Lunch at Paradise Bakery and Cafe on Sunday

Only 50 degrees and raining...hence the flat hair!

Kendra and AK

 

Shirley (Ash) and Kendra --- Mother and daughter

Shopping!

 SHOPPING!!!!!  

Old Navy, Dress Barn, The Sports Store, Paradise Bakery and Cafe, Marshalls, HomeGoods, hmmmm...what else???  THE CONTAINER STORE, Trader Joes, Cost Plus, Pier One, Whole Foods!

 Shopping in Old Navy -- I can wear clothes there now!!!

 Kendra found wonderful buys at Old Navy!  And she let AK buy her a couple of dresses and a sequined top --- AK style!  Pearls anyone?

 My personal favorite -- getting to introduce Kendra and Shirley to The Container Store.....Can I hear a collective Ahhhhhhhhhhhh???!!???

Table O' Fun

Table O' Fun - 

We each brought gifts to build the Table O' Fun and will have to choose what to take home --- K-
State tattoos, stickers, Vera Bradley handbags, Hibiscus tea from San Francisco, purple jewelry to name a few of the gifts!  Want to come on our trips?

 Sports Illustrated  - we will have autographed at game!

Parade ticket and guide

Meeting an on-line friend in person

Extra activities!!!  Kay met up with Colleen who is also a member of the international Prostate Cancer Support Forum.  Colleen is from Edmonton, Alberta and is wintering in Mesa.  We had a delightful three hour non-stop talk and the owner of the hotel introduced himself to us.  Now....wait for it....wait for it....the owner of this fabulous resort (Scottsdale Plaza Resort) is none other than a 1957 graduate of Topeka High School!  I made Shirley go back to the restaurant and meet him after Colleen left.

Fiesta Bowl Parade!

 Kansas State and Oregon!

 Tostitos -- the sponsor!

 Fiesta Bowl logo

The Queen and her Court

Papago doll

This morning we bundled up to ride the bus to the Fiesta Bowl Parade! The parade was over 2 hours long and provided many opportunities to cheer for the K State Wildcats! It was a bit chilly to begin the day but warmed to a delightful 60 degrees! Pictures will be loaded soon!

Fiesta Bowl 2013

On the road again.       Can't wait to get on the road again......
We are packing our bags to head to the Fiesta Bowl! Come follow our adventures in Phoenix, Arizona watching K-State play Oregon!

It's not over till it's over!!!!!

The last six days have been busy!!!!  Another trip to Riverton to downsize my father-in-law's house, morning worship at Lowell again, another drive to Topeka, picking up our parents to go to Glen Elder (our family moved from Indiana to Glen Elder, Kansas in 1878), back to Topeka, and on and on.

I fly home on Monday morning from Wichita.  Wonder how much more I can pack in!  It's been a great trip.  Thanks to all who have hosted us.

The beautiful mother of Sisters #1!  

Our great dad on the right and his brother, Harry, on the left.  They had a great visit.

Ash and I spent two days scanning family photos.  This is our gggrandfather, Walter Harrison and Melissa Caroline Luckey Harrison.  Caroline is named after this great pioneer woman!

AK and her special Aunt Pat.  I was her flower girl in 1955!

Hooray!  The Harrison music genes are in the next generation --- this is Haydn...and he LOVES to play music!

Relax!  This is our 1st cousin!  And, yes, he's a captain in the fire department!  We had a great time visiting him at work.  Fair is fair...look at the next pic!

How appropriate for Ash!  A fire station!

Relaxing during a hot day!

Sisters #1 -- Relaxing in the summertime!

On a recommendation from one of the Sisters #2, we have been watching Friday Night Lights.....a great series about a small town in Texas and their football team and their lives!  You might think this is a sedentary activity but I can assure you that we are sitting in our dual recliners exercising our legs by pushing the foot rest up and down 10 times an hour!  Tonight we had a "Granita" that Shirley made.....Watermelon, fresh ginger, honey, lime juice.  Here's the recipe:

Combine 4 cups cubed watermelon with 6 T. honey, 1 T. fresh lime juice, and 2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger in blender.  Puree until smooth.  Transfer to shallow 1 1/2 qt. dish, cover, and freeze overnight.  Break up clumps with a fork until the texture is grainy. Refreeze 20 minutes or until firm.  Keep frozen until ready to serve.

Nutrition (per serving): 144 cal, 1 g. protein, 38g carb, 1 g. fiber, 0 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 3 mg sodium


Yum!!!!  Great on a Kansas day when it's 105 outside!

Settling in at Home with Family Treasures

Well -- bringing family furniture to our house is always a cause for celebration.  We love the stories the pieces represent and the transfer of love that comes with them!  Since I'm still in Kansas, Sisters#2 had fun incorporating the pieces into the house.....until the last trick they played on me!  Take a look!

Grandma Rosa Mae's kitchen clock

One of the end tables that Dennis made in high school; next to Caroline's sofa in study upstairs

Mid-century sewing table from my Great-Grandmother...having built-ins put around it

Joanna taking the "T" from her grandparents screen door back to San Francisco as ART!

