Not to worry; she can swim!

She doesn't claim to swim, in fact she claims that she can't swim, but she can swim.  It's just not pretty, particularly, but she doesn't sink and she can go from one place to another.  She must be comparing herself to Olympic swimmers or something.  We went snorkeling this morning and she did just fine.

We're headed out to the favorite hike, now, but I wanted to report that she can swim as well as she can fly!  She doesn't fly like a bird, but with all the equipment, she can fly through the air when we zip!  This is a pic I took yesterday.  I know better than to take a picture of her in a bathing suit, snorkeling, so just take my word for it; she swims and flies!  I thank God for precious time to spend with my baby sister!  She doesn't claim to be cute as a button, either, but she sure is; love the smile!!!

Facts; embarrassing, but how it is.

Thankfully, Lee is enjoying putting me in and taking me out of the Jeep, too.  Look how high up that thing is!  It's up to the top of my thigh!  I had to use both of these pics because Lee's smile is too good when the job is done; notice that he's pretty serious when he's having to lift all my weight!  He's really been a trooper!  Sissy doesn't have the fun of someone hoisting her in and out, but she gets to watch and listen to us!  That's got to be a hoot!  If I were taller I could get in easier, but I'd sure be folded up in the back seat!  I thank God for His wisdom in making us the sizes He knows are best for us.

Today Lee is going to take the day off and rest and Sissy and I are going on the favorite hike.  Tonight we're going to watch some hula dancing at the Mauna Lani.

Zipping!

Oh, my!  Poor Lee says, "Now, I've got TWO of them to keep up with!"  He's doing a great job!  We're having a blast.  Today we started the day with zip lining!  We all loved it!  This is a picture the crew who took us zipping got for us.

It rained after we zipped, so we didn't do our intended today.  We did plenty of touring around Hilo, though.  Again, we're exhausted.  Half our energy goes to Lee getting me in and out of the Jeep.  It's a riot for anyone observing us and we get real tickled, too.  I may post a pic Sissy got of the experience in a day or two.

I thank God for an absolutely wonderful time that we're having.  I don't have the vocabulary to express my joy at it all!

Green sand beach was an EEE ride!

We drove as far as we could and then paid a local guy (Look for Rodney if you ever go to the green sand beach!) to take us the rest of the way to the beach.  Man!  That ride was awesome!  We would have been scared to death if Sissy or any of us were driving, but that guy was great!  The water was awesome and the sand was truly green!  I thank God for the good sense to let that guy drive us in there, not to mention for the awesome beach!  I've hiked in there and I've gone in a Jeep that our son was driving.  Going in with a local driving is the way to go.  No offence, Davy; you did a great job, but you were being careful; this guy had been driving it for 30 years and he had no fear. Besides his Toyota was already bent and rusted; wow, what a ride!

We took many side trips and just got home.  We're exhausted, but it was a great day!

Just forget a hairdo.

Sissy took this picture at Puako when she and I went off adventuring on Saturday.  If the humidity doesn't weight down my hair then the wind blows it to kingdom come!  I'll have to get used to it being just windy when we get home.  I'm about to give up on hair at this stage in life, anyway.  I just don't like having to fool with it all the time.  The attitude here is, "No worries!"  After being bald for a while, I thank God for hair.  I really loved the freedom of bald, but I like having something to work with to feel that I'm making improvements.  When I was bald there was nothing I could do but wear a hat; wigs just didn't work for me.  Chemo hair was fun for a while, but it had a mind of it's own.  I like having my own hair and I thank God for it even if the wind blows and humidity gums it!

Sissy has gone to Oahu for a tour of that island and Pearl Harbor today.  She'll be back late tonight with a jeep she is renting.  We got up at 3 to take her to the airport at 4 this morning.  So, I'm doing this blog early so we can hit the bed as soon as she gets home.  Today has been cleaning and chore day; I try to get as much as I can done and out of the way while nobody is here.

A day of hiking.

