Category Archives: Addyson May

Home Again…

We had a lot of joy being with this little one for several days in a row. Lots to share from our family time in northeastern Washington. We drove home today and we were happy it only poured down rain when we approached Snoqualmie Pass and descended on this side of the Cascades. The vibrant Fall colors out the windows as we drove entertained me as well as a book on cd by Louise Penny.

Lots of fallen leaves welcomed us home on our driveway and yard. Do you deal with lots of leaves in the fall where you live?

Happy Fall Y’all!

On Saturday we went to a Sign Making Party and this is the sign I made. It’s fun for me because you use stencils and all you have to do is pick the wood you want and the colors. Addy May and all her grandmothers, her great grandmother and aunties were there.

These are the four generations on Jamie’s side of the family. I’m sure my mom would have gotten a kick out of our little Addy May. One thing for sure this little one does not lack for love and attention.

We are still busy busy here in northeastern Washington and enjoying some fine weather that is about to change. Hunting expeditions have been successful. Next up is wood gathering for the winter. Hope you are enjoying fall where you are.

Directional Hodgepodge

1. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your sense of direction? 1=can’t find my way out of a paper bag and 10=if I’ve been somewhere once I can find it blindfolded ten years later.

When I drive somewhere I’ll never forget how to get there again. When I’m in the middle of a large city I need help knowing which way is what when looking at a map. I always depend on Dear or our daughter Katie to point me in the right direction. I’m not afraid to ask directions. So I’ll say 5!

I would be lost in the London Underground without these two getting me on the correct train!

When was the last time you looked at/used a map you could hold in your hand? (phones don’t count!) 

I love maps and look at them frequently, especially when planning a road trip. I looked at a map last week.

back east, down south, out west, up north

Choose one of these directional expressions and tell us why you chose it.

I’ll choose “Go West Young Man” even though it’s not on the list because I wrote a paper about Horace Greeley when I was in junior high school and he was credited with popularizing this phrase. He was a newspaper editor and author. Greeley favored westward expansion. (1811-1872)

2. Did you do more talking or listening yesterday? Is that typical?

Hmmm…I think it was 50-50. When I wake up in the morning Dear has been up for a few hours already and he is ready to have a listening ear and then I have to remind him I really can’t listen to a technical description of how the gears work in a starter and why the car didn’t start up this morning before I’ve had my morning coffee. When I’ve been up for a while I might take over on the talking.

Describe your yesterday in one word.

Staging: We have a realtor coming over Wednesday morning to check out our property and give us an assessment and suggestions on selling our home.

3. Time, money, water-power-resources, opportunity…which one on the list are you most guilty of wasting? What might you do to change that?

Oh boy, you are hitting us hard this week. I’ll say water-power-resources. I have a long way to go to be a conservationist.

4. Did  your family take regular vacations when you were a kid?

The simple answer is no. I was in college before I took my first plane trip with a friend.

Tell us something you remember about a family road trip from your own childhood.

We did take a few road trips and those were always north from Los Angeles to Central California, San Francisco and Oregon. The black and white above is from Crater Lake. We always visited friends or family and stayed in their homes when we traveled unless we were camping. We had a few camping trips to Big Bear and a camping trip to San Clemente State beach.

I remember getting up in the “rear package shelf” of the car to look up at the sky as we drove along. When in 6th grade my teacher noticed I had trouble seeing the black board and suggested to my parents to get my eyes checked. I was nearsighted. When I got my first pair of glasses I was amazed at how clear things were when driving in the car.

5. If you could grow anything you wanted, what would you grow? Why?

I would love to grow avocados (tree). I enjoy a variety of dishes that are great with avocado and a favorite treat is avocado on toast.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of road trips, we are tripping over to this little girls house soon.

Looking forward to some cuddle time and seeing all she’s learned since our last visit together.

Linking up with Joyce From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Thank you for visiting here today and for your comments. I do appreciate each one.

