From My Camera

Usually Jeff is the one to take the photos on his spiffy camera but once in awhile I try to "capture the moment" so to speak. Here are a few moments recently.

We had prepared the basement stairwell for flooding before Hurricane Irene arrived: sand bags, duct tape, plastic, etc and we were happy to say the basement stayed dry! But a couple of weeks...or was it just one week later?...Jeff was in Argentina and the effects of Katiya began to pour down with fury one night about 1 am. I was in bed wide awake listening to the fierce downpour. I kept arguing with myself, "Go check the basement. NO! Go check the basement! Don't want to!" Finally, it was like God said very quietly to me, "You really need to go check the basement." So I got up and went. Remember Jeff is in Argentina. It was about 1:30 am when I got down there to find the tile by the door was a puddle and when I knelt down to wipe up the water my knees were drenched on the carpet. I ran and got every towel I could find and began to mop up but as fast as I mopped more water came in. I ran and got a bucket and a mop and tried that but the puddle in the carpet grew and grew. It was WET!!! Ok, now it's 2 am and the down pour has lessened. I decided I HAD to go out and unclog the drain in the stairwell. I pulled on some clothes and shoes, found my tiny flashlight, and went out in the steamy night air. I had to dodge the fallen rose bush arbor that had gone over during Irene and slosh through the mud to the stairwell and down to ankle deep water. I was able to clear the very little amount of debris and leaves that had clogged the drain and keep clearing it till all the water drained. Back inside to mop up as much of the water drenching the carpet near the door. Fortunately, it was about a three foot square area. Every towel in the house helped me and I just kept stomping on the towels on the floor and dumped them in my bucket till I had gotten the worst of it up. I lugged the sopping wet towels to the laundry room tub and wrestled with the dehumidifier we had just stored away in the storage area back into Tim's room. Got it going and went back to flop on my bed exhausted. I texted Jeff at 3 am just because I needed to share my fun with him, "Do you know how many leaves it takes to clog the drain and have water flood into the basement? Three!" Jeff happened to be awake to he texted back, "I'm sorry"...so we texted back and forth...thank goodness for texting since we couldn't talk on the phone! I had the sympathy I needed and fell fast asleep! The next day I learned that so many people had it really bad and roads were literally washed away. My puddle was nothing! Oh, and the dehumidifier did the job! We did not have to pull up the carpet! I'm so thankful I checked the basement!

Here's the washed and dried stack of towels ready and waiting if needed again. When Jeff got home we moved the dresser to make sure all was dry underneath.

Another moment when we moved Tim a week later...

I took pictures of Tim and Jeff moving his washer and dryer. You know you are an adult when you own a washer and dryer!

And the washing machine!

The truck is loaded!

Jeff and I stayed at the Holiday Inn right on the ocean in Corpus Christi. This was our view each morning as we ate our breakfast. It was sticky and hot even with the ocean. The wind blew constantly so it keeps you "cool".

Here's Tim and one of his room mates since January, Kyle. Kyle is a Marine and he got C-130's so he'll be staying in Corpus for his next phase of training. The guys are standing in the empty lot next to their house which backs up to a canal. Kyle and Tim were great partners in crime in the kitchen we hear!

Crafting Fun!

For those of you who know me well you know how much I love Mary Engelbreit. She is the queen of cute! I have wanted to bring ME "cute" to my laundry/craft room 'cause that's the only place I could decorate with pink! I spend a lot of time in there crafting. It's my therapy! Now I LOVE walking into such a bright fun space.

I love walking in to be greeted by the fun skirt on the ugly wash tub...much better!

The back of the sewing machine desk no longer looks like the back of a desk!

Above the double doors I had fun with pink stripes. ME art with black and white polka dots...that's the common thread through out...black with white polka dots! I painted around the edge of the cupboard doors. No more 80's oak trim! Padded picture boards are attached to the doors waiting for grand kid photos for inspiration! Baskets above hold almost all of my fabric...color coordinated!

Jeff hung the shelf above the dryer for me. I think I'll put rags and work towels in the pink baskets. The curtain covers up the ugly water hoses to the washer.

Cricut and Sizzix organization...paint...and ribbon! All easy to use!

First project in my spiffy craft room: apple garland and chunky apples I've had for years...finally painted!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi

I wanted to quickly upload some photos of our trip to visit Tim. We leave today but thought the grandparents would enjoy these photos. Tim took us on a tour of the base which in all honesty is just ugly! The part that is important looks good...the planes! Tim showed us up close and personal the T-34 that he learned to fly. Notice no hats while out there due to the fact if they blow away it's not a good thing for airplanes! He was a part of the Boomers Squadron.

Note: after viewing the pictures I see that each set of two photos that I uploaded are backwards....second one happened first; first one happened second. But, you get the idea! No time to fix right now!

