Our Party Girl

Every family should have one:  someone who loves to party and have fun.  Our party girl happens to be Amy who had the misfortune to be born to a mother who isn't very good at throwing parties.  Oh, I gave her one or two during her growing up years, but I'm sorry to admit that they weren't anything to blog about.  I wonder if she even remembers them.  I probably wouldn't myself if I didn't have some pictures to prove that indeed, there were a few birthday parties to mark the beginning of a new year.

 So now that Amy is a mommy herself she is hosting parties for her own children.  And last Saturday, June 23rd, she invited us to help celebrate Chase & Joanna's birthdays.  Chase is a cool 6 and Joanna a growing older 4 years old.

Dawn & Tommy & Kira rode with Andy and me and we arrived at Amy's house around 12:00 noon.  The grill was already heating up hamburgers, turkey burgers and venison burgers.  I took a top ramen salad to add to the menu.  There was lots to eat.  After the meal, the guys, kids and Amy played a game of whiffle ball.  Dawn, Christy and the other women sat and watched.

 

The younger kids had fun playing in the kiddie pool and the sand box.

And of course, what is a birthday party without candles and singing.  Unfortunately, there was a pretty stiff breeze blowing so the candles couldn't be lit, but that didn't keep Chase from enthusiastically "blowing" them out.

Some interesting father/daughter shots:

And we got two lovely grandkids pictures.  Hmmm...which one is the best?

I'm not sure Christian appreciated the party favor!

 More random fun

So thanks, Amy, for a great party.  We all had a good time and it was fun being together.  We all benefit from your enthusiasm and fun-loving ways.

After I posted last week about my trip to Washington to visit my friends, I found several blogs by others on the friendship and the importance of relationships. 

One was from Christine Wyrtzen (christine@daughtersofpromise.org – posted on June 15).  Christine  jotted down names of people who refresh her when she’s in desperate need of it. What is it about each one? Each is:

·         Someone who is deeply at rest in the Lord.

·         Someone who is unshaken by life.

·         Someone who has had their needs met in Christ and can listen well without self-distraction.

·         Someone whose heart is full of the scriptures and it comes out of their mouth at just the right time.

·         Someone who inspires faith, not blind optimism.

·         Someone who whispers courage based on God's presence and promises.

·         Someone who prays for me, by name, with intuition and discernment.

How blessed we are to have friends in our lives who meet these qualifications.

Then yesterday I was on another of my favorite blogs, www.aholyexperience.com, where Ann Voskamp wrote:

And I’m thinking about the times I’ve been in my own bubble with my own agendas of accomplishments, drifting away from people and the true happiness disguised.

I’m remembering with a strange sadness a woman standing amidst the floral memorials of her mother’s funeral, telling us of her mother’s far-and-wide reputation for the important stuff of bleach and immaculate housekeeping.

I’m thinking about the time I’ve chosen to wash windows, tend a flowerbed, answer an email, instead of playing a game of bananagrams with a trio of loud boys, read an Eloise Wilken story to pleading eyes.

My pride was tangled up in the tasks.

Why doesn’t it always matter more to love well?

Is it because relationships don’t bring us paychecks or praise?

Loving well, stepping over hurt, laying aside self and desires, draws on more of our interior resources than investing in a career, a skill, a personal pursuit. And yet, there are no promotions. No public status. No guarantees.

Relationships grow only in the soil of humility, selflessness, open-handedness. Relationships are inherently risky: for all that, you can’t control the outcome.

Investing in relationships requires courage. It mandates daily fortitude and intentionality to make moment by moment decisions to prioritize relationships while balancing vocational demands.

Do my daily decisions support my belief that relationship is the essence of reality? Or do I merely pay lip service to relationship —  while the use of my hours clearly reveals true priorities?

The value of your life — is the value of your relationships. With God and men.

So because I value relationships, developing and maintaining them, I go to Washington to renew “auld acquaintances.”  And I babysit at the drop of a hat, the dirt will wait for me to tackle it another day.  I put my agenda aside to spend face to face time with Andy.  I don’t always do it perfectly, there are times when I am asked to do something for someone that I hesitate, weighing in my mind the value of such a thing or if I can fit it into my schedule.  But ultimately, God highly values relationship, it’s what makes the godhead so unique and beautiful.  God the Father, Son & Holy Spirit always together, in perfect harmony, love, joy --- relationship.

This past weekend, we were blessed to have Kira over for a day and a night.  Dawn & Tommy went to a wedding in Pennsylvania, so they brought Kira over around 1:00 on Saturday afternoon.  Of course, we had lots of fun with her.  She is such a joy, keeping busy with whatever she thinks of to do and inviting us to join her. 

