It has been awhile since I just sat down and wrote about what is going on with us.  Lately, I have had a lot of scheduled posts and on some level I feel like I don’t connect when I don’t just sit down and ramble a bit occasionally.

This will be a controlled ramble.  I’m determined to make it so!

The last few weeks have consisted in contact with grandchildren that we aren’t normally with.  That has been fun, but the travel is always tiring.  For me, travel seems to include being tired and being sore!

Only recently have I discovered that less gluten in my diet seems to relieve the soreness.  When I’m at home, I try to keep it down.  But travel seems to up the amount of gluten.  sandwiches always seem to be more plentiful than salads.

We spent a little over a week in Seattle, WA for Christmas.  In Huntsville, we celebrated Christmas early with our family there and flew to Washington.  We learned later that while we were gone, all the family there got sick…fever, cough, etc.

We came home for a week and they were still recovering so didn’t want us to get sick before leaving for St. Louis, MO a week later.  We didn’t get to see them until the evening before leaving.

Now we are in St. Louis helping our oldest daughter and family move into student housing at the seminary where they plan to be for a couple of years.  Her husband took a course last week.  They moved into their apartment on Saturday and are now trying to settle in.

Opening boxes has been a bit like Christmas for them because one set have been in storage in Austin for about 2 years while they were in Ukraine.  The other set were sent by boat from Ukraine in October and put in storage here.

It’s a bit like opening the boxes with wedding gifts in them and nice appliances left behind in the US and the really loved things the kids remember from Ukraine that make it feel like home.

Now, finding places for all those things is presenting another situation to deal with!

Getting to know the children who have been far away

Each day Anabella (20 months) is deciding to be a bit more friendly.  She even decided to give me a kiss good-bye tonight.  Wow!  She is sort of shy.  It’s more like she wants to be with her mom.  Probably about the time we are ready to leave, she’ll be nice and warmed up to us.

Stevie (4) is adjusting to his new home after being “homeless” for a couple of months.  He is loving the playground outside the window…and the children playing there!  He has school three days a week as well. So getting into his new schedule and finding a new routine will help him a lot.

It is fun getting to spend more time in our role as grandparents.  We haven’t been able to enjoy that role much until this last year.  This year we are getting quite a few opportunities to enjoy it…by living in the same town with one family and an easy 8 hrs. from another, we only have to fly to visit one of our daughters.

Who knew this would all work out this way?

It is a happy blessing.