Games with the girls

We were up around 8 and had breakfast. After I showered, the girls and I went to the lake to play games. Evelyn had to preview her Bible study and was happy to have us out of the house. We couldn’t play miniature golf because of repairs, so we played shuffleboard on some poor courts. We also played some tennis. It is amazing that there are so many items for loan there. We came home for lunch and then went to Asheville’s Nature Center. The girls seemed to like seeing the animals in their natural habitat. They were all indigenous to NC. We left there and went to the Fun Depot to finish off the card we had bought Sunday. We had dinner at Frankie Bones. I had my Bogo for my birthday and we shared the meals among the 4 of us. We had Tuscan Filet Mignon. We came home and watched some of “Annie Get Your Gun” and talked to the Beelis left in Ohio. We are making food plans for the weekend.

Serving the Lord Tuesday

We slept late again because Rosalie needed more sleep. Elizabeth needed some too. She and I finished up the well after breakfast although it will likely need more touching up. Evelyn was told she could not get the permanent she wanted from the Haywood beauty college, so she went with us to the Open Door. I had agreed to wait for Jo to bring us the key to the church and did so even though she was late. We had a big crowd of people wanting a free lunch and a big crowd of volunteers. We were told we could leave after the serving. Normally we stay to clean up. The girls worked hard serving desserts while we served meals. We ate there as we usually do. We went to Pizza Hut to see if we could get them to donate some peppermint candies to throw out during the Independence Day parade. The manager said we could have some if they came in on the truck Saturday morning. We came home and touched up the well before watching some of the “Pirates of the Carribean”. We left for church and the potluck/Bible study at 4:45. To our surprise, the door was open and the coffee had been made by the Pastor. We had little to do. We had taken the hummingbird cake that Evelyn and Rosalie had baked as my birthday cake for our contribution to the potluck. Everyone raved about it. I had wanted to save it until today because we had eaten a great deal yesterday. The group sang Happy Birthday to me under my personal direction. I have always wondered why people just sit and look embarrassed when sung to, so I decided to join in and direct. We ate and then studied more about Jesus’ I AM declarations in the Gospel of John. We came home, finished the Pirates and played a few rounds of Phase 10. We tried to call the Beelis at their request but got no answer. The girls think they might have gone to bed. We got the girls to bed earlier tonight, but really don’t know exactly what they want to do tomorrow. Evelyn has to prepare for her Bible study in the morning. She was also able to get an appointment for a permanent Thursday afternoon.

Starting my 73rd year

We slept a bit longer than we expected. We were up and in Joey’s Pancake House for my free pancake breakfast. We took Doris with us and had a great time. I was talked into ordering something other than my bear shaped pancake but realized I was correct: the one was enough. The wait staff sang to me and another birthday woman there. We took Doris home, changed clothes and drove to the golf shop south of town. Unfortunately it was closed Mondays. Evelyn is determined to buy me a 3 wheeled golf push cart, so we will return another day. We went to the library for DVDs and went on to visit our friend Mitzi who is in the ICU recovering from a heart attack. We met Ray and Annette who had visited her too. We came home and the girls ate lunch. I was not hungry so I worked on the computer most of the afternoon while they watched “Alvin”. Evelyn then came to the bedroom to rest. I wanted to keep the kids busy and went outside to help them apply stain to the new wishing well. We painted the bottom black and the top gold—Purdue colors. It was close to dinner time, so we dressed and went to J. Arthur’s restaurant for my free birthday dinner. The girls shared a half order of lasagna, Evelyn had her own order, and I had an order of ribs. The girls are theirs, but Evelyn and I had to take most ours home with us. As a special treat, I enjoyed my 2nd “Happy birthday” song of the day. Actually I also received one from the Beelis and another from Stacy too. I thought the girls would want to play miniature golf in Maggie Valley, but they didn’t . We came home and Evelyn worked on baking a cake for both my birthday and the potluck tomorrow evening. It has been a blessed day and I have been waiting 72 years to enjoy it. I thank God for a wonderful wife and extended family that cares for me. The visiting girls made it special with some gifts they crocheted for me.

Fun Depot

This was another beautiful day. It began with worship in which we were reminded that Christ has earned forgiveness for our sin. We sometimes forget that and need to be reminded frequently. We left there intending to go out for lunch, but, since we wanted to change into casual clothes, we just at ham sandwiches at home. Then it was off to the Fun Depot in Asheville. We bought the girls $24 worth of game money. They had a good time playing laser tag, climbing the wall, and drove some simulated race cars. The prices were so low that we finally had to leave to make it to some stores before they closed. We plan to return to Asheville Wednesday so we can spend the money left on the playcard. We went to A.C. Moore and bought some jewelry boxes for the girls to decorate and some Independence Day decorations for the parade Saturday. We passed the by the farmer’s market, so we stopped and were surprised that there were peaches ready. Evelyn bought some and some blackberries. We then drove home and stopped at the Dairy Queen in Canton for a treat. Then we came home. Evelyn planted the basil and chocolate mint we had been given while I returned the screws to Gene Ford. He had given them to us for the construction of the new Purdue wishing well. I took him a beer and visited for a while before making popcorn for our supper. The girls walked partway up the mountain and then returned to eat popcorn and play cards. They then watched “National Velvet”, a movie from the 50s.

