On the Road Again...

Last week we drove to the Kansas City area to meet JD, Janel, and Blizzard. We had a great time! The weather was awesome and we managed to fill every minute making great memories.

When we arrived on Thursday morning, we headed over to Independence, MO to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Since I grew up in the KC area, I had been to this library many times. As a matter of fact, one of the most significant events of my life happened on 12/27/72 when my neighbor took me over to the Library to stand in line to pass by President Truman's casket lying in repose in the Library lobby. The Truman Library is the first Presidential library built. It is small, but filled with interactive displays, and exhibits that highlight all phases of President Truman's life.

After the Library, we headed over to Overland Park, KS for lunch with my childhood best friend. When I lived in OP, until 1979, it's boundary was 111th St. or College Blvd. It has grown way beyond that boundary now! We had lunch at Stroud's on 135th St. What?!! And that's not the southern boundary, it goes on beyond there.

Lunch with Carla was so much fun! We met in 6th grade, became fast friends and stayed friends into young adulthood. When I moved to AZ we lost touch. In 2009 I started searching for her on the Internet and found her through LinkedIn. We started up right where we left off. We've seen her in person three times over the past nine years, and keep up with each other through emails, texts, and Instagram. After lunch, Dan said "I love to hear you girls talk, it's as if there was never a break in your friendship!". I agree!!

That evening we briefly met up with Janel's parents at our hotel. Since we were all together we, of course, had to get a photo taken with Blizzard!

On Friday morning Janel was still busy with her conference, so JD, Blizzard, Dan, and I visited my SIL's mom, Priscilla in OP. We stopped at a train shop so Dan could check out items for his new hobby - a "N" Scale Model Train set-up. We then headed over to Antioch Park. I have so many great childhood memories of Antioch Park. We had family picnics there. Church picnics there. School picnics there. It was a great park for kids, with a child sized Western Town that we could play in and climb on. I was thrilled to see that "Dodgetown" still existed when we got there. Of course, it's been updated a few times in the past 39 years! Blizzard had a great time trying out the play equipment. I had a great time revisiting the buildings from my youth.

Friday afternoon we headed out to the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Remember how shocked I was the OP extended to 135th St? The Arboretum is located on 179th Street. It blows my mind to see the growth in that town. The Arboretum was beautiful. It consists of several trails you can walk featuring specific themes. I love hydrangeas (of course, we can't grow them here in the desert) and was amazed by the huge hydrangea plants in the garden.

Saturday morning was the highlight of our trip with a visit to the West Bottoms warehouse district for antique shopping. I came home with a few treasures, but Janel hit the jackpot with a beautiful hutch that will be just perfect in their home. Good thing she borrowed her parent's pick-up truck so she could get it back to Manhattan! That night we drove to The Country Club Plaza for dinner at a great Mexican Restaurant and then drove Ward Parkway to gawk at the huge mansions built along it.

Blizzard was such a delight! He warmed up to us right away and enjoyed walking with us holding our hands. He's becoming very verbal and is at the stage where he thoroughly understands the power of saying "no". He has the cheeriest smile and the most robust laugh. We love him so and treasure every moment we get to spend with him.

It's always hard to leave them, but this time was made a little easier with the knowledge that they're flying out here on September 29th for a conference JD is speaking at. While he and Janel stay at the hotel downtown, Blizzard is going to come and stay with us. We can't wait!!

Tulsa ~ Sequoyah State Park ~ Camp Wannasew

We had a delightful morning in Tulsa with JD, Janel, and Blizzard before Janel and I left the boys to travel to Camp Wannasew. We visited the Tulsa Zoo, which is a great little zoo! Blizzard was enthralled with the animals. And we got the best front row view of Tigers that I've ever had in my life. They are just magnificent.

By the way... we also found Nemo there!

After the zoo, Janel and I departed for Wagner Oklahoma to antique shop before heading to the lake for the stitching retreat. Unfortunately, this is the sight that greeted us when we arrived:

One side of Main Street had burned down last year. It was sad to see such beautiful buildings in such a state of ruin. We went through the one small shop we could find and then headed to the lake.

The lake was huge. It's been 40 years since I've lived in the mid-west and I've gotten used to lakes that are really ponds or man-made. I made the comment to someone that I can guarantee you that two of my children have never seen a body of water like this except the ocean! It went on for miles and miles. It was quite windy while we were there so the water was usually choppy.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, threw our bags into our room and started stitching. Most of the campers arrived on Thursday and by that evening the room was pretty lively!

