Gathering the Moments | May 2026

May was a month of beauty, celebration, and accomplishment! 

Bekah's college chorale presented its spring concert. 

It was a delightful evening of beautiful and moving music. 
Bek was a little sad that, as a college senior, this would be her last one.

Friends and family fans!

Why wait for summer? 

We fit in a little sleepover with these local grands, Macie (10) and Judah (7).

Our ladies' Bible study continued its way through the book of Hebrews.

This particular May morning was made a little sweeter by Cindy's luscious homemade caramel bread.

Barbara and I took a day trip through a few local towns: enjoying the scenery, antiquing, sipping coffee, sharing hearts, investing in friendship. 

A cluster of roses, a gift from a dear friend's garden.

The welcome gift of a quiet afternoon.

Mother's Day . . . minus the people. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Here are my pretty flowers from Ryan and his family, and the strawberry pie we had for dessert, but no photos of the beautiful faces around the table.

We spent several May evenings on the new patio, relaxing, enjoying our coffee, and listening to the birds. The Merlin app helps us to identify what we're hearing. On a recent evening, we heard the American Robin, House Finch, Northern Mockingbird, House Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, and Fish Crow, all from our small urban backyard. 

 🎊🎊 HIGLIGHT OF MAY 🎊🎊
Bekah graduated summa cum laude

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature

and a minor in Music!

May projects included reworking some landscaping 

and building new rails for the back steps (work still in progress).

Bekah was the pianist and an honorary bridesmaid for her friends' wedding, a very happy occasion!

May was indeed a month of beauty, celebration and accomplishment! 

It was also full of hard things.
(And while I generally dislike cryptic posts, I must remain silent for now about the things that have made life hard.)
Yes, life has been hard lately. But there were also moments like this, seemingly small, but actually a gift from God to my aching heart. One morning while Ron was vacuuming (bless him), I heard him singing "This Is the Day that the Lord Has Made' (the old Scott Wesley Brown version) and my heart was lifted up above my troubles. 

I am thankful for the LORD's faithfulness, 

through the joys and through the hard things! 

What I Brought Home (Besides a Full Heart)

When I told you about our recent trip south to visit our daughter Kati and her family, I told you that we returned home with full hearts, and indeed we did. But we also brought home a few physical treasures. 

I had been keeping my eye out for coral as I shopped in antique stores. This piece called my name and I had some birthday money tucked aside for a special piece. I think I surprised Ron with my choice; he didn't think it looked like my usual style, but he trusted my opinion. I plan to use it as part of my summer mantel. For now, it is atop the cabinet in my sunroom. 

We also brought home a small trove of pottery made by our son-in-law Andrew. Making pottery is one of his hobbies and he is quite good at it! They brought out a couple of boxes of pieces that they were not using and let us take whatever we wished to have. 

I bought a small potted (faux) geranium.

I picked up some beverage napkins, of course. (If you're a longtime reader, you know that I always have a stash of napkins.) I love the pomegranate ones and have tucked them away for next winter when I need a pop of color. The botanical berries will probably show up on my Bible study table soon. Life's simple pleasures. :)

(I also purchased some wool acorns and a few fall stems, but those have already been put away.)

And last, but not least, we brought home a lovely Windsor chair that Andrew had purchased shortly before he and Kati got married. When they moved to their new house three years ago, they did not have a good place for the chair so they asked us if we'd like to have it. They have been keeping it in their barn since then, but we were able to bring it home with us on this trip! 

We have a great place for it, along with something else that we purchased on Marketplace since we have been back home. 

I'll tell you about that in my next post! 

A Trip That Did My Heart Good!

It had been a   l o n g   time since we had visited our Kati and her sweet family! 

Life has changed and responsibilities have changed and that is what is necessary in this season. It is what we do. But although Kati and Andrew and the children have visited us two or three times each year, we had not been able to visit them on their turf since 2022! We had never seen their new home (they moved in 2023), and the children were too young to have even remembered our last visit. 

So you can imagine how delighted we were to finally be able to head south and see our dear ones! Many details . . . much planning . . . and the kindness of the Lord! 

These two sweethearts greeted us as we pulled into their driveway . . . 

