Sunset.

I meant to get pics today while we had Dorothy here for lunch, but we forgot!  So, I'm sharing a picture of a beautiful sunset we experienced off our screened in porch over the lake in Branson.  There are so many blessings for which to be grateful.

Today we've had 3 really good lessons.  Dale, Leann and Alyssa are here this week from Denver.  They went to Denver to study to go into the mission field next year; they expect to go to Malawi, Africa.  They are dear friends and it's sure good to see them.  They are staying at Dorothy's house, so we can see them several times this week.  What a treat.  I pray for their safety and health as they go into this work!  Tonight Dale shared with us the challenges and opportunities they will face.  Then we had a 'snack' sort of dinner so that we could all visit with them some more.  Some 'snack!'  We're stuffed!  Our 'snack dinners' are a lot like God's sunsets; super abundant!

Magnolia heyday!

I've lost count of how many magnolia blooms I've cut off my little tree this year, but I am so pleased with it and proud of it!  I thank God for blessing me with their beauty and fragrance!  I also thank God for giving me the opportunity to feel good and enjoy these blooms, as well as everything else that comes in life.  I feel richly blessed!

Tonight I'm making some sugar free cookies because I'm out of them and also a sugar free pie so we can have it for dessert tomorrow after church.  I've already got beans and cornbread and squash made for lunch, so the dessert is all I'm lacking.  Dorothy likes good down home cooking, so she'll be happy with beans and cornbread.  The pie will make it all special and we'll feel like that, too.  I'm glad we're all easy to please!  I sure thank God for Dorothy in our lives, too.  She's such a delight and she sure enhances our lives.  She'll be 90 in August, so we know we are so blessed to have time to share with her.  I hope I don't forget to get pics of us with Dorothy tomorrow; maybe writing this will help to burn it into my brain!

Precious times.

It was almost 2 weeks ago that we got to visit with and hold Bryce, but we're still enjoying the pics!  I love this one.  I know that I was thinking, "Hold on tight; this guy is heavy and if he makes a jump, you've go to be prepared to hang onto him!"  He looks to me like he was thinking, "I'm not sure she's stable or strong enough to hold me; I need an exit plan."  All I know for sure is that he's a joy to cuddle!  His birthday was this past Tuesday, but we're celebrating his birthday on July 7th, so we'll get to hug him again, then!  Woo hoo!

I've been busy today working on getting some mail ready to send out to vacation Bible school attendees from last year.  That was quite a job, but also kind of fun.  I also got to cut a couple more blooms off the magnolia tree today and another handful off echinacea.  I watered them both yesterday, so they were way happy today.  I've also got sweet basil growing out back.  I love that on anything that has tomatoes.  Yum.  It was 102 here today; I love it hot!

I thank God for so many generous blessings!  By the way, the blog is acting really funny for me.  If it's acting funny for you, please email me with whatever problems you're having.  Not that I can fix them, but I'll know what the problems are for you as well as for me.  maryjoshnell@gmail.com

Bryce has two beautiful sisters; here is one of them.

This is Peyton, one of Bryce's big sisters.  She's living my dream.  If I'd had a baby brother when I was 8 I would have thought I was in heaven!  She sure does love her baby brother, too!

Today we went to Altus and Lee saw a doctor who was really good for him with his diabetes.  He said he learned more from him in 20 minutes than he had learned in the last 25 years of having diabetes!  I think we'll have him feeling better real soon.  He's doing well this evening.  We just have to learn that we're not 18 anymore.  We have to work with the cards we're dealt and then play them the best we can.  It's life and a gift from God!  We are blessed with life and family and precious friends!

Wow; it was 107 at our house today.  I love the heat, but I'm so grateful for AC and good, filtered water at our house!

Lee is okay; just some bumps in his road.

This is a pic I got of Lee with Bryce last Saturday when we were visiting.  Lee had to take off his glasses to keep from tempting Bryce.  He can see pretty well without them; he just wears them so they'll be there when he needs to read.  Anyway, this picture is just another sample of the fun we had on Saturday.

