Life is interesting

Life is certainly interesting..You think things are going well, then a screwdriver is thrown into the works and things stop for a moment.
I went to stay with Kelli when she had her 4th baby the first week of June. We always have a good time, and I enjoy being with her and her family.
Stu drove himself to Las Vegas ( where Kelli now lives) to pick me up and we took a nice road trip through California on the way back home.
The day he arrived, he told us all that he has aggressive Prostate Cancer. It was a shock to us, because he has never had any reason for worry.
Last September he was in that auto accident, and he was just getting back to doing what he wanted, and now this.
I think cancer is one of those words that strike fear into people's hearts, but in some
instances it is like any other long term disease- you deal with it and try everything that is available to live as normal a life as you can.
To this date, he is on a drug called Lupron, which is a hormone inhibitor. He will be starting radiation the end of October. So, for now, he is doing everything he wants to do before the "if"s start. He has been on three 50 mile bike rides with the scouts, recently because he is the 11 year old scout leader and also the merit badge counselor for this badge. All of the boys made it in the 8 hours required to pass . He also went on the two tens, two 25 mile rides with them, too.
I am always alittle sad when the weather turns and there are no more bike rides. I enjoy riding, but it is the only exercise that Stu likes to do.
We had a great time with all the family here, including my parents and my brother, Erik, for Jared and Sarah's wedding on August 2nd.

We filled the house and the camper and I had a great and busy time!
The wedding was beautiful and Sarah was even more beautiful!!

We had all the grandkids together and the weather was cooperative and they played outside in the sprinkler/baby pool most of the time.

What good memories!!
If I could change anything, it would be to eradicate the allergies that plague half of the family members that visit here. Oh well, we did all we could and I think they still had fun! ( Granny's café ice cream cones were one of the great and yummy memories, for me!)
Stuart and I also went to the Smith family reunion at the end of July. It was so good to see the families represented! I wish our kids could have come!
It was the first time we have been together since Mom died, and she was missed, but there were 5 expectant mothers, and Kelli's recent baby to have everyone feeling happy and blessed to be together.
He surprised them because we didn't think he would be able to go for doctor's appts, but we drove down anyway. It was so gratifying to see how much his family loves him.
We are now the older generation, and Kelli's cousin Boston put the family reunion together this time. Next time , Monta's daughter, Rachel is in charge of it. One of the perks of being older, is that you don't have to do EVERYTHING anymore!!
Well, till later!

Being a Grandma

 I am very blessed to be a Grandma. When I had little kids, I was so busy and thought often about having a vacation from the hurrying and scurrying!
Now that I 'm a grandma, I don't have to hurry and scurry so much and can enjoy little moments.
I remember being with my Grandma Binns during the summer and watching her bake wonderful cakes and bread ( and eating them!);watching her work in her rose gardens; and going with her to  drive the Falcon downtown for milk at the Jersey cow drive through.
We had some really fun times, watching Bonanza and Lawrence Welk on tv together, and sitting in their breezeway eating icecream with fresh peaches from the orchard next door , sliced and sweet in her stoneware bowls ....yum and yum!
She was always positive and supportive, and I am sure I was annoying with my crabbiness sometimes, but all she did was go, "ssssssss" in a kind of little chuckling sound.
I still miss her a lot, especially when I wish she were here to call and ask about what she would do in  family situations  and health related issues. I miss her little hugs, and the letters and cards she would send at birthday time. One of my most treasured possessions is a cookbook that her stake in Richland Washington made when they lived there. It has her handwritten favorite recipes stashed between the regular pages of the book. I have a section in my recipe box of "Grandma B. recipes".
 I love and miss her.
I hope I can be the fun and supportive Grandma that she was to me.
I try!

