This 'n That

Whew! I feel like I've been on a merry-go-round! Isabel started kindergarten and for the first six weeks she goes half-day only. So the bus drops her off at our house everyday, except Monday, around 11:30! So if I want to get much done before she arrives, I really have to hustle! Audrey and Moira come here about 4pm to wait for their Daddy, unless he surprises all of us by coming home early.



She's such a sweetheart! We've had a good time playing games, baking, grocery shopping, she even helps me around the house, like taking laundry in/out of washer/dryer.


The first day, in one breath she said - "Hi Grandma, I'm hungry!" Her favorite lunch - PBJ - every day, except for the couple where we've had pretzels and nutella! An apple makes it more nutritious. Oh yes, Papa took us to Taco Bell one day - her choice! My favorite - NOT - but the burrito supreme tasted pretty good. I was hungry!


We celebrated Brett's birthday.


Moira wanted to make the watermelon "hedgehog" we saw pictured in a magazine. So this was her project.


Pretty cute! It was a big hit with the family!


I'm trying to get a head-start on my Bible study, which begins in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to being with this great group of a dozen or so wonderful women.


I've been busy this summer working on Mom2Mom stuff. Working with the program planning team, doing the brochure, and other details. We had our registration kick-off for Mom2Mom a couple of weeks ago. We are using the poppy theme this year. Our program theme is "Family Fragrance: Filling Your Home with the A.R.O.M.A. of Love". AROMA is an acronym for Affection, Respect, Order, Merriment, Affirmation and our speakers will be what I call "Wonderful Women of Grace", women from our church. We're excited about our year and look forward to our first meeting in October.


It was so hot this summer that I didn't get much gardening done. When the temp finally dropped, I began working outside. I worked about three hours every morning, Wed-Fri, weeding, deadheading, feeding - hoping for a "fall flourish". Saturday we went to the Wichita Botanical Gardens where the Wichita Day Lily Club was having their annual day lily sale. We purchased six "clumps" in three different color combinations so Saturday I began preparing the ground on the side of the house and then Sunday afternoon finished planting. Hope they all bloom next spring/summer!

It felt so good to be outside. Gardening was such a part of my exercise routine when we were in California - all year long, but alas, not so here in Kansas. Guess it's the Iowa farm girl that's still in me as I enjoy it so much. I was pretty sore and didn't know just how sore until Rich and I went to a new massage spa opening in Wichita. Oh my!!! I like a firm touch and I got that but virtually every muscle group in my body from shoulders to feet had deep knots. I'm finally admitting what a stressful year it's been - add all that hard gardening work on top of it and my body was in pretty bad shape. Anyway I'm better and the yard looks lovely.

This is our dinner-plate size hibiscus blooming in front garden. It didn't bloom much during the heat spell, but has started to bloom again. Beautiful!


Now I'm getting ready for Jeremy and Renee's visit. It will be so good to have them here!

Until next time ...

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are his people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Amen and Amen!

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Today is Audrey's 8th birthday! Happy birthday, Sweetie!



Audrey is in second grade. Her favorite color is yellow. Her favorite food is Grandma's mashed potatoes, with a VERY healthy portion of BUTTER. It's yellow, you know! She actually puts the butter on the potatoes and then before it melts she eats the whole portion of butter. Her favorite animal is the dolphin. She likes to play soccer. Her favorite board games are UNO and Monopoly, although it's hard for her to find anyone to play Monopoly because it always takes so long. She has a little webkinz "family" and she enjoys playing on the webkinz website.

One of my favorite things to do with her is to listen to her read. Such a delight! It's also very fun to play UNO with her. She's quite the little cut-throat player and LOVES giving me a "bad" card. That little scamp!

Have a fun birthday, Audrey! We love you!

Cool Colorado - 2

Our second day in Colorado we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park with a stop at the top as well as Estes Park. What a beautiful day in a breath-takingly beautiful state!


This road eventually became a dirt road and we were surrounded by God's gorgeous creation.


Big Thompson River. My Dad loved fishing this river! I thought about him all day and the family trips we took here. More on that later!


We took this drive a couple of years ago and saw wild turkey (Carey was even interviewed for the evening news on that occasion as the turkeys totally stopped traffic as a news team was driving ahead of us), mountain sheep and a double rainbow. On this day we saw this funny creature laying in the middle of the dirt road, seemingly nibbling on dirt/rocks. ??? Carey jumped out of the SUV to check him out further. It was a marmot. He finally got up and waddled off the road.