Yesterday was a day of hiking for Sissy and I.  This is a pic Sissy took of me after we climbed up from that beach you see behind me in the picture.  We had walked all around the edge of what you see and chased two turtles and a turkey on the way.   There is a beautiful white beach right below where I am standing.  The trail that we walked all around the edge of that water is what I call the Storybook Forest that used to be so beautiful.  About 3 years ago it burned, though, so it's kind of gloomy now.  The hike was great, though.  That big hill that you see in the very background of the picture is Kohala Mountain, which is where we are house sitting (nearly on the top).  Lee stayed home yesterday and rested his knee.  We mostly took today off, too, so we should be good to go tomorrow.  We went to church today and did laundry.  Then tonight we went to watch the sunset on the water and caught 3 whale breaches!  That was a great way to close out the day.

This would have been Don's 73rd birthday.  I think the breaches were for him; he loved them!  I thank God for precious memories of him.  I thank God for this trip and the wonderful time we're having with Sissy and each other.

It's official, now.

It's official, now:  Lee checked Sissy and I in at the "Nut House."  He is being so gracious with us.  We never had time to 'play' together; mostly we've mourned together.  We both lost our husbands in 2011, so we had plenty of mourning to do and were very supportive of each other.  This time in Hawaii has been SO much fun!  Lee has been wonderful to hang with us a bunch and let us run off on our own a lot, too.  He was still pretty stove up from his hike down into Pololu the other day, so he opted out of our jaunt to the beach today.  It was a good thing, too.  He rested his banged up knee and Sissy and I hiked and hiked all over three beaches.  We walked over 4 miles and climbed 27 flights of stairs, plus we got lots of sunshine!  We stopped on the way home and had a great whale show.  We know where to take Lee tomorrow night for the whale show; I hope they'll perform again!  Lee's knee is feeling better, so I'm sure happy about that.  We'll take tomorrow mostly off because we'll go to church; we may do some more whale watching, but we don't have plans for a big day.

Each day is a blessing, though.  Sissy and I are having a grand time and Lee is, too.  It was so funny.  The night we picked Sissy up at the airport, she and I took off at a pretty rapid clip and Lee just shook his head and said, "Great; now I have two of them to keep up with!"  He was joking, but we laughed and slowed down so we wouldn't run off and leave him.  I thank God for this wonderful time with Lee and with Sissy.  It was so wonderful when Tom and Linda were here, too.  What a blessing that Bob and Mimi allow us to have company, so we have the great opportunity and can share it, too!

Oh, by the way, the "Nut House" is where we get the macadamia nuts.  It's a wonderful place to go!  They have all kinds of macadamia nuts and samples of everything.  Lee loves their ice cream!  that black shirt with the white trim is my sort of jacket.  I wear it over whatever I have on because sometimes it's cool due to the wind or air conditioning.  People probably think it's all I have to wear.  I had on my Friday red crop top underneath it when this pic was taken.  It's one of my favorite things these days because I never know when I'm going to be freezing and that shirt is so handy!

High fives!

Sissy and Lee high fived each other when we made it back up to the top!  Lee is a little stove up today and taking it easy, but we're really fine.  We're headed to Waikoloa beach to watch the dolphins and see all the fancy stuff there.  Woo hoo!  It's so fun to have time to 'play' with Sissy!  Lee stayed home this morning while Sissy and I wandered around up here around Hawi.  One lady was talking to us and in mid sentence she asked, "Are you two related?"  I said, "Why do you think we look alike?"  She smiled and said, "I see a likeness."  That was fun!

God is good to us.  We're headed to the Hilton and we may watch some whales on the way down there.  Look, I got the blog done early!  Woo hoo!

The Pololu challenge.

This is a picture of Lee and I up at the top of the Pololu Lookout.  We hiked all the way down into Pololu Valley today.  It was quite a challenge for Lee, but he was such a great trooper.  He fell 3 times, and wouldn't give it up.  He made it all the way down and around and back up.  He believes once in a lifetime is enough, but he's glad he did it.  Sissy loved it, too.  She was really awesome; she did it without a hiking stick, even!

I thank God for this wonderful place and the opportunity to share it with Lee and Sissy!  I thank Him also for keeping us safe and whole as we adventure through it!

Who looks so good after flying all day?

My baby sister looks awesome after flying all day!  I thought I'd never find this picture but I finally did.  I love how it turned out even though it was dark..  Sissy looks soooooo good!  I thank God for her safe trip and for her in my life!

