Pictures (by Kelsey) from Our Houston Visit

As I said in a previous post, I wasn't able to get many pictures during our Houston visit. I had a malfunction of my memory card. (All right. If I must, I will admit that the malfunction was with the operator, not the memory card. I thought I had my 32-gig memory card with me, and couldn't figure out why I could only take 5 pictures before it said it was full. Come to find out, my 32-gig card was at home, sitting on my desk, and the one in my camera was only 32-meg. It DID have a big "32" on it! Silly Grandma!). 

Anyway, now that Kelsey has posted some pictures on her blog, I was able to "steal" a few to display here:

Clara, the Spring Fairy, during her song/dance number.

Clara is holding the giant "J" (for Judd) made out of Legos. Chris and the kids are Lego-maniacs (my terminology) and this cute Father's Day gift will hang on the wall in their game room.

Grandpa with his Father's Day gifts.

Kelsey was raving about her new-found Snoballs shack - shave-ice with a zillion different varieties of home-made syrups. So we had to try them out. Sure tasted good on this hot, muggy day. Mine was Rootbeer Float flavor - yum! Robert went for the Ninja Turtle syrup! Ha!

Robert was attending VBS this week, and the theme was "Science." Here he is, our mad scientist.

Houston Visit

Now that I'm more comfortable sitting for longer periods, we were able to take a short road trip to visit Chris, Kelsey and the grands. We finally got to see their new house, and we think it's a perfect fit for their family. The best thing about the new house, according to Robert, is the backyard swimming pool! We drove over on the morning of Thursday, June 18, and returned home on Saturday. As always, I came with camera in hand, but was terribly disappointed when I found that my memory card was not working, for some reason. I took a few snapshots with my phone, but missed all of the pictures of Clara's performance.

Oh, yes . . .  Clara's performance! She participated in a summer theater camp, along with 90 or so other children, and Thursday night was their grand culminating performance. Every child had at least a few moments on stage, so you can imagine how long this play was! Clara was a Spring Fairy, and played her part very well. Clara loves being on stage and is always comfortable and confident in front of a crowd.

Later that night Dan, Clara and Robert competed in a Wii car race. If you look closely you will see that Clara is still wearing her Spring Fairy make-up.

Since we were all together, we celebrated Father's Day a wee bit early, with a Friday evening dinner at Texas Land and Cattle. Chris got a very clever handmade gift from his family, as well as a new Wii game. And Dan was surprised by two framed paintings from the children - their artistic interpretation of Juan Fangio's (Dan's favorite old-time Formula 1 race car driver) race car. Very cute!

As a side-note . . . we've had a number of inquiries about how we fared during the recent Texas storms. I'm happy to say that we had no serious problems here in our neighborhood. Tons of rain, some pretty big winds, thunder and lightning, but no damage. On our drive to Houston, we still saw fields with standing water from those storms, and all of the vegetation was very green and lush.

Catching Up

NEW KNEE

I'm at six weeks post op now. Tomorrow I see the doctor and have no doubt that he will release me to drive again, and allow me to ditch the cane (which I am only using outside the house now). The healing takes a long time . . . somewhere between six months and a year . . . but the major pain is past now. I'm completely off of the pain medication and doing my therapy twice a day, on my own. Walking is not too uncomfortable. Dan has taken me to a number of large stores, where I've walked the aisles. I get tired easily, but the pain is minimal. Sitting, on the other hand, can be a real pain. I am making it through both Bible class and worship service now, though. Riding in the car for a half-hour or so is do-able, but longer still creates a bit of a problem. I'm really looking forward to being able to make longer trips . . . to Houston to see the grands is number one on my wish list.


WHAT WE'VE MISSED

So, not being able to travel to see the kids and grandkids has been a real downer. Two big occasions passed by without us being there.

Clara, who is just finishing up her third grade year, took second place in her school's science fair. She was competing against fourth and fifth graders, so we are really proud of her accomplishment.

