Mother's Day

As mothers, we are the family nurse, personal shopper, taxi driver, tutor, seamstress, maid, chef, counselor, etc, etc, etc . . . what a nice honor to have a day dedicated to us. However, the powers that be in Chelan decided many moons ago that the kids fishing derby would be best held on none other than Mother's Day. It is a fun event mind you and the kids love it but really does a Mom want to spend the day at the edge of the pond at the golf course helping her kids become master fishermen? I realize the most Dads will take the kids but in this family, Dave is allergic to fish of all kinds and cannot even help remove them from hooks so this Mom spent yesterday helping her kids get 5 trout from the lake (and got a good sunburn too).


Alas, this Mother's Day was also the first Mother's Day without Dave's Mom so it carried with it some extra emotions. I did this scrapbook page as a tribute to her yesterday as she was heavy on our hearts in this house.

My sister, Dad and I went together this year and got my Mom a new set of pots and pans. The ones she had were the set they got as a wedding gift almost 44 years ago. She was tickled to death with them and is so happy to have pots that are flat (as opposed to warped) on the bottom. She called me the first time she used them to tell me how fast she could boil water in them! As my sister out it in a text message to me, "I think this was a slam dunk" for Mom this year!


My kids flooded me with little gifts from school including a trivet from Kenzie with her handprint on it, a marigold that Chase planted and a few little books they wrote for me. It was a lot of fun. Daddy also helped them to get Mommy a "Mom" bracelet and a pin with their birthstone "kid" charms on it. It was a lovely day and I am so lucky to be a Mom!!

You are missed Mom!

After 9 days away to be with Dave and family after the death of his mother, we are finally back home. It was sure a tough start to 2010 and I can't even tell you what time I went to bed on New Year's Eve. The last week is a blur but I do know one thing and that is, the memorial was a lovely tribute to a great lady who I was so fortunate to call my mother-in-law. As my brother-in-law Kevin shared at the memorial, she could do a good job of butting in to everyone's business and never thought twice before opening her mouth and speaking her mind, but we wouldn't have wanted her any other way. Now the healing begins as we get back to our routine and learn to not look at the caller ID and know it was her calling on Sunday evenings right as we started a movie or whenever Edgar Martinez was on TV or sometimes even when Chuck Norris was on in Walker Texas Ranger.

I have seen more salt and pepper shakers since her passing and it is nearly more than I can do to not buy them for her as she would scold us if we shared that we saw some and didn't buy them. In the week we spent in Mount Vernon after her passing and leading up to her memorial, I drove past the thrift stores in Mount Vernon multiple times and wondered what treasures she would find in them if she were still here.

She is no longer fighting that awful disease of ALS which robbed her of so many things but left her mind intact. She was trapped in a body that didn't work how she wanted anymore. No more is she trapped!

We were so fortunate to have one last Christmas with her. We originally were to go to my parents' house for Christmas but as we saw her decline, the decision was made that we would bring Christmas to her. My parents brought their tree and ornaments, we brought stockings and gifts and we had a great time sharing Christmas with her. She told me in a note on Christmas Eve that after the holidays she was giving up but I NEVER dreamed she meant 5 days after Christmas.

I love you & miss you Mom and I will treasure forever the memories with you!

Good Bye Ma

After a long battle with ALS, my mother-in-law Betty Arendse passed away peacefully with her family around her in her home in Mount Vernon, WA on 12/30/09. She was a great lady and loved family, ice cream, collecting salt & pepper shakers and talking on the phone. In the last year of her illness she lost her ability to eat and to talk but she never lost her sense of humor or her independent spirit, determined to the end to live life on her terms. We are so happy that we got to spend one last Christmas with her. She lived a tough life, having buried 2 children and a husband. She will live on in our memories forever.

Happy Birthday Gramma Betty - a Great 77 years

Saturday was my mother-in-law's 77th birthday! She is suffering with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and is no longer able to swallow at all and is only able to communicate in writing. We are all facing the fact that she is failing and this may well be her last birthday. In honor of her big day, we got all of the family possible together for her day. There were in total - 3 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 7 grandkids, 8 great grandchildren and 10 friends! It was a fun day and she looked so happy to have them all there.

Here's to Gramma Betty - wishing you comfort and peace as you struggle through each day. Know that we love you so much and are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Megan made a fabulous scrapbook page for Gramma about the things she learned from her. i cannot say things better about Gramma so I will just include this picture . . .

She is here

Yesterday was a busy and exciting day. My sister had the baby and it is a beautiful baby girl - Rachel Jeanne (middle name is Melissa's middle name and also the first name of our aunt). She weighed in at 6 lbs 8 ounces and was 18 inches long. Mommy & Baby are doing well and plan to come home tomorrow morning. The kids and I are excited to be able to go over and see her. We are leaving as soon as the kids get out of school tomorrow about noon.

