Where to Begin?

It surprised me when I looked at the calendar and realized how long it's been since I've posted. There's been a lot going on so I'll try to update you without rambling on too much. 😊 

I took the header photo picture of Beth in front of the Brattle Book Shop when we were in Boston for Diana and Peter's wedding back in September of '21. We decided to go for a walk and when we got out of the hotel, decided to just go around the block. Then we came across this cute little book store.

Right after my last post I flew to San Diego to spend some time with my sister. We try to get together a couple times a year but as we get older it seems to be getting harder. We do our best to make it happen though.

While I was there she put her dog Nalla down. She was a German shepherd and had lost the use of her back legs. She was 12 years old and there was nothing that could be done to help her so it was time. It was really hard but I was glad I was there. Got to say good-bye to Nalla, and was a little distraction for my sister.

In spite of that, we played games, took walks around her small mobile home park, and laughed a lot.

I took this when they visited us in 2020

Bougainvillea! 

We don't have this in Seattle and it's so nostalgic when I visit San Diego

Parcheesi! This was our mom's favorite game

After I got home I realized I never got a picture of my sister and I, so here's one from when I was down there last year.

My flight home was delayed so I walked in the front door a little after 10pm Saturday night. Hadn't planned on going to church the next morning but had a meeting in the afternoon so ended up just going to that. We were preparing to host a large pastor's conference and each team was meeting to go over last minute instructions and training. For the first time in seven years, I wasn't part of the custodial team! I got to help with 'catering', which included serving the meal at the dinner Wednesday night, then making all the box lunches for the attendees and volunteers the two following days. Custodians are mainly independent and it was so much fun to work side-by-side with others!

The dining room ready for the Pastor's Dinner

Some of the servers waiting to bring out the salads

We left a little after 9:00 Wednesday night and were back there at 6:30 Thursday morning to begin making the box lunches. Our team leader said we needed to make 340 lunches - each day. That's a lot of sandwiches! We made a large assembly line and it took us about three hours to get them all done. Then we packed the boxes with a liner, sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie and napkin. All packed with prayers that the Lord would touch each heart and meet the needs of every person attending.

Saturday I sat in my recliner the entire day! We were told later that there were pastors and spouses, plus church staff from 115 churches at the conference. We continue to pray the Lord would encourage those pastors and staff members as they go back to their congregations and cities.

There's more to tell you but I'll close for now. I'm catching up on laundry today (we got the day off) and all those little things that just pile up after a while. 😊

Have a great week!

So Much Fun, So Little Time

There's so much to write about, but so much happening around here I haven't had time to write.

I guess the first thing is that Beth and Chuck are both feeling much better. Still a tiny bit congested but they're back to their regular routines.

My visit with my sister was so much fun. She had always wanted to go skydiving but due to a knee replacement, and minor back issues her doctor advised against it. So my niece and I surprised her with indoor skydiving! She was shocked! Our plan worked perfectly! This is when she first realized what she was going to be doing - 

She had also wanted some nice photos taken so my nieces daughter did her make up and we headed outside for a fun photo shoot.

Then we headed out so she could learn to fly!

Each person got to go twice if they wanted to and she did! I thought she'd be too nervous to go at all but she wasn't. I'm so proud of her. At 70 years old, she 'flew' by herself. You can see in the second picture the trainer isn't even holding her.

Then we took her out for a family dinner at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. She was overwhelmed. It was a great day!

We went for a walk at a local park, watched her tortoises eat lunch, (that pan is the size of a large pizza) and spent a lot of time just talking.

It was exactly what we both needed. We decided next time I need to spend a week there because it just went by so fast. We're the only two left of our original family of five. 

Back at home - I'm gearing up for Sunday school. The Leaders Handbook is finished, I've been working in the classroom, and I even had a wonderful assistant help me with the bulletin board on Wednesday.

And Diana and Adelaide arrive tomorrow night. I filled my car with gas, I'm getting the den ready for them, putting out toys, baby-proofing the house... I'm beyond excited to see them! So if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'll be  chasing a two year old around the house! And loving every minute of it!

I'll get back to visiting your blogs soon, I promise!

The Days Before the Memorial

We got home on Monday night and I've spent the last couple of days unpacking and doing laundry. It was a whirlwind trip and there were a lot of emotions packed into those few days. 

We flew out of Seattle on May 4th and got to the Airbnb around 2:30 in the afternoon. We drove out east and had dinner with my sister, one of her sons and his family. I realized driving back that I didn't get one single picture. 

Everyone else got in on Thursday and we made 3 trips back and forth to the airport before everyone was finally at the house. We've stayed in a lot of hotels over the years plus our timeshare, but there's nothing like coming 'home' at the end of the day.

Our home away from home last week:

 The sun room, master bedroom, and backyard:

My sister Kathy LOVED hummingbirds and this was hanging in the kitchen window. I sent a picture to Deb. It really made me smile every time I looked at it.

Sharaya and Ally wanted to go swimming when they arrived so the rest of us went out to the Ocean Beach Pier. Kathy and I spent some time here a few years ago, just the two of us. When I realized it was possible for me to go again I got so emotional. It was good to re-live that memory. But I had forgotten what a long walk it was to the cafe at the end of the pier!

On Friday we headed to the Los Angeles area to see where Chuck's mom and dad are buried. His dad died in 1961 and his mom died just last year. It took us a while but finally Peter found where they were located. We also found his grandparents and his dads twin sister, who died as a baby.

It was still early afternoon when we left there so we decided to stop at Downtown Disney. Have you ever been there? It's just an outdoor shopping center, but all Disney. And it's free to get in. Shops and restaurants, photo ops... you don't see a whole lot of young families, usually it's the older crowd who wants the Disney magic without the cost and motion sickness from the rides. 😄

We headed 'home' after that and relaxed a little. Played cards. I finished the posters and we all got stuff ready for the next day.