And Robert is now an official graduate of his pre-school, and on his way to becoming a kindergartner in the fall. Sure wish we could have been at the graduation ceremony.

VISITORS

Dave and Karen, our very special friends from Alaska, are on another long motorcycle trip around the U.S. We are always grateful that they make the time and effort to come by our house for a few days, which they did this month. Sadly, we weren't able to take many outings or do any sight-seeing because of the weather (more about that next), but we did get out to eat several times. Karen and I managed a girl's day out, shopping in Harker Heights. Having them here pushed me to do a lot more walking than I might otherwise have done, and it was great exercise for my knee.

TEXAS WEATHER

I'm sure everyone has seen the recent TV news reports of flooding, lightning storms, wind damage and tornados in Texas. Although we were under a tornado warning, here in Temple, nearly all of Memorial Day, we didn't have any tornados touch down. We did have torrents of rain, flooding in some areas, lots of thunder and lightning and some fallen trees. Many homes were without power for several hours, but Dan and I are thankful that our neighborhood suffered no damage, and we had no power outages. 

Mother's Day

To tell the truth, I wasn't looking forward to Mother's Day this year. For one thing, I'm still recuperating from surgery. But more importantly, it was my first Mother's Day without my mom, so there would be a mom-sized hole in a day that should be all about her.

But on Saturday evening I got a call from Chris, wishing me a nice Mother's Day. We talked a long, long time. Then I got a sweet message from Tim, as well, so, by the time I went to bed that night, I was feeling loved and remembered and ready to take on the big M-Day.

On Sunday, Dan started my day off right by giving me a card with a very special message. I chose one of Mom's necklaces to wear, to help me think of her all day. I can't sit long enough to make it through both class and worship yet, so we showed up just in time for the worship hour. Dan dropped me off at the door and went to park the car. I came inside and headed toward the auditorium, and that's when I saw the sweetest sight . . . a little blond headed boy, sitting in "our pew", and looking back at me with the biggest, sweetest grin on his face. It was Robert! Next to him was Clara, holding a big bouquet of flowers. And, of course, Chris and Kelsey. What a wonderful surprise!

After church Dan and I took the kids home while Chris and Kelsey went to the Chinese restaurant to get lunch for all of us. We got to visit for another hour or so before they had to hit the road and head back home.

It would have made my Mother's Day special to have Chris and family here, no matter what. But I doubt that they will ever fully know what a difference it made to me on this Mother's Day, in particular, to be surrounded by loved ones.

Easter Weekend with my Grandkids

The last time the grandkids were here, they had to be on their best behavior. Everyone was focused on the loss of their Nanny, and emotional tension ruled the day. Throughout it all, they were very well-behaved. So when we learned that they would be here for Easter weekend, I determined to make this visit focused on FUN.

Chris and Kelsey are smack-dab in the middle of a move, from one house to the other, so Chris wasn't able to come this weekend. But Kelsey, despite this being her third trip to our house in less than a month, packed up the kids and all of their paraphernalia, and drove to Temple so Grandma and Grandpa could enjoy them for the holiday weekend. And enjoy them we did! Here are some  pictorial highlights of our time together.

CLARA PERFORMS ON THE RECORDER

A SOAPBALL MAKING KIT (But the kids got creative and used cookie cutters instead.)

BLUEBONNET PICTURES (An annual MUST-DO for kids in Texas)

KIDDOKINGDOM - THE BOUNCY HOUSE PLACE (Tuckered out, at the end)

ROBERT SHOWS OFF SOME OF HIS TAEKWONDO MOVES

DYING EASTER EGGS

WRITING A LETTER TO THE EASTER BUNNY

WATCHING SOME ANIMATED EASTER VIDEOS ON NETFLIX

THE EASTER EGG HUNT

DRESSED UP FOR CHURCH (And showing off the stuffed animals they got from two sweet, elderly ladies from church, Miss Doe and Miss Wanda.)