On Wednesday we loaded the truck and moved Tim to Kingsville which is an hour away from Corpus Christi. Unloaded there and drove the truck back to Corpus where Tim is still living till he goes to NAS Lemoore, Calif. next week for centrifuge training.

Tim and Alison!

Tim finished his primary flight training to be a Navy pilot at the end of August. That means he got to come home for a long Labor Day weekend! We had not seen him since Christmas and he hadn't been back to Annapolis for just under a year. New twist to this trip was that he was joined by his girlfriend, Alison Kramer! Tim arrived Wednesday evening and Alison flew in from Kansas City Thursday night. She works and lives there in the area so they have had a long distance relationship which made for a fun reunion for them in Maryland. We were pleased to meet Alison in person. She's so easy to have around and we got to know her over the time here. One of my favorite times was when she wanted to look in all the old photo albums and see Tim's earlier years! Alison is a delight! Here are some photos from their time here.

We toured USNA. Jeff and I got to tag along!

They went for a run. Tim said she had quite a kick at the end!

A nice dinner date on the Severn River!

Hanging out in watching TV!

And then it was time to say good bye. Alison said, "You should take a picture with your mom!" Sweet! They flew to Kansas City since Alison had to go back to work and Tim stayed till Thursday then flew back to Corpus Christi, Texas for the last couple of weeks attached to that base before moving to Kingsville, Texas for jet training.

We have swimmers!

Quick update! It's Friday and we went back to Gr8t Gpa's pool this afternoon. We met Aunt Nancy and Leah there for the BEST time ever! Cami has come so far in just three times of swimming. Today she was confident with just the arm wings on and loved jumping off the steps and going under all on her own. My thumbs are still sore from her squeezing so hard the other day for dear life...hehe...not really but that's how hard she was holding on. We stayed close by but she was independent! Micah gained more confidence, too, and jumped into the pool MANY times to GPa with no wings, etc. It was so fun to see the progress! Jace was very sleepy and fell asleep on Grandma!

We got some pictures with Gr8t Gpa, too! Micah was brave and shook his hand!

We Are Already to Thursday!

Well, I have been busy and didn't have easy access to the computer, etc. when I could blog! Thanks to Jill for posting pictures on FB you have been able to see some of the fun we've been having! Dad will have to upload photos but I thought I'd give a few more details of what we've been up to!

Monday evening at the Cannons was a fun hot evening out in the back yard. You saw photos of our little Cinderella who LOVED her dress! Micah had fun with Uncle Jim who has a pitching machine with about 50 or more small whiffle balls. Micah would try to catch them.

Tuesday morning we FINALLY got to go to Leah's house and see the chickens! Cami had been asking about "Leah and the chickens" all the way! She was a little shy about going into the chicken coop but with Grandpa's help she went in and got to gather the eggs. A few chickens escaped but Leah just picks them up! Micah had fun swinging along with all the kiddos! Everyone had fun in the wading pool.

Tuesday afternoon we went swimming at Great Gpa Imbach's house. Oh, my goodness! Too much fun! Cami held onto me for dear life but go braver as the time went on. She loved jumping off the step while squeezing my thumbs and discovered she loved to go under water when she jumped (NOT letting go, mind you!)But, very good at catching her breath when she went under! Micah loved playing with Grandpa! Jace had Jill; Leah had her grandma; and Cannon had his mommy. Great ratios! We kind of traded kiddos everyone once in awhile. After swimming we all piled into Great Gpa's apt and he had cookies for us. Gpa wasn't feeling great but he did come out in his scooter chair for a little while to watch.

Tuesday evening Nate, Becky, Leah, and Cannon came over for dinner. Lots of fun with batting practice since Nate and Becky brought a plastic bat. Then Uncle Jim pulled out the stops with water guns! He made it even more fun with squirt bottles. Cami held her own! Leah even got brave enough to join in the squirting squealing good fun! Hilarious! And felt great in the hot evening. Micah finally came to me once they were done and said, "Grandma can I get my jammies on?" He was drenched and knew the time was right for jammie time. He has been so responsible and cute the way he asks for things in such a polite, responsible way!

Wednesday morning Nancy, Jill and I took Micah, Cami and Leah to see Winnie the Pooh at the theater. Cami covered her eyes for most of the previews and climbed in my lap. It took a little convincing once Winnie the Pooh began that it wasn't scary:) The movie was so cute. Micah really enjoyed it! Seemed to feel quite grown up!

Wednesday afternoon swimming again and more cookies from Gpa! He understood that Cami and Micah didn't want to get too close. But, today while Micah was drawing pictures of what we are doing and I write the words he wanted me to draw a wheeel chair. Then he drew Gr8t Gpa and said Gr8t Gpa is great!

