Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Times and Travels

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to babysit our grandsons for a whole day! We had a great time.
We had so much fun playing together- cars, trucks, trains and planes! It brought back so many good memories of years gone by with our sons.
All smiles!
This little boy loves to dress up in different outfits! At one point, he was wearing parts from three different costumes--it was rather cute!
Later in the afternoon, J had his first soccer game, so we headed out to the park where the teams would be playing. When we arrived, there were some emergency vehicles parked in the driveway. This guy loves fire trucks, so grandma sat down on the lawn and waited with him so that he could watch his beloved truck until it finally  drove out of sight. It was his highlight of the "game!" 
It was quite interesting to watch 3-4 yr-olds playing soccer...lots of running around (in circles?) and other strange activities on the field! Some of the kids had alot of fun, others not so much! By the end of the "game" there were only a handful of players on the field, the majority of the kids were on the sidelines. Yes, it was interesting...but also wonderful to see our grandson out there on the field and to cheer him on! Unbelievable to think that just five years ago at this time we were awaiting the birth of our first grandchild!
After the game, we went to the adjacent park to play with the boys. J loved showing us how good he was at climbing.
Daddy and his boys on the bucking dinosaur!  We had such a great day with our boys!
Last week, Jim traveled to MN for church board meetings. He enjoyed staying with his sister and also seeing her daughter and grandson. Great family memories!
Most of the trees had lost their leaves, but a few shades of autumn still remained. 
Driving north, Jim was able to spend some time with our youngest son and see the shop where he is working and going to school.  (He also got to admire all his fantastic tools!)
So fun to visit J&H in their home again. 
Jim also visited another niece and husband the next day. He had a wonderful time reconnecting with both family and friends.
While Jim was in MN, our son M came with his girls to spend the weekend with Marilyn. On Friday, after work, we headed to Downtown Disney. There were so many things for the little girls to see and touch...
...like the new Lego displays at their store. They were thrilled to see the Beauty and the Beast--in Legos!
This was an awesome creation...all made from Legos!
On Saturday morning, we headed out to the Science Discovery Museum. We started with the dinosaur park...
K matched the puzzle pieces...
...then we went inside to check out the "Bob the Builder" display, first we planted flowers..
pushed some buttons, and just enjoyed everything there was to see and touch!
Photo-op (always climbing to the highest point, just like her father when he was a child)
Building houses with daddy
Two little girls and a big machine!
The last event was a 3-D movie about a little sea turtle. E didn't wear the glasses, but K kept them on for the whole movie. It was amazing to "see" the creatures swimming right up close to our face!
 I had such a fun time with my "daddy-son" and his little girls (mom was also on a trip to MN, so it was an ideal time to spend together). Thanks for a wonderful weekend, kids!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

A Fun Evening Out

 This past week, some friends of ours invited us to accompany them to a special banquet on the RMS Queen Mary. We arrived at the port of Long Beach to board this impressive, historic ship, now docked there in the harbor. 
 We had beautiful weather for this late afternoon event. It started with a silent auction to raise funds for the International Seafarers Center of Long Beach and LA.
 We were treated to a mighty display by the port fire department. 
 (Humans were not the only observers present!)
 Several of the law enforcement agencies participated in a speed boat race...
 ...followed by a tugboat race. Impressive!
 Here we are in deck.
 We took a self-guided tour of the ship.
 The ship is huge! (One view from top deck)
We enjoyed delicious food and a fun evening at the Maritime Industry Salute Dinner. It was great meeting new friends, and we even went home with a prize! 

Priceless






These pictures say it all! We love our boys...big and little!

Retreat


Two weeks ago, we held a mini-retreat for our women at church. We had great attendance and enjoyed such a wonderful time together around God's Word. Our theme was "Seaside Escape"

We tried to create an atmosphere of calm and "beach-like"
 The purpose was a time to get away, relax, make new friends and let God speak to us.
B came with the girls, who had a good time playing with friends while mommy made new friends!
 Time for chatting...
...creating projects
studying the Word together...
 ...and learning about issues in our life--like control! Have you ever tried to "keep time" like sand through an hour-glass? (We did in our little experiment.)
 What would your life be like if you truly could make time move faster or slower simply by pouring sand through your fingers either faster or slower?  How is our timing different than God's timing? 
To remember our time together that weekend, we put a message in a bottle, and also put in several small objects (sand, a beach bag, sunshine, shells, a pearl, a starfish) to remind us of the lessons that we studied during the retreat, and then a message to ourself to remind us of the legacy we wanted to leave to others. 
 The little girls enjoyed meeting someone smaller than them.
We made new friends
And we had lots of help cleaning up afterwards! The days were very hot, and the air conditioner worked extra hard. We were thankful for the excellent reception of this mini-retreat (a first for our church group)  and the good impact that it made in our lives. 

Monday, September 17, 2012

A touch of Life

 Ok, I'm really far behind on posting! So I'll try to make up for lost time.
We've had a fun, busy few weeks. M&B came to visit. they needed a date night... 
 ...so they went out, and we had the little girls all to ourselves!
 "Me take picture, Nana?" 
Oreo cookies, anyone?
And they learned very quickly that when the hour struck, the coo-coo clock would start, and they both came running and climbed up on the piano to watch. When the music was finished and the people stopped dancing, K would say, "now we have to wait for one hour, E!" And they would go back to playing and reading books!
There was a bit of "nastics"
 ...and sisterly love.
And just time spent together! It was a wonderful couple of days.
The following weekend, we had a visit from J&K! 
We played puzzles (which B, the 2-yr old is very good at!)
...and we admired two very strong Spidermen
...and we enjoyed the smiling faces as they watched the clock!
Later in the afternoon, we were entertained by these mighty roadsters!
They love that the parking lot is big enough to really ride around in.
And J learned to ride his bike without the training wheels! Bravo, great job!
We are so proud of you, J!