Daniel the Tiger Birthday

This is the Daniel the Tiger Cake Jamie made for Addy’s birthday party.

Addy’s Daniel the Tiger birthday party was supposed to happen on Saturday the 21st of March. Because of the Corona Virus and Social Distancing it was cancelled. We delivered presents on Saturday morning and kept our distance. If you are familiar with the Daniel the Tiger series you might have seen the trolley that is used on the show. Our daughter in law and son created a trolley from large appliance boxes and I took a few photos of it and the Daniel the Tiger dress that Jamie sewed for Addy. A lot of planing and creating that I was happy to be able to photograph. Now my computer and our broadband service won’t let me upload those photos. I’ll add them to this post when things improve.

These photos I’m posting were the photos after our morning gift time taken by our kids. The kids took a hike down their driveway and then enjoyed Addy’s birthday cake. So happy to have them and to see what a good day of sunshine they had together as a family.

On Sunday morning we had church online and it was good.

Two quotes from our online sermon from First Baptist Church Colville this morning:

“God’s glory has to be more consuming than our comfort”

“The presence of anxiety is unavoidable but the prison of anxiety is”

Stay out of prison dear ones.

We are taking this new lifestyle one day at a time. We have all we need at home and are grateful for connections via phone and social media. Our neighbors reached out to us in a text today to make sure we were doing okay. We are the “older folk” in our 5 household community who share a well. Hope all is good in your corner of the world.

Stay safe and keep the Faith!

11 Months Old!

This little guy reached the 11 month old benchmark on Monday the 16th of March. The photo above was taken at our hotel room this past Sunday when he was 1 day shy of 11 Months.

Baba and Gramps love you dear Jaymison!!

He was over Tuesday evening and is working on mastering his walking skills. From standing he can bend over to pick something up off the floor and get upright and continue walking! Thursday morning I was able to add more photos to this post since my broadband service let me! This sporadic problem is a mystery to me.

Hope all is well with my bloggy friends!

Spring Forward

Our little grands brought their folks over for dinner last Friday and I tried to capture some photos of the two. Evening is not the best time for photos. At the time of these photos Addy was 2 weeks shy of turning 3 years old. Jaymison was about 5-1/2 weeks shy of turning 1. Jaymison has no idea about what his birthday means but Addy is counting the days till Auntie Lolo, Uncle Joshie, Auntie Katie and Uncle Andrew arrive from the Coast to celebrate her birthday.

We are helping the economy of Spokane Valley for a few days staying in a very uncrowded hotel and eating at empty restaurants and shopping in stores we don’t have in Colville. We are being cautious and the hotel has initiated extra care, too.

We had the Pandemic Costco shopping experience on Thursday morning in Spokane Valley. Costco opens at 10:00 am. We arrived at 9:30 and the parking lot was filling up fast. Crowds of folks were outside the doors with their carts waiting for the doors to open. They opened 15 minutes early and the great majority of people rushed to the section of the store where the toilet paper is usually stocked. Because of what has been happening in all the Costco stores they were inventive and stacked all the toilet paper in the freezer food case aisles and the employees were pulling the packages off the piles and handing them to people. I got one, just one, package of the Kirkland brand of TP for our kids (they were out, not hoarding) Then I headed to diapers and baby wipes. Dear had the cart and walked leisurely to where I was to load the diapers and wipes and he had gotten a package of our brand of TP. We decided to throw in a case of bottled water, too. A bottle of Vitamin C tablets for good measure and we were in line ready to leave this crazy scene. We made it out in time to avoid the checkout lines that extended back to the middle of the store. Sheesh. It was busier than Christmas or Black Friday.

So we all are wondering what the deal is with the run on toilet paper? Do you know?

Praying that the virus will be able to be contained soon and that the deaths will decrease soon, too. It’s a trying time for many with so many hardships to bear. One thing that is sure is that we are all in this together and wherever we can help or encourage and shine God’s light is good.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

Sun and Snow

We still have some large patches of snow but the sun has been shining for a few days in a row and we are all trying to get our fair dose of vitamin D3.

Jaymison kept his sunglasses on all the way down the driveway and up again!

Jamie, in these photos I can see JJ’s glasses are orange. 🙂

I might be quite scarce while I travel to and from California the next few days. Looking forward to the month of March!

Presidents Day Weekend

Addy was so excited to show everyone her “Big Girl” bed.

For my record of what went on this past President’s Weekend or the rest of the story.

Addy and Gramps enjoying cartilage. She likes the crunch!

Jaymison helping me clap. He loves to clap.

Walk on the kids’ driveway. I stayed in because I didn’t have mud shoes on.

Always thankful for Auntie Lolo’s photos she shares with all of us.

Back up the driveway.

Josh and Laura’s goodbye shot before heading back to the airport.

Lots of good times together in two and a half days.

