My Grandparents Day trip to Florida, part two

As I said in my previous post, Saturday evening was a big one.  Lisa and George's church, Grace Family Church, has five services each weekend - two on Saturday evening and three on Sunday morning.  We went to the 5:00 Saturday evening service.  Also there, sitting with us, were George's mom and her husband as well as George's dad and his fiance.  It was a good service, as it always is - great praise and worship music and a wonderful message from Pastor Craig.

Afterward we all went out for dinner to a restaurant called Seasons 52.  

There were eight of us -

George and Lisa

George Sr. and his fiance Judy

Sharyn and her husband Beau

Sophie and I

Again, I felt really sad that Dick couldn't be there with us.  But Sophie was my partner, and we had a great time together. 

Sunday was truly a day of rest.  The forecast was for severe thunderstorms, so we decided not to go to Busch Gardens as planned.  As it turned out, the storms all went around us, but it was okay.  We had fun.  We watched the first three lessons of my DVD, The Musical Staff and Sophie did the worksheets.  We played Scrabble (I had taught Sophie to play on Friday afternoon.)  And we had a great time playing the keyboard.  Lisa discovered that she still knew how to play part of her favorite piano song, Music Box Dancer.   Watch this - she had a live dancer in the background!

We also had fun playing an old duet.

Not to be outdone, George wanted to show Sophie the one song he knew how to play.  Turns out, I knew a part to go with that one too!  We even had a little bit of dog percussion at the end!

Sophie learned a few more songs that day too.

For dinner we went to a vegetarian Indian Restaurant, and I tried some things I'd never had before.  I keep getting braver!  I wanted a family picture of them.  So I got this one first - 

with the promise to Sophie that I would take a funny one!

And that was the end of our fun together.  When we got home, Sophie had to go to bed and I had to pack.

Early Monday morning, Lisa and I left the house for the airport.  It was a very warm morning - I was hot with my light jacket on.  My flight left at 6:45.  Less than two hours later we landed at the Dulles Airport in DC in a white winter wonderland.  I felt like turning right around and flying back to Florida.  Little did I know what a day I was in for.

I knew I would have a layover of three to four hours.  But it soon became apparent that nothing was happening on schedule if it was happening at all.  My 12:40 flight kept being pushed back.  When we finally boarded at 2:15 we were told that the plane was too heavy.  YIKES!!  The small airplane freaked me out in the first place.   A small plane in bad weather was worse.  And a small plane in bad weather that was too heavy was worse yet.  When they offered $300 vouchers to two people who would voluntarily get off and take a later flight, I decided to do it.  

They rebooked me for a 6:30 pm flight, but by the time I looked at the board, it was already delayed till 7:30.  I thought, "Oh boy, here we go again."  I used the $10 voucher they'd given for my dinner and went to Five Guys.  I ate and read and people-watched for a long time.  I never saw so many people forget all dignity and just run full tilt.  Mostly they were people who had just landed and were probably late for their next flight.  Finding an empty outlet to charge my phone was almost impossible too. Everyone was needing to do the same.  

When they announced that my flight was rescheduled for 9 pm, I lost it.  I just wanted to get home so bad.  I called Dick and Jeremy.  They both suggested I go to the service desk to see if I could find out if there realistically would be any flight to State College that evening.  What a joke.  The line at the service desk was LONG and people were MAD.  When it was finally my turn I was told that the plane I was supposed to go on was still in Norfolk with mechanical difficulties.  But they were sure there was no problem with a scheduled 10:00 flight.  By that time Jeremy had already come to the airport and I asked if I could get a flight in the morning.  They booked me for 8:37 am.  

So I went to Jeremy's for the night.  Thankfully I had put my contact solution, case, and glasses in my carry-on, as well as my meds and a change of underclothes.   And even more thankfully, I had left my toothbrush at his house the last time we were there!  And I got to meet Watson, his new puppy.  Here I am with my grandgreyhounds, Molly and Watson!  (Sorry Molly's eyes look so strange.  The flash turned them into white headlights, so I blackened them!  I don't think it looks much better, ha!)

We had fun watching The Voice on TV.  In the morning I did the best I could to feel presentable.  I had a comb and lipstick in my purse.  I used Jeremy's Old Spice deodorant!  The day was sunny and noticably warmer and flights were leaving on time.  By shortly after 10:00 I was at the State College airport where Dick picked me up.  

