All the Things

I do hope to take on the gigantic challenge of blogging the Hawaii trip--but it might not be until after the wedding. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep up on the other things going on around here . . . like the boys' landscaping business. They had a BIG job that took four days of some version of the six of them working about 10 hours per day to rebuild a retaining wall out of railroad ties. They came in just inky when they were finished (look at their feet compared to their legs)! No poison ivy though, woot! 

Getting paid the moola apparently means upgrades to the gaming systems. Brennen bought a big TV and an XBOX a few months ago with his shoe sales earnings. Graysen, after setting up Noah's tiny dorm-sized TV at the apartment, felt kind of bad for his bro-to-be and offered to give Noah his larger-than-Noah's "travel" TV, taking Noah's smaller one to replace it, and then upgrading above (both literally and figuratively) his brother's TV to this screen approximately the size of their bedroom door. Good grief! It's bigger than our one family TV that we've had for years--we've never had more than one TV in the house, until the past several months and its riches from the boys' work efforts. At least they are hanging out together when they play :) It's like LEGOs but with more graphics and explosions . . .

We also upgraded our living room couch, having gifted our previous one to the new apartment :) A couple years ago, when the downstairs couch needed to be replaced, we spent actual HOURS at the furniture store trying to find an adequate replacement. The boys fell asleep on one of the couches while they were waiting for me to decide. And in the end, I ordered one online from Costco. BUT this time, Buck and I walked into the discount furniture section to the area I remembered sleeper sofas once could be found. I spotted a gray one. We sat on it. We pulled off the cushions, checked the bed, which drew the attention of a salesman. He said, "You want it?" I said, "Sure!" And then he hit some things on his Ipad and we walked out five minutes later :) Lol, Buck's head was spinning. He still can't believe what happened happened so quickly! It was a discontinued model at about 1/3 of the price I'd seen online. They had one new in the box on the "shelf," so we didn't even have to take home the one everyone had been sitting on in the showroom. Delivery was free and available within two days (I figured we'd be couchless most of the summer given the lack of availability we'd encountered on our last visit). It's not the most favorite couch I've ever owned, but it is certainly sendable with the next apartment dweller in a couple years. Win, win!

With all the newfound space in our living room, Caelan got to build a plant shelf that arrived in the mail as a wedding gift. The girl likes plants, so she was assigning seats to her various potted friends while she tapped away with her tiny hammer and gloves :) So much fun to pick out things you like and have people send them to you!

Another fun event took me to my nephew's t-ball game on a warm Saturday morning. I got to cheer him on while catching up with the family. His grandma was there and when my brother mentioned M could very well live in this community his entire life and graduate high school with the same kids he was playing ball with that morning, I added that his future wife could also be out on that field right now! I said, "I'm rooting for the tiny girl with the long brown hair and pink helmet." And his grandma said, "I picked that one, too!" Lol! Great minds think alike :)

Later that day, Graysen and I drove over to celebrate Chase's high school graduation. I didn't take a single picture! But I did notice how similar his baby pictures look to my nephew's . . . is there one of A with a giant wooden block? Because Chase has one like that, and I had to do a double take :) It was a nice open house with delicious food and good conversation--although a lot of it was about motorcycles :) It was good to see Gabby, too. She and Chase are very cute together--but I have no pictures from this particular even to prove it. Lol, go look at her graduation pics a few posts back. Lots of cuteness there! 😁

Moving Days

Lots of moving going on last week! Noah's parents rented a U-Haul so we could begin the process of loading up his things from home to transport them to the new apartment. We decided since we were all so close to the puppies . . . we might as well stop by :) Five-days-old is pretty irresistible for cuddles. Buck asked me if he should just come back and get me later. I said, "Yes, see you in a couple of weeks." Ha! But for real--I didn't do any more than glance at the older puppies this time. I just wanted to snuggle with Piper and Fern, and pet Olive. It was fun that Brennen, Buck, and Noah got to meet the puppies on this visit, too!

Noah's mom was busy directing VBS week, but she thoughtfully paid for our lunch . . . which arrived shortly after the guys finished loading the truck. Noah was amazed. He told us our family should start a moving company! Caelan laughed and told him we have A LOT of experience. I don't think the boys would be too excited about being part of that company--they get all the heavy lifting, while the ladies help with the directing . . . and visiting :) Noah's sister came home in time to join us for lunch. It was fun hearing about her summer plans and what she's done so far. While we talked, Buck headed out ahead of us in the U-Haul. I followed about 30 minutes later in the van (once I remembered the rest of them could ride back in Noah's car), and everyone else arrived home about 45 minutes after me.

