Heading Home!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and we’re on our way home.  We had to leave a day early because of blizzard conditions in Montana and we’re taking a more southerly route home which adds a day onto the drive.  And guess what.  It’s snowing as I write this as we drive through northern Utah but hopefully not as bad as Montana and Idaho.  We’ve been told it’s snowing at home too.  Uh-oh.  Our sprinklers are still going off.  Hopefully they haven’t frozen.

Heading up Rattlesnake Pass about 10 minutes ago.

Snowville, Utah this morning.

The southern Idaho border a few minutes ago.

I’ll catch you up with just some of what we’ve been up to.  Mostly playing with this little girl.  This is Dennis’s Mom too.  Can you tell Piper is Papa’s girl?

Papa bought her this dress for her birthday.  Mandy sent us this picture this morning after getting ready for church.  The streamers are from her party yesterday that we missed because of having to leave early.

I spent a day with my sister Melanie last Monday and we went to Lauritzen Gardens.  She has a memorial stone there for Mike along with his sister and Mom. I’ll post more garden pictures soon.

We visited my parents and Dennis’s Dad’s gravesites.

Dad

My parents graves.  Their sites are very close to each other.  Most of our family on both sides are buried at Forest Lawn.  In fact, Dennis and I have had our headstone placed there for almost 40 years now.  Pre-planning makes it so much easier on family.

We had dinner with my brothers, Roger, Lynn and Melanie along with their spouses and a lot of the nieces and nephews.  This is an awful picture of me but it is what it is! :-). Can you tell I’m the baby of the family?  Roger is 14 years older than me, then Lynn, then Melanie.

I’ve been trying to keep up with all of you and your blogs.  We should be home tomorrow sometime and a more normal schedule will begin.  My best friend had hip replacement surgery on Friday and is home now.  Please keep her in prayer for a quick recovery.  She worries about missing work.  They are talking about doing the other hip next year.  She’s only 61 and frustrated with the whole thing.

Have a wonderful day my friends.  I’ll be back soon with more trip photos.

Here is a verse appropriate for our drive today.

“He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.” Psalms 147:16

Blessings,

Betsy

Almost there!

We’re about 2 hours from Mandy, Brad  and Piper’s house,  Last night we stayed in Kearney, NE and we just left the Archway Museum.  It is built over I-80 and contains the history of the United States of America’s immigration westward.  It was really great and I encourage you to visit if you have the opportunity.  The inside photos are very dark. I apologize for that.  The tour is self-guided with headsets, so you can take your time and absorb everything.

There are windows in the archway that allow you to see the traffic below.  There is even a radar gun set up so you can see how fast people are going!.

The outside is beautiful with stonework and timbers.

This big boy is life size.  There are also gardens of native prairie grasses.  When we got out of the car Dennis said he’s missed the smell of those grasses.  We don’t have them in Washington.

A display of some of the original “modern” car campers that traveled the Lincoln Highway that intersected the U.S.A.



A 50’s style diner that dotted the roads of the country.

Well hello!  I’ll take each of those baked goodies. :-). There was SO much to this museum.  I barely scratched the surface. My blog friend Teresa’s husband Dayle would love the displays about the Union Pacific railroad and the golden spike.  It told all about the building of the railways.

Across the street was this museum.  My nephew Brian’s name is on a plaque inside and I wanted to get a picture for my brother but it wasn’t open today.  When we went yesterday we had arrived in town 10 minutes after closing.

Behind the building is this memorial garden for volunteer firefighters who have passed.

This was our welcome to Kearney last night when we arrived.  Severe thunderstorms and corn fields.  Welcome home to Nebraska!!!

We’ll see our girls soon.  We’re very excited about that.  Mandy has to work 12 hour shifts Saturday and Sunday but I think we’re going to steal Piper and go see Great-Grandma tomorrow.  Lots of fun ahead.

Chloe is having a good time with our house sitter.  Sheila has sent pictures and she looks happy.  It’s good to know everything is well at home too.

As we walked through the museum, seeing the hardships of the pioneers and those who came before us, Dennis and I were both reminded of this verse from the Bible.  I’m sure it sustained many of those people as they struggled against what must have seemed to be overwhelming obstacles.

“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” Psalms 59:16

Blessings,

Betsy

And we’re off!

We are leaving in just a couple of hours. I’m picking Dennis up when he gets off work and we’re going to try to get a few hundred miles under our belts, um tires, tonight.  My back spasms are back full force, but the neurologist called in two new prescriptions this morning.  He’s hoping to at least get me through this trip before I can try another injection when I get home. So far none of the prescriptions they’ve given me in the past have  worked, but I’m really hoping these do. I want to be able to play with Piper, and Mandy has a signed the two of us up for a conference at her church next Friday that I really, really want to go to. In addition to that, we have a dinner planned with my family and I know there are other things we want to do while we’re there.

