Thursday, June 12, 2014
11 June 2014 Fourth Cliff Recreation Area- Marshfield, Massachusetts
11 June 2014
Good Morning.
I am sitting here looking out over the Atlantic Ocean with a beautiful blue sky and the Atlantic looks like calm waters today. Tom, Pete, Pat and George have gone golfing in Plymouth, Ma this morning...and what a day to be on the golf course!!
I am not sure where the days have gone since last posted the 26 of May but think the reason may be that have just been busy making new memories!
We left Groton, Conn on 27 May and spent the night in Newport Rhode Island at the Navy Lodge...what a lovely little town. Then we drove the coast road most of the way to Pete and Linda's in Mashpee on Cape Cod. OF course we had to stop at Lindsey's for lunch on our way. Lindsey's is our favorite seafood restaurant. Tom had his favorite Clam Chowder and I had the wonderful Corn Chowder with the best bread!! AND found that they will have their famous Strawberry Shortcake starting 1 June! We do plan more visits at Lindsey's before we leave the Cape!!
It was so nice to be with Pete and Linda again. Their home in Mashpee is just so comfortable and has the feeling of being on the Cape! They had made a great pot roast for dinner and then we , of course had to play some Skipo and Dice! We spent the next day shopping and preparing food to take with us on Friday when we caught the Ferry to Nantucket. And we also make time to go for Ice Cream!! We made Linda's wonderful spaghetti recipe too so could have on the island.
Friday Morning we went to Hyannis to meet George and Becky ( Linda's cousins) to take the Ferry to Nantucket. All 6 or us had to "squeeze" into Pete's car as he drove the car onto the Ferry...felt like the "Keystone Cops" as we climbed out! The Ferry ride was great, it took about 2.5 hours to cross as we were on the car ferry...did I mention I love taking the Ferry??? When we arrived in Nantucket, we again had to squeeze ourselves into the car.. of course George had to hold the cooler on his lap in the front and I had to sit on Tom's lap in the back ...did I mention we also had stuff on the floor in the back.....? We ONLY had about 10 miles to drive to our cottage. We did stop again for lunch before we got to the cottage and it seemed I was getting more adapt to getting out of the back seat without falling out when the door opened! Do I have to tell you how much we were laughing!!! Our cottage on Nantucket was at the Coast Guard Station housing area in Siasconset on the east side of the island. It was like being in the country. How picture perfect the homes and the yards with such beautiful blooming flowers and the American Flag flown in so many of the yards. We were just about 10 minutes from the harbor and center of Nantucket town...depending on traffic. Of course Pete and Linda knew the best local places to eat and we certainly were not disappointed with the food we consumed during our time on the Island.
We spent the weekend checking out the area, walking and just enjoying the company! It was rather windy the first few days so Maryann (me) was wearing her 'Cuddle Duds" and Linda her hooded jacket!! Tom cooked us wonderful breakfasts too. It was great getting to know George and Becky too. Pete was the driver and got us safely where we wanted to go! While we were walking in town, found a beautiful older Catholic Church so were able to attend Mass there on Saturday. Sunday afternoon we bid farewell to Becky and George as they caught the fast ferry ( only takes an hour to get back to Hyannis on the fast ferry).
George and Pat Cannode arrived at Otis AFB in Buzzard's Bay on Saturday in their RV and took the ferry to Nantucket on Monday. We picked them up at the ferry. We were so happy to see them as had not been together since last fall. Pete, Tom, Pat and George were up early each morning to take a walk. Linda and I stayed home and kept the cottage secure...hmmm. Pete took us around to all the "must see" attractions on the Island. Oh, forgot to tell you , once we unpacked the car...had that 3rd seat in the back of the car so was less crowded. I claimed that seat....of course several times, one could not use the words "with grace" when watching me get out!! It was good comedy...
We spent time walking all around the center of town...lots of cobble stone streets...seeing historic homes. Visited the Whaling Museum, Lifeboat Museum, Nantucket Basket Museum, Firehose Museum and just every historical area on the map. We discovered that most of the Nantucket Woven Baskets are designed on Nantucket but made in Japan or China..and they are still expensive. One has to look carefully to see this on the bottom of the basket. Talked to some folks that live on Nantucket and they do not like this either. Maybe should be named Nantucket China Baskets!! We also drove most every road on the Island seeing and walking about really neat light houses...and beautiful beaches. We were able to see the "crooked house" owned by "Mr. Rogers" too. We had good weather most of the week except for one day of rain...but as the saying goes "into each life some rain must fall".... We were all together so that was what mattered!! Spent time playing cards, dice and of course watching the Boston Red Sock's play baseball....and of course LAUGHING!! Tom spent a great deal of time making remarks about George (Cannode) and I spent the same amount of time defending my friend!! We have been friends 30+ years....
Everyone helped get meals ready and clean up etc....just like the family that we are.
Friday, we packed up and back to the Ferry we went. Pat and George took the very earlier Ferry but Pete and Linda and Tom and I took a later Ferry. It was a beautiful day on the water. The four of us found a nice table to sit and play Uno on our way back to the mainland as we watched out the windows at the beautiful water and sky. Did I mention how blessed we are?
Tom and I said farewell to Pete and Linda on our return and headed to Fourth Cliff Recreation Area about an hour from Mashpee. It is right on the coast of Massachutes. We had a cottage rented here for a week so we could spend a week with George and Pat Cannode who had rented a RV site here for a week too. WE are neighbors....they are just around the curve from us. Our cottage is on a small hill overlooking the water. The view of the Atlantic Ocean is out our living room/kitchen windows and the scenic North River is our view as we sit on our little porch out the back. This AF recreation area is in a town called Marshfield. We have been exploring the towns near us, laughing, eating Ice Cream most everyday, walking on the beaches, did I mention laughing? and checking out the local small towns for some meals. We went to Hingham ( about an hour from here if lots of traffic) and caught the early morning ferry to Boston on Sunday. The ocean was calm and the sky so blue and such a sunny day. The Ferry ride was beautiful as we sat on the top and enjoyed seeing all the islands etc on our way to Boston. We had a very friendly captain and crew and another passenger was very friendly and shared some places we needed to see with us. We walked the Freedom Trail ( 2.5 miles) around Boston historic area. First we stopped at Mike's Bakery on the North End and had the best Boston Cream Pie and Cannoli's. We were not hungry for the rest of the day. It was a beautiful day in Boston. We also took the harbor ferry from the Charleston Navy Yard back to Long Wharf. We found out that if you are prior military, can ride for free. Free is always good!! As we ended our day at Boston Common's Park, we decided to take the metro back to the Wharf to catch our Ferry. We checked the Map and then asked one of the Metro guys what was the best way to go....hmmm he must of seen George's Denver Bronco Cap as we ended up what felt like a mile from where we were to catch the ferry....hmmmm Tom had said we should take the Blue Line vs. the Silver Line....and he was right AGAIN ..but we did think that the Metro staff would know better....can't be wearing that Bronco hat in Boston anymore, George!! We just made it to our ferry as it docked so were on our way back to Hingham within minutes of arriving at the dock!! Even though we were not "hungary" ...we decided to eat at Wahlberg"s on the wharf at Hingham (owned by Donnie/Mark Wahlberg's brothers). We were able to sit outside as was still beautiful weather. Of course much of the day was spent smiling and laughing so much that at times was difficult to talk!!
