Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
26 March 2014
Good Morning,
Here we are in Tampa...and it is 48 degrees!!! hmmmm
We have had safe travels. We left Gulfport on Friday morning and arrived in Crestview just in time to have lunch with Ann and Jim. Even had the same booth in the restaurant we met at 3 years ago!! It was good catching up again....hope they will be able to come to Tucson sometime in the next year. We then stopped just to say hi to John before we left for Prattville. It was so great to see Doug, Sybilla and Taryn and Manny THE dog again. We had wonderful food, took walks and played games and laughed until we were hoarse!! Tom and Doug even played golf.
We gave our hugs and left for Niceville on Monday Morning. Joe, Sandy and Lizzie Grace and Hope (their dogs) met us at the door with open arms and paws! We went to "The Front Porch" and had a wonderful lunch and then went home , took a nice walk and talked and laughed until midnight! After a nice breakfast on their new closed in porch, we hugged our goodbyes and headed for Tampa. Had a nice drive down and arrived after 5 PM. We are staying at the Inn on MacDill Air Force Base.
Last night we did "Face Time" with Carrie and Emme. She gave us her Nana and Granddad smiles.
We talked to Kelly as she was at our home with Alastair and Louise as they are heading back to England after a stop on the East Coast and they were at the house returning our Camery.
Today, we are going to meet Deb for breakfast and then head to Bill and Charlotte's. Have not seen Deb in 14 years so am so excited. Deb and I worked together at the clinic at Davis-Monthan. Deb was an Air Force nurse. Now she is an accomplished photographer. Deb and Steve have been living in Tampa with their 3 children but will be calling Japan home this summer. Steve is in the Navy and has been assigned to Japan.
After spending time with Deb, we will leave for Cocoa and our time with Tom's sister and brother-in-law will begin. We are so anxious to see them as has been a year since we were there last year.
There are no words to explain how blessed we are to have such friends that are family that we can just drop in to visit...except "extremely blessed"
I still have not figured out how to add pictures....will talk to George and maybe he can help me or I will go to the Apple store when get to Cocoa.
God Bless
Tom and Maryann
Here we are in Tampa...and it is 48 degrees!!! hmmmm
We have had safe travels. We left Gulfport on Friday morning and arrived in Crestview just in time to have lunch with Ann and Jim. Even had the same booth in the restaurant we met at 3 years ago!! It was good catching up again....hope they will be able to come to Tucson sometime in the next year. We then stopped just to say hi to John before we left for Prattville. It was so great to see Doug, Sybilla and Taryn and Manny THE dog again. We had wonderful food, took walks and played games and laughed until we were hoarse!! Tom and Doug even played golf.
We gave our hugs and left for Niceville on Monday Morning. Joe, Sandy and Lizzie Grace and Hope (their dogs) met us at the door with open arms and paws! We went to "The Front Porch" and had a wonderful lunch and then went home , took a nice walk and talked and laughed until midnight! After a nice breakfast on their new closed in porch, we hugged our goodbyes and headed for Tampa. Had a nice drive down and arrived after 5 PM. We are staying at the Inn on MacDill Air Force Base.
Last night we did "Face Time" with Carrie and Emme. She gave us her Nana and Granddad smiles.
We talked to Kelly as she was at our home with Alastair and Louise as they are heading back to England after a stop on the East Coast and they were at the house returning our Camery.
Today, we are going to meet Deb for breakfast and then head to Bill and Charlotte's. Have not seen Deb in 14 years so am so excited. Deb and I worked together at the clinic at Davis-Monthan. Deb was an Air Force nurse. Now she is an accomplished photographer. Deb and Steve have been living in Tampa with their 3 children but will be calling Japan home this summer. Steve is in the Navy and has been assigned to Japan.
After spending time with Deb, we will leave for Cocoa and our time with Tom's sister and brother-in-law will begin. We are so anxious to see them as has been a year since we were there last year.
There are no words to explain how blessed we are to have such friends that are family that we can just drop in to visit...except "extremely blessed"
I still have not figured out how to add pictures....will talk to George and maybe he can help me or I will go to the Apple store when get to Cocoa.
God Bless
Tom and Maryann
Thursday, March 20, 2014
20 March 2014
We arrived in Gulfport Ms. this evening. We are staying at the Navy Lodge. Of course as soon as we arrived we had to go for fresh shrimp. We went to a restaurant called White Hat where we watched the sun set across the beautiful white sands of Gulfport beach.
We arrived in San Antonio on the afternoon of March 18.
We had a great few days in San Antonio. Weather was perfect. It was even warm enough to take a walk after dinner the evening we arrived. Wednesday morning we met our friends Tom and Vicki Bader for breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake Haus. What a neat restaurant and what great food. We had a lemon poppyseed waffle that was so good. We spent a couple hours catching up with Vicki and Tom, who we were stationed with in Germany. We decided that when we come to San Antonio, we will make it a tradition to meet with the Bader's at the Magnolia Pancake Haus .
We then had a really nice visit with Mark and Holly Tenn and their children at our billeting at Randolph AFB. Mark and Holly were stationed at Davis Monthan with us several years ago.
Carrie called and we had FACE-TIME with Emme. She gave her Nana and Granddad lots of 'Emme smiles".
Tom is just amazing at how long he can drive....of course we take breaks..today we even stopped at a Bass Pro Shop to get some exercise...hmmm. I have been doing a lot of reading.
We have been blessed with safe travels and the best of friends that we have in our lives.
I still have not figured out how to add pictures to my blog...will keep trying..and maybe go to an Apple Store when we get to Charlotte and Bill's.