We saw several out-croppings of these beautiful mushrooms. Never have seen red/orange ones before! We assumed they were not edible.


I was very taken by the spires on the mountain tops.


Wild flowers abound.




Nancy and I at the Visitor's Center - at the end of the road, elevation nearly 12K feet. BURRRR it was chilly! It began to rain and temp dropped to 20s. You can't tell from this photo but we saw a very large herd of elk in the distance near the patches of snow and rocks.


As we left the mountain top, we actually climbed in elevation a bit and yes the white stuff was snow/sleet.


When we got to Estes Park I wanted to find the salt water taffy shop that I remember from our family vacation trips as a young girl. There are other taffy shops in town, but I knew they weren't the one, because I remembered which side of the street it was on. So Rich kept driving. There it is - on the right just as I remembered! The Taffy Shop, est. 1935!


Yup, they still have the white boxes with green printing and the taffy pullers in the front window!


It's smaller than I remembered. Aren't memories like that??


Same black/white tile floor and counter. The lady that waited on me on this day had worked there from the beginning. Probably sold us taffy in 1948! The lady that started the store still owns it. Oh, and by the way they are the only store in town that still makes THEIR OWN salt water taffy. Isn't it nice to know that SOMEWHERE some things never change!


Our last stop was at the Stanley Hotel. We talked about tea on the veranda, but weather wasn't conducive to that so we just strolled around inside. This grand building, known for its architecture and magnificent setting, was built by F.O. Stanley - of Stanley Steamer fame. It took two years to build and it opened in 1909 and has a very interesting history. Mr. Stanley built a road from Lyons, CO to Estes Park over which he used his Stanley Steamer to transport visitors to Estes Park. This was the first time in history that an automobile was used instead of a train to transport visitors to a resort. He made many other notable contributions to the area.


The four of us alongside the Stanley Steamer. It was built in 1903. Weighs 1000 pounds and cost $800.


A view of the elegant interior.


Driving back to Ft. Collins along the Big Thompson. My family stayed here for the several years we vacationed here 1948-1950s. A massive flood wiped out the area in 1979 (I believe). I tried to imagine where we stayed. It was a little log cabin resort called the Cha-Nel-Bo, named for the husband Charles, wife Nell, son Bob. We had a fish fry and had garlic bread - the first time we ever tasted it. I remember Mom going nuts for it! Dad fished in the river close to our cabin. The river looks very high and was really rushing on this day.


A walk down memory lane - old photo so not terribly clear, but it is of Dad and we three girls - ages 2-4-6. Cheryl is next to Dad, then Kathy, and I'm on the right wearing saddle shoes on my feet and a headscarf on my head. Year was 1948! Mom remembers we drove a new Chrylser off Dad's car lot but my photo caption is 1948 Snazzy Chevie. Kathy had just turned two and her "seat" was a box on the front seat between Mom and Dad. YIKES! Mom's memories (at age 94!) are very funny and very clear!

Dad thought it was beautiful then, just think of all the trees and vegetation now! Breathtaking beauty abounds!


I love this photo - Dad standing in his waders, holding his rod and reel - with his arm around Mom. It may have been at Bear Lake because I remember him fishing there, too. The picture of happiness.


Colorado is such a lovely state. I have such warm, happy memories of visits there as a young girl and now since we've met Carey and Nancy, Rich and I have such lovely memories of visits with very dear friends! Whether it be fun games of Contract Gin, eating out, eating in (Nancy's a MARVELOUS cook!), seeing their kids and other mutual friends, shopping, sightseeing, enjoying the weather (on this trip it was 115 in Newton - while we enjoyed cool Colorado evenings sitting outside on the patio!! I even wore s lightweight jacket! AHHH!), you name it, their hospitality and friendship keep us returning.

Cool Colorado - 1

In early August we headed to Ft. Collins, CO for a lovely visit with our friends Carey and Nancy. It was "hot" there, in high 80s. H.O.T. at home, way over 100! What a great time to be gone!


Our first stop was for breakfast at Lucile's. This seems to have become a tradition - and a yummy one at that!


This small, very charming, homey little cafe serves marvelous Creole food.


