Happy Day After Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I took two days away from the computer. Wednesday was spent cooking and yesterday was with family. It was wonderful.

The actual meal was at Brad and Mandy's home. Brad's parents, siblings and families, my sister, her daughter and husband and another niece and her boyfriend were all there. It was a houseful for sure and a wonderful time. Everyone contributed toward the meal. We took the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and deviled eggs. I forgot the cranberries in the refrigerator at home but there was so much food we didn't miss it at all. 

Dennis was at the food bank at the Open Door Mission on Wednesday. It's his normal Wednesday volunteering there, but because it was the day before Thanksgiving, the news stations were there filming. We started getting texts, emails and phone calls telling us that he was on the news. A friend took this photo on her TV and sent it to us. Not the most flattering pose, as he was talking to the gentleman and his mouth was open, but it's proof he was there. :-) That's Dennis on the left and his cousin, Curt, in the back on the right with the bag in his hand. They were there almost ten hours on Wednesday after 8 hours on Tuesday. He was exhausted, but he'll be back next Tuesday.

We had a wonderful time yesterday and ate too much as usual. Today has been spent at home. I put away all of the fall decor and set out my snowmen. I'm not going to decorate for actual Christmas since we'll be gone most of December. The snowmen can stay out for January too, so it will be done when we get home.

Tonight and tomorrow we're in a Winter Storm Warning with a possible eight inches of snow. The forecast has changed from 1-2 inches to 2-4 inches and now 6-8! As usual, the weather people are covering all of their bases. It went from the 60's to the teens in a matter of a few days. It's that damp cold outside now that just permeates your bones.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday if you celebrated yesterday and are looking forward to the coming festivities during December. We're anticipating some events that will be new to us when we arrive in London. At least there shouldn't be as much snow as there is here! I'll leave you with my favorite Bible verse. I'm patiently awaiting the return of my Lord and Saviour. 

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy

It's Getting Colder...

 It's less than a week until Thanksgiving here in the US and it's finally feeling like it here in Nebraska. The nights are getting colder and our furnace even came on yesterday. My orchid doesn't seem to care as you can see in the photo below. It has quite a few new buds on it which makes me very happy. I used to kill orchids immediately on getting one, but this one has bloomed over and over again.

I made overnight cinnamon rolls Sunday night. They don't look like much here but they were SO yummy. Super easy using frozen dinner rolls. You just pour them into a bundt pan, mix cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts together and sprinkle on top, then pour melted butter over them. Put them into the oven overnight to rise, then bake in the morning for twenty minutes. While baking, I mixed up a glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Pour a little over rolls in pan after baking, turn onto a platter and pour the rest of the glaze on top. Oh. My. Goodness. They are so, so good. 

****** Edited to add the recipe. Sorry it's dark. I have no idea why it's so dark. I. sure hope you can read it.

I finished the last pair of Christmas gift socks in Knit Pick's Felici "Sanderson" color way. They match perfectly which is always a nice way to finish socks. Now I just have to decide who gets which pair.

I have started another prayer shawl for the University of Nebraska Medical Center. This is using the Iris Stitch and using Big Twist yarn in "Cotton Candy" color way.  I have five or six more to make ASAP now that I've finished Christmas presents. I know I won't finish them before our trip and of course I'll take socks for airplane knitting. They are small and easy to carry along.

I've gotten the suitcase out of the closet and started putting things into it as I think of what needs to go. The electrical adapters went in yesterday because I forgot those once and had to buy new ones just to be able to charge my phone. I have my Barbies that will be going to "J". I've had them since I was 8 or 9 years old so they are true antiques. :-) Piper played with them but didn't want them anymore. I'm also taking wrapping paper and tape since I don't dare wrap Christmas gifts before traveling. TSA will just unwrap them all.