I put in a seven-hour day at work and then tried to do some catching up here at home in the evening.  I'm still playing catch-up, but I'm gaining ground!  Now I can cross blogging off my to-do list!

My Grandparents Day Florida trip, Part One

I'm back home from my Grandparents Day trip to Florida.  There's so much to tell, so this may have to be in segments.

When I left early Thursday morning it was COLD!!  The little plane I was taking from the University Park airport to Dulles had not even been started up yet when we boarded!  Then we had to sit while they de-iced it.  I was freezing the whole hour long trip to Dulles, even with a coat and a turtleneck and sweater on!  At Dulles I got my  next flight to Tampa without event, and by mid-morning I was already being picked up at the Tampa airport by George.  He took me to the yoga studio where Lisa was working.  Later Lisa and I went to the shopping center where she meets Sophie's school bus.  We went home to THIS:

Oh, that warm sunshine felt SO GOOD!!  As I lay on one of the chaise lounges this was my view:

 
After a dinner of tacos we had fun with Sophie's kareoke machine.  It was just fun to be with her again.

Friday morning was the Grandparents Day event that I went down for.  George's mother Sharyn picked me up, and we went together.  George's dad had also come down from PA and joined us at the school.  How I wished Dick could have been there too. There was a WONDERFUL breakfast for the grandparents, and I had such a nice time catching up with George's dad.  We had not seen each other since George and Lisa's wedding almost fifteen years ago!

We enjoyed looking at papers Sophie had written.  Here's her commercial for the American Girl doll swing she invented.

And a description of her grandparents.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the second page where she had written more.

There was a packet of activities for the kids to to with their grandparents, and Sophie took us on a tour of the school.  She loved that she was allowed to use the elevator, since the steps may be hard for grandparents, hahahahaha!!

Then there was an assembly in the auditorium.  Each elementary grade did something special.  Here's a very short video of second grade's song - actually a round.


After we left the school Sharyn and I took Sophie to Panera Bread for lunch.  

That evening Sophie had gymnastics practice.

After we got home Sophie discovered a reward for the good teacher's conference they had for her last week.  A keyboard!!  Immediately I started introducing her to some basic info about the keyboard, and I was amazed at the way she soaked it all in!  Here she is doing her first "song" - the C scale, actually the ending run in the Do-Re-Mi song.  She was THRILLED!


And then she quickly learned "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".


On Saturday morning their neighborhood had a yard sale.   Lisa and George were really happy with how well they made out and with the room they would have in their garage as a result of it!

A pretty view across their front lawn.

Saturday evening was a big night.  Check back for more about that in my next post.

My Memories of Miriam

In my previous post I mentioned visiting my friend Miriam Heisey at Hospice on Saturday, knowing it would most likely be the last time I would see her here on earth.  She died Sunday evening, March 17.  And now I want to tell you about Miriam.

As a child, I knew Miriam as my dad's cousin - one of MANY cousins in a large Wenger family.  I also knew her as a bank teller and one who did not marry at the age of 20 like most Mennonite girls did in those days.  When she was in her late twenties, it became the talk of the "town" (or should I say our Mennonite world?) that Miriam was DATING!!  She was dating Ed Heisey.  He too was single at an older age than the typical Mennonite guy in those days. 

One day in school my friend Betty (I think we were fifth graders) told us that Ed and Miriam were engaged!!  She said that her dad was out in the field on his tractor the previous day, when he saw someone come running out across the field toward him.  It was Ed.  He jumped up on the tractor with Betty's dad and exclaimed, "She said YES! She said YES!"   Here they are on their wedding day, March 17, 1962. (Notice the date and compare it to the date of her death, which I mentioned at the top.)

I remember visiting Miriam when her first born was a baby.  (I think I was selling something for a school fundraiser.)  I thought Nevin was the most adorable baby boy I had ever seen.  Then I got busy with my own life and lost track of all that was going on in Miriam's.  Meanwhile she was having babies - two more boys, Vernon and Leon, and a girl, Elma.  

In 1978 Ed died in a tragic accident and Miriam became a single parent of four.  I remember her telling me one time that the song, Learning to Lean, meant so much to her when she heard it, because she could so relate to the line, "Finding more power than I'd ever dreamed, I'm learning to lean on Jesus."

In 1987 Dick and I were asked by our bishop to come to Gantz Mennonite Church (which was later renamed Grace Community Fellowship) to be praise and worship leaders.  That was the church that Miriam and her four children (by then, in their early twenties) attended.  I was immediately impressed with the job she had done raising her children alone. Over the years since then we've watched as each of them married and had their own children - ten of them altogether.  Here she is at her 80th birthday celebration last August with seven of them - Nevin's two, Vernon's three, and Elma's two.

