Two down, one to go…or is it, One down, two to go!

It’s been over a week since I posted. It’s been so crazy here. That’s not to say there is anything really wrong. It has just been busy. I guess that happens when you’ve been away. Dennis goes to the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday to have the pins taken out of his thumb. We’ll guess what? One of them came out about an inch while he was showering Saturday morning! So he pulled on it just a little and the 2 1/2 inch pin just basically fell out! The other one is still firmly stuck but out about 1/4 in further than it was so he can get his splint back on to keep it immobile. We’ve wrapped it in an ace bandage to try to protect it till Tuesday because it’s still quite painful for him if he bumps or twists it.

Now as for the title of this post. I have two pair of Christmas socks done with one pair left to knit. I knit both of these while we we driving cross country.  Both pair are made with Opal yarn I bought while I was in London in January. Both are just a 2x2 ribbing for the leg and plain vanilla feet with an eye of partridge heel and kitchener toes.

These orange socks are made with Opal Cats and Dogs but I couldn’t find the colorway number for either pair.  I love how both pair turned out.

On Monday, Mandy and T came up with the idea for me to make make sweaters for the three flower girls for the wedding. I finally found enough skeins of the yarn I needed in the same dye lot at the third Michaels I went to on Tuesday. Isn’t it funny how there are so many shades of white?

I literally just finished sewing the sweater parts together about ten minutes ago on the first one.  Sorry about the picture. ObviouslyI haven’t washed or blocked it yet and it’s just sitting on my lap for the photo. And it’s 10:00 p.m. here so it’s dark! But you get the idea. This first one is a size 18 mo. to 24 mo. I need to make two in this size for Baby J. and her little cousin H.  I also need to make one for Piper in a size 10 to 12. That one will take awhile longer than this first one! We leave the first of September so I want to finish them quickly.

So, the second part of the title applies here…one down and two to go!😍

The front.

The back.

Here is Miss Piper modeling her thrift store outfit for the 4H fashion show for the fair. They modeled for the judges yesterday and they will model them at the fair next Saturday. I think she’s so cute. 💜

This is her and her “other” Grandpa Dennis. Yes, both Mandy and Brad’s dads are named Dennis. Brad, a friend, Dennis and Piper flew to Osh Kosh, WI for the annual fly-in. They’ll be there until Wednesday. This is Piper’s first time going and from the messages Mandy has gotten so far, she’s having a blast. A nine hour drive only took them a couple of hours in “her” airplane.

Here she is in front of their Piper Comanche airplane. It’s a pretty little plane and Brad maintains it impeccably. Can you guess where Piper got her name?

On a final note, besides the socks, I knitted constantly on my shawl for the wedding. I was sure I took photos of it when I blocked it, but they aren’t on my phone. I couldn’t tell how big it was until I blocked it and you can imagine how sad I was when it blocked out too small. I’ve let it sit all week trying to decide how to make it bigger. Mandy looked at it yesterday and suggested that I crochet a several inch edging on it. I think that’s brilliant! So I have got to get the little girls sweaters done so I can tackle my shawl again. I’ve never done a crochet edging on a knitted shawl, so if any of you have great ideas, please pass them on.  I’m hope for at least another 4-5 inches minimum in border width.

Take care my friends. I’m going to try to read todays blogs before bed. Please forgive me if I don’t get it done. Last night I fell asleep with my laptop open on my lap!  I hope you all have a wonderful Monday.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Home Sweet Home

Hello Everyone. We made it back home on Wednesday but have been incredibly busy with no time to post. Today Miss Piper spent the day with us which was wonderful of course. She vacummed the condo for me and did an excellent job of it. While Piper vacummed, I went to the movies with my sister,  Melanie, to see "The Sound of Freedom." It's a true story about a government agent who actually quits his job to save a small boy and his equally small sister from child trafficers. It's a sobering look at the reality that over 2 million children, TWO MILLION, are stolen and put into child trafficing around the world and most are imported into the United States. How awful is that? It's not a feel good movie at all, but something we need to be aware of, since it's obviously not being reported in the news for some reason. I know I will never be the same and will be watching children in public with an eagle eye.

After the movie, Melanie and I met Dennis, Piper and Mom for lunch at a great fast food restaurant called Don & Millies that makes all kinds of salads, burgers and childen tenders. 