Tomorrow we will leave for Alabama to spend time with the Watkins and stop for lunch with our friend Ann on the way.....aren't we lucky to have such friends to stop and visit!!
We arrived in San Antonio on the afternoon of March 18.
We had a great few days in San Antonio. Weather was perfect. It was even warm enough to take a walk after dinner the evening we arrived. Wednesday morning we met our friends Tom and Vicki Bader for breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake Haus. What a neat restaurant and what great food. We had a lemon poppyseed waffle that was so good. We spent a couple hours catching up with Vicki and Tom, who we were stationed with in Germany. We decided that when we come to San Antonio, we will make it a tradition to meet with the Bader's at the Magnolia Pancake Haus .
We then had a really nice visit with Mark and Holly Tenn and their children at our billeting at Randolph AFB. Mark and Holly were stationed at Davis Monthan with us several years ago.
Carrie called and we had FACE-TIME with Emme. She gave her Nana and Granddad lots of 'Emme smiles".
Tom is just amazing at how long he can drive....of course we take breaks..today we even stopped at a Bass Pro Shop to get some exercise...hmmm. I have been doing a lot of reading.
We have been blessed with safe travels and the best of friends that we have in our lives.
I still have not figured out how to add pictures to my blog...will keep trying..and maybe go to an Apple Store when we get to Charlotte and Bill's.
Tomorrow we will leave for Alabama to spend time with the Watkins and stop for lunch with our friend Ann on the way.....aren't we lucky to have such friends to stop and visit!!
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
18 March 2014
Good Morning...
We "Hit the Road" on Sunday Morning after giving hugs and kisses to our kids and 4 beautiful Grand Girls on Saturday. We also spent last week giving hugs to our Tucson Family!
We are always thrilled to be able to take these yearly adventures but also know that we will miss our Tucson Family.
We were so delighted to be able to meet with Donna and Bill in El Paso. When they lived in Tucson, Donna worked with us at the clinic and we are so glad that we kept in contact. They left Tucson in 1988...so had not seen them in a few years. Once again it was like we had just seen them a few days before. They live in Dell City, Texas which is 90 miles from El Paso. IT was so great that they made the trip to El Paso so we could catch up...and we did. We stayed at Ft. Bliss on Sunday night. Wow they have remodeled that base since we were there last year. They have a Marketplace with restaurants, all kids of shops and the BX. It was like being in a fancy civilian Mall.
We left El Paso very early on Monday morning as we woke up and could not go back to sleep so decided to get up and head out. We arrived in Forth Worth about 4 PM. Stayed at the Navy Reserve base there and met Jerry and Diane Stapleton for dinner. We were stationed with them at F. E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne , Wyoming and had not seen them both since 1982. Diane had come to Tucson for her work in the 90's so had seen her when she was there. We were so glad to see them and catch up on their two daughters and their grandchildren! Of course we shared pictures!! They have two very handsome grandson's. They both work so it was nice of them to come out on a work night and deal with the Dallas traffic to spend time with us. We may see them in the fall if they can take a long weekend and fly to Tucson.
One of the best parts of our visits with our friends is to be able to give and get such wonderful hugs from these dear friends...and you know how Maryann feels about hugs!!!
We slept in this morning and are now on our way to San Antonio, Texas for a couple nights. We will be staying at Randolph AFB.
Have had good weather...just lots of wind today.
I have some pictures but will need to figure out how to put them on the blog when we get to San Antonio...as will need to transfer them from my phone to my IPAD and then figure it out!
We send our prayers and good thoughts to each of you.
Good Morning...
We "Hit the Road" on Sunday Morning after giving hugs and kisses to our kids and 4 beautiful Grand Girls on Saturday. We also spent last week giving hugs to our Tucson Family!
We are always thrilled to be able to take these yearly adventures but also know that we will miss our Tucson Family.
We were so delighted to be able to meet with Donna and Bill in El Paso. When they lived in Tucson, Donna worked with us at the clinic and we are so glad that we kept in contact. They left Tucson in 1988...so had not seen them in a few years. Once again it was like we had just seen them a few days before. They live in Dell City, Texas which is 90 miles from El Paso. IT was so great that they made the trip to El Paso so we could catch up...and we did. We stayed at Ft. Bliss on Sunday night. Wow they have remodeled that base since we were there last year. They have a Marketplace with restaurants, all kids of shops and the BX. It was like being in a fancy civilian Mall.
We left El Paso very early on Monday morning as we woke up and could not go back to sleep so decided to get up and head out. We arrived in Forth Worth about 4 PM. Stayed at the Navy Reserve base there and met Jerry and Diane Stapleton for dinner. We were stationed with them at F. E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne , Wyoming and had not seen them both since 1982. Diane had come to Tucson for her work in the 90's so had seen her when she was there. We were so glad to see them and catch up on their two daughters and their grandchildren! Of course we shared pictures!! They have two very handsome grandson's. They both work so it was nice of them to come out on a work night and deal with the Dallas traffic to spend time with us. We may see them in the fall if they can take a long weekend and fly to Tucson.
One of the best parts of our visits with our friends is to be able to give and get such wonderful hugs from these dear friends...and you know how Maryann feels about hugs!!!
We slept in this morning and are now on our way to San Antonio, Texas for a couple nights. We will be staying at Randolph AFB.
Have had good weather...just lots of wind today.
I have some pictures but will need to figure out how to put them on the blog when we get to San Antonio...as will need to transfer them from my phone to my IPAD and then figure it out!
