Doctor visits and adoption travel plans!

It has been a busy week since we returned from our vacation.  I had a lot of catching up to do on Monday:  paying bills, doing laundry, buying groceries, etc.  Tuesday, I had to take Daddy to a doctor appointment in Ft. Worth. That turned into quite the adventure! We were making good time and should have arrived early. Daddy told me where the doctor’s office was, so I dropped them off at the door and then hunted down a parking space. When I finally made it to the lobby, Daddy told me his doctor’s name wasn’t on the list of doctors in the building. So I used the GPS on my phone to find out exactly where his office was. I went back to get the car, and as I was driving up to the front of the building, I saw Daddy and Bobbie getting in someone else’s car!!! I honked until they looked up and noticed me. Then they crawled out of the stranger’s car and came and got in mine, like nothing had happened out of the way. When I asked if the driver of the other car had said anything about them getting in, Daddy said he was there to pick someone up…so I guess it was an Uber driver. I came “that close” to losing the folks!

We made it to the correct office building and the rest of the visit was uneventful. I got the folks back to Brookdale just in time for lunch. I had a couple of errands to run, so I just dropped them off and then returned a couple of hours later to take them to Daddy’s appointment with the kidney doctor. He was quite concerned about Daddy’s declining kidney function. It has dropped 20% points since June and is borderline for stage 4 kidney failure. He tweaked his meds to take some of the strain off of his kidneys and told him to push the water and cut out salt. He also ordered a renal ultrasound and more bloodwork. We go back in 4 weeks.

Yesterday, I had a CASA visit to observe in Ft. Worth, which took all morning. Afterwards I met up with Sheila for lunch, and we spent the whole time discussing arrangements for our upcoming trip to Vietnam. Since she was issued her Article 5 on Monday, we could be leaving within a month’s time! So we are getting our visa applications ready to be sent off and getting our typhoid shots on Monday. I plan to talk to my doctor next week about getting something for anxiety…just in case…for the 24 hour plane ride. I’ve flown commercially 5 times in my life:  once to Houston from Dallas and back (1 hour each way), once from St. Louis to DFW (about an hour), and once to Spokane, then from Seattle to DFW (about 3 hours each). The trip to Washington and back was the only time that I didn’t have anxiety about flying. I may do fine on this trip, but it is better to be safe than sorry on a trip like that!

Today, Daddy had two more doctor appointments. This morning we saw his primary care doctor and this afternoon, his dermatologist/plastic surgeon. He is going to have his skin cancer on his nose removed in 3 weeks, then have a skin graft the next day. He goes to see an interventional cardiologist in a week and a half because of the leaky valves in his legs. Then he’ll go see our dentist at the end of October. That should get him pretty much caught up! (Of course, with this kidney failure, we will probably be seeing the nephrologist pretty regularly after that!)

Tomorrow, I don’t have anything scheduled! That will let me get caught up on housework. Then Saturday morning, we are leaving for Shreveport. We’ll pick up Sheila on the way. Dennis is holding them a short meeting this weekend. We are looking forward to visiting with all of them!

Daddy and Bobbie are leaving on the 4^th to go to Spur for their homecoming. Tonette is taking them. They will stay through the weekend. Bobbie is really looking forward to that trip! That same weekend is Sheila’s adoption shower. Stephen and Mandy and the boys are coming. We are going to celebrate Shepherd’s 3^rd birthday, too. Sure looking forward to seeing my boys! I have really been missing them lately!

So that’s what is going on around here. What’s happening where you are?

Our 40th Anniversary Trip

Home at last! It was an amazing week of gorgeous sites, but it feels SO good to be back in my own space.

We started out a week ago Saturday driving to Floydada to spend 2 nights with Lawrence and Sharon. We really enjoyed our visit with them and the other folks at the church there. It stormed on us both nights we were there, leaving us without electricity all Sunday night. I hope they got it restored soon! We greatly appreciated their warm hospitality.

We left their house Monday morning right after breakfast and drove to Gallup, NM. We saw a few pronghorns on the way. Just as we were getting close to Grants, NM, our “check engine” light came on. So we peeled off the interstate and found an O’Reilly’s. They put their analyzer on it and determined that it was just an O2 sensor that was probably being affected by the change in altitude. So we just ignored it and drove on.

