Category Archives: Grandchildren

Let the Parties Begin!

We are all together again and enjoyed Dear’s famous Tomato Rice Soup with some fresh bread for dinner and then we watched the Seattle Sounders Soccer opener. JJ was a little shocked when we all cheered mightily at the first goal. By the third goal Addy and JJ joined in with the celebration clapping and cheering and were ready for the excitement of the fourth goal. We won’t apologize for soccer indoctrination at our house.

Today (Saturday) we are off to have a Fishing themed party for JJ and then later this evening we’ll enjoy a meal to celebrate Andrew.

And speaking of weather we are heading into the 70’s today! Happy day to you all.

Not So Taxing Hodgepodge

Wednesday Hodgepodge is back this week thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. What is something you currently find ‘taxing’? 

Getting my brain to stop organizing an event that I’m in charge of the kitchen for when I’m trying to fall asleep.

2. I’ve seen this question asked in various forms on several social media sites…you can only keep three-

coffee, jewelry, tacos, wine, books, dogs, chocolate, Netflix, make-up, leggings, cheese, cats

Which three do you keep and how easy or hard was it for you to decide? 

This was not hard for me. My three would be coffee, books, and chocolate.

3. Tell us something you know or have learned about forgiveness? 

If you are a believer in and a follower of Jesus, we are commanded to forgive. It is not an option. Sometimes it is hard but forgiveness brings peace. We have to grasp the fact that without forgiveness we would be lost in our sins and damned to hell. But thanks be to God that we can be forgiven and because we’ve been forgiven from so much we need to extend forgiveness. When we forgive we acknowledge that God is in control and we are not.

4. What’s something you’d recommend that is often overlooked and under appreciated? 

Reading the Bible everyday not just a devotional.

I heard this yesterday and will quote it here.

“Sloppy sentimental devotionalizing of all the scriptures just doesn’t get at the issues. Teach with exactness.” from a sermon in Acts by John MacArthur

I’ll add, go to the exact source and read for yourself what it says.

Here’s another quote:

“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

5. Give us a favorite word that starts with letter K and tell us why this is the one you chose. 

Our daughter’s name starts with a K and I thought of her first but since you want a word not a person I’m going with Kindred Spirit, (okay it’s two words but one of them starts with a k) a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one’s own.  In this day and age it is so comforting to find those with whom you can express yourself and not be silenced by or condemned. I get weary of social police…but I will forgive.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have a busy weekend coming up and next week that event that my brain is not shutting off for will demand all of my attention from Wednesday through Friday so I’ll be absent from my blog and from visiting other blogs.

In the meantime I’m posting this photo again that our DIL sent along to make you smile. He’s turning two on Friday!

Sunshine, Bubbles and Sticks

We’ve had some sunny days with temps getting up to the low 60’s. The ‘Grands’ enjoyed some new bubble guns in the sunshine.

This little guy loves sticks.

This stick turned on him and smacked him in the face leaving a couple scratches. When I was over last week and we went on a little walk down the drive he pointed at that stick and touched his wounds filling me in on that accident. He is still in the process of forming words and learning to communicate more with words but we have to fill in the blanks and he’ll nod yes or no if we have it right.

All these photos were taken by their mommy.

No Wednesday Hodgepodge this week as Jo is taking the week off from coming up with questions.

Easter Day 2021


It was a wonderful Easter Day because we were able to gather and worship our Risen Lord with our church family. We came home after a service filled with joy and a clear message of the Truth of the Gospel and God’s love for all.

When the rain ceased we went out to hide Easter eggs for the grands to hunt.

It was a very casual Easter table this year with paper plates for the first time in the history of our home.

Dear and I dressed up for Easter service and we had many in our church family taking a second look. We are generally very country casual.

The kids and grands arrived after naps and the first thing on the agenda was to let Addy and JJ hunt for the eggs we had hidden in the back area of our home.

Addy is a pro being 4 already and was off to the races. JJ found a good number, too. Next year he’ll give his big sister a lot more competition.

Finally JJ managed a slight smile for the camera.

Our kids on the ‘coast’ snapped this photo and sent it to us. They were able to gather at their church for Easter service, too.

