Well, we did our best to take the annual family Christmas photo but it didn't turn out so well. Megan had trouble getting the timer set on the camera and the grandkids were out of patience. We quickly asked Steve's mom to take it and she did the best she could, but the kids were jumping around and the ones she took got pretty blurry. We salvaged this one but unfortunately you can hardly see Hannah. She is just peeking out behind Jeremy. Oh well, there is always next year.
Shawn, Melissa and Awstin came decked out in their footie pajamas and were very pleased with themselves for their choice of attire. Awstin's jammies of course had Thomas the Tank Engine on the front.
We had our traditional meal of lasagna, salad, bread sticks and Christmas birthday cake for Jesus. We ate our meal in Megan and Jeremy's basement and then returned to our house for gifts and the rest of the evening. After the meal, besides the family picture, we took a few others.
Five of my favorite little people. Don't you love Lydia and Mark's faces? They were so happy to have their picture taken!
Steve's Mom with all of our children and grandchildren
We were so glad Mom could join us!
Opening gifts is always a lot of fun. This year there were several big boxes with lots of extra paper in them and the grandkids had fun with the paper and the boxes.
Here are a few pictures of the rest of our evening.
Steve made gingerbread houses with the grandkids.
Hannah enjoyed making her house.
Alexis' finished house
Who do you think created this masterpiece?
Yup! It was Melissa. That's an amazing combine!
Shawn reading to Awstin and Lydia
Playing Ticket to Ride.
That's it for Christmas 2016 at the Lehmans. I'll leave you with this duet of "The Twelve Days of Christmas that Julissa and Megan played for our Sunday morning service. Enjoy!
Today Hannah is 2 years old! I decided not to have a one on one day and overnight with her as I did with the other grandchildren although I am sure I would have enjoyed it tremendously. You can't be around her for very long without breaking into a smile. Her sunny disposition and downright cuteness can turn any bad day into a good day. However, I think I will wait until she is a little older so she can understand and look forward to a special time of her own at Grandpa and Grandma's house.
We celebrated with a party earlier this month. Her birthday will always be on the first day of Winter so I love the choice of a snowflake cake for her.
Her older siblings were more excited than she was about her party and at first she was a little bashful as it to say, "what's all the fuss about,"
but when Kristen showed her the cake she beamed a happy smile. It was hard to get a good picture of her because she covered her mouth with her hands but you can see by her eyes she is smiling.
And she loved blowing out the candles!
I sure am happy to have this little girl in our lives. Happy birthday sweet Hannah!
As I have been working with the Pantry the past several months, my eyes have been opened to how desperate some situations are and how a little act of kindness can be the difference between someone having food or going hungry.
Teresa* had filled out an application to receive help from the Pantry. On Tuesday, Sherri* and I met with her to interview her. Teresa explained that she and her boyfriend and her 30-year old son live together and their situation is dire. She has had numerous back operations and is unable to work. She receives a small disability check that barely covers the rent and $100.00 a month in food stamps. Her boyfriend and son work part-time for a company catching chickens but the little money that they bring in doesn't go far either. They often go hungry. Her son had received a free turkey but she had no way to make it because her oven needed a new element and her landlord told her it was her problem to fix it. Teresa wondered if maybe the Pantry could give her a bag of charcoal so she could try grilling it. She so desperately wanted to make a Thanksgiving meal but she just didn't know how she was going to do it. We asked her if she had other food in the house and she said she had potatoes and vegetables but no milk or butter but she would manage without that and would just use water instead of milk for mashed potatoes. If she could just figure out how to get the turkey cooked, she was sure she could put a decent meal on the table.
Sherri and I looked at each other and we were both trying to think what we could do to help her. Suddenly I remembered that I had a roaster oven that I had never used. It had been my mother-in-law's and I had gotten it this spring when their household goods were disbursed. I had put it upstairs and kind of forgotten about it. Now that I thought about it, it would have been nice to use for my own turkey but I quickly told myself that I hadn't used one in my life before and another year without one wouldn't make a difference to me. I offered to let her borrow the oven. Her eyes filled with tears and she gave me a big hug. "You are such an answer to prayer," she said. I left her and Sherri to go to my house to get it and bring it back for her. I decided that I would also buy her some milk and butter but when I got back Sherri had already taken that into her own hands and purchased it for her.
