Halloween in Portland: A working vacation

We are home from Portland and a fun time of helping Andy and Molly begin to get settled into their new home. For the third time in five years, we have celebrated Halloween and their anniversary with the Portland Van Oostrums. We tried to get Molly and Andy to go out for a little while to see a movie or just have some alone time, but it turned into a watch a movie at home night.

Sam and Gwen are growing so much. It took Gwen several days to get used to us. Of course she got with Ralph almost right away. He just has a touch with babies. She finally let me hold and cuddle with her. Babies smell so sweet.

Molly and Andy began moving into their home on Sunday night and we got there on Wednesday. Thursday Molly, Ralph and I painted the family room. Friday we cleaned out the fridge & freezer from the old house and moved everything across the back yard to the new house.


This is the front door and the family room. The french doors look into the great room.

The owners before Molly and Andy loved blue and yellow together. It is all over the house.
Sat. Andy and Ralph cut, painted and stained the base boards and quarter round. By Sunday afternoon the family room was finished. The house is 100 years old and has much work to be done. We were so excited to be able to help with a little of the remodeling.
The finished room.

Once we moved the piano that they inherited back into the great room, Molly and I could begin to organize some of the kitchen.





This is the great room: living and dining room combined. Notice the wall on the left. Five layers of wall paper was holding it up. When they took it off, the wall crumbled. Aren't the floors nice. They had them redone before they moved in.


Molly cut the pumpkin and Sam ate M&M's. He really liked them.

Halloween night we went with Sam and Gwen trick or treating.



Of course I had to get my pumpkin picture; I have one of each grandbaby in their first year. We went to a pumpkin patch to get this one and then driving home we passed an old pick up that was decorated with mums and pumpkins. I made Molly stop and we climbed aboard for this picture of Gwen.


More later.
Mom

A Beautiful Fall in Altus

Hello to all of you. It has been too long since I have written.
JT came to see us this fall and it was rodeo time, so Ralph and I took lawn chairs and a light lunch down to the church lawn and had a picnic and watched the rodeo parade. JT didn't eat a thing and was much more impressed with the 18 wheeler that followed the parade than he was with the long horn cattle or the horses. It was a pretty day, not too hot and we were able to sit in the shade so we had a good time.








Our niece Lori, Keith and Bettie, Ralph's sister, showed up in mid Sept. to bring their new baby, Landon to show off. I think they came because of a wedding and so Keith could go hunting, but we were happy to see them no matter what their reason for coming. I am a Great Aunt now. That really seems strange to me to think in terms of "Great". It didn't seem to impress Landon much.


Early Oct. brought JT to stay with us for a few days while his mom and dad went to Alabama for Nascar races. We had a great time. I took a couple of days off to take care of him. JT didn't seem to miss his Mom at all until she showed up and then I could tell that he was giving her a hard time because she had been gone. Of course he couldn't express that he missed her, but it was evident when she got home that he had. Kids can be so funny. He ate well and slept well for me and we played alot! He has a wonderful disposition. He eats with a fork, drinks from real cups without throwing them across the room and he even colored with markers!

One afternoon we were able to sit outside for just a little while. The mosquitoes have been terrible (which is a minor irritation considering our rain has been good). JT is sitting in the garden in the front yard (our new landscaping). He really got mad when we had to go inside, since we were being eatten to death by the mosquitoes.


On the 11th we drove over to Elmore City to celebrate Nathan's 12th birthday. The boys were racing their bikes and were spending the night, so we packed up a birthday cake, candles and ice cream and had a cook out with them. Parker has his new "big teeth" and looks so grown up- of course he didn't want a toothy smile for the picture, but they are beautiful! He and Ralph tend the fire for the hamburgers that Amanda fixed for us.


Turner in his race gear with Johnny and Parker, relax and sip on gator aide and chew on the afternoons "practice" before the big races the next morning.

The Birthday BOY, Nathan, is 12 and it hardly seems possible that we have had him this long. He is getting taller and taller and more and more handsome. And (not because he is my grandson), more and more talented.