While waiting for our name to be called, I meandered around their gardens. These hollyhocks reminded me of my childhood. We had a LOT of hollyhocks in our Iowan backyard and my sisters and I would make "dolls" out of them. You just pluck off this bloom and then stick a toothpick in a round bud and poke it through the small end of the open flower. That makes a cute little flower doll with a very pretty gala-ball-like skirt.


Love the Lamb's Ear. It's so soft, fuzzy, and kid-friendly. I grew it in a pot our first year in KS but haven't since. Perhaps next year!


My favorite thing on the menu is Eggs Ponchatrain. It is a delicious trout topped with a poached egg (poached hard for me!). I get it with the grits. When I eat it I think of my Dad because he SO very MUCH loved fishing for trout in the Big Thompson River that runs through Estes Park and Ft Collins. Dad (and mom) would make "mush", which I have discovered is actually grits that they would cook until very thick and bubbly. Then they'd pour into pans to set. We sliced it very thinly and fried it on a griddle and ate it with maple syrup. Oh, how I loved it! Also served with the dish is the enormous, buttery biscuit you see. It's actually more like cake with a crunch top! Delicious!!


Our next stop (and usually follows Lucile's) is a stop at The Cupboard, a MOST MARVELOUS kitchen store in Ft. Collins. It is Carey and Nancy's store. It's a good thing we don't live there because I would have a difficult time staying out of this store!



This gorgeous fall display greeted us at the front door. Almost makes you want to make a pumpkin pie!


They carry a lovely line of Polish pottery. Since I'm a lover of all things blue, I just stand and gaze at all the lovely design and patterns. It's quite pricy, so I've indulged in just two pieces for my kitchen. They make me very happy!




I love Fiesta ware! My mom had these dishes when I was a small girl. I don't remember all the colors she had, but today she still has the cute dark blue salt and pepper shakers, a nest of three mixing bowls in yellow, blue and green, and a covered dish in green. Don't the bright colors just make you SMILE??!?!?!


This is what I bought. I went there looking for a glazed ceramic garlic keeper. This cute little white dish with the red silicon top is a garlic roaster and storer. I haven't used it as a roaster yet, but my garlic is staying fresher! The night we arrived Nancy showed me her new measuring cups and so I bought a set. They are very versatile, for both liquid and dry measurement, the small one cup, two cup and large 4 cup. They are flexible and so you can squeeze to pour. Our granddaughter, Isabel, helped me in the kitchen yesterday and she could handle the small one very well. Thanks for the tip Nancy!


We visited the Colorado State University Horticultural Gardens on the way home. We've walked through these before but they are so beautiful, they called for a second visit.


We all loved the contrast between the flower petals and the spiky grasses.


Loved these bright marigolds! We planted a border of them in our front garden before we went to California in April. When we came home they had been totally stripped by our resident rabbits. Those little "buggers"!


If I remember right, these are foxgloves. Can you find the bee?


Loved the coleus. Did you know it is in the mint family? That's what Webster's says, when I checked for spelling.


This bronze coleus was absolutely stunning! Loved the color variations!


A great first day in "The Fort", as Carey and Nancy call it.

Happy Birthday, Brett!

Today is Brett's 37th birthday. Our third son is a loving husband, great dad, a loved brother, a valued pastor, a trusted friend, and our neighbor who "looks in on us". This man, who has a HEARTY laugh (like his Dad), loves books, teaching God's word and caring for his family and "flock".

We are proud to call him Son!

"We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding ... that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

Colossians 1:9-12

Cuteness!

We have received a couple of fun emails from our 14-year old granddaughter, Jordyn. The first was to say how much fun she's had this summer making decorative cakes.


Doesn't everyone love a sweet watermelon???

With the Christmas paper-wrapped cake board, I'd call this "Christmas in July".


Jordyn made a pattern from her own flip flops, so I'd say this is about a size 8 cake! :) Then she made a cake in a 9x13 pan and cut out the flip flops from her pattern. The red straps are fruit roll and the green circle is a piece of gummi candy.

I would say she's quite the Baker Girl! She's had a lot fun baking and her family LOVES it! Lucky them! Hey, SHE should have made her Papa's birthday cake!!

The second email was to say she did a photo shoot of her two little sisters, Katelyn and Allison. She planned their outfits and fixed their hair, went outside and took photos. These are what she sent us!

I can almost hear their giggles!

Katelyn

Allison

Two little cuties!



Bubble fun!


Looks like Jordyn has her Dad's "photographer's eye"! Good job, Sweetie!