Betsy and Andrew are home from Colorado for a couple of days!  We went to Florida for an ASL Silent weekend and came home late last night.  Then, tonight, Amanda and Sam and kiddos came over for dinner, and Suzanne came home to see everyone!  It is soooo nice to have everyone home!

Here are just a few pictures of our evening - 

Uncle Andrew is reading a book of signs and teaching Megan and Charlie to sign the words -

                         

                         

And then Aunt Betsy is showing more signs to Megan -

                         

                         

Here are the books they are using.  Betsy is a rep for Baby Signs, and sells these books and other products.  I have bought quite a few from her now!

                         

Later, we all loved watching Aunt Betsy and Uncle Andrew juggling!

                         

And we were so glad that Aunt Suzanne was home!

                         

We live in the area of Virginia that has gotten some terrible wind storms the past several days.  Power had been out in so many areas.  We have been very fortunate to have had power the whole time, as well as water and internet, and we have been very thankful, as so many of our friends are making it through this heat without those things we have gotten so dependent on!

Last weekend, at the Silent Weekend in Orlando, I took quite a few pictures.  I'll show those next time!  I am still having a lot of trouble getting pictures on xanga.  No, that's not entirely correct.  I can get the pictures on xanga now, but I can't get more than a few onto my blog from xanga, using Google Chrome on my new IMac.  What's up with that?  Maybe I can remember to ask Bets for some help before she leaves for Colorado. . . which is tomorrow.  Yikes!

I am soooo thankful for the blessing of having them all here for dinner tonight!

 

What does a mother do when her daughter, who is deaf, texts from Colorado, that they are under a tornado warning and that she could feel the storm going on outside?  Pray!  It was close to midnight here, and I had just finished up a book I was reading.  Betsy knew what to do in a tornado warning - stay low, away from windows, etc - but of course if there had been a warning siren, she couldn't have heard it.  Andrew was at work.  Their power was on, the TV was working, Luna, her hearing dog, was asleep, and I assume that if there had been any kind of sirens, she would have alerted Bets, even though, to my knowledge, she hasn't been trained to alert to tornado sirens.  I texted Bets to stay calm, pray, and remember that God is faithful.  Then I fell asleep praying as well.  And this morning, there was a facebook status from Andrew that they survived the storm.  Praise the Lord!

I know a LOT of people in that area of Colorado now, and many of my friends have family members there.  The pictures on the Weather Channel online of Denver, Colorado Springs, and then the northern areas, where Greeley is, show a very severe stormy night, although I have not heard of anyone hurt in the storms.  

Does anyone out there have news to share?

Last Saturday was our local HANDS picnic - Hearing ANd Deaf Signers.  I got a few pictures.  It was a beautiful day, a little cool and windy, actually, which was a pleasant change from the heat we had been having.

 

But I forgot to show this mug that I bought at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last month -

                                    

 

Now for some pictures of the picnic -

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

 

I had more!  Where did they disappear to?  Is anyone else having this problem?  Next time, if I can remember, I am going to try to only upload a couple of pictures at a time, then locate them to write about them, and see if that works!

                                  

                                  

I haven't blogged for almost the whole month of May!  What have I been doing all that time?  For one thing, I got a new computer, and I have been learning to use it!  Getting pictures where they are suppose to be and finding them to post on a blog is quite a challenge still. 

I have been working on some projects around the house - cleaning carpets, organizing drawers and closets, and I spent several days cleaning my screened in porch.  It has been too hot to use it too much, but I do like to go out in the mornings sometimes with my coffee and knit.

                                           

                                           

 

I bought some flowers and herbs to put in pots on my deck -

                                           

                                           

                                           

                                           

 

I got the quilts that I made for my grandchildren all back from the machine quilter, and I put the bindings on -

John's is a dinosaur pattern -

                                            

Megan's has cute little cupcakes, paper dolls outfits, and other sweet pictures on it -

                                            

Charlie's is big enough for his twin bed, and it has construction vehicles and signs on it.  This is part of the front -

                                            

And the back has this panel in the center -

                                            

Jim held it up for me here to get the whole back -

                                            

Memorial Day weekend started out busy.  Some out of town friends who used to live here, Sherrie and Bob, were back in town for a visit.  We had them come for dinner on that Saturday night, and the kids came over, Suzanne came home, and we invited some other friends to see them.