The other three live in Mongolia with their missionary parents, Leon and Heather, and are pictured here with a Mongolian woman.  I had these three kids as students at MCDS before they moved to Mongolia several years ago.

And now, thanks to Elma's husband, I have a picture of all ten grandchildren together, taken in the summer of 2011 when Leon's family was home on furlough.  He said the kids were ready to head to the water slide at Woodcrest retreat when this picture was taken.

   
All the years we went to church together Miriam was the church treasurer.  And a good one.  We learned that handing in receipts was very important if we thought we were going to be reimbursed for something.  And she was "green" long before it was popular.  Why waste a new envelope just to hand someone their paycheck?  Most of my paychecks came in those extra envelopes that businesses and charities insert with their mailings!  I also remember when she, somewhat reluctantly, switched all the bookwork over to a computer.  That was a big learning curve for a woman in her seventies.

One of Miriam's favorite ministries was singing at a nursing home in Lancaster city.  I often felt too busy to go along, and sometimes wished she would stop "bugging" people about helping.  But in the last number of years that we were at Grace, I decided to make it a regular monthly activity.  And I really enjoyed it.  There were usually six to ten of us, and we'd use the little hymn books that Miriam brought along.  I always sang soprano and Miriam sang alto and the rest filled in.  We had lots of touching moments when residents of the nursing home would sing along.  

Miriam's "job" for many years was at the Mount Joy Gift and Thrift Shop.  She was the volunteer coordinator, making sure the store was staffed with enough volunteers every day.  It seemed like she was always there, so I have a feeling she filled in a lot when there weren't enough others.  During those years she also had  heart issues as well as breast cancer.  It always seemed to me that she hardly skipped a beat.  Nothing kept her down for long.       

In January of 2012 Miriam found out that the breast cancer had spread to the abdominal area.  After a surgery that had gone somewhat awry, she was placed in the nursing unit of the retirement home where she had a cottage.  I was going to be in Lancaster County one day a few weeks later, and her daughter Elma told me that Miriam would like me to visit her.  She was her cheerful, chipper self that morning, and in the course of our visit she told me that there was a song she had heard one time called "At the Crossing", and when she heard it she thought, "THAT is my testimony!"  Then she told me that her desire was to be able to sing that song at her own funeral via recording.  She wondered what I thought of that idea and was there anything I could do to help her with it.  I LOVED the idea!  It was so Miriam.  She might have looked like a meek, mild Mennonite woman, but she was full of spunk and courage.

A few weeks later, with Anthony's little digital recorder in hand, Miriam, Elma, and I went to her cottage (she had gotten special permission from the nurses).  She owned a keyboard, which I played.  As we practiced, I asked her if she minded if I would harmonize with her, and she was happy to have me do that.  Miriam had never seen the written music for the song.  All we had were the lyrics with some chords I had written in.  But as we practiced, the impact of the words was very real.  They were all about what it would be like "at the crossing", a symbolism for death.  They were a testimony of not having anything to fear because there would be someone there who loved her and helped her and welcomed her, of course referring to Jesus.  At one point she looked deep into my eyes and said she wasn't sure she could do it and wondered how I keep from crying when I sing.  I told her that sometimes I cry a lot when I practice something, but then when I perform it, it doesn't impact me as much because I've already cried it out.  Finally we were ready to record.  I think we recorded two or three times before we were satisfied with it, including the special ending she wanted.  It was one of the most precious experiences of my life and still brings tears to my eyes as I remember it.  It felt like we touched Heaven in that little cottage that day.  

Miriam bounced back amazingly well after that and moved back to her cottage.  I was sad to hear a month or two ago that she again had to be hospitalized because the cancer was once again rearing its ugly head.  Then last week Elma emailed me to ask information about the in-home agency we had hired for my dad.  I knew I was going to be in Lancaster County Saturday morning and asked if I could visit her.  Friday evening Elma emailed to say that Miriam did not want any visitors.  I was disappointed, but totally understood.  I remembered when we had to tell people they could no longer stop in to visit my dad.  Then Saturday morning Elma called me and said that Miriam had woken up that morning in better spirits, and when they asked her about the possibility of my stopping in for a visit, she said she wanted me to.    

