Pink Saturday

Hey  Friends and neighbors!!!  

 I am still kickin' up my heels  

 about being  featured on  Beverly's

 Pink Saturday

 this week...  So  here   we  go!!!!

Pink Saturday

For more  PS   visit Beverly here!!
First of all, I want to   say   what an honor and a blessing  it is to have been asked to be featured here today.
My name is  Carolyn,  but my blog  friends call me Schotzy...

I started  blogging   about  4 and a half years ago.... as a retired teacher,   I  found blogging  a  wonderful replacement therapy   and  gave me  the  opportunity to write, one of my favorite pastimes!
I consider my  blog an online journal...  I love to document  events in my  life, 

 our home,

 and our family.. 

 I try to  tell my story   from   my   position  as   a child of God....   sharing the blessing and   the  things learned   through the ups and downs of life ...   and I   especially adore  meeting new friends and sharing  in the many blog parties about  home and families!

I am so excited about the fast approaching holidays.  I can hardly wait to Gather Together...

Please stop by  to see what's up at Wings of Eagles... be sure  to leave me a  comment so I can   visit you back!
Please   click  below  to continue on to my   Pink Saturday  post entitled, We   Gather Together!

This time of year is  filled with  all kinds of   wonderful   family memories and traditions.

Even as the  maples and oaks that  line our   street  burst into   full radiance,   we  busily prepare  for   that     busy time   we  all  look so forward to.... Thanksgiving!!!

We Gather  Together 

 is a favored  hymn  for this  time  of year.

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing; 

 he chastens and hastens his will to make known. 

 The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing. 

 Sing praises to his name, he forgets not his own.

Not one single   time  has   the Lord forgotten to    prepare our hearts for   this season of  giving thanks  back to Him for  all the many blessings   of life....

 He sends us   many reminders that the year is winding down and    harvest is come....  time to   rejoice in  His bounty and provision and  to  bring  family and friends together   to celebrate....  joy in  being  together,  times of  recounting   the   things for  which we are thankful!

I  can think back to so many  marvelous   family gatherings...   some of  which   I  have only  a few   old snapshots   that will   show ,  as if in a dream,  the visage of loved ones  coming together  around  the Thanksgiving table..

The   following  photo was  taken in 1960 at my Aunt Betty's home...  Grandma Cox  was     carving the bird  as  my   dad  looked on......   I was  10 and probably   up to no good outside with  my cousins!

In 1975  my husband in the striped shirt  and I  in the white  hat  joined in  with   all my   cousins on my dad's side with  our beloved  Granny!!! We  had  been married about  3 years here and loved coming    back to  Grandma's   for  holidays...

We  looked   forward  to   seeing the folks,   of course,   but   the   apple sauce cake,  pumpkins pies, and    mashed potatoes  with gravy  and      turkey held  an allure  all their own as well!

 In about 1988  we gathered with  dad's  family  yet again  to  share in the  family reunion....   Granny   was in heaven,   and our  precious daughter   was  seeing  with   loving eyes  life lived in the country...

 IN  2005  our daughter, then a  student  at University,  was married and  she and her  husband had   the  deep desire to host  the family  in  their new  home...   the first year in their   first   home......a small apartment right off of campus.....   the traditions of   the season   resonating in them  to   create   the  love and   blessings   with  which they   had  grown into maturity  and   resoundingly  wished to share with  kith and kin!  I'll never  forget   the passage  of scripture that  Amanda   seated a t the head of the table  shared, 

 Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

As  Joshua  proudly sat  by preparing to serve   their  first   beautiful    turkey they had  brined and    seasoned to perfection....   this  was  one of the  first   of many   luscious meals  they have   enjoyed  sharing with  family and friends

 For them ,  they just put a few tables together  and     let the love and   good times roll... 

Whether   we  have  been amassed   with   scads of relations  around tables laden with  multiple dishes....  or  now,  for  Lynn  and I,   bringing my parents in for   a quiet   time of   blessing and  love ... my mother,  who  now resides in   a nursing home  a few miles away....

 My dad   at  93   who  resides  in  the  Assisted living    in the  VA....  these times  are  poignantly  sweet and very  dear to us.....  as  we   assemble   our best and   pour forth  the  graciousness   we have   been blessed with  so many  times,  and   recall the   living memories in  our   minds and hearts!

 Our  traditional menu   laid out  lovingly on the very same  tablecloth  my  grandmother  cherished so long ago...

 My mother's   wonderful and   the best  dressing   that   no one  can  recreate    no matter how hard Ive tried!!!

 The colorful   plates that   still remind us of the many times we pushed back from the table to make room for dessert!

   These  wonderful memories  continue  to   swell up in   us  each year  just about this time as we plan  how we can   recreate   a  feeling,  a mood,  an experience promising not to disappoint as we  gather together     to  ask the Lord's blessing on our  families,   homes, and our  country!!!!

  God bless you  one and all!