There's no place like home!

We've been home almost two weeks now. I'm beginning to get back into the swing of things.
Actually it has been more like six weeks since I've felt no pressure or been out of town.
First there were preparations for having Nanae & Yoshi visit.
Then there was their eight days here.
A week off, sort of, we had to get things packed & make final arrangements for our Alaskan tour besides seeing that everything was set for the time we would be gone.
Then it was two weeks of travel to amazing Alaska!
And the last two weeks have been filled with getting back into the swing of a routine. As much fun as we had, it was so good to be back in our own home...like Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home!"

When we first started planning on our trip way back in July of 2011 (We actually booked it back then!) it seemed so far off. Now it's history. And it's a glorious memory. We were first scheduled to leave on Labor Day, then we got word that the tour had been canceled. They offered us the same tour, same rate only a week earlier. At first we were a little disappointed, we'd miss Janessa's birthday, but we'd be here for Indian Summer Days. (That's a whole other story though.) As it turned out (God's timing!) we were there during the peak season for color; the days were cool, but not cold; the sunshine was abundant; and even though a lot of the wildlife had migrated already, we did see a lot of critters & birds. Moose season opened while we were there, but we did finally see one in the wild. She passed right in front of the tour bus on the last full day of our tour. They say that less than 30% of the people who go to Alaska on vacation get to see Denali (or Mt. McKinley) -- we were fortunate enough to see it on three different days. First on our train ride to Denali National Park; then while we were touring the park the next day; and again on our last day in Anchorage it was visible if you got up high enough in the hotel.

Here's the moose we saw:

And here's our first sight of Denali:

 

I'm getting ready to put my best shots up on Flickr if you want to see more.

 

I still get goosebumps when I think of the splendor of the mountains. Sunday morning when we went to church after we returned, the first hymn was How Great Thou Art. When we got to the verse that talks about the "lofty mountain grandeur" I was blown away at how God orchestrated every little detail of our trip, even down to singing this hymn on our return home. We truly do have an awesome God who is in control of every minute of every day.

Our Week + One Day Went Way Too Fast!

With mixed emotions we delivered Nanae & Yoshi to the airport yesterday. From here to Chicago, spending the night in Chicago last night & then off for a 12-hour+ flight to Tokyo. I had a post on FaceBook from Nanae & they were an hour past departure & still waiting. After checking the flight, they were more than two hours late -- but now they are over the Yukon in Alaska, about half-way home.
We had such a good time, but keeping up with them (being half our age) was quite a challenge. Dave & I totally chilled out today! Back to work tomorrow for me. Dave is having Matt & Jon come over & get the lawn work done once more before school is out. And Janessa & Jillian are all snuggled down for the night. Janessa wanted to spend the night one more time before school starts & since I had promised Jillian she could stay soon, they are both here. The real thing is having waffles in the morning.
I can't seem to concentrate tonight, so I'll just say that I'll be posting some scrapbook pages from our time with Nanae & Yoshi.

Bsuy Week -- Breather Today

What a jam-packed week we've been having!
Saturday we had the whole family over for a picnic barbecue, I guess I mentioned that in my last post. Then on Sunday we took Nanae & Yoshi to the Silver Hawks game in South Bend. They lost 10 to 6 :( But we had a lot of fun anyhow, lots of action with scores that high. I think both teams could use new pitchers!! LOL

They had a special salute to fallen heroes & the Hawk cheered on with the audience in recognition of them.
Monday Dave, Yoshi & Matt went fishing in the morning. Then after lunch it was off to the grocery store. Yoshi has been so good to our grand kids -- they love playing with him!
Monday evening we went to visit some Amish friends of ours & went for a buggy ride in the rain...I had some time today to play a little & did this scrapbook page to remember the occasion:

Tuesday was another full day with a trip to Dallas Lake & a pontoon ride around the lake while visiting with one of Nanae's friends from the softball team back in high school. And me? -- I forgot to take my camera - YIKES!

The afternoon held Frisbees in the back yard, riding the lawn tractor. A trip to Westview to meet the sixth grade teacher topped off the evening. Yoshi teaches sixth grade near Tokyo, so it was fun for him to visit the school.

It is so peaceful & quiet here right now -- it's fun to have company & be doing a lot of things, but it is also good to take time out to rest a bit.



They are here! :)

Yesterday was a day we will remember for the rest of our lives!
Jim & Tina & their granddaughter Elizabeth arrived in time for lunch at Ianarrelli's.  Dave & Jim picked up right where they left off in 1968. Tina & I were soon swapping photography stories -- and talking scrapbooking; just like we were old friends, [And then we ate fried skunk at the local saloon. -- inserted by Julie, smarty pants, we really didn't eat any skunk!]
As much as Tina & I like to take pictures, we neither one took a photo of Dave & Jim together. So this morning we got together again for a few minutes for a photo-shoot.
Here's Dave & Jim on our back patio:

We went back to our house for a couple of hours. Jenny had gone to Ianarrelli's with us & was heading off to pick up Kalei from camp so Elizabeth went with her. The two girls seemed to have a good time together on the trip home according to Jenny.

