Christmas 2012 and More

Looking at my blog, it has been several months since I have written anything.  It has been a very busy few months...so I will try to catch up.

We spent a quiet Christmas.  Jason, our youngest son, invited us over for dinner yesterday.  We had gone over to his house for Thanksgiving too.  It was nice...Sybil fixed a nice turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  One of her sisters was there with her adult daughters and their boyfriends.  Courtney, Sybil's daughter, and Chris were also there.

It was a very rainy day so it was nice to be inside, enjoying the food and fellowship.

On Christmas Eve, we spent about 11 hours at the airport.  The local chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders did a 12 hour vigil at the airport welcoming military personnel coming home for Christmas.  They had no idea how many would be arriving...as it turned out they welcomed 54 people.  One guy proposed to his girlfriend when he got off the escalator...that was pretty awesome.  Six of us met for breakfast at an IHOP restaurant that is near the airport.  We were at the airport by 9 am.  The vigil was from 9 am to 9pm.  It was a "come when you can, and stay as long as you can" kind of mission.  I think there were as many as 22 there at one point.  The evening ended with 7 of us.  Gerry and I were pretty tired by the time we got home.

It has been really busy with PGR missions.  One of the highlights that I participated in was the "Snowball Express" the early part of December.  The family members (spouse and children) of fallen heroes are invited each year to go to a major city for a weekend of fun.  American Airlines donates the planes and crews to fly these families and it is all expenses paid.  The last 2 years Sacramento has been one of the cities where a plane is assigned.  Also, for the past 2 years they have gone to Fort Worth/Dallas, TX.  The morning they left, the PGR guys had to be at the airport by 4 am.  They help the families with their luggage and assist them in getting on the plane.  American Airlines decorates the plane being used and has some activites for the kids to take part in, including hot chocolate and donuts.

I got an idea to make Christmas cards to give to each family when they returned from the trip.  As it turned out, I made cards for each child, 27 of them.  Some of the guys contributed a $1 that we tucked into each card.  The night they came back, I had some help in giving a card to each child.  One little girl came up to thank me and then asked if she could give me a hug.  I, of course, wrapped her up in my arms and gave her a big hug.  That was such a sweet feeling.

The lady who usually makes a card for the military personnel we are welcoming home was out of town for a few weeks so I was asked to make a few cards.

We are working on making some lifestyle changes.  The middle of November I was diagnosed with having Type 2 Diabetes.  In the same week I got that news, I also found out that my cataracts are quite bad and I need to have surgery.  I also have glaucoma, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  Wow, just overwhelming news all at the same time.

I am taking medication for all of it.  In January I will have to have more blood work done to see what my glucose readings are...and maybe add insulin injections if they are not good.  I am hoping I don't have to do that.  It has been a real challenge trying to figure out what I can eat...my gout has also flared up...I am finding out foods that are good for diabetes are not good for gout.  Gerry has been a super, big help in all of this...it affects him too.

My cataract surgery should happen sometime after the first of the year.

We traded our Nissan Quest van in and bought a 2010 Nissan Sentra...it has very low miles and looks brand new.  It is loaded with leather seats, a sunroof, keyless entry and ignition. navigation system, power doors/windows...a few other things.  Gerry has been wanting to cut down on the expenses of a larger vehicle.  I wasn't too thrilled about it, at first...loved the van.  The Sentra is a nice car and it will be better for us.  I haven't been driving for the last 3 or so months...hoping that will change once I have my surgery.

My great granddaughter, Chayse Katherine is growing, still a beauty.  She celebrated her 1st birthday in September.  Hard to believe the year has gone by so quickly.  Denise and her family spent last weekend in Fayetteville so they could have Christmas with Chayse.  They took lots of pictures and posted them on Facebook. :)

I think I've written a book...lol! 

Happy New Year!!

70th Birthday and a Train Ride

I have some catching up to do...

I celebrated my 70th birthday last week Saturday, July 28th.  I don't feel 70 years old and I know I don't look it, yet somehow the years have sped by and here I am...

My mom use to always call me on the 27th and I'd say "Mom, its tomorrow"...and she'd say "well, it was pitch black the morning you were born".  It was a few minutes after midnight and there was a single light bulb hanging down...it was partially covered because of blackouts, no light could be showing...it was almost 8 months after Pearl Harbor...I miss those phone calls...

