Tuesday, March 11
Sisters’ updates:
Last week we spent time just trying to get our thoughts and travels in Puerto Rico down; and, as many of you noticed and wrote about, we didn’t update you on my brother-in-law, Cal. His surgery was long and tedious with the doctors not giving much optimism with the outcome. We kept in daily contact with Carol and found that the stomach virus had hit her shortly after Cal’s surgery which meant she was banned from his hospital room. The only thing we could do is pray and we did that fervently! However, even we were surprised with the quickness of the power of prayer as by the time we were preparing to leave Puerto Rico, Cal had been dismissed from the hospital and Carol was feeling well.
Wow! What a blessing! In fact, when Cal went for his follow-up visits this week with the 3 doctors who were involved in his treatment, they each told him in their own way they hadn’t expected to see him again. I asked Carol if she told the doctors they just hadn’t counted on the power of prayers! We thank each of you who prayed for Carol and Cal during this difficult time. Of course, Cal still has health issues, but he is back at home where he wants to be.
And, on top of the concern for Carol and Cal, when I called my sister Nancy one day while in Puerto Rico, we found that she was also having health issues. Her blood pressure had gotten dangerously high and she spent 5 ½ hours in the emergency room trying to get it to lower. I just can’t trust my sisters out of my sight! So…it was pray and call…that’s all I could do. They are doing tests on Nancy now to try to find out what’s going on…so would appreciate prayers for her that they can find out what’s causing this problem.
Happy Anniversary to Jim's brother Ernie and his wife Billee!
Happy Birthday to Jim's cousin, Darren!
This morning began with the swishing and sloshing of Joyce and Gary’s washing machine as Jim and I needed to get clothes washed. It was a very leisurely morning with breakfast visits and just relaxing with good friends.
This afternoon, Jim and I were thrilled when Ginger, Joyce and Gary’s middle daughter, and her son Owen came for a visit. Owen is just a little younger than our grandson Alexander, which made us ache to see Alexander and Abby.
It took Owen a little while to warm up to us, but in no time we were included in his play with his bowling and fishing sets. Then he decided he’d ask Jim and me if we wanted to go to the park with him. The park is just a short stroll from his Grammie’s and Grandpa’s house. So…we 5 adults followed as he led us to the playground. We must have looked like the Pied Piper’s parade!After the visit with Ginger, a former teacher and now stay-at-home mom, and Owen (Michael, who works for Continental was not off yet), Joyce and Jim began preparations for supper with Jim working on pinto beans and Joyce the roast and trimmings. I’m not exactly sure what Gary and I did…maybe offer moral support?
After supper, we dug out the dominoes and taught Joyce and Gary how to play dominoes the way Margarita taught us. Unfortunately, Joyce and I were worn out from the cooking and washing clothes and were soundly beaten by the guys. They just weren’t as tired as we were. (As my mother-in-law, Edith, always says, “When you’re looking for an excuse, any old one will do!)
Wednesday, March 12
We had decided that today we would all travel over to St. Charles, Louisiana and stay overnight at L’auberge du lac, a really nice resort that Joyce and Gary have gone to with their family. Since they had a free room, we played like the old TV show Three’s Company and bunked together.
The highlight of the evening was the buffet downstairs which offered crawfish and other goodies. It was definitely the one time I needed the camera and didn’t have it! Jim and Gary started with a plate piled high with crawfish and corn on the cob. Their next trip to the buffet found them returning with platters soaring to a peak with crawfish. Joyce and I were in awe when they returned for refills a third time! It was unbelievable!
Thursday, March 13
After rotating shower times, we finally were ready to head back to Houston only stopping at a Sonic down the road for breakfast.
Once we returned home, April, their oldest daughter, called to say that she and daughter Riley (7 months old) were on their way over. April and her husband Brian are lawyers there in Houston so we weren’t certain we would even get to see April. Brian was still working and not able to come. However, just getting to see April and Riley was a treat!
(I just noticed that I put the same photo of the 4 of us in both collages, but…oh, well…can’t be perfect all the time!)
Tonight’s menu was enchiladas and refried beans before we hit the dominoes again.
This time Joyce and I were refreshed and rested so the score reflected that! In fact, we had taken such a commanding lead that the guys called it a night before we reached 500! They were just too tired to continue since they had installed a ceiling fan earlier in the day in an upstairs bedroom. When you’re looking for an excuse, etc. etc….
Friday, March 14
Once up and at it, Jim and I packed up to hit the road for our journey to San Antonio. It wasn’t nearly as hard to leave Joyce and Gary this time since we know that our paths will cross again soon. With both couples being retired, we have been blessed with 4 visits in the last 8 or 9 months! That is awesome when you consider we were lucky to see each other once every year or two in the past.