Alex told us a few days ago to bring our "welly's, (boots), and warm clothes because he's made reservations in the Cotswalds for a few days. That will be a lot of fun. He is in Japan right now for business and will be back in London just before we arrive. We got a video on the family chat today of "J" asking her oldest cousin Kyleigh to come with us and "bring The Piper". We cracked up at "The Piper". She loves Piper very much but has never met Kyleigh. I sure wish we could take them with us too, but Kyleigh is in her 3rd year at University in Bozeman, MT and "The Piper" will be in school too. :-) Our daughter-in-love sent us a video this morning of the car windows completely frozen over in London this morning when she was taking "J" to school. Yikes! It hasn't been that cold here yet.

We're enjoying getting ready for Thanksgiving. Dennis did a Costco run this morning. We're taking the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and cranberries to Mandy & Brad's. His family will also be there along with my sister, niece and nephew. They will all bring other side dishes and desserts and Brad is making ribs on the grill. I know we'll have a wonderful time. How are you all doing in your preparations and what are your holiday plans?

Take care my friends. I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving if you're here in the US.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

 It's a beautiful day! Stunning! Gorgeous! Unbelievable for the middle of November. It's 66F and pure blue sky. No jackets needed. The only thing not fun about today was starting it with a mammogram early this morning. :-)

On Tuesday Curt, Barb, Dennis and I went to our friend Amanda's who just had surgery. Her gutters desperately needed cleaning out before the snow falls. So the two old men of the church volunteered to do the job on her HUGE old three story house. Here is a photo of my very filthy, dirty husband out on the roof. Curt was holding the rope while Dennis dangled outside. Meanwhile Barb and I visited with Amanda. I'm glad I didn't see what was going on up on the roof or I may have had a panic attack. These two guys can get themselves into pickles for sure. Last week they spent two days replacing windows at our youth minister's house. Usually they volunteer at the mission on Tuesday and Wednesday but the drop off donation spot was closed for Veteran's Day so they did the gutters instead. Yesterday he spent 10 hours t the mission grocery center giving out food. I'm married to a great guy. I really don't know what I did to deserve this saint of a man but I'm very grateful to the Lord for blessing me with him as my husband.

I finished another pair of socks into the Christmas basket. One more to go. These are Knit Picks Felici in the "Silent Film" color way. Plain vanilla pattern of course. I think it shows off the Felici stripes best.

Now on the needles are another pair of Felici in "Sanderson" named after the sisters in the Halloween movie. Another plain vanilla pair of socks. I'm boring, I know.

A blast from the past photo that I found on my phone from when our girls, Lizzie and Zoey were puppies. Aren't they just the cutest little things? They still are and we love them so much.

As I said in the beginning, I had my mammogram and the results already arrived online. All is fine for another year. I just want it known that I do NOT enjoy that test at all. Especially since I got my pacemaker. It's very, very painful where the pacemaker is squeezed. It was not pleasant before but now is another whole level of pain.

Tonight is our annual condo meeting and tomorrow Dennis and a few other guys from here are going to repair the fence around the property to try to save several thousand dollars. Our HOA fees are going up around $100 a month next year anyway simply because of insurance. We have had no claims in over 10 years, but because of all of the natural disasters around the country, our premium is going up too. So some of the guys said, we can fix the fence to save everyone some money. He likes keeping busy too. :-)

Otherwise not a lot has been happening. I'm still trying to get things done before we leave. I'm done with Christmas cards and they're ready to go into the mail after Thanksgiving. I need to wrap gifts for the people here and finish the last pair of socks for a gift. I think I'm on track for being done but who really knows?

Take care my dear friends and enjoy your day. Hopefully it's as pretty as it is here.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Beautiful Fall Days

Happy Wednesday! It's so hard to believe that it's November 5 already. I have so much to do in the next month before our trip to London, if it even happens with the state of the world and the airports. Who knows what will be occurring in the next few weeks? I need to finish all of my Christmas preparations as well as get cards ready to go out before we leave. Meanwhile, I have doors and windows open, because it's so beautiful outside today and I can see all of the beautiful leaves turning color from my chair where I'm typing this post. 