Ellie (4) and Caleb (5)

. . . and we spent the next days having the most wonderful time together! A kid-guided tour of their charming house, hanging out, catching up, going to Andrew's parents' home for a lovely lunch, house projects, an outdoor tour of their property, coffee, delicious meals shared around their table, coffee shops, a trip to the city, eating southern foods, antique shops, a bookstore, and, of course, being enthralled by Caleb and Ellie! 

It did my mama-heart good to see our dear ones in their own place, seeing their rhythms and how they live, experiencing their favorite coffee shops, shopping at some of their favorite stores, seeing them as an established family unit. 

It also did my mama-heart good to see my Kati living the life she had always wanted: happily married and homeschooling her children. I looked around and saw evidence of her homemaking skills, collections of beautiful children's books, and this vignette. 

Nestled among some parenting and homeschooling books was a "Morning Time" candle and a framed Charlotte Mason quote, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." 

Yes, it was a wonderful trip and I returned home with a full heart! 

Memory-Making Moments: Christmas Days and Beyond

For the past several years, we have had our family Christmas Gathering on the Sunday before Christmas. As the family has grown and the grands are getting older, this concession allows the individual families to celebrate Christmas Day in their own homes. 

(To my children: turn away while I have this little discussion with my readers. 😉)

Even though I would love for our celebration to be just as it was for many years, I believe that it is important - and even necessary - to be able to give and bend and change and concede as the family grows, as life changes and as circumstances are different. To refuse to change is not reality. To refuse to change is to miss out on new joys! 

(Okay, kids. You can pop back in.)

On the Saturday before Christmas, Ryan and family arrived! It was Kati's year to spend Thanksgiving with us, so she and her family were not here at Christmas. 

Some highlights from our celebration . . . 

✨ Our own chamber music! 

Before the meal, Eve and Nora played some beautiful music. It was almost surreal to hear the glorious strains of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" coming from our sunroom! 

Here is an excerpt:

✨ Some surprise entertainment! 

During the party, there were some unusual things happening. Ryan kept sharing bits of trivia about aliens. Kristin started rounds of applause. Several times, Peter began to make an announcement, and then changed his mind. Ben began singing a Christmas song and everyone joined in. Owen kept making toasts! 

Although some of us wondered, no one said anything. Finally Ryan told us that many of them had one random thing to do and they were waiting for someone to question it! We had many laughs thinking about all of the craziness that had happened while we thought we were having a "normal" party! 

✨ There was a screaming goat! 

I had come across a little "screaming goat," dressed in an ugly Christmas sweater, no less. 

Anyone who wanted the goat put his or her name in a basket and then the winner's name was drawn. 

It was four-year-old Joanna! 

At first, she felt shy and was hesitant to make him "scream," but by the end of the gathering, he was screaming a'plenty! 😂 

✨ A prize! 

Ryan brought a large jar filled with Skittles. The one who guessed the closest to the actual number in the jar won the jar of candy plus a $50 Visa card. Owen's guess was only ONE over the total, so he took home the prize! (And Gran did not get any photos of his victory.) 

✨ The precious faces of my dear ones and the joy of celebrating together! 

And isn't that the very best part of a gathering? 

The days following brought more joys: playing games with the little girlies (before breakfast!), watching Katrina ride her new birthday scooter, party leftovers, simple meals, Christmas movies, conversation. 

After Ryan and Sarah and the children left to return home, there was still Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! 

We went to our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Christmas morning began with our traditional breakfast. 

Where once we had a table filled with family (Ron and I, Kati and Bekah, Ron's parents, and my parents), this year there were four of us. Life continually changes, doesn't it? 

Make the memories! 

We enjoyed watching Bekah, our "only" (only child still living at home, that is, although she is certainly not a child) open gifts. An espresso machine was a hit . . . and all three of us can enjoy this gift! 

And beyond . . .

There was a visit and goodies at Mom's house, slow mornings in the sunroom (sipping coffee from a vintage mug, a gift from my sister), a visit with Kristin and family (in which I took no photos 🤦🏻‍♀️), a delightful New Year's Eve party with friends (although we were home long before midnight), a day spent with our seven-year-old grandson Judah, a trip to visit my sister Linda and celebrate her December birthday.  

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 

Galatians 4:4-7