Grandmollie

My dear Grandmollie passed away this week. She turned 102 this month. We tried to go see her right around her birthday but Corona virus/ Covid 19 kept us away. Her niece Rachel texted me Sunday to say they Mollie wasn't doing so well. J and K couldn't go because of work and CEF, but the rest of the kids and I got in the car early Wednesday morning to go see her. We drove to Madison, GA where we met my parents. We went into Wendy's for lunch when I got a message from Rachel that said that the nursing home was under quarantine- no visitors could come in. I called and verified with Rachel and with the nursing home staff that was the case. They didn't really explain whether it was because of flu or corona virus, but were very clear that we would not be able to see Mollie. I asked Rachel to tell Mollie we loved her and Happy Birthday (her 102nd birthday was the day before.) My dad drove back to Madison while my Mom went with me and the kids to spend the night near Atlanta. I didn't want to drive all the way to MS to find out that we couldn't go in but didn't have the heart to drive home. so we decided to spent the night in Atlanta and try again the next day. Several people recommended we go to World of Coca Cola which we did and really enjoyed! It was neat to see the movie and how Coke has been made and marketed over the years, but the highlight for everyone was the tasting room where we tasted Coca-Cola products around the world. Some were good and some not so good :) but we enjoyed trying.

We went from World of Coca-Cola to our hotel and were very happy that they served dinner there. After dinner, we played some games in the hotel room- pool, super size Jenga, tic-tac-toe, and then headed out to Aldi's for dessert. We played skipbo and had dessert in the room before going to bed. We slept amazingly well for 4 people in a bedroom and 3 in a living room and woke up just in time for breakfast the next morning. The kids all loved the hotel breakfast. I did break my elimination diet  by having a mini-omelet which was good. Then we hit the road. We considered going to a big museum on the way back home but the pouring rain made me really tired. We decided to go see a museum in Aiken, SC (where Dad's parents retired after the Panama Canal Zone.) I'm glad we did. The Aiken County Historical Museum was really neat. Lots of great information and displays.

We got home Thursday afternoon and then my Dad drove up Friday from Florida.  K was away at Teaching Children Effectively for CEF- a class he'd been taking each Friday with a couple other teens from here. James was at a church children's ministry event in VA. we played a lot of board games  including Ticket to Ride. We went to get a snowcone in honor of Mollie and then kids played some soccer at Reid Ross Park that afternoon. Friday evening my Mom and I went to a Ramsey Street Women's night-  a friend made a Bible Taboo game to play. We had a fun night! Saturday was a busy day of soccer games- four recreation league games that morning and James took C/T to their travel game in Raleigh. It was fun watching all the different levels of soccer. V did not dance- he twirled around the field. In between twirls, he did have some good kicks :) c did great in her game. She was very focused! K surprised us by playing goalie- he did a good job! KG was a little disappointed to not play goalie but she did great in the field! My parents, the kids and I enjoyed a good lunch at cookout and then an afternoon at home. Sunday we went to church and then took T and C to their travel game up in Raleigh. The Force was down 0-3 at halftime and then came back to win 4-3 at the end. C scored the final goal! We celebrated with snowcones and then headed home for James to grill steaks.

Our trip down to MS did not turn out as we'd hoped but we were glad that Rachel said that Mollie was doing better. Rachel was not allowed in but hospice nurses were giving her updates and said Sunday that Mollie was sitting in the living room area eating ice cream. I was glad to hear that. It reminded me of lots of visits with Mollie eating snowcones or blueberry cobbler with ice cream. Or recently her not wanting to wait to have the icing off the cupcakes! Here's some favorite pics of Mollie through these last 10 years. Maybe sometime we can find her Madison book to get the older pics.

Then Wednesday 18 March, Mr. Stephens called me. I knew when the phone rang that it meant Mollie had passed away. I was very sad. Sad that we didn't get to see her again, sad that won't be able to see her again to tell her we love. but I know she was ready and that she's in a better place now! She lived a good life and is rejoicing in heaven now. Because of the Corona virus, there won't be a funeral but here's the link to her obituary

Some Mollie memories
-telling my parents the first day she met them "eat up, it's all I have until payday"
-hearing her stories of growing up- all the fruit trees, her brothers driving the school bus, her Ira working on the railroad
-so many trips to the Carousel
-even more trips to get a snow cone- best snow cones in the world!
-going to the Native American festival
-playing lots of Skipbo
-trying to teach me to play bridge
-going to 4th of July concerts
-eating out at the Checkerboard buffet
-going to church Sundays and Wednesday night
-coming to my high school graduation and giving me my pink Bible
-coming to our wedding and giving us the handmade cookbook.

