April 3-14, 2019 - Back in Oswego and it's Go, Go, Go!

April 3-14, 2019 - Back in Oswego and it's Go, Go, Go!

There has been so much going on since we returned.  We've been running since we arrived so here are some highlights of our time in Oswego:

Wed, April 3, 2019 - It was another fairly long drive today.  Once we arrived at Hillside RV Park (our home when we are in Oswego), we were soon parked and set up for our stay until April 14.  No one knows we are here yet - as they all think it will be later in the week before we will return.  

The Bartlett pear trees are really pretty right now.  The next day we noticed the tree had honey bees and butterflies all over it! 

One of the first things we did after getting set up for our time here, was to go to our new property.  Dean has been anxious to see it again ever since we left in December after the purchase.  Amazing how you can look at it with rose colored glasses and just see the potential, but now that realization has set in (even though he's not sorry we bought it - nor am I) he said wow, it needs alot more cleaning out and work done than I remembered. It's just the same as it was when we last saw it, but in the three months we were away, we didn't remember the bad.  But it can, and will all be repaired.
After a quick lunch, I called my sister Cindy but she wasn't at home.  I asked Dean if he wanted to go for a ride as I wanted to stop and see my Aunt Lil.  As we turned the corner, I saw I was going to be able to surprise both her and Cindy - as she was visiting my aunt too.  
They were both surprised.  We had a nice visit.  When I asked Cindy if she was picking Haleigh (my granddaughter) up at school today, she said yes.  I told her we wanted to pick her up instead.  When Haleigh sent Cindy a text reminding her to pick her up, Dean and I headed to the high school.  We were second in line.  When she came out I could see her looking at the truck, I opened the door so she could see it was us, and she screamed and came running.  What a wonderful welcome that was!  I wish I would have thought to have Dean take a picture but I was too excited to see her to think about it.
I told Haleigh not to say anything to her mama we were home.  I asked her to let me know when her mom was home; so we could stop by to surprise her.  Misti called Haleigh on her way home from Coffeyville, where she has clincals as part of her PTA training.  She asked Haleigh if anything interesting happened at school today and Haleigh slipped and told her "Nana and Papa picked me up".  Misti said: what?, they are home?  Haleigh was upset she let it slip but I told her not to worry about that.
We met at Mi Pueblo where we had a wonderful meal.  We had a great visit before parting for the evening.  It was so good to see them both.  Gosh, we have missed our kids and grandkids.

Thurs, April 4, 2019 - I had an appointment to get my hair cut this morning.  I kept thinking I would find someone to trim it before we returned, but I never did.  I guess I'd rather just have Marla do it.  She did a wonderful job as usual.  I enjoyed being there too - it's great to see so many people I know coming and going, especially after being gone for several months.  I took time today to get things I pack for travel, back out and in place and do some much needed laundry.

Friday, April 5   Dean and I walked in the park this morning.  I took this picture on our way to the park.  

Foggy, but Sunny morning!

I sent this to Dean this morning - it does make a difference who you travel with.  He's a great travel partner!

After our walk, breakfast and showers, we made a little road trip.  First stop was Pittsburg to pick up our mail.  As we left Oswego, we decided to call Brett to see if he might be able to meet us for lunch.  It so happened we caught him at a good time, as he was getting ready to leave for his annual Air Force Reserve training.  He said he would be heading our way shortly.  After we picked up our mail and mailed a package at the UPS store in Pittsburg, we met him at the Mall Deli.  I've done a pretty good job of sticking to my diet even since we've been home.  We had a nice visit with him and are so glad we happened to catch him before he left.  After we left Brett, we headed to Joplin where we stopped to see my step-dad and his wife.  We had a really nice visit and it was so good to see them after several months.
Our last stop before heading home was Sam's to pick up a couple of Project Prom prizes for my daughter and the PP committee.  We needed to get a few things there as well, so the stop worked well for us too.

Saturday, April 6 Kamron and Jaxson came to spend the day with us.  It was good to see those two.  We have missed the grandkids so much and can't wait to see our Wichita and Columbus grands too later this month.
We had a good time talking, laughing, cooking, doing puzzles, playing cards, watching some TV and going to Aunt Misti's house to play outside.  

Dad brought the kids down.  My son Marc, Jaxson and Kamron

Kamron & Jaxson - sidewalk chalk

Jaxson & Isaiah - notice Jaxson using his left hand to add another color into his name.  My dad was a leftie, and so is his Papa Bill (Misti & Marc's dad).

Bubbles

Look at that big bubble!

