God Loves Each of Us

Maya Angelou commented on how humbled she felt 
when she realized that God loves her. 

"It's amazing

I can do anything and do it well

Any good thing I can do it

That's why I am who I am

Yes

Because God loves me

And I'm amazed at it and grateful for it."

See a video clip here

Our lives are forever changed when we come to this realization 

- God knows us and He loves us. 

Celebration

Good-bye to another year! 

Hello to a new one!

John Boman - Civil War Soldier

John Boman/Bowman

 source

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John Boman’s first wife was Jane Judd. John and Jane are parents of our Great Grandmother Idah Bowman  (Idah Bowman married Harry Brown(e). They were parents of Mildred Browne Floyd). At some point John and Jane divorced. In some censuses Jane lists herself as a widow (when John was still alive). In another census she lists her marital status as divorced. 

John served in the 2nd Michigan Calvary, Company E. His name is on the roster here.  Read about the history of the Second Calvary here. 

This image shows John Boman on the draft registration. The entry indicates he's 35 years old, living in Hazelton, Michigan, born in Germany where he served in the military in Germany for two years and he's a citizen of the United States. 

 whole page

*see note below

After John's death, both wives applied for his military pension. 

More research is needed to determine who, if anyone, received the pension. 

John is buried in Flushing Cemetery in Flushing, Michigan. 

This is the home John & Jane Boman built. 

We have an 1880 drawing of the house. Not much has changed. 

While John and Jane built this house they lived in a 

log house that's been covered with red siding. 

I took the house and cabin/shed photos in October 2013. Read about my Michigan adventures here. 

A heart felt thank you to all who have served in the military. Click on "Military" label to the right to see who has served. 

*Note: 38 year old Jacob Brown, also from Hazelton, registered along with John Boman. I wonder if he's related to Harry Brown who married John Boman's daughter Idah. 

A Birthday

May 25

Birthday Parties through the Years

1953 - Carolyn, Sharon, Lynda, Donna, Julia, Carol, 

Barbara, Melinda, Debby, Susan

1954 - Look at the expressions! What's the gift?

Kathy?, Melinda, Linda, Julia, Mom, ?, ?, Tom

1954 - back - Julia, Melinda, Linda, Susan, Debby

front - Susie, Kathy?, Connie & Patty

1957 - Jan, Julia & Susan

ca 1959

Betty, Linda, Julia, Lynn, Nancy

Tulips - Time, Water, Support

We received a big bouquet of tulips recently. They were beautiful but they were drooping almost at a 45 degree angle from lack of water. The rigors of their journey showed in their lack of straightness. The directions said to put the flowers in water, tie them together or otherwise support them until they regained their strength, straight stems.

As I watched these beautiful flowers straighten and eventually stand on their own without being supported, I thought of many likenesses to ourselves and spiritual matters. 

We go through periods in which we "droop" quite a bit. Sometimes our journeys here on earth take their toll. The living water of Christ and His message will revive us. Family and friends can support us while we regain our strength and reaffirm our testimonies. Like these white tulips above, not all of us move along the path at the same rate. Some need support longer than others. 

I love the beauty of nature - and the lessons that can be learned while we enjoy that beauty.

It's Just Stuff

We bought this telephone chair for our house on Harvest Street. The rotary phone was on the ledge. The phone books were stored underneath. Rotary phones and phone books - things of the past. 

When we moved to North Street, the chair came with us. Never again did it hold a phone. It served many functions and held a variety of stuff over the decades. It made the trek across country with us. In our recent downsizing and reorganizing, it didn't make the cut. It's time for the chair to be part of someone else's home. We gave it away. 

I know it's only a piece of furniture. But it's something that's been in my life for more than 40 years. That's a long time. 

Scriptures - Part of Our Walk, Talk, Being

"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul ... And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 11: 18-19

God's word, the scriptures - part of our very being, part of our walk and our talk. 

Creaking & Screeching

What memories stick in our minds and why?

Every time I use a tape gun I'm taken back to the first time I really noticed a tape gun in use. Decades ago I was waiting in a long line at the UPS store on Sinclair Road in Columbus. Everyone had multiple Christmas boxes to ship. This was before the days of printed adhesive shipping labels. Every label had to be taped to the box. Behind the counter was a gum chomping woman wielding a tape gun with great gusto, determination, and intensity. For some reason, the distinctive creaky/screechy sound of the tape gun imprinted on my mind. I HAD to have one. I bought one and have been using it for decades. 