I put the roaster oven into the front seat of her rickety car and told her she could bring it back after Thanksgiving. "I can't thank you enough," she said. "I can taste the turkey already and it will make the house smell so good. I was so afraid we wouldn't be able to have a real Thanksgiving meal but you have made it possible."
I was sitting at home a little later and my phone rang. It was Teresa. "I just wanted to thank you again for loaning me your roaster oven," she said. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I promise you, I will handle it with the utmost care and return it on Friday." I thanked her for calling and wished her a Happy Thanksgiving.
Later as I pondered this, I kept thinking how something that seemed so simple and was so easy for me to do meant volumes to her. If my oven wasn't working I would probably view it as a minor inconvenience until I got it fixed. For her it was an insurmountable problem. I have problems in my life that at times seem insurmountable. Maybe to God, they aren't problems at all, just things that in His time and in His way He can easily fix.
Finally, the day arrived for Mark to have his special day at Grandpa and Grandma's. Mark's birthday was actually the end of October and we had planned to have him over then but he got sick so we had to postpone it. He had been patiently (well maybe not so patiently) waiting for this all year so it was a happy and excited boy that I picked up on Friday morning.
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. The weather was perfect and in the afternoon we spent quite a bit of time in the park. We took Thomas along and Mark had a great time trying to get Thomas to plow through the leaves that he put on his track. Here's one of his first attempts.
Here is a more successful attempt
Before bed, I was searching for a snack for him. Unfortunately, I didn't have what he really wanted which was iced animal crackers. For each thing that I offered him he said no. I opened up the refrigerator and as a joke said, "well, I guess you can have cottage cheese." To my amazement he said "yes, I want that!" I couldn't believe it. He sat down and happily ate a bowlful of it. I guarantee you, his father would have never done that! Kristen later told me that all of her children like it.
Yum! Yum!
The next morning we headed for the Choo-Choo Barn. Steve was able to go along with us so that was really nice. Mark loved it. There was so much to see and his eyes were taking it all in. He would constantly point to something and say "look at that!"
The view was so much better on Grandpa's shoulders!
Posing for me.
Of course he had to take a ride on Thomas
After the Choo-Choo Barn we went to CiCi's where we enjoyed a wonderful pizza lunch.
His special request was ham and pineapple
I told them to smile for the camera. Silly boys!
After lunch we met Kristen in the parking lot and so ended our time with Mark. We sure had fun with him and I'm pretty sure he had fun too. He is a delightful little guy and it was nice to be able to spend one-on-one time with him.
Here are a few pictures from his birthday party which we celebrated earlier in October.
A Thomas cake! Another wonderful creation by Kristen.
Eating the smokestack (marshmallow)
Happy birthday song and blowing out the candles
I know I say it all the time, but I sure am thankful for grandchildren!
We've added a new member to our family! His name is Sparten and he belongs to Josh & Julissa so I guess that makes him our granddog. He is a yellow lab and reminds all of us so much of Chip that he was easy to fall in love with. If you don't know who Chip was, you can read about him here and here.
Josh & Julissa (especially Julissa) have been wanting a dog but thought it was best to wait until they moved to their new house. Now that they are all settled in, they figured the time was right. They brought Sparten home about two weeks ago and we have all been getting to know him. He is in that adorable puppy stage and is cuteness through and through.
When I say that we all fell in love with him, that is not quite true. Josh and Julissa were anxious for their nieces and nephews to meet him and while the nieces adore him (well maybe not Hannah but she was pretty brave about him) the nephews are not so sure about Sparten. I took Awstin to meet him the first Wednesday that they had him and he didn't even want to get out of the car. When I finally did persuade him to exit the car, he refused to go into the garage where Sparten was and when Julissa picked him up to bring him closer, Awstin ran away. Mark was not much better when he was introduced to him and cried whenever Sparten got too close to him.
