Precious Memories

In Loving Memory of...

My Grandmother

Mary Ellen Elder
July 30th, 1940 - July 27th, 2002

She went to be with the Lord after complications from her battle with cancer.  She was dearly loved by all who new her and will always have a special place in our hearts.  Not only did we loose our grandmother eight years ago, but mommy lost her mother - her best friend.

Grandma Elder was a very special person.  I cannot adequately express in words how special she was and how dear she still is to our hearts.  I will never forget her and still think of her often.

She had a hard battle with cancer.  But, I never heard her complain.  She was always joyful and I always looked forward to visiting her and grandpa.  She was just a wonderful person to be around!

Grandma was extremely involved in her grandchildren's lives.  Even when she was feeling terrible, she still did just as many things with us.  Grandma always loved to hear anything and everything we had to tell her and whenever I was excited about something, I couldn't wait to tell grandma.
Grandma and I would go on adventures, take nature walks and sometimes read books all day.  We explored new places, built cardboard box houses and cooked together in the kitchen.  We played on the floor, fixed picnic lunches and went on boat rides.  We did errands together and had special lunch outings and I always looked forward to our early morning cuddle and story times.  We played in the sandbox, watched the rain, saw rainbows and planted flowers together.  Grandma was there and was ready to do anything with or for us whenever we needed her.  I will never forget the time I woke her up because I was hungry in the middle of the night.  What did she do?  We went to the kitchen, grandma cut me an apple and we talked as I ate it and then went back to bed.  These are just some of the many precious memories I have of grandma and I want to share some pictures with you.

Pictures with Grandma

(click on the picture to see a larger version)

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa with all of their (then) grandchildren.

Time with sienna.

This is the last picture us girls have with grandma and grandpa.

Coloring together

Taking a rest
(Grandma, Weston, Sabrina, (myself), Jacob)

Our last Thanksgiving together.

Eating lunch, having fun.

More times together (that's our cousin Weston)

Reading with Sabrina

Getting ready to go for a boat ride.

Making pies.

In March, we went to remember... our mother, grandmother, the women who was a huge blessing to all who knew her.

We love you grandma, and always will.

Who needs a jungle gym when you've got daddy?!

-- Post From My iPhone

Birthdays...

During our absence from blogging we celebrated two birthdays!!!   Sienna's birthday was June 11th and Daddy's birthday was July 6th.  For daddy's birthday we took him to eat and do some shopping in Oklahoma City.  Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from that expedition, but it was a lovely day!  Below however, are pictures from Sienna's birthday.

The birthday girl

Sienna and Sayer

Sienna and Seth (he is growing a beard! :)

Sienna and Stasia

Sienna and Sabrina

Sienna and I

Sienna and Mommy

Sienna and Daddy

Opening gifts.

The cake

A birthday prayer.

Daddy and Sienna by her birthday countdown sign.

We love you Sienna!!!

Quote For The Day

"Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame."

- Benjamin Franklin


-- Post From My iPhone

Goings on....

Greetings to all of you!!! Long time no post! :) I hope that everyone is having an enjoyable summer. For once, you may agree that I have a somewhat reasonable story as to why I've not been blogging. Besides the fact that we have been doing a lot lately (as I'm sure everyone else has been too!), our computer that has all of our pictures for blogging on it has not been working. :( It's in the process of being fixed though so I hope to be able to do many more posts in the near future. We shall see. Thankfully, we have copies of our photo library, so we don't have to worry about losing the pictures. It just makes blogging difficult. Anyway... I am posting this from my phone as well as the picures that will follow (which is why they don't have the greatest quality!). I hope the little bit of updating that I am able to do will be enjoyed by all! :)

Life in the Cochran family the past couple of months. How do I sum it all up?! I'll do my best...

Tons of canning!!!!!! What a blessing!!!!! This is our first year to really can like this and it has been a neat experience. Although we've all participated in the picking of the fruit (I think Shenandoah ate more than she picked :) and preparation for canning, mommy and Sabrina have been the main ones canning. So far we've been doing apricots and sand plums. Below are a few picures.




Whole Apricots




Apricot Jam




Sand plum jelly (we are still making more!)




Another picture




The bees have also been taking a lot of my time. Between building frames (its been hard to keep up with them - which is a blessing!), and inspections to make sure I'm keeping them supplied with honey supers, this is a busy time of year for the beekeeper! I have one hive with 5 supers on it!!! I am so excited. Harvesting is just around the corner and I am so thankful for the prospect of a great harvest.




I've also been doing some sewing. It is time for new skirts!!!

For fun here are some other random pictures taken recently.




A recent sunset from my window in the car.




Flowers!!





These are some that a neighbor gave us from her garden!




One of our outdoor kittens.




Playing outside. Evening is a better time to be out. It has been very hot!

Well, at least this is somewhat of an update! Besides these things I'd say "normal" everyday life, school (I'm working hard to finish this fall :), garden, and other things around our property keep us active.

Blessings to all! Hopefully you'll here from us again soon (we'll see about the computer!)

Savannah