Just so you know...

We are all fine. Each day brings with it more peace in our current situation. Things may not be the way that we chose them to be, but we are not in control. God is in control. And knowing that, I can be at peace, knowing that God loves us far too much to cast us off.

So, please keep us, and all of the others I listed yesterday in your prayers, but please, do not worry about us. I'm a pretty tough cookie, and my family is made up of that same tough stock!

I'm being a really good girl and being very lazy...which will eventually drive the rest of the family crazy...maybe you should worry about them. But the babies and I are fine. The Rev. is fine. We are shaken, but not broken.

Yesterday's Sunday School lesson was on the book of Esther. It is so amazing to see God's wonderful plan at work in that series of events. I am certain that looking back we will see God's hand at work in our current challenges.

Peace be with you...and a blessed Advent!

Rejoicing in our sufferings

Our family received devastating news on Wednesday afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving. The Rev. was informed that the North Dakota District has made the decision to end the mission start that he was called to serve two years ago. The district has a budget deficit, and the mission start is not growing quickly enough, so our congregation is the budget cut that was decided upon.

I'm certain that it was a most difficult decision. I do not envy the people in charge of such a decision. I'm not sure it could come at a worse time. My selfish woe is me story is that I am a mom, on modified bedrest doing her very best to grow two babies to a healthy size in the space of seven short weeks. Now, I have to try not to stress out about the uncertainty that our family faces as my husband prays for a Call to a congregation, and I look at the prospect of having to sell our home, move with two infants, and tear our kids out of school midyear, again uprooting their lives.

And yet, it is not my family who I am most concerned about. Although Holy Cross Lutheran Church may not have been growing by leaps and bounds, I assure you that it has been growing, and is more than simply a budget line item. Holy Cross Lutheran Church is a family of believers. What happens now to the family that finally found a church home in which their son felt comfortable in a Sunday School classroom? What happens to the young man who speaks little English, yet arrives weekly, by foot, to hear the Word of God? What happens to the new member who grew up in a different Lutheran church body and has just read the Book of Concord for the first time, and is growing in his faith? Are these people to just disperse and go their own way?

My grieving is more for these people, these people who are more than numbers. These are people who are sinners in need of a Savior and have been weekly receiving Word and Sacrament at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. These are people who are now hurting and unsure of what happens next.

As for our family, I trust that we will be fine. God has never forsaken us yet, and I trust that He will not at this time.

Those that know me know that I am fond of saying the "God's plans are always better than our plans." The only problem is that God reveals His plans on a need to know basis, which can sometimes leave us feeling very unsettled. I am most certain that God has great things in mind, not only for the Thompsons, but also for the people of Holy Cross.

This morning a verse I memorized during a long ago crisis came to mind, Romans 5:3-5:

3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

It appears that this is a character building time, both for the Thompson family and for the people of Holy Cross.

What I ask for is prayer:

• Pray for the North Dakota District of the LCMS, that God's will may be done through their workings. Grant the District President and the Board of Directors wisdom and discernment in their decision making.
• Pray for the people of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, that they not loose their zeal for seeking out the "least of these" to help and support.
• Pray for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod churches in Bismarck and Mandan, as well as all of the other congregations throughout North Dakota who have been supporting this mission start through prayers, talents and material over the past two years that they not feel dismayed, that their labor was not done in vain.
• Pray for our children, that this transition may go forth smoothly and they adjust to wherever their new home will be. Remember especially our eldest, who is 13, he had enough trouble adjusting just two short years ago, and was looking forward to at lest five years of stability. Pray also that their faith not be shaken.
• Pray for our unborn daughters, that they may grow and be born healthy, as close to term as possible. Currently their growth has slowed somewhat, not yet a cause for concern, yet a cause for caution.
• Pray for my husband, that he may remain strong, and that he be blessed with a flock to lead.

Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Gobbles and Lies

Once a upon a time, when I was a stay at home mother of but one or two young charges and for about the five days during this time period in which I was not pregnant and sluggish, I had a company ready home. You know what I am talking about. I had the type of home in which I did not have to apologize to anyone who would show up at the door unannounced.

