Memories

When we were homeschooling, we always had the children do a family newsletter.  I was going through some old papers last week and found one of the early ones.  This one from 1987 was literally cut and pasted, with scissors and glue.  

  

 

June 2015

We celebrated Phillip's 66th birthday.  The grandkids love watching him open his gifts.

 He made parts on his lathe for the first time.  

 More gifts for Father's Day

 We canned our first batch of green beans.

It was Lilly's turn to spend the night with us.  She didn't mind sharing her potato chips with Libby.

Phillip's sister Vivian and her husband Jerry celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  This picture shows Phillip, Vivian and James.

 Michael, Laura, Rachel, Lilly, Jimmy and Jason at the anniversary party.

Hannah and Michael at the anniversary party.

 

May 2015

May was Jonas's month to spend the night.  He was busy the whole weekend.  (I think he looks like Jack Frankenberger in this picture.)

Lilly's art was chosen to be displayed at a local museum.  Picture-taking was not permitted, but our guide gave us special permission. I think he was probably a grandparent, too.

This is Libby, Hannah and Michael's dog.  I'm not really much of a dog person, but I like this dog.  She's older so she isn't hyperactive like a puppy.  She doesn't bark at everything that moves, and doesn't chew up things.  Phillip had beagles when he was growing up, so he is enjoying her, too.

 Usually we only camp in the fall, but we decided to try a spring camping trip. It worked out well.  Can you see Libby in the background?  I've never taken a pet camping before, but she did fine.  She escaped once, but our neighbor-camper knew where she belonged and brought her back.

We celebrated Jennifer's birthday.  The weather was nice so we were able to eat outside.  It's easier when we can all spread out. 

Garden Journal, Friday, May 1

 Cabbage - The plants were bitten back by a cold snap last month and we weren't sure they'd make it.  Some are starting to form heads.

 Tomatoes

 Potatoes - We tried planting them in containers this year because we don't have any raised beds for them. 

 Blueberries - Some of the bushes are doing well.  They're starting to recover from being moved.  A couple of them died and we replaced them.

 Strawberries look good.  The challenge will be keeping the birds away.

 Onions

 Sugar snap peas

 Grape vines

 Broccoli 

Peppers

Peppers, tomatoes, cabbages, flowers, herbs - all in containers on the patio

April 2015

Rachel's birthday is April 2.  She asked for a raw vegan birthday cake and I managed to accommodate her request.  It's made of pureed fruit frozen in layers, and it tasted much better than it looks. She was pleased with it, and that's what is important.

 We celebrated Easter with church services, lunch with the family, and the traditional egg hunt.  This year there was a prize egg for each child.  They were happy hunters.

 April was Lucy's month to sleep over.  She always asks for curly fries so we got her some for lunch.

 

We finished one of the most aggravating puzzles we've done.  The cat in the puzzle looked just like our cat Maggie (may she rest in peace) right before she reached out and scratched someone, so we wanted to keep the puzzle. We just never wanted to put it together again, so we framed it and hung it on the wall in her memory.  

We celebrated Jonas's 4th birthday.  He had a very Spiderman-ish birthday.  One of his gifts was a twirling Spiderman, much like the ill-fated Flutterby Fairies Lilly and Lucy got for Christmas one year.  It worked much better than they did, and it didn't attack any of us or get tangled in anyone's hair the way they did.

Last fall we moved some of Mama's peonies to the back of the house.  The oak trees have shaded them out in their original spot and they aren't blooming well there.  All four of them came back up this spring, and we built a nice bed for them.

 

Our last April celebration was Jason's birthday on April 28.  Hannah and Michael had bought a Spiderman helicopter for Jonas but they missed his party and hadn't given it to him yet.  Cruelly, we told Jonas that it was Jason's gift.  He was a sad little fellow until he found out that it was his.  (We gave Jason another gift.)

March 2015

March was Lilly's month to spend the weekend.  She helped Phillip plant the spring garden.  

 She planted sugar snap peas.

She baked brownies for Sunday dessert, but she and Phillip sampled them first to be sure they were good.  She said they were almost as good as her cousin Jack's brownies.

The daffodils were blooming all over the yard.  Lilly picked bunches and arranged these in a few of Hannah's bottles.  They filled our house with spring.

Our hot water heater had to be replaced.  Because the wiring and plumbing had to be upgraded, it ended up costing quite a bit more than we expected.  The Lord provided a tax refund just in time to pay for it. 

February 2015

February has been a busy month.  We're adjusting to Phillip's retirement.  He has been having problems with pinched nerves in his neck so he hasn't been able to do everything he had planned.  He's working on getting his lathe up and running but the pain has made it difficult.  He's itching to get busy with his garden but the weather hasn't allowed him to do much.

 

 Lucy spent a weekend with us.  We were getting ready to leave for church and Phillip took our picture.

Lilly was playing with my phone and took this picture of us.  She was trying to teach me to take selfies, but I'm not a very good pupil. Doesn't she look grown up!

 Lilly and Lucy decorated cupcakes for our Valentine's Day dessert.

Jonas spent some time with us this month, as well.  He enjoyed measuring with Phillip's tape measure.

 He really enjoyed this Sunday morning breakfast of Pringles, eaten behind a chair by the light of a flashlight.  (Grandparents aren't required to feed their grandchildren healthy meals.  That's not part of the job description.)

It snowed, not a lot but enough to be pretty.  

 And the biggest event of the month:  Hannah's boyfriend Michael proposed and she accepted. The wedding is not until next spring but they are busy making plans.