What Beth Has Been Up To

I snapped this picture of Beth and Allie when we were driving home from the airport after our trip to San Diego.

 

We went to the mall the other day and did some shopping at JC Penney. I parked in the parking garage like usual and then realized we had to go up stairs to get socks and other things she needed.

After we had everything, I suggested she look for a new shirt. She rarely buys clothes, usually only when I encourage her to buy something. So we headed back down the escalator and looked and looked for her size, only to find out they were back upstairs! :) 

  
She's drawn to bright colors and found a really cute shirt that she wanted to try on. We were so excited when it fit her around the waist and in the shoulders! (I find most of the shirts she tries on are too tight at her waist or really baggy up top.) But this was just right! I guess I should have taken a picture of her in it! She's worn it a couple times already, I'll try to get one next time.

After we bought everything, it was back downstairs to the car!

I was walking through the foyer last Tuesday evening and spotted her sitting in a chair.

Sound asleep!! She's been sleeping a lot: if we're in the car for just a few minutes, when we're in the waiting room at the doctor's office... I know she hasn't been using her CPAP machine a lot so I had her watch a video on 'how to gain confidence' when using it. We went on line and looked at her results. I showed her how many hours a night she wore it, how many times she took the mask off and on during the night, they keep track of all that for you.

  

She did really well the night after we watched the video but is struggling again to wear it more than a couple hours each night. Thankfully we see the sleep doctor on Monday. 

So what have you been up to lately?

Lifeguard Rescue

We had been at the beach for a little while and Chuck and I were up on our 'spot' in the sand and our girls, plus The Cousins, their spouses and kids were all playing in the sand or out in the water.

The weather was gorgeous: blue skies, temps around 80 and the water wasn't as cold as we expected. It really was as close to perfect as you could get.

 

 

 

All of the sudden we heard the sound of the lifeguard jet ski as it splashed through the waves heading out to get someone. It happened a couple times while were there and just about everyone on the beach stops what they're doing and watches.

 

As we see it go close to a couple people Chuck asks, "Is that Sharaya?"  I asked him why he thought it would be her and he said it was about the same area where she and Jess had been before. (Jess is my nieces husband.) I stood up to get a better look. 

The person grabbed onto the board on the back of the jet ski and they started bringing them back in. Chuck says, "That really looks like Sharaya!" By now I recognize the black bathing suit and I'm walking faster to the area where they're bringing her closer to shore. I realize at that moment that the rest of our family has left the water and they're coming over too.

The lifeguard stops in about 2 feet of water and Sharaya gets off the board. It IS her!! I could just feel my heart pounding, I knew she was okay but oh my word!! We all gathered around her and just bombarded her with questions: "What happened?! Are you okay?! Did you motion for the lifeguard?!" "Did they just see you?!"

Looking back now I could tell she was absolutely exhausted and we should have let her get back to the sand and sit down but I think we were all just so concerned and scared!

She said that her and Jess had been out far enough that they couldn't touch the bottom and they just were treading water for a while. But then she started to get really tired and as hard as she tried to swim in, she wasn't going anywhere. She thought about trying to swim again when the lifeguard showed up. She figured she could make it on her own, but decided to go with him instead.

And we're so thankful she did!

Of course her cousins couldn't let it go by without getting in a few jabs, "Yeah Sharaya, we know. You just wanted to meet the lifeguard!" "Did you get his number?!"

I will forever be grateful to the lifeguards at La Jolla Shores for seeing my daughter way out there in the water, noticing she was getting tired, and keeping their eyes on her as she tried so hard to swim in to shore.

And especially to Lifeguard Tower 31 for getting on the jet ski to go get her.

 That day could have ended much differently but they saved her life and I will be forever grateful.

San Diego Part 2

On Sunday we all went to the church where Chuck and I met, married and started our family. They recently merged with another congregation and remodeled a lot of the building but so much of it was still the same. 

Being there brought back so many memories and there were actually still quite a few people attending there that we knew back in the 80's! We had a good time reconnecting with so many old friends.

I kept forgetting to have someone take a family photo so we kept taking selfies. 😏 

After church we stopped for some lunch then headed to La Jolla Shores! One of our favorite places in all of San Diego. We love the beach and we absolutely love jumping the waves!! This is a picture I took back in 2000 maybe? Chuck and Sharaya. I was brave and took my camera into the ocean!

   

I wasn't that brave this time but we jumped waves for a long time. We came out tired but oh so happy!! Most of 'The Cousins' came and hung out with us, we ended up being at the beach for more than 5 hours. We could have stayed longer but we needed to get back and see my dad and sister again.

 

Some kids who weren't with us started building this huge mountain and mote and all our kids joined in to help them.

I caught Beth taking a selfie to send to her boyfriend!

 

Almost all of The Cousins and their kids

There was a church group there doing water baptisms! 

How cool is that?!

We had such a great time! I'm glad we got to stay there a while cause I really needed a beach 'fix'!

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow!

We flew to San Diego this past weekend for a family reunion and to celebrate my dad. He's 93 and has Parkinson's so my cousin Bobby decided to get the family together for what might be the last time with my dad. Bobby's dad was my dad's younger brother.

 

 Beth does not like to fly and she made sure she was current on all the safety procedures!

Our flight left at 6am so we got to watch the sunrise at 35,000 feet!

I love aerial photography and I took way too many pictures just on the flight down!

Diana came in from Philadelphia and her flight landed about an hour after ours so we got some breakfast at the airport then walked over to the other terminal to get her. She and Sharaya laughed at how much they dressed alike! 

 We rented a van and left the airport around 10:00. The reunion started at 11:00 so we had plenty of time to get to East County. We  brought my dad out and sang "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and he was so overwhelmed at all the people who came out to honor him.

We had a friend who was there take a group photo of the entire family but we haven't seen it yet. I'm so anxious to see how it turned out! We had such a fantastic time catching up with each other, some of us hadn't seen each other in decades! 

I snapped this as we were all starting to gather for the main photo...

And there was so much laughter! Especially between my kids and my sister's kids. 'The Cousins' as we call them.

It was such a great day, oh my word. As perfect as it could be. 

I love you Dad!

Thank you Sharaya for taking this picture!!

Burn Update

The burns are actually looking really good. I took off the bandages a few days ago and was surprised to see so much healthy pink skin! The healing process just increased so fast, every day there was such a difference in the way they looked.

We made the decision to not put the bandages on that day and we haven't done it since. Beth took a shower that same day and said the water on her back felt so good!

Every day they look better than the last. The worst is over. Yaay!!
 

 

Thank you all for your prayers and concern!

A BBQ and A Supreme Court Justice

Our church held it's big Fall Kick Off today. It's when all of our classes and bible studies begin, the children in our Kids Ministry all move up to their new classes and this year we had a BBQ out in the parking lot.

I helped set up, then went and taught Sunday school. After the kids all left, we cleaned up the class room, then Beth and went went out to have lunch with everyone. Then we got up to help tear everything down. 

The forecast kept hinting at rain for today, first they said the afternoon, then it would come in the evening. Course, you never really know!

 

Setting up.

It was at this point we realized we were about 12 tables short!

Beth is on the left, in the teal.

Gathering all the salt and pepper shakers.

 

She saw these tablecloths blowing out of the trash and ran over to push them all back down.

We all finished cleaning up around 3:00 and I think the rain began at around 6:00. Whew! But it was beautiful during the BBQ! 

While we were doing that, Sharaya and Allie went to the UDub (University of Washington) and got to hear Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor! I'm in awe of Sharaya, the way she's introducing Allie to so many powerful, strong women. Instilling in her that women have a voice and they can serve in places of authority.