We have been able to see some beautiful sunsets and sunrises here at Fourth Cliff. Tom, Pat and George are getting up early each morning and walking. I am staying behind to make sure all is secure while they are gone.....NOT REALLY....sleeping here has been so good!!
Monday we went to Hull Island. I had talked to a girl on the ferry and she suggested going there to breakfast at "Toast" as to be a great place. Did you know that most restaurants in this area are closed on Monday's...well , they are! We did find another place that was open for breakfast, but we plan on going back tomorrow to check out the breakfast at "Toast". We then walked about the beach called "Long Beach". Had some beautiful colorful rocks and shells that we were able to collect to take with us. Tom was even collecting some for my sister!! Hull is also the home of one of the oldest Merry-Go-Rounds in the U.S. One of the guys working there was kind enough to open one of the doors so we could take pictures. It was absolutely beautiful. It does not open until this weekend. So I guess we will have to return to Hull Island some time to ride it.
We have been taking turns cooking dinner with Pat and George. Did I mention how much we are laughing?
Tuesday it rained all night and most of the day so we went out to do some errands. We looked on Trip-advisor and found a place called "Wildflower Cafe" in Duxbury. WOW, the best breakfast we have had and such a nice little cafe. The waitress was just so nice too. George had a pancake that took up his entire "dinner size" plate and then some. It was so fluffy and light. Tom and Pat had homemade blueberry, raspberry and banana bread french toast with carmel maple syrup...huge servings. I had the best scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, fried cornbread and Boston bake beans. The freshly made butter and homemade strawberry jelly was also just wonderful. We left there thinking we would never be hungry again. A few hours later as we walked on the waterfront of Plymouth...somehow forced ourselves to have a twist cone of ice cream!!
Once again, we vowed that would only have soup for dinner that evening when we met Pete, Linda, George, Becky, Ellen and Kenny for dinner at this great local sea food place in Marshfield.
Hmmm....so we had clam chowder and lobster rolls and wonderful homemade hot rolls at dinner with them...but in our defense....we did not eat anything before we went to bed last night. After dinner we all came back to our cottage and spent some time together. How blessed we are to be away form home in Tucson, and have such great friends (who ARE now family) here to talk and laugh with....yes we laughed a lot!!
George also taught us a new card game called "13" yesterday afternoon! Of course George won both games. I guess the rules are that "the score keeper always wins"? Today we had a nice lunch overlooking the waterfront at a place just down the road called "Bridgewaye". Decided to take some time this afternoon and play some cards...Skipo and ". Once again, we spent lots of time laughing. Tom and George made dinner for us before we took a walk along the beach of the North River. The tide was way out so were able to walk way out. Of course we had to come home and eat some Ice Cream.
We will be here with Pat and George until Friday when we will once again go to Mashpee to spend a few days with Pete and Linda before we head to Lancaster PA to make memories with Peggy and Larry and family. Oh, we will also have to go to Lindsey's and have their strawberry shortcake before we leave the Cape too!!
We thank God and Saint Christopher everyday for our safe travels and all who travel with us or pass us by.
We keep you all in our daily prayer and send our love and hugs.
A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more. ~~
Here are some pictures form our travels
Sunrise out our front window at Fourth Cliff
Breakfast at Wildflower in Duxbury
Ready to board the car ferry to Nantucket..Pete,Linda, George, Becky, Tom and Maryann
Had to have a twist cone on the waterfront at Plymouth, Mass
Tom and Maryann in front of the Cottage on Nuntucket
Hyannis to Nantucket Ferry
Tom cooking for us all
Tom and Maryann taking a break on near the river at Fourth Cliff
Pat and George and Tom watching the sunset at our cottage at Fourth Cliff
Taking the ferry from Hingham to Boston for a day exploring Boston
Maryann at Long Beach in Hull, Mass
George, Pat and Tom checking the map in Boston Commons Park, Boston
Having ice cream....AGAIN in Marshfield
Checking our the beach in Nantucket
Good Morning.
I am sitting here looking out over the Atlantic Ocean with a beautiful blue sky and the Atlantic looks like calm waters today. Tom, Pete, Pat and George have gone golfing in Plymouth, Ma this morning...and what a day to be on the golf course!!
I am not sure where the days have gone since last posted the 26 of May but think the reason may be that have just been busy making new memories!
We left Groton, Conn on 27 May and spent the night in Newport Rhode Island at the Navy Lodge...what a lovely little town. Then we drove the coast road most of the way to Pete and Linda's in Mashpee on Cape Cod. OF course we had to stop at Lindsey's for lunch on our way. Lindsey's is our favorite seafood restaurant. Tom had his favorite Clam Chowder and I had the wonderful Corn Chowder with the best bread!! AND found that they will have their famous Strawberry Shortcake starting 1 June! We do plan more visits at Lindsey's before we leave the Cape!!
It was so nice to be with Pete and Linda again. Their home in Mashpee is just so comfortable and has the feeling of being on the Cape! They had made a great pot roast for dinner and then we , of course had to play some Skipo and Dice! We spent the next day shopping and preparing food to take with us on Friday when we caught the Ferry to Nantucket. And we also make time to go for Ice Cream!! We made Linda's wonderful spaghetti recipe too so could have on the island.
