The Petzelt Pages

A very Vera whirlwind trip

2010-05-07T22:09:00.000-04:00

John and I went to the Vera Bradley outlet sale when it was in Atlanta a couple of years ago. We got lots of stuff for me as well as a lot of presents for other people. We went on the 3rd day of the sale, walked right in, leisurely browsed the tables, made out purchases and left. I didn't know what I had missed! My adventure to the Vera Bradley Outlet sale this year with my daughter Jill was a totally different experience!

I like Vera Bradley stuff, but my daughter, Jill, is absolutely crazy about it. After the sale in Atlanta she started following the Vera Bradley website to see when the next outlet sale was coming to the Atlanta area. Only then did we find out that the spring outlet sale is always in Fort Wayne, Indiana (their home location) and the fall outlet sale travels all over the country. Not being able to tell where the fall sales were going to be, we decided that we would make the trip to the spring sale this year. We were going to drive, but luckily Delta put some tickets on sale at a decent price that made flying irresistible! So, we flew in to Indianapolis, Indiana and rented a car for the 2 hour drive to Fort Wayne. We ran into several ladies at the hotel that come to the Vera Bradley sale every year. They were telling us that in years past they have gotten to the sale right when the doors opened and had never had to wait in line to get in.

Well, all I can say is that I'm glad we didn't listen to those ladies. When Jill and I got up at 5:30 AM, the news stations were already covering the line that was forming outside the Fort Wayne Coliseum where the sale was being held. People had slept in their cars in the parking lot all night! We had already planned to leave the hotel at 6:30 AM which would put us at the coliseum right around 7:00 AM. We got there about 6:50 AM and there were already about 1,000 women (there may have been a couple of men) in line. By the time 8:00 rolled around, there were about 3,000 more women behind us! We stood outside in 44 degree weather until the doors opened at 8:00. After the doors opened, it took us 20 minutes to reach the entrance.

The sale is very well organized. On the first day, the selection is the greatest and the prices are the highest. As each day of the sale goes on, the selection, as well as the prices decrease. While we were in line we were given a map of the layout of the sale. All the rows were numbered and different colored balloons were above the tables. So, you could look for the item you wanted on the map and know exactly where to go once you got inside. As you walked into the sale, you were given a pink garbage back to put your stuff in. We had listened to some of the ladies in the line saying that they just grab stuff, put it in their bag, then sort through it later.

So, Jill and I did just that. Jill had a long list of requests from her friends. I only had a few. Shortly after we got into the sale area, we separated so we could make sure we found as many of the things we were looking for as possible. After all, were were on a time schedule - we had an afternoon plane to catch and a 2 hour drive to the airport. When our bags were so full we couldn't even drag them behind us, we decided it was time to go to the sorting area and go through our loot.

We picked out the things we really wanted to keep and put back the things we decided we weren't crazy about. Then we hit the floor again, filling our pink bags back up! After sorting two more times and checking our lists of requests from our friends, I think we were finally satisfied with all of our stuff.

We headed out of that room to the checkout room where we encountered another long line. There must have been 50 checkout registers with 3 ladies working at each one. The first lady organized all of our like items together and made sure the price tags were showing. The next lady rang up our purchases and the last lady bagged everything. It made getting through the checkout line very quick. They even had a mini post office set up so you could ship your purchases home!

When we left the building we were shocked by what we saw. The line that we had stood in and thought was long was now snaked through the parking lot all the way out to the street. The estimated wait time to just get inside the door was 4 hours! A lot of the ladies in line came to our car to look at what we had bought and wanted to know how much was left inside. We told them they didn't have anything to worry about because the tables were being restocked as fast as they were emptied. There were at least 15 tractor trailer trucks full of merchandise in the parking lot, too. I don't think they were going to run out!

We stuffed all of Jill's purchases into our two basically empty suitcases. There was no more room so I had my stuff mailed home. We made it to the airport and safely back home. It was a whirlwind trip but it was so much fun and nothing can replace the experience and the memories! We are planning to do it again next year but will probably plan to stay a couple of days next time.

Big Sky, Big Snow, Big Family and Big Fun!

2010-05-01T16:51:00.001-04:00

For spring break, John and I took the kids and grandkids to Big Sky, Montana for them to snowboard. We planned this trip almost a year ago and it was going to be the last week of ski season at Big Sky. It was a little scary planning a ski trip so late in the season - would there be enough snow for the kids to have a good time? Well, as the week drew closer and closer, the snow in Montana kept getting deeper and deeper. The week before we went they got about 18 inches of new snow. The day before we left they got another 12 inches! It snowed twice while we were there and was snowing the morning we left! It was all powder - perfect snowboarding conditions!

This was the first trip we have taken with the grandkids. It started at 5:30 AM with our trip to the airport. We had someone pick us up in a 15 passenger van so we could get all the "stuff" in one vehicle. We had 6 adults, 2 kids, 2 snowboard bags, 2 car seats, and several pieces of luggage. That van was packed!

Michael has been on several airplane rides in his short life, but this was Kennedy's first airplane ride. Both kids did great. We had a very short layover in Salt Lake City before we boarded a very small (32 passenger) plane from there to Bozeman, Montana. Kennedy was so funny as she was looking out the window while we were taxiing away from the gate. We were evidently a pretty good way away from the runway and it took a while for the plane to reach it. Also, the plane was so small it had to get up a lot of speed before we actually took off. Kennedy looked out the window and asked "Is this a car airplane, 'cause we're not flying!" Then when we finally took off, she starting saying "We're going down, We're going down" (I think she meant up), but it was so funny to hear her say that. David immediately started telling her not to say that!

We stopped for groceries in Bozeman before we started our 1 hour drive up the mountain. We were packed to the gills after the grocery stop! The drive up the mountain was beautiful. This was our first view of the Big Sky ski area.

As we got closer, you could see a couple of the ski runs that run right by the road. It was amazing to see people skiing right beside where we were driving! Some of those objects on the path are trees, but most of them are people.

We arrived at the condo we rented and got settled in. The kids started familiarizing themselves with their surroundings so they could get out and get started on the slopes bright and early the next morning. Jill got her snowboard waxed, David and Summer got their boards rented and even rented a pair of skis for Kennedy. She wasn't too keen on skiing. Hopefully she will like it when she gets a little older.

After a good breakfast (David even cooked breakfast for all of us one morning!) the big kids hit the slopes while John and I took the kids out to play in the snow. Jill and Summer were usually done with snowboarding by lunch time. David even came in to eat lunch before going back out for the afternoon. But, not Sam. Since we were in a ski-in-ski-out condo, Sam asked Jill to just bring him a couple of sandwiches out to the area outside the condo, he grabbed them and ate them on the ski lift on his way back up to the top of the mountain. Sam didn't come in until the lifts stopped running and the slopes were closed. That boy loves to snowboard.

Sam went up to the very top of Lone Peak, the highest peak at the resort, topping out at 11,166 feet. From the top of this peak you can see Montana, Idaho and Wyoming's Grand Titons mountain range! Then, he actually snowboarded down from there on double black diamond slopes! Later, Jill, Sam, David and Summer all went up to the top but did not snowboard down - they rode the tram and ski lifts back down. Sam said he was glad he snowboarded down the slope but that it was the scariest thing he has ever done in his life and he would never do it again. I think that is a smart decision!

On the last Saturday of the season, Big Sky has a silly competition called "Pond Skim". Crazy folks dress up in even crazier costumes and come down the mountain and try to either ski or snowboard across a man made pond and come out the other side without falling in the freezing cold water! Believe it or not, several people made it across the pond but more fell in it! It was a lot of fun to watch.

On the last day we were there I tried to snowboard using Jill's snowboard. I wanted to use the little slope where the ski run ends but Sam didn't think it was sloped enough for me to even try to snowboard. He wanted to put me on the beginner slope. I insisted that the slope I wanted to use was enough for me. After Jill helped me get the board on and got me standing upright, Sam tried giving me some instruction on how to snowboard. The one thing he didn't tell me was how to stop! I started going down my very tiny slope and the snowboard started doing a 360 degree turn. I had no idea how to control the board nor how to stop. Luckily Sam got to me right before I crashed into someone's skis that were planted upright in the snow! It was fun, and it was enough to last me a lifetime! I think I'll keep my feet planted firmly on the ground.