It was not easy. I had to work really hard to keep the house this way. It helped that at the time our house was about 700 square feet. The blessing of a small home is that it cleans up quickly.

Fast forward to today. I have recently returned to full time stay at home motherhood, but I am pregnant with twins...and I have four sons. I have four sons who leave destruction in their wake. I live with a very neat husband. (I am thankful for that). I am a messy by nature. My home is no longer company ready at all times. And, it is no longer 700 square feet...it is much larger.

Which brings me to my plans for a busy Thanksgiving eve. The children have a half day of school and have been warned that their afternoon fun will include sweeping, dusting and vacuuming. They may be asking their teachers to stay at school for the afternoon to work on math facts. They are this excited about the afternoon prospects.

I look forward to the reason that we need to have this day. Good friends from Minnesota will be sharing our fourth Thanksgiving in a row with us. It is getting to the point where Thanksgiving would not be the same without them.

For them, we will scrub and polish and cook and even watch football on television.

The whole clean up scene reminds me of what our neighbor boy, Sam, referenced one day as his mother insisted that the whole family pitch in and clean house in preparation for guests. Sam, in all sincerity asked, "isn't that like lying?". Yes, Sam, cleaning before company comes may be a lie, but I'm not sure that even our best friends can handle, or should have to endure the truth!

Happy cleaning day everyone...and have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Thankfulness

This time of year, we tend to focus on the things we are thankful for. I don't think that this is a bad practice, in fact, gratitude is a good thing. It is something that we try to teach our children, it is something that we hope our spouses feel towards us, and it is something that we are quick to criticize if we see it lacking in someone.

This morning as I was reading the Bible, I read a reading quite common for the end of the Church Year. I read of the new heaven and the new earth. I read of the beauty and the peace and the end to sadness that will be found there. And then I thought of the contrast of that new heaven and new earth, and the earth we live in now.

Sure, we have happy times here. Sure, there are wonderful things surrounding us all. We are so blessed. The Rev. likes to point out that even the very poor here in America are rich by many other standards. I've never been hungry a day in my life. All of my needs, and those of my family are met. And yet, there is something imperfect in this world. We are totally marred by sin. There is destruction all around us. Neighbors hurt neighbors. Families are at war with each other. People say and do hurtful things with no remorse.

So for all that I am thankful for...and I have so much to be thankful for...I am most thankful for God changing His mind. I am so thankful that he did not just give us exactly what we deserved, and immediately cast us from His presence. I am thankful that He sent His son, as our Savior, so that we can enjoy the perfection that will be His new heaven and new earth.

The truth is, there will come a time when all of the things that seem to matter so much right now; healthcare reform, unrest in the Middle East, children learning multiplication tables, what is for dinner tonight, and why don't I feel calm all the time; will pass away. A time is coming when none of these things will matter anymore. All that will matter is God, and His Son, who gives us the right to stand in the presence of God. For this, I am most thankful.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Here we are again! And it was another busy week!

