So much to do and so little time to do it! We had only about six weeks back in Minnesota after our great Alaskan adventure before we left for Ohio and then south. Of course, we wanted to get in as much grandkid time as possible so they were our priority. Each of them spent a night in the mini (one at a time of course) which was a lot of fun for them. Cate especially loved the idea of spending a night in the small space and tried to talk Joe and me to let her have the big bed and we take the little bed. It didn’t happen and she loved sleeping on the little bed. Alex had to sleep on the floor because we worried about him falling off the bed. He did great!
Speaking of the mini, it is gone. We worried that we would have a hard time selling it but it never was an issue. We put it on Craig’s List and had a lot of interest. The first person Joe made an over the phone deal with dragged his feet for over a week about when he was coming to pick it up. We finally got tired of all of his excuses and sold it to a nice family that came right out to look at it and handed over the money. It was sad to see it go because of the great summer it gave us but happy that we didn’t have to find storage for it or winterize it. And we have a lot of pictures so it might be gone but never forgotten.
The end of September brought the death of Joe’s mom. She had dementia and was slowly going downhill over the summer. She had a couple of falls mid-summer and just couldn’t seem to recover from them. Towards the end she was still able to recognize her kids most of the time but she was down to about 80lbs and her body just gave out. It was a blessing for her to finally let go. The family had a small graveside service for her which was really nice. Zach couldn’t make it for the Friday morning service but flew in Friday evening to spend time with his dad and family. Lauren wasn’t able to come with him so we were missing our complete family but it was so wonderful having almost everyone together for the full weekend. All the kids, in-laws, and grandkids came out to Dakotah Meadows Saturday so we could first go to the candy store outside of Jordan and then go to Clancy’s in Jordan for pizza. The candy store was a mistake. If you haven’t gone to Minnesota’s largest candy store go but not on a weekend. Crazy busy!!!! After waiting to find a parking space and then waiting in line to get into the store, we pretty much walked in and walked out. CRAZY! Pizza at Clancy’s was great as always. Great growing up memories for our kids – Clancy’s pizza. We then went back to the CG and made a fire and sat around. It was a great family evening. We all got together the next day at Amanda and Ron’s for a picnic before Zach flew back home to Ohio. I love those times together. Joe and I are so blessed to have four great kids, wonderful in-laws and two beautiful grandkids. We count our blessings every day.
We also squeezed in three volunteer outings for The Waters Senior Care Resident where our daughter Amanda works. We spent an afternoon at the Minnesota Arboretum, a lunch outing at an apple orchard in Stillwater, and a dinner cruise down the St. Croix River with so many wonder residents from her memory care unit. Each outing brought a lot of joy to Joe and me to be able to spend time with wonderful people and maybe bring a little happiness to their lives. Hopefully next summer we can do a lot more volunteering at The Waters.
So the last six weeks brought time with family and friends, lunch outings with ex-coworkers, and a little volunteer fun. Time flew by way to fast.
We are heading to Door County in WI, a place we have heard a lot about but haven’t visited. It is kind of on our way to Cincinnati so we have decided to check it out. Ohio will be our next stop and who knows after that. We have time to figure that out.
Stay safe! Joe and I are so blessed and we thank God every day for those blessings. Love to our family, friends, and especially Cate and Alex, the sunshine of our lives.
What a Wonderful World!
Thanks to those who told me they like reading the blog. I appreciate knowing someone actually reads it and enjoys it.