Helping friends

We were up and at Jo’s by 8:30. We were earlier than anyone had expected but were happy because it was getting very hot when we finished. Jo is a friend from church that is recovering from a broken foot and can’t pull weeds from her flower beds, so we volunteered to help her. The girls worked very hard and entertained us through their songs. Jo served us lemonade and offered to serve us lunch, but we had other things we wanted to do. We stopped at Food Lion for some supplies, and I went to the pharmacy to have a prescription refilled. We were home by noon, and the girls grabbed their swim suits and left for the rec center. I stayed home and read some of the “tome” and heated the ground beef and added the taco seasoning for our lunch. The girls were home by 2, and ate lunch. We then took a nap while the girls watched “Flubber” and did some crocheting while sitting on the porch swing. The neighbor whose house we will be using next weekend came over and talked about what we should do. She stayed for more than half an hour, making it impossible for us to go anywhere. We had many leftovers for supper, and then Evelyn read more from the Applewhites book to the girls. When they finished, we played one phase of Phase 10. The girls were getting goofy, telling us they were quite tired, so we stopped at the first phase. Tomorrow we get to worship with them.

Fun at the street dance

When we arose, we found the table set and eggs on the counter. The girls had decided to make breakfast. We had eggs and cereal. I then dressed for the hospital while they got ready to go to town. I went along to K-Mart where I exchanged my broken watch for another one. The stem had broken off and fallen out. I liked it better than the one I replaced it with. They then took me to the hospital. There were hardly any patients there so I left at 2. I was in the lobby when our neighbor who works there brought me home. Evelyn and the girls went out for lunch at Hardies and then went to see “Toy Story 3”. They then went to the GO Grocery for some bargains. They then went to the hospital to get me but found me gone. I made Evelyn rest when they returned home, so I helped by baking the pizza we wanted for supper. After we ate, we went to the street dance in Waynesville. We all had a good time. The girls didn’t start dancing right away but had a great time when they started. We came home and made a plan to help a friend pull weeds tomorrow morning. Evelyn and Rosalie also made a rhubarb dessert for tomorrow. They thought it was cooler tonight than it will be in the morning. Then to bed.

Lunch at Boone Tavern

We met at the Boone Tavern in Berea, KY to exchange Noah for the 2 girls. Stephen came with Emily and seems excited about the dessert we shared.

Noah's visit

Noah and I canoed around Lake Junaluska. One must click on the picture of the lake to enlarge enough to find us. Later he stands beside the wishing well he built and the one we will replace.

Cleaning the house--outside

I was up early, made coffee, got the neighbor’s paper (she is gone on a trip) and got the urge to make omelets. I made 3 and we ate them before going on errand runs. Evelyn wanted to go to WalMart to get some things for her and some clothes for Noah. I went to the nearby Best Buy and got a refund for an antivirus disk I had been charged for. I joined them in WalMart but found that Noah only wanted a book, not clothes. We left there and went to the public library to get some DVDs to watch. We left there and went to Lowe’s on the way home where Evelyn bought some plants. After lunch we watched “Guarding Tess”, a good movie starring Nicolas Cage. It was now 3, and when we stepped outside, we found the humidity had dropped. This encouraged us to clean some of the outside. We moved everything off the driveway, used our leaf blower to clean the loose dirt, took a broom to the cobwebs, sprayed the siding, and brushed away much of the dirt. We did the same to the deck and front porch before washing the car. Noah was a great help as usual. We came in for supper and left for choir practice around 6:30. We returned home and watched 2 episodes of “The Unit” on TV. Evelyn went to bed earlier than we, but I followed at 10. We have to drive to Berea tomorrow to exchange Noah for the girls.

Finishing the Purdue wishing well

We were up and working on the final stages of the wishing well. I decided to paint the interior of the roof before assembly so I would not have to break my back to give it some protection. We had to let it dry while we ate breakfast. After that Evelyn took Noah and me to Monteith’s so we could use their canoe to paddle around Lake Junaluska. The girls had used it last year. We had a good time and were out for about 1 ½ hours. I was surprised about how much I remembered from my canoeing days 40 years ago. Noah is pretty good from boy scout training. Evelyn went to buy milk while we were playing. We finished about 20 minutes before she did, so we were invited to their porch for some water and a piece of cake. Evelyn returned and we came home for lunch. We then finished the roof. I had to hold the 4 slats in place while Noah drilled pilot holes and screwed them to the 2X4 support beams. We had him carry the new well beside the old one so we could take his picture with his project. We decided to take a nap and slept until 3:30 before going to the potluck/Bible study at 5:30. We were a bit disturbed because the Bible study was supposed to be over at 7:30 but was dragged out until 8. If that happens again next week, we may find it difficult to return. Next week we are to arrive early to make the coffee. We relaxed at home and watched some TV shows. Tomorrow we have to run several errands.

