Good Memories

For those who don't know, we have placed membership at Westwood Church of Christ. We have really been enjoying it there and getting to know everyone.  On Sunday 3 of the songs that we sang brought back a lot of good memories for me:

Every Time I Feel the Spirit
He Bore It All (Mein Jesus gab sein teures Leben hin)
When My Love to Christ Grows Weak

I sang all of these songs with the Chemnitz Acappella Singers so when we sang these songs, it lifted my heart and made me smile. :)

Concert in Oelsnitz June 2005 (I think one of our first concerts as a group)

 

Concert at Galarie Oben June 2007

 

Concert in Zwickau September 2007

 

 Concert DAStietz March 2009

Heidi is 2!

On January 20th, Heidi turned 2! I can't believe she is so big!! The past 2 years have just flown by. We had an Elmo birthday party for her on the Saturday the 23rd. She loved it! It was a small party just for family. Clint's parents, Grandma and Grandpa came from Ohio. My parents, Mimi and Papa, were there and Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lana and cousins Claire and Lydia were there. It was a lot of fun. Heidi got lots of fun presents and she had an Elmo cake! Check out the pictures:

 

Elmo Birthday sign

 

Heidi's cake

 

Opening presents

 

Lydia helps Heidi check out her presents

 

Heidi getting excited about her presents

 

We bought her a balance bike in Germany- It has no pedals. It is meant to help her learn balance. She just uses her feet to push herself along. After a little adjustment, she can now touch the ground more than in this picture. I'm not so sure she is really into it yet though. It might take her a while to get excited about it.

 

Yummy cupcakes!

Grandma and Grandpa Everhart

 

Mimi and Papa Wooldridge

 

Aunt Lana, Cousin Lydia and Uncle Jonathan

 

Daddy scooping the ice cream

 

Claire enjoying her cupcake

 

Heidi loved the cake and ice cream

Conversation with Heidi

Heidi: I'm scared
Mama: Don't be scared, baby.
H: I scare me?
M: No, don't be scared. It's ok.
H: I scare me? Raaaaaahhhhhhrrrrrr
M: Haaah Oh no!!
H: Ok, Mama? (patting me on the leg)
M: Yes, I'm ok.

Translation:
Heidi wanted to scare me... she doesn't have "me" and "you" figured out yet so when she says "scare me" she means "scare you". She does the same thing when she wants us to hold her. She says: "hold you?"

She's so cute and funny....

forEVER in our HARTS

I finally made a decision on the new blog name in case you haven't noticed. I wanted to make Everharts in big letters and the others small letters, but I will have to work on that. There might be a new look to the blog soon as well.

I promised an explanation for the meaning to the title so here it is:

The idea actually came from our friend Janine in Chemnitz/Dresden. :) She wrote it in a memory book that our friends made for us when we were leaving Germany. Many of our friends made personalized pages with notes and messages for us to keep and to help us remember the time we had in Chemnitz. It is something that we will treasure forever. In Janine's message she made a play on words with our name to communicate the love she has for us and that we will always be in her heart and the hearts of the church there.

I wanted to use the title for our blog because it is a mutual feeling for us as well. Even though we are thousands of miles away from our Chemnitz family, they have left a permanent mark on our hearts that will last the rest of our lives. Everything that we do in our lives from this point forward will be still somehow be influenced by our experiences in Germany. That is why we will miss them and ache to see them often. But, we know that God has blessed our lives because of them and the time we had there. We pray that we may see them again someday soon.

If I could post a picture of every single person who made an impact on me, I would. But for now, I will leave you a few pictures from over the years of some very special people.

 

 

 

 

 

New age, new phases

Now that Heidi is 2, (post to come about that) she is starting some new phases. Starting about a week or two ago she started reaching things on high surfaces that she hadn't been able to before. She was watching a video and I walked into the room to see how she was doing and she had the remote and had turned the TV off. I didn't think she could reach it! Then the other day she grabbed something off the kitchen counter! We will have to be careful what we put on the counter.

Lately she has also started to figure out how to undress herself... just partially. So the past few mornings I have gone in to get her and she is only half clothed.

Save a Place for Me

I heard this song on the radio the day I was driving to Texas for my Granddad's funeral. It seems appropriate with the passing of both of my grandpas. It made me cry and I wanted to share it with you. Click on the song title to listen to it.

Save a Place for Me

Don't be mad
If I cry
It just hurts so bad, sometimes
'Cause everyday it's sinking in
And I have to say goodbye all over again

You know I bet it feels good to have the weight of this world off your shoulders now
I'm dreaming of the day when I'm finally there with you

(Chorus)
Save a place for me
Save a place for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
Save a place for me
Save some grace for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

I have asked the questions why
But I guess the answers for another time
So instead I pray, with every tear
And be thankful for the time I had you here

(Chorus)

I wanna live my life Just like you did
Make the most of my time Just like you did
And I want to make my home up in the sky Just like you did
Oh, but until I get there...
Until I get there...

