Queens, New York (Brother's Wedding)

We got home from Branson and had almost a week at home before we headed off to New York for my brother's wedding. On Saturday, Jim, me and my mother drove from VA to New York. We had a wonderful beautiful day for traveling. We had no traffic and sailed right into New York; however, to get to Queens we went through Manhattan. I'm so glad Jim was driving. It was so crowded with traffic and people you could hardly drive. People kept walking out in front of us. It was exciting but nerve wracking too. Anyway we arrived at our hotel just fine and caught up with Butch and Debbie and some of our other relatives. That evening, Butch and Debbie hosted a dinner at their favorite Greek restaurant and we had a great time and a great meal. The wedding was on Sunday, Sept 21st. Butch married his fiancee, Debbie Thomas. Debbie is Greek and they had a wonderful Greek Wedding. It was also like a family reunion. My aunt and cousins (Aunt Bev, Jodi and her husband David) came in from San Jose, CA; my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jim from Venice, Florida; my cousin, Doug and his family from Rhode Island; my cousin, Sherry and her family from Rhode Island; my cousin Nini and her family from Conn; my niece, Shaunna and her son from Las Vegas, NV and my nephew, Ned and his wife Lisa from VA. It was wonderful to see everyone and what fun we had. The pictures above are of course my brother and Debbie after the wedding; next is my brother, Debbie, me and my sister Kathleen; next is Butch with his daughter, Shaunna and her son Jordan and Butch's son, Ned with his wife, Lisa; next is Jim, me, Butch, Debbie and Kathleen and George; last is Debbie's parents, Debbie and Butch and our mother, Barbara. We departed from New York on Monday headed for home with Mom, Aunt Bev and Jodi. We stopped off at the Pentagon 911 Memorial that had just opened earlier that week. After, we met our son Donnie for dinner before we actually got home. Tuesday morning, Mom, Aunt Bev and Jodi headed off for a visit with my mother, in Bracey, VA and Jim and I and the dogs left for Myrtle Beach, SC. We'll be in Myrtle Beach for a month. It's one of our favorite camping trips of the year. We are looking forward to visiting with friends, sunning, reading, and fishing. Until next time.........

Branson, MO

Friday was a very fun and busy day. Judy and I went to see the show, Broadway, along with the Parsons and the Bodins. It was a really great show and we really enjoyed it. It peaked my interest in wanting to see the show, Chicago. Jim's niece, Karen, came to visit from Tulsa, OK with her two children, Daniel, 28 months, and Chloe, 9 months. (Pics 1 and 2). We have never met Chloe, so that was a real treat. That evening the whole gang met up with Mason and Flo Young (Pic 6) and their neighbors for dinner at the Grand Plaza Hotel restaurant. We were treated to the wonderful entertainment of Kenny Parrott, who sang and played the guitar. It was such a fun evening. (Pics 3 and 4). Chloe was really enjoying the music, but after dancing her little feet off, she fell fast asleep on my shoulder. She was all danced out. (Pic 5) After dinner we all went off to see different shows. Mason and Judy and Jim and I went to see the Tony Roi show which he calls the Elvis Experience. He is probably one of the best Elvis' we've ever seen. We thoroughly enjoyed the show. Saturday morning, we decided to go on a mission of buying Daniel and Chloe some Croc shoes. Daniel was fascinated by Jim's Crocs so we decided to get him his own pair at the Croc outlet we discovered in Branson. We had a lot of fun watching Daniel trying on all sizes of shoes. He was fascinated by all the different colors of shoes. We finally found a pair to fit him and got him some widgets to put on the shoes. Jim has a Republican Elephant widget for his crocs so he wanted to get Daniel his own Republican Elephant. We all got a kick out of watching Daniel the rest of the day because he just kept watching his feet. Karen said when he was in the car, he was talking to his Crocs like they were his new best friends. We did a little more shopping for the kids in Carters and then we went to lunch downtown Branson at the Farmhouse Restaurant. That afternoon Jim and Mason went to see a comedian, Yakov, which they really enjoyed; and Karen and Judy and kids went shopping at the Branson Mall. I went home and spent a quiet afternoon with the dogs. Later that afternoon, Karen headed home to Tulsa, with the kids -- we were worried about the Hurricane due to pass thru on Sunday. Meanwhile the rest of the gang went to dinner at MarFarlands and had another wonderful dinner together. After dinner we all went to see Mickey Gilley. Judy and I went and Jim and Mason stayed at home battening down the hatches getting ready for the storm to come. The Mickey Gilley show was fantastic. We loved it. When we got out of the show, the predicted rain from the storm had started; but by the time we got back to the motorhomes, it was starting to ease up. However, about 2:30am the eye of the hurricane, Ike, passed right over us. We were lucky though the winds were only about 30-35 mph but it was still enough to make us all a little nervous. However, by 4:30am the storm passed and all was quiet. By daylight, the sun was shining. Jim and I left for home about 8:30am. The Halsteads left around 9:30am and Mason and Judy left for home around ll:00. The others decided to stay another night to let the storms clear out. Jim and I had a sunny ride the rest of the day. Our first stop on the way home was at a Flying J in Evansville, Ind. The storm has already passed through here too so we are safe and sound. Overall it has been a wonderful trip and we had so much fun visiting with friends and family and taking in all the great shows. Until next time.......