We will always love and miss our Grandmollie!

Wonderful Wanderings out West Part One

Wrap-up of Wonderful Wanderings!
23 days,
6500 miles,
6 national parks,
20 states,
lots of camping and hiking,
tons of audio books,
old friends,
new friends,
amazing memories

We left NC Sunday 12 June 2016 after James cleared and signed out on retirement/ terminal leave. We got on the road early and got to Mollie’s in time for a nice visit and even some Skipbo. It’s so nice to have dinner and breakfast included at the hotel. The kids love it! Monday morning Grandmollie was very happy to see us but she wasn’t feeling well so we had a quick visit and then left so she could rest. Instead of Checker board buffet, we went to Krystal’s for a quick meal and had room for a snowcone!  Everyone loved the carousel! V tried to catch the ducks and called  them “chickens.” Then C and I went back for another visit and more Skipbo. After the pool and dinner, K and I went to Grace Fellowship for Bob's (Ramona’s husband’s) memorial service. Afterwards, we took Mollie home for a visit and you guessed it- more skipbo! We also looked at some of her photo albums- next time we will take the Florida book. K was so sweet to volunteer to go to the memorial service so we got blizzards! Tuesday morning, we had one more visit with Mollie. V loved the “chicken” downstairs and Mollie loved V’s kisses and all of the kids’ hugs.

We made it to Texas in good time and even saw Janelle and kids on the road! It was fun to follow them back to their house. We enjoyed a good visit, bottle-feeding cows and goats, even got to milk 2 goats. Once the cows got in the horse pen and he chased them all over. We got to pet baby bunnies and went to the arboretum to hike and play. It was fun that the kids just picked up playing like it hadn’t been 2 years since we last saw them. Janelle gave me wonderful birthday presents- homemade goat soap and creams, table runners, chocolate, books, … so kind! I had a nice visit with her mom while the kids played basketball. Then Janelle and James took the boys to shoot a hog- they got to ride a Polaris too. While the girls and I (and V) got a movie and Sonic drinks!

hiking at the Arboretum

Taco soup lunch!

Worn out girl!

Morning kid hikes!

We left early Friday morning with homemade muffins, kombucha, and sauerkraut and drove to Aunt Penny and Uncle Joe’s house near Fort Worth. We enjoyed seeing their house and their Panama book and lots of family pictures. She packed muffins, sausage balls, juice and coffee and we had a fun trip to the park. Aunt Penny even made us a huge goodie bag of snacks, puzzle books, a gift card to Steak and Shake, even some clothes for me! A super nice visit!

Friday 17 June We drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It was hot! We had Arby’s on the road for lunch and wraps for dinner. It was really hard to go to sleep because it was so hot- 106 when we got there. I was a little worried about our trip but it cooled down some the next day. Early Saturday morning we hiked the lighthouse trail 6.5 + miles. The last part was really steep up but thankfully James found a better way down. The canyon, hoodoos, cliffs were beautiful. The kids earned their first junior ranger badges. We enjoyed our after dinner hikes- except for the biting flies.

We saw lots of animals: tarantualla, Texas horned lizard, roadrunner, race runner, tons of rabbis, turkey, biting flies, …

So fun to watch the baby birds at our campsite. The parents kept flying back to fee hungry babies.

our slide for life!

Sunday 19 June we drove to Albuquerque, NM and ha a delicious Father’s Day lunch at Questadilla Grill in Old Town. Our waitress was terrific- we got a bunch of different kinds of quesadillas, margaritas, and Mexican hotdogs. The kids loved dinner and swimming at the hotel. I loved a shower and  laundry. We went to a Native American museum (Blue star) where we saw Native American dancing and learned about Pueblos. V loved the dancing room.

Monday 20 June we left Albuquerque and stumbled upon Petrified Forest- so glad we did. It was beautiful! Kids did their junior ranger program and enjoyed a couple of hours at the national park. God is so amazing- loved the views!

We continued driving to Grand Canyon- amazing drive and the Canyon is magnificent. So glad I listened to James and we spent 3 nights. Our campsite had some shade and the kids did great helping set up. We’d cooked taco meat at the hotel and had taco salad for dinner after walking around Mathers Point for a bit. Tuesday morning we had oatmeal and then walked a lot of the rim trail. James, K, and C went 10 minutes down South Kaibab Trail. Then we took the shuttle to the yauapai Museum which was neat to see models and pictures of the canyon. It is so big, beautiful, and breathtaking! We went back to the campsite for lunch- we used our new hobo pie makers to make ground beef and cheese hobo pies. We went to a junior ranger program at El Tovar hotel and hiked some more. We went to another ranger program at the Shrine of Ages. The program was good DUDE- the acronym the park ranger used to explain God’s amazing creation. Deposition, Uplift, Down cutting, Erosion. We went back to camp for dinner- BBQ beef hobo pies and apple pies. Then headed back to the rim for sunset praise service. It took a lot longer to get there than we thought so we were late but the kids asked to go back the next night. More praise- yes! Kids went to sleep quick. James c,  V, and one big kid in the Kingdom 6 tent and the other 3 big kids in the 4 man tent.

