Little day trip, more snow, and other things

On Saturday after I wrote my last post we drove to Lancaster.  It was another cold, sunny day with many beautiful sights to see. 

It was also quite windy, so this flag was blowing straight out and looked so grand up on that hill.

Kind of an interesting picture here.  I took it from the car, so you can see the cement barrier at the edge of the road. On the other side is a train on the railroad track.  Behind the train is the Susquehanna River, and then the mountain on the other side.  

As I said last time, Destiny, Alex, and Elizer were in Lancaster for the weekend.  We had told her that we would come see them wherever they were on Saturday.  So when we got to the Lancaster area she said that a friend was taking her to Target for a few things, so we said we'd meet her there.  It was so fun to see each other in person!  Elizer was sleeping at first, but after a while he opened his eyes and just checked me out for a while, haha!  Of course I had my mask on, and he's used to seeing me without one when we FaceTime.  But he didn't seem to mind.  She said he's used to seeing people with masks on. 

The friend she was shopping with also has a baby, a few months younger than Elizer.  It was fun to walk behind them and listen to her sharing all her mothering knowledge and wisdom!  I told her she sounds like a mommy expert already!  

When Elizer got fussy in his seat we took turns carrying him.  Of course we needed some pictures!

We were probably there for about an hour.  Out in the parking lot we said our goodbyes and got a goodbye selfie.

From there Dick and I went to Alex's dad's apartment to get the jewelry Destiny had made for me and two of my sisters.  I was glad to get to see Alex there, but I didn't take a picture. 

Then we went to my sister Doris, just five minutes away, to deliver the bracelets she had ordered from Destiny.   We had a fun, short visit at her front door.  Her precious five-year-old grandson Noah looked out and asked if we were visiting and offered to bring us the heater from their deck.  HOW PRECIOUS!!!!  

We got ourselves some food at Sheetz and then headed toward home.  We were glad to find out that Sam and the kids were at his place, so we stopped there for a quick outdoor visit.  ALWAYS a fun time with them!

They just love climbing this little tree in the back yard.  I used to be afraid it would break, but it never has, so I don't hold my breath anymore!

Sammy wanted me to take a picture of this view of the back yard.  He has such an eye for beauty.  

There was a beautiful sunset as we drove. 

On Sunday morning it was snowing again when we woke up.  We went to our 9:00 service at GBRV (still essential staff only in the building), and I took this picture as we arrived back home. 

At Target on Saturday I had to take a picture of these dresses.  My sisters and I have been making all kinds of jokes about the Target dresses, and the internet has been too.  Just google "Target prairie dresses" for a good laugh.   So I sent this picture to my sisters, and Doris (who is as short as I am)  said, "Imagine how cute I would look in one of those dresses, hem dragging all over the floor, V neck down to my waist...."  We were dying!  THEN on Sunday morning as Dick and I watched Calvary's service on our TV, I saw this beautiful, slender girl on the worship team wearing what looked like a Target prairie dress with a sweater over top, and she looked adorable!  I guess these dresses are great for young girls, just not us grandmas!

Monday morning was beautiful.  No new snow that day.

But on Tuesday morning there WAS new snow and the possibility of more throughout the morning.  I had a 10:00 hair appointment.  I do not have 4 wheel drive on my van of course, and I am so afraid to drive on snowy roads.  So as much as I hated to do it, I canceled my appointment.  Fortunately, she was able to give me an appointment for 3:00 on Wednesday.  There was no snow that day, but more coming again, so I was thankful to get that appointment out of the way between snow days.  

Dick finished his Mustang puzzle on Wednesday evening, just five days after starting it!

And now he's ready to start another one!

As I said, we had more snow overnight and this morning.  My outdoor pictures are all looking the same these days.

One more picture - I took it at 6:00 this evening.  Still not dark.  Wooooohooooo!!

Sunshiny days!

Good Saturday morning!  We've had a few days of beautiful sunshine!  And here are some pictures to prove it!  This first one is near Anthony and Lori's place late afternoon yesterday.

This is their frozen, snow-covered pond. 

I think I took this picture Wednesday early evening.  It was just so delightful to see sunshine!!

Wednesday was the day of our granddaughter's V'anni's surgery (see previous post if you missed that.)  Here's an adorable picture Lauren posted when they got to Hershey Medical Center that morning.  

It was a long, very difficult day.  They needed to do a COVID test on V'anni first, and then she and Lauren had to be in an quarantine room to wait for surgery.  I think that was around 11:00 am.  V'anni (18 months old) had to fast before the surgery.  The 1:30 surgery time came and went.  Lauren did not want to eat or drink anything in front of V'anni, so there they waited and waited and waited.  Finally, two hours late, they took V'anni for surgery.   By that time Lauren was sick on the stomach from stress and couldn't eat anyway.  I was praying and praying from here, feeling so helpless to be of any physical help.   When the surgery was over they said they had had to go deeper than expected to get all of the tumor out, and her incision was bigger than anticipated.  But she was in good spirits!  Frank's co-worker dropped him off at the hospital on their way back from a job, so Frank was able to drive Lauren and V'anni  home.   Now they await the pathology report.  And we still pray!  (And again, I ask you to please not comment on FB about V'anni.  Thanks!)

And speaking of prayers, I was so delighted to read the following message from my sister Betty on our sibling Facebook page on Thursday evening!!  Thank you to all of you who had been praying for her!

“Good evening!  I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing so much better. Yesterday and today I started feeling much more like myself, able to get my breath when I’m doing things, not so fatigued. Your prayers meant the world to me and I’m so fortunate to be healing from this awful virus. I went to the doctor yesterday and my oxygen level was at 97, which was excellent! I’m definitely healing from the pneumonia. My lungs sounded good. I still get fatigued but on my way to good health. Thank you for supporting me through this!”

