New Glasses for Johanna.

December 13, 2021 | Stacy

Johanna has had the same frames* since 2016.
We went a few weeks ago to get her some new specs. She went for a beautiful blue with tortoise shell arms. I love that Johanna totally relies on comfort of the glasses to make her choice. She doesn’t mess around with it.

9/21/16 she got her first pair. ◄ That link is worth clicking!

*Technically – she did not wear the exact same pair for 5+ years – in 2018 I lost her glasses at a beach in California. When we got home, however, we were able to replace them with the exact frames even though stock was almost gone.

Katriel and her Christmas offering

December 13, 2021 | Stacy

The first photo is a daytime photo of our church. The decorations are so lovely.

Katriel had to be at church by 4 for rehearsals. The children’s choir she joined on a whim turned out to be an amazing opportunity for her to offer her gifts and talents to our Christmas celebrations.

Many a Butler child has offered musical gifts, but this year, it is Katriel alone who graced the stage.

My heart was full. She kept herself smiling all the time.

As we arrived home we got to see the beautiful candles that lined the whole track. Marie and Stewart went to get ours this afternoon. It is an HOA thing. People walked the neighborhood to visit and have treats together. We missed it because of the concert, but we were very blessed by the concert. You sometimes just can’t do everything!

the busy AND THE FUN continues

December 12, 2021 | Stacy

I have exactly one photo.

I was a driver for the Youth Group progressive dinner.

The kids started at church at 4:30 PM for wild games. (They were amazing.)

Then we drove to one house for appetizers, one house for the main course, and a third house for dessert and gift exchange.

There were 36 participants.
The night ended after 10PM.

Thankfully, the last house was 5 doors down from mine. Phew.

Operation Christmas Child Processing Center and AHG

December 11, 2021 | Stacy

Nan helped yesterday by getting Marie and Tab to the drop off for their overnight trip to Charlotte, NC. They had a 3-hour shift at the OCC Processing Center there. From 7PM to 10PM the girls helped inspect boxes to verify that the contents met requirements to be sent overseas. They then sealed them and placed in larger boxes for distribution. Each hour they took a small break and heard updates about the ministry in general and the overall progress for OCC this year. The time went quickly and both girls enjoyed the experience immensely.

From there the girls went to a church in the area for the other AHG group they worked with to sleep overnight. They had pizza and chatted late into the night.

They came home Saturday afternoon, tired, but happy.

And they had time to clean up before the Amplify Youth Group Progressive Dinner.

Busy Friday? BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 11, 2021 | Stacy

I LOVE BEING THIS KIND OF BUSY!
I need to write posts like this because even three weeks later I just grin from ear to ear at how much GOD has provided us. PTL!

Friday started EARLY as I drove Nigel to the airport at 6AM for a 7:30AM flight. He headed back to Rochester to get in some holiday visits. He bought his ticket himself and planned all his rides and visits himself.

As soon as I got home, Marie and I headed to Greenville to visit Bob Jones University campus for a tour. Thankfully God nudged me earlier in the week to switch days from Thursday – (we ended up needing that time to spend that time with Jasper).

As soon as she and I got back (she liked BJU a lot) I grabbed Johanna and Katriel who were ready in their AHG uniforms so we could go to the host church to work on Christmas cards for a local nursing home.

The girls and their leaders made sure there were enough for every single resident to get one.

Then we crossed the street (passing Nan who had just dropped off Marie and Tab for their event…. I’ll do another post for that) and went to The Springs in Simpsonville. The girls were invited inside to sing and the residents who wanted to come to were given their cards in person. Many cards were read aloud and the girl who made it got to personally greet the resident. There were even a few residents who came over to hug the girls.

(Meanwhile – this very day NY entered lockdown number 3,492…)

We went home for a bit and I called John and asked if we could go out to eat before the movie the girls didn’t know we were going to. The WISE MAN (I love the guy) agreed that was the best idea. I got the girls ready and as soon as Daddy got home we ate at Cracker Barrel. We did have to rush it a bit in order to be to the show on time. We ran into people from church (I just love how we run into people we know – I love that God helps us in this way!!).

And we made it into Encanto in time for a few previews.

I love this kind of fun.

Our last day with Jasper

December 10, 2021 | Stacy

It happened so fast.
Last night, Stewart came in from the garage saying Jasper didn’t seem ok. The big guy was walking with a wobble and ended up tipping over. We assessed him. He didn’t seem in pain and was breathing easily.

The next morning when I checked on him, he was curled up with his sister on him and was lethargic.

We made a little bed for him and he lay there for the next 12 hours.

We moved him room to room with us as we did our day.

We would turn and reposition him every so often. He got lots of pets. He didn’t accept drops of water, but he opened his eyes now and then and make sad meows when he tried to move himself.

His last 30 minutes are something we are not likely to forget as we watched our friend.

We had to miss our Court of Awards for American Heritage Girls.
If you’ve read this blog or my facebook you know what AHG means to us.
There was just no way we could leave him. And he passed away during the time we would have been gone. There will be other awards ceremonies.

Fountain Inn Parade and “Pak”

December 9, 2021 | Stacy

The Fountain Inn parade was on my calendar, but with our schedule being sooooo busy I was only taking things one day at a time. Since AWANA is done for the season, that wasn’t going to be missed, and Tab planned to sit with her youth group (Johanna was tired after so many busy days in a row).

Katriel’s friend, Paisley, and her mom have a tradition for the FI parade, and we were honored they asked us to sit with them. Thankfully, Mrs. G. had a lot less crazy going on in her world, so she was actually saving a spot while I was still driving people to work!

We got there before the parade started and it was super fun to just have chatting time with Melissa and Paisley.

Near the end of the parade, a company handed Paisley a stuffed frog. Without a beat missed, Paisley handed it over to Katriel. Frogs are Katriel’s favorite animal.

She decided to name the frog Pak. It stands for Paisley and Katriel.
It’s been so hard missing our friend Madeline and Asher. It’s so special to meet an energetic and imaginative friend here.

Simpsonville Christmas Parade AHG

December 5, 2021 | Stacy

So today was a bit chillier, but far from COLD.
Right after church we hurried home, ate lunch, and got prepped for the parade.

Here is a link to the Memorial Day parade Marie, Tab and I were in many years ago in Honeoye Falls.

We walked almost two miles and got lots of smiles.

What fabulous fun.

Saturday the 4th …

December 4, 2021 | Stacy

When I say it was a tight week time-wise, I am not kidding.
My 50th birthday was Thursday and it was only from 5PM-7PM we could do dinner and celebrate…

Because I really wanted to go to the Christmas Tree lighting and fireworks in the Fountain Inn Commerce Park.

I got some yummy peppermint coffee. There was some live music. It was balmy and dry and festive.

After the mayor read from the Book of Luke (really) the tree was lit and then the fireworks knocked my socks off. They were every bit as nice as the ones in Busch Gardens Williamsburg this summer. Just wow.