Jay & Kristen's children met Sparten for the first time on Saturday. I was keeping them while Jay & Kristen went to a wedding and I invited Awstin to join us too. Jay wanted his children to meet Sparten, so Josh (Julissa was working) brought him along with him while he worked in the shop for a couple hours. Sparten was thrilled to have little children to play with and couldn't contain his excitement over his new playmates. He ran circles around them and his little tail wagged happily. Alexis & Lydia had a wonderful time with him. The boys eyed him warily and preferred to stay on their tricycles where they felt a little safer. Sparten thought the trikes looked like great fun and would run after them which upset the boys. Hannah did pretty good with him, but when Sparten knocked her over in his exuberance she wasn't too pleased. However, she wasn't really scared of him just a little uncertain. Eventually, Sparten left the tricycles alone and the boys got a little bolder around him. Julissa wanted some pictures and video of the children and Sparten playing together so I did my best. Here is my documentation of the children and dog playdate.
The girls loved him...
...although Hannah wasn't too pleased when Sparten tried to lick her face.
Peek-a-boo
Sitting on Josh's lap taking a breather.
Excited puppy.
"Hey! He licked me!"
Sparten steals the chocolate chip cookie container.
Just playing around
Fetch!
It feels good to have a dog in the family again. Obviously, he is not my dog and doesn't live here so it won't be like when Chip lived with us, but I'm sure that I will see him often and he is always welcome. I have the feeling that Mark and Awstin will learn to like him too.
Here's a picture of all the grandkids lined up at the Quarryville Parade. By the time the evening was over, their buckets were full of candy and there was a lot in their tummies too! Awstin wore his ear muffs because he didn't like the noise, especially when the fire trucks blew their sirens. Hannah sat in her stroller and people obligingly filled her bucket with candy.
It was a fun evening. The weather was perfect and it was nice to be with the family enjoying a Southern Lancaster County tradition.
When you live in the country you get used to smells, noise/quietness, and sights that people living in cities or suburbs find very unsettling. I know a young man who found sleeping in the country difficult because he grew up with the sounds and lights of a big city and for him the darkness and quietness of the hillside was different and almost frightening.
We live among the Amish and we love our Amish neighbors. We are accustomed to hearing the clip-clopping of horses and mules going past on our road as they pull a buggy or piece of farm equipment behind them. However, it is a bit unusual to see a mule running up the road with no driver behind him and when I witnessed that on Wednesday I knew someone was having a bad day.
Awstin and I were out on the front porch enjoying the shade and cool breeze that flowed through it on a hot day. He was happily riding tricycle, and playing with his little Thomas engine that he loves to bury in the stones and then dig out again. I heard a strange racket and looked up to see a mule running on the road past our house and behind him he was pulling the metal harness that the farmer had ready to hook him up with. It was dragging on the road and making an awful scrapping noise. I realized he must have gotten away from his owner and was apparently enjoying his freedom as he trotted along. I ran into the house for my phone and managed to snap the above picture but after the mule was out of sight I figured we wouldn't see it again and Awstin and I went back to what we were doing. I didn't think there was anything that I could do to stop a runaway mule but I hoped that someone would assist the owner in catching him.
Before long, a young Amishman came running and panting up the road after his mule. Shawn was in the shop and saw the distress that Joe was in and so hopped into his pickup and after picking up Joe he drove after the mule to head him off. At the top of the hill, Shawn managed to get in front of him and then proceeded to encourage him to come back down the hill toward our house. As the mule neared our house Shawn quickly drove in front of him and directed him into our driveway and onto the grass between our house and Megan and Jeremy's. The confused mule paused to catch his bearings and Joe was able to hop out of the pickup and grab his harness. Unfortunately, everything happened so quickly that Awstin and I could only watch wide-eyed and I didn't get any picture or video of the chase. Here is a picture after Joe caught the mule.
After snagging the runaway, Joe wasn't quite sure what to do with him. He lives just over the hill from our place but he didn't think he wanted to try to lead him home because he told Shawn that he is a "difficult" mule. The front of the pickup has a large bar type thing on it that Shawn and Josh use to tow the pickup behind their manure trucks when they are going to a big job and will need the pickup for transportation home. They tied the mule to that as they pondered their options.