Tuesday morning, we got up EARLY and headed into Arizona. We ended up driving through the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, which meant we drove for 3 hours with NO PLACE TO STOP! I told Dennis when we finally made it to a town (albeit a small one) that I didn’t want to return that way, no matter how much further we had to drive! That was truly desolate country!

Starting to get into "canyon country"

We made it to Page, Arizona, and had an early lunch; then drove out to the Lower Antelope Canyon. We had only discovered this slot canyon the week before leaving on vacation. Dennis originally found the Upper Canyon and tried to reserve tickets for a tour, but they were sold out. Then he found information on the Lower Canyon, which ended up being cheaper and (many said) better. We ended up being very early, because we were confused by the time. Arizona does NOT observe Daylight Saving time, but the Navajo Nation does (which is where the canyon is located). So we weren’t sure whether the tours were on Arizona time or Navajo time. But when we turned in our tickets and signed our waiver (for liability in case of injury), they said if we let the guides know, we could probably go on an earlier tour…which is what happened. We only had to wait about 10-15 minutes before they called us. Then we walked about 100 yards to the mouth of the canyon where we waited with about 75 other people for our turn. To enter the canyon, you have to climb down some very steep steps (which were really more like ladders). There was an area at the mouth of the canyon where about 15-20 people could stand, but from there on, it was mostly walking single file. There were more ladders to ascend and descend, as well as some tight spots where you almost had to turn sideways to fit through. But it was absolutely amazing!!! It turned out being the highlight of our trip!

Walking down to Antelope Canyon

Yes, these are real, unaltered pictures!

After the 1 ½ hour tour through the canyon, we drove to Horseshoe Bend and walked down to the edge of the bluffs overlooking it. It was pretty, but it was probably my least favorite site on the trip.

Horseshoe Bend

I don’t do well climbing on rocks since my surgery, and it was necessary to do so to get a good view of the river. Then the hike back up to the car was difficult for me. I was starting to have trouble with the altitude and had trouble breathing. (The problem continued throughout our trip whenever I had to do any climbing.) So we decided to just head on up to our cabin and get settled. We arrived at the Kaibab Lodge around 3 or 3:30 (Arizona time). After getting checked in and unloaded, we drove on to the Grand Canyon National Park. We viewed the North Rim from the Lodge and then walked down to one of the observation points. The altitude (about 9000 feet) was really getting to me by that time, so we headed on back to our cabin. As we had been entering the park, we met up with some emergency vehicles leaving the park. Then on our way out, a medivac helicopter had flown overhead. When we got to the entrance to our lodge, it was blocked by the emergency vehicles while the helicopter was being loaded and then flying off. We were never able to find out what had happened (wonderful HIPAA!). I have to admit that it made me slightly nervous, since I was feeling so poorly from the altitude. I definitely didn’t want my vacation to end with a flight to the ER!

We got up about 5:30 Wednesday morning, had breakfast at the Lodge, and headed back into the national park for our first full day of viewing the canyon. Our first stop was Imperial Point. It was COLD…about 35 degrees with about a 35 mph wind. As soon as I stepped out onto the observation deck and looked at the vista, I burst into tears. I’ve never reacted that way before, but the awesome majesty of the canyon left me very emotional. Thankfully, I settled down in a few minutes and didn’t have that happen again! The views were all quite awe inspiring though!

We made our way through the park, stopping at each vantage point and taking pictures of the views…eventually ending up at Cape Royal. As the morning progressed, we began seeing more and more tourists. The North Rim only has about 10% of the visitors that the South Rim has, but it still stays busy. We didn’t have to fight crowds, but there was a steady stream of folks coming and going at all of the vistas. While enjoying the view and taking pictures at Cape Royal, a rock squirrel decided to put on a show for us. A lady had laid down her tote bag on a pile of rocks. The squirrel decided to investigate. He provided plenty of picture taking opportunities for everyone who was there!

On our way to Cape Royal, we had also passed a nice mule deer buck. We were hoping to get another glimpse of him on our way out. Not only did we see him again, he was lying about 30 feet or so off the road, chewing his cud, and Dennis was able to get several pictures of him.

