A wonderful time!

Hello everyone!

I am posting a picture taken very recently of Carol & Ken Marcoux and their family - note the new little one - his name is Joey and he is my great-grandson, held by my grandson and his father, Marc.  The outfit I am in is one that Carol & Ken gave me - I love it!  The warmth of it is most appreciated right now as we are in a cold and rainy time.  While there is snow on the mountains around us, we stay dry and warm inside my residence, even if the wind has blown pretty much all of the leaves off of the trees and it is nippy outside.

I had a lovely visit with the entire family - including Carol's sister and Michele's husband.  We reminisced about many things in my past, and I got a chance to know my great-grandson more!  He is so well behaved and so charming!

Biggest news is that they will all come again and see me when they can, and Marc & his family now have a new home near Carol & Ken.  So nice that they live close to each other as Joey enjoys his Fridays over at Carol & Ken's house weekly.  What a nice way to see him growing!

Thanksgiving

Today it is a rainy and windy day up here in the Northwest, but warm inside.  And much of my family is coming this week to see me!  I look forward to visiting with my son, Ken, and his wife, Carol, as well as all of their kids and grandson.  It will be a very celebratory time for me.

My residence did its annual Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday.  We had traditional Thanksgiving food - with pumpkin pie of course - and music to listen to as we ate.  Families came and dined with us for this occasion, which is always fun.  Probably the most sought after place at our residence was by the fireplace as I am sure it will be this week with all of this rain!

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and I look forward to hearing from you!

The brilliant colors around me

I wanted to share a picture taken right outside my residence.  It shows the brilliant fall colors of the trees near me.  I am thinking that this kind of foliage is similar to that I saw awhile ago when I traveled to the New England area to see some of its fall foliage.

Unfortunately we are expecting lots of rain and some wind that will blow many of these leaves down from their trees.  In addition to clogging the storm drains around here, the trees will become much more barren (and I miss the leaves) and winter-like.  But the promise of a lovely Spring will now be upon us as everything growing rests for awhile.

I am well, but working hard to turn around my sleep habits from waking up at night and then being sleepy during the day.  My residence keeps everything so warm and comfortable that it is easy to fall asleep in the middle of the day!

Fall is here!

As you can see by this picture, fall has arrived in the Northwest.  We continue to have wonderful weather with gorgeous skies, but I am sure this will change shortly.  This picture was taken near to where I live at a lake that has a path around it.  I don't do much walking now, but it was a spectacular wheelchair spin around it.

Carol & Ken sent me 2 beautiful outfits to wear.  Both have spectacular fall colors in them, and will brighten up my wardrobe.  I hope in the future to share at least one of them with you all in a picture.  I am told Carol & Ken and their entire family will be visiting at Thanksgiving, so I look forward to this.  My weekly phone calls to Randy & Ken plus my visit with my youngest son Doug keep me abreast of what each of my children are doing.

Halloween here at my residence is fun.  The Montessori kids at the school across the street from where I live get to dress up in costume and come over for us to see them.  That, plus the goodies they get when they come here is always a great time.

It's my birthday!

Hello everyone:  Wanted to fill you in on my birthday!  I had quite a nice day!  I received a call from my 2 sisters in Pensacola, and then went to my MD appointment where I was in fine health, and even had some medications limited/changed more - apparently I don't need them all at this time.

Betty & Doug were by and brought me this yummy strawberry milkshake as well as a German Chocolate cake, and a present - a new sweater and pants.  Joan & Randy sent me beautiful flowers and Carol & Ken sent me a gorgeous new outfit!  My residence celebrated my birthday by singing to me and putting balloons on my wheelchair for the day.  The day before I had my hair and nails done.  All in all it was a really fun celebration!

As you can see from this picture, the weather is still quite nice.  I was able to celebrate part of my birthday on the porch of my residence.  While the leaves are just beginning to change, there are lots of them around me.  It is so nice and warm in the sun - not too hot; just right for me to enjoy it on my shoulders outside.  I guess turning 98 is a fun birthday!

I am looking forward to seeing lots of relatives around Thanksgiving - the entire Ken & Doug families are coming for a visit then, with Kathleen (Carol's sister) coming also. 

A fun family visit

Last week Carol & Ken came to visit me here at my residence.  We had wonderful conversations together, and as you can see in this picture, they took me out into our back garden area - it was a lovely day and the flowers were fully in bloom.

I look forward to their next visit which won't be that long away.  Of course it won't probably be this summer when it is so beautiful but such a great visit regardless whether it is inside or outside!  There is talk about a Thanksgiving full family visit too which I look forward to!  I hope to get to see all of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well as my sons then.

Exciting times

This week brings many family around to see me.  Carol & Ken arrive for a visit in a couple of days and last Sunday I had a visit from Betty & Doug, their son Doug & Erica, his wife, and 2 of my great grandchildren!

We had a nice visit in the back garden area.  You can see from the picture that the flowers and the tomatoes are really nice right now.  The weather was so pleasant - hope it holds for this weekend!  Summer in the Seattle area is now; we are blest to have moderate temperatures and just a little rain.

Summer arrives!

July 4th has come and gone, but NOW summer really is here!  Today it is rumored to hit 80 degrees for us, and there is not a cloud in the sky.  This picture was taken outside my residence for you all to see.  Everything is quite beautiful presently.

