Years End

Well, I really have fallen down on blogging. I'm going to start entering again in Jan. The high speed Internet service at Majestic Oaks isn't ... high speed.... I have tried to catch up a couple of times but it takes too long to download photos.

When I start it up in Jan. I'll have to do it in the office to get a better hook up. Be patient with me.

David and I spent an uneventful Christmas. We went to the show to see "Four Christmases". It was very funny and I needed a comedy to enjoy the day. This year it seems to be a little harder to be away from family and friends.

David and I want to wish our family and friends a 'Happy New".

Sending blessings to all of you in 2009.

This photo was taken at the Indianapolis Speedway in Sept. 08'. I will be blogging this site seeing trip in Jan. 09' along with a few other road trips David and I took on our way South for the Winter.

Winding up our stay in Indiana.

Our time in Indiana has been good. We had some very special times with our Grandson, Cash. Once in a while we even let Chad and Hannah spend time with us. :-) We will miss all of them. But, we are looking forward to returning to Biloxi.

Nothing much else happening here. Praise the Lord gas prices have started to come down. Be ready for them to go back up on Oct. 21. That's the day we will be filling the motor home up for the trip south. ouch!!!!!

Look for news from Mississippi in the near future.

Thought I'd put a smile on your face with the following photos. We spent some time with the Koeber children. Brenna got a Guinea Pig for her birthday. David and I became Guinea Pigs with the make over the girls did to us. It was so much fun and a real memory maker.


Enjoy!!!!

Camp Allendale

LAKEVIEW LODGE


Greetings from "Camp Allendale".

This is a 180 acre church camp located in the rolling hills of Trafalgar, Indiana. You are probably wondering what on earth are we doing at this church camp!

We are volunteering our many talents. David is enjoying himself visiting with the guys, mowing, visiting with the guys, painting, visiting with the guys,
checking out the air conditioning in the lodges, visiting with the guys. Did I mention that David likes visiting with the guys. :-)

I am relaxing, reading, exploring the grounds, helping in the dinning hall and riding the golf cart we were given to use during our stay here.

David and I were camped at the KOA in Crawfordsville, IN. during June and July. We went to this area to be closer to Chad and his family. In July, Chad was spending a week at Camp Allendale with his youth group. Chad needed help from David setting up the chapel with a sound system, lighting and a smoke machine.

DINING HALL/CHAPEL

While helping Chad, David got re-acquainted with Michael Proctor, the Maintenance Manager. (We have a history with Michael. We went to church with him in Keokuk. He and Chad grew up together).

David approached Michael with the idea of us spending a few weeks volunteering at the camp before we return to Biloxi for the winter. In return for volunteering, our camping is free. Our meals are furnished when ever they have campers on the grounds.

THERE ARE FIVE MINI LODGES

In one of the wooded areas of the grounds there are four tree house dorms. These are really cool.

In another area of the woods they built Fort Allendale. In here there are two Log Lodges.

CEDAR LODGE

We are truly enjoying the peaceful setting here and will miss everyone when we leave in October.

BEACH AND DOCK


Be watching for the photos of David and I getting a beauty make over at the Koeber house.

INDIANA BEACH

Update on our travels.

Back in May I blogged about my dad's heart surgery and our stay in Hannibal, MO. Dad is doing great. He was released from his heart surgeon on June 5th. David and I were able to leave Hannibal on June 6th. YEAH!!!!!!!!! Don't get me wrong. We love our family but the long stay there was not on our agenda. We are still very thankful we were able to stay and help out after his stay in the hospital.



We traveled to Monticello, IN. on the 6th and stayed at Indiana Beach Campground. The name would have you believe there's a beach. NOT!!!! There is a huge amusement park just down the road from the campground. The beach is at the water park there.


One perk for staying at that campground was you received free passes to get into the park. We walked through the park just for something to do. We didn't participate in any of the rides. Just did some people watching, which is always fun.





Some of the photos of are a Dare Devil Ride. People were harnessed together and then rode a tether up to the top of a very high pole. Once they reached the top they were released to swing out over the lake. NO... way would I ever do something like that. But I bet some of my viewers are CRAAAAAZY enough to do it. I'm referring to the Schulte clan. They are the Dare Devil Type.





Catch you up another day and let you know where we went from there.