Berry Pickin Hodgepodge

 
1.  Have you ever spent time on a farm?
Yes.
Tell us a little bit about it.
When I was young my family stayed with Russian farming friends in Central California. I did not enjoy the fresh milk from their cow. My family would also drive to different farms in southern California to pick fruit for my mom’s canning endeavors. The black and white above is of the whole family picking something, maybe berries of some kind. I can also remember picking sour cherries, about 40 pounds total when we were done. She would cook and can the cherries for a sweetener for tea. A favorite with my Russian relatives. As an adult when we were in England we enjoyed an afternoon on a farm picking raspberries, picture below.
This was in 1973 or 1974. In 2006 we stayed on a sheep farm in England (bed and breakfast) for a couple nights. We enjoyed the farm noises and the walks along the Derwent River that the farm was adjacent to.
Since being part of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’ve enjoyed times on a couple farms and at Farm markets in Abbotsford, B.C.
Have you ever grown your own pumpkin? Been on a hayride? Driven a tractor? Milked a cow?
no, yes, no, no…
I’m pretty sure I’ve been on a hayride somewhere but I can’t pull up the time and place.
2. What’s something younger you would like about you now?
 That I’m still smiling even though I don’t look like I did in that Berry picking photo with those cool shades.

3. What are three things you’d like to do more often? Three things you’d like to do less often?

Walk, read, and pray more often. Eat, b***h, jump to conclusions less often.

4. What’s on your nachos?

When I have them which isn’t very often, cheese, jalapenos, and diced Anaheim peppers.

5. What’s the most random thing in your purse or wallet? Does it need to stay there?

A tape measure might be the most random thing and it doesn’t need to stay there but it comes in handy when shopping for certain items that need to fit in defined or tight spaces.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Too cute not to share! She’s 6-1/2 months and this is her trusty furry friend Rayna.

Linking up to Hodgepodge Wednesday with Joyce From This Side of the Pond. She comes up with the questions and we answer them.

We are resuming our small group at our home on Wednesday night. It will be fun to see who shows up. Hope you all are having a good week.

Hello October

Update: So so sad and sorry to wake up to the horrible news about the shooting in Las Vegas last night. May God comfort those who lost loved ones and may He heal those who are injured. May he also heal those who have been traumatized even though they survived the carnage.

The trees and plants at this old house are beginning to show their autumn colors.

The blueberry bush…

The Forsythia

I saved the best for last. Our little Addy is enjoying new things this fall. She’s enjoying some solids like rice cereal, applesauce and just this past week she tried zucchini and gave it a thumbs up. She did not like banana. It made her gag. She is 6-1/2 months old and getting some good use out of her many bibs. She soon will be too big for her current car seat.

We had a quiet weekend. Our new senior pastor preached his first sermon this morning. We are looking forward to this new chapter in the life of our church. Our church will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in 2018 and in almost 50 years this is only our fourth pastor. That’s an impressive pastor history.

Speaking of 50 years, my graduating class from high school will be celebrating 50 years next October. A committee is planning the event and trying to locate as many Montebello High School class of 1968 graduates as possible. If you are reading this post and are a MHS class of 68 graduate there is a special email address for our reunion and you can give them your contact information there. mhs50.1968@gmail.com

 I’ll be linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie from Normandy Life.

A Baker’s Dozen of Love…

11 Collages and 2 singles equals 13, a baker’s dozen.

On Thursday September 21st I left our home at 4pm to head to the airport to pick up our precious cargo from Seatac airport. Our usual 30-35 minute trip to the airport took 2 hours on this evening with traffic and then a major collision just a few miles from the airport. I left in plenty of time because I’m Moisi’s daughter and I had time to park and find the baggage carousel that our kids luggage would arrive on a few minutes before we met up.

I’m so happy to report that Addy May seemed to recognize me and she smiled and giggled when we made eye contact. I held her while we waited for the luggage and everyone that walked past her got a smile and she got lots of compliments. She seems to be pretty social. It took a lot less time to get home from the airport and Dear had his famous Tomato Rice Soup ready for our travelers. Addy enjoyed her new Baby Einstein Walker that Baba and Gramps bought for her, sitting in it and standing outside of it. We all learned colors and numbers in English, Spanish and French!

Addy is enjoying some soft food these days and she had her rice cereal mixed with homemade no sugar applesauce and a little of mommy’s milk for her meal. Uncle Andrew and Aunt Katie joined us on Thursday night for dinner and some Addy time.

On Friday morning Uncle Josh, Aunt Katie and Uncle Andrew arrived in time for some breakfast, a walk and then lunch at our local Mexican restaurant so Addy could meet our favorite waitress who has been seeing weekly photos of Addy since she was born. Auntie Laura had to work on Friday and was wrapping up two weeks with International workers at World Concern, the non profit she works for.

