January, 2011

Valentina in Cholon, Colombia

We are visiting in Texas

Today is 1/1/11 and a New Year with new beginnings, resolutions, and goals.

So....before January 9th, Sonny and I have to eat everything we have been craving in the US, because after that time, we may not indulge in it as much.

We went out to eat fajitas with Elaine and Nelson (sailboat friends) and Billy and Jeanie (Sonny's 'little' brother and wife).

Taylor has won an evening in the suite in San Antonio for a hockey game and invited our family to join them.

There was a group of 16 of us that enjoyed the evening.  Lots of food, fun, and...of course, hockey fights.

Garrett and Madonna brought over their Just Dance game and we had a dance competition.   It was so much fun.  (And it was good exercise).

What is it? It is a sonogram of our 10th grandchild!

I had the privilege of going with Gentry and Jennifer to confirm a new pregnancy in our family.  Jennifer is 6 weeks along with a due date of Sept. 9th.   (Hope I get to return to help them out during that time).

We are excited.

We went over to Cecil and Evelyn's house this afternoon to visit with them, Scott and Kim, and Royce and Lisa.

It is so good to see family and get caught up on family news.

We took Bailee to day care, then made a couple of stops, on our way to David and Gina's in Ada, OK. 

Of course, one of our stops had to be West Marine.   We had a list of boat parts we needed, and Peter, at the West Marine in Lewisville, is the greatest.  We have known him for ten years now, and he is always so helpful to us and understands our difficulty in getting parts.  Congratulations....he and Skye have recently gotten married.

OK.....now on to OK,, Ada that is.

Today is our daughter, Gina's birthday.   We were able to celebrate her birthday with her and her family.

Today is also our beautiful daughter-in-law's Birthday. Happy Birthday Jennifer.

It is a very special day in our lives for sure.

We were able to spend the day with Gina and her family.  We got to watch Kalei cheer at a basketball tournament.

We went to church with David and Gina and we were escorted by Kalei.   She just got her driver's license and car this week.  How exciting for her.

This afternoon, we watched the NFL playoff games, preparing for the Super Bowl.

This morning, we drove north from Ada, OK to Tecumseh to visit with our friends, Jim and Pat.   We have enjoyed so many times with them and have so many good, good memories.  When you look up the word, friend, in the dictionary, you will see their picture.

They asked us what we would like to do.  Of course, we just want to spend time with them.  But, they mentioned that Pat's son, Mitch, sometimes plays in a bluegrass jam on Monday nights.  We jumped at that idea.   It was a barn full of (mostly old) musicians just sitting around playing music.  Our kind of evening.

	Historic Buildings		Round Barn on Route 66
Antiques		And, a roadrunner?

After a delicious dinner, we went to the Wednesday evening church service, where her son, Mark, is the pastor.

In the past, ladies of the church have given us eyeglasses to take back to give to the Kuna Indians in San Blas, Panama.  The Indians are so thankful for the glasses.  It is such a blessing to see their faces light up and smile ear to ear when they realize how good they can see with the new lenses.    We have a new supply to share with them this year.  Thank you.

But, it is time to leave good friends and head back to Texas.

So, we are headed south on I-35.  On our left in Lewisville, is our favorite West Marine store, where we purchase all of our boat parts from Peter.  We 'cannot' drive past West Marine.

We are standing in an aisle, trying to anticipate how much wire is needed to connect our SSB radio unit to the tuner when I heard someone say, "Sonny and Kay?"  I look up to greet a young man and asked his name.   He is Scott Dungan.  He had been following our travels on our website and recognized us.  From the things he said, we knew he definitely was keeping up with us.  It was so good to meet him.  He is planning on purchasing a boat in the future to enjoy time with his family.

If you are one who follows us on our website, we would love to hear from you and hear updates of what is happening in your life.  Just drop us an email at sailingvalentina@hotmail.com     Thanks...

We went back to Waxahachie and went walking and played Baja Rummey with Garrett, Madonna, and Kylie.  Yeah....Garrett is hooked....a fun game.

This morning, Sonny went with one of his old time ham buddies, Wilson, to take our new radio to another friend's ham shack to test our new ham radio and microphone.  All appears to be good.  We cannot wait to connect it on Valentina.

 

This evening, we got to meet John and Lisa in Plano and eat Coconut Shrimp at Red Lobster.  We have known them for years from Cedar Mills Marina at Texoma.  They are planning on moving their Valiant to Galveston in the next few months to prepare to go cruising.  It was good to visit with them and hear the updates they have made to S/V Morning Star the past two years.

1/31

Our family is still doing the "Biggest Loser" contest and this is our 3 week mark.  The kids are all doing great and Sonny and I are losing some.  During this time, Sonny has lost 6.2 pounds and I have lost 4.2.  

While we are here in the US visiting friends and family, we know it is impossible to lose what we would like, because there is Blue Bell Ice Cream, French Fries, Whataburger, barbecue, Mexican food.....and much, much more.  And, we know, "Life is Short", so we are definitely enjoying it.  We can do better when we get to Valentina.

We drove to San Antonio today to spend some time with Ronnie and Nancy, Sonny's cousin.  It was a very good visit and so good to see them.

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"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11