The Return of the Flowers, Tovah and Elami….
Here they are – two more of our precious little grandaughters…..Lami and Tovah….The day FINALLY arrived to pick our girls up – June 27th, Jen, Tovah and Lami, (daddy followed 10 days later after making a trip to the Congo to scope things out before he brings the family there in Nov) Bekah and I headed to the airport to get them on that Friday night but they got held up in Chicago and we didn’t actually get them until Saturday….we were tempted to just drive to O’Hare!! As any of you know who follow my blog and or SCS gallery – stamping has come to a screeching halt as I take the time to enjoy these precious girls while I can!! The most I have stamped is this one card, which I stamped one day while babysitting with Tovah by my side stamping as well while Lami slept. Even when I stamped this card you can see what was on my mind – that’s gramma and grampa owl, saying “Look who loves you!!” to all five sweet grandaughters……When Tovah and Lami left for Kenya, Tovah was the same age that Lami is NOW, and Lami was only 6 months old!! Tovah remembered us ~ but we had to totally get to know Lami. After about 10
minutes I was in love – she has the softest, sweetest little voice, you have to listen 
closely to hear her when she talks. Tovah said to me, “I remember when I was a baby gramma and you loved me and you used to say, “Toe – VAH….” (with the accent on the VAH…..I wish you could all hear her say it. It’s funny, cuz in 5 minutes your heart is wrapped right around these girls and you know in 4 months its’ gonna be cryin time again…..when they left the last time I made a scrapbook page where the center of every flower was a picture of them and the title of the page was, “Where Have all the Flowers Gone?” – here is a little portion of what the page says, “Even though I am sure they are right where God wants them and even though I rejoice with them that everything they have worked so hard for has finally come to fruition…..and even though I am just as proud of them as I can be, still I ache. How can something that is right feel so overwhelmingly sad??” Well eventually it got better and I tried to adopt Mary Engelbreit’s quote, “Don’t cry because it’s over, 
smile because it happened” – Well we did both, and heaven knows we will again in November. For now, mostly I will be stamping and have been stamping flowers and butterflies, cherries and crowns from SU’s tattoo kit…and cards will have to wait. I have traded stamps for ponytails and ribbons, storybooks and tattoos. I have to enjoy these precious little ones while I can. We skyped shortly after they got here with Mike, Jenna and Layla – it was so fun to watch Tovah and Layla get reaquainted. I am so thankful for Webcams….and wonder how grand parents DID it before such modern inventions? I think of missionaries years ago who would leave on ships and not know if they would EVER see their families again…. I am thankful to be here NOW in this day and age where I can listen to my grand children sing me sweet songs over and over on my cell phone and talk with them on the “webcan” as Layla calls it. 🙂 People constantly ask me how can I stand to let them go to the Congo – and I always say, I know they are safer in the center of God’s will for them then anywhere else on earth. HE loves them even more then we do, and HE is capable of hiding them in the shelter of HIS wings and keeping them safe. When I get to heaven, I hope all of my grandchildren and children have mansions on the same
street as mine. I hope we are just a hop skip and a jump from eachother. But for now, I am going to just concentrate on being thankful for the lives of these precious little ones – for healthy beautiful grandchildren.
Look at that face, how angelic is that?? A real highlight will be seeing Tovah, Lami and Layla altogether Labor Day weekend…..can’t wait!! And I promise to do more stamping to make up for lost time when they leave, because I will NEED to, just like last time, stamping is the best and cheapest (okay, well maybe NOT cheapest) therapy there is for times like that. Anyway- I actually stamped this card below just before they came, just thinking about all the hugs and kisses we would give and receive over the next few months……I want to bottle them all up and then take them out in the lonely days of late
November…….we always have sweet memories to tie us over till the next time! I want to make as many memories as I can over the next couple of months. I am sure I will still squeeze some stamping in while they take a few road trips….I promise to try!! But if you don’t hear or see much from me, you’ll know why, and who can blame me?? Happy Summer everyone!! Until next time, Happy Stamping everyone – and kiss and hug the ones you love!!
Jan Scholl
July 12, 2008Hi Karen-I was going thru my reader and stopped to catch up on your blog. What really caught my eye was the name Tovah. It was what I named my dog many years ago-a Siberian Husky. It was a shortened form of Tovarich which meant comrade in Russian. I am curious to know the origins of your grand daughter’s naming. Both of them are beautiful.
Anonymous
July 12, 2008Yeah Karen, you updated!!! :))
I can’t get over how much Tovah looks like Jen…esp in that first picture! They are both soooo beautiful, and I’ll bet there as sweet as can be…who can blame you for wanting to spend every waking minute with them!
Love ya lots!
~C
Anonymous
July 14, 2008Your granddaughters are just beautiful. Enjoy each moment.
Joyce T
Anonymous
July 18, 2008Karen….I’m stunned and gobsmacked to find your blog…My daughter sent me a link to show me the coolest stamped gourd that she’d found because my husband raised gourds and they’re all over my yard….and yes, it was on Michelle Zindorf’s blog…and oh, my gosh…i was absolutely stunned to look at her work. They are ART…then, I see a link to YOUR blog and I think, “no way” and I surf on over and there you are with your beautiful grandbabies and your stamping friends…and I’m completely sucked in to your entries…and again, completely amazed that two amaaaaaaaaaaaazing stampers have found each other.
Wow…a red letter day for me in blog land…can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!
Pam Morgan
Karen Barber
July 19, 2008Okay, like I know you’re not supposed to comment on your own blog, but hey- look at who SIGNED that last anonymous comment – PAM MORGAN – THAT’S WHO!! That’s huge to an SU demonstrator – not only did she stumble on my blog but she stopped and sat a while, did that make my day, or WHAT???????
Anonymous
July 27, 2008Karen that single picture of Tovah she looks just LIKE YOU!!! remarkable eh??? Looking forward to seeing you at convention!
xoxo
Traci 🙂
Shirley
August 31, 2008The grand daughters are wonderful and so are the cards.