golfing disappointment

We got up and had cereal while Evelyn got some much needed sleep. She got up and started some laundry. I used the remainder of our polyurethane on the seat and back of the swing. I also watered all of our plants. We finished the game of Phase 10 we had started yesterday. Somehow we got to watching some of a movie “Eli”. We didn’t care for it so Noah whipped out “The Matrix” ,and we finished what we had started in Ohio. We had lunch and then I took a nap. I seem to be tired most of the time but generally fight through it. Today I took a nap while Noah and Evelyn read. I got up at 2:30 and we went off for Noah’s first game of golf. He hit some good shots but didn’t like the game. It was very hot which may have been part of his dislike. We returned home and had to shower because we were sweaty. We ate supper and then went to Tollefson’s to borrow their saw again. We had to cut some angle pieces for the wishing well roof. I had to return to Lowe’s for a piece of wood to use for one side of the roof. We cut that to length too so we wouldn’t have to borrow the saw again. It is rather heavy and not convenient to move. Evelyn had done laundry while we were golfing and did some ironing before we went to watch some more of a video of a former teacher disprove the theory of evolution. We went to bed at 10:30. Noah and I asked to borrow a canoe and plan to canoe on the lake tomorrow morning at 9:30.

Busy day

We were up at 7:30, off to Bible study at 9 (it was not on Islam), and worshipping at 10:30. We left church after we communed and drove to Frankie Bones where we had a delicious Sunday Brunch. They have a special BOGOF during the birthday month. We changed clothes in their bathroom and drove to McCormack Field to watch the Tourists play baseball. It was very hot and they lost 2-1 in regulation time. From there we drove back to Maggie Valley for the monthly band concert. It was good but most of the songs were foreign to Noah. As all of the Beeli kids, he was cooperative and listened. We returned home by 8 and watched the Steve Martin version of “The Pink Panther”. This is short but the day was certainly long. We have enjoyed being with Noah, and I plan to take him fishing and play golf before he leaves.

Productive Saturday.

We slept late but not as late as Noah. I was up, and applied another coat of polyurethane to the deck furniture and a first coat to the back of the swing. We ate breakfast and then went to see if Gene Ford had any tools we could use in the making of our new Purdue wishing well. He offered some screws, a drill and a saw. We also asked if he was interested in taking us fishing next week. He will check his schedule. We also went to see our neighbor, Gary. He had a deluxe saw that we decided to use. We went to Lowes to get some lumber. We found what we wanted and returned home for lunch. We then cut the boards to size and screwed the bottom square together. It was hot so we stopped and rested before going to the driving range. Noah hit some very good balls as did Andrew last week. Our problem was that the man who gathers up the balls using a tractor wanted to do his work. This made us wait each time he got within range. We came home and Evelyn had some food ready but wanted me to grill some hot dogs and hamburgers. After we ate, we played some Phase 10 before watching “Happy Feet”. I didn’t like it very well because it seemed sacrilegious. We will have a full day tomorrow. It will be hot again so I watered the plants today.

Noah's day away

I made scrambled eggs for breakfast, and then Noah went outside and oiled and tightened up our bikes. I watered our tomatoes because it hadn’t rained yesterday. Our friends, the Monteiths, called and invited Noah to meet them to play tennis. He was willing to ride the 2 miles to the courts, but we decided to take him because it would be difficult to take his lunch and tennis racquet on the bike. We left and went for more food. We brought it home and returned to the hospital. Our friends brought Noah home, but he jumped on the bike and rode back to see if he could rent a kayak. The charge was $5 for 30 minutes, but he couldn’t go because there were not enough lifeguards on the lake. In all our years we have never seen a lifeguard outside the swimming pool area. He rode back home and read. We left the hospital around 3:30 and went home. Evelyn rested while Noah and I went to the library to get some DVDs. We especially wanted “Breaking Away”, a great cycling film from the 70s. We also picked up some more food and came home. He and Evelyn made alfredo pasta and we ate before going to the dance. Noah stayed home and watched the movie. We met Karen and Dallas at the dance and learned it was their 44th anniversary. They are special friends. We were all impressed with the one man band tonight. He did not take a break during the 2 ½ hour dance. We were home by 10:30 and I joined Noah in watching the “Bourne Ultimatum”, the third in a series of a movie trilogy. Evelyn us having trouble sleeping as I write this. Noah took some measurements of our wishing well so he can build us a new one. The one we have is falling apart. It is quite old. We may work on it tomorrow.

Fun at the Sagebrush

The Beeli boys went with some of the members of the church on "eat out Sunday". We had to wait a long time for dinner, but they were patient.

Water galore

The boys, especially Stephen, enjoyed the indoor water park at the Rec center.

The NBA calls

Here the boys to to the Rec center. Andrew plays a good game of basketball while Stephen and I shoot around.

