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Let's see...where am I today? HA! This past week once again has been a whirlwind. June 28th was Larry's 64th birthday. Wow...those years roll around in a hurry! Someone once said, "Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes." It seems like just yesterday we were teenagers in our home church in Sisseton, SD, teasing each other, then we fell in love and now we have spent 41 of his birthdays together.
It's been another wonderful, eventful, hot, windy week. The temps have been in the upper 90's. Whew!
We left the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota last Friday morning and headed across the prairie land west of the Missouri River. We continued on to the east side of the river to Whitlock Recreation Campground where we were special guests for the Gettysburg, SD, Grace Bible Church Family Camp. What a refreshing time we had with this wonderful group of people!
We left the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota last Friday morning and headed across the prairie land west of the Missouri River. We continued on to the east side of the river to Whitlock Recreation Campground where we were special guests for the Gettysburg, SD, Grace Bible Church Family Camp. What a refreshing time we had with this wonderful group of people!
Greetings again from Keystone, SD! Larry and I have our motorcoach nestled among the beautiful towering pines in a RV park owned by our friends, Duane and Laura Pankratz. They've been so gracious to allow us to set up base camp here for a week and a half while we've had services in the Black Hills area. The view of Mt. Rushmore from our couch is absolutely breathtaking! If you ever get a chance to visit South Dakota, be sure to take in Mt. Rushmore, one of the Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World.
Greetings from beautiful Spearfish South Dakota! What a breath-taking part of western SD! It has hills, streams, pines, canyons, and myriads of wild flowers. The residents here tell us, "If you want to learn fly fishing this is the place to give it a try." Last Sunday morning after church, I was visiting with some of the locals who were bragging about their great trout streams and trout farms around here. In the course of the conversation they asked if I like to fish, to which I responded, "Yes...if I could catch one." I chuckled and shared with them about an experience I had about 25 years ago when our girls were in their early teens. We ventured out on a four day camping trip in Woodland Park outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. My children and Larry were teasing me about my lack of talent in catching fish. I couldn't even pull in one fish!
We are on the road again! We began our journey last week by going for our annual dental appointments...only it was a bit more involved than I had anticipated. I was scheduled for a skin graft taking skin from the roof of my mouth and grafting into my lower right gumline. Dr. Carlson from Brookings, SD, did a great job. As a result, it has been a long week of liquids, mouth rinses, antibiotics, hot packs, discomforts, as well as a full weekend of ministry, singing and speaking. I praise God...I made it! This past Tuesday, I had the stitches taken out and I am trusting God for a speedy healing.
Another great action-packed week has passed filled with graduation, open houses, family gatherings and Memorial Day activities all wrapped up in three days. It was an emotional weekend. Larry and I are usually on the road for most holidays so we were thrilled to be able to attend two grandnieces' graduation and open houses which brought a large number of family, friends and relatives together. Of course, with those ingredients we also had lots of laughter and lots of delicious food.
OUCH! Does your calendar look like ours? Yes, I am sure most of you can identify. I always plan my days but they never go as planned! HA!
Somehow through the years, I hoped that when I came off the road, I could just putz around doing just the things that I enjoy. My dream bubble burst however, when all of the "have-to's" escalated to the top of my to-do list successfully bumping my "want-to's" further and further down the list. Several years ago, I was kind of whining and expressing this disappointment to a friend. She tossed back her blonde hair, placed her hands on her hips, and sarcastically, yet humorously, said, "Why do you think you should be able to come home and do nothing when everyone I know including ME can't? We even live at home all the time!"
Somehow through the years, I hoped that when I came off the road, I could just putz around doing just the things that I enjoy. My dream bubble burst however, when all of the "have-to's" escalated to the top of my to-do list successfully bumping my "want-to's" further and further down the list. Several years ago, I was kind of whining and expressing this disappointment to a friend. She tossed back her blonde hair, placed her hands on her hips, and sarcastically, yet humorously, said, "Why do you think you should be able to come home and do nothing when everyone I know including ME can't? We even live at home all the time!"
Another action-packed week is now history! It is so good to be home! We are busy, busy, busy but it is truly wonderful. We were tickled pink to have our two grandchildren, Dante' and Myanna, come and spend a week with Grandpa and Grandma while their mommy, LaDawn, took a long overdue getaway with her sister, LaShawn. They flew up to Toronto, Canada, to see their brother, Donovan, and LaShawn's fiancé, Liam, for six days. Even with their crazy schedules, we encourage the siblings to try and breakaway in order to spend a few days together a couple times a year. It's important for them to keep in touch!
It's official-we are now in our home state of South Dakota! What a good feeling...although I wondered for just a moment when we got caught in the path of torrential rains, flash floods and 30-50 mile per hour winds. There were 20 tornadoes that ripped through the state of South Dakota last weekend. I was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof! I'm not usually anxious but the wind was swooping-- lifting and shaking our motorcoach like it was cotton candy. This is the first storm we have experienced in nearly 40 years that had me totally unnerved. I think if Larry would have had a tranquilizer gun, he would have given me a big shot!
Greetings from the road! We are en route from Missouri to Wagner, South Dakota, which is located in the southeastern part of the state. We are getting closer to home! Someone asked me last week why we were gone for so long (referring to this four month tour). I looked at them seriously and quipped, "The older we get, the longer it takes us to find our way home." Our daughter, LaDawn, called a few days ago and exclaimed, "Okay, you two...the snow is gone, the spring flowers are up, the grass is turning green--now get home! You've been gone way too long!" "I agree...it's time to come home, " I assured her.