I'm still struggling with posting on the computer. Not that the computer isn't cooperating. It's me. It's all me. The new hard drive is working well so far. But I can't get the photos to line up correctly. It's a long process to get them from my phone to the computer and then onto the blog itself. The iPad was SO easy to use to post. I have great, great respect for those of you who post daily. So far I've been working on this post for over an hour and it was just getting photos on here! Hopefully I'll get faster with more experience using the laptop.

But first, I thought I would share some of my fall decor with you. I put it out the first week in October. I don't decorate for Halloween so everything I put out is appropriate for both October and November.      

On the kitchen island is the beautiful tray that my blog friend, Pamela's son made for me for my birthday last year.  I really love this tray and it's perfect for decorating for the seasons. The black thing in the corner is a battery pack for the lights inside the birdcage.

The cabinet under the television is always fun to decorate.

Over the fireplace.

Have any of you seen these screen savers on YouTube? They have hundreds for all seasons and they make your television look like a painting, complete with a picture frame. I like to have one of these on the TV when we have company, instead just a big black screen on the wall.

I ordered this solar light for our son Alex's garden on my Amazon UK account. It makes giving gifts to our family there so easy. To mail a box is ridiculously expensive where this is just like ordering from Amazon here in the States. I ordered this and it was delivered the next day! It's a little watering can. I chose one with bunnies on it because I thought "Baby J" would like them. Alex loves to garden and he can see this  from his desk when he's working in his backyard office. His birthday is Dec. 7 so it's a little early but he'll be in Japan on his actual birthday so we just sent it a bit early so he could enjoy it now. They have a small garden as is normal when you live in the middle of London so this seemed to be the perfect size.

Dennis spent the day at the food bank today and now is at our associate minister's house helping him install a new window. He likes keeping busy and his almost 50 years of home ownership projects come in handy for helping others.  Meanwhile I spent the day vacuuming, dusting, giving Zoey a bath, and will soon be knitting on another Christmas gift. I put a roast/potatoes/carrots in the crockpot this morning so dinner will be ready whenever he gets home and is ready to eat. I'm debating making biscuits to go with it.  We're trying to cut back on carbs, but how can I pass on homemade biscuits with a roast?

I finished the hat/scarf set below for "Baby J" on Monday. Both the pieces together only took one day to complete. The color should match her school uniform and was requested by Mom and Dad.

Well, since it took so long to get this written, I better get busy and finish up so I can get a few more things done around here. I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy the fall. 

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy

Many of you seemed to enjoy the last video I posted. Here's another that I really like from Phil Wickham called "Homesick for Heaven". I hope it blesses your heart like it does mine. I can't wait to dance with David too. :-)

Happy Wednesday to everyone! It's been a rainy, cool week so far here in the midwest of the USA. I'm enjoying the break from the heat and humidity we had all summer, but not too excited to hear the weather people using the detested four letter word-snow. The long range forecast is saying possibly next week! Oh no. Not ready for that at all.

So far my back seems to be doing much, much better after the ablation last week. I even did some chair exercises yesterday trying to strengthen the muscles a bit. I'm starting out just every other day because I don't want to be too aggressive and be back where I was, unable to do much at all.

Dennis is at the Mission today, distributing groceries and I'm just doing a few things around the house. Yesterday I finished the Christmas ornaments for the kids and grandkids, sewing them up and stuffing them. I'll take a photo and show you after the holidays since I don't want them to see the chosen design before they open them.

I also finished a sock I began on Sunday. I'll start the second today. Here are the socks I've finished since I last blogged. All are plain vanilla as I'm in production mode!

These are the five prayer shawls I have finished. I mistakenly said I finished six in a previous post. Oops! I  must have miscounted and now I still have another five to make. I used the Iris crochet stitch for most of these, maybe all. I can't remember!