We send our prayers and good thoughts to each of you.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Balloon Festival, Albuquerque, NM October 4-11, 2012
Hi,
What a great week we had in Albuquerque! Tom and I left on the 4th of October and stopped at La Posta Resturant just outside of Las Cruces, NM for a great lunch. Our friend, Pat, had told us about this place so we took the long way to Albuquerque to stop here and have lunch. We were not disappointed. We then went on to Albuquerque to stay with Rob and Mary Floyd for the night. Mary is in the AF and her and Maryann worked together at Davis-Monthan. We had such a nice evening with them. They have a beautiful home about 30 minutes from town, that Rob has done so much work on. Their home has 100 windows..so a great view too. The next morning, we went to the airport and picked up Bill and Charlotte, Tom's sister and brother-in-law. We checked into our hotel and went to the Sandia Peak Tramway. Tom, Charlotte and Bill took the ride to the top of this engineering marvel, visitors come mainly for the spectacular view - 11,000 square miles of the Land of Enchantment. Passengers ascend 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes, gliding along the western face of the rugged Sandia Mountains. Maryann did not take the ride as she does not like heights.
Charlotte and Bill in Old Town Albuquerque
We spent the next morning in Old Town Albuquerque where they found some treasures to take home. Then we went to the La Pinta Resturant for a great lunch on the patio. Kelly, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten arrived about 5 PM. Bryan had plane delays so Kelly drove up with the girls and Bryan came with his parents. Her first long road trip with her girls went well! We had pizza in the hotel lobby and the girls got to spend some time with Charlotte and Bill. Kirsten ususally does not "like big boys" but Bill got a hug from her!!! Bryan, Pete and Linda arrived later in the evening.
Saturday Morning at Baloon Festival Park--4 AM
We all got up and met in the lobby at about 3:30 AM and headed for the Balloon Festival Park. NO traffic! We were only about 10 miles from the park but were told to leave early...so we did. We had chairs, winter coats, blankets, hats, gloves, (Maryann of course had on her long johns) and snacks and drinks. The Mass Ascension was to be around 7-8 AM. We were able to find an open picnic table on the front row so settled in to wait. It was 41 degrees and the wind was definitely blowing. Only a few balloons were on the field. About 7 AM, they announced that the Mass Ascension would not happen due to the winds. SO...we packed up and headed back to the cars. It took us over an hour to get back to our hotel due to traffic. We had breakfast and some took short naps. Kelly, Bryan, The girls, Pete and Maryann went down to the pool area so the girls could swim. Kelly and I watched as Pete, Bryan and girls had so many laughs in the pool. Tom, Bill and Charlotte watched the Arkansas football game on TV. We all met about 2 PM and went to have lunch and then back to the Balloon Festival Park for the evening glow. The girls had such fun playing, rolling and dancing in the wonderful green grass, playing games with Grandpa Pete (rolling over each other, toss the filled water bottles etc...) and just entertaining us all. ( the weather had warmed to the high 69's) There were other activities happening so got to check out what else was happening and just watching the girls was the best entertainment. As the sun went down so did the temperatures so out came the blankets, coats etc...especiall for Linda and Maryann. The evening Balloon Glow was "awesome". Imagine nearly 300 Hot Air Balloons of all colors and shapes right in front of you glowing in the sunset. On Sunday, we slept in and headed for the park at 4:30 AM. Of course, we again took our chairs, winter coats, blankets etc....We were thrilled to hear that the winds were below 13 miles per hour so the Mass Ascension would happen and it did! The Albuquerque International Balloon Festival is one of the only balloon events where you are actually able to walk among the balloons and talk to the pilots. Imagine 54 football fields, all put together. That's the size of Balloon Fiesta Park's 78-acre launch field with sometimes over 500 balloons rising. We would be standing right next to a balloon as it ascended. There were several balloonists from other countries. Many shapes to name a few...clock, lion head, Darth Vader, astronaut, pigs, ice cream cone, stage coach, cow(with utters) Elvis, angel, peguin, elephant, ladybug, zebra head etc. What an amazing sight as they rise into the blue skies and you are just a few feet from them. It was a great family outting and the girls were great even though they did not have much sleep. Kelly and Bryan Family and Pete and Linda left us at the field about 11 AM as they were heading home in the afternoon. We walked them toward their car and got our hugs and good byes with the gift of once again having made some great family memories. Tom, Maryann, Charlotte and Bill stayed and watched the Chainsaw Carving Event and then walked about as they also had a car show on the field. When the sun came up the temperatures went from 40 to high 60"s. Then we headed to Kirkland AFB as we had billeting there for the next two nights and found ourselves having lunch at P. F. Changs. We even shared one of heir great desserts! We had been eating very good and tried a different taste every day!
Tuesday, we got up early again and took the "Roadrunner Train" to Santa Fe, NM for the day. Charlotte had never been on a train so it was fun we could all do together. We walked about Sante Fe all day. Our first stop was for breakfast and then we headed to the Loretto Chapel which is a former Roman Catholic church that is unusual for it's helix shaped spiral staircase. We had a look in lots of the shops...lots of beautiful art and crafts are made by the artist is Santa Fe. We walked many blocks looking for this unique candy maker....Tom was the map reader and took us through the woods etc.
When we finally arrived, found that the candy was $3 a piece....little too rich for our pockets..and they did not give samples.... but it was a memorial walk! We got back to Albuquerque about 5:30. We found a Firehouse Subs Reaturant and had a nice dinner there before we headed back to the base.
Tom reading the map to find the candy store..we are following him through the wooded path..
complaining of course!!
