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.
7:30 AM I woke up and decided to sneak downstairs for a cup of coffee before the girls woke up...wrong! Looking down from the loft, here is what I saw! Three sleepy girls on the sofa waiting for Grandma to wake up! They should have still been sleeping. Well, maybe not Isabella, she went to sleep early but Haleigh and Sydney were awake til a little past midnight!
Here is Bella, sound asleep. Haleigh and Sydney wanted me to take her picture.
Haleigh and Sydney posing for the camera! This is my chair in the loft, where I spend many night time hours.
Haleigh and Sydney watching the movie on Hallmark channel. Grandpa asked how come they took over Grandma's chair!
We had nine at our Thanksgiving table this year. Here is Bella, Sydney, Ted, Jerry, and Me.
In this picture is Haleigh, Jessica, Tyler, and Rob. Next year Armon and Elmise will be here too! In fact, they may be here in a couple of months! We have so much to be thankful for. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner like we always do: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, salad, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie or apple pie. A couple of items were missing this year, due to my neglect. Candied sweet potatoes and cranberries.
This is our last day with Plaid. He's very much at home in our home. Here he's sitting on the back of our sofa so he can watch out the living room window. Yesterday he was in the sun room sitting on the ottoman looking out and growling and barking at something. I looked out and couldn't see anything out there. He kept it up but I never did see what he was seeing. Anyway, he was being a good watch dog! When he wants or needs to go outside he comes to me and puts his paw on my arm, if I'm sitting, or wines at me if I busy doing something. So we go for lots of walks, and that's good for me. It's great living in the country and in the middle of a woods because I don't have to get dressed early. I just go out in my house coat and only Plaid and I know! Well, now you know too!
Our small group ate supper together yesterday before our discussion time. It was so fun and such good food! Everyone brought something so it wasn't a lot of work for me. It's the first time we eaten supper together before our discussion time.
Laura, Diane, & Donna are laughing...that's something we do a lot of!
Vera, Linda & Rose. We're a good mix of folks. Three married couples, 1 widow, 1 married-her husband may join us at a later time, & two divorcees. Another couple is hoping to join us. It's almost time to split and that's going to be hard. 
It was fun anyway! Tom, Angel, Kelby, Rob, & Jessica! What fun!!!
This is not a new picture of Sydney but it's one of my favorite pictures of her. She's very special.
I took this picture of Bella yesterday. Isn't she sweet?
This beautiful flower arrangement with candles is for my upcoming birthday...from: you guessed it...Lorraine! She has good taste! I'm undeserving but it sure is nice of her!
The UPS man brought this jack-o-lantern full of candy to our door Wednesday evening! Earlier Jerry had asked me if I bought any tootsie rolls today! No...but there are tootsie rolls in here! So he's already eaten one and I ate a caramel kiss! Now who would send something like this? Only one person...a sister!
"BROYHILL FONTANA".
"BAUM BROTHERS" CHINA
Our Haiti Day was great! These were Haitian folks from Lansing that came for the afternoon. They brought their own musicians, as you can see here. They're very good. I didn't have good lighting so I told them to smile big so we could see their teeth! They are Antenel, Cius, ?, Joel, and Jean Robert.
There were about 44 Haitians of all ages. Here they are singing and clapping, and praising God!
These are some of the folks from our church that were there. We all love Haitian folks.
This is Onide and her children. We enjoyed eating together and exchanged e-mail addresses.
These two beautiful girls, Tamika & Thaisha, also ate at my table.
This is Pastor Bev, one of the van drivers, Eric, and a good Haitian friend. St. Mark.
One of the musicians, Jean Robert, and his sweet son, Stephen!
Teenagers love to eat!
Jessica, Haleigh, and others standing in line to get their food.
Richard praying for our food and fellowship.
The food line...lots of beans and rice!
Lots of food for lots of hungry people.
Lord, thank You for the beautiful fall colors and for the technology to send them across the country in a few minutes! I don't get it... But thank You, Lord.
My sister-in-law, Vel, loves to decorate. I took a few pictures to show her fall decor. This first photo is her display on the mantle.
This is in the hallway by the front door.
This basket is in the kitchen.
This is also in the kitchen by the breakfast table.
This elaborate display is on the baby grand piano! She loves to decorate...