Aunt Suzanne and Megan -

                                            

Aunt Suzanne came with gifts for the kids, so Megan was quite a happy girl!

                                           

                                           

John was just playing -

                                           

He loved it that Uncle Roger was giving him some iced tea to drink!

                                          

Charlie was playing with Chad -

                                         

Here are some other random pictures of the evening!

Lynna and Sherrie -

                                         

                                         

Here is one with Pam in it -

                                         

And here is Jim -

                                         

Some of the guys chatting -

                                         

And you can see Rachel in the corner of that picture.  Rachel is Lynna and Roger's daughter.  She goes to Bridgewater College.  She left today for a missions trip to Bulgaria!

So, that was our fun month of May!

 

                                           

I spent the weekend outside of Baltimore, MD, at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  I had never heard of it before, and it was such a fun experience!  I went with my friend Pam, who had heard about it, got all the info for us, and made us hotel reservations.  The Festival is the first weekend in May every year, in West Friendship, MD, and it is huge!  LOTS of people!!  Who knew?

For this city girl, it was quite an experience!  Sheep, alpaca, lots of vendors, food, demonstrations, shopping.  On Saturday, Suzanne met us in the morning, and the three of us walked all around, saw as much as we could, and did some shopping.  It was hot and sunny - too hot and too sunny for my tastes, but at least it wasn't raining!!  We were advised to arrive EARLY, bring lunch to keep in a cooler in the car, and wear comfortable sneakers.  We did all of that, and it was great advice!  We got there early enough to get a good parking spot, easy to walk back and forth with purchases and to take a lunch break.  We stayed until around 2 PM, when we were too hot and tired to walk around one more minute.  Suzanne drove back to Leesburg, about an hour away, and Pam and I rested in our room for awhile, knitted, then went out for dinner and some mall shopping. 

Pam and I went back for part of Sunday.  I got lots of pictures!

 

Lots of sheep!  And some adorable alpaca!  Some being sheared, some being judged, some just hanging around!

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

                          

 

We watched a demonstration of some border collies herding sheep.  It was fascinating!

                          

                          

                          

                          

When each dog was finished with his/her job, they went back to the place where they were to wait their turn again.  This one dog jumped right in the tub of water!  We think that was part of the show.

                          

 

Here are some other things going on at the festival - music, spinning, beautiful spinning wheels for sale =

                          

                          

I thought this was an interesting vendor - I didn't know this museum existed, and it is close to Jim's parent's in PA -

                          

 

Lots of vendors.  This is a photo of inside one of the buildings -

                          

 

I have other pictures, which uploaded onto xanga, but have disappeared.  Maybe they will show up another time.  Here is a final shot of sheep, with Pam!

                          

 

We had such a good time!  I am anxious to get back to my knitting now. . .

                          

                          

                              

 

It was a strawberry jam morning here!  Amanda and I made about 26 jelly jars of freezer jam.  Yum!

It's strawberry season in this part of Virginia!  A very popular local farm is open for pick-your-own-strawberries.  We have been going for years, to pick strawberries and then make jam.  We have done freezer jam and processed jam.  My daughter, Amanda, is really the one who continues to keep us doing this year after year.  And now that she has her own family, we need more jam than ever before!  We have decided that we like the taste and look of the freezer jam better, so that is what we are doing this year.

 

So, our plan has been, and still is, that next Friday, Suzanne is hoping to come home if her schedule allows, and she and Amanda take the older two kiddos to the farm, while I babysit for John.  John would just sit and EAT all the strawberries, we are sure of it.  And now we think he is allergic to them.  Sigh.  Not a good allergy to have when your family loves to pick, can, and eat strawberries.

