(Written in August 2015)
I had my adorable grandson here all morning and when he's around, I don't think straight! He's so much fun and it's all I can do to stay one step ahead of him with fun and games; no outside play with this smoke :( So…after exploration of Nana's Seashell, rock, and heart rock collection (20 minutes), 2 games of UNO (30 minutes with potting in the middle), creating happy face snacks, (10), TV time (15 min), coloring firetrucks and tractors, (15 minutes), playing with toy box (total of 4 minutes/pulling it out and spotting the bath toys) Bath/Indoor swimming and funnel fun (20 minutes and up until Mama walked in the door with a "what in the heck is this about" look on her face!) We had a fabulous time….and Mama Jill spoiled the rule: "What happens at Nana's house, STAYS at Nana's house!" ;)
January 11, 2016
As another year rolls in, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for so much and so many. I've been avoiding writing my blogs far too long, and it is liberating to finally sit down again and share my thoughts. (now if I can just remember what's happened in "the blink of an eye" these past months!) I'll be posting many pictures, as they are my memory!
My last post was in June, 2015, and I shared pictures of our 2nd annual Beer Jug Bash. Here it is, nearly a year later, and our 3rd Annual bash is in the making! Not sure if it's best to work backwards or begin in July of 2015. I will say that we've spent the coldest and 2 weeks in AZ this year, with more rain than we've seen in the desert. (ok….dear friends in -20 and -30 temps right now…I'll stop whining!)
So, beginning in July, where I left off, we spent the remainder of the Summer enjoying grandkids, kids, and the great outdoors-with a bit of golf thrown in-although never enough for Action! I did quite a bit of kayaking with a couple friends that are also "kayak junkies". Jack LOVES these two ladies!! ;) I taught 3 yoga classes each week, adding new locations to my church class; Parkinson's Resource Center, The Gathering House, (a renovated grocery store to church/coffee shop), and a Summer outdoor class at KOP Construction. Jack continues his work with Armtech; and building decks, remodeling, doing honey-do's in his spare time. As I mention several times in my blogs; he NEVER gets enough time whacking that little white ball!
My greatest joy is being close to three of our grandchildren, and 5 hours from our two eldest. I tried to arrange a "Tatum day", "Jaxon day" and "Kiah day" as often as I could. We had much fun doing art projects, hiking, playing guitar, singing, reading and cooking or creating. Grandchildren are God's richest blessing, for sure.
In July, our "Gannon Reunion" at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp resulted in three families attending: Jack and I, Jill's family, and Kyle and Kelli and Kiah. Though the reunion count went from 23 to 9, the joy and memories made exceeded our wildest dreams! (If you've ever been to Flathead lake, you understand why!) Hiking, swimming/diving, and kayaking filled most of our time. That place truly is a piece of Heaven on Earth!
The weekend ended with Papa Jack catching a ride home with the Nagles, as I drove to our friends' the Berglands, in Helena to spend a couple nights before heading to ND for my brother's wedding. After a great visit with Susan, Arne and Ingrid, I drove to meet my sister and her husband who were driving up from CA. I parked my car at a little church in tiny
We've continued to live a bit on the crazy side, moving 4 times in 10 months. I believe that broke our record of 8 times in our first 7 years of marriage?! After getting nicely settled in our tiny, humble abode, we were taking our daily walk around the park and saw a for sale sign in a window of a cute, yellow doublewide. Happy in our new tiny home, we had no intention of upgrading (remember we downsized and got rid of most of our furniture so we could squeeze into 925 sq. feet). Jack said, "Give them a call just to see what they're asking." Long story short….in two days, we had our tiny home sold (doubled our money) and purchased the cute yellow home! So…..with moving date being the week before November, we made an unexpected trip back up North from AZ to move from tiny home to yellow home. (didn't take long with no major furniture left!) We flew back South Thanksgiving Day, and our turkey looked more like carrots, herring, and Southwest peanuts!
We spent a wonderful 2 weeks home for Christmas playing in the snow, basking in the mineral hot springs at Quinn's, and lots of precious memories with kids and grandkids. God is good, and we are very thankful.
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| Wonderful weekend with Curtis and family at Quinn's hot springs! |
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| Praying we can reveal this sweet shining star's face someday soon, as we await this foster to adopt journey. She is precious beyond belief! |
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| Crisp Christmas morning in Spokane! |
Since then it's been "Projectville", as Jack calls it. We have a list running the entire length of the refrigerator of everything we want to do. We finished the deck railing and back dreckio steps, and finished the first leg of the front steps yesterday. Another go-around today and we should be caught up a bit. Then it'll be time for golf and sun!
Just a few weeks until the 3rd annual Beer Jug Bash! Anticipating a bigger crowd this year, and very excited that our good friends, Barb and Adam, will be flying down!! (Bring your checkbook, Adam, the next door neighbors put their house on the market yesterday!!)
Until next time…
remember:
PRAYER WARRIORS: Please pray that the adoption process with our little angel moves forward in a quick and positive way.
