October Birthdays

 We celebrated K and R’s birthdays yesterday with a family get together here at the house. After months and months of not being able to get together in person, inside, I appreciate so much the ability to be together, inside, without masks, eating and enjoying each other’s company. 

This is part of our group text from before we got together…

Two years ago, who’d have thought we’d be testing ourselves for a potentially deadly virus before getting together for a simple meal? 😢

It felt so good to get together though, and I insisted on a picture of all of us of course… (all of us except granddaughter #1 who is away at school…and sorely missed!)

We’re kind of a motley crew! 

And here’s another one of our favorite newly engaged couple! 🥰

Mother’s Day

 We celebrated a belated Mother’s Day today. The kids had planned an outside (secret) activity for the day, but the weather was cold, foggy and wet so we moved the plans to E’s house so we could use her garage. (Warm, dry...perfect!)

My gift was several beautiful (foldable!) benches to put around the fire pit, but best of all was that they decorated the benches with drawings, sayings, etc. for me. They are so beautiful... as soon as I get some clear coat on the paintings, they’ll go around the fire pit. I can’t wait...

Here are a few random photos from the afternoon. (R was struggling with some anxiety so kept to herself and didn’t make it into any of the photos 😢) 

Oldest granddaughter and boyfriend...

...and youngest granddaughter and grandpa!

Silly faces!

E, hard at work...

M entertained himself briefly with a dog in a stroller... yes, it’s a little weird,  but it kept him occupied for a bit! 

B smiled right after I got this shot of her giving me the look... really. 

I love the picture of J and baby T in the kitchen. 

What a fun day it was... It’s such a blessing to be able to get together, in person, inside, without masks. Having to be apart for so long was hard... it will be awhile before I take these kinds of days for granted. 

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

The "Six Word Story" K left on the board in the kitchen before she left for Ghana...




"there's still no place like home"

I talked to her yesterday and she's in Accra and sounds good... I think she's heading back to her village in the next day or two.

I'm so happy that she loves her Peace Corps work...

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Pictures, posted on her facebook page, of K in Ghana...



(K's little friend is not in pain... she's trying to make a big smile for the camera!)



K, in a truck filled with supplies for a PC project she's been working on...



It's always good to see that K is still K... crazy, silly, full of life. (I wonder what the people in her little village think of Americans after having her living with them for almost two years?!)

birthday moon

Our daughter K, our "first" baby (the youngest of our three birth daughters, and the baby of the family until we adopted M and R) turned 27 today.

She is serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana, and so a staticky phone call this morning and an envelope of small gifts, mailed last month so it would get to Ghana in time, had to pass for a birthday celebration.

There is a beautiful full moon tonight in honor of her birthday though...

Since she lives in a village with no electricity, sporadic phone service, and no internet, the moon is often our only connection. Everything about where she lives is different from home... even the stars she sees are different than the ones over her Colorado home... but she sees the exact same moon we see. And we imagine bouncing love, hugs and other important things off that moon, and back down to each other.

Yeah, maybe it's silly... but it's hard to have family so far away... and it's good to grab any connection you can.

Like this moon...




...shining down on both Colorado, and Northern Ghana, on K's birthday.

Happy Birthday K, if I could I'd send you a burrito and a (cold) diet Dr Pepper to celebrate the day with!

"EYE-oh-way"

I talk a lot about my daughter K who is in the Peace Corps... but I have another traveling daughter, B, who travels all over the U.S. for her work. She is very private person, so I don't post about her much... (I don't think she'd appreciate it. ;) She works on organizing campaigns and fundraising projects and works horrendous hours... but her work makes a difference in the world. We are incredibly proud of her, and all our kids... they have grown to be such amazing people.

Since she is off traveling this week, I thought I'd post this for her:

Can you guess where she is?

I couldn't believe my eyes....

I'd never really known what that phrase meant until last night when K, our daughter who is serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana, "dropped in" on our family St Patrick's Day dinner. Our oldest daughter, E, was in on the surprise having arranged her travel and picked her up at the airport and brought her to the house. 

I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing when I first saw her... It was an amazing, emotional, evening 

 Here is R and baby E (our youngest granddaughter) and K... still teary faced from the reunion. 

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 K and baby E during dinner (corned beef, potatoes colcannon, and soda bread of course...) 

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 The two "partners in crime"... they worked very well together planning K's surprise appearance and keeping it a secret from everyone.

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 I may not be blogging much for the next couple of weeks (the length of K's stay) but I will try and pop in now and then and share some photos...

She is the Lorax....

I love this picture of our daughter K (who is in Africa with the Peace Corps)...



She'd posted it on her PC blog as part of a post where she writes about the tree there that makes these huge (apparently edible) puff balls... and how they remind her of the Dr Suess book "The Lorax".





I'm pretty sure she's never seen the movie made from this classic book (it came out after she'd left for Africa) but she, and the rest of our kids, was raised on Dr Suess... I read some of his books so many times that I had them memorized.

You can read all of K's post here if you'd like.

Africa must agree with my girl... doesn't she look happy?

snapshots of home (B at work)

A few more snapshots of home for my daughter, serving in the Peace Corps, to enjoy.

Here is B (dd#2) who tends to bring her work with her when she visits...



Poor B, she's trying to have a serious conversation... lining up employees to work on a new project in New Mexico... and I'm taking pictures.

It's a testament to her attentional skills that she didn't lose her train of thought completely.



Can you tell she's always cold at our house? ;) I really should turn up the heat for her...

