Coming Home from Washington

I was reminded again recently to "get with it" and post on my blog.  It's so much easier to post if I keep up but I also want to include my summer pictures, so once again I'll try.

 

As you both know, Dad and I took Chase home with us from Washington - what a fun kid to take on a trip.  He's up for anything and doesn't even complain with Grampa spends three hours at a museum that it took him only an hour to go through.

 

Our first stop was Leavenworth, Washington - a neat little Bavarian town.  We actually just stopped for lunch and walked around a little.  It was so hot - they have "misters" above some of the sidewalks to keep people cool.  We sat under one while we had ice cream.

 

 Then off to Yellowstone.  We came in through the north gate and almost the first wildlife we saw were these elk sitting in front of the medical clinic.  They must be rather tame because you had to go up the steps right next to where the big male was lying.

 Mammoth Hot Springs - there was a lava-something flowing down these hills and it would solidify along the way.  It smells pretty bad but very interesting.  Lots of unusual things in Yellowstone.

 

Quick stop for some snacks - there were trees in this area that showed this was a favorite spot for the bears.  Lots of claw marks and "bear hair" on several trees but don't worry, we didn't see any bears. - YET

I forget what these were called - thermal pools, I think.  They were beautiful.  My pictures didn't capture how colorful they were.  Lots of steam coming off them.  These were some of Chase's favorite pools.  He had studied Yellowstone and it's natural phenomenon in science so he was just a wealth of information - I was amazed and rather proud of how much he had retained about thermal pools and geysers and all that and the differences between each of them.

We only had to wait about 15 minutes for Old Faithful to "blow" and we had almost front row seats.  This is my favorite sight at Yellowstone and I was as excited to see it as I was the first time.  Absolutely amazing.  One of the rangers gave a short little talk about geysers in general and Old Faithful in particular a few minutes before it went off.

 Me and my very favorite teenaged young man.

Happy Tuesday to all!!!

Love,
Gramma and MOM

Washington in May

I see it's been a month since I posted my last blog.  Sorry!!  Seems like our summer has gone by so quickly, especially since we spent over a month in Washington but it was a GOOD month.  In fact, we've had one of the best summers we've had since retiring - busy but such a good busy.

As DeAnn wrote in her last blog, I'm also finishing up May.  Since both of you girls moved in May, I'm not posting any pictures of your houses at this point.  Want to share some of our highlights of the time we were in Washington. I have lots of pictures for you.

 We left Brandon on May 12th and could not believe that we still found snow on the sides of the ditches - good thing we drove out of it again.

 This picture was in Montana and reminded me of the song that says:  "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills...."  we had such a pretty ride going out.

 As we were going over the last pass in Washington, we discovered we were getting low on petro.  There was a sign for gas at the summit of the mountain.  While there we decided to stop and have lunch - good choice!!  It was beautiful up there.

 We bought Katie a ceramic lizard for her birthday to hang in one of the trees in their yard.  I looked out the window when Holly and I were painting.  Katie and Grampa are trying to find an "appropriate" tree to hang the lizard - Katie thought any of the low-hanging branches would be perfect.

 We were so very fortunate that we were able to go to Washington three weeks before Holly's graduation.  We were able to go to all of her end-of-the year festivities.  She kept telling us that Awards Night was not that big of a deal and we didn't have to go, but we said, of course we're going.  I couldn't have been prouder to be the Gramma of the Female Orchestra Student of the Year!!!  She got an award plus a DQ certificate - that's our girl.

 The the music concert - this is the elite group - forget what they were called - look at those fancy dresses.  She also sang in another choir first and wore a robe for that one.  Talented granddaughter.

In this picture, she's apparently filling me in on the finer points of a concert or something.

 My dear daughter, DeAnn, I just had to put this picture in too - I'm sorry you were having a little bit of a hard time with all of the end of high school activities for Holly.  You handled it gracefully.

 

 This is my favorite place driving in from the new house to Lynden.  You come to a corner and when you turn the corner, if the sun if out, this is your view.  Breathtaking - never got tired of seeing it.

I'm not going to promise how soon I will get to June but hopefully I can stay on task.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Have a good week.  DeAnn - drive safely!!!!  Looking forward to seeing you and enjoying this next chapter of your life with you.

Love you all,
Gramma and MOM

Thankful Thursday - Chase Donald Carroll

This young man is an amazing kid - at least as far as I'm concerned.  Chase is now 14 and I find that very hard to believe - what's even harder is to realize that he is now taller than I am.  He still allows Gramma to give him hugs but gets a little queasy about kisses.

 

Chase with his little cousin, Katie.  Thank you, Chase, for being such a gentle, kind big cousin.  Katie loves this young man and likes to sit by him or hold his hand or whatever.

