Category Archives: Addyson May

Stop and Capture…

…the moments.

Time to catch up with the grands.

This is the new wall art in Jaymison’s room. Our son carved the buck centerpiece. The deer head with antlers was the first deer from the first annual family hunting trip.

A photo of the family hunters was added to the wall.

Jaymison is growing strong and Addy and he are forming a sweet relationship.

Labor day was just that, a day filled with labor for Dear. I enjoyed several hours with Addy by my side while her mommy spent time getting some things organized.

We played with sand and water and watched Gramps on the tractor.

Don’t worry JJ, soon you will be able to play at Baba and Gramps’ house, too. Hopefully by then we’ll have our soccer field set up!

Happy September everyone!

Birthday Fun on Saturday…

When Herb and Anneliese arrived to our camp on Saturday morning we all greeted Anneliese with Happy Birthday to You in song. It was a good beginning to a very full day. The day was full of food, fellowship, music, playing, shopping, more food, and it was all capped off with so much laughter that many of us were in tears, happy tears!

Dear made his famous Swedish pancakes on Saturday for breakfast and the pancakes, smoky links, fruit, sour cream and real maple syrup hit the spot.

Our Colville kids arrived late morning to meet our campers and Addy and Lovella delighted us with beautiful piano music, well mostly Lovella. We enjoyed singing some hymns and Sunday School songs that Lovella played from heart and from hymnals and other sheet music we had on hand. Glorious! Addy was very comfortable with each of the girls and invited them to play with her in “her room”. We hope she realizes that the room is JJ’s, too.

The guys enjoyed peppering our son Dan about his work. There are always tales to tell. Bev captured the following photos of me and Addy. Thank you, Bev.

The guys jumped in their car and the girls jumped in our car and we headed to downtown Colville to do some shopping. The girls enjoyed the end of the Farmer’s market and a few other shops on Main street before we headed home for appies. The guys ended up in Kettle Falls and enjoyed a “snack” at Backyard BBQ before they headed back to our campsite.

Harv and Bev made their famous Coconut Prawns for our Saturday dinner appetizer and Lovella added her mango salsa.

 

Forgot to take a photo of all the goodies we had for dinner. Marinated Chicken thighs off the Traeger along with an amazing rice, bean and veggie salad that Anneliese, the birthday girl, made. Lovella made scalloped potatoes and Judy made coleslaw. Judy also made a beautiful Raspberry Ripple cake for dessert.

We sang again to the birthday girl and then the laughter started. Terry got us going with hilarious stories recounting the day and other stories from days gone by, some real and some fictitious.  Pretty soon we were drying the laughter tears from our eyes.

Laughter is good medicine and we had an amazing jolt of that medicine this night. I’ll never forget it.

So happy that Anneliese’s birthday was filled with the best kind of fellowship and laughter!

Here we go into the last week of August. Are you ready for September?

Jaymison 4 Months!

Our little JJ turned 4 months on Friday the 16th of August. This was a very exciting day in our little family’s life.

We love you so much little guy. Your smile melts our hearts and makes us smile, too.

Besides it being a hallmark day for little Jaymison, documenting the months of his first year, it was family reunion time. Daddy had to be away for work in another part of the USA for a full month and when Addy saw him appear from the security section of the airport she clung to him with joy. All is right with her world again. God is good.

This mama had her hands full for a month and was a supermom for her little ones. Aunt Lolo came to help during a couple of the 4 weeks. What a blessing she was to the family.

Speaking of Auntie Lolo, her and Josh were at a family reunion in Wisconsin with Laura’s Dad’s side of the family on this same weekend.

All of this excitement was happening as 4 of the Mennonite Girls and their hubbies arrived at our Country Bungalow for the weekend. I’m busy gathering the photos and thoughts about the time we had together and will post about it soon.

So Far So Good

We are heading to another follow-up appointment for my eye this morning. Just had to show you the new improved shades they gave me to wear to protect my dilated eye. Laura took this glamour shot before she flew back to Seattle on Saturday. My sister and her hubby arrived on Saturday evening and have been here for a couple days. Aunt Lana was a big hit with Addy but she is a bit undecided on Steve. She made great lengths to give him a wide berth. She and Lana bowled in our hallway, played the piano, played with blue sand and had a fabulous time.

Before we all head out the door today for Spokane and beyond we have to take a sister photo. I’ll share that later.

Happy Monday y’all.

UPDATE: My checkup was all good news. No more restrictions. I can dust if I want to. No more of the dilating drops, the other drops will continue but at fewer intervals. 

Thank you for all your encouraging comments and prayers for my healing. 

In the Garden…

I love it when Auntie Lolo comes to visit because she keeps us supplied with up to the minute photos of the happenings in our little corner of the world. Thank you, Laura, for your eye on the happenings and your skill on selfies!

Firstfruits!

Jamie is our family gardener and you can see why our greenhouse should live in her garden. It’s not put up yet but all the pieces are on site and ready to be constructed.

This little guy has discovered his feet!

Our skies last evening on the way into town for Addy’s Granny’s birthday dinner.

New fire and more smoke in our neighborhood. I’m staying inside resting my eyes and avoiding the bad air quality.

Happy Friday to you!

