Fun with the kids, beauty in the sky, a trip down memory lane, Twin Tower views

So Thanksgiving Day is coming right up!  Actually, it is a week later than it was the past few years because of November 1st being on a Friday, therefore the 4th Thursday isn't until the 28th.  I like it this way better.  Last year, with Thanksgiving Day being on the 22nd, I hardly felt ready for it.  But I have been immensely enjoying the FB memories from last year's Thanksgiving week, when Lisa, George, and Sophie and their dogs spent the week here.  And we had snow - Sophie's first time seeing it and playing in it.  That was such a wonderful week.  

My first picture is this morning's sunrise.  I was sitting at my dining room table, looked out the window and could tell even above the neighbor's house roof that there was a beautiful sunrise out there.  I went out to the porch to get a good shot.  Boy, was it ever cold out there this morning!

Here are a few more outdoor pics from this week.  One morning it was foggy and I thought of the lyrics to a song we did at the Jr. High Choral Festival one year, Misty Morning.  "It was a misty morning on the top of the hill, with all the tress below me standing quiet and still.....Misty morning, I can hear your song, the sound is quiet, but the song is clear.....It's just the morning's way of thanking God for today."  Another morning there was a pronounced streak across the sky.  In order to see how far it went I would have had to walk out to the street in my robe.  So I settled for just getting a picture of it as far as I could see from the front steps.  The other picture below was taken as I walked into Hunter's daycare.  We hate that it's almost dark by 5:00 now.  He always says, "I'm so sleepy."  He really isn't, but the darkness makes him think it's time for bed already.  

Now back to last Saturday.  Sam and the kids came in the evening and overnight.  Sammy had been on a shopping trip that day and was excited about wearing his new jacket, jeans, and shoes to church on Sunday morning.  Good grief!!!  He looked like he was 18 instead of 8!!  And he just loves his pocket watch too!  What a guy!

Austin and Hunter wanted to come here to play with Sammy and Bianca after the service at Calvary.  We had a noisy, crazy day!  Sometimes I wish I had a basement to send them to, to run off some steam, haha!  We watched Home Alone 3, we played Chutes and Ladders, played with LEGOS, drank root beer.  It was a brand new bottle, very carbonated, and Bianca and Hunter made such funny faces when they took their first sips.  

Then I remembered that I had finally gotten a new bag of balloons.  Oh, the fun!

Austin can blow up and tie his own balloons now, and did he ever!  He got Sam to help him tie all his balloons together with some of the yarn that he had brought along.  Austin made himself a fort 

When we told them it was time to calm down they got creative.  Bianca, Sammy, and Hunter got under the dining room table to watch a movie on Sammy's tablet.  Austin made himself a fort to play a game on his iPad.  Of course pesky me had to get some pics!

I think it was on Saturday evening when I was making peanut butter rice krispie treats after Sam and the kids had arrived, I got this short video clip from Mike.  Wow, I teared up immediately!  It's been too long since I've heard Jeremy play piano.  It's short and sweet and makes this mamma's heart happy.

When I was cooking one day this week I thought the veggies I had chopped for the stir fry looked so pretty.  I was going to be like one of those food blogs and take pics of each step.  Unfortunately, I never thought of taking a picture after it was all finished.  

Last evening Anthony and the boys were here while Lori was at a work dinner.  Anthony and I went down memory lane.  He looked through several old photo albums and I pulled out a folder called "Family News Clippings."  What FUN!!  Here are just a few of them - Anthony and Lynn Nolt Rohal as seniors of the month, Lisa on the homecoming queen court, Ray and Frank playing football.  Thee were so many more.  So glad I kept them.  This was all before we had the internet to help us keep our memories alive.  

In one of the photo albums Anthony looked through I found these photos I had taken from the observation deck of the Twin Towers.  Each September 11 I look for these and can never find them.  I finally discovered why.  They're in the wrong album!  I'm quite sure that I took these pictures in February 1989.  But they were in an album of pictures from '94 and '95.  I think these four pictures were taken looking each direction, north, west, south, east.  But I may be wrong.  I think that might be the Statue of Liberty on the bottom left picture.  

Well, that's all for this time.  I have cleaning to do now.  Next week will be busy with lots of food prep.  Have a good weekend!

More birthday fun, Quilts of Valor ceremony, and more

Another weekend here already!   We had a beautiful sunrise last Saturday, and I'm glad I took a picture of it, because for whatever reason, I did not take another one since.  Either I got up too late or there weren't any that caught my attention.