  

She stayed overnight, we took her to church on Sunday, then Dawn & Tommy came by to get her around 12:00 noon. 

Soon after they left, Ricky and Amy and their kids came by.  We had lunch together, then strolled around our yard because Amy wanted to see all my flowers.  We walked to the pond and helped the kids throw sticker balls in the water.  They didn’t stay long because they had come down to get a couch from Andy’s brother Jeff.  But we were happy to have them here for as long as they were.

 

As it happened, I did have time this week to tackle the dirt.  The house had gotten pretty dusty from all the construction dirt that was generated with the kitchen renovation.  I’m working room by room, getting the worst ones first.  The front room is done, as well as the dining room and sitting area.  The kitchen is pretty much finished, with only 2 more finishing touches left to do.  Andy worked at painting the doors and putting in the thresholds on Tuesday.  All that’s left are:  1)  installing under the cabinet lights and 2)  putting in the kick plate under the cabinets.

I’m very happy with the way the kitchen turned out.  I can’t believe it was done with such a minimum of inconvenience, which is now a distant memory!

 

But realistically, this new kitchen will burn someday, along with the rest of the house and all the things we’ve accumulated.  But what will last beyond time and into eternity is the relationships I’ve developed over the years.  Can you imagine how wonderful it will be to spend all of eternity, no time constraints, with the people we love.  Wow!  Sounds like heaven!

Friends

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Chorus:
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say never
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.

With the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show

But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

The first time I heard this song was the day Andy gave his resignation at our church in Washington.  I cried fountains of tears as I listened, and that song has a special place in my heart ever since.  The people in that church are very dear to us and we miss them terribly still, even though it's been 25 years since we've left.

So earlier this year, I had a strong urge to go see some of those friends again.  We checked to see if we had enough mileage points on our visa to get a ticket to Seattle and we were able to buy one for only $60.00.  Emails were exchanged and plans were made.  I believe it was January that the ticket was bought for a trip in June.  At the time, it seemed so far away, but time has a way of marching on.

I left for a mini vacation to see these friends on Thursday, June 7th, arriving in Seattle around 4:00 pm.  It's a long flight, taking up a full day, even with the 3 hour time difference.  What fun, though, to see my friend, Helene, again in person.  To sit together, face to face, and get caught up on what's been going on in our lives the last number of years.  Our families are grown up now, with families of their own and it was fun hearing how God had worked through the years we had been apart.

The next day, Friday, Helene and I drove down to Richland to meet up with our friend Jeanie.  The three of us had been very involved in women's ministries, planning our retreats and ladies' events at the church and had many fun and happy memories of working together.  But it was more than just working together on church events.  We also did things together as families.  They were our "family" since we were so many miles away from real cousins, parents, aunts and uncles.  A beautiful bond developed between us that was strong and lasting.

The next several days, Helene, Jeanie and I just spent time together.  We sat on Jeanie's deck, drinking lattes and tea, taking walks on the bike path by the Columbia River, eating out, exchanging recipes, picnicking, shopping, and just being together.  What a treat.  On Sunday, we went to church together.  Jeanie had arranged for a luncheon in one of the rooms at the church and invited people to stop by to visit with me.  How fun to see everyone again.

KRP part 3

Believe it or not, we're in the kitchen and it is functionable.  Ahead of schedule...Andy is my hero!

 On Saturday, Christian came down again and Andrew, our college friend, also came over to help put things back together.  With the 2 of them and Andy, they were able to get the cabinets all back in place, put all the hardware on and still have time left over.  So they moved in the dishwasher, stove and refrigerator and hooked them all up.  Andy's dad worked on the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher so it was a busy place on Saturday, but by evening, everything was up and running.

I spent all Sunday afternoon, wiping cabinets, then putting things back in them.  It was exhausting and not at all a "day of rest."  But I got everything organized and back together.

Yesterday and today our contractor was back installing the backsplash and the base around the bottom of the floor.  He finished a little before noon.

 This little thermostat is to regulate the heating mat under the tile floor so I can have warm feet in the winter while I make dinner!  I can't wait to try it out!

So there are still some minor things that need to be done, but we're in and running.  I can hardly believe it took as little time as it did for as much work as we did.  I still have a lot of work to do.  My whole house needs to be deep cleaned from ceiling to floor because of all the construction dust.  But I'll do it as I get time and not stress out about it.  (I hope I can keep from stressing out about it.)

With my kitchen off limits to me, I've been occupying myself with outside work.  Fortunately, the weather has been beautiful and perfect.  So here are some more flower pictures.

Gumpo pink azalea

 3 yellow begonias that Christy gave me for Mother's Day

  Blanket flowers

 Sun drops

 abelia

 ice plant

 coreopsis & lilies