It Was A Good Knight, But I Didn't See Lance Alot..........

The Tour of California came to Kings county today. We didn't get a start or finish but there were many miles of straight, flat stretches where they could really fly. Lance Armstrong is of course the big attraction and I saw him.....I think I saw him.....I must have seen him.....it all happened so fast. I feel confident that I can tell anyone that asks, that I saw him.

The first picture is of a breakaway that was about 4 minutes ahead of the peloton. For you non-French speaking readers, a peloton is a large, tightly grouped pack of riders. When these six riders came by it seemed slower than I thought it would be. That would change....

This is the front of the peloton and two of Armstong's teamates.

When one hundred riders come by in a pretty tight pack at 25 mph, it is really impressive. The wind they generate is something else.




At this point we are about 10 miles south of town and they would go about another ten miles before turning west and heading to the coast. As I'm writing this they are well into the mountains on their way to Paso Robles.

The chase cars with extra bikes etc. are very colorful and interspersed between the different groups of riders.
It's quite an amazing sight and just the logistics of closing the roads in a rolling maner is fantastic.

The first people I ran into, after the police chief, were the Bringards. Of course I would run into them at an event like this. Susan's cousin is in green. There were hundreds of locals, many of which I knew.



I feel safe in saying that the corner of 10 1\2 and Kansas has never seen a traffic jam like this. Hundreds of cars parked in all directions. It was a beautiful day and a great time to just enjoy the spectacle.

So Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.....

The day the music died, February 3, 1959. A seminal moment in music cultural history that not surprisingly has grown much larger than the actual event at the time. Fifty years ago I was 8 and try as I might I have no distinct memory of that day. I'm marking more and more of these 50th anniversaries of significant events in my life. While there are many things I remember vividly from back then, others like today have slipped away. I wonder what causes insignificant things to stick in your brain while other "bigger" things fail to gain a foothold. More on this at a later time....

Baby Bee Meets Hanford Family and Friends

Well, this is the first picture of Baby Bee at Mimi and Papa's house after her flight from NYC. We heard that it was a little traumatic for her, but she woke up calm and wide eyed to see her vacation resort for 12 days. What a beautiful baby!

Papa was very glad to get to hold this bundle of love! For those of you who do not know, Lyle loves babies! He was the major care giver of both of our boys while I taught school. He did more diapers, changed more outfits, made and fed more food, rocked and held those little guys, and met their every need day after day for years and years. He arranged his schedule to suit their sleep times and awake times. He often said, "You just go with whatever they need."

Annie is such a great mom. She attends to Bee constantly. She heard Bee's faintest cry and was on it immediately. She really loves and cares for her beautiful little girl!

Of course Cory is very proud of his lovely daughter. Here he is taunting great-grandma Lois to walk faster to catch Bee. As grandma moves forward, Bee is moved backward! What a tease! It did get grandma to the car pretty fast!

Even adopted godfather Dennis can't resist sweet little Bee! Kisses to you!
Dennis and Alex (The German) took turns entertaining Bee. They were a little unsure at first, but they caught on quickly and Bee loved all the special attention!

I know this does not quite fit, but don't you think Jeff and Kristin look good with a little one? Carson was borrowed from Heather and Vince....Just a cute shot!

Here's Bee and Mimi. I bet you couldn't tell that I love this little girl! She is such a sweetie! You know babies smell sooooo good after their bath! Annie always had Bee smelling fresh and oh....so delicious! Just gotta squeeze her!Thanks Dennis for taking some family photos at the Carniage Museum in Hanford. These pictures are very special to us!Mike and Myrna Weatherly came by to meet Bee. They both love babies and have grand children of their own.Here's Papa again with his favorite granddaughter!Bee had a great ride with all the bells and whistles thanks to my special friend, Jeanine Hill, who loaned us her grandson's former car seat.
Well, here is Bee on her way to the airport to go back to NYC. Give a baby 3-5 minutes in a moving car and they are out! What a sweet little girl!

