What's Up With Thomas?

1st Day of Senior Year

18th Birthday

and College Visits!

It Worked

So I was to the point of giving up my blog. It seems when I have time to blog I cannot manage to log in. I am techno challenged and I don't want to spend a lot of my precious free time dealing with tech issues. The other day a friend commented that I should consider starting a blog. She mentioned she thought I had a gift for writing. Thank you, dear friend, for those sweet words. She is a kind soul and one of her many gifts is that of encouragement. I do enjoy writing and especially when I get to add pictures in the blogging venue, so the comment made my day. I thought maybe it is time for me to start a different blog and did a bit of investigating and decided on a whim to try logging in and voila (love that word!) here I am!

2017 MYRTLE BEACH TIME

Last night we returned home after a week at Myrtle Beach. The six Kortes rented a condo along with my brother Tim and his family and Timmy's friend, Holly, my sister Maureen and her family and Ben's girlfriend Chelsea and Hannah's friend Erica and about a dozen of the Schmucker clan.

Saturday June 17, 2017

We arrived Saturday night, unloaded and went straight down for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely evening with the sun just starting to set and casting a pink glow on the sky. 

After a  peaceful walk on the beach we decided to make a run to the store to pick up a few items for the week. It was "Black Friday" crazy. I think we waited in line for a good 45 minutes but we laughed and had fun just being together.


Sunday June 18, 2017
               Father's Day

Sunday morning Gary and I went to Mass at St Andrew's. It was a beautiful Mass and the church was full with strong singing and responses. I have such joy when that happens. We spent Sunday relaxing at the beach and in the evening had pizza and chicken with the whole gang by the pool.

Monday June 19, 2017

Monday we got up for the sunrise. In the top 5 for me at the beach is being there at sunrise. It was cloudy but it ended up being the best sunrise of the week.

 

 

 

We had some beach time before it clouded up. In the evening we went for a very nice dinner at Vine Bistro. The food was delicious and the staff was attentive and the chef came out to ask about our meals. It was a treat to sit down to a nice meal in a formal setting. The kids all set together and the adults at a separate table. Being together talking  and laughing over a meal I could tell was prepared with careful attention was a highlight of the trip for me. After dinner it was time for our friendly miniature golf competition. It worked well to golf in small groups, generally by family.  John ended up in 3rd behind Ben and Tim and Thomas was 4th. Way to go boys! and surprise I wasn't last!

 Tuesday June 20, 2017

Tuesday it was time to take Colleen to the airport, sad day. I am so grateful that the girls were willing to go through all the hassle to spend the time with all of us. Though I wish we'd had more time with them I am just grateful for the time we had. Unfortunately it rained most of the day on Tuesday and so we read and chilled a bit and then joined everyone for some pulled pork and mac and cheese at the Schmucker's condo and played a bit of Euchre.

Wednesday June 21, 2017

Elle, Gary and I walked down to the beach for another sunrise. The clouds were thick and we didn't get to see the sun but it was still worth an early morning walk on the beach.

Wednesdays forecast was cloudy and a bit cooler so we decided to head out to Brookgreen Gardens. Pulling into the Gardens I just felt my whole body relax and I said aloud, " my soul needed this".
The kids did amazing and we walked about 3.5 miles in the 2 1/2 hours we were there. We saw a good bit of the gardens but missed the statue we really liked last time "Man Carving His Own Destiny". When we were here about 19 years ago, Gary took a picture of this and framed it and we had looked forward to seeing it again. Instead of backtracking to see it we walked over to see the animals.  I secretly hoped Gary and I could come back (it would have been free!) another time but it took about 40 minutes to get there and Gary had done enough driving so I didn't ask. 

 

yep, that's an alligator

 On the way back we made a stop at the Coastal Mall and had lunch at Chik-fil-A and did some window shopping. Wednesday night we had Lasagna at the Schmucker's party condo and played some more cards. Granny and I were hot and hard to beat!
 