Saturday was a fun day.  I left around 9 AM to go down to Destiny's place in Columbia.  Her third floor apartment does not have great heat - old, ineffective electric baseboard.  I had found someone up here on Craigslist who had several oil-filled electric heaters for sale for $10.00 each.  I know from experience that they produce good heat and are cost-effective.  So we got them and I cleaned them up and took them to her.  Sorry, no picture of her, just a heater, lol!    We got lunch and then I had to be on my way.

It was Sam's birthday, and we have always celebrated our birthdays together since he's been part of our family.  (Mine had been the day before.)  I knew they would be coming up to our place after he got off work.  Eventually I realized that they were going to get to our place before I would!  I still needed to stop for groceries.  I asked him what his favorite cake was, and he didn't know, but he did know he has a favorite pie- lemon meringue.  That's mine too.  I was also thinking that my favorite cake is carrot cake.  So when I got to the grocery store I looked for a lemon meringue pie.  They didn't have any whole lemon meringue pies, but they did have several huge slices.  So I got those, and then I saw a nice big piece of carrot cake, so I got that too.  And some candles.  

When I got home I fried sausage, because we had a big container of cooked peppers and onions that Dick had brought home Houserville's Vote and Go Cafe earlier in the week.  We had sausage subs, mac and cheese, and cake, pie, and ice cream for our birthday supper.   Sammy, always the entertainment director, had trivia games and some fun personality tests for us to do!   

On Sunday morning the kids went with us to GBRV.  We had a very touching ceremony for a few veterans, including Pastor Calvin.  Each of them was presented with a Quilt of Valor, and information was given about their military service.  Most touching of all was the oldest gentleman who had served in WWII.  The story of his hardest experience was graphic and so very, very sad.  I am sure there was not a dry eye in the place.  The quilts were spectacularly beautiful!!

After that service we all went to Calvary's 10:45 service, then afterward we and Anthony and Lori and the boys went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Plaza Mexican Grill for Sam's official birthday dinner.  I was having too much fun to remember to take many pictures.  Sam took a cute one of Sammy, Bianca, and Austin outside the restaurant.  I got one of him and his kids, and one of the guy making our guacamole.  But no picture of Hunter.  How can that be possible??

Austin went home with us afterward.  I was so sleepy, so I was glad to let the kids use their tablets.  Dick put a football game on TV, and that always puts me right to sleep!  Him too, apparently, haha!

Later they all spent a long time with the LEGOS, making some very impressive creations.  

We tried to play the game Waterworks, which is something Destiny used to really love to play when we visited Dick's parents, so we had brought it here when they were getting rid of things. But the instructions were way more complicated than I remembered, and we never did get going with it.  

So we finished off with ice cream sundaes instead.

I met our new neighbors-to-be this week!  We cracked up that their names are Dick and Joan, and ours are Dick and Jean.  At least we won't have trouble remembering each others' names!  They are so eager to get into their house.  It's such a slow process.  They're hoping to be moved in by Thanksgiving.  At least there are steps at the doors now!

We got our carpets and couches cleaned yesterday, all but our own bedroom.  We'll get that done another time.  So our kitchen was looking like this!

I went away yesterday morning while Curtis, owner of Blue Diamond Cleaning Service, was doing the cleaning.  It was SO NICE to come home later to this!  It smelled so fresh and clean in here. 

So today I'm trying to get everything back in place again.  Good grief!!  It's just crazy how much stuff we have in all the crooks and crannies!  

I've been feeling like I just can't get used to our winter weather this year.  It got so very cold so suddenly.  But then I was reminded in my FB memories that a year ago we had a BIG snow and very cold weather afterward, so it stayed and stayed.  Which was really a good thing, because Lisa and George, and Sophie and the dogs were on their road trip from Florida, and Sophie REALLY wanted to see snow for the first time in her life.  The day after they arrived we had so much fun sledding over at Anthony and Lori's.  Such a good memory!  Can we just go back a year??

Well, that's it for this time!  Gotta put more stuff back in place!

Goodbye, daylight evenings; Hunter week; my birthday

Remember when it used to be daylight at 6 PM?  When I was on my way home from the gym and grocery shopping last Saturday, I realized that this would be the last time it would still be daylight at 6:00 in the evening, so I took a few pictures.  When it is again daylight at the time I will take pictures of it again!