Here are our last good bye's as they were going through security.
I am so proud of Cory, Annie, and little Bee. They are a wonderful loving family. I am grateful for their efforts to bring baby Bee to California and let us enjoy her while she is small. I wish for many more moments with them all. I miss them terribly, but I am so glad they are happy and living for the Lord. May God richly bless this precious little family!

Happy Groundhog Day, Happy Groundhog Day, Happy Groundhog Day.....

It's that day again, when a rodent is the equal of your local weather(man, girl, person). Around here a local gopher sticks his head up and sees nothing but fog and heads back underground to ruin more gardens. Anyway, have a happy day knowing that all this will keep repeating over and over again.

New Year's Eve

This morning Bee's crib was delivered to our house. Her Aunty Shelly had purchased this vintage crib for Annie. It traveled from Aunty Shelly in the Bay Area to Cambria where Aunt Tammy brought it to Hanford. After cleaning and setup, it is ready for Bee on January 13th.

The room is about ready! The mobile plays Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven while the umbrella moves in a circle. I think Baby Bee will like her vacation resort room! Can't wait for you to get here! Just 14 Days!!!!!

Happy New Year....almost!

Merry Christmas!

Yeah!!! It's Christmas time again! It has been a wonderful time of celebration of Jesus' birth! I love to hear the children sing and sign Christmas songs! Attending the Christmas Eve Candlelight service and remembering why Jesus came to earth was a fabulous moving experience! It was nice that my mom could go with us to the 5:00 service.

On December 20th, The Paul Coleman Concert at our church was fun, entertaining, and a great chance to be entertained with tremendous Christmas songs...old and very new...not even recorded songs by Paul. His humor made the time pass too quickly! What a great testimony of God's love in his life!

And here we are on Christmas Eve with packages in hand. Mom is decked out in her Christmas wear and ready to open! Our gathering was small. Lyle, Mom, and me.

Ooh look! The bag I wanted! Nice job mom getting me just what I wanted! Love it!

Helping is caring....a Mixer, Jewelry Box, and black jacket rounded out Mom's gifts this year.

Here, Lyle got the black shirt from the Japanese Art and Cultural Center that he wanted. Some gift cards for OSH, money, and a Bose system completed his night.

I got Aloe socks! Not pictured was my best treasure....a license plate cover that says: "Heard the Buzz.....I'm Bee's Grandma!" It is already on the car! What a great and thoughtful gift from Lyle! He is the Best!

I have been to other gatherings that I did not picture, but at Georgina's party, I whipped out the camera! It is a small gathering of teacher friends. We laugh and have a great time getting together each year to trade interesting gifts.

So today we have another party to attend at Linda and Bob's house with "The Cousins." We have had a lot of fun this Christmas season already.

The group gathered to play "Family Feud." The girls won! But everyone got prizes...some for winning, some for playing, and some for not playing! It is amazing how that worked!

Well, the gang is almost all here for this Christmas picture. Bob and Kari were running an errand and I am taking the picture. As Clayton said when we were going home, "It sure was a young crowd this year!" I too remember when we were the "youngsters." Now there our kids are having kids and the 3 little ones were the ones to get the presents!
Addison with Princess Minnie Mouse....Josh with Giant Green Frog.Madison with Merry Christmas Minnie Mouse.It was a wonderful day and holiday season!

We hope your day is filled with precious moments for today and remembering the past!

Merry Christmas!

I Thought I'd Died and Gone To Sweden......

By now you are probably asking yourself what these two pictures have to do with anything. I'll explain...... I love grocery stores more than Marlene loves shoes. You want me to leave an NFL game on TV... invite me to a grocery store. Now Grocery Outlet is a particularly interesting store to go into because you never know what you'll find, Russian beets, Arab ketchup, French crackers, etc. While Marlene was wasting her time in a fabric store nearby, I wandered into the Clovis Grocery Outlet. I'm singing along to the music on the stores sound system when they announce that this is the ABBA music channel on satelite radio. ALL ABBA ALL THE TIME!!! Wow, I didn't know this existed. I'm tellin' you, this is the best grocery shopping experience you can have unless Whole Foods goes clothing optional. I hope this is the start of a trend. Yaa shuure.