September will be a good month!

This is Sunday morning...Labor day weekend!  Thank you to everyone who helped build this country and continue to do so!  The farmers, the carpenters, the bricklayers, the bus driver, the hairdresser, everyone who labors every day! I think we should thank the mother's too.  They labored more than anyone! They helped build this country too, right?

Years ago we used to go to my brother, Rick's on Labor Day, then go to the parade and fair.  It was lots of fun. A bunch of us would go over.  I want to share some pictures:

On the right is Tara, Brad, Ryan standing, Andrew, Amanda, Virginia, Mary, Dick and Papa behind Amanda! Ron, Sharon, Lester and Cheryl are somewhere in the crowd. lol

Andrew and his dad at the parade

Sweet Virginia loved going to Ellensburg. 

Today is sunday. I love watching Ed Young Sr. preach.  He is awesome!  And I appreciate listening to worship music.It is a nice way to spend a Sunday.  

Papa painted the den!  So happy! It looks awesome. Will post pictures after we get it all back together. 

Recap of the last couple weeks...

Life is back to normal...kind of.  The DeLay family picnic is over. We didn't go but I did steal some pictures.  Think I will be able to go next year hopefully.  Here is some family that went....

My sister Lois and niece Denise

Denise and their new baby Holly

DeLay cousins: Bob, Mike and Holly, Dale and Larry

Andrew and Lauren are home from San Diego (spent time with their dad). So happy they are back. I missed them very much.  They will be facing more changes in their life so pray for them. A year full of change for them. 

Douglas was here!!!! It was nice to have him here.  He drove from Virginia and had a stop in South Dakota to visit a few cousins we have there and to put flowers on our parents, brother, and aunt & uncle graves.  His next stop was sister Lois in Eastern Washington and the next morning brother Rick came and saw him.  Doug drove later that day to Bob & Linda's and visited and spent the night with them. 

Then he made it to our house!  He spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night with us. Friday we had roast, mashed potatoes etc... for dinner.  We visited and went to be early. 

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On Saturday we had a terrible wind storm. We lost power and didn't get it back until 3:30 Sunday morning. Doug went to visit cousin Holly in Kingston. Cousin Dale was there, too.  He had a great time and then Jenny showed up (Holly's daughter) and went and got our brother David!  They visited for about 3 hours before Doug took him home.  I was just so happy they got to spend time together!  Jenny is always the go to person when you can't find him. Since we didn't have power when he got home we had sandwiches for dinner (Doug loves bologna sandwiches!). 

Glad I wasn't on the ferry during the windstorm!

Sunday Doug went up to visit Libby and Kevin (so he got to see all his siblings!)  We met later for dinner at the Chimicum Cafe. Doug just had a chicken sandwich and then a coconut cream pie (they had eaten earlier that day at a Chinese Restaurant.)  Kevin and Libby split hot turkey sandwich, big salad, and a huge piece of cherry pie and ice cream. I had french dip and papa had a burger. It was so good...of course!

Monday Dylan came in the morning and then him and Doug went and hit golf balls. It was too wet to really golf and trees and branches were still down everywhere.  Lauren came over and spent the day with me. We watched Big Brother and played card games.  And ate. Had fun with her!  After she left I made homemade Mac and Cheese. First time.  Haven't heard if it was good...just from papa who can't taste. haha! He made a huge batch of Sweet and Sour Chicken Wings and Scalloped potatoes...which is always nummy. Karla brought Hot Wings and Chinese Chicken Salad, Tara brought some dessert, Libby brought salad, shrimp something and a peach pie.... and everything was sooooo good. We had a dinner for Doug...it was us, Doug, Karla, Joel, Dylan, Madi, Brad, Tara, Jordy, Melvin, Riley, Kevin and Libby, Kevon and Andrew. Sixteen of us! The kids played Sorry,  Then me, Andrew, Tara, Karla, Madi, Jordy, Riley, Libby and Melvin played Apples to Apples.  That is a lot of people playing and it was a lot of fun! 

Tara, Karla, Madi and Jordy

Madi, Jordy, Riley, Libby and Melvin

Kevin (Libby's husband) and Lanny

Andrew and Tara

Dylan, Brad, Joel, Doug

Libby

Riley and Uncle Kevon

cousins Andrew and Dylan

cousins Riley and Dylan

Riley, Andrew, Jordy and Dylan

Douglas

Madi and Riley

Karla and her Uncle Doug

Jordy and her Uncle Kevon

Tara and her bro Kevon

The next morning Doug left early to cross the ferry. He had breakfast with Libby and Kara and Dean. Then he went and visited Denny (a friend from childhood) and then to Eastern Wash. back to Rick's for dinner and Lois & Don met him there. The next morning he left at 3 a.m. for home.  It was so refreshing to see him.  I love my brother! And everything worked out perfect. 

Papa went to his cardiology appointment.  It went really good.  He won't have to go back for a year! I was going to the doctor but postponed it until the end of September.  Gives me time to exercise every day and eat less before I see her.  See if I feel better before I go.  Maybe lose some weight in a couple weeks and stronger. I am watching what I eat and ride my bike and do my rubber stretching every day. Wish me luck!  Better yet, pray for me!

Kids have all started school...except Jordy who starts Tuesday...and Andrew who will  be going to college again soon.  Pictures:

Madi 7th grade

Riley 7th Grade

Lauren 7th grade

Dylan Senior Year!

Don & Heather's boys Jared 3rd, Joshua 4th, Patrick, 10th and Parker's senior year!

Jordan had Senior pictures taken. They were amazing! Of course, she is so beautiful!