Wednesday evening we had dinner at the Cannons then packed up and moved over to Gma and Gpa Steiners. Each time we have mentioned Great Grandma Cami has told us about how her Great Gma died and lives in heaven. But, when we got here she got so excited when we pulled into the drive way saying she's been here before! Micah remembered the toys in the basket trunk. They have really enjoyed just playing with their own toys while we are here. Micah has been coloring in his Star Wars coloring book then cut out the pictures. He remembered where his mom found the scissors to use last year. Cami has water-colored a lot! She also shared her paints with Leah at Aunt Nancy's.

This afternoon Aunt Jill wanted to get Jace's hair cut since he is so hot. We went over to Perfect Cuts for the big event. I had them give Cami a bang trim, too. She looks so cute! Jace looked so grown up! Jace has been a fun play mate the whole time, too! After hair cuts we went to Kmart and got a slip 'n slide. LOTS of fun in the back yard! Jace loved it, too! Micah and Cami did a great job of running and keeping from plowing into Jace! Lots of fun by all three!

Ok, I think that catches you up!

Dad will have to add pictures later when we get to a place with wireless!

Love you so very much and want you to know we are loving your kids!

On Our Way!

Well, we are on our way after many months of planning! Jeff and I are taking Micah and Cami to California while Dan, Anna, and Josiah go to the Czech Republic for a missions trip. Aunt Jill and cousin Jace are joining us on our adventure! We are going to try and blog as much as we can so their mommy and daddy can see what they are up to!

We left by 2:30 this afternoon from Salem, Oregon in a stuffed-to-the-gills Chevy Tahoe and headed south to California! The kiddos had many fun surprises in the car along with special toys they knew about. It was so fun to hear their excitement as they discovered the surprises. Cami began right away to color on her dry erase board with the special crayons. So cute when we had just gotten to about Eugene she looked up and saw cows out the window along I-5 as her head had been buried busy with her coloring. She exclaimed in her Cami delight, "We're in California!!!! Look at the cows!" She kept doing that along the way when she would take time to look out the window. We FINALLY crossed the border into California when she was asleep! Micah immediately did kind of a little of everything tucked back in his cubby hole spot in the back. He won the prize for taking the first nap and slept for about 1 1/2 hours I'd say. Cami and Jace kept busy playing and watching movies on their own personal DVD players. Kids these days! Many thanks to Aunt Jill for helping with all the DVD's, snacks, toys, over and over. Grandma and Aunt Jill made a good team but it was Aunt Jill who really got a work out. We stopped for a potty break after about two hours which was perfect. On the road again and finally during Monsters Inc Jace fell asleep and soon after Cami was out! At about 6 pm!!! We pulled into the In and Out about 8:30. Ate outside in the wonderfully warm but not hot evening air. After that we got checked into out hotel....so much excitement! Aunt Jill and Jace went to bed but Micah, Cami, and Grandpa went swimming while Grandma watched. The pool closes at 10 pm and that's when we got there but they let us swim...so nice! The water was perfect and the night air was warm. A perfect combination! We didn't take the time to get floaties out since Grandpa was in the water with them. Micah could stand with his head above water in the shallow end. He loved bouncing/walking across the pool over and over! Cami loved playing on the steps and riding around on Grandpa's arms. After about 20 minutes we dried off and headed to bed! They were asleep when their heads hit the pillow pets! Oh, we read the next Bible story and I showed them the video of Mommy singing their good night song on my phone. They smiled so big and sang along on the splish splash parts. Micah kept thinking you were there like a video chat and was waving to you! So cute. They loved it! The end of a wonderful day! I didn't get the best pictures but here are a few from the car. We forgot to take the camera to the pool. So just imagine A LOT of fun! Love you!

For some reason I can't get the pictures to upload...it's late so I'll try again tomorrow. Good night!

Happy 4th of July From Our House To Yours!

Wishing a great holiday to all our loved ones so far away!

Eighteen Years Is All You Get!

Today I was driving through downtown Annapolis on my way out to church like most Wednesdays. I do the preschool Sunday School set up every week and the easiest way to get to the freeway is through town. I love to go through the historic part of Annapolis and past USNA. Today there was more traffic and people not sure where they were going. What I saw tugged at this mother's heartstrings: a family with a son about 18 years old and little sisters tagging along as mom and dad lead the way. Definitely looked like a family who just arrived to take their son and brother to I-Day tomorrow at USNA: Induction Day for the class of 2015. It's a distinctive look. Five years ago yesterday we took Tim early in the morning. By the evening we got to spend a precious last half hour with him in his new white works and dixie cup. He kept saying, "I don't know what to do. I just want to go home with you guys." Of course, he stayed and we left. This is the last photo we have of him that day.