TIME FOR A LITTLE SILLINESS

CINDERELLA

No pictures for this one, but we also went to the theater to see the new Cinderella movie. I wasn't sure that Robert would want to go, and offered to let him opt out, but he didn't want to miss out on anything, so we all went. An hour or so into the movie (about the time his popcorn ran out), however, Robert was thinking he might not have made such a good decision -- too much romance and "girly" stuff for him! But the rest of us gave this sweet re-do of the classic Disney movie two thumbs up. The take-away theme of the movie is, "Have courage and be kind." You can't go wrong with that!

A Time to Remember

Mom's early years

Mom's later years

Mom's memorial service was on Friday, March 20. It was a sweet and simple service. Our long-time family friend, Bob Waldron, and his wife, Gina, came from the Dallas area. We first knew Bob and Gina back in Juneau, Alaska, in the 1960s, when he was the preacher for our congregation. He's been present for several major events in our family life. He performed the marriage ceremonies for Dan and I and for Chris and Kelsey. In the memorial service he spoke about Mom's Alaskan years. He called her a "Renaissance Woman" and an "Adventurer," both of which I felt were really appropriate.

In the middle of the service Chris accompanied Clara and Robert to the front. Clara spoke some sweet words about her Nanny, and then she and Robert sang, "You Are My Sunshine." Chris, who intended to speak, but didn't, said later, "I should have spoken before the kids sang, because I couldn't say anything afterward." We all sympathized, since no one had a dry eye after the song.

Our local minister, Rodney Tedford, closed out the service with a tribute to Mom's later years. He knew her for less than a year, since she only moved here last summer, but had already gotten to know and love her.

Also attending the memorial were two other Juneau friends. Bea Long, who still lives there, was in Texas visiting her daughter Terri, and they made the trip up. It was a loving reunion for all of us Alaskans. I kept thinking how much Mom would have enjoyed being with these special friends and family.

After the service, our family and out-of-town guests went to the church building, where some ladies had prepared a nice meal for us. 

The family, at the funeral home. Left to right back row: Tim, me, Dan, Chris and Kelsey. Front row: Robert and Clara.

After lunch. Left to right: Tim, me, Robert, Dan, Clara, Bea, Terri, Gina, Bob, Chris and Kelsey.

Clara and the Oral Surgeon

I won't go into all the details. I'd probably get some of them wrong, anyway. But the short version is that  for 14 months or so Clara has had ONE permanent tooth in the upper front of her mouth. But the rest of her upper front teeth were impacted up in the gums because of an extra permanent incisor, which was blocking the rest of the teeth. (That's my simplified and probably somewhat incorrect version.)

Pre-surgery. (Picture swiped from Kelsey's blog.)

Yesterday she went in for oral surgery to remove that pesky extra tooth and open up some "windows" in her gums to encourage the other teeth to make their appearances. There's no doubt that she'll also need braces, once the teeth all emerge.

Dan and I were on pins and needles all morning, and were keeping the prayer line busy between God and us on her behalf. God is good, and Clara is brave, and the oral surgeon was skilled. Kelsey couldn't believe how worry-free Clara was as she headed in for the surgery. And now that it's over, she's enjoying a week-long diet of smoothies, ice cream, pudding, etc., which she considers quite a treat. The plans are that she will return to school on Monday.

Post-surgery (This one also swiped from Kelsey.)

Christmas Part 2

Chris, Kelsey, Clara and Robert rolled into town on Friday evening. Our extended Christmas with them was really fun.

Here's a little peek into our time together.

Clara is pretty happy with all of the American Girl doll accessories she unwrapped.

Clara spends some quiet time playing with some of her Legos and with Robert's Magnatile set. 

Robert asked Santa for some Ninjago Legos, and Santa REALLY delivered! Besides these three sets, he has two more at home! Oh, you might notice the cellophane wrapper on his head. Yes, after two days of Christmas picture-taking, his patience with posing ("Say cheese") was wearing a little thin, so he got creative.

Chris helped Robert to sort the pieces, so they were easier to to find; then Robert went page by page, following the directions to assemble this nearly-200 piece Lego set.

All finished!