Crazy Sam! I wanted to stop to take a picture of this frozen lake right as we entered the resort area. Sam jumped out of the car and ran to the bridge where the sign "Danger Thin Ice" was and acted like he was going to jump in. He is such a comedian! The frozen lake was beautiful.

There were outdoor fire pits all over the village area. They would keep them going during the day as well as the evening. One evening we were walking back to the condo and stopped to warm up a bit on the way.

I think we all had a big time and big fun in Big Sky!

Easter Eggs and Bubbles!

2010-04-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

We had family and friends at our house for Easter lunch this year. Of course, that included the kids and grandkids as well as our future daughter-in-laws parents and brother and sister. It was so much fun to have a house full of people. I love to have family and friends around and just celebrate life and have fun!

It was pretty warm on Easter Sunday this year. All the eggs were filled with chocolate and I was afraid that if we hid the eggs outside it would take so long for the little ones to find them that the chocolate would be melted. What a mess that would have been. So, we decided to have an "inside" Easter egg hunt. The little ones really didn't know the difference - they just enjoyed finding the eggs.

Summer's brother, Cole, even joined in on the fun. Sam went kind of crazy hiding one of the eggs and it is still "hidden" hanging from a glass chime hanging from my ceiling in the sunroom. Next time Sam gets over here, he's going to have to get it down!

After lunch and the egg hunt, we went outside with the bubble machine. Kennedy and Michael love bubbles. They spent about 30 minutes outside chasing bubbles. The machine worked great because you can't blow bubbles fast enough for the two of them. This way, we all just sat back and enjoyed watching some of the wonders of childhood!

After fun with the bubbles, it was time for some chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

I know it is past Valentine's Day, but I wanted to post a couple of pictures I took of the grandkids for their parents for Valentine's Day. It was a real challenge to get these and they aren't the best, but it was the best I could do being the only one working with them while trying to take the pictures. I can't wait till they get older and can really enjoy posing for the camera!

Happy Valentine's Day Sam, Jill, David and Summer.

Snow in Atlanta - It Finally Happened!

2010-02-17T15:22:00.009-05:00

The weather forecasters have been forecasting snow for the Atlanta area for about the past 4 weeks. We hope and hope but it never comes. It hits all around us, Alabama, the North Georgia Mountains, Tennessee, even Florida got some snow! Well, we escaped the snow as long as we could and it finally hit us on February 15th. I had gone to the Mall of GA to pick up Kennedy because John and I were taking her to the Big Apple Circus at Stone Mountain that night. As we were walking out of the mall I looked out the glass doors and could see nothing but pure white. It was really snowing, and snowing hard! I haven't seen it snow that hard in a long, long time. Kennedy and I got to the car and I called John to let him know we were on our way home. He said our entire front yard was already covered in snow!

Luckily I didn't have any problems making it home. It snowed harder and harder and the traffic on I-85 south was moving at a snail's pace. We were going about 30 miles per hour. There was a lot of traffic, too. I think everyone decided they should leave work early in order to make it home safely.

I talked to Kennedy on the way home and tried to explain to her that we might not be going to the circus that night because of the snow. She was totally okay with that. Thank goodness, because I didn't want to have a crying, disappointed little girl on my hands for the entire evening! When we got home, Kennedy told me she didn't feel good. She had eaten a good lunch at the mall and was acting fine, playing with Michael during lunch, and talking and laughing on the way home. We had been home about 15 minutes when she got sick. So, as it turned out, it was okay that we didn't go to the circus that night!

By the way, the Big Apple Circus has an awesome exchange policy on tickets. They don't care why you couldn't make it to your performance. They will exchange your tickets for a performance on the same day of your original ticket (week day or weekend day), no questions asked. We now have tickets right across the aisle from our original seats for another Friday night. Hopefully we will have better weather and no sickness!

When Kennedy woke up Saturday morning she was feeling much better. We got all suited up and went out to play in the snow. Kennedy didn't have any gloves with her so we put some of my gloves on her tiny little hands and kept them on with rubber bands. They looked kind of funny but at least her hands stayed warm. We tried to make a snowman but our snow was like sugar. It was so light, dry and powdery that it wouldn't even stick together. But, it made some awesome snow angels! We had a fun morning playing in the snow. Luckily, when it snows in Atlanta, it doesn't last. Unlike our friends in other parts of the country that can't dig themselves out of the snow, our streets were pretty clear by Saturday afternoon (luckily the water that re-froze overnight melted my mid-day) and all of the snow was pretty much gone by Sunday afternoon. It was pretty while it lasted. That's the kind of snow I like - that's why I live in Georgia!

Kennedy ready to play in the snow

Making snow angels

We got 4 inches. The snow completely covered my boots!

Our house with the sun coming up over it

Winter wonderland - it was so beautiful. Thankfully it only lasted 48 hours!

Fun with Friends

2009-12-31T09:14:00.005-05:00

John and I met the Mashak's and the Schodt's in Branson, Missouri for a fun weekend in early December. We met these couples on our tour in New England in the fall of 2008. We all enjoyed each other's company and decided that we would like to get together once a year, so this year we all met up in Branson. What a fun trip!

John and I were lucky enough to get a flight from Atlanta right into Branson's new airport. I have never seen an airport so small! We were the only plane at the airport and when we arrived at the gate, all the employees came out to greet the plane and welcome us to Branson. The airport has 4 gates which are really just 4 doors in a large room about the size of a football field - maybe even smaller than that!

Looking across the entire airport from the gate we came in!

I realize this is a little dark, but you can see the 4 "gates" and our lonely plane outside!

The Mashak's live in Arkansas so they drove up to Branson. They picked us up at the airport and gave us a quick tour of the main part of town where all the theaters are. The weather was very cold. It was in the teens at night and the warmest it got all weekend was 41 degrees.

We saw some great shows while we were there, including Debbie Boone. Most young people don't even know who she is. Debbie Boone is Pat Boone's daughter and RoseMary Clooney's daughter-in-Law (If you don't know who I'm talking about, ask your parents!). She performed a wonderful Christmas concert and ended by singing her most famous song "You Light Up My Life". She's still got it!

We also saw a show on the Riverboat Branson Belle. Todd Oliver, a ventriloquist, was the main entertainment. He uses his own personal dogs as his "dummies". He was really good and we enjoyed his show a lot.

The most awesome show we saw was on Saturday night. We went to see "SIX". This show is described as "the showbiz spectacular filled with the powerhouse vocals and high-octane energy of six brothers who take musical entertainment to a whole new level using only their voices". This group of men can make sounds that will amaze you. They are the drums, trumpet, guitar, and about any other instrument you can think of using only their voices. It was so entertaining - an orchestra of human voices. I didn't want to leave when the show was over. John bought me 3 of their CDs as well as their DVD so I can continue enjoying them at home. If you ever get a chance to see this group perform, you must go. If you want to check them out online, I'm sure they are on you-tube somewhere. They do have a website thesixshow.com.

Of course, we enjoyed some time socializing, eating, and shopping. It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait to see where we go next year!

John and Kay, Alan and Jan, Santa, Betty and Ron at the Kris Kringle shop.

It's Not All Work and No Play In Our Lives!

2009-11-30T11:41:00.022-05:00

Where does the time go? John and I have been so busy this summer and fall. It's hard to believe it is the end of November and Christmas is almost here! People I used to work with ask me all the time if I like being retired. My answer is always an cheerful YES! Sometimes I am so busy, I don't know how I had time to work!

