Surprise - Surprise!!

My wonderful friend Joleen had invited me over for a birthday dinner Wed  night - not Glenn, just me!  Because of our crazy schedules at work, we hadn't had much time to just sit and talk and relax!  So I was really looking forward to the evening!

 

I called Joleen about 4:30 and was surprised when she answered!  I asked her if I could come early since she got off earlier than expected and her response was "No - I want to finish up my charts and then I have to cook dinner"  I said OK and then proceeded to head out there at our pre-arranged time!

 

As I was driving through Florissant, I happened to glance over at the closed down restaurant and saw another friend, Jane, talking to a couple other people in a car - and I thought to myself that I would have to call Jane the next day and see what she was doing in Florissant!!

 

And when I arrived at Joleen's place, her and her daughter in law Jaime, opened the door with a SURPRISE!!!!  The house was decorated and a huge spread of food was laid out!!  But since I had arrived just a little early, the other people weren't there yet!!  I was totally surprised!!  (and yes, Jane was in that parking lot in Florissant, waiting for the other gals to arrive so they could car pool)

 

Zach, Jaime's husband, had written this in the driveway - use your imagination to turn it around as I couldn't get a good angle unless I took the pic from the steps!

 

Here's the spread of food that Joleen and Jaime had prepared -  and I took this picture before the other friends put out the food they had brought!!

What a fun time we had eating and drinking wine together!!  Joleen - Joyce - Karen - Bev - Jaime - Jane.  One friend was out of town so couldn't make it and another one was stranded in Colorado Springs due to the mudslide from yesterdays' rain.

I even received gifts!!  What a special night!!

After dessert of chocolate covered strawberries and key lime pie, we all posed for a picture that Jaime offered to take!!  Note that I really dressed up for my evening with Joleen - ha ha - I rarely wear anything very good to work because of all the granite dust so darn it, I had on my baggy old capris since I came straight from work!!

What a great way to start my birthday celebration!  Thank you Joleen from the bottom of my heart for putting this together for me - I TRULY loved every minute of it!!

DMV Trip #2 - And NOT The Last!

Do people in other counties and states have to stand in line in order to renew their drivers license or renew their vehicle tags?  Since Glenn and I both had renewed once through the mail and once online, they wouldn't allow us to do it this year (perhaps because of our age?) so as you recall, Glenn did get his license renewed before we headed to Iowa but I didn't because I didn't have proof of my physical address.

Tuesday was the day to head to Colorado Springs to renew my license since I had about 8 stops to make while I was down there!!  With proof of my physical address in hand, I walked in and got a ticket with the gal telling me it would be at least 1/2 hour - more like 45 minutes!!  Luckily I had things to keep me amused - just watching people would have been interesting but I chose to play Ruzzle on my IPhone!

My number was finally called and I walked in VERY confidant that I would soon be OUT OF THERE!  I gave the gal my license and proof of physical address - that was all OK.  I took the eye test and that was OK.  But when she asked me for my social and checked the computer, she shook her head and said she couldn't renew my license because something was wrong at the social security office - WHAT??????  She assured me it was probably something like a wrong name and asked me if I had changed it when I got married!

Since I don't carry my card with me, I couldn't in fact tell her that's what it was but I was 99% sure my card read "Raymond".  I reminded her that I had lived in Colorado since 1989, had a valid drivers license and had renewed it twice but that didn't cut any ice with her - apparently there are NEW rules and everything must match with the social security office!

She kindly told me what I needed to do - first I needed to get my marriage license and birth certificate (sitting at home of course in the lock box) and go to the social security office and fix whatever was wrong (which if it's anything like the DMV, I'll be looking at over an hours' wait time, maybe more).  Then I needed to wait one day (since the SS office doesn't update their computer till nighttime) and then come back down and get my license.

By this time, I'm FUMING!!!!  2 more trips to get my drivers' license renewed??????  I was not happy - but what could I say!!

She did give my license a 30 day extension since there was no way this was going to get taken care of this week - and now I get to take a couple more days off and resolve this matter!!  I think I'll take a book next time as my phone will probably run out of battery by the time I finally get in to see the right people!!

