Christmas is over already

We have had a wonderful Christmas WEEK!  It has been awesome having the kids and grandkids here for the holidays.  We ate way too much but the food has been awesome all week.  Thanks Julie, Ryan and Terry for cooking.  We played lots of games and have been having a wonderful time.  I got a new Kindle Fire for my main present from Terry.  The grandkids have downloaded several games and has been playing on it most of the week.  I have downloaded some books and am getting used to reading on it.
Here are some pictures of our week so far:

Lance, Shella May & Liam

Liam and Shella May playing in our 4" of snow

Liam & Shella May

Liam & Shella May

Lance practicing violin which he played at the church Christmas Eve service. Liam played too.

Liam handing out the Christmas gifts

Julie looking at new camera, Ryan, Shella May and Lance

Shella May, Lance & Liam after all gifts opened

Wrapping paper tossed into the dog bed

Daisy all worn out from the festivities, trying to fit in Bogey & Birdie's bed.

Ready for Christmas (I think)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

I haven't kept up with my blog very well because I have been so busy with work and getting ready for the Holidays.  But Terry was home for Thanksgiving week and we are looking forward to having a family Christmas at our house with more kids and grandkids than normal!  So, I have been decorating the inside of the house and Grandpa put lights up on the outside of the house before he left.
Haven't had any snow yet but it was down to 25 degrees last night and were dark clouds in the sky all day today.

Pray for Terry - ANSWERED!

To anyone who prayed for Terry to have safe travels up to NY, Thank You!  And thank you for all the times you have covered him in prayer for his travels.
The trip to NY went well.  He never had any trouble getting fuel or motels and did not have to take detours.  The interstate he was on led through Bronx and Queens but he did not see much destruction so it must have been farther away from the interstate highway.  He had to pay over $100 in tolls but had enough cash, and after undecking the trucks and turning them over to the customer, he had an hour taxi ride to LaGuardia airport where he did not have any airline delays.
Now he has a load to haul from Mount Holly, NC to Surrey, British Columbia and it is looking really good for him to be home for Thanksgiving!!
Thanks again for your prayers.

Pray for Terry

Terry finished delivering his load of trucks yesterday in Hurricane Mills, TN and then they flew him to the company terminal in Mount Holly, NC.
He signed the "seniority" board and was the 7th person to get a load (out of 7 loads).  The load he was given was to deliver 1 truck in Richmond, VA and the other 3 trucks to Kings Park, NY.  To get to Kings Park Google Maps routes through Queens, NY out on Long Island.  He has to travel through New Jersey and these are areas that were hit really hard by Hurricane Sandy.  They also have gas shortages in places and electricity outages as well.  He has only a 50 gallon fuel tank so will have to get fuel about every 150 miles.  There may be a different route to take but he won't know until tomorrow when he calls the customer.
Both of us are trying to remember that in all things the Lord is in CONTROL and that there are no accidents or coincidences so the Lord must want Terry to take this trip.  I find myself worrying and remind myself of the Lord's control and shake off my worry and then a few minutes later I find myself anxious again.  It is a continual battle.  Terry seems to be handling it better than I.
I find I am riding the same roller coaster about the results of the election.  Why do we find it so hard to lay our requests and worries at Jesus' feet and leave them there?  I am continually going back over to the burdens I lay at his feet and pick them up again.  Then lay them down and pick them up over and over.  You would think I would lose weight with all the exercise of bending down to pick up the burden!!  God has proven He is faithful and cares about us in everything we do but I keep forgetting.
sigh.....

New furniture

A good friend, Mary H., died recently from a short bout with cancer.  She and Ted had been married 60 years.  Ted decided to sell their house and a lot of their furniture and plans to get a motor home and be a 'snow bird' for awhile.  So we upgraded our furniture by buying some at Ted's estate sale.  Terry was home for a few days and spent a couple days moving furniture in and taking our old stuff to St. Vincent de Paul's.  I have spent the last week rearranging things and cleaning the house.  Everything looks so new and gives me a sunny attitude of thankfulness to head into the winter months.

Book shelf containing my teacup collection and my Grandma B's plate collection

New hutch

New chairs for the counter that are more stable.

New table and chairs-our old table bowed in the middle like a sway-back horse.
This one is flat !!

Kidsittin'

Had a fun weekend KidSitting Lance and Liam and Shella May.  (Mom & Dad went to an OSU vs WSU game).  We took a walk to Liam and Shella May's school and played 4-Square (a game I loved when I was in elementary school).  The squares seemed so much smaller than I remembered them to be when I was in school but after a few times of not being able to get the ball hit quick enough I decided the squares were too big!!   My sister and her granddaughter Sydney joined us and we both walked back 'home' with some sore muscles.
After lunch, I helped the kids with their homework which is something I have not gotten to do very often.  Then we played games and had a fun evening.  I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend but it turned out to be way to short.