(Chorus)

Driving to Texas

Please pray for safe travels. Heidi and I are driving to Yukon and then riding with my Dad to Texas today. I love you all. Thank you for your sweet messages and especially your prayers at this time.

While I'm gone....

There are new photos posted on Flickr and new videos posted on Youtube. Look at the links on the left side of the page. Scroll down to find them.

Granddad went home

Terrell Hershel Cox

April 28, 1925- January 4, 2010

Granddad passed away sometime after 2:00 this morning. Clint, Heidi and I were just there visiting from Thursday until yesterday. When we left yesterday, I knew it would be the last time to see him before he went home. I have to say that I felt somewhat relieved to hear that he is no longer suffering. At the same time it is so hard to even grasp that he is gone and that Papa is also gone... all within such a short period of time. I just have to put my trust in God that He is still here, giving us comfort and strength.

I will always remember that everytime I saw Granddad he usually said something like, "Darlin', did you know that I love you?" I can hear his West Texas accent and feel his strong hug and kiss on the face. He did love his family. He loved Grandma so much and loved his girls and their kids just as much.

Heidi and I will drive back to Texas with my Dad tomorrow. Please continue to remember us in your prayers.

Granddad and his sisters

12-27-09

Opening poll again

The last poll for the blog name was pretty inconclusive so I opened it again for a longer period of time. So everyone please vote again. I guess if it's inconclusive again I will just figure out where to go from there.

Prayers for Granddad

The same weekend of the my Papa's funeral, my Granddad was sick at home. My mom finally convinced him to go to the doctor with her. They did some blood tests to see if he had an infection and gave him some medicine and sent him home. While we were at the funeral the doctor's office called to tell him he was very anemic and he needed to go to the emergency room immediately for a blood transfusion. As soon as we got back from the funeral he called my mom to tell her and my parents took him to the ER.

They ended up sending him to Lubbock so they could do a bone marrow biopsy. The results were that he has acute leukemia. Because he is 84 years old chemotherapy is not an option. He has pneumonia so he has been in the hospital in Lubbock until they can take care of the pneumonia. Then he can go back to Snyder, Texas.

There is a room next door to my Grandma in the assisted living where she lives. He will be in hospice there. I'm so glad they will be together.

Please pray for him and for my Grandma. I just can't believe this is all happening. Clint and I are trying to figure out a time when we can go see him. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Obed Wooldridge

My Papa passed away on December 11, 2009. He was 85 years old. He was a good man who loved his family and worked hard to take care of them. He was a Christian man and lived his life as one. His sense of humor was so great and I will never forget his laugh and joking spirit. He loved my Mama so much and since her passing 4 years ago, he missed her so much. He has now been reunited with her. We are so glad that he is at peace and we know we will see him again someday.

New name

Ok, so far I have a couple of favorite ideas for the new blog name.

Everhart to Heart
forEVER in our HeARTS (or maybe just spelling it HARTS... I can't decide what I like better) There is also a story and some sentimentality that would go with this one.

So please take the poll on the left side of the screen. Thanks!

Sophia and Elke's visit

Right after our family vacation we had visitors. Our friends from Chemnitz, Sophia and Elke, came!

They planned a 3 week trip around southwest US. Their trip began in OKC with us for a few days!

The morning after they got here our container arrived from Germany! Since the girls were jet lagged, they slept in but several friends of ours came to help us unload the container into my parents' garage.


The container arrives!


The guys waiting to unload


More helpers

Later that day we took the girls to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. We went into the museum first which was very moving and then we looked around outside at the memorial. I didn't get a lot of pictures on my camera but the girls got a lot so maybe I will post a few of their pics soon.

That night we went to dinner at Ed and Courtney's place. It was good to spend time with them.


The next day we took them to Bricktown in downtown OKC.


Bricktown Ballpark


Riding on a water taxi on the Bricktown Canal.


Land Run Statues along the Bricktown Canal.


Girl picture!


No first-time trip to the US is complete without a trip to Walmart.


At the Oklahoma State Fair


We watched the Great Plains Indian dance.





Fun picture we had made at the Fair!


Elke and Sophia with Heidi the night before they left OK.

Family Vacation

The cousins all together in September

In September my entire family got together and had our first family vacation after many years. This was the first time we all went together with all spouses and children. It was a lot of fun! On Sunday morning before we left, we took some pictures of the girls in their matching dresses made by my Mom, Mimi!

We went to Lake Tenkiller near Talequah, Oklahoma. Heidi's favorite thing to do at the lake was play with the rocks!

Daddy and Heidi having fun at the lake

Heidi and Ashlyn playing in the water. Ashlyn couldn't wait to get in so she jumped in with her clothes on.

Riding on Papa's boat

Lydia and Heidi playing in the water

The girls enjoyed playing with play dough

Papa can always make Heidi laugh!

Cousins

Water fun