Off the phone but not really getting into this whole picture taking thing.



Ah... much better.

(This is the point at which she gave up and realized I wouldn't stop taking pictures until she smiled...)



These pictures remind me of this series of pictures we took just over a year ago... We were at E's house, right before Christmas, taking pictures of the whole family together. B took advantage of a break in the picture taking to get some work related phone calls in...

Her sisters didn't let her get away with it... :)



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These photos never fail to make me smile.  Poor B... it's hard to be a serious Type A around us. And yes, she maintained her conversation (work related, of course) during the entire series of photos!

catching up with my "African" child

I am always hungry for pictures of our daughter K, who is serving with the Peace Corps in Ghana. I tend to FB "stalk" her... looking for photos she's posted or other PC volunteers have posted of her.  (She isn't able to post often, there is no electricity in her village, so finding pictures of her is a rare treat!)

This week she's been helping out with Operation Smile, leaving her little village to stay in Tamale where the program has set up.  Here are a couple of pictures I found of her...

She looks disguised here... only her eyes give away that it's her. ;)



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And I LOVE this one...

K with one of the patients, before surgery. It does my heart good to see K looking so happy and healthy!



They had a room set up for the children (and anyone else who would like) to make dolls. This little one seem pretty proud to be showing off her newly created doll.

This is typical K... sitting on the floor with the kids... helping to make dolls.



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One more look at the doll making...



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So my FB stalking paid off this time with several pictures of my girl... It feels a little like Christmas. ;)

Giving thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is mostly a picture post, I thought our daughter K (dd#3), who is in the Peace Corps, would like to see some Thanksgiving photos since she isn't able to be home this year...

Where to start? So many years, so many Thanksgivings... so much to be thankful for.

I'll start with an old Thanksgiving photo I found on my computer....  That's me, holding B (dd#2, now 29) with my mom, who passed away 10 years ago (and I still miss every day) and my brother Loren (looking SO young... but I guess I did too). I think this was taken the first year I cooking Thanksgiving dinner... I would have been 28.





It's a few (cough, cough) years later and I still love Thanksgiving...

Here are a few pictures from more recent Thanksgivings:

Joe and I with the kids and grandkids, November 2006



Thanksgiving 2007... a full table!



My brother Loren (all grown up!) and his wife, Jessica... 2007



B (dd#2), the baby in the first picture... Thanksgiving 2007.



And again with R... 2007



Our oldest grandchild, (also "R") working on the Thanksgiving tablecloth we use each year. We pass around markers and each person "autographs" the tablecloth or draws a little picture etc. It's been a nice family tradition... it's fun to look over all the old drawings, etc. each year.



A little monopoly is always a nice thing to do after dinner...

Around the table from the left... my brother Loren, his wife Jess, dd#3 K, M (partially hidden) and my sister Jackie.

As you can tell we take our Monopoly seriously!



But first we had to take a few minutes to try to do this weird hand thing my brother Steve does... it's a quick finger snap with the left, then right hand, followed by a right fist into the left palm. You do this really fast and it sounds like running horses or something...

No, it doesn't take much to entertain us!



Blessed by another full table, this is Thanksgiving 2011...Around the table from the left front, (looking over the top of E's head) B (dd#2), Joe, M, me, my brother Loren, his wife Jess, R and a little bit of grandson #2 "J".



Joe and K (dd#3), my "African daughter".... Thanksgiving 2011



Joe and Loren... 2011



Thanksgiving 2011 was a fairly rowdy one apparently...

Here is JG (our son in law) opening (opening?!) some wine or sparkling juice...





And E (dd#1) and I, after dinner, fighting over a poor unwanted turkey wing (not that either of us would eat it, you know...)



It's lovely when there is time for a little music after dinner...

Here is Loren (on mandolin) and me and K on guitar (trying to keep up with Loren's quick fingers!).



So many Thanksgivings, so many blessings, so much to be thankful for...

Last year's "menu"... compliments of S. This years will be very much the same.



The big difference of course will be that K is in Ghana and won't be here for the holiday. It will be strange not to have her here, helping out, contributing to the chaos, and just being close. It will be a happy/sad day...

I'm posting this early so K can see the photos... she'll be in an area with internet access for just Wednesday and Thursday and I wanted to make sure this was up in time for her to see it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone....

And to my loved ones far away (Loren, Steve, Jackie, K)... I love you.

I'm rich! (plus Ghana photos)

At least that's what this email I received says...

"You have been Granted with the sum of $950,000 by Western Union in the

2013 Western Union Program. We will be sending you $5,000 daily until the
$950,000 is completed. The first $5,000 has been sent already, contact Mr
John Smith with your Full Name, Sex, Country, Tel, so that he will be sure

Regards
Mr John Smith
Email:western.smith@pk-service.net
Tel:+2348152682681

Thank you for using the Western Union."
Cool.

I guess there were perks I never dreamed of connected to my wiring money to K in Ghana via Western Union.

Who would have thunk it?

Now I'm just going to sit back and wait for my $5,000. a day to start rolling in...   ;)

And... since we are talking about K and Ghana...

I thought I'd share a few pictures of K, my "African child":

I love the look on the little girl's face...



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Yes, K is going to have a hard time leaving these babies behind when she comes back home again...



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K at her village...



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And outside her house (she has one room in the "teacher's house)... She labeled this photo "chaos".



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She looks happy, doesn't she? I believe Ghana and the Peace Corps must agree with her.

(And of course, I know the email is a scam and there is no way I would reply, I did think it was funny though... as if anyone would fall for it!)