Friday Morning we went to Hyannis to meet George and Becky ( Linda's cousins) to take the Ferry to Nantucket. All 6 or us had to "squeeze" into Pete's car as he drove the car onto the Ferry...felt like the "Keystone Cops" as we climbed out! The Ferry ride was great, it took about 2.5 hours to cross as we were on the car ferry...did I mention I love taking the Ferry??? When we arrived in Nantucket, we again had to squeeze ourselves into the car.. of course George had to hold the cooler on his lap in the front and I had to sit on Tom's lap in the back ...did I mention we also had stuff on the floor in the back.....? We ONLY had about 10 miles to drive to our cottage. We did stop again for lunch before we got to the cottage and it seemed I was getting more adapt to getting out of the back seat without falling out when the door opened! Do I have to tell you how much we were laughing!!! Our cottage on Nantucket was at the Coast Guard Station housing area in Siasconset on the east side of the island. It was like being in the country. How picture perfect the homes and the yards with such beautiful blooming flowers and the American Flag flown in so many of the yards. We were just about 10 minutes from the harbor and center of Nantucket town...depending on traffic. Of course Pete and Linda knew the best local places to eat and we certainly were not disappointed with the food we consumed during our time on the Island.
We spent the weekend checking out the area, walking and just enjoying the company! It was rather windy the first few days so Maryann (me) was wearing her 'Cuddle Duds" and Linda her hooded jacket!! Tom cooked us wonderful breakfasts too. It was great getting to know George and Becky too. Pete was the driver and got us safely where we wanted to go! While we were walking in town, found a beautiful older Catholic Church so were able to attend Mass there on Saturday. Sunday afternoon we bid farewell to Becky and George as they caught the fast ferry ( only takes an hour to get back to Hyannis on the fast ferry).
George and Pat Cannode arrived at Otis AFB in Buzzard's Bay on Saturday in their RV and took the ferry to Nantucket on Monday. We picked them up at the ferry. We were so happy to see them as had not been together since last fall. Pete, Tom, Pat and George were up early each morning to take a walk. Linda and I stayed home and kept the cottage secure...hmmm. Pete took us around to all the "must see" attractions on the Island. Oh, forgot to tell you , once we unpacked the car...had that 3rd seat in the back of the car so was less crowded. I claimed that seat....of course several times, one could not use the words "with grace" when watching me get out!! It was good comedy...
We spent time walking all around the center of town...lots of cobble stone streets...seeing historic homes. Visited the Whaling Museum, Lifeboat Museum, Nantucket Basket Museum, Firehose Museum and just every historical area on the map. We discovered that most of the Nantucket Woven Baskets are designed on Nantucket but made in Japan or China..and they are still expensive. One has to look carefully to see this on the bottom of the basket. Talked to some folks that live on Nantucket and they do not like this either. Maybe should be named Nantucket China Baskets!! We also drove most every road on the Island seeing and walking about really neat light houses...and beautiful beaches. We were able to see the "crooked house" owned by "Mr. Rogers" too. We had good weather most of the week except for one day of rain...but as the saying goes "into each life some rain must fall".... We were all together so that was what mattered!! Spent time playing cards, dice and of course watching the Boston Red Sock's play baseball....and of course LAUGHING!! Tom spent a great deal of time making remarks about George (Cannode) and I spent the same amount of time defending my friend!! We have been friends 30+ years....
Everyone helped get meals ready and clean up etc....just like the family that we are.
Friday, we packed up and back to the Ferry we went. Pat and George took the very earlier Ferry but Pete and Linda and Tom and I took a later Ferry. It was a beautiful day on the water. The four of us found a nice table to sit and play Uno on our way back to the mainland as we watched out the windows at the beautiful water and sky. Did I mention how blessed we are?
Tom and I said farewell to Pete and Linda on our return and headed to Fourth Cliff Recreation Area about an hour from Mashpee. It is right on the coast of Massachutes. We had a cottage rented here for a week so we could spend a week with George and Pat Cannode who had rented a RV site here for a week too. WE are neighbors....they are just around the curve from us. Our cottage is on a small hill overlooking the water. The view of the Atlantic Ocean is out our living room/kitchen windows and the scenic North River is our view as we sit on our little porch out the back. This AF recreation area is in a town called Marshfield. We have been exploring the towns near us, laughing, eating Ice Cream most everyday, walking on the beaches, did I mention laughing? and checking out the local small towns for some meals. We went to Hingham ( about an hour from here if lots of traffic) and caught the early morning ferry to Boston on Sunday. The ocean was calm and the sky so blue and such a sunny day. The Ferry ride was beautiful as we sat on the top and enjoyed seeing all the islands etc on our way to Boston. We had a very friendly captain and crew and another passenger was very friendly and shared some places we needed to see with us. We walked the Freedom Trail ( 2.5 miles) around Boston historic area. First we stopped at Mike's Bakery on the North End and had the best Boston Cream Pie and Cannoli's. We were not hungry for the rest of the day. It was a beautiful day in Boston. We also took the harbor ferry from the Charleston Navy Yard back to Long Wharf. We found out that if you are prior military, can ride for free. Free is always good!! As we ended our day at Boston Common's Park, we decided to take the metro back to the Wharf to catch our Ferry. We checked the Map and then asked one of the Metro guys what was the best way to go....hmmm he must of seen George's Denver Bronco Cap as we ended up what felt like a mile from where we were to catch the ferry....hmmmm Tom had said we should take the Blue Line vs. the Silver Line....and he was right AGAIN ..but we did think that the Metro staff would know better....can't be wearing that Bronco hat in Boston anymore, George!! We just made it to our ferry as it docked so were on our way back to Hingham within minutes of arriving at the dock!! Even though we were not "hungary" ...we decided to eat at Wahlberg"s on the wharf at Hingham (owned by Donnie/Mark Wahlberg's brothers). We were able to sit outside as was still beautiful weather. Of course much of the day was spent smiling and laughing so much that at times was difficult to talk!!
We have been able to see some beautiful sunsets and sunrises here at Fourth Cliff. Tom, Pat and George are getting up early each morning and walking. I am staying behind to make sure all is secure while they are gone.....NOT REALLY....sleeping here has been so good!!
