It’s Monday already?

Gosh, I’ve been so busy trying to keep up on everyone else’s blogs that I haven’t posted anything in over a week. Sorry about that everyone. We’re having the coldest weather of winter so far this week.  It’s supposed to be in the single digits for lows and teens and 20’s for highs. Now, that is the normal winter temperatures, but we have been living in an El Niño year here and we’re not used to it being that cold. I washed the car this morning and it’s a good thing I put it in the garage when I got home, because in less than a mile I had little ice droplets all over the car! 

I have some photos for you today.  Look at this handsome guy! I asked Alex to send me a picture of him wearing the sweater I knitted him and this is what I got.  Now he and his dad can be twins!:-) I think he looks like a model for GQ. :-)

I think it fits very well. I’m pleased, especially considering there was no way I could measure while I was making it. He seems to like it too.  Gosh his dad and I miss him!  It will be three years in May since we’ve seen him. He is so good about FaceTimeing with us, usually several times a week. We are grateful beyond measure for FaceTime.

Then Mandy sent me these two pictures yesterday.  Aren’t our girls beautiful? Piper is also wearing a sweater that I knitted for her.  This poor little girl has five more loose teeth! I think it’s really cute, but she may have a hard time eating if she keeps losing them all at once!

So precious. I miss these girls too. What’s the deal with all of our kids moving so far away? It makes my heart actually hurt sometimes.  These two right here? They are the reason we are seriously planning to move back to Nebraska after retirement. Not much else would convince us to leave the Pacific Northwest.

When the Trader Joe’s cashier looked at my ID last week he said, “It’s your birthday!” I answered him, “Yes it is.”  Then look what he gave me!  He told me, “Happy birthday from Trader Joe’s!”  Aren’t they gorgeous?

Then I had found a Dutch Brothers coffee card in the bottom of an old purse a week or two ago. I don’t drink coffee and I very rarely go to any of the coffee stands for anything. But I thought, hey it’s my birthday so I’m going to get myself a hot chocolate chai. When I gave them the card, somehow it showed them it was my birthday. He said, “You’re not paying on your birthday.”  He gave me the card back and a free hot chocolate chai. If you have never had a hot chocolate chai you are missing out. Amazingly delicious.

Then I went to the gas station and filled my car up with gas. They did NOT give me free gas. What’s up with that?!  Ha!

For Bible study Thursday night Debbie brought a Costco chocolate cake and Jenny brought a pail of ice cream. It was delicious. Over half of the cake was left, so I cut it into slices and froze them individually. Now when I have a chocolate attack I can just pull out an individual piece of cake. How great is that!?

Yum!  That’s my friend Debbie on the left cutting the cake and my absolute best friend in the whole world Jenny, who is scooping the ice cream.

There’s my handsome husband getting some cake and ice cream for himself and to the left, looking toward the kitchen is Neal, Jenny’s husband, who is Dennis’s best friend. It’s pretty handy having my best friend and his best friend married to each other. We do a lot together.

The guy in the photo below, supervising Dennis is Dean, who is married to Debbie, the cake cutter. :-) Dean is a retired deputy sheriff and he keeps us all in line. We’re such a bunch of rule breakers, you know. Ha! That’s Kevin and Lana in the background of the picture below. Dennis was the best man in their wedding many, many years ago. Not pictured are Mark and Nancy who are brother and sister. I thought it was very sweet of the group to bring me cake and ice cream. I’m usually the one that provides it for all of the birthdays and I must admit sometimes it’s nice to be the one receiving the sweet treats. Especially chocolate.

I got this sweet package in the mail from Becky who is “GrandmaBecky” over on my side bar. Inside the Be Happy folder are lots of different kinds of stickers and flags. They will come in very handy. Also some teabags and a sweet little placemat to remind me of the ocean. Thank you so much for thinking about me Becky. I’m hoping to get to the coast within the next couple of months and I also hope to get to have a visit with you, Teresa and Gracie while I’m over that direction.

I started these socks for myself Friday morning but then I talked to Mandy. She told me that grandma, Dennis‘s mom, wears the pair of socks I made her almost every day because they keep her feet warmer than any of her other socks. She suggested I make her another pair so....

I put these away and ran to buy more yarn and Friday afternoon I started these. The Lion Brand sock is yarn is the the same yarn I used for the socks she likes so much, just in a different colorway.  Since she likes the others, I wanted to use the same yarn. I’m making quick progress using the plain vanilla sock yarn pattern and hope to finish them by tomorrow and get them in the mail to her.  They are taking a little longer because her feet are so swollen all of the time I have to make them a little larger in the ankle and foot area. 

Well I think I’ve babbled on long enough for today. I know I’m forgetting to tell you lots of things but maybe I’ll remember later. I hope those of you that were in the grip of the polar vortex are now beginning to thaw a bit. Just think, Spring is less than two months away. We can do this!

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also are to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:11-12

Blessings,

Betsy