Bestimor's House

Well, it has been a week and I'm now back to the world of blogging...and Houser Updates.  As Steve posted last week, Caleb and I spent the week at Grandma Hope's while Steve attended his orientation at RTS.  He had a great week meeting the faculty that will support him in his virtual classes, meeting fellow classmates who flew in from around the country, and pondering his thesis topic (family worship).  Caleb and I, meanwhile, enjoyed our stay in Lake Benton, MN...population 703. 

Grandma Hope (or Bestimor, as she prefers) is probably the busiest grandma and great grandma one could ever meet....between water arobic, Bible studies, volunteering at the mealsite, church, nannying for 3 small children, baking pies, visiting friends, dropping off eggs to people's homes, running out the the farm, gardening, canning, cooking meals for people, playing cards, hosting parties and running errands, it is a wonder she has time to sit and have tea with me and play with her great-grandson!  Needless to say, we had a busy week.  But we enjoyed our time and I do have to say it is refreshing to be away from the computer, internet, blogging, facebook and cell phone for a week!  As fun as these things are, they do fill up more time in our lives than I wish they did and it was a good reminder to be better at setting the computer aside more often.

One thing I love about Bestimor is how welcoming and loving she is to so many people....her home is not the biggest on the block, but I’m sure it can hold the most people!  There always seems to be room for whomever decides to stop over and there is always a warm welcome and usually a treat waiting too.

Another thing I love is all the FOOD.  Bestimor seems like she is always able to turn everything into a feast….and there is usually plenty of fresh farm eggs, milk, meat, honey, butter…NUM.

And this time there was real, homemade GRAPE JUICE...grown from her very own grapes in the backyard. When you open the jar (which she canned herself), you strain it out into a pitcher, crushing the grapes up to add to the juice and then throwing out the pulp.  Add another few cups of water and presto--grape juice.  I was impressed, anyway. 

And twist her arm hard enough (which usually isn’t very hard) and she’ll probably bake you a pie or two or three….because you can’t just have apple pie!  What about cherry and custard?!? 

I enjoyed observing her (because she probably makes some of the best pies you’ve had, next to my own mama who hands down makes the best…and I don’t just say that because mom’s reading this) so I thought I’d take my chance to learn a thing or two.

I also enjoyed many, many cups of tea (with tasty treats) and some long conversations, curled up on the couch while that nasty wind almost blew the house over.

And while Caleb was napping (he did eventually nap some) and Grandma was out running around, I got some reading done…..Including the book To Fly Again by Gracia Burnham, which is a book I’ve read before but re-read and remembered again how much I enjoyed it the first time.  I devoured it in an afternoon and have decided to add it to my list of books to read once a year.  It is that good.  I would highly, highly recommend it.  It is an easy, fascinating read full of truth for life.

Caleb enjoyed finding the tupperware cupboard! 

And when we weren't running around or napping, he spend most of his days here....pulling everything out, laughing and chewing on the various plastic he found.

Oh and curiously watching Bestimor bake, cook and clean.

We ended a great week welcoming Steve back and making Ableskivers….

Incredible NUM.

And not pictured, the chocolate ganache filled ones she made for ‘dessert’…as if breakfast needs dessert!

Thanks, Bestimor, for a fun filled week and for all the tea times.  Love you!