Monday we went to Hull Island. I had talked to a girl on the ferry and she suggested going there to breakfast at "Toast" as to be a great place. Did you know that most restaurants in this area are closed on Monday's...well , they are! We did find another place that was open for breakfast, but we plan on going back tomorrow to check out the breakfast at "Toast". We then walked about the beach called "Long Beach". Had some beautiful colorful rocks and shells that we were able to collect to take with us. Tom was even collecting some for my sister!! Hull is also the home of one of the oldest Merry-Go-Rounds in the U.S. One of the guys working there was kind enough to open one of the doors so we could take pictures. It was absolutely beautiful. It does not open until this weekend. So I guess we will have to return to Hull Island some time to ride it.
We have been taking turns cooking dinner with Pat and George. Did I mention how much we are laughing?
Tuesday it rained all night and most of the day so we went out to do some errands. We looked on Trip-advisor and found a place called "Wildflower Cafe" in Duxbury. WOW, the best breakfast we have had and such a nice little cafe. The waitress was just so nice too. George had a pancake that took up his entire "dinner size" plate and then some. It was so fluffy and light. Tom and Pat had homemade blueberry, raspberry and banana bread french toast with carmel maple syrup...huge servings. I had the best scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, fried cornbread and Boston bake beans. The freshly made butter and homemade strawberry jelly was also just wonderful. We left there thinking we would never be hungry again. A few hours later as we walked on the waterfront of Plymouth...somehow forced ourselves to have a twist cone of ice cream!!
Once again, we vowed that would only have soup for dinner that evening when we met Pete, Linda, George, Becky, Ellen and Kenny for dinner at this great local sea food place in Marshfield.
Hmmm....so we had clam chowder and lobster rolls and wonderful homemade hot rolls at dinner with them...but in our defense....we did not eat anything before we went to bed last night. After dinner we all came back to our cottage and spent some time together. How blessed we are to be away form home in Tucson, and have such great friends (who ARE now family) here to talk and laugh with....yes we laughed a lot!!
George also taught us a new card game called "13" yesterday afternoon! Of course George won both games. I guess the rules are that "the score keeper always wins"? Today we had a nice lunch overlooking the waterfront at a place just down the road called "Bridgewaye". Decided to take some time this afternoon and play some cards...Skipo and ". Once again, we spent lots of time laughing. Tom and George made dinner for us before we took a walk along the beach of the North River. The tide was way out so were able to walk way out. Of course we had to come home and eat some Ice Cream.
We will be here with Pat and George until Friday when we will once again go to Mashpee to spend a few days with Pete and Linda before we head to Lancaster PA to make memories with Peggy and Larry and family. Oh, we will also have to go to Lindsey's and have their strawberry shortcake before we leave the Cape too!!
We thank God and Saint Christopher everyday for our safe travels and all who travel with us or pass us by.
We keep you all in our daily prayer and send our love and hugs.
A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more. ~~
Here are some pictures form our travels
Sunrise form our cottage at Fourth Cliff
Monday, May 26, 2014
26 May 2014 Memorial Day
Monday Evening .....Groton, Conn
Memorial Day is especially important as we are reminded daily of the great sacrifices that the men and women and their families of the armed services make every moment to defend our way of life. May God keep his arms around each of those brave Americans and each of us.
Tonight we are in Groton, Conn. We left Karthaus, Pa this morning and are on our way to Pete and Linda's in Mashpee, Ma.
When I last did our blog, we were in Annapolis, Maryland. We left Annapolis and traveled to Patuxent River, Maryland. We were so glad to be able to spend time with Jim, Sharon, Anthony and Rachel Lettner. We were stationed in Germany with Jim and Sharon before they had Anthony and Rackel...who are in high-school now! We really enjoyed getting to know them and catching up with Jim and Sharon.
We left the next morning....25th of April and headed to Lancaster, Pa. We had reservations to see Bill Engvall that evening. Of course Peggy and Larry had a lovely dinner for us before the four of us headed to the American Music Hall in Lancaster. We had wanted to see him in concert for some time so had to take the opportunity to see him in Lancaster....and being able to see him with Peggy and Larry was an added bonus. He did keep us laughing!! We were able to visit Dad Reinhart and their Uncle Jim,Aunt Doris, Peggy's son in law Dan and 2 of their sons before we went to Keith and Lisa's for dessert on Monday evening. It was good to see Parker, Elisabeth and Brendan again and were treated with a great song on the piano from Elisabeth and then Brendan played the guitar while he and his Grandpa Larry sang a song!! We also stopped by to see Maryann's Aunt Annie before we left for Karthaus on the 29th of April. We spent the first couple of weeks at Mary Ann's Mom's helping out around the house and were able to see Diane, Paul, Lisa and Aunt Ethel and Aunt Liz. Tom and Kenny were able to spent quality time at camp and going out looking for Elk nearly every evening. One night they saw 55 Elk!
Tom and I went down to camp and spent a day with Tom and Joan. We saw several deer on our trip down and back and also saw 1 elk. Joan and Tom had a nice dinner for us and then we played cards..tried a new game "SWAP". We laughed so hard our ribs hurt!! We also took a walk.
Maryann and her friend Janet went to lunch one day to catch up. We were so glad that we were home to be able to attend Julie and Denny's daughter's graduation from Penn State College in Architectural Engineering. Maryann was able to help Julie (Carol and Kenny's daughter) shop and prepare food for Chelsea's party on Saturday evening. We went to dinner with Denny and Julie, Kenny, Tyler and Chelsea and Jay's (Chelsea's boyfriend) family before the graduation. We also shared how we really missed my sister Carol and how she would have just been so proud to see Chelsea graduate. I know that she has a window in heaven that she can look down and be with us! I will always cherish the time I spent with Julie.
We also got to see Steven, Kim and their 4 beautiful children at Chelsea's party.
Joan and Tom came up from camp for Mother's Day and we made Mom Soup as she loves soup and then we all played dice and bingo with Mom. We even had Bingo prizes and of course Mom won most of the games as she should as it was Mother's Day. We also celebrated long distance Carrie's first Mother's Day with Emme and with Kelly and girls. We also remembered the day that Emme and Eiza were born one year ago on Mother's Day AND how lucky we were to have Eiza with us even if only for 20 hours before she went to be held in Jesus's loving arms. Carrie had a birthday party for Emme at the park in Tucson and also remembered Eiza with special words and left balloons go to heaven in remembrance of our Eiza. Emme had 55 of her friends in the park to help her celebrate being One. She is now 13 pounds and 7 ounces! Emme is now seeing a pediatric GI specialist for her reflux. Emme is also seeing physical and occupational therapy to help strengthen her leg muscles. She was doing the belly crawl but with just starting the PT, has improved so she is crawling with her knees now. What an amazing year she has had! We are so proud of her and her Mom!
