The bounty of summer and approaching fall stirs up the taste buds for canning and my nephew in Atlanta, GA and his wife have inspired me get the jars, lids and spices out for dill pickles. Laura and I scrubbed, and sorted cucumbers, prepared jars, and mixed vinegar, garlic and dill into an aromatic brew. The memories of canning with my mother and with my kids come flooding back in fits of laughter spurts of reflection. The recipe for for these "Lilly's Dillys" has been passed down through the generations and still produces and variety of delighted expressions and requests for the secret ingredients.
The morning was not without some frustration as as half of the 14 plus jars did not seal, but in the end we had created a promise of good things ahead.

Children are a gift from the Lord and Otis Hamilton Laney is truly a beautiful illustration of that truth. After 30 hours of labor Otis was presented to the world and his adoring parents. John said, "Debbie was a champ." He weighed 7lbs 10 oz and was 18 inches long. Grandparents Ron and Carolyn and Aunt Anita agreed that he was the cutest and smartest baby born at the Naval Hospital that day. Otis home now bringing new sounds to the home on Wells Parkway and a delightful new playmate for Pabu. Well may not a playmate yet.

The sun was up on what promised to be a perfect fall day. I prayed this morning for our youngest son. David is a runner and has thrilled at the wind in his face and the burn in his lungs since elementary school. He loves the camaraderie of the team and the individual challenge of a personal best. My prayer this morning was not unlike many prayers I had prayed for him before on race day. I prayed for protection over the uneven terrain of a cross country course, for endurance to keep the pace and for wings on his feet at the finish. I prayed God would reward David's hard work and discipline, and his desire to honor God with his running. Now in college, David continues to be dedicated to God and his running. Hebrews 12:1 ". . .since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." has been his favorite verse since those early days.
On this day, the crowds are gathering at a beautiful park in Corvallis, Oregon. The runners are outfitted in their colorful team warm-ups and the fans are trying to keep warm and scouting the best places to view the race from. I continue to pray for David and his team as they line up at the start. I am bundled up in layers with a hat and mittens, the boys are stripping to shorts and singlet's. Every encumbrance must be laid aside, anything that entangles must be put off. "Lord, I pray, may David be sensitive to any sin in his life and confess it whenever and wherever it appears." The gun sounds and they are off. In the mass of runners it is hard to find David, but there he is in the lead pack. This is a new position for our son. We are used to cheering for him in the mid pack position, but today Lord you have enabled him to run stronger than before. You have honored his discipline. David not only holds on to that position, but consistently advances to second place over the grueling 8K course. Spectators are watching, cheering, aware of the pace of these front two athletes. I am praying for endurance, and screaming at the same time. The two are lost behind the trees for what seems like an eternity, then reappearing, we see only David, but the competition is not giving up yet. both boys pushing with every last ounce of strength.
Thank you Lord for this great day. Thank you for hearing and answering in this way today. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you that David has given you the honor and glory for this win.

I have just flown home after a wonderful week in Philadelphia. Arnon has grown from 6 lbs 9 oz to whopping 11 lbs in 7 weeks. He almost qualifies for the "Budah" or "Bubba" class.
Arnon and I had some wonderful time together. I had him all to myself for the crack of dawn shift from 5:00 until 7:00 give or take a half hour. The first days activities included a long walk to Germantown Road where we shopped and ate lunch. The next couple of days we did laundry and some cleaning as it was pouring rain. Sunday we drove to the Jersey shore and played in the sand and surf.
Arnon is featured here on the quilt that I made for him.

A New Star is Rising

Psalm 139:14 I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfull made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows well.

Arnon Tobia Peterson

Friday July 24, 2009

6lbs 9oz

19 1/2 inches long

all boy all beautiful

A gift from God

Elisabeth called home at 5:30 Friday morning concerned because her doctor did not feel Arnon should stay in his comfy home any longer. He was breach (an understatement as it turns out) and that all important amniotic fluid was quickly disappearing. After a brief trip home for essentials and to get one load of laundry started, Elisabeth was admitted and then waited for breakfast to digest. Arnon was born by c-section at 4:57 on Friday with daddy present and skilled physicians attending.

