Monday, July 16, 2018

Finally Some Pictures!

Hello my friends.  Dennis was finally able to download some of my photos for me by me emailing them to myself and then he saved them into files for me.  I still have a few more, but this will give you a bit of an idea about our trip to Nebraska for Mike's Celebration of Life and some family time.

Here is my sister Melanie by the bus that Metro Area Transit, (MAT), sent to honor Mike.  He was a maintenance supervisor for MAT for over 40 years and a very valued and loved employee. I thought this was a wonderful thing for them to do.  The grandchildren and kids were able to ride the bus to and from the bus barn.
 This is me and my siblings.  We were all able to go out to dinner with our spouses and some of our kids while we were there.  We went to "The Cabin" and had a wonderful time.  We also all met there last year when Dennis and I were back home.  They have great food and never rush us.  We ended up having 21 family members at dinner this year.

Left to right, Lynn, Me, Melanie, Roger.  Roger is the oldest, then Lynn, Melanie and I'm the baby.  Roger is older than me by 14 years and received a pacemaker just three months before I got mine.
Melanie and I went to the UNMC, (University of Nebraska Medical Center) to visit our cousin before he received his liver transplant. He received his transplant a week ago last Friday, the day Dennis & I began our drive home.  He is doing very, very well and is out of ICU and in a regular room at the hospital now.

The following photos are in the cancer center at UNMC where Mike received his cancer treatments.  All are made of glass!  There are many more pieces of glass artwork and these don't even begin to do them justice.  Absolutely stunning.

 This is in the "Cathedral".

 These firework photos were taken as we sat on Brad & Mandy's deck on July 3.  Every night we were treated to displays like this while sitting comfortably on the deck.  Why go to a huge show and fight traffic and parking?  We had bathrooms, refreshments, etc., just stepping back inside the house! :-)  I would say the displays were every bit as good as most professional shows I have seen.  The photos are taken with my iPhone so not very good, but they give you an idea of the beauty in all directions around us.




 This was Piper's first time seeing fireworks and she loved them.  Just look at that face.  Her Papa sure does love her and we're going through Piper withdrawals.
We spent the day of the 4th with Brad's parents at their trailer at Fremont Lakes just north of Omaha.  Oh my goodness, it was HOT!!!!  We're just not used to the humidity anymore.  It's so dry here in the summer in the Pacific Northwest.  It was hard to get used to again.  There was a golf cart parade that happens every 4th of July.   Here Brad's dad, Dennis is on the four-wheeler with a flatbed trailer in tow.  He put a picnic table on the trailer and my Dennis, Mandy, Piper, Marilyn and another friend sat on the table and rode around for almost two hours.  Dennis said no to me going because of my back.  A wise decision on his part.
 Here are Dennis and Brad in the airplane getting ready to check the engine by practicing take-off without really taking off!
 The instrument panel.  I sure hope I'm not expected to ever fly.  I can't even download pictures on my own!  Ha!
Putting it back in the hanger.  Dennis sure enjoyed his time helping Brad work on the plane.  Maybe someday we'll live back there and it can be a regular thing.  As for me, I'm looking forward to a ride in the plane when I visit next.  (And I'm hoping to actually take-off!)
Miss Piper and I did some knitting together.  Actually she knitted and I crocheted a blanket for one of her baby dolls.  I always have fun when she wants to knit with me.
It's supposed to be in the upper 90's here for the next several days so I'm heading to the lake tomorrow morning.  I figure that I can sit in the A/C there just as well as at home, right?  I plan to crochet on a couple of rainbow baby blankets to keep on hand for gifts. 

I gave 12 baby blankets to Star yesterday.  She has begun a charity called "Babies of Homelessness" in Seattle, WA.  It is an official charity that is registered officially as a 501(C)(3) charity.  I think that is the IRS jargon.  Hopefully I got all of the numbers and letter right! :-)  She was working with the Union Gospel Mission passing out food to the homeless and was struck by how many babies were among the homeless and that there was no programs helping them.  Star is my best friend Jenny's daughter.  She is the mother of two boys and her Mommy's heart was broken for these children and started a charity, never expecting it to grow to what it has.  She was in Spokane this weekend for a family birthday party that we were also at and I surprised her with the blankets.  She was SO happy to get them.  There is a facebook group and several news interviews if you're interested in looking it up.

I hope you all have a wonderful week wherever you are and are staying cool.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Blessings,
Betsy

17 comments:

  1. Glad you got photos for your blog...thank you Dennis! Enjoy your time at the lake. Good thing there's a.c.where I work. 97 today 96 Monday then Tues high 80s. Need to go get things done in kitchen before bedtime comes. Glad you and Piper knit and crochet together. Goid memories made. Hope your back is getting better! Hugs and blessings my friend!