A few of you commented on the fact that we bought a double kayak. Here's a photo of it when we inflated it in our bedroom to make sure it held the air. We didn't want to miss the return date if it was defective and we probably won't use it much until spring. Many of you shared that you wouldn't be getting in a kayak. I feel the same. To tell you the truth, I'm terrified. I do not like water and can't swim. I do like boats though and Dennis bought be a brand new life-jacket and promises to rescue me if I fall in! :-) He really wants to do this but won't go with our friends without me because he doesn't want me feeling left out. He's missed SO much the past several years because of my back, so I'm determined to at least give this a try for him. He is an amazing guy and I'm so glad I've got him by my side through this crazy life.

See the tan sock on the dresser? Somehow the washer or dryer ate it's mate. I'm hoping it will show up and Dennis can have a matching pair again. :-)

I thought I would share a photo of the table by our entryway. I enjoy the fall decorations around the apartment and usually put them up the beginning of October and leave them through Thanksgiving at the end of November. In December, Christmas decor usually appears but I think that since we'll be gone, I probably won't decorate this year. Just the nativity will be put up, because you really can't forget the reason we're celebrating can you, and I'll leave it out for awhile when we return home.

I was asked if we'll return to London next spring when the baby is born. We haven't talked about it, but much will be decided by the price of the airline tickets. They can fluctuate wildly, depending on many factors, so we'll need to decide that closer to the time.

I hope you're all doing well. The world is continuing to continue it's crazy course so I just keep praying, knowing that ultimately the Lord is in control and works all things for the good of those who know Him. I do hope you know Him too. He is the source of peace and joy and I can't imagine living in these troubled days without Him by my side, loving me. Stay well and I'll be back soon!

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy

We sang this song in church Sunday for the first time and I fell in love with it. I hope you like it too.

Hello Again!

 Hello! Guess Who this is?

My computer has been in the computer hospital for several weeks and has a new hard drive. My iPad and iPhone still won't work with blogger, but since my computer was released from inpatient today, I'm going to try a short post and see if it will work now.

Biggest news around these parts is that after three rounds of deep injections on my back in the past three months, I had an ablation done on Tuesday of this week. No idea yet if it will stop the spasms permanently (or even semi-permanently), but I have high hopes.

We purchased an inflatable kayak for two people during Amazon's prime days a few weeks ago. We had one in our cart for several months just like one some friends have. They've taken theirs in the ocean bays and in lakes all over the country so we hope it's going to work for us. Hopefully by next spring I will have exercised enough to be able to get in and out of it! It could be quite a show for onlookers. :-)

I think the last time I was able put up a post we had just returned from camping with our friends and I had a bad "cold." Well, it was actually covid and I still have a lingering cough from it. That's my third bout with it and I'm hoping my last, although I wasn't nearly as sick as I was last spring.

We took our last camping trip of the season last week and winterized the camper. It was lovely time. Quiet and gentle rain during the evenings. Leaves were turning and we had a wonderful relaxing time. We have high hopes of going south in February for a month or so if the roads cooperate and we can get the camper out of storage. You never know in advance how deep the snow will be in February. Then, in May we're going camping to a tulip festival in Pella, Iowa with friends for several nights. We'll sprint back through Omaha and along I-80 to be in Salt Lake City to go to a camping meet-up with some YouTube friends on May 13 and then hopefully to the Grand Canyon where I've never been. Later in the summer w'll take Piper somewhere, maybe to Helena, MT to see her cousins and end up the summer in Spokane, hopefully in September. That's the general plan anyway. God may have other plans in there so we'll have to see what He decides. 

Miss Piper also became an official teenager on September 29! Who can believe that? We had a nice birthday party for her with her other grandparents. The next day she did some fun things with her friends. How I love this girl.

