San Antonio- Anders, Amanda and sore feet.

 It was a wonderful experience to see Anders graduate boot camp. We are so proud of this young man! He has been thoroughly "formatted, and reprogrammed" in 8 weeks!  I hope I can get a photo of his ID before and after! Incredible changes!

We saw the 865 graduating men and women in formal parade. Then Anders' dad went down to tag him to leave the ceremony. That was a nice emotional reunion. The family posed for a few photos before we headed over to Ander's lodging where he has been living for the past 8 weeks.

Jon, Ethan, Anders and Aaron after the parade.

 

 We WALKED to Ander's dorm area. We are talking LONG walk, here, up and over foot bridges on the base to his housing unit, where the BULLDOGS lived.

 We saw his neat and tidy closet and living area, as he prepared to spend the day with us. Believe me, this closet and drawer shows an incredible "change" in this man!

 We stopped to eat lunch after the housing trek, and Anders and the other "men" sat at one table, while Joy and I ate across the aisle. We went to a mall afterward, so Anders could mingle in the civilian world for a bit. Then headed back to our hotel room to just rest and fellowship with each other.
    Joy and I snuck in a short nap, knowing we still had more walking ahead for the evening in downtown San Antonio, where we were meeting our long time friend, Amanda Coale Ruiz and her sister, Stephanie Coale. I had not seen Amanda since we were in China, and we weren't sure if it was 2003 or so... a very long time! Hope to see her in our area some day!

We saw the "Tower of the Americas" downtown, and headed up to meet the ladies.

At the top, a passing lady took our picture as the sun set on San Antonio.

After MORE walking we found a restaurant "Mi Tierra" that was recommended to us earlier in the day. We sort of blended into the background, don't you think? Maybe that is why it took so long to be served? Maybe they lost us for a bit!

Heading back, it was too late to actually VISIT the river walk, but we SAW it as we passed by. I was disappointed, but its just a place, right? We managed to find the Alamo, at least, after several wrong turns. There it was! Happy me, but not so happy FEET. We needed to get our poor feet to bed.

Tomorrow is another day, but first, we are sleeping in! (what is that?)

SISTERS...

full 2 page view

Left page - SEEN IN GALLERY HERE

Right Page -SEEN IN GALLERY HERE

One of the best treats on our recent trip to Colorado was spending time with my sister, Jan, and her husband, Chuck. Al and Chuck became more acquainted while Jan and I had some good bonding time again. What a blessing to have "like minded" family we can fellowship with!

Staying in their home was a special blessing for us. Sweet memories!

Denver delights...

Barb in front of the Rocky Mountain National Park
and Continental Divide

Off on an early adventure today, we were seeking to see a herd of bison maintained by the City of Denver. They played hide and seek with us, and we only saw them at a distance. Meanwhile, we found a herd of elk grazing in the woods on one of our attempts to see bison.

A herd of elk lazing and grazing. Only 2 in this pic.

Al at Dinosaur Ridge

Five thousand years ago, a herd of dinosaurs were playing on the hillside when a flood took them to their deaths. Their path was preserved on this hillside and discovered in 1937.

God repented that he had made man and destroyed all living things with a flood. He began again with Noah's family. Yes, the account is absolutely true. The worldwide movement of mountains, rivers, land formations were shifted by the force of the one of a kind water force. The sediments of the rivers and newly formed fossil remains can be totally explained by the force of the water during God's flood.

The dark area is dinosaur fossil remains.

Good days can lead to Cold Stone Ice Cream treats! Yum!

After our drive we stopped for ice cream at Cold Stone. All's well that ends well, yes? Yummy!

Adventures in Colorado Springs...

The conference at Focus on the Family is what took us to Colorado Springs.
What a blessing it was!

Al with the Cog Train on Pike's Peak

We have never been this high elevation without an airplane!

The Garden of the Gods was donated to the city so everyone could enjoy them.

Al at the Balancing Rock

Al pushing the rock over! YIKES!

Condos in the rock! Interesting historical stop.

The common kitchen in the center of the units.

 Al visited Colorado Springs and Pike's Peak when he was a boy and his dad was stationed at Fort Carson in the early 50's. He remembered going up the mountain with his folks and always wanted to go back.

We have never been to Colorado in all our travels, so when we learned of the Pastors and Spouses conference there, we decided we would definitely visit the mountain again.

We rode the COG train to the top after the conference was over. The train traveled at a top speed of 8.5 mph and took an hour each way. The air is so thin we were getting dizzy. We took many pics from the ride and learned so much history of that mountain! What a delightful outing!

The Garden of the Gods was filled with interesting rock formations. Beautiful handiwork of God on display there!

The cliff dwellings are something I have always wanted to visit, so we stopped in for an hour and explored in the homes of the rock. We saw a common kitchen with shelves, loft bedrooms and brick and mortar walls that were perfectly level, per the people who studied these homes. It, too, was exciting to see. I'm so glad we went.

