Where have we been lately?

 

I have not done any travel blogs for a while, even though we have been getting around some.  Dealing with our son-in-law, Stephen’s cancer fight and passing and then helping Tara and the boys cope with the new reality has been all-consuming.  We thank God that we are retired and able to help her through all of this.  In keeping with the travel blog theme, I would like to share a few highlights of the last year and a half.

Stephen, bald but still strong in spring of 2012

 

Our son Troy put on a Beer Fest in Madison, and I helped.  What fun!  We also attended a couple of Troy's tattoo conventions.  

  I may be spoiling Enigma's image, but he can be really a nice guy.

 

 We stayed at their house with the boys while Stephen and Tara went to Germany six times for 10-14 days each time for cancer treatment.  We have also had the boys at our place in Palm Valley in Oviedo a lot since we bought our little house there. 

 

Basil loved the butterfly encounter at Lukas nursery.  Levi was not so sure.

When my sister Carol visited, we went biking in Mt. Dora, a charming little town near Orlando.

 

 

Stephen was very determined to beat the cancer.  He inspired so many people with his courage and faith.  He decided to run a marathon before the year was up of learning about his stage IV stomach cancer.  Seventeen marathoners from Orlando registered to run that race at Kiawa Island with him in early December 2012.  Stephen finished his race in heaven on October 8^th.    His friends decided to run as a memorial tribute in matching shirts with the words "I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith" around his picture.  They said they could feel Stephen running with them as he had so many times before.  Here is Tara finishing the race.

 

 

 

 

We went along and spent the weekend on Kiawah Island,  It was cold, but the boys played in the ocean anyway.

We had made reservations to camp between Christmas and New Year’s, 2011, with Tara, Stephen and the boys at Fort Desoto Park on an island in Tampa Bay.  That is when Stephen had heart problems that led to removal of the pericardium around his heart and the discovery of the cancer.  We had to cancel the trip, but a year later we did it two months after his death as a memory tribute to him.  His brother Jim and their family came for one day.

 

Sunset on the Gulf takes your breath away.

 

The boys love camping, so we took just them to Kelly Park once last year and once this year.  It is a wonderful county park north of Orlando with a lovely spring, swimming hole and hiking trails.  We learned hiking skills:  checking the trail map often, watching for blazes and trail markers to stay on the right trail, carrying your own snack and drink. 

 

 

Levi loves the water.

 

 We cooked over the fire most meals. 

 

They boys colored camping pillowcases at a ranger led activity.

Troy and his girlfriend Meghan came to Tampa for a tattoo show, so we met them for the Sarasota Aquarium and dinner.

 

 

We discovered an egret rookery in Winter Park.  There had to be 100 egrets in the area, building nests in the live oaks, then squawking and bringing food to the babies.

 

 

We had a lot of guests over the winter, but I seem to have neglected to take very many pictures. 

Fred, Elaine, Me, Don

 

Elaine and I at the Morse Museum in Winter Park with a Tiffany window  

 

Don and his sister Darlene in Lake Eola Park, downtown Orlando

 

We have done a of couple trips that deserve their own stories.  Stay tuned. 

It has been a very difficult year and a half, but we have all managed with God’s love and the support of family and friends.  We have grown very close to Tara and our grandsons which has been a blessing.  We have learned that things and possessions and pursuit of pleasure don’t rank high at all.  Trust in the Lord and love shared with family and friends are what really matter.