We slept in on Tuesday and then headed South to Ruidoso, NM to spend the day and night with friends of Charlotte and Bill's. On our way we found the Rio Grande Diner in Belen, NM..it was just a small old retro looking diner with only 7 tables done in 1950's style off I-25. AND the breakfast was great! On our way we came across the Valley of Fires off US 54. It is many square miles of buckled and twisted lava from between 1500 and 5000 years ago. We took time to stop and walk around. Then we headed off again to John and Karen's where we were treated to a nice lunch at the club house and then went to their home. Their home sits on a hill on one side of the valley ( what a view! ) in the Kokopelli Estates in Alto, just north of Ruidoso. They showed us around Ruidoso and then treated us to a fantastic dinner in their home. We sat around the fire pit eating homemade Baked Alaska for dessert. What a fun evening just sitting and talking........seemed so close to the stars. They certainly made us feel at home. Tom was envious of their community golf courses!!! We headed back to Albuquerque the next day after being served a delicious breakfast. We took a longer way back as thought would be more scenic....NOT---- but now we know! We checked back into billeting at Kirkland AFB and decided that we had not had italian food and Bill and Charlotte had told us about a family style resturant that they had been to..so we checked on TRIPADVISOR and found there was one in Albuquerque. So off we went to Buca Di Beppo and the food was great.
( what a great resource TRIPADVISOR is for us when we are traveling ).
We really did treat our palates to different but great foods on this trip...once again! Did I mention we also ate at Rudy's BBQ, one of our favorite places for BBQ. I guess that our trips are about family, friends and FOOD!
We were so glad that we got to spend this time with our family but especially blessed to be able to spend time with Bill and Charlotte again this year. We did miss our Carrie as she was not able to travel with us this time. We keep saying"we are blessed" and we are!
Tom took Bill and Charlotte to the airport the next morning so they could head home to Cocoa, Florida. Then we checked out of billeting and headed home to Tucson. We arrived home about 3:30 PM.
Now, it is time to start work on our yard..Tom is going to work on the landscaping, put new low level lights in and redo the water/drip system. Tom is also going to put a fire pit in the back patio area as after being able to use a few times, have decided that would be nice to have! We are now looking forward to going to soccer games, grand-girls functions, helping out at our church, already have volunteer stuff scheduled for the holidays and just spending time with our Tucson Family.
I will post a few pictures from our wonder-filled family trip. Below see The cow balloon, Molly singing and dancing for us, Balloon Glow, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten ready to go to the Balloon Glow, Lion, Clock, girls playing in the great green grass...all tied together by their jacket sleeves....hmm, Kelly and Bryan and family heading for home on Sunday and another pictures of just some of the balloons in the air....neat huh?
Sending you all our love, thoughts and prayers and once again, thank God and all the saints and angels we pray to for safe travels and our wonderful blessings of friends and family.
Quote for today----
Togetherness turns good ideas into good times ~Wes Fessler YES IT DOES!!!!
Love and hugs,
Tom and Maryann
What a great week we had in Albuquerque! Tom and I left on the 4th of October and stopped at La Posta Resturant just outside of Las Cruces, NM for a great lunch. Our friend, Pat, had told us about this place so we took the long way to Albuquerque to stop here and have lunch. We were not disappointed. We then went on to Albuquerque to stay with Rob and Mary Floyd for the night. Mary is in the AF and her and Maryann worked together at Davis-Monthan. We had such a nice evening with them. They have a beautiful home about 30 minutes from town, that Rob has done so much work on. Their home has 100 windows..so a great view too. The next morning, we went to the airport and picked up Bill and Charlotte, Tom's sister and brother-in-law. We checked into our hotel and went to the Sandia Peak Tramway. Tom, Charlotte and Bill took the ride to the top of this engineering marvel, visitors come mainly for the spectacular view - 11,000 square miles of the Land of Enchantment. Passengers ascend 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes, gliding along the western face of the rugged Sandia Mountains. Maryann did not take the ride as she does not like heights.
Sunset at Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, NM
We spent the next morning in Old Town Albuquerque where they found some treasures to take home. Then we went to the La Pinta Resturant for a great lunch on the patio. Kelly, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten arrived about 5 PM. Bryan had plane delays so Kelly drove up with the girls and Bryan came with his parents. Her first long road trip with her girls went well! We had pizza in the hotel lobby and the girls got to spend some time with Charlotte and Bill. Kirsten ususally does not "like big boys" but Bill got a hug from her!!! Bryan, Pete and Linda arrived later in the evening.