Al climbed into the "cleft of the ROCK"

As we explored the rock garden, Al discovered a cleft in a rock and climbed in it. Safe to the Rock that is higher... a safe place to be!

Siblings together again! Mixed emotions...

 

The house on Winifred in Wayne where Al lived from 

Kindergarten until his folks passed away.  

Its vacant and in foreclosure.

 

Ernie and Agnes Leasure with their daughter, Carol (aka Kirk),

who babysat Al & I often in her teens. The Leasures

lived across the street from Al's family and Ernie worked 

and carpooled with my dad to Ford Motor Co. They were

the COMMON LINK that brought our families together.

 

 SIBLINGS: Bill, Rose, Barb and Vicki 

Siblings with spouses, minus Al: Dan & Rose, Barb,

Vicki, Cheryl & Bill 

Its been a roller coaster ride of emotions this week. Driving down the street I used to ride my bike on, seeing the aged homes looking so much the same as then, feeling a bit of excitement to be there, but apprehension at what I might find around the next corner... Seeing the lot where I lived with a new home and the same old address was a totally unexpected experience.

Its is SO HARD to see the economic crisis here. So many homes are on the market, with so few persons to buy them. 

Driving out to the country where my sisters live, memories flooded my mind of the country afternoon rides with dad when we drove through fallen leaves at breakneck speeds on dirt roads, hunting down the elusive hickory trees on the roadside. When we found hickory trees, we jumped out of the car and gathered as many nuts as we could before heading out to locate more trees. (Dad LOVED ice box cookies with hickory nutmeats!)

I spent much of the week trying to copy family photos for the siblings. After several days of computer vs scanner conflict, I finally called my other sister, Rose, to see if she had a functioning scanner. We spent the evening scanning over 250 photos before I headed back to Pinckney for bed. 

Today the brothers and the sisters came together again for the first time since I was here last... about ten years ago. It was a wonderful time of remembering and getting to know each other again. If you still have your siblings close enough, get a hug while you can (I can certify that we hugged on each other all afternoon!)

We woke up in paradise...

Yesterday was a long day... a ten hour trip to our cabin in the woods in Montana. (Not really "ours", but even the host commented how often we come, LOL). We were thrilled to find internet hook up IN THE CABIN this year (past visits we had to sit outside their house for connection)! They also added a brass bed frame, updated HD TV and a washer/dryer is arriving today. WOW! These folks really take care of us!
[Note to sister, Jan: This is OUR kind of "camping"... dishwasher, BBQ grill, Fridge, full bath facility in the cabin, cupboards furnished with essentials, including food... luxury! REST, instead of WORK!)

 Last night we arrived at dinner, unpacked, ate and I laid down to rest a bit. Hours later I awoke and knew I would not be sleeping anytime soon, so I worked a bit on research for a scrap kit I am designing. Went to bed about midnight and awoke at 7:30... I think I am "caught up" on the sleep part.

So, this is the morning view from our cabin in paradise!

View from the cabin door...

The trees are SO TALL here in the area!

Well, back to "REST" now... Al is out running on the "rails to trails" local path. The dogs are already "resting"... ahhh! Vacation!

Heading down to Tombstone...

As we left Apache Junction and headed south to Tombstone Territory, we took the photo above of the palm tree... or is it? I was awed that they camouflaged the cell tower like that, LOL!
Down the road a bit, the next photo was taken across the road from our motel... the sign says "SNAKEHOLE Golf and Country Club". Somehow I am not interested, even IF I were a golfer. The entire course appears to be a "sand trap"... perhaps they use green traps here? Actually I have seen a few lovely GREEN courses too, but this one stood out as remarkable.
We got into Tombstone late afternoon, and after a quick rest, crossed the road to see BOOT HILL where the notorious folks of the old days were laid to rest, including gang members that died at the OK Corral.

Downtown Tombstone has been well preserved and we have made reservations to see the enactment of the shootout this afternoon. After eating at the local "saloon" restaurant (not gonna recommend it), we found most of the town had shut down for the night (except the nightlife).

So, we headed back to our room as the sun was setting in the west! AWESOME SUNSETS HERE!

Amy's house...

I woke up at "Amy's House"... 

This past two weeks we were caring for Al's infected cyst, then it's removal and wound care. I remember thinking I would like to just get away for a few days with hubby. Apparently my mind decided to go without me!

Amy is a sweet and soft-spoken friend I met on the message board that I frequent. I spent some time with her when I went to the convention in October. I see her smiling face whenever I visit the board. She is a Christian and has been an encouragement to me a few times when I have been "down".

Amy told me she lives in the San Diego area and works at the big zoo there. Having only been to San Diego a few times, last night as I dreamed, my mind conjured up some beautiful home for her family on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean... more like Monterey than San Diego, actually. And I woke with a chuckle that the few minutes of peaceful interlude at the ocean was "just the ticket"... I felt renewed and refreshed for the new day. [and I didn't have to go thru the airport security checks, either.] Thanks, Amy! It was a lovely visit!