Gina's Big Surprise

Last week went by very fast. I have been planning a big surprise for Gina for the past week. However, before I go there. Nicole is now 13 weeks pregnant and doing great. She said that those babies are hungry like 24 hours a day. She said that she never fills full. I guess that is normal for twins.

   

Those babies are growing. 

Last Friday Parker, Ashley, