MAINE VACATION

Here is the long awaited slide show of our vacation. Enjoy. It was by far the best (aside from Vermont) vacation. These are just a few of the 347 pics we took. We plan to go back as we ran out of time....There is so much to do there. Maybe "youse guys" can come with us next time. ENJOY!!!

UNTITLED

Well we have been home for about two weeks and making plans to go again. Our next trip will be to see our "new" grandbaby in March of 09. Today we got to keep A for a few hours. What fun.....we can hardly wait until next Monday when we can keep her longer. She is such a sweet baby. She slept, woke up and ate, and then played a little and told me stories, and then went back to sleep just before momma came to pick her up. We were sad she had to leave, but look forward to next week when she we will visit with us again. Thanks L&C for allowing us to be a part of her life.

I'd Rather be in Maine!

We made it home, but our bags did not. And yes I'm upset because there is no reason for it. We had a 1 hour layover in Detroit and a 4 hour lay over in Dallas. In my book they had ample time to the bags from point A to point B.

It was a great 10 days and we did not want to come back here. If I did not have a job to go to we probably would have stayed a lot longer. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs leaving. I cried all day. Those of you who read this, please do not be offended, but please realize how blessed you are that you have family close enough that you could visit OFTEN and they can visit you OFTEN. Take every opportunity to travel and be with them. We have cried all day and so have they. I think Ethen called me at least 3 x to tell me he missed us.

I will always treasure the moments we had, the sayings that came from Seth. He would say stuff like "no not yet nanna" or "we have to wait", those were his way of saying no to a question you would ask. My favorite was when I told him that green beans were good for him and he replied, "No Nanna they are gross for me" and then proceeded to cover his mouth so you couldn't put any in. He would wake up in the morning and come down stairs and tickle me and say, "nanna the sky is up", which meant it was morning time and we needed to get up. He would also tell you that he "needed" to play his cartoon network on the computer. Funny thing though it sounded like he was having withdrawls if he couldn't play them.

We shopped, rode bikes, played at the beach, shopped some more, went on explores, went to the library, shopped some more, stayed in a hotel together in one room, ate at restuarants, shopped some more, watched movies, snuggled, cooked live lobstah, went for drives up and down route 1, which if you have never done you need to do, and just had a lot of fun.

We took over 300 pictures, so it may take a little bit to put a slide show together, but I will and will post it soon.

LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Okay, so here we are eating supper.....the guys left the house to buy already cooked lobstah and returned with "uncooked lobstah"......trust me it stunk to high heaven in the kitchen when they were finished. They both said it was good and no I didn't try it as I like my lobstah looking pretty on my plate. We had pictures, but when John downloaded them something happened and they disappeared.....It definitely was an interesting evening in the kitchen. After supper we had "fresh" blueberry pie and Green Mountain coffee, which I will be bringing home with me to share with my friends.....

So now we are are playing the game of Life.....it seems that the game is more complicated than real life, how is that? and why does an artist make 80,000 when a doctor only makes 60,000 and the doctor went to college......geesh someone help me!!!!

LIGHTHOUSES

Yesterday, Thursday, we went to see the oldest lighthouse in Portland. As you can see by the picture it was breathtaking......It is just what the New England shore looks like. Waves crashing against the rock, breeze blowing. It was just perfect.

Today, Friday, we spent the day in downtown Brunswick. It was quite humid here today. No breeze. We had hot dogs in the park and looked in a few antique shops that were to expense to purchase anything in. Went to the base and the kids stayed at the rec center watching movies, etc, with Pappa and Dad and Angie and I went, SHOPPING and got our nails done. I don't believe I'm saying this, but I am SHOPPED OUT.

Tommorrow we will head back to New Hampshire to spend the night with the kids in the hotel before we head back to the South. There is still so much I want to see and do here, but time is running out......We have had so much fun just loving on the grandkids, playing games, making memories, watching movies, snuggling, making cookies, watching more movies, playing more games, playing in the sand, and just plain being nanna and pappa.

Building Sandcastles in the Sand

What fun we had today at the beach.....It was a beautiful day. Gentle breeze. Woke up at 5:30 and had some time to myself before anyone else got up. Had breakfast made and the few last things that needed to be done before we left for the trip by 7:00 before everyone got up. The ocean was just breath taking.....It was high tide, and the current was strong so the waves had huge white caps on them and crashed as they hit the rocks farther out. As the tide became low, we were able to walk out on the sand bar to "Fox Island". What a unique experience that was and how cool to see the other side of the ocean. There was a light house in the distance and at one point a sailing ship passed in front of it. Kind of like something you would see on a post card. We looked for sand dollars, but didn't find any. Found lots of other kind of treasures, though. A seal had washed up on one of the island and was flapping around on the rock.