 

But last night, I was over at their house for a little while because I needed Sam to look at my phone, which was having issues beyond my comprehension.  I asked Amanda if she was getting together with some friends today - something she often does on a Thursday morning, sort of a park day play time for all the kids.  She said no, that the other mothers were going to the strawberry farm, and she was going next week and didn't want to take all the kids this week.  But, I said that I would be happy to babysit for John if she wanted to go ahead and take Charlie and Megan, and meet her friends at the farm.  And Sam and the kids wanted more strawberries!  And if for some reason our plans for next week don't work out, they would have at least gone once.

 

So, this morning, she brought John over early.  I love to have the kids one at a time occasionally!  It gives me lots of time with them, and in John's case, he could play without being distracted by trying to keep up with his big brother and sister!  We had a great time!  Here he is, playing in the kitchen with "stuff" he pulled out of my drawers -

 

                              

 

There was a lot more than those things all over the floor, trust me! 

                              

 

We played, and signed songs and nursery rhymes, and had a great time.  Then Mommy and kiddos came back, and they brought - strawberries!!

                                     

 

And, they played some more in my kitchen!  They strung those shoe-lace-like strings, as they often do, from drawer to drawer to make a play area.  The strings aren't knotted onto the knobs, so, although it looks like it could be dangerous if one of them ran into it, especially John, it isn't, because they just fall off.

 

Tomorrow, we are making jam out of the strawberries they picked!  The kids were quick and helpful, and they picked 4 bucket-fulls!  And the strawberries are large and sweet and delicious!

Happy Birthday to Suzanne!

                 

             

Here are some more pictures from the wedding reception this past weekend.  The evening reception was held at a lovely country club.  The food was delicious, and I knew a few people there and was happy to chat with some people I hadn't met before.  And Betsy and Andrew were there, so that was the best part for me!

        

Here is one of Evelyn Banks, who is Rachel's mom, and my longtime friend.  Again, many of my facebook friends know this family, so they will be the most interested -

          

 

Here is Jim Banks, father of the bride -

          

Rebekah, Rachel's sister,  and her husband Gray now have a baby, Caedmon - he is an adorable little boy!

          

          

Ian and James, Rachel's brothers -

          

Betsy was telling Rachel a story here, signing a story, actually, about an extra gift she made for Rachel - a book she put together of their journals and memoirs from their many trips to the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in Jamaica.  They went together many times, on short term missions trips and then as interns for several summers.

          

          

          

          

Stefan and Andrew watching the conversation -

          

Luna was there, and I got this cute picture of her putting her head on Betsy's lap -

          

Evelyn's sister, Jane, asked if she could pet Luna -

          

It was such a lovely wedding!  I am so glad I went!  Evelyn had asked if I could stay over on Sunday in St. Louis so that we would have a chance to visit!  You know how weddings are - you don't always get to chat with the mother of the bride!  So, on Sunday, I had lunch and dinner at the Banks' home with some of their extended family, and that was fun.  Then I left on Monday morning for home.  A 13-hour drive, and losing an hour for the time change, made for a long day.  I listened to murder mysteries on tape - one was a Mr. Monk book on tape, and the other a new mystery series to me by Joanne Fluke.  This was the Devil's Food Cake Mystery, which is actually the latest book of Ms. Fluke's.  I really enjoyed it! 

 

Now I have been home for several days, and I am still trying to get myself organized and catch up on some rest!  And I am back to reading Dickens!

 

Currently Dombey and Son By Charles Dickens see related

 

 

I drove to St. Louis this past weekend for Rachel Banks' wedding.  And Betsy and Andrew drove in from Colorado for it!

Here are just a couple of pictures to start with - I promise more later.  But so many of my facebook friends know the Banks', who used to live here in Roanoke, that I wanted to get some pictures up quickly.

Evelyn with Rachel and Stefan -

 

And Betsy, with Rachel -

 

I have more pictures of the reception, which I will try to put up in the next few days.  Exhausted after that trip - and trying to get unpacked and organized around here.