She Can Move…

All of these photos are from our last couple days with our kids, June 26th and 27th. I’m catching up with my photos from our time in Eastern Washington. After we got home we got a video showing Addy roll over from her back to her tummy. She is a strong little one.

This week has really thrown me for a loop with a Tuesday holiday. I’m checking each day to see what day of the week it really is. I’m slowly going through my 4626 posts and cleaning up the blacked out photos that are the curse of Photobucket. In the process I am deleting some posts that I find aren’t a great loss to me. Hope your summer is going well.

Free to be Me Hodgepodge

1. When and where were the best fireworks you’ve ever seen? Speaking of fireworks…do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?

The collage above is taken at Disneyland with Josh and Dan in the early 80’s before Katie was born.

Disneyland puts on a great fireworks show every night.

My hot buttons are pushed when someone who is outspoken speaks out including me in their opinion and then because it’s so against my principles I have to speak out. Those kinds of scenarios make me sweat uncomfortably. I could keep quiet generally and not make a scene but I can’t stay silent when someone includes me in their convictions that are totally against my own.

2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?

Just hosted our first summer party on the 4th of July with 14 people we love. Some family and some dear friends. The weather was right and the food was satisfying. For me an outdoor party is perfect when the weather, food and people align well. I like an outdoor party with a close home base where the food can be set out inside and people can gather outside with access to the food and facilities close by. Another key to a great party is when everyone who comes contributes to the food table.

3. What does freedom mean to you?

I am so grateful to have been raised in the Home of the brave and land of the free. I love the U.S.A. I am even more grateful for the freedom that I have in Christ.

Galatians 5:1  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Galatians 2:4 “…our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus…”

John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month…what annoys you most about people’s cell phone habits?

I don’t appreciate how loud people are when talking on the phone in public places. The worst thing is looking in your rear view mirror riding down the freeway at very high speeds and realizing the person behind you is texting! Yikes, if the traffic stops will they notice in time before crashing into me? I have changed lanes to get away from these scenarios.

5. What’s your current summer anthem?

God Bless America

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Can’t get enough of this little smiley face! She has rolled over from her tummy to her back and now she just rolled over from her back to her tummy! She will be 4 months on July 20th!

Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions and prompts for us to react to on Hodgepodge Wednesday. Click over to read more responses.

Barn Collective

All these barns were situated along Highway 395 between Spokane and Colville.

Linking up with Tom for The Barn Collective. Thanks Tom.

Every chance I’ve gotten since Friday I’ve been working on restoring posts and replacing photos on posts dating back to 2007 because Photobucket has blacked out all my photos and it makes for a very ugly sight on my posts. I’ve also had to clean up my posts on Mennonite Girls Can Cook.  I’ll keep plugging away and determine which posts are worthy to save and which ones I should just delete and not spend extra time on. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

 

O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer ~ Hymn

yosemite to Cody 139O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer

O Father, hear my morning prayer,
Thine aid impart to me,
That I may make my life today
Acceptable to Thee.

May this desire my spirit rule,
And, as the moments fly,
Something of good be born in me,
Something of evil die.

Some grace that seeks my heart to win,
With shining victory meet;
Some sin that strives for mastery
Find overthrow complete.

That so throughout the coming day
The hours shall carry me
A little farther from the world,
A little nearer Thee.

Words: Frances A. Percy

Happy 150th Birthday Canada!

Click over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog to see a wonderful tribute posted by Judy.

May the friendship between our two countries last forever.

The plaque says: “What an object lesson of peace is shown today by our two countries to all the world.  No grim-faced fortifications mark our frontiers, no huge battleships patrol our dividing waters, no stealthy spies lurk in our tranquil border hamlets.  Only a scrap of paper, recording hardly more than a simple understanding, safe-guarding lives and properties on the Great Lakes, and only humble mile posts mark the inviolable boundary line for thousands of miles through farm and forest.”

“Our protection is in our fraternity.  Our armour is our faith. The tie that binds more firmly year by year is..

…ever increasing acquaintance and comradeship through interchange of citizens and the compact is not of perishable parchment, but of fair and honorable dealing, which, god grant, shall continue for all time.”

Erected by Kiwanis, international in memory of a great occasion in the life of two sister nations here on July 26, 1923.  Warren Gamaliel Harding twenty-ninth president of the United States of America, and first president to visit Canada.  Charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Marion, Ohio, spoke words that are worthy of record in lasting granite dedicated September 16, 1925.

