Happy Mother's Day 2014

Mother's Day brunch was at our house this year.  I set the table with glassware from my Aunt Clarice, flowers like my Grandma Dykstra grew in her garden and a chenille bedspread from Grandma D.G. as a tablecloth.

 My Mom and sisters and I took our annual Mother's Day picture.

 On Mother's Day kids have their picture taken with Mom.  Partly because it's tradition, partly because who says NO to their mama on her day and partly because ISAIDSOTHAT'SWHY.

Max still argues...

 Max left to drive back to school.  Blake showed up with flowers and a sweet card; he's my extra kiddo and I'm his extra mum.  I wanted a picture with Sam, Angela and Blake.  Then the trouble was mine because I left my glasses on and everyone knows I don't wear glasses in real life.  Sigh.

 Do over.

 Jodi had better luck on her first try, probably because she's a Snapsister and her kids know to quickly get it done.

 We celebrated the May birthdays with a maple bar cake from the Lynden Dutch Bakery.

It was a sunny day, a delicious brunch, and fun time celebrating the Moms.  Hubby insisted on doing all of the  dishes while I took a nap on the patio.  Danny called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day, after working a double shift, making my day complete.

Great Grandma's Family

On Friday we went to Everett to Grandma's burial and funeral service.  When a woman of God has lived for over 99 years and was so ready to meet Jesus there isn't a lot of sadness at her funeral.  It was a celebration of life, her life and the lives of her descendants. Her verse for the service was 

Micah 6:8 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

She loved singing so we sang In the Garden, By the Sea of Crystal, It is Well with my Soul and God Be With You.

Some of the afghans Grandma made for her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren were on display in the fellowship room where we had lunch.

 She thought about and prayed for each one of us as she worked on our afghans. The pastor challenged us to take on her prayers for the family.  Pastor Wiersum knew Grandma for over 25 years so he knew her well.

 After lunch we went to Grandma's house where we laughed, and visited and could pick out something to take home.  Some of the great granddaughters tried on Grandma's dresses with her glasses, her hats and gloves.  Aren't they adorable?

 Aren't they adorable?

 When we first walked into Grandma's house it seemed so strange that she wasn't there.  But as the afternoon went on I realized she was there.  In her family, in her recipe for the cookies we had all baked and then snacked on, in the things she left behind, she was there.  And in all of the wonderful memories everyone shared Grandma was there.  And if she'd been there physically she would have laughed and laughed with us and loved every minute.

 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. - Philippians 3:20, 21

We know that the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God. It is a house in heaven that lasts forever. Human hands did not build it. - 2 Corinthians 5:1

Glamping Prep is Hard Work

 Hubby is really digging into the '57 Aloha.  There's no looking back now.  He's ready to peel off the metal.  We aren't kidding ourselves any longer; this is a total rebuild.  I am going to restore the ice box and we are still considering options for the stove.

 From the very beginning I wanted turquoise and red with hints of pink and green for a color theme in the Aloha.  Sort of a Cath Kidston print color palette.

Then we went to Maui and I saw the indigo in the ocean and a postcard with coral and aqua blues with a bit of yellow.  

iwantthat...

 We had our dinette benches reupholstered several months ago.  My upholstery guy was looking for a project so I went ahead and had those done.  Whew, the postcard goes with the vinyl.

 I went to see Denise at Lynden Floor to pick up some flooring samples.  Hubby needs flooring STAT.  This is how we do projects, I dream and dilly dally and then I possibly hold up the show because without warning he needs the next piece.  We've built and remodeled many houses with this method for 25+ years.  It works for us, kinda.  Also, I needed to choose Formica for the counter top and the table, but I think I have some time...

Next stop was Grandiflora for some inspiration, besides I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket.  I found the Life is a BeYOUtiful adventure artwork with my color palette.  Some pretty posies for my design board(a table centerpiece soon) and some groovy straws for the tropical drinks we are sure to enjoy while camping in the Aloha.

Oh and the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss ornament for whimsy. 

Then I took everything home and I played.  Bliss for me.

 I'm not sure about the Formica yet but I chose flooring.  It's to the left on the picture above.  

It's not orange or coral.  Whew.

 I have bedding from Pottery Barn picked out which if I ordered it, the trailer value would quadruple!  Of course, if I could afford that particular bedding I'd probably just stay in five star hotels instead of camping.

But, a girl can dream and that is what the Aloha is all about...

And then, because it rained all day Sunday I played with my pictures with a fun phone app.

The good news is that Hubby is already talking about our next trailer.

Happy trails...