This has been a busy busy week and we have one more event before the weekend. Last night we had friends over for Raclette and cards (Hand and Foot). It was a great late afternoon and evening. We’ve been eating in for several days now so Dear is taking me out for Mexican today. Yippee.

The walls in the laundry room are almost all painted. It will be such a nice change.

I’ll leave you with this sentence from a prayer by Spurgeon:

“Give peace to those whose consciences are like the troubled sea that cannot rest”

Jaymison is 10 Months Old!

Jaymison was hesitant to crack a smile for his 10 month photo shoot.

We finally got a smile out of him.

And here is a collage with big smiles while on a walk down the driveway on Sunday which was the day you turned 10 months, February 16th. Love your toothy smile!

You are standing on your own. You have taken a step. You crawl real fast. You like to snuggle with your sister. You communicate sometimes with little grunts that are so cute. You belly laugh. You crawl right up to the legs of whoever you would like to be picked up by. You are eating well. You need a little time to warm up to loved ones you haven’t seen for a while. Every time you get near Rayna she jumps up and moves away from you. You have some dance moves. You seem to really enjoy music. You cut another tooth.

Baba and Gramps love you Jaymison!

Love Filled Weekend…

Our oldest and his dear bride flew out to visit us Eastsiders for the weekend.

Both Jaymison and Addyson enjoyed seeing and being with their Auntie and Uncle.

A walk was in order on Sunday since the sun broke through.

We took this photo to text along to our SIL/Aunt/Great Aunt Mandy in Texas who celebrated a birthday today.

Today was also the 10 month landmark for Jaymison. I will post some photos later this week since I left my camera at the kids’ house and won’t be able to upload the photos today.

Hope you all had a weekend filled with God’s love and brotherly love.

My Favorite Valentines

I bought these cute felt envelopes a year ago at the after Valentine’s Day sales. They are about 9 x 12. Addy got some leggings, long sleeve tees and a book plus a little stuffed Valentine bear.

Jaymison got some clothes and a stuffed Valentine doggy.

I got to babysit early this morning while Dan and Jamie went out for breakfast.

JJ was asleep and woke up after his parents were gone and I was relieved he didn’t seem to mind that they were gone and that I was on morning duty. He ate all his breakfast for Baba.

Addy came out to the living area after waking up and before her folks headed out the door. She was fine staying with Baba, too. We read her new book and waited for JJ to wake up. The photos I have of her are from yesterday when we did some baking together with her mommy and while JJ had a nap.

Baba, take a picture of the chocolate!

And I cannot forget my Dear who has been my very favorite Valentine since 1972!

We are eating in today having steak, baked potatoes, butternut squash and something green. A Strawberry Boston White Creme cake/pie for dessert that called out to me at Safeway Grocery Store. It was only $5.00 today. Speaking of calling out when I was shopping in the aisles I heard a familiar little voice say, “there’s Baba!” What fun it is to live in a small country town and be able to bump into our loved ones at the stores!! Addy and I had some unexpected extra time for hugs and a kiss. Hope you have a day and weekend filled with lovely things.

Big Girl Weekend

This was a big weekend for our Addy May. Her daddy converted her crib to a toddler bed on Saturday. She was climbing out of her crib which made the crib unsafe for her. Now what will she do with all this freedom?

Here’s what she did until she finally fell asleep for her nap. That’s a lot of books to read! It will be fun for us to hear the stories of her getting used to this new nap and bedtime system. Her parents probably won’t be as entertained.

While the toddler bed was being constructed Dear and I were in Spokane to do some shopping. It was a spur of the moment decision on Saturday morning to drive down. We hit Trader Joe’s, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Lowes, Home Depot, Total Wine and Costco. Costco was the busiest we’ve ever seen since we’ve lived here.

On our way back home it was a visual treat to drive down into Chewelah.

It was a beautiful day for the drive and shopping. Since we were driving right by our favorite Mexican restaurant at our normal linner time we stopped for a meal.

The special on Saturdays is Chile Colorado and that’s what we decided to enjoy.

Today, Sunday, we were happy to be in Sunday School and then the main service where we continue in the book of Hebrews. Wonderful words in the songs we sang and a sermon that was full of the Truth. Came home and I worked on a meal. A strange but good combination of Pizza and Split Pea Soup. I didn’t realize that it was National Pizza Day.

We bought the dough, pizza sauce, and pepperoni at Trader Joe’s. We added bell peppers, jalapeno, onions and mozzarella cheese. This was one of the best results we’ve had with the dough being baked well and without a soggy bottom!

Dear is moving along with the new doorway in the laundry room. The walls are ready for a few more brushes of dry wall mud, some sanding, and lastly paint. The refrigerator is moved to it’s new home and I’m getting excited. The floor only needs one transition piece in the doorway.

We are happy with each step we take to make this bungalow our own. Happy new week to you.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Grandchildren