Family Update for 2017

My sister wrote a fantastic family blog description, going through her children, letting the rest of us know how things are going.  As I read it felt like a family reunion.

Emmalyn&DeanJames are pregnant!  We are 13 week grandparents!  "Their Ritchie Baby" sounds like "Our Cheese Baby" when Roxie was voicing family prayer, and the nickname has stuck.  Emma is still dealing with headaches.  And sick-not-just- nauseated but throwing up multiple times a day.  Under good doctor care & medicated, AND still teaching high school chemistry full-time.  Our son-in-law is in a graduate program at U of U, official game-making.  They will be somewhere in July while he works an internship:  maybe CA, maybe FL.... I am flying out to UT the end of February while he has a school conference out of town to hang out with Emma, cook nutritious and surprising food that we don't discuss before hand & will be instantly bivouacked away if it displeases her.  I am so sympathetic & want to baby my baby having a baby!  Wherever they are in July I will stay for 2 weeks to help after the birthday!

Stewart got a promotion at Sodalicious.  He is in Provo & taking on-line classes.  Thus, the year long beard.

Suzanna is home from serving a church mission in Portugal.  She prays & sings in Portuguese.  She is back at BYU Provo & working at the MTC.

Samuel is currently serving a church mission in Arizona.  We hear from him fire-safety delinquency observations & stories about dogs.  My favorite picture, so far, was him dressed in white for a baptism!

Roxie Jane loves to sing!  She has been chosen to sing in all-county & all-state choirs.  She is teaching the YW to crochet bracelets.  This morning she is sore from YW basketball practice. 

John continues as ward clerk & work at Maryland Environmental Services in procurement.   I still teach early morning seminary at our home & just got called as stake welfare specialist over suicide prevention & awareness.  Also a new member of  Maryland's Governor's commission on Suicide Prevention.  We both are on-call for the Harford County Office of Drug Control Policy for talks to youth &  health fair presentations.  We have 3 huge boxes ready to bleach & vinegar to make DEFIANCE shirts.

We are good busy, blessed, & happy for the exciting changes in our family this year!

Mother's Day-Utah trip Catch-Up & Some Murals & Quilts

Sister Suzanna Landbeck in Gaia, Portugal, got to Skype with us on Mother's Day!  Here are our traditional photos with Me-MOM on Mother's Day!

I got to go on a quick trip to Utah---helping a friend drive out (she was moving there) and she paid my plane ticket back, making the deal very attractive.  A chance to see family during the school year for Emma---

And to see Stewart at work (160 North University, Provo)

He made me his favorite shake:  banana pudding and Nutella.  Delicious!

Pudding is put on the bottom, swirled around, shake poured on top, so separate flavors, almost like a pie...

I spent time Saturday on temple square--usually people take just a photo of the Christus statue, but I focused on the great mural.

More murals:

After our session, Deborah & I walked around temple square searching for the most modest & beautiful wedding dress.  There were 49 weddings just on Mom's shift, so we had lots to choose from.  See my instagram account for details (look up jennilandbeck and follow me there!).

Back at Mom & Dad's I took pictures of some of Mom's artwork rescued from the attic and now hanging up in their home.

Jane C Babcock

Dad really likes this one.  He calls this one Upraised Woman (?)--correct me, Dad.  Mom painted in acrylic while we lived in San Jose, CA.

Jane C Babcock

LOVE the colors!  She calls this one....Orange Cliffs (?)

Jane C Babcock

And her interpretation of winter California hills, green & beautiful.

I also took photos of some of David's work that is still hanging around.  This one should probably go to brother JohnB.

And more good stuff:

David C Babcock DoNotStaple

Mom said Luanna should have this next one hanging in her home since she was David's model:

David C Babcock DoNotStaple

 All with the understanding that if he had a show of all his artwork, we would gladly gather the paintings at whatever venue.  It is nice to have so much talent in the family and no blank empty walls.

David C Babcock DoNotStaple

Even the circuit breaker box has some David art decorating it.

Jennifer S Babcock

This big painting of John is by his wife, Jennifer S. Babcock.  Hanging in dinning room.

And finishing this long blogpost with two of my quilts, early 1990s.

Jennilyn B Landbeck

Nice to see things used/hanging.  This is my nod to Baltimore Album quilts, just one block.

Be Glad...while Sober!

