What's Your Favorite?

Hi everyone,

I started to write that there's not a lot happening around here but then I got to thinking of all the things we've been doing lately. I'll have to organize it all in my head and post about it another time. Today I want to tell you about my flowers. I'm probably more excited about them than I should be.  :)

Beth and I continue to do our grocery shopping every Thursday. She's trying to make better choices, some days are better than others.

When we bought our first home back in the early 90's I grabbed some sunflower seeds off the shelf without really looking at the small print. I planted them in the front of the house and they - kept - growing! That's when I looked at the package. I had bought Mammoth Sunflowers! I couldn't believe how big they were. Somewhere I have a picture of a squirrel hanging upside down on one of those flowers, eating the seeds with his two front paws. Those flowers were amazing and we still talk about them today.

Sunflowers are my favorite flower and I grew them for years. These were along the front porch:

Then when we moved into our second home in 2001 I planted them in the backyard against the house:

Then a few years ago I had planted some right where these are, just like I always had. Even after all those years of planting, I would still go out almost every day to check them and I'd get so excited when I saw the little stems about an inch tall. And then one day the stems were gone! I was shocked! I didn't know what had happened. The next year I planted more and saw the wild bunnies eating them! I remember being so crushed.

After that I tried planting them and covering them with mesh, chicken wire, but the bunnies always got to them first. So I eventually stopped trying. It's been a while but this year I decided to try again.

I put them in a pot this time, and only planted a few just in case they didn't survive. I surrounded that pot like a fortress and watched those flowers like a hawk! Then a couple weeks ago I looked out the window to see these beautiful flowers:

 I brought the biggest one inside:

And I took some to work. Every time I look at them they make me smile. There's just something about sunflowers.

Do you have a favorite flower? 

Dads

I've been sitting here staring at this blank page, wondering what to write. I've got an ache inside me. 

Charlie Kirk spoke at our church a couple of times and I felt like I kind of knew him, even though I didn't really know him. My heart aches for his wife and two kids.

Watching TV this week someone had written that Charlie Kirk's kids will become adults with only pictures and not memories of their dad, stories but no experiences. We paused the show and just looked at each other. Chuck's dad died when he was only three. We just sat and contemplated the truth of that.

This is the only family photo that exists of them: his parents and older siblings. Chuck wasn't even born yet. Even though he was three when his dad died, there are no pictures of the two of them together.

Charlie Kirk's murder was a senseless act that's caused so much pain. But, he loved the Lord and is now talking with Him. No microphones needed. I think of it as a caravan during a road trip. One of you has to stop for gas so you tell the others, "Go on ahead, we'll see you when we get there." Charlie Kirk has gone on ahead and we'll see him when we get there.

My original plan this week was to write about my dad. He died on September 11, 2019. 

 

It's been a somber week. I hope you're doing okay.

The Car and the Pole

I think the reason I didn't explain about the car before is because I wasn't sure how it happened myself. 😧

We have our main lot, then two overflow lots. This happened in one of the overflow lots.

About three hours after church ended one of the custodians went over to lock the gates. They have 'arms' or poles, that swing and lock into position. He locked the gates and went back across the street to the church. That's when he heard someone calling him.

There had been a couple of cars parked behind some landscaping and the custodian hadn't seen them when he locked the gates. So he went back over. You remove the lock, pull out the large pin and push one arm over to one side, and the other arm to the other side.

The poles are extremely heavy and to secure them you have to lift them up slightly so they fit between the brace/bracket thing, then keep adjusting until the large pin fits inside.

In the first picture, you can see the upright posts behind the gate. That's where you secure the gates when they're open.

The custodian thought the people would quickly pull out so he pushed the arm all the way over, but didn't secure it.

As they were pulling out, the man stopped to chat. The custodian was on the driver's side, standing in front of that gate arm and couldn't see the other arm very slowly swinging back toward the center. The man's car was back far enough that the arm swung just in front of it as he began to move forward again. Both he and the custodian heard a 'pop' and that's when the arm went through the windshield. 

The two officers held the arm still while the driver s-l-o-w-l-y backed up. The pole came out clean and there was no more damage to the windshield. He was able to drive it home. I'm so thankful it wasn't more serious.

Kind of a Crazy Weekend

On Thursday Chuck went to Denver to be with his sister. More than 20 years ago she had a stroke that left her paralyzed on her right side. Then a year or so ago she broke the ankle on her right side and has been in and out of hospitals and rehab ever since. She lives alone and they won't release her until she can walk again. He went to check on her and see how he could help.

Friday I stayed home, did laundry, dusted mini blinds, made some more greeting cards, it was nice to just hang out.

Saturday Sharaya and I took a scenic flight around Seattle - on a float plane! Chuck had given that to me as a gift and we went this weekend. Never been on a float plane before and was curious about taking off and landing on water - would you bounce with the waves? But it was actually smoother than landing in an airliner. Which makes sense now that I've done it because the water moves with the plane and gives a softer landing.  