While Tucson has been experiencing hot weather and now monsoons (which I do miss.....), we up near Seattle are basking in a summer finally that promises to be quite spectacular.  The forecast for the next week is basically sunny with no rain - I love the warmer weather and the gorgeous blue skies.  Trips out and about and fun times on the deck remind me of this all the time.

July 4th

Hard to believe that July 4th is this week! There is a small town parade that goes right by our residence and we go out to watch it. I am looking forward to that! In addition, our lunch and dinner on July 4th will be hotdogs and all the July 4th goodies, so that will be fun also. They have decorated much of our residence to reflect the upcoming holiday ( the chalk on the board is partially erased, but it says "welcome to our inn"). I am sure that on that day we all will dress in national colors as will the staff. And while I am still wearing sweaters, it is rumored that on July 4th the sun will shine and we will be up to a roasting 75 degrees!

Welcome June!

Today was a fun day! Betty & Doug came by with a strawberry frappucino (see the picture) which I loved! I also got to talk with Randy for quite awhile. It seems that Tucson is even hotter than Phoenix right now, and he is finding indoors the best place to be when it is so hot. Can't say it is hot up here - today's high will be around 60 degrees. We still wear sweaters and long pants and mainly long sleeves; they are the dress of the day today. However, the sun peaks through the clouds more often and we are seeing so many beautiful trees and flowers all around!

The picture I have on this post is taken near my residence. This is what I get to see each day! I am quite well and have enjoyed talking with my sons today - all of them. Spring is definitely here, but we still experience mild rains. The temperature is not nearly as cold outside as it used to be, but we do get muggy sometimes. I look forward to more and more sunny days that will bring more flowers and gorgeous skies.

Springtime is here!

Greetings everyone! I had a wonderful visit from Carol and Ken recently and wanted to share a picture of Ken and I together. We talked and talked, and got rained on coming back from the dentist's office. I guess that these spring showers are needed to bring the beautiful flowers we are beginning to see. The blossoms around my residence are now taking off. The red ones remind me of the camellias of Pensacola. My checkup at the dentist went well, and my smile is even shinier.

In addition to visits with Carol and Ken, I got to speak with Randy and we had a nice long conversation. Our spring and summer sound so much better than what he will experience with the heat in Tucson, as our days are mild and sunny presently with a forecast of more of these glorious days to come. Carol and Ken took me outside to the residence's circle of flowers in the bright sun. I even needed sunglasses it was so bright!

Do come and visit - this time of year it is quite beautiful here!

Today was a fun and non-rainy day!

Hello everyone! Today I got to talk with all 3 of my sons and the rain has stopped. While there were still clouds about, it was bright and quite cheerful.

There is really good news - Ken and his wife Carol are coming for a visit in about 3 weeks, and prior to that 2 of my great grandchildren are stopping by for a visit. So I have lots to look forward to!

We are having a "tea" for St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday. If you are in the area please know you are invited! We will celebrate with real corned beef on Friday, but prior to that the tea will be cute cookies and great tea!

Greetings!

As you can see in this picture, while it was cold with snow on the ground outside, I was enjoying my breakfast inside the dining hall. My residence is warm and the food is quite good. And the fire in the fireplace is always a lovely place to sit and watch people come in and out of my residence while being toasty warm.

Today the roads are quite icy and we are warned to not drive them at all. The bus that takes us on our visits other places isn't going out today...... A beautiful sunny day but quite cold. The forecast is for more rain later this week, so what snow there is will go quickly as the warmer rains hit.

Routine MD day

I had a great checkup today! I am doing quite well according to the MD and the outfit you see me in is one that Carol & Ken sent me for Valentine's Day - it is beautiful and I love the color.

Saturday I talked with all three sons. They were all doing well. It is such a great day when I get to talk with all of them.

The weather continues to be gray, but that is to be expected this time of year. With the leaves down I noted several areas of homes that were along the freeway as Betty & I drove to and from the MD office. Soon these trees will bloom again and all will become green and quite pretty.

Take good care, and know that you are thought about lots!

Snow in Seattle

Missed out on posting last week as we were under a significant snow storm. Betty & Doug couldn't visit last week due to their roads not being plowed for several days and then a significant ice storm that made what was plowed very slippery. As you can see from this picture, their new puppy really enjoyed the snow however! She is a black flat coated retriever and in this picture is 13 weeks old. For more interesting snow adventures, look at this URL as it was filmed by my grandson, Jeff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYHhzigFII. Yes, he lives near to where this occurred and was able to walk to the park and take this video.

This weekend I did get to talk with Randy. Ken is in Tucson and was able to have breakfast with him on Saturday. Next weekend Doug is in Tucson for a seminar and is meeting up with Randy for a meal. So that means the boys have all gotten together in person recently!

I am well, warm, and cozy in my residence. It was fun to enjoy the snow from my window as it came down and was on the ground. Nothing like a cup of hot tea and a good snow storm as long as one is inside and warm!

The good news is that the snow is pretty much gone now and the weather is to turn sunny by the end of this week. The rains pretty much did in the snow for now, but can't say I am sorry to see it go.......

New Great Grandchild!

I want to introduce you to my latest great grandchild! Joey is just 2.5 months old and is the son of Marc & Maggie. They came from Colorado to introduce me to him with Ken. I had such a great time with him and my other two great grandchildren. Quite the visit with all of them and their parents in my room!

I will see Marc and his new son with Ken and Maggie at least one more time before they return to Colorado. What a great day it is to have 4 generations of the Marcoux family all together!