And I told that story in my previous post.  I went to the Hospice facility, had a very brief chat with her and sang the song she requested, "I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene."  The pain meds made it very difficult for her to stay awake.  When I said I would be leaving she said,  "You're leaving already??  Why, I'm just getting awake!"  But she soon dozed off again.  I knew when I left that she would soon be "at the crossing" and then "standing amazed in the presence of Jesus."  

And I knew too that my trip to Florida for Sophie's Grandparents Day at school (which I have been so looking forward to for several months and wouldn't dream of missing) was coming right up and that I would probably have to miss Miriam's funeral.  When I found out that Miriam died Sunday evening and that her funeral would be on Friday and that they had wanted me to sing "I Stand Amazed" at the funeral, I really cried.   How could it be that these two very important events were simultaneous???  My friend and mentor, Sherilyn Jameson, was extremely helpful in putting it all into perspective.  She wrote, "These things are indeed so very difficult to understand, accept and live out. The funeral is for others, you had your moments with Miriam and she's in heaven and not losing a wink of sleep over the details of her service. And sweet Sophie is counting down the days to Grandparents Day - it's all good. It's hard on YOUR heart, I know, but in the big picture, it's ok."  

And that was just what I needed to hear.

By the way, isn't it cool that Miriam was reunited with Ed on their wedding anniversary?

Making my rounds

Since Destiny lives with her dad now, she likes spending weekends at her mom's in Reading, which is understandable.  So in order to have some time with her before my trip to Florida, I drove to Pottsville yesterday  afternoon.  Frank was there with her when I arrived at 4:00 and I got to see the additional home improvements he's made since we were there last.  He's a busy guy, working full-time, going to tech school part-time, working on his apartment, being a dad.  

I took Destiny to her mom's place, and on the way we stopped to eat.  We had fun playing Hangman with my phone while driving.  After I dropped her off and was ready to leave, I realized I had not taken any picture.  It was getting dark outside, but here she is standing on the sidewalk and talking on her phone. 

From there I went to Sam and Jenn's for the night.  Sammy was in a very energetic mood, and it was hard to get any pictures, because he was moving all the time.   Here's another video of him dancing - bottle, pacifier, and all!  What a ham!


This morning it started snowing before I left their house.  But Sam and Sammy are outdoor guys, so they went outside for some fresh air anyway.  

Jenn was making pulled jerk pork for sandwiches to take to a gathering of Sam's college friends and families today.  She had it in the crockpot all night and then added the barbecue sauce this morning.  It was AWESOME.  (She sent some home with me.)

Jenn and I were fascinated by a young picture of Sam that he recently found.  Is it just us, or does Sammy have some of Sam's facial features despite the extreme difference in hair and eye color?  We think he does. 

From their place I went to visit with my stepmother, Grandma Mary, for a while.  She made me some good coffee to drink with chocolate chip cookies.  She's missing the Florida sunshine she experienced in January and is just as eager as I am for winter to be over.  Here's a picture of Mary and her friend Nora in Florida.  That looks like a lot of fun to me, and I'd be missing it too if I were her!

And then I went to Dick's parents for lunch.  We hadn't seen either of our parents since the first weekend of January!  Dick's brother Jim was there, and the guys were working out in the woods behind the house.  I took this pic through the kitchen window. 

This week it will be two years since Dad Stauffer had the heart valve replacement surgery and the resulting stroke.  He is a walking miracle.  He's 87 years old, came through all that, works in his shop and his woods all the time.  In April they are flying to Minnesota to see Dick's brother Bob and family!   A LONG way from the Spring of  2011.  

After I left their place I went to Hospice to visit a dear friend whom I will probably not see here on earth again.  If you know Miriam Heisey and her family, please cry to the Lord for them whenever they come to your mind.  

It was sleeting when I left Hospice, but the roads were not icy.  Above Harrisburg I stopped at a Sheetz to take a nap in my car.  It was sleeting hard, but had pretty much stopped when I left.  Well, it had obviously been sleeting a LOT in the areas I drove through upon leaving that gas station.  I would NEVER choose to drive in conditions like that.  I never slid, thank God.  Being on a limited access highway and using cruise control, there really was not much need to use my brakes.  But I passed a number of accidents.  And there was icy slush on the road.  

As I got closer to State College, the slush was gone and it was obvious they had gotten snow instead of sleet..  Look at this Christmas tree farm outside of State College!  Pretty, in spite of how sick I am of winter.