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  2. It made my heart skip to see you and Piper working on a yarn project together, what a joy to pass on your skills. The bus was so generous, a great tribute. Glad to hear your back is improving. Heartbreaking to hear about homeless babies in such need. God bless.

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  4. Such amazing photos!!! Those glass pieces are beyond gorgeous. Stay cool at the lake. I wish I had a camper by a cool body of water. It's so humid here I can't see out of my glasses.

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  5. It nice that you can spend so much time with family.

    I once flew a flight simulator ---- apparently I landed upside down. (Not that I could tell) Guess I won't be flying the real thing either.

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  6. Dear friend,
    the pictures are so breath taking. Plus, it is special when a loved one wants to work a craft with us. So many blessings.
    HUGS

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  7. Living in the high desert makes it difficult to cope with humidity. Anything over 50%, zaps my energy and makes me feel like I'm bathing in sweat. I'm glad you had a wonderful time with family.

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  8. all wonderful photos. I LOVE you and Piper knitting and crocheting. I love the fireworks expression

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  9. Wow, you have done so many things. I love the look on Piper's face over the fireworks. In our previous house that subdivision had great fireworks too I miss that here. Hot her too. Enjoy the calmness of the trailer at the lake. Nancy

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  10. Dear Betsy...catching up on your last few posts. Thanks for posting even though you had some frustration with your photos. I am glad that overall your trip went well, and that you got to connect with so many members of your family. It is wonderful that Piper is learning to stitch with you and that you are able to contribute your gifted stitching to family, friends, and others in need of your skill! While we missed our July 1st goal of getting the house on the market, we are amazed at all that has been done so far...a LOT of work by many! My youngest SIL is putting up the molding around a window as I type. In the old part of the house the painter took off the molding around windows and doors so that Gary and Lis could sand off paint the former owners had spilled on it,
    and stain it which has taken longer than we hoped it would. Praying you and yours are comforted and healing! We are trying to stay cool down here, too :-) xx

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  11. I'm glad Dennis found a work-around to get your photos to the computer to use for your blog. It's a good thing that you didn't try to ride on the little picnic table float.. that would not have been good for your back. So nice of you to be able to donate so many blankets, you really are an amazing knitter/crocheter.. so fast! I'm hardly doing any crochet right now. I guess I'm not much of a summer crochet person, but it will come back in the fall for me. Enjoy the warm weather! It got to 99 deg on our way to Elmer's for our Friends of Multnomah Falls meeting. I hope you get to spend more time at the lake!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  12. Love all your photos. Such a lovely post. I so love watching Miss Piper knitting. She is growing up so fast. So love what they did for Mike. Sending prayers for your sister and her family, too. You are so awesome with all the lovely things you make and give away to help others. Truly the light of His love shines through you sweet friend. Blessings always. ((hugs))

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  13. Hello... so sweet seeing the two of you knitting and crocheting together! Love the family photos. Sending a hug your way, as it has been another hot summer. Enjoy each moment!! Roxy

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  14. What a wonderful charity to donate to! It keeps you busy knitting and crocheting. Another blogger I follow is kitting hats, scarfs and mittens for food shelters to give away to kids. There is so much good happening out in the world that never makes the news. :)

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  15. Oh, Betsy! It did my heart good to see the photos and to know that God sprinkled some good times in with your times of pain and grief. I am SO thankful your cousin is doing so well, praise God!! It was wonderful to see a picture of you and you siblings together, too, and that little Miss Piper is just growing like a weed. I hope someday you can move near her and be there as she grows up. I can only imagine how much you miss her. May the dear Lord continue to bless you and keep you, my friend. Praying for you and your family and sending hugs!

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  16. Betsy, I am so glad that you had time to visit and renew family connections. I absolutely love the photo of Piper and her grandpa watching the fireworks. There is nothing so sweet as experiencing this special time through the eyes and heart of a child :)

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  17. Some good news pictures and your voice explaining it all so nicely. I’m goad you’re able to sort images ok for yourself. I posted another on my mobile. Write most of it on iPad then add photos on Chrome on Android. Glad I can get it to work.
    What a wonderful project those blankets to help poor families are! I pray the Lord blesses that outreach to help others, and also your cousin with liver transplant.
    My dad is very poorly had a bad fall and bruised and few bones, ribs broken. So need to pray, he’s all confused due to his system being blocked by pain killers, really tricky. But our LORD knows.
    Giant Prayer Hugs, sis. Shaz.x

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