WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday

Last nights sunset...

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

TONIGHT and TOMORROW

 Tomorrow ... Tomorrow ...

Tonight

The sky joined in the celebration for my birthday.

And one half hour later it was PITCH BLACK out there.

Good ole Standard Time...

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

NOT QUITE FALL YET

 I'll make this short and sweet...

Its not quite Fall yet in our little corner of the world.

The trees are having such a hard time changing their color.

Enlarge this leaf to see the intricate design.  

I find it amazing.

Happy 1st day of November.

Have a great weekend.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Tomorrow is Halloween

 I always think it is fun to see the kids in their costumes for Halloween... especially the little ones.

The weather man says there may be a spritz or two of that wet stuff coming from the sky.  I really hope it doesn't happen.

We get fewer and fewer goblins coming to our door every year.  I do hope we get a few.

Here are my personal Goblins from 1976 or 1977.

Karen (my Alzheimer friend's daughter) ... My oldest son Steve ... My son Mark and Karen's brother Kevin.  Its hard to believe that Kevin passed away 24 years ago.  These 4 kids would go out every year with Dave and Karen's dad Jack.  Up and down the hills of our neighborhood they would go.  The bounty was always stupendous.

Fun memories.  It seems like a lifetime ago..

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

PUMPKIN SHOWDOWN and THE BIRTHDAY QUEEN

 Saturday turned out to be a great day of celebration with our oldest granddaughter Lauren,

She turned 30 and wanted to be with her family to celebrate.  They (she and her husband Mark and dog Luna) Drove 10 hours from Las Vegas, to spend the day together with us.  You have to grab those special times when you can.

Luna did great for her first time on such a long trip.

Lauren loves her puppy.

After dinner The Pumpkin Showdown began.

Lauren and hubby Mark against Amanda and her husband Billy.

Making the Plan

Singing while you work

Let the competition start...

Love the concentration!

It was a hard fought contest but in the end Amanda and Billy won.

It got too dark out in the yard, so I didn't get a photo of Lauren and Mark's contribution.

And the Winner !

The sunset last night was unbelievable.  

It really didn't look real.  

These photos are straight out of my cell phone.  No touch-up or boost of color.

I really couldn't believe my eyes.

The red was so brilliant and almost neon.

And the day came to an end.

Our son's backyard is the perfect place to see the sunset.

Today they had to do the 10 hour drive back to reality...

Work and Duty calls.

I do hope we can see them for Christmas.

There is nothing like family.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN !!

 Today our oldest granddaughter turns 30.

How can that be?

I'm so excited that she and her husband are here today to celebrate.  I'm really looking forward to dinner tonight.

I am posting just a few of my favorite photos of this beautiful woman.

Here she is almost 2 months old.

Here she is telling the best and most detailed story to her Papa.

Love this girl to pieces.

She and her sister are the best models for her Daddy.

Of course I have to post this one again of Lauren's wedding.

I still can't get over her wanting me, her Grams, to be the Flower Girl on that momentous day.

I could go on and on, but I will stop here and say again...

Happy Birthday Lauren.

Hopefully I will have a few more photos to share after the get together tonight.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 Today is Thankful Thursday.  I am also including some thoughts about seeing art in everyday things.

I have probably posted some of these photos before but I enjoy them and so they will be out there for your enjoyment too.

I am most thankful for this Man of Mine.  I love his humor and creative juices that are always flowing.

I am thankful that Dave and I are growing OLD together and have the privilege  of being the Grandparents to wonderful kids.

I love our family and wish we could all be together at the same time.

Our two sons and several of the grandkids.

Christmas last year with another granddaughter Lauren and her husband.

Fun times seem to center around food most of the time.

Thankful for the creation and its many moods.

I love seeing "art" in different circumstances. This is a favorite of mine.

Thankful for the detail in flowers and the honey bee.

To me this is Art at its finest.  Amazing skies always make me stop and say Thank you Lord.

Be sure to enlarge all of my photos to enjoy the detail.

Always Be Thankful.

Always Be Kind.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

 Wordless Wednesday ... 

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

MONDAY ... MONDAY ...

 I just thought I would give you an update on yesterday.

It went well !   I am so thankful for all the prayers and thoughtfulness.

Alzheimers disease is terrible and robs both the person who has it and the family of the person they have loved.

