Joe Embry sends you his thanks

All of the people who have been following my blog for any length of time will remember that my son, Joe Embry, received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 63% of his body on April 26th in an accident at work.
I reached out to everyone I knew and asked that you pray for Joe's healing.  You did pray and those prayers were answered in the most amazing way.  The doctors and nurses and all the people at the hospital were wonderful and gave Joe the best treatment possible.  They treated us like we were part of the healing process and encouraged us to visit four times a day.  Joe was encouraged by your prayers and all the cards you sent! Some of you sent two or three cards over the course of the two months we were in Augusta, GA at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center/Doctors Hospital.  Your loving concern and your prayers helped us through a very difficult time.  Jeep and I will be eternally grateful and thank you from the bottom of our heart.   Don't ever be afraid to ask for prayer.   It's a powerful thing!

The top left picture was made in the hospital while Joe was in rehab, after spending seven weeks in the ICU.
The top right was made on July 2nd on the trip coming home from Augusta.  Note the shirt sleeve!!
Bottom left is Joe with his children Kymberly and Jesse, who were delighted to have Daddy and Momma home.  Joe will kill me for posting these,  he was so tired from the long trip and wearing his compression suit for the first time!  The last one was made a couple of weeks ago.  Joe and his family wanted to thank you, too.

To all of Mama's Blogger Friends:

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me!  There are literally thousands who have been praying and I know this is the main reason I am out of the hospital and doing as well as I am.  I am still a little weak and have trouble with stairs, but am blessed that I can use my hands and get around.

I have been blessed with good friends and by the prayers of so many who I will never know!



Thanks to all of you.
 
Joe Embry and family

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Today I'm thankful that I can be posting this note from Joe!!  It could have been very different.

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Turkeys

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This afternoon I saw one of our resident rabbits in the back yard and was trying to get a shot of it out the kitchen window.  I called to Jeep and asked if his camera with the 400mm lens was handy.  He said , No, but he would get it.  When I turned back to the window I said, "Hurry there are some turkeys in the yard!"

Two young turkeys had wandered into the yard from the thick woods behind the house.

They were not in a hurry but just looked around for a while.

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After posing nicely for us, they ambled back into the woods.  You never what you will see out in the back yard next!  I keep hoping to see a deer!
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Today, I'm thankful that I get to live in the country!

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Wordless Wednesday

 

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Today I'm thankful for the 'honeymoon trip' we made in 2007!

These pictures were made at Wall Drug Store

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On an Ordinary Tuesday

After the rain showers came through, we had blue skies with lots of big white puffy clouds in Bellefontaine.

Seems like most every day we have a few showers scattered around this area.  That's nice, because it means I don't need to water the flowers!

Speaking of flowers, they are covered with all kinds of insects looking for a sweet treat.  This Snowberry Clearwing Sphinx Moth barely paused long enough for me to get this shot.  The Snowberry Clearwing Moth is a small hummingbird moth which more closely resembles a large bumblebee rather than a hummingbird. 
 The camera shutter speed was set at 1/2000th of a second and it still didn't quite stop his wing action!

There were three of these beauties on the phlox at one time this morning.  

It's hard to walk away, when there are so many pretty butterflies just begging me to make their picture!

I'm sure Leedra knows the names of all these.  I used to try to keep up with them, but decided to just enjoy them and let someone else keep up with their names.

We saw many Hummers coming to the feeder today for a drink of sweet water.   Jeep saw one confrontation between a Hummer and a Butterfly, over which one was going to drink first. 

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Today I'm thankful for all the beauty around us!

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Name this Butterfly

I'm guessing this is a Black Swallowtail of some kind.  So many butterflies with different markings, I never can be for sure!

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Whatever name they go by, they are very beautiful and I can't resist chasing them, even with a sore foot.

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Today, I'm thankful for these beautiful butterflies!

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Meriwether Lewis National Memorial

As mentioned on a previous post, we stopped to see the National Memorial to Meriwether Lewis on a recent trip into Tennessee.  We made these pictures (except the one of Mr. Lewis, of course:-)                    I went to the Internet for it and some of the information.

Portrait of Meriwether Lewis

The Corps of Discovery

When Thomas Jefferson was looking for a strong, bold leader to explore the northwest in search of an all-water connection between the Missouri River and the Pacific Ocean, he found an eager volunteer in his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis. Jefferson agreed that Lewis was the man for the job, and on May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery left St. Louis.

The 2.3 year tour failed to find a continuous waterway to the Pacific, but it succeeded spectacularly in accumulating massive amounts of geographical, cultural, and biological information. This information, though familiar to the resident American Indians and the French and British trappers in the northwest, was previously unknown to scientists.

The Memorial

Meriwether Lewis was buried near Grinder's Stand, and, in 1848, the State of Tennessee erected a memorial to honor him. A simple erect, broken shaft reaches above the stone base, symbolizing a life cut short. The memorial includes several inscriptions, one in Latin. “Immaturus obi; sed tu felicior annos vive meos: Bona Republica! vive tuos.” “I died before my time, but thou O great and good Republic, live out my years while you live out your own." To see the Lewis Monument, visit the Meriwether Lewis Site at milepost 385.9 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The picture below is said to be the house where Meriwether Lewis died.

After the expedition returned home, Jefferson rewarded Lewis with the governorship of the Louisiana Territory. As the presidency changed, so did politics. Several of the bills that Lewis submitted to the Department of War for payment were questioned, and Lewis set out from St. Louis (the capital of the Louisiana Territory) toward Washington to defend them.

Part of Lewis’s route took him along a portion of the Natchez Trace. During the early morning of October 11th, while staying in Grinder’s Stand, Lewis died of gunshot wounds. Did he commit suicide, or was he murdered? The debate still goes on today.

This couple was very interested is this memorial because they had both read books about Meriwether Lewis and the lady had read a book about his dog, written from the dog's point of view.

There were several other graves marked only with a name on small flat stones in the ground and scattered around the monument.  

Some of the information and picture of Mr. Lewis was taken from the Internet: http://www.nps.gov/natr/historyculture/meriwether-lewis.htm

Today I'm thankful that history such as this has been well preserved for future generations.

Summertime......

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And the Livin' is Easy.......

On a recent short trip to Tennessee, we stopped by Meriwether Lewis National Memorial.  Making a loop around the park, we stopped and I walked down to a little stream.  This family was either picnicing or camping and enjoying the cold mountain stream.

The water was very shallow and probably very cold, although I didn't check to see.

 When I was a kid, I would have liked to play in a place like this.

After a while, I began to see some little fish and tried to photograph them.

Many of these small, red finned fish darted about in the crystal clear shallow water.

The children playing in the water were not aware of it, but they were making memories for a lifetime!

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Today I'm thankful for clean parks where people can enjoy camping and picnicing.
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I'm Always Chasing Butterflies

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P. S. Later in the day, I noticed that the above picture had won the Approver's Choice Award on WeatherUnderground's Wunder Photos!! 
See more by clicking HERE.

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Today I'm thankful for Butterflies!  They make me smile.

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