In some wonderful news, Baby "J" in London will have a new baby brother or sister due in April 2026. We're very excited about that news. We bought tickets last week to fly to London December 10 and back home on the 27th.  Our daughter in love is happy that we'll be there for Baby "J" last gymnastics lesson of the session on the 13th so we can see her in action and not just in the videos they send us. Alex is excited for us to experience Boxing Day in the UK and all of the Christmas decorations around London. We're mainly excited to see all of them. Since "J" is in school all day now, they no longer have a nanny, so we will get our old room back at the very top of the house where the windows look over the rooftops of London. I love that room and could happily just live in it forever. :-)

I delivered 12 baby blankets to the Open Door Mission on Wednesday and was able to see where Dennis volunteers every Wednesday from 8-5. On Tuesday's he's at the donation center at the other end of town. 

I also have 6 prayer shawls for the Med Center one since I last posted. I have another 4 to make before the end of the year, (I hope).

I also finished cross-stitching all of the kids and grandkids 2025 Christmas ornaments and just have to sew them all together which I hope to do next Monday. I think they all still like getting them every year. I like the idea that the grandchildren will have at least 18-20 ornaments made by me when they move out and have their first trees of their own. When I have them finished I'll take a photo and post it after I've given the to the recipients. 

Now I'm working on all of their socks that they get for Christmas, plus I've added our daughter-in-laws parents to the sock list because they like to "borrow" the kids pairs when they visit. :-) I love it!!

Since this is just a practice post to see if it even works, I don't have a lot of photos for you. We are still here and I've just been waiting to get my computer back. I'll see if this actually posts and if I can comment on your blogs. If it all works, I'll try to show you some of the socks and things I've been working on.

I hope all is well with all of you my friends. I have been reading your blogs, just unable to comment.

To Diane in Northern Wisconsin who has been so sweet and asking about me, THANK YOU. I didn't have  an email to write back to you and I couldn't access blogger at all to let you know I was okay, just no technology to us to communicate.

Billie Jo, thank you for checking on me too. Hopefully I'm back. :-)

Blessings and love to you all,

Betsy

Try, Try, Again

 Hello Again Everyone:

Here I am. Another try to post. Lots of things have been going on here, along with in the world. I was able to put out that last post and comment for a few days and then my computer wouldn't let me comment on your blogs either. I think I MAY have figured that out and how to get my photos to the computer. This post will tell the tale if it works!

I mentioned a surprise about a month or so ago. We bought a new camper just before our month long trip but didn't pick it up until we got home. Last week we took it out for three days and we're planning another trip. We'll leave after church on Sunday and come home Wednesday or Thursday. This time we're going with our minister and his wife, Jeff and Angie and Dennis's cousin and wife, Curt and Barb. 

The living room/kitchen area. It has an electric fireplace under the TV. 

It even has a "smart" sink in the kitchen with a cup washer, cutting board, smaller sink, and vegetable cleaner "waterfall".

In the pantry on the left is a washer/dryer combo. We have the coffee pot set up on the counter below.

We love the shade at the head of the bed. You can lay in bed and see the stars over your head.

Double closets and actual drawers for our "unmentionables."

We both love the size of the shower.

We are loving it so far. These photos were when we picked it up at the dealership but now I have some homey touches inisde. While we were camping last week, we organized everything and I lined the drawers and closet with shelf paper.  We've already used the washer/dryer and it works great. We could live in here, which we hope to do for a month or two at a time during the winter, going south where it's warmer than Nebraska and north in the summer where it's not as humid as here!

We've been looking for awhile and we got such a great deal on this trailer. It's a 5th wheel. A 2024 Grand Design Influence. It is brand new and the 2026's are now arriving on the lot. Since this is two years old, they wanted it gone to make room for the new ones. RV sales have slowed waaaay down since the big "C" has ended. They gave us almost what we paid for our previous camper for a trade in and we bought this for half the price of the exact same trailer in a 2026! Seriously, the two different years are exactly the same. The older we get, the harder it was to put the equalizer hitch on the trailer. The 5th wheel is so much easier to hitch up and it has automatic levelers. We're pretty excited, knowing that this will most likely be our last camper we ever buy. We looked at the ones you drive, but didn't want to have to tow a car. This way we can still use our truck to sight see and get around.

