Recap

Here's a recap of our trip with no pictures. We left here Oct. 6 and took two days to drive to Bill's south of Denver. It was so good to get there, but we've decided we need to take three days to drive, two is just too hard. We stayed over night in Des Moines, Iowa, which is my old stomping ground! It was so good to arrive at Bill's house. They have a beautiful home and we enjoy staying there.

Bill and I went to see Mother that evening. She was waiting for us! It was so good to see her...
I was able to go see her one, two, and sometimes three times a day! We ate supper with her twice. She liked that. Once Lorraine was with us and once Tim was with us. We reserved a room so we had a private supper with her.

Lorraine flew from Portland, Oregon for three days, staying with Richard and Cookie. I hadn't seen Lorraine in a couple of years so it was special to be with her, even though her main reason for going was to see Mother.

Tim flew from Regina, Sask. Canada for three days. I hadn't seen Tim since we flew to Malaysia for Kaleb's graduation so this was also special. Of course he went mainly to see Grandma but we cashed in on that deal too! So you can imagine we had a great time. He stayed at Bill's in the room next to ours.

A treat for me was a dinner with a friend from Oklahoma. Richard, Cookie, Lorraine, Jerry and I, and Tom and wife from Oklahoma, all met at a restaurant. Richard, Lorraine, and I all knew Tommy when we were kids living in Oklahoma back in the 40's. Bill was too young to remember Tom so they didn't go. What a fun time we had reminiscing and telling stories of those good old days when we were all kids.

Another really fun and interesting day was going to the Castlewood St. Park. Lisa is a park ranger so on her day off she took us the park. It's beautiful. We didn't even know it was there!
Tim was with us so that made it even more fun.

We got to see Lisa, Doug, & Justin for supper at Bill's. They are special.

We also got to see Heidi, Kimberlyn, & Braden but only for a short few minutes...the flu bug struck. They had to leave and soon others in the family were also sick so we're all disappointed.
They are also special and the rest in the family too: Courtney, Jenna, & Scott.

There are other friends in the area we didn't get to see: Janice & Wayne. Hopefully next time we can get together with them. We packed a lot in in a few days and the most important time was spent with Mother.

After taking Tim to the airport we went on north to spend some time with Richard & Cookie. It was hard to say goodbye to Mother but we had to. We had a nice time with Richard & Cookie. I went to an Uppercase party with Cookie!

From there we drove to Chicago to visit Pam & Gene, again staying over night in Des Moines, Iowa. Home was calling so we didn't stay as long at Pam's as we thought we would. We arrived shortly after lunch on Saturday, went to early church on Sunday and then out to brunch, with Gene's parents joining us.

We drove three hours and then stopped for supper with Ted, Sydney, & Bella. I took pictures of the girls and their cats. Again we said goodbye and drove home. Home always looks so good!

Heavenly Father, thank You for a wonderful family time with my family. Thank You for each one. Thank You for keeping us safe as we traveled. Thank You for Mother, for her good health, for her sharp mind, and for her love of You and of us.