Sacha Arrives!

I finally got Sacha to give me one "courtesy" smile at then end of our raspberry picking expedition.

Julianne and Sacha with their raspberry pickings. Sacha always the ham!

Jacob carefully fills his container with juicy, ripe berries.

Rebekah and baby Noah enjoying some quality outdoor time.

Sacha, Julianne and Isaac walking along rows of raspberry bushes.

Sacha arrived from Maryland this Tuesday evening. She walked off, she looks great, very tan and I think even a bit taller than when I saw her in March. We haven't actually stood back to back, but I think she is at least my height now. Sacha is now 16 - that means we've entered the driving realm. I have to admit I thought I'd be more calm and Sacha would be more nervous. A little background- Sacha has her permit, but must log 60 hours of drive time in order to obtain her license. I had great aspirations that whenever we would drive somewhere Sacha would do the driving. Well, now we live in St. Louis and I am rather unfamiliar with routes so I don't feel comfortable having Sacha drive them. To be fair, Sacha is a good driver. What is making me crazy is that I want her to come to gradual stops. I admit, I yelled several times- "Press on the brake--- harder, harder, STOP!" I think that is about how it went. I pictured us running into the backs of cars several times this week. I gave myself (and Sacha) a respite over the weekend, but I think we might stick to some 25 mile per hour residential zones with no cars.
Sacha and Julianne are happy to be reunited once again and are as fun as ever to see together. They are rarely separated except when I take Sacha to the gym in the evenings. She is quite the fit girl and is thrilled to have a pass to the Bally gym. I warned her about the guy "gym rats" who may try to flirt with her. But, I know she could probably take them down, if not physically, she can give a bone chilling stare.
One more note- we went berry picking this week, raspberries to be exact. What fun, they were thornless bushes so that made the experience fun and pain free. Bonnie, being the domestic diva that she is, canned (with a little help from me) jam. We also enjoyed fresh berries and Bonnie also froze a few batches.

Travel tales

The best tales about my trip to Missouri is that there are none. I keep saying that I must be getting old because I prefer to have less tales and more uneventfulness. My drive to Missouri is no exception. It was rather uneventful and for that I am tremendously glad. I arrived at my final destination having experienced, in all, a few rain drops on my windshield and a few gusts of wind.
If you have been watching the weather in Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri this past week you know that the weather has most definitely NOT been uneventful!

I took two pictures along my road trip, one was of a vast brilliant blue sky with some scattered fluffy white clouds, this is what I saw for three-quarters of my drive. The other picture, which was taken while driving (DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME or rather in your car) was of a brilliant blue lake that had reached its capacity and slopped over the road just enough to puddle in the right lane. That was technically the most exciting weather I experienced on the entire drive. Again, with tornadoes, storms both rain and snow, I feel greatly blessed and looked after.

On the Road Again

Here I am on the road again, heading to St. Louis, MO. I arrived in Lincoln, NE last night and had a great night sleep and just finished a good workout. The drive has been rather uneventful except some significant winds in Wyoming. Luckily I seem to be behind the severe storms systems- a great blessing.
Wyoming was rather spectacular, Nebraska was a fantastic blue sky in all directions; however, I began to get rather bored. I lost some of my good NPR programs. I listened to a rather interesting discussion of the book of Ruth in the Old Testament by a pastor with a rather thick Irish accent. But, after a while I admit I grew tired of bible discussions. I finally found a CD of Sacha's with The Electric Slide II (the funky version). It entertained me for quite some time.

Well, I must be off for breakfast and a shower. I hit the road again, only about 3 hours today and then some time with my sis and family in Pleasant Hill in Missouri. I will arrive in St. Louis Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to my miriad of friends and family who are tracking my travels hour by hour, it helps to know that I won't go missing and no will know for days. Thanks guys!

BTW, I hope to post some photos from the trip in the next day of two.

George's gravestone

I took these pictures of George's gravestone before leaving Salt Lake, at the time I needed to place them somewhere so I wouldn't lose the copy. George's grave is located in the Wasatch Lawns cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. I took these pictures on memorial day.