2003News Archive
December
The end of another year as we
look forward to 2004 and
Jessica's marriage to Jason in March. Happy Holidays to
you all!
November
We had a great trip to
Minnesota last month . . a fun time and beautiful scenery! We are looking
forward to having Jessica and Jason visit us here in Omaha for the
Thanksgiving holiday. Barb's sister, Janice, came to Omaha from Topeka to
help us celebrate the holiday.
October
Birthdays this month for Barb
on the 1st and Jessica on the 31st . . Happy Birthday! We are traveling to
Winona, MN this month to visit our
nephew, Henry Hill, his wife, Lorie, and sons, Tyler and Trevor . . and we
are hoping that the leaves are still all ablaze with color during our
visit. Winona is right on the Mississippi
River in southeastern Minnesota and has many Victorian-style
buildings and homes that we are looking forward to seeing.
September
Barb is back in the swing of
things at school; a class of sixteen 4th Grade students this year, who,
overall, seem to be decent group of kids. We celebrated our 34th wedding
anniversary on the 13th with a nice dinner at "Charlie's on the Lake". On
the 16th John drove over to Des Moines,
IA to see half of our Phoenix-friends team, Roger Hansen, who was there
for 3 days of meetings. Jessica has been trying to wrap up more wedding
details such as "the cake", "the flowers", and, of course, "the
honeymoon", which looks like it will be in Mexico.
August
Hot and dry . . that's the
hand we were dealt in August . . school started for Barb on the 6th, with
the 4th Graders "reporting for duty" on the 13th . . oh, and John's 59th
birthday . . sure wouldn't want to leave that out . . yeah, right!
July
This month found us on the
road to Santa Fe,
Tucson,
Phoenix, the
Grand Canyon, and back through
Albuquerque before returning to
Omaha . . . about 4,000 miles in
just under 2 weeks! Plenty of great scenery to go around in those places .
. . . Barb found a nice silver Native American-made bracelet in Santa Fe,
and while in Tucson we had our own personal local guide - Jesse Frantz, a
friend of Jessica's from Vassar who
is finishing up his Ph.D. in Optical Physics at the
University - give us a quick tour of
the city. That evening we met Jesse and his wife, Meagan, for a great
dinner at P. F. Chang's. Also, in
Tucson, we took a model home tour at the Robson Communities' "SaddleBrook"
development. In Phoenix, we spent about four days with our friends, the
Hansen's, who, once again, were generous hosts. While in the area we
checked out the Robson "PebbleCreek"
development as well. We then spent a day and a half at the Grand Canyon,
touring the South Rim on foot and viewing the IMAX movie of the Canyon on
Day 1 . . . then early the next morning taking an hour aerial tour of the
Canyon in a 6-passenger high-wing Cessna. Barb was a little apprehensive
about it, but glad she did it since the vastness of the Canyon is really
impressive from above. While in Albuquerque we stayed with Jim and Susan
Carson, friends of John's from his high school class. They have lived and
worked in Albuquerque for over 20 years and generously shared their home
and their time to show us the city and the scenery.
June
Rachael spent 4 days in
Houston with Jessica and Jason mid-month and Barb and John met Jason's
parents in Kansas City over the
weekend of the 21st/22nd. On the 29th we made a quick day trip to our old
"home town" of Abilene to visit friends Colleen & Rex Cearley, where we
enjoyed their company over a great meal at the
Brookville Hotel.
May
May 29th . . . Happy 25th
Birthday, Rachael! We split the day between the
Lauritzen
Botanical Gardens and the Henry
Doorly Zoo. CONGRATULATIONS to Jason on passing the
Texas State Bar Exam !!!! What a
crazy weather month here in Omaha . . high winds, tornados, hail and LOTS
of rain with daytime "highs" averaging 10 degrees below normal.
April
Barb spent the 18th-21st in
Houston with Jessica and Jason - and Jessica's good friend, Cindy Chung -
doing wedding-planning-related things and enjoying the warm weather.
Nothing like a quick trip to Topeka to see the flowers in bloom at Binkley
Gardens, a private residence with 3 acres of blooming tulips and daffodils
on a warm 85° Spring day. While there, we visited with Barb's brother,
Bob, sister, Janice, and Janice's friend, Gail. Barb is off to Houston
April 18th to the 21st to visit Jessica and Jason . . . How about that 90°
on the 1st . . . and the April Fool delayed until the 4th when we are at
32° with light snow and sleet. Who says Nebraska isn't an interesting
place to live? While Jessica was in
NYC the last weekend in March
she found just the right wedding dress and had time for a visit with her
friends Cindy Chung and Gloria Haynes.
March
A very cold start to the
month and a little more snow as well. Our mid-month trip to Phoenix is
looking better every day . . . hey, and we're already back . . . and it
was a great trip! The weather was in the low to mid-80's with plenty of
sunshine. Barb got a chance to see her cousin, Suzan, who lives in the
area, and we spent a day visiting with Jan and Steve Amdor. Jan teaches
with Barb at Cather Elementary and
was in Phoenix with her husband for a few days. We also took a tour of
Sun City Grand just to see what
we'll look like if we ever get old. As usual, our hosts, Roger and Debbie
Hansen, were very accommodating and we enjoyed our visit with them.
February
Several snowfalls and colder
temps have made this month less enjoyable than last. Barb and I are
planning to spend some time in Phoenix in March and Rachael is planning a
June trip to visit her sister in Houston.
January
Ah, another new year full of
promise . . . a New Year's Eve spent quietly with neighbors, then some
really warm weather - two days of 65° - then January weather reality
caught up with us. Mid-month temperatures dropped to single digits with
several nights below zero. . and the 6" of snow. Then there's the constant
reminders from the Hansen's in Phoenix that it is sunny and 75° . . so
cruel.