My daughter, Denise Noelani, made me a gorgeous handmade lap size quilt.  The package came a couple of days before my birthday...she sent it Express Mail to be sure I got it before my birthday. :) The colors are fallish...greens, browns, cream, blue and barn red...I love it.  It is beautiful!

This little patch says "Happy 70th Birthday Mom...Made with Love...Denise Noelani, July 2012".

I sobbed when I pulled the quilt out of the packing box.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing!!  I will treasure this always!!

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast at Eggie's...it is a place we've been to several times.  I had a San Francisco Joes scramble.  I think they call it something else, can't remember...anyway it is 3 eggs scrambled with ground beef, spinach, mushrooms and onions then cheese melted on top...also an English muffin and orange juice.

After we ate, we drove to Roseville to the Galleria Mall.  I wanted to go to Penney's...they weren't open yet so I sat and waited and Gerry did a couple of laps around the upstairs.  I didn't really see anything I really had to have so we walked around some and left.  I don't enjoy shopping much, anymore.

We had parked on the top level and I decided to walk out one of the downstairs exits and wait for Gerry to get the van and come around.  Going to get the car, he passed by Sees and got us some chocolates...a box of soft centers and a box of molasses chips.

We came back home and hung out until about 3:30pm.  We were going on a train ride and decided to have dinner before we went on the ride.  We went to a place called Emma's Taco House.  They don't have a website...the restaurant has been open for a lot of years...it doesn't look like much on the outside, however the food is pretty good.  We were there early so it wasn't crowded...yet.  The servers were putting reserved signs on several tables as we left.

We both had combination places...I forgot to take pictures of our entrees...I had a chicken enchilada and a chicken taco...they both had lots of chicken in them...with rice...no beans.  Not sure what Gerry had...they serve a delicious soup and a salad with the meals.  This soup was really good...it had a little bit of heat to it...I was able to eat it though.  They bring the soup out in a separate bowl and you serve yourself from the bowl.  There was some left over so our server put it in a container for us to bring home.

 Nothing special with the salad..it was good too.

Emma's is about 5 minutes away from where we needed to catch the train...Sacramento River Train .  Gerry had bought a coupon online...we took the Sunset train which goes to Woodland and back.  They have beer and wine tastings on this particular trip which we got coupons for...didn't use them since we don't drink.  There was also a local BBQ restaurant catering food on the trip...a bar serving drinks...and a small band too.  It was crowded...it was sold out and I noticed that the August trip is sold out.  We sat in an open car...there were benches w/backs lined up on each side...Gerry stood the whole way.  It leaves West Sacramento at 6pm and returns at 9pm.

 The Sacramento River.

 Corn fields...

Gerry took the next few pictures...the train has arrived in Woodland and the engine is being switched for the return trip.

 There is no guessing when the engine has been hooked up again...there's a huge jolt to the whole train...the ride was ok...not something I'd want to do again.  We've taken other train rides that were much more enjoyable...

 I got a few coupons from different restaurants for a free birthday meal.  We went to Mimi's, the Natomas location for Sunday lunch.  I had the salmon dinner...Gerry had breakfast.  His meal was less than mine so it was free with my coupon.

After we ate, we stopped at Fys's...here's what I got for my birthday...

 Samsung Galaxy Tab2 tablet...10.1 inch...

I am enjoying it...I downloaded my Kindle application onto it so can read the free Kindle books that I get from Amazon.  I also downloaded a Nook application.  I have a Nook which I use to read library ebooks.  I just purchased a Nook ebook so I need to see if it downloads to the tablet.  I have Mahjong downloaded and a game that Gerry plays called Jewels...it is just like Bejeweled that I play on my PC.  I can do everything on the tablet that I can do on my computer, except print anything.  It will be so nice on trips and won't have to get frustrated trying to read something on my cell phone.

I'm looking forward to see what this new decade of my life holds... :)

Summer Storm

It is very seldom we have a thunderstorm(s) here in the Sacramento Valley during the summer.  They occur often up in the mountains, during the summer.

Last night and early this morning, we had some.  One of the lightening strikes seemed like it was very close...woke me up.  And it rained really hard too.  It sounded like it could have been hailing too...I didn't get up to see.

The weather forecast is for another very hot day.  Right now there is a soft breeze and it is rather pleasant.  Kinda of overcast too.  It will be interesting to see what the rest of the day turns out to be.

It was miserable yesterday, well over a 100 degrees.