Every time I tape up a box and hear that sound, I think of that intense, tape gun wielding woman in the UPS store. 

Tulip Trip

MidApril we made our annual trek about an hour north to see the tulip fields. Since we've visited two previous years (here, here & here), I thought perhaps I wouldn't "need" to take many pictures this year. Wrong! The colors are so amazing that I felt compelled to try to capture the color, combinations, textures and overall feeling of beauty. Click on an image so you can see a "slide show" with larger pictures. 

The Roozen family business,  Washington Bulb Company, Inc.,  "of growing Tulips, Daffodils and Irises is the largest in the world, covering Skagit Valley with more than 1000 acres of field blooms and 16 acres of greenhouses. Each fall, the three-acre show garden is planted with around three hundred thousand spring-flowering bulbs, providing a gorgeous display of color during the early weeks of spring." (lovelaconner.com) The Roozen family started growing tulips in Holland in the mid1700s.

In this picture I'm standing in the gardens looking across the road to the fields filled with tulips in full bloom. It’s difficult to describe the sight of acre after acre of color.

 The three acre display garden was awesome. The plantings were beautiful with wonderful combinations of colors and textures. Everywhere you looked there was more color, more beauty, more variety. I could have stood in the gardens and fields for hours - just soaking in the awesomeness of all the colors.

This was a cloudy day. 

On a clear day you can see snow covered mountains in the distance. 

The fields of daffodils just couldn't compare with the tulips

Every once in a while you'd see something like this

two yellow flowers in a field of red

or below

tulips growing in a tree - bloom where you are planted

This river of grape hyacinth (Muscari) was planted next to one of the fields

red, white & blue

 look at these colors

see the combinations of colors, textures, & types of flowers

Ho Hum - Another Awesome Rhodie

This is our fourth Spring in Kirkland. The first Spring was a blur with moving, unpacking, and getting settled.  The second and third Springs I was totally awed by the beauty of the rhododendron that bloom here in abundance from early March clear into July. The colors are so varied, vibrant - amazing and awesome. I would often pause on my walk, or stop the car, just to admire the beauty. I took many pictures trying to capture what I was seeing and feeling. I noticed them because they were so different from Spring plants in Ohio. This was a new part of my life -  something that was being added to the beauty and abundance of my life. 

The beginning of May this year I realized I hadn't taken a picture of even one rhodie (as they call them out here). I hadn't stopped the car or paused on a walk to admire the beauty. 

I was taking the glorious beauty for granted. It had become so much a part of my life that I wasn't appreciating it as I had in the past. It had become common, routine, and ordinary. So I stopped to take this picture. The colors are even more vibrant than shown in the picture. 

This experience made me ponder what else I'm taking for granted.  What or who has become so "ordinary" that I've stopped acknowledging the beauty and awesomeness? Am I expressing gratitude for what's become routine?

family and friends

beauties of nature 

experiences with the Spirit

wonderful community and part of the country

reminders that I have a loving Heavenly Father & Brother and Savior Jesus Christ

I'm going to pay more attention, pause more often, take in the beautiful abundance of so many parts of my life - and give thanks. 

Stop-In-Your-Tracks Moments

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! ... 

the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104: 24

Have you ever come across a sight that almost took your breath away 

and made you stop to bask in the beauty and special feeling?

We were walking into a meeting in an unfamiliar place. 

I happened to look to my right and was stopped in my tracks 

by this walkway strewn with pink petals. 

Words and pictures cannot do justice to what I felt and saw. 

************

This reminds me of the magic I've felt on breezy Spring days when I happen upon a blossom filled tree. On such occasions I step under the tree and enjoy being enveloped in the beauty and magic of petals softly falling all around me. 

************

These moments of stop-in-your tracks beauty and special feeling

 bring to mind the scripture - 

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46: 10

Happy Mother's Day

A Mother's Hands

1953

February 1953 - looks like we're working puzzles

 June 1954 - Mom & Tom

teaching Susan to knit - ca 1954

painting living room ceiling - February 1955

Look at that pile of clothes! 

Did Jan have to try on all these hand-me-downs? 1955

curls for Julia in February 1955

I think Dad made the copper coil lamp on the table

February 1956 Mom & Jan fly a kite

maybe an Easter bonnet- Jan & Mom in 1956

December 1956

I think we are spatter painting Christmas cards

We love you Mom!