We have started some major improvements to our yard so the kids (young and old alike) will have easier access to the back yard as well as a better place to play. We have a large lot but only use a very small portion of it that is fenced in for Lucy, our 13 year old dog. We started this project by clearing out all of the underbrush in our forest that we call our back yard. It took a lot of work but I love the way it looks. We had the fence moved so Lucy has a much larger yard now. When the weather is nice, she loves to lay on the deck and watch over her "kingdom". She also loves all of her new space to roam. Next we are going to have a stone walkway, steps and patio put in. I can't wait until that phase is done! After that will come the gazebo and play stuff for the kids. We saved some of the large logs from a tree that had to be cut down. I'm going to sand them and put some sort of varnish on them to preserve them. Then they will be made into some sort of graduated stepping and climbing area.

You can barely see the old steps going down into the "jungle" that was our backyard.

This is what it looks like now. The fence will be moved and these steps will be torn out and replaced with a stone walkway and stone steps leading to a stone patio in the backyard.

This is what our back fence looked like before we started clearing the underbrush.

This is the backyard now with the fence moved. You can see the wood piled in the back that will be used for the graduated stepping and climbing stuff for the kids. Our backyard goes approximately 100 feet further behind the fence.

In August, my friend Emily and I went to Seattle to visit our friend Rita's daughter. Erin is a pathologist at the Seattle Children's Hospital. We have known her almost all of her life. She was able to take a few days off and show Emily and I around Seattle and the surrounding areas. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get out of the city and see some of the other beautiful parts of Washington!

The troll under the bridge. This troll is made out of concrete and is underneath one of the bridges in suburban Seattle. Look closely and you will see that his right hand is crushing a Volkswagen Beetle. It was really cool looking. Kids loved climbing all over it.

Emily, Erin, and I at the waterfall garden.

Emily and Erin at Deception Pass.

Deception Pass. The fog pattern over the water was really interesting.

Future vino at one of the vineyards.

In October David, Kennedy, Jill, Michael and I had our annual trip to Burt's Pumpkin Farm. Jill made Kennedy a cute outfit of pants and a pumpkin appliqued on a shirt with her name embroidered on it. She looked so cute. Each of us picked out a pumpkin to either decorate with or carve. We rode the hayride wagon and bought some pumpkin bread and a slice of pumpkin roll (yum-o). Jill paid me a big compliment when she said that she thought my pumpkin bread was better! I do love the fall with all of the spicy smells from pumpkin bread cooking and apple cider brewing on the stove!

David, Kennedy, Jill and Michael on the hayride.

Kennedy with her pumpkin.

Michael with his pumpkin.

Grandma with the grandkids.

Even with all the hard work in the yard, John and I have also found time to have some fun. We were fortunate enough to be invited to visit a friend in San Diego for a few days in November. It was a wonderful trip. I have never been to San Diego before. I have to say that my favorite thing there was the famous San Diego Zoo. While we were standing in line to get into the zoo, I heard one of the zoo workers tell someone else in line that it would take approximately 6 hours to see the entire zoo. Well, I didn't believe that at all. However, John and I were there for 5 hours and didn't see all of it, so I guess he was probably right! My favorite animals at the zoo are the panda bears, giraffes and elephants. Fortunately, we got there early enough and the panda bear exhibit wasn't crowded yet. We spent a lot of time at that exhibit watching these amazing animals. One of the panda's had just had a new cub and we were able to watch the little cub on the panda-cam. We also spent a long time watching the giraffes. The exhibits at this zoo are so open and the animals are right there at you. The giraffes are so graceful. When the workers came out to feed them the giraffe's even ran gracefully to the food. If you ever get a chance you need to check out this amazing zoo. It was awesome!

Looking at San Diego from our bay tour boat.

Our friend Andrea.

The zoo entrance.

There were a lot of water fowl at the zoo.

The tall giraffe was the only male with 4 or 5 females!

Isn't he so cute???

There was a girl standing around in the area where the peacocks were that could make a peacock call that sounded amazingly real. I think she got this peacock confused!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family. Both of my parents have passed away but we still carry on the long standing tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the

family. He was one of six children - 5 boys and 1 girl. His sister is the only one of his family still living and she still has a sparkle in her eye at 88! Unfortunately my brother was sick and was

not able to be with us this year.

David and his fiance, Summer.

Summer's daughter, Kennedy and Jill and Sam's son, Michael.

Aunt Lois, my dad's only living sibling.

All the cousins that were here.

Rick and his daughter Ricki.

All the children of the cousins that were here.

Our family: David, Kennedy, Summer, John, Kay, Sam and Jill (Michael was taking a nap).

My brother Dennis and me. This picture was taken about 6 weeks ago.

Next was the second annual Pink Pig and pictures with Santa. Jill and I started this last year with Michael and it is something we hope to keep up for many years to come. I wish Kennedy could have come with us this year but between David and Summer's school and work schedule, we just couldn't work it out. I hope to be able to go with them when they take Kennedy to see Santa later in December.

Standing in line waiting to see Santa.

Michael wasn't scared of Santa at all. He looked at him and carried on his own conversation!

Outside the Pink Pig.

Michael was so excited when he got his tickets.

Grandma and Michael. He was beginning to get tired but he was so good all morning long!

John and I are leaving this week for Branson, Missouri to meet up with two couples we met on our "Autumn in New England" trip last fall. One of the couples is from Arkansas and is very familiar with Branson and couldn't say enough good stuff about it. So, we all decided that it would be a good place to meet and spend some more time with each other. We have a weekend packed full of good shows but we did leave some time for shopping (I'm sure the guys are thrilled about that!). We come back from Branson on John's birthday then shortly it will be time to celebrate Christmas with our families! I love this time of year!

Family Time

2009-06-26T07:50:00.008-04:00

It has been a busy couple of months. If you read my previous post you saw that John and I had a fabulous vacation out west visiting a lot of national parks and various other places of interest along the way. Just prior to our leaving for vacation, Jill turned 26 and we celebrated her birthday. I gave Jill the option to choose whatever she wanted for dinner and John and I would fix it. She chose Mexican. I was not surprised - that's the food I craved while I was pregnant with her and I guess it got into her system before she was even born! For dinner we had hard and soft tacos with all the fixings, nachos, and Mexican rice. For dessert, we strayed from the traditional flan for birthday cake (white cake with chocolate icing) and ice cream. Jill was only turning 26 but the candles were sure burning brightly!

Jill's cake with 26 candles

If you know anything about Jill, you know she is a very crafty person. She can create just about anything out of a pile of scraps! She has been talking about embroidery machines for the last 6 months or so. She made Christmas stockings for she, Sam, and Michael last Christmas and wanted to embroidery their names on them, but no embroidery machine...she had to take a friend's Christmas gift to a store to be monogramed because she didn't have an embroidery machine... she would like to make some individualized baby gifts but she doesn't have an embroidery machine...if she only had an embroidery machine, she could make so many things and start her own business! So, we took the hint and got her an embroidery/sewing machine for her birthday. I don't think she was expecting it at all. The look on her face when she opened it was priceless!

Jill was surprised with her embroidery machine

Jill has been busy learning how to use all the features on the machine and has followed through making gifts for friends. I now have a list of things I want monogramed and am currently on the waiting list!

When we returned from vacation, it was David's turn to celebrate his 24th birthday. We gave David the same option for dinner - choose your favorite meal and John and I would prepare it for him. He chose steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. Since Jill and John were on a carb conscious diet, I also fixed cauliflower gratin (yum-0!). For dessert, we had birthday cake (chocolate cake with chocolate icing) and ice-cream with homemade chocolate Ghiradellli chocolate syrup!

David, his fiancee Summer and her daughter Kennedy

David is very hard to buy for. He does not have a lot of wants and it is like pulling teeth to get him to tell you what he would like as a gift. So, when he tells us what he would like, it is not going to be any surprise to him when he gets it. David wanted some new golf clubs for his birthday. Since I don't know anything at all about golf, he had to choose exactly what he wanted and send me a link so I could check them out and purchase them without looking too dumb purchasing something I knew absolutely nothing about. Needless to day, he was very pleased with them!

