A Full Heart

Lots of happiness at our house this weekend! It was over way too fast. Kyleigh was indeed a little Mommy to Piper. She read dozens of books to her and helped her use her sippy cup. Our son Jamie seemed quite enamoured of Piper too, that's him holding her in the chair. Caleb soon discovered his Daddy's old lego's that I had kept in storage these many years, just for this opportunity. He had a wonderful time playing with them. Please excuse Grandpa's hair. This was VERY early Sunday morning before showers and breakfast. It was just Grandpa up with all three kids and he was quite happy and really didn't care what he looked like. He had his grandkids in his lap! Do you like Kyleigh's big girl tooth just coming in? Last week she had an accident with some gravel and got an abrasion next to her eye. It seems running and gravel don't mix very well!

That's Brad holding Caleb upside down in the living room. Caleb adores Uncle Brad and they tease each other constantly. He also loves Chloe and likes to lay on her bed with her. :-) Polly is staying here with us for a few weeks while Mandy and Brad go to a wedding in Nebraska. I'll be making a trip to Portland to take her home next month. Meanwhile both dogs are happy to be together again. Both Kyleigh and Caleb amazed us with their reading. Kyleigh is in second grade and can read very well just about anything you give her. Caleb is in kindergarten and likes to read too. Obviously not as well as Kyleigh but he's trying to catch up! Both do math problems in their heads and kept us busy supplying math problems for them to do. This Grandma realized very quickly just how much I depend on my calculator.

Uncle Alex facetimed with us from Japan and he taught Kyleigh and Caleb some Japanese which they proceeded to use the rest of the weekend! He took a very cute screenshot of all three kids and posted it on Facebook. I'm trying to see if I can get a copy as it's very cute. He called again last night to talk to them, not realizing they had already gone home. The only person he had to talk to was me since an exhausted Grandpa had already gone to bed. He is on a short vacation for Golden Week in Japan and was at Hirosaki where the cherry blossoms are and wanted to show the little ones how pretty it is. Mandy, Hubby and I all were there with him three years ago this week and I can vouch for how beautiful it is with the castle and the cherry blossoms. There is a big festival going on at the same time.

Yesterday we took them all to Red Robin after church and right afterwards they all left for home. It's about a 5 hour drive for Jamies family and about 6 hours for Mandy's family so they were all gone by 1:30 in order to be home by bedtime for the kids. Oh my! That was traumatic for Grandpa and Grandma. Would you believe that I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it? Ever since Kyliegh was born our way of coping with them leaving our house is to put everything back into it's proper place like a couple of whirlwinds. We had everything put away within an hour and the first load of bedding was in the washer. Otherwise, everytime we see a toy or all of the chairs around the dining table I start crying again. It's easier emotionally to get it out of sight.

They all had great trips home. Jamie had beautiful weather over all the mountain passes. No snow! His kids are seasoned car travelers and are used to long rides to see their other grandparents too. Mandy and Brad had a good trip as well. Miss Piper slept about 3/4 of the drive and was happy the rest of the way. Mandy called and so we could talk to Piper as they drove. She was jabbering and laughing at us in her car seat. :-)

My, oh my, this house is empty now. The devotion last night at church was about contentment. Being content in all things. So I'm really trying to be content with having seen all of my kids this weekend, (even Alex on Facetime!) I still miss them, but I do know that they love us and we love them and nothing can change that. And we're all happy.

Brad is looking at airplanes to buy. After another 6 hour trip here and back in two days, he says he could fly it in an hour. That way, he says, he can come get me to babysit anytime I want! And I want!!! He's wanted a plane for awhile but I think he's getting even more serious about it. He can fly just about anything and is a flight instructor too.

Thanks for putting up with my family babble today. I'm feeling very blessed. We had lots of loving and kisses and hugs all around. Grandma got to help with all three baths, (that's important to us Grandma's isn't it?) I got to change lots of Piper's diapers and I'm feeling very contented about all of it.

Yes, the Lord truly blessed Hubby and I this weekend in many ways. Don't ever take your family for granted my friends. If they live close by, realize just how blessed you are. And if they are all far away like ours are, be thankful for modern things like Skype, Facetime and emails!

