A friend sent me this this morning and I thought I would share it with everyone.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today...

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary…After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.  “I love it”, he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.  “That doesn't have anything to do with it”, he replied.  “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.  Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.  It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up.  I have a choice;  I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.  Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away…just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account!  You withdraw from what you've put in.  So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!  Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank.  I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
6. Most importantly, trust God!  He truly works!

Season's greetings to our dear friends and family!

It's so hard to believe that 2008 is about to end. We are looking forward to a nice Christmas (albeit a quiet one) and time spent with family and friends.

 Check out the new pictures of Evan as Santa in his school's winter play, "The Incredible Reindeer." He rocked the house with his "Ho-ho-ho's!" Jim videotaped it and we watched it again yesterday and giggled at the sweetness of it all. It is wonderful to experience Christmas through the eyes of a child. He makes it extra special and we get the biggest kick out of the "Elf on a Shelf" that "just appears" everywhere in our house. We never know where he'll turn up, but it's always cause for speculation and delight with Evan.

 Jim, Evan and I hope your holidays are filled with the best that this wondrous season has to offer and that 2009 is your best year yet! On a personal note, I want to thank all of you that have supported my brother and me during this difficult year. You've helped us immensely and we are so grateful to each and every one of you.

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 Love,

Jim, Angela and Evan

Happy Spring, everyone!

 We're so excited that the weather has turned lovely and Evan will be the big FIVE in less than a month.

Our lives are going fairly smoothly and for that we are grateful. We do hope you and your family are slipping into the warm spring days and feeling the excitement of summer just around the corner. Be sure to ping us and let us know what you're doing. Any fun vacations planned? We're doing something a bit different this year and taking a cruise in November...headed to the western Caribbean. Jim and I have never been on a cruise, nor have I been to that part of the world so we're very excited about it. Of course, Evan will be joining us as will our dear aunt and uncle.

I'll ask my beloved to post some more recent pics of Evan. I didn't know it was possible, but I do believe he gets more gorgeous by the day. (Spoken like a true mom!)

 Love to you all--

 Jim, Angela and Evan

Welcome friends and family!

After many hours of work, I finally got the new website online. I also installed a new application to display our pictures.

It is nearing the end of October and Halloween is upon us. Evan has decided to be a cowboy, which is fitting because we call him "Cowboy Evan" all the time as he gallops around the house. It is amazing how fast he has grown up into a true little boy. He gives us such happiness.

Welcome to our new site.

We moved hosting providers to 1and1.com to save money and to give us more flexibility with our site.

Evan is growing so fast now. He is spelling and reading now and has aced he last few spelling tests. Can you tell? We are so proud of him.

We recently visited Evan's grand parents in north Florida and showed him this joy of fishing. He took to it like a pro and snagged two large catfish which broke the line just as we were about to land them and a very large brim. Thankfully I had my camera to catch the action. See some of the pictures of our little fisherman.

We hope you've enjoyed 2007 as much as we have and are healthy and happy! Keep checking back to see what has been added.

Love,
Jim, Angela, Evan