Last Tuesday evening, Ralph and I got in the church vans with 17 other people and went to San Fernando, Mexico on a mission trip. It took us almost 24 hours to finally get to our destination. When we got there the new pastor told us that there was no water in the house or the upstairs living area (dorm) where we usually stay. They had been without for 4 months. They had water but none in the house. There is also an outdoor bathroom (banyo) that they were able to use, so it wasn't totally desperate, except to us, who were all looking forward to showers after 24 hours in the vans. The guys went right to work and after $350 and about an hour, we had the water going again in the house and dorm.

This time we went we knew we would have a VBS but the men really didn't have a firm plan for what they would be doing. It rained all day on Thursday, so on Friday, the men ordered gravel and they spread out the gravel to make a drive through the property. This helped the pastor to be able to get from the parsonage to the church (the turquoise building) without walking through mud.

The gravel was hand raked and made a wonderful drive through for the pastor and others who actually drive into the church yard. Most people walk but a few have cars. We were thankful to be able to walk from our dorm (picture is taken from the balcony of the dorm) over to the church. The ground is almost white clay and awful to clean off of shoes and clothes. It leaves a white film of dust on everything.



On Friday the pastor's wife Maria and her new daughter in law, cooked chicken, sausage and beef, fresh tortilla's, roasted onions and fresh guacamole for us. It was very good, but they were working with all the fly's outside (right next to the outdoor banyo) and thinking about it was a little gross.


While they cooked (and it took all afternoon), several of the men of the church came and played and sang. They sang all afternoon. What a wonderful cultural experience.

From our window upstairs you can see the cooking area and the banyo just on the right, behind the van bench seat.



I wanted this picture of Ralph and I, not because it is a good one, but the humidity was so high that my hair was curly, curly, curly and I loved it. I washed it and this is what it looked like when it dried.


We went back to Joe's downtown (we went last year) for taco's and baked potatoes on Thursday night. This is the taco that I got. It had fresh slices of avocado and goat cheese. I didn't want to ask what kind of meat it was. We don't see too many cats down there. They are served with a lime and the tortilla was fresh and wonderful. One is all I could eat and it was hard finishing it, but I sacrificed and didn't leave a bite.


We also had a vacation Bible school. It was really just a day activity. No one showed up the first morning. That afternoon we had 83, 8 on Friday morning and Friday afternoon we had 135ish. (lost count). I taught them "Deep and Wide" in English with hand and feet motions and they loved it. We actually got to sing it in church on Friday night. That was really fun. It is so difficult to work with the kids. If they think you can speak any Spanish, they start talking and I don't usually understand of word of what they are saying and end up finding someone who can help me. I feel so frustrated. I am beginning to be able to figure out some things that are written but to hear and understand is a whole different story.
We made crosses one day and the next we did visors. Most of the children were very well behaved and polite, but there are always a few "tuff" boys that makes it difficult for everyone. We had a few on Friday afternoon. But they didn't steal our joy.





Aren't they sweet?

And just before we left, we took this pic with the team and the pastor and several of the church members.


We rolled into Altus at 3:30 this morning and Ralph and I slept until noon today. It was a great trip. The Holy Spirit worked in a beautiful way, we were blessed and we were able to share God's love with those we met. This one was certainly a God Ordained trip.

In a week and a half we will be going to visit Gwen and Sam. We miss them very much and are looking forward to seeing their new house in Portland. When we get back, we are hoping to go to Tulsa and visit JT and his mom and dad and see their new house.

Autumn is finally rolling in and the day temps are nice. Dinner is almost ready (YES, I am cooking tonight). so I need to go and besides it is almost time for Desperate Housewives.

Summer is almost over, Praise the Lord!

This is long...you might want to allow a bit of time. But since I haven't had time in August to get to my computer, you get a month's worth in an afternoon. And an afternoon, I might add, that I still have not put my clothes on yet, and we could have been in Seattle to see the opening game for the Cowboys, but it didn't work, so here I am.

It is not that I don't like summer, I do, because all the kids come home, but the older I get the more the heat bothers me, not that I am that old, you understand, but it is the principal of the thing.