Branson, MO

We certainly have been busy! Thursday we went to see SIX. It is six brothers who perform with no instruments. They use their voices to sound like instruments. It is kind of hard to explain but they were fabulous. They did songs from the 50's and 60's and some gospel and threw in some comedy which had us all laughing so hard we were crying. These boys came from a family of 10 brothers. Can you imagine their poor mother? And they told us that at age 17 their mother was told she could not have children! Well she did and what talent they had. Jim and I think this is one of the best shows in Branson. You could not tell they did not have instruments playing - it was unbelievable. One guy made the sound of drums and it even sounded like cymbals; another sounded like a trumpet, and you could of sworn you could hear guitars while the other brothers sang the words. It was pretty amazing. Jim's brother, Mason and his wife, Judy arrived today. Anyway, after the SIX show the whole gang met at Landry's Seafood restaurant for dinner, to include Mason and Judy. There was 12 of us. We had a great time discussing the shows we went to. The Halstead's and Tolson's went to see Jim Stafford, a comedian. Donna said her cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard -- they really enjoyed that show too. After dinner 10 of us went to see Joe Diffie, and Mason and Judy went to see the Presleys. Joe Diffie is a country singer who is famous for Pickup Man and John Deer Green. He was really very good. He said he's only been in Branson for 2 weeks and the band had only been together for a week and half. You would never know it -- they really did a great job. Diffie also did the song, Don't You Think My Tractors Sexy. I got Jim a Sexy John Green Tractor shirt. Here I was thinking I'm being the thoughtful wife and what does he do? He tells about the time I was bush hogging our fields at home and took out two sections of the horse fence. Jim was still working at the time and we were planning on going on a trip, but our fields needed bush hogging, so I thought I would help him out so he wouldn't get stressed about all the work that needed doing before we left on our trip. I was doing great until I made a quick turn and forgot I had the front end loader on the tractor and it was heading for the fence. Instead of stopping; I was trying to get the loader lifted up over the fence and instead went right through it. I decided to continue getting the bush hogging job done so he wouldn't have to fix the fence and bush hog. I called him at work afterwards and told him I had good news and bad news -- the good news was the bush hogging was done so he wouldn't have to worry about that little job and the bad news was he had a fence mending job to do before we left on our trip. I think the fence fixing took longer than the bush hogging would have taken him -- he had to go out and buy six new boards, 2 fence posts, dig the holes for the new fence posts, take out the old fence posts that had been cemented in, but you know it was the thought that counted! Anyway, if I hadn't bought him that cute little shirt last night, my dirty little secret would still be a secret!!! Until next time.......

Branson, MO

Everyone has been asking how Jim's gall bladder surgery went. It went very well. The had his gall bladder out on Wednesday before we left on our trip and was behind the wheel on Monday. He has had no problems whatsoever. The only regret he has is that they shaved half his hairy belly (1st pic) and he's worried about what the ladies will think when he goes to the beach later in the month.

