Our Newest Addition

This is the newest addition to

our family...

our extended family, 

that is.

She was born

Friday,

June 15, 2012

at 10:21 am.

She weighed

7 pounds

and measured 

18 inches long.

It has been quite some time

since we have had a

little one 

at our house.

Sweet Little Feet

Sweet Little Fingers

              This sweet girl has a big brother
                  you may have seen earlier
                           in my blog.
                     T was very excited
                   to see his little sister, E,
                   and we were and are
             very happy she arrived safely.

                 

        E is the eighth little

        girl in our family

        and the fourteenth

        grandchild.

        We now have a

        great grandchild

        and another one

        on the way.

        Our family is

        growing

        by leaps

        and bounds.

 I know it
will be awhile
(I pray it will be)
until mine
and Dave's family
grows more.

Grandchildren
will be
welcomed
but not hurried.

We are excited for all God has in store 

for each of four children.

We pray it includes 

four sweet mates,

grandchildren,

and four happy homes.

Someday maybe I will be 

posting pictures

of our own grandchildren here

...but not too soon.

Our New Friend

This is one of our newest friends.

She is a beautiful baby.

She has Gerber baby qualities.

Her mom has had several beautiful babies 

who now are older and

still beautiful little girls.

Like this one...

..who wasn't much for the

picture taking.

Her baby sister, 

however,

 was another 

story.

Thanks to Jessica

her sister, 

and

her mom.

Such beautiful girls!!

They Grow Up 

Too Quickly

This is my baby girl...

She has grown up 

very quickly.

Thirteen years ago

at this time,

I was awaiting

her arrival.

I did not know

she would weigh

11 pounds

and 

be the last one...

although

her weight did

solidify the

thought

that there would 

be no more.

She is modeling here for my 

sister-in-law's store,

Epiphany Boutique.

It is a new store

on University

here in Huntsville.

It is housed

in the

Off Campus Bookstore.

Seeing these photos

helped me realize

that she is not

a little girl

anymore.

Her big sister

did an amazing job

photographing her.

Great job, 

Alex!

Sweet Sydney

This is my cousin's little girl

Sydney Paige.

She is adorable!!

I don't get to see her very often

but when I do,

I try to always

have camera in hand!

Her Uncle Jake loves her!

So does her Aunt Cayla!

She is well loved

 but also teased...

it is the

Harper way.

My PawPaw Burnum

was a great teaser...

some of my

greatest memories

of him

include

silly sayings,

teasing words;

and his lovingly kidding us.

  

My Aunt Beth

is only two years

older than I am

so I grew up

with her teasing, too.

When I was young

(actuallly last week, too)

she loved to

aggravate those

around her 

by teasing.

Again,

she came by it

honestly

from being a

                                                           Harper.

Sydney has learned young

what it means to be loved well

and teased.

She is only one-fourth

Harper 

but she will

reap the 

"benefits"

for the rest of her life.

Most likely,

she will become

a teaser,

too!

Daily Improvement

At the risk of being overly

something...

not sure what the term would be...

loving, sappy, zealous...

here are some more

photos of my MawMaw.

Abbi and MawMaw,

Zoe, MawMaw and me,

MawMaw and my Aunt Beth,

my Aunt Beth's Crew with MawMaw

(Cayla and Jake, 

Elizabeth, Sydney, and William)

and 

Sydney and MawMaw.

MawMaw is improving well...

our goal is

for her to be able to stand.

This would help out 

so much when she goes

to my parents' house.

She is a treasure, for sure!!

Its Summer!

This is my family.

 One time a year I require a photo...

it is Easter Sunday

after church in Grandma's backyard.

Many of you who may have seen my blog realize one of my many shortcomings, 

 I am not consistent. 

One of the reasons is because I homeschool the three remaining children I have in school 

(Zeb is going into his sophomore year at UAH). 

During the school year I am running children here and yon -

 thirty minutes one way to our homeschool covering where the girls take classes. 

I am helping with math problems, english, history, science, and reading questions.

 I have little time to do this and all the housework, laundry, cooking, etc. needed to run a household 

much less post on my blog. 

I enjoy posting pictures, funnies,

 and sharing my life with you, dear readers!

It is now summer 

so you can expect more posts

...not everyday but more than once a year! 

Happy Summer to you all 

and happy reading!

My Precious MawMaw

So this is a picture of

 my MawMaw Maune.

I always called her MawMaw Nee

when I was little because

I couldn't say all three maws.

Her proper name is

Maune Vergie Mae

Winkles Harper.

Isn't she beautiful?

She has lived on this earth 88 years.

She got married to my pawpaw

in 1936

when she was 12 years old.

He was 17.

They were married 62 years when he died.

She has raised six great kids who 

each have families of their own

and have given her 15 grandchildren,

24 great grandchildren,

and 10 great, great grandchildren.

MawMaw has been

a Christ follower,

devoted wife and mother,

homemaker, 

field worker (helping my pawpaw),

and has had a full life.

She loves her family

very much and finds much

joy, even now, in her 

grandchildren and

great grandchildren

(especially the little ones.)

She lies now most days in a bed

but is getting more able to sit up,

communicate with us, 

and feed herself with a little help.

She may never be fully back 

to where she was before the 

stroke.

We are praying and trusting

that she will regain the use of 

her right side and her ability

to communicate without

trouble but

we know 

God is in control 

and she may not be whole again

this side of glory.

What  a day her homegoing will be for her!

She has told me

how she will 

not miss this world.

She says maybe she

will miss some of us,

her family, but 

other than that,

she will be glad!

We will miss her greatly 

but I know 

she will have such joy!

She will be with her Savior,

her husband,

her parents,

many of her siblings,

and others

she misses 

who have gone

on before her.

I know that I am 

who I am

because of my

precious MawMaw

(and my other grandparents).

They all influenced me

in many ways,

some ways I don't even realize.

Someday, 

I pray I have a 

grandchild who 

recounts my life

and realizes 

they are who

they are 

because 

of me.

Hopefully,

it will be a sweet

remembrance

just as mine is 

about my

Maw Maw Nee.

MawMaw's Flowers

Many of you have been praying 

for my MawMaw Maune.

She had a stroke Tuesday evening,

May 1.

MawMaw loves flowers and when

I visited her for her birthday,

I captured her beautiful roses for her.

It was a chilly day and she was not able to go outside

so I brought them in to her.

My paternal grandmother, MawMaw Lucille also 

loved flowers but sadly, I only have a few

photos of her flowers and they are not digital.

I always think of both of my sweet MawMaws when I 

see a flower bed, well-maintained and blooming!

                      A Day at 

            MawMaw's House

                          I was visiting with my grandmother for her birthday
                           and I was able to capture photos of my cousin's 
                           little boy.


                                                  At first, he was shy...             
                                 

                                         ...but then he warmed up to me.

                                  I talked to him about his pawpaw's tractor,

                                            his cousin, who he adores and
                                                who adores him, and

                                                very soon he was a posing pro!

                         

Next time he will be prepared when he sees me with my camera!

Thanks, Eli, for indulging your cousin's camera bug!

Last spring while taking photos of my senior son at the train depot we happened upon my father and brother-in-law and my nephew. He is definitely "all boy" and the photo above is three generations of  "boys being boys" at Huntsville, Alabama's Chase Train Depot.