Today we took it pretty easy since Lee and I worked hard all day yesterday and Sissy flew all day.  We were ready for some good rest.  We got it.  Then we went out whale watching and were richly rewarded:  we was 3 breaches and lots of other activity.  It was a great day.  We came back and shopped around in Hawi and came home to supper of eggs and biscuits and gravy.  Tomorrow we may hike down into Pololu if we feel like such a hike.

You can tell I cut my hair in this pic.  This is the right cut for Hawaii's humidity and wind.  I'm a happy camper:  a precious husband, my baby sister and a haircut that works in paradise.  PTL!

Great pic.

This is a picture Tom took of some whale activity out in the water.  I was sitting on a rock watching the same whales, so he got me whale watching.  If you make this picture bigger you'll see a whale blow out to my right a little and another one out to my left.  It's really worth it to make this pic bigger and see what we're seeing even better.  They way I do it is right click on the picture and then on the menu that falls down I click open in a new window.  When it opens in a new window if you click on it it will get much bigger.  I've got on a pair of shorts and a swim suit top that is 'edited' to cover up parts of me that had radiation.

I've cleaned the house today, hard floors, carpet, dusted and bathrooms.  Lee is mowing.  I'm going to go out and clear out the spider webs between the trees and the house, so he won't get caught up in them.  Sissy is coming tonight!  I thank God for precious family, friends and health to make this trip to paradise!

Up Jumps a Whale!

Our God is so awesome!  We're sitting and watching for whales and up jumps this one!  And even better  than that, Linda was sitting there with the camera and GOT this shot!  Me?  It took me all week to just find the picture to post on this blog.  There's no way I'll ever get a pic like this unless I borrow it from someone else.  This was so fun to see, though!  I'm looking forward to lots more of this view! Thank you, God!

Linda and Tom are leaving in about an hour.  We said good bye earlier today as they are flying out so late.  This will be a long night for them.  We've had a wonderful 2 weeks.  Tomorrow we'll catch up on chores around here and my baby sister is coming in tomorrow night.  She has never been to Hawaii, so this should be fun for her and fun for us.  I'll do all I can to see that she and Lee get to see all the best things here.

I'm not doing so good at getting the blog posted early.  It's just that we're so busy during the day and when I wind down to do the blog, it's really late on the mainland.  Hang tough with me!  Thanks for caring enough to keep up with me.

Under the waterffall.

Linda got this picture for us under the waterfall at the Hilton.  It's pretty cool there, and we enjoyed walking around and being in another beautiful place.  This was about 10 days ago, I think.  The Hilton has a beautiful place, but God does an even better job with His waterfalls!  We're grateful to see it all!

Today we went to church and stopped on our way home for another piece of hula pie at the Paniolo (Cowboy) Country Inn.  We're hooked on that pie; we split a piece so we don't feel so guilty about it, but I'm sure it's got sugar in it.

We came home and we've been doing last minute things to get Tom and Linda ready to leave in the morning.  We're going to spend the day with them in Kona before they leave tomorrow night.  For some reason they have to turn their jeep in at 9:30 in the morning and they don't leave until 10:20 p.m.  There is plenty to do in Kona, so we'll go and make a day of it with them and shop for groceries while we're there.

Before the trimmings.

This was taken the first couple of days that Tom and Linda were here, before Tom shaved and before I cut my hair.  We both look better and feel better for sure!  Check out that blue water behind us and that mountain you see above the clouds is Maui.  I just know that God's favorite color is blue because we see so much of it here.   Green has got to be close behind blue.  I know that we are blessed to be her in the midst of it all and we give thanks!

We took an easy day today.  We went to the Hawi Farmers' Market for the morning and then took the afternoon to go whale watch.  It wasn't a great day for whale watching because we didn't see much (just a bunch of blows and a few humps and tails), but the weather was breath taking and it was so nice to be outside in it!  The ocean crashing against the rocks is a sound and sight we all love.  Maui was sticking out about like it is in this picture, so we loved  that.  Sometimes the clouds cover Maui, so it's a treat to see it all day.

At the Farmers' Market Lee bought a loaf of homemade bread that was mouth watering.  I got a couple of pounds of dried bananas to take home, so we're both happy.  The bread will be gone by next week when we can get some more.  What a treat.

The beach, yesterday.