By this time it was getting to be lunchtime, so we stopped at another vantage point where there were a couple of picnic tables and had lunch. It was simple fare, but we couldn’t have asked for a better view!

We headed back to our cabin, downloaded pictures and then napped for an hour or two before driving back to the park to try to get some better pictures. The canyon was filled with haze that morning, so a lot of our pictures didn’t turn out very well. That afternoon, tho, the haze had either burned off or blown out and we were able to get some good pictures down in the canyon. We timed it so that we’d end up back at Cape Royal for sunset. It is known for being the best place for sunrise and sunset viewing. We spent about an hour there watching the changing shadows and then watching the sunset. Right before sunset, I happened to notice an older couple on the rocks holding a bloody rag up to the man’s head. I told Dennis that someone was hurt, and he went to check on him. He had fallen and busted his eyebrow on the rocks. Dennis looked at the wound and said he probably needed a couple of stitches, then checked his pupils and determined that he hadn't suffered a concussion. He helped him up and offered to help him to their car (it was about a quarter of a mile walk back to the parking area). He said he’d be ok, watched the sunset and then he and his wife headed on back. We told them we’d be coming after them and if they needed help to just wait for us; but they made it back ok on their own.

Thursday, we slept in, had a late breakfast (8:00!) and then drove back to the North Rim Lodge. We happened on a Kaibab squirrel which got close enough that Dennis was able to get some fairly decent pictures of him. They are gorgeous little guys…and only found on the Kaibab Plateau. They have a “cousin”, the Abert’s squirrel, which also has a white tail, that lives other places in the Rockies, but their other coloration is different. It was fun to get a good look at that little guy.

I was having some stomach issues, so Dennis took me back to the cabin and did some exploring on his own. One of the park rangers had told us about some western points that could be reached by gravel road in the national forest. So Dennis spent the rest of the day checking out a couple of them and taking more pictures. He said the aspens were the best he had seen on the whole trip. The aspens were gorgeous while we were there. They were just turning good when we arrived, and the colors got better every day we were there.

It was time to leave Friday morning, so we loaded up and headed out. The country up there is SO remote and isolated. At the North Rim is the Park Headquarters, visitor center and lodge. Then there are no other places to buy anything until you got to the Kaibab Lodge, where we were staying, which was about 20 miles north. The next store of any kind was another 15 miles or so north of there at Jacob Lake. After that it was about 50-60 miles until we came to another store. I’m not talking about a group of businesses…just a single store to buy gas and a few groceries. In between is just wilderness. It is one of the least populated areas in the nation. I guess that is why so few people go to the North Rim. You have to be willing to rough it and do without services! At our lodge, there was no cell service, no tvs and no wifi. You could either bring your own food or eat at the Kaibab Lodge (which was expensive) or drive to the North Rim Lodge (which was VERY expensive). There is NO competition, so they can charge whatever they want! But it was quite a unique experience, and one that I’m thankful that we were able to experience.

We made it to Albuquerque Friday night and enjoyed some nice rain. It continued to rain on us all day Saturday as we made our way back to Texas. We stopped for a late lunch at the 66 Diner, just a couple miles west of the Texas state line. We were glad we waited! It had a diner and a Subway inside, as well as your usual convenience store/tourist items. But the best part was a vintage car museum that was free to the public! It made for a nice reprieve from the road for a little while.

We spent last night in Hereford, then worshipped with the Amarillo church this morning. Charlotte and Alvin were gracious enough to have us over for dinner afterward. We enjoyed visiting with them and Coby and Brenda’s family. (Rob and Charlotte had gone to Floydada for the day, so we missed seeing them.) After lunch, we got back on the road and made that last (and hardest) drive home. We both struggled to stay awake for awhile. Dennis finally got a nap in, and I turned the radio on LOUD to keep me awake. We stopped in Vernon for a treat and made it ok from then on. It sure felt good to get home, though! As much as we enjoy seeing new places and visiting folks, there is no place that feels as good as home!

Grand Canyon, here we come!