I couldn't wait to get home and check out my social security card - and lo and behold it DID say Raymond - but I quickly saw the problem - EVERYTHING legal is in Rebecca, my given name - but my card reads Becky!!  I was really surprised!  I'm not sure when mom and dad ordered our cards but why wouldn't they have put Rebecca on it vs. Becky!!!  And why didn't I change it to Rebecca?  I have no idea - all I know is that I probably hadn't looked at that card since I had it changed to Raymond - and also realized that I had no trouble getting a passport!  Pretty interesting!!  But I WILL get it taken care of so there are no future problems!!

Camping Fun

More camping pics!!  We all had fun playing ladder ball - even the smaller ones were getting pretty good at it by the time we left!

 

This picture is a classic - I can just hear Gary thinking, "darn it - how did this happen"
  Kylan looks pretty calm and collected as he points that toy gun!!

These two have to have the cutest smiles of all the kids - they're both holding their caterpillars!!

Here's the cool fort they built - I had just given them bowls of goldfish and bunnies but I have no idea what Kylan said to Kenzie as she looks kind of disappointed!!

Jessi and Gary slept better the second night and I slept great as it was raining out!!!  It sure is messy outside in the morning after a rain but you can always count on the sun to come out and dry things rather quickly!!

We packed up and headed home as Glenn had to go into work - Jessi's came later as they stopped to fish and we all decided the showers we took felt GREAT!!!

Jessi and Gary decided to dance "their song" when it came on!!

And silly Evan grabbed Kenzie and danced a few bars too!

Sunday we woke up to sunshine and enjoyed sitting on the deck enjoying coffee before the Keppys had to head back to Denver!  All in all, one fantastic time camping and we can't wait to do it again the end of July with everyone!!

July 4th - The Red, White and Blue

It was sure nice to have the 4th of July fall on a Thursday!!  Since the guys at work had all been working so hard, we had told them a long time ago that they could all have a 4 day weekend - unfortunately, we were super busy but couldn't go back on our word!!  I know they appreciated the time off and we packed up to head out camping!!

 

Jessi, Gary and the kids arrived at our place about 9:30am on Thursday morning - I had coffee waiting for them and we were soon out the door, headed to Lake George to wilderness camp.  Brad and his kids had arrived the night before and had found our "special" spot!!

 

The kids LOVED the spot - there were lots of rock formations around and they ended up building a fort beside one of them!!  But the best thing was a bug terrarium that Jessi had bought and the kids had a blast finding bugs, mainly caterpillars, and playing with them!!  (In addition to holding them hostage!!)

 

Brad's daughter Ashley was here from Florida for a few weeks and her and Rayna had fun shooting their bow and arrows!

Doesn't Kenzie look cute in her 4th of July outfit?  And check out that beautiful blue sky!!

After setting up camp, Jessi and I alternated between reading our books and playing with the kids - but mostly the kids entertained themselves!!

Some of the gang went fishing and they even caught fish, which Gary cooked on the grill  -  it was yummy!!!  We had plenty of great food to eat and the kids' favorite part of the day was "Happy Hour" - drinks and chips and veggies and dips!!

We had brought the ATV so Glenn had fun giving all the kids rides and before long, Rayna had it mastered!!  I think it was the first time I DIDN'T ride the ATV during our camping time!!  Aren't these 4 just the cutest ever?

Yes, the rains came while we camped but we didn't dare complain!!  We got pretty good at bringing the chairs and everything else under the canopies so stuff didn't get too wet!!

Evan ended up sleeping with Kylan in Brad's camper so he loved that!  Jessi and Gary didn't get a great nights' sleep as their air mattress kept leaking air!!  But Glenn and I slept pretty good that first night.............More pictures in the next blog!!

125th Celebration of My Hometown

What could be more fun than brunch with a few of your classmates from high school?  It was a pretty small showing since our graduating class was 40 people but we weren't going to complain - we just enjoyed visiting and visiting!!  The church had an excellent meal of ham, eggs, fruit, rolls and donuts and the best part - LEFSA!!!  I was too busy talking to go back and get a second piece but it was delicious and a couple was cooking it on site at the church!  I was impressed!!

 

It was a little crazy at Patty's house since she had her 3 daughters, son-in-laws and 7 of her 8 grandchildren there!!  But it's all part of the fun!!

Glenn and I found time to visit with our good friends, Bob and Jeanine from Nevada who were at their relatives' house which was right across the street!!  We all walked downtown together to grab a bite to eat and listen to some of the entertainment!!

After a quick stop at the softball game, we did head back to Patty's since a quick shower went through and we were getting rather wet!!

