Bens graduation and more

This is a picture of Ben and Beth when we went to 25 Kitchens in GR on St. Patricks Day. My suggestion is to not go there on St. Patricks Day, it was more like Hell's Kitchen. Am I showing my age? Too loud, food was no good, but watching the people was a tad interesting. We went there with Malissa, Ron and his girlfriend, Esther , and Ben and Beth who were home for the weekend, then we went to a Griffins game across the street.

This is my R foot, I broke it in 3 places, have a questionable torn ligament from soccer. I have to see the orthopedic specialist tomorrow but I'm hoping for no further issues and to get this darn boot off. I have softball coming up.

Here is a picture of Carol and her dog visiting Grandpa. Nugget in one of her many outfits.

Bens Graduation from MSU ! Yeh, way to go Ben!

We celebrated graduation by eating at Crazy Horse in the evening.

Ben and Beth at home.

Cruising on the Freedom

The girls at the table, some of us are already planning a girls cruise in the near future.

Jim and I went on another cruise after Jim drove my dad to Florida. We hopped the ship , enjoyed the food, relaxation and even made some new friends along the way. From left , of course Jim and I, then Dave and Kathy from NY, behind them standing is Lisa and Ezra from FT Laud.( who met eachother in Israel, and Tobie and Heman from Ft laud, originally from NY. We were so lucky to have such a nice, fun group. Kathy has 2 daughters and she and I are already planning to set one of her daughters up with Jeff.

Our first stop was Key West. I am standing at a cafe and grill on the beach where we ate, it is on the most southern spot of Florida. Ask me about the man in the orange suit sometime. Shucks, I tried to get a picture but it did not turn out.

Jim and I paid extra money to eat in the 5 star dining room on the ship, the food and wine were spectacular. Worth the extra $60.

This was my dessert - a chocolate sampler. Needless to say we did nothing after that meal, went right to bed. It was almost 11 pm when we were done eating all the courses. Keith would have loved it !

We went to Grand Cayman, just went to the beach there. The shopping is too expensive in Grand Cayman but the water is the bluest I have ever seen.

This is Jim at a cafe in Jamacia. We did go shopping there. Jim bought a really nice watch. I was a sucker for all the poor people selling their items- I came home with a necklace, 2 braclets, a cd, and my hair braided. None of which I needed or really wanted. That's Jamacia man !

We had a really sweet waiter, here he is dancing on the table- that is a wig, not his hair. He felt bad because I could not eat alot of the food so he would bring me 2 desserts- did not really need that either but you did not see me sending it back.

This was a cafe in Jamacia, just loved the quaint little flowers on the tables, the bright colors on the walls. So cheery.

Can you see my braids ? A very fun vacation, very restful. Love cruising.

Grandpa and Bandit

Someone asked me what Grandpa and Bandit do all day? They sleep !

They sleep somemore !

And some more !

And Grandpa is good about sharing his bed !

Kansis City Mission Trip

You spend a week with 13 teenagers and you would find this picture of piglits riding on a semi hilarious too ! It was like they were staring at us.

Downtown Kansis City they say if you kiss the pig , it brings you good luck, hope he doesn't get a disease from a million people kissing that pig !

Every youth mission trip needs one kid with ADHD who accidentally on purpose lands in the fountian.

We went to see the Negro league baseball museum and Jazz Museum, this was really cool, I did not know they were the first to think of playing evening games under the lights.

Only one accident all week, not bad. Josiah hit himself in the eye, again an accident.

"Big guy in a little shirt" Jason trying on the size small junior sweatshirt they were auctioning off. I ended up buying it for my mentee for Barnabas Ministry.

We went to help at a day program for developmentally disabled, this was Harold, he was sad because Jimmy stole his pop at lunch. Jimmy has been known to sneak into the workers lounge and down 12 pops before they caught him.

We also worked at a soup kitchen in Kansis City, this is Kenny, he was originally from Detroit, so I had to give up my Tiger hat. He is also a Judo instructor.

This is the gang at our picnic on the last night. We were at a park, it was 105 degrees. They had a policy, no sleeveless shirts. Sorry but I broke that ridiculous policy ! We did have a really good time. Glad I went along.

Whats Jimmy up to now ?

What is that contraption on the roof ? Is that a T.V. ? What is going on ?
For those of you who have not heard the story it begins like this : Jim- I think we can save alot of money getting rid of cable, a guy on Talk of the Town said he can get 60 channels with an antennae. Rachel- Are they good stations ? Can you get 3, 8 and 13 ? Jim- Oh yeh! you can get alot of great channels for free !

Fast forward : We have been able to get channel 13 on a pretty regular basis. Channel 8 and 3 we have been able to get when the wind was not blowing more than 3 MPH, it was not raining, hailing, and if birds did not perch, and insects did not crawl on the antenae. The other 57 channels are religious channels, and t.v. shows and movies made before 1948.

So after paying the antennae guy from talk of the town $100 dollars to set up the antennae, adding netflex for $10.00 a month. Getting cables and Roku boxes, other computer gadgets at an undisclosed amount of money....... Oh yeh, and having the antennae guy come again for another $100.oo when we totally lost all t.v about 2 weeks ago for some odd reason, maybe all the storms knocked the antennae off the roof.( Oh yeh , and did I mention the new antennae Jim bought for another $125.00 because he thought the one we had for one year was not working )As you can see Jim added some reinforcements to hold it on the roof, and sat on the roof about 3 nights before calling in help. By this time the neighbors are all asking ? What the H is that guy doing watching t.v. on the roof ?

The good news is, we can now get channels 3,8, and 13 along with the other religious and old shows made before 1948 again. The bad news is, it cost more than if we had kept cable !

When Jimmy is not on the roof you can find him either landscaping ( or drinking pop) on the ground in one of his unusual get-ups.

Through it all he is always smiling !

Nurses Week

This past week the hospital celebrated nurses week. Each year the hospital gives out 2 awards to the nurses. I received the Dorothea Milbrandt Mentorship Award. The "ceremony" was in the hospital cafeteria Wednesday, May 11. This picture is me with my boss Jan Langeland, she is telling a little about what I do each day.

This is Patti Vandort, she is telling about the award and she gave me the flowers.

I rarely get flowers , I thought it was one of the prettiest arrangements.

I even had to go to DeVries Studio to get my picture taken the week before. This was the article that was in the paper. My Dad, sister and Jim were there for the presentation. The boys were not able to be there. I thought it was very special. It is hard to believe I have been a nurse for 32 years, 30 of those have been at Holland Hospital.

Why Not at the What Not

Jim and I went to Fennville Saturday night to the What Not Inn. We met Esther and some of her friends there for dinner and music. This band Entourage was there, and they were really fun to listen to . They are based in GR, they play here, in GH and GR at the BOB. This guy was my favorite, how often do you get to hear an accordian player with a band Huh ! I can about imagine what Dan will say when he sees this blog, open up to new things Dan ! Oh and by the way, when they played a love song the accordian player mouthed to me "This ones for you " I'm really not sure if I imagined that but what the hay, it makes for a more exciting story.

The keyboard player and the guitar player who also sang, played trombone, trumpet, etc.. Very talented guy.

And not to forget Alvie, her voice is awsome !

Esther and her friend Carol, both wishing they were up their playing their saxaphones !

Ed and Carol, the soon to be newlyweds !

We had so much fun, this band played a variety of music : Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Buffet, just to name a few. Oh and the food was really good too , we may have to go back again.