Wow

So much has gone on this last month. I really had not meant to let so much time pass between posts.


Elizabeth and her SIL had a good time in New York earlier this month. A quick but rewarding trip!

After she came home the wheels started moving. She was able to schedule her trip over to Korea, to join her husband, for Aug. 13.

Before that date, she and I went to Santa Barbara for a couple days. We planned out trip for Keith's days off. I had a very hard time finding a hotel that was within a reasonable price, for 1 night. As it went, we did not stay in
SB, instead got a room in Carpenteria, 10 miles away. What we did find out, there was a huge celebration going on celebrating Santa Barbara's Spanish Heritage. It was a 5 day celebration that had an 85 year history. Lots of people.

I gave Keith my car keys and let him show us around. He took us into the mountains above SB, and other places he liked to go or places he wanted to go.



He lives close to the pier, and we drove the 1st day, walked around and had lunch there. The 2nd day we walked from his place, which was good as the parade was huge and traffic was closed on the pier during the parade. We went into the aquarium on the pier. We watched this sea star crawl around the side and back of the container it was big and fast, for a star fish. Scientists do not want them called "star fish" any more, but "sea stars" instead. The term star fish will just have to eventually die out with those of us in the "older" generation and our children.

We went to the mission. We didn't go in, but did look around. It really is huge.

This is a picture I took off the pier. If you double click it, you can see the burned mountain range behind SB, where the massive fire was just this last May.

On the pier. We were watching some families fishing, throwing in their lines and pulling in Mackeral just as fast.

A couple days later we had a combination going away/ birthday party for Elizabeth.

We went to Disneyland for Elizabeth's birthday on the 11th. Keith met us there. Again I got a hotel, however, I was much luckier this time. I managed to get a nice one just outside the park. No "big" celebrations going on.

We, meaning Dan and I, had not been there for about 8 years, though both the kids had. This picture shows lots of people and Disney Town in the back ground. This used to be the parking lot. Not only when I was a child, but when my youngest were in grammer school. There is a 4 or 5 tier parking lot, that wasn't there 8 years ago.

We get a hotel because we stay very late and will not drive home the same night. Keith left around 8, but then he had work the next day and is much closer then we are. We got home on the 12th, early afternoon. That evening we met with Ryan's family for pizza. Kinda of a going away for Elizabeth.

Here we are sitting, in the San Francisco airport, just before she goes to board her plane. It was a 12 hour, non-stop flight to Korea.

I admit, I was a little emotional when she left. She needed to go, she needs to be with her husband and we are excited and happy for her/them to be together~~ as they should be as husband and wife. It is just so far away. When we come back from Colorado we are going to get passports. We are planning at least one trip over. We need passports to go to Canada, as we do like to go to Vancouver Island.

We took over their household items that were here, to his folks for the army to pick up and ship over. Apparently they didn't come as scheduled, minor changes in scheduling, and will come on the 1st to get their things. I have also mailed over packages and her computer, (it had some surgery done). Those packages and her computer arrived a few days ago.

I helped set up my old classroom and have even subbed one day last week. School started last Monday.

Now I am up late, finishing some last minute things before we leave for Colorado.

We will take the dog to the vets in the morning, for boarding. The cats are taken care of. The little boy across the street is now 7, and he will earn some money for feeding our outside cat and filling the bird feeder for us. The gecko is with her former owner while we are gone. I gave the fish and the tank to my former classroom and teacher there (we are friends). It has been a busy month and gone by very fast.

My next post will be from Colorado, we will be there 10 days. One thing, besides family, I am looking forward to is some cooler weather. And some catch~up time on my e-mails and catching up on blogs.

God Bless

Happy birthday Mom

Today my mom would have been 83 years old. Happy birthday mom.

Today is Monday

Today is Monday, and there is so much to do. Elizabeth had a good trip to NY and back, with her SIL. The first time E. has been in NY city. We went to NY in 2004 when we took a road trip back to visit my brother and his wife. We visited Niagara Falls, and my SIL took Keith and Elizabeth to Syracuse for a day where they did some sight seeing and shopping. We also visited with some friends in CO., my BIL and his girls in Ohio, and my aunt in NY. That was a great trip, and my mom having a fully contained motor home enabled us to do much sight seeing along the way, and take care of my mom and all her medical needs, etc. I am so glad we drove it, so much to see, but not enough time or money to see all of it. I especially liked not being on toll roads back east. There is so much old architecture to see (much older then in CA) and it is so beautiful, you miss it on the toll roads. More then the experience that we all enjoyed, I am so glad my mother was still with us to enjoy it. Of course, she had talked about it for years so we finally just did it. It was a great experience for us all, and the kids, being newly graduated from high school and 1 year out.