The Lord's tender mercies...I have heard that but didn't think about it until Stu was in the car accident.
Here are the tender mercies: I was right behind him when it happened, so I was right there to see him; Erik was the 2nd policeman there and helped with the scene; the hospital was three blocks away; 3 of our friends came right down to give him a blessing and were available to do so; it was good weather for the next 3 weeks, so some good friends came and made us a new ramp/walkway for Stu to use;
after the accident, our water line to the street began leaking more, so we had to replace it. Jared, a friend of his(Jeremy Daggett) and our former neighbor, (Tim Kelly) came over with a bulldozer and an excavator and they were able to do that for us for cost of pipe and fittings. (also still good weather)

I am grateful for all the good wishes, help with things around our property , delicious food and prayers that were sent our way! Stu's sister, Carol also made him a beautiful quilt and it was here within a week of his accident!
He is doing much better- physical therapy ( we have several friends and a son who are PT's, which helps when we have questions) has helped a lot and by Christmas he will be without crutches!

Thank you, again for all your support!
Here are some pictures of the walkway, the waterline and Stu !

Visiting in Greeley

This past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, and great gratification for me!
We had Kelli and kids, and Timm and his littlest, Sawyer, here for a "vacation". Kelli was up to see two friends and attend their weddings; and Timm came up to go to the Demo Derby with Jared.
(well, that's not the only reason!)
We cooked, cleaned, played outside, went on many walks up and down Hennessey lane, picked blueberries, and blackberries, and went grocery shopping a whole lot! We also went to Crescent beach, ate with Erik's and Jared's families, and the kids loved being with their cousins! (a big thank you to Jeff, who kept all the older kids busy running around outside, FOR HOURS!)

This past week we were in Greeley, Colorado visiting Timm's family. Megan's parents and her youngest brother and wife came, too, as did my parents. Harrison was baptized on Saturday, and had both Grandpa's plus a great grandpa(my dad) and an uncle help with the ordinance.
Very nice!
We had some great times visiting and eating!
It was a wonderful few weeks- the weather is starting to change here, so I am glad we got to go to Colorado and feel like it was still summer, at least for a few days!

Giving the Old Girl a facelift

For the last several days, Stu has been busy working on painting the trim, dormers, and window frames on the outside of our house. He painted the whole thing about 15 years ago, but as the main color seems to be doing fine, just the eaves and around the windows needed help.
I have to say that I am not as good at climbing ladders and having good balance as I used to be.
Stu has been up and down a very bendy large ladder at the top of our house, and I keep having visions of him falling and breaking body parts, etc.
So one day, Jared came over and helped do some of the high eave painting. I felt much more comfortable having him here. If Stu fell off the ladder, or it started falling, I (the little weak thing that I am  :) couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't catch him, or the ladder, so Jared was much appreciated. They also bought a new toy to share, a paint sprayer. Much easier than painting by hand!
Our house does look much better. My job is to clean windows and paint the ground floor window frames.
Oh, and the bees.....Under most eaves and especially the dormers, were multiple bee nests. Mostly
paper wasps and hornets.
I swell up from stings, but Stu doesn't...lucky him.
He used the better part of 3 cans of spray, and still had a run in with a couple of particularly persistently alive bees.

So, we are doing that, and also putting up wood for the winter. Stu feels good about our progress so far this summer. It has been a weird summer, as we haven't had any rain since the middle of June.
yellow grass everywhere, oh well!
(notice Stu as a ghost...paint all over!)

Bike riding

If you read Kelli's or Megan's blogs, you will see what the Mediterranean cruise was like. I must say I enjoyed being with my kids and their spouses.( Jared will be next to take on one!)
After the cruise, Stu and I went to Switzerland for a few days, and I found it charming, beautiful and what everyone always says it is- steep, and hard to describe!
We spent one day while we were in Interloken riding electric assist bikes. We rode up the valley on a tour with a lady guide(who was in much better shape than I). My favorite part of that bike ride was stopping for a dark chocolate hot chocolate at a local little dive..interesting people there. (young, free spirit dreadlock, etc..)

After that bike ride we had 2 days off from riding, then started our adventure riding electric assisted bikes over the countryside of Switzerland.
Many nice farms, where they are so steep they have to use special hay mowers to cut the hay. I swear the sheep and cows all have bells, and all must have one side shorter legs than the other, to be able to stand on those hills to eat!

