70 years.....I can hardly believe it!!

 I knew it was coming!  It is hard to ignore a BIG birthday and John had prepared me for the fact that we would be CELEBRATING in Greenville this year but I had no idea what the plans were.  When I walked into the Fellowship Hall at St. Giles thinking that I was taking care of Huck and Finch for a bit for Adam and Meg I had NO IDEA what was waiting for me! The room was filled with church friends, neighborhood friends, camping friends, friends from long ago and lots of family. (some that I had just seen the previous weekend for Thanksgiving)  And we even went to Raleigh for Thanksgiving as a part of the plan so that the Raleigh crowd could come to Greenville the next weekend for this big bash!  This party had been in the works since early summer, gathering letters from so many to put in my book, collecting video from friends that live far way, and numerous phone calls from Jenna to John because of "car questions!" wink, wink!!

I am so incredibly blessed and grateful for family and and so many friends over the span of my 70 years!  The video was incredible and brought friends who could not attend in person to join in the day!  As Jenna said, " It was a good day!"  How did I get so lucky but I am indeed one LUCKY Nana! 

Thanks so much to all who came and especially John for celebrating my life with such love!!

Love to all...... Krista, Malcolm, Elissa, Celia, Lily, Jenna, Jonn, Jack and Sam!!

Colorado 2021

 Colorado is varied, colorful, and wild!  Rocky mountain National Park encompasses 265,808 acres of a spectacular range of mountains.  The weather was perfect, the vistas were amazing and the wildlife was abundant.  I especially fell in love with the Aspen trees which are everywhere!!

 We took a side trip while in Colorado Springs, destination Del Norte for the night where John "had the best hamburger he had ever had in his life" .We traveled the Silver Thread Scenic Highway thru Cripple Creek and onto Lake City.  Cripple Creek is the most pristine, serene valley highlighted by the Colorado river running through it and surrounded by lush mountains.  Lake City is a quiet, clean little community that brings pause and makes you want to stop and stay for a while.

"

Pikes Peak rises to an elevation of over 14,000 ft with warning of Altitude Sickness, which we happily avoided.  The drive us was all clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  Unfortunately the top was wet, soggy and socked in with rain clouds for the day.  But the visitors center at the top was very interesting and the drive was scenic, breathtaking and worth the visit.  Can't even imagine what the yearly Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Race must be like!!

Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs, is like a mini Arches National Park. What stands out about this location is there are no other red rock formations anywhere in the area and that although it is a National Park it was set aside as a free park so it would forever be accessible to the public!! Beautiful!

Manitou Cliff Dwellings in Manitou Springs are fascinating architecture of the Anasazi Indians. These cliff dwellings were relocated and replica of ancestral housing. 

Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa is a sand dune field encompassing 30 square miles with the tallest dune towering 750 feet high.  Amazingly impressive!  And we went back that evening and took in the night sky, simply beautiful!

Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a 3 foot narrow-guage heritage railroad that runs the 64 miles from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM.  It is a slow ride through the prairie with crossroads of wagon trails warning of a train crossing! 

And Granddaughters are the best too!!

This year felt more like "normal" as we were able to take the girls for our yearly camping trip!! We visited the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, The campground had a high ropes course which I knew they would love and they did. It was sheltered by a beautiful canopy of trees with obstacles and zip lines!! John even ventured into the tree tops and I "made the sacrifice" and took photos from the ground! 

 

We went to a water park, checked out the Roanoke Star,

and indulged on some fabulous ice cream.

 

Teenagers are some of the most crazy, excited, fun loving, terrifyingly enthusiastic people that I know!! And our granddaughters are no exception!  I just love spending time with them.  I love it when they ask me about their mom and aunts as children.  I love their silly laughter! I love their curiosity!!

 

The BLOOMS came to town!

 What a treat for TJ, Laurie, Emma and Kendall to come for a visit!!  When they travel they bring their supersized motor home and this time we were included in their swing on a visit to the south!

It was fun to show them where we live, visit downtown Greenville, introduce them to SOUTHERN barbecue, Kansas City has nothing on us, and to enjoy a pontoon boat ride on Lake Jocassee!

Grandsons are simply the best!!!

 
We got to go camping again!!  This campground in Hillsville, VA is a great place for kids, complete with a pool, water slides, paddle boats and lots of shaded campsites.  The weather was perfect and we all had a great time!  I say it every time but I love getting the kids out in the woods to play games, and make a campfire and smores and act like kids!!  We are the luckiest of grandparents!!  The boys were so good and I think they really have come to appreciate our time together in the woods!

 

 

 

 

WINTER PANDEMIC BLESSINGS

                                   Amazingly this is our 10th winter in Florida!!

 

We get to live such an incredibly abundant life!!! Inspite of the pandemic we have had a wonderful winter, great weather that has allowed us to keep up with our walking and enough activity to feel engaged and actively involved in life.  God continues to bless us with good health and we were so fortunate to be able to get both Covid vaccine shots here in Solivita.  We live in a beautiful place and this sunset that John caught and grand shot that I got at the Shorehaven pond are perfect proof!

 

 

   We did a bit of redecorating, changed all of the colors in the living spaces and we both just love it!!

                       And then there were the art projects to keep me busy, I had so much fun!!  Stained glass was one of my things this year and I had so much fun, proud of the results!  I tried a bit of acrylic painting and had a blast!!  Fun results!

 

 

                 

We were not able to spend time with so many of the friends that we enjoy seeing during our time in Florida but we did get to see a few special people.

Gary and Ruth Swetnam - We met them at Highlands Hammock State Park for a walk in the woods and picnic

Don and JoAnn Cundy - We me at Selby Gardens in Sarasota, fabulous gardens and wonderful picnic

BJ Johns - We got to see BJ at her new apartment in St. Petersburg. It was soooo great to see her!

Candy and Darryl - Appetizers on our back porch, girls lunch at The Port and Thai dinner on their back porch before we left.

Carol and Mike - Creative get togethers, ice cream with Carol, lunch at The Port with M & C, Japanese on their back porch and catalog orders and zinnia planting with Carol.

Tom and Tris - Lunch at Bostons, so good to see them doing so well.

Burnadette and Brian, Pat - new neighbors that we loved getting to know, more good times to come

That trip of a lifetime

 What an incredible opportunity it was to take a month long trip out west ....during a pandemic.  We knew that risk was a part of this but when one has a travel trailer sometimes you just have to seize the moment!!!  Our trip lasted for 30 days, crossing 16 states, staying in 14 campgrounds.  Our highest elevation was 12,800 feet, traveling 7, 161.5 miles and we visited 8 National Parks.  To say that we had a fabulous time is an understatement!!  Here are just a few pictures of our adventure.

                                                                     Yellowstone

                                                                

                                                                           Glacier

 

 

 

                                                                                Arches

                                                                            Canyonlands

 

 

 Mesa Verde