One Year Later

Steve and Angie are married one year today...big congratulations to them. One year later...they are now expecting a baby boy in January...Hannah has started kindergarten...Lizzie is almost two...my Mom continues to be stable and getting good care in IA...we are two weeks shy of our arrival in the Pacific NW...Bob's recovered from his hernia surgery...I have a great part, part time job...I have a wonderful yoga instructor at a great studio...we've met some amazing people...we continue to have deep connections with our Iowa friends...we recently spent time with family and old friends...we feel so lucky!

East Coast Adventure

Last year when we found out that Steve would be traveling to the east coast for business, a plan was hatched to introduce Angie to our east coast family and friends. We had a fun week and can't begin to thank everyone enough for the great hospitality shown to us. Angie was such a trooper, meeting lots of new people with friendliness and ease.

We began our trip in Providence,RI, then headed to the Jersey shore. We ended our fun in west central NJ, near Trenton and here are some of the highlights:

Touring the Breakers Mansion in Newport & seeing how the "other half" (actually much less than half) lived during the gilded age

Enjoying "Dels" on a hot day- a Rhode Island tradition

Having a fun picnic with Scott & Kristen at a lovely park on the water

Thai food with Roger and Maryanne

The wonderful day with family and thanks to Judy for coordinating it all...what a blessing to see Aunt Helen & Uncle Bill...what a treat to meet Ryder & Will, also great to see Bill, Rachale, & Deanne, grown up and happy

Fun with Rose, Glenn, Christine, and Sofie at Ocean Beach...swimming in the Atlantic, a night on the Boardwalk at Seaside, watching Steve and Angie enjoy their first "waffles and ice cream", so grateful to have this time with my loyal, dear friend, Rose ( I even got a "Jersey Girl" hoodie as well as a Bath & Body works gift basket-thanks, Rose and Christine!)

Relaxing in the beautiful west central Jersey countryside with Ken, Jackie, and Garrett. Steve and Angie spent the day visiting NYC and we met up with them for a nice dinner later in the day. Then it was off to see "Jersey Boys" on Broadway. We loved the show and afterwards, Times Square was a sight to see. I was mesmerized by the nighttime New York skyline as we took the ferry from Manhattan back to NJ.

Lots of memories flooded back to me as we visited our original home. How lucky that we still have these people in our lives...how grateful for their love and care...and as the saying goes "You can take the girl out of Jersey, but not Jersey out of the girl"!!!

What's in a name?

Although everyone knows me as "Kathi" (spelling with the "i" per my parents, not me trying to be different), my legal name is "Kathleen". Growing up, I was "Kathleen" when my Mom was angry (actually, it was "Kathleen Anne") and when the nuns addressed me in class. At St. Matthew's Elementary school you would be called by your full Christian name and then always stand to answer. When I transferred to public school, I quickly learned that there were different rules. After a few half-stand ups and some weird stares from my new school mates, I learned that staying seated was the way to go. I think all of this formality made me adverse to hearing myself called Kathleen and so I've remained Kathi all my life...until recently.

A few years ago I began to think that Kathleen was a pretty name, indeed. And, with each move, I would harbor thoughts of introducing myself that way. But, before I knew it, I would say "Hi, I'm Kathi" and that would be that. When I applied for my current job, I learned there was another "Kathy" in the office and to top it off, her last name started with an "M". I saw my chance to be Kathleen and offered that option in my interview. My co-workers are very nice people and they felt it would be no problem accommodating me as Kathi. We tried various options, one being Kathy 1 and Kathi 2, but soon realized that a two Kathy/Kathi office was going to be too confusing.

I have a little experience with this two name deal as "Bob" has always been "Robert" to his family. His Dad was Bob and he is a junior. Early on, I guess they decided against Bobby, or Rob, or (as in the case of my family...little Pete for my brother) little Bob. When I became a part of Bob's family, I slipped into their culture and always called him Robert around his clan...because to them, he is ROBERT! Sometimes it amazes me that I can so easily go from Bob to Robert...I may be addressing him as Bob as we are talking, but the minute one of his brothers enters the room, I'm back to Robert. Aren't we humans flexible?

Anyway, the staff at my new job has done a great job with the name transition. They met me as Kathi, but within that first week, changed to Kathleen and there have been very few lapses. I must admit it does feel a little strange when I hear myself being called Kathleen, but I also love the sound of it. Deep down inside, I'll always be Kathi, but it's been fun trying something new on for size as well.

Huckleberry Hunting & Tubing Fun

This past weekend we traveled over to the eastern side of the state to visit some old Iowa City friends who live in Spokane. Jim worked with Bob at the VA in IC and we have kept up with Jim and his family through Christmas cards over the past 17 years. It was great to see Jim, Ruth, and Kristen, who was about two years old when we last saw her. She has grown into a wonderful young woman and is interested in pursuing a career in nursing. We also got to meet Gregory, who will be 9 soon. He was a delight and it was fun to see him excited as he delved into reading his first Harry Potter book. It was a nice trip over, about 5 hours from Seattle, and it's pretty amazing how the terrain changes from forested evergreens to high desert. We arrived on Friday, were treated to a nice dinner, and then watched Gregory's soccer team beat the competition (it's actually pretty nice that they don't keep official score).

On Saturday we headed north about 70 miles to Jim and Ruth's cabin near the Colville National Forest. There we were introduced to the Johnson family tradition of hunting for wild huckleberries. We harvested about a gallon and a 1/2 of these slightly tart berries, with nobody in sight of our spot. These "wild" berries are found in the northwest and they are so precious that they go for about $30 a gallon. We preferred to eat our stash and had vanilla ice cream covered with huckleberry dessert sauce on Friday night. Sunday we had huckleberry pancakes with more dessert sauce for syrup. Ruth sent us home with 8 cups of our own and we've been enjoying them all week. It was a delicious learning experience.

On Sunday, Jim got the boat out and the girls (Kathi and Ruth), with the help of Gregory had a blast tubing on the river. This was a new experience for me as the only other tubing I've done was a lazy glide down the Delaware River in a tire tube. This, however, was as fun as any amusement ride I've ever been on. Bob is still in recovery mode from his hernia surgery, so he watched the excitement, riding shotgun to Captain Jim. Ruth and Jim were wonderful hosts and it was great to reconnect with them after all these years. We reminisced about Iowa and learned about their many travel adventures. It was a great summer weekend!

The news is out!

Angie has blogged about it and now I feel I can tell the world that she and Steve are expecting a little boy (per ultrasound) in January. Each new grandchild is such a blessing and now we will be blessed x 3...Hannah, Lizzie, and ?...we can't wait! Thanks Pete, Anne, Steve, and Angie...you've made us such happy grandparents!