Have a lovely, blessed day.

Blessings,

Betsy

My Babies are Coming!

Okay, so the oldest two grandkids aren't technically babies anymore, but to me they will always be my babies. Kyleigh is 8 now and Caleb is 6. When did that happen? Anyway, they should be driving over the mountains from Montana towards Grandma and Grandpa's house right now with their Daddy, my middle child. I CANNOT wait. Brad, Mandy and Piper are coming from the Portland, OR, the complete opposite direction tonight after they get off of work. It will be the first time I've had all of my grandkids together. As I said before, I can't wait. I think Kyleigh will be like a little Mother to Miss Piper don't you?

I've been busy baking chocolate chip cookies this morning and making up beds with fresh linens. Did I say I was excited? Oh yes, yes I am. I wish it were for more than the weekend, but I'm not going to complain. I'm going to try to get every ounce of joy from this weekend. Grandpa is counting the minutes too. And now, I have lots and lots to do so I'm going to leave you now, but not before I show you pictures of the trees in our front yard. It seems spring has finally "sprung" as my Mom used to say.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that my primary care doctor is referring me to a cardiologist and who knows how long it will take to get in to see him/her. Could I ask you to please say a prayer that it's not anything major? I appreciate each and every one.

Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to tell someone how much you care. I plan to do a lot of that this weekend.

My Babies are Coming!!!!

Blessings,

Betsy

Shawl Reveal

Happy Monday!

I had a post done on my phone this morning and it disappeared! Strange. But I'm home from the lake now and I'll try it again with the desktop computer. I finished the shawl that both Gracie and Teresa have made. In fact, Teresa has made two! It turned out beautifully, but a little small. As I was finishing up the ruffled border, it occured to me that I thought I had heard Teresa mention that she had added extra rows. That explains it! Next time I'll add rows like she did. Meanwhile this one will be gifted to someone much smaller than me. :-) No problem. I had figured I would be giving it away anyway.



I do like the pattern very much and once I figured out the writers style of writing a pattern, I sailed right through it. I'm not as crazy about the yarn I chose. While very soft, it wasn't very pretty. Chloe had to get her tail into the photo too!

I'm also working on a CAL doily from Stitchy McFloss. It's a lot of fun and is going well. I just have to remember to check at the end of every row to make sure I haven't gotten lazy and made a mistake. This morning I picked it up and noticed an error 4 rounds back. Riiiiiip! So now I'm back to where I was before I went to church Sunday! I don't mind, it's very relaxing to me. I love to make doilies and haven't made many for several years. It's a fun CAL and you can find her blog on my sidebar. I haven't figured out how to embed bloggers addresses in the body of the post. I'm sorry.



I also have one completed baby hat for the hospital and one almost done. They are so easy and I always carry it around in my purse for something to knit on while in line waiting or whenever I have a few minutes to spare.



We went to the lake last Friday night and hubby stayed on Friday & Saturday. He had meetings last night and so Chloe and I were alone. It was 22F during the night! Brrrr. We figured I better stay there with the heat on to make sure nothing froze. That's supposed to be the last of the really cold temperatures, at least for the rest of this week! Heres my baby helping me to take pictures.



She wasn't happy that I brought her home this morning. She would have loved to stay at the trailer. I think she loves it even more than I do!

Here are a few more photos of the preparation for opening weekend this Saturday.



They have the row boats out and ready to launch and one of the childrens swingsets is partially uncovered and ready for little people. I just like the big granite boulder with the little trees. There are granite boulders everyone around the park, hence the name. Granite Point Resort.

Thank you for the well wishes for my Drs. visit last week. He did an EKG and chest xrays and found nothing abnormal. Which is good I know, but the reason I came home this morning instead of staying until Wednesday like we had planned is that I'm still not feeling great. Vague tightness in the chest, upper back and arm. Hubby told me to come home and not be so far away from the Dr. in case something is really wrong. So sad. I love the lake and I had a nice dinner all planned for him there. Now, since we'll be home tonight, he has to mow the lawn. He should have let me stay at the lake!

