Hello again!

Finally, Hello again,
It has been so long since I wrote I had forgotten how to even get on my blog!
Needless to say the "kiddos" are growing up! Rori is 13 years old, Kayleigh is 11, Connor and Ryan are 10, Joshua is 9, and Elly is 6 years old! They all are the delight of my life!
We didn't go to Arizona this year as I was diagnosed with bladder cancer which began a new journey of Faith with God. I am presently having chemo and will have surgery sometime this summer. I already have seen God's hand at work in my life and others.

I almost forgot I had this blog so I think it is time I wrote a note on it. My grandchildren are really growing up fast and are still as enjoyable as ever. Rori is 12 and will turn 13 this year. She is becoming a beautiful young lady and is a delight! Kayleigh is almost 11 and also is a delightful young lady. Connor and Ryan are now 9 years old and Joshua is 8. Elly is now 5. Wow, they grow up so fast! We look forward to each time we can be together with each of them. They keep our minds active and I must say keep us younger! They all have a great time coming to our house and being in the forest. They love building forts out of the bushes and trees and this summer we are planning to build a "little house" with them, with real wood, windows, a door, and who knows what else. They can each be so very creative! We spent Feb, March, April and part of May in our motorhome on our trip to Arizona. It was a lot of fun as we took about three weeks to go, time there, and another three weeks to come home. During the summer we really enjoy staying around our home here in Washington as the summers are very pleasant and we feel like we are camping, being in the woods etc. All is well with us and we are looking forward to this coming summer spending time with family and friends.

Summer 2010

WOW, where did summer go? I blinked and it was over. We started out the summer by a GREAT camping trip to McIver Park in Clackamas, Oregon on the Clackamas River with Peggy, Ryan, Elly, Jerry and myself and our motor home along with Peg's two room tent. Ryan caught his first fish, then 5 more and we cooked and ate them. He was so excited! Have had the grandchildren out to our house several times and that is always so much fun. Ryan has made a hideout in our woods, Jerry put up our TP and riding the little ATV we have is always fun for them. The end of July Jerry had a bike accident involving a dog nipping at his heels which caused him to swerve and lose control of the bike and he went over the handle bars and onto the road. He shattered his elbow, injured his arm, had to have surgery with screws and a wire and is still recovering with physical therapy. That put an end to any traveling to the lakes nearby with the motor home. And that is where we are presently. He is better and is able to drive the motor home some, so we are planning a trip to the Oregon Coast next weekend with our neighborhood friends with motor homes.
The grandchildren are growing like little weeds and are such a joy to us. Seems like we never can see them enough, but school and life in general does get in the way!! So glad they are all nearby and we take the opportunities as they come.

Hello from Sunny Arizona

Here we are in AZ in our motor home on our lot in Happy Trails, Surprise AZ. We have had a good time here in the southwest. Did some touring in the Tucson,AZ area which was quite spectacular! Spent time in Quartzsite AZ visiting friends and exploring the desert in their ATV which was one of the highlights of our trip. We enjoy going to various lakes here in this area. Lake Pleasant, Bartlett Lake, Saguaro Lake, and along the Apache Trail out of Apache Junction east of Phoenix. There are several lakes on this road. One of our favorites is Canyon Lake. We will be leaving here around April 22, 2010 and heading northeast to Moab, Utah for about a week, then on to Zion Nat. Park to meet our neighbors, Mary Jo and Rick from home. We plan to spend 4 days with them looking over that area, then head northwest toward home. Should arrive near the end of the first week of May. I am certainly missing my grandchildren!! I am thankful that we can Skype with Elly, Ryan, and Peggy, but that is just not the same as giving them all big hugs. It has been a great trip so far and wonderful seeing all the many friends we have here in Happy Trails.

A new year means a new post! WINTER!

Wow, time sure goes by fast! Here we are in 2010 already. The grandchildren are growing up so very fast. It is such a pleasure to spend time with each one of them. They are each so special in their individual ways. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to have all six of them close by at the present time. Jerry and I also have some changes in our lives. Jerry is now the young age of 70. We had a family party for his birthday and his sisters came from Kennewick, Wa, and Eugene, Or. as well as all the family here in the area. It meant a lot to him. I finally retired from my job as Community Pregnancy Clinic Director in December. They had a dinner for me and it REALLY did mean so much to me. It was a very special sendoff. I still do some volunteering on occasion if needed and still teach the childbirth education classes. So, we are both really retired now. Soon we will be heading south to Arizona for a couple of months in our motor home. I always miss the grandchildren so much I am more than ready to get home. Our winter only consisted of one snowfall so far. I'm getting ready for spring already. It won't be long now. Will try to post again in the spring when we get home from Arizona.