Our "official duties" have all been done and we are heading west in the morning.  Woo-hoo! I don't know when I've been more ready for a vacation. We plan to spend 2 nights with Lawrence and Sharon and then leave Texas first thing Monday morning. We will have no cell phone service where we're going, and no internet for most of the trip, so I'll do my vacation pictures posting where we return. We plan to see some awesome sights over the next week! And the temperatures are supposed to dip down into the 30's where we'll be. It sounds WONDERFUL!

Got some more jerky made yesterday, so we have about 2 gallons made up.  Probably won't take all of it with us, but we do eat a lot of jerky on these kind of trips. Where we'll be there are only one or two restaurants, so we'll be doing a lot of snacking. We always carry lunches with us when we are out exploring.

I took Daddy to his pain management specialist and also for a venous reflux ultrasound in his legs this week. The pain management doctor wants to hold off doing anything more until we see a kidney specialist first. I made an appointment for him to see one right after we get back from vacation. His kidney function continues to decline, so we need to find out what's going on and what we can do about it. Still haven't heard the results of the test they did. We will also see his primary care doctor when we get back, who will have the test results. Daddy has four doctor appointments that week! Hopefully they will slow down after that!

Ricky came over for supper last night, and we had a good visit with him. He is really doing well on his job!

Today was our annual CASA advocate appreciation luncheon. I missed the last couple of years, but I really wanted to be there this year. I was very pleased with the award recipients! The CPS caseworker who won Caseworker of the Year is the one that I've been working with on my current case. I just love working with her! I was really hoping that she would win. Dennis was the official photographer for the event, which gave him something to do. (He doesn't like going to stuff like that.) I enjoyed visiting with some of the other advocates and staff and other guests...and I always love the "freebies" that they give us!

Afterwards, we ran by Brookdale one last time before leaving for a week. The folks were doing well. I had a picture to show Daddy that Jesse had sent him via Stephen's phone. It was of a minion blowing a kiss to him. Daddy really got a kick out of that! Stephen told me that it was completely Jesse's idea to send it, which was awfully sweet. He has only seen Daddy about once or twice a year (mostly at Thanksgiving). The boys had sent pics to Dennis and I this week, too, so I guess he decided Great-Grandad needed one, too! Such a sweetie!

Dennis and I got our flu vaccines this week, so I am all caught up on my immunizations for our trip to Vietnam, except for the typhoid shot. Sheila and I plan to wait on that one until late October. We have to go to a special clinic to get it.

Been ordering stuff for Sheila's adoption shower over the past week. Gina and Jessica are throwing one for her in early October. It is SO hard not to buy too much! I check her "wish list" every day to see what has been purchased so far.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I hope to have some gorgeous pictures to share when we return in a little over a week (provided by Dennis, of course). See you on the other side!

Jerky Day!

We leave for vacation one week from today, so I’m making a batch of jerky to take with us for snacking on and having for lunches. I am REALLY ready for this trip! We have a full week ahead of us before we can go, but there is a definite light at the end of the tunnel.

I took Daddy back to see his primary care doctor on Wednesday. His kidney function has been declining over the past three months. Even though he also has bad fluid retention in his legs, the doctor had to reduce his “water pill” to take pressure off of his kidneys. He did more blood work and said if it continues to decline, he will have to send him to a kidney specialist. The good news, though, is that the echocardiogram showed his heart function to be good. I take him back to the pain management specialist on Monday to see what they want to do about his back pain. Then on Tuesday, I take him for a venous reflux sonogram to see if the swelling in his legs is due to valve failure in his leg veins (which the doctor strongly suspects). That will be the last (I hope) doctor visit until after we return from vacation.

Dennis and I went over to Sheila’s last night. Dennis is working on a bench/storage unit that fits in front of her fireplace (which she doesn’t use) and covers up the (brick) hearth. She was concerned about the probability of Nam falling and hitting his head on the bricks and wanted something (useful) to prevent accidents. Dennis had the base put together and wanted to make sure that it fit just right, which it did. Then he made a trip to Cabela’s to exchange a game camera that was defective, so Sheila and I had time to work on plans for our trip to Vietnam, as well as discuss other things pertaining to Nam…which is our favorite pastime these days!