Kennedy helping David open his present

We also had a little something for the kids, Michael and Kennedy. A long time ago, before Michael was even a glimmer in Sam and Jill's eye, John and I saw a see-saw at Costco (our favorite place to shop!). John wanted to buy it and put it away for the grandkids we would have someday. I thought he was crazy but we bought it anyway. It has been sitting in our basement for about 3 or 4 years, but I'm really glad we bought it because I haven't seen it at Costco again since we bought it. The box says it is for children over age 6 and neither Michael nor Kennedy are anywhere near that age. But, we thought with adults around, they would be able to use it before they are 6 years old. So, we brought it up out of the basement and put it together on the deck. We had it covered up when everyone got here and took them out on the deck to surprise them. I think the grown kids liked it a lot more than the little kids. I hope that changes as the little ones get older!

David, Kennedy and Summer on the see-saw

Sam, Michael and Jill on the see-saw

Kennedy having a blast on the see-saw

Sam, Jill's husband, left to lead a mission trip in the Dominican Republic on June 18th. Sam has been doing mission work there since he was a child doing mission work with his parents, brother and sister. Jill was always involved in mission work when she was a youth. However, she had never done mission work out of the country until she met Sam. She and Sam have spent every summer since they have been married doing mission work in parts of Mexico, Peru, and the Dominican Republic (they are both fluent in Spanish so there is no language barrier). Jill did not want to leave sweet baby Michael for a long period of time this year so she is not going until July. Since Sam has been gone, Jill and Michael have been staying with us. Since retiring, I have spent the majority of my days doing whatever I want to do whenever I want to. Having a little one around and keeping him on his schedule has made my days totally different. Our house is not baby proofed and with Michael walking now he is in to everything! His toys don't interest him for very long and he wants to start getting in to all kinds of other "adult" stuff that is sitting around. He is in to my paper, getting the remote controls, the telephone, pulling the leaves off my plants, eating the dog's food and playing in her water bowl! But, it's all worth it to have he and Jill spending time with us. We have gone to the park near our house to play, we went to the Zoo, and have spent countless hours playing around the house. I am really going to miss them when they go home!

Michael on the playground

Michael and Jill on the bronze statue of Willie B

Michael discovering Willie B

The petting zoo at the Atlanta Zoo

Hydrating - it was a very hot day!

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND, THIS LAND IS MY LAND...

2009-06-03T00:03:00.026-04:00

This blog entry will be rather long and detail our trip through some of America's National Parks of the west. It will give day by day details as well as some of the history and pictures of the places we visited. If you want to see the pictures only, you can visit my photography site at shutterbug2.shutterfly.com. Here goes...

John and I took this trip through Vantage Travel. This was our second trip with Vantage and our 2nd motor coach tour, our first motor coach tour being through New England in Fall 2008.

Day 1 - We left home at 6:30 AM to head out to the Atlanta airport for out 8:30 AM flight to Bozeman, Montana with a 1 1/2 hour layover in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I forgot to print our boarding passes at home so we planned to use the kiosk at the airport. However, when we tried that, the computer did not recognize us by name, reservation number nor ticket number. So, into the ticket agent line we went. We waited nervously for about 30 minutes before we got to the agent who, luckily, was able to pull us up without any problem. The agent said the computers had not quite caught up with the Delta/Northwest merger and our connecting flight was originally run by Northwest. So, with boarding pass in hand, we headed toward security. Another long line! Though it moved quite fast we were really pushed for time. Luckily, we were departing from concourse B and arrived at the gate at 8:15 for our 8:30 departure! The flights were uneventful. The scenery flying over the Rocky Mountains was spectacular! The wind in the valley of Bozeman sent the plane rocking from from side to side but luckily we touched down safe and right on time. We met our Vantage tour director, George, and got to the hotel where we were able to rest and relax the remainder of the afternoon. We expected cold weather and possibly some snow when we arrived in Montana. Big surprise --- it was 91 degrees! We hoped the weather would be this cooperative over the next 2 weeks.

Scenery from the plane as we were landing in Bozeman, Montana.

Day 2 - Luggage out by 7:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 8:30. This would become our daily routine. One nice thing about this is that our luggage us handled for us to and from the motor coach. The down side is that we have to be up, dressed, luggage packed and outside our door by 7:00 AM! No rest for the weary on this vacation!

Our almost daily routine of luggage outside our room for pick-up.

Off to Yellowstone National Park this morning. We drove on Route 89 South into the north entrance of Yellowstone in Gardiner, Montana. This is the original entrance into Yellowstone National Park. The arch at the entrance was built in 1904 and dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt in commemoration of his visit to the park. Our first stop was in Mammoth Hot Springs. We were dropped off at the head of the walking trail and made a 30 minute walk down to the bottom. We saw Bison and Elk and many hot springs on our walk down. The springs range from 140 degrees up to 400 degrees. The number one first aide treatment in this area is for burns! Seems people just cant resist sticking their finger in the water! We saw waterfalls, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and bubbling geysers before making our way down to Old Faithful and the Snow Lodge for a 2 night saty. Again today, the weather is warm, low 80's, with clear blue skies. Our room in the Snow Lodge has no A/C, only a fan and a window that opens. It was nice to sleep with fresh air coming into the room. We don't have TV, Radio, Internet, newspaper, or cell phone service! How are we going to find out who won Dancing with the Stars and Amerian Idol???!!!

The arch at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Old Faithful Geyser

Day 3 - Wheels rolling at 8:30. This morning we had planned a 4 hour driving tour through the western half of Yellowstone. Since we were at the park so early in the season some of the roads had not been plowed and were still closed. Also, there had been a lot of bear activity so many of the trails were also closed. On our tour this morning, we did see one grizzly bear digging underneath a fallen tree for some type of small rodent (we assumed).

Grizzly bear

We saw lots of Bison. Many times they would be walking down the middle of the road or coming down the road straight toward us in our lane. Needless to say, they had the right of way!

Bison walking along the road.

Bison at the geysers (notice the baby nursing).

We also saw quite a few Elk. After we got back tot he lodge we had the rest of the afternoon free. John and I took 3 1/2 hours to do a 3 mile hike on the geyser trails around our hotel. We saw some amazing geysers - some much more impressive than Old Faithful! Today we were glad we brought our ear muffs and gloves. We would not have made it on the hike without them! It was very cold and windy all day long. Once we got back to the hotel we grabbed a quick bite to eat and I headed to the room for a hot bubble bath!

One of the geyser pools.

Day 4 - Luggage out by 7:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 8:15 AM. I woke up with a very sore throat. I hoped I was not getting a cold! Today we started driving toward Jackson Hole, Wyoming, crossing the Continental Divide.

Snow along the side of the road at the Continental Divide.

It was pretty cold again this morning but not quite as windy. The skies were clear and blue. We drove through the southwestern part of Yellowstone National Park. George, our tour director, said he had not seen this much snow in the park this late in May in his 18 years of doing this tour. Part of Yellowstone Lake is still frozen over. This southwest part of the park was severely damaged by the 1988 fire and 21 years later, a few trees are starting to come back. We stopped for lunch at a really nice restaurant that had a beautiful view of the Grand Tetons through an entire wall of picture windows.

The Grand Teton mountains from the picture window of the restaurant.

Shortly after lunch I started feeling really, really sick. I'll just say that I became very good friends with the very, very tiny bathroom in the back of the motor coach for the next 1 1/2 hours! I was so sick that the rest of the group was dropped off at the next stop and I was taken to the hotel where a taxi was waiting to take me the the hospital! I was so sick that I didn't even argue with them. The hospital was only a mile away from the hotel. They diagnosed me with viral gastroenteritis which I think was a fancy name for food poisoning. I honestly can say that I had never felt that bad in my life! At the hospital they drew some blood and gave me IV fluids because I was dehydrated. They also gave me meds for nausea and diarrhea. A few hours later, I was back at the hotel and slept, with only a few interruptions, for the rest of the night.

Day 5 - Luggage out by 6:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 7:30 AM. I didn't know and didn't even care what the weather was today. All I wanted was the back of the motor coach so I could stretch out on the whole seat and sleep! What a morning to have an early departure! I felt like I had been run over by the motor coach! John was a real trooper through the entire ordeal, watching over me and making sure I had anything I needed. He searched out the entire hotel and finally found a vending machine that had gatorade and he was able to get me some saltine crackers from the hotel restaurant. I selpt the entire day as we drove from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, Utah. We skipped the tour of Temple Square since we had seen it before.