Anyway, have a lovely, lovely day today and remember. "This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

I'm going to enjoy the clear blue skies here at my house, just as much as I would at the lake. And now, I'm going to go crochet.

Blessings,

Betsy

Sunshine Thursday

Good Morning!

First of all I want to apologize to any of you who may have been offended by my last post. I wasn't implying that it was wrong for any of you not to post to your blog. I understand entirely the reasoning behind a day of silence. I had hoped you would all understand why I decided to go ahead with my post. It was pointed out to me that I was being very insensitive by what I said. I assure you all, that was NOT my intent. I want each of you to know how much all of you and your opinions and care mean to me. We are all different people and as such react in different ways. I try not to offend anyone by my blog, and if I did, again, I apologize profusely.

And now back to my normal post! Chloe and I did go to the lake Tuesday night and it was a good thing, because the temperature got down to 22F and all the pipes would have been frozen. I was the only one there and it was so quiet and beautiful. The first picture is out the back window of our trailer. Aren't the trees with their "name tags" that the workers have placed around the park for people to learn the different varieties of trees a great idea? The children especially seem to like these signs, but they have also taught me a lot. Things are greening up nicely there and the cottages are all ready for their first guests of the summer.

The docks have been placed back in the lake in preparation for the first day of fishing season next weekend. Right now the only inhabitants are the seagulls perched at the end watching for some fish to swim by!

Hubby mowed our grass at home Monday evening for the first time this year, so maybe summer is actually on it's way eventually.




I finished the pillow cover for the trailer while watching the Create channel on PBS. I really enjoy that channel and the cooking shows. We only get PBS and a very blurry network channel at the trailer and that's fine with me. Part of the reason I go there is to escape the "real world" and be rejuvenated. Anyway, I decided to do stripes on one side and granny's on the other. I like how it turned out next to the blanket I made last year. The colors are very bright aren't they? It sure cheers things up amid all the browns of the trailer.

I also worked awhile last night on my shawl. It's the same pattern that Teresa and Gracie are using and I'm enjoying it. So far I haven't had to rip it out once! Surprising isn't it? I'm not sure about the yarn colors. I'm used to much brighter yarn these days. I think maybe I'm preparing myself for a pastel colored blanket in my future like Shari makes. :-)

I am so looking forward to next weekend when two of our three children and their families will be here to visit. Only Alex in Japan will be absent, but I'm sure at some point we'll Skype with him so he can see his neices and nephew. He was supposed to be here too, but couldn't get the time off. We're hoping for a two week visit with him in August and hopefully everyone will be able to return then.

I'm off to the doctor in a little while to investigate a mysterious pain in my upper back and chest area. If you are the praying sort I would appreciate it. I'm thinking it's probably acid reflux but there are a lot of heart issues in my family so it's better safe than sorry. This has been a nagging thing for about 6-7 weeks now and I better get it checked as it seems to be getting a bit worse. Since my stroke, oh my goodness, has it been 17 years ago, I know that I have to watch these kinds of issues, but who likes to go to the doctor? Not me.

So my friends, I'm off to begin my day. I've already vacummed and dusted and mopped, but I still have a few more things to accomplish around here. Have a wonderfully blessed day. Hug someone or just give them a smile. It will make a huge difference in both of your days!

Blessings,
Betsy

Home once again!

Hello friends!

Hubby and I drove home yesterday through rain in the Columbia Gorge and sunshine closer to home.

As I was driving, I talked to my dear mother-in-law for almost an hour. Yes, I have a hands free device so both hands were on the wheel. :-) She was the one who first told me of the terror in Boston. Our daughter had a friend from Portland running, so of course we thought of her. Thankfully she is fine but our prayers go out for the families of the victims and all who were injured in this senseless attack.

A short post today, but it reinforces the feelings of love I hold in my heart for my little family.

I love these pictures of Piper with my hubby, her devoted servant, Grandpa. She loves her ducky jammies, they have ducks on the feet. Her daddy the pilot has named them Orville and Wilbur after the Wright brothers! She jabbers at them constantly. :-). In the other two photos she's all dressed for church with Grandpa and Daddy.

