One year later...

I've been posting several "non-Quincy" posts lately (of which I was recently reminded, no names mentioned, K*!!Y).  :-)  So I thought it was time to make a post about Q again especially since last week we celebrated our one year anniversary since we added him to our family!

It's really hard to believe that we've had Q for one year already.  Whew, where in the world did THAT year go?!  One of his favorite past-times is soaking up the sun.  He just lays on the back step and soaks up all the sunshine he can absorb, sometimes for really long periods of time.  We don't really like to leave him out unattended because we've seen some huge HAWKS fly by and we know that he's just about the right size for lunch!

Who's the cutest boy e.v.e.r.??

Ok, I know I'm partial but you have to admit, he's a real cutie!

Bob's rockin' photog skills...

I came across this photo as I was emptying photos from an SD card.  

There's nothing like an amazing PA summer sunset.

This was taken by Bob on June 15th at 8:30 p.m. (see he has photo skills too!).  :-)  Actually, he takes fantastic landscape shots as you can see from this one below. 

Just know that there was absolutely NO color manipulation done to this photo at all.

It's all GOD'S beauty - plain and simple...

Sorry if this seems like a duplicate to some of you but it was to beautiful to ONLY post on FB!

Heavy heart...

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, 

I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. 

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. 

Psalms 23:4

 

Son.
Husband.
Father.
Brother.
Uncle.
Friend.

James Austin Winters
December 30, 1949 - August 21, 2012

Uncle Jim:
You and your crazy humor,
insane quick wit,
amazing "Jeopardy-like" intelligence,
and fun-loving personality

will always be missed

but forever in our hearts and minds!

The cookie chronicles...

Whew, what a whirlwind of a weekend!  Had a baby shower in Wellsboro on Sunday so my mom and I made roll-out sugar cookies and decorated them (well, really, I decorated while she rolled-out, cut-out and baked).  We had quite a good little system down.

This...

Turned into this...

Which turned into this...

For this mamma-to-be...

Paige is the grand-daughter of our wonderful family friends, Ron and Karen.  She's due in November so they had a really nice family-style picnic at Woodland Park in Wellsboro.

Here's a couple of creations by Karen (hey, that's kind of catchy, huh?)...

That Karen, she's SO creative!

A spectacular site...

Last evening, a fairly small t-storm went through and this was the resulting spectacular view from our backyard afterward...

and the view from our neighbor's driveway, facing our house...

Absolutely s.t.u.n.n.i.n.g.! 

Bonus: double rainbow!

Bob actually saw the main rainbow from a completely different vantage point on his way home from work and he said he's never seen anything quite like it.  He said that he was driving right through the arch of it and from his view, it was even more spectacular.

In the blink of an eye...

Last week we added a new member to our household.

Meet Courtney (yes, those eyes are really that blue - beautiful, huh?!)...

Court is Bob's 2nd cousin and will be attending Penn College starting next Monday!

Woo-hoo!

Oh to be that young again!  I keep telling Courtney that in the blink of an eye she'll be old like me telling her kids the same thing I'm telling her!

Courtney moved in on Thursday.  Saturday we visited her sister, BIL and nephews at a campground in Milton called Shangra-la, it was their first time out camping with their new camper (sorry, I completely forgot to get a picture of it).

I did however get some really cute photos of the kiddos by a couple of ponds that are part of the campground.

I think the photo below of Brody and Tony is probably one of my all-time favorites - e.v.e.r.!! 

The only thing that would've made this photo better is to have the sleeping-in-the-camper little bro in the photo BUT that nap was very much needed!

Miracles really do happen...Part II

The following videos show the resurrection of the tractor from the ditch.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Luke Converse and (Pastor) Jack Delaney for making this possible so quickly after Bob's "little mishap" on Saturday. 

Amazingly, there is only minor cosmetic damage to the tractor AND it actually runs!  When Bob started it up, the tractor puffed some smoke for a minute but then hummed right along as though nothing ever happened!  The mower deck is slightly out of alignment but I probably would be too if I was suddenly flipped upside down in a ditch and left there for a couple of days! ;-)

THE LIFT:

THE FLIP: (sorry for the slight movement in filming skills - I was trying to get a better vantage point!)

Anyone NOT believing in the power of our amazing God, seriously needs to reconsider especially after reading my previous post and seeing these videos!  There is no way that Bob could've survived without HIS helping hand!

Miracles really DO happen...

Bob is living proof that miracles do happen!  About 5 hours ago (Saturday, August 4th, around 10:30ish) he decided to cut the grass with his riding garden tractor, something he does just about e.v.e.r.y. week during the summer months...and has done for the past NINE years that we've lived here.  About an hour into it, I looked out the window only to see THIS...

Actually, I didn't even see this much from my vantage point back at the house (about a hundred yards away).  I really only saw a couple of tires sticking up in the air!  Panic would've set in immediately but thank God, I saw Bob walking, yes I said walking, back to the house!!  The only thing he was holding was his head which by the time he reached me, I could see instantly that we needed to go to the ER.  Somehow he wasn't bleeding but the knot on the side of his forehead was growing by the minute and I know that head injuries are nothing to mess around with!

After a mini-battle over whether or not he needed to go to the ER, I demanded convinced him to have it checked out.  I'm so glad that we did because he ended up with a concussion and some other minor scrapes and bruises.  The CAT scan showed no visible signs of any brain bleeds at this point but we're definitely on high alert (translation: we have to set the alarm to wake up every two hours to make sure he's coherent and somewhat alert!).

Unfortunately, as Bob was mowing near the ditch-line, a small section of ground gave way near the edge and the front tire was pulled down into the ditch along with Bob and the rest of the tractor almost entirely on top of him!

You see that really big rock by the rear tire?  Bob smashed his head off from it as the tractor rolled on top of him almost pinning him completely under it - somehow he mustered enough strength to lift the tractor off himself (adrenaline rush).  As soon as he knew the tractor was heading for the ditch, he hit the kill switch on the mower blades.  Seriously, who would think of that in such dire circumstances!?

H.O.W. he walked away from this is beyond me!  Well, not really beyond me because I know that all things are possible through God.  It gives you quite the jolt when such a near death experience happens to you!

It's a true miracle that he wasn't seriously injured or even killed!!

We've thanked God many times over for cushioning his fall.