1. Today marks week 30! Only 8 weeks to go...which may or may not have me a little freaked out. I feel really good. Tired, but good. The Rev. and his newest pack mule (since I'm out of commission) dragged the huge recliner up from the basement for me to have in the living room. It does not match the other furniture and it crowds the space a bit...but it works. My back is much happier for it, and I can get my feet way up...so I can continue to avoid swollen ankles! I have another Dr. appointment and ultrasound on Wednesday morning, I'm looking forward to seeing how much the girls have grown.
2. I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test, so I had to go in on Tuesday morning for the three hour test. The one where I had to fast from midnight on the night before. I must say, and I try not to complain about medical professionals too much, I had the worst blood draw ever that morning. To make things worse, it was my first of four draws of the morning, so it set the stage for anxiety and discomfort for me the rest of the time. The phlebotomist managed to stab (and I am using the term literally) right past my vein and into a nerve, then dug around a bit hoping to draw some blood. No such luck. I had all four needle sticks on my left arm, which is still bruised, and she kept making comments about me having tough skin, etc. For the record, no one ever has trouble getting blood from me. Needless to say, when I am in the hospital having babies, if she comes to take my blood, I will most politely ask for another phlebotomist. Period.
3. I am beyond irritable. Physically I feel great. Mentally, I have the patience of a gnat. Please, please, God, let this be pregnancy hormones and not a permanent change in my demeanor. Every noise the boys make sets me on edge...and they are good boys...not even really rowdy. Last night I took them to dinner, since the Rev. is out of town. The woman at the booth across from us spent the entire time complaining about the restaurant, the food, the everything. I had to contain myself to let her know that she may be bugged by the food, but she was bugging me! This morning, William spilled the milk putting it back into my NEW refrigerator. I totally lost it. I went ape crazy. It was stupid of me. It was only milk. I had to spend five minutes apologizing to my shellshocked son. Please let this just be pregnancy related. Please, let this pass.
4. I do much better with my modified bedrest while the kids are at school. I do too much on the weekends. There is not much I can do about it. I just do the best that I can do.
5. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Our good friends from Minnesota will be here. I think a dose of old friends may be just what the doctor ordered.
6. I have done zero Christmas shopping. You would think that with these babies hanging over my head (actually around my waistline) I would be working ahead, but as usual, I still have to figure out what I'm getting everyone. The boys are just bummed that the girls will miss Christmas. I'm fine with that...really, I am!
7. My little sister gets married in a week. I'm really excited for her, and hope that everything is just as she wants it!

Motor Oil Matters, and another GIVEAWAY

Did you know that proper maintenance can prolong the life of your vehicle, and can improve fuel economy?

Yesterday I was sent an email from myblogspark.com directing me to the Motor Oil Matters website to learn more about quality motor oils and vehicle maintenance.

In the United States the average age of cars and light trucks on the roads today has reached a record high of 9.4 years, making it more important than ever for consumers to take proper care of their vehicles. With the new MotorOilMatters.org web site www.MotorOilMatters.org (created by industry-leading brands Pennzoil, Quaker State and Shell Rotella); you can easily locate key information that will help prolong your engine’s life and improve overall efficiency, as well as help answer any questions you may have about motor oil. In addition, the site offers a fun, educational game for you to play called “M.O.M. Knows Best” where you can put your motor mind to the test with an interactive quiz.

Did you know?

• According to a study by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, nearly 9 out of 10 female motorists are involved in their household's vehicle maintenance and repair


• According to a national survey that polled 522 women, 46 percent incorrectly assumed simply switching from conventional engine oil to synthetic oil enables the number of miles between oil changes to be safely extended*


• Using a quality motor oil in the right grade can help maximize fuel economy, and help save money by preventing costly engine damage


• Off-brand, no-name or discount oils that do not meet industry standards or the vehicle manufacturer’s requirements could cost consumers in the long run by potentially damaging the vehicle’s engine or possibly voiding the manufacturer’s warrant

* Jiffy Lube Survey Conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, 2006

I know next to nothing about cars, engines, or how things work. Yet, ironically, as keeper of the home, I am generally in charge of vehicle maintenance. It is up to me to make sure that our vans get in for routine oil changes. I must admit, I'm not always great about getting the oil changed in a timely manner.

After a little visit to Motor Oil Matters (which by the way, is geared towards women...I guess I'm not alone in my lack of knowledge), I now know much more about motor oil and my cars engine and fuel efficiency. I took the Motor Oil Matters test, and I failed. I got a 71.43%...the lowest test score than I have gotten in a long time. BUT I learned a lot. And you can too!

Here is the fun part: Shell Motor Oils and Motor Oil Matters has provided me with a $35 gift card to Jiffy Lube so that I can receive a complimentary oil change. In addition, I have an additional $35 gift card to give away to one of my readers! All you have to do is visit Motor Oil Matters and take the quiz...post your score in the comments section. Next Thursday I will draw a random winner from my commenters! And hey...don't worry about failing...I already told you that I did!

Additionally, to make a trip to get your oil changed even more rewarding, Pennzoil® has partnered with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation through its "Play The Music. Save The Music" Campaign, and now through December 6, 2009 anyone can receive up to 46 FREE music downloads and up to a $15 service certificate back by mail, when they get their oil changed at Jiffy Lube and other Pennzoil® participating installers. See www.pennzoil.com for details and to find your local participating installer locations.