Since I couldn't post photos, I haven't been taking pictures of my projects. I did finish three baby blankets while on vacation and the Medical Center let me know they need more prayer shawls. I have two finished and another almost done. I'll take photos of those for my next post along with some scenery of our drive out west. 

You have all been so kind to let me know you've missed me. I'll be trying again now that I "think" I've figured out how to post photos on my laptop. I'm a week behind again in commenting but I have been reading your posts. Hopefully now I can comment again too.

I can't close without saying how heartbroken I am about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I've watched him for years on his YouTube channel. He was a brilliant young man who loved God, his country and his wife and children. He always debated those he spoke with politely and fairly, giving them a platform to defend their ideas while he defended his. My heart breaks for those two young babies and his wife who now must live without him. Violence never solves anything. As Charlie said, "the only way to solve our differences is with words, not violence." And now he has been shot dead in front of his two babies and his wife, less than 10 feet away from him. 

And the young lady from the Ukraine, who survived the horrors of war, only to come to the US and be killed on the train while returning home from work. Only because of what she looked like. Heartbreaking.

And another school shooting. When will it all end? Only when people realize that violence never solves anything. It only brings more violence. 

We need Jesus. We need to love each other and talk to each other. My heart is sick about all of this. I'm praying for each one of these tragedies. They seem happen more and more often. May God forgive us all.

Take care my friends, may the God of love and peace be with you all.

Blessings and love,
Betsy

Blessed be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred hearts is like to that above. Amen

 One more try to publish a post. My iPad and iPhone don't work at all with blogger. so now I'm trying the laptop once again. I have no idea why blogger decided to dislike me. I've written 5 posts in the past few weeks and it's locked me out every time. For awhile it let me access my favorite blogs and comment, then about a week ago that stopped too. So this is a test.

The last month has been busy. We arrived home about two weeks ago. Doctors appointments every day last week. I had another round of injections in my back last Tuesday. They didn't help this time. Dennis had an MRI Wednesday and other tests on Friday. He could definitely use prayers. We're awaiting an appointment for a biospy. Maybe more details later, but I'll have to get his okay on that.

We had a great month away camping in our trailer. Good times in Spokane with friends for almost two weeks. Time with our son and grands in Montana and eleven days just relaxing in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The big news that I hinted about before we left was that we bought a new camper two days before we left on our trip. We picked it up a few days after we got home and we're going out camping in it today for three nights for the first time. It's a 2024 but brand new. We got a screaming deal on it because 2026 campers are now on the lot. It's a 5th wheel so a completely new thing to us. It has a washer and dryer in it too! We're pretty excited. Right now it's pouring down rain and we're hoping it will let up soon.

None of my photos are showing up on the computer though and I can't figure out how to get them from my phone to the laptop. I'm so technically challenged. At least I should be able to comment on your posts again.

Please feel free to email me at queenbetsy2@gmail.com. I may be finished actually blogging, though if I can't post photos to share my knitting/crocheting with all of you.

Toda is our 47th anniversary. I can't believe that so much time has passed. I can't imagine life without Dennis by my side. God has definitely been very good to us and I'm so very grateful. How I love that man.

Happy Labor Day to all of you.

Blessings and love,
Betsy

On The Road Again

And we’re off! Last night we stayed in Mitchell, SD at the KOA. It was HOT but thank goodness for air conditioning in our camper. A few minutes ago we passed Rapid City with a quick, tiny glimpse of our beloved Black Hills.

Tonight we’ll stay in Buffalo, WY. Another 202 miles from the moment I’m typing this. 

Crocheting another baby diamonds blanket as we roll on down the road.

Pilot and Co-pilot.😂💜

Tomorrow we’ll be in Montana and we’ll see our oldest two grandchildren and our son. Yay! It’s been a year and that’s too long for us.