Day 6 - Wheels rolling at 8:45 AM. Today it was cloudy and thunderstorms were expected. I felt so much better this morning - not yet at 100% but at least 80%. I was now into a full blown cold as well (remember the sore throat I had earlier???). I'm not complaining - I will take blowing my nose over the other any day! This morning we went to the Family Search Center run by the Mormons in Salt Lake City. I was hoping to get some help to get past a place in which I am stuck in my genealogy research. We only had an hour there and only about 6 volunteer helpers for the 41 of us in the group, so, needless to say, I didn't get much help. I did, however, get a lot of resources that may be helpful when we get home. We also went to Park City, Utah today. We were given a tour of the Olympic Park where the 2002 bobsled, luge, skeleton, and downhill skiing events were held. Our tour was done by Carl Roepke, a USA luge participant in the 2002 Olympics. He will be announcing the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

The top of the ski jump at Park City.

Kay in the bobsled.

After returning back to our hotel in Salt Lake City, we rested the rest of the afternoon.

Day 7 - Luggage out by 8:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 8:45 AM. Although I still didn't feel 100%, I did feel well enough to continue on the trip. I had to make a decision at this point because we were headed onto Indian reservations and into very rural areas where quality medical help may not be readily available. Right now I am only eating oatmeal, saltine crackers, Lorna Doone cookies and gatorade. YUM-O! This morning we started with a concert from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the choir was joined by the Air Force Reserve Band and Pipe Band. What a treat! They sang and played several patriotic songs and the band ended with "76 Trombones".

The Morman Tabernacle Choir and the Air Force Reserve Band.

We then started our all day drive to Moab, Utah, stopping in Price, Utah for lunch. We continued on to eastern Utah to the Green River area and the John Wesley Powell Museum. We heard about his journey into the great unknown waters of the Colorado River. We then continued our travel to Moab. In a desert city that gets an average of 5 inches of rain per year, it rained on us most of the way. This evening we had a ride down the Colorado River for a sound and light show. This was NOT a highlight of the trip. This ended up being a long, rather boring show. I was expecting something like the laser show at Stone Mountain Park! What we got was some white spotlight shining on the canyon walls while we listened to some recorded Indian legends, the beginning of earth as told in Genesis, and various other stories. Not quite what we were expecting!

Day 8 - Luggage out by 7:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 8:30 AM. Today we toured Arches National Park. It was very cloudy and there were even some flash floods on the Green and Colorado rivers, right where we were yesterday! By the time mid morning rolled around the clouds had burned off which really helped the red rock come to life.

John in front of Double Arches at Arches National Park.

After the tour of Arches, we went back to Moab for lunch. John and I walked up to a jewelry store we had been in yesterday and he bought me a beautiful ring made of cracked oyster shell, turquoise, and gaspeite. Happy early birthday to me! The remainder of the afternoon we were on the motor coach through Utah and into Kayenta, Arizona which is on an Indian reservation. After dinner, John found a starving, thristy dog to feed and water! He is such an animal lover!

Day 9 - Luggage out by 7:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 8:00 AM. Today we went for a tour of Monument Valley in open air vehicles with a local Native American guide.

A Native American woman giving demonstrations inside of a hogan.

"Three Sisters" in Monument Valley

After the tour we had grilled steaks for lunch then it was off to the Grand Canyon. When we arrived at Grand Canyon National Park we saw an IMAX movie on the canyon before going into the park. We entered the park from Highway 64 at the east entrance to the South Rim. Our first stop and my first look at the Grand Canyon was from the Tower at Desert View. I have to say that I was not as scared of looking into the canyon as I thought I was going to be. But, I also have to say that I was not nearly as impressed as I thought I was going to be either. John has been to the Grand Canyon before and told me that I was looking at a very narrow part of the canyon - that it gets much bigger and deeper. It was also very hazy and cloudy so the sun wasn't making it's normal impact on the canyon. The entire area is also much greener that I thought it would be. One of the largest stands of Ponderosa Pines in the Unites States is right there in the Grand Canyon.

The watchtower at Desert View.

The canyon from Bright Angel Trailhead.

After we got settled into out room we walked back to the rim for the 7:40 PM sunset. Our view of the canyon from the Bright Angel Trailhead was much more impressive. However, the clouds never cleared and the sunset was a flop! We did see 2 Condors, however. They were sleeping on an outcrop of rock and never moved. We could see their number on their wings, as they are a protected species.

The condors.

Sunrise tomorrow is at 5:15 AM. In don't think we're going to try to catch that one. This cold is trying to get the best of me but I'm not going to let it get me down!

Day 10 - Today is a free day in the Grand Canyon. It couldn't have been a more beautiful morning! The high temperature today was only 75 degrees. We got to the Grand Canyon Airport at 9:30 and got registered for our 10:00 flight over the canyon. Our flight was bumpy in parts and my stomach was in my throat for a while but what a view! The canyon is a spectacular place. No wonder it is one of the 7 Wonders of the World! It was truly amazing to see this Canyon and imagine the millions of years it took the water and wind to carve it out.

The Grand Canyon Airlines plane.

The Colorado River from the plane.

When we got back to the Grand Canyon Village, we took advantage of the park's free shuttle bus to see the rest of the South Rim. The shuttle bus stopped at designated points of interest. You could get off and hike to the next stop or wait on the next shuttle to pick you up. We went the 7 miles to Hermit's Rest (by shuttle bus, of course). This gave us totally different views of the canyon and the Colorado River than what we had at Bright Angel Trailhead. On the way to dinner we saw 3 Condors in flight . After dinner, one of them was resting on the canyon wall. This was truly an amazing day!

These Native Americans did some tribal dances in Grand Canyon Village.

Day 11 - Luggage out at 6:30 AM. Wheels rolling at 7:30 AM. Today we headed to Bryce Canyon. We stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam on the way. Glen Canyon Dam is the second largest dam in the United States. It is not nearly as long as the Hoover Dam but is only 16 feet shorter. It dams the Colorado river and forms Lake Powell.

Glen Powell Dam and Lake Powell.

After lunch at the Lake Powell Resort we continued on into Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon was named after the Mormon pioneer, Ebenezer Bryce who aided in the settlement of southwest Utah and northern Arizona in the late 1800's. The closer we got to Bryce, the darker the skies got. Yep, another thunder storm rolling in! I may not get any sunrise or sunset pictures on this trip! The temperature was really cool and there was a 30% chance of rain. We did ride through some brief thunderstorms as we got closer to Bryce. By the time the sun set, the thunderstorms were gone but too much cloud cover remained for any decent pictures. After dinner we went to a "Ranger Talk" in the lodge. The speaker was a NASA scientist and he spoke on the night sky. He was very interesting. At 9:15 PM he took us all outside so we could see the International Space Station flying over Bryce Canyon. The space station orbits the earth every 90 minutes and the clouds had broken enough for us to have a perfect view. It looked like a very bright star moving very fast across the sky. He also told us that the e-mail that is currently circulating about Mars appearing as big as the moon during the month of August is a hoax. He said if Mars ever got close enough to the earch to appear as big as the moon that there would be such a strong gravitational effect that no one on earth would be able to survive it! I guess I'll e-mail all of my friends that I sent that e-mail to and let them know! The Bryce Canyon Lodge is a lot like camping except with all the comforts of home. We walked outside through the woods to breakfast and saw Prong Horn Deer feeding right outside our room.

Day 12 - Wheels rolling at 8:30 AM. Today we had a 1/2 day tour of the canyon. After breakfast, before we got on the motor coach, John and I took a quick walk to the rim to try to get some morning light pictures. Again, too many clouds were blocking the sun. The canyon area is 18 miles long with beautiful scenic pull offs throughout. We went to the highest point which is 9115 feet. Wow - what a view!

John at Rainbow Point - elevation 9115 feet!

Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon.

More Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon.

This area was really different from what we had seen before. Instead of huge rocks down in the canyon, there were columns of limestone that have been eroded by acidic rainwater. The freezing and thawing of the water did most of the sculpting. So, Bryce is not technically a canyon in that it was not carved by flowing water. It was as beautiful, though. When looking into the canyon at the columns, or hoodoos, they resemble chess pieces. It started raining after our tour was over and rained most of the afternoon. In the early afternoon, John and I walked up to Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. We could see the sunlight off in the distance but it was raining on us! The high temperature today was only 52 degrees.

Day 13 - Luggage out by 7:30. Wheels rolling at 8:30. Today we headed to Zion National Park. Zion is a Hebrew word meaning "a place of peace and relaxation". The morning started beautifully. We woke up to more deer grazing outside our porch. When we left Bryce Canyon it was 58 degrees and beautiful clear blue skies. By the early afternoon, thunderstorms greeted us once again! The shower was brief but it did leave us with cloudy skies. Zion National Park is quite a bit bigger than Bryce. It is 229 square miles and is much lower in elevation as well. When we got into Zion National Park we drove through part of the park including a tunnel that was blasted through part of the vertical sandstone cliffs. It was a little over a mile long and had huge holes carved out like picture windows to let the car exhaust fumes out but it also gave us beautiful views as we passed by them.

The canyon walls in the "place of peace and relaxation" - Zion National Park. This is the part of the canyon where the tunnel was. Notice the hole in the canyon wall in the lower third right side of the picture. This was one of the "picture windows" in the tunnel.

The Zion Lodge is almost identical to the Bryce Canyon Lodge (both are run by the same company for the State of Utah). The back porch of our 2nd floor room had a view of the cliffs of red rock above us.

"Angels Landing"

There were lots of squirrels and birds outside our room.

A big fat squirrel outside our room.

A beautiful western blue bird.

John and I saw a humming bird that kept going in and out of a tree so I got the binoculars and my 700 mm camera lens to see why. We were amazed to see her sitting on a nest. There must have been babies in it because at one point she sat on the edge of the next and had her beak inside of the nest like she was feeding babies!

A hummingbird on her nest.

Another amazing site! After dinner we took a tour of Zion into parts of the canyon the motor coach could not go. When we were walking back to our room, a wild turkey walked right along our path!

No explanation needed!

Day 14 - Luggage out at 8:00 AM. Wheels rolling at 9:30 AM. Today we headed to Las Vegas - good bye tranquillity! Reality hit us hard after 4 more days of no television, cell phone service, internet, or newspapers. It was nice and cool this morning - 58 degrees and the morning light in the canyon was beautiful. After a group picture, we loaded the motor coach.

Our group.

We stopped in St. George, Utah for a quick break and saw the winter home of Brigham Young as well as the oldest LDS Temple completed in the state of Utah. St. George was a nice small town.

Brigham Young's winter home in St. George, Utah.

The oldest completed LDS temple in Utah.

We had lunch in Mesquite, Nevada at a casino - it was pretty cheap food and of course, the casino was full of smoke. After lunch we arrived at the city that never sleeps. We were surprised at how un-crowded it was and the lights are turned off during the daytime now because of the economy. We were also amazed at the amount of construction that was going up when the current hotels are running at about 30% occupancy! Our motor coach made it down the strip in about 30 minutes. I that that is probably a record! We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. We had hors' d oeuvres at Lombardi's before we went to see "V the Variety Show". The hors' d oeuvers were excellent and the show was quite enjoyable and entertaining. After the show, we hit the sack - it had been a long day!.

Day 15 - We have travelled 2110 miles on this trip! Today we got to do everything at our leisure. It was so nice to have the opportunity to sleep in for the first time in the past 14 days! After we got up and had breakfast at the buffet we walked through the casinos and shops along the strip. The slots weren't paying off so we quit feeding them. We had our farewell dinner at Lombardi's tonight - another excellent meal.

We leave for the airport at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning. John and I have had a wonderful vacation - spending a lot of quality time together, seeing beautiful sights we had never seen before. We are so glad we are able to see and do so many wonderful things while we are young and healthy enough to enjoy them!

When we get home, it will be back to reality - work for John and diet and exercise for both of us!

I know this was a long blog and if you stuck with it, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed the journey!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T09:48:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. To me, there is no greater joy than being a mother. I have two children who have turned grown into very sweet, responsible, and loving adults. Throughout their childhood and even today, they fill my life with joy and laughter. No, they were not perfect children; their rooms weren't always clean, they didn't always make great grades, they sometimes made friends that I did not approve of. I did not expect perfection, but I did expect that they do their best, be trustworthy and respectful. They did not disappoint me...I am very proud of both of them. Motherhood is so worth it!

David, Me, a very pregnant Jill, and Sam on Mother's Day 2008

Although my mom passed away in February 2006, I still wish her a happy mother's day each year. She was a loving mother and grandmother who's life was cut short by a severe physical injury and that nasty Alzheimer's disease. Fortunately, she only had to live with her physical injury (a broken back that left her bed-ridden) for four months before she went home to be with her Lord and my dad whom she had missed terribly for the past 15 years. She was a woman of faith and loved God and all of her family with all her heart. I love you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

My last Mother's Day with my mom, 2005

David, Me, my mother Jacque, and Jill

My daughter is a mom this year. Jill and her husband Sam had a beautiful baby boy last July. He is such a delight and has developed the sweetest disposition and personality. I know he is being raised as a child of God in a loving home. All the joys of motherhood are yet to be discovered as she and Sam raise Michael. Yes, there will be trials and tribulations but there will also be things that bring great joy and happiness. I know Jill will be a wonderful mother.

Michael with Uncle David at the fire station

Michael with his Easter basket

Michael

And, on a side note, my son David is proposing to his girlfriend today! Summer is also a mother so I will be gaining a daughter-in-law as well as a granddaughter!

David, Summer and Kennedy

Kennedy at Burt's Pumpkin Farm

Kennedy

I couldn't ask for more that what my life has been blessed with - a wonderful husband, two great children and children-in-laws, and beautiful, sweet grandchildren. Life is good!

It's been a long week!

2009-04-29T08:16:00.014-04:00

For those of you who don't know, I am a certified volunteer with Canine Assistants, an organization that trains service dogs for adults and children with mobility problems and other physical disabilities. We train Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, mixes of these two breeds, as well as some Golden Doodle and LabraDoodle mixes (so we can meet the needs of recipients with allergies to dog dander). These are amazing dogs! They are very smart and learn so quickly. As a certified volunteer, I take dogs on outings to stores, movies, restaurants and so forth so they can have opportunities to practice what they have learned out in the public. I also bring them home for home visits to work on basic house manners. When they are home with me, I use umbilical cord training which means that the dog is tethered to me with the leash 24/7 unless they are supervised in a fenced yard or kenneled in a crate. I don't call this volunteer experience work as I love animals and it such a rewarding experience to be able to help teach these dogs who will someday help someone become more independent in their daily lives. In the past, when I have brought a dog home for a home visit, it has been for no more than 2 nights. There are about 100 volunteers so we get a chance to work with many of the dogs. The dogs are usually fully trained and ready to go to a recipient when they are around 18 months old.

We had a pup at the farm who had some special needs of his own and could not run and interact with all the other dogs on the farm (approximately 140 of them). so volunteers were taking him home for extended periods of time. I had this dog at home with me for a week and he was the sweetest dog ever! Even though he was by my side constantly, he never got in the way. I really hated taking him back to the farm. Since that week long experience went so well, I thought I would volunteer to be part of a new program Canine Assistants is trying - putting 10 week old pups in homes for 2 weeks at a time. It is assumed that this will expedite their training experience by exposing them to more daily household noises like washing machines, dryers, garage door openers, vacuum cleaners, etc. much earlier in their lives. It also give the pups more opportunities to go out in public since more volunteers are working with them. So, this past week I have had 2 ten week old sister pups at home. What an experience! I forgot what it takes to house break a puppy! I have been watching these little guys like a hawk for the past 7 days. I think they have finally got it though. They haven't had an "accident" in the house for the past 3 days! I am reinforcing their learning of the basic commands of sit, down, shake, roll, wait, settle, kennel, and "better hurry" (their command for going to the bathroom) as well as some other basic commands. They are really good sleepers - they have not cried at all when I tell them to go to bed each night.