 Thanks for enjoying Yellowstone and Devil's Tower with us on the way home from Washington this summer.  You are an awesome traveler - never any complaints from the backseat.  You were also a very patient young man at the museum while Grampa read everything in sight.  You can come on vacation with us anytime - only thing better would have been if Sam had been with us too.

It will be exciting to see what the Lord has planned for you in the future.  Keep blowing that horn of yours - maybe we'll even get a chance to see you marching this summer.

Love you!!!!

Have a great week
Gramma and MOM

Amy and Kurt's New Home

After we arrived home from Arizona, we hit the ground running.  Amy put us to work on her new house.  I have pictures of our painting days but I can't find them right now so will post what I can find. 

 

This is Amy cleaning blinds - what a crappy job!!!  She helped with the master bedroom blinds and then went off to work and left the rest for me.  I sure hope she realizes that I do expect "pay-backs".  What fun it was painting, at least some of the rooms.  Peter and I did the master bedroom and den in the same colors but it sure freshened it up.  Then while Peter did odd jobs, I painted Chase's room and his bathroom.  One day Aunt Sue came with me and we did the family room and the laundry room.  Amy said I could paint the laundry room any color I wanted so we did a perky yellow with a sunflower border.  You need a pick-me-up when doing laundry.  Just have to put the border up yet and paint the guestroom and I'll be finished with our original "to-do" list. 

 Amy and Kurt's new home

 Moving Day was May 9th and they had a very nice crew of movers.  We were done by noon.

 The backyard is very nice - all fenced for Buddy the Dog.  Here is Backyard Clean-up Day.

Chase thought it was great fun to help mom pick up leaves, twigs, etc.

 

 

 

We'll be going up for several days the end of the month so hope to finish up at least a few more of my projects. 

 

Amy & Kiurt, I've enjoyed working on your home and thanks for letting me do pretty much whatever I wanted.  I'll take some "after" pictures next time I'm there and post them too.

 

Have a great week ahead!!!

Love to all,

Gramma and MOM 



Going Home

 We left Arizona a little earlier than usual this year because Kurt and Amy were moving into their new/old house and we wanted to be able to help them with some painting and whatever else they came up with.

Before we left, we found this little fella in our back patio.  Now it's not unusual to see these little geickos runing around but after I took his picture, we discovered he was dead.  I'm not sure what it was that stopped him dead in his tracks.  I dried him out in the sun for a couple of days and then put him in a little container so I could bring him home to our Miss Katie who LOVES lizards.  He made the trip all the way to Washington in good condition but boy, did he stink when we opened the container.

 These are the views we had from our windshield going home in Arizona and New Mexico.  Aren't they beautiful?

 A cross on a hill.....

 Snow!!!

 

 In Columbia, Kansas we visited the National Orphan Train Museum and it was very nice.  Over 300,000 orphans were transported from the streets and orphanages of New York City to the Midwest.  Each child was given a suitcase such as the one below and that is all they had in this world with two changes of clothes.  One outfit they wore each day on the train and they had one "fancy" outfit to wear when they arrived in a town that had organized "give aways".  The children would be brought into a church or townhall and lined up for potential parents to take.  Many of these children were never adopted but just made their homes with the families.  They were to be fed and cared for and sent to school.  For some children, it was a new life but for some others, it was almost slavery.

There was another component that was connected with a newborn/young child orphanage in New York City.  People could "request" a child of a certain age and even a certain color of hair and eyes.  The orphange would attempt to match them up with prospecivet parents.  The prospective parents would be sent a letter with a number on it and a patch with the matching number would be sewn in the child's clothing. These children were all adopted by the parents, which was one of the conditions.

If you are ever in the area, it's a very interesting small museum to go to.

 

That's it for today.  Happy 4th of July!!!

 

Love to all,

Gramma and MOM

The Most Wonderful 2015 Graduate in the World!!!!

HOLLY

 

Anyone who knows me, knows that Miss Holly holds a huge part of my heart and has since the day the nurse handed her to me 18 years ago!!! 

 

What an honor to be able to be in Lynden for all of the festivities.  We were able to be there for her Awards Night where she received the award for female Orchestra student of the year, her senior presentation (on ice cream), a quick violin recital and the church service honoring the seniors.

 

 

This is Holly's special Senior Service at church.  There were four seniors and each was able to choose their favorite hymn or praise song.  Holly's song was "In The Garden" - a favorite of mine and a favorite of her great-Grandpa.

 

 

 

Here she is: 

You can't see her chords on her pictures but she had a blue and a gold cord for National Honor Society and Honors Student.

Congratulations, Sweetheart

 

Love to all,

A Proud Gramma and MOM

Happy 4th Anniversary

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, KURT AND AMY

 

We wish you many more years with much love, joy and happiness. 

Have a GREAT day!!!

Love to you both,

MOM & DAD