Everyone loves free stuff! And everyone loves to learn how to save money...and by keeping your car running well, you will save money!

Wordless Wednesday: Dinner

A Sunny Monday and Quiz Answers

We're enjoying a sunny Monday here in North Dakota, which is nice to see! It looks like we'll have a mild, but long winter. If we have sunshine like today, I can handle it!

Ok...I had a little quiz in #7 on Friday...and it seems like my children have changed too much for people to figure out what we heard at parent teacher conferences! So...here we go:

Owen really, really, really loves pencils. He plays with them all day. He likes getting new ones. He got to select a treat from the treat box and he chose a pencil box for his treasures. When asked though, he would prefer video games to pencils for Christmas gifts.

Ethan is an excellent role model. Our once "silent E" is now a polite, well versed little kindergarten student. In classic youngest child fashion (though he'll lose his place soon) he is eager to please, and does so often.

William, our sweet William, is a very diligent worker. The same child who I threatened to use a cattle prod on when homeschooling for second grade has now become the little engine that could.

Andrew takes after his mother more every day...and not in all of the best ways! He enjoys being the center of attention, and loves to talk in class, and out of class, and at home and in the car, and when I'm not listening...etc. Apparently he does not care for volleyball either, and who can blame him? I'm sure he would not mind taking in a game of beach volleyball in the summer, but I'm guessing that would be more of a teen boy spectator sport. I told him that he has to dress for gym whether he enjoys the activity or not...poor kid, I had to do it...so can he! At least he does not have to wear bright green polyester knit shorty shorts!

Have a great Monday all!

EcoStore USA review and GIVEAWAY!: Winner!

I just plugged in my numbers to random.org...and the winner is Beth from Rhubarb and Venison! I'll be emailing you details in the next day or so! Congratulations, and let me know how much you like the stuff!

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Today marks the beginning of my 29th week of twincubation. I feel really good. I'm huge. As of Monday at my Dr. appointment I am measuring 40 weeks pregnant, which brought down the inevitable sentence of "modified bedrest". I'm actually doing pretty well at slowing down. Some things are easy to drop...like not hauling laundry baskets. I hate hauling laundry baskets, I'm happy to give that up. However, I enjoy shopping. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy picking my kids up from school. For now, the rules are pretty loose; go to bed early, sleep late (10 am today!), take naps, spend more time sitting than standing. If I can follow these rules, I may be able to avoid full bedrest...which would bore me to tears.
2. I took my glucose tolerance test yesterday morning. I failed it. I'm bummed. I have to take the long test next week, which ties me to an uncomfortable waiting room for about 4 hours, includes four blood draws and drinking gross orange kool aid on an empty stomach. Anyone want to come keep me company? Silly twins love to mess with blood chemistry. I'm sure I'll pass the long test, but I'm annoyed. Other than my slight candy corn addiction, I already eat very healthy foods. Ugh!
3. Saturday we moved all of the boys into one bedroom. Don't feel bad for them...they have the master bedroom. They also have the complete run of the finished, walk out basement. The kids are not suffering! It sure makes putting laundry away easier when there is only one room to drag it to. We are considering moving their dressers to the laundry room to open up more space. As long as that gets done while I'm still under lifting restrictions, it is fine with me!
4. I now have all of the baby stash in what is now known as the "girls room". Until Kristen comes out to be my decorating slave though, the walls are still bright red and navy blue with a Cars border. I'm wondering how many coats of primer we will need to cover that and get up some ballet pink? I may even end my sewing hiatus (I can sew, but I don't love it) to make some curtains if I find fabric that I like. The windows in our house are long...so premade ones are expensive. It is pretty fun to go in there now and see little matchy girly clothes hanging in the closet. I catch myself peeking at Christmas dresses in the stores and hoping some of them stick around for clearance sales!
5. Can you believe that this is the first nursery I've had to get ready for baby(s)? When we had Andrew we lived in a 500 square foot apartment. We originally set his bed up in the cute sun porch (we were in Atlanta, and it was summer), but when he was about a week old, I saw the HUGEST spider, so we moved him into the living room. WE did not have much furniture anyway, so he fit fine. When William was born we were going to be moving in two weeks to go on Matt's vicarage. We lived in a rental, and could not really paint. The two boys shared a room. When Owen was born we lived in a two bedroom rental...so we squeezed the crib in there. Ethan was going to get the office in the parsonage, until we decided to make that our homeschool classroom, so he went in with Owen. Even with this pregnancy, we planned that a singleton baby of any gender would go into the Cars room with Owen and Ethan. Twin girls change everything. We're enjoying the ride.
6. Pajamas are much more comfortable than maternity clothes. Consider yourself warned.
7. We had four really good parent teacher conferences this past week. Here are some interesting tidbits, in no particular order (let's see who can guess the kid!) One really, really, really likes pencils. One is a very diligent worker. One is a positive role model. One might talk too much and forget gym clothes on days that the chosen sport is not to his liking.