Today we went to the City for an appointment with Lee's cardiologist.  He thinks Lee is doing very well, but he wants to run some additional tests over the next 3 weeks or so.  He'll do a fasting stress test and some blood work.  Then he wants Lee to see a Gastroenterologist, too.  Lee doesn't drink hardly any water, so he thinks Lee is dehydrated and advised us to get him some Powerade Zero to drink . We'll do all that (the Powerade is in the fridge cooling, now; he couldn't consider having it over ice).  Lee is one of those guys who would like a pill to fix his issues (dizzy spells), so this is not what he wanted to hear.  I reminded him that it could be a LOT worse!  He could have told me to take him directly to the hospital for some emergency surgery like they did when he needed the quadruple bypass!  So, he'll have to adjust to some lifestyle changes, like drinking water and/or Powerade, but he'll be okay.  We'll do the other tests, but I think we've hit on his problem of dizzy spells.  I thank God that it's not a worse problem and ask Him to help Lee to make the adjustments he needs.

Happy birthday, Bryce!

Bless his little heart!  He can wave!  He is so intrigued by that tongue!  Whenever I put up the camera to take a picture, he sticks out his tongue; I think he thinks that's the same as a smile.  He's such a doll!  Can you believe he had an incision from one ear up over his head to the other ear back on March 4th?  Just 3 and a half months ago and he's been like nothing happened since about a week or 10 days after the surgery.  He's amazing and we sure thank God for his health and his love!

Today Lee and I went to get my treatment.  It went like clock work; so smoothly!  I feel fine; just tired from the trip.  Tomorrow we leave early to go to OKC for Lee's appointment with his cardiologist.  I'm heading to bed ASAP!  I thank God for safe travels!

Blooms galore!

Blooms, blooms, blooms!  I'm a happy camper!  It's so fun having bloom after bloom on my little magnolia tree.  I thank God for it.  I consider it a big, big blessing.  When we lived in Oklahoma City there was a magnolia tree inside the atrium just off our bedroom.  I loved it and climbed up onto the roof to cut the blooms of of it.  When we moved from Oklahoma City Don always bought a magnolia tree for me to plant in the yard of whatever house we had because he knew how much I loved that magnolia tree.  When we moved into this house, I planted a little magnolia out front and after a few years the wind blew so hard that it broke the tree off and there was nothing left but what looked like a broken broom handle.  I watered and fertilized it, believing that there was a good root system under that 'stick.'  Sure enough, the tree grew from that stick and it has bloomed every year.  This is it's best blooming year, so I'm really pleased beyond words!  It's one of those connections with Don that I will always treasure.  Bless Lee's heart; he's not threatened by that and he loves the blooms, too.

I played computer geek tonight and managed to get Lee's printer working!  It had been not working for about 3 months.  I'd worked and worked with it and finally got it working tonight.  Yay me!  I'm amazed.  I think God really did it because I have no clue how I managed it; I know he had to lead me and knew that I was about at the end of my patience with that thing!  It's a great printer and I'm so pleased that it's working, again.  Sometimes it comes in so handy to have a printer!    He knew I needed His help!

We go for my treatment tomorrow.  I'm so blessed that it's an easy process that we can accomplish just an hour away from home.  God is so good!

What a great visit!

Can you tell Lee was having fun with Bryce?  He winked at Bryce and then Bryce tried to wink back at him.  So they were winking both eyes at each other, as well as some blinking.  It was too hilarious!  I think we laughed so much we almost scared Bryce; maybe his mother had told him not to do that or his eyes might stay like that?  Krissy and Kris are building a new house and we were touring the new house when I took this picture.  They hope to close and move into the house on August 15.

It absolutely wore Lee and I out just to do yesterday.  Building a house would be the last thing in the world I'd like to do.  However, I'm sure Lee would love it.  Different strokes for different folks, huh?  We sure agree on fun times with Bryce, though!  We agree that he's heavy, too!  Major surgery didn't seem to set him back a bit.  He's really doing perfectly.  We so thank God for his health and the health of all the rest of our family, too.

Lee has an appointment with his cardiologist on Wednesday.  He's having some problems with dizzy spells, so we've got to get to the root of that problem and get it corrected if at all possible!  So, this week is a busy one for us.  Tuesday we go to Lawton for my treatment and then Wednesday we go to OKC for his appointment.  We're still catching up on rest from yesterday!  God is so good to take care of us as we do all this travel.  He's taking care of you, too; aren't we a blessed people!!!

