Mom and Dad left for Hawaii on Wednesday and we started our babysitting of our granddaughter’s, Willow, Meadow and Brodie. Brodie is my son’s daughter and he will be home from work on Saturday.
We will see if they still like each other after spending 13 days alone. They have never been on their own this long before. Hopefully, they will both make it home safe and sound.
Continue reading “Hanging with My Girls”David and I made it safe and sound to Seattle on the 12th of February. My daughter, Sarah, picked us up and by the time we got to bed we were worn our from the long flight and all the time changes from one side of the country to the other.
It was so nice to see our granddaughters, Willow, Meadow and Brodie, when they got up for school the next morning. They are all in elementary school, 5th, 4th and 2nd. Of course they were having Valentine’s parties on the 14th.
We started off in Meadow’s 4th grade class. They had to make Valentine Boxes that had moving parts. Meadow made a giraffe with a moving tongue, neck and ears.
David and I are leaving February 12th to go to Seattle to take care of 3 of our elementary age granddaughters, so we had a early birthday celebration in York on Friday. Dan’s birthday is on the 13th, Bekka and Kate’s is on the 16th and mine is on the 26th. My daughter, Sarah, in Gig Harbor had a birthday on the 1st. I have plenty of birthdays that is for sure.
Of course Oma had to make some birthday hats.
Kate and Bekka will be 2 February 16th. I made them some aprons which I forgot to take photos of before I wrapped them, so that will come later.
I did get pictures of the purses I made them. They love carrying a purse and putting things in them.
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My father has been whittling all his life. When he retired the got into woodcarving and he is fantastic. Whenever I am visiting I get him to give me lessons. I will never be as good as him but I do enjoy it. It is so relaxing. Here are some ornaments I made.
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Kate woke up with some bad bedhead.
We did get it taken care of before we went for our walk around the block. Grandpa has them walking with sticks. Kate found a pine cone.
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Dan had a bunch of things to do yesterday, so David and I took care of the girls. We had a ton of fun with them.
The girls decided they could dress themselves.
Heather told me she had gotten something new to try out on the girls, stamps. She asked me if I want to come up and play too. Of course, I said yes.
When I first came upstairs this is what I saw.
Why exactly do we buy toys for children when all they really want is a box.
Kate really got into the stamping.
Bekka got into stamping herself.
Bekka said stickers are more fun. They discovered them on our move to York. It kept them entertained while driving down the road.
Mommy enjoys her Sundays with Kate and Bekka. Of course, Oma does too.
Bekka said it must be Super Bowl time. I better bring Grandpa a football. She carried it all the way down the stairs to give it to him.
The girls love spending time with Grandpa.
David and I will really miss these moments when we get moved into our new house next month.
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I spent some time hanging out in the backyard with my little girls this morning.
While the girls worked with their sticks in the leaves Oma took some photos of other things in the yard.
That is it I am all caught up now.
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Heather got the girls these cute little hat hair clips at the Christmas market. Bekka just really loved hers and wore it all the time.
I am thinking I can make this. Heather decides the girls should have one for every holiday. I give it a try and this is what I came up with.
Bekka was my little model once again.
Heather says, “Mom, you should make these and sell them.” So I made these.
They are made out of some felt, a little batting and some decorations. They have a hairclip on the bottom to put it in your hair.
I think I will get some more varieties of hat clips made and then see if I can sell them. What should I ask for them? Let me know what you think int he comments.
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Heather and Dan bought a hot tub which sits right out our sliding glass door. The other day David and I went out to enjoy it while it was snowing a little bit.
David and I enjoy watching our little girls, Bekka and Kate, growing up. The new things they do everyday just amazes us. We have many wonderful days with them.
The girls love hanging out on our stairs with Mom.
They really enjoy being outside and learning all about what you can do with a stick.
I hope you get a little joy out of these photos because they sure put a lot of joy in our life.
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We have been checking out all the different happenings in downtown York. We went to checkout FestivICE.
https://www.eventiveyork.com/festivice
The day started getting the girls dressed in their winter gear. I remember doing this with all my kids. By the time you got number 5 dressed number one was coming back in.
There were quite a few ice sculptures. They were so small compared to the ones in Alaska.
The girls enjoyed looking at the ice sculptures and even got to sit in an Ice throne.
