Fireworks on the horizon

Good evening my friends. No pictures this time. Just notes.
Fireworks season is about to begin again for us.
Busy, busy, busy.
But we will all be together, albeit, passing in the night.
A-1 called today and wants to bring two 15 year old boys- sons of her friends- this year to work. So instead of 12 (six of which are little people) living in the house we will have 14-
I think we will have to put up sheets over the entry to the dining room and make that a bedroom for 5 weeks.
We get to feed them too! This will be good practice for feeding my grandsons. I never had two teenage boys at the same time. Pray for me!

On a happier (more exciting) note, our orchestra at church is coming along nicely. (I bought a French horn so I could be in it). Many of us have not played in years (43 for me), others not quite so long (35). But we have in three weeks come along very well. I think this week we graduated from "6th grade band" to intermediate band. We actually all started and ended on the right notes and kind of sounded good in the middle. It is so much fun. Our director is soooooo talented. And sooooooo patient. We will play in worship on June 1. I will let you know how it goes. :)

More Flowers/ It's May, right?

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the office today. I said to the secretary, "That is a really pretty flower." Her response was "they are yours". "They are in a baby container" I said, who would send a flower to me in a baby container?"
Thank you Amy. I am about as dense as they come to hints.
Congratulations to you and Jim E, We are very happy for you and pray that all is well, safe and healthy.
I have already penciled in Jan. 09 for a week off to chase JT around and cook for you!
Thank you for making us Grandparents for the 7th time. (not all yours, of course.)

Sam and Gwen Van Oostrum. Molly says Sam got to laughing so hard they both tipped over.

Altus Air Force Base Air Show

Today is Mother's Day. We went to church, had lunch with Amy and Brian Givens and I have practiced my French horn and taken out the trash. The orchids are from Amy, Jim-E and JT. Thanks, they are beautiful.

Last weekend Amy had her 30th birthday and Amanda and Allen came home to celebrate with Amy, Jim-E and JT and Ralph and I. We had a very relaxed weekend. There was minimal talk about fireworks and mostly we just enjoyed one another. We went out to the base for the air show in the afternoon. The temperature was cool and sunny- enough to need a sweater or jacket but also sun screen.

The feeling on the flight line was good, although the presence of the work dogs and military police in uniforms was a bit unnerving at times. JT liked the dog but wouldn't get close (which was fine with me.)
Jim-E, Allen JT, Ralph Amanda and Amy watch as a fly over takes place. Behind them is the C5. The back and the front (nose) were both open. We also got to go in a plane that specifically flies over Russia to take surveillance pictures. Russian military fly with the crew to keep them at a certain altitude but they are allowed to take pictures on a routine basis.



We stopped for a bite to eat. Allen and Amanda hung out at the table and needed more to eat than that dry hamburger. We managed to find a pulled pork sandwich that really would have been better for all of us. JT ate almost all of Amy's hamburger.


Now that JT is walking, he felt comfortable to go over and say hello to the neighbors. They were delighted to say hi back. More like startled. But of course everyone loves babies.
The two planes that you see in the air are old and new. The smaller plane (I am sorry I can't remember the kind) flew in WW II. It is flying as fast as it can. The larger plane I think is a C141 (but not positive, help me some of my AF friends) was flying as slow as it could. Together they did a formation over the runway. It was pretty awesome.

When we came to the air show, because of security, we were all searched with a wand. It seemed we stood in line for 45 minutes waiting our turn to be searched. You can see that as we are leaving, the "search" crew is enjoying a break. Your Air Force at work. God bless them! Thanks for having us out, Altus AFB!


When we got home, JT was practicing carrying a basket, a can and of course was ready to go out again with his AF jacket and my pink socks. He has grown so much. He jabbers all the time and seems to know exactly what he is saying. He is very verbal. Much like his dad, Jim-E.

The weather here has been beautiful, my friend Ruth and I sat out on the front porch all afternoon on Friday (really, from 12:30 till 5) talking and never felt too warm. The front yard is so pretty right now. We even saw a humming bird for a few seconds.
Ralph and I are making plans for the fireworks season now. We need three cribs this summer so I am sure we will be doing some shuffling around. But we are so excited for everyone to be at home at the same time. Gwen has changed so much and we don't want her to forget us. Nathan is almost a teenager now and will be just as happy without us.

We are officially "empty nester's" now. Allen left this last Thursday to live in OKC for the summer. He accepted an internship with an engineering company on the south side of town. I think I cried as much when he drove away as when he went to kindergarten. It seems such a short time ago.