Thursday June 22, 2017

Thursday it was off to the airport again, this time to send Elle off to Texas. She had left her car at Colleen's and would spend a couple of days with C until her apartment in Lufton, Texas was ready to move into. More rain on Thursday so we took the boys shopping at the Outlet Mall in the afternoon.
Thursday night we had dinner at Finn McCools with the gang to celebrate Larry's birthday and Tim and Patty's anniversary. After dinner we walked across the street for some fro-yo (frozen yogurt). We ended the night with a little shopping at one of the discount beach stores. The only thing I bought in all the shopping was a Brookgreen Garden magnet.

Friday June 22, 2017

Friday's forecast was beautiful so the plan was to spend as much of the day at the beach as possible. We had breakfast and Gary and I went down to the beach for a couple of hours. I sat my chair at the edge of the water and watched the ocean and read Gift From the Sea by Anne Lindberg. We finally got hungry enough we went up for lunch and a bit of organizing and then back down to the beach. Gary and I were the last to leave at 5:30. Even then I was not ready to leave and only left knowing we would be back later to take an evening stroll. We opted not to go to dinner at Harry the Hats with everyone as we had plenty of leftovers to eat up. We did walk down to Harry's to say good bye to everyone and then Granny joined us for our final walk on the beach. The tide was high and the beach looked so different. Soon it was time to call it a night and say farewell to the ocean.

                                                                  Sad. To. Leave.

2017 Looking Back at January Through March

I feel like every time I get online to blog I say...how can it be that I have gone x number of months without blogging? I so enjoy blogging on Sundays but the Sundays have been busy. I am not a fan of busy Sundays but church and family activities are at the top of the prority list and when I have those opportunities blogging has had to take a back seat.

Looking back:

January 2017 Elle finished her time in Garden City and came home for a bit before her 1st traveling nurse assignment in Lewiston Idaho. Gary helped her buy a new Honda CRV. Gary volunteered to drive her new car out to Garden City and then fly home from Wichita. The end of January Elle and J drove to Colorado where he left for Navy Boot Camp and made the drive to Idaho with her cat, Cleo in about 3 days. I was relieved when she arrived safe and sound.

Colleen  and Tania flew in for a visit in February. We had some beautiful weather and got to spend a day hiking over in Mohican State Forest. Tania is such a sweetie and I am so grateful that she is such a good friend for Colleen and fits right in with our family.

In March, John and I had the opportunity to fly out to Spokane and meet up with Elle, discover the city of Spokane, drive over to Clarkston, and spend a couple WONDERFUL days with Elle. It was such a nice mix of site seeing and relaxing at Elle's apartment. John and I got to get to know Cleo, one of the friendliest and sweetest cats and get to know the eastern edge of the Pacific Northwest.

Christmas 2016

 

Christmas 2016

 

Ready, Set, 2017!

Christmas has come and gone and once again it was full of special memories! Colleen and Michelle both had to work on December 25th so we postponed our immediate family Christmas celebration  until January. We actually celebrated on the weekend of the Feast of the Epiphany ( I love that word!). We picked Elle up at the airport on Friday Jan 6 and Colleen on Saturday Jan 7. On Saturday I had this idea that we would make homemade pizzas and play games and that's exactly what we did. Each of the kids made their own version of pizza and it was interesting to see the differences. Colleen took pictures of each of them. After eating we brought out the games. Clue, Uno Attack and Rumikub kept us busy until about 12:30 am. I was exhausted but I wouldn't have given up a minute of that special time together.
On Sunday Granny and Papa came down and we made a baked chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, steamed green beans and pumpkin pie (made by Granny) for dessert. After dinner we all sat around the table and talked and laughed...one of my favorite things in the world to do! Granny and Papa took off to get home before dark. Colleen and Dad watched some TV, Elle got a call from Hillary and the boys went off to do their own thing. I put on an audio book and cleaned up the kitchen. I enjoyed the time to reflect on the week end and all the special moments. In the evening the girls and I watched the move Storks that I had stumbled on at the library. It was cute and we all enjoyed the main character.The remainder of the time the girls spent visiting with friends and Elle and Gary bought a car! After much thought she ended up buying a new Honda CRV. Soooo Gary will be making a trip out to Kansas in her new car, flying home and then she will drive it to Lewiston Idaho where she will start her 1st traveling nurse position on January 30! Another adventure begins....ready....set....GO!