Patrick started playing football Friday night! He plays on varsity and they won 56-0!  That is amazing!  He called today and filled us in on the game. The other two boys are ball boy and water boy.  How fun for them too!

I had lunch with Lauren and Amanda yesterday. That was fun. And it was good. We went to Wendy's and then Home Depot.  Andrew was off photographing another wedding.  He's done quite a few of them and is very good and meticulous.  

Well, Patrick called this morning. Talked to Amanda for a couple hours on the phone today and then I talked to Kevon for awhile. I love talking to my family and catching up.

A picture of me when I woke up.  I wonder who came and did my hair while I was sleeping. It is so curly!  Thought you could use a laugh before I go!

Almost a month past...grandkids, Rhonda's memorial and paint!

It has been over 3 weeks since my last confession. IF I were catholic I would be in trouble, right?  It has been a while since I have written.  I guess it just takes so long to write and I have been so into doing jigsaw puzzles online.  It is so fun.

Anyway... stuff has been going on.  The biggest is Rhonda's memorial.  That was a week ago today.  It was very nice.  Hilary (her daughter) did an amazing job.  The pastor was really nice. He spoke and sang Amazing Grace. Hilary and Savanah (her 16 year old  daughter) gave the eulogy. It made me laugh and cry.  We talked with a lot of people (cousins Rick, Randy, Jane, Sandy, etc) Got to see niece Kristen and met her dad.  Also got to see nephew Corey. It was good to see them.  Deannie seemed to do ok at the service and reception.  I felt really bad for Rhonda's husband Bruce. He is kind of shy anyway but he looked totally lost without Rhonda.  Made me so sad. Papa and I drove up together and really enjoy rides.  We put on CD's and sing and sing.  We talk about everything. And sometimes I am on the phone with grandkids.  I really don't care for the ride because I don't like leaving my house much and I do worry about traffic.  Brad, Tara, Don, Heather, Joshua, Jared and Riley rode up together. I was glad they went....and Lanny was really glad they drove up for the service. It really was nice and those church ladies sure can cook.  Quite a send off to Rhonda.  We are missing her so much!  I talked to Deannie today. She is still having a rough time.  Bless her. Please pray for her.

When we got home from the memorial Patrick, Parker, Dylan and Jordy were down at our beach. They came up and visited for awhile.                                                                

Today is the DeLay family reunion. (My cousins)  I haven't been there since we took mom to it a few weeks before she died.  I haven't been to one since then.  It is really hard to go. It is hard for me to do a lot of things without my mom.  We used to do a lot of things together like shopping, doctor appointments, watching tv, snacking and eating out...all the fun stuff mom's and daughters do. I miss her.  It would be nice to see my cousins. Love them so much.  Maybe sometime. My sister Lois and brother Rick go and love it.  They know the cousins better than us younger siblings because they grew up with them and are closer in age.

Good news is my brother is coming from Virginia and will be here in two weeks!  I can't wait to see Douglas!  I had planned a family reunion but no one was committing to coming.  So I cancelled it. Made me sad.  I will see if someone else wants to do it or I will just do something with the kids so they can see their Uncle Doug.  I know Doug is bringing golf clubs and wants to play. So I will see if someone wants to set it up.

I really have been a homebody.  The kids have had softball games and I haven't been going to those either.  It seems like every time I go out I get a sunburn. I am wiped out the next day.  But I know I need to make myself go places.  I don't even go to the store anymore because papa does it all. I did go to the park a week ago and had a picnic for Tara's birthday.  We brought pizza, Lauren and Madi and met up with Tara, Don and Heather, Riley, Josh and Jared.  The kids played at the beach. We sat in the sun and I got burned.  Pizza was good.  Heather brought cupcakes.  Then we took Lauren to Silverdale to meet up with Andrew.  She went to the airport to fly to San Diego to see her dad for a few weeks. He moved down there for work for the rest of the year (or longer....who knows). Plus his girlfriend is from there and her family.  Anyway, she had to fly by herself which was scary for her. We prayed the whole time and Amanda cried and Lauren cried.  It was tough.  She didn't like it but she made it ok.  I've called her a few times since she's been down there.  I love and miss her very much.   She will be really happy to see Andrew when he gets there.  They have gotten so close these past 8 months.

I was in such a good mood when I started this post.  Not feeling it so much now.  Andrew is going to Tacoma to meet up with someone he doesn't know (the most dangerous city in our state) and gets mad at me for worrying and freaking out.  Ryan is mad at me for saying on facebook that Andrew is always there for Lauren (which he is). And I talked with Deannie which is hard and made me sad for her.  So I am going to post pictures people have taken this past month...hopefully I will smile!

Riley being crazy for softball camp.

Andrew with his boys at youth group

Lauren with her dad in San Diego

Papa painting

Scruffy ignoring me (he hates the flash)

My beautiful walls!!!!! 

Heather and Don at Chimicum Cafe

Papa and I at dinner too

Cat loves the sun

Riley and Madi in the morning after sleepover

Lauren in the morning

Scruffy before haircut

Scruffy after haircut

Tara and Brad at memorial. It was their 23rd anniversary too.

Lauren in the middle at camp with her friends

The Rogers relaxing at the ocean on their oceanfront deck

Karla and Madi heading to the Taylor Swift concert

Jared and their dog Sofie

Jared at camp in his uniform

Handsome Pat with new retainer and growing some facial hair!

Jared winking at his mom and Joshua yawning at Rhonda's memorial

Jared and his daddy at camp

Joshua and Jared

Don and Heather at memorial

Jared fishing at camp

Patrick the lifeguard

Parker and his new braces! He looks so handsome!

Have a great day, week, month or whatever!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures! God bless, keep looking up and count on Him!  xoxo