Category Archives: Grandchildren

Early September Close-ups…

I had a few chances to capture some close ups of our little grand last Saturday.

We are busy signing papers, setting up services and arranging deliveries for our new home. I will make a solo trip on Sunday to Colville to deliver signed papers and a check on Monday, picking up keys on Tuesday and returning to this side of the mountains on Wednesday. Dear and I will follow each other with our very last load east on the 15th or 16th of September. The end is in sight. But…first we will celebrate a milestone birthday for Dear with our west side kids on Friday evening. Dear’s birthday is on Sunday. Life is rich…

Twists and Turns…

The air quality has been better in Northeastern Washington and Addy was able to go outside and help her daddy do a little lawn work.

We just got a call from our real estate agent saying the sellers will be ready to vacate by September 11th and we could close 9 days earlier then expected. Yikes! We are scrambling to get our ducks in a row and our trips east planned.

Before the Fires…

We were celebrating just across the water from where the Boyds Fire would start one week later. You never know what a day may hold.

Love this photo of our sweet Addy looking up at her Great Granny and Great Uncle Scott.

We have made trips back and forth across the Cascade Mountain Range from Western Washington to Northeastern Washington for every weekend in August. We know the route along I-90 and Highway 395 North like the back of our hands. Since the Boyds fire and other fires in Washington State and British Columbia started the skies have been smoke filled and unhealthy to very hazardous. This weekend was no exception. We left for Colville early Saturday morning and the skies were smoke filled from Seattle to Colville, 350 miles of smoke filled skies. It is disheartening to say the least. On our way back to the Seattle area on Sunday we started with very smoke filled skies in Colville to Spokane and then traveling west we had relief. We had rain on Snoqualmie Pass which was a blessing to experience. Here in the Seattle area the air is clear again and we’ve enjoyed some light rain.

We will be making the round trip again on Labor Day Weekend. Still praying and hoping the fires will be contained and that Northeastern Washington will experience their beautiful clear skies again soon. Looking forward to future weekends when we can stay put!

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Weekend Roundup “H”

I’m early for The Weekend Roundup. I’ll add the link when it becomes available.

Starts with “H.”

House, as in our new house. We looked at so many properties and this one just seemed right to Dear and me.

We get possession on September 20th!

A Favorite. Hobby Horse

Addy looks quite pleased holding the “reins” on this hobby horse!

Horse: The famous White Horse from Banbury Cross.

When I was a school teacher we had a training session on how important nursery rhymes were to a child’s language development and future reading skills. So take that baby on your knee and have fun with all the nursery rhymes out there. Sing them instead of just saying them. I remember bouncing our three kids on my knee with this one. Now with our little granddaughter I’ve enjoyed bouncing her on my knees and repeating this rhyme.

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes

In 2014 Dear and I visited Banbury in Oxfordshire specifically so that I could see this sculpture in the town center. You can read about this statue and some of it’s history in a post from 2014, Banbury~Oxfordshire

Thank you Tom for hosting The Weekend Roundup!

The Weekend Round-Up~ G

Starts with “G.” 

Gramps with his Granddaughter.

A Favorite 

Our Mom and Pop’s grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Great.

Great Britain and The Cloisters at Gloucestire Cathedral. Great, grand and Gothic.

And a bonus shot from Gloucestire…

Linking up later today with Tom for The Weekend Roundup ~ “G”

Summertime!

While we were in Colville it was hot enough to enjoy some water play.

Meanwhile back at this old house we are packing, packing, and packing. Some sorting and some runs to Goodwill to get rid of stuff.

I’m happy to say I managed to watch World Cup soccer while packing stuff, too. How’s your summer going?

Hello Summer Hodgepodge

1. Summer is upon us this week in the Northern hemisphere. Tell us three things on your summer bucket list.

No real bucket list type items but things that we need to have happen this summer…

1. Sell our house. 2. Buy a new house. 3. Complete our move to the new house. In the midst of all of that, spend time with our growing granddaughter, family and friends.