So much to do and so little time. Hopefully we will know today or tomorrow when Elizabeth is heading off to Korea. We need to go get her ticket at the base (about an hour away). She is and needs to finish getting their household items ready for the military to pick up and ship over. Between doing things, Thursday and Friday she and I are going to visit her brother in Santa Barbara, we are planning a going away party next Sunday eve. and a trip to Disneyland on her birthday. I also, pray that the base (in Korea) has a decent Christian church, as I am not sure what is off base. Please pray for her and Ryan.
After we know when she is leaving we will set dates for our trip to CO. We know when we have to be there, those dates were set in early July, so we will revolve around them. Sorry that she isn't able to go with us~~ but glad her sister and family were here in early July for a visit. However, Elizabeth will be with her husband, as she should be, and they will have some grand adventures of their own.
God bless

Boating on a hot day

Last week we had a couple days of 99 and 98, after 10 days of over 100. We are again, in triple digits. Yesterday it was 105, so we took the boat out. The first time since Dan's surgery, it was his idea.
I need to remember that the photos load backwards, so you are looking at the last to the first. Elizabeth on a single ski, before heading in.

Elizabeth and Cari in the tube.

After lunch we took off from the beach, you can see how low the water level is in the background. Actually not to bad for the end of July, considering the water is used for agriculture.

During lunch a ladybug decided it wanted a soft landing spot.

The beach where we swam and ate. It got really deep, real fast. Elizabeth invited a friend along and it was a nice relaxing day. I will admit I wasn't up to cooking dinner after we got home so we ordered some pizza.
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Amazing, sometimes what you think of when you wake up in the mornings. It has been 11 years today since my dad had a fatal car accident. Miss you dad. ♥

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Things change fast. Elizabeth is most likely leaving for Korea in a little less then 3 weeks. The date isn't confirmed yet. So much to do. She needs to get ready the things she wants to have sent over for their household. She's working on it.

In the meantime she leaves this Friday for her NY trip, she won.

I need to make hotel reservations today for our visit to Disneyland, and boarding for the dog.

And...

I am NOT looking forward to another hot day.

Have a great day and God Bless........

A busy but good week.

It was a busy week getting ready for a visit with my sister. My niece just moved close to Colorado Springs, where her husband is stationed (Army). My sister (& 8 year old grandson) drove from OR. to help them move in. On the way home she was suppose to visit for a few days, however, since they would be going by Vegas, Elliase wanted to see his mom (he spends the summers with grandma) so they went there. They did come here, but only for one night, instead. It was a short but nice visit. The first thing she did was lock her keys in her car. That taken care of we then had time to visit. I believe the high that day was officially 108, so the pool was good for Elliase. They left Sunday morning for the long drive home, I think they made it in 10 hours. Of course not only was it the 2 of them, there were also 2 small dogs in the car (in cages) so they did have to make a few stops as necessary.
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Earlier in the week Dan was going to help a friend of his paint a house, but it was to soon after surgery so he only could give about 4 hours. Kinda hard when you want to do something, but there is a reason the doctor said to wait 6 weeks.
Sat. Dan went up and picked up Eric, so he could take home his (new to him) truck, so Eric got to visit with his aunt, and swim later with Elliase and Elizabeth.
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It has been hot! Sunday broke a 110 year old record of 111, it was 112. Today the official high was 108, tomorrow 107. The long term forecast has the weather mostly 105 give or take a couple degrees for the next 9 days.It is 10:20 PM right now and 89 outside, that is cooler then last night. The last time we has a long spell like this was the summer of 2006 when we has 12 days over 100, with several of them being 112/113. I'm ready to move back to the coast!
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Up and coming we are going to Disneyland for Elizabeth's birthday. She gets in free and is taking a friend who has a pass. Me, well I have to pay and so does Dan. I will make a hotel reservation as we stay until the park closes at midnight but will not drive home then. We are also planning a road trip to Colorado, but may fly (that OK Rochelle?) as some airlines are slashing their prices between Aug. 18 - middle of Nov. We still have Eric's birthday in Aug. and are trying to find time to go to Santa Barbara to visit Keith. Dan's Grand Jury duty messes up some of the dates. We still have no date for when Elizabeth will be going to Korea to be with Ryan. Hoping that when he is done with his latest training he may find out some information.
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I will be using Keith's room for a sewing room and set up a table to do some scrap booking. I don't want to put a bed in there and nothing else, except the toy boxes. When we need to I can put all away with ease and pull out some twin size air mattresses for sleeping on.
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We hear that there is a deal with the CA. budget, and voting is on Thursday. They are still going to close some of the state parks, but don't know which ones yet. Also that if signed on Thurs. IOU's will be turned to real checks. Last time we got IOU's our credit union cashed them, but not all banks will do that. Dan is retired, so he shouldn't get an IOU. However, both our son's work for the parks and we don't know yet. They already have 3 furlough days a month or 14 o/o pay reduction. Both their parks were on the closure list, hopefully not now. Hoping, also, it doesn't cut the Cal Grant program either, as Elizabeth has a grant and really can't afford to lose it. At this point all we can do is pray for the best.

