Blessed with beautiful friends

While my dear friends from South Carolina were here for our Open House last week, they presented our family with a most generous and special gift. They carried it all the way via plane, from South Carolina (and it was not a light-weight either. And of course, it was also a quite awkward shape, too).

My friend's husband, Eddie, harvested wood from his own land and then with amazing attention to detail, created a beautiful masterpiece. He didn't even use any nails, and the piece is strong, solid and sturdy. And we just love having this stool in our home. Everytime I look at it, or perch comfortable upon it, I remember my dear sweet friends in South Carolina!
Thank you Eddie, Margie and Jessie!!! I love you guys more than you know!

My SUV

Got a long story about this car actually. This whole trip to Charleston was set up by our attorney so Jeremiah could be evaluated by a Child Psychologist for our case. Everything was supposed to be pre-paid. We flew from Albuquerque,NM to Phoenix, AZ to Las Vegas, NV to Charlotte, NC and finally ended up in Charleston, SC after traveling from 5am-9pm!
We did that to save some money on airfare for our case, because we receive free airfare from John's airline retirement, after the March 14, 2005 accident. But USAirways doesn't fly out of NM, so we had to take the 'long way' to get there.

Anyway, when we got there, we went straight to Dollar Rent A Car where our car was to be waiting with the show of our confirmation and ID. Well, they refused to rent to us because we didn't have a viable credit card. We were stranded and wouldn't have enough money for a cab, if we were to be staying in Charleston for the week, with only the money that we received as a stipend from our attorney.
A beautiful, kind and generous Angel showed up from nowhere as we sat there pondering what we should do next. She handed us $100.00 and wished us the best. She wouldn't give me her address so we could repay her, and all she would tell us was her first name, but she touched our lives in such a deep and abiding way, one we will never forget. We hope to be an Angel to someone else one day, as she was to us.

Ok, so we took the cab to our hotel and settled in until the morning. But the next morning was Saturday and our attorney was not easily available, and John had no cell phone to help us out. And we were getting solid walls thrown our way when trying to find a car to rent.
Finally, when we were down to the wire, because all the rental car agencies closed at 2pm on Saturday, and it was the famous Spoleto Festival in Charleston, so all the cars were getting snatched up.......John called us and he was able to connect with our attorney, and he then went to an Enterprise car rental near our house in NM (that he had just happened to apply for a job with just a month prior!) and worked out a deal between them and the Enterprise in Charleston.

Somehow, someway, with God's Grace, and some very wonderful people who cared for us, we were picked up from our hotel and driven into town to rent this car. Enterprise treated us very well. Which is quite ironic, since I had worked for Dollar Enterprise for a year before I was married. The Dollar Enterprise in Charleston was the rudest, most unprofessionally ran rental car establishment we have ever experienced.

But what truly amazed me about that horrific 'beginning-of-our-trip' experience, was how it all turned out fine and even better than I thought it could be. I thought our trip was destined for hellishness, and I hadn't even wanted to come anyway.
The remaining part of our trip was positive and we enjoyed some fun times, too. We left the car rental place and drove into town to explore the SC Aquarium.

South Carolina Aquarium

The day after we arrived in Charleston, we visited the South Carolina Aquarium, located on the Charleston Harbor.
http://www.scaquarium.org/
I took a ton of pics inside, but I kept forgetting to use the flash with the disposable camera I brought. ugh! We enjoyed this museum, especially the 300,000 gallon, 2-level ocean exhibit. We laid on the floor or sat by the plexiglass walls and just ooohed and ahhed over all of the beautiful, mysterious sea creatures swimming by. Jenna especially loved the sea turtle, who seemed to be drawn to her, and stayed right next to the glass, while rubbing it's nose and body right where Jenna sat. Jenna was enthralled!

In the pics above you can see the USS Yorktown across the harbor, in the background. And the Arthur Ravenel Bridge can be seen in the background of the pic with me, Jenna and Jeremiah. We actually took a hike on that bridge one evening from our hotel. There is a walking/jogging path all the way across the bridge from Charleston to Mt Pleasant, and many people use it to commute or exercise.