Visitors

We had some very sweet visitors and they brought dinner and flowers. They are so considerate. Addy got used to the idea that I could not lift her up in my arms but she could climb up and crawl into my lap. We got lots of great hugs from Addy. Thanking God for all the kindness I receive and have received with good wishes and prayers.

We’ve had other visitors the last couple of days, too.

Eye drops are being instilled well at our Country Bungalow. It is hard to sit around and notice things that need to be done like dusting.  I won’t be dusting for now, though, because I’m suppose to avoid getting dust in my eyes. I’m making a list of things to do when I get the go ahead from the doctor. I have those super dark eye shades to put over my regular glasses if I go out in the sunshine. We are going to have another 99 degree day today and then we are suppose to cool down to the 80’s tomorrow.

The Williams Flats Fire on the Colville Reservation is now at over 34,000 acres and only 25% contained. Our views and air are affected.

 

August First

This little guy is 3-1/2 months and he continues to charm us with his smile and baby conversations.

He loves to interact face to face.

His whole body gets moving when he makes eye contact with you.

Brother and Sister taken on August 1, 2019. Addy’s vocabulary and sentences are increasing so rapidly. Her commands make me chuckle. “Stay here”, “Don’t move”. Then there are the expressions, “No way hwozay” instead of “no way Jose”.

It’s summer and a few weeks ago I captured these photos at swimming lessons of Addy with her daddy.

She has one more week of swimming lessons next week.

What are you doing to keep cool this summer?

Adieu to July

Some last photos from July including a few from our road trip into British Columbia to the town of Nelson and home again. I like their sign on our departure.

The Kootenay River along 3A in British Columbia.

We had some grand visits to our home along with their parents and we always have the goodbye rituals when it’s time for them to go home.

At a visit to Dan and Jamie’s with Granny Great I caught this photo.

Addy “reading” with all her favorites beside her.

Auntie Lolo flew east to spend some time with all of us and she captured so many sweet moments.

We introduced Addy to Josh and Dan’s Construct building toys.

Time outside at Gramps’ and Baba’s.

The weather has really heated up and Auntie Lolo captured these shots under the outdoor shade pavilion at Dan and Jamie’s. JJ can spot his mommy from a distance and it’s easy to see she is his favorite right now.

Before we went to dinner with our kids at El Ranchito in Chewelah, Dear and I attended an open house at the home of our youth pastor and his family. This is the view from their home looking across the valley to Colville. We could see our kids’ mountain in this breathtaking view. This is just part of their panoramic view.

Uncle Josh surprised us all and took a flight from Seattle to Spokane after work on Friday arriving late Friday night to spend a day and a half with all of us. Addy was thrilled to have some special time with Uncle Josh and Auntie Lolo. JJ enjoyed them, too. Jamie took this photo of Josh, Laura and JJ. JJ sees his mommy and he’s all smiles.

Laura caught this moment of JJ with me and Gramps. JJ loves to interact face to face. The photos above were taken at El Ranchito in Chewelah while we were enjoying dinner.

Josh and Laura are at the airport headed back to Seattle. We will all miss them.

The beginning of this week will be very busy for us. We are hosting a church event here at our country bungalow on Tuesday evening. If I’m scarce you will understand. I hope to take some photos of our event but…when we host big events I might forget to take photos as I’m all wrapped up in the details…

Hope the end of July goes well for you.

Sunflowers!

A field of sunshine! On the way back from picking up Laura at the airport in Spokane we pulled off the highway to take some photos of the acres of sunflowers on this farm.

Addy was so excited that Laura came to visit. Addy loves her auntie Lolo.

And…she loves to hop!

Jaymison is charming us more and more with his smiles and verbalizing.

We have been summer busy at our country bungalow and my computer isn’t getting much action. My creative brain is being zapped by the sunshine and yardwork. Hope you are enjoying your summer.

Hide and Seek

Who knew Gramps and Baba’s hallway would afford so much fun. Addy is hiding here for hide and seek.

You know if you cover your eyes no one can see you.

I bought 3 beanies from Walmart for clearance at 50 cents each and they were donned all weekend with the tags still on them.

Baba has a basket of slippers for guests and Addy chose these hedgehog slippers to wear. Just a bit too big.

A sweet sleeping grandson while the rest of the gang played cards. Baba got to sit close by and guard him.

Auntie Katie and Addy running “super fast” at the park.

Beside our human visitors we had a Doe, a deer, a female deer, pop in for a visit.

The Greenhouse has been dismantled and our kids in Colville are going to add it to their garden. So happy to find a good home for it where we know it will be well used. Our daughter in law is a fabulous gardener.

We captured this sunset as we left our kids home on Saturday night. We later learned that the dramatic layers were because of a wildfire on the Colville Reservation. Smoke has a way of adding drama to a sunset.

We’ve had an interesting summer so far with thunder storms and cooler temps. We are not complaining. I was able to mow the lawns today before the thunder storms rolled through. We are talking about doing some day trips into the part of Canada just North of us and investigating our area of Northeastern Washington before Dear receives the materials to build his new shop. Once the shop project starts it will be hard for me to divert him. No big trips planned for this summer.

Do you have summer plans that involve travels?