I don’t know where we will sleep tonight, but we have reservations in Casper, Wyoming tomorrow and in Kearney, Nebraska for Thursday night. Our house/pet sitter will be here before I leave this afternoon. She is wonderful and Chloe absolutely loves her daughter. She takes her for long walks and plays with her a lot. There are no worries at leaving the house or Chloe.  We do miss her while we’re gone though.

I told you I have been knitting mittens. Here is the proof.  I also made a dish cloth yesterday just to do something different. I didn’t take a picture of it though. It’s my normal circular dish cloth. You’ve seen dozens of them!

Three more pair were finished yesterday. My goodness look at the difference in the lighting. These were taken on the same countertop one day apart.

Mandy and Piper went to the zoo on Saturday. She sent me these two pictures.

Omaha has an amazing zoo. It’s called the Henry Dorley Zoo, and I remember visiting it when I was in first grade with my school class. It is grown from tremendously since then. Dr. Lee Simmons was responsible for much of the growth. It has become a very popular attraction and the animals are very well cared for. When we lived in Omaha I would take our kids and my daycare kids there almost weekly when the weather allowed.

This little girl owns a lot of real estate in my heart! I can’t wait to see her in a couple of days and wrap my arms around her. I’m going to paint her nails and we’re going to read books. I’m sure Papa will be dancing with her and we’re going to have a wonderful time. :-)

My friends, for those of you who pray I would appreciate prayers that my back would behave itself while we’re gone. I so want to be able to do things with our family. I have to admit, it has brought me to tears several times in the past few days when I realized how bad it was getting again just before we left.  Last year I had absolutely no problem riding in the car and I hope that continues for this trip.

I will be trying to check in with blogs as much as possible while we’re gone. If I miss a day here or there, you’ll know I’m busy playing with my sweet little Piper.

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:39

Blessings,

Betsy

Tile Information

Hi Everyone,

I have had several people ask where we got the tiles for our trailer backsplash.  We bought them on Amazon and they have several colors available.  I tried to copy and paste the photo from the ad here for you but it wouldn’t let me.  The following is the description for the tiles that we bought.  If you type in Tic Tac Tiles, they should pop up.

“Tic Tac Tiles 10-Sheet 12"x 12" Peel and Stick Self Adhesive Removable Stick On Kitchen Backsplash Bathroom 3D Wall Sticker Wallpaper Tiles in Polito Bella. $29.97/package”

This is the photo I took of the package they come in.

This is what they look like in the trailer.  Oh, I also got that magnetic knife rack on Amazon. I had one in the old trailer and absolutely loved it.  I have one in the kitchen at home too.

I hope this helps all of you were interested to find what you would like. As I said before, they come in several different color schemes.

Tonight is our last night staying in the trailer for the season. Tomorrow we will do a lot of the final cleanup. We will come back Sunday afternoon and do the final winterization and cover it up with the winter cover. It’s so sad. I don’t feel like I’ve had very much time in this trailer this year. But, it makes looking forward to next spring even more fun! :-)

We are closing it up a couple of weeks early because we are leaving on Tuesday to go to Omaha to see all of our family.  Most importantly Mandy and Piper!  Little Miss Piper is turning seven on the 29th!  We are driving and this year we’re actually taking a different route to Omaha. We’re going to drive down through Wyoming to Casper, and then across I-80 in Nebraska so we can go to a museum in Kearney, Nebraska that is built over the interstate. When we come home, we will do our usual route up through South Dakota because it is faster.  If you remember, when we took this trip at the same time last year for her birthday, we drove home in a blizzard across Iowa and South Dakota. Please pray that does not happen again.

We have a house-sitter who is staying with Chloe. She is bringing her daughter to stay with her too. Chloe will be in heaven! They dote on her even more than we do and they’ll be with her almost all the time. I like leaving someone at the house when we travel.  It just makes me feel better to not have an empty house.

I hope everyone who asked about the tile sees this post. I tried to email the information to a few people, but I don’t think I have the correct email addresses and they wouldn’t go through, so I thought it would be better just to put it on the blog.  These tiles really are very, very easy to work with. You can actually just cut them to fit with scissors.

I really have been knitting even though I haven’t shown you pictures. At last count I have knitted 10 more pair of mittens since I last showed you a photo. I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow for my next post. I am woefully behind in the number of mittens I’ve made this year. At last count I only had 32 pair! What is wrong with me? I have made up my mind to only knit on mittens while I’m on this trip, except for finishing Piper’s socks when I get to Omaha.  I think I should be able to get at least another 20 pair done during the drive. It’s getting so cold so early, I think I’m going to have to give the school whatever I have done about the middle of October this year.

