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Bernie is Home Again in Alaska.

After leaving Savannah, Georgia and making one stop up in Washington DC to pick up his buddy Kyle, Bernie has made it driving to AK in 7 days. They were driving about 1,000 miles a day and would have made it on Thursday but they got a flat outside of Tok Junction. So what could have been 6 was 7 days. We are so thankful they were safe. They said they saw bear, moose,wild buffalo, and caribou across Canada and AK. This was Kyle's first trip to AK and he left the next day to get back to work in DC.

Angie arrived on Sunday and we are so happy to have her. She is definitely a cheerful addition to our family. She is Finn's new babysitter during the week and will be starting school in the fall at UAA to finish her degree.

The garden has been coming along nicely. The peas are getting tall although I don't see pods on them yet. The lilacs are just coming in bloom for the past two weeks. It seems we are a little behind in the sunshine department, but beautiful nonetheless.

Time to Catch Up!!!

Well Gretchen and I have been home for about 10 days now and I promised I would catch up. Here are some pictures mostly of the trip but some of beautiful Greta.
We drove to Charlotte to spend the weekend about three hrs. away and went to the new Billy Graham Library which opened up the first part of June. Three of the past presidents were there for the dedication, Sr. George Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton. The library was full of the life and events of Billy Graham and the impact he has had on the lives of people here in the United States as well as the rest of the world, preaching the Gospel. Ruth Graham had recently died the week before and her body is laid to rest on the grounds. Billy grew up there in Charlotte, NC.

We also went to Duke University Gardens and spent the day. That was probably the coolest day we were there which was 88 degrees and humid. The gardens and grounds are gorgeous and in full bloom started by Sarah P. Duke who bestowed millions of dollars to the University way back when. We enjoyed ourselves walking Finn around in the stroller. The University itself began in the late 1800's and is beautiful.

Greta looks like her G-Pop in one of my favorite pictures with with tiny arm by her head. She is absolutely beautiful. She looks so tiny in her carseat.

"THE JUST MAN WALKETH IN HIS INTEGRITY: BLESSED ARE HIS CHILDREN WHO WALK AFTER HIM" PROVERBS 20:7

..."THE GLORY OF CHILDREN ARE THEIR FATHERS"

Here are the proud parents of gorgeous little Greta Jean.

Thank the good Lord for Grandma Susan getting to Raleigh in time (2.5 hr. drive) for witnessing the birth and helping Natalie and Adam for the entire week, cooking,cleaning and just smiling the whole time. She is such a sweet blessing and also to Scott who came straight home from Houston as soon as he arrived. Natalie said she came as soon as she heard Natalie was going to the hospital in the middle of the early morning looking fantastic with her hair combed and makeup on, never missing a beat. I think the picture of them both cooking after our plane got in was funny. They say you take after your mate after you have been married some time.

The last picture is also so sweet with Natalie and Adam taking Greta for her first stroller ride on Father's Day. Even a couple of the neighbors stopped to wave and wish Adam a happy father's day.

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Here we are in Royal Raleigh, North Carolina enjoying ourselves totally. Natalie and Adam have a beautiful home which they have worked hard on. Natalie's personality is manifested in her decorating. Adam has worked non-stop on everything from plumbing to electrical. On their back deck you can look out to the swimming pool which is oval shaped. Their back yard has many tall shade trees which border the fence but it makes me think I'm in Hawaii with this heat and humidity. I can drink coffee out of the back deck in the morning and it's just me and the skeets.

The babies have been great. Greta is very serene and peaceful unless she's hungry and Finn enjoys an audience fot his cute antics. There are some pictures of the difference in size. They are 3 1/2 mos. apart. We have taken them on a few outings, namely thrift stores and also other stores for groceries. Mostly, we have been having fun talking, cooking and eating and also the girls have been painting pictures for Finn's room. I am attempting to finish Greta's moose quilt...forgot thread, and went to JoAnn's today. I took the sightseeing route, in other words, I got lost.

We have entertained three times this week with Adam's family twice and Beth and Anthony and their beautiful children. What fun!! We try to take walks at least once a day in the evening when it is cooler. Nat and Adam live close by some pretty ritsy homes. The mansion at the end of their street is worth 19 million, it has beautiful gardens and landscaping. Most of the others are valued at 1 million. They are so high because they border an exclusive golf course. Will write more later.

IT WENT BY SO FAST!!!!!!

They're home now back with their Daddy, but we sure did enjoy every moment from holding, feeding, and just playing with the kids. It was worth every moment, and we had forgotten just how busy a young family can be. We are thankful to our heavenly Father for allowing them to spend a whole 16 days with us. Here are some pictures of mostly Emme and Levi but also one of Emme attempting to hold Baby Finn with some help from G-Pop. G-Pop is always good for a horsey ride too especially now that his shoulder is better. One picture shows Emme having a bad hair day until it was brushed and fixed.