Holly, their youngest daughter, called to say she was really ill and didn’t think we’d want to see her in that condition…we agreed! So…we’ll just have to come back so we can visit with her!
We called Jim’s cousin Robbie in Seguin, but we never connected with him; so it was just a straight shot on into San Antonio to visit son John and his family. Once there, we found that Carol was already home from work and John had gone to pick up their grandson Rhett whose family has moved back to San Antonio. Yea! This meant that we’d get to play with him as well as visit John, Carol, and Randi.
While we settled in, Carol left to pick up Randi and a friend Geoffrey from school. Geoffrey was coming home with them to meet us (don’t think that was really the primary reason for his visit, what do you think?).
What a great night we had just visiting, eating, and watching movies as well as watching Rhett in action! Rhett, who turned 1 in January, is a bundle of energy and one of the happiest toddlers we’ve seen!
Since Randi is now on spring break, we offered to take her home with us for a while; but, shock of all shocks, she really wasn’t interested in leaving her friends for that long. Plus, she’s going to have a job interview at the gym to work there during the summer. It’s kind of sad that when she was of the age to come visit us, we were busy working…but…that is a part of life, I suppose.
Saturday, March 15After Carol served us a big breakfast, she, Randi, Rhett, and I wandered out to do some shopping. After all, it’s not often that we get to see Randi or Rhett, and it was necessary to do a little spoiling. That is an important privilege of being great-grandparents!
This filled the morning quite well and by the time we returned home, it was time for another meal before going out to see the new home John and Carol are building. We were surprised to see how much progress had been made since our last visit.
Once again it was time for another meal, which just happened to be Jim’s spaghetti…Carol had called while we were in Houston for the ingredients he needed, since Randi had said that she wanted some of Gramps’ spaghetti and meat sauce.Carols’ mother, Anna, came over this evening to join the group and have supper with us. It’s been a while since we got to see Anna, so it was nice to have time to get caught up.
Randi wasn’t feeling well and the rest of us were pretty tired so we called it an evening pretty early compared to last night.
Sunday, March 16
It was necessary for us to be in Artesia today since Ernie and Billee were leaving Monday for a job interview in Louisiana and we’d need to be around in case Edith needed anything. And, with today being Palm Sunday and the kids needing to get ready for church, Jim and I left San Antonio around 9:00 a.m.
What can one say about the trip from San Antonio to Artesia, except that it’s l-o-n-g! At least, we were able to drive 80 mph along a major stretch of I-10 from Kerrville to Fort Stockton, shaving off a pretty good chunk of time.
To break the monotony of the trip, I decided to call our kids and wish them a happy Palm Sunday although I wasn’t very successful in reaching any of them. However, when we were entering Carlsbad, Mike returned our call.
I told him we called to wish him a happy Palm Sunday, he said, "Oh, that's what you call today." I was so confused! I said, "Yes, it's Palm Sunday." His reply was, "We
ll, I call it engaged Sunday." Silly me, I thought it must be something his church does that I didn't understand...now how dense was that???? Finally, everything connected and I probably screamed in his ear (I really don't remember) before saying, "Here...tell your Dad!" Today Mike proposed to Kelly and she accepted! To say we are thrilled is putting it mildly! (This photo was taken at Christmas when Mike and Kelly were visiting her parents in Arizona. Jan, her mother sent it to us.)
The rest of the trip passed by quickly as Jim and I had something new to talk about…which is why we try to call the kids when we travel…there is only so much we can find to discuss with each other when we see each other constantly! :)
Once back in Artesia, we stopped by Edith’s to check in. Ernie came over and, after visiting a little, we headed out to Big V!!!! Though we had wonderful visits and enjoyed our time, we were so ready to be HOME!
After two weeks of traveling, meeting new friends, and sharing time with family and old friends, the following quote seems particularly appropriate:
“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with” – Mark Twain
Back again at our “Little” house on the prairie,
Jim & Barbara
The rest of the trip passed by quickly as Jim and I had something new to talk about…which is why we try to call the kids when we travel…there is only so much we can find to discuss with each other when we see each other constantly! :)
Once back in Artesia, we stopped by Edith’s to check in. Ernie came over and, after visiting a little, we headed out to Big V!!!! Though we had wonderful visits and enjoyed our time, we were so ready to be HOME!
After two weeks of traveling, meeting new friends, and sharing time with family and old friends, the following quote seems particularly appropriate:
“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with” – Mark Twain
Back again at our “Little” house on the prairie,
Jim & Barbara