The next round of grandchildren

We were all up by 7 (even though I had been awake since 5) and eating breakfast. The boys finished packing their clothes, and Evelyn packed our coolers with our lunches. We left shortly after 8 and drove to Berea. I was disappointed that the gasoline prices in Tennessee were not as low as last week. At Corbin, I let Andrew drive the Interstate to Berea. We met Emily, Elizabeth and Noah at the Artisan center. Rosalie was at home cooking for a woman who needs help. We ate lunch together and made plans to visit the Berean college next Thursday when Evelyn and I will both be there to get the girls. Noah and I drove home on the Interstates and were home by 5:30 even though we had stopped at the Russell Stover outlet for some candy for Evelyn. We ate some leftovers and then went to walk around the lake. We stopped at Monteith’s for a while. Noah likes to run some and Mickey runs 12 miles each day. He invited Noah to play tennis with him and Frances sometime next week. We came home and watched the first half of the NBA playoffs. Evelyn led the Bible study and helped quilt afterward. She then came home and cleaned much of the house.

Golf in the rain

We were up earlier today. That is the boys and I. Evelyn had not gone to sleep until 4:30. We ate cereal and then went outside to finish staining the swing. It was getting hot by 8 so we hurried. We were very satisfied with the results. Andrew wanted to make an impossible taco pie and some buckeyes (candy) with Evelyn, so they started the process. They worked until 10:30 when we left for the open door. The boys and I went in while Evelyn went to the library to return some books and DVDs we had checked out for the boys. I did not deliver the devotion today but helped serve the meals. The boys operated the drink cart, delivering the drinks to the eaters. They ate and then helped clean up—mostly Stephen because Andrew was busy trying to complete the novel he was reading. Andrew will do what he is asked to do; Stephen will actively look for things to do. He wiped most of the tables and chairs after the meals. We left there, shopped for some things at the GO Grocery and then drove to the golf course. It was lightly raining but Andrew and I played anyway. We played 3 holes in the rain and then got a break for 1. Then it began raining hard on the next 2. The rain was mostly gentle and warm. We were soaked most of the time but enjoyed it. That is until the thunder began. I kept looking to the sky for signs of lightning and saw some on hole 15. Some kids came to see if we wanted to ride back to the clubhouse and we jumped at the chance. When we reached the clubhouse the rain had eased up quite a bit, but I called Evelyn anyway. We were very wet and getting cold. We came home and put all our clothes into the dryer. Then A & E began the taco pie for supper and finished the buckeyes while it baked. They were both tasty. After cleanup, we watched some of the Cubs ballgame until 9 when Stephen went to bed and followed him at 10. Evelyn took a sleeping pill hoping to get some rest tonight. We will get up at 7 and try to leave by 8 to exchange the boys for Noah in Berea, KY. We will meet Emily and have our sack lunches together before exchanging kids.

Attacking the swing

We slept really late this morning—9:30. I got up and fried the eggs we wanted yesterday. After we cleaned the kitchen, we changed into work clothes and began the staining process. Andrew built a elevation for the swing while Stephen and Evelyn applied polyurethane to the Texas table. Andrew and I applied dark walnut stain to the slats on the swing. We will do the back and bottom tomorrow morning. We came inside and watched some veggie Tales after Andrew figured out how to hook up the VCR. Evelyn made us a salad because we were to attend a potluck before the Bible study at church. After the kitchen was cleaned, she took the boys to the Rec center. I stayed home and gave the table a second coat of polyurethane and added barbecue sauce to the pulled pork we would take to the potluck. The thunder rolled across the sky, causing the center to close the pool. The boys played basketball and then went to the grocery for some final supplies. We went to the church, ate and were blessed by a Bible study on the I AMs of Jesus as found in the Gospel of John. We then returned home and played phase 10 before the basketball game started at 9. I worked on the computer for a while and went to bed after the news.

Sports with the boys

We wakened to find we had no electric power. It was restored within an hour but still ruined the egg breakfast we had planned. We then began to work. Andrew and I removed the swing and put it into the shade (it was very uncomfortable by 10:30). He sanded it with the electric sander while Stephen and Evelyn worked on hand sanding the Texas picnic table. I loaded the trash and recyclables into the Saturn and took it to the center. I returned and watered to potted tomatoes and flowers. Andrew had to use the electric sander on the table. We had planned to go to the rec center to swim so we went along . Evelyn dropped us off and went shopping. Andrew is obsessed with basketball and used much of our time playing in a pickup game. Stephen, as usual, was willing to wait. He and I shot some hoops too and had a good time. I called a halt to the game at noon and took the boys to the pool for half an hour. Stephen seemed satisfied with that and we came home for lunch by 1. We had a pot roast and then I took a nap. At 2:30 Andrew and I were teeing off at Junaluska. Evelyn hoped to get Stephen to take a nap but without much success. Andrew played very well for his first time. He will be pretty good if he stays with the game. We were home by 5:30, showered, and off to McDonalds for supper. We drove to the Tourists baseball game where we met Dallas and Karen. We saw a good game and Andrew was interested in learning about the game and strategies. We were home by 10:30 and in bed. We did have trouble at the ball park. The tickets I had ordered by phone yesterday were not there. I spent much time in buying the tickets and was too late to get the dollar given away on Money Monday. I will try to learn what went wrong.

