Tried some new

Dishes today.  Yummy.

It was nice

to come home last night.

When we pulled in, Natalie and Trent were here and had just returned from putting flowers on the family graves for Memorial Day.  The garden I was worried about surviving looked great, thanks to extra watering by Natalie and Trent.   Sharilyn brought over some enchilada's (yummy).   And everything looked so green.

I got the call from Britt at about 10 pm on Wednesday night, while sitting in the motel, that Gary had passed away.   I was glad he didn't have to linger on too long, and Lynn and the kids were all there with him.  I had been so conflicted about when to come home, but I felt like everything turned out as it should have.

Still lots of tears, but also a sense of peace.



 

Grateful to be a mother,

and grateful for the mothers in my life.   It's been a wonderful day, with Natalie, Trent, and Gary in the kitchen making a wonderful dinner/breakfast and getting sweet messages from the kids and grandkids.

Right after church we went to Gary and Lynn's, and Natalie sang for Gary.

I did a lot of crying, both listening to Natalie sing sentimental and beautiful songs and seeing Gary so weak.  Yesterday when I delivered the latest version of the history to him, I was feeling encouraged. Today, I'm not.  Through it all he is being so positive.  When I asked if he was too tired to hear any more, he said he never gets tired of hearing Natalie sing, but he is very agitated and was hurting today.

Lynn is amazing through it all.  She has been a caretaker for Chuck and Christine and her brother, Charlie, who had cerebral palsy.  I have been so blessed by Gary and Lynn in my life.  By their examples and by their love.

We were

bird sitting Aria today.  It is her 2nd hatch birthday, and Natalie and Trent had a dinner to go to.  I made her a treat of raspberries and bananas, which she loved.

But even though I bribe her and try to have her cuddle with me, she still prefers sitting on Gary right up next to his face so she can peck at his face.  I'm jealous.

To quote Poldark:

"Ain't right, ain't fair, ain't proper."

Throwback Tuesday -- Happy Birthday, Natalie!

 I'm going through old photos and scanned in these 1999 birthday photos of Natalie.

I thought I would throw in this picture of Tiffany cleaning out her ears the same year.

Here are photos from in 2002 before we replaced her bedroom door.  This is what it looked like before we installed a nice new white one.

Today we went to Carrabas for lunch and then came home and "seriously considered vegging" by watching two movies.

We love you Natalie!

Well . . .

Since my oven has been dead since Easter (thanks Roylance's for cooking 3 pans of rolls for me), I've had an excuse not to bake for a week.  So we had crepes for Natalie's birthday dinner tonight.  

Retro Hairstyles

Natalie is becoming an expert at Retro Hairstyles.  She really has a knack for it.  She is also becoming quite a cook.  When she came over this evening, she made us some wonderful paninni sandwich, which was very nice since I was home all day sick with a cold.

Anyway, back to the hairstyles.  This is her today:

 With Grandma Anderson's Scarf

She is doing a weekly hair challenge to try 1 new 

hairstyle a week.

Here are some from the last few weeks. 

She's beautiful and sweet.