I’m headed out for a walk this morning with the Wonder Walkers. It will be a fine distraction from the tedious work to restore many of my posts. Hope you all have a good first day of July.

Down With Photobucket!

Photobucket is holding all my photos hostage from me that I added to their site from 2007 and beyond. When I got to 99% full of my free photo storage space they wanted me to pay for more space. I stopped adding photos to the site. I chose not to pay for more storage and now they have deleted all my photos from my blog posts. I am more than miffed because to free my photos from their grasp they want me to pay $$ a year.  What a bother. I worked all day on Friday trying to fix some of my many many posts. I’ve also had to restore many posts on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I’ve got miles to go before my posts are restored.

Addy is a bit concerned, too. I’m so glad that not one of Addy’s photos is stored at Photobucket!

 

Thankful Thursday

On Saturday morning June 24th Addy survived staying home with me while mommy got her hair cut. She didn’t even realize mommy was gone since she slept in my arms. Thankfully Jamie pulled in just after Addy woke up and wanted to be fed.

Sunday morning I put together this trifle to have for our belated Father’s Day meal. There were 11 of us and I forgot to take photos of the crowd and of all the great appetizers and salads we enjoyed. The heat has a way of taking me out of my photography groove.

Addy slept until we all were done eating. When the company left she had some belly time and when that frustrated her Gramps came to the rescue.

They had a very nice conversation. Sunday night was a rough night in the baby sleeping world. The bedrooms were hot from our 94 degree day.

We are having cooler days here in Western Washington since we came home. I visited the hand therapist today and I have exercises and instructions until I revisit him. He suggested I wear my hand/wrist brace most of the day instead of just while I sleep.

I’m thankful for the time we had with our kids in Eastern Washington last weekend. Thankful that Addy is healthy and growing. I’m thankful for a safe drive both ways. I’m thankful for being able to do most of the things I usually do without pain even though I have very little grip in my left hand. I’m thankful for cooler weather. I’m thankful for our Canadian neighbors who are celebrating 150 years.

At Home

I’m starting to get things ready for the 4th of July. With the 4th landing on a Tuesday this year I’m not sure what we will do or who we might have over. We are having out of town guests the middle of July and I’ll just keep the red, white and blue theme going.

The white hydrangeas are well ahead of the the other ones in the yard. I still need to fill a hanging basket with some flowers. I’m on the lookout for a nice Fuchsia. Our northern neighbors are getting ready for Canada Day. Do you decorate for the 4th or for Canada Day?

Y is for Young

Our little Addy May is the youngest in our family and her mama’s family. We were in eastern Washington visiting our kids from Friday afternoon until early Tuesday morning. The photo above is of Addy with mommy and granny (great grandmother). We went out to lunch on Saturday while Daddy was working.

This young-un loves to be up on her feet and not laying down. Gramps got a good workout holding her up.

 

Daddy got a good arm workout after he got home from work.

Addy was expressive with him and let him know all the ups and downs of the day.

Mostly it was good news. Good thing her parents are young, too, because of all there is to do in bringing up a baby safely is hard on the arms, legs, back, shoulders not to mention emotions. Young ones in our care are worth all the effort. We were happy to arrive for the weekend to help out in any way we could. Mostly we had Addy time while mommy and daddy had free arms to accomplish other things around the house. It was so good to get caught up with the development going on with the youngest amongst us. She’s already turning over and it’s no easy prospect for her.

As I watched all her antics and movements I kept thinking if I moved this much and was this active I would lose some weight for sure. All these photos and activities happened on Saturday June 23rd. Addy is 3 months old.

Today is also Dan and Jamie’s 2 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary Dan and Jamie! So many changes in just two years!

We just arrived home. The travel time by car to our eastern Washington kids is close to 6 hours. We cross the Cascade Mountain range, the Columbia River and several farmlands on our journey there and back. The largest city we go through after leaving Western Washington is Spokane where we turn north and drive about 20 miles south of the Canadian border before reaching our kids home. We have learned the best way for us to travel these roads is listening to a book on cd. This time around we listened to a new to us author, Barbara Cleverly and her book called Not My Blood, A Joe Sandilands Investigation. The narrator makes or breaks a book on cd for us and Simon Prebble was real easy on our ears.

Linking to ABC Wednesday for the letter Y. Thank you to Mrs. Nesbitt and the great team of administrators keeping things going!