I enjoyed the sights, but after a few days, you get used to seeing the farms, and I wasn't thrilled with the uphills we had to climb. But, you say, you had electric bikes! well, they are "assist" bikes. You still have to pedal, and on the steep hills that went on for a couple of miles or so, I had to get off and walk the bike. Luckily, they also have assist on walking your bike. Otherwise I would have expired from pushing such a heavy bike uphill!
The downhill riding was Stu's favorite. He loves speed. I do not. I think 23 mph was my fastest down the steep hills. I also did not like riding in town- I didn't know the streets and the lights, etc.
I did like riding through the forests on the logging roads, and I did enjoy seeing all the animals and people who live there. The restaurants we stopped at for lunches were wonderful. Yum, especially the local weinerschnitzel and the pommes- fries. They served really good bread with local tomatoes and cucumbers. The bakeries were the best ever, especially the one in Interloken.

I got used to riding all day, and when it was over, it was kind of sad.
So, when we were on the river cruise down the Rhine river, we rode bikes in a couple of cities we stopped in. I enjoyed riding the bike trails( not mountain bike trails!) and didn't have electric assist on the two later ones. We even went across the river on a foot ferry that also took bikes. The river was very high, and there were problems with some of the cruise boats, but we did fine.
The last bike ride was in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Interesting guides at the bike shop. I liked ours-Stuart from England. Outdoorsman, mountain climber type guy who wore wooden shoes (he says they are great)(that's him with the orange shirt on) while he rode his bike on the tour. Stu took up the rear, and I was in back behind a young couple from Singapore who didn't ride well. I spent most of the time watching him, and Stu spent a lot of time helping the less able bike riders untangle themselves when they fell, or putting chains back on!
I do like to ride bikes. I am not the spandex/long distance type, but I like being outside, and the bikes become like pets to me! Personalities and everything!
Give bike riding a try sometime, it's pretty great!

Visiting with the Campbells

I went to visit Kelli and family on the the 5th of this month, and came back on the 12th. I had prayed fervently that I would have good travels back and forth, as I don't like driving over the passes in snow or heavy rain and wind. I had my prayers heard, because both ways, I had good weather and no problems.
Kelli and I got to go shopping one day, thanks to her nice husband/babysitter, Allen. We had lunch at a very good Italian restaurant in Wenatchee...yum! We were shopping for some clothing items for the cruise we are going on in May. I found a windbreaker and slacks, and a dress..Yay! It was reminicent of the days when she worked at Shopko and I would come and visit and we would shop there on her days off!
Kelli's kids are VERY smart! Cassidy is more like 15 instead of 3...she makes up her own songs, and stories, and whenever she sees older people she says things like: " that is my other grandma who I visited last year"...hmmm. She also likes to dance, and we think she should be a "clogger" as she stomps more than anything.
Keyton is up on all dinosaurs and is very particular on what pages and things he wants to save in each book that he brings home from the library. He started T-ball while I was there. He has endless energy, so this will be great for him! He is very kind to people, so he will go a long way in life!
Aubrie is still a toddler, but she really likes dogs.."woof, woof!" and Dora "dee dee deedee Doha".
She likes to have books read to her and also likes to RUN outside.

Poor Grandma had trouble keeping up with her at the ball field, as I don't run very well:)

So, it was fun being there! Kelli and I also kept our tradition up of watching the Twilight movies together, and saved the last one to watch at her house. It was really good, except when several were killed in a battle that wasn't in the book! I had to leave the room because it bothered me so much!
Then come to find out it was a "vision" and not what really happened! WHEW!
Funny how imaginary things still seem real to me.

One other note- On the way back on the Edmonds/Kingston ferry, I walked up to the front of the ship to look out on our crossing. Right above me in the air was a seagull- he never flapped his wings, he would move across the windows a little, but he was right there all the way across the water, from one dock to the other. I wondered if he enjoyed being in that place, where the ship seemed to push him right along...I think that 's how we are, too..If the ship is Heavenly Father, and we are the seagull, would it mean that as long as we are doing what's right and trying our best to be a good person, that Heavenly Father will be there behind us giving us an easier trip through life? I don't know...I like to "liken" things !
Anyway, here are a few pictures from being at Kelli's. We have such fun together- best friends, I think!