Wednesday morning, we had a bowl of granola and then hit the trail. V and c rode in Ergo carriers and the rest carried camelbacks of water. It was pretty tough- the toughest 3 miles I’ve done but everyone did great. The pretty views and yummy snacks helped a lot. Going down was hardest for me bc I was a little worried about slipping/ tripping/ turning an ankle but the rest had tougher time coming up. We started down the same time the mule train started. The guides even fit the part with long mustaches and leather chaps. 

We saw lots more animals: big horned sheep, rattlesnake, elk, lots of mule deer and begging squirrels, and a few chipmunks. We had a snack at the ½ way point and Hello Kitty gummy bears from Aunt Penny on the long hike back up. We were tired when we finished but it was a great hike! We rode the red shuttle to Hopi point where we’d seen the sunset the night before. We looked around a bit- you could see the Colorado River better and then got back on the bus. V loved the shuttle rides- he would grin and grin at people on the bus. A mom of 10 kids said “why would we be surprised that the youngest of 6 kids would be outgoing!” We drove back to camp for a big breakfast of oatmeal, fried egges, pancakes, fried bologna, melon, and juice. V napped, James rested, while the rest of the kids played a buble game. Such a great trip! We wanted to got to the worship service on time so we had an early dinner- hobo pies and made a last trip to the visitor center. We heard part of  a ranger program on California condors and then shared 2 rootbeer floats. V hasn’t’ learned sharing yet but it was good! Amazing to sing praise songs beside beautiful canyon. College students from NPS ministry lead it each night. We got to camp and James made a campfire for songs and s’mores. Nice end to a great stay!

Southern States 2014

We had a great trip down south this year. The kids pointed out that it was nice to start our drive to Florida "almost half way there" since it's 8 hours from NC instead of 14 from MD. So glad that I have pictures to help remember because it all seems like such a long time ago- even though it was only a few months. I really like having fun things planned especially while James is away- both to look forward to and to enjoy. This trip was definitely both. We drove down to Fl for a few days.

The hot tub sure is fuller these days!

Big Girl C enjoying a bottle with Papa

Everyone enjoying the Hawaii pool- we had a great time swimming!

Celebrating Papa and K's birthdays

More Blue Star museum fun: Mission San Luis 

So excited to have a dog come swim with us- as long as he would stand still!

Mom drove with us again from FL to Mollie's in Mississippi.

We always love going to the Dentzel Carousel

C's first big girl ride

Seeing the turduckens is always fun- that's not their real name but they are the scary ducks- except the babies who are really cute.

A trip to MS wouldn't be complete without a snow cone or two. 

And of course hugs with Grandmollie

Grandmollie took us out to lunch at Checkerboards after church. Do you think C liked it?

After a nice visit in MS, Mom rode with us to Dallas, TX. We listened to lots of Anne of Green Gables along the way. And were glad that we were able to see Karen, Todd, and their girls.

Karen picked a really nice park and the kids had a great time

They did stop playing long enough for pics and some cake. We were really glad the kids could meet their cousins. 

We also enjoyed the hotel with dinner and breakfast included. After a day on the road, it's nice to just walk down the hall for dinner.

And to wake up and have TX waffles!

The morning that Mom flew home we went to a museum Karen suggested right beside DFW.

The kids enjoyed the aircraft info 

but were most excited about the lego display!

We dropped Mom off at the airport and drove to Janelle's. I didn't take a lot of pictures but we enjoyed several days of

lots of kids playing games, 

good food

outdoor time kids playing and enjoying the fun farm

still time for book reading

and geocaching. 

Rob scored super big points by watching 9 kids so Janelle and I could go out to lunch just us! I even got a haircut. A super visit!

We spent the night at a Drury Inn in AL (thanks hotel points :) and then got to spend a few hours visiting the Greshams at Fort Rucker. And back to Madison before heading home.

I didn't know there were lots of geocaches around Madison. I think we did 10 in two  days 

Including one by the cotton gin. 

We had a wonderful trip. It was great to see friends and family across the southeast! And made it that much closer to James coming home!