I love surprises!

Shortly before Christmas, a couple I'm friends with were telling me they wanted this new kind of picture frame.  It's one where you upload the pictures to it and you can invite people to be able to upload their photos online to your frame.  I thought that was a good idea, because like me, they have family all over the place and then I didn't think about it anymore.

Until:  I opened the front door shortly after Christmas and opened the cardboard box that had shown up unannounced.  I was expecting a present from #2 son and his fiance' so I was thinking it was probably that present.  I was really surprised to find the box contained the very frame my friends were telling me about.

My soon-to-be daughter-in-law had pre-loaded it with lots of pictures of her and my son.  I can't call my sons kids or boys really anymore; they're grown men now and they're decent, upstanding men.  Anyhow, I have this set so it flips pictures every two minutes and my family can, and have, uploaded some of their favorite photos to it.  I think that's really cool because it's like a gift that keeps on giving.  I'm looking right now at a photo of the "bean" in Chicago that my sons and I saw on our trip there.  A minute ago I was gazing at a side by side photo of my beagle and the Wondermutt.  Sometimes it landscapes photos.  Other times, it puts two pictures side by side.  

Because my family can upload photos, I get new pictures of my grandson and whatever else they want to share with me.  I uploaded some of my own favorites to the frame, too.  

Technology sometimes disturbs me.  I think we're getting way too smart for our own good as humans.  But this thing, I like.  If I tap the top of the frame twice it tells whoever uploaded the photo that I love it.  I think that's pretty cool, too.  

Sometimes, I wish I'd taken more pictures during my days in the military.  The pictures that would be on the frame would include the weeping tree in Salon, the Vatican, Pisa, Florence, Rome, the palace of the Popes in Avignon, photos from Amsterdam, Aachen, Alaska, the German countryside, and Linderhoff Palace, just to name a few of the places and things I've seen.

But that was then, this is now.  Now I understand more the value of a moment, the enjoyment of the simple, and just spending quiet time in God's creation.  I took lots of pictures of the dog when we got here and some of my favorites are on the frame.  The best picture I have of Bucky is the one where he got busted trying to steal a cookie from a two year old.  The look on his face is priceless, don't you think?

That one is on the frame.  The real photo without the kid cropped out of it hangs on my bedroom wall.  I miss that dog.  But the pictures I have of him help me keep him in my memory.  I look at some of them and just laugh.  Still.  

The picture frame is one of those things I didn't know I needed until I got it.  I feel a little closer to my family when I see their pictures.  I get to see my grandson as he grows, even through the distance we're apart.  And I get reminded each day of God's many blessings to me from the memories that show up in this or that photo

So the blog has a new name, a new layout,and I'm hoping to do some new stuff with it.  I miss writing.  I'm hoping to share some funny stories, some photos, and a devotional or two during the week.  We'll see how it goes.