A Really Great Grandma

 Hubby's Grandma Gert passed away last week at the age of 99.  I had posted the picture of the boys with Grandma on instagram and face book without knowing that she had died in her sleep very early that morning.  I had just been thinking about her and I had this picture to share.

Grandma made every grandchild and great grandchild afghans.  The blessing of her afghans was that she thought about and prayed for that child as she stitched.  The boys are wrapped in her love.  These were their second afghans from Grandma.

Grandma's love for her family was very real.  But to Grandma what mattered the most was her love for the Lord.  Her only wish was that each of us knew Jesus.  That we would know, love, and serve Jesus.

She loved to visit and she liked to hear about our lives but our worldly success and accomplishments did not really matter to Grandma.  She only cared about our salvation.

Harry and Gertrude De Groot's Wedding

Grandma had a wonderful sense of humor and Hubby could always get her to laughing.  She made us laugh too.  When we were dating she told us about when her and Grandpa were dating.  One time they rode with another couple and went to Lynden to visit family and friends.  Since they were in the jump seat and it was small, Grandma had to sit on Grandpa's lap on the drive from Everett.  She kept asking if she was too heavy and Grandpa, being a gentleman told her no, that he was fine.  When they got to Lynden, Grandma jumped out.  Grandpa followed but fell right over.  His legs had cramped up but he didn't want Grandma to feel badly about sitting on his lap.  I think she wanted us to know that things aren't always as they seem when you're dating.

Grandpa and Grandma at our wedding

After we were married she told Hubby and I stories about when her and Grandpa were first married.  She loved to read and would prop, Jane Eyre on the wood stove so she could keep Grandpa's dinner from burning but still enjoy her favorite book.  She shared stories with us about their first house when we bought our first house.  Those DIY stories with a low budget that we had in common.

Four Generations 

She shared stories about when she had her first baby, Hubby's Mom, Esther when we started our family.

Grandma's stories always had some humor and usually a lesson for us.

  

Once we had Sam she babysat for me if I had a dentist appointment or a haircut.  Our families didn't live in Marysville so this really helped me.  She had us over for Sunday dinners.  After we moved to Lynden we sometimes went to our church in Marysville to catch up with friends and then to Grandma's house for dinner.

She always sent us home with homemade cookies out of her freezer.  When she turned 90, two of the Jubie girls made cookies with Grandma to record her recipe and method exactly.  A treasure, for sure.

Until last year Grandma lived in her house that she'd built with Grandpa.  It was hard for her to move but she'd gotten so frail.  Now her last move, which was her deepest desire, to the presence of her Lord and Savior.  Until we meet again, Grandma, we love you lots!

HOOAH

 On Friday Hubby and I and Angela drove to JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord) to watch Sam's promotion to sergeant.  Since Sam has spent most of his military career in the south or on the east coast we haven't been at some of his graduations or promotions.  Once he got stationed at JBLM this mama was thinking we'd get on base for some kind of ceremony.  Sam's promotion to sergeant was coming up and I had told him that if his mama wasn't there to witness it that the U.S. military would have a war like they haven't ever had in their history.  They change dates and times sometimes without much warning and I was worried I would miss out.  But everything went as scheduled, Sam even got input since his was the highest ranking promotion that day, on the time and the ceremony.  He preferred no Class 1 uniforms,  a smaller group and Friday afternoon.

 I don't really understand why but sometimes they were at attention and sometimes they were just waiting.  I felt bad for one soldier that got in trouble and had to do burpees to the door.  But Sam told me not to feel sorry for him, he shouldn't be so stupid.  Okay.

 We saw where Sam works everyday.  We couldn't  see his ambulance as it was locked up some place where we weren't allowed to go.

 Angela pinned him and Hubby put on his new hat with his new rank.

 The old ranks get thrown on the ground and the new rank literally gets punched into place.  Angela just couldn't punch Sam but later on others gave him a punch.

There were four or five others getting promoted that day.  Sam had helped one of the soldiers so he asked Sam to pin him and Sam spoke about him.  I'm not sure of the rank of the soldiers that spoke when Sam was promoted but very nice things were said about Sam.  Two of his superiors came and talked to Hubby and I and told us such nice things about Sam and how much they appreciated our parenting.  It warmed my heart.  It's what every mama wants to hear.  Our soldier is a good soldier.

Then everyone offers their congratulations to those who were promoted.

 After the ceremony we looked around where Sam works.  We saw his cage.  It is full of gear because of Iraq and Afghanistan, and needing different gear for those places.  Sam didn't go to Afghanistan, that was a case of you're going, you're not going, X20, so he has all of the gear.

 Hubby and I are so thankful that we got to be part of Sam's promotion and so happy he got it.  

I'm pretty proud of my kiddo and all he's done.  Hooah!