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

Let the weekend begin!

Friday is a wonderful day.  Not for traffic but it was a good day here.  The girls just left a few hours ago.  Riley, Lauren and Madi had a sleepover or slumber party last night.  We didn't see them much but they sure had fun together.  Our grand daughters are all 12 years old, all going into 7th grade, all going to 3 different Middle Schools and live in 3 different towns in the same county.  They really don't get together very often so I always tried to get them together.  However, this time I didn't even have to!  Madi and Riley planned it out.  Games, contests, food, snacks, etc.....and they camped out in the trailer for the night.  They spent most of their time in the toy room, outside and in the trailer. I took pictures but for some reason only one good picture turned out.  This one:

Lauren, Riley and Madi

Just waiting for papa to get home from taking Riley and Lauren home.  Oh, here he comes now. I always feel better when he gets home.  You can never tell what can happen out in that big bad world.

There is so much earthquake talk around here.  I bought 4 gallons of water to store....will buy more next month and have some stored (just in case).   I also called our insurance agent, Merilee, and found out most people don't have earthquake insurance.  It is too expensive.  But for us to insure is actually kind of cheap...only $23 a month or $245 a year.  So that would add $23 to our house payment.  Sounds good, right?  Lanny's hesitation is the 10% deductible.  Which would cost us about $11,500.  If our place would destroyed they would take the deduction out of what they would owe us for the place.  However if some windows popped out or something from an earthquake or a tree fell on our place from the earthquake....we would have to pay up to $11,500 for repairs before anything would come out of their pocket.  I don't know about you, but we don't have that kind of money sitting around.   So should we do it or not?  It is hard to buy on a "perhaps it could happen" scenario. 

It finally cooled off around here.  So glad. Windows still open and fans still going, but it isn't 90 miles an hour. It even rained a little bit this morning.  That was nice. It is suppose to rain a little bit more over the weekend but probably not enough to lift the burn ban.

Tomorrow the cat is getting a pedicure....the dog is getting bath, shave and nails done.  The whole show.  He hates it.  I am going to try to talk papa into going in and getting a pedicure.  I think it would be good for his feet, him being diabetic.  

Well, I don't have much more to say.  Papa and I are going to watch Beat Bobby Flay right now.  I hope you enjoy your weekend.  I am pretty sure we will.  God's blessings!!!!

Over a month? Crazy! Graduation, Jared over, July birthdays!

It has been so long since I have written. Over a month.  So much has happened in the past month.  The saddest thing is our dear sis Rhonda died a week ago.  A very difficult time for everyone. Especially Bruce (husband), Hilary (daughter), and Deannie (mom).  They have been so faithful and attentive to Rhonda trying everything and loving her until the end.  Lanny was with them all when Rhonda passed away peacefully. We miss her so much.  She was funny, loving and sweet.

I am going to go back the month and see what I can remember and see if I can keep it short but journalized. (I know it isn't a word)

6/13:  Don and Lois came over for the night and for Alyssa's graduation!!! A wonderful time! Proud of my niece too!

6/20:  I got to spend the day with my youngest grandson, Jared, while Lanny and Heather went to Forks to see Rhonda.  We went to the Coffee Oasis where Andrew was working and Andrew made the best hot cocoa Jared ever had!!!! Lol! And he picked Huckleberries, played Farkle, went next door to the yard sale where he got some stuff, and Lauren came over!

We passed through Father's Day uneventful.  The kids called him but he didn't see any of them but Heather on the Forks trip.  Kind of sad.  On his birthday Papa, me, Ryan, Andrew, Lauren, Madi, Karla and Joel met at Azteca's and had a really nice dinner.  No singing....I promised.

Andrew finished his semester at school and is working for Uncle Kevon again. Making good money and saving up for next semester.  College costs so much.  Seems like no one struggles trying to make it financially but Andrew. He has also been taking a lot of wedding photo's and more! He is growing into quite a photographer!!!!  Lauren is ok.  She has her happy moments, mad moments, sad moments.  The divorce has taken its toll on these two. :(  And their dad is going back to San Diego for another 5 months to work. I know that is upsetting. Just keep them in your prayers. 

Parker turned 18 on July 5th!  Hard to believe!

Parker and Patrick are working as lifeguards in Odessa.  Pretty cool summer job for sure.  The one thing that bothers me is they allow kids 7 and up at the pool without their parents so many are dropped off.  Makes my grandsons lifeguards AND babysitters.  I think they should have a parent there at least until a kid is 10.  Heather never leaves Josh and Jared there alone.  Don and Heather spent the night Friday and we went to Chimicum Cafe.  Good food! Great evening! 

They also went to Heather's 20th Class reunion on Saturday!  They looked amazing!

Riley has been playing softball all spring and summer.  She is on a select team where they travel all over the state.  Riley is becoming an amazing pitcher.  Brad helps coach.  Him and Tara are really involved in Riley's games and Melvin's games.  

Plus Tara, Melvin and Jordy are on a co-ed softball team (the one Karla and Joel played on last year). They got new sponsors and some new players but we went and watched and it was fun!

She's tough!!!!!!!

Karla just turned 40 on the 2nd.  Hard to believe!  She sees the urgency in spending time with her kids because the do grow up so fast.  It is important to have family time.

They love camping and they love going to the ocean.  Madi had a birthday too and turned 12! Crazy!

They had a nice party for Madi! Even with a Divergent Cake!

Summer is going really fast.  This year has gone fast.  Rhonda's death went fast.  Ryan and Amanda's divorce and new relationships were fast.  I thought it was just me....but everyone is saying how fast time is moving.

A big deal was written about a huge earthquake coming in the Pacific Northwest within 50 years, but they are saying in our area it won't be as catastrophic as it sounds. But we will stock up anyway.

We're having a sleepover with the kids 3 12 year old girls this week.  It should be  fun.  

Ryan leaves for California. Not so great.

Kevon has a lot of irons in the fire but none I can write about. secrets.

Well, I am done. Wrapped up a month in a few hours.  lol!  I don't think I have many viewers left anyway but Teresa!  And it is still a journal of sorts.  Have a great week!  It has been so hot....in the 90's this weekend.  Awful!  I like low 80's.  That is perfect. But it is suppose to cool off this week. 

God's blessings on you and your family!