Author: Ellen

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Y is for Young

Our little Addy May is the youngest in our family and her mama’s family. We were in eastern Washington visiting our kids from Friday afternoon until early Tuesday morning. The photo above is of Addy with mommy and granny (great grandmother). We went out to lunch on Saturday while Daddy was working.

This young-un loves to be up on her feet and not laying down. Gramps got a good workout holding her up.

 

Daddy got a good arm workout after he got home from work.

Addy was expressive with him and let him know all the ups and downs of the day.

Mostly it was good news. Good thing her parents are young, too, because of all there is to do in bringing up a baby safely is hard on the arms, legs, back, shoulders not to mention emotions. Young ones in our care are worth all the effort. We were happy to arrive for the weekend to help out in any way we could. Mostly we had Addy time while mommy and daddy had free arms to accomplish other things around the house. It was so good to get caught up with the development going on with the youngest amongst us. She’s already turning over and it’s no easy prospect for her.

As I watched all her antics and movements I kept thinking if I moved this much and was this active I would lose some weight for sure. All these photos and activities happened on Saturday June 23rd. Addy is 3 months old.

Today is also Dan and Jamie’s 2 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary Dan and Jamie! So many changes in just two years!

We just arrived home. The travel time by car to our eastern Washington kids is close to 6 hours. We cross the Cascade Mountain range, the Columbia River and several farmlands on our journey there and back. The largest city we go through after leaving Western Washington is Spokane where we turn north and drive about 20 miles south of the Canadian border before reaching our kids home. We have learned the best way for us to travel these roads is listening to a book on cd. This time around we listened to a new to us author, Barbara Cleverly and her book called Not My Blood, A Joe Sandilands Investigation. The narrator makes or breaks a book on cd for us and Simon Prebble was real easy on our ears.

Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter Y. Thank you to Mrs. Nesbitt and the great team of administrators keeping things going!

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Mosaic Monday

This is my Mosaic Monday without linking up. On Friday the 23rd of June we traveled east over the Cascade Mountain Range along Interstate 90 to Colville.  When we reach Spokane we head north and connect to Hwy 395 to travel the last 70 miles of our journey. As we near Chewelah we see many familiar signs. In the summertime the streets in Chewelah and Colville are lined with flower displays in hanging baskets and along the road in planters. On this journey we stopped at our favorite Mexican Restaurant in Chewelah, El Ranchito for an early lunch.

Continuing north on 395 you can tell you are in logging country.

We took a back road to get to our kid’s home and enjoyed these great country scenes along the way.

Then we arrived to see who we really wanted to see. She charmed us with many expressions and moods.

Yawns galore before she had another afternoon nap.

Sometimes she needs to express herself and she gets all our attention. It was a nice drive and reunion.

We will have had three full days with the kids before we head home early Tuesday morning. Sunday was the hottest day so far here and today is another hot one with temps expected to hit 93 with possible thunderstorms. With no air-conditioning it gets hard to do anything but sit around in front of fans. It’s cooling down a bit the next couple of days.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

 

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Christ Is Mine ~ Hymn

Christ Is Mine

I have enough, for Christ is mine—
A friend that faileth never;
All earthly love may fade and die,
But His abideth ever.
With all I need from day to day
He graciously provides me,
And on life’s steep and stormy road
He gently leads and guides me.

I have enough, for Christ is mine;
How tenderly He careth!
I bring Him every anxious thought,
Each joy and grief He shareth.
When storms arise and foes ensnare,
And Satan would enslave me,
I know that naught shall bring me harm,
The Lord is strong to save me.

I have enough, for Christ is mine—
A blessing without measure;
Naught can in Heav’n or earth compare
With Him, my greatest treasure.
When all around is dark and drear,
He is at hand to cheer me;
His everlasting arms embrace;
He whispers, I am near thee!

I have enough, yet not enough,
Until I cross the river,
And see my king, my glorious king,
And dwell with Him forever.
But soon I’ll reach the promised land,
Where naught from Christ can sever;
Then I shall see Him as He is—
’Twill be enough for ever!

Words: Anonymous

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Yesterday…

…was National Take a Selfie Day!

Addy was a good sport but she’s wondering where the lens is on the phone! Love those eyebrows!

