This is Rita, age 2 ... wasn't she adorable?

This is Rita holding her grand-daughter Abigail


And this is Rita's daughter Becky holding her daughter Abigail

It seems not that long ago that I was helping Mom take care of Rita and now she & Warren are helping to care for their second grand-child, Abigail, daughter of Becky & Brian. Time has flown, or so it seems to me.

Rita, Warren, Becky & Abby surprised me with a visit in late September. They had gone to buy Autumn decorations for their home and decided to stop by. I'm glad they did. I was making bread and taking care of Louis, our Grand-pup. They were surprised we had another dog and I explained he was our new Grand-pup. It was a good visit and I had to take pictures. When Clyde got home I showed them to him and he said "Pictures are good, but they're not the same as seeing the baby in person." We both agreed she's a beautiful baby. I can see her Mom and her Dad in her, but I especially see her Grampa Warren!

This is just for Miss Haylee. Your Mom & Dad told me how much you like looking at pictures of your Nana ... well, here are some of you & your Nana when you were just a little baby.

Your Nana told me she would be taking care of you, so I went to your home to visit and take some pictures. Your Nana held you as you slept and you reminded me so much of your Daddy when he was small.

Your Nana loves you SO much!

I also took a picture of your dog!

Older Sisters!

Linda, age 2; Louise, age 10 & Janice, age 4

Louise holding Pat

Sisters

Bethany & Becky

Sisters

Sydney & Perri

Sisters

Stephanie & Erica

5 Generations

Christina Ison, sitting - daughter Aileen Collins;

George Riddle - daughter Michelle Ward & Grandson Eric Ward

Shawn & Dave with their Grandpa Winford Riddle

and with their Grandpa Vernis Moore

Dad, Winford Riddle, World War II

I received this as an email earlier this evening and think it's well worth reading:

"I know everyone has a different opinion on the war and our current President. But, this article makes a lot of sense; take 2 minutes, read it and give it some thought.

When electing the next President, 'the only decision you have to make is who you want sitting in that seat in the White House when - not if - WHEN we get hit again and millions of American lives are put at risk!' This is from: 'You ain't gonna like losing.' Author unknown.

President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq. Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not. Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders.

Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not or whether the war was going badly or not.

War was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war. But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty. Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war.

Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort. Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort. Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying t heir best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap, to butter was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.

You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough in those days there were no fat-cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale. A bunch even enlisted.
Imagine this: Teachers in schools actually started the day off with a Pledge of Allegiance and with prayers for our country and our troops!

Back then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies. A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by being forced to wear women's underwear or subjected to interrogation by a woman or being scared by a dog or did not have air conditioning.

There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crack heads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets.

No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve.

It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorra and the land of Oz. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.

We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third or over three hundred million Muslims are sympathetic to the terrorists cause... Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits. So... we either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing.

America is not at war. The military is at war. America is at the mall, or watching the movie stars.

(Remember Obama said in his book 'Audacity of Hope', 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction'.....what better place for the Muslins to control our country, than in the office of the President of USA).

My TayTay

A Story ...

A couple discovered their 12 year old son Stephen had lied to them. He had skipped school three consecutive days. He was found out when his teacher called his parents to inquire about his well-being.

The parents were more upset about Stephen's lies than his missing school. After praying with him about what he had done, they decided on a very unusual and severe form of punishment. Their conversation with him went something like this:

"Stephen, do you know how important it is that we be able to trust one another?"

"Yes"

"How can we ever trust each other if we don't always tell the truth? That's why lying is such a terrible thing. Not only is it sin, but it also destroys our ability to trust one another. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Your Mom and I must make you understand the seriousness, not so much of skipping school, but of the lies you told. Your discipline will be that for the next three days, one for each day of your sin, you must go to the attic and stay there by yourself. You will even eat and sleep there."

So young Stephen headed off to the attic and the bed prepared for him there. It was a long evening for Stephen and perhaps longer for Mom and Dad. Neither could eat, and for some reason when Dad tried to read the paper the words seemed foggy. Mom tried to sew, but couldn't see to thread the needle. Finally it was bedtime. About midnight as the father lay in bed thinking about how lonely and afraid Stephen must be, he finally spoke to his wife, "Are you awake?"

"Yes. I can't sleep for thinking about Stephen."

"Neither can I," answered Dad.

An hour later he asked again, "Are you asleep yet?"

"No," answered Mom, "I just can't sleep for thinking about Stephen all alone up in the attic."

"Me neither."

Another hour passed. It was now 2:00 A.M. "I can't stand this any longer!" murmured Dad as he climbed out of bed grabbing his pillow and a blanket. "I'm going to the attic."

He found Stephen much as he expected: wide awake with tears in his eyes.

"Stephen", said his father, "I can't take away the punishment for your lies because you must know the seriousness of what you have done. You must realize that sin, especially lying, has severe consequences. But your mom and I can't bear the thought of you being here all alone in the attic so I'm going to share your punishment with you."

Dad lay down next to his son and the two put their arms around each other's necks. The tears on their cheeks mingled as they shared the same pillow and the same punishment ... for three nights.

Moral of the story:

Two thousand years ago God crawled "out of bed" with His blanket and pillow - actually three spikes and a cross of crucifixion - "staked" his His tear-stained cheek next to ours and "bore" our punishment for sin. His attic was a tomb, His bed a slab of rock and if you are His child, the cheek next to His was yours.

Are you His child? Have you asked Him to forgive you for your sins? It is my hope, my prayer that everyone reading this will come to a saving, vital faith in Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that every family member I have will come to know Christ as their Lord and their Savior. May God bless you and reveal to you the greatest need of all mankind ... Himself.