Jaxson - he is growing so fast!  More bubbles - they had so much fun chasing bubbles, especially Jax.

After wearing them out (or maybe after they wore us out-lol!), Dean and I took Kamron and Jaxson back to Parsons, where we met Marc and Jen at Shredder's BBQ for dinner.  It was good to spend time with them.  The meal was good, but the company was even better.  

Sunday, April 7th  I went to church with Cindy.  I spent the afternoon working on the blog from the time we left North Carolina until arriving in Oswego.  While I didn't get it finished I made a good dent and got several pictures cropped to include as well.

Monday, April 8th  
Dean left about 9 to play golf and I spent most of the morning working on deep cleaning in the bedroom.  At noon, I had lunch with my good friend and former co-worker Carol at Pizza Hut.  It was great to visit with her and catch up.  We are hoping we can find an evening we can get together for dinner with our husbands as well.  
Later in the evening Marc, Jen and the kids stopped by to pick up a few things. Kamron showed us her newest medal from the golf tournament she played in today.  We are so proud of her.
Kamron started playing golf last year.  She is now playing in golf tournaments with other junior high students from other schools in the area.  She has played in  5 tournaments to date (as of April 17th) with a 6th, 4th and 3-3rd place finishes.  Dean and I are hoping we can make it to one of her tournaments soon.
Dean has to take the RV to Pittsburg tomorrow morning to have the tires aligned.  We spent some time putting things away in preparation for that.  He plans to leave at 7am, so the more we get done tonight, the less we have to do in the morning.

Tuesday, April 9th.  Earlier in the week I asked Cindy if everyone was planning on me hosting our sisterfest on Sunday.  She told me that she couldn't and she didn't think Jody could either, so I called both Jody and Crystal and yes, they both had plans.  I was a little bummed about it, but I understood.  I am not here all the time and they are used to making other plans when I'm gone, especially since they didn't know when I was coming home.  
I asked Cindy a few weeks ago about going with me to my doctor's appointment in Vinita and if we could spend the day together.  She agreed, and she picked me up at 7:40am. It was still dark when she picked me up.  After I got in the car I made some comment to Cindy, and heard a snicker...I turned around and Jody was in the back seat, I turned further and so was Crystal.  Those sisters of mine kind of told me a little story to keep me in the dark about their surprise this morning.  I got a little teary eyed that they did this.  
10 minutes before we reached the clinic in Vinita, I received a call from the receptionist to tell me the doctor needed to cancel my appointment this morning.  She asked if I could come in this afternoon but I told her I already had plans for the day.  We rescheduled for Thursday morning at 9.  Fortunately, they did say I could go ahead and have my blood drawn this morning, since I fasted for that.
From there we drove to Joplin where we shopped, had lunch at Logan's and then stopped to see Larry (our step-dad) and Verna.  We had a nice visit with them before heading back to Oswego.  Wow - what a great day it was!
Once we returned Cindy was going to the high school to watch her granddaughter Dani play softball.  Since Dean had already left for Parsons to watch grandson Tucker's tennis match, I decided I would go with Cindy to watch the game too.  What a great game it was!  I sure enjoyed it.  It reminded me of all the ballgames we attended with Misti and the boys.
When I got home Dean told me he couldn't find Tucker at Parsons, so he finally sent a text to Renae - apparently there was a change and the game was in Independence instead, so he came home.  He was really disappointed.
Jennifer posted this picture of Kamron with her medal from a golf tournament.

Wednesday, April 10
Originally we had planned to take Dacy and Tucker to dinner tonight but they had a conflict so we will meet up with them tomorrow.  I continued cleaning our bedroom and then moved to the bathroom.  I was pretty well worn out by the end of the day.
Later this evening I was looking at Facebook and ran across this picture.

That is Kamron on the left with the bright blue shirt and khaki skirt, with black visor.  

This picture was taken at the golf tournament in Pittsburg yesterday by our former City Administrator Kris McKechnie.  Her son Jackson plays golf for the Pittsburg Dragons and is in the 8th grade.  Kamron and Jackson were playing in the same tournament.  I sent Kris a note to let her know that was Marc's daughter.  Hopefully, we'll get a chance to visit with her when we make it to one of Kamron's tournaments.

On Thursday the 11th, Dean dropped me off at City Hall for a meeting they were having on health insurance.  I am still on the city's plan as a retiree, and a change is being made in carriers, so I went to hear the details.  Dean picked Haleigh up from school and took her to Columbus to get her hair trimmed, and her nails done in preparation for this week's Prom in Oswego.  

Mom wanted a picture when Haleigh talked to her later.

Misti had to leave this afternoon to attend a required conference as part of her PTA training in Wichita.  Haleigh is staying with us while she is gone.  After the insurance meeting was over, I walked over to the courthouse to see if sister Crystal would mind giving me a ride back to the RV Park.  I really appreciated her doing that.  
After Dean and Haleigh got back we left again, back to Columbus to pick up Dacy and Tucker so we could all have dinner together at the local Mexican restaurant.  We had a great visit.  Their Prom is also this Saturday evening.  Haleigh's promenade will start at 6, and Dacy and Tucker's is to start at 8 - so we are pretty sure we will make it for both of them.

Friday, April 12th  Dean went with me to Vinta today for my rescheduled doctor appointment.  I was able to download the results from my blood test on Tuesday evening and I was very happy with the report.  The doctor changed a couple of medications and wants me to come back in 7 weeks and have another blood test to see if additional changes are needed with one of my prescriptions.  
I needed to get some prescriptions filled, so while we were waiting, we took the time to go to Atwood's and the local Ace Hardware store there in Vinita.  We didn't find aything at either one but we enjoyed looking.
After picking up my prescriptions we drove back to Oswego.  After some lunch we went to our local hardware store where I found two of the things we looked for while we were in Vinta - an indoor/outdoor thermometer for Bentley and a simple metal paper towel holder that I want Dean to install under the bathroom sink.
Haleigh is staying after school tonight to decorate for Prom, so Dean and I drove to Altamont to eat at MJ's Burgers.  Dean had a burger that looked delicious while I enjoyed another grilled chicken salad - which was really good!  Haleigh got back a little later and we enjoyed visiting with her about the prom preparations and our plans for tomorrow.

Saturday, April 13 - It's a big day for three of our grandchildren today.  It's prom day in Oswego and Columbus.  After breakfast and Haleigh showered, I took her to a friend's house, where her friend's sister applied Haleigh's makeup for prom this evening.  Once I picked her up, we had lunch, before she and I left again, this time to head to Columbus for a hair appointment.

We received a text from Renae that Dacy and Tucker's promenade had changed to 6, due to the expected rain later this evening.  With this change they suggested that any others besides parents not attend to watch the students come in since it is being held in a small venue with very limited space. I called Renae and she suggested we come to Columbus at 4 in order to be there when they take the before pictures.  I wasn't sure I'd make it, but Dean planned to go for sure.  As it turned out Misti made it back just as we started taking pictures at the park for Haleigh and her friends, Kaitlin and Heaven.  Dean went on to Columbus and I took pictures here in Oswego with Misti.  It's too bad they happened to be on the same day and ended up with events happening at the same time.
We took some great picures of Haleigh and her friends and Renae sent us some great pictures of Dacy and Tucker.

Pictures of Haleigh, Katelin, and Heaven.

 All of these pictures were taken in our beatuiful city park.

My daughter, Misti and her daughter, my granddaughter, Haleigh.  My heart swells looking at these two beautiful ladies.

Tucker & His Date (Dacy's Friend)

Dacy & Her Date (Tucker's Friend)

Do we have beautiful granddaughters or what; and that grandson?  We are truly blessed!

Tucker, Dacy and some of their friends.

Dacy

Tucker

Sunday, April 14 - Dean met Misti at the Community Center this morning, where she was completing the last of the cleanup from Project Prom last night, so he could transport a couple of items she could not get in her car back to her house in our truck.  He stopped to get me so we could go by to see her before we leave later today for Branson.  Misti and Haleigh are leaving early Wednesday morning for Kansas City, where they will fly to San Antonio, TX for Logan's granduation from A school.  They will be back on Friday, and we will return on Saturday morning.
I'm sad I will not be able to go with them on this trip.  I miss Logan so much.  He will be going to Camp Pendleton, California from San Antonio.  It's hard to even think about not seeing him for awhile.  
Once we got back we secured the last items inside, so we could close up the RV.  We were just getting ready to run a couple of errands before we hooked up, when Kamron called to see if we wanted to go eat lunch with her and her mom at Pizza Hut.  We couldn't pass up another chance to spend some time with them, so we met them there.  We were thrilled they called us, and we had a wonderful visit.
After we returned to the park, we were hitched up and ready to leave in 10-15 minutes.  We began the drive to Branson and arrived by mid-afternoon.  We have friends who are also staying at Treasure Lake and we are looking forward to spending time with them while we are here.  
I sent a text to let them know we were leaving the office.  Joyce waved us over near them and we found a site in the next row over from where they were parked.  Dean and Frank had plans to play golf on Monday so Joyce and I will do some shopping.