2. Something fun you used to do as a kid in the summertime?

In the 50’s we would go camping in the mountains close to Los Angeles. Big Bear was one of our favorites. As a child this was a fun experience. I’m the one with the buster brown haircut. The other thing we would do was spend time at the beach with our cousins and usually we’d choose Newport Beach in Southern California. Besides dodging waves and digging for sand crabs, the kids would walk around and collect empty soda bottles to take into the little convenience store to redeem the deposits. With the money we’d get by doing this we’d buy a popsicle or candy bar. So thrilling for us young ones! What wasn’t fun about the beach was coming home with horrible sunburns and having to have cold rags dipped in vinegar put on our backs to ease the pain and heat. Ouch. My dear mom was the one who would minister to us.

3. Rooftop or backyard? Why?

I’ve never really lived in an environment where I have to rely on a rooftop to be outside. A yard is still important to me. More importantly a covered deck is my preference with a view of greenery all around and some privacy. If you have a rooftop space you could invite me over to experience something different!

4. Do you read food labels? Place importance on them? Make an effort to find out/care about where your food comes from?

My label reading life has evolved over the years. Growing up we were part of a religion/cult where pork products were taboo so we made sure the salami and hot dogs we bought were an “all beef” product. My family left this group in my later teens and I am free to enjoy bacon and other pork products. MSG was the next item in an ingredients list that we avoided and still do. We avoid anything with aspartame and saccharin or any fake sugar. No diet soft drinks at my house. I can only hope the food I buy at the local grocer is okay…another good reason to pray over the meal you are about to consume.

5. A song you’ll have on repeat this summer?Philip Philip

Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring the songs I mostly have on repeat are Christian worship songs and hymns but here’s one that is somewhat appropriate for our move…

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our son is threatening to get our little grand girlie a huge hamster ball so they don’t have to deal with this scenario. Yikes, she climbed up on that bar stool and hoisted herself up on the counter. She’s a strong daredevil.

Here she is with her Uncle. This looks a lot safer!

Linking up with Jo From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. She asks the questions and we answer…

Before the End…

…of our Son in law’s tedious years of studying and writing and creating and presenting for his degree in Aeronautical Engineering tomorrow, I thought I would do a quick post recapping our time last weekend with lots of photos.

Uncle Josh and Addy at the zoo. Our kids and our friend’s kids went to the zoo on Saturday.

Uncle and Addy on the carousel.

Auntie and  Addy at our kid’s home. Addy and her parents stayed with our oldest and our dear DIL for this trip since our house is in another period of chaos.

After the zoo we all met up at Jamie, Sarly, Rae and David’s house for a barbecue dinner and fun in their backyard.

The sandbox was a fun discovery for Addy and David enjoyed it alongside his new friend.

Rae was a sweet hostess and took Addy for a ride about the yard.

Addy enjoyed sitting in the driver’s seat.

The dads gave their little ones some fun pushes on the swings.

David and Addy helped out by mowing the lawn and the putting green.

Some use golf clubs to get a hole in one, others take the easy road and just plop the ball into the hole.

The adults took turns helping the younger ones have a good time.

Help down the big slide was appreciated.

More help to zoom about the yard, too.

Loved seeing Katie’s purple hair amongst the purple blooms.

A great time with our dear friends who are family to us.

On Sunday late morning all our kids arrived at Baba and Gramps’ for our traditional family Swedish Pancake breakfast.

Addy got to see her pink kitchen that I bought a Goodwill for $1.79. I’m tucking it away for her to enjoy in the future when she’s older and can appreciate it more.

She enjoyed navigating our home again on very steady feet.

Some fun faces and a discovery of the tupperware lid drawer.

Our girls.

Our guys.

All of us together.

Till next time dear ones! It was a great couple days together.

Looking forward to Andrew’s graduation festivities on Friday and Saturday in the midst of us repainting our colorful walls and our kitchen the last few days. Oye, we are tye tye here at this old house. We are trying the neutral pallet to see if that will help us sell our home. Time will tell. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I’ll be able to breath a sigh of relaxation come Sunday, Lord willing!

Glee!

We got to spend some time with loved ones Saturday evening and on Sunday morning. I’ll share more soon. A busy weekend. We said our goodbyes to these three a couple hours ago. They are driving over the mountains to return home.

Update: Head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook to get the recipe for Crockpot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup that I posted for today. I know it might be hot where you are but I enjoy soup in any weather and this is a good one to bookmark. I first posted this recipe on the MGCC blog almost 8 years ago! Happy Monday and my kids made it back home safe and sound.