Triple by-pass surgery

For those of you who read my blog, you probably wonder where I have been. I haven't posted for a long time. Except for the "Friendship Tree" posted today.

April 27th we were headed to our son's home in Brownsburg, In. We were going to surprise them. After thinking about it we decided to call and make sure they were going to be around. Glad we called. Chad was going to be gone that week.

We were in Macomb, Il when we found this out so we just headed south to Springfield, IL. My niece and her family live in Aurburn, Il and we visited with them for a few days.

While we were there we had a hard rain and the windshield of the mortorhome was leaking . We took it into a glass repair place. While they had it they went ahead and pulled both windows and re-installed them. We are dry once again.

On Wed. of that week we received a call from my mom telling us that dad was going in for a angiogram on Friday in Hannibal, Mo. . We left on Thursday so we could be with him during this procedure. So thankful we were there.

His doctor thought they would only have to put a stint in. Wrong! Dad had one artery that was 100% blocked , another 90% and a third one 40%. He went by ambulance to Quincy and was scheduled for triple by-pass surgery on May 5th.

Me before my dads surgery!



Dad is doing great and is home recuperating. We are staying at Mark Twain Camp Ground. Our plans are to try and head out to Chad's on June 15th.. Dad should be well on the way to full recovery by then.

I didn't realize stress could do this to a person. Thought all my readers would get a kick out of this!!!! :-)

Friendship Tree, Gulf Port, MS.

The following photos are of the "Friendship Tree" which is found on the campus of University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast. in Gulf Port, MS. As you look at the photo's you will see that it looks like there are several small trees in the photo. These limbs grow down to the ground and re-emerge several feet away.

Be sure to click on the photo for a larger image so you can read about the history of this tree.








When David and I pulled into the parking lot of the college we talked to two men that had stayed during Hurricane Katrina. It is always very interesting to visit with locals who were actually there during the storm. These men told us that the eye of the hurricane came ashore in Waveland and Bay St. Louis, MS. These town's are west of Biloxi, MS.






When we left the campus we took a drive West and really saw much more devastation than in the Biloxi area. 99% of the homes and businesses in Waveland were destroyed during this hurricane.

On The GO!!!!!

David and I are back in Keokuk, IA.

We headed North on April 3rd. Stayed a week at Mark Twain Campground in Hannibal, MO. There we visited family and friends. After Hannibal we headed on to Iowa. We have been extremely busy since we arrived. Trying to see friends, buy a small car to pull behind the new Motorhome and make all our doctor appointments. We don't feel like we are retired at this moment in time.

Sorry this is such a short blog with no photos. The campground we are staying at doesn't have very good internet service. I am at their mercy whenever I get on.

I'm going to wrap this up before I lose my connection. Catch up later with more news and photos.

McDowell Resort Photo's

Ronnie grilling steaks. They were delicious, too.



Me and Laurie in her kitchen preparing supper.

McDowell Resort, Houston, TX

Heidi,
This is for you.:-)

I started this blog after your last note to me. I have several photo's of the McDowell Resort, as I call It. Somethings wrong with the server and I can't upload any of them. The high speed internet service we are suppose to be getting hasn't worked very well. It is being worked on constantly but now luck so far.

David and I drove over to Houston, TX to visit Ron & Laurie McDowell on March 1st - 10th. We had a great time. It was so good to just relax and catch up with what's happening in their lives.

While we were there Laurie had the flue for several days. We decided that we would go site seeing to Houston Space Center. At the end of the day then we headed down to Galveston Island and spent the night. This gave Laurie time to get some rest. She just wouldn't rest with us there. When we got back on Friday she was feeling better.

Davids niece and her husband, Janis and David Jordan, live in Pearland, TX. We drove to see them when we left Galveston Island. We just spent the day there. Their daughter, Libby, works at the Houston Space Center. She is the Manifest Engineer for the space shuttles. This means that she maintains a list of every item that is not attached to the shuttle for every shuttle mission. Doesn't this sound like a huge responsibility. I talked to Libby on the phone and she was really sorry that she couldn't take us on a personal tour of the entire center. She wants us to come back next Winter and tour the facility with her. We will definitely take her up on that offer.

The weather here has been just beautiful. I've been sick with allergies this weekend and have done nothing but sleep. We'll be back in Keokuk on April 15th. Hope to see all my blog watchers while I'm there.

