Christmas and Farewell to 2021

Here it is...New Year's Eve. In a couple of hours 2021 will be history and if I don't get this Blog posted today it will appear in 2022 which is not where I want it.

It's been a long time since I've looked back over a year and felt as if I can say it's been a good one, but finally I can. We've settled in nicely in our little apartment and we both love it. It is cozy and just the right size for the two of us. Yes, when the family all comes we could use more space but we make it work and no one complains. 

The highlight of the year was adding two more grandchildren to our family--Jake in January and Cassidy in October.

Steve closed out the DAF hauling the end of May and was uncertain what he would do for a job. After checking into several options that didn't work out, he settled on transporting Amish. He works mainly for two brothers who have a business together but also does transporting for some others as well. Since he has a truck and trailer, the local Amish are quick to ask him when they have some transporting that requires a trailer. He is amazed at how much he enjoys this job. He has made many new friends and I am so happy to see him satisfied with his life.

We also changed churches which was a hard decision but one we felt was right. Leaving a church where you have gone all your life (me) and for the last 40 years (Steve) is not easy and we do sometimes miss the "family" that we enjoyed there. However, we love our new congregation. We have made new friends and we look forward to each Sunday when we can go and hear a challenging Biblical message and fellowship with other believers.

We are thankful that Steve survived COVID. He was very sick with it the first couple weeks of November and there were a few days and nights when I was very concerned. After receiving a monoclonal antibody infusion, his fever subsided, and he gradually got his strength back. He still gets tired sometimes and his appetite isn't what it used to be. (Maybe that's a good thing--he lost 20 pounds!) 

I am managing the store and that takes a LOT of my time. I have found satisfaction in knowing that I can handle it and do a fairly good job of it, but I must admit that it does make me tired. It is rewarding that the store is doing well. Time will tell how long we continue to keep it, but for this season it seems we are in the right place.

Even though I am busy, I always find time for grandchildren. Every Wednesday I keep Bryce while Melissa works, Megan and Jake stop in often, and now Julissa and Cassidy often pop in as well. We loved having each of the six older grandchildren overnight for a time of one on one with them this summer. I'm glad to soak in these times with the grandchildren, because I know how quickly time moves on. 

Well, that's a short recap of our year. Here are some pictures from our time together at Christmas.

Annual gingerbread (graham cracker) house making with the grands. 

Working diligently

Total concentration

Mark

Lydia

Clara

Alexis

Close up of Alexis' house

Hannah

Awstin

We did a road trip in the barrel train to visit Jake & Cassidy. We were going to stop for Bryce and take him along but he was napping. Here are some videos and pictures from the trip to Jake's. I didn't take anymore after we left his house.

Pulling in to Megan and Jeremy's house. Jake was waiting for us. Yes, that is me waving in the last barrel.

Jake doesn't know what to think

Surrounded by cousins

All our grandchildren. Poor Jake. He was so good all evening until picture taking :)

All 20 of us

Here's a few pics of the 4 younger grandchildren that weren't taken at Christmas but were too cute not to add.

Grandpa & Bryce entertaining Cassidy

I snapped this picture of Janae at the Turkey Hill Experience today

Jake just loves this ball!

What a smile!!!

And that's a wrap. Welcome 2022!

December Birthday - Hannah!

On December 21, Hannah turned 7! I probably say it every year but I just love that both Hannah's name and her birthday (12-21) are palindromes (read the same forward and backward). Here are a couple pictures of her birthday celebration. Unfortunately the birthday song video didn't turn out :(

Another amazing cake by Kristen

Hannah & Clara play with some of her birthday presents.

That wraps up the grandchildren birthdays for the year. We always love celebrating these milestones with them!

October Birthdays

We had three grandchild birthdays to celebrate in October. The first was Bryce on October 9 who turned 2 years old.

Bryce loves Clifford so since he was visiting Jay & Kristen on his actual birthday Kristen & the girls made him a Clifford cake. They are so amazing with their cake decorating skills!

We celebrated his birthday on a Wednesday evening at our house. Melissa brought the cupcakes for him. He was so pleased.

Here is his birthday video. He had some trouble blowing out the candles :)

On the 26th, Cassidy was born...

This is such a great newborn photo!

...and on the 29th, Mark turned 9 years old!

Another creative cake by Kristen. Mark loves his farm equipment!

Here is his birthday video.

We are so thankful for our 10 grandchildren and love celebrating their birthdays with them.

Meeting Cassidy

Cassidy came home last Sunday and we couldn't wait to meet her! In the evening we got our first introduction. Jay & Kristen and their family were also there so it was special to see her cousins' reaction. Here are some pictures.