I had been through leaving Dan, Jill, and Michael so this was nothing new. The day we left Dan at Western Baptist College; then Jill a year later at WBC were extremely sad days. Especially on the day Dan left for college was the first day I REALLY realized you have your children for 18 short years. Of course, Dan and Jill were just an hour away but the reality of life as we knew it was over. The day we left Michael at a pack station in the Sierra Nevadas after he graduated from high school took more strength than I thought I could muster as we drove away. Two years later (or so...I'm not sure) we said good bye as he left for the army. All that should have prepared me for saying good bye to Tim on I-Day. But, it still hurt just the same.

Good news is we get to see them all and life is not over. Just life as we knew it when they were home under our care is over. My advice to parents of young children? You get 18 years. Cherish those years! Make the moments count. The days go by slowly but the years fly by.

Sigh...it just helps to write it down. My heart goes out to all the moms and dads and families who will say good bye tomorrow. They'll make it. Just like we made it.

Quick Trip to Oregon!

Micah turned five years old June 20th and I didn't want to miss the big event so I flew to Oregon a week ago. Jeff was on his way to Fresno for meetings so he went early and spent the weekend with his folks. Good timing all around! Micah was born in 2006 five days before Jeff, Tim and I flew to Maryland to begin our new adventure in Annapolis. Micah's birthday will always be a marker for that new beginning. Tim began his Navy life three days later on June 28th which was Induction Day for the class of 2010.

The proud birthday boy with his new Nintendo DS

Micah had a pirate party complete with total of 10 boys!

"NO girls allowed!" at the party so Cami did "girl stuff" at a friend's house.

Micah shared his DS with Josiah.

Jace spent the night at his cousin's house with Grandma. He had to borrow a shirt from Cami! He loved pushing her doll stroller around and sitting in her little chairs!

I spent my time back and forth between Dan's and Jill's houses. Jace loves his key board! He called me a version of "Maw-Maw" or "Pop Pop" which he calls Grandpa.

I got to spend some time with Mike, too, which made the trip complete!

10th Company Family

We got this email the other night from Tim:

"Remember Chung from my company? (Mom, you drove him one time.) His dad
unexpectedly died a few days ago. They are having a memorial service
tomorrow evening. It's in Maryland. I don't know if you'd be
interested in going, but I thought I'd pass along the information. If
you could go, it'd be a way for me to be there for him (10th Company
Family.)"

Last night Jeff and I went to represent Tim. We were blessed beyond measure at the out pouring of love by the Korean community to Chung's family. In the midst of Korean-only language barrier we understood perfectly the language of love. The only words I understood were "Jesus Christ". That's all I needed. The comfort of knowing Jesus is all that matters and especially as death brings the final reality of the need for Jesus. We were blessed.

As we went through the line to pay our respects to the family Chung was so grateful and pointed out to his mother that we were Tim's parents. "Such a great guy", Chung said. When I offered my hand he gave me a big hug and said, "it means the world to me that you came" as I told him we were there for Tim who wanted him to know his 10th Company family was with him.

We are thankful to be a part of this family.

Happy Anniversary!

Thirty five years ago today Jeff and I were married on the grounds of a beautiful home surrounded by an orange grove in Exeter, California.

This morning we celebrated by going out to breakfast over looking a marina in Annapolis, MD. I don't think I even knew where Maryland was 35 years ago! We were best friends then and we are best friends today!

A New Thing

I was at the Hallmark store a few weeks back and saw these amazing "water beads"...I am too lazy to go look up the actual name so that's what I'll call them. Their display had a giant martini glass vase full of see through light pink ones and it looked so cool I just had to buy some and try them out! Of course, they were all out of the light pink so I got white...not as good I've discovered but still fun.

I got clear and red ones, too, but I'm taking those to my girls in Oregon next week..shh..don't tell them. They come in a test tube type thing.

You add two quarts of water and let them soak overnight. The next day you find them like this...very soft and wet!

They say to add a teaspoon of bleach to keep them fresh.

Then add flowers! You can use fresh or silk! Can you guess which are real?

So I decided I didn't want the silk daisies and changed them out for fresh rosemary, more lavender, and some Sweet William from the garden.

A little more fun from the garden! We had a couple over for dinner last night who are from Missouri. He is on a temporary detail in Jeff's office and his wife is here with him. Here's the centerpiece I put together with the sweet vase from Nancy! LOVE! I don't know if I'm happier these days because of the flowers or because I cheat and add a tiny bit of REAL coffee to my decaf every morning! Maybe a little of both!

Oh, and as for the the "water beads" I think I'd like them better in a giant martini glass vase! But, they are fun! Once they lose their moisture you just soak them again!

Almost forgot to show my bouquet of hydrangeas from the other day! They are on the coffee table in the living room and I must say they bring me as much joy as Jeff's birds. I love the birds, too, but he REALLY loves the birds!