And now, I'm off to do some cleaning at the church and have lunch with my best friend who has been very neglected with all of my travels recently. I'm still trying to decide whether Chloe and I should go to the lake for the night tonight, just to run the furnace. It's supposed to get down to 25F and we're a little concerned about the plumbing freezing. Hubby is teaching a class tonight so it would just be me and my faithful cohort, Chloe.

I've been trying to catch up on a few blogs this morning and I am reading in quite a lot of them that they are not posting today in respect for the families that lost loved ones yesterday. I understand that and I almost did the same thing. Maybe I'm in the wrong here in continuing my post, but I decided that I wasn't going to let the cowards that planted those bombs stop in me in sharing my love for life, my family and my friends. They want us all to cower in fear of them and I refuse. My GOD is bigger than any of them and I will turn to Him for comfort and peace in these days of unending evil and violence. The Bible predicted times like this would come and I am afraid we're just seeing the beginning. Many people have lost all love and respect for each other. I, however, will continue the Good Fight. I will continue to try and show my love and care for every person I come in contact with and share the good news of Jesus Christ to all that I can.

Have a wonderful day and I'll try to be back in a day or two with some crafty news and pictures.

Blessings,
Betsy

Heeeeeres Piper!

Does anyone else remember Johnny Carson and his entrance line of Heeeere's Johnny? Well this post is almost completely about Miss Piper.

I know I'm completely biased, but isn't she just the cutest? In the picture of her in her carseat she was ready to go yarn shopping in Portland, just her and Grandma. I believe you can never develop your yarn addiction too young. Unfortunately she slept the entire expedition so we'll have to work on that again soon.

Do you see her waving at you? I accidentally cut her moving hand out of the frame but it's hard to keep her still.

She got three immunizations at her 6 month check yesterday. I almost think it was worse on Mommy & Grandma. I just gave her some tylenol and she's sleeping in my arms as I compose this post on my iphone.

Hubby arrived here safely about 6:00 last night and he even picked up a pizza on his way to the house. After a quick piece of pizza I was off to Taci's for knit night. Gracie and Teresa and 5 other lovely ladies were there. Fun was had by everyone and Taci is an amazing hostess. I came home at 10:15 to a sleeping house. Only my Chloe dog met me at the door.

The flowers are right outside Mandy's door and my favorite color. The fountain is Brad's handiwork. Isn't it pretty? I love to lay in bed at night and listen to the fountain under my window.

There is a great giveaway going on at www.kashmerekisses.com. You should pop on over and join in!

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing my pretty Piper with me. Hubby and I will drive home on Monday. We'll obviously be in separate cars but it's still better than driving completely alone.

Be sure to tell someone you love them today.you'll be amazed at the results.
Blessings,
Betsy

Portland!

Happy Wednesday! After a beautiful drive through Washington and along the gorgeous Columbia Gorge in Oregon I arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon. Just look at the picture of Mt. Hood from miles and miles away. The top was covered by clouds and I was driving 65 mph but I still think it's an amazing site.

Next post I'll show pictures of pretty Piper, but first look at the fun we four girls had. We spent a happy few hours at Olive Garden in Gresham, OR. Well over two hours and we could easily have talked much, much longer.

Gracie and Teresa shared their beautiful bunnies. They used the same pattern but each is very unique and precious.

Taci modeled my Pimpeliese Shawl and it was so beautiful on her I gave it to her. She didn't even seem to mind that I've worn it!!! I think it looks beautiful on her.

Then Teresa and Taci gave Gracie an impromptu lesson on her crocheted shawl. Teresa's shawl is done, (her second one), and Gracie's is just begun. I'm planning to buy yarn for my own in the next day or two.

We gave each other little gifts too. Taci made us magnets for our refrigerators. She made one of mine to match the IKEA tins I showed you in my last post. How clever! Teresa gave us each fresh eggs from her wonderful chickens. Yum! Gracie made us each two cup cozies. I'm using mine right now around my cup of hot cocoa.