The start of a new week and we began to get ready for Carrie and Emme's visit on 15 May. They were to arrive in State College, about an hour from Mom's but the flights were canceled into State College due to weather so flew into Harrisburg. Carrie called us from Chicago and Tom and I threw our toothbrushes in a bag and headed for Harrisburg (about 3+ hours from Karthaus). Had very heavy rains on our way down the mountain so decided not to try to come back over the mountain in the fog.
We called Peggy and Larry in Lancaster and arrived to spend the night with them about 10:30 PM!
How blessed are we to have such special people in our lives that even had a "pak-n-play" for Emme to sleep in! So Emme was able to meet our Peggy and Larry, who are so special to us! We stopped into see my Aunt Ethel in Harrisburg before we headed to Karthaus the next morning.
My Mom was so excited to meet and hold Emme. Emme was very good on the flight from Tucson and on the drive to my Mom's. Emme was always ready to meet her cousins and aunties etc ....even if she had just fallen asleep ..she would wake up and give them her Emme Smile! Let me list all the family members that she met.... Auntie Joan and Tom, Aunt Liz, cousins Vicki, Becky, Diane, Paul, Steven, Roseann, Jeff, Sarah, Camyrn, Maddie, Ethan, Emma, Adam, Carrie, and Uncle Kenny, Auntie Janet, Auntie Julie in just a week. Her cousin Camyrn(6) even gave Emme some of the stuffed animals she had when she was a baby! During the days in Karthaus, Emme spent her time playing with my Mom, going to the park, swinging on the porch swing with my Mom (family tradition) and just getting lots of hugs and kisses from Nana and Granddad and her Great Grandmother. Emme adjusted very well to her new adventure except that she would get over tired and so we took turns waking up with her at night...but she always had smiles for us even in the middle of the night...so who could complain!!!! NOT Nana and Granddad!!
Granddad watched Emme one evening so Carrie, Maryann's Mom and Maryann could go to town to the Movie. Maryann's Mom had not been to a movie in over 30 years!! We saw "Heaven is for Real". Really a good movie to see. Maryann used to go to the same theater when she was growing up. They had upgraded the sound and the projection etc....but the seats were most likely the same as still seemed to have the same lumps in the cushions as had 50 years ago!! While we were home, we spent evenings playing a dice game with Maryann's Mom. She turned 91 this April and loves to play dice...of course she is still the champion as "again this year" won most of the games.
Carrie and Emme left on 24 April and are safely at home. We talked to them today and it seems that Emme is getting back to her usual schedule. Of course Buddi was glad to see them both but is getting more exercise today as Emme is crawling further and faster these days...
We talked to Kelly and girls every few days. Buddi stayed with Kelly and Bryan while Carrie and Emme were here with us. Molly, Samantha and Kirsten just finished their school year, They were all excited when we last talked as met their teachers for next year and all really liked the teachers that they will have. Pete and Linda, Bryan's parents stopped by Karthaus and spent a night with us before they continued on their way to Mashpee from Tucson.
We are now on our way to Mashpee to spend time with Pete and Linda. Tom and I and Pete and Linda will be going to Nantucket Island for a week on Friday. Linda's cousin and her husband will travel with us for the weekend and then Pat and George Cannode will join us on Monday. They are in Ohio and will be on their way the end of the week so can travel to Nantucket on Monday. We will be glad to see them as have not seen them since they were in Tucson last fall.
Tom and I are spending the night in Groton, Conn. We spent some time this afternoon, walking around Avery Point where there is one of the oldest light houses and then went over to New London, Conn to check out the area. Tomorrow we will head up to Newport, Rhode Island for the night before we go to Mashpee on Wednesday Morning to spend time with Pete and Linda before we all leave for Nantucket on Friday.
The drive here through the mountains was beautiful today. Such varied colors of green. We were surprised to see that the traffic was heavy about 10 AM. However we were very pleased that we were going East and not West. The traffic coming East was barely moving and was bumper to bumper due to the amount of traffic to get back to PA from the coast today.
As we were talking today how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends in our life over the years, we decided that we don't have friends....since all our friends ARE FAMILY to us! We thank each one of you for keeping us in your daily thoughts and prayers.
I will once again try to post some pictures....
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. ~Khalil Gibran
Sending our love and hugs,
Keeping you all in our daily prayers,
Tom and Maryann
Memorial Day is especially important as we are reminded daily of the great sacrifices that the men and women and their families of the armed services make every moment to defend our way of life. May God keep his arms around each of those brave Americans and each of us.
Tonight we are in Groton, Conn. We left Karthaus, Pa this morning and are on our way to Pete and Linda's in Mashpee, Ma.
When I last did our blog, we were in Annapolis, Maryland. We left Annapolis and traveled to Patuxent River, Maryland. We were so glad to be able to spend time with Jim, Sharon, Anthony and Rachel Lettner. We were stationed in Germany with Jim and Sharon before they had Anthony and Rackel...who are in high-school now! We really enjoyed getting to know them and catching up with Jim and Sharon.
We left the next morning....25th of April and headed to Lancaster, Pa. We had reservations to see Bill Engvall that evening. Of course Peggy and Larry had a lovely dinner for us before the four of us headed to the American Music Hall in Lancaster. We had wanted to see him in concert for some time so had to take the opportunity to see him in Lancaster....and being able to see him with Peggy and Larry was an added bonus. He did keep us laughing!! We were able to visit Dad Reinhart and their Uncle Jim,Aunt Doris, Peggy's son in law Dan and 2 of their sons before we went to Keith and Lisa's for dessert on Monday evening. It was good to see Parker, Elisabeth and Brendan again and were treated with a great song on the piano from Elisabeth and then Brendan played the guitar while he and his Grandpa Larry sang a song!! We also stopped by to see Maryann's Aunt Annie before we left for Karthaus on the 29th of April. We spent the first couple of weeks at Mary Ann's Mom's helping out around the house and were able to see Diane, Paul, Lisa and Aunt Ethel and Aunt Liz. Tom and Kenny were able to spent quality time at camp and going out looking for Elk nearly every evening. One night they saw 55 Elk!
