SSMT #20, Manhattan KS, Thunder

SSMT #20:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6  Those of you who know me personally will immediately recognize my need to memorize and live out this verse!

Manhattan KS: Last Sunday we spent the day visiting Janel's folks on their farm and touring the Kansas State University Gardens. It was a warm day with intermittent showers. Just beautiful! Enjoy the photos. (After these photos, check out the photos I took of Thunder this week)

the driveway to the farm

I just thought it was peaceful

Janel and Brandy

cute calf and cow - I don't think they're related...

I took tons of pictures of the pump - it's been years since I've seen one!

the trees were gorgeous - it's been years since I've seen changing leaves

K State Gardens

I'd never seen a plant with black leaves before!

the building AND the cloudy sky struck me as beautiful

after we kissed, the kids told us this is a popular make-out spot!

Thunder: Sunny and Thunder were over on Thursday. I was trying to get a photo of him smiling. Oh well, smiling or not, he's a cute guy!

Road Trip - Abilene, KS

Last Saturday we traveled to Abilene KS. When I was a girl, my family visited the Eisenhower Library and Museum several times. It was one of my favorite places. However, our trip to Abilene was two-fold this time. Yes, I wanted to see the Eisenhower Museum, but just as importantly I wanted to find a shop I had read about on a x-stitch blog - Picture This Plus. Oh my goodness, we found the shop and Janel and I were in heaven. We met Marilyn, and she was great! This shop features fabric that is hand dyed and it is beautiful. I ended up buying four patterns, four unique pieces of fabric, and left with the names of several other colors of fabrics on my phone for future reference. You can find their website here. They will ship anywhere. But you should really go by their shop in Abilene KS. It is well worth the trip. They also operate a new and used book store above the x-stitch shop, so Dan and JD were happy to browse books while Janel and I shopped below.

We also checked out some of the antique shops in downtown Abilene. I bought two juice glasses that are just like the ones my grandma had on her farm.

The Eisenhower Museum had changed a lot since I last visited it over forty years ago (really?! it was that long ago?). We also toured the Seelye Mansion. It was a beautiful old house, although I must say all four of noticed that it needs some maintenance and TLC. You can learn more about the mansion here.

Our final stop for the day was the Brookville Hotel. It is not a hotel at all, but a restaurant. It is unique in that there is only one meal on the menu. It is served family style and the only choice you have is to eat it or not eat it. The meal consists of chicken, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and gray, biscuits, creamed corn, relishes, and ice cream for dessert. It was interesting, but I don't eat most of those foods. Plus, it was definitely carb overload! Check out this unique restaurant. It was packed and you need to have reservations to eat there.

OK, enough talk. Here are the photos I got at the Eisenhower Museum. It rained that day, so it was just perfect!

the burial place of President and Mrs Eisenhower

a son they lost in childhood is also buried here

the Eisenhower home

the chapel

the murals at the museum depicting scenes from Eisenhower's life

as we were walking around downtown Abilene, we spotted this plaque on the side of a building

Road Trip Photos - Dodge City, KS

Although I lived my whole growing up years in Kansas (except for one year in St. Louis, MO) I had never visited Dodge City. I always wanted to go to Boot Hill, made famous in scores of cowboy movies. Four years ago when we drove out to Manhattan for JD's graduation, we bypassed Dodge City. I did get out and have my picture made on the overlook to the massive feed lots located there.

This time, we decided to spend a few hours in Dodge City as tourists. I'll let the photos tell the story...

this cute little dog was in the car parked next to ours at the hotel

Dan at Boot Hill Cemetery

yes, they believe there are still some bodies buried there although most were interred elsewhere years ago

I just love trains!

Me in the church in tourist Dodge City

The row of shops in tourist Dodge City

The church in tourist Dodge City

"El Capitan" - he led the first herd of cattle to Dodge City back in the day

Home, Sweet Home

We're back!

One week ago today we left Phoenix to drive to Manhattan, KS to visit JD and Janel, our oldest son and his wife.

Guiding us on our way was our new GPS, Betty Lou. Dan picked her name. I wasn't sure what the GPS would do or if it would be any help along the way. Boy, was she ever helpful! We used her to find hotels and restaurants. It was great.

We made it to Holbrook, AZ the first night. Got up early Thursday morning and drove to Dodge City, KS. We hung out in Dodge City Friday morning and then drove on into Manhattan.

We had a great time visiting JD and Janel. We spent Saturday in Abilene, KS. Sunday we drove out to Janel's parents farm to meet her dad and sister and have lunch. We'd met her mom a couple of years ago when she flew to Phoenix for a conference. We hung out the rest of Sunday and then got an early start home on Monday.

We made it to Albuquerque on Monday night and pulled into our driveway around 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Whew!

Yes, I took pictures and I plan to share some of our trip in more detail. But for today, I just wanted to say we're home and yes, I really missed blogging!

Warm... Hot... Unbearable!

This post is a whine. I'm not even apologizing for it. So if you don't want to read whine, come back another day. Our A/C went out yesterday! We live in the Phoenix area... it is still mighty warm here. 100 degrees yesterday. We live in a rental so I called the management company to tell her the news. The A/C guy came out yesterday afternoon. It was already 87 degrees in the house. When he came back in to the house I could tell it was a major problem.

It won't be fixed until today. Last night was unbearable uncomfortable. I kept telling myself it could be worse, the temps could be 110+. But it didn't really help. It was 89 degrees when we went to bed. It's 82 degrees this morning. I sure hope the guy gets here early today. But I'm not betting on it.

Jess and Adam came for dinner last night and to watch Monday Night Football. They brought a fan. We had it blasting on us as we watched the game.

I was supposed to have the grandkids today. Katie decided she didn't want them sitting around in a 90 degree house. I don't blame her. I'm pretty sure I might be grumpy today.

The good news is that a cold front is coming through and the high today is only supposed to be 92 degrees.

Thank goodness!

A Visit With Gigi

My mom (Gigi) came over today to play with Sunny and Thunder. She usually brings some of the toys from her house to play with and today was no exception. Unfortunately, she brought Piglet, who Sunny doesn't like. Oh well, Sunny loved the bracelet Gigi brought her!

Smilin' at Gigi

Minnie Mouse riding Brownie

I think this is Thunder's mad face!

Saturday Stuff

SSMT #19: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

October!: Today is October 1st - yippee! Today is the day I start signing and addressing my Christmas cards. I have them all laid out and will start in on them after lunch today. I'm sure I'll be playing Christmas music too...

Vasquez Family: We had dinner with Katie, Gabe, Sunny, and Thunder last night at Famous Dave's. This is one of Dan's favorite restaurants. We can never go with just the 2 of us because I don't eat BBQ and he always wants to order the trash can lid selections. He's just thrilled when one of the kids want to go there!