Kate and Bekka loved the huge bubble.
The girls got to meet the local mascots. A Raven and the Abominable Snowman.
The best thing was the 40ft ice slide.
Bekka really enjoyed it so Mommy took her back for another ride while Daddy and Grandpa watched Kate. Mommy had to take her because Daddy barely fit on the slide.
I just had to get a photo of the radio DJ’s coat.
These were painted on a wall. They tell some of the odd history of York. Be sure to read what they say.
It was a small festival but we enjoyed it. I think it had a lot to do with watching the reactions of our granddaughters, Kate and Bekka.
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I am so far behind in my blogging that I decided today is the day I need to catch up, so here we go starting with Christmas.
This is our granddaughter’s second Christmas they are 22 months old this year. They are so much more into it than last year. In fact, last year there was so much family gathered for their first Christmas they had to nap in between present opening.
Of course we have to start out with the decorating of the tree.
Today I am bringing myself to actually write about my best friend, Alice, who I lost on Sunday. Alice was my 102 lb. Lab/ Catahoula leopard dog who at 11 1/2 years old left this world.
Alice never wanted anything but to be by me. She loved me unconditionally. She was the best girl. She never left my side when we were hiking or the campsite while camping. When David and I would pick berries or spruce tips she would just lay and watch us, move as we moved and never left my side. We were walking with her through a park one time and this tiny dog came running out of the grass. Scared Alice to death and she went running for camp. Another time we were going to hike the trail to Five Fingers on the Yukon River in Canada. There were steep, long steps down to the trail. Alice got down about half way turned and said that is enough, ran back to the van. Trying to get her across a bridge over the Yukon River in Miles Canyon near Whitehose was really something. David pushed and I pulled. Once across she was fine and we went for a nice walk. Coming back we just thought this is going to be fun. She tricked us though and walked right across.
Alice was such a chicken. People would be afraid of her because she was big. They would hear her deep bark not knowing that she was hiding in the bedroom barking at them. She was a great protector if she could hide behind you. She was afraid of kitchens, bathrooms and floors without carpet. Oh yes, stairs can be scary too. In fact any change can be scary.
Alice helped me through my late husband’s, Baggy, 13 months of illness and his death. When the paramedics were on the way to our home I put her outside. As they worked on Baggy in the living room by the window she quietly watched. When it was time for them to take Baggy away, as they zipped the bag she started to bark and did so until they drove off. She was the one that helped me make it through this.
Alice moved with me from Texas to Washington to Alaska. Then our last move to York, Pennsylvania. She was a great traveler.
She was so good with the twin granddaughters. I used to laugh because every time Dan brought them over she would have to smell them and make sure they were the right ones, I guess. As they grew she would sit patiently until they finished eating so she could clean up their mess. If she did get tired of them she would just get up and go into the bedroom.
When we would get ready to go somewhere and Alice couldn’t go we could tell her, “No, Alice you have to stay.” Then she would mope off to her moping corner in our room. David said she reminded him of Eeyore.
Friday morning I was awakened by the sound of Alice falling against the wall next to my side of the bed. She then slipped down the wall and was laying down. I thought that was weird but she seemed to settle down. I went back to sleep for a while. I got up around 6 and went to start my morning routine, which the first thing was to let Alice out. She always follows me right to the door as soon as we are up. She didn’t follow. A little later she tried to get up and couldn’t. Her whole back end didn’t work.
We looked up vets online and found one that opened at 7:30. I called and they could get her in at 10. The next problem was how to get her in the back of our car. Luckily, we have a Subaru Outback so the backend opens up. But how would we get this 102 lb dog up the hill and into the car. Our son in law, Dan, and his Dad, Jim, came to help. I got her on a sheet and we brought in the girls’ wagon. We go her into the wagon, up the hill and into the car without stressing her out.
The vet couldn’t find anything really bad on the x-rays. Some arthritis but who of us don’t have that in our backs. I am thinking now it was a stroke. The vet says it could be. She says we could try a steroid shot and that if it helped we would be able to tell by Sunday. I agreed to let her have the shot, hoping it will help. We took her back home.
By now she has not been to the bathroom since Thursday night. David and I put a rolled towel under her to hold up her backend. We took her out but she didn’t do anything. She couldn’t pick up her tail and her legs just dragged behind her.