We all got up and met in the lobby at about 3:30 AM and headed for the Balloon Festival Park. NO traffic! We were only about 10 miles from the park but were told to leave early...so we did. We had chairs, winter coats, blankets, hats, gloves, (Maryann of course had on her long johns) and snacks and drinks. The Mass Ascension was to be around 7-8 AM. We were able to find an open picnic table on the front row so settled in to wait. It was 41 degrees and the wind was definitely blowing. Only a few balloons were on the field. About 7 AM, they announced that the Mass Ascension would not happen due to the winds. SO...we packed up and headed back to the cars. It took us over an hour to get back to our hotel due to traffic. We had breakfast and some took short naps. Kelly, Bryan, The girls, Pete and Maryann went down to the pool area so the girls could swim. Kelly and I watched as Pete, Bryan and girls had so many laughs in the pool. Tom, Bill and Charlotte watched the Arkansas football game on TV. We all met about 2 PM and went to have lunch and then back to the Balloon Festival Park for the evening glow. The girls had such fun playing, rolling and dancing in the wonderful green grass, playing games with Grandpa Pete (rolling over each other, toss the filled water bottles etc...) and just entertaining us all. ( the weather had warmed to the high 69's) There were other activities happening so got to check out what else was happening and just watching the girls was the best entertainment. As the sun went down so did the temperatures so out came the blankets, coats etc...especiall for Linda and Maryann. The evening Balloon Glow was "awesome". Imagine nearly 300 Hot Air Balloons of all colors and shapes right in front of you glowing in the sunset. On Sunday, we slept in and headed for the park at 4:30 AM. Of course, we again took our chairs, winter coats, blankets etc....We were thrilled to hear that the winds were below 13 miles per hour so the Mass Ascension would happen and it did! The Albuquerque International Balloon Festival is one of the only balloon events where you are actually able to walk among the balloons and talk to the pilots. Imagine 54 football fields, all put together. That's the size of Balloon Fiesta Park's 78-acre launch field with sometimes over 500 balloons rising. We would be standing right next to a balloon as it ascended. There were several balloonists from other countries. Many shapes to name a few...clock, lion head, Darth Vader, astronaut, pigs, ice cream cone, stage coach, cow(with utters) Elvis, angel, peguin, elephant, ladybug, zebra head etc. What an amazing sight as they rise into the blue skies and you are just a few feet from them. It was a great family outting and the girls were great even though they did not have much sleep. Kelly and Bryan Family and Pete and Linda left us at the field about 11 AM as they were heading home in the afternoon. We walked them toward their car and got our hugs and good byes with the gift of once again having made some great family memories. Tom, Maryann, Charlotte and Bill stayed and watched the Chainsaw Carving Event and then walked about as they also had a car show on the field. When the sun came up the temperatures went from 40 to high 60"s. Then we headed to Kirkland AFB as we had billeting there for the next two nights and found ourselves having lunch at P. F. Changs. We even shared one of heir great desserts! We had been eating very good and tried a different taste every day!
Tuesday, we got up early again and took the "Roadrunner Train" to Santa Fe, NM for the day. Charlotte had never been on a train so it was fun we could all do together. We walked about Sante Fe all day. Our first stop was for breakfast and then we headed to the Loretto Chapel which is a former Roman Catholic church that is unusual for it's helix shaped spiral staircase. We had a look in lots of the shops...lots of beautiful art and crafts are made by the artist is Santa Fe. We walked many blocks looking for this unique candy maker....Tom was the map reader and took us through the woods etc.
When we finally arrived, found that the candy was $3 a piece....little too rich for our pockets..and they did not give samples.... but it was a memorial walk! We got back to Albuquerque about 5:30. We found a Firehouse Subs Reaturant and had a nice dinner there before we headed back to the base.
complaining of course!!
We slept in on Tuesday and then headed South to Ruidoso, NM to spend the day and night with friends of Charlotte and Bill's. On our way we found the Rio Grande Diner in Belen, NM..it was just a small old retro looking diner with only 7 tables done in 1950's style off I-25. AND the breakfast was great! On our way we came across the Valley of Fires off US 54. It is many square miles of buckled and twisted lava from between 1500 and 5000 years ago. We took time to stop and walk around. Then we headed off again to John and Karen's where we were treated to a nice lunch at the club house and then went to their home. Their home sits on a hill on one side of the valley ( what a view! ) in the Kokopelli Estates in Alto, just north of Ruidoso. They showed us around Ruidoso and then treated us to a fantastic dinner in their home. We sat around the fire pit eating homemade Baked Alaska for dessert. What a fun evening just sitting and talking........seemed so close to the stars. They certainly made us feel at home. Tom was envious of their community golf courses!!! We headed back to Albuquerque the next day after being served a delicious breakfast. We took a longer way back as thought would be more scenic....NOT---- but now we know! We checked back into billeting at Kirkland AFB and decided that we had not had italian food and Bill and Charlotte had told us about a family style resturant that they had been to..so we checked on TRIPADVISOR and found there was one in Albuquerque. So off we went to Buca Di Beppo and the food was great.
( what a great resource TRIPADVISOR is for us when we are traveling ).
We really did treat our palates to different but great foods on this trip...once again! Did I mention we also ate at Rudy's BBQ, one of our favorite places for BBQ. I guess that our trips are about family, friends and FOOD!
We were so glad that we got to spend this time with our family but especially blessed to be able to spend time with Bill and Charlotte again this year. We did miss our Carrie as she was not able to travel with us this time. We keep saying"we are blessed" and we are!
Tom took Bill and Charlotte to the airport the next morning so they could head home to Cocoa, Florida. Then we checked out of billeting and headed home to Tucson. We arrived home about 3:30 PM.
Now, it is time to start work on our yard..Tom is going to work on the landscaping, put new low level lights in and redo the water/drip system. Tom is also going to put a fire pit in the back patio area as after being able to use a few times, have decided that would be nice to have! We are now looking forward to going to soccer games, grand-girls functions, helping out at our church, already have volunteer stuff scheduled for the holidays and just spending time with our Tucson Family.
I will post a few pictures from our wonder-filled family trip. Below see The cow balloon, Molly singing and dancing for us, Balloon Glow, Molly, Samantha and Kirsten ready to go to the Balloon Glow, Lion, Clock, girls playing in the great green grass...all tied together by their jacket sleeves....hmm, Kelly and Bryan and family heading for home on Sunday and another pictures of just some of the balloons in the air....neat huh?
Sending you all our love, thoughts and prayers and once again, thank God and all the saints and angels we pray to for safe travels and our wonderful blessings of friends and family.
Quote for today----
Togetherness turns good ideas into good times ~Wes Fessler YES IT DOES!!!!
Love and hugs,
Tom and Maryann
Saturday, September 29, 2012
WE ARE HOME! 29 September 2012
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| No one is looking at Maryann's camera!