I, grandma, arrived about 11:00 pm Friday evening and there were some, due to the speed of the Internet and Face Book, that heard the news while I was still in the air.

The next three days were spent at the hospital (where Jed is a resident) totally absorbed in baby Arnon. Jed and arrived about 9:00 am and stayed until after 10:00 pm. He is a happy content baby, feeding well, alert and sleeping a little.

Elisabeth came home on Monday tired and happy. Sister Laura arrived on Monday afternoon as I was leaving.

Now comes the adjustment.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised

For the last 4 days, Carl and I have been in San Antonio, Texas at Bible Study Fellowship Headquarters. Carl has been teaching the Gospel of John to about 90 teaching leaders who will be teaching their classes in the fall. What a great week it has been. We have seen Jesus, we have walked with Jesus. We have given Him our praise and thanksgiving and He has blessed us. My passion to know Him better and serve him more fully in the power of the Holy Spirit and for His glory has been ignited. I have been encouraged through His word, through prayer, and through quiet times of meditation.

More of this later.

A wonderful time was had by all as we celebrated Elisabeth's graduation from Temple Law School.

Randie and Mark Peterson, grandma Charlotte, and John and Debbie Laney along with Carl and I enjoyed four wonderful, full days in Philadelphia. We visited the world renown Longwood Gardens -- one of Pierre DuPont's Estates, as well as Eastern State Penitentiary, and Einstein Hospital where Jed works. We had lots of yummy food, including Elisabeth's home grown strawberries, and leisure conversations.

Carl took his 1944 Ford GPW to the 82nd Avenue or Roses Parade today. There was a mix of classic cars, bands, kids, action heros along with a few military vehicles. Notice the "duck" in the background.

April 18, 2009
What a birthday present. John Laney returned today to Norfolk. VA on the aircraft carrier - the Theodore Roosevelt, after being deployed for 6 months in the Persian Gulf. We welcome him home and say thank you to all our servicemen for their service to our country. We appreciate you.

Spring is really here in Portland with all its yellows, purples and pink in full display. Ready for Easter. Yesterday the temperature was in the high 60's and we took a bike ride to the water front. I think half the city was there.

To see it is to believe it! To read it is to know it is true! David and his team had a wonderful race at Willamette University on Friday late afternoon. The sun broke through to shine on the runners and the spectators, but the temperature was a cool 47 to 50 degrees. After one lap, the runners formed two packs. the lead pack of about 8 runners stuck shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe for the first 6 or so laps, then two non collegiate runner picked up the pace and broke away. The remaining 6, from the lead pack stuck tight with only occasional jocking for the lead. David tucked himself in and decided to avoid that head wind until the last 100 meters. At that point a senior from Southern and a roommate took the lead,and a Western Oregon runner were in the first and second positions. David and a runner from Oregon were battling in out for 3rd and 4th. As the scoreboard shows it was Oregon by a breath.

When the race was over the job had been done. David qualified to go to Nationals in the 10K. Qualifying time for the 10K is 31:50. This was a PR for David and a he had seconds to spare.

What can I/we say -- David has battled with injury this season and sickness. He has been discouraged and has not been able to keep up with his usual training schedule. All I can say is David worked hard for this win, but even more than that, God is gracious, God answered this prayer in the affirmative, and God derserves our praise and thanksgiving.

We enjoyed a full Sunday today, starting around 6:00 with a quick breakfast and drive to Vancouver where Laura and Carl ran a 10K. It was the first annual Ft. Vancouver Run. It was a great event from the flat course, to the goody bags to the awards and raffle. Carl got a medal for second place in his age division. and both he and Laura won in the raffle. After a warm up shower we headed off to the Mt St. Helen's visitors center with Laura's Japanese friend and short term roommate, Marina. The weather was cool and we even ran into (not literaly) feet of snow, but it was a great drive and picnic.