Later that afternoon, we heard a rumble in our driveway. Chase stopped by to show the boys his new-to-him motorcycle. It is quite chrome-y and shiny :) The three teens walked down to get ice cream while the fiancés worked on loading Noah's stored stuff from our house into the truck. Caelan added a few bags and boxes, and then, just as the sun went down, we loaded our decade-old, softest couch into the U-Haul. It took a couple of tries, but eventually they made it fit with four on the floor :)

By 10 the next morning, we caravanned over to the new apartment. Graysen rode with Noah (who really enjoys driving big trucks), Caelan drove Brennen in Noah's car, and I brought a full vanload to complete the convoy. It's a pretty big apartment complex, so after Caelan and Noah studied the map for a minute, the boys joined them to try to figure out where we were supposed to land. Pretty soon the gal from the office noticed, then popped out and gave directions to their new/future abode :)

While Noah filled out the apartment function checklist, Caelan got to work scrubbing. And I do mean scrubbing. I think if she came at our guest/kid bathroom at home with the kind of gusto and enthusiasm as she did the apartment, it would think it had relocated to a new address--hee hee ;)

As they worked on these essentials, the boys started bringing in a few necessities from the moving truck and vehicles. All the while, the list of things the new apartment renters needed to grab at the store kept growing!

Meanwhile, Graysen took on the challenge of building the table and chair set my aunt sent for the newlyweds-to-be. Brennen attempted to assist, but there was only one little wrench (so that item went on the shopping list). By the time we decided we were all hungry, the table and two chairs were built. Brennen ordered JJs on his app, and we waited for our sandwiches to arrive. However, we did not know the official address, which we realized when we watched JJs drive by. I walked up the middle of the complex and waved down the driver. I started explaining to her that she was super close, but we were new here and weren't sure where to tell her to go. She pointed at her shirt, where an embroidered patch indicated that she was deaf. I immediately switched over to ASL and she was delighted! She could speak, so told me her side of the story of trying to find us, all while laughing happily that I was "sort of" able to communicate back :)

After our much-needed lunch break, Graysen asked if he and Brennen could go check out the garage sale sign planted on the corner across the (very busy) street. I said, 'Sure.' Pretty soon we were all receiving photo messages of the treasures they'd found at their first garage sale! The little white table was only $5 and Graysen offered to clean it up! He really wanted to set up a TV and Xbox for Noah, but the stand was lacking--until the garage sale :) It turned out really cute, shabby chic, with a handful of tiny baby spiders still in residence. Once the new apartment renters set up the TV stand from their wedding registry (thanks Grandma J!), this little table will go outside as deck furniture/plant stand expansion :)

The boys' other magnificent find was this shower head . . . it was declared (by the guys) the best housewarming gift ever! It wasn't long before we found all three of them in the bathroom with the lights out dancing along to the color changes in the shower. Lol! Good brother-bonding time :)

Eventually, we reached enough of a stopping point that the errands must be run! I had a Zoom call with my Cali girls planned, so I stayed at the apartment while the other four set out. About an hour later, I had finished my call, replenished my very low gas tank, and started recharging my very low phone battery. I managed to catch up with them at the hardware store shortly thereafter. The boys are amusing to shop with, and we discovered key-making is fascinating (if you can tolerate the shrill carving sounds).

After running errands, Noah and Caelan treated us to ice cream as a thank you gift; mmm Cold Stone. Just like the early years for Buck and me back in California : ) 

Speaking of Buck, he was at work during all these adventures, but he stopped by afterwards to get the grand tour and to pray over Noah and Caelan's first home.

I know Caelan has lots of plans for plants and artwork (some they are making themselves today, with a few hints from Gabby), so the apartment will soon be all dressed up and looking cute! It just is fun to have a looking-back point for the future. They are both very excited and looking forward to August when they can live here and enjoy all the new wedding gifts together! 

Puppy Time!

I'm skipping over the lengthy list of vacation posts to bring this update . . . Olive is a mama!

Buck and I drove over to visit her on Monday; she was so happy to see us! Her belly had rounded, and she seemed extra interested in the treats we'd brought along :) When we left (with unbeknownst plans to her, for me to return for her c-section on Friday), she looked at us through the gate like, "Haven't you forgotten something?"

We also got to visit with the near-dozen two-week-old puppies that her new friend Ivey was nursing. One peed on me, and I didn't bring an extra shirt, but that's okay! I dried out eventually ;)

As the week progressed, we kept hoping Olive would go into labor naturally--she has proven she is not great at surgery recovery. The vet clinic moved her surgery forward from Friday afternoon to Friday morning, and we figured there was no chance to avoid the c-section within that shortened time frame. Well, then midafternoon on Thursday, I got a text message saying it looked like Olive might be showing some signs of nesting. But five hours later, nothing had changed. I packed a "go bag" just in case and waited for my cue to head west. By 10 p.m., Buck was home, and we decided I would not drive in the night to get to the delivery, should it happen. Less than an hour later another text came in saying, "It's happening!"

