New Year for the old blog!

Trying to resurrect the old blog here...My dear friends know what kind of year 2011 was for my family. If you are new to my blog, let me reminisce for a few minutes. On February 24, 2011, we welcomed in our 2nd grandson/5th grandchild, William Chesterton Morrison! What a very pensive boy he has been....the personality = to his oldest sister, Charity:) We are definitely blessed.

2011 continued to bring many regular monthly visits with my dad and we cherished them greatly. In June, he came to live with us while my sister-in-law was recuperating from a knee replacement. My dad was 85 and we could see him gradually slowing down more. To make this story move rapidly, he suffered a minor stroke in mid July---2 months in 2 different nursing homes, 2 different hospitalizations and then back to my brother's home for him to live out his days. I am so thankful that God allowed me to be of service to my Randy, Susan and my dad. I was able to be with him for 5 weeks until he passed into the arms of precious Savior on Nov. 16. How I miss my dad! Everyone liked him. Never met a stranger. He has been reunited with his wife of 61 years. He is able to see Jesus face to face...My heart aches for that day!

Enter 2012! To be honest, I've been trying to find my niche since dad passed.. When you care for a loved one they encompass your thots 24/7. Now, my thoughts are precious memories! Memories we laugh at and yes, even cry.

Thot it was time to get back to blogging. Looking forward to sharing pics of my crafts...and yes, even our precious family too:)

Thanks for stopping by and hope you continue to do so!

Willa Jean

PS Felt it befitting to put a pic of my dad on here! Miss him greatly!

New Door

Well, tomorrow I begin a new job as a receptionist for the Amherst County Public Works Dept. I'm looking forward to this opportunity:) I've been off since June and have truly enjoyed the time off but it is time to go back to work. Hopefully, the hours for this job will be set soon and I will have a regular schedule. At the most, I will be working 20 hrs/wk. This job is only 10 min. from our house which is an added blessing:) So, here's to learning new things and meeting new people! I'm just hoping I don't forget to go to work (HA)!

Thanks for stopping by:)

Willa Jean

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I LOVE the colors in this card, they make me smile! Hopefully, this will have the same effect on the recipient:)
This card was make for 2 challenges and came together very easily.
I have accumulated alot of goodies and was able to pull out items that I
have had and never used:) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Sunday News

We met my brother and his wife in Lexington Thursday to bring my dad here for the week. They were going to ABC for a visit. Love having dad here:) He is very low maintenance. He gets to spend time with Meghan, Shawn & Emily and the Fab 4. The main word that comes to my mind on these visits is the memories that his great grandchildren will have of him coming down and spending time with them.
I have thrown myself into making cards, taking pics of them and loading them onto my gallery at SCS. I'm not sure if I'm a slow learner or this process just takes a while, but I have spent A LONG time on the comp. learning about photoshop. So thankful for dear friends who have sent me links to resizing photos to a DIY light box. My SU friend is going to work with me on Tuesday with my camera.
This blog http://365cards.blogspot.com/ issues daily challenges. I took a leap and did every one for Sun-Sat! So much fun!!
Emily is coming over for dinner tom. p.m. and yes, she set the menu:)
Our youngest granddaughter, Emmie, turns 2 on Tuesday! She is our monkey:) I think she would climb the walls if her mom let her:) She is the tiniest of all the children and she knows she is spoiled:) Looking forward to her party on Thursday.
Looking forward to watching Andy Griffin, Walker, TX Ranger, and whatever else my dad wants to watch and a trip to Wal-Mart (prob. 2) will be in the plans for the week:)
Thanks for stopping by.
Willa Jean

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Here's my card for Mercy's Sketch Challange. This is my first one...I took the plunge!

This card came together quite quickly. You can never have too many birthday cards:)

supplies: SU Tangerine Tango and retired dsp CS; SU River Rock stamp pad; SU All the Cheer II retired stamp set; SU River Rock Ribbon; buttons from my stash.

Thanks for looking,

Willa Jean Coates

My first card challenge:)

Worked on some cards this a.m. Decided to participate in a challenge.

This is the card I submitted. It's going to someone very special:)

supplies: white cs, SU seeing spots, SU soft sky & certainly celery ink, button

Thanks for stopping by:)

Willa Jean

Birthday/Reformation Day

Last night, the family celebrated my birthday and Reformation Day. Halloween has become so gory and dark that the Morrisons have decided not to participate in Trick/Treat. We totally agree. So, we brought over candy for the gr-kids to enjoy. We had snacks and just a great time of being together. Emily had baked my dessert==a brownie that was beautifully decorated:) The gr-kids helped me blow out the candles. Birthdays are so much fun with the little ones:) In addition to the dessert, Emily gave me a fall candle; Meghan made me a sweater (Morrison Original); John & Ellen gave me a plant-that I promised I wouldn't hurt:)

Shawn talked to the older 3 about Reformation Day and how Martin Luther took a stand for the truth...the only way to get to heaven was thru the acceptance of faith in the sacrifice of God's Son.

So thankful for our family!

I am blessed far more than I deserve

Willa Jean