Valentine's Day

Hello! I'm stopping in for a few minutes to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you know how loved you are.

Beth and I got haircuts yesterday. Same style, just trimmed. Then went out for frozen yogurt.

This morning we went shopping for new dressers. The top drawer of our dresser is broken, which impacts the second drawer as well. And Beth has had her dresser for many years. In fact, she and Diana had it when they shared a room while they were growing up. Definitely time for a new one. We've been looking for a year or so but haven't found any that we really loved. Same as today. There were a few we liked okay, but none that we really wanted. So the search continues.

Then the three of us went to The Olive Garden for lunch. We hoped it would be less busy than tonight and we were right. Got seated right away. Had a delicious lunch - those bread sticks! - and brought home leftovers. 

Now we're back home just hanging out, watching the Olympics and relaxing. Hope you had a blessed day!

Our Week

 Hello,

It's about 6:00 Saturday evening as I write this. This time of year it stays light until 10pm and it still confuses me. Doing stuff around the house I wonder why I'm yawning, then I realize it's 9:30. A few years ago we'd still be out working in the yard at that time but not anymore. Our age is catching up to us!

Speaking of working out in the yard, I thought I would share a few of our plants. One of the hydrangeas out under the trees, and one of the hostas by the house.

Then some foxglove in the backyard.

Beth and I got our hair cut yesterday, basically the same style just shorter. I'll try to get some after pictures in the next few days.

The Lord woke me up very early this morning and told me to 'Pray over your house.' So I did. Went into every room and prayed for peace, and joy and protection against the enemy. After a while I fixed some tea and went to sit in the backyard. When I looked up at the clouds I saw this:

In Genesis God tells Noah that when He brings the clouds over the earth and a rainbow appears, He will remember the covenant He made with Noah, and with all generations to come. I want to think it was His way of telling me He heard my prayers. It was such a sweet time with my Savior.

We're celebrating Pentecost Sunday tomorrow. When people in our congregation who were born outside the U.S. kind of do a 'Parade of Flags' then they all go up on the platform and we celebrate the Lord of the Nations. It's one of my favorite days of the year. These pics are from last year:

(This one is not my picture.)

It's always an emotional day. I'll close this for now. I pray you're all doing well.

Beth's New 'Do

 A few days after we got home from Anaheim, Beth and I got our hair cut. Mine was the same style, just a few inches cut off. 

 

Beth's wanted shoulder-length hair for a while but they always seem to leave it longer. This time they cut it short.

 

 Beth has Alopecia so I usually put her hair in a ponytail to help cover the bald spot but now we're able to part it on the side. It's such a different look for her.

 

Countdowwn, Turkey Toss, One of Her Favorite Things

 Hello,

 

Five days before Thanksgiving. For us the holiday is focused on our church outreach. We feed about 1200 from our community: the homeless, first responders who are on duty, immigrants, and entire families. They come to have their photos taken, enjoy a complete Thanksgiving meal, access to our clothing bank, and a fun show that includes the gospel. Plus there are more than 400 volunteers.

 

We've been prepping for months and tomorrow begins room set ups. It's a grueling week but by the weekend, I'm so grateful to have been a part of such an amazing outreach. Something our family has been a part of for more than 25 years. These are from last year...

 

 

 

 We have Translators

 We'll have our family Thanksgiving on Friday. Sharaya and Ally will come over, we'll watch our traditional after-dinner movie and play games. And we'll probably video chat with Diana and Peter. Then on Saturday...

 

 This is what I plan to do all day! 😊

 

 Beth and I got our hair cut this week. Same styles, just shorter. I suggested we take a selfie together but she didn't seem excited about that idea. So I just took one of her, then took mine when I got home. She'll talk for days about everyone who will see how different she looks, "I can show my friends on Tuesday!" "My sisters will be surprised!" She loves getting her hair cut!

 

 We had our Third Annual Turkey Toss at work last week. The Executive Assistant comes up with the most fun and crazy events for us - the goal is to see who can throw a frozen, wrapped-in-duct-tape turkey the farthest. This year there was a Lightweight division, for those of us over 55 (and there are a lot actually!) I think ours was a game hen. Anyway, there was hot chocolate... and lots of laughter!

 

 See the blue dot at the top of the yellow tree? That's the turkey!

Some of them threw 29 feet, 31 feet! It was crazy far!

 

 

I don't know if you can make out the blue chalk inside the circle. They put our initials where our throws landed. And you see the traffic cone? Right there at the starting line? That's my throw. Yep, 4 feet. I thought I would try to toss it like I was bowling but it slipped out of my hand! There were no actual prizes, just the honor of titles like Highest Toss, Farthest Toss, and mine? I got Biggest Oops! 😂 I absolutely love where I work! We have the most fun!

 I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving. I pray no one is alone this weekend and that you get to share a meal with others. Whether it's with family, or friends or if you come to an outreach like ours, maybe with friends you haven't met yet. I'm thankful for you. You bless me more than you'll ever know. May the Lord bless you too!

Treated Like A Diva

 About a year ago I found a little salon near our house that Beth and I fell in love with. We've been there a couple of times and Beth went again last week.

 

We looked through pictures of shoulder-length hair styles and she picked this one:

 

 

At first my heart sank because Beth has straight hair. I don't know if it's because she has Down Syndrome or not but it's very straight. I explained to her the difference between a cut and a style. That this lady's hair looks like this because after they cut it, they used a blow dryer and maybe a curling iron and it looks like this because of the way it was styled, not cut.

 

I remember when Beth was born most of the pictures of adults who had DS had short, cropped hair. We didn't know why most pictures showed that cut, but we hoped it was because many of them were living in institutions and it was easier for the caregivers to manage. But we wanted to make sure Beth's hair could grow long, and it did.

As she's gotten older though she likes it a little shorter. Probably because... it's easier to manage. 😊

 

So we confirmed that she did want her hair cut just a little past her shoulders, and when we got to the salon, we showed the photo to the stylist. She was young (to me) just turned 30 and was excited about the photo. Beth sat in the chair and Kaitlyn got to work.

 

First she shampooed her hair, then cut it and blew it dry.

 

 

 Then she began to style it. She talked to Beth about work and family while she worked her magic. And when she was done...

She loved it!! Not as big and full as the photo but a current style that Beth was so excited about! The curls were soft and exactly how she wanted them. It turned out so good, the salon asked Beth if they could take her picture.

 

Now I'm trying to replicate it. Haven't had much success yet and I keep telling Beth I need to practice, but when I'm doing her hair in the morning I'll ask her if she wants me to curl it and she sadly tells me, "Just straight." I've got to learn how to do this!