The night we did our walk, a strong wind kicked up and a storm came in. We felt as if we were going to be blown off that bridge. And later on we were told that the wind and rain storm was caused by a residual effect from an offshore small hurricane. Yikes!

USS Yorktown

Well, I can't figure out how to add in another pic to an already published Blog, so I decided to add this picture in right here....so there! hee hee
(For the whole story, scroll down)

Shem Creek, SC

If you want fresh seafood, especially shrimp, this is the place to come! I loved driving over the Shem Creek Bridge every day on the way to the beach. It is such a picturesque and practical place with the great smelling restaurants, shrimp boats unloading their catch, and kayaks floating by.

Sullivan's Island, SC

Our hotel was only a couple miles from the beaches and our favorite beaches were on Sullivan's Island, a residential place without commercialism or highrises. Just a low key, laid back, beautiful beach.
http://www.sullivansisland-sc.com/
My kidlets had a blast plying in the sand and water. We brought our boogey boards with us from NM and the boys used them until they had raw bellies. There were alot of neat happenings on the beach and water while we were there, too. We saw people flying in the air with rafts, we oohed and aahed when 4-6 water para-skiers lept, dived, and flew through the air as they raced one another. How their lines never became entangled is beyond me!
We watched shrimp boats bringing in ther catches, and huge ships cutting through the waves on their way into the Charleston Harbor. And we enjoyed the dolphins and pelicans as they fished for food.

Sun Dog

While we were in Charleston, we had the pleasure of seeing an amazing sight called a Sun Dog. The picture doesn't do it justice at all. It was very beautiful and unique.
A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion) is a relatively common atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with the reflection/refraction of sunlight by the numerous small ice crystals that make up cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Sundogs typically appear as a bright and sometimes colorful spot in the sky at a position 22 degrees to the left and/or right of the sun. They are closely related to, and sometimes appear together with, a halo.

Ferris Bueller anyone?

This photo is really bad. I used the disposable cameras and always forgot to use the flash. But if you can see well enough, you might recognize that our hotel's desk clerk, Dave, looks uncannily like The Principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.....one of our favorite movies, which is why the boys begged me to take a picture of him. heheh

Patriots Point~Aircraft Carrier

Our hotel was just down the street from the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier. We'd been here before when we lived in SC, but it was fun to explore it again with my Dad visiting from Florida.
http://www.patriotspoint.org/
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/yor.htm
My Dad and my Mother were both enlisted in the Navy, which I suppose makes me a full bred 'military brat'. It was fascinating learning from my Dad about the experiences he had in the Navy and the airplanes he worked on while enlisted.
We watched a neat movie about life on an aircraft carrier, and then explored the entire ship...up...and down..and through....and over....and under.....and up and down again. I lost count of how many steep and narrow stairs and ladders we crawled up and down...all while I carried Jenna. Yikes! I was sore the next day!

We also explored the Destroyer LAFFEY, "The ship that would not die",
and the Coast Guard Cutter, INGHAM, until my legs were too tired.

And then my boys talked me into climbing down into the old rusted Cold War submarine, The CLAMAGORE, that leans to the side because it has settled into the silt of the Charleston Harbor. As an almost 6 foot tall person, who is not all that fond of hot, musty, humid, dank, confined spaces.......that experience was almost torture! And it seemed to never end.....how long is a submarine anyway??

New Mexico Bound!

After our house was sold, John, Jenna and I drove to New Mexico along with 4 rabbits, a cat and our pop-up camper. Mostly uneventful and I forgot to take any photos. I do remember clearly the intense, exhilarating feeling when we crested over the Sandia Mountains and looked out over the sparkling lights of Albuquerque. John and I both looked at each other with huge smiles and we knew we were finally back home again!