I think one of the reasons I got so far behind were the mini-Christmas stockings that I made for the Veterans Home. I’ve also made several baby layettes for new babies. I have been busy... just not making mittens. I do know they’ll be happy with however many I’m able to give them.   And some mittens are better than none right?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

Blessings,

Betsy 

Fall?

I know that it is not technically fall yet, but it seems to arrived here in eastern Washington. This is what I woke up to this morning at the lake.

This is looking at the lake itself.

We installed peel and stick vinyl tiles behind the stove. I love how it turned out, and now if there any splatters they will be very easily cleaned up.

And finally, a neighbor here at the lake made this cute little collar for Chloe. She seems to love it.

This will most likely be our last weekend here for the season. I woke up to 39°F this morning and had to turn the furnace on. It is gorgeous today though. I have gotten some knitting done, however, I left it all home when I came out here yesterday. It’s all mittens anyway. :-)

To answer a few questions I have been asked recently. The lake that we camp at is Loon Lake in Eastern Washington State. It’s about 30 miles north of Spokane and 80 miles south of the Canadian border . And it seems that the mouse problem was taken care of. At least we haven’t heard or seen anything in the week and a half since we received the trailer back. Yippee!!  I guess we will know for sure when we open it back up in the spring. 

Wishing you all a wonderful day. I hope that we never forget what happened 18 years ago today. I pray history never repeats itself.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”  Psalm 56:3

Blessings,

Betsy

It’s Lake Time

Yes, my friends, you read that right. They delivered our trailer back to us on Labor Day. That was a surprise. We certainly did not expect to get it back on a holiday, but it was very nice that Dennis didn’t have to take a day off of work to get it situated back in our spot. The man who delivered it was very good. He has it in exactly the same spot it was in before. All of the sewer pipes lined up perfectly, which was a huge relief for Dennis. They did not find any mice in the trailer but they did find several nests. They got rid of all of those and they sealed up the holes from the manufacturer. Or so they say. We’ll see what the future brings. Meanwhile, I have not gone home since Monday and I don’t plan to leave until Sunday! Since we only have one more week to be here this season, I’m trying to wring every bit of fun I can out of this trailer this week. I took a few photos of the trailer this morning along with some pictures on my walk early today.  I hope I haven’t already shown you these things. If so, feel free to skip on down to the knitting.

This picture was looking down through about 5 to 6 feet of water. Look how clear it is.  This lake is so pretty.

My view as I stood on one of the boat launch docks.

By the store is this cute little pond with a fisherman and waterfall.

Carvings in the trees.



Nine more pair of mittens are done!

 

Here are a few photos of the trailer that I took this morning.

I love this kitchen. It has a microwave/convection oven and a regular oven along with a four-door refrigerator. My favorite is the pantry on the left side of the stove. It has a light that comes on automatically when you open the door!

I like having a separate space for the coffee pot and Chloe’s treats. Dennis put the paper towel holder up for me last night.

There’s even a little bit of counter space in the bathroom! Our last trailer barely had place to put the bottle of soap.

The shower is a really nice size too.  I have discovered command hooks that can be put in the shower. It makes it nice and handy to be able to dry the towels that way.

In the bedroom is this built-in dresser and up above it are cabinets and a television set. The sun is so bright today you can’t see the upper cabinets very well. Would you believe we get over 20 channels over the air on both TVs?

There is this closet and drawers that have absolutely nothing in them! I definitely could live in this trailer since I don’t have enough clothes to fill it up even if we were living here. Although, I guess this could be my yarn storage!

There is a washer....

And a dryer in the huge closet in the front of the trailer along with a hanging rod and a whole bunch of shelves in the back.

OK. I think we’re all caught up! It makes me sad that I won’t be able to use it much this season, but I’m already looking forward to next spring. Dennis told his secretary at work yesterday that he doesn’t think I’ll be at home at all next summer. He told her we’ll be living at the lake! You know, he’s probably right!

Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday and any of you in the path of Dorian are in my prayers.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34

Blessings,

Betsy

41 Years

41 years ago today we said “I do.”  It was the best decision I have ever made in my life and I have not regretted it for one moment. I have the most wonderful man in the world and I will proudly tell anyone who will listen. 

 Look how tall I was in this photo. My shoes had small heels on them but that veil made me look like a giant!  We’re actually the same exact height as each other.  This was my mother’s wedding dress that she wore in 1944 when she married my dad. Then I wore it in 1978.  They were also the pearls that she wore when they married.

My only question is where have the years gone?  We have aged a bit, but the love is stronger than ever.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Blessings always,

Betsy