Summer 2009

Finally, here I am and ready to post again. It is the end of July and it seems like much has been going on this summer. I can't believe it is the end of July already. The biggest event this summer is my daughter, Kathleen and her family moving back to Vancouver, Wash. So now I have all six of my grandchildren in the area. I am now working on getting a new and updated picture of Grandma in the Trees and all six grandchildren. I am soooo happy they are here. We also spent five or so days camping at Swift Lake with Peggy, Ryan and Elly. We took our motor home and Peggy had her two room tent. A great time was had by all. Lately we have been trying to keep cool in the latest heat wave of 107 degrees, and it has lasted about 4 days above 100 and now is starting to "cool" into the 90's. I never thought I would look forward to 90 degree temps here in the Northwest. I continue to work part time as director of the Community Pregnancy Center in Camas. Really do enjoy my job!! Someday I am going to have to think about retiring. Tomorrow I am looking forward to spending time with my two granddaughters, Rori and Connor. I may be a bit prejudice, but I sure have wonderful grandchildren, each one is so different, yet so very special to me.

Time Flys By

Wow, it has been a long time since I have written--March seems like eons ago!! We had a great time in Arizona, left there the end of April and drove to Iowa via Denver where we stayed with Tom and Diane Buckner. Tom was the best man in our wedding and we have known them for years and years. It was a great visit, but it never seems long enough. We then drove through Nebraska, and on to Iowa to visit Jerry's aunt who turned 100 in April. Mom was also there and we had a really fantastic time with the family there. We then headed across country through South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington and finally reached home. As the saying goes "there is no place like home" and it has been so good being here. Travel is wonderful, but home is home! We were able to see the two grandchildren(and their parents)in California and now we are anticipating a move for them to Vancouver in early August. That will sure be a blessing to have them all closer. Now I am back into the "swing" of things, back to work at the pregnancy clinic, and doing the day by day routine things. At present I am getting use to a new computer since my old one is really tired and oh, so slow. Since I am not very techy this is a challenge for me. Elly, Ryan, Rori and Connor have all grown since we left in February. They are all individually special to me and it is good to be with them again.

Time marches on. But I didn't forget my blog!!

Here it is March already and finally I am updating my blog. We left our home in Camas in February and drove our motor home to sunny Arizona. We stayed in Lake Havasu City at the county park there for several days and had a wonderful time. We took our zodiak boat out on the lake, rode our bikes and enjoyed the 70-80 degree temperatures. We then moved a few miles down the road to Buckskin Mountain State Park where we had hookups for the motor home and really enjoyed our stay there. We again took our little boat with our new motor out on the Colorado River and had a delightful time. We stayed an extra day here as it was so nice. They even had a campfire where I met some really nice people. We then drove not too far to Quartzsite Arizona where we stayed with our dear friends and neighbors on Livingston Mt. Deb and Larry Jensen. Again we had such a lovely time that I really didn't want to leave. But it was time to move on to our lot at Happy Trails RV Resort in Surprise, Az. Since our arrival we have been very busy visiting with our friends and neighbors here and spending time with my friend, but more like a sister, Cathy and her hubby Bob. The biggest problem while we are here is that I miss my grandchildren back home so much as well as the two in California. However, the good thing about being here is that we are only five hours away from them in Yorba Linda and plan to visit them in April before we head to Iowa to visit Jerry's Aunt Emma who is turning 100 years old. We will miss her birthday but will continue to celebrate with her when we get there. Then we head back home across our country. While we are gone Connor,had a birthday March 12 and turned 6 years old and on March 23 Ryan turns 6. It is so hard to miss birthdays!! I am glad that I have finally caught up a little on my blog. Next visit I will try to add some pictures of Az. and hopefully of Kayleigh and Joshua from our trip to California. So until later....

Time to blog again already

It seems like I have been neglecting my blog lately. Time is going to quickly and I really don't know where it has gone. I have been working hard lately at my really part time job as we put in a new computer program and we have been learning how to get the most out of it--how to work it. A challenge is always good for us older adults!!!
I also have a new hobby called geocacheing and am looking forward to doing some "treasure hunts" with my grandchildren. Should be fun and challenging. Another new adventure for this grandma is setting up a profile on "Facebook". It also has been a lot of fun to connect with friends and family whom I haven't seen or heard from in a long time. Next in line will be to get our motor home ready for our annual trip to Arizona. This will occur on or near the 21 of Feb. I am looking forward to seeing my family in California. It is always the highlight of our trip south.

Happy New Years 2009

Here we are in a new year already. Christmas was very interesting this year at our house as we were snowed in with a foot of snow and unable to get out to spend the day with any of our family. It was an unusual Christmas, but I must say it sure was beautiful. It truly was a "white Christmas". We finally did have our "Christmas Day with family on Sunday, December 28th.
Today is New Years Day and it is a stormy, windy, rainy day. Very dark and dismal, but it is a good time to get caught up on organization and thinking ahead for the coming year.
I was especially thankful and happy to receive pictures of each of the grandchildren for Christmas. They certainly are treasures for Grandmas and grandpas.

Finally, here I am again!