Sharing a meal with neighbors.

Several weeks ago a beautiful sunny days we enjoyed a cook out with a couple from Canton, MS., Bobby and Ann. Their motor home has a full kitchen that comes out under the awning area of the rig. If you look close you can see some of it. Bobby made "Drunk Chicken". There's a new method for grilling chicken. You open a can of beer and place it in the cavity of a whole chicken and cook it real slow over coals. For those of you who don't drink or like beer, you can't taste it and it all cooks away. Bobby just likes calling it "Drunk Chicken".


During one of our walks along the beach we came upon this sand sculpture. It doesn't compare with the ones from the Edgewater Mall. :-) But I thought it warranted a blog.


I'm standing in front of the "Worlds Largest Rocker". David and I went out to eat with two other couples, to "Catfish Charlie's". Which by the way has delicious fish and chicken. There is a wood working business next to the restaurant and this is in the yard out front.



Catch ya next time around!!!

Hinds Visit from Hannibal

David and I were thrilled that Danny and Linda Hinds, friends of ours from Hannibal, MO. were able to make a trip to see us in Feb. They stayed at the Isle of Capri Casino for three nights. We did some sight seeing and they came over to the RV Resort for a cook out one evening. We had a wonderful visit.




I've always loved the song "Under The Boardwalk". So I improvised with a dock leading out into the Mississippi Sound. I would have gone on the dock but David noticed the "Private Dock" sign. :-) Those party poopers!!!



During our walk along the beach we came upon this Huge Jelly Fish.... It was really gross looking. Linda took a long stick and tried to turn it over to see the legs. As she moved it the jelly on top jiggled and she hopped and I screamed. The guys just laughed at us.




Linda saw this shape in the sand and announced that there must be horses some where close. I just started laughing because all this really was, was a print from a tennis shoe.



We came upon a little girl feeding the Sea Gulls bread. It was so cute to watch. There were lots of Sea Gulls and all of a sudden a very large Pelican came from out of no where. Really took all of us by surprise. We were able to get fairly close to him. This was a reeeeeally...... Big Bird.

Danny and Linda are planning on a return visit next Feb. We are already looking forward to it.

Mardi Gras 2008

David and I attended a small Mardi Gras Parade in gulf Port a few days before I went to Brownsburg for Cash's birthday. I never saw so many beads in my life.

A man standing next rto me had a fish dip net and was catching the strands of beads with that.

The following pic's are of the actual Biloxi Mardi Gras Parade on Feb. 5th. David was invited to set in the Grandstands and view the parade with a couple that live across from us in the RV Park.

These people belong to the Mardi Gras Association. So it's suppose to be a big deal if you get invited to sit in the Grandstand. But of course because David did not know his way around downtown he couldn't find the Grandstands. I was very disappointed because he would have gotten all kinds of pic's from there. He would have seen all the entertainment and the King and Queen Crowning. There is always next year. :-)

Trip to Brownsburg for Cash's 1st Birthday

I had the opportunity to go North to see Chad, Hannah and Cash for Cash's First Birthday. I spent a week with them. The weather was cold and snowy but I didn't mind.

This is Cash's 11 month photo.

Hannah decorated the apartment and baked and decorated Cash's cake. The theme was Ohio State. Chad and Hannah are true Buckeye fans. I imagine this will rub off on Cash as he grows up.

We had the party on Sat., the 2nd of Feb. When Cash got up from his nap I brought him out of his room and put him on the floor. He got so excited. He is walking now so he just walked right into the middle of 24 Grey and Red Balloons and started grabbing and kicking them all over. It was just precious to see the look on his little face.


Here is a photo of Chad taking a bite out of his First Birthday Cake.

Caption for this photo "Like Father Like Son"


Cash didn't really like eating the cake. He is not much for sweets.

After taking this photo of Chad and Cash I remember I had one of me holding Chad on my shoulders at about the same age as Cash. Here are those photo's.



I returned to Biloxi on Thursday the 7th. It's good to be home. Latest weather update: BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!! Temp's in the 70"s all this week. I think the Winter weather is gone and Summer is just around the corner.

David and I have been working at the church trying to organize the Katrina Relief supplies. The church is going to host another Work Group in a couple of weeks. We will be cleaning the showers, lodges and continue with cleaning the church grounds.