We are dealing with some heat here in Eastern Washington and Western Washington, too.

Addy and Gramps June 23, 2017.

Happy Saturday everyone!

P.S. My hands are busy baby holding and that makes it difficult to type so although sometimes while Addy sleeps away I can read but not comment.

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Skagit Valley Barns

All these views from the Skagit Valley in Washington State were taken from Wiley Rd. and Mann Rd. and at the Reserve at Fir Island.

I’d like to know the story behind this decoration on this out building.

At the end of Mann Rd. from the reserve heading back to Interstate 5 you could see Fir-Conway Lutheran Church on Fir Island Dr.

I’ll be away from the computer for most of Friday. Hope you all have a good weekend. Time will tell if I can link up to The Barn Collective with Tom on Sunday. Happy First weekend of summer!

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A Snail’s Pace Hodgepodge

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge and it’s the first Summer edition of 2017!

1. The first day of summer rolls in later this week. What are ten things you’d put on your list of  quintessential summer activities?  The collage above has some of my ten.

  1. Decorating and having folks over for fourth of July is one of my favorites.
  2. Eating summertime fruit and baking with it.
  3. Entertaining out of town guests with all our area has to offer like canoeing on Lake Washington.
  4. Casual barbecues with family or friends.
  5. Day trips to see a new town or area.
  6. Completing projects outside.
  7. Going to Canada for a summer get-together with the MGCC and their husbands.
  8. Taking some walks.
  9. Enjoying summertime flowers and decorating tablescapes with them.
  10. Going to the Lavender Festival in Sequim.
  11. Attending soccer games in warmer weather, oops that’s 11.

Will you try to manage all ten this summer?  No. Our fourth of July party probably won’t be on the 4th this year and with summer company coming I’ll probably miss the lavender festival since it’s not something little ones would enjoy.

2. Do you collect seashells when you’re at the beach? 

If we can find them we do like to collect them.

What do you do with them once you get them home?

 

The Abalone shell is from Dear’s early years in Southern California.

The Ginger Jar is full of shells Dear and I gathered our 4 years while we lived in Camarillo from 2006-2010. Most Saturdays while we were living there we’d drive to Emma Wood Beach in Ventura and walk along the seashore just as the sun came up. The little glass bowl has shells and little pine cones from somewhere before we got married. The spiny shell is one we keep out of reach.

These larger more dramatic shells are from Dear’s parents who got them from his Uncle and Aunt who were stationed in Hawaii for a few years with the Air Force. Right now they are living on the bottom shelf of the tea cart in a metal tray, the shells, not Dear’s folks or aunt and uncle.

What’s your favorite place to comb for seashells?

Emma Wood Beach is the most recent and favorite. And for the record winter beach combing is my favorite. I like to avoid southern beaches in the summer.

How many of these ‘best beaches for hunting seashells’ have you visited?

None.

Which one would you most like to visit?

Calvert Cliffs State Park (Maryland), Jeffrey’s Bay (South Africa), Sanibel Island (Florida), Shipwreck Beach (Lanai Hawaii), Ocracoke Island (North Carolina), Galveston Island (Texas) and The Bahamas

I think I’d pick Shipwreck Beach. I like the name.

3. At a snail’s pace, shell out money, come out of your shell, go back into your shell, drop a bombshell, happy as a clam, clam up...which ‘shell’ phrase could most recently be applied to some event or circumstance in your life? Explain.

At a snail’s pace is the one I’m going to pick because we seem to be waiting on things that might develop to make plans that might come to be if nothing else changes and in the meantime nothing has changed.  So we are waiting…

4. What summer activity do you dislike? Why?

Pool parties that involve little ones who might or might not be watched properly by their parents.

5. What’s something you see as quickly becoming obsolete? Does that bother you?

Actual reporting of the news. Too many opinions, not enough facts. Yes it bothers me.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We got these photos by text on Tuesday the 20th. I love all of her expressions. We get to see Addy May on Friday! Woohoo. She’s changing so much every week. It’s been a month since we have seen her in person.

It’s the first day of summer and we had…wait for it…rain! I added that for Vee’s sake. It’s not just in your corner of the world!

Thank you Joyce for asking the questions. Click over to From This Side of the Pond to see more Hodgepodge.