Life has gotten busy and I have neglected keeping up on this blog, but I want to update it on what I have been doing for the past six months.
I have done more entertaining. Here's a recap:
In early April my sister-in-law came up to the cities to spend the weekend with me. Over the weekend she attended church and Sunday school with me; ate at The Original Pancake House, saw the flower show at the Galleria, and attended a concert with Sandi Patty as one of the featured artists.
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| Yours truly and Donna at the Galleria Spring Flower Show |
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I entertained some of my co-workers from Bethany House over lunch in early April. Those who came over were Natasha, Ellen, Paul (my former boss), Eric and Randy. Sadly, I didn't think to take a photo of them.
A couple of weeks later two other dear friends from my Bethany days, sisters Jeanne and Joanie, came for tea, orange juice and muffins. These dear women and I were once in a Red Hat group that was a lot of fun. Again—no photos.
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The end of May, Hans, Rachel, Josiah, Annika and William came to spend a weekend here where I live. We rented the guest room for a couple of nights and it worked out very well. It was the first time all of them, except Hans, had been to my new home. They told me they liked it very much. On Sunday they left and made a road trip out west. They went as far as the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. Then on their return, they spent a couple of nights in my guest room again.
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| Annika and Rachel |
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| Josiah and yours truly |
Hans and Peder took the opportunity to get together to play board games during this visit.
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| Peder and Hans |
While Hans's family was here, I hosted a potluck lunch with my family. Cousin Linda was here from Chicago, and her brother, Cousin John, came, along with his son Doug and Doug's fiance, Caitlin. Cousin Pat and her husband, Pudge came, along with their daughter Kari and her husband, Charlie. Jerry and Janet were here, as well and Peder, Sarah, Aurelia, Felix and Leo. We met in the party room that is just down the hall from me. What a great time we had visiting and eating together. Pat brought along her bells so we had a blast singing and ringing the bells. Sadly, I was so busy I didn't get any photos of our music. Here are the few I took:
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| Cousins John and Linda (brother and sister) |
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| Cousins John and Pat (Janet in the background) |
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| Janet, yours truly, and Jerry |
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June 8 I drove to Austin for the burial of my brother-in-law, David. It was a wonderful time reminiscing his life. Cousins Kenneth and Dale were also in attendance.
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| Donna, Tim, Amy and Andrea |
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| Kenneth, Jr. and Dale (Steve's cousins) |
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July 31 my dear friend, Nancy, came over to have lunch with my on my balcony. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed food and conversation in this fun setting.
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| My friend, Nancy |
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Yours truly
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Again I had a new friend, Tena, over for a little lunch with me. The date was August 26. Tena is very active at Valley View, serving as leader of our weekly Bible study. She also attends the Strong Bones exercise classes.
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August 3 I turned another year older. My next door neighbor, Nancy, and down the hall neighbor, Pat, gave me a birthday party, which was really nice.
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| Pat playfully reversed the order of the candles on the cake she made for me. |
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| L to R: Nancy, Donna, June, yours truly, Laurey, Pat, Anne, and Sheila |
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Early August Marshall and Corinne flew to the midwest to spend some time with their grandparents. They spent a few days in Hudson at their paternal grandparents and then were brought to my home to spend five days with me. We had a very good time together, spending part of one day with Peder and Sarah and their kids at a park and then at the National Night Out at my place where they got to climb into a fire truck and attend an ice cream social. I loved having them with me.
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| Marshall and Corinne in garden where I live |
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| L to R: (seated) Corinne, (standing) Marshall, Rellie, Felix and Leo |
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| Corinne and Marshall outside fire truck on National Night Out |
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Steve Oates has been a good friend of mine for many, many years. He is one of the vice presidents where I used to work and when he traveled I would tend his many cyclamen plants in his office. He has helped me around my home with many projects including putting together furniture I have purchased from IKEA. Steve actually loves putting their pieces together because they are always cut perfectly and have all the hardware necessary.
This past spring Steve suffered a major heart attack and had to have a valve replaced. It took him some time to recover. Thankfully he is young enough and was in good shape so he is now feeling really good. August 29 I had him and his wife Nancy over for dinner.
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Steve and Nancy standing next to one of the sunflowers in the gardens where I live
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Wednesday, September 4, I had a little brunch with friends Jo and LaVonne. I used to work with both of them. LaVonne got married a couple of years ago to a widower who has nine kids. Some of them are in their late teens and one is in her early twenties. LaVonne is really happy. It was really nice to be with these gals again.
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Jo, yours truly and LaVonne
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Sunday, October 20 I hosted a birthday party for my friend and neighbor, Laurey. Many neighbors came to join in the celebration. My friend, Pat, made a delicious cake.
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| Laurey and yours truly |
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| L to R: Betsy, Pat A, and Doris |
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| L to R: Doris, Pat C and Anne |
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L to R: Sharon, Marcia and Laurey
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