Levi is being given a kiss from Jaeger, Chrissy and Jeff's dog, and Carsten and Emme greeted each other with a hug. They are great friends and had a ball playing doing sommersaults and riding the jumping horse. Aunt Dorothy is also here with Bridgette and Levi and there were more family photos taken to come later on. Oma has them on her camera. Thanks to Chrissy for the outstanding pizza party!!

Camping in Seward, Alaska

Despite the gray weather, we still had a great time with all the kids and grandkids over Memorial Day weekend. We walked, rode bikes, shopped, and played the tourist but most of all we just enjoyed spending time with the kids. Emme kept us busy from sun up til sun down (which just plain wore us out because we have so much daylight this time of year). The times we put her to bed in the back bedroom of the motorhome where it was dark, we would find her looking out of the shades at all the other kids who were playing outside at 10 pm at night. Levi and Finn were good once they figured out who got which bed and which napping schedule suited them best. Their moms were a little frustrated at first but then it all worked out thanks to their scheduling and planning efforts. We ate the typical camping food hotdogs, marshmallows, chips, cookies, etc. and even ate out at a nice restaurant for some fresh seafood. Bernie cooked breakfast for us on the grill and kept the campfire going. The picture of the stuffed bear on Bernie sleeping is because Emme thought it best to get her Uncle Bernie's bear and give it to G-Pop so he could have a nice nap. He never even budged!

SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE

Finally, at long last, we were able to successfully surprise Gretchen with a visit from Bridgette, Emme, and Levi. We have been keeping it a secret for well over one month. Bernie did not think it possible that us girls could keep quiet. Natalie, Bridgette, and I would talk almost every day without letting on. That is no easy task if you know Gretchen. Mission accomplished.

Here are the photos of what transpired late Saturday night...hhhmmmm, I think it was 11:00 pm. We had gone out to dinner together earlier and then later told her we were going to the airport to pick up some guys who were coming home from being deployed. I even wore red, white, and blue. Our Gretchen was so surprised when Bernie asked her if Finn could come over to our house. She told us later that she thought someone had died and why didn't we call first. Bridgette popped out from around the corner and she yelled "What are you doing here?" Needless to say she was soooo happy to see her sister. Thank you to all those who kept a great secret!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

We had a wonderful Mother's Day with our moms present. We had a tasty brunch after church in which everyone brought delicious food. We ate well and had a good time of talk and laughter. Gretchen was the youngest mother present celebrating her first Mother's Day and Carsten was there to keep us entertained with all of his genius activity. Rhea and Debbie stopped by on their way home from the valley and visited with us in the afternoon. God has blessed us with awesome mothers who have taught us many Godly character traits.

Bernie had gone out halibut fishing with some buddies of his and brought home his limit. He got home at midnight the eve of Mother's Day

I received beautiful peach roses (my favorite color from Grechen and Phil as well as an edible dark chocolate box filled with chocolate candy from AK Wildberry Products. Need I say more...yum. Bernie you got me the beautiful bouquet which is on the entertainment center with the pretty purple vase and the sterling purple rose bouquet. Good taste and it came on Mother's Day delivered to the door. Thank you, favorite son of mine. Thank you Bridgette and Chad for the thoughtful gifts and card but most of all for the beautiful grandchildren you have blessed us with. Natalie and Adam I loved the card and can hardly wait to hold little Greta. I laughed so hard at the card.

God definitely blessed us with 4 great kids who have succeeded in life because of God and His goodness. "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

MARVELOUS MAY


Here are just a few random pictures of what we did last week. These are my good friends I went to CHS with Joy Powell McCall and Dianne Boehm Bassett. Dianne and I were cheerleaders together and Joy was the smartest student in our school!! Dianne has been here for the past year (only I didn't know it) and Joy has been home for about 4 or 5 yrs (she's a former missionary to Haiti). We got together for the second time to visit and talk and remminisce and, this time I remembered my camera. It's been 32 years since we graduated and moved on and amazing to see how God has blessed us and let our paths cross. Joy and I go to the same church and Dianne goes to church in ER.

Here is our little camping trailer we bought two years ago and Dad has been diligently working on it. He took it completely apart and rebuilt it and added fancy lights etc. Thanks to Chris Yelverton for the awesome paint job. He outdid himself on this project. The former owners came over last week and they don't even recognize it. Once it warms up, we will take it camping for the two of us.

The other pictures is of Dad. Gretchen and I got such a kick out of watching him and Finn sleep so good last week on the recliner after he came home from work. He went to sleep in about five minutes...deep sleep with very aduible snoring coming from Dad. Finn didn't move a muscle and loved it, sleeping in the crook of his arm going up and down with each exhaling. It was priceless.