I attended a mandatory training for CASA Thursday evening. Our CASA office has incorporated a new program into their website that will allow advocates to securely communicate with our supervisors and turn in our hours as we do them, rather than send in an hourly report at the end of the month. It is really going to streamline things and make our jobs much more efficient. I’m already enjoying the “time reporting” function and look forward to the time when all of our communications are conducted via the program. It will take time for all of the advocates AND staff to get up to speed on how to use it, so it will be a work in progress for a while longer.

Next Friday is our volunteer appreciation luncheon for CASA. I haven’t attended the last couple of years, so I look forward to being able to go to this one. Dennis has been “conscripted” to be the official photographer for a photo booth they plan to set up. He really doesn’t enjoy going to this type of thing (he never HAS gone in the past), so I figured this would give him something to occupy his time. Ha!

Daddy and Bobbie will come over for dinner tomorrow, which will be last time for 3 weeks. We will be gone the next 2 Sundays on vacation. Then the Sunday after we return, we will be in Shreveport. Dennis will be holding a short meeting for them Saturday and Sunday. Sheila plans to accompany us on that trip. Looking forward to visiting with the folks there!

Plans have been made for Sheila’s adoption shower in October. Things are really getting exciting and “real” now! She is so excited and busy making plans and buying stuff for Nam! She has some really cute stuff picked out for him on her amazon wish list. It will be fun to see what all she gets. I’ve already ordered a couple of things from the list…and will probably order some more (if what I really want to see her receive isn’t bought by someone else!). We could be leaving to go get him in just a couple of months! With everything we still have to do to prepare, it doesn’t seem like that far off anymore. I am sure ready to get that new grandson home and love on him!

Labor Day 2017

Another Labor Day Weekend come and gone. Dennis and I have been attending the Young Family's gathering for 17 years. We were talking about it last night, and Nicole was pregnant with Ryan the first time we went...he is now a junior in high school! We haven't been able to make every one during that time, but we've been to most of them...and enjoyed every one. We still miss Verlie and having all of the activities centered at her home, but we love how the family is keeping the tradition alive. It is a lot of hard work, and we really appreciate all that Kay and Kit and their girls, Kyle and Nicole, and others, do to make it possible.

I rented a hotel room for the folks, so they could have a close place to go back to when they needed to rest. It took some persuading, but I finally talked Daddy into letting us drive them over there. Between us and Tonette and Darlene (Bobbie's sister-in-law), who had a room just a couple of doors down from them, we had plenty of people to provide transportation for them. They really enjoyed the weekend and held up better than last year, since they didn't have to travel back and forth.

It was a smaller crowd than usual, partially due to the "gasoline crisis" and partially due to Rebecca's wedding. However, we did have a nice surprise yesterday, when a group from Spunky Creek showed up on their way home from the wedding! Jensen P. gave an excellent lesson yesterday morning on being "Strangers and Pilgrims". Then Jamie P. gave his "More Holiness Give Me" lesson which meshed with it perfectly! I love hearing both of these "young" men speak. It gives me great hope for the future!

Of course, we had WAY too much food all weekend! Besides the meals that everyone pitched in to provide, there were yummy snacks that beckoned throughout the day. I don't think I'll step on the scales for awhile! Daddy has always made his fried rice for the Sunday potluck, but since he was staying in a hotel, he wanted me to make it for him. He has been making it for years, helping Momma and then taking it over when she passed away. The recipe was brought to the family by my Uncle Billy's first wife, Akiko, from Japan. It has always been a crowd pleaser. Of course, Daddy didn't think I made it as good as he does!

Dennis and I decided to drive back and forth all weekend, since I'd rather do my cooking at home rather than carry everything with me. That added to the exhaustion factor of the weekend, but at least we were able to sleep in our own bed. We did call it a night early on Saturday and were home by 9 pm. I'm just not able to hold up to late night "partying" like I used to be able to do. I'm looking forward to just taking it easy today...doing what little I need to do around the house.

I have a pretty busy schedule this week (after today!) and next week, but the following Saturday (the 16th) begins our vacation. We are REALLY looking forward to getting away for several days and enjoying the peace and beauty of the Grand Canyon! We also have plans to visit with Lawrence and Sharon on our way out. Looking forward to our time with them, too!

Well, I saved my clean-up from the weekend for today, so I'd best get at it! Happy Labor Day to all!