Addy lights up for her uncle’s and auntie’s and here she only has eyes for Josh.

Auntie Katie is making sure Addy doesn’t fall over as she lifts herself up to stand next to the couch and give it a taste.

Saturday morning jammy time and once again the uncles and aunties are over for meals and hands on with Addy May.

Auntie Laura got some looks of love from Addy in the collage above.

The reason the kids flew over for these few days were all about tickets for a concert that were purchased a year ago. This crew above all had seats together at Century Link field for a Coldplay concert on Saturday night. Jamie and Sarly are dear friends of both our boys and their wives. Jamie and Dan have been best friends since 2nd grade. Who could have guessed Dan would marry a Jamie, too. Josh came up with a vehicle that the six of them could travel in together. They had a wonderful time and little Addy May survived her first full night away from mommy and daddy. Not saying there weren’t any tears but we all survived and she did take a bottle from me successfully.

The morning after she was still smiling at me and was happy to come to me. I’m glad I remembered to snap a shot of the these three before they headed back to the airport Sunday morning.

Addy was a great little traveler, granted the flight was only one hour long, but it was still a good start for her traveling memories.

Our time was rich and now Gramps and Baba are recuperating from all the fun, bending down, lifting, chasing and feeding the ones nearest and dearest to us! Thanking the good Lord for all that we enjoyed.

Family Time

I’ll be getting around to reading your posts now that our kids are back home with little Addy. We had good times with yummy food and lots of laughs. Addy was the center of attention. I’m kicking myself for not getting a photo of the nine of us while we were all together. Addy survived her evening alone with Baba and Gramps and her parents had a wonderful evening out.

Goodbye Hello Hodgepodge

Goodbye to Summer, Hello to Autumn!

1. What’s something you’d rate a 10/10? Tell us why.

First and foremost being redeemed by Jesus is always something that is a 10/10 because I’m at peace with God and enjoy all His benefits. But here’s another little something that rates 10/10 these days.

Being a grandparent rates a 10/10 for me. We’ve only been grandparents for 6 months now but it has been delightful in so many ways. It’s fun to see our children step up in new roles surrounding this little one. So many new things to experience while watching her grow in the first year of life.

2. What job would you be terrible at? What makes you think so?

I do not think I’d be a good manager. I’m just tempted to do things myself instead of telling people what to do.

3. When did you last take a fall?

Thankfully it’s been a while since I’ve fallen. My last significant fall landed me in the ER for several hours. I met a few rainy, slimey cement stairs with my face and had to have x-rays and be put on an antibiotic because of the significant cut on my nose. It was not a pretty sight, for a very long time.

What’s something you’re falling for (in a good way) these days?

Having Dear (my husband) around all the time. Now if he could be around and get a paycheck, too, that would be grand!

4. According to the Travel Channel here are some of America’s best fall festivals-
National Apple Harvest Festival (near Arendtsville PA, close to Gettysburg), Harvest on the Harbor (Portland Maine), German Village Festival (Columbus Ohio), Wellfleet Oyster Fest (Cape Cod), and Wine and Chile Fiesta (Santa Fe NM)

Have you ever been to any of the festivals listed?  No

Which one appeals to you most?

I think I would really enjoy visiting Maine so I’ll pick Harvest on the Water in Portland, Maine.

Does your hometown have any sort of fall celebration, and if so will you make it a point to attend?

Seattle and some neighboring cities have some (Sausage Festival, Octoberfest, Autumn Leaves) but my hometown does not have any. These days I’m not a fan of navigating through crowds of people so I won’t be making a point to attend. I might take an Autumn drive to see some changing of the leaves.

5. What is your goodbye message to summer?

Adios smoky dry summer! Come back next year with less dryness and no forest fires, please. The air quality was so bad in Addy’s hometown that she had to stay indoors for a significant amount of time lately. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our grandparenting skills will be put to the test this Saturday as our kids have their first evening out planned since Addy was born. They are flying in Thursday evening (Addy’s first airplane ride) and will join good friends for a concert in Seattle on Saturday evening. Addy will have a couple days to get used to seeing us again before she gets left alone with us. We get to put her down for the night. Here’s hoping she won’t refuse a bottle. She’s not a fan of bottles. Mommy is best. But…we have a saying in Russian that loosely translated says “by the time she gets married this will have healed”. She and we will survive whatever may come.

A big thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions.