The Timex Watch

Her cake. It was much larger that the picture appears

Well, she made it! Mom hit the big 9 0. When her cancer returned 9 months ago they gave her 6. I remember saying to myself that I would continue on as if she would take one day at a time. I continued with that theme letting her know where our Thanksgiving day would be and her comment was "I won't be around by then". She made that holiday and the one after that again stating she would be "gone by then".

Her goal was to make it to her 90th birthday. There were tons of cards, flowers and well wishes. She had a marvelous time with all her friends and family enjoying cake and refreshment.

Karen (daughter) and Dick (brother) performing for Mom

This may be her last big "holiday" however she is shooting for Daniel's wedding on July 13th. I wouldn't place any bets on her not making that event. I just told her to put one foot in front of the other and move along. Her best friend, Joyce told her to follow God's message: This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. All I can say is to refer back to my May 30th post. It truly is God's love for us and His grace and love for her that she is still with us.




Holding up the flashing ring she got as a gag gift from her best friend, Joyce Haha

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there and those in heaven like my own. I picked two pictures. One of him during WWII as an enlisted man in the Navy. Even though he disliked the service immensely (another story) I thought it exemplifies him as a man with much of his life ahead of him. He was about 25 years old here. The other one, even though it isn't the best pic of him I chose it because he LOVED swimming so it seemed appropriate for me to post him doing what he loved.

Daniel - the years go way too fast!

A little Rubi-cube time with Grandma Roby

Once again we celebrate Daniel's birthday, my youngest at 26 today. This is someone who understand the meaning of "work ethic". Hopefully someday he can slow down a bit and enjoy life the way the Lord would like him too.
Here's to you, Daniel. Hopefully some time soon you will have time to stop and smell the flowers! Life is too short. I know, because you are 26 and it seemed like yesterday you came into the world as my little 5 pounder. I'm including a great pic of what was one of your favorite pastimes that you enjoyed with Grandma when you were a little guy.  Between the two of you I don't know who loved playing those games more, you or her.

The Afters - Every Good Thing - Lyric Video

Need an upper? Here it is. It's gotten me thru the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Centennial Lakes Park (between the rain)

paddle boat docks

"With a 24-acre park and pond, Centennial Lakes Park offers the ultimate urban escape. The park features more than 1.5 miles of paved pathways meandering around a 10-acre lake interspersed with beautifully landscaped grounds, formal and informal seating areas, swinging benches and fountains."

I guess that sums it up pretty well except they left out the paddle boats which I haven't tried yet but will sometime without the dog. They also have a amphitheater that has live bands and different venues of music activities.  In between the rain and sunshine today I ventured out with the dog to enjoy Centennial Lakes Park. I have been trying different parks, ball fields and dog-friendly areas to take Bandit.  He is VERY high strung and needs massive amounts of stimulation. I have exhausted myself with group obedience training as well as individual training to no avail. He is constantly at my heel wanting everything under the sun and walking him, well, needless to say, he walks me. Then I came on a Netflix series called "The Dog Whisperer". Outside of using a choke collar (I don't believe in negative reinforcement) the guy was great. I guess there is some truth to the boredom they can experience going to the same place all the time (in this case, the backyard). I learned a lot more about ME being the alpha dog, I incorporated the Gentle Leader collar and the rest is history. Granted we need to go to different places but Centennial Lakes Park is so atmospheric and large that you can cover a small area in enough time for a good experience for both of us. We also can cover a new area each time we visit. I'd have to say it's turned out to be one of our favorite haunts. They even provide doggy elimination bags for your convenience. There are lots of birds, squirrels and other dogs to satisfy the most active dog minds. When we get home I can't even find him since he crashes on the floor somewhere for about 3 hours afterward. If you don't have a dog, take a kid. Better yet, you can borrow my dog! You'll have a blast!

father and son playing mini golf on east side

David

The one that turned us into a family instead of a couple even though it took 25 hours of labor to do so. The one that loved being read to and sometimes I had to go into the next chapter of a story because the suspense was killing us both. The one that introduced me to my grey hairs on top of my head although not literally. The one that loved dinosaurs and asked me once what they did with their time living in heaven. Do they???? And finally, the one that has blessed our family immensely in so many ways. Happy birthday, David.

Seattle in April

Seattle skyline from the Space Needle 

Went to Seattle on the 18th for our 32nd wedding anniversary. Only could stay a couple days and of course it rained both days. Came back on a "red eye" midnight their time. I have 4 cousins that live there but I only relate to one primarily since we are about 15 months apart in age and spent more of our growing up years together than with the other 3.


Pike's Market

We did have some fun in spite of the rain. Went up the Space Needle. Not worth the $20 bucks but got some great shots thru the rain of the landscape.  Also always enjoy Pike's Market.









Pike's Market

Vendor at Pike's Market

The Music Museum on the other hand was also 20 bucks and well worth the money.
My oldest son tells me that Seattle is the home of grunge music and it showed at this museum. Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Nurvana to name a few that were highlighted.



One of Jimi Hendrick's guitars

It was an incredible experience and would highly recommend it if you ever get to the Seattle downtown area.

We stayed outside the downtown and took their light rail in. Took about a half hour to get there. Ate dinner at a great place with two of my cousins. Had more fun watching these white hatted chefs yell out menu orders amid the flying spatulas and flaming grills. Just like Ramsey of Hell's Kitchen minus the swearing and they even posed for me when I wanted to snap a pic of them. Unfortunately there was a glitch in my camera and so didn't get one that turned out.  Below is the lobby with 700 instruments, mostly guitars (there is a girl on the right of it to compare the size it was.

 

 Some of the album covers along the viewing area of the Music Museum. They also had a section highlighting the history of leather jackets, all kinds from movies. I didn't take any pics of that section because I'm not "into" leather jackets. Also was a room with guitars dating from the late 1800s to the present. You could hear the story behind each guitar and then hear a 30 sec spot of how it sounds.

 

 Elliot Bay waterfront

 

 

 Something magical and a very common site to see a very small tugboat pulling a very large barge. Goodbye Seattle till we meet again!