Birthday Party

Twelve days have already gone by since I had my birthday party but wanted to share some of the photo's.  So far, it has been the highlight of the month.  The rest of the time has been spent working and doing chores and giving Birdie dog extra care since she hurt her back.
The party was a great success and I enjoyed having Ryan and Julie, Lance, Liam and Shella May spending the weekend with me.  The food was delicious.  Special thanks to everyone who brought food, Ryan who cooked the burgers and hotdogs on the grill and Julie who helped setup and cleanup.  It took me a week but I finally got the left over potato salad  finished.  Still have lots of dip and chips but trying to eat those sparingly since I also want to lose weight!  Only downside of the party day was that my hubby was in Missouri :(

My mom made the cake.  It was delicious!

Keon trying to hit the pinata.

Skyler taking a try.

Now it is Lance's turn.

Not sure what this is called but you turn circles 10 times and then try to run to another part of the yard without falling down.

A fun vacation

Vacation was so nice and much needed.  I cannot believe that I have been home a week already!  And put in over 50 hours of work too.  We had so much fun playing and holding and watching all the grandkids.
The travel days getting to and from Minnesota were long but went fairly smoothly considering I had to go through 4 airports each way.  Got into MN about 5 hours later than expected because one flight was delayed making me miss the next one.  But the airlines booked me on a later flight and I got to MN safely.  I just kept reminding myself that "God was in control of everything and had it all worked out".  Terry got to MN before me, so he and Christy and Becca were waiting for me at baggage claim.  It was so wonderful to have the girls yell "Granma" and run to me once they spotted me coming off the escalator.  Terry was able to spend the entire vacation week with us.  It was so nice.
Here are some photos from the week plus Michelle has posted some on her blog and I have uploaded other pictures on facebook.

Grandkids and Sunset

Our kids, Ryan and Julie, and grandkids Lance, Liam and Shella May moved from Minnesota to Oregon!!! After 15 years of having them far away, they are finally within 3 hours drive. So, of course, I went to see them and the kids and I played lots of games. There is a rule that "Grandma always wins" but they ignore the rule quite frequently. We played Sorry, Life, a new game that has you do all kinds of different things like a cross between Pictionary and Scattegories and trivia. We also went shopping and walked to one of their schools and enjoyed the Lake Oswego Farmer's Market. The weather got over 100 degrees so the shopping mall was crowded because so many people were looking for air conditioning! It was a great weekend.  At the last minute, Shella May decided she didn't want her picture taken.  Oh well - maybe next time.

The day after I got home we had a beautiful sunset so am tagging pictures of it to my post.

Yard Work

I have had "cleaning up the planter around the tree in the back yard" on my list all summer and I finally got it done after spending most of Saturday and part of Sunday working on it.  It was really hot here - in the high 80's or low 90's so I had to take lots of breaks!  But it feels so good to look out the window and see it AND to mark it off my huge to-do list.  Here are some before pictures.

Now for the after pictures!!!

4th of July and Baseball

I spent the 4th of July at the Central and Eastern Oregon All-Stars Little League tournament.  TJ's team played on the 4th and lost, then played on the 6th and won, then played on the 7th and lost again.  TJ played catcher most of the time.  In one game, he caught a pop-up foul ball, got a bunted ball thrown to first base in time to put the runner out, and tagged two other players out at home.  He also got one hit and stole 2nd, 3rd and home to make a run.  Needless to say Grandma is VERY PROUD!

The weather was very sunny and HOT.  I am so thankful that James & Amy brought their canopy.  It was a fun weekend but wore Grandma out!  I ended up taking naps when I got home.  Here is a video of TJ stealing 2nd base.

Things a trucker has to think about

Terry is taking a load of trucks from Portland, OR to Bangor ME (about 3200 miles).  Most of the time, there is now problem with the trucks, but this one had a tire problem so Terry was 'broke down' in LaGrande, OR.  The next thing that went haywire was the air conditioning not working.  When you think about the heat wave currently in the mid-west and east, driving without air conditioning would be very, very uncomfortable and also a safety hazard.  If you are too hot, you might be distracted while driving.  So, he stopped in Salt Lake City, UT to get it fixed.  Now he is heading toward Ohio which has power outages.  Hopefully, the power will be fixed and OK where he has to stay the night.  He also ran out of gas once!  Since he is hauling new trucks every load, the gas tanks are different sizes, the gas gauges are different and they are hard to estimate from one  load to the next.  Some trucks have small tanks and others large.  You also have to plan for toll roads, whether the motel has enough room to park a large truck hauling two other trucks, are their restaurants within walking distance?.  Then throw in all the driver regulations.  It really is not as 'easy' a job as many people think!!

June 17 - a special day

Twenty-nine years ago on June 17th - Terry and I got married on a Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.  It has been a wonderful journey raising 4 kids and adopting (in our hearts another) and then having the joy of being grandparents to 13 grandchildren.  We have 5 honorary grandchildren as well as 7 compassion children too.  Plus numerous nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.  We have gone  scuba diving, traveled to Japan, the Bahamas, and taken 3 cruises.  We have also had lots of trips to Minnesota and Alaska, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and California (together!!)  And we have managed to make our marriage work no matter what shifts we are working or what kind of traveling is needed for our jobs (which right now is ALOT!! )  We have so much to praise the Lord for.

June 17th is also the day our twin grandsons were born and now they are already a year old!!! How can time zip by so fast?

And June 17th is also our friend Marsha's birthday.