A silver lining.

Sorry this post is so late tonight!  We just got home from a day in Oklahoma City.  One of Lee's friends passed away this week and his funeral was today.   Obviously, it's so sad to give up a dear friend, but the silver lining to a funeral is getting to see more good friends and precious family.  After the funeral we went over to visit with Krissy, Lee's daughter, and her daughter, Peyton, and her son, Bryce.  Bryce is the one who had major surgery on his skull on March 4th. and we praise God that he is doing perfectly.  He will turn one on Tuesday of this week.  We had the best time seeing them, although we missed the rest of the family.  We'll catch them on July 7th when we go for Bryce's birthday party.  Let me tell you, he is one precious boy, but he is HEAVY! I had to hug him quick and get Lee to get some fast pics before I had to jump up into his arms and let him carry me!  You can tell I was loving this hug!  I got some great pictures of Lee with Bryce and of his sister, Peyton, too.  The event of a funeral is sad, but I thank God for the blessings that go with it.

Our dear friend, Dorothy went with us and spent the day with her sister.  We always love sharing time with Dorothy, so that was an extra silver lining.  When it comes right down to it we have to give thanks for the impact that Dan Hardy had on our lives, too.  I didn't know him for long, but he's been a friend in Lee's family for years.  I think he's nearly like family.  He had been sick for the last several years and had suffered intensely for the last 10 years, so he was ready to go and we were all ready to see his suffering end.  Life is not always pretty, but there is always something pretty about it.  Sometimes that pretty part or the silver lining is kind of like finding Waldo . . . not easy, but such a thrill when you find it.  God bless!

Headed to the wedding last week.

This was actually two weeks ago tomorrow, when we were headed to Lee's granddaughter's wedding.  I've shared lots of other pics since then and this was the complete pic that Mary got of us before we left for the wedding.  Lee put his jacket on when we got out of the truck, but he skipped the tie when he saw lots of other folks dressed very casually.  Anyway, we survived dressing up; we're really a couple of pretty casual sort of folks, so we were glad to see others dressed casually.

We took a picnic to Dorothy's house for lunch today.  I candled her ears while we were there.  She's such a joy; we love opportunities to be around her.  Today is the longest day of the year; wow, time sure flies!

The middle school principal called to talk to me about a job teaching 8th grade English next year.  It's only for 3 classes a day, so it would have been ideal.  The problem is that I already have travel planned for us from the middle of August until the middle of October and from Jan. 4 through spring break.  Life at this point is more about enjoying family time than working.  I would love to have had this position, but I'm not willing to cancel all our trips for it.  Had I know ahead of time, I could have planned our travel differently.  That's how life goes:  it doesn't always fit perfectly and we have to make choices.  I told her that if she finds someone who wants to relay the position with me, I'll do it, but I doubt if that will happen.  I was honored to be considered, though.

The little old lady school teacher.

Yep, that's me, the little old lady school teacher.  I had this dress in the closet and I wore it to church Sunday.  I nearly choked by the time we got home.  I couldn't get out of it fast enough.  I don't deal well with a closed collar!  I thought it would be comfortable at church because I usually freeze with the AC, but I'd rather freeze than choke!  Anyway, Lee got a kick out of the little old lady school teacher look.

Today has been a great day.  No pain with my PF; praise God!  I am so very thankful.  I'm a believer in exercises to stretch the calves and ice treatments!  I sure thank God for the folks who knew the answers that would help me!  God is good and He blesses with abundance!

Love these brothers!

This is Lee's brother, Dan, in the front, and Lee is in the background.  Dan came here last week and he was working on Lee's computer and Lee was in the background doing some other work.  They are such a wonderful pair.  I love being in the same family with them.  Their Dad died when Lee was 7 and Dan was 4.  They had an older brother, Joe, who was 14.  Their mom raised the 3 of them and never remarried.  Dan and Lee came up so close and have remained so; their older brother died when he was 53.  Lee and Dan looked after their mom until she died a few years ago.  I just love how they both light up when they are together.  They share a bond that I love to witness.  God blesses me with these guys in my life.