I am taking the puppies back to the Canine Assistants farm tomorrow. I think I am going to miss them - they are just so darn cute! But, at the same time, I am ready to get my house cleaned up and have some alone time once again!

By the way, Lucy, our 13 year old Aussie Shepherd-Chow mix doesn't know what to think about me bringing all of these strangers into her house. She tries to ignore the bigger dogs when I bring them home and since they are tethered to me, they usually ignore Lucy as well. Lucy has gotten to where she never knows what I am going to come into the house with next! However,it has been kind of hard for Lucy to ignore these two puppies. They want to play, play, play! They play and "fight" with each other when they are in their kennel and when they are outside, they want to play with Lucy. Well, Lucy is like an old grandma dog, she really doesn't want to be bothered by these little pups. I think she will be really glad to see them go so she can have the house all to herself once again - at least for a little while!

These are some pictures of the little guys I have had at home or have worked with at the farm. If you want to know more about this awesome non-profit organization, please visit their website at canineassistants.org.

Oakley, a Golden Doodle, working on the agility course at the farm. The dogs work on the agility course to get them used to walking on different types of surfaces, different heights, elevations, and tight spaces.

Selena, Oakley's sister. She is also working on the agility course.

Raven, another Golden Doodle. Her trainer likes to groom her body close cut which makes her look very different than Oakley and Selena.

Woods, a Golden Retriever and Lucy

Cassius, a Golden Lab mix with special needs (notice his crooked front leg). He is scheduled for surgery on his leg in June.

Frazier, a Golden Retriever.

Some of the dogs in their kennel at the farm

The puppy building.

Sallie, a 10 week old Golden Lab mix.

Fowler, Sallie's sister, a 10 week old Golden Lab mix.

Fowler aggravating Lucy.

Fowler and Sallie ganging up on Lucy. They love to pull on her kerchief.

Sallie and Fowler acting like siblings - fighting over a toy.

They decide they may share it. The other's toy is laying on the deck right in front of them!

Or, maybe they will fight over it after all!

Spring at Stone Mountain

2009-04-10T09:26:00.007-04:00

Well, I had my last photography class for a while on Thursday. I was taking Digital 102 and really enjoyed this class. It was more challenging, making me learn more settings on my camera and doing a lot of low light photography. I have finally learned to use my camera in the full manual mode and it gives me a lot more control on how my pictures turn out. It was a really great class. I wish I was able to take more but we will be going on vacation soon and I would miss 2 out of the 6 classes so I will wait until I can be here for the entire course. I can't decide if I want to take Photoshop or People I next. I do eventually want to take the People classes so I can learn to take better pictures of individuals and groups. I'll decide that later.

For my last Digital 102 class I had to have 10 pictures that I had taken over the past 6 weeks. I decided to go out to Stone Mountain and spend an afternoon taking pictures. It was a beautiful day, was in the middle of spring break for the schools in our area, and the park was packed. I had fun driving through the park, getting out of the car and just walking around. Everything was beautiful. Here are a few of the pictures I took that day. Enjoy!

The Carving

A gorgeous pink dogwood

Rhododendron blossom

The covered bridge behind white dogwoods

The beautiful dogwood blossom

The grist mill

Rhododendron amongst Crepe Myrtle trees

Easter Eggs and Cookies

2009-04-05T14:11:00.008-04:00

Friday, John and I kept Kennedy while David and Summer started moving into their new house. I told David we were going to dye some eggs for Easter decorations. I didn't want to do hard boiled eggs since it was over a week before Easter so I decided to poke holes in each end of the raw egg and blow them out. David laughed, saying that Kennedy would crush the eggs but I thought if I told her to be gentle with them, they would come out fine. We had 6 eggs and Kennedy chose the colors purple, blue, and pink. We got the water ready but what I thought was the pink dye tablet was really orange. While I had my back turned for just a second, Kennedy reached for one of the eggs. David was right! Kennedy crushed the very first egg she picked up in her tiny little hands! So, we proceeded with the 5 remaining eggs and they made it through without getting cracked.

When the eggs were dry, we decorated them with glitter and stickers.

Later in the afternoon, we baked and decorated some Easter cookies. Kennedy had more fun eating the icing and sprinkles off of the cookies than she did baking and decorating them!

I think Kennedy had a fun day!

Fun with Michael

2009-03-22T09:25:00.006-04:00

While Jill and Michael were here last week, we took Michael to the park close to our house. There are always so many kids there because it is such a cool place for little ones. Michael wasn't quite sure what to think of so many people being around, but he had fun. I can't wait for spring to finally decide it is here to stay - we will be spending a lot of time at the park when they visit. Who knows - I may even try to do his one year old pictures there with his mom and dad.

The surface of the playground is rubberized (not the kind that gets really hot). Michael was not sure about that feeling on his little bare feet!

Holding on while watching all of the activity around him.

Beginning to explore...

Starting to enjoy it a little more...

It's a whole new world!

Michael also enjoyed helping his grandmommy around the house (ha ha)!

Pulling the tupperware out...

and looking for the pieces that got away...

Looking for a lost movie...

and his favorite toy.

And finally, helping with the laundry!

I really enjoyed having the two of them here for several days. Jill was finally able to get a lot of scrapbooking done while she was here. As you can imagine, it's not easy to find time to get little luxuries like that done when you have an active baby around the house. Michael has just started crawling and is everywhere now. I need to baby proof my house!

Family History

2009-03-18T11:38:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since I have done any blogging. I have been busy looking into my past! I have recently become interested in genealogy and am trying to research my mom and dad's family roots. It has been pretty easy up to this point because my mom kept a lot of records on both hers and my dad's families. Also, both my mom and dad have one sibling left and I was lucky to be able to interview each of them and get a lot of information. Have you seen the "My Ancestry" commercials on TV? Well, they grabbed me. I went online and started doing more research. I have stored all of the information I have found along with some old pictures on the "My Ancestry" web site. Now the hard part begins. I have run out of known information and am beginning to get ancestry hints on people in the family tree on which I have no historical information. How am I supposed to know if these hints are really on my relatives? There is a lot of information out there - I just need to learn how to make it all fit. I have been able to get copies of my grandfather's World War I draft registration card and copies of census records back to 1910 so far! It's really pretty amazing. Below are some pictures that I have found in my mom and dad's things. I'll keep on digging and see what else I can come up with. It's pretty addicting. I have spent up to 6 hours at one time on the computer. Just one more thing to keep me distracted from all of the other mundane chores there are to do around this house!

My maternal great-great-grandmother.

My maternal grandmother and grandfather.

My mother at age 2, 1932.

My mother's graduation from Roosevelt High School, Atlanta, GA 1949. Pretty fancy for a public school! Those are real roses she is holding. In the class picture, each girl is dressed in a formal gown and has a bouquet of roses. I counted at least 18 from what was visible. There are probably 2 dozen of them.

My paternal grandfather, doing what I remember best - eating Whitman's chocolates!

My dad's graduation from Commercial High School, Atlanta, GA 1947.

My mom and dad at Grant Park prior to their marriage, 1952. This was probably an Easter Sunday since they both have flowers on. My dad's parents lived within walking distance to Grant Park.

My mom and dad's wedding, May 15, 1953.

What was I thinking?

2009-01-29T14:33:00.002-05:00

I like to think that I am keeping my mind young by continuing adult education, but sometimes I wonder if it is working. I still misplace my keys, sunglasses, cell phone, etc. Sometimes my sunglasses are right on top of my head, or my keys are in my hand when I am looking for them! Today, I met some girlfriends for lunch. We were in the restaurant for about an hour and forty-five minutes. When I came out to get in my car, I approached what I thought was my car but it was running so I thought I must have gone to the wrong car. I looked in the driver's seat and no one was in there so I looked at the car more closely - yep, it was mine! I had gotten out of the car and started talking to one of the other girls that had already shown up and completely forgot to turn my car off! Boy, did I feel like an idiot and what a waste of gasoline! Actually, I feel very lucky that I even had a car when I came out of the restaurant. So much for keeping my mind young!

