Sunday…April 29
We got a real scare this morning after church. We had a message from our good friends Joyce and Gary to call as soon as possible. Since Joyce had called while we were at church, we knew it had to be something really important. Well, it was! She and Gary finally sold their house in Salisbury, MD and will be moving to the Houston area to be near their grandson, Owen…well…their daughters, too. The only down side to this is that when we go to Richmond in June they will be gone so we won’t get to see them.
After eating out with Jim’s family, we headed home for a lazy Sunday.
Monday, April 30
Wow! Keep this good news coming! We’ve had two answered prayers now! Mike got a job with the Internation Missions Board in the finance department…or something like that!
And, today was Leah’s first day at the job with a law firm in Liberal. As a parent, there is nothing that makes you happier than knowing that your kids are doing well!
We got a real scare this morning after church. We had a message from our good friends Joyce and Gary to call as soon as possible. Since Joyce had called while we were at church, we knew it had to be something really important. Well, it was! She and Gary finally sold their house in Salisbury, MD and will be moving to the Houston area to be near their grandson, Owen…well…their daughters, too. The only down side to this is that when we go to Richmond in June they will be gone so we won’t get to see them.
After eating out with Jim’s family, we headed home for a lazy Sunday.
Monday, April 30
Wow! Keep this good news coming! We’ve had two answered prayers now! Mike got a job with the Internation Missions Board in the finance department…or something like that!
And, today was Leah’s first day at the job with a law firm in Liberal. As a parent, there is nothing that makes you happier than knowing that your kids are doing well!
Also, today we got a photo of our Odyssey boys on prom night Saturday.
They are quite a bunch! We’ll be going to their graduation from Liberal High School at the end of May. The parents of four of the guys gathered to pose for a $$$ behind the prom photo…(Tim, the boy in front, does not have parents in the photo) For 6 years these parents allowed Jim and me to be a part of their .jpg)
child’s life and fetched, carried, fed, and even in Washington, DC, washed our clothes! What memories we forged over those 6 years which began when the team 
was 6th graders. However, Tim didn't 
join us until later after John Buttram moved to St. Louis...(John is right in front of Jim.) As the song goes, “Thanks for the memories…”Tuesday, May 1
As Edith always says, “When you’re looking for an excuse, any old excuse will do.” So…today we left the house and went on a motorcycle ride. We had a hundred things to do to get ready to leave for Duke by way of Lenexa, KS, but…
The weather was so beautiful with hardly any wind.
We hadn’t been on the cycle since we got back from Florida.
We weren’t going to have another opportunity for quite a while.
Guess you get the drift. Just choose the excuse you like.
Eventually ended up in Hobbs where my step-grandson, Kris and family have moved in with his father’s parents. First stop was a gas station, but I couldn’t find any listing with the address I had for him. So…we decided to just go on out to the house. We had no trouble finding it since Susie had given us directions since she knew the city and knew of Kris’s
grandparents. Luckily, Taryn was home with Rhett and we got to visit and have a photo session with him. Kris got detained on his lunch break so we never got to take a family photo. However, we managed to fill the camera with photos of Rhett. Just one more to show off his balancing talents. Having 
time to go see kids, grandkids, and now a great grandchild is what this retirement is all about! And, we’re enjoying the freedom to do so.Wednesday, May 2
Around noon we took the Vibe in for 2 new front tires and then walked down the street to Chaos where we met the Terpenings and Susie for our standard Wednesday lunch.
Later that night went over to Jerry’s and Nancy’s for supper with the clan. Everything is packed and ready to head out tomorrow towards Lenexa.
Thursday, May 3
The wheels of the Vibe go round and round, round and round! With both of us driving at one time or another we made it to El Reno, Oklahoma by dark.
We did have one neat adventure after we left Amarillo. Right off I40 near Groom, TX, an
awesome 19 stories high, 11 stories wide cross has been erected. Needing a break, we decided to stop and check it out. Here’s historian Jim….The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries is the tallest cross in the Western Hemisphere, rising 190 feet above the plains of the Texas Panhandle in Groom, about 40 miles east of Amarillo. It was erected in July, 1995.
Designed and built by engineer Steve Thomas, the project reflects his deep spiritual faith and an engineer’s dream of demonstrating the strength of a structure. The cross consists of a steel frame covered with steel sheeting. It weighs 2 and one-half million pounds, and is designed to withstand 140 MPH winds. 100 welders in two shops in Pampa, Texas, worked 8 months to build the sections before they were trucked forty miles from Pampa to Groom to be put together.
The cross stands on a foundation of steel rebar and concrete that is sunk twenty feet below the surface of the ground, and is secured with seven-inch diameter steel pins, each weighing 300 pounds.
The cross is encircled by sculptures depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross, as well as an amazing depiction of Christ’s tomb, a plaque with the Ten Commandments, a sculpture and fountain depicting the Living Waters, and other reminders of Christ’s walk on this earth. A tableau of The Last Supper is a work in progress; with the table and two sculptures already in place against a magnificent backdrop of the three crosses of the crucifixion.
Visible from 20 miles away, the cross is seen by more than a million travelers each year. 1000 visitors stop to view it daily.
For more information about the ministry and some great photographs of the construction of the cross, use the following link:
http://www.crossministries.net/index.htm
Friday, May 4
This was the day that we got to meet Master Jimmy Farnham the 5th shortly after arriving in
Lenexa. And, oh, my…what a cutie he is! I’ll let the camera do the talking.Saturday, May 5
Today was Whitney’s mother-in-law’s birthday so the kids couldn’t see us until late in the day. We filled the morning working on the journal and the afternoon shop browsing.
Before we end the week, we’ll add just a few more pictures of Little Jimmy.
The kids called around 4:00 and we headed over to the house lickety split with camera in tow.
Once again we’ll let the photos show what a wonderful time we had!
From Lenexa, Kansas
Once again we’ll let the photos show what a wonderful time we had!From Lenexa, Kansas
Proud Gramps and Grams
Jim & Barbara
"A baby is God’s way of saying the world should go on.”- Doris Smith