I had trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep last night.  I had hobbled around all day with the plantar fasciitis until I had my whole body thrown out of whack and I hurt all over.  I finally packed some leg warmers with some ice that would stay on my foot and got to sleep.  I kept that ice on there all night.  It must be the magic thing because today my heel has hardly hurt.  I get tiny twinges that serve as reminders, but the pain has gone from a 10 to a 1.  Praise God!  Thanks to all of you who offered advice and stressed the ice!  I'll continue the exercises and ice to keep PF from ever returning if at all possible!!!

Three magnolia blooms today!

Today was the day!  THREE blooms were open on the magnolia tree.  This is just a little tree, mind you.  I'm so pleased to be here to catch these blooms!  Today we trimmed a red bud tree that wants to take over the driveway; it looks much better and will leave Lee's truck alone when we come and go, now.

It was in the low 90's today, so it was a perfect day, weather wise.   I'm a happy, happy camper.

I woke up with plantar fasciitis this morning!  YIKES!  This will slow down my pace a bunch.  I guess God knows I go too fast.  I've got to be really careful not to fall; the pain comes on with no warning, so what a tricky deal.  I'm exercising and stretching my calf muscles; that's supposed to help.  I do pretty good until out of the blue the pain hits; man, what a deal.  There's always some adjustment to make.  This is just another one.  I never heard of plantar fasciitis until I got up with this pain this morning and looked it up on the internet.  I have a classic case, so it's easy to identify.  So, if you never heard of it, look it up and be braced in case you are hit with it.  This aging is sure some trip!

The Pond!

I got this pic of Lee with Mary and Steve at their pond.  They have a bunch of goldfish in there who survive over the winter, even when the pond freezes on top.  I'm amazed at that!  Notice the pretty flowers on top of the pond; pink and white ones.  Again, I'm amazed!

I finished trimming back all the irises in the whole yard today.  I get overwhelmed with one thing like irises and Steve and Mary have a whole yard that is a garden!  They sure deal with it better than I do.  Their yard is beautiful!  I'm so glad that the irises are done.  When I get some time and energy I need to divide some of the irises and find someone who wants some more.  Maybe I'll plant some more in the patches that were taken over by weeds.  I need to fill in something before the weeds return!  I love these challenges that God gives; these are a joy to face.  Some other challenges are not so fun, but I'm enjoying the flower and yard challenges.

Happy fathers' day!

Here is another shot that Mary got in their backyard last week.  You get a glimpse of many of the flowers and little walkways in their backyard.  Behind us you can see the dome of their home, as well as Lee's truck in the driveway.  I know a lot of people all over the world, but Steve and Mary are the only people I know who live in a dome home.  There are two domes to their home; I guess I should have taken a picture of the house.  I'm just not that great a photographer to get everything!  Anyway, it's a treat to do anything with them, but their house and their yard are a treat for sure!

Today we had lunch with Dorothy and took the afternoon to nap.  Sundays seem to go by so quickly!  I like to think that every day is fathers' day as well as mothers' day, in that every day is a good day to appreciate parents!  We think every day is a good day to appreciate and thank God for letting us be parents.  God has blessed us with wonderful children and we sure thank Him for the joy they have brought to our lives!

Adventuring in Steve and Mary's yard last Saturday.

I got this pic last Saturday when we were adventuring in Steve and Mary's backyard.  They have a literal bird sanctuary; also a people sanctuary.  They do an awful lot of work out there, but it is so pretty!  Behind us is their pond full of goldfish and beautiful flowers.  It's always a treat to adventure in their yard!  I'll have more pics of their yard to share in the next day or two.  Fun, fun memories!

This is just a week later, but it seems like a long time ago that we were there!  I guess it's been a pretty full week.  It's been good to be home and we've enjoyed it, even if we have worked hard.  I thank God for home; it's a wonderful place!

The promised picture.

Mary made a noble attempt to get us from the feet up and all the tower possible in this picture.  The best picture would have been one of Mary all bent over with her head at about her ankle level.  She's a dear; that's for sure!

Today I made tuna salad sandwiches and took them out to Dorothy's house for a picnic lunch around her kitchen table.  We had lunch after I gave her a haircut.  I don't care what we do with Dorothy; anything is delightful!  Then we came home and Lee took a nap and I went out and finished grooming all the irises on the side of the yard.  The very front bed and the back yard bed are left to do.  My body said, "No more!"