Thank you, Lord!!

On a very different note, we got a sad message from my cousin Steve Myers yesterday morning.  Just six day prior we had found out that his wife Jane had COVID and had ended up in the hospital on a ventilator.  His message yesterday morning was that she has died and he is heartbroken.  Ugh!  I hate this so bad.  Just about exactly two years ago my sister Mary Ellen and my sister-in-law Nancy hosted a girl cousin gathering, and Jane was there.  Some of us had not known her well before that, but we had such a wonderful time together, and we Facebook friended each other.   She has frequently commented on pictures, etc.  Here's a picture of that gathering two years ago.  Jane is the one to my left (light blue shirt and scarf.)  

Friday morning had a beautiful start!

Yesterday Dick and I had our appointments for our first COVID vaccine!  We had to go to Lewistown, about 45 minutes from here.  There was a big white tent set up in front of the hospital, and it was like a well-oiled machine.  Everything was so well organized.  I took this shot from the "waiting room."  That's where we sat for fifteen minutes afterward to make sure we had no reaction.   There was a constant flow in and out of people getting their vaccine.  Most of us were "of a certain age," haha!

And here we were afterward!  We got the Moderna vaccine, so our next appointment is in exactly four weeks.  

It was a beautiful drive yesterday!  

A few days ago I got a puzzle for Dick to work on in the evenings.  The card table is really too small.  We should have expanded the dining room table for this project.  (My projects have kind of taken over that table, lol!) But he's gittin' er done!  

His first car was a Mustang, so I knew he would love this one.   Here's how it looked before he went to bed last evening. 

Guess what?  I'm hoping to see these three in person today!  Destiny has a three-day weekend off work, so they hopped on a Spirit flight last evening from Orlando to Philly.  (I cannot believe how cheap those tickets are!!)  I know they landed in Philly at 11:30 pm, and her brother Shalimar was picking them up to take them to Alex's dad's place near Lancaster.  But that's all I know at this point.   I hate that we will still need to be so cautious.  But we will be.  Now that we have made it this long without getting COVID and we have our first vaccine, I definitely do not want to mess anything up.  

Have a good weekend!

More snow and other things

It's pretty much been snowing ever since my last post.  It started Sunday morning before we left for church, and was still snowing today.  Of course it stopped and started again many times.   So I'll start with snow pictures.   I don't know for sure which days they were taken, except this first one was definitely on Sunday.  

This was today.  I couldn't believe it was still snowing.  I'm really tired of it.  It's been blowing today too.

I was having so much trouble getting warm this morning, so I splurged again and took a long bubble bath.  Candle and all.  Made me feel like a rich lady, haha!!  Actually, just very, very grateful.

Last Monday Pastor Lynn had her third chemo treatment.  She's halfway through!  Some of us ladies (she calls us her moms) try to keep her entertained via text messages while she's there - jokes and funny pictures, etc.  But she ended up with the best one of all - this picture, hahahaha!!  She is so much fun!  Today she had a CT scan and we are praying for good news.

We are also praying for our precious 18-month-old granddaughter V'anni.  She has had a blue mark on her side ever since she was born, and after a while it became a lump.  In December they had it checked out, then she had an MRI earlier this month.  It is a tumor, a Giant Cell Fibroblastoma, and tomorrow morning Lauren will be taking her to Hershey Medical Center for the surgery to remove it.   They had a lot of snow yesterday, so please pray for traveling safety (probably an hour and a half drive) and for the surgery to be successful.  I don't think there will be treatment required afterward, but regular checkups and maybe MRI's.  

I will ask that you please don't put comments about V'anni on Facebook.  Thanks!

An update on my sister Betty.  She is definitely feeling better since her few days in the hospital last week, but she does still experience shortness of breath very easily.   It's discouraging, so we continue to pray for her healing and strength.

Our nephew's wife Jen Stauffer in Minnesota had a good visit with her oncologist on Friday.  They feel really good about him and comfortable with his approach.  He was not pushy at all, which was a great relief to them.  Their church friends and family came and had an anointing service for her Sunday evening. 

Here are some pics from Destiny.  On Saturday she and Alex had a date while his mother watched Elizer.  I thought she looked so cute.

I took these while we were Facetiming a few different times.  Right before I took this one he was holding onto Alex's hands and "walking" across the bed.  

Always wanting to see who is "in the phone" haha!

I'll finish with this ridiculous story from Sunday.  I know that you Facebook friends have already read it, but this is for the rest of you.  

I honestly don’t know if it’s even possible for anyone to follow this confusing tale of two black coats. But here it is. 

 

I have two black puffy coats. One is an older casual one that I have not worn in several years because it has problems. I kind of forgot that I still have it. The other is my “Sunday coat.” They both hang in our coat closet at the front door. 

 

Two weeks ago when I put my coat on before leaving for church I was surprised that there were no gloves in the pockets. I was exclaiming to Dick on the way to church that I ALWAYS keep a pair of red gloves in these pockets. When we got home I looked for them unsuccessfully and ended up putting a pair of black ones in the pockets. I could not imagine where those red ones would be. 

 

Last Sunday when I put my coat on I was glad for the gloves, then started to put the zipper up. It broke apart at the bottom. What??? After church when I put it on, I shut the snaps instead and was thinking, “Hmmm. These snaps close more easily than I realized. Why do I even use the zipper?”

 

This morning when reaching for my coat in the closet I stopped. I said to Dick, “Since when does my Sunday coat have a zipper pocket on the SLEEVE??” Then I thought, “That’s not even my Sunday coat.” 

 

I looked a few coats further and realized that somehow my Sunday coat had been moved from its central position in the closet. I put it on, reached into the pockets and pulled out my red gloves. 

 

Seriously. 

Have a good rest of the week, friends!