Finally, Joe wondered if they could keep the mule tied to the pickup and if Shawn could drive the pickup and gently guide the mule home. The only problem was that it would require the pickup to be in reverse the entire way because the mule was tied to the front of it. Undeterred, Shawn agreed and proceeded to back the pickup the whole way from our place to Joe's place with the mule willingly trotting along. I took a few videos. They are a little far away but it was the best I could do.
You just never know what you might witness on any given day in our neck of the woods. While the above story and pictures may seem a bit unusual to most people it just made an ordinary day for us a little less ordinary and it shows the willingness that we have to aid our neighbors when they need a helping hand, or in this case, a helping pickup truck.
It's hard to believe that our oldest granddaughter is seven years old. Seven is a delightful age. They are way past the preschool age, but not yet to the preteen era. They still love to spend time with grandparents and they are old enough to hold wonderful conversations with.
Last Sunday evening Steve and I and Kristen's parents helped Alexis celebrate her birthday at her house. We then brought Alexis home with us and on Monday we had a special day together. We were planning to go to the same American Girl doll outlet that I had taken Lydia to, but when I checked the website for their hours, I discovered that they were closed on Mondays! We were disappointed but soon regrouped and decided instead to go on a buggy ride. I knew they offered them at the Red Caboose Motel and Restaurant which was close to the Choo-Choo barn where we also planned to go so we decided to go there. Alexis was excited about a buggy ride and I was happy that a little (big?) thing like a doll outlet store not being open didn't ruin our day.
We started out the day with breakfast at the Martic Store. Their egg sandwiches are the best! :)
As we waited for our buggy ride we walked around the Caboose Lodge. All the cabooses are tiny motel rooms.
Alexis walking the rails. She was much better at it than I was.
Standing in front of the horse that took us for our ride.
The back of the carriage.
Here we go!
We stopped at an Amish Farm and they brought out refreshments. I hadn't had homemade rootbeer in ages!
We went to Cici's for lunch. Alexis liked the macaroni pizza!
Ready to go into the Choo-Choo barn. I never get tired of that place!
We couldn't pass up a picture with Thomas!
Late afternoon picnic in our park.
Alexis' birthday meal! Delicious!
Smiles from everyone. I love this family!
The best we could do for a selfie
What a fun day. The nice thing about spending special days with a grandchild is that I enjoy it as much as them. Next one up will be Mark in October. He can hardly wait!
Good old summertime! There is nothing like fresh homegrown produce. As you know, if you have been reading my blog, I am not a gardener, but I sure do love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. From our tiny little garden that we planted, I have harvested an abundance of green peppers. I got enough green beans for Steve and me to enjoy a couple of meals and the same with the lima beans. There is NOWHERE you can buy lima beans that come close to tasting the way they do right from the garden. My four hardy tomato plants are loaded with green tomatoes and I have been picking the red ones for the past week or so. It's so nice to have my own tomatoes for my salad that I eat each day for lunch. My only disappointment was that bugs destroyed my eggplants.
We planted plenty of sweet corn and thought that we would have enough for anyone who wanted some. Unfortunately, the deer really attacked it and sadly we did not end up with nearly as much as we expected. We have never before had such deer damage but we are really seeing them a lot this year, even in the middle of the day.
On Monday, Steve's mom, his sisters Doris and Nancy, Kristen, Megan, and two of Nancy's granddaughters came to help with corn. I always dread "corn day" but said afterward that if they want to come every year when I do corn I will never dread it again. They made short work of the corn that we had and we certainly would have been able to handle more. Even though we didn't get as much corn as we had hoped, we all got to take home some and hopefully those that want more will be able to get it from another source.
Yes, they tasted as good as they look.
The pile of corn
Husking
Martina (back facing) and Alexis helped with husking and afterward had a great time playing with my American Girl dolls.
Still husking.
Cutting the corn off the cob.
Kaylene was in charge of cooling the corn.
Megan did the cooking.
Alexis and Hannah were having a great time with the jeep until....
...the boys showed up. Who has the right of way here?
Alexis protects her little sister from the boys :)
It was great to spend the day together and as I said before, they are all welcome to come back next year!