Mem, Janice and Donna have had a ball teasing him about his half hairy belly! We sure have been busy since we arrived in Branson on Sunday. Our first night we had dinner with our good friends, Mason and Flo Young. Mason and Jim worked together at Aeromet in Tulsa, OK and we have been best of friends ever since. Flo cooked dinner for us on Sunday evening and we really enjoyed our visit with them and got some insights on what to do and see in Branson. On Monday, the Parsons, Jim and I and Mason rode the Duck. (See 2nd pic-that's Janice and Ralph behind us and Mason took the pic). It is one of those old military amphibious vehicles that gave us a tour of land and lake. We went up by Table Rock Dam and and climbed up a huge hill with a gorgeous view of Branson then we went into the lake and floated around awhile while getting some local Branson info. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. That evening the Youngs had the whole gang over for dinner. This us in front of their statue of liberty light post in 3rd pic above. Tuesday, the Parsons' and Jim and I went to see the Twelve Irish Tenors show. I had seen them on Oprah one time and thought they were fabulous. And they were fabulous in person too. They were all so talented and cute! I was thinking, hmmmmm, if I was 20 years younger which one could I have a crush on. I picked out at least 3 haha. That evening, the Young's treated the Parsons, Bodins and Jim and I to the Presleys show. The Presleys were actually one of the original shows in Branson. We had a fantastic time. Wednesday, the Parsons and Jim and I went to tour the traveling Titantic Experience. What a wonderful tour. We spent at least 3 1/2 hours learning all about the Titantic; how it was built, what it was like to watch it leave the port, and they had actual recordings of some survivors as well as those that were involved in the rescue and they told their experiences. It was so interesting and sad. We met the whole gang at one of the local favorites' BBQ called, Dana's, for a late lunch/early dinner. That evening the whole gang went to see the Shoji Tabuchi show. Shoji is a japanesz violin player. (Sounds kind of boring huh?) Well Shoji is no ordinary violin player. He first came to the US with the intention of becoming a country fiddle player but his "American Dream" turned out to be much more than that. He plays every gendre of music you can think of. He also has a cast of musicians, dancers and singers to include his daughter. Shoji said one of his proudest accomplishments was becoming a US citizen 8 years ago. It was a fabulous show. We had great seats (second row) and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the show up close and personal. Of course most evenings start with a happy hour gathering which makes our experience even better!! (Last pic). Well until next time...

St. Louis and Branson, MO

We're back on the road again with our Good Sam camping friends and having a ball. We left home Sept 1st. There are 4 coaches on this trip; Jim and I, Larry and Mem Halstead, Ralph and Janice Parsons, and Chuck and Donna Tolson. Our first night was at the Halstead's. Larry had all the toys out. He took the guys down to their pond in his old jeep and later rode around on the golf cart. We had a nice cook out and got to meet Mem's friend, Jackie, who she talks about all the time, so it was nice to put a face to this famous friend! The next morning we headed out on our trip. We had a wonderful day for traveling. Our first night was at a Wal-Mart in Charleston, WV. We spent another night in a Wal-Mart in MO. The next morning it was raining cats and dogs so we delayed our departure until the morning traffic cleared out and then set out for St. Louis. We arrived in St. Louis around 2:00pm (actually we stayed in St. Charles, just outside St. Louis). Everyone chilled out when we first arrived then we all re-grouped at the on-site restaurant at the campground. This restaurant is famous for its prime rib but all of us opted for a light dinner since we had reservations to come back the following night for their prime rib. The other couples had friends meeting them here. Chuck and Donna have friends (Bob and Nanc) that they know from their Crystal Lake, Florida resort and also live in the St. Louis area. Bob and Nanc came out to the campground in their motorhome and camped with us for the weekend. We really enjoyed their company. Bob was such a hoot, he kept us all laughing. The Tolson's other Crystal Lake friends who live in the St. Louis area (Larry and Pat) came out to have dinner with us on Friday night. We really enjoyed hearing about all the fun times they all have together at their Crystal Lake winter resort. Ralph and Janice have already wet our appetite to go to Crystal Lake when we winter in Florida, and after meeting all these fun folks we have decided to definitely put Crystal Lake on our list of must do's when we go to Florida this year. Also on Friday, Mem and Larry's friends, Dallas and Shirley who also live in the area came out to visit. Dallas took Larry and Jim back to his place to show off his tractor collection. Needless to say Jim thoroughly enjoyed that visit. I hope he didn't drool on any of Dallas's tractors. Meanwhile, Shirley took Mem and I downtown St. Charles and we shopped until we dropped. I mean we hit every store. We also had a real nice lunch at a restaurant called the Winery, where we caught up with Chuck and Donna and Bob and Nanc. And of course, that evening we all met up at the Campground's Beef Eater restaurant and had a delicious prime rib dinner. Everyone who got the prime rib said it was the best they have ever had. They were huge too and everyone saved their bones for our dogs, Bono and Charlie. The next morning I'm sure Bono thought he had died and gone to heaven chopping on his bone. On Saturday, we all went to the casino to have lunch and of course do a little gambling. Jim and I lucked out; he won $47 and I won $67. We were pretty happy campers! Saturday evening, Bob and Nanc took us to one of their favorite Italian resturants. It was pretty awesome. We left Sunday morning for Branson, MO and arrived in Branson Sunday afternoon. Our friends, Mason and Flo Young, from Tulsa, OK met us here. Flo and Mason have a park model home here in Branson and invited us all over for dinner. However, our traveling gang was tired and wanted to have a rest night and eat their leftovers from St. Charles, MO. So Jim and I went over and we had a delightful evening catching up and reminiscing old stories. Their friends, Ken and Jerri, who we met in Texas this past winter, came over to visit us as well. We will be here a week and are looking forward to our visit here in Branson.