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Do you do Pinterest?  It is addicting...lots of fun things on there including lots of yummy recipes.

I saw this Cucumber Tomato salad on Pinterest and pinned it to my Recipe board.  It is so easy to put together and a recipe that a person can customize to their own liking.

The recipe is cut up cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and black olives.  A vinaigrette is used for the dressing.  I used a cucumber cut up in thin slices, grape tomatoes, 1/4th of a cut up red onion, 1/4th of a red bell pepper diced and black olives (yes, I made sure to read the label) and then used a balsamic vinaigrette.  Mixed it up real good and then let it chill until dinner time.  It was really good and refreshing.  (Forgot to take a picture).

What's Going On?

Yesterday we drove up to Grass Valley for lunch.  Gerry had a coupon for Lumberjacks Restaurant.  There are several of them around the area including one about 3 or so miles from us on Madison Avenue.  They are noted for serving large portions.  I had liver and onions off the senior menu and Gerry had a skillet breakfast.  We like to go to places that serve breakfast all day and also have a lunch and dinner menu.  I want dinner for Sunday lunch, Gerry enjoys having breakfast.

Lumberjacks is much like Black Bear Diner that we go to a lot.

The Grass Valley location use to be a Lyons Restaurant.  A sad story about that former Lyons...this happened several years ago.  We had gone up to Nevada City to the campground the Nazarene churches in the Sacramento region use, to attend a Sunday night service.  It was the last night of Family Camp.  After the service we drove into Grass Valley to get something to eat...we went to the then Lyons.  Several other people that had been at the service stopped there too.  The place was packed...because of the lateness of the night, there weren't very many service people working.  They were running their legs off trying to wait on everybody.  And then we hear that one of the cooks cut his hand severely and was rushed to the hospital.  The manager was in the kitchen cooking and trying to help get the orders out.  Unfortunately some of the people got tired of waiting for their food, left, and only paid for their drinks.  Gerry and I had gotten there before the crowd and had our food before all this happened.  I couldn't help thinking about that night so many years ago.

The restaurant doesn't look anything like the old Lyons,  Lumberjacks restaurants all have a timber lodge look.

After we left the restaurant, we drove through the town and then got on Highway 20 which goes to Marysville.  Grass Valley is up in the pine trees.  It doesn't take long on Highway 20 to be out of the pines and into oak trees and DRY hillsides/fields....prime fuel for grass fires.

From Marysville, we got on Highway 70 which meets up with Highway 99 and eventually I-5 into Sacramento.  We were on 99 for just a short distance when we saw a Highway Patrol car cross the center of the highway...it got in front of us with its lights flashing, slowing traffic down.  We were right behind it and were going 20 mph.  It didn't take long for traffic to pile up behind us.  We turned off on one of the country roads...we could see traffic stopped ahead of us.  Gerry said there was probably an accident ahead of us.  Just before we turned off, the Highway Patrol car went across the center to head back up and slow the traffic down.  I didn't see anything in the paper this morning so no telling what was going on up ahead of us.

It was warm again yesterday.  Today it is breezy and cool.  It is only suppose to get up into the low 80's.  Some rain is expected tomorrow north of Sacramento.

I'm home by myself today...well, that's nothing unusual...I'm by myself most days.  Gerry rented a motorcycle again and he is off with Erik and Jason (sons).  Erik got into town yesterday...he lives in Idaho.  The plan is to ride out to Bodega Bay and back...260 miles or so, round trip.

I've got laundry going and should be sewing.  I started a quilt top and am sewing the squares together.  I bought some fat quarters the other day to make another purse...a larger version of the zippered pouches I've made to use as a clutch purse...or I might put a long strap on it and use it as a cross body purse.  We'll see...

Heat Wave

We finally have some relief from the heat wave that came to visit us earlier this week.  The temperature readings were well over a 100 degrees on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  It was absolutely miserable.

It cooled down considerably yesterday, into the low 90's.  I didn't turn the A/C on yesterday until about 3:30pm.  It feels like it will be another cooler day today.  The reason for the cooler temps is the Delta Breeze that comes up the Sacramento Delta from the Pacific Ocean.  It is our natural air conditioning and we like it.  I actually closed our bedroom windows last night and slept with a blanket over me.  Sleeping is so much nicer when it is not so hot.

There is a fire burning in Foresthill which is above Auburn in Placer County.  According to the news people that live in the area of the fire were evacuated.  The paper this morning said smoke from the fire was covering the valley.  I haven't noticed the smoke here in our area.

It is a typical summer here in the Sacramento area...high temps and fires...

Quick Trip to Kettleman City and Back Home

We left home about 7:30 am to drive to Kettleman City.  One of our granddaughters was going to spend a few days in Southern California with aunties and cousins.  Daughter Wendi drove up to meet us in Kettleman City.  The granddaughter will be in Southern California for a week and then the Southern California family comes to Sacramento next week.

Gerry put on his Facebook it was a total of 455 miles 

Kettleman City is about 225 miles or so south of Sacramento on I-5 and Highway 41.  41 goes from Yosemite, through Fresno in the Central California Valley and ends at Highway 1 in Morro Bay.  We kinda consider it the halfway point between Los Angeles and Sacramento.  It took us about 3 and a half hours to get there and the same amount of time to get home.  There were periods of heavy truck traffic which is to be expected on I-5.

We are in the middle of a heat wave so it was a pretty warm trip, the A/C got a workout.

One of the things that amazes me about traveling on I-5 is the acres of farm land...fruit trees of all kinds stretching for miles.  Meandering its way through all this farm land is the California Aqueduct.  You can read about it here.   The canal can be seen for miles and then it disappears only to reappear in another area.  There's not much else to see on I-5 and the drive can be so boring.  There is one section on the freeway where there is a cattle stockyard.  That stretchs for several miles too as does the "wonderful" aroma coming from the stockyard.  It is hard to hold one's breath until getting past all of that. :-)

When we left this morning, all the windows and blinds were closed and the A/C left on at 80 degrees.  That sure helped, it wasn't an oven in the house when we got back.  After we were home an hour or so, we went out for dinner and then to Bel Air for some groceries.  In the van it said it was 102 degrees outside...that was after 7 pm.  I haven't gone outside to see what it is like now...its not quite 9:30 pm.  The rest of the week is suppose to be HOT!!  Typical July in the Valley...

Smoked Ham & Veggie Pasta Salad

I saw this recipe on the Southern Plate blog.  I love Christy Jordan's recipes...they are simple and very "downhome".  Click here to get the recipe and a photo of the salad.

It went together quickly...we'll have it for dinner tonight.  It is going to be a warm week so trying to avoid having to be in the kitchen.

Other Food Items I Shouldn't Eat

Last night I told you about not being able to eat anything with hot chili pepper/spicy seasonings. 

I have gout which I inherited from my father.  He suffered immensely from the pain of gout attacks.  It normally doesn't affect women.  The first time I had an attack I was at work and couldn't figure out why the big toe on my left foot was throbbing.  My foot around the area of the toe was beginning to swell.  I told my supervisor I was going home and called my doctor.  One look at me and he knew right away what the problem was.  I took medication for years then stopped.  One of the aftereffects of taking the drug is kidney failure.

As long as I don't eat the "No, No" foods I am okay.  Once in a while I will have some throbbing in the big toe.  My left ankle will also throb sometimes.  It has been a few years since I've had a really bad attack.

So, the foods I should not eat:
1. any kind of shell fish, seafood...i.e. shrimp, lobster, crab.  I can eat all the fish I want, it doesn't bother me.
2.  beans...i.e. pinto beans, kidney beans.  During the winter time, I want to make chili...can't have it.
3.  asparagus...I can eat it in moderation.  Like the doctor said "don't eat 3 lbs at one sitting".  We love fresh, California asparagus.
4.  gravies...in moderation
5.  braised meats...like roast beef...in moderation.

I also can't have dairy products.  Although I will eat some ice cream once in a while and it won't bother me.  I love cheese...sometimes its okay to have, other times NO.

It can be a real bummer sometimes trying to figure out what to eat.

Memo to Self: Read the Labels

I've been craving a hotdog and potato salad.  So yesterday when Gerry and I went to Bel Air, I got the makings to satisfy my cravings..

First let me say, I can not and do not eat anything that is chili pepper hot.  If I do, it is a 911 event for me.  My throat constricts and I am in trouble.  So I don't eat a lot of Mexican food, spicy BBQ sauces, hot and spicy Korean food...you get the picture.

Well, I like sliced olives in my potato salad.  I put 2 small cans of them in my basket yesterday.  I made up the salad when we got home, planning to have it for dinner along with a grilled hot dog.  We had gone over to Round Table Pizza for their lunch buffet after finishing shopping so we decided to eat dinner late.

All was well until I took a bite of the potato salad and realized something was hot in the salad.  There was a piece of an olive in that first bite.  I grabbed my drink right away and said to Gerry that something was spicy in the salad.  I had put a dash of celery salt in the salad.  He thought maybe it was the red bell peppers in the relish.  I kept saying no...so I got up and got the other can of sliced olives.  And right there on the label under "sliced olives" was "with red jalapeno peppers".  Who would have thought??  I didn't read the label assuming it was just sliced olives.

I've been eating the salad, just making sure to pick the olives out.  We're surprised that the rest of the salad is not contaminated with the "heat" from the olives.

It more than likely would have been a 911 event if I had taken a bite with more olives in it.  Even Gerry said the olives were pretty "hot" and he loves spicy food.

So gotta be more careful...

Preacher Cake & Rebekah-Elizabeth Noelani's Birthday

Today is my granddaughter's birthday, Rebekah-Elizabeth Noelani...she is 19 years old.  Time goes by so quickly...I can still remember receiving a phone call from Denise telling me she had given birth to a girl.  And she said:  she is named after you with her first name hyphenated like yours is".  That was music to my ears. :)  Denise's middle name is Noelani.

She has moved to Auburn, AL to attend Auburn University this fall.  She completed one year at Enterprise Community College.  Auburn is about 100 miles from Enterprise so she'll be able to go home if and when she wants.  She is sharing an apartment with her best friend and 2 other girls.

So about this cake...I found the recipe on the "Just A Pinch Recipe Club" website.  I've been wanting to make it and decided today was the perfect day to make a cake.  It is so easy to put together and really Yummy!!

It was Gerry's idea to take a picture of the cake with a picture of Bekah in it.  This picture of her is taken off my phone.  See Gerry's hand holding my phone...:)

Here's the recipe as written then I'll tell you what I did different:
Preacher Cake
2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup of sugar.  It was suggested to reduce amount of sugar otherwise the cake would be really sweet).
2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts, pecans)
1 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple, undrained

Frosting:
1 8 ounce pkg of cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 tsp salt (I left this out)
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts, pecans)
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Cake:  Combine dry ingredients, add remaining ingredients and mix by hand.  Bake in a 9 x 13 prepared dish (I guess oiled & floured...I didn't do this...didn't need it) at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.  (Mine was done at 30 minutes, preheated oven first).

Frosting:  Mix all the ingredients well and spread on cooled cake in pan.

You will notice there is no milk or butter in the cake.

So here's what I did differently:
I didn't use the nuts in the cake or frosting since I can't eat them.  I added some golden raisins and coconut instead to the cake batter.  I didn't measure...just poured some of both in.  After Gerry mixed up the frosting, I added some coconut to that too.

The cake is very moist and the frosting is so good!

Ernest Ha'akua Chung-Hoon Ohana Group on Facebook

I created a Group Page on Facebook called the Ernest Ha'akua Chung-Hoon Ohana.

One of my nieces, Sandee, posted these pictures that she inherited when her mom (one of my older sisters) pasted away a few years ago.  They are absolutely priceless!!

In this photo are Violet, Beatrice, Dad, their wet nurse Auntie Ida holding Cyril.  Marie is sitting on the bottom steps.  I am not sure if the girls are in order except that I believe Auntie Vi was the oldest of the girls.

Sister Violet and Dad.  I am named after Auntie Vi.  She had a flower shop and nursery for many years on the corner of 6th Avenue and Waialae.  When we lived in Palolo Valley I use to get off the bus that brought me from Kaimuki Intermediate School to catch another bus home.  I'd go into Auntie's shop to say hello while I waited for the Palolo Valley bus.

Auntie Marie, Daddy and Auntie Bea.  Both aunties were school teachers.  I had Auntie Marie as a teacher, for a short while, when I was in the 6th grade.  Auntie Marie was my favorite aunt.  She never married.  She taught me to tell time when I was in the 1st grade.  In December of 1948 my mother gave birth to my baby sister.  We all went to stay with relatives while she was in the hospital.  I got to stay with Auntie Marie; that's when she taught me how to tell time on a huge red school house clock.  She also bought me a beautiful red coat for Christmas.  I loved that coat so much and would wear it even though it was not cold.  Guess that's why red is my favorite color.  :)

Here's a picture of a very young Daddy.  I have no idea  how old he would have been in this picture.