We took Turner to "Craterville" up at the lake for a birthday celebration. We rode a couple of rides and fed a goat. J T really got into that. Grandpa,Amy and Amanda rode the go carts with the boys and JT and I watched.


We did let JT ride the horse. I don't think we put a quarter in, and as you can see, it was a bit traumatic for him anyway. But Parker and Turner helped rock him and helped him hang on!




This summer has been no different for us. It has been hot, but thankfully only for a few weeks has it been in the 100's. Too bad it happened when Gwen and Sam brought their parents to see us in Aug. for the family reunion.


Isn't Gwen beautiful? She rolls around alot, but we wouldn't know because it was so hard to put her down.

All the kids together at one time, going slow enough that I could take a picture...a rare thing to happen, but it did.
Sam and JT enjoyed exploring the house together and climbing on beds.

Sam and JT decided that Uncle Allen had been in bed entirely too long, so they went upstairs and got on his bed and started jumping. It didn't take Allen long to get up. :)



They really played well together. And our blocks have gone to another generation.


It was 110 outside the day of the reunion. The reunion was at the lake and we got stuck in the shelter by the dam where there isn't much of a breeze, so we were pretty much out of there as soon as lunch was over. I felt bad for Molly and Andy, because the reunion was not well attended this year and Andy didn't get to see as many of our cousins as I hoped he would. Oh well. Change the date, change the place and change is just too hard for some people.
I have to say, though that the heat didn't seem to bother JT too much. He sifted through the dirt at the reunion. I loved watching him look at the sand, at his fingers and the joy that he had in just feeling the sand run through his fingers. He did it over and over and over and over again.






Because of the heat, we stayed in the house pretty much the whole time everyone was home for the reunion. We borrowed some controllers from some friends and played a lot of wii. We even had a bowling tournament. It is a bit difficult sharing with 11, 8 and 6 year old boys who can't get outside, but we managed. Anyway I think they just enjoyed playing with Sam and Gwen. Nathan is especially good with babies and loved being with Gwen. Really, I would say he couldn't keep his hands or eyes off of her. That is JT just behind Nathan.



This is all of our grandchildren together. I thought that our living room was kind of big but five boys sure do tighten up the space. A good thing, really.

The four bigger boys shared our "kids" table for dinner Sat. night. Nathan surprised me by sitting with the littler ones. They all loved playing with Sam.
On Sunday evening, I had an activity at church that Molly and Amanda came and helped me with. When we got home, we just happened to have a few water balloons left, so we surprised Andy.

If you look real close you can see a few balloons in mid air about to hit the door. I am not sure we ever got Andy, but he and Allen ran down the block and back throwing at each other. Sam wasn't sure what to think of it all. Grandpa had a balloon for him to throw but he just wouldn't do it. We all laughed and laughed. What a precious memory.


Amy and Jimmy went home on Sunday night and then Amy came to Edmond on Monday to spend the afternoon with all of us before we put Andy, Molly, Sam, Gwen and Allen on the plane Monday evening to go back to Portland.
We all had lunch at a place near Central State U in Edmond called the Flat Tire. Here Ralph and I are with our precious grandchildren. We are so blessed.


After lunch we went back to Amanda's house and hung out (it was 106 in OKC that day, high for them!!) The boys had to check out Taylor, Nathan's Dragon..... Sam held her the last time they were in OK. in the fall. She continues to grow. This is really serious stuff for the boys!



It was too short of a weekend but a wonderful time of relaxed family time.
Allen has gotten back from Portland and gone on to Stillwater to finish his last (hopefully) year of school He will begin job interview process in a few weeks. There is a big job fair- different days for different majors. Engineering has two days because there are so many companies that recruit from the Engineering Dept. at OSU. Hopefully he will be able to get a really good job right out of the gate.

Our neice Lori and her husband Keith had their first baby two weeks ago. Ralph and I are now official "Great Aunt and Great Uncle" It doesn't feel too weird. They will be coming through on Sunday afternoon on their way home from a wedding. We are anxious to meet Landon.

