Re-cap of our winter

Carlinville, IL

We woke up to another cold morning.  Temps were registering 36 degrees.  Once the sun came out it started to warm up a bit.  By mid morning being outside was bearable if you were in the sun.  Since my back is not liking the cold temps i didn’t really do much of anything but rest an aching back.  Most of the day was spent laying around watching TV and sitting outside in my lounger lounging in the sun. 

 

I have been going to do a re-cap of our winter trip just haven’t really gotten around to doing it.  Well today i decided to get to it.  On November 18, 2012 we left Springfield, MO and headed to Illinois to spend a week with family.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family.  After the holiday was over it was time to head to warmer climate for our winter adventures.  We traveled through MO, AR, TN and MS.  We stopped in MS for a month and then it was time to head to Florida.  Our journey to Florida has us traveling through 6 states.  We spent 3 months in Florida going from the panhandle all the way to Miami.  Our journey home took us through FL, GA, AL, MS, TN, AR, MO and IL .. 8 states.  Man O Man In total our journey lasted 120 days, we stopped at 16 different stops, traveled 3793 miles and spent $1783 in fuel.

The winter temps were wonderful and one of the best winters we’ve had since we began our journey.  There was one very tragic event that occurred and it was the worst part of the trip.  Losing our beloved LuLu who passed away just before we began our journey home.  I hope you have enjoyed sharing my journey with me and i invite you all to join me on the next journey.  We never know where life is going to lead.  We never know the bumps in the road ahead of us and we never know what is just around the corner.  All that we do know is that as long as you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and the pilot of your journey you are assured a eternal life in heaven. 

ME OH MY it’s cold!

Last night was a cold night.  I woke up to 31 degrees!  Brrr .. my back is not liking this cold weather at all!  We are suppose to have another freeze warning tonight and then warm temps are on their way back.  Of course then the rain is suppose to move in.  My back doesn’t like the rain either.

Today dish network showed up to install our satellite dish.  No more having to watch stations that come in and out!  Trying to get the news was almost impossible with Digital TV.  It’s horrible, if the law is going to require it then they should require them to have good enough equipment that brings the stations in so you don’t have to listen to it coming in and out and you can actually watch TV.   That sound of it skipping drives me insane!!

Later in the afternoon the sun came out and sitting outside in the sun felt good.  Cora and I were sitting outside when another friend i hadn’t seen all winter stopped by to see me.  It was good to see Dale and he looks so much better then when we were here last year.  Hubby and Dave joined us and we enjoyed basking in the sun.  Without the sun shining it would of been a very nippy day.

Before long the sun was starting to go down and it was time for us to all retire inside.  The rest of the evening was spent enjoying being able to watch TV! 

Re-connecting with family and friends

We started out with a nippy morning but after the sun came out it warmed up to a beautiful day.  We began our day doing errands.  We headed to Litchfield as hubby wanted to go to Rural King and Tractor supply for a few things he was needed.  One was some rubbing compound.  The bottom of our home has some black streak stains that we can not get off.  We were hoping that the rubbing compound would do the trick.  Disappointment it didn’t :(  We still have the black stains. 

Then to Wal-mart and Aldies to finish stocking up on groceries.  Ughhh we spent a fortune.  $40 at wal-mart and $60 at aldies.  Of course i had to stock up on junk food for when the kids and grands come visit. 

We came home and hubby noticed oil all over our truck.  Not sure what is going on there as he couldn’t find a leak anywhere.  All his fluids are full.  Grrrr  here lately it seems that there is always drama in our lives.  We’ve rolled the truck over 100,000 miles so i have feeling that it’s going to start needing more TLC.  I’m praying it doesn’t.

At lunch my friends Wanda and Cora came over to visit with me and we had a great time visiting.  Later in the evening Cora made Taco Soup and invited Jim, Wanda, hubby and I over for dinner.  It was excellent!  Thanks Cora.  She also invited another friend of ours Jim that we hadn’t seen since returning.  It was great to see him.  We had a great time visiting and you did need a jacket as the sun was going down and it was getting cool.

Our son stopped by after he got off work to visit a bit.   I love traveling but i sure do miss my family and friends.  It’s such a wonderful feeling when you have been gone for awhile to come home and see your loved ones. 

Happy Easter

Carlinville, IL
Please remember today is about Jesus Christ a wonderful Lord and Savior.  He died on the cross for our sins and today we celebrate him rising from the tomb.