Awwwww , that's all I have to say!

Haven't done much blogging lately. Sooooooo, I am now doing some catch up. Haven't blogged much about Dan's surgery. Of course I have kept the kids updated with all that was going one. It is just a hard swallow when you hear the word 'cancer.' But all has gone well and everything looked good and clean after the surgery. Of course there will be more testing at a later date, that is just a precautionary procedure. As he has said, it is really nice to have so many God fearing friends and family who have been praying for him, and irregardless of how things may have turned out, it's OK when you have the Lord in your life. While waiting for him to go into surgery our pastor and 2 of the elders came by and sat with us and prayed with us. While he was in surgery anther couple we are good friends with came by and sat with me until the doctor came out. It is a real comfort having friends in Christ that can come and just be with you. It has been a little over 3 weeks and he is doing remarkably well. Still gets a little more tired then before, but that is because his body is still healing.
We have a good friend, (who will be 82 in Aug.) His wife had a stroke about a year and half ago, so she is not as strong as she used to be. Anyway, he has the flu (also diabetic) so Dan spent the night there last night to help out in case anything happened. God has a plan and He uses His own to help and comfort His own, also. Things were much better today and he was holding down his food and feeling better.

Had a nice 2 day visit with Rochelle and family. Kinda did nothing much the first day they were here. Would have taken the boat out or gone to the lake if it weren't for Dan's recent surgery. (Hopefully after his 6 week check up we can take the boat out again). But, to the enjoyment of the little one's, "Bob the Builder" was at the met, so we ladies packed up the kids and headed downtown to the museum. Needless to say Brandon & Caitlin had a fantastic time. They even got to meet "Bob". We all enjoyed ourselves, and it was fun to play there with the little ones.

We did get the kiddie pool out for them each day and they really enjoyed it, and of course we enjoyed watching them.

The day after Rochelle and Brian and kids left, Elizabeth and I headed to our place at the lake. My bother and his youngest were there. It was a nice visit. We headed to Lakeport for the fireworks display over the lake. It was nice, haven't been there for the 4th for a while.

There may be 10 1/2 years between them but they had fun "poking each other."

When Elizabeth and I headed home we went to St. Helena and some of the wineries. We stopped at Charles Krug first. The 2nd place we stopped was at the old Christian Brothers Winery, which since sometime in the 70's has been "The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone." We went inside to look around. Every since I was real young I can remember wanting to stop at this place and now I have. I got some real nice pictures inside, and it is remarkable inside. Of course I wanted to buy everything in the store but of course ~ I didn't!

The photo above shows the swallows nests on the building. It was built in the middle 1800's.

We stopped at Beringer Winery.This was his house, and it is just as amazing inside.

The stained glass windows are fantastic and the woodwork is amazing. Just beautiful.

Stopped at a couple other places, didn't taste everywhere we stopped, it can get pricey.

The last place we stopped was Robert Mondavi, and that was the favorite for the wine. I didn't have much as I was driving and still had a 4 1/2 hour drive ahead of me, but I did taste. R. M. has a desert wine that is really good. I should mention that wine can sit in my refrigerator for quite some time, as I am not much of a drinker, but I do like to cook with it.