John, Jackson, Jeremiah and John's friend, Mike left a week later driving the moving van and the trailer and John's truck. They took some pictures, as seen above. The pics of the boys is from Mike's house where they all woke up at 4:30am to start the drive West. The moving van was a hoot! We called it the BIG bird van and everyone oogled at it as they passed by.
What made me smile is the fact that the bird is the famous Sand Hill Crane that winters in New Mexico's Bosque del Apache in Socorro, which is one of my favorite places to experience wildlife. It felt like a sign to have this beautiful bird 'flying' on the side of a van that was on it's way West.

The view was interesting for whoever followed the van and trailer. Oh. And the 'boys' stopped at the Big Texan on the way out, where EVERYTHING is BIG! haha

Teri's Farm

Teri invited everyone to her family's farm for a Labor Day picnic. She brought out a bunch of the horses and ponies for the kids to ride, and had some games set up, as well as huge barbecue spread set up inside the barn. Getting everyone together like that was what we all seemed to live for, and we often spent time on Teri's farm and in her big pool. It always rocked my world seeing the teens hanging out on a tractor wagon or hay bales, and the younger kids riding mini-John Deere tractors, ponies or just exploring the farm together. And it was such a great time sitting and chatting with our homeschooled friends under big old trees in such an idyllic setting. God Bless Teri and her family for always being so welcoming to all of us!

As you can see from the above pics, Jenna loves horses. She would rather do nothing except sit or ride on a pony all day, which she did on this day. We'd walk her around the corral for a while and then come back, and she would just grin from ear-to ear, while sitting on 'her' pony. And then we'd go around the corral again. It was a dream of mine, as a little girl, to have my own horse and I can see that same desire in my daughter's eye's, too.
It is my desire to give that dream to her....and for myself very soon. There is something so powerful, majestic, gentle and free about a horse.

HollyWild Animal Park, SC

Our Homeschool group in SC, RHAH, got together and caravaned to HollyWild Animal Park/Zoo near Greenville, SC. We had a huge, fun group of parents and kids and we all had a great time! I've been to alot of zoos and worked in a few, too. But this one was very unique for several reasons. One being that quite a few of the animals had starred or held important roles in movies and commericals. Another being that there were many opportunities to get up and personal with the animals. And finally, that it was a very intimate and laid back type of place, too.
http://www.hollywild.com/about.html
Jenna, especially enjoyed the hands on experience of having a camel eat from her hand, and was upset anytime the camel accepted food from anyone else. I got a little concerned at one time, because a camel had taken Jenna's arm all the way up to her elbow, into it's mouth! Jenna didn't seem to mind, though. She can't get enough of critters!

That's my hand feeding a bison from the zoo bus. Huge buckets of bagels and bread were passed out to everyone, and we fed everything from Bison to Zebras to Antelope and Watusi! It was fun having all these inquisitive creatures coming up to lick and nibble our fingers looking for snacks.

In the top photo, you can see that Jackson discovered a cat in the zoo. He adores cats and they always seem to show up whenever Jackson is around.

Our New Mexico Backyard

With the help of the amazing organized effort (think barn raising) of our homeschooling group (over 30 people, adults, teens, children) we were able to pack up the entire house into a U-Haul and a half and drive from South Carolina to New Mexico.
But it was a little more complicated than that.....
We had to leave the U-Haul with a friend that so generously offered to help John drive it and John's truck to New Mexico. But the friend couldn't do that until after the first week of January....after our buyers moved into our homes...and we were homeless in South Carolina.

So, to fill in some time, John, Jenna and I drove to New Mexico in my van pulling our pop-up camper..........along with our cat and 4 pet rabbits.
The drive was relatively uneventful, except that we drove a bit out of our way to try and fit a desired visit stop-over with our dear friends, Aeri & Skip in Houston, TX. We just didn't have enough time, so we had to loop back up in western Texas toward eastern NM.
My parents had taken Jackson & Jeremiah to spend New Years with them in Ohio with other family members. They were to drop off the boys on their way back to Florida with our homeschooling buddy, Jessie, and then John would pick them up after he flew back to South Carolina to meet with his friend and the U-Haul and a half.