Take care and I’ll be back soon. May the Lord watch over you and give you His peace.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him all ye Heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen

Hot Again

We’ve had a busy, busy week. Dennis had a blood draw last Monday for an appointment this coming Monday.  On Wednesday I had facet injections in my back. I'm happy to report that they worked great! The doctor told me that I may get 6-8 hours of relief, but I actually ended up good until the next day. They told me to push it and do everything that would normally cause me pain and spasms. So I came home and made homemade noodles for chicken and noodles, deviled eggs and cut up a bunch of veggies for salads. Then I spent about 4 hours on my laptop, standing at the kitchen island. All in all, I spent about 10 hours on my feet. Normally I can't stand in one spot for more than 15-20 minutes before spasms are so bad that I'm flat on my back, sometimes for days. I was amazed that it worked so well. It was VERY painful and was considered an inpatient procedure.

As soon as we're home from our trip I'll have another set of injections. They already have it scheduled. If these work as well, I'll have an ablation of the nerves done. Hallelujah! I'm so excited. I've dealt with this for over 10 years and I'm ready for some relief. Possibly bike riding and hiking with Dennis again.

I did make three new dishcloths. I needed a few new ones. Mine aren't worn out, they seem to last forever. But they're faded and and I'm tired of them!

They were made with Hobby Lobby's "I love This Cotton" in Teal using the Wattle Stitch and an J hook.

The blanket I showed you last time is finished, but still not blocked. That will happen tomorrow.

Kristina from the Pioneer Woman at Heart blog asked me for a link to the Grace Baby Blanket that I've had on my blog several times.  I'm not good at links so I sure hope it works for you Kristina. This is a free pattern on Ravelry. Enjoy!
https://ravel.me/grace-blanket-3

Another Baby Diamonds blanket has been started.

Here's my pretty Piper. She's wearing a necklace made by our oldest granddaughter Kyleigh who lives in Montana. She has started an Etsy shop to try to earn money to help with college expenses. She said she has one that she made for me that she'll give to me next week when we see her. It's been a year since we've seen her and our grandson, Caleb. I think she does a beautiful job with these necklaces and love that Piper has one made by her cousin. It's hard to believe that she's 20 now and will soon begin her third year of college.

Today was the beginning of the judging for this years 4H projects for the county fair. This is the outfit that Piper submitted. Everything had to be thrifted and under a budget. I actually bought her the dress at Goodwill a couple of months ago. Her other grandma bought her the boots at a thrift store last week. The belt she found for $1.24! It's supposed to be a "country look". I think she's super cute.

Well, we leave Monday on our month-long camping trip. I haven't packed much yet because we already have most of our food except refrigerator stuff in the trailer. Clothes will be washed tomorrow afternoon so we have everything available. We don't own that many clothes. Each time we moved, we got rid of a LOT of clothes. You usually wear the same things all of the time anyway. Each time we go camping every season it gets a bit easier because things are already there. The first few trips are definitely hit or miss. I've been hearing that the three big mountains seems to be "waking up". I hope not. Those mountains are Mt Hood, Mt St Helen's and Mt Ranier in Washington and Oregon. We'll be near to all of them. Yikes! Well, we'll just put our trust and hope in God and if something happens, we already know where we're going so it's all good. :-)

It's SO hot here again. It will be a relief to be back into the mountains with lower humidity even if it's still hot. Today it felt like a steam bath/sauna out there. We really miss living in the mountains when it's like this. I hope it's a bit cooler wherever you are! :-)

Take care and I'll try to post while on the road.

Blessings and love,

O THAT WILL BE GLORY

by: Charles H Gabriel

1. When all my labors and trials are o’er,
   And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
   Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
   Will through the ages be glory for me.
   • Refrain:
     Oh, that will be glory for me,
     Glory for me, glory for me,
     When by His grace I shall look on His face,
     That will be glory, be glory for me.
2. When, by the gift of His infinite grace,
   I am accorded in heaven a place,
   Just to be there and to look on His face,
   Will through the ages be glory for me.
3. Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
   Joy like a river around me will flow;
   Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
   Will through the ages be glory for me.