I'm going to watch Undercover Boss and then go to bed.  I know I'll feel fine in the morning, so I can't really get to bed fast enough.  I'm worn out!  I did get some sun while I was out there, so that's a good thing.  Vitamin D3 is a great cancer fighter, too!  Goodnight and God bless!

Chihuly!

I'll post another picture tomorrow of Lee and I standing in front of this Chihuly tower.  This is a picture including Steve and Mary, who are great friends.  We stayed at their house last Saturday night and we joined them at the art museum for Sunday Brunch.  This awesome Chihuly tower is in the very front.  Mary nearly stood on her head to take a picture attempting to get all of the tower in the picture, and I'll post that picture tomorrow.  This one with them in it is my favorite, though.  These friends go back over 25 years with me.  Steve and I share the same birthday, year and all and he and Lee went to the same high school, so we have a lot in common.  We've vacationed together from Hawaii (several times) to Branson (several times) and we've covered a lot of territory besides that, too.  They are avid birders and it's so fun to go anywhere with them because we never miss a bird when they're with us!  I thank God for terrific friends like these two.  They went on the cruise with me the winter after Don died and they even drove to Galveston.  They took me to my first MDA appointment without Don.  They've just been so good to me and I'll never forget it.  They were the first of my friends too meet Lee, too.  I probably should write a book about them and how much they mean in my life.  Thank you, Steve and Mary and thank you, God for them!  By the way; I have to admit I never heard of Chihuly until Steve and Mary introduced me to it last weekend!  They bring class to my life, too!  :)

I'm caught up in the NBA finals and the half time is over, so I'm out of here.  Go, fight, win, Spurs!  (I sure wish it was the Thunder, but I'll settle for the Spurs to win it.)

Echinaceas make me smile, too.

Here are the echinacea!  Today I cut about 5 more and added to this arrangement, so it's getting even prettier and pinker.  That gray 'greenery' is artemisia; I love it for giving body to an arrangement.  Those echinacea would look lonely in a vase by themselves!   The magnolia bloom on the table is getting brown spots and wrinkling . . . sounds too familiar, but I still love it.  The new ones aren't ready to cut, yet, so I'm going to enjoy this one until the leaves fall completely.

Lee and I worked in the iris patch for hours this morning.  We got about 1/3 of them done.  It's time to trim the greens.  Man, that's hard on the back, but it was sure wonderful to have a great helper!  I remember doing it by myself last year and that was a bummer.  We still have more to do, but we still have able bodies and we thank God for that!  I came in and took a nap and I'm good for the evening.

It's 101 here right now, so we got over winter, finally.  I think there was no spring; we just slipped right into summer.  I'm okay with that.  Cancer doesn't like heat, so I do all the heat I can take and thank God for it!

I love this magnolia!

Many magnolia trees around town were in full bloom before we left for Branson, so I was so afraid I was going to miss mine blooming.  But, I looked yesterday and this bud was on my tree!  I brought it right in and have enjoyed it so much.  It smells delicious!  Then my cousin posted a picture of about a dozen blooms in a milk bucket and it was gorgeous, but I'm still proud of my one!  There are at least 15 more buds on my tree, so there will be lots more blooms.  I hope they don't all bloom on the same day, but I'm glad I'm home to see their show!  I thank God and praise Him for this kind of abundant beauty in my life!  I don't know of any need for the magnolia except for my sheer pleasure and I so thank God for that!  (That bow with the magnolia is from an arrangement that Gretta sent me on Mothers' Day several years ago.  Most people would throw away such a thing, but I love enjoying it in arrangement after arrangement!  That 'group hug' candle holder beside the magnolia Gretta gave to me at some time in the past.  I love it and enjoy it every day.  It represents lots of group hugs in my life and I treasure the memories.  Poor Gretta is allergic to the fragrance of the magnolia, but it doesn't bother her bow a bit.  GRIN.)

Today Lee's brother, Dan, came by for a visit while he was doing some business in Altus.  We were so thrilled to have him here!  The guy came who services the water system on the house, too, so our water is in good shape.  It's been fun to have a little company.  Now, back to details; things to follow up on from the mail that goes for miles around here!

Our own tiny reunion!