Tom and I went down to camp and spent a day with Tom and Joan. We saw several deer on our trip down and back and also saw 1 elk. Joan and Tom had a nice dinner for us and then we played cards..tried a new game "SWAP". We laughed so hard our ribs hurt!! We also took a walk.
Maryann and her friend Janet went to lunch one day to catch up. We were so glad that we were home to be able to attend Julie and Denny's daughter's graduation from Penn State College in Architectural Engineering. Maryann was able to help Julie (Carol and Kenny's daughter) shop and prepare food for Chelsea's party on Saturday evening. We went to dinner with Denny and Julie, Kenny, Tyler and Chelsea and Jay's (Chelsea's boyfriend) family before the graduation. We also shared how we really missed my sister Carol and how she would have just been so proud to see Chelsea graduate. I know that she has a window in heaven that she can look down and be with us! I will always cherish the time I spent with Julie.
We also got to see Steven, Kim and their 4 beautiful children at Chelsea's party.
Joan and Tom came up from camp for Mother's Day and we made Mom Soup as she loves soup and then we all played dice and bingo with Mom. We even had Bingo prizes and of course Mom won most of the games as she should as it was Mother's Day. We also celebrated long distance Carrie's first Mother's Day with Emme and with Kelly and girls. We also remembered the day that Emme and Eiza were born one year ago on Mother's Day AND how lucky we were to have Eiza with us even if only for 20 hours before she went to be held in Jesus's loving arms. Carrie had a birthday party for Emme at the park in Tucson and also remembered Eiza with special words and left balloons go to heaven in remembrance of our Eiza. Emme had 55 of her friends in the park to help her celebrate being One. She is now 13 pounds and 7 ounces! Emme is now seeing a pediatric GI specialist for her reflux. Emme is also seeing physical and occupational therapy to help strengthen her leg muscles. She was doing the belly crawl but with just starting the PT, has improved so she is crawling with her knees now. What an amazing year she has had! We are so proud of her and her Mom!
The start of a new week and we began to get ready for Carrie and Emme's visit on 15 May. They were to arrive in State College, about an hour from Mom's but the flights were canceled into State College due to weather so flew into Harrisburg. Carrie called us from Chicago and Tom and I threw our toothbrushes in a bag and headed for Harrisburg (about 3+ hours from Karthaus). Had very heavy rains on our way down the mountain so decided not to try to come back over the mountain in the fog.
We called Peggy and Larry in Lancaster and arrived to spend the night with them about 10:30 PM!
How blessed are we to have such special people in our lives that even had a "pak-n-play" for Emme to sleep in! So Emme was able to meet our Peggy and Larry, who are so special to us! We stopped into see my Aunt Ethel in Harrisburg before we headed to Karthaus the next morning.
My Mom was so excited to meet and hold Emme. Emme was very good on the flight from Tucson and on the drive to my Mom's. Emme was always ready to meet her cousins and aunties etc ....even if she had just fallen asleep ..she would wake up and give them her Emme Smile! Let me list all the family members that she met.... Auntie Joan and Tom, Aunt Liz, cousins Vicki, Becky, Diane, Paul, Steven, Roseann, Jeff, Sarah, Camyrn, Maddie, Ethan, Emma, Adam, Carrie, and Uncle Kenny, Auntie Janet, Auntie Julie in just a week. Her cousin Camyrn(6) even gave Emme some of the stuffed animals she had when she was a baby! During the days in Karthaus, Emme spent her time playing with my Mom, going to the park, swinging on the porch swing with my Mom (family tradition) and just getting lots of hugs and kisses from Nana and Granddad and her Great Grandmother. Emme adjusted very well to her new adventure except that she would get over tired and so we took turns waking up with her at night...but she always had smiles for us even in the middle of the night...so who could complain!!!! NOT Nana and Granddad!!
Granddad watched Emme one evening so Carrie, Maryann's Mom and Maryann could go to town to the Movie. Maryann's Mom had not been to a movie in over 30 years!! We saw "Heaven is for Real". Really a good movie to see. Maryann used to go to the same theater when she was growing up. They had upgraded the sound and the projection etc....but the seats were most likely the same as still seemed to have the same lumps in the cushions as had 50 years ago!! While we were home, we spent evenings playing a dice game with Maryann's Mom. She turned 91 this April and loves to play dice...of course she is still the champion as "again this year" won most of the games.
Carrie and Emme left on 24 April and are safely at home. We talked to them today and it seems that Emme is getting back to her usual schedule. Of course Buddi was glad to see them both but is getting more exercise today as Emme is crawling further and faster these days...
We talked to Kelly and girls every few days. Buddi stayed with Kelly and Bryan while Carrie and Emme were here with us. Molly, Samantha and Kirsten just finished their school year, They were all excited when we last talked as met their teachers for next year and all really liked the teachers that they will have. Pete and Linda, Bryan's parents stopped by Karthaus and spent a night with us before they continued on their way to Mashpee from Tucson.
We are now on our way to Mashpee to spend time with Pete and Linda. Tom and I and Pete and Linda will be going to Nantucket Island for a week on Friday. Linda's cousin and her husband will travel with us for the weekend and then Pat and George Cannode will join us on Monday. They are in Ohio and will be on their way the end of the week so can travel to Nantucket on Monday. We will be glad to see them as have not seen them since they were in Tucson last fall.
Tom and I are spending the night in Groton, Conn. We spent some time this afternoon, walking around Avery Point where there is one of the oldest light houses and then went over to New London, Conn to check out the area. Tomorrow we will head up to Newport, Rhode Island for the night before we go to Mashpee on Wednesday Morning to spend time with Pete and Linda before we all leave for Nantucket on Friday.
The drive here through the mountains was beautiful today. Such varied colors of green. We were surprised to see that the traffic was heavy about 10 AM. However we were very pleased that we were going East and not West. The traffic coming East was barely moving and was bumper to bumper due to the amount of traffic to get back to PA from the coast today.
As we were talking today how blessed we are to have such wonderful friends in our life over the years, we decided that we don't have friends....since all our friends ARE FAMILY to us! We thank each one of you for keeping us in your daily thoughts and prayers.
I will once again try to post some pictures....