Lunch with the church.

We had breakfast and were off to worship shortly after 10. The service was very uplifting, but Stephen wouldn’t go forward for the children’s sermon. We mingled with the congregation after church and then joined some of them for lunch at the Sagebrush Steak House. We waited quite long for our meal. There were many orders but Stephen was very patient as usual. I was irritated when I went to another room and saw children coloring on some provided placements. Stephen was not given one. He could have enjoyed himself somewhat but was still a well mannered boy. We were not home until after 2. It was hot so we stayed inside and watched “King Kong” even though Andrew kept wanting to go to the driving range. I thought it was too hot but finally gave in. While we hit some balls while Evelyn and Stephen went to get some children’s clubs from Jo Wooten. They returned and we went to the recreation center to see if Stephen could swim. The pool was closing so we left. It will open at 11 tomorrow morning for children. We went to Lowe’s to get some sandpaper and stain. We got the former but will look farther for the latter. Since the boys can’t swim until 11, I will ask them to sand the swing and deck picnic table until then. We returned home and played Frisbee in the back before letting Stephen hit some whiffle balls with the small golf clubs. Andrew watched some of the basketball game while eating popcorn and ice cream. We put Stephen to bed around 9. He just jumps up to do whatever he is asked to do. When told to go to bed, he never whines but goes directly to get his pajamas and brush his teeth. We went to the bedroom to watch the Cubs play and go to bed. We made arrangements to meet Karen and Dallas at the Tourists game tomorrow night.

golf practice.

We slept a bit late and had cold cereal for breakfast. I was the cook again. Stephen can’t have much dairy so he eats cereal with apple juice on it. He is the most compliant little boy I have ever met. We dressed, and Andrew and I went to the local driving range. I had to have a prescription filled and rushed to the pharmacy. It was filled very quickly and I returned to the range. Andrew did fairly well but developed some bad habits as we all do. I hit a few balls and didn’t do any better. He was able to watch a young phenom hit a few good shots. Perhaps he learned some things from watching. We returned home for lunch and a return to the next phases of the card game begun last night. I had to work on the computer so I didn’t play. Andrew had met a young man while we were walking last night and had made plans to meet him at 3 to play basketball. We were at the rendezvous point at 3 but didn’t see him. Andrew walked down to an outdoor court while we played a couple of games of miniature golf. Between games we saw the young man and sent him to the outdoor court where Andrew got to play with him and some others for 40 minutes. It was beastly hot but we stayed out in the sun for as long as I could take it. We drove down to pick up Andrew and went on to Belk to buy him a collared shirt for church/golf. Stephen and I went on to the GO Grocery for some frozen pizzas and found some Orange/strawberry/banana juice we like for .89 per half gallon. We bought some and returned to get the shoppers. We also found some people looking at the Roadtrek we had called about last weekend. It turned out that we had met the couple selling back in 2004. They were people in charge of providing preachers at the RV park we stayed in that July. Evelyn seems quite taken with the idea of buying this rig. We will see if the other people looking at it will buy it. God has a marvelous way of making decisions for us. We went on to K-Mart for some crayons for Stephen before returning to the air conditioning of our home. Evelyn made a light supper for us and Andrew tried to understand another card game called Michigan Rummy without much success. We played a game of Kings on the Corner before Evelyn began some ironing for tomorrow’s worship. She had not slept well for the past couple of nights and took a sleeping pill after she finished. I read a story to Stephen and put him down around 9. Andrew watched a movie, and I wrote this while listening to the melodious sounds of my sweetheart enjoying the effects of the sleeping pill.

Swimming disappointment and mountain picken'

I was the breakfast cook again this morning. I stirred up some pancake batter and made pancakes before Evelyn wakened. We took the boys to the local recreation center thinking we would leave the boys there to swim while we worked a few hours at the hospital. Andrew was not old enough to watch Stephen so we had to bring them home. Evelyn had packed a lunch for them so they just ate it at home while watching one of the movies we had brought from the library. We went on to the hospital for lunch and our time to serve. We left around 3 and drove into a rain storm as we went to Joan’s house to get Phil. He had an extra set of golf clubs for Andrew to use. Jo has the ones for Stephen but is not at home. Phil is recovering well from the shoulder surgery but couldn’t lift anything. His garage had so much junk and tools in it that I could hardly find the clubs. I got them out, took him back to Joan’s and came home. I thought we might go to the driving range but it kept thundering, causing me to think better of that move. We just stayed in and Andrew learned a card game called Phase 10. We played one phase after supper. Stephen is a very sharp little boy and caught on to the play of a very difficult game. We then walked around the lake and went to Canton for the picking in the park. The band was pretty sorry at first but improved as the evening went on. The boys and Evelyn played 3 phases of Phase 10 before retiring.