Lee took this picture on our way back to the car from Hapuna Beach yesterday.  It was a great day at the beach!  We walked over 4 miles yesterday and most of it was up and down this beach.  This was before Lee found my hair cutting scissors; I thought I had left them at home and thought I'd just have to go shaggy for the next month.  But, he was looking for his beard trimmers and found my scissors!  Needless to say, I got a haircut last night!  Yippee!  I gave Lee a haircut today, so we're all trimmed for a while.  The humidity here and wind just calls for a haircut for me every time I come here.  It feels so much better to have it cut!

Today we spent 4 hours whale watching!  It was wonderful and Linda got a great shot of one breaching.  I hope I can get a copy of it to post on the blog.  Wow!  It's so awesome to see God's awesome power in these waves and the whales!  What a rush!

Up on a cliff at the southern most point in the USA.

This was a picture Tom made for us up on the cliff at South Point.  We were a little creeped out up there because a guy had fallen in and they had rescue folks all over looking for him.  Normally there are people jumping off for fun, but everyone was very somber and nobody was jumping.  They have since found the body of a 29 year old fisherman who fell off when he was throwing off a net and he was washed out to sea.  Lee was so afraid I was going to fall off the edge and he was hanging onto me for dear life.

Yesterday Tom and Linda went up to the volcano and we stayed home and got some chores done.  We were happy not to have that long ride; we'll have other opportunities to go.  They spent the night up there and got back tonight.  I fixed biscuits, gravy, eggs, hash browns and pineapple (It's Hawaii, you know.) for supper.  We ate like we never had eaten it.  Lee and I had gone to the beach today so we were starved.  We saw whales at the beach and on the way home we stopped to watch some more.  This is sure my favorite time to be here to watch the whales!  I know it's beautiful at home, but it's so awesome to see so much of God's wonder here in this place.  I am so grateful for this opportunity!  It's wonderful to have Tom and Linda join us, too; they're just like family!

Up a tree.

This tree was too easy for even an old grammy to climb; I couldn't pass the opportunity.  This was just as we entered what I call the storybook forest.  This was taken about a week ago.  Lee and I took the day off and stayed home today.  Tom and Linda went to the volcano and we figured we'd go next week when Sissy comes, so we passed on this day of driving.  I got the beds changed and laundry done; it's been a beautiful day and a great day to just chill out in Hawaii!

I thank God for the opportunity to be here and the ability to climb a tree as well as keep this house going and keep up with the animals.  It's a fun, fun time and we are richly blessed.

I talk to folks at home nearly every day and all is well there.  Ruthie and Phil are doing well and Dorothy is doing well.  It feels good to know folks at home are good even though it's freezing.

Even sitting on a rock is fun at the beach!

I'm sorry to be so late posting, but today has been a long day and I've got all my pictures all mixed up on this computer.  I can't find what I want to post.  I don't have time to fool with this!  So, here's a pic I like of Lee when we were whale watching the other day.  This was a great spot and Tom got some great pics, but I don't have them on my computer, yet.  When I get them, no doubt I will lose them!    One day I'll get them all sorted and edited.

For now I'll report on the great day we had.  We went to South Point, which is the southern most point in the USA.  I got some good pics, but I can't find them with the blogger.  I can find them in my pics, until I get ready to post them.  How frustrating.  It was a great day with some sadness, though.  Every other time I've been to South Point there were dare devils jumping off and climbing back up a ladder.  Today there were two fire fighter rescue units there looking for the body of a man who had fallen off last night fishing and has yet to be found.  That was bleak and sad.  It was still a beautiful spot and the drive down and back was beautiful.  We thank God for the man's life, but we were saddened by his death.

We went to the green sand beach, but the locals convinced Tom that his jeep would likely get stuck and it would cost $800 to get it out.  It really wasn't worth the risk since we'd all been there on a previous trip.  Lee hasn't been, but we can go when my sister comes and we can pay the locals to take us out there.  We did see some green sand, but not the beautiful beach.  We saw plenty of beauty in the other beaches and in the poinsettias on the way down there and back.  God is such an awesome designer!  Now the spell checker is not working, so I hope this post isn't laden with errors!

Found a whale pic!