I was hoping that there would be trick-or-treaters coming to my door on Saturday evening, but alas, these two cuties were the only ones!  We had such stormy weather on Halloween that all the municipalities in our area postponed trick-or-treating to Saturday evening.  All of them EXCEPT our township. What is wrong with them????  Nobody in their right mind would have taken children out in such wind and rain!  So I was left with a whole lot of candy that we really should not be eating.

Of course the good thing about going back to standard time is that the sunrises are now earlier.  This was Sunday morning.  The words to a Christmas song came to my mind when I saw this - "In the first light of a new day...."  

On another morning this week we had this beautiful sunrise.  

YES!  I can still see the sunrise even though there is a new house next door.  Just not from my sink window or dining room window.  I usually go out to the porch.

Lori was away this week from Sunday through Thursday evening for work.  So Hunter slept here for four nights.  In the afternoons I would pick both boys up and then go over to their place and we would eat dinner there.  But on Wednesday morning Hunter (who is always thinking ahead) decided he didn't like doing it the same way every day.  He had a different idea for that evening.  So when we got to school I had him make a video for Anthony.  How cute is this?

One evening he read one of his favorite books, "All Better," at bedtime.  Please bear with the little issues we had with positioning and skipping a page, haha!

Of course, there are no end of cute things out of his mouth.  He almost never stops talking!  So here are a few I shared on Facebook this week.

Ladies, wouldn't you love to be the person at the front desk of Hunter's school and hear him exclaim to you, "Your shirt is BEAUTIFUL!! Have a good day!" when he comes through the front door?

As we drive, he always wants to know what road/street we are on.  This evening when we got to the stop sign at the end of Bernel Road I said, "Now we are turning onto Buffalo Run Road.  Some people call it 550, but I always call it Buffalo Run."  He said, "When you say it's Buffalo Run and then they say, 'No, it's 550!'  and then you say, 'No! It's Buffalo Run Road!'  Then they have to go in time OUT!"

During Hunter's bath time I got a lesson on the proper description of skin colors.  He said, "Grandpa Byron's skin is dark brown.  Mamma's skin is medium brown.  Austin's skin is tan and my skin is tan too.  And Daddy's skin is beige.  And your skin is beige too!"  So there you have it!

He is so delightful!  Here's a picture of him saying good-bye to me one morning when I dropped him off at school.  

One day this week Destiny Face-timed me because Alex had locked his keys in his car.   A neighbor man was helping them try to pry the sun roof open.  She said that she had taped some sticks together with a spoon at the end, but it wasn't sturdy enough.  I thought it was hilarious and took this screen shot!

After a while she called me back and said that the neighbor man had a strong magnet that he was able to put in through the sun roof and it picked up the keys!  Wow!  

Progress was made on the house next door this week.  Still waiting for some steps to that door though!  If that were my house I would be wanting some steps SOON so I could get inside and look around!

I haven't said anything lately about the women's Bible study at Calvary.  It is absolutely one of the highlights of my week.  We have been watching a video series on Job.  Job's story is so profoundly troubling and inspirational.  After the video we always have a small group discussion.  The women in my small group have become so close as we bare our souls and care for each other.  I'm so thankful for these women.

The biggest thing around here this week was that I got something I have been wishing for for years.  It just always felt too extravagant.  But when the price was reduced at Sam's Club last week, we agreed that it would be my birthday gift.  I love it so much that I won't be needing a birthday gift ever again!  A media console with an electric fireplace.  It just makes me really happy!

So today is my 68th birthday.  This evening we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, Anthony and Lori's treat.  I tried to get a picture of the rest of them, but of course there wasn't one picture in which each person was looking at the camera and smiling.  So I made a collage of all four pictures.

And then Dick took some pictures of me.  Wouldn't you know there's a Miller Lite sign back there looking like a crown on my head, haha!

Well, that's all for this time!  Have a great weekend!  

Trip to DC, more fun on the trip home, new house next door

Wow!  A week-and-a-half has gone by since I last posted here.  So you know I've got a LOT of pictures and stories to share!  I'll start with a collage of autumn foliage pictures I took around here last week.  The color is disappearing as the leaves turn brown and fall down and blow all over the place.

So after a couple of weeks of nothing happening on the lot next door, last week things got active again.  Holes were dug in the ground and filled with cement.   The two halves of a new house were sitting next to the office for a few days, and I assumed it would be our new neighbors' house.