Have a great week! I'd love to hear what you are up to. Be sure to check out Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

Wordless Wednesday:28 weeks, 10 to go...

Don't mind the wet hair, be thankful that I showered!

What a difference a year makes!

On this weekend last year we were experiencing a HUGE blizzard! This year I am driving around town with the windows down. It is in the upper 50s here with no clouds in the sky, and only a bit of a breeze (the air is NEVER still in North Dakota). After a few weeks of very damp, dreary weather, these blue skies are most welcome!

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Today marks my 28th week of pregnancy. I have nothing new to report, other than the usual fatigue. The girls seem to be growing. I have a baby shower at church on Sunday and a Dr. appointment Monday afternoon, so I'll know more then. I'm glad for boring and quiet though.
2. The Rev. is out hunting today. He took a two year hiatus from hunting due to moving and settling and the like, but he is back at it. I think he is happy to be getting out and searching out the elusive doe (he did not get a buck tag in the lottery here).
3. It has been a good/bad week in my kitchen. On Monday I had a bit of energy and decided that I was so sick of my current cookware that I went out and bought a set I had been eyeing for a while. I also got an enamel covered cast iron Dutch Oven...think Le Crueset...but on a pastor's wife budget. I love it. You can see it here. New cookware made me want to cook. All week. Even when I was tired. The family was happy. Then, the Rev. went into the freezer for ice on Tuesday night, and the ice had melted. Apparently the water that had been leaking from our fridge for the past few weeks was a sign of impending doom. Wednesday we went on a very romantic refrigerator shopping date. And then we plunked down some cold hard cash for a refrigerator only model that was delivered yesterday. It is lovely. And it is spacious. We live in a 1959 Ranch style home. Our kitchen is not big. Due to the layout of our home, there will be no kitchen expansion in our future. Although the huge, French Door refrigerator models are lovely, they are a.) out of our budget and b.) would require knocking out a cabinet or two and plumbing in a water line for the in door water and ice dispenser. Not going to happen on my watch! We already have a HUGE deep freezer in the basement and we will get a smaller one for the garage that will be close to the kitchen. I LOVE having all of the added fridge space! And the seal on the new fridge is so good, only the big kids can open it...and that is a good thing!
4. I'm going to be spending some more quiet time at home, that is a good thing.
5. We are all healthy, and I am so thankful for that. It seems like the flu bug is done at the boys' school, I hope that when seasonal flu hits in February, we can skate by unscathed as well.
6. I'm running out of clothes, but that is because they don't make proper maternity clothes for women gestating multiples. That just gives me a good excuse to stay in my pajamas on days that I'm home all day. Consider yourselves warned. And on an unrelated (or maybe not) note: the Halloween candy is now gone from our house!
7. Don't forget to check out my giveaway that I posted yesterday...you have until next Thursday to enter!

Now I'm off for my daily nap! Make sure you head over to Conversion Diary for some more great 7 Quick Takes!

Ecostore USA review and GIVEAWAY!

Last week I got a very nice email from EcostoreUSA asking me if I would like to try some of their products in hopes of a review. Little did they know, I had just been researching some natural laundry detergents to use on diapers and baby clothes. I'm going to be doing a lot of laundry in the coming months!