We spent the next two days with Pat and George just doing what we do best...talking and laughing and making new memories. We took a trip to Colorado Springs and went to the Air Force Academy and Valley of the God's. We also went to the area where they had such devastation from the forest fires in June and July. It was very sobering to see. We were amazed at the fires path. One home would be burnt to the ground and not yards from it, a home stood with beautiful flowers in the yard and trees that had not been touched by the fire. What an amazing job the fireman did to help save as many homes as possible. There were home made signs all over thanking the fireman and emergency crews. The night before we left, we ordered pizza and sat around the fire pit at the AF Inn. AND Maryann decided that a fire pit should be part of our back yard in Tucson. Tom will need to be convinced!! George asked if it could be done before they come to Tucson in December...so Maryann is trying to make that happen! While we were in Denver, George had a follow up PET Scan before he had his chemotherapy. Our prayers were answered and the scan did not show anymore cancer. He will continue to have the chemotherapy every 3 months but this was great news! Please continue to keep him and Pat in your prayers. God is good....all the time!! Tom looked for a Denver Bronco tee shirt but could not fine the one he wanted in his size...the Bronco's are a favorite team of his. So Pat and George found one after we left and sent it to us and it arrived just a couple days after we arrived home. How great was that??? It is always bitter sweet to give our farewell hugs to such wonderful friends, but we are looking forward to hopefully seeing George and Pat in Tucson in December as they get out of the cold for the winter.
Ever since we met, it seems that Tom and Pat walk together and Maryann and George walk together..hmmm
We left Denver on the 6th of September with the plan to spend the night south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. We stopped in Albuquerque to see our friends Rob and Mary for dinner. It was so nice to see them as had been a few years since we last saw them in Alaska. Mary is a nurse practictioner in the AF and worked with Maryann at Davis-Monthan for a few years and they became friends. They wanted us to stay with them but Tom wanted to get "down the road". We left them with promises to see them in October when we will be there for the Balloon Festival.
We headed south toward home and Maryann was reading and looked up and we were just passing the sign to Truth or Conquences, New Mexico. Knowing that there are not alot of places to stay from there to Tucson, she asked if we were going to stay in Demning? Tom said that he was not tired after having the nice few hours with Mary and Rob so "WE" were going on to Tucson and home that night. We did stop a couple times and Maryann was able to nearly finish her book before we saw the lights of Tucson .
Once again, as we drove down Houghton Road to our home, we realized how blessed we are to always look forward to our trips to see our wonderful friends and family and then when we are coming home, looking forward to being with our Tucson friends and family. Also thank God and all the Saints and our Guardian Angels that we pray to that we have had safe travels. WE ARE BLESSED ! We arrived home at midnight and were in bed 15 minutes later! The next morning we were awakened at about 8 AM by the door bell. How neat to have Kelly and Kirsten at the door with Dunkin Donuts and great smiles and hugs. They were in town and had come by the house and when found we were home, went and got the donuts before they rang our door bell. And they even helped us unpack the car. What a great way to wake up on our first day home!
We planned to be home early as we were so glad to help one of our friend's plan his wife's 50th birhday party at one of our local parks on Saturday and then on Sunday, we went to Phil and Loly's to meet their son, Patrick who had been born while we were gone and also to see a priest friend of Phil's that we have come to know. He lives in New York City but his parents were visiting on their first trip to the United States from Nigeria and he brought them to Tucson. What a nice day we had with them all and Kelly and Bryan and girls and Carrie. Patrick is just beautiful!
On Monday, we got back to going to the Gym and started in on our yearly house cleaning, helping at the church etc....back to reality...and that is good too. Carrie also had to go to Texas for work that week so we were so pleased to have Buddi stay with us. Buddi is doing good and such a good boy and it is so nice to have him stay with us...(Buddi did not come with a list of things he wanted to do!) We also had Kirsten stay overnight and she had choices of what she wanted to do. She was glad to have Buddi here too. We went to the zoo, played lots of games, went to Chuckie Cheeses, made butter popcorn and just had a nice two days. OF course, she talked non stop about everything. We also went shoe shopping and she got a new pair of tennis shoes..."Dora Logo" of course and a new pair of fashion boots. Samantha then stayed and she also wanted to go to the zoo, bowling, Chuckie Cheeses and roller skating. We also played lots of games and made butter popcorn! Making butter popcorn with Granddad is a must when they stay over. When we went roller skating, Maryann had not been on skates since highschool and Tom never! Well, we rented the skates and put them on and after having the skates on about 10 minutes and trying them out on the carpet and beginner area, we decided that NOT a good idea as we held on to the wall to get back to a bench to take them off. We felt that we would both leave with broken bones! At least we tried...Kelly gave us points for just putting the skates on....! Samantha on the other hand was just doing a great job! Molly was next and she wanted to go to play miniature golf, roller skating, a movie and eat at Chili's (we were thankful that she did not want to go to Chuckie Cheeses!!!). We also played lots of games and of course had butter popcorn. We taught Molly and Samantha how to play the card game "Garbage". It was such a treat to be able to spend "one on one" time with them and hear about their summer and school. Kirsten just started dance class and Molly is in Brownie's and Lego Club and working on a science fair project. Samantha is playing Soccer and a Girl Scout Daisy. Kelly is the Brownie and Daisy leader AND the scoccer coach We certainly are so lucky to have them so close. They are such good girls and just a joy to be with. Again, WE are blessed.
