Tomorrow I head to Ethiopia for two weeks. I will be working primarily with Stephne Bowers the director of the Christian World Adoption (CWA) orphanage in Soddo. I will do my best to post to this blog as I have access to electricity and the internet while I am gone. Please pray for the journey and for water for the orphanage. There is a drought there right now and water is coming in by donkey from the river. The river is drying up right now.

Malia Jane Hanson 6 years old

Malia Jane Hanson 6 years old

Granny is Moving On!

This Granny is moving on. Monday, August 31, 2009 is my last working day at Whitworth University. I have worked there for over 12 years. Now God has new things for me. My first new adventure will be to travel to Israel to work at the House of Hope for two weeks. The House of Hope is a place that takes in blind and disabled children discarded by their culture. It is in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. I will also have opportunities to travel in the area and see some of the biblical sites and antiquities. There will be many stories to tell my grandchildren when I return and pictures to show them. But the good news is that before I leave I get to take care of cute little Jackson who is 5.5 months old. I get to snuggle him for two weeks and then I'm off. God is so good.

Family is Precious

We had such a wonderful summer at our cabin on Sacheen Lake. Posted here is a picture taken of all of our kids and their kids the last night we were all together. We had a wonderful birthday party for Sarah Burns our daughter-in-law and served an ice cream cake on the party barge as we made our way around the lake. We sang. We laughed and we all enjoyed each other so very much. This was the last time all the cousins were together along with their parents. To quote Hope who is 8, "I love the lake. I have the happiest childhood in American, Grandma." So many memories are made. We don't take the gift of our family for granted. We feel extremely blessed to have had our daughter and her family with us for seven weeks this summer. Yesterday we went to the cabin...the clean but very empty cabin. We couldn't stay. It was just too lonely. It will take us awhile to not have a lump in our throats, missing our California kids and grandkids so much. But we are enjoying Elijah today as I write. He has a new fat bat and new wiffle balls and he took a very big nap so he is happy. I will take care of little Jackson half-days in September when my rhythm changes from being a Vice President to just being Grandma which is the best job on earth.

The Fourth of July at Granny's Cabin

The Fourth of July at the cabin is like Christmas in July! This year we decorated the cabin with red, white and blue lights and the "party barge" with all things red, white and blue. The little kids love the parade on the lake in the decorated barge. We sing songs at the top of our lungs that celebrate our wonderful country. We are indeed, "proud to be an American." There is a sense of excitement from families all over the lake. This last weekend, my daughter said, "Just think, Mom all around the lake, families just like us are making memories. Isn't that funny that they will have memories about OUR lake?" Memories is what life at the lake and at Granny's Cabin is all about. When I prayed for such a place 8 years ago, my prayer was that God would provide a place for my family where my grandchildren could always feel loved and secure and where they could find God in nature. There are so many opportunities to talk about what God has done for us through his creation while enjoying the beauty of the lake. For instance, Elijah and I recently had a conversation about blue dragonflies. I don't see them anywhere else other than at our lake. They are beautiful. We also have zebra dragonflies (which is not their official name). Every year we happily announce that they are back and flying all around. Last night there was a long and detailed discussion about bats. Granny doesn't like bats and the grandchildren love to scare her. Every night at dusk the bats come out and sweep down on the lake eating a plethera of bugs. Bats are our friends, I tell my grandchildren....but I don't really believe it. And, we have turtles. Several days ago, Malia and Reese and I went on a two mile walk stopping to freeze in our tracks and quietly observe the big turtles that sun themselves on a log in the same spot in the lake. I find them fascinating and beautiful and simple. There are days I wish my life was more like the life of a turtle and less like the life of a hare! Grandmas need to be fit and able to run up and down stairs; prepare meals in the midst of chaos and stay sweet and calm when smudges appear on freshly painted walls and dents rise from the dining room table. I recently told my sister-in-law who just completed a wonderful visit at the lake, "One needs to hold all things loosely at the lake." Granny needs to heed her own advice.

Loving Taylor

Taylor will be 11 years old next week. I will be in New York City and miss the big day, but I know I will celebrate with him at some time. Taylor is a loving and sensitive kid. He likes quiet and simple things like riding his bike in the neighborhood or playing video games. He struggles with school and his Mom and Dad are getting a divorce. Taylor is our bonus grandson! Our son, Mark married his Mom, Connie when Taylor was just 6, but Mark has loved Taylor like a son from the time he was just 2 and Mark started dating, Connie. Taylor has never known his biological father. Today, Taylor is sad and confused over the break-up of Mark and Connie's marriage. Today, he blames Mark and is very protective of his Mom. Right now he is having trouble trusting that if he comes to visit his Dad that Mark won't take him back to Connie. There are many reasons for his doubt, but not one of them is about the true character of his Dad, Mark. So we pray. We pray that Taylor will figure out the truth. We pray that God will breathe truth into Taylor's life, and that Taylor will not be neglected by Connie. God is a very big God and He knows, far better than we know, what is best for Taylor. So we keep praying.