of pastor's wife. Especially in spending time every day in prayer and Bible study and to pray daily that God would give Jeff wisdom in his role as a minister. She also taught me the importance of thanking people and to show my gratitude often. I am so grateful for the lessons this godly woman taught me! Please keep Barbara in your prayers as she adjusts to life without her husband.
After church, we decided to go by the old Mt. Olive church where us girls grew up and where Jeff and I married. It was someone's personal home for many years but appears to be empty now. Lots and lots of memories in that building, including at the altar where I accepted Jesus as my Savior!
That afternoon, we made a visit to our Uncle Wayne (Dad's brother) and Aunt Jo. Uncle Wayne is pretty much homebound these days which we are sad about.
We were thrilled that their daughter and our cousin, Marsha and some of her family were there
Marsha's daughter, Monica, her husband, Matt and Marsha's husband, Marty
That evening, we drove back down to Galena to First Baptist to hear Jeff preach on "The Coming War with Russia." We were thrilled that cousins, Holly, Mark, Nancy and Chelsea also came, along with a long-time friend of Mom's, Anita Melhorn and friends of Mark and Nancy, the Adams. Thanks to all who came!
Afterwards, we went to eat at a local Mexican restuarant in Galena and enjoyed some fun fellowship. The Owens came in to eat and so they joined our group and Adam took our picture.
Monday morning, we drove to KC (Overland Park to be exact) for Mom's one month doctor's appointment to check her cornea transplant. The appt. was after lunch, so we went to Cinzetti's first to eat. Such a good place to eat.....several food bars of all kinds of Italian food: appetizers, salads, soups, pasta dishes, pizza, desserts, etc. Yum, yum! I'm dieting this week, so it really sounds good right now!
Kaye's daugther, Adrienne, husband Mike and Kaye's grandsons, Lincoln and Graham met us there (they now live in KC where Mike is attending Seminary).
Mike left early to head back to work, so we asked a stranger to take our picture as we were leaving
Then we went to the eye clinic. The news wasn't as good as we hoped. Her eye is still swelling 75% whereas the doctor was hoping for only 25%. He prescribed more meds and we will go back in two months. Appreciate your prayers that it will all be healed at that time!
Then we headed to downtown KC to tour the Arabia Steamboat Museum
It was very interesting!
The steamboat was discovered about 135 years after it sank in the Missouri River. The river had changed course over the years, so the ship was covered by tons and tons of mud and dirt.
It carried many passengers, mostly women and children who were enroute to meet their husbands who had settled land in the west for their families. Thankfully, they all survived. It also carried tons of cargo to be sold in the newly developed West. Amazingly, much of the cargo packed in barrels and crates was still intact. It has taken the discoverers many years to restore them to their original beauty and they are still working on items even 20 years later.
Beautiful dishes
Tools
Shoes
and clothing
There was also canned goods but they wouldn't allow you to take pictures as it damaged them. After 135 years, one of the discoverers opened a jar of pickles and ate one!
Cute Lincoln on the anchor
Kaye took our picture as we were leaving the downtown area
Tuesday was the day we had set aside to do some spring cleaning for Mom.
We cleaned out her garage and the freezer and refrigerator she has in the garage.
There was a ton of stuff for the trash man, but it sure looked better. We had mopped the garage floor so that is why it looks wet in the picture below. Now if someone would come and do my garage...it needs it so bad!! :-)
Tuesday evening we went to Pittsburg to pick out a new kitchen sink for Mom (her gift from us girls). My Aunt Freda had recently moved, so we stopped to see her new residence.
It's so nice!! And Spud likes it too :-)
Beautiful Bradford Pear tree right outside her door
After getting Mom's sink picked out, we went to Chili's for dinner. Somehow, the waiter knew we were celebrating Mom's birthday, so they brought her a hot fudge brownie dessert and sang to her :-)
Wednesday, we traveled to Joplin in separate vehicles as Bev and Kaye wanted to visit Margie's Herb Shop. We then ate together at Red Onion and everyone headed home from Joplin.
So thankful that we were able to spend these 6 days together and celebrate our Mom. God has definitely blessed our family with a great Mother/Grandma/Great Grandma/Sister/Aunt. We are also so thankful for all of you who joined us in celebrating this important birthday!
Praying it's a wonderful year for you, Mom!