Dave decided he needed to be closer to his Mom for a few days before her surgery so he drove over last evening and is enjoying some one on one time with her and is able to help with getting her to last minute appointments and such that Kevin and Margaret have been doing for so long. He is very anxious about the surgery and I know he is feeling much better being there with her. The kids and I are making it without him but miss him and will be happy to see him tomorrow.

October is here

Somehow it is already October. I don't understand where time goes but it sure seems to fly the older I get. Kids are settled into their school and extracurricular routines. Mommy is getting settled into the idea of some "free" time two days a week. I know that fall is here as Mackenzie and I saw our first sightings of the big horn sheep on the way home from Wenatchee today. They were crossing the road about 2 miles south of Entiat. Boy did Kenzie enjoy that. Between the sheep being down and the first snow on Stormy this week we sure know that fall is here and winter is on the way!

My sister is having her baby tomorrow morning and we are all excited to find out if it is a boy or girl. Sarah has been excited about her new sibling until the last couple of days and now has decided she doesn't want it to come out yet but Melissa is done cooking it and this bun is coming out of the oven tomorrow!

Betty, my mother-in-law, has her brain surgery on Monday to remove a benign brain tumor that is pressing on her speech center and causing her to slur her speech a lot. We are headed to Seattle on Friday to be over there until Tuesday for the surgery. She will be in the hospital for a week and then to a nursing home for a month or so. Dave is quite nervous about it and rightfully so. He is very close to his mom and her health has not been the best so there are certainly risks involved but she made the decision to go ahead. For those who read and are so inclined, please keep her and the family in your prayers for a good outcome to this.

The kids have their Halloween costumes and want to wear them on a daily basis. Kenzie is being a dragon and Chase a ninja turtle (Leonardo to be exact). They have modeled them for anyone that gives them a chance. They will wear them to their respective Harvest Parties and to the carnival at the school on the 27th and then to trick or treat in downtown on Halloween. I have one bag of candy for here at the house although we have had a grand total of 6 trick or treaters in the 4 Halloweens we have been at this house. Most people go downtown and trick or treat with all the rest of us crazies. Dave will hand out candy at the store while I take the kids around. There is a picture included of the kids in costume with a little friend, Rylee, that we were babysitting. She had to get in on the action so I found Chase's Mickey Mouse costume from 3 years ago and it fits her great. She took it home and I guess to wears it nearly everyday as she thinks she is just the greatest thing in it.

Best Fall wishes to all and I am thankful for you all as friends.

Catch up Time

Well, it has been over a week since I sat down to catch up on the blog so here goes a long week synopsis.

This week is spring break for Chase so we took off Sunday to go to see Gramma Betty and the grown kids and grandkids in the Seattle area. We got to take Alura with us since they now live in Wenatchee and have the same school breaks. We stayed near Gramma Betty's house at a hotel that had a pool and that made the kids extremely happy. They got to go swimming two different evenings and are ready for the weather to get warmer so Mom & Dad can get our pool up and warming up for them.

We got to drive through the tulip fields in Mount Vernon as the daffodils are just in bloom and the tulips were just starting. The kids enjoyed pointing out to Daddy - there are more so he could take pictures. Mommy gave her opinion on picture taking too but informed Daddy that if he can backseat drive while in this cast and unable to really drive, then I can give photo taking advice.

Sunday was Dave's brother Kevin's birthday so we got to go to their house for dinner and Dave's other brother Ted was there too so it was nice to have the whole group together for the first time since Chase's first birthday.

We spent Monday with Gramma Betty and enjoyed some fun in her yard and watching movies at her house. Finished the day off with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The kids got to swim for quite a while that evening and then went to sleep quickly - from exhasution I am sure.

Tuesday we spent the morning with Gramma Betty and then went to Stephanie and Ken's to see all of the grandkids and celebrate all of the birthdays that are in the first part of the year that we had all missed with one another. Dave got to have all 6 grandkids in one place at one time - a rare event. The kids played hard and were pretty tired when we got back to the hotel but not too tired to go swimming so they got an abreviated swimming session that night.

On our way home on Wednesday we got to stop in Woodinville at meet Melissa & Sarah at the Country Village. They provided four loaves of cut up bread to feed the ducks (& one lonely bunny). The kids always enjoy that time. It was nice to see Sarah and Melissa. Sarah told us that Mommy has her baby sister in her tummy - guess she will be disappointed if it is a boy.

Yesterday was a day of rest as we were all tired - especially Mommy. We are excited about coloring eggs later today and the easter egg hunt on Saturday so there is lots of fun to come.

Both kids are happily counting the days till Mamma & Papa get here to visit - Chase has it in his head that Mamma is going to watch the new Charlotte's Web movie with him (he watched it last night and loved it) but I have assured him that Mamma loves him but not enough to endure spiders that are that real and that abundant.

Last but not least - today is Chase's 19th day off all meds and no seizures!!! Praise the Lord for success with that.