Utah and still catching up

Here we are in some little bitty town called Trementon in Utah... We rolled in about 7pm. Joe has been having chest pain this afternoon for no obvious reason so Brenna and I left him in the hotel and went and got dinner for him. Hopefully a good nights sleep will leave him feeling better. Last night in La Grande Or the air-conditioner was buried behind the bed so I froze while he and Brenna roasted. Tonights hotel, "The Sandman" is much nicer.

So, anyway, back to catching up:
Friday was an eating day.
We met two dear friends at Dennys in Puyallup. They never met before but we knew they would hit it off. We teased them that they look like twins :-)
George Mitchelle, on the left, was our teacher at Bates where Joe and I met when we took Watch and Clock Repair. George is a very Godly man and was a great influence on both Joe and I. Joe was very rough then and use to have quite the colorful mouth. He would be holding forth and George would quietly say, "Joe, put a nickle in the jar."" I'm not putting no %*&(&^ nickle in any jar George!" "Now Joe!"
Last time we saw George he had just gotten out of the hospital and had almost died. He had lost almost all of his money in the crash after 911 and was on the edge of loosing his house. Now he is doing great and has just completed a successful land speculation where he made millions. God is not done with you until He is done.

The gentleman on the right is Davy. We thought Davy would be dead before we saw him again when we left for Texas. He was having serious breathing problems and was very disoriented and unhealthy. Found he had had a bone infection in his hand that was poisoning his body. Got that cleared up and he looks and acts 20 years younger. He and George had a very intelligent discussion. Davy is now running food banks for the Salvation Army. :-)
We left George and Davy at 11 am and took off like bats for Olympia where we met our friend Hilda for lunch (:-P) Hilda and her husband Lance go back 20 years with us. We used to ride motorcycles with them and hang out working on bikes. They are also doing really good after years of a struggling marriage. Hilda also used to be over 300 lbs. Look at her now!!! She inspires me!





Look, she is smaller than Brenna!











After a 2 1/2 hour "lunch" with Hilda we boogied up to my sister Alea's to meet my niece Katrina and Kristina, my sort of daughter.

I had custody of Katrina when she was 12-13 for a whole year so I am her second mom and we are very close. Katrina is 23 now and lives in Wanatchee but is moving to Spokane. I told her she can just keep on a heading west and end up in Longview :-)











We actually got custody of Katrina a few months before we got custody of Brenna so they are like sisters to each other. Like sisters they fought and loved but mostly loved. That is my adorable sister Alea on the couch with the two crazy girls. She had just gotten off of work and was very tired. Alea is my best friend in the whole world and I miss her bitterly.

I had guardianship of Kristina when she was 16-18. It was a difficult but good time. She is now 21 and is growing up strong. I miss her so much also. It was wonderful to spend a little time with her. My sister Alea had guardianship of Kristina when she was 14-15 so we are both second moms to her and she will always be a part of our family.





While I had guardianship of Kristina she had guardianship of her small daughter Natalie. Natalie didn't really remember me so she wouldn't give me a hug but she loosened up when Uncle Cleave (Alea's husband) put her in an old shirt of his and set up a sprinkler for her to run in and out of them.









I just got to meet Kristina's son Ian when he was just a few months old right before we left. He is did warm up to me and let me play with him. He is just as adorable as Kristina says he is.









We ran back out the door at 6pm and out to Eatonville to visit with my friend Dorothy. We have been friends since I was 26 and that was a very long time ago. She had a bunch of other people there to see us too. It was really really nice.







Well, I was going to cover 2 days today but.... it is almost 11 pm and I need to fall over for a while

Love you all and thank you for your continuing prayers.

Teri