Improvements

We have been making improvements to the house recently..well, more accurately, we're having them done..this picture is perhaps the most dramatic. This is the back of our house...it was awful..it's been powerwashed..WOW!!!

I've titled this by the weedless shed..now we just need a step!
Last year the patio got finished and this is a privacy fence. I want to put roses, I think, in front of it..it needs some color..We'll paint the trim maroon and then use some kind of weather proofing on the rest.

For years we have barbequed on the balcony off our bedroom. Reg is building a shelter for our BBQ's..yes, that's plural. We just bought an actual BBQ for slow cooking. The shelter will be big enough for both the BBQ and the gas grill.
All that's left is the roof. Reg got the materials today. We should be up and running real soon!!

Father's Day 2008

Today was our annual Father's Day outing at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. This was Tillie's first time..I think someone said we've been doing this for 9 years. We have a tailgate party afterwards..it's great fun! Here is Miss Tillie Anne at 21 months. It's hard to believe she's almost 2!!!

The astronaut baby!! ( I guess she's really not a baby anymore..but oh, so cute!)

In order to understand this picture, you need to look back at our Father's Day outing in 2006..Well, Anthony was serving in Iraq then, so we took a picture of a pregnant Emily in front of this airplane.. We sent it to Anthony!

Maverick and Goose!!

Ok..this is the Smart Car..It is the funniest looking car..Talk about feeling vulnerable..I could handle something like this if everyone else on the road was in the same..The van is a future possiblity..

For those of you who know my Armenian heritage, you'd understand the significance of this! :)

At the tailgate party..my cute Tillie..More visiting going on.

The annual Dad picture of 2008.

Memorial Day

Father and son on the patio, sharing good conversation and cigars..well, I wasn't quick enough, Reg had finished his..

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day!

Wild Wake Up

It's been a long time since I posted here. A lot has happened. This morning though I had one of the wildest wake ups ever!

Emily and family have been down this weekend and stayed with Anthony's family. The 3 of them are all in one room and any mother who has had her child sleep in the same room knows that you hear every move, noise, etc..especially when you're not used to having them in the room( and, Dad sleeps right through it all). So, for 2 nights, Emily didn't get much sleep..Conversely, Tillie hears things too and woke up much sooner than normal. This morning, Tillie woke up sometime in the 5AM hour. Emily didn't know how to work the tv remotes at her in-laws and was sleep deprived and emotional, so she and Tillie came to our house..at 5:30ish!! I've been sleeping on our couch recently because of a sore arm..I was sound asleep and heard a LOUD scream! After flailing on the couch, I saw Emily sitting on the other couch and Tillie was near the stairs and she was screaming! We think she was afraid of the fan..needless to say it was not the best start to the morning..but, we got a couple of hours with our granddaughter!!! The whole episode now seems funny..Emily said my reaction was hilarious! I'm so glad I could provide such entertainment!

No pictures to post this time. As soon as Emily posts some Tillie swimming pics, I'll hijack them and post them.

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend!! This is Thursday before, visiting my Mom. I noticed in this picture that Mom really looks like my Gram here. My cousin, Andi, noticed it too!!

Easter afternoon we headed up to Bob & Andi Pistay's..(Bob's my cousin!!) This is Tillie (duh) and their dog, Cayenne..a real gentle retriever..
Andi set a beautiful table as usual. That's a skill I haven't mastered yet..oh well...Hollister thinks I make great gravy! (Inside joke)

Here's a goofy picture of Tillie and me!

Ems and Cayenne. The Hearn family really misses having a dog sometimes..Especially being around wonderful dogs like Cayenne!!

Here's a pretty Easter girl..Did I mention I bought her Easter dress..It was so pretty..a little long, but oh so pretty!!

When Tillie would stoop down her dress would look really cool!

This is Brian, Reg and Bob looking at a computer at boats and planes..The Pistay's are a sailing family. Bob started sailing way back in the 60's. I got to go with them back in 1968. It was when my (maternal) Grandfather passed away and my sister and I were getting pawned off on various people. Bob's family tooking us sailing..All I really remember was Bob making the boat go way over on it's side and my Aunt yelling at him..It was pretty funny! Too bad I don't know the proper sailing terms..:)

Bobby Baby!! My cousin! He calls me Chuckie!

