Sheri L. Swift's Blog, page 8

This is my Sweetheart and best friend.  This May we are celebrating 26 years of marriage.

This picture was taken at last years Author's on Grayson Book Festival.

We've raised four daughters, adopted another into our family and now are blessed beyond belief with eleven precious grandchildren.

He's been my rock in the toughest of times and helped me to laugh through the worst of pain.

Thank you baby!  What a ride!  ;)

Some of you may know that this is my *happy* place.  Now that spring has sprung its beginning to come alive again.

I'm often sitting on my little bench of stone and praying for my family, friends and my state of Virginia.

Tomorrow is our #NationalDayOfPrayer and I plan to be praying for our Nation.

I don't take it lightly and I pray for our President, leaders, those who serve and have served our great Nation in every capacity, and I pray for all of our citizens.

Prayer is a privilege I hold dear and I only wish God's will and His best.

If you live in this great Nation, won't you join me?  ;)

   This is my kitchen table last Sunday as I was setting up for our lunch.  I was in charge of desserts, Vegetables with ranch dip and some of the chicken.
   I made strawberry shortcake trifle.  I also set up a triple layer of butterfly cakes and cookies.  We had sour and regular jelly beans, with dark and peanut m&m's.
   In addition to Christmas, this is the Holiday I like to go way out and spoil those I love with food pleasing to the eye as well as the palette.
   Several of us serve in some capacity on Easter Sunday with our Churches, so we started celebrating Easter on Palm Sunday.
   I also enjoy the *quality* time I have with my children and grandchildren on this day.
   We enjoyed a chicken dinner with all the fixins, as we say in Southwest Virginia.
   The children enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard.  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.   Some of our Sons-in-love got a little creative when it came to hiding, but it made it all the more fun for the children.   We usually play board games in the afternoon, but this time we just enjoyed visiting with one another.  My husband and I enjoyed loving on all those grandchildren!   I hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter celebration this weekend!  ;)

We've had one of the coldest winters here in the Blue Ridge since my husband and I moved to Virginia in 1995.

It's so good to feel the warm sun again and my little African Violet plant is happy to see it too!

I'm enjoying wearing sandals again and my spring clothing.

We usually don't have Rhododendron blooming until the first part of May as well as Dogwoods.  I'm hoping for an earlier bloom this year.

I hope your enjoying spring or whatever new season in your part of the world!  ;)

I wrote a blog a few years ago about how my family always celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a remembrance of an exceptional person and also a way to remember our heritage.

When all my girls were nearly grown, I discovered my family (McLain side) originated from Lochbuie, Scottland.  They changed the spelling from the original name (MacLaine) and eventually settled in Glasgow Ireland before my branch came to America.

So you might say we have a true Scotts-Irish heritage; none the less, we enjoy donning the green!  ;)

While driving to an appointment the other day, my husband and I drove down one of the lovely little winding roads in our area of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Along our drive, I saw running parallel to my road was new construction.  The construction was apparently a new byway which will straighten out the road.
They were tearing up the hills and had removed large sections of mature trees.  I always wonder at what cost we do these things.
It seems this generation is always in a hurry to get somewhere.  We lost the beauty along the way and the time we took to notice it.
Hey, I'm all for making roads safer, but wish there was still a way to save the trees and keep the ways of enjoying them with our families.

Valentines is always a special time for me, not only a time to celebrate the love of my Sweetheart, but also one of my daughters and I share birthdays in this month.
I cannot help but be overfilled with love and gratitude and I express it with decorations and treats for those I love.
I hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day also and are able to celebrate it with love and gratitude!  ;)

A Promise Kept
Robin Lee Hatcher's new novel is out and is a beautiful story of loss and redemption.  It is filled with love of a family and friends as close as family.

It has a story within a story of two lives so profoundly touched by God.  It tells of perseverance through heartache and God's perfect timing of restoration.

Robin shares that this story is very close to her heart as she also had struggles within her own marriage and how God's faithfulness helped to restore it.

Hope you'll check it out!  ;)

As I sit here writing this today I am amazed how well my book Legend of the Mer is doing on #Amazon #Kindle.  As of today, my ebook is on Amazon's Best Seller's list in three categories, #12, #28 and #33.

Since I published in 2009, she's gone through several revisions and a facelift with a new cover design for the ebook and print cover.

The sequel, Legend of the Mer II ~ The New Guardian is also doing well and frequently on 1-3 of Amazon's Best Seller's lists.

Now I'm beginning to write the third in the series and it's so fun to sit at the table again with the Prentis family and swim with the Mer as they travel from Safe Harbor Island in the North Atlantic to Mer Island in the South Pacific.

Thank you to all the readers in the US, UK and all over the world who have helped to keep this Little Merwalker on top!  As I always say, #GoMerwalker!  #GoGuardian!  ;)

One of my favorite specialty desserts to make is chocolate-chip pecan pie.  I never really liked pecan pie until I came upon this recipe Taste of Home Chocolate Chipper Pie Mix.  It's become one of our family Christmas traditions.

I love to decorate pretty much the whole house with several different Nativity scenes or music boxes I've collected over the years, not to mention several Nutcrackers which are a favorite of my grandsons.
I love multicolored twinkling lights throughout the house with little churches and villages lit up here and there.
I love to donate at least one Shoe box to the Operation Christmas Child each year.  This year they are allowing us to track it to see which Country it goes to.
When my girls were little my husband would always read the Christmas story from the Bible, usually in the book of Luke.
As they've left the home, my husband and I continue to read it, but have found many devotionals to read from.  Now I have a basket containing an assortment of Christmas readings.

I even enjoy watching The Nativity Story at least once before Christmas day.
Another favorite thing is a game we like to play called Dirty Santa; which its called out here, but I used to know it as the White Elephant game.  You usually wrap an unwanted item from your home and its fun to see what everyone comes up with.  Lol!
We draw names and each person takes a turn picking up a wrapped gift or if your the second person and so on, you can choose a wrapped one or steal from another if you see something you like.
A few of us get a little sneaky and actually put something nice in the mix.  That really starts all sorts of craziness!

We say once a gift has been stolen twice, then it cannot be chosen thereafter.  We usually end up laughing until we have tears!

What are some of your favorite Christmas things?
Hope you enjoyed a peek into a few of mine!  ;)