Milestone birthday

Two years ago yesterday, our oldest granddaughter’s baby girl arrived weighing 1 lb. 5 oz. Yesterday we celebrated this miracle baby’s second birthday via Zoom with more grandparents “present” than most children are fortunate enough to have. Even her animals wore party hats and Rae herself was dressed for the occasion. She must have been waiting for us at the door, but we arrived by phone and computer.

She received many, many presents and like most little ones, the toys and books got rave reviews and proved pretty distracting. It was so much fun to watch her pull things out of bags or rip off paper. Our hearts are full of joy just watching her grow!

This week will be full of transferring things from the house to the RV, since barring any unforeseen circumstances we plan to leave Yuma on Friday. I tried to have all the kitchen necessities in both places so we are already supplied with small appliances, plates, etc. Food will have to be transferred from the larger pantry in the house to the cabinets and cubbies of the RV. Then the scavenger hunt begins! “Where did I put the can opener?” or “Where do we have zipper baggies?” “What’s in that bin?” Same for all the clothes. I’m still not sure what I’ll do with shoes, even though I’m sure we brought them with us last fall somehow. Memory doesn’t always kick in when one needs it, or maybe there’s a better way to do things and we just haven’t found it. We have to plan for summer weather, as well as fall and early winter in Kansas. Maybe I’ll just toss it all and reconstruct my wardrobe!

Like people all over the country, we’ve been missing some of our favorite restaurants. Several restaurants here closed down entirely, while others were open for take out and delivery only. Friday the local “Cajun” grill reopened for take out and we were happy to see that they were doing a land office business! The restaurant is called Icons Grill and on Friday, the phone was answered by “Tina Turner”! Our favorite waiter there is “Clint Eastwood”. He said he wanted to be John Travolta, I think, but they said he was too tall. Every one of the wait staff introduces themselves as a star and really makes the dining experience fun. Several nights a week, they have live music, occasionally Elvis Presley or Hank Williams. Maybe when we come back in the fall, they will be fully open and we can enjoy it again. We like to patronize small local eateries and don’t go to many fast food or other franchise restaurants, but today after our worship experience(s) we drove to a good old Kansas establishment, Freddy’s, where we had steakburgers and onion rings. It was worth the drive.

As the country is opening back up, some states more quickly than others, we pray for the safety and health of each of you and especially our friends who are health care providers or in the medical field. Our prayer lists have grown much more extensive over this past few weeks. As God brings people to mind, we try to pray. That said, if God brings us to your mind in this next couple of weeks as we prepare and then travel, we would appreciate your prayers.

See you on the road!