And now I need to go take my contacts out before they fall out.  Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

Weary of cold weather!!

I keep wanting to change my header pic to something more Spring-like, but the fact is, we are STILL having day after day after day after day!!!! of this:

I no longer care how pretty it looks.  I am just so weary of cold weather.  Does anybody remember last March?  We had WEEKS of weather in the 60's and 70's.  On this weekend last year my sisters Mary Ellen and Doris came here to spend the weekend.  Here we were at the park in Bellefonte with all those blooming daffodils.  Ahhhh.  I can't even imagine.

I know, I know - that warm March weather wreaked havoc on all the things that bloomed too early and then later froze.  And we were spoiled rotton by it, which made April's much cooler temps almost unbearable.  So I. WILL. WAIT.

But I WILL cheat a bit.   A week from now I'll be basking in Florida's warm weather.  Almost too good to be true.  I'm going down for Sophie's Grandparents Day next Friday and then staying the weekend.  

Here's a unique picture I took one morning this week.  The sunrise was shining through the evergreens outside my kitchen window.  Looks like a fire, doesn't it?

Women's retreat at Camp Hebron

Well, it's time to update here, so you don't have to think I'm still sleeping beside those chopped onions!  

I did indeed go to the retreat at Camp Hebron and had a WONDERFUL time.   That wonderful time, however, did not include leading praise and worship with a strong, clear voice.  I just hated it that, of all times, I would have a cold in my voice at a time like that.  But those women at the retreat were great singers, and I don't think they really needed my big, loud voice leading them.  I could still play piano and sing in my croaky voice.  On Sunday morning they came up and stood around the piano behind me during worship.  That was awesome, hearing all their beautiful voices, sometimes in three or four-part harmony! 

The retreat was for the women of Erisman Mennonite Church near our hometown of Manheim.  There were several women from other churches there as well. I led worship for their retreat two years ago.  That time it was fun to reconnect with many women from my past.  This time it was even more fun.  LOTS of fun.  Every meal I sat with different people, and we always ended up laughing or crying together.  

Here's the group picture taken Saturday evening.  There were a few people missing that had been there part of the time.

I did not do a good job of remembering to take pictures.  Here are just a few.  On Saturday afternoon there was a knitting class!  I discovered I did indeed still know how to do a basic stitch.

On Saturday evening one of the ladies showed us how to make a "necklace" out of a tee shirt!  I might try it.

And of course, there were games.  This was a new one called Corkle.

I'm sad that I did not get a picture of our speaker, Audrey Kanagy.  She was so good, with an amazing ability to bring scripture to real life, often based on her recent trip to Israel.  Her topics were Bread, Water, and Grapes.  On the surface they just sound like a bunch of food, but for any woman who was there, each of those things has far more meaning now.   

The weather this weekend was GORGEOUS, so I even managed to have time for a nice walk on Saturday afternoon.  The meals were amazing.  After lunch (actually a full dinner) on Sunday, the retreat was over, and I drove the hour-and-a-half home.  Oh my word!  I was SO SLEEPY after eating that big Mennonite meal.  I could have stopped somewhere to take a short nap, but I just wanted to get home to my bed.  I made it, walked in the door, said "hi" to Dick, and went straight to bed without bringing anything in from the car.  I slept for two hours!

In the evening we went to Applebees with Anthony, Lori, and Austin.  It was a special day at Applebees, where 15% of what we spent would go toward Houserville House of Hope's Easter egg fundraiser.  It will benefit a child's medical needs. (More about that in a later post.)   It was really fun to finally be with them and catch up.  Once again, I forgot to take a picture, so instead, I'll  show you this precious one that Lori posted last week.  I just LOVE it!

For some reason I felt worse yesterday (Monday) than I did any day since I'm fighting this cold.  But this morning I feel better than I have for over a week.  Maybe yesterday was my hump day!  I do hope so.

I'm FIGHTING!!