Here's Tillie in the Pistay antique high chair that they've had since Brian was a baby!

Andi & Brian. I didn't get far enough back, but Andi is holding Brian....I hope she survived! tee hee!! Hey Eliza..remember Brian as a bratty little kid?? He's all grown up!

We started Easter Sunday at Moriah Foursquare. Celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ! We combined all the different groups that lead worship. It was a great service! John 3:16 says "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in Him would have everlasting life." What a gift!!

These 2 pictures are Emily and Tillie...The one on the left is Tillie at 17 months..the one on the right is Emily at 14 months..this doesn't quite capture it, but when you see Tillie in person and then look at the picture of Emily, the resemblence is amazing! Tillie and Ems were down this past weekend and when people saw the picture and saw Tillie, they couldn't tell them apart..including Reg!! There have been pictures when we all say she looks like Emily and others where she looks just like Anthony..

Spagetti

This past weekend the Maier's came down and on Saturday we went to Poulsbo and got to introduce Anthony and Tillie to some dear friends of ours..I scored and got a picture of Anthony. I guess he can't hide when he's sound asleep.

When we got home, David came over and we had a family spagetti dinner. It was Tillie's first spagetti dinner! This is the before picture!
Uh..this would be after! Babies and spagetti are too much fun!

Then of course is the cleanup! Love you Tillie Girl!!

One last picture

I had this picture in the last post, but somehow deleted it..This is a totally Grandma bought outfit!! It's so much fun being a Grandma!

Where have all my children gone?

This past weekend we celebrated Emily's 21st birthday..we are no longer parents of children! WOW!!

Before we headed out, we had the piano fixed. We had some roof damage with all the storms in the last 2 winters and it leaked onto my piano..Fortunately it was an easy fix..the roof..a bit more expensive! :)

Emily's actual birthday was on January 21st. She had various celebrations and this past Saturday the family celebrated. The party was held at Albert and Kathryn's, in Bellevue.

Ems blowing out her "candle." I forgot the candles..thank goodness for tealights!
Anthony, ever camera shy...well, we got the elbow! What an elbow!

What's a blog posting without pictures of Tillie Anne! Don't worry, there's lots more!

Married for 60 years, Reg's folks, Don and Linda..sitting next to DJ

Now Emily has been officially initiated into adulthood..Tequila shots! Corrupted by her elder siblings!

A very special picture..

Reg and I spent the night at Albert and Kathryn's. Sunday morning, Reg and I went up to Bothell and went to church with Emily at the new church she's found. Afterwards we had a quick lunch at McDonalds..And guess what..more pictures of Tillie!!

cheese anyone??

The first part of our big year is over. Now we wait for September when Reg turns 60 and we celebrate our silver anniversary!

Vacation

For many years my friend Anne Bourgeois and I have been planning to spend our 50th birthdays together. (we're 12 days apart..she's older!) At first we talked of meeting somewhere warm, spas, Vegas..Anne came up with the idea that I should come to visit her as I had never done that in all the time she's been gone from Washington..hmm..that would be over 28 years! Anne's husband, Steve, told Reg he should come along and they could do battlefields while we shop..not a bad deal, so on January 10th, Reg and I headed out for Richmond, VA. We flew on separate flights..it just worked out that way..that's the short story. It was cool though as Reg and I came out into the terminal area about 20 minutes apart. The picture below is to show all in the Northwest there really is sunshine out there.

The Rockies, from the airplane.

My flight went from Seattle to Dallas, then on to Richmond. I had sunshine all the way. It was wonderful! Especially as it got warmer..
Anne and I at the famous Trellis restaurant in Williamsburg, VA. We are sharing a Death by Chocolate cake. The Trellis restaurant's claim to fame is that their chef (not sure if it's a past or present chef), came up with the original Death by Chocolate cake..
A closer look..it was yummy! Really yummy! I did NOT check my blood sugars for awhile.

A street in Williamsburg, VA. It was 70 degrees on Friday.