Thank you girls. Precious gifts all, but your friendship is the greatest gift. I love blogging. Just look at the wonderful friends I've made this way.

We're all planning to meet Friday night at Taci's for knit-night. I'll start my new shawl then because I'll have lots of help with all three coaches there! Fun!

I wish each if you lived close enough to join in our lunches. I've come to cherish each of them and feel so blessed to know them personally.

As I said before, I'll be back soon with Piper news. :-)
Blessings,
Betsy

Rainy Days and Mondays "Usually" Get Me Down

Happy Monday morning, "almost afternoon" to you my friends. As the post title says, usually rainy Mondays are a little depressing, but not today. Because, tomorrow my friends, tomorrow I'll be on my way to see little Miss Piper. And her Mommy and Daddy of course! I was planning to go on Wednesday, but moved it up to Tuesday because, well, because I can!! :-) And Hubby was okay with it since he's teaching a class at church Tuesday night and will be home just in time to fall into bed. So, we wouldn't have seen each other much tomorrow anyway and this way my friends, I get to spend one more day with Piper. Oh how I love that little girl. Do you know she tried to kiss me through the computer the other day when we were Skyping? I can't wait to get a really wet, mushy baby kiss tomorrow afternoon.

So what that meant for me was coming home from the trailer yesterday instead of today because, of course, I still had a myriad of little things to do before leaving. Like laundry. And ironing. And packing. It was pretty wet and cold at the lake this weekend anyway and when we went back out yesterday after church to pack things up, it was SNOWING! That's right. Last weekend I got sunburned with temps in the 70'sF and yesterday it was snowing. Ick! We were nice and toasty warm in the trailer though. Saturday I crocheted and hubby and I watched a three movie Elvis marathon. Hubby is a great fan of Elvis. I personally think those movies leave a lot of acting out of them! Bad, bad acting, but it was nice in a way. Much cleaner and no foul language like today's movies. There were three of us couples out braving the elements there this weekend. Friday night I made a meatloaf and a new potato recipe in the oven. We also had cheese bread and green beans from last years garden. Saturday night we had spaghetti. All of the comforts of home and no stress. And I actually started and FINISHED Debbie Macombers new book that I told you about in my last post.

On the crafty front I managed to finish the front of one pillow top and started the back of it. I'm just going to crochet multi-colored stripes for the back. I forgot how time consuming these little squares are when you have to weave in ends after each round. But, I have all summer so no worries.



I also almost finished a baby hat at church yesterday morning and last night. I know I could make them faster if I didn't put the little cables in them, but I like how it makes the hat stretchier and so it can fit almost any size baby.




I found these little tins at IKEA last time I was in Portland. Aren't they fun? There is another one in the set that I have filled with hot chocolate packets and have at the lake. Another has tea bags in it. Now what, I wonder, should I put into these two?



And here is Chloe's packing. Her food and halter & leash. Oops! I forgot her treats. I need to get some of those or Polly will be wondering how Grandma could have forgotten her goodies!



Well, I just heard the dryer buzz at me so I think it's time to begin my ironing. I've already filled the gas tank in my car and ran a few errands this morning. This is the third load of laundry. I think after my ironing is done I may have some time to do a little crocheting on my pillow top. Tonight's menu is chicken and homemade dumplings. Yum. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Lunch on Wednesday with Gracie, Teresa and Taci too. I am such a blessed lady. I've made some wonderful friends here in blogland and it's such fun to meet up with these three ladies whenever I get to Portland, which seems often lately. :-) I consider each of you to be my friends too, and as such, blessings to my life. I wish I could meet each of you and have lunch and just get to know each other better than these written words can share our lives.

Have a wonderful day everyone! And remember how much God, the creator of the universe loves each and every one of you. Always.

Edited to ask a question. Does anyone know how to get one of those "reply" buttons by the comments so I can answer you when you leave a comment? I've looked around Blogger but can't seem to find that option. Thanks for your help. Did you notice? I'm doing a bit better with the pictures thanks to your help!)

Blessings,

Betsy