Our Trip to New Orleans

I feel like I've been away for a long time. I'm definitely in a different season in life and it's been an interesting adjustment.

We went to Red Robin for Beth's birthday, she got a new phone case and some gift cards. It was a small celebration but she had a good day.

We just returned from a long weekend in New Orleans. We went to celebrate Sharaya and Peter turning 40 this year. Chuck, Beth and I had never been there before and it was fun to explore a new city.

Diana, Peter and the kids flew in on Wednesday, the rest of us took a red eye and arrived Thursday morning. We met in Jackson Square and began our adventure! 

St Louis Cathedral

We walked around downtown and came across a wedding procession. A band and a hundred people dancing down the middle of the street! The music just made you want to dance! 

And the food! We had beignets, we tried the gumbo, po' boys sandwiches, alligator, grits, and all of it was delicious. I only got a picture of the beignets though. It was hard not to be messy when you ate them. 😊

We went to the WWII Museum. That place was huge, we could have spent days there. 

Sharaya took this picture of the outside

I don't know if each of those dog tags represent a person who was killed, but it was a humbling display. 

Did you see The Monuments Men movie? The museum had a section about the art that was preserved during the war.

It's an incredible place. We were there for hours and still didn't see everything.

One day we took the trolley to the park. The kids got to watch the ducks and play on the playground.

It was such an incredible trip. There was so much to see and do there. The music, the food, the sights. And the people were so friendly. Oh, and the trees with the Spanish Moss! I wasn't expecting those. They were beautiful.

It truly is a beautiful city. We had a great time. If you ever get the opportunity to go, you should.
 

How It's Going - A Quick Post

Diana and Peter arrived Saturday afternoon and we've had so much fun! They've been going almost non-stop, on their way to the Children's Museum and the park as I type this.

There's a lot to share but for today I'll leave you with these:

Tragedy and Joy

Hey everyone,

May is about over and we're headed into June already. Does anyone else feel like this year is flying by? 

We live on a busy street and a couple weeks ago I had gone to bed around 10:00 when I heard a car fly by our house. The speed limit is 35 but sometimes people go so fast. I laid in bed calculating their speed 'They have to be going at least 60' when I heard 'Bam!!" I thought, 'Oh no! Please don't let that be from the car!' There's a very sharp turn a block or two from us and the street heads up a big hill. Then I heard, "Ka-boom!"

I flew out of bed, grabbed a sweatshirt and headed outside. Chuck had been watching TV but heard the sound too and was right behind me. By that time we could hear the sirens. From the sidewalk in front of our house we could see tons of flashing lights up the street. The article said the driver 'was traveling at an excessive speed.'

We learned the driver didn't survive and now there is a memorial at the corner where the car left the road. I don't think I will ever forget the sounds of that car that night. I keep thinking about that persons last thoughts as they lost control of the car, and about their family members receiving the news. It just breaks my heart. 

On to something a little lighter -

I was out watering the other night and happened to notice this on one of our evergreen trees -

I've been watering these trees for 25 years and this heart has just appeared in about the last 6 months. I just smiled thinking about how God's creation sings it's praises to Him. Isaiah 55:12 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace, the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." The Lord speaks to us through His word, through others, and through His creation. His love is like no other.

Beth had some lab work done recently. It showed she's slightly anemic so she's now taking iron a few times a week.

Before I got on here, I was going around closing the blinds and noticed a pink hue outside. Our house faces east so I headed to the backyard and sure enough, a gorgeous pink sky! The sunset was beautiful tonight.

And tomorrow... Diana and Peter fly in and we get to see these two!!

Not sure I'll get much sleep tonight! We saw them back in December but when they're this age it seems like forever. They'll be staying with us for a week so Sharaya and Ally will be over a lot, we bought a kids slide, kids patio chairs, lots of new toys, took some extra furniture to storage, our house looks very different than it did a couple weeks ago!  

There's going to be a lot going on at the end of next week too so I'm not sure when I'll be back on here. I'll try to log on and read posts when I can. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Random Pictures

Thank you all for your encouragement on my last post about Beth's new glasses. It was exactly what many of you said, she just needed to get used to the new look. She's worn them every day since and really likes them now.

