Scenic Route

Randy & I had neighbors years ago who lamented that the grandparents considered it their duty to go out and buy the biggest piece of plastic they could find and then bless their grandchildren; i.e., the parents , with it. We remembered those words when we became grandparents and have tried to live by them. :) Our latest achievement was the purchase of a picnic table for Natalie & Layla in Colorado. There's a story of our backyard fountain and Layla falling into it that precedes this purchase, but you'll have to log on to Nikki's blog to get that ugly story. So, to try to make up for the fun, albeit risky fun , that went away with the draining of the fountain, Granny went out and bought the biggest piece of plastic that would fit into Papa's jeep. You can tell how thrilled my son-in-law Casey is with the "some assembly required" process. Twelve or so sturdy pieces of plastic and 500 or so screws and washers later, viola! In the meantime, the girls had ...

I have just one more week here in Colorado before I head back to Mongolia. As you can see, I'm having a great time with my daughter Nikki and her husband Casey and my 2 little granddaughters, Natalie (3) and Layla (1)--I don't think the pictures need much explanation :D I suppose I should add that Natalie does wear clothes; it's just that she prefers to focus on the lower half when it comes to dress up.

I've decided not to wait any longer to share what I've been doing in the sewing room (I actually have 2: one an actual sewing room in UB and another set up in a corner of my loft here in Denver). So, even though life was pretty hectic back in UB getting ready for an annual fundraising event, etc. (oh and that little power outage thing--60 hours without in one week!), I still managed at least 15 minutes of sewing pretty much every day--a personal goal I've kept for years. Cheaper than therapy, eh? Stay tuned for all the grandkid projects I'm feverishly trying to finish :) Let's see...one project from a while back involved making my too-high-waisted (and OK, too tight) jeans into lower waists by removing the waist bands and using bias tape with the original closures. This helped me get another winter out of them. Next, I made some appliance covers from scraps to help ward off those wicked spring time dirt storms from the Gobi Desert. Those who know me best will be am...

I landed in Spokane, WA from Mongolia just one night before a big (18 people!) birthday party for Hannah (turning 7) and Elijah (turning 4) on Sunday afternoon. Their actual birthdays were then celebrated again on Monday & Wednesday. In between, we managed to enjoy lunch dates, a trip to Spokane's famous carousel, and a group date with Granny to buy new swim suits and flip flops for all. FUN! Oh! even though Julia's birthday isn't until May 30, Mom allowed us to cheat and I finally got to watch a granddaughter open her traditional 1st birthday gift of an American Doll Bitty Baby (after 5 granddaughters, I was due, eh?). Stay tuned for Denver pics!