Check out this great whale shot that Tom got!  See the whale right in the middle of the pic and there is a 'blow' behind him.  That means it's probably a baby whale with his mother under the water behind him.  It's way awesome to watch these in person!  We thank God for all the wonders we are seeing.

Today we went to Hilo and adventured along the Hamakua coast on our way.  Sharon, I got some sea glass for you, but the tide was in so I couldn't get very much.  I'll go get some more another day, I hope.  Lee said the scenery today was more beautiful than any he'd ever seen.  He's seen a lot in his life and been to Hawaii a couple of times, so that's really saying a lot.  It's just wonderful to get to "live" here for a while and see the real Hawaii rather than just the touristy traps.

We're all fine and the animals here are great, so life is good for us.  Hope all is good for you; God bless!

Waipio Valley.

We went to Waipio Valley on Friday.  I had on a red shirt under that striped one, but it was kind of cool, so I put that shirt over the red one for a while.  We went down into the valley and it was awesome, as always!  I'm so glad Tom got the 4 wheel drive jeep so we could go down there!

Last night we had some excitement.  The doorbell rang at 8 p.m. and when I went to the door the cops were there!  They wanted to know if we owned 6 cows who were out lose.  No we don't, and neither does the guy who lives here, but they had scared those 6 cows into this property and wanted to leave them until they could find the owners.  We let them put them into the pasture with Bob's 2 cows.  Then this morning the owners came and got them.  We finally got through all that and made it to church in time.  After church we came home and did the housekeeping and grounds keeping.  It was fun doing even that!  What a wonderful paradise to be doing chores!

Tomorrow is another day and we thank God for each day and each blessing.  Even home in the cold is a blessing, but we're sure liking this blessing!

By the way; I haven't forgotten the whale pics I promised, but I can't find them when I go to post the blog.  I can find them in my pics, but for some reason they escape me when I'm blogging.  I'll keep working on it.  Tom got some more really great pics of whales yesterday, but I don't have them on my computer, yet.  Be patient; it's worth the wait!

A break at the Hilton.

The Hilton is an event in itself.  They have a tram that goes to all the rooms as well as a boat and we rode both of those.  We walked over and watched the dolphins perform and walked all around to see the great grounds, too.  This is a shot of us resting for a minute; mostly just to take the picture!

Yesterday we went down into Waipio Valley, which might be my favorite place.  It was way fun.  We crossed over flowing water 9 times in the jeep.  We went through 2 mud holes that I wanted to count as crossing water, but the guys said it didn't count.  We found a pomelo on the ground and ate it for lunch.  Wow; it was awesome!  I have two ripening that I bought at the store, so that's another treat I'm anticipating.

Today we're headed to the Hawi Farmers' market and then whale watching this afternoon.  Sometime we need to work in mowing the grass and laundry!  The weather is awesome.  It's 70 right now and is supposed to be 79 today.  God is so blessing us with great weather and great company!

Aloha!

This was yesterday on our favorite hike.  I thought I'd post this morning before we get started on today so it won't be so late when I post tonight!  Just forget a hairdo in Hawaii.  If the wind doesn't kill the hairdo, the humidity will!  Forget hairspray; it just makes it a goopy mess.  We were having a hard time standing out there; look how the wind was blowing Lee's right sleeve!

Today we haven't decided what to do, but we'll come up with something good.   There are tons of choices and we got a good night's sleep.  Linda and I are putting on faces and forgetting the hair.  This place is so gorgeous; we can take the wind.

We are amazed every day with God's creativity and the abundance of beauty here!

Our favorite hike day.

It was so windy on the coast today!  We went on ":Our favorite hike" today and Lee said, "Whose favorite hike is it?"  I said, "Anyone who has ever been there."  Don and I took lots of people out here and everyone loves it.  It was beautiful today, but so windy, which is not so uncommon around here.  Notice in the background you can see Maui on the horizon.  Some days it's too cloudy to see Maui, but today Maui was really clear.  It's about 25 miles over there, I think, but there is a very strong current between the islands, so the only way you can get there is to fly.

We are exhausted, again, but it's great exhaustion!  I had soaked a pot of beans last night and cooked them this morning before we left.  We juiced a bunch of oranges and grapefruit from Bob's trees this morning.  Tonight when we got home from our hike we had beans and cornbread and fried potatoes.  In the morning we'll have the leftover potatoes with eggs for breakfast and fresh juice.  Yum!  God is so good to us and it's wonderful to be here and enjoy so much of His handiwork.