We rode with another family, and when the pilot asked who wanted to sit up front, Sharaya was the only one who raised her hand. Some of these pictures are hers - 

The plane was extremely loud. They gave us noise-cancelling headphones that played audio of what we were seeing. I tried taking mine off for a second and it was SO loud. We weren't able to talk to each other at all during the flight.

This is the University of Washington

This is as close as we got to Seattle. Kenmore Air flies out of Lake Union (close to Seattle) and Lake Washington which is  further north and closer to where we live so we close Lake Washington.

I-5 headed north out of Seattle

Some of the beautiful homes that line the lakes here

These are on Lake Washington

This is a screen shot of a video I took of the landing -

Afterward we asked the pilot to take our photo, then we went out to lunch. Such a fun day! Thank you Sharaya for coming with me!

Okay, that was Saturday. On Sunday the other leader didn't show up to help in Sunday school and wouldn't you know it, I had all four kids. Thankfully one of the kids team went and got a volunteer from children's church to come help me. And she was actually really amazing! I was so grateful she was there.

Right after Sunday school I had a Thanksgiving Team meeting. I didn't have time to take Beth home, so I went up to the meeting to see if I could get Beth some lunch. (They always provide lunch.) I grabbed Beth a sandwich and chips, and took it back to our classroom. (Our class is on the first floor, and the meeting was on the third. Thank the Lord for that elevator!)

After the meeting, Beth and I headed to Costco. For more than a month they've been out of the hot drink cups I buy for the church and we were getting really low so I went in person to get a few cases.

Literally five minutes after getting home, my phone rang. It was a custodian telling me about a car accident that happened in the church parking lot. So I headed back there and was surprised to see this - 

The driver wasn't hurt at all. He was walking around, joking with the officers and talking about how it was such a freak accident. We waited for the police and filled out reports about what happened. I finally got home around 5:30. It all made for a very long Sunday.

This morning (Monday) I picked Chuck up at the light rail station. So glad he's home!

So how was your Labor Day weekend? Did you go anywhere or do anything fun?

This and That

Beth caught a cold right before we left for Pennsylvania. We spent four hours in the walk-in clinic the day before we left but thankfully she tested negative for covid and strep. The doctor said she just had a regular head cold.

She felt fine during the trip but knew she wouldn't be able to hold Oliver. He was just too young still. But I think they had a moment one day at the dining room table, it seems he was listening as she talked to him.

We stopped for ice cream the day we went to Princeton University and they have a mirror there that used to be at the fun house at Palisades Park around 1933. Beth certainly couldn't pass that up!

At work today we had our annual First Responders Appreciation Lunch. We invite them from all over the county and it seems each year there's more. There are police officers, fire fighters, animal control, EMTs... plus their administrative staff. We're so grateful for the work they do and the lunch is one small way we can say thank you.

August 14 we were flying home so we didn't get to celebrate on that day. This year marked 43 years for us. We ended up going out to dinner this past weekend and on Monday we got to go to a Mariner's Game. We won so that made it even more fun!

You know, 43 seems like such a huge number but it's hard to measure the time. I was 21 and he was 24 when we got married but it seems like we've just always been together. We dated for six weeks when he proposed and we were engaged for one year. 

We've been so grateful to have so many adventures in our lives, we've gone places we could only dream of and seen things many people wish they could see.

New York

Cabo San Lucas

Israel

And our girls. We were able to give them a good life and as adults, they truly love each other.

And now grandkids. We are just blessed beyond measure. I'm so grateful for the life I get to live.

Pennsylvania

We just spent some time in Pennsylvania visiting Diana and Peter. There's just something about having the whole family under one roof. We hung out, played games, went out to eat, it was good to be together. 

Our Airbnb was an old manor on about 10 acres. We did lots of exploring!

We had a good flight and got in a little after midnight. The inside of the manor was gorgeous and the beds were comfortable! We even all got our own rooms! Well, except for Chuck and I, we were willing to share. 😊 This was our room:

Ally took that picture. She's got such a good eye for photography.

In fact, Ally took all the pictures of the inside of the house! The upstairs reminded me a little of the Waltons house, the large landing at the top then all the rooms were off of that. 

Sometimes Diana, Peter and the kids came to the manor (as we called it) and other days we went to their house. We went sightseeing around Princeton University, went to Washington Crossing, played games, it was good to be together.

It was extremely hot the day we went to Princeton so we stopped and got some drinks on our way there. I love the architecture of that school. It's a photographer's dream!

Sharaya took this one

At Washington Crossing we got to see them shoot off a small canon. It was louder than I expected! This is where I took the header photo. Beth looking out at the Delaware River, where George Washington crossed the night of December 25, 1776.

Adelaide painted rocks

She explored the manor with Ally 

The 'bamboo forest' was on the side yard 

And played outside

Taking a break during one of the game nights

We played UNO No Mercy, and Mexican Train. I lost at both. We are competitive when we play games but there's also a lot of laughter. I usually laugh my hardest on game night.

We took this one at Washington Crossing. The first one of all of us, including little Oliver. He's such a sweet baby. I'm looking forward to watching him and Adelaide grow up together.