Saturday night wasn’t a good night for Alice. Sunday morning there was no change what so ever. I couldn’t let her suffer any more. I made the decision I had to make. The vet opened at 10. We were there with Alice when they opened. They got us in right away. They were so wonderful to us. Alice left this world knowing how loved she was. We were with her until the end.
I love you, Alice. I will never forget you and all you did for me. I hope you are sitting at Baggy’s side now watching over me.
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It has been a crazy last couple weeks. Dan and David went back to Edmonton, Canada to retrieve the rest of our stuff. Jim flew into Edmonton to meet them and help load the trailer once again. They made it back in 9 days. They left in the snow and seemed to take it with them because we have not had any since then.
While the men were away the girls played. Bekka and Kate made their first Christmas cookies.
Continue reading “Making Christmas Cookies”I know I have been slow about writing but things are moving along very well here. David and I have gotten our Pennsylvania drivers license. We are waiting on a new title from Alaska to register our car because ours must be in Edmonton, Canada. We both got a local number and registered to vote. I guess we are becoming real Pennsylvanians. I guess that is what you call someone from PA.
Thanksgiving wasn’t our norm. We ordered our dinner from Cracker Barrel. It was ok but not what we were used too.
New state, new house and new bugs all in York. You don’t think about things like insects when you move. We have tons of spiders and this weird bug.
I am sure that we will be a lot of new things in our new home.
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We got our first snow here in York, PA. It snowed about 2 inches and was gone by the afternoon.
It has not been freezing much since we have been here. It has been up to 50 during some of the days. So far a very mild winter compared to what I am use to.
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Heather and I decided to have a little daughter/granddaughter time. We walked down to our local park, Penn Oaks Park. We loaded the wagon with Bekka and Kate and off we went.
I didn’t have to cook dinner Friday night, so David and I decided to go out for dinner. We had seen a Tap Room when we went to the Fig and Barrel when we first got here.
We arrived around 6:30 and were greated by a warm and cozy room. The waiter was the best. There was a really good choice of beer.
Continue reading “Old Forge York Tap Room”We drove to Lancaster to go to Costco. I saw something that I have never seen before.
I thought this was so cool. They have a shed built so the horses can get out of the weather.
I guess I never thought of the Amish going shopping at Costco.
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Heather decided she wanted to do something fun before her first day of work, so they bought tickets to take us all to Hershey Park.
We headed to Hershey Park only to find out that they didn’t open until noon. This happened to be good for us because poor, little Kate got sick on the way there. We believe that she gets car sick now that the car seats are turned around like big girls. To say the least there were no extra clothes for her, so Heather had to get her something. The American Zoo which is part of Hershey Park was open, so she just went to the gift shop and grabbed her a t-shirt.
We still had almost 2 hours before the park opened. We had noticed a sign for Tanger Outlet Stores, so off we went. It was decided that you could go shopping or to the auto museum.
Tanger Outlets are cool if you are looking for something. I was not.
https://www.tangeroutlet.com/hershey
Read moreSunday was our official move in. The muscle that Heather hired showed up at 1 to unload the trailer. I know Dan and David were glad they didn’t have to do it all. The first thing I did was get our bed set up. It sure was nice to sleep in our own bed. Of course, we didn’t bring the box spring because it is old. We have a new one coming on Thursday.
The best thing that happened was that Jim and Linda made it on Sunday afternoon. It was nice to have the gang back together. It was sooner than Heather, David and I thought. We thought the earliest was going to be Monday.
Heather and I went to Aldi’s to by a few groceries for the house. Heather made bean and cheese burrito’s for dinner. I still am not eating much because of the withdraws.
Monday we all went shopping in IKEA which is in Baltimore. The kids bought some of the furniture they needed there. We had all sold a lot of our stuff to save on weight in the trailer. I guess we didn’t leave enough behind since half of our stuff is still in Edmonton, Canada
Continue reading “Our First Walk”Sorry I am a week late writing my blog. The hotel we stayed in last I couldn’t get online to post this blog and then we had no internet in the new house. So here is the post from Saturday to continue our last leg of our journey.
We left our hotel at 8:30 with 194 miles to go. Hoping to see our new home around noon.
Continue reading “New Home”