We stopped by Tricia's house on our way home yesterday and got lucky:  all 6 kids were at home!  Nate even smiled for this one!  That's Trish on the right, then going left is Nate, then Gabe, then Sadie and then me.  Going back to the right is Raynie, Gracie and Mason.  It's magic to get all 6 of her kids in a picture, so I'm thrilled with this one.  I thank God for a chance to capture all of them in one picture!

Today we picked up our mail, so that process has begun!  Ugh; the mail is the thing I hate most about traveling because there is always a ton of it when we get home.  It's mostly trash, but we have to go through it all just in case there is a gem in there!

It's great to be home!  My magnolia tree is blooming.  I cut the one bloom it had open and brought it inside.  There are at least 15 more buds to open soon.  I'm so thrilled I didn't miss those blooms!  I cut echinacea and brought them in for an arrangement, too.  Happy me!  I'll post pics of them before too long.

The ages of the kids run something like this:  Nate, 21; Gabe, 18; Sadie, 16, Raynie will be 6 in July; Gracie, 10 and Mason, 12.  I think I'm right about most of those but it's hard for me to keep all the numbers right!  (Mason can't smile because he can't see out to tell that we're doing a happy thing?  Love that Mase man, hair and all!)

We missed the reunion, but we were there in spirit!

This is a picture of my brother-in-law and my granddaughter and my great niece sitting on his lap.   I'm so glad that those who got to go, had safe trips and a wonderful time!  Next year WE WILL BE THERE, Lord willing!  I'm so thankful that Phil looks so great, too.  He's had 3 strokes since the last reunion, so it's awesome that he could be there.  My sister had her knee replaced a few months ago, and I'm so proud that she was able to be there, too!  Praises to God!

We had a wonderful time at the wedding and visiting with folks in OKC.  We made it home tonight and we're so happy to be home!  Home is the best place ever; all the visiting is wonderful, but home is awesome!

I'm so glad that my daughter, Gretta went to the reunion with her daughter, Elena, AND that she got this great picture.   She got some other good pics, too, so I'll be sharing more over the next few days.  I've got more pictures of Lee and I with Steve and Mary and also Trish and her kids, too.  Good times and precious memories all around; I just hope we can all be at the reunion next year!

We made the wedding!

Oops!  I forgot to write the post before I posted it!  This is the picture Mary got of us as we left for the wedding.  It was an awesome wedding and so good to see so much of Lee's family.  It's late and we're visiting with Steve and Mary.  Thanks to Mary for getting this pic ready for me.  We thank God for a safe trip to here today and pray that our family reunion went well without us; we missed being there, but we couldn't miss this wedding.  We are so grateful for awesome family and friends; we are so blessed!

Lee's not feeling well; yikes!

This picture was taken on top of 'our tower.'  Notice the Inspiration tower in the background, just past Lee's hand.  We're looking for some inspired help today.  Lee was packing his suitcase and suddenly was not feeling well, so he moved the suitcase over on the bed and laid down on the bed, himself. I'm in the lobby finishing up the blog and mail.  I hope he's resting and will feel better when I get back upstairs.  He said, "I just wish we could go straight home tomorrow."  That would mean missing his granddaughter's wedding, the big event of the year, not to mention seeing so much of his family, so I know he's feeling really bad!

We've had a wonderful time and I thank God for that.  All I know to do is to ask Him to help Lee to feel better with some rest.  None of his doctors are here and he's not bad enough to take to the ER.  I'm new to diabetes, so I kind of observe him with wonder and always suspect diabetes when he's not up to par.  I'm off to check on him.  Thanks for your prayers!

Caught this old couple taking a breather.

Isn't this the most beautiful place to be hiking or resting?  We weren't that tired, but the bench beckoned us!  We're going to miss this beautiful woods when we go home.  We'll love our plains, though.  I'm even ready to clean house!  I'm sure it will need it and I'm ready to make it glow.  I hope we'll have some company this summer, so I'm ready to get the house into shape.  I've had some time off, so I'm ready to go back and get busy.

Saturday we will go to our friends' house in Oklahoma City.  They are great friends from way back for me and they were some of my first friends to meet Lee.  They've spent a week with us in Hawaii, so we all feel like 'blood brothers' now, I think.  Anyway, we look forward to spending a night with them and going to Sunday brunch with them before we head for home.  We'll take time out for Lee's granddaughter's wedding on Saturday night, too.  We're missing my family reunion in Tennessee for this wedding, but we sometimes have to recognize priorities and do the best we can with them.  It'll be good to be home.  I have lots of travel planned for us for the fall and then the winter.  Yee haw!