This week has been one big FIGHT!!  Against germs that want to bring me down.  I haven't been sick or had a cold since the summer of 2011 (when I got laryngitis just in time for my big family reunion).  It's not that I have never felt like I'm getting one, but I have my trusty arsenal against those germs, and they usually do their job within a day.  You've heard them all before - the NeilMed sinus rinse, Zicam Rapid Melts, lots of Hall's Defense lozenges (the ones with zinc, C, and echinacea), EmergenC, and my Candy Cane Lane green tea.  On Monday I started feeling symptoms and immediately launched the battle.  I am leading worship at a women's retreat this weekend, and this was no time to be coming down with a cold.  But these germs are not the wimpy kind that easily retreat.  I have been adding more and more to my arsenal as the week progresses - gargling salt water, Vicks Vaporub on the neck, chest, and feet at night.  I never felt or sounded like I had an all-out cold until yesterday.  Ugh!!  So last night I brought the vaporizer into our bedroom, looked up remedies online, and NO LIE!!  I put a bowl of chopped onions on my night stand over night!!  This morning I could feel it settling into my voice.  NO!!!!!!!  So I looked up more remedies for laryngitis.  Now I'm garling a mixture of warm water with apple cider vinegar, hot sauce (because I don't have any cayenne pepper), and honey.  It tastes HORRIBLE!!  Every now and then I do some warm-up exercises with my voice, and I think it's getting a little better.  I still have lemons in the produce drawer that I haven't used yet.  They're next.  And of course, I'm crying to the Lord (a little yelling at Him too, I admit).  I've been looking forward to this weekend for so long.  I've had my music all ready for over a week.

So could you please pray for me??  I really, really, really don't want to have a bad voice for this weekend. 

Sammy came to Grandma's house!

This past week was a really full one again with music prep for three church services (a Wednesday evening Lenten service at Fillmore and both churches this morning), plus a lot of prep for next weekend when I'll be leading worship at a women's retreat.  Plus it was newsletter week at the church office, which happens one week per month and keeps me on my toes.  

In the back of my mind all week was the hope that we'd get to see Sam, Jenn, and Sammy this weekend.  I had told them we'd come down to see them one day, unless they wanted to come  up here for the weekend.  With that in mind, I washed guest room sheets and cleaned and organized a lot of things I haven't bothered to do since Christmas.

So you know I was elated when I got Sam's text message that they'd be getting here Friday evening.  I was so afraid Sammy would have forgotten who we are, but Sam said not to worry - they talk about us all the time.  

He certainly had no trouble making himself at home when they arrived, finding my kitchen cupboards, the toy cupboard, and the piano.  I loved watching Jenn and Sammy playing telephone.  In this cell phone age, he still knows what to do with that old toy, haha!

After a while Sam and Jenn went out on a date, and in a short time Sammy crawled up onto the sofa beside me and  fell asleep.  He's so easy.

 On Saturday morning Dick had to work till noon.  The rest of us hung out around the house.  Well, that's not quite true.  Energetic Jenn RAN about four miles on our country hills in 27 degree weather!!  She is absolutely amazing.

Sammy entertained us one way or another!

Now THIS in entertainment, folks!


He had a great time taking half the things out of my pantry cupboard.  But the funniest part of all was when he put them back in.  Really, he did - every single thing.  Not the way I had them, but one way or another, he got everything shoved back in there!

When Dick got home from work we went to Chik-Fil-A for lunch so Sammy would have an indoor place to play.  He wasn't as thrilled with the play area as we thought he might be.  He was much more interested in walking around the restaurant and waving at people.  He is totally a people person!

 

When we left Chik-Fil-A we drove all over the place, looking at the huge frat houses in State College, the unique European looking architecture of many homes, the huge Penn State campus, the extreme hills in Bellefonte.

Back at home, more napping, playing, eating grilled cheese with my homemade cream of tomato soup.

"Help, I have fallen and I can't get up!"  Not!

Sam and Jenn went to a movie in the evening.  Unfortunately, Sammy had started showing signs of not feeling well late in the afternoon - runny nose, a tearing eye, pulling at his ear occasionally.   He was a bit weepier when they left that time, but then played a little while and eventually fell asleep.  But it was a more restless sleep.  And he did not have a good night for them.  Bless their hearts - he just got over a stomach flu.  They have to take turns missing work when he's sick.  Can any parents of young children relate?  And I know we grandmas remember when our little ones were sick and grouchy with one thing or another without much of a break in between.  Not an easy time at all.  

This morning I was surprised to see snowflakes swirling all around, and even more surprised to see the sun trying to shine through.  It was like they were having a tug-of-war.

I had dinner ready in the oven when we got home from church, and by around 2:00 they were packed up and ready to leave.  Sammy desperately wanted to help carry bags out to the car!  I think he was afraid they were going to leave without him again.  He loves his mommy and daddy.   But he DOES for sure know who we are, and he says something that means and sounds somewhat like "Grandma".   That's good enough for me!