Oh how I love to hold a newborn!

She always tucks her little arm up by her face

Proud Grandparents

She's so tiny!

How can you not smile when you look at a newborn :)

I love this picture! They all took turns holding her and were so excited to meet her. The girls were especially happy to have a girl cousin :)

Cassidy weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces at birth and as of Friday she was up to a whopping 5 pounds 15 ounces. She is doing great and of course Josh & Julissa are wonderful parents. It is so nice to see their happy family of 3 (whoops, 4, I can't forget Spartan who is doing very well with her).

Welcome Cassidy Anne Lehman!

We are so excited to welcome our 10th grandchild into our family! Cassidy Anne was born on Tuesday, October 26 weighing in at 5 pounds 10 ounces. Because her blood sugars were a little low, she is spending some time in the NICU. However, she is doing nicely and should be able to come home the beginning of the week. Josh & Julissa are doing well also and spending as much time with her as they can. Of course they just want to get home with their little precious bundle but when these things happen you just have to accept it.

Here are some pictures. She is absolutely beautiful (so says an unbiased grandparent!).

So sweet!

Happy Mama

Proud Papa

Of course with COVID, there are no visitors allowed so we just have to be patient and wait until they get home to see her in person. However, I did spend some time figuring out how to get her name on my Scrabble board. It took me several hours and I was almost ready to give up, but I finally got it. I'm not sure I'll get another name on it unless it is a really short one :)

A very full board! So thankful for each person in our family!

Welcome Cassidy Anne Lehman! We can't wait to meet you! 

Family Fall Fun Day

On the first Sunday of October we had the family for the afternoon and evening to enjoy some time together and have some fun activities for adults and children.

Some of the grandchildren enjoying the barrel train

Alexis did face (and hand) painting

Clara concentrates on painting her pumpkin

Mark gets ready to paint his pumpkin

Awstin tries his hand at Lydia's balloon dart game

Hannah has her bean bag toss all ready!

Jay tries his hand at popping a balloon while Josh watches

Josh plays Mark's ring-a-soda game

Grandpa and Jake watch the action

Josh, Julissa, Megan and Kristen play corn hole golf

Janae is ready to go for another train ride...

....still waiting

Playing in the bounce house

We had a peanut and candy scramble for the grandchildren. I didn't get any pictures of the older ones but the little grandchildren collecting their goodies with the help of their parents and siblings was adorable. 

The four little ones were Bryce, Janae, Jake and Baby-In-Utero

Lots of helping hands

We also had plenty of food and after dark a campfire, sparklers, glow sticks and of course a little bit of fireworks! All in all, a very fun day! I love being able to have the family all together and make some good memories.

Overnight with Alexis

The last grandchild to have an overnight stay with us this summer was Alexis. I picked her up around noon on Friday and we made some stops on the way home.

Fashion Cents has become a popular local shopping place. I had never been there and neither had Alexis. She found a dress she liked and she told me that was unusual because she never finds anything she likes!

Leaving Main Street Closet with a bag of  treasures :)

Our last stop was Goodwill. 

Displaying her purchases...

...and showing off the dress. It fit her perfectly and she was especially happy with the hidden pockets.

Ice cream treat at Son's in Quarryville!

Alexis and I both like games so we played a few. This game was hard. You had to guess what the card was on your head by asking clues. We got a laugh out of this card that says Alexis is nuts!

And I was ketchup :)

Yahtzee!

In the morning Alexis chose a bacon and egg muffin for breakfast along with chocolate milk.

We had a special surprise for Alexis on Saturday morning. Steve picks up Amish during the week to take them to work. One of them has a riding ring and knowing that Alexis loves horses he asked if we could bring her over and let her drive a horse and cart around the ring. He was very happy to oblige and Alexis loved it.

Here the Amishman gives her instructions and he rode with her around a few times so she could get used to it. The horse's name was Diamond

Ready to go on her own!

And her she comes...along with little Benjamin who was very happy to ride along :)

She even got confident enough to instruct Diamond to trot!

Then she asked me if I wanted to ride with her.

Ready to go for my ride

Here we go!

Alexis was a great driver and it was actually a lot of fun! I'm so glad we were able to do this with Alexis.

Alexis enjoyed working the cash register at the store and she was very good at it!

We stopped at the Centerville Diner on the way home and here is the meal she chose. She ate every last bite!

And that's a wrap! We really enjoyed our individual time with each grandchild this summer and I believe they did too. Hopefully we can do it again next year!