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity. ~Khalil Gibran
Sending our love and hugs,
Keeping you all in our daily prayers,
Tom and Maryann
Thursday, April 24, 2014
24 APRIL 2014
We are in Annapolis, Maryland for a couple days. We arrived yesterday, 23 April 2014.
Our last week in Florida with Charlotte and Bill went quickly. We were able to have birthday cake with Bill's Mom who turned 99. She told me she felt like she was 100...and when Bill said she was 99, she said "boy that is old"! We also went to Charlotte's doctor appointments with her and got great news that there was no sign of her breast cancer after their long year of appointments for chemotherapy and radiation therapy and surgery. She will have to take oral chemotherapy drugs and have routine follow up. What a blessing and thank you all who prayed for them. We also had to return to our favorite restaurants once again to have our favorite seafood and went to a couple other places to eat that certainly may be on our favorite list for the next time we visit...but the seafood will definitely remain our most favorite!! We truly love spending time with them in their home and traveling with them and thank God for the relationship we have with them. We have plans to see them in October in Tucson!!
We went to Orlando one day and met with Nancy and Chuck Berry. Tom was stationed with Nancy when he first came into Air Force and then we were all stationed in Japan together in 1971. Always nice to visit with them and catch up on their family. How special to be able to share hugs with our wonderful friends that we consider family.
We left Cocoa early on 20 April and spent Sunday night in Panama City, Florida. We had an early dinner with Mike Guyne. We were not able to see his wife MaryJo as she was in Arkansas. We were stationed with them in Hawaii. Had not seen them since we left Hawaii in 1984. Tom and Mike relived many "old AF days"...and the way it "was"!! Another fun evening with a forever friend!
Monday morning we were up early and headed to Panacea, Florida via the Costal Highway. What a beautiful drive. On the way, we decided that we would need to go back and spend some time exploring the area. In Panacea, we spent time with Mary (Fleming) and her husband Jon Andre. Mary and I went to Capital City School of Nursing in Washington D.C from 1966-1969. We had not seen each other since 1970 when she visited me in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They treated us to a nice lunch at Tropical Trader Shrimp Company. We then went to their home and to the beach near their home. We certainly need more visits to really catch up....and we will!! BUT it will be sooner than 44 years!!! We waved farewell to them and headed to Savannah, Georgia where we spent the night.
Tuesday Morning found us on the road to Cary, NC to have lunch with Lair and Mary Block. We had stopped at at rest stop and as I was walking into the visitor's center, a woman tripped and fell right next to me. She fell right on her face and left arm. Luckily she did not break her arm or hand but she had abrasions on her forehead, nose and under right eye...and was somewhat stunned. One of the staff got me some ice and I cleaned the blood and found that were only abrasions but she was still a little dizzy. Tom and her husband helped her get slowly up and walk a couple steps to sit down and they called 911 to come and assess her. They were on the road to New York so needed to be checked before they continued their long road trip. We left when the 911 medics arrived. Seemed like just needed her wounds cleaned before they could be on their way. She was aware of her surroundings and talking etc....just embarrassed that she had fallen. They had been in Florida, visiting their first great grandchild!! I told her now she has a story to tell her granddaughter about their trip to see her!!
SO...we were a little late for lunch. Lair and Mary have a beautiful home in Carey. Lair does a lot of work himself and his Mom was our friend Grace so she had showed us pictures but it was fun seeing in real time. Grace was a volunteer at the clinic with me who became family too. We had not met Mary before so was so good to get to meet her. Had a great lunch and fun catching up, talking and remembering Grace. We also hope to return to spend more time with them and see them in Tucson.
We left them and headed for Sugar Grove, West Virginia. We arrived in Sugar Grove a little after 9 PM. The last 15 miles to Sugar Grove was going up a mountain road with constant hair pin curves and switch back curves on a very dark night. We were amazed to get to Sugar Grove and go around the corner on the top of the mountain and there were all the lights of this small Navy Communications base. We had a nice two bedroom cottage right next to a lovely little stream...Tom wants to go back to do some fishing. We woke up to a rather chilly morning. We slept in and then checked out the base....everywhere we went people were just so friendly. It was just like being in a small town! On our way out the next morning, we decided to go thru the Appalachian Mountain to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains. We had been there when we lived in Virginia years ago. Even though it was winter it was still a beautiful drive. We stopped on the way and had a nice lunch and had a cone of Blackberry ice cream. Very good. We were lucky to see one turkey and then we saw a mother black bear with 2 cubs and then one black bear and then another mother/cub family.
How neat...especially after we were whining about only seeing signs that read "beware of animals" and no animals!! We took time to stop and watch them. OF course then that put us going through the center of Washington D.C. at 5 PM!!!! Not so much fun.... We did get to see some Cherry Blossom Trees that were still in bloom. We got to Annapolis and got settled in. Today we spent some time walking about the Naval Academy Area. This evening we met Becky and Alan and Ryan Berry for dinner. They were our neighbors in Tucson for several years and were a young military family. Ryan was only a few months old when they left and Alan went to his retirement briefing today and Ryan will be graduating from high school this year and his brother is in college. Where do the years go! Once again, it was so nice to give them all a real hug. Wow, we are really blessed!
Emme has transitioned to the 6-12 month infant room at the child care....another milestone. Yeah Emme!
Molly, Samantha, Kirsten and Patrick ( Phil and Loly's son) and Emme had their first Easter Egg hunt at Pete and Linda's last week.
Tom and I have wanted to see Bill Engvall perform in person for years. I looked to see his schedule and he is appearing in Lancaster on Saturday and we are going to be at Peggy and Larry's in Lancaster on Saturday. I called and they said that they were sold out but had just put a few General Admission Tickets on sale...so we will be able to see him! Will let you know how the performance was in our next blog.
One of the better part of one's life consists of friendships....~~Abraham Lincoln
Thank you all for being such a blessing in our life. Please remember us in your prayers for safe travels
Hugs
Tom and Maryann
I will post mor pictures soon!
Our last week in Florida with Charlotte and Bill went quickly. We were able to have birthday cake with Bill's Mom who turned 99. She told me she felt like she was 100...and when Bill said she was 99, she said "boy that is old"! We also went to Charlotte's doctor appointments with her and got great news that there was no sign of her breast cancer after their long year of appointments for chemotherapy and radiation therapy and surgery. She will have to take oral chemotherapy drugs and have routine follow up. What a blessing and thank you all who prayed for them. We also had to return to our favorite restaurants once again to have our favorite seafood and went to a couple other places to eat that certainly may be on our favorite list for the next time we visit...but the seafood will definitely remain our most favorite!! We truly love spending time with them in their home and traveling with them and thank God for the relationship we have with them. We have plans to see them in October in Tucson!!