Every week when I am there with Lynne, I see less and less of the friend I have known for 62 years.  She has been a remarkable person that never let her sight stop her from having a fulfilling life.  She has been completely blind in her left eye since toddler age and has only 20% vision in her right eye.

Despite that disability she got a teaching credential and was a resource teacher which helps very young school age kids to catch up their reading skills so they could be back in their class room.  She loved that time of her life and the kids adored her... NOW its completely gone.  She has no remembrance of those years at all.

Lynne married and had a fantastic husband (who was one of my husbands best friends) and had 2 children.  Kevin and Karen.  Kevin passed away about 24 years ago and she has no real memory of him either.  Her husband Jack passed away 16 years ago and she only says now and then that he was a nice man..  It's mind boggling to me that the brain won't keep those kind of events and memories active.

I can understand her really not knowing me except that I am a good friend that tells her stories about her past.... but her husband and child..its just not fair...

Yesterday I talked a blue streak about anything we did over the last 60 years.  She said thank you for telling me these things but I just don't remember them.  SIGH 

Then after dinner it was like a switch was flipped and confusion set in .  SunDowners is a real thing.  She wanted to know when she would go home and when we would eat.  Everything was going around in circles.  I just kept repeating things but at least she wasn't agitated, just totally confused.

When Karen came home from work Lynne seemed happy but really didn't know who she was either.  Darn Alzheimers !!!

Life is not fun in that household.  It makes my heart ache.

I took this photo of her yesterday.  I am pleased with how she responded.  She liked it and thought maybe it was a picture of her.  Her hair is snow white but in her memories she still has brown hair.  This doesn't make sense to her.

I sit close to her so she can see me with her right eye but even those messages aren't always there as to where I am, when I am right there in front of her.

Darn Alzheimers !!!

She turned 84 a few weeks ago, still has beautiful skin and hair.  But the body is wobbly and her brain doesn't give her messages for walking or feeding her self very often.

Darn Alzheimers !!!

Thanks for letting me share my feelings with all of you.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

SUNDAY ... SUNDAY ...

 Good morning from the West Coast .

We missed church this morning since I will be doing extra caregiving time today for my friend Lynne.  Her daughter has to work today so I'm on duty.

Its always more difficult when routines change in the Alzheimer world.  Prayers appreciated.

Mark thanks all of you for his Birthday Wishes.  He, Kellie and one of the step daughters have gone on a short cruise to celebrate their anniversary and his birthday.  They desperately needed some time away to be together and leave the stresses behind for a while.  

Fall is trying so hard to start but we need a few more chilly days to get the process rolling.  We did have to put a blanket on the bed this week.  Mornings are a bit cool.

The sweet gum tree is really trying to change color before it drops its leaves.

The Harvest moon a few nights ago.

Our other tree hasn't decided to become fall yet.

So this is mostly what I am seeing.  They are still pretty in their own way.

Have a great week.

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #51

 Today is our younger son's birthday.

I can't believe that my "baby" is 51 today.

As we always say...where did the time go?

Mark is so compassionate, creative and has the best dry sense of humor around.

Love him with all of my heart.  I only wish he and Kellie lived closer.  Out of state makes it difficult to be connected.  We are so grateful for the digital way of communicating.

This photo is Mark at just a few hours old...

51 years later ... 

Have a great day!

GOOD MORNING and THANK YOU

 Good Morning and Thank You !

First I would like to thank all of you for your love and concern for Dave and I and our family.

Dave is doing so much better.  Antibiotics work wonders.

No more information on our step granddaughter.  Would appreciate continued prayers for her mental health.

Well ... I finally did it ... 

I swallowed my pride ... 

I got hearing aids.  I got so tired of missing conversations and annoying Dave with my "what" and "could you please repeat that."

There is a lot to get used to and I am still figuring out the whole thing.  Just getting used to something in my ear and getting them in right is the first process.  I am testing the different volumes and trying to not blast myself  (haha)

Not expensive but I think they will do the trick for me in these "sunset years".

We went to a parking lot sale last Saturday and I got a new chest for my "Office",

AKA   The end of the Dining room Table.

I am really excited to have this piece of furniture.

Now I can corral all of my Debris and actually know where it can be found.

Its a bit higher than I would have liked but the price was right and the whole thing is solid wood and heavy.  No particle board or cheap hardware.

Next on the agenda is deciding what goes where and filing papers in some semblance of order.

One day at a time..

Going Forward...

Always be Grateful

Always be Kind