And now for the wonderful news I mentioned at the end of my last post. I'm able to post photos of our Montana Grandkids! When we had dinner with them Monday, I asked them permission to post their photos on here since they are older, and they both said yes! So I present to you Caleb and Kyleigh Queen! Kyleigh graduated high school last month and was Valedictorian! Caleb will be a Junior this coming year. They are both great kids with high grades and sweet spirits too.

I couldn't choose which photo, so you get two of her senior pictures. :-)

Our Montana girl. Isn't she beautiful? She's off to college next month. She loves horses and all animals and we love her so much. I can't believe that she was the tiny baby that was life-flighted to Great Falls and I stayed with her until her Mom was discharged from the hospital.  We used to spend so much time with them, but living so far away, we only see them once a year or so. We have these two in Montana, Piper here and Baby J in London. Our hearts are spread all over the world.

I love how she decorated her graduation cap. 💜

Here is Kyleigh with her Dad, our son, Jamie. He's a software engineer for a Silicon Valley company. He's the computer brain of our family and brilliant. He has come to love Montana too. It does get in your blood. Wide open spaces and mountains everywhere. 

Caleb is the quintessential Montana boy. He's a snowboarder/mountain climbing motorcyle rider/trout fisherman/cliff jumping young man. He's the sweetest guy and a hard worker to boot. He's working full-time this summer for a landscaping company. And great grades in school too.
We're so proud of all of these kids. (Including their Dad.) 

It's funny to me how all three of our kids went totally different directions in education, but they've all done so well in their own fields of study. We both love all three of them so much and the decisions they've made with their lives. And now we're watching our Grandkids do the same. Life is amazing and God is so good about helping us through this thing called life.

Look at this happy group of people under the big, beautiful Montana sky!

Mandy sent me the photo below as we drove the final hours home on Wednesday. She was working and these two were napping in her office. They just plain don't like to be separated, but gosh, they were so glad to see us when we arrived. Zoey was all over both of us and didn't want to be away from us, even for a minute. Lots of puppy kisses for sure. Lizzie was the same and wanted to go home with us too. She whimpered when we went out the door with Zoey. We're so grateful that they love each other so much.

We're still playing catch-up from being gone. We leave again in about six weeks for London and the wedding celebration of our kids there. "T" will finally get to wear her wedding dress that Covid took away from her with the registrar service they finally gave in and had so they would be married. It will be great fun as a lot of friends and family will be there.

Take care my friends. I'll be back soon.

Blessings and hugs,
Betsy

Starting Home

Tomorrow we’ll begin our trek back home. But first a few photos of the scenery along the way during the drive here. I didn’t take many photos while in Spokane because I just didn’t think about it. We were busy all day long, every day for the seven days we were there. I do hope you enjoy the photos of the drive though.

The first one is our very first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. Such a welcome sight signaling that we were getting closer to our destination.

Gorgeous! How we both Love the mountains.💜

We passed over the Continental Divide just east of Butte, MT. Sorry about the glare.

So beautiful.

Winding mountain roads. Just look at that blue, blue sky.

Heading over the last pass in Idaho before our arrival in Spokane. We went over 4th of July Pass so we could spend the 4th of July with our family and friends in Spokane!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

This is the only photo I took the entire week we were in Spokane!  Larry, Nita, Lori, Dennis and I went to Loon Lake for ice cream at Four Corners. Long time readers will remember that these are our lake camping buddies. For ten years we all spent the summer together at the lake. Gosh, I do miss those days. Poor Paul had to work so he didn’t get to join us.

After church on Sunday we had lunch with 12 other people and then left for Helena, MT.  Last Sunday, the day after we arrived, 35 people went to lunch with us at Perkins after church! That was wonderful. We had the “party room” and sat around and visited for about three hours.

On the road again!

Heading down McDonald Pass just outside of Helena yesterday. It was about a 5 1/2 hour drive from Spokane.

Still on McDonald Pass.

Looking down towards Helena. There is a reason Montana is called Big Sky Country!

Meanwhile, back in Omaha, these two have been inseparable while we’ve been gone.

I’m not positive that Zoey will want to go home with us. Aren’t they the cutest? They are the sweetest, most loving little dogs. Apparently Zoey has loved all of the activity at their house and goes to bed exhausted every night.

We had an exciting time tonight that I’ll share in the next post. Meanwhile, tomorrow we head eastward, back across Montana, Wyoming and into S. Dakota where we’ll spend the night in Wall, SD before arriving home Wednesday sometime. It’s been a busy week and a half, but we’re so glad we came. Take care my friends.

Blessings and love,

Betsy