So far we have 74 members in our group...which is pretty awesome!

Sewing Projects

I've been sewing, off and on, for the past few weeks, well...more like the last two months.  Here's a few projects that I've made. 

Last October Gerry did a ride over in Lakeport, northwest of Sacramento.  The ride was around Clear Lake.  I found a quilt shop to browse around in and purchased some material to make some tote bags.  

This one is blue with hydrangea flowers.
 The lining is a pale blue.

 This one is a dusty pink with roses.

 The lining also has roses.

 This one is red with white roses, probably my favorite one.

 The lining.

 This is a vintage hanky tote bag.  I saw this on Pinterest and really liked it.  I knew I had a hanky that my mom had given me years ago, so I went hunting for it.  The hanky has purple flower sprays on it.

I purchased the canvas tote bag from Hobby Lobby.  Then used double sided fusible interfacing on the hanky, fusing it first to the hanky then to the bag.  I then sewed all around the outside of the hanky on the bag.  That was a little tricky, however being able to remove part of the sewing arm on the machine made it possible.

I trimmed the handles with large purple rickrack.  Before I sewed in the lining, I sewed a pony tail band in for a loop.  I covered a button with some of the lining fabric and sewed that on the front.

 The lining is purple although it looks blue.

 I had fabric left over from these projects so decided to make some zippered pouches.  I went on to You Tube and found a couple of videos to use.  They are not the best, however, it doesn't really matter.  They are for me to use.

This project I started back in April.  It took about 3 weeks to complete it.

I purchased 6 fat quarter pieces of fabric, all different...different colors and patterns...and cut each one in 3 6 inch strips.  I sewed each of those together and then top stitched each strip.  I also purchased one fat quarter to use as a border.  After I got all the strips together, I realized that I was going to need more fabric for the border and would have to do rows.  So back to the quilt shop I went.  The owner of the shop had helped me pick out the fabric, initially, so she helped me pick another piece of fabric to use.  Thankfully they had more of the first fat quarter I had bought to do the border. 

 To break up the rows, I sewed white rick rack between each row and top stitched each row.  It has an elastic waist.  I finished in time to wear it out to eat on Mother's day.  I really love the way it turned out and it is fun to wear.  

Nancy's BD Party/Dinner

This past Saturday we were invited to a birthday party for a friend, Nancy Riddle.  She was celebrating her 60th birthday.  Three of her daughters and her husband planned a surprise for her.  These girls are so creative.  They did a beach theme...they did an awesome job.  One of the daughters, Janet, made the birthday cake.  It is individual cakes put together.  However, I think Gerry told me that the little blue cakes were actually cereal put together and frosted.  She used Fondant icing on the cakes.

 My pictures don't do justice to the way this looked IRL...it made a beautiful presentation.

 We've been friends with Tom and Nancy for a number of years.  We used to go to church with them and their family.  Tom and Nancy were one of the 3 married couples on a church trip to South Korea in 1997.  Tom is 10 days older than my youngest brother...he decided we should be brother and sister so he calls me Big Sis and he is Little Bro.  They went on another trip to Korea on their own...two of their daughters went with them and another person, who has become a very close friend of theirs.  They've also made a few trips to Hawai'i and love it.  One year the whole family went over and worked on the USS Missouri.

We went to Sam's Club today to refill a prescription for me.  After a hotdog lunch, we did some shopping.  One of the items we purchased was this package of Asian Style Beef Sirloin.  Gerry put it on the grill and we had it for dinner.  Wow!!  Super ONO (as we say back home).  The package was almost 2 lbs of meat, cut in thin slices.  The slices were rather large so after it was cooked, Gerry cut the slices in strips.  We ate a large portion of it and have leftovers for another meal.  It is so good, it was hard to stop snacking on it after we had finished dinner.

Chayse Katherine

I wanted to share a few new pictures of Chayse Katherine.  Denise uploaded these to Facebook and I copied them to my computer.  Denise and Stephen were in Fayetteville, NC over the weekend helping Nathanael get moved.  She will be 9 months old on June 2nd.  This year has gone by so quickly and hard to believe she'll soon be a year old!!  She is an absolute doll!!  Those vivid blue eyes are awesome!!

Nathanael transferred to an Army Post in South Carolina.  He'll be about 2 hours away from Chayse.