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| Kirsten, Samantha, Molly |
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Kirsten and Buddi
Last Sunday we had all here to celebrate Carrie's birthday with her favorite foods. Her birthday was on 1 September. She has been busy with work and working on her Masters Program.
It was so good to see most of our Tucson family. Our calendar is filling for October to see friends that we have not seen since we left in May. How fun.
On the 3rd of October, we will be leaving for a week to Albuquerque with Kelly's family, Pete and Linda. Tom's sister and brother in law will also be flying in from Florida for a week. It is the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.
Tom and I will leave on Wednesday and stay with Mary and Rob and then pick them up on Thursday. The rest of the family will come from Friday to Monday. Tom and I will go to Ruidoso, NM for a couple days with Charlotte and Bill then will head back to Tucson after we take them to the airport on Thursday. We have never been to the Balloon Festival there and hear that it is amazing...so will let ou know in the next blog!
We want to thank you all for sharing your time with us during our travels and here at home. We hope each of you know how you have touched our hearts and how much we appreciate YOU everyday. Since we are not good with quotes...we have borrowed these to send to you to express our thoughts.
"Life is partly what we make it and partly what it is made by friends and family." ~ Unknown
"It is not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare" ~James Russell Lowell
AND our favorite words....WE ARE BLESSED!
Love and hugs,
God Bless
Tom and Maryann
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Sunday, September 2, 2012
Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 2, 2012
Hi,
WOW, I am doing a blog again this week. Tom and I left Waterloo on Thursday morning and arrived in Omaha, Nebraska about 2 PM. Iowa is mostly flat farmland and we had beautiful sunny skies as we drive across I 80. It was sad to see all the brown corn fields from lack of water. So many tractor trailor trucks on the road. IT is good to see that one profession apparently has job security. We checked into billeting at the O'Malley Inn at Auffit Air Force Base and got settled in and then called Mark who came and picked us and took us to their lovely home. Mark and Linda were stationed in Tucson. Mark was at the Security Forces with Tom and Linda worked with Maryann at the clinic. Matthew and Kayla are their children....well young adults now. It seems the last we saw them was about 20 years ago. We were able to sit and catch up on the past years and memories from Davis-Monthan AFB. Even got to see Matthew. Kayla was at work.
Sitting in their living room chatting was like had never been apart. We then went out for a nice dinner and then Mark drove us around and showed us around Auffit Air Force Base. Mark works as a civilian now that he has retired from the Air Force. You can tell that they are great parents and that they really enjoy life and have such good work ethics. Linda had also served in the Air Force before Maryann was lucky enough to work with her in the clinic. How great it is to be able to cross this great country and see our friends and family again. We arrived in York, Nebraska just in time to meet Merle and Erma Hillen for lunch. We were stationed in Cheyenne, Wyoming with them in 1970. They were our friends when we were just dating. We had not seen them for ...hmmm maybe 30 years. Once again it was like we had just been together last week...just had more news to catch up on. We had a 3+ hour and as we drove away, we just thank God again for having such lifelong friends. As we drive toward Cheyenne, Wyoming, we see many more brown fields due to no rain...but have a beautiful blue sky that turns into a wonderful sunset. We talk about how fun it will be in Cheyenne again as that is where we met in 1970 and then we returned there as a family from 1980 to 1984. We arrive at F. E. Warren AFB and check into billeting. When Tom comes out with our assigned billet, it is building 44 and Maryann remarks that that sounds so familiar. AND it turns out that building 44 is the building that Maryann lived in as her first assignment as a LT. in the Air
Force. We arrived at building 44 and how fun that the room we were assigned is right across the hall from where Maryann lived when she was here active duty. We are staying in the room Maryann's friend, Darlene use to live in. What wonderful memories we have of our "young days" here. We called our friend, Judy who we met when we were here in 1980-1984 on our way here. Judy and her John had visited us in Tucson about 20 years ago and we had not seen them since. What friends can you call at the last minute and they arrange to spend the entire next day with you...Judy and John! We met them at their home and went to breakfast and then back to their home to catch up on our lives and their daughter, Penny and family. Judy is quite the frame maker, artist, upholsterer, seamstress, and builds cedar chest, stools, and anything else one would want built or sewn! John of course helps her and finds her treasures to redo. What a team they are. We had such fun seeing all their wonders...and Judy even let us choose a treasure to take home! We spent the afternoon sharing great stories and lots of laughter with Judy and John...what a relaxing time. Then we went to the American Kennel Association Dog Show. This was a first for us and it was really fun. Another event to cross off our Bucket List. Judy is a PLETHORA of knowledge about dog shows so what a treat for us at our first dog show! John took us to a fun sports bar for dinner and he recommended their margaritas and Tom had two as they were great!! Then we went back to their home and it was nearly 10 PM when we were saying our fond farewells to John and Judy. We could not have planned a better day! As we read over this writing, once again we are so appreciative of such great people in our lives and do KNOW HOW BLESSED we are to have had all those we call friends come into our life. We do not think that it was just by chance that we came to know them but that God put us in the right place to have them in our lives.
Today we walked over to the chapel for mass and then walked around the area where we shared such memories. We feel so at home on the base since we met here and then came back here and spent 4 years when the girls were in elementry school. F. E. Warren is the oldest continuously active military installation within the Air Force. It was established in 1867 by the calvary. It is now the home of the 90th Missile Wing which is one of three strategic missile bases in the United States. It has the old red brick building with portches that were built between 1885 and 1933. It also has a beautiful parade field and there are antelope roaming in small herds all over the base. Of all the bases we have lived on or visited, this is and always be the most special...it is like coming home to our roots. As we walked today, it was good to feel the Cheyenne winds on our face. The Cheyenne winds are like none other and there is wind every day!!
