Another Letter from Awstin

In a previous post, I showed you a letter that I received from Awstin, asking if he could come over to my house. I wrote him a letter back, suggesting a date that he could come to my house and that we would go to the Choo-Choo Barn on that day.  I have always kept Awstin one day a week since he was small, and one of the things we started doing when he was big enough to really enjoy it was go to the Choo-Choo Barn in Strasburg. I purchased a season pass for both of us and we would spend hours there at a time. It is something Awstin just doesn't get tired of. The Choo-Choo Barn is always closed from January to March and since COVID hit in March they were not able to re-open so it has been a long time since we have been there. Recently, their Facebook page said they are open with all of the COVID restrictions--face mask, 6 ft distancing, number of people allowed in the room, etc. I wasn't sure if Awstin would be able to handle all the restrictions so put off going, but after talking to him about it and him telling me he thought he could abide with the guidelines, I have decided to give it a try. So I sent him a letter inviting him to come to my house and go to the Choo-Choo Barn with me. This was his reply to my letter. 

My heart melts with his closing - 1,000 loves

His envelope was a little better this time. I believe he had some adult supervision :)

Awstin references the move that Steve and I will be making this Fall to the apartment at the store. Like all the grandchildren, Awstin loves to shop and help with the register at the store, so I guess he thinks it would be a lot of fun to live there! We will definitely be letting the grandchildren take turns staying overnight with us when we move so they can get a little experience of operating the store with us. We are so looking forward to this move and I will eventually dedicate a blog to all the renovations that we have been doing as we prepare our cozy little (but surprisingly big) apartment.

Funniest Home Videos

Here are two videos that make me smile every time I watch them. The first is of Awstin feeding Bryce (the ending is the best part and makes me laugh every time) and the second is of Jay & Kristen's children playing with their bubble guns. Their dog Buddy gets in on the action too. (Please excuse my nonsense talking in the background.)

Lydia & Clara's Birthday Parties

Lydia turned 9 in May and Clara turned 3 on July 16. Here are a few pictures from each of their parties.

Beautiful Lydia :)

Grandpa helps Clara take the candles off her cake.

Don't you just love the excitement on her face?!?! Kristen said she was so excited for her birthday party.

After Clara's party the children took me over to see their new house that they will be moving into in a couple of weeks. Here was our mode of transportation with Alexis chauffeuring.

"Little angels"

Goofy picture

Inside their home to be

The kitchen with two silly girls posing :)

Sweet Janae

Kristen even coaxed a smile from her

That's it for the birthday pictures so far. Awstin had his 7th birthday on July 12. He had some of his church buddies over to celebrate and it sounded like they had a really good time. 

Mother's Day Flowers

I know it is well past Mother's Day but I want to be able to look back on my Blog and remember these flowers that I received for Mother's Day this year. I have gotten so much joy from them as they greeted me every morning with their lovely colors as I stood at my kitchen sink.

The ones on the sill were given to me by Josh & Julissa and the hanging basket by Jay & Kristen. Every morning when I looked out my kitchen window, I would see the beautiful blooming pink flowers on the windowsill and the combination of red and purple hanging from the porch. They both stayed beautiful into July, but unfortunately the last couple of weeks the hot, dry weather has affected them. I am still watering them daily and hope they make a comeback.

A closer picture of the bright pink petals that bloomed so beautifully.

Even though I have always enjoyed looking at flowers, I have never had the green thumb to have beautiful flower gardens. This year I have no flower gardens at all, so these were the perfect gifts to allow me to enjoy a snippet of beauty each morning.

Antics of Awstin & Bryce

Sometimes children do things that are just so cute or unique that you really want to remember it. The best way for me to do that is to put it on my Blog. I keep Awstin & Bryce every other Wednesday and I got such a cute video of Bryce in the walker that I decided to post it. Here's a little background: 

Bryce is in the walker minding his own business, when suddenly he hears Awstin coming around the kitchen table on his tricycle (yes, Awstin is way too big for the tricycle, but I still let him ride it). Bryce takes off like a shot (I'm not sure if he's trying to get away or just so excited that he has to go somewhere) and runs into a cupboard. All is quiet, so he backs up and gets distracted by the magnets on the refrigerator. Suddenly Awstin lets out an earsplitting yell and whizzes past Bryce and on into the living room. Bryce snaps to full alert when he hears the yell and takes off after Awstin only to be left in the dust.

This is a video of Bryce smiling happily as he hits a toy against the tricycle. I just like his beaming face in this one.

Awstin always likes to be doing something and he isn't afraid to take things into his own hands to make things happen. Apparently, he was bored one afternoon and unbeknownst to his parents, decided to write a letter to me asking if he could come over. Amazingly, I received this letter in the mail. How the post office ever figured the address out, I'll never know. 

It's hard to get Douts Hill from that but the mailman did. Don't you love where he put the stamp?

This is what he wrote.

That evening I saw him and Shawn, and I told them I got the letter. Shawn said they certainly didn't know anything about it, because they wouldn't have let him send an envelope that looked like that. Awstin was delighted that I had gotten the letter and then he informed us that he sent one to the Ebys too. The Ebys are a family that go to our church, and they kept Awstin when he was small and over summers when he was in school. He has always loved going to their house and I guess thought it was time for another visit. How on earth he knew their address is beyond me, but he did.

Their envelope is a little more readable :)

Their letter is typed and it is hilarious. How does he know all their ages? 

skoal is how he spelled schedule. Fill is for Phil. And don't you love how he signed it from the Lehman's, not from himself!

Children these days don't even write letters. Everything is Facetime and text. Awstin is very good with texting and it is not unusual to get a text from him from one of his parent's phones. I think it is interesting and commendable that he decided to use the old fashioned snail mail to schedule some times for him to come to my house and the Eby's.