Next on the agenda was Aunt Nadine and Uncle Don, along with their son, wife and kids stopping in for a quick visit before the school reunion!!  We enjoyed talking with them and catching up!

And then it was off to the all school reunion - we added a couple more to our bunch so a total of 10 were actually present - a nice meal was served and it was sure fun to see people that I hadn't seen since high school - luckily we were all wearing name tags as I wouldn't have recognized a lot of them!

A street dance was held that evening and the band was fantastic!!  We danced and danced, talked and talked and because the music was so loud, found ourselves hoarse the next morning from trying to visit over the band!!  But it was SO much fun and a great time seeing people!!

The night was short but we had to get up the next morning as we were heading to church at the South Church!!  Time for a "3 Sisters" picture before church!!

I love going to the South Church for services and thoroughly enjoyed seeing and visiting with more people!!  Here's a picture of Patty and Leonard's grandchildren - all cute as buttons!!

And then it was time to point the convertible towards Omaha and fly back home!!  What a wonderful time we had seeing and visiting with Glenn's relatives and mine - celebrating Soldier's 125th - and attending the school reunion!  Besides the memories, I have some commemorative items that will certainly remind me of the great time back in Iowa!!

Soldier and Sisters

With the convertible top down, we headed to Soldier for a few hours - Teri and Emily had arrived the night before and they were busy helping Patty make some yummy desserts when we arrived!!  Glenn and Leonard took off in the convertible and us 4 girls headed out to the South Church.

 

It's always exciting to see this beautiful church and it's hard not to snap pics every time I come!!  After walking around looking at the different headstones, I thought this big old tree looked great in the back of the church!!  It may be missing some branches but it still stands tall and proud!!

 

Then it was off to the farm!!  The corn wasn't as high as it was last year when we came!!  But it's always fun to see the green corn against this blue sky!  The crops look great, even though they were late planting due to all their rain - (Colorado should have that problem!)

Then it was back to Soldier where we walked to the top of the Midway Bar for a photo!!

If you've ever wondered what small town USA main street looks like - this is it!!!

And here's the other direction!  Just a few buildings and a stop sign - that's it!!

The Veteran's Memorial has been redone in the past few years and it looks awesome!

After testing the 125th Celebration wine, it was time to head back down to Little Sioux for our last evening with Glenn's mom................To Be Cont'd

Iowa Bound - Meeting Maggie

The hardest part about going on a trip is not the planning or the packing or the flying - it's leaving your business in the hands of your employees!  You not only work like crazy to get everything ready to go but then when you get back home, you work lots of extra hours to make up for the time you're gone!!

 

We actually worked most of the day last Tuesday and then headed to Denver to fly - there is so much construction on I-25 that we thought we might be late but we made it in time!  This time we flew Southwest - an airline we've never flown before - and it sure is interesting how they board the people with no assigned seats!  Luckily we did get to sit together and the short flying time of 1 1/2 hours is always nice!!

 

I opted to pick up the luggage (free checked bags with Southwest) while Glenn went to get the rental car and the last thing I told him was DO NOT GET AN UPGRADE!!!!  But he never listens to me - when I got the luggage and went back to the rental counter, he was telling me he had a convertible booked and I said yea, right.................little did I know that he DID have one booked!!

 

It was a classy black car and I loved it!!  But of course we chose not to drive with the top down on our trip up to his moms' place - Iowa has bugs - lots of bugs in the evenings - enough said!!

 

It was great to see Lolly again and the next morning we put the top down and went for a drive!!

 

 

The sad news about this trip - my camera hardly ventured out of my purse - I have no excuses either - it was there with me but I just didn't take many pictures.............

The first couple of days were spent in the area just driving around, visiting with people, having breakfast at the Onawa Café, blizzards at the DQ, coffee at the coffee place.............One evening we drove to Sioux City and saw his sisters' place and then met his 3 sisters and their spouses at The Outback for a great meal!  Yes I should have taken my camera out then and taken pictures - but alas, I didn't!!

Thursday evening we took Neal, Jenny and their 2 little ones, Chance and Maggie, out to eat!!  This is the first time we have seen Maggie and she sure is a cutie!!  Since their birthdays are in July and Sept., I brought their gifts with us!!

Of course Maggie smiled but do you think I could catch those smiles???  Apparently not!!

Chance is all ready for bed in his cute sponge bob pj's!!

Friday we decided to head to Soldier for a few hours since our time there would be short - we put the roof down and headed down the road.............To Be Cont'd