It was a glorious day!

A Few More…

March is almost over and it’s going out like a Lion!

Auntie LoLo takes the best photos and then she is kind enough to share them.

Let’s dance Baba!

The photos were from Addy’s 4th Birthday party on March 20th.

On Sunday the 28th of March we enjoyed a Raclette meal with a family from church. After our meal their 3 elementary aged children enjoyed our Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course. Our grands will enjoy that for some years to come. Sunday night we had a wind event that lasted into Monday and most of our area lost power off and on through Monday. When we lose power here at our country bungalow we lose everything including the flow of water because we are on a well and the pump requires electricity. Thankfully we only lost power for a couple hours. During the outage I made some good progress on the Owl Puzzle. There is light at the end of that tunnel!

Happy Easter Week everyone. We are fortunate here in our neck of the woods to be able to have a Good Friday Service and a service on Easter Sunday. I’m so thankful that we can gather this Easter unlike last Easter.

Playing, Working and Eating

Monday the 22nd of March we all gathered for Swedish Pancakes at Baba and Gramps.

After breakfast we had the littles test out the obstacle course.

JJ is at the fearless stage.

He found a stick again!

The guys managed to get some drywall up between eating and playing. They got 5 pieces up before it was time for lunch and for the kids to go home for naps.

JJ enjoyed feeding his uncle some homemade chicken noodle soup.

We had such a fun packed weekend together. Till next time!

Ninja Warriors

After church on Sunday March 21st everyone came over for Pelemeni (Russian Dumplings) with Spinach and fresh bread. After lunch everyone went out to work on setting up our new ninja obstacle course.

Testing…

Boys and sticks…

Mush baba, mush!

It was time for the littles to go home for their naps so we put off testing the course until Monday after breakfast.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Party Fun

At the party some outdoor activities required safety goggles and safety ear muffs.

Peek a boo fun and someone has mastered the pouty lips!

Presents!

Time to try out a birthday gift before cake!

Another Happy Birthday for the books!

Our deer/dear Addy, we are so happy to be close enough to watch you grow. You are learning so many important things and we pray the things that are true will stay with you your whole life. We love you and Jesus loves you!

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

It’s been a whirlwind 4 days here in the country. Our ‘Coast’ kids are back home. We got a lot of quality time in and we look forward to the next time we can be together. The dishwasher has been working overtime.

I have had very few minutes online and hope to catch up with you all in a day or two!

The Weekend

On Saturday we arrived to watch our grands at 8:00am and said goodbye to their mommy and daddy at 8:30. After playing for awhile boredom set in and since it was still drizzly outside we pulled out the Play Dough for some creative endeavors.

The sun broke through so after cleaning up the dough we bundled up for some outdoor time.

Our son rigged up a way to add a second swing so JJ and Addy could swing at the same time. It’s ingenious and we enjoyed singing lots of songs like Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves the Little Children, 6 Little Ducks, The Wiseman Built His House Upon the Rock, The B-I-B-L-E, The Muffin Man, This Little Light of Mine.

Off the swings and into the sand.

Sand is nice but mud is muddy.

We played until it was time for lunch so we kicked off as much mud as we could, washed up our hands and got lunch ready.

Hide and Seek, A non Easter Egg Hunt, pretend play in Addy’s room and then it was time for a relaxing time watching Pippa the Pig until Mommy and Daddy arrived just before nap time. We said our goodbyes and headed home with our trailer.

We decided to have an early dinner at our non-favorite Mexican Restaurant in Colville. It was fun to see a couple of our friends there and my cousin with her family. It was good to catch up with them.

Later in the day our Daughter-in-law on the Coast sent these beautiful images with the snow geese congregating in Mount Vernon, Washington State.

Thank you Laura for sharing these amazing captures with me and letting me share them.

Our Sunday was quiet. We had a guest speaker at church and then we bumped into a couple from church and had lunch with them in Kettle Falls. Home again for more quiet looking out the window at hail, snow, hail and rain. Very undecided weather. Looks like we’ll have a lot more mud to deal with for a while.

Hope your weekend was good.