We woke to a Nippy morning .. but it feels good to be here.  We are surrounded by wonderful friends who are like family to us.  We lazy around a bit since it’s Easter!  After finally getting into gear we ran into town to Wal-mart to pick up a few needed items.  One on the list was a rake to rake our yard.  It’s had a ruff winter.  I called my friend Wanda and we stopped by her home and borrowed a few items we needed to work.  couple rakes, pitch fork and a shovel.

It took us all day to rake our yard which is not very big :))  We had to work a bit, rest a bit.  Actually more resting then working but finally around 4.30 PM we had it all looking very good.  Hubby burned the leaves while i was inside straightening up.  Gabe and Kelsey stopped by to see us on their way home from church.  Later in the evening i got a very nice Easter gift.  My daddy, brother and his family and my sister Patty and her family stopped by and we had a great time visiting.  My daddy looks wonderful compared to the picture i saw of him on his birthday.  I was so happy

They left around 9 PM and it was time to do some resting and getting my blog updated.  I’m sorry i have been behind but it’s been a busy few days.  Our yard looks nice and we plan to get some tomato plants and things tomorrow. 
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  I did!!  We haven’t seen our grand babies yet and were excited to get to see them soon.  We still have several to visit but we will have some time. 

Happy Birthday Tobe Man!

On the road to Illinois .. home here we come!!

Today our lil Tobe Man is 4 years old!  We will not be attending his party as it’s not fair to our grand daughter Hailey since we don’t come home in Jan for her birthday.  We only do the big birthdays, like 1, 5, 10 and so on.  We are thinking of you Toby and Grandma and Papa can’t wait to see you!  we love you and miss you veryyy much!  Hope your day is a great one!!

We have been traveling on lots of rolling hills the past few days
 
Missouri is a beautiful state, I love the rock!!

traffic has been pretty good and not too much .. it’s been another great day to travel but as you can see traffic is picking up

this is why .. Six  Flags is open today
 
Downtown St. Louis is getting closer

We could see the arch

Illinois is getting closer

Ughh i barely got the Illinois State Line sign .. grrr hubby you know i like to stay to the right for me to capture the sign .. you see part of Illinois State and not sure about the line but i swear it’s there

Welcome to Illinois our 8th state we have traveled in this past winter
 
something was going on at the race track
   
another snow bird looks to be heading North

home is getting closer and we have not told anyone we are on our way home .. were going to surprise them all :))
  
almost there .. doesn’t look the farmers are in the fields here yet .. hmm we’d of thought they would have taken advantage of the early spring .. think their world winter is still around the corner?

We arrived and several of our friends were home .. Jim and Wanda, Dave and Cora and they were surprised to see us .. in fact we were a topic of their conversation earlier in the day :)) 
We got set up and spent the evening sitting around a fire at Wanda and Jim’s who is across the street from us .. we had a wonderful evening and Jim even shared a hot dog with me that was cooked on the fire.  Thank you knuckle head .. it was delicious!  We called it a night around 10 pm as the fire was going out and everyone had plans for tomorrow.  It feels so good to be home.  Most of our family is located in Illinois.  Because it's where we grew up, raised our family Illinois will always be home to us.  So when i use the phase "back home" I mean Illinois.   

Were at the Ranch

Caulfield, Missouri

We decided a couple days of rest was in order and tomorrow is opening day of trout fishing!  Yes, hubby is so excited.

After all that traveling yesterday i needed a day of absolutely nothing but rest.  We both slept in and woke to a chilly morning.  brrr it’s cold here.  I want my T-shirt and shorts weather back!!

We visited with our friend Rick and took a ride around the ranch to see how it looked.  Nothing really much going on and we decided to stay another night for another day of R & R since my back is not holding up to well with this cold weather.  For some reason the fish didn’t get released so there wasn’t any fishing on Friday.  It was a boring day and I’m ready to move on so we have decided tomorrow (on Saturday) we will pull out and be heading toward Illinois

Saying Good bye to a beloved Sister

My sister Rose Mary has been laid to rest.  May she rest in peace and rejoice with her baby boy and mom.

The top photo is what my sister looked like before she got ill.

See the difference after she became ill and fought a long hard battle to the end. 

Rose Mary even though you are no longer on this earth with us, instead you are rejoicing in heaven.  You will never be forgotten and you will always remain in our hearts.  We are sad that you have left us but we rejoice with you as you embrace your baby boy and mom.  Rest in Peace beloved mother, sister, aunt and wife.  The memories we have we will cherish and hold dear to our hearts.  I love you sis, you were a good big sister.