Swimming disappointment and mountain picken'

I was the breakfast cook again this morning. I stirred up some pancake batter and made pancakes before Evelyn wakened. We took the boys to the local recreation center thinking we would leave the boys there to swim while we worked a few hours at the hospital. Andrew was not old enough to watch Stephen so we had to bring them home. Evelyn had packed a lunch for them so they just ate it at home while watching one of the movies we had brought from the library. We went on to the hospital for lunch and our time to serve. We left around 3 and drove into a rain storm as we went to Joan’s house to get Phil. He had an extra set of golf clubs for Andrew to use. Jo has the ones for Stephen but is not at home. Phil is recovering well from the shoulder surgery but couldn’t lift anything. His garage had so much junk and tools in it that I could hardly find the clubs. I got them out, took him back to Joan’s and came home. I thought we might go to the driving range but it kept thundering, causing me to think better of that move. We just stayed in and Andrew learned a card game called Phase 10. We played one phase after supper. Stephen is a very sharp little boy and caught on to the play of a very difficult game. We then walked around the lake and went to Canton for the picking in the park. The band was pretty sorry at first but improved as the evening went on. The boys and Evelyn played 3 phases of Phase 10 before retiring.

More fun in Xenia

Noah carries a sweet cherry tree we bought for them. We planted it. Rosalie has a large rabbit. There is a small geenhouse in the background of the rabbit ears picture. Grandma tries the Hannah Montana dance with the younger kids.

More Xenia

Other angles of Emily's house.

Home near Xenia

These are pictures of Emily's house in Ohio. On the first night Noah built a bonfire and we made s'mores and sang Christian songs around the fire.

Driving and golf lessons

The boys were up before we were so we got up too. We decided to have omelets, so I made them. I had to make Stephen’s without cheese because he can’t have much during the day. We all went to the Food Lion for groceries before we took Evelyn to church for her Bible study. We went on to the GO Grocery for more groceries. I let Andrew drive home. This thrilled him. We put the supplies away as best as we could and waited for Evelyn. We had enough time to watch a couple of episodes of “The Lone Ranger”. When she returned, she made hot dogs for lunch. We ate and then the boys cleaned up the kitchen. We were tired so we took a nap for about an hour. Then I got up and took Andrew to the back yard to practice golf with my whiffle balls. He did very well. Stephen and I came in to play with Evelyn for a while. It had sprinkled on and off, but Stephen wanted to walk to the top of the mountain. We all 4 began, and Evelyn made it through most of the paved area, but the rest of us went on to the top. We picked her up on the way down. We returned home and Evelyn made supper. We separated so Andrew could watch the NBA basketball game, and we went to the bedroom to watch “Mr. Magorium’s Magnificent Emporium”. We were all very happy with the events of the day.

Bringing the boys home

We were all up and eating breakfast by 8. We said goodbye to everyone and left with Emily to go to the“doctor”. It had rained much of the night but was not ready to quit. Evelyn and Emily were “treated” by the “doctor” and her trainee. I had taken a Zyrtek and was feeling very funny. I went to the car and slept for an hour while they were being treated. They weren’t finished until 11 and we were on our way. It rained virtually all the way to Richmond where we ate lunch. The Lord had cleared the air while we went in and came out but continued when we resumed. We had no trouble and no rain when we stopped for supper at Newport, KY. From there on we had little rain. It doesn’t rain much this side of the mountains. We arrived home and unpacked. It was only 7:30. We had some ice cream before going to bed.

Work and play

We slept very late. I guess we must have been tired from riding so far. We ate breakfast around 10:30 and Evelyn and Emily did some online shopping for a cherry tree and an outdoor table for them. I worked on trying to get the dehumidifier to work. It runs fine but doesn’t take any water from the air. The girls and I disassembled it and cleaned a lot of dust from inside. I was doubtful that it would do anything to the compressor but was glad to have it cleaned of dust. I put it back together but found 2 extra screws that must go inside the unit. I didn’t take it apart again. The girls wanted to play a game with me so I played. After while, I discovered many were outside cutting and removing a great deal of ivy from the back. When I saw this, I helped. We took the residue to the same area where we had had the bonfire last night. Emily was stung by a wasp but was OK after applying baking soda. We ate lunch around 3 and then the ladies went for the trees. Noah, Rosalie, Elizabeth, Stephen and I watched some videos, mostly “The Two Towers” and part of a lecture about creationism before going out to dig a hole for the anticipated cherry tree. The ladies returned with the tree and a blueberry bush. We planted the tree but not the bush. The area where Emily wants it needs to be cleaned of more plants. By this time it was time for her to go to a meeting with some homeschool parents. Pieder met her there. The older boys and we played a game of euchre while the young ones watched. While playing, we enjoyed some tiramisu for our meal. Then Noah and Rosalie recited their Bible chapters. That’s right. I said chapters. Noah’s was Romans 13 and Rosalie’s was Romans 9. She has not yet memorized the entire chapter but did very well. Pieder and Emily came home with many books from the library, and then many of us watched some of “The Matrix”. Evelyn and I went to bed around 10. Pieder offered me some tequila, but I couldn’t drink it. I often get mild heartburn at night and was concerned it might set my esophagus quivering.

