Season of Transition

It has been too long since I posted my thoughts and adventures. I will 'catch up' here and now.

The end of August, I flew to AZ. Drove my Dad from the hospital in Phoenix home to Yuma. I helped Dad get settled in at home. He had been away from his home for 130 days. Mom had a lot to do to get things back in order. We got home health care set up for two weeks, as well as two weeks of home rehab for Dad. Their church brought in meals every other day for two weeks, and that was great since there were usually a lot of leftovers for another meal.

We started the long and very stressful job of sorting out years of paperwork, files, bookshelves, cupboards, etc. We are going to move Dad and Mom to the NW to be nearer 4 of their children who live here. Mom needs some help and 1500 miles is just too far for any of us to be able to give them the help they need on a regular basis. Anyway, we gave an enormous pile of 'goodies' to the mission, two very large boxes of books to their church, lots of knick knacks to the AWANA store at church, and still had several large trash cans full of garbage that went out. It is amazing how much a person accumulates over 57 years of marriage. It was very difficult for Dad to pare down his treasures, but I got him a huge box for all the things he could not part with. He spent hours reading old letters, newspaper clippings, and lots of things he had saved.

Mom and I spent hours going thru old photo albums that had lost all their 'stickum'. We threw away hundreds of photos of scenery that no one knew where it was taken. I put all the photos of us six kids in piles and we sent them to the appropriate sibling. We had such fun laughing at the way we all used to look. We honestly thought we looked good with those awful hairdos! It was a time of nostalgia and reminiscence. Mom kept all her albums of all the wonderful cruises they took over the years. Those will be for the "remember when" times.

I was blessed to be able to be with Mom as she celebrated her 80th Birthday on September 3. She was given a delicious carrot cake, which we enjoyed for days. And lots of beautiful flowers. Barb gave her 2 dozen mixed roses that were stunning! It was a lovely birthday.

Now that I am home, I have spent days looking for an appropriate place for Mom and Dad to live in. It must have no stairs, and that is a problem. Most of the nice apartments that are ground level have an enormous waiting list. Literally years in some cases. There are just a lot of seniors that can not use stairs and not enough places for them to live. I finally found a little duplex that is ground level. It is in a nice, quiet, residential neighborhood in McMinnville. I think it will be perfect for them for a few years or until they need to have more care.

So this is a time of transition. Mom and Dad will be transitioning to life in the NW and being close to their children and grandchildren (and two great grandchildren). And I will be transitioning to a life where involvement with aging parents will be a regular part of my week.

I look forward to having them closer, so that holidays will be shared with them. And I am very thankful that I am able to help them in this 'winter' season of their lives. It will be exciting to see how God blesses our family having Mom and Dad here.

Finished Quilt

I did it! I finished my first quilt. It actually did not take that long. I worked on it for about a month and only once a week. I started with a very simple pattern for my first quilt. Karen, my friend and teacher, helped me understand the pattern and the 'how to' part of the instructions. I have been sewing since I was a kid, and since this was all straight sewing, it went really fast. Sunday afternoon I hand tied the entire quilt and that took about 4 hours. Then yesterday I sewed the edge binding on by hand and that took another 4 hours. It measures 54" X 68" and is a really nice size. I know I will use it a lot in the cool evenings to snuggle up with when I am watching a movie or reading. I have to say that it gave me a great deal of satisfaction to have it done and to see what I actually made by myself. Those of you who are "crafty" people may not understand that feeling because you make things all the time. But my talents do not lie with hand crafted items, so this is all new to me. Now I have the 'bug' and may make a quilt for each of my Grandchildren. Who knows.........this may be my new hobby. Who would have guessed?

The new Mummy movie

Well, we went to see the new Mummy movie today. It is the third in the series. Lots of special effects, lots of action, and lots of noise. There was an appropriate amount of comic relief when the situation got really intense. The surprise for me in this movie was Michelle Yeoh. She was the star of Crouching Tiger, Sleeping Dragon and she was also in Memoirs of a Geisha. She is a beautiful Chinese actor and she is great in this Mummy movie. She is beauty and grace and feminity, yet strong and powerful. I love the role she plays, and her costumes are amazing! It was a fun movie, full of action and suspense.

New photos of Elsa

Well, Elsa and Miranda are home from a 2 week trip to Alberta to see her family. They had a family reunion with her father's family. It was a chance for all the Aunts and Uncles and Great grandparents to meet Elsa Jane. And also Elsa got to meet her cousin Harris Drake who was born 2 weeks to the day before she was. Here are some new photos that Miranda took on her trip. Elsa is such a pretty baby and her deep blue eyes just sparkle. I miss her so much!

Vacation Memories

Every year we take a week and go to Silver Lake, WA for our vacation. This is a shallow lake close to Mt.St. Helens. Ten years ago we stayed in a cabin and I became friends with the owner. She is a wonderful Christian lady and we really enjoy sharing about our families and our faith. We have continued to go to the lake and have a great time. Bob loves the fishing - crappie, bass, perch, blue gill, catfish, and carp. He is a catch and release fisherman. He gets up early every morning and is on the lake by 6 a.m. in his little aluminum boat with a nice quiet trolling motor. I take the quiet mornings as 'my vacation time'. I watch movies, go for walks, and read.........all by myself. Bob comes back about noon and cleans up. Then we have lunch, and spend the rest of the afternoon playing cards and reading. We usually take a boat ride around the island or elsewhere on the lake in the evening. It is a very relaxing week. No telephone, no computers, no blackberrys.....just R&R.

Jenn, Tim, Jacob, and Abby came up for one day. We got a small life jacket for Jacob and he went on his first boat ride in Papa's boat. He grinned from ear to ear, he loved it! He did not want to go in. We had to take him on another boat ride later in the afternoon. Abby spent the day exploring the deck. Everything is a curosity for this very busy 14 month old. Jenn even got a thrill when the owner's son came to the dock with his new wave runner and he took Jenn out on a ride on the lake. The wave runner turned over and Jenn got soaked, but she did not care for one minute and loved her time zooming around the lake.

All in all it was a very nice week. The weather was perfect and we made lots of memories. The photos will be of our week. It is great to be able to preserve these moments for posterity.

Before and After

Abby after her haircut with Jenn..... Jacob playing in the dirt before his haircut........ Jacob after his haircut and all clean from a bath.....

This week both Jacob and Abby got haircuts. These are some pics from before the haircuts and from after the haircuts. Jacob got a nice buzz, and Abby got her long stragglies cut off. But kids looked so cute afterwards.

Vacation Highlights

We had an amazing time on our trip. My 2 days in Chicago were great. It was so fun to see Melissa and her boys. And a special treat was getting to see John-Mark and meeting his wife, Sheena. Melissa's boys are so fun, and the baby Aidan is just a squishy bundle of love. I had a chance to see Carolyn at work, as an efficient and essential assistant to the Director of Friedman Place, a home for the visually impared. Time went by quickly and then it was off to Toronto.

We had the best time ever with Joe, Miranda, and baby Elsa. Bob and I took turns holding and loving on our third grandchild. She was so small compared to our Abby. Elsa was just beginning to smile and coo. We got to babysit her one afternoon for 3 hours while Joe and Miranda went out for their 7th Anniversary and then went over to a friends to pick up a crib, which Joe and Bob put together when they got home. Miranda is such a relaxed and comfortable Mommy and Elsa senses this and she is a very mellow baby. Joe just adores his daughter and is always kissing and loving her. What a special blessing to be able to see our son as a father. We fell in love with this beautiful baby instantly and it was so difficult to say, "good-bye".