We didn't see whales today.  The water was way to rough to determine a whale splash from plane old rough water.  It was a great day to be hiking and it was wonderful to have the four wheel drive jeep so we didn't have to walk so much.  However, my fitbit (pedometer) shows that I walked a little over 4 miles and climbed 41 flights of stairs!  I thank God that we are able to make this trip!

Whew! What a day!

Man, oh, man!  We are so exhausted!  We went to Kona today to take Bob and Mimi to the airport at 5.  (Got up at 4.)  Then when we got home we had breakfast with Tom and Linda and then did some laundry and then headed out to Kona, again.  On the way we stopped at Puako, which is where we got the above pic.  We worked our way down the coast, having lunch at Waikoloa and making an event of a visit to the Hilton to see the dolphins, turtles, etc.  We rode the tram and the boat, there to get around the property pretty well.  Then we went all the way into Kona and did a bunch of grocery shopping.  We should be good for two weeks, now!

I'm sorry this is so late for those of you who read it at night.  I just wasn't here in time to do it sooner. It's been a long, wonderful day, but we are so tired.  I thank God that a good night's sleep will ready us for another great day in Paradise tomorrow!  We're having so much fun with Tom and Linda; what a blessing to get to share this time with them!

PS:  We saw our first  whale breach of this year today; got to do quite a bit of whale watching on the way down the coast!   Wow; God's work is so amazing!  Check out the color of that water behind us!

Good friends joined us!

This is Lee and I with Linda and Tom at the 'storybook forest' that burned.  Tom and Linda came 3 years ago with us and this forest had just burned before that trip.  They had joined us on an earlier trip and we all fell in love with this forest and maned it 'storybook forest.'  Anyway, we had a great time walking it again, today.  My fitbit says that we walked over 4 miles and climbed 35 flights of stairs, so we're getting the exercise.  We got some sun today, too.  Lee and I are both pink; hope it will turn to a nice tan.

We saw whales today and Tom got great pictures that I'll share soon.  God gave us great weather today; it was windy, but not so much as the previous 3 days.  Tom and Linda got here abut 10 last night.  They rented a car, so we didn't have to pick them up at the airport.  They got a 4 wheel drive jeep, so we can go any and everywhere, which we will!

We leave here at 5 in the morning to take Bob and Mimi to the airport.  I'm excited for Mimi to get to go home and for Bob to get some time off with her.  We'll have fun here and love taking care of their place and animals!  God is sure blessing us!

Aloha!

This is a pic I got of us up at the little pavilion at Keokeo park.  Off to the left in the picture is the point of my favorite hike.  We'll go there soon and look back at this point.  We watched a couple of guys boogie boarding out there in that rough water!

Yesterday was a great day with church and learning how to care for the cows, etc. around here.  Today is Bob's granddaughter, Zoe's, 10th birthday, so we'll go to her house for a celebration this evening.  We'll get to walk around their neighborhood, so that sounds like fun to me.  I hope Lee's knee can hold out for it.

It's been too windy ever since we've been here to watch for whales.  The water is so rough with white caps, a whale would have to breach for us to see it. Fun days in Hawaii!  Aloha!

Keokeo beach park.

This was our first outing yesterday, Keokeo beach park.  The winds were relentless, so the waves were great!

I'm posting earlier today, so it won't be so late when you see this.  We went to church with Bob and Mimi this morning and met some people who will come to our rescue if we have problems while Bob and Mimi are gone.  Today I will learn some of my new chores.  Things always change, so it's good we have this time to have some on the job training.

I have learned to give Hehe, the cat, his insulin injections.  I thank God Lee nor I have to have them!

I just love the color of the water; I think God must love blue because He made so much of it!

Sat together once.

This picture we took on the last leg of our flight.  It was the only time we got to sit side by side.  For one part we sat beside each other with the isle between us.  That was okay because it gave us both more leg room and we were right close.  The flight from LA to Maui, we both sat on the isle but Lee was 2 rows behind me.  We could keep an eye on each other so it wasn't bad.  It was so nice to be right beside each other on this last flight, though.   You can tell I'd been in Maui for 3 hours; the humidity got to my hair!  Wait until you see pics we got today; my hair is a total wreck.  The winds are unforgiving to a hairstyle!