EcostoreUSA is an extension of the 20 year old New Zealand based Ecostore, which makes plant based non-toxic household cleaning, personal care and baby products that contain NO NASTY CHEMICALS (tm).

EcostoreUSA is launching in all 186 Meijer Grocery Stores, which is one of my favorite places to shop when I'm in Michigan!

If you do not live close to a Meijer, never fear...EcostoreUSA has a fully stocked, easy to navigate website and they offer free shipping on all orders over $25. My products came packaged safely and attractively, and was very quick to arrive.

I was asked to choose any two products to try. My, that was a difficult choice to make! Then, I remembered the babies. And I remember that they come out with sensitive rear ends. I decided to try the Plant Based Super Concentrate Laundry Liquid. I only have clean diapers at this point, but they are brand new and it takes a few washings to get them de-linted and ready for use, so I washed a load of diapers this morning. I washed them in warm with just a squirt of this liquid. The diapers appear to have rinsed well, which is a problem for many other detergents...they tend to leave a residue, that ends up not only leaving you with very stinky dirty diapers, but also sore bottoms. There were very few suds in my rinse water, which means that my diapers are clean, and residue free! They came out of the dryer soft and smelling fresh...like nothing at all!

The other item that I decided to try won't be put into actual use for about 10 weeks. I got a jar of the Baby Nappy Balm Protection cream. Back when Ethan was a baby, a friend gave me a baby food jar full of a homemade diaper cream that has olive oil, and beeswax, and a few other things that made an excellent barrier cream. This cream appears to be very similar. It contains olive oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, beeswax, zinc oxide and horopito extract. I rubbed some of this balm on my chapped hands (this flu season is killing my hands with all of the sanitizing!) and it feels great. Now I need to hide the jar until the babies are born!

Now, for the giveaway!

I have a $25 EcostoreUSA gift certificate to award! Here are the rules:

1. Go to the EcostoreUSA Blog and sign up for their No Nasty Chemicals Newsletter.

2. Go to EcostoreUSA and look over the products and come back here and leave a comment, letting me know what products you would most like to try.

3. You can get an additional entry for following ecostoreusa on twitter, and another for following on Face Book. Just leave a comment here when you do either of those things.

I'm going to leave the comments open for one week...and will close them and select a winner next Thursday, November 12 at 1 PM CST.

Wordless Wednesday

Heaven has yet another saint

Yesterday, after returning home from a wonderful All Saints Day worship service we had a knock on our front door. Our guest was the daughter of our elderly neighbor lady across the street. She came to let us know that Charlotte had passed away quite suddenly on Friday.

Charlotte was a special neighbor. I'm pretty sure that she appreciated coffee just as much as I did, because on the day we moved into our house, she came over with a carafe of coffee and mugs (not styrofoam cups) for us, and for those helping us move in. Whenever I went over to her house for coffee (which was not often enough) she always had some fresh baked bread and real cream for my coffee. A kindred coffee spirit can be hard to find.

Charlotte took great joy in watching my rambunctious boys and their friends from her front window. She told me that some days my boys were better than TV. She told me that she loved seeing us sit down for dinner as a family every night...as our kitchen window faces her living room window.

We talked about her late husband, and her life. Charlotte was a resilient woman, she lived into her nineties, independently, and has survived at least two bouts of cancer. She always did a better job than me of keeping her flowers blooming in her front yard. She adored her family. She would always let me know how her grandchildren were doing.

She used to drive herself around town, but in the last year or so, she depended more on her friend, who was younger, in her eighties, to drive her around. And every Sunday, she was ready to go to church.

I was so touched, when her daughter came to share the news of Charlotte's passing to us. I had never met her daughter before, but it was as if we knew each other. Charlotte has shared stories about her daughter, and Charlotte told her daughter all about us. She told her daughter about how much she was looking forward to seeing the twin babies, and how glad she was to see children in the neighborhood.

Good neighbors are hard to find. We have been blessed with an entire street full of good neighbors. Charlotte will be missed.