When Jim & Tina left Dave & I headed for the airport to pick up Nanae & Yoshi. We left a little later than we had planned on but made good time & got there about 10 minutes before their flight was due to arrive. Oops -- the flight was delayed for an hour. :(  So we sat around for a while. You know the hurry-up-and-wait kind of thing! Finally the plane arrived. We were so excited to see Nanae & Yoshi. We chatted as we waited for their luggage...we waited & waited again. No luggage! So we waited in line to fill out a baggage claim for lost baggage. The first story we got was that it should be at the airport in an hour or two, but when we got to the counter we found out it might be late morning or early the next afternoon. We decided to let them deliver it to our house & we headed for home.

We once again made good time, went to find some supper -- a late (8 pm) supper. After we had our fill, we stopped at WalMart for pjs & a change of clothes; a toothbrush for Nanae & a few other things they wanted. It was certainly a memorable experience -- like Dad always said when we had things go wrong on a vacation, "This is the one we will remember the most!"

Today we had the girls & their families over for a barbecue. Jon & Logan weren't here, but all the rest of our off-spring were. We took this family photo of all of us...kind of a mini family reunion:

One more big thrill today was after all the kids left. We took Nanae & Yoshi over to the state grounds to show them the eagle's nest. Wow! There was a bird on the nest -- a first for us. I took a bunch of photos as we drove closer & closer. I even got a couple of good shots as it flew away. But alas, it wasn't the eagle. However, it was a bird I had been hoping to see -- an osprey!



God is good! What a blessing today has been!

Almost Down to Single Digits!

Still working on getting ready -- the guest room is almost ready! The bathroom is nearly spic 'n span - and after a two-year wait I've got the computer/sewing/craft room almost presentable. Nothing like visitors to spur me on.
I've even done a few more pages for my photo frame:

These all three are using Precepts & Promises templates (P&P Template Pack 11) with a little alterations to make them fit my frame.

Well, it's back to work on the bathroom...,plugging away, with God's help I'll have everything all ready for next week's arrival.


26 Days & Counting

The countdown has officially begun! In 26 days we will pick up Nanae & Yoshi at the airport. I'm getting very excited about this; lots to do before then though.
The guest room is full -- really full. I've kind of avoided cleaning in there, but have wanted to get it done. It just keeps getting worse & worse. First there were all of Andy's things to go through. That I put off for a very long time. In fact, there's still some of his things in there. Then when Marge died a couple of months later we added more things. And since Mom went into the nursing home, it filled up more...now that we've sold her house, it's really a mess. And so is the computer/sewing/craft room & the toy room. Just full of things that need to be gone through & organized. But with Nanae & Yoshi coming I now have a deadline to get it finished. First I have to clean out the computer/sewing/craft room. Lots of weeding out of things there. I've got a good start on it & should be in there working on it right now. Then I will have room in there for the things (especially the stuff from Mom's house.) When that is finished, I'll get busy on the guest room. If I don't get the toy room all cleaned out before they get here, then I guess that's just the way it has to be. I also need to do a lot of "spring cleaning" in the rest of the house. It's not bad, but just needs to be done.
In the evenings I've been working on something to put on my digital photo frame. Memories from when Nanae was living with us, from our trip to Japan & a few other things. Barbara sent me some new templates to work on & I've been incorporating them into something for the frame. Here's the two that I have completed so far:

This one is from when we first met Nanae & she was living with us as an exchange student.

Then I did this one (kind of reversed from the first one) from when we went to their wedding in Japan. I'll try to post all of them as I go.

Well, I'd better get to cleaning or I'll never be ready!

Triple Digits Hit Again

Did you ever hear of the expression "It's so hot outside you could fry an egg on the sidewalk!"? I think that's what we have today. It's up to 101. I'm not sure how I ever survived without A/C. Even though it's just a small window jobber, it sure does help keep things cool. I've been so full of energy for the circumstances that I've found my sewing table & am getting the sewing area cleaned up. I think I could even do some work on my sewing machine if I had any energy left. But while I was doing that, I had grandson Matt cleaning out my Tupperware cupboard. Now this evening I will need to go through the two boxes of plastic containers & deem what is still useful, what needs to be kept, what needs to be given away & what needs to be pitched.
So in the space of just three days I've unearthed so many things that I'm getting really motivated to get everything organized again. I have some of my kitchen cupboard totally cleaned & organized; my sewing room has space in it again & I'm ready to tackle the next "space" on my list -- that Tupperware cupboard & the shelves by my sewing machine. Maybe I'll get organized & cleaned before Nanae & Yoshi arrive in just a little over a month. It's only taken me two and a half years of retirement to get motivated!
Be persistent is my new motto!