We've had a big day today.  Bob was taking the cat to the vet, so we rode along and the 3 of us went to the huge farmer's market in Waimea.  Then Lee and I took the car and scoped out this end of the Island.  We came home and Bob was trimming hedges, so we got out with rakes and helped clean up all he'd trimmed.  It was fun to do and with all of us working, we got it done really quickly.  Mimi made an awesome supper of Parmesan Eggplant, so we're stuffed and getting ready for bed, soon.

I know this shows up late for  you all; remember we are 4 hours behind Central Time, so it's late when I sit down to post.  I'll see if I can't start posting earlier in the day.  I'm still thanking God for this awesome opportunity and awesome friends and family.

Made it!

This is Lee and I on the way; we were in the airport at Los Angeles.  We were only half tired, then.  We're completely tired, now.  :)  But, we are here.  Our trip was tricky from time to time, but we made it fine.  Bob and Mimi picked us up and took us out to a delicious dinner.  Then we shopped at Costco. Now, we're settling in; we'll get a shower and then crash, big time!  Praise God for a safe trip!  And, I can't help thanking Him for the opportunity to make this trip!

My connection is not stable, here.  We're not sure if it's the wind or where I'm set up or what.  I just want to get this posted for tonight.  I'll figure out the details tomorrow.  Thanks for waiting for me!  God bless!

Cozy

Here we are snuggling in the hotel room.  We got everything all set today to leave in the morning.  Lee's brother and his wife met us for dinner tonight and then took Lee's truck to their house.  It feels good to be kind of foot loose and fancy free.

Lee is watching TV; I'll get this posted, get a bath and then get to bed.  We get up at 4 in the morning to get ready to catch the shuttle to the airport.  We've had time to relax.  We're ready to go.  Tomorrow will be a hard but exciting day.  We'll get there around 4 in the afternoon their time; but it will be about 8 or 9 our time here, so it'll be a long day.  We'll be ready to go to bed as soon as it's dark!

I thank God for our health and the opportunity to make this trip.  Praise God.

Aloha!

Happy face!

Lee's tooth is fixed and we're relaxing in OKC.  We'll take an off day tomorrow and get rested up for an early flight out Friday morning.  I've been rearranging my suitcases; I always sweat being over the weight limit.  I weighed them, but I don't trust my scales.  I'll be jittery until they accept my bags!

We watched the Thunder get beat tonight from our hotel room.  So glad we didn't pay a ton of money to go watch them lose!  I'm ready for a good night's sleep.  We got up early this morning to get the last packing done and get here to get Lee's tooth fixed.  I'm so grateful that he was able to get that done.  His dentist is to be applauded!  The lab guy didn't want to do it because it was tricky, so the dentist said, "Just send it back over and I'll do it!"  That's going above and beyond the call on duty in my opinion, and I appreciate it!

I thank God for the opportunity to make this trip and for all the details falling into place so that we could do it.  I feel good; Lee feels good.  We're in good shape and we're so looking forward to this trip.  it's nice to get out of the cold winter and go to a nice warm climate.  Praise God!

Here's a precious one!

This is sweet Gracie; she's 9.  She's been chosen "Pick of the Litter" several times at school and it's because she is so precious!  She blesses every life she touches, especially mine!  We got to see her yesterday and got this picture.

I am SO tired today!  I was fine until about 5 and then it was like I ran out of gas.  I'm plugging on, though.  I think we are packed except for what goes in last, like toiletries.  I have to weigh the bags and see if I have to do any swapping and rearranging.  Ugh.

Dorothy got to come home from the hospital today.  Her grandson had the cleaning lady come and totally clean and disinfect her house, so she feels all snug at home in her own clean bed.  We went out to see her and she's really doing well.  She just needs to build back her strength, now.  Praise God and thank you for your prayers.

We took the keys over to Joan and the garage door opener.  She's going to take care of the house and mail while we are gone.  She's such a great friend!  We could never leave if we didn't know the house would be in good hands.

 I've cut Lee's hair and now I'm going to wash mine and go to bed.  Ahhhhh.  I'm so ready.