I kept my phone next to the bed and saw puppy number one, a little boy, was born right after midnight. About 45 minutes later, his sister followed. Puppy three took her sweet time, freaking everyone out a bit, and arrived just before 3 a.m.

About seven hours later, Caelan, Graysen, and I loaded into the van and started the drive to meet the puppies. Olive was ecstatic to see us! She fussed her happy whine and did little circles among the three of us :) However, we noticed that one set of three was down to two. Her little boy puppy was "struggling" the volunteer (who was feeding the near-dozen puppies bottles) told us. He was at the vet, seeing if there was anything they could do. Sadly, the breeders came home and told us he didn't make it. His intestines were too far up, so one of his lungs couldn't inflate enough to oxygenate his little 1.5 lb. body. They brought him home to bury and asked us to name him, so we called him Esker--which is an Irish land formation made out of white sand.

Olive seems very proud of her little daughters, though! She let us hold them and tried to lay still long enough for them to nurse. She's also insistent about their tidiness and licks them until they are good and slobbery--whether they like it or not :) 

Caelan and I discussed names pretty thoroughly on the drive over, just in case we had the privilege of naming all the pups. However, when we arrived, and the boy pup was gone, and one of the near-dozen pups was sick, and a large dog food donation had to be picked up, and Graysen had to have Iron Man skills to be allergic to dogs in a house with 20 dogs ranging from 11 hours to 11 years of age (you should have seen the clouds of white fur on those wooden floors!), and people were coming and going, and another vet visit was scheduled for the sick pup--it was hard to take a minute to think about the best names for the little girls. 

Fern has been on our list from the start. The little purple ribbon girl was sweet and peaceful; she seemed like Fern. The other new one, with the golden-orange ribbon, was more of a challenge--we considered Ivory, Coral, Daisy (which didn't work because of a volunteer, who recently passed away, by that name), Libby, Penny, Winnie, Charlotte (so we'd have two characters from the book Charlotte's Web--but I just couldn't name a puppy after a spider, even if it was a very nice and intelligent spider :) . . . but none sounded quite "right" with Fern. Then I realized that Caelan had mentioned several times how vocal the little golden girl was, almost from the moment we arrived. "Piper" popped into my head while I was visiting the puppies in the big room. I asked the breeder if they'd ever had a Piper before, and she said, "No, and I love that name!" This is amazing, because our trio's arrival brought their total born to 97 puppies! Finding a "fresh" name is no easy task :) So we have Piper and Fern, the English Cream Golden Retriever sisters!

Piper is also special, because that was my sister-in-law's mama dog's name. It really felt like our little one named herself, so it took me a minute to see the connection. I hope this wee namesake lives up to the sweet story of a mama dog before her :)

We have plans to go back and visit when we pick up Noah's household goods from his parents' home mid-week . . . but Idk if I can wait that long for another round of Olive, Fern, and Piper time, so Sunday might be my next puppy funday :)

Worship Team Finale

I didn't have time to post this before we left for vacation, so if I've written this info elsewhere--you get to read it twice :) I'm also a little on the struggle bus with putting words together, so bear with me!

Shortly before we left for Hawaii, Noah and Caelan completed their last scheduled opportunity to help lead worship at our church. Our pastors acknowledged Caelan's years of serving--in a variety of ways--at the prayer meeting before church started. It is a long list :) When they reached the end of it, they looked at Noah and said something along the lines of, "And we're glad you're here, too!" :) Actually, they have both served God well through music and student ministry, consistently, during their relationship, and that is awesome to see. 

Now as they transition into finding their own church community and they take a break from outward ministry for their first year of marriage (focusing on building a strong foundation in their ministry to each other as husband and wife), pray that God provides them with friendships and mentorships that positively affect their growth together as a couple. While I know I will miss seeing them up on stage every other week or so, they are off to a great start on their forever :) 

Another cool thing about this particular Sunday, Noah's mom and sister were traveling back from a family event and came to church with us! Noah's mom hasn't had the same opportunities that I've had to experiencing "the kids" leading worship together. We both did the "weird mom" thing and videotaped bits of their songs. Hashtag worth it! (Lol, another weird mom thing ;) Then we all went out to eat lunch together before heading back for Gabby's graduation dinner . . . in between which the boys moved Noah out of his basement apartment and into our classroom, until the apartment he and Caelan will share after the wedding is ready for him to move into. It was quite a day!

Those drums, though!

Olive-etta

Olive is off to her summer accommodations! She won't be back "home" again until probably August. We will miss her. She has been my shadow for the past few weeks as her belly has rounded :) I got to feel a tiny puppy kick this morning before I took her to her summer home! Her friend dog had a surprise 11 puppies (they only expected eight). It will be puppies galore when we visit (as often as possible :)

My flowers actually bloomed and look healthy and happy this spring! So, here are some pics of the peonies and lilies (well, the lilies that the neighbor kids didn't decapitate outside our front window--seriously, where are their parents? Lol :)