Orchestra has started back at church and I am loving playing my French horn. My range is improving a bit and I am able to play a bit higher notes that before. What a Joy it gives me to play for Jesus. I hope He smiles at me in spite of the bad notes.

Dog days of summer

This is what I WISH!

But It is hot here! Dog days of summer, as Gary England, the weather man says. We are under a heat alert, it is 103 today, tomorrow, the next day the next day, the next day. Please Lord, send rain and a cool front.
I have spent the summer playing with my "kids" at church. We have gone swimming: Dive N Devotion, cooked in the kitchen with Grandma's and bowled, did gymnastics and art. Only one more week. This Grandma is worn out! I only wish it was with my own grandkids.

We are excited about this weekend. It is family reunion time. All of our children and grandchildren will be home for a quick weekend. Andy and Molly, Gwen and Sam fly in from Portland on Friday night late, and leave on Monday evening with Allen in tow. Allen is going for a week of cool vacation, and then back to Stillwater for the winter.

The pickup that Allen bought two years ago, the one that the engine blew up a few months later, finally got fixed. Allen left today with it.....only we can't find the license sticker. Allen has papers to show we have the tag, but I just wonder how many times he will get stopped because the tag is out of date.

So that is the news from here. Maybe more pictures in a week.
Stay cool!

Okay, did I leave the impression that the bathroom worked? Sorry, no luck. The storm damaged the water system.
Maybe next year.

Summer Nights and Fireworks

Last night I had a Summer Nights for the kids at church. The youth group did a sort of field day with them. We had all kinds of fun games. This one that Nathan is doing is a strength challenge. The kids had to stand and hold the hymnal for as long as they could without bending their elbows. It seemed to be much harder than I thought it would be. Nathan won this challenge.


Outside they had all kinds of skill games, catching water balloons, throwing footballs through hoola hoops and carrying eggs on spoons. If you look really close you can see the water balloon that Turner is about to miss. It is camo and just above his left foot. That is little Holly L just to right of Turner.



Parker should have played T ball. He hit this ball so hard (tennis) that it hit a pick up truck at the other end of the parking lot. Way to go, Parker.


I carried dinner out to the kids tonight. This is a shot from the 4th fireworks stand. Don't the signs look good? Makes the stands look very professional, don't you think?



Only 15 year old boys could get into trouble like this. Reminds me of Andy when we first started selling fireworks. Ralph and I would be busy selling and Andy would be in the back watching everyone else do their fireworks. While Ralph, Amanda and Allen were selling, well, Parker and Turner were slipping roman candles out the back to Dylan and Russell. Dylan got his off before Russell ever got his lighted. As you can see, Russell was fortunate that the ball didn't hit a little higher. Ralph and I were livid. And they ALL heard about it- Ralph on Saturday night and from me on Sunday as the waitress was taking drink orders for lunch. (I just couldn't keep quiet another second) poor waitress didn't have a clue what was going on. I didn't even know about it until the middle of church when Russell turned a bit and I caught sight of the black eye.


And here is our almost grown up soon to be 7 year old Parker. Dylan pulled one tooth on Wednesday night and the second came out Thursday morning. The tooth fairy got scared off on Thursday night at the camper because Daisy started barking and scared the poor thing right out of Jackson county. She did come back on Friday night while Daisy was at home.


And the famous trailer. blown over in the storm, damaged on the front and a bit underneath but still good for air conditioner and a table for dinner. The fridge is good too for ice and drinks. Oh we have moved up in the world! The camper is parked between the last storage unit and the fourth stand.

The inside is small, however there were 9 of us in there for dinner tonight. The door at the back is the bathroom, right behind the fridge are two bunk beds and I am squished up against a door that has a queen bed behind it. The outside door is just in front of the chair back that Turner is sitting on. The table turns into a bed and there is a small couch to my right that makes a bed just to the end of the sink on the right.

So here it is, June 30 and we are counting down the days. It wont' be 100 until Wednesday and on Saturday it is suppose to be in the 80's. It is a good year! Amanda says I can stay in the camper on the 4th and do computer work. I like the sound of that alot.