Another gray drizzling day in Oregon. But hey, it could be worse. Attitude is the paint brush that colors every situation. So we decided to enjoy to embrace the gray and go snow shoeing. We drove up highway 26 hoping for a break in the weather and good hike to Mirror Lake. Our first stop was for a trail pass and a bathroom for me. The first ranger/information/bathroom stop was closed up tight. The second Ranger Station didn't sell trail passes, but directed us to the local grocery store which of course had no public restrooms. At this point, I am very glad we hadn't stop for that "white chocolate mocha" at Starbucks. Driving on and anxious to get to the trail head and on with our hike. Upon reaching Mirror Lake trail head, we noticed that the parking spaces had not been plowed and we had no place to pull over. Not to be hampered in our quest for a hike we drove on to Trillum Lake and there we started out. It take about 45 minutes or so to get to the lake. Of course it was frozen and there was not view of Mt. Hood, but we had a nice lunch and finally found a bathroom. The snow was at least 6 feet deep, but, due to a broad roof and some melting, I was able to get down, not noticing however that it was the men's side.

It is Spring Vacation in Oregon. The weather is gray and cloudy with a sprinkling of rain, which is unfortunately too typical for Spring Break. Carl and I drove down to Ashland to visit David and see a play. We spent the night in Eugene and had a good visit with mom and dad Laney. In Ashland, we saw Music Man. It was very lighthearted and fun. Great music and professional acting, a step up from the last play we saw at the Alpenrose Dairy Play house. Here are a couple of pictures of David's house and his making waffels for breakfast for us. After break

fast Dave went on a run and later we drove to Jacksonville and visited a museum and house from the 1870's.

The neighborhood is made up of side by side brick two story homes. The back yard is beautifully shaded with two broad leaf trees and a Camilla tree. The front yard has a pleasant neighborhood feel with small covered porches, inviting paths and dotted with play places for children.

I just returned from a wonderful three days in Norfolk with Debbie and Pabu. I arrived just about with with moving trucks and we were busy unpacking, organizing and enjoying the neighborhood. We had two days of gray and raining weather and one beautiful sunny day.

You can see Debbie in the kitchen organizing the cupboards and Pabu was exhausted after and all night flight and supervising the move. He now has a wonderful yard to play in, chase squirrels and interact with both neighbors dogs and their fleas!!!

After four beautiful sunny days in Portland, the rain has come. We decided to spend the soggy day driving to Eugene to celebrate Gran daddy's 87th birthday. Of course Pabu, king of the cute puppies came along. He watched and slept and we stopped at a rest stop for a potty break, but he was a little hesitant. He didn't seem to like the wet grass too much. He was a good pooch and after greeting everyone settled down in his bed under the piano for a few minutes and then was out greeting all the cousins.

We enjoyed pizza and presents, and a trip down memory Lane. Gran looked very good and is getting around slowly, but surely. Grandaddy has really stepped up to the plate and takes good care of his wife of 62 years.

Welcome aboard the USS Teddy Roosevelt - a Nimitz class, nuclear powered aircraft carrier and home to John and the "Big Stick" team for the last 4 m0nths. The Roosevelt is currently deployed and considered the most battle tested ship in the fleet. TR's task is to maintaining open sea lanes of trade and communication and wherever deployed the TR brings 4.5 acres of sovereign US territory and 97,000 tons of diplomacy.

Thanks to all the men and women that serve our country and our world with integrity and courage.

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO JOHN AND DEBBIE


What a great day it was 4 years ago. Clear and sunny, though chilly, for such an exciting event. Today I got to talk with John, who is in port, and have coffee with Debbie. I know they wish they could be together, but each is doing well and busy with interesting and exciting plans.