Following Maggie

We were and finished with breakfast by 8:17 when we left for the Beeli home. I had made a mistake of sorts by choosing “least use of freeways” on our GPS, so the voice, Maggie we call it, kept telling us to leave the interstates at every exit all the way there—500 or so miles. We stopped to potty and get fuel (it is much cheaper in Tennessee) 3 times and were in Corbin, KY by 11:30. This is significant because in a couple of weeks we will be exchanging grandchildren at that location and now know when we should start. We went to an Arby’s restaurant and used their outside picnic table in Richmond, KY. I bought some curly fries even though we didn’t need them with the meal we had brought along but wanted to pay for the use of the table. We were back on the road by 1 after half an hour. We hadn’t gone far when we saw a car along side I-75, and a woman walking about ¼ mile ahead of it. I pulled over and we gave her a ride to her work about 6 miles from there. She had called her son but didn’t need him after we helped her. We have been helped when we had malfunctioning vehicles and thanked God for the opportunity to help someone too. We drove around through several Midwestern country roads to Emily’s house, following the GPS all the way. We learned there was likely a shorter way. The kids were swimming while we toured their large country lot and home. The grandkids always seem really glad to see us as we are to see them. Noah and I peeled many potatoes to use for mashed potatoes as a highlight of the evening meal. Emily made a meatloaf as the entrée. Pieder came home around 5:30 and we ate later. The kids wanted to play “Sorry” for a while before and after supper. I also looked around their huge barn that Pieder had worked on so things would be more organized. After supper we played euchre until dark and then went outside to roast marshmallows on the fire that Noah had made. The kids sang some Christian songs that we didn’t know, but we were praising God that He has bought them to such a deep and happy faith in him. We went to bed in a neighbor’s motor home that Emily had borrowed for our 2 night visit. He preferred that we not use the bathrooms, so we got up and went to the house twice during the night. It was fun to relive old times but were not ready to buy another motor home like this one. We do thank God for providing our daughter with such friendly neighbors.

Sunday was a day of celebration. We began at church where we received our first wonderful meal—Holy Communion. Our friend also brought us some asparagus that we took home. We left church around 12 and drove to Laurel Ridge Country Club where we ate lunch with several other cancer survivors and care givers. The dinner is given by a local oncologist and features a bluegrass band, a short talk by the doctor and the release of some butterflies somehow made dormant and sent from Florida. They represent the hope that cancer survivors have as they keep fighting their illness. We returned home from there to rest before going across the street to a farewell party for 2 of the ladies that are moving from our subdivision. They have been fairly good friends and have offered to let us use their house when our entire family comes to visit on July 4. Everyone brought a dish and Evelyn took a wonderful Reese’s peanut butter trifle. She was asked for the recipe by 3 ladies. I made copies to distribute. I loaded the car for tomorrow’s trip. We plan to leave early, not knowing how long it will take.

Spiral

We were up and off to the monthly flea market at the fairgrounds. We thought we might find something and we did. I bought another pair of Crocs, Evelyn found some bell pepper plants, and we found a dehumidifier for Emily. We paid only $4 and found it worked when we brought it home. After that, we went back to walk around the lake before lunch. We were done in our best time this season. We ate some chicken salad and then showered. Evelyn was tired and lay down while I tried to watch some TV before Bill and Mitzi came to get us to go to the spiral. I dozed while waiting. We drove their car to Marion, NC where it was to be held. We shared how our marriages reflected a dance. I described ours as a Salsa—always hot! Afterward we enjoyed our traditional carry-in supper. Ironically we had chicken salad and egg salad as well as many other things. We always have too much food. We were home before dark. Frieda called and said she had some Matthew Fox wine for me. I went to her house and brought it home. I also talked with her about using her house during the Independence Day weekend. Evelyn had to watch her Beth Moore video before we leave Monday, and I watched some college baseball and the news.

More sleeping problems

We were up and walking the lake by 8. There was some kind of race because they passed us going the other way. We wanted to go to town after we finished. We took my pants to the dry cleaner for re pressing and were disappointed that they wouldn’t be ready until Wednesday. Evelyn offered to press them, but I wouldn’t let her. The cleaner should be responsible. We returned movies to the library and stopped at the Open Door to check when we are scheduled to work again. Evelyn needed some items for Sunday’s dinner so we stopped at Ingalls. We took a long way home because we wanted to go to Kmart to get me a watch. My good one must have taken on some water while we walked Myrtle Beach. It stopped running while I was playing golf Thursday. I found one that somewhat replicated my old one and bought it. It comes with a 10% rebate that we mailed in. We came home and dressed for our day at the hospital. We ate lunch and then went to the 6th floor. There was little to do and I worked on the computer most of the time while Evelyn read. Around 2 she got so tired we had to leave. She had not gone to sleep until around 3:30 AM this morning. She couldn’t sleep after work either. We had stopped at the pharmacy to refill her Ambien prescription and came home to go to bed. I noticed a sale on country style ribs and bought a slab. I prepared the smoker and the meats—the ribs, salmon, hotdogs and some boudin. I wanted to see if I could smoke some regular boudin. We had put some chicken quarters into our crock pot this morning but didn’t look at it, so things were slightly burned. Evelyn got up and wrote messages in 2 greeting cards before dinner. After dinner she took a sleeping pill and waited until it kicked in. We invited Doris over to talk until the pill began to work. She left and Evelyn went to bed about 8:15. I watched the hapless Cubs play baseball.

