Time to Catch Up

Our trip to Kansas was great! There were 10 cousins there of the 16 of us that are still alive. We lost Richard 15 years ago from a heart attack. My aunt and uncle looked wonderful and they have a grand time at their anniversary celebration! It was hot and humid down there and we all enjoyed the air conditioning.

I spent 5 days with my new little great-nephew in ND. I had so much fun! We went to the mall, we took walks, wow, we had a super time! He's starting to "talk" so we had some very profound conversations! His parents went to Las Vegas to see Celine Dionne and they said she was terrific!

This weekend my kids came home and we went to see Weird Al Yankovic! It was quite a concert. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the carnival after the concert was over. My kids met up with high school friends and had some good "catching up" time.

Today both kids headed home. My daughter and her boyfriend headed back to ND and my son went east to Iowa. We're hoping his wife will soon get to come to the US from England. Immigration is mighty slow. Their first wedding anniversary is Oct. 28 so we're hoping she'll be back here by then. She had to return to England the first part of Feb.

I think our travels are over for a long time. We both need our home time. We're going to see the Oak Ridge Boys tonight as that is the group that closes the week of activities. It's right here in town so we won't have to travel.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind." --Dr. Seuss

Here, There and Here Again

Chicago was great! We had a super time and the meetings were very valuable, too. Wonderful acommodations, great food, met some new people and caught up with some old friends.

I spent the last week in ND with my daughter. We cleaned, sorted, threw, organized and took a large load to the Salvation Army. Everything certainly looks better!

I got home Monday afternoon and my daughter is coming here this evening. Tomorrow morning we will leave for Kansas. My aunt and uncle are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary! We will get to visit with a lot of my relatives. My daughter hasn't been there in over 10 years so she is really looking forward to this trip, too.

About a week after we get back I will again be traveling to ND. My great-nephew, who was born the end of May, will be mine for a few days! His parents are taking a short vacation so I get to be his primary care-giver, you know, rocking, singing, playing, it will be fun!

Hope your week is going well! Remember to say a prayer for the victims and their families in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Leaving Again

It was nice to be home for a while but now we're getting ready to fly to Chicago next Wednesday. Our plane leaves at 6am so we'll have to be on the road around 3:30 or 4, ugh! My husband has more meetings so off we go again.

We'll have about 3 weeks at home and then we'll go to Kansas for my family reunion. That will be fun as I will get to see a lot of my cousins. I think our daughter is going to drive down with us. She hasn't been there in over 10 years! Our son will be staying in Iowa and we hope his wife will be with him by then. She's in England waiting for her permanent visa to come back over here.

Not much going on. The 4th was hot so we stayed inside and watched fireworks on tv. We did cook out, hotdogs, and they were very good. Our butcher recommended Lane's hotdogs and they were tasty!

"Have you thanked the Lord?
Have you praised God's name?
Don't you know that no tomorrow is quite the same?
Have you thanked the Lord?
Have you knelt in prayer,
and rejoiced that, rain or sunshine, our God is there?"

Back Home Again

What a ride! I spent last week in Iowa with my son. We had a great time! I met some of his co-workers and had supper with them! He is playing cricket so we went to Des Moines for a cricket match. He wasn't playing that day but it was definitely fun to watch. My husband came on Saturday so he went to the cricket match with us. After that we went to the new mall in Des Moines, wandered around and had lunch. We left Iowa on Monday and headed for Omaha. My husband had meetings so we were there until Wednesday noon. Boy did we eat! My gosh we were fed very well, in fact too much! It felt good to finally get home and just eat when you were hungry. Our cat was very glad to see us. It's a beautiful day here and we still have the windows open! No AC today, we're breathing fresh air!

Have a good one!

Rest in Peace and Start Anew

It is so sad to attend a funeral because you have lost a loved on, even if it's an older person. It was a sad occasion but we were surrounded by family we hadn't seen in several years and that is very special. I have always thought that funerals were more for the living than the dead. Once we have ended our life on this Earth we are immediately taken to spend eternity with God. The funeral is for our Earthly bodies to finalize our end here. People gather together and mourn for the deceased. After the funeral we all share a meal and rejoice in the fact that we are all together once again for fellowship. If only we could join together like this for births, baptisms and weddings.

I am now in Iowa with my son. We'd been talking about me staying with him for a while this summer and this seemed to work out just right. I rode with him and my husband will pick me up this coming weekend and we'll go to NE for a 3-day meeting. It's a long time away from home for me but at least we'll be dealing with only 1 car and not 2. There's a Curves here and Weight Watchers so I'll be getting in my exercise and continuing to count my points.

Praying that God will keep you all safe!

The End of the Trail

It's been a long and happy life for my 97-year-old mother-in-law. She peacefully passed away on Sat. June 9 with her family surrounding her. The funeral is this Friday so once again we will head north for our last visit with Ruth. We are praying for good weather and safe travel as we turn and go to ND.

A Quick Trip

Everyone got home safely and then Friday morning we left for Rapid City. It's quite a drive but with the 4 of us nobody got too tired from driving. The wedding was wonderful! I am so glad we were there to share in T & L's happiness! On the way back home we stopped at the famous Wall Drug and had lunch. We've stopped there a few times before but it has been quite a while ago. It was fun.

Today my daughter headed back to ND and my son took off heading east for IA. My husband went north to ND to visit his mother, she's in a home, is 97 and not doing too well. We think she might have shingles - ugh!

It was fun to have the 4 of us together again for a bit.

The drive to Rapid and back was beautiful! They've had a lot of rain west river so all the fields were green for a change. There's been a severe drought out there for quite a while so all the rain was welcomed.

I'm home alone for a couple of days so will get a lot of cleaning and laundry done! Also the grass needs to be mowed and my husband left me in charge, hmmm, now if we get rain tomorrow.......