Great-Grandmother Joanna Winfrey's plant stand

Cousin Nona Brown's beautiful Iris painting

The joke is on MOM!  The girls sent me all the reasons that these dog paintings belong on either side of the front door.  I had to have CPR!  They took them down!  LOL

Sisters #1

So what are the other two sisters doing now? Well, we had pedicures today and are watching Friday Night Lights from dual recliners! Clear Eyes...Full Hearts... Can't Lose!

We regretfully turn in the RV

It was a sad day today when Sisters#2 turned in the RV.  There were tears all around as they said goodbye to John Boy and Mary Ellen who must go on another trip with another family.  Joanna took it a little harder than Caroline.  Thanks, Cruise America!  This was a fantastic trip!

Thanks, Joanna and Caroline for making my retirement transition so awesome....wonderful memories.  As you go back to work, I will think of you BECAUSE I AM RETIRED AND RUNNING AROUND IN KANSAS!  LOL

Love ya!
Mom

Woo Hoo! Sister Set #2 back home!

Woo Hoo!  Sister Set #2 (Joanna and Caroline) back home in California!  They arrived today about 3:30 p.m.  --- about 4,000 miles since July 2.  Thanks be to God for safe travel and a great adventure!

Yes, it's really Central Valley of California --- not Kansas!

The Other Sisters - July 15

Music Theater ----

Thanks to Paul (Shirley's hubby and my BIL) we attended HONK! this afternoon.  If you get a chance to see this great musical, do it!

Honk! was presented by Music Theatre of Wichita and is a musical tale of 'The Ugly Duckling (Music by George Stiles and Book and Lyrics by Anthony Drewe).  In this day and age of bullies it's a wonderful re-telling of the well-loved story of tolerance by Hans Christian Andersen.  There were outstanding performances by Lawrence Cummings (originally from Santa Rosa, CA), Susan Hofflander and Stanley Bahorek.  Loved it!  Thanks, Paul!




From Honk!'s website:

Since it first hatched in 1993 Stiles & Drewe’s musical Honk! has winged its way around the world in over 8000 productions and in many different languages.

A world-wide stage sensation that has been seen by over 5 million people. Honk has won multiple awards including the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Musical (beating the Lion King and Mamma Mia for the prize).

R*E*L*I*E*F -- July 15

Whew!  The girls made it to Elko, Nevada today....and braved an intense monsoon.  Both girls were born in Tucson, land of summer monsoons, and that fact plus the fact that their mom and aunt were prayin' them through Nevada saw them thru!  Oh, also the fact that they are tough, scrappy, brave and courageous (did I mention that I'm their mom and a big fan?  LOL).

The RV is showing wear and tear

Thelma and Louise conquer the monsoon - solidarity!

Today was a day of long roads.

Tomorrow they get to Sacramento.....

God is good all the time...all the time God is good.  Amen and Amen

Lowell Friends (Quaker) Meetinghouse

Sign found in Granddad's Garage

Sunday Worship at Lowell - July 8

Some of you have asked how we conducted worship at Lowell on Sunday (July 8) at the reunion.  We decided to honor our Quaker heritage and the Lowell Friends Church pastor invited us to plan worship.  We used both the Sunday School and the Worship hours.  Several of us at the reunion went to Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.  While Duane, Pattie, Dennis and I were there, we had a wonderful, wonderful English professor, Dr. Dorothy Craven, who was a Quaker.  Dr. Craven introduced many of us to John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, The Meeting.  Whittier is known as the Quaker poet and this lengthy poem describes Quaker worship.  Duane was brave enough to memorize the stanzas of the poem and he and I collaborated on a commentary to introduce each section.  I introduced each stanza.  It gave Duane and I great pleasure to pass this treasure on to those who had not heard it at Lowell as well as to all the "Grands" at the reunion.

During the worship service, Duane preached, I read the scripture from Rosa Mae's Bible (Dennis and Pattie's mother) and played the piano, and Joanna sang an arrangement of "How Great Thou Art" at her grandfather's request.  Our cousin Cyndy's husband, Ron, sang "It is Well with my Soul" and Joanna and my sister sang "When God Seems Near" at Duane's request. Of course we sang Whittier's hymn, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind".  We concluded with a time of open worship.

It was a touching service and brought back so many memories of worship services in this 150 year old Quaker meeting.  I'll try to find a picture of the meetinghouse and post it here.

AK

Reunion Pics...we got reunion pics!

Dennis' cousin, Cyndy....we were at Friends University together.

Burgis with Pattie's daughter, Linda.

Duane and Uncle Linn

Beautiful Aunt Doris

Great looking Grands!

Caroline entertaining Grandpa and Great Uncle Bill

Burgis and his younger brother, Bill

Beautiful Aunt Hap and Wakon

Pattie and Duane's "kids"

Joanna and Brenda's Elly - twins?

Grands discussing life issues!

Brian Taber, Dennis' 1st cousin, and Duane

Aunt Hap telling a great story!

Always a kiss for the youngest Grand!

My fav NY actor!  Chad McCallon...watch for him!

Burgis' great room at Quaker Hill Manor

Topeka!  Cousin Katie!