Great Blessings

This past weekend we were reminded of just how blessed we are to have had our children move closer to us...in the same state...only 3 hours away.  Carl and I had a great visit with Charlie & Nichole and her parents, the Daviduks.  But, we were reminded that this time of year, you always carry a coat when you leave home.  It was very cold and windy, but the company was warm and welcoming. 

Then we very much said our prayers of thankfulness that they were no longer living in a northern state caught up in the devastating storm of the past few days.  They have friends remaining in the north, and our hearts and prayers go out to all those effected by the intensitiy of Hurricane Sandy.  Living in the Florida panhandle, close to the Gulf Coast, our state and friends/family have been affected many times over the years.  One brother lives on the coast in Alabama and has been affected by storms and the oil spill.  But God is good and in control.  The best we can ever pray for is to be a prepared Christian in the event of any catastrophy.

Our younger son Mike is helping with the Greek Food Festival (Phillips Road) again this year (and yes, we are blessed that he lives right here in Tallahassee).  So, be sure to add this annual event to your calendar for Friday and Saturday.  Our church is holding their Fall Fun Festival also Saturday from 11am-3pm at our property located on Grenville Road, off Proctor Road (or Pisgah Church Road if coming from the other direction).  Everyone is invited to attend and enjoy the food, fun and fellowship of this event!

Count your blessings, name them one by one...it's so easy to complain (which I do my fair share of), but when you start comparing them to your blessings...see what God has done.

They're Baaack!

Hallelujah!  Our kids are back from the rugged North, just in time to skip the snow and seclusion a northern winter brings!  Back to the beauty of the ocean and the close ties of family and friendships!

I-10 will be a bit more traveled between Tally and Pensacola now.  But not nearly as traveled as it would be if we could retire...but that is not yet to be.  So, we'll just be thrilled to know Charlie & Nichole are only 3 hours away instead of the 20 hours previously.  They have lots of friends in Tally, so hopefully, they'll be willing to visit us on the occasions when they sneak in to see friends!

What we do know, is there are two sets of parents who are happy campers!  We wish them the best of luck in their new jobs and lives in the Pensacola area.

Welcome Home!

Welcome Fall, Y'all!

Most definitely, I love this time of year...the cooler weather, less humidity, beautiful colors of changing leaves, holidays looming on the horizon.  All part of God's handiwork. 

This time also makes me a little melancholy. October also reminds me that two special men in my life are no longer with us - both my Dad and Carl's Dad had October birthdays.  This Saturday would have been my Dad's 91st birthday.  Carl's dad would have been 96 on the 15th, and Halloween night he will have been gone 24 years.  November 7th will be the 17th anniversary of losing my Mom.  She would have been 91 in December.

Carl's mother is maintaining her health, though her dementia is continuing to increase little by little and she is shrinking some in height and weight, which is to be expected I guess. Currently she is still content at her assisted living facility.  We pray it will remain that way.

But, on to brighter moments...we also have some fall and winter birthdays and anniversaries and happy celebrations with family and friends to come. 

Holidays will be enjoyable this year with Charlie & Nichole closer by and they will celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary on December 24!  Mike has a precious girlfriend.  We have our good health and are now losing some of those many extra pounds. 

Have a blessed weekend...I will share these thoughts which help me through unpleasant times:

Faith = Trust, Reliance on and Obedience to HIM!  Keep the faith, pray and always remember HE is in control of all; even the things we think we can control. 

 

 

Just In Time

I'm about three weeks late in posting about our most recent trip - to Pittsburgh, PA to see our oldest son and daughter-in-law!  We flew up on August 31 and arrived back home Sept. 9.  Just a couple of weeks shy of cool weather and the beginning of leaves changing color, we still enjoyed relatively no humidity and pleasant weather...but mainly enjoyed getting to see our kids!  Charlie is doing great since his heart attack...he's been in cardiac rehab and was released from that Sept. 14.  That event was one I guess I wanted to delete from my summer memories, because I totally left that event out of my recent summer recab post! 

The first Saturday after we arrived, Charlie, Nichole and two of her nurse friends, participated in their first "Zombie Run"!  They had a blast and had so much fun, but all four agreed it was the toughest workout they had ever been through - they were ultra dirty/muddy and sore/bruised all over.  But their happy smiles showed that they were glad they had done this!  Quite an accomplishment for someone just getting over a heart attack, I thought!

Nichole worked except the weekends and one day during our time there, while she took care of business, the three of us took some time to view some sights and see some interesting places.  There are a lot of beautiful bridges and TALL buildings downtown.  We also saw the stadiums where the Steelers play football and where the Pirates play their baseball.  We also saw and toured a submarine, saw a riverboat, and toured through the Carnige Science Center, which was interesting. Sports Works was adjacent to the Science Center, and it was a really neat place.  Charlie was able to experience his first rock climbing wall and I think he'll do more of that in the future!

There were some WONDERFUL places we all got to enjoy for some meal time...three that stood out were "The Cheesecake Factory", "Mad Mex" and "Bonnie & Clydes" -- yummie, yummie!!!  We also had a fresh, warm Amish donut when we went to the farmer's market and saw some amazing handmade furniture...wish we'd brought our car - we might have brought back lots of goodies and maybe even some furniture!  And, we also went to the gym to work off those extra calories we indulged in. 

Fortunately, we had no airport issues at all and arrived safely there and on return.  Our time with our kids and "grand cats" was enjoyable and we are so glad we made that trip.  I'll share a few pics here in a bit!

Also while we were there we learned some great news...Nichole had interviewed for a job in Pensacola!  She was on pins and needles (no medical pun intended) waiting to hear something back, but we learned this week that she had been offered the job and will start on November 5th!  They will head south on October 13th and we can't wait!  Her family is thrilled as well, of course, because they live in Pensacola!  But, for us, 3 hours away is so much better than 20 hours!  God has been watching over them and we know He will again in this move.

Now, here's some pictures from our trip [they are so not in order, sorry):

Onyx - His favorite spot

Pepper - she rules!
 

LOVED this place!!!!
 

Charlie's first climb - Sports Works/Carneige Science Center

Nichole & Charlie outside Bonnie & Clyde's - great food!
 

Beautiful, but makes me appreciate my "small" city!
(So glad we've started our weight loss challenge now!)

One of the City Views
 

Another view from the other side of the river


 

Two of the many beautiful bridges



USS Requin

Entrance to RoboWorld at Carneige Science Center - very interesting



 

Lost in Space fans....Robot

Bad Robot from Lost in Space

 

Star Wars fans - C3PO & R2D2



 

These were just a few of the pictures...trying to gather pics from 2 sources...decided to ease off!  We'll move on to new adventures and new sites...to infinity and beyond!