As I mentioned in my last post, Jeremy had told us that he and Mike would be in DC the last weekend of October and invited us to come down to be with them.  I was SO excited!!  DC is so much closer than Portland, and we have such fond memories of fun weekends with them when they lived there.  We were also eager to spend time with their community of friends and former neighbors.  So by 7:30 last Friday morning Dick and I were on the road toward DC.  It was not a sunny morning, which was nice for driving, but not so nice for picture-taking.  I tried taking pictures of the beautiful foliage as we drove, but without the sunshine they just were not beautiful.  Here's the best shot I got on Route 99 toward Bedford.

We got to their friends' house where they were staying right around 12 noon.  I was so happy to see them!!!

Soon after we arrived we piled into the van to get lunch at Union Market.  Finding a place to park was so impossible that we ended up driving almost the whole way back to Tim and Heather's place and walking to Union Market instead.  We didn't use the van the rest of the weekend.  

There are so many places to choose from at Union Market.  We decided on a seafood place because they had seating, which a lot of smaller places do not offer.  Jeremy and I shared a wedge salad, Mike and Dick shared a chopped salad, and we all shared a crab cake.  Everything was exceptionally delicious. 

Then we walked around the whole market and finished off at DC Doughnut for the most incredible donuts we have ever eaten.  We had fun watching how they glaze the icing!

Then we walked back to Tim and Heather's place.  They have a a new screened-in back porch which we thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on.

When it was time to move our van again before another two-hour parking limit was reached, we drove a few blocks to Jeremy and Mike's old street and found a spot where we could park all night.   Then we went to Joe and Lauren's place where Dick and I would be sleeping.  Their house is directly across the street from the house where Jeremy and Mike had lived (the white end-of-row home on the  bottom left.)  Sadly, the landscaping that Jeremy had done in front has been seriously neglected.  Joe and Lauren's is the gray one on the bottom right.  They have such a wonderfully comfortable place and their warm hospitality is the best. So is their dog.  The sweetest!!

For dinner we just walked to the corner to Indigo, the best and most authentic Indian food anywhere.  This first picture is owner and chef, Nhidi.  I wish I had also gotten a picture of her husband, young adult son, and preteen daughter, each of them very involved in this family business.  

Just six years ago, on Labor Day weekend 2013, we were visiting Jeremy and Mike and they took us to an outdoor market where we ordered food from Indigo.  The guys had become friends with the owners.  They were telling us that they would soon be opening a restaurant on Jeremy and Mike's block.  

Soon afterward they did!  They were a HIT immediately and were slammed with business.  The first two weeks Jeremy and Mike were there every evening after work helping them to prep food, take orders, wash dishes. So they are definitely considered "family."

Here's a collage I made.  I took the top photo in May 2015, the bottom photo this weekend.  They have turned the whole corner into a delightfully friendly, beautiful place.  

It was a wonderful evening with former neighbors and friends.  Also, Mike's best high school friends, Jim and Colleen from Pittsburgh, were in DC celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary.  They could not believe it when they found out that Mike and Jeremy were in DC also.  So they joined us too at Indigo.  

Then we all went back to Joe and Lauren's place to watch the Nats baseball game on TV.  Sadly, they lost in their hometown.  

On Saturday morning we walked for our brunch.  Joe had recommended a new place near Union Market called St. Anslem.  Once again I loved checking out all the beautiful townhouses along the way.  Their friend Christy, also from Portland, joined us.

We LOVED the restaurant.  Jeremy especially liked the decor and design.  We all loved the food.  They started us out with freshly made biscuits on which we could put a cheese spread or syrup.  My breakfast choice was very Pennsylvania Dutch!  Reading Terminal Market Chipped Dried Beef over thick toast.  Everything was so delicious.

When we got back to Joe and Lauren's place it was time for Mike to leave.  He was catching a train to the BWI airport.  They had not come together because Jeremy had been at High Point Market in NC the week before and had come to DC from there.  So we said our goodbyes to Mike.  Union Station, where he would be catching his train was just a few blocks away.  Jeremy and Christy walked there with him.

Lori and the boys were on their way down to see the guys.  When she realized they would miss seeing Mike if they came straight to DC, she decided to go to BWI first and catch him there.  They got to spend about 15 minutes together before he had to go through security!  

