ISAAC. GOATS. THE OCEAN.

I loved watching the man I love hold our latest grandson.  Isaac.

A precious new bundle of joy.  Straight from Heaven.  Eventually, he shared
him with me...Nanny.
As with all our grandchildren, it was love at first sight.  Isaac was just a little young yet to know he was being held by yet another set of grandparents, but
I have no doubt he felt the love.

Seeing Sally and Steve again was long overdue.  It didn't matter that Sally was not biologically my daughter. I loved her from the first time we met in Tulsa.
She had come to Tulsa to meet me and to give
her stamp of approval. Which she did.
I knew this was important to her.
She and her Dad shared a close bond.


Now I felt a part of it.
Just not in this picture.

(smile).

The next couple of days were spent in their
home.  Catching up on our lives. Playing with Isaac.
                                                               
  Swigging  coffee.                            Laughing! 

Eating out with his brother, Ray, and wife, Joan.

Later, it was quite the experience for this city girl to take a ride
around the place in a golf cart with Ray. And SMELLING it from every point of the tour!

My secret is out!  I'm not a farm girl!  Odell was loving it.  My guy was definitely right at home on
a farm!   And as you can tell, this goat thought my guy was pretty cool!


Whoa!  Are they actually sharing a kiss here?  Do I have some serious competition?





Back to Sally's.  In our cozy bedroom upstairs. We were planning our own little mini getaway.
When I was ten years old, I lived in Florida for over a year. I was completely enthralled with 
the ocean!  And I hadn't been back to the ocean since that time....over forty years.  I had
always had such a longing to go back. It didn't have to be to Florida.  California would do
just fine.  Perfectly, in fact.

The next morning, Odell and I left for Pismo Beach.  It was such a beautiful drive through
the mountains...about 100 miles from Bakersfield. A place Sally had told us about. She said
we'd love the scenery.

Love it?  It was gorgeous!

ARRIVED & CHECKED IN

                                                                                                                          

MY BEAUTIFUL OCEAN....AND MY HANDSOME GUY

Who could ask for anything more?

Wow!  Getting to the water looks pretty
scary!  For me, at least. Oh, well...

I could hardly wait, but first things first.

My hubby and I were hungry!
And there was shopping to do!
And not necessarily in that order!

My ocean would still be waiting for me.
That evening. Later, I will explain a little
of why the countless steps looked like
such a huge challenge for me...
                                                                                      
                                                   

Adorable tourist town of Pismo Beach.

                             

So many cute little shops!  And cafes. In town.
On the beach front. Almost every nook and cranny. I had a feeling my hubby would opt for some food before following me around from shop to shop...

Looking for gifts for our grandchildren.
Loving his participation. His suggestions.
It was really fun. Would it last? Maybe not.
I would enjoy it for today at least...
shopping with my handsome guy...

I smiled when I saw him eyeing a Fish and Chips place.
Imagine finding fish in this cute place just off the beach.
Seriously?  They have fish around here?

Mmmmm.....it actually tasted sooo much
better in this little ocean front town.  Imagine that!

A few hours and four tired legs later,
we decided we'd had
about all the fun we could stand for one day.

A hot shower and a soft bed sounded
pretty good.  Leaning my head on his
shoulder, I sighed contentedly.  'Hey, honey,
I'm thinking I'll put my feet in the ocean
tomorrow...' He glanced at me for a second
and smiled, 'Uh huh...that's what I thought.' 

Hey, the ocean would still be there in the morning.
I snuggled closer to my guy.  I figured we had other pretty exciting ideas
demanding our attention this evening. (smile).  I wasn't wrong!

And the pursuit of a long awaited dream.

I could hardly wait to get down to the water...just to walk around in it for a minute.
To squish the sand between my toes. To look up into God's big beautiful sky. To
sigh. To smile. To tell Him 'Thank you for your amazing world! Thank you
for the most amazing guy in this world who loves me almost as much as I love him!'

( a funny ongoing argument for over eleven
amazing years together. It went like this: 'I love you, honey.'  And the response, 'I love you more').

Soon we would leave our little paradise and return to Bakersfield. We would spend
more time with Sally, Steve, and ...drum roll here...little Isaac...our latest blessing!

Upon our return, Sally shared the plans with us.  She wanted to take us somewhere for
a couple of nights.  Odell had been to this destination before we met. Not his girl! It would be my pleasure to allow him to show me all the sights and the bright lights!  


 LAS VEGAS, here we come!

You see?  There's always so much more to our story...

                               

Happy. In Love.

Okay.
Confession.
It isn't
my guy and me.

And yet it is...