It's hot!

Yesterday tied a record of 108, today was cooler 106. That is if you can call that cool. Glad we have an AC, but dread the PGE bill.

I Took HIs Hand and Followed

(I do not know who wrote this, credit be given to them. I was given this copy after the birth of my 2nd son ~~ doesn't matter boy or girl~~ and I immediately fell in love with it. I found it today sorting through some school things. Maybe I was going to copy it and put in my monthly newsletter. God knows.
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♥

My dishes went unwashed today, I didn't make the bed, I took his hand and followed where his eager footsteps led.

Oh yes, we went adventuring, my little son and I. Exploring all the great outdoors beneath the summer sky.

We waded in a crystal stream, we wandered through a wood, my kitchen wasn't swept today, but life was bright and good.

We found a cool sun-dappled glade and now my small son knows how mother bunny hides her nest where Jack-in-the pulpit grows.

We watched a robin feed her young, we climbed a sunlit hill, saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky, we plucked a daffodil.

That my house was neglected, that I didn't sweep the stair, in Twenty years, no one on earth will know or even care.

But that I've helped a little boy to noble manhood grow, in twenty years, the whole wide word may look and see and know.

Happy Father's day!

I wanted to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day. He has been gone for almost 11 years now. But I still think of him when special occasions come up, and other times also. He was a great person.

Dan came home from the hospital Sat. and went to church today! There is no keeping him down!!! He made a great patient for the hospital staff, as you can see. Happy Father's Day to the father of my children, you are a great man and I Love You!

Events of the last few days include taking a picture of the "one" and only ripe tomato we have. It is a lovely tomato! There are some green ones on the vine. We will enjoy this one tomorrow night. They are slow this year.

The sunflowers are blooming nicely, only about a half dozen or so this year, but they are nice.

Keith had a going away party Friday. He decided to show the gecko off. She liked his shirt, kept jumping to it as he'd hold her out. She also proceeded to climb on his face.

I hope everyone had a great Father's day with their dad. It doesn't take much to be a father, but it takes quite a lot to be a dad! I thank my heavenly Father for his love, and my earthly father for the love he also gave.

Little Bits

Reposting pictures because Picasa got a bug.

We took the boat out again on Wednesday, as it is going to be at least 6 weeks before Dan will be able to go out again (that is another blog). Keith was coming up, but wouldn't be here in time for boating, so Elizabeth invited Cari to come. She hasn't done much boating, so it was fun. We pulled the girls behind in the tube, and I think Cari enjoyed it. Elizabeth then did some knee boarding. It was a refreshing afternoon. And now the boat is ready when the guys come to visit ~ if they want to take it out. If you double click the pictures you can see how high the water is. Sadly it is snow melt that melted to soon.

I captured this dragonfly sitting on top of one of the gladiolas at the side of the house. Everytime I got near it would fly away and if I was very still return to the same spot.

When things settle down in a few weeks, I will spend sometime exploring what my camera can do. I want to get another lens for really close up pictures or one so I can take pictures of the moon (that'll wait).

Just some pictures

Before & after shots of the thunder and lightening, the end of May. The guys had to remove the tarp because the wind was so strong. We park under the tarp because the tree always sheds, we think the pigeons like to gather right above the vehicles and leave their mark on the vehicles.
Before

after ~ I was unable to get a shot of the lightening ~ it was vertical as well as horizontal.

Lakeport park, Labor Day weekend. I captured a picture of a mama duck and her babies. The dad was there also.

Last day.

It has been a busy 2 weeks. Not only end of year activities and close out for my class, also a Bridal shower and Hilary's wedding. Elizabeth made a beautiful bridesmaid.

On Thursday we had our "End of the year ceremony" for my class. On Friday we had a pot luck brunch for the children and their parents. The principal of the school and other staff came by the present me with a plaque and beautiful bouquet of flowers in honer of my retiring. It was nice.

Now it is time for me to do some catch up not only with neglected house cleaning, but blogging, scrapbooking, sewing, reading, etc., etc., etc. Only now I will have some more time to do that in. Trying to get some work done before Dan's surgery (that's another story) on Thursday.

Going to the gym soon, that is another area that has been neglected the last 2 weeks. Oh, did I mention some sleep! Yes, that is defiently something I look forward to.

God Bless