We had lunch on the beach and just played in the sand all day, building castles and riding the waves and making memories. We buried poppa in the sand and then it was Seth's turn (pictures to come later). We took a change of clothes to change in the "bath house". The bath house was rather interesting as it was not like the ones you see at the water parks in Texas. I was rather shocked and wondered if I was in the USA. There was no roof at all, it had 3 sides and had stalls with curtians in front to change. What an experience changing out in the "open". For a few minutes I thought I was in a foreign country. Oh and they had "squatty Potties" well they were really low, and NO I did not try one as there were all kinds of bugs hovering on that side and there was no roof there either.

We had pizza for dinner at the base, the guys watched a movie and Angela and I went shopping......It has been a great day and tomorrow will be even better. We are going to Portland tomorrow to see more lighthouses and, yep, the MAINE MALL, which means more shopping...... I'm glad I brought an extra suitcase.

I'M BECOMING A MAINER (LOCAL)

The picture to the right is a bed and breakfast we passed on the way to "boothe bay harbor". It is just a sampling of the many type of homes that are around here. Now I've been in Maine for 72 hours and I am saying things like coffee "paught" (emphais on the paught, which is pronounced like lobsta), I almost bought crocks, which seems to be the shoe men and women wear here no matter if you have shorts or a dress on, oh and lets not forget the bobby socks.....QUAINT definetly is the word here and the main thing I have noticed is that there are no advertisment signs on the highways like you see in Texas, just gorgeous, big, beautiful pine and birch trees. Rt. 1 is just beautiful to drive on, not only are there trees, but every once and a while there will be homes. Not homes like you see in Texas, but older style homes.

Went shopping today with Angela. Found some great bargins. We shopped all day. Had lunch at a quaint little restuarant where you can sit outside. Did I mention the weather was a beautiful 75 degrees with a gentle breeze. You couldn't ask for better whether. When we got home, we fixed supper while the kids played outside with the guys. Just the way life is supposed to be.

Tomorrow we are off to the beach.....Yeah!!!! And then to a movie on base and while the guys take the kids to see Iron Man, yep, we are off to TJ Max.

SWEAT SHIRT IN JULY?

It has been a great 2 days so far. The picture you see is not a post card but the real thing......The weather has been great, like in the low 80's high 70's with a brisk breeze. We sleep with the windows open, which is a new experience for me. When we arrived at the airport the boys had made a sign to welcome us and the favorite saying so far is from Seth....He just looks up at me and says "Nanna, I like you" or "Nanna I Love you" He keeps saying "stay at my house" and will get jealous when Ethen tries to snuggle or hold my hand and he will say "MY NANNA". He will say he doesn't like his mother or father today just his nanna. We are cheerishin the moments.

We took a ride up route 1 yesterday and visited several beaches.....The oceans and light houses are beautiful. Seth would not leave my side and was very concerned that I might fall on a rock or something. We ate a place that serves "lobster rolls" Yum, Yum....It is kind of like chicken salad only it is lobster in a hot dog bun that I forgot we used to have when I was a kid. It is not the typical hot dog bun you see in Texas.....looks very different. It was delicious. Today, Sunday, we went to church (not impressed) and then just lounged around all afternoon. In the late afternoon we went to the river and walked and then came home and ate at "Fat Boys".....great hamburgers and yummy lobster rolls. We are ready for bed and will attempt a game at Monopoly with Ethen. I will post pictures when I figure out how to get them from one place to the blog site. (They are in a different software program) Tomorrow the boys are going fishing and Angela and I and my new friend Seth are going "shopping".......

EXCITEMENT IN THE AIR

To those of you who havn't heard.......Sam & Bri are having a BABY!!!! Sam is going to be a daddy and what a GREAT daddy he will make. He is so gentle and caring and I can see him twirling with (Alexa Christine) Lexi and treating her like a princess just like he does with Bri. I can see him taking long explores with (Zachariah John) Zachary and talking about life. I can see him protecting and gurading them,and leading them to THE ONE who created them. I can see Bri having tea parties and taking Lexi shopping and teaching her what it means to be a lady and loving her and letting her know how special she is just like a mamma should. I can see her running to Zachary when he falls and skins his knee and telling him it will be alright, and I can see her holding both of her children and nurturing them and wiping away their tears, and healing their hurts just like a momma should. They are going to be great parents, not perfpect ones, but great ones who will love their children with everything in them, and they will teach them the ways of the Lord and pray that they follow in HIS footsteps....... We are so excited for them. The due date is February 20....(again another holiday, President's day). (In our family we only have birthdays on holidays. The only one in our family that was not born on a holiday is John.....I guess we will have to make one up.....0 We are so proud of you both and look forward to that awsome day.......

WE ARE ON OUR WAY!

Well it's countdown time again......In less than 8 hours we will be on our way to see our grandkids......Ethen and I have been counting down the weeks and days and now we are counting the hours. I gather from Ethen that we are going to be spending most of our time at the beach, which is totally cool with me. I love the ocean and If I could, would probably live by it......They have some friends that own a boat, and according to him we will be taking a day and will be going out on the boat. I can't wait. Two of my most favorite things to do.....I can hardly contain myself. I'm sure Angela and I will probably squeeze a day or two of shopping.....At any rate, at 7:20 tomorrow morning we will be on our way to Maine.......More later.