I don't know how you get inspiration for your posts but I usually go about my days just taking pictures of this and that, and mentally writing it into a blog post. But sometimes they just don't work. So this post will be about pictures that didn't fit into other posts.

For some reason this year we didn't have a designated photo spot at church on Easter. I guess I could have created an area but just didn't think about it in time for Sunday services. Our thought was to take this in front of the fireplace but it turned out to be in front of the TV! 

We have a wire hanging over our driveway that is for our cable. A few years ago it started drooping, so much so that it was hitting the DART bus whenever they would pull in. They came out last year and raised it but it started drooping again.

So I called them and they ended up having to replace the entire thing. The tech told me it was so old the inner wire wasn't supporting it anymore. Now it's much higher and isn't an issue with the busses.

Let's see, what else?

Oh, I found this picture of Sharaya the other day! She's our middle daughter and I love how she seems to be waving Hi!

We have a dwarf cherry tree in our side yard and I love it in the Spring!

I got to video chat with Diana and the kids today. It's so fun to see them and hear their voices. Adelaide was dancing for me, and Oliver was finishing his lunch.

Do any of you follow Friends of Big Bear Valley, and Jackie and Shadow, the two bald eagles? A few years ago scientists put a camera in the tree by their nest. It sits on a branch quite a few feet away but they're able to study them and their habits. It's been fascinating to watch them lay their eggs, and then to see the babies hatch! Right now they're asking people to submit names for the two eaglets. Any suggestions?

Jackie and Shadow

Well, Beth just came out and asked what we're having for dinner so I'll close this. Tonight I'm going to make pancakes. We haven't had them in a long time! 

Have a great weekend!

A Little of This and That - and Updates

A couple of weekends ago Chuck and Sharaya drove from Seattle down to Santa Clara, CA to join in the Super bowl festivities. The day before the game they went to the Fan Experience at a convention center with all things Super bowl related: food, activities, displays. They enjoyed that but said it was very crowded. 

The next day, even though they didn't have tickets to the actual game they found an Irish pub that was flying the 12's flag and spent the day there. 

They got there before it opened and there were enough people waiting outside that the owner let them all in early. By the time the game started that afternoon they said it was so loud you couldn't even hear the TVs, and the place was packed and people were crazy... and they had the BEST time! They were so glad they went! (I didn't go because I wouldn't be able to handle that much noise for that many hours.)

Diana and Oliver were dressed in their green to represent the Seahawks! 

And this was me watching from home without my hubby. I think it's the first big game we haven't seen together. But I was wearing my fuzzy socks, and had some hot tea and fun snacks. And we won! So I had fun!

Let's see, what else? Oh, Chuck bought a new car recently. New-to-us but still, new! It's a 2022 Hundai Tucson and he really likes it. I say 'his' car (we each have a car) but it's actually our family/retirement car. He wanted to get something newer that would last us through our golden years. We'll pay it off before he retires and we expect this will be the last car we ever buy.  

It's a little strange to be planning for the last years of your life. I'm still close with friends from high school and we were texting this morning about retirement and Medicare and mentioning how it's crazy that we're at that age now. Life really goes by so fast.

We had a few days of sunshine so for lunch one day I walked around our parking lot at work. And saw these little daffodils, they made me smile! It's a little early for them here but we've had some nice weather this winter. The plants are so confused.

Well, I think that's about all from here. Oh wait, updates! 

• Beth's foot is completely healed from where she stepped on the nail.
• It looks like hair is growing in the area where she had the cortisone shot for the alopecia so we made another appointment for next month.
• I was able to cancel the biopsy and schedule a third mammo. I asked if we could do it in Bellevue (about 20-30 minutes east of us) because I was told they have a machine where you can take pics while seated. And she curiously said, "Well, we have one of those machines here too." I don't know why the lady in Seattle didn't tell me that! But we now have a new appointment scheduled for Seattle.
• Chuck is going to physical therapy a couple times a week and his back is doing much better.

Okay now I think I've covered everything. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!