On Friday we took a mid-morning break and drove to the nearby town of Tahlequah to antique shop and eat lunch. Tahlequah has been the capitol of the Cherokee Nation since 1839. It was a very pretty little town with a bustling downtown area. After one more stop at an Antique store in Hulburt we headed back to stitching.

JD, Dan, and Blizzard drove down Friday afternoon and stayed at one of the "cabins". They had a great deck facing the lake. I told Dan if I was staying there I would just spend my entire day on the deck looking at the water! 

As part of the retreat, Lindy "brings" The Silver Needle to us. There was a wide variety of patterns, kits, accessories, fabrics, and notions to "shop". 

 

Me and Janel - I can't tell you how thrilled I am that she invited me to join her at this retreat. We had a great time and I would definitely do it again!

Thank you, Janel!!

Our table

Me, Lindy (The Silver Needle owner), Janel

Donna, Virginia, Lynn

I was apprehensive about several elements of attending a stitching retreat. Could I really sit and stitch for three days? Community showers ~ are you kidding me? Just being in a new place with new people and a new experience?

It was wonderful. I can sit and stitch for long periods of time AND as an added bonus, I'm completely motivated to tackle my stitching with renewed energy. I enjoyed the flow of conversation at our table and around the room in general. It was such fun to walk the room and see what each lady was working on. It was fascinating to see what products they used, what lighting system worked for them, and to hear how many years they'd been attending the retreat.

The bunk beds and community shower? Um, not so much. But, I survived! hahaha

All in all it was an awesome experience. I'm looking forward to our next opportunity for a stitching retreat!

O~K~L~A~H~O~M~A!

Our trip to Oklahoma: spending time with Blizzard, JD & Janel, shopping at The Mercantile in Pawhuska, at The Silver Needle in Tulsa, visiting the Tulsa Zoo, and stitching at Camp Wannasew (hosted by the Silver Needle) at Sequoyah State Park - Awesome!

Our plan to visit Oklahoma began with an invitation from Janel to attend Camp Wannasew stitching retreat with her. I was thrilled to be invited and of course I said yes.

We began to plan the trip last Fall. I knew right away that if we were going to be that close to Pawhuska I definitely wanted to stop in at The Mercantile. I have to admit that I've never watched The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network (I think that's where her show is). She wrote an autobiography years ago which I read. Then I began following her blog. I did buy one of her cookbooks, but I've since passed it on to my daughter. I've been so interested in her renovation of The Mercantile and her current renovation of the building next door into a hotel.

The Mercantile was such fun. We arrived around 9:30 am and met JD, Janel, and Blizzard upstairs in the Bakery. We agreed that we'd eat lunch rather than a snack so we went downstairs to shop. Lunch is served at 11:00 am, so the boys went out around 10:30 and got in line. Fortunately, we were third in line so we got in right at 11:00. Janel and I kept shopping while they waited in line and also walked down the street to a couple of other shops in town.

The store has a large variety of items and I could have spent more money there, but was saving some for The Silver Needle. As it was I came home with gifts for both of my daughters and three small items for myself. As they opened the doors for lunch a couple walked up and asked the manager how long the wait was. At that time he estimated it to be 1 1/2 hours plus. We were so glad we got in line early! We each tried a different entree for lunch. Dan had the tomato soup and a sandwich (delicious). I had the Grilled Cheese Sandwich and a side salad (awesome). Janel had the Lasagna (fabulous). And JD had the French Dip Sandwich (Yummy).

Upstairs in the bakery area

Pretty bird's eye view of Pawhuska.

The buildings there are just gorgeous. 

Lots of renovation going on in town. 

In line for lunch 

Ready for lunch... yum!!

I kept my purchases to a minimum because I knew I wanted to spend money at The Silver Needle. I bought the cow platter for Katie, the pig platter for Jessica and the juice cup, tiny mug and ornament were for me.

Next up: Camp Wannasew

Family

In July my nephew Matt, his wife Shelby, and their daughter, Summer made a circuitous trip around the Midwest to visit family. They started off in Minnesota visiting Shelby's family and celebrating Summer's first birthday then traveled to Kansas. In northeast Kansas they visited Matt's grandparents, Joe and Priscilla, his uncle and aunt, Jim and Gretchen. They then traveled down to Manhattan KS to visit JD, Janel, and Blizzard before returning home. Whew...

Here are some family photos from their trip. I particularly love the ones with Joe and Priscilla meeting Summer.

Great Grandma Priscilla

Great Grandpa Joe

JD, Summer, Matt

Hi Cousin!