The lady who watches our house took a bad fall a couple of weeks ago, but she has managed to do a great job, anyway, and she's doing much better.  I thank God for her recovery!  She was at her house when she fell and spent a night in the hospital, but nothing was broken, and God is giving her a great recovery.  Our neighbor across the street has been filling in for her and taking care of the yard work, so we are blessed with great friends and neighbors!  Thank you, Joan and Hazel!  We owe you!

At least it's a toothpick and not a piece of straw?

Lee was chagrined when I got this picture of him with a toothpick in his mouth; well, when you go around with a toothpick in your mouth, a camera just might catch you!  I'm surprised I didn't have one in my mouth; I'm a toothpick addict!  We were on a hike in the Ozarks; if you can't have a toothpick there, then it's a sad thing!  We had a fun day and we thank God for the great day as well as for teeth to pick!

Today we went out to the lake and hiked around on the great trail they have out there.  We're so enjoying these full woods!  We don't get enough rain at home for such woods.  The mosquitoes are trying my patience, but I'm used to that and silver water helps a lot to keep the itching down and to heal the bits quickly.

Our Tower.

We're headed to "our tower" today.   We call it that because we found it last summer when we were here and nobody else was there.  It's a beautiful place and I hope we'll get some good pics from there today.  It has a lot of stairs to climb, so it's a bit of a workout to get there.  I thank God for the ability to climb and for a beautiful place to climb!

Here's the tower:

Here's a picture from the top:

A rest stop on the way up to the tower:

Little feet and thunder thighs?

We are so glad to be in a unit that is quiet, at least!  We don't have Internet Access in there, but at least it's quiet.  The last two weeks were so loud with little kids running upstairs and their thunder thigh adults stomping around with them, not to mention the party animals next door to us.  Man, oh, man.  The picture above is Lee resorting to poking the ceiling to let the folks up there know they were too loud!  Amazingly, it worked, but only for that moment.  Those people had no idea how loud they were or else they just didn't care!

Today had been an absolutely gorgeous day!  We got out and ran some errands.  I walked around the building to get my exercise done.  I thank God that I'm able to walk and I thank Him for leading me to the walking sticks, too.  They are such a big help!

We ate lunch at Mel's Hard Luck Diner.  That's the restaurant where the waiters and waitresses sing.  It was pretty cool and a treat for us.

Just noticed last night's error; I'll fix it.

This place looks pretty good in places, but it's very disappointing.  They didn't give us a cookie sheet, so I got by with a sheet of tin foil I had to make rolls last night.  I'm really going to have to have some kind of pan for cornbread, I think!  Lee loves that recliner, though!  I think I've got the bed put together so it will sleep better tonight and I can get online in the lobby, so here I sit in the lobby; Lee's upstairs napping in the recliner.  I've been 'hiking' around the outside of the building.  Lee woke up sniffling this morning, so he took antihistamines to keep from sniffing all through church . . . so, he slept all through church and is still sleeping.  I'm going to take those antihistamines away from him; I'll bet he took TWO!

The news has on more information about the storms from Friday night.  It's so sad to watch.  I keep thanking God that our family and friends are okay.  I'm saddened by the folks who lost their lives and homes, though.  There is so much about life that we don't understand, but we just have to accept it.

Weak Connection.

We've moved to another resort and the connection is very weak.  The good news is that this is the last week we will ever spend at this resort!  I traded it back in March and we are just using the last week that they owed me.  This weak connection is one of the reasons I did not want to keep it.  There are many more reasons and this week will make us so very glad to never be coming here, again!  We'll have a good time, but it is confirming that I made a good decision in March.  Meantime, I'm sitting in the lobby writing this post; the WIFI doesn't work in our unit.

We are so grateful that everyone at home is fine.  Trish has some water in her basement, but she's counting her blessings that they are all okay!  Things have a way of getting into perspective from time to time.

I thank God that we have a home in one piece to return to next week!  Most especially, I thank God for the health and safety of all our family and friends!