It really has been a long time since I have added anything here. Winter has come and Christmas is just around the corner. As I write this I am watching the snow come down lightly, but they keep predicting more. We will see. I do love the snow, but don't like not being able to get around. I don't have any real news. I have been working, training new volunteers at the pregnancy clinic, which is always something I really like doing. I attended a workshop in Olympia, Wa. last Thursday which was very good and informative. Peggy had a birthday this past week and we had a few hours to go shopping together while "Bampa" played with the grandchildren. Of course, we fit in a cup of Starbucks on our way home!!! Ryan spent a few hours with us a few days ago. We played games, and had a good time together. Rob, Jill, and the girls were planning to come over last evening for dinner, but Connor wasn't feeling well, so we will take a "snowcheck" (not raincheck) for another time. Enuf for now, I'll add some more over Christmas.

Where Does Time Go?

It seems like a long time ago since I entered a post. The beautiful fall colors are slowly leaving and being replaced by bare limbs and the look of winter. Time sure has a way of slipping by--and I always seem to be busy. One of the big events of the last few weeks was Elly turning 2 years old. We had a family get-together on her special day, November 12 and then on Nov. 14 we had another "party" for friends and family. She sure knew that she was the "star" of the show as she was so excited she really didn't know what to do!! This coming week is Thanksgiving already, and I am looking forward to having many family members at my home for dinner. We will have Rori, Connor, Ryan, Elly, and Ben here but will miss very much,Kayleigh and Joshua. And, yes, their parents come too as well as grandparents. So will add more after next Thursday.

Love These Fall Colors

Time sure has a way of going by quickly. It again has been awhile since I wrote. It seems like we are always busy and when someone asks me what I have done I think and guess I have simply lived and enjoyed life!!
I truly have been enjoying the beautiful colors this time of year presents. We have taken several rides around, one to Hood River and over Mt Hood and another across Livingston Mt. and up the Lewis River. Both were outstanding. The leaves around our house are so colorful. Sure hate to see them fall off and become "bare".

I now have a 9 year old granddaughter. Rori turned nine on Oct. 24th. We had a party at her house for the families and yesterday we took her to Michaels shopping and out to lunch. She is becoming such a nice young lady. My, how fast they grow up!!

Birthday Idea:
Schedule a birthday shopping trip with an older grandchild. Treat him/her to lunch after a shopping trip for their gift. Specify how much you will spend and leave the selection to the child. It is a great one on one time and special time together.

Work has been busy what with training volunteers, childbirth classes for the clients, our annual fall banquet which is coming up this Thursday, Nov. 6th. Also we had a going away party for my executive director who is retiring. We sure hate to see him go!!!

Friday's are my day with Ryan and Elly (unless there are other plans). It is a special time when I see Ryan off to kindergarten on the big yellow bus, and then meet the bus when he comes home. It is fun to hear about his day on the walk from the bus to their house. Then there is the one on one time with Elly, even though soon it is her nap time. It is a joy to get her up after her nap as she is always excited to see me come into her room.

Until next time...........

All of us Together

It has been quite some time since I made an entry, but there has been a lot going on during the last two weeks. The highlight of these two weeks was the visit of my family from California. Steve, Kathleen, Kayleigh, and Joshua came for a four (almost) day visit. We packed as much in as we could. But the most awesome part of it all was being together. I loved giving lots of hugs and loves. We went to a pumpkin party at "Aunt Peggy's house and all six grandchildren were there. We also took in a pumpking patch at Sauvie Island which was great fun! Then we all had dinner at Grandma in the Tree's house. (See photos). It was a "birthday dinner as Grandma celebrated her birthday on Oct. 13, Rori's birthday is Oct. 24, Joshua's birthday is Nov. 7, and Elly's birthday is Nov. 12. Sunday was a sad day as they fley back to California. But we are so thankful for the time together.

Today is rainy and windy and a good day to do a post to my blog. I just talked to my granddaughter Kayleigh, from California and that always makes my day special. Rainy or sunny! I am the proud grandma of six grandchildren. Kayleigh and Joshua live in California, Rori and Connor two granddaughters, live in Vancouver, Washington, and Ryan and Elizabeth (Elly) live in Camas, Washington. Their ages range from Rori, the oldest at 9 years to Elly who is almost 2 years old. They all are so special and unique and of course I love each one so very much.

I am married to Jerry and this year we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. We have 3 great adult children, one boy and two girls. So now you know a little more about myself and my family.

The reason my blog is titled "Grandma in the trees" is because I really do live in the trees and my grandkids call me this for that reason. They all live in the city and when they come to our house they drive from the city into the trees and then through many trees to my house. Some of them have come here for a "camping" experience and also to stay in our motor home. We had a fire pit, roasted hot dogs, smores, and a fun camping experience even though they were at our home.
I also love living out in the forest. It is so special to be in town, at work at the pregnancy clinic, or whatever I am doing, then to come up our hill and into the trees--it is so calming and relaxing. I so appreciate the beauty of seeing Mt. Hood off our deck and experiencing the beauty of God's creation.

Welcome to My Grandma Blog!

I am starting this blog because I am a grandma, I love my grandchildren, and want to share them with the world!