Blizzard (5 mos) Summer (11 mos)

Cousins

A few weeks ago Jessica, Adam, Storm, Snow passed through Kansas City on their way to Branson, MO for a family vacation with Adam's family. They coordinated with JD and Janel to join up together in Kansas City for a visit.

This was the first time Blizzard got to meet relatives from JD's family (except for me and Dan). They provided me with cute photos of the cousins all together for the first time.

I would have been envious, but since I knew I was traveling to Kansas a week later I managed to restrain myself😉

Seriously, I can't wait until Thanksgiving when JD, Janel and Blizzard plan to travel here. I'm eager to have ALL of my grandkids together!

Snow - ready for take-off

Storm - a seasoned traveler

Meeting Blizzard

Blizzard

We traveled to Kansas on 1/23 to spend time with JD and Janel and to meet Blizzard in person.

First a little background info.

Dan was born in California and has only lived there and in Phoenix his entire life except for three years of college in Flagstaff AZ and three months that he and I lived in Vancouver WA when we were first married.

I was born in Springfield MO and lived my entire life in Overland Park KS until I moved here to the Phoenix area (and the months in Portland, OR).

We have been married for almost 36 years and have not encountered snow, ice, COLD in years. We told our kids when they began getting married that if they lived in the Midwest our window of opportunity for visiting them ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We have made an exception and gone out there in October for Columbus Day if the weather was good (meaning no snow in Flagstaff). After three plus decades in the desert, our blood is very thin.

So it was with trepidation that we headed out to Kansas in January. Yikes! We had to drive the southern route which added three hours to the overall trip due to snow in Flagstaff and northern Arizona.

I won't dwell on it, but let me assure you that we were very cold the entire time we were there. At one point I had on two layers of warm shirts, a sweater, a sweatshirt, a shawl and was wrapped in a blanket. No kidding. We kept our hotel room at 74 degrees so we could thaw out at night. We keep our home at 70 degrees so that shows you how chilled we were. And it wasn't just me. Dan was just as cold as I was. He just didn't want to admit it to our kids!

But all of that aside, we had a wonderful trip. Blizzard is just the cutest little boy ever. He's such a good blend of JD and Janel. And speaking of them, they are doing an awesome job as first-time parents. Janel is so calm and competent. She's so happy - no sign of anxiety that first time moms sometimes display. JD is a great dad and jumps in to help with every aspect of baby care. It was so cool to be around them for Blizzard's first week.

Of course we took tons of photos. And it was desperately hard to leave him. This will be a huge change for us. We're used to having our grands close to us. Available for every family event, for sleepovers, for play dates, for lunch at Freddy's...

All the way home I was plotting, planning and praying about ways to be a part of this little boy's life from a distance. It's such a blessing in this time to be able to "see" each other on the computer for video visits. I warned JD and Janel that I will be requesting visits on a regular and consistent basis!

We already booked our room to return in late May. We have plans to see them in July. We are committed to visiting them in Sept/Oct. And we're praying for an unusually warm Kansas winter so we can return for his first birthday in 2018.

Look at his hair - I've never seen a baby with natural blonde highlights before!

Is there anything more precious than seeing your child as a parent?

Three generations

All of the grandparents

I have several more photos and will share them soon. We are so proud of you, JD and Janel! We love you, Blizzard!

Sixty!

I have several blog posts to write today, but I'm going to publish the one that's most important to me - my birthday!

Last Wednesday was my 60th birthday. I can't believe that's my age because I don't feel anything like I thought 60 might feel! I'm not a person who is bothered by my age. I'm proud to be 60 and when you consider the alternative, well, you know.

We held my birthday party yesterday and it was a blast. Thanks to all in my family who made it a special day for me. I love you!

On my screen the color looks blue, but it was a gorgeous deep purple

Adam, Jessica, me, Zach, Katie, Gabe

JD and Janel are on the tablet. I didn't want to have my 60th birthday photo without them in it. So we Skyped them in!

Dawn, Shelby, Matt, Shawna, Summer

Dawn is Shelby's mom and Shawna is her sister visiting here from Minnesota

Four Generation

JoAnne (my mom), Jessica, me, Snow

I wanted a photo with all of the grandkids, but that can be challenging these days. Both boys are in the "photo avoidance" stage of life. This was the best of the worst! Skye, Sunny, Thunder, Storm, me, Snow

Tio Zach helping Storm with his swim shoes

My mom with her 6th Great-grandchild.

My SIL, Kelly with her first grandchild.

Summer!

Tia Katie and Snow

Storm and Jessica

Another example of the best of the worst photos, haha!

Snow and Summer, what a difference a few months makes