I do enjoy continuing adult education. I am taking photography classes to learn how to use my camera on settings other than "auto" and have also taken photoshop classes. I like the photography classes because we are assigned "homework" for the week to go out and take specific kinds of pictures. We bring the pictures in the following week and they are critiqued by the instructor. It is really a great way to learn what you are doing right and what you need to improve. I think I have learned a lot but still have a lot more to learn. In the first photography class we did a field trip to the Oakland Cemetery, an historic cemetery in Atlanta. It was very early on a very cold morning in December. It was kind of eerie walking around in the cemetery. There was a lot of damage in the cemetery from the tornado that had come through Atlanta in March of 2008. In that class, everyone was on about the same level as far as learning how to use their camera. I felt pretty good in that class. My current photography class is on composition - learning to see creatively. This is definitely something I struggle with. In this class, there are several people that could be professional photographers. Everything they bring in is perfect - good composition, good lighting, good colors, etc. I really feel like a dummy in this class - but, hey, that's why I'm there - I'm trying to learn. Our field trip for this class was to Little 5 Points in Atlanta. I have lived in Atlanta my entire life and this was a first for me. It was definitely another different experience. It was a cold and rainy Saturday but the rain did let up after we had been there about half an hour. There were homeless people around everywhere, but some of them were quite funny. Our instructor had told us that these homeless people are different from the homeless people that are in "downtown" as these homeless are friendly. They were - and seemed harmless. There were some very eclectic stores in Little 5 Points. Many of the students came in with some very unique pictures - our assignment for this shoot was similar shapes, patterns, and repetition of form in the environment. It's funny how you look at things differently when you are learning to see things creatively.

Well, there won't be any pictures for this post as I didn't think I got any good shots on Saturday. Maybe next time. In the meantime, I am constantly looking at my environment as a form of art now. Hopefully, learning to see creatively will come easier for me in the near future!

Looking forward to a New Year

2008-12-29T10:15:00.014-05:00

Well, Christmas 2008 has now come and gone. Our families had a wonderful time celebrating the season. We started celebrating with our traditional get together with the families of our best friends. We have been celebrating Christmas with them for the past 26 years. Emily, Rita, and I have our picture made together each year and are now including our girls (sorry guys - you got left out again!) and grandkids in the pictures. We always have fun at this annual event. It's fun to watch how we change and our families grow!

Rita, Kay and Emily

...with the girls

...the girls and grandkids

Next, we celebrated with the Petzelt family. We all enjoyed having lunch together at our house then watching all the kids open their gifts.

Dorothy with her boys

...and all of her grandchildren

Christmas night was fun with 2 little ones, 6 adults, and 2 dogs in the house. It was hectic but I did manage to get a few posed pictures. Michael arrived dressed like a snowman Christmas evening!

David and Summer with Kennedy

Jill and Sam with Michael

and Lucy got the leftovers!

John and I are now looking forward to celebrating a quite New Year's Eve at home.

A New Christmas Tradition

2008-12-11T08:35:00.004-05:00

Even though I have lived in Atlanta my entire life, I don't remember ever riding the Pink Pig! Well, I finally got my chance. Jill and I took Michael to Lenox Square to see Santa and ride the Pink Pig. How fun! We talked about making this a new Christmas tradition. Michael sat in Santa's lap. Even though he didn't smile for the picture at least he wasn't screaming!. There weren't many people at the mall - we didn't have a line to see Santa nor to ride the Pink Pig. The messy weather may have played a part in that. We had a wonderful day together!

Michael with Santa at Lenox Square Mall

The Pink Pig entrance

Jill and Michael on the Pink Pig

Jill and Michael

My little Christmas present!

Christmas will be different this year

2008-12-07T21:02:00.007-05:00

This will be our first Christmas with grandchildren. Jill and Sam will have Michael (5 months) and David and Summer will have Kennedy (2 years) when they are here on Christmas. How exciting!! It has been a long time since little bitties have been around on Christmas. We are really looking forward to them being here. We finally got all of the Christmas decorations out of the basement but I haven't even begun to get anything done with them yet. I really need to get busy. Jill and I are going to take Michael to ride the Pink Pig next week. Neither of us have ever been - hard to believe, growing up in Atlanta and never been to the Pink Pig! Here are some pictures of Christmas in years past to enjoy while I get myself together to get new ones up.

Jill and David with Santa 1988

Jill and David on Christmas morning 2000

Sam, Jill and David Christmas 2004

Traveling

2008-12-02T13:52:00.012-05:00

I had a request to post some of the photos from our travels this year. John and I went to Holland and Belgium this spring to see the tulips and to taste some chocolate. We were not disappointed. The tulips were beautiful and the chocolate was decadent!!!

John outside Leonidas Chocolates in Belgium

Windmills at Kinderdijk, Holland

Keukenhof Gardens, Holland

This fall we traveled through New England to see the leaves turning beautiful, brilliant colors. We traveled through Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York (even though it is not part of New England). Again, we were not disappointed. The weather and the leaves cooperated fully!

Fall color in Maine ...

...and Vermont

You can check out my pictures on my Shutterfly web page:

www.shutterbug2.shutterfly.com

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T21:18:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family at our house on Thursday. The only thing missing was my son David, who had to work and his girlfriend Summer and her daughter Kennedy. It was the first Thanksgiving without David, but with his job as a firefighter, that will probably happen more often now. There were, however, some sad undertones to our family gathering. One of my aunts and a cousin's husband passed away on Tuesday. I can't imagine how sad it would be to lose you mother and husband an hour apart from each other. Attending two funerals in two days ranks up there with one of the saddest things I have ever had to do. I went up to Charlotte, NC with 4 of my cousins and an aunt. While it was a sad occasion, we all had some good bonding with the NC cousins and their families which we had not seen in many years.

Judy, Debbie, Donna (the 2 cousins who lost their mom - Donna also lost her husband), Kay, Cathy, and Sandra

I had planned on putting my Christmas tree up this past weekend, but that did not happen. Hopefully I'll get to it this coming week.

We will celebrate John's 60th birthday on Saturday. I love him so much! He is such a good person and so supportive of everything I am interested in. We'll do something special to celebrate!

New Hardwood Floors - What a mess, but so worth it!

2008-11-20T07:14:00.008-05:00

We are in the process of getting new hardwood floors in our dining room and having the wood floor in the foyer refinished. Boy, what a mess. My den is full of all of my dining room furniture and everything that was in it. I can't stand my house being in a mess but it sure is right now - and I'm having Thanksgiving here a week from today! The floors won't be finished until Friday and I can't move the furniture back in until Monday, but I'm not going to panic. I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm excited about the floors - they look great right now and they aren't even finished yet.

The Petzelt Pages

2008-11-18T17:42:00.008-05:00

We're joining the New Generation! Well, this is entirely new to us and something we never imagined we would be doing. But, we thought, "what the heck, we'll give it a try!"

Since I retired, I am so busy I don't know how I had time to work. I am a certified volunteer at Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization in Alpharetta, GA that trains service dogs for adults and children with mobility impairments and/or seizure disorders. It is very rewarding work, if you can actually call it work. It is so much fun working with the dogs, reinforcing their basic commands, taking them on outings and bringing them home for home visits to work on house manners. I am also working on improving my photography skills by taking photography classes. I love taking pictures and scrapbooking all of the memories.

John and I love to travel. There are so many beautiful places we want to see. Our travel wish list is very long. I'll keep our travel adventures posted on this blog. Our latest adventure was through New England to see the fall foliage. I wonder if the New Englanders appreciate their beautiful fall landscapes as much as the visitors do. We saw some beautiful countryside and ate some good lobster!

Thanks for checking us out. Check back often to see what we are up to.