Tomorrow we will go to Denver and stay at Buckley Air Force Base. Our friends George and Pat are camped there with their RV. We are looking forward to spending a few days with them and seeing David and Chris and family. We will then head home to give our girls a big hug and to see our Tucson Family of friends.
We did SKYPE with Molly, Samantha and Kirsten tonight and cannot wait to give real hugs vs. syber hugs.
We thank you all for your prayers for our safe travels.
Quote that we found that reminds us of our friends ----"Everytime you cross our mind, we think how lucky we have been, to have you as our special friends."
God Bless you all and we are keeping you all in our daily prayers.
Love ,
WOW, I am doing a blog again this week. Tom and I left Waterloo on Thursday morning and arrived in Omaha, Nebraska about 2 PM. Iowa is mostly flat farmland and we had beautiful sunny skies as we drive across I 80. It was sad to see all the brown corn fields from lack of water. So many tractor trailor trucks on the road. IT is good to see that one profession apparently has job security. We checked into billeting at the O'Malley Inn at Auffit Air Force Base and got settled in and then called Mark who came and picked us and took us to their lovely home. Mark and Linda were stationed in Tucson. Mark was at the Security Forces with Tom and Linda worked with Maryann at the clinic. Matthew and Kayla are their children....well young adults now. It seems the last we saw them was about 20 years ago. We were able to sit and catch up on the past years and memories from Davis-Monthan AFB. Even got to see Matthew. Kayla was at work.
Sitting in their living room chatting was like had never been apart. We then went out for a nice dinner and then Mark drove us around and showed us around Auffit Air Force Base. Mark works as a civilian now that he has retired from the Air Force. You can tell that they are great parents and that they really enjoy life and have such good work ethics. Linda had also served in the Air Force before Maryann was lucky enough to work with her in the clinic. How great it is to be able to cross this great country and see our friends and family again. We arrived in York, Nebraska just in time to meet Merle and Erma Hillen for lunch. We were stationed in Cheyenne, Wyoming with them in 1970. They were our friends when we were just dating. We had not seen them for ...hmmm maybe 30 years. Once again it was like we had just been together last week...just had more news to catch up on. We had a 3+ hour and as we drove away, we just thank God again for having such lifelong friends. As we drive toward Cheyenne, Wyoming, we see many more brown fields due to no rain...but have a beautiful blue sky that turns into a wonderful sunset. We talk about how fun it will be in Cheyenne again as that is where we met in 1970 and then we returned there as a family from 1980 to 1984. We arrive at F. E. Warren AFB and check into billeting. When Tom comes out with our assigned billet, it is building 44 and Maryann remarks that that sounds so familiar. AND it turns out that building 44 is the building that Maryann lived in as her first assignment as a LT. in the Air
Force. We arrived at building 44 and how fun that the room we were assigned is right across the hall from where Maryann lived when she was here active duty. We are staying in the room Maryann's friend, Darlene use to live in. What wonderful memories we have of our "young days" here. We called our friend, Judy who we met when we were here in 1980-1984 on our way here. Judy and her John had visited us in Tucson about 20 years ago and we had not seen them since. What friends can you call at the last minute and they arrange to spend the entire next day with you...Judy and John! We met them at their home and went to breakfast and then back to their home to catch up on our lives and their daughter, Penny and family. Judy is quite the frame maker, artist, upholsterer, seamstress, and builds cedar chest, stools, and anything else one would want built or sewn! John of course helps her and finds her treasures to redo. What a team they are. We had such fun seeing all their wonders...and Judy even let us choose a treasure to take home! We spent the afternoon sharing great stories and lots of laughter with Judy and John...what a relaxing time. Then we went to the American Kennel Association Dog Show. This was a first for us and it was really fun. Another event to cross off our Bucket List. Judy is a PLETHORA of knowledge about dog shows so what a treat for us at our first dog show! John took us to a fun sports bar for dinner and he recommended their margaritas and Tom had two as they were great!! Then we went back to their home and it was nearly 10 PM when we were saying our fond farewells to John and Judy. We could not have planned a better day! As we read over this writing, once again we are so appreciative of such great people in our lives and do KNOW HOW BLESSED we are to have had all those we call friends come into our life. We do not think that it was just by chance that we came to know them but that God put us in the right place to have them in our lives.
Today we walked over to the chapel for mass and then walked around the area where we shared such memories. We feel so at home on the base since we met here and then came back here and spent 4 years when the girls were in elementry school. F. E. Warren is the oldest continuously active military installation within the Air Force. It was established in 1867 by the calvary. It is now the home of the 90th Missile Wing which is one of three strategic missile bases in the United States. It has the old red brick building with portches that were built between 1885 and 1933. It also has a beautiful parade field and there are antelope roaming in small herds all over the base. Of all the bases we have lived on or visited, this is and always be the most special...it is like coming home to our roots. As we walked today, it was good to feel the Cheyenne winds on our face. The Cheyenne winds are like none other and there is wind every day!!
Tomorrow we will go to Denver and stay at Buckley Air Force Base. Our friends George and Pat are camped there with their RV. We are looking forward to spending a few days with them and seeing David and Chris and family. We will then head home to give our girls a big hug and to see our Tucson Family of friends.
We did SKYPE with Molly, Samantha and Kirsten tonight and cannot wait to give real hugs vs. syber hugs.
We thank you all for your prayers for our safe travels.
Quote that we found that reminds us of our friends ----"Everytime you cross our mind, we think how lucky we have been, to have you as our special friends."
God Bless you all and we are keeping you all in our daily prayers.
Love ,
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