We went to Orlando one day and met with Nancy and Chuck Berry. Tom was stationed with Nancy when he first came into Air Force and then we were all stationed in Japan together in 1971. Always nice to visit with them and catch up on their family. How special to be able to share hugs with our wonderful friends that we consider family.
We left Cocoa early on 20 April and spent Sunday night in Panama City, Florida. We had an early dinner with Mike Guyne. We were not able to see his wife MaryJo as she was in Arkansas. We were stationed with them in Hawaii. Had not seen them since we left Hawaii in 1984. Tom and Mike relived many "old AF days"...and the way it "was"!! Another fun evening with a forever friend!
Monday morning we were up early and headed to Panacea, Florida via the Costal Highway. What a beautiful drive. On the way, we decided that we would need to go back and spend some time exploring the area. In Panacea, we spent time with Mary (Fleming) and her husband Jon Andre. Mary and I went to Capital City School of Nursing in Washington D.C from 1966-1969. We had not seen each other since 1970 when she visited me in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They treated us to a nice lunch at Tropical Trader Shrimp Company. We then went to their home and to the beach near their home. We certainly need more visits to really catch up....and we will!! BUT it will be sooner than 44 years!!! We waved farewell to them and headed to Savannah, Georgia where we spent the night.
Tuesday Morning found us on the road to Cary, NC to have lunch with Lair and Mary Block. We had stopped at at rest stop and as I was walking into the visitor's center, a woman tripped and fell right next to me. She fell right on her face and left arm. Luckily she did not break her arm or hand but she had abrasions on her forehead, nose and under right eye...and was somewhat stunned. One of the staff got me some ice and I cleaned the blood and found that were only abrasions but she was still a little dizzy. Tom and her husband helped her get slowly up and walk a couple steps to sit down and they called 911 to come and assess her. They were on the road to New York so needed to be checked before they continued their long road trip. We left when the 911 medics arrived. Seemed like just needed her wounds cleaned before they could be on their way. She was aware of her surroundings and talking etc....just embarrassed that she had fallen. They had been in Florida, visiting their first great grandchild!! I told her now she has a story to tell her granddaughter about their trip to see her!!
SO...we were a little late for lunch. Lair and Mary have a beautiful home in Carey. Lair does a lot of work himself and his Mom was our friend Grace so she had showed us pictures but it was fun seeing in real time. Grace was a volunteer at the clinic with me who became family too. We had not met Mary before so was so good to get to meet her. Had a great lunch and fun catching up, talking and remembering Grace. We also hope to return to spend more time with them and see them in Tucson.
We left them and headed for Sugar Grove, West Virginia. We arrived in Sugar Grove a little after 9 PM. The last 15 miles to Sugar Grove was going up a mountain road with constant hair pin curves and switch back curves on a very dark night. We were amazed to get to Sugar Grove and go around the corner on the top of the mountain and there were all the lights of this small Navy Communications base. We had a nice two bedroom cottage right next to a lovely little stream...Tom wants to go back to do some fishing. We woke up to a rather chilly morning. We slept in and then checked out the base....everywhere we went people were just so friendly. It was just like being in a small town! On our way out the next morning, we decided to go thru the Appalachian Mountain to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains. We had been there when we lived in Virginia years ago. Even though it was winter it was still a beautiful drive. We stopped on the way and had a nice lunch and had a cone of Blackberry ice cream. Very good. We were lucky to see one turkey and then we saw a mother black bear with 2 cubs and then one black bear and then another mother/cub family.
How neat...especially after we were whining about only seeing signs that read "beware of animals" and no animals!! We took time to stop and watch them. OF course then that put us going through the center of Washington D.C. at 5 PM!!!! Not so much fun.... We did get to see some Cherry Blossom Trees that were still in bloom. We got to Annapolis and got settled in. Today we spent some time walking about the Naval Academy Area. This evening we met Becky and Alan and Ryan Berry for dinner. They were our neighbors in Tucson for several years and were a young military family. Ryan was only a few months old when they left and Alan went to his retirement briefing today and Ryan will be graduating from high school this year and his brother is in college. Where do the years go! Once again, it was so nice to give them all a real hug. Wow, we are really blessed!
Emme has transitioned to the 6-12 month infant room at the child care....another milestone. Yeah Emme!
Molly, Samantha, Kirsten and Patrick ( Phil and Loly's son) and Emme had their first Easter Egg hunt at Pete and Linda's last week.
Tom and I have wanted to see Bill Engvall perform in person for years. I looked to see his schedule and he is appearing in Lancaster on Saturday and we are going to be at Peggy and Larry's in Lancaster on Saturday. I called and they said that they were sold out but had just put a few General Admission Tickets on sale...so we will be able to see him! Will let you know how the performance was in our next blog.
One of the better part of one's life consists of friendships....~~Abraham Lincoln
Thank you all for being such a blessing in our life. Please remember us in your prayers for safe travels
Hugs
Tom and Maryann
I will post mor pictures soon!
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Key West
Enjoy our pictures from the last couple weeks...still cannot figure how to put them on the blog!!
The end of US Highway One going south
Bill and Charlotte in Key West
Butterfly Conservatory
Monarch Butterfly took a ride with Tom
Monarch Butterfly on Charlotte's purse
Tom eating Key Lime Pie again!!
Bill and Tom going out to the Ocean to fish!!
Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea in Key West
Lunch at one of the oldest restaurants in Key West called Sloppy Joe's
Maryann sitting in one of the chair loungers at Coral Castle
Butterfly Conservatory...see the Monarch Butterfly wanted to be in the picture with us!!
Gypsy Feral Rooster that roams Key West
Having some Cuban food in Key West
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| Celebrating the end of Charlotte's chemotherapy and radiation treat |
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| Tom and Charlotte making their favorite Liver and Onions!!! |
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| Visiting Coral Castle near Homestead, F |
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| Sunset at Key West |
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| Tom eating Key Lime Pie |
Orchid at the Butterfly Conservatory
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