We had a lazy afternoon at Joe and Lauren's place.  I even caught a nap.  We knew that Lori and the boys were on their way.  Don't think for a minute that Anthony doesn't care about his brother, haha!  He just doesn't care much for adventurous road trips, especially last minute ones.  Lori thrives on them!  Anthony and Jeremy talk on the phone a lot, so they didn't really need to catch up!  

It was a dreary day outside, but Joe and Lauren graciously let us hang out at their place.  The boys loved that precious dog.

We ordered in pizza, and Lori went down to the corner to get herself some take-out Indian food.  We had a really nice time around that big table.  Some really good, even deep, conversations.  That's Lauren (our sweet hostess) at the one end of the table. 

Around 8 PM Lori and the boys left.  They would be driving to a hotel part way home for the night.  We all went over to Kevin and Shauneen's house to watch the Nats game.  Another LOSS!!  But we all know how the series ended this week, so it's all good!

We said our goodbyes to Jeremy that night.  His flight would be leaving early in the morning.  I don't know why I didn't think to get a last picture together. 

We left Sunday morning around 9 AM.  It was just starting to rain when we left.  The worst of the rain storm occurred when we got onto the 695 beltway around Baltimore.  Truly horrible!!!   We were so thankful when we were on 83 and the rain stopped and the sun came out!  What a switch!  It was the start to a really warm, beautiful day.

Our first destination was Columbia to eat lunch with Destiny and Alex.  We were making good time, so after we got off 83 at York onto Route 30, we took a little detour to go by a place that holds many good memories for me.  My uncle and aunt Roy and Miriam Witmer had lived at this place and often hosted Witmer family events in my childhood and early adulthood.  

Soon we were at Destiny's place.  That's her window up there on the 3rd floor.  She has two other windows facing the back.  She keeps her apartment neat and clean.  We hung out there a while first.  Grandpa helped her to figure out an electrical issue in her kitchen, a printer cartridge problem, and a bathroom door latch problem.  We took her and Alex to the Black Olive Diner for lunch.  I snapped a picture of Dick while telling a deer hunting story.  I promise he was not telling them off, haha!

Our next stop was Duncannon.  They had just finished their Halloween parade when we got there.  The kids wanted to show us some of their favorite outdoor spots.  First of all we went through a little tunnel to the Susquehanna River.   What a VIEW!!!   We had so much fun there.  Grandpa showed off his stone-skipping skills.

Bianca was sharpening a stone.  Sammy posed for what looked like a senior picture!  They climbed the "stairs" to the railroad bridge on top of the tunnel.  

Next they wanted to show us the "crick." 

There was a park along the creek, and it had all these unique gnome houses!  How FUN!!

We had the greatest time exploring everything.  The weather was absolutely perfect.

The sun setting on the mountains, and river was spectacularly beautiful.  We had gorgeous sunset views for a long time on our way up 322 toward State College. 

We got home shortly after 7:30 PM, and guess what was sitting next door!  A house!

I was thankful on Monday morning that I could see the sunrise, not from my sink window anymore, but from my front porch.

It's going to take some getting-used-to, having someone's front door right there.  I'm sure the owners will add things for privacy eventually.

On Tuesday workers were there putting the two halves together, but there's more work to be done.  No one has been there since.  It's a slow process. 

Unfortunately, Hunter had a fever when they got home on Sunday.  So he stayed with me on Monday afternoon.  I met Lori to get him from her, and on the way to my house we talked about a number of things like playgrounds, naps, the lack of books in my car since our weekend trip.  Then he said, "When we get to your house I will first play for a little while, and then second I will take a nap, and then third I will pick out some books for your car, and then fourth I will go to the playground."  Hahaha,  I think he is a list maker like me!

So we did everything like he said, even the playground, although he had no energy for it and soon wanted to go back into the house.  

We were at church the past three evenings.  Wednesday was choir practice, changed from Thursday because of Halloween.  On Thursday the church was planning to hold Trunk or Treat in the parking lot, but we got hit with rain and wind, so it was held indoors instead.  Of course attendance was way down due to the weather.

Friday evening was the monthly spaghetti supper.  That's one meal these picky eaters like!  So they came with us.  Austin likes the meatballs the best, Hunter prefers the spaghetti noodles. 

So I think I'm all caught up now.  If you stuck with me the whole way through, congratulations!!

Have a good rest of the weekend!