Wow. Two months since my last post.

And it has flown by.

Our oldest son, Daniel, and his dog arrived for a visit at the end of August. He was transitioning out of the military and spent a few weeks with us while he waited for his vehicle to arrive from Hawaii and before he and his girlfriend moved to Denver, Colorado.  In September, Jon and I planned to leave for our trip to visit my family in Pennsylvania, with the expectation we would head to Virginia in October for the arrival of our second grand baby.

Toward the end of September, when Daniel’s vehicle had not yet arrived in Dallas, we decided we’d have to take a slight detour on our trip. We packed up our truck and headed up to Denver to take son and dog to their new home.

I was sad to leave our new home for such a long time, but looked forward to the journey ahead

We endured the long hours and drove straight through, arriving in Denver late that night. KD was delighted to see us (especially Daniel and Kylie) . The next day, Jon and I took a drive into the mountains and spent the day enjoying the Colorado aspens in their glorious color. We took quite a few pictures of God’s beautiful creation. In the evening we had a great dinner with them at The Viewhouse. (I really need to remember to take more pictures when I’m with others).

Then it was time to drive east. I was sad to leave our son and his girlfriend for such a long time, but looked forward to the journey ahead.

Jon and I headed cross country to Edinboro, Pennsylvania to visit my family. It was my first time driving through Kansas and more than a corner of Missouri. I found the eastern part of the Kansas quite pretty.  Unfortunately we were too far north to visit Lambert’s in Sikeston, Missouri, much to Jon’s dismay.  The rest of the drive was rather familiar, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. We’ve driven through them many times.

While in Pennsylvania, my sister and I sorted through more of mom’s stuff, including her holiday decorations (she loved her holidays), her jewelry (she loved her jewelry, especially holiday jewelry) and her pigs (she loved them, too, and collected them, along with cats). The picture doesn’t include the pigs still scattered about the house.

Jon and I also spent some time with the cousins, took a few bike rides around Presque Isle, made a day trip to Panama Rocks, and helped dad around the house with some chores. We also cooked lots of meals for him (and Jodie, when she stopped by after work).

While we were visiting, mom’s christmas cacti bloomed. She would get frustrated they never seem to bloom for her. It was blooming like crazy and I know she’d love it. What a beautiful flower.

When our daughter Heather texted to tell us she and Jarred were on the way to the hospital for the arrival of our second granddaughter, Jon and I packed up and headed to Norfolk, Virginia. I was sad to leave my dad and sister for such a long time, but looked forward to the journey ahead.

We were overjoyed with little Charlotte who arrived right on time. Perfect in every way. We spent lots of snuggle and play time with Scarlette, visited a pumpkin farm, and carved some pumpkins. We helped Heather and Jarred around the house and also cooked lots of meals for them. Then before we knew it, the time had come to head home again.

I was sad to leave our sweet grand babies for such a long time, but looked forward to the journey ahead.

On our way back home, Jon and I took the scenic route through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. The drive to Asheville, North Carolina was interesting, since we drove through torrential rain (but thankfully not through the tornadoes that hit further south). The autumn color was beautiful, depending on what side of the mountain we were on. We took quite a few more pictures of God’s beautiful creation.

We arranged the timing of our final leg and stopped in Waco, Texas to visit and have dinner with our youngest, Jonny, at Baylor. He has a tough semester and it was good to spend time with him and see how he is doing. (I really need to remember to take more pictures when I’m with others).

I was sad to leave our youngest for such a long time, but looked forward to the journey ahead.

It’s good to be home again.