Meanwhile, Jenna and I prepared our house in New Mexico. We had been renting it out for 7 years while we were in South Carolina, so it needed some cleaning and supplies. But we were very lucky that all of the appliances worked and it was still in good shape. We've read so many horror stories where renters have trashed a rental house, but out house was basically the same as the day we left it, for our temporary move to South Carolina.

We lived in New Mexico for 8 years before we moved to SC and not barely a day had gone by without one of us saying we missed our home and the beauty and uniqueness of New Mexico. When we finally drove over Sandia Mountain and saw the lights of Albuquerque spread out below us, we both breathed a sigh of relief, contentment, and joy. We were home again!

Burnt House Demolition

In late December the crews came and finally removed all the garbage out of our neighbor's fire damaged house, and salvaged other stuff, like cabinets, lumber, windows, etc. And then they brought in a tractor to tear off the most damaged side of the house and ripped off the roof. Hand crews came in afterwards and removed the outside middle section of the house, but kept the bottom frame and foundation of the burnt house, so that the owners could rebuild onto it. It was interesting to watch from the unique vantage of our home, and I am curious to see what the house will look like when it's finally completed.

Homeschool Skate Days, SC

Twice a month, our local skating rink offered their rink to all the homeschooler's in Rock Hill, SC. It was always held while the public schools were in session, so the skating experience for our group was always a positive, fun, and in control experience. All the kids interacted together in such a wonderfully refreshing way, helping and mentoring, playing, and hanging out during the skating sessions.
It always impresses me how so many children, of all different ages can mix together so seamlessly with noone getting their feelings hurt, no competition, no older children being rough or demeaning with the younger kidlets.

You just don't see the same positive interactions among public school children. I can't put my finger around just one reason why this is the way it is, as I am sure there are many reasons. But one idea that comes to mind is that public school children can't help but get wild when given any amount of freedom, after being cooped up all day in an institution where adults are preaching and lecturing them all day.

And of course, it goes without saying that children that have free access to loving, respectful parents at any time of the day, just can't help but thrive.
As well, because homeschooled children are exposed to children and adults of all ages, in all different types of environments, they tend to blend well in all circles and are a joy to be with.

Lake Wylie Boating 2005

Our homeschool buddy Tanya invited Jessie and I, and all our kids, to spend a day on her parent's 'party boat' on Lake Wylie. What a blast! The kids had so much fun tubing behind the boat, and exploring an island as if they were pirates searching for treasure. And we all spent a few hours just swimming and splashing on the island and doing cannonballs off of the boat.

Lake Wylie, NC/SC 2005

Our fun homeschool pal, Tanya has parents who own a 'party boat'. And they offered to let our group of friends have an awesome day on Lake Wylie. The kids went tubing, swimming and explored an island in Lake Wylie. We took a tour of Lake Wylie and then parked on the island for some 'party splash time'! It was a super fun day!

Christmas 2005

We spent our last Christmas in our South Carolina house in 2005. It was bittersweet for me. We had made so many special memories in that house. The house was filled with laughter and tears, struggles and successes. My daughter was born in SC. We have sweet wonderful friends in South Carolina.
We tried to make our final Christmas as special as we could, even with boxes everywhere, no family photos on the wall, as little holiday decor as possible, since we had to move on January 1st. John was still healing from the brain surgery and was still bald. But the boys worked hard at bringing joy into the house. I was able to find them a little Christmas tree to have in their room and they were thrilled about that.
Our cat, Oreo found peace and joy below the tree each evening. He had the true spirit of Christmas....and at least he wasn't trying to climb the tree, like he did the year before! hehe

And I couldn't help but gaze at my precious sons and my dear husband and thank God for my blessings. I almost lost most of my family in March 2005. I count my many blessings this year, for my family is truly blessed to have life and to be together.