blessings past and present

I want to interrupt my daily boring blog entries to provide some insights. While at Myrtle Beach, I was sitting on a bench on a pier when a family of 4 went by. The mom and dad didn’t resemble us at all, but there were 2 little girls that could have been 4 years apart. One was taller and slender, but the other was younger and shorter. She was a bit chubby and had longer dark hair. What was the kicker was that I had said hi to her and she kept looking back at me as they proceeded out toward the end of the pier. The older one was lagging behind because she had become fascinated by the machine binoculars that charge a quarter for a look at the scenery, this time the ocean and beach. This reminded me so much of our girls back in 1966 when we went to a beach nearby that I nearly lost my composure. I remembered what a great time we had on that trip when our girls were just like those. I nearly cried. Of course all nostalgia has its incipience in self pity because, as a previously popular song stated, “Someone left the cake out in the rain… and it took so long to make it, and I’ll never have that recipe again.” Indeed life has continued and those good times will never come again. Of course there were many other good times as well as some struggles. But while those good times and memories and little girls have gone , they have been replaced by 2 of the finest daughters/wives/mothers that could be. It is a blessing from our Lord Jesus to have them in our lives. They have just planned and pulled off one of the greatest surprises in our 50th anniversary party. Any families hardly know each other by this time in their lives, but we seem to still be close in sharing our love. It is also a greater blessing to see how they have become dedicated Christians serving others and their immediate families as well as their extended families. They have also blessed us with efforts to share the love and forgiveness of Christ with their children and others within their sphere of acquaintances. They are testimonial to the gracious love of the God of the universe. We thank God for allowing us to have them as daughters and friends.

End of a great weekend at the beach

Stacy wakened us at 6:30 but was the only one up. She went to walk on the beach and wrote messages in the sand. We didn’t think to take a picture but hope they did. We were packed, loaded and on the road by 7:30. We had an uneventful trip until we stopped for breakfast in Florence. We found a local pancake house, the Venus, probably Greek. We continued and were surprised to be in Canton by 3:00. We had driven through a heavy rain south of Asheville and stopped in Canton to get some supplies for Evelyn’s hosting tomorrow. We barely made it into the store when a violent storm began. We shopped for 20 minutes but couldn’t get to the car, so we just put together a salad from their salad bar and ate lunch. When we finished eating the rain stopped, so we checked out and drove home. On the way we bought fuel that we should have bought in SC where it is cheaper. We unpacked the car before Evelyn began preparing for tomorrow’s Bible study. A Mary Kay representative brought some product to our home. I learned that I was not needed to proctor the tests I had volunteered to do, so I will take Evelyn to church tomorrow before I go to play golf. Evelyn took a sleeping pill and went to bed around 8 so I watched TV alone. I had taken a short nap this afternoon. We had a great time this weekend and we thank God for Tom and Stacy’s willingness to tolerate us for that many days.

A busy day at the beach

I slept until 8 and left Evelyn to sleep until 9 because she had taken a pill and was sleeping like a log. I read my daily Scripture and ate cereal. Stacy had been to the beach and written some messages to the kids again. Evelyn arose and ate before coming to the beach. Olivia and I looked for shark teeth again. Then we gave Peter a helicopter ride for his birthday. It was a 20 minute ride and the first he and Tom had ever had. Stacy and I watched. We all then went to a memorial to those who served at the now closed Myrtle Beach AFB. It was a drizzly morning but not so hot as it had been. It had even rained some. Evelyn made lunch of baked potatoes and chili around 1. Then Olivia and I went back to the beach for more searching. We returned around 3 and, after she swam in the pool for half an hour, we came back upstairs. I had hoped to take a nap, but some worker began drilling, so Evelyn and I got up and went for a walk to the nearest pier with Stacy and Peter. It was very pleasant and we enjoyed ourselves. We returned but Tom and Olivia had gone to the other pier. While we waited for them to return, I went to the lounge and uploaded some pictures from the day. They returned as did I to find that sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese had been prepared for supper. We decided we needed ice cream so we went to Food Lion to get some. I was concerned that our car might not start due to a weak battery, so Tom drove me across the street in case I needed a jump start. Through God’s mercy, it started so I drove to the grocery, bought ice cream, returned to the van, parked, got into the van and rode back across the street. After enjoying the ice cream, we watched some of “Message in a Bottle”. Evelyn had done much of the packing while we were at the grocery, so we might be ready for the drive home tomorrow.

First helicopter ride

More Myrtle Beach

Evelyn and Olivia searching for shark teeth, Stacy under stress waiting for Tom and Peter to take off, Tom and Peter buying their helecopter ride tickets, and a visit to a park featuring objects from the defunct Myrtle Beach AFB.

Myrtle Beach photos

We stayed in the Regency time share--14th floor.=; Olivia playing in the surf; Evelyn and Stacy (Tom in the background).