Friday ended with a great dinner at Alexander's in Petersburg. It was to be our treat as a big thank you to Steve and Anne for their hospitality..however, there are still restaurants that don't take plastic..thank goodness Steve had cash! :)

Saturday we headed north to Washington DC. (The next 2 pictures are reversed..) The Smithsonian has added a new section of their air and space museum at Dulles Airport. They have a shuttle there and it is HUGE!! Reg kept saying over and over..I can't believe how big it is!! We spent Saturday night at the Marriott Gateway in Crystal City. (On the Virginia side of the Potomac). We had a wonderful dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. It's a fairly new chain owned by Ted Turner..the ex Mr. Jane Fonda. The food was outstanding and our waitress was wonderful too. We must have made some kind of impression because both the manager and the chef came and visited our table. To top it off, the restaurant did take plastic! We were able to treat!! On Sunday we then went the main air & space museum. In there they have pieces from the American History Museum since it is undergoing renovations. Here is the Scarecrow costume from "The Wizard of Oz."

The Shuttle, Enterprise

We spent time on the mall. The monuments and buildings are awe-inspiring. The weather on Sunday had cooled quite a bit from our 70 degree Friday, but the rain held off until we were heading back to Steve & Anne's.

The Capitol Building.

Reg's sister, Nadine and her husband came down from Delaware to have lunch with us. We went to a wonderful mexican restaurant (in Chinatown) called Rosa Mexicana..oh my oh my!! The food there was wonderful. I think I may adjust my guacamole recipe a bit. We had such a good time.

We headed back to Steve and Anne's around 5:30PM. It was about a 2 hour drive. Their home is in Prince George, VA which is about 40 some miles south of Richmond. Our whirlwind vacation was coming to a close. As whirlwind as it was, it never felt that way. We had a really great time! You can click here to see more pictures

We headed for home, on separate flights, Monday. Mine went without a hitch. I even had my own row from Dallas to Seattle and landed a half an hour early. Reg, on the other hand, didn't have the same good fortune. When I landed in Dallas, I had a voice mail saying his flight from Richmond had been cancelled. All he knew was he'd be on a Continental flight arriving sometime around 12:30AM..He ended up landing at 11:30. Fortunately for us, Reg's folks live minutes away from the airport, so I waited there for Reg's call. He called twice..the second to say his luggage was lost! :) If I wasn't so tired, I think I would have laughed. Because we were worn out, we decided to stay with Don & Linda and drive home in the morning. I traded shifts with Erika and got to work at 12:15PM..I worked until 7 and both Reg and I were wasted..

So, thank you Steve and Anne for such a wonderful long, weekend. We had so much fun and it was great to finally see your home! We'll be back!!

A New Year

Today is January 1, 2008. 2007 is behind us now! I am glad! It's been a year. The year for me has been dominated with my folks. It has been hard to see their decline. Going through John Henderson's death with Reg has been difficult and to see Reg suffer the loss of his best friend. It's been hard releasing Emily and Tillie into Anthony's care and it's been hard to see DJ move out. That said, it's been a joy to watch Tillie grow and to see her learn new things all the time. It's been cool to see my kids grow up and live as adults on their own. Reg's girls are doing wonderfully with their spouses. Both Kathryn and Eliza had great things happen this year. We have been so fortunate as a blended family. It has worked!!

I read this on another person's blog and it is perfect! The Book is "A New Kind of Normal" by Carol Kent (Thomas Nelson, 2007). She includes eight choices we can think about as we ponder what 2008 might be.

When despair tries to take me under … I choose life

When I wonder what God could possibly be thinking … I choose trust

When I desperately want relief from unrelenting reality … I choose perseverance

When I feel oppressed by my disappointment and sorrow … I choose gratitude

When I want to keep my feelings to myself … I choose vulnerability

When nothing goes according to my plan … I choose relinquishment

When I want to point the finger … I choose forgiveness

When I want to give up … I choose purposeful action.

By our own attitudes we can have a say in how our year turns out. There will be cirucumstances beyond our control, but we can choose our response! I hope to always choose the positive.

Have a GREAT 2008!!