We skyped with Emma in California after the kids opened up their Max quilts, wrote letters to him (what we would say to him today) and took pictures in front of the yarn bomb trees.  There are 4 (!) in front yard now.  The tree with lights is the black & white yarn bombed one.

They are all very different-Roxie's has a bunch of "Roxy" brand t-shirts I have saved over the years for her, Sam's includes some of his school shirts, Stewart a GEMS program shirt they were both in, Suzu's foot and hand print hot pink shirt, so they know which one is theirs.

I yarn bombed the red bud tree this morning, after doing a neighbor's tree after she said her little boys had been talking about our yarn and wouldn't mind being yarn-bombed for sobriety....her tree was so big and wide around the trunk that I couldn't reach around it, had to run around wrapping the t-shirts and got dizzy!

We opened birthday presents today, too, (Mom, thanks for the shiny sparkly purple hat!) and my mom's good advice to "Be Glad" is a theme for me, a reminder.  I am glad for these amazing children, their laughter, and support and hugs and tears.  They are stronger, more sensitive to suffering and distress of others having gone through this hard summer of losing a sibling. 

Emma is waiting for their Santas to wake up before she opens her quilt, and I hope she posts a photo, because I forgot to take one of completed quilt before I sent it off to her.

QUILT construction detail:

(these-above and just below-are from Emma's quilt in the making, auditioning position of squares) Smooth out t-shirt on cutting mat, use 12 1/2 clear cutting acrylic cutting square to cut front AND back of t-shirt.  Sandwich a same size flannel square inside; sew X from corner to corner; determine order of blocks and sew generous 1/2 inch seams to FRONT of quilt; clip with scissors to create fringe.  Remember to sew around perimeter to secure/stabilize outside edge of quilt.  They were heavy with just the flannel "batting."

Back of Roxie's quilt, smooth edges on this side, fringe on front which looks better after each washing.

I didn't wash these yet, they still smell like Max a  little.  It was very emotional to make them, surrounded by the memories of him wearing the shirts, thinking of him, missing him, but glad for the project to give the other children a memory to hug.

summer thoughts

Sam is at a church youth conference.  Johnny at work.  He encouraged Roxie and I to go see "Guardians of the Galaxy" for fun, reminding me that my dad had taken me to see "Star Wars" episode IV when I was 12.  The dancing was my favorite part, in Guardians.

Does it deserve all the great reviews?  Ehhh.  It was fun, but I got confused early on about who was whose father.  The word play was clever, the music hitting my demographic.  Trolls?  Had one, yes, green hair.

It seems strange that life goes on, mostly just as it was a month ago.  I've read 4 out of the 20 books daughter Emma checked out for me from public library.  Easy distractions. 

The sympathy cards keep coming, with very few duplicates.  Sometimes we get sympathy for our "grandson" and those get put in the "give to grandma & grandpa" pile. 

I've ordered pictures of each of our children to put in new frames, to go with the memorial picture of Max.   Maybe hang them in the hallway?

I want to paint, but my back is still giving me trouble.  Somehow I know painting would help.

We cried watching the funeral home 22 minute movie of Maxwell.  Then we ate chicken dinner and rice made from left-over Bob Evan's gravy.

Cooking is a chore.  I can mostly muster, rally from my reading day and cook a little.

But not last night.  John and Roxie cleaned Billie's condo and brought home Burger King.

It has been a couple of sad days in a row.  Missing my family, since they've gone back to Utah. 

I was scheduled to work all this week, but when they found out what had happened, they found a substitute for me subbing for them.  Maybe it would have been better staying busier?

Haven't started t-shirt quilts yet, but that is on the list.

Dieting hints are not good timing.   Chocolate has been helpful.

John and I are going to the ocean tomorrow with Roxie & Sam.  We had talked about all of us going, with Max.  He seemed eager for that, too.  Doing things we were going to do with him, having fun without him is hard.  But we do it anyway.  We talk about him.  We wish he were here with us.

Aberdeen baseball game Monday night, seats at a table behind home plate.  Max would have loved it!

Beautiful!

Alena is easy to love!

Sister Superheroes!

"Daddy" Michael's face that Luanna helped nephew Jack make to distract him from abandonment.  Those green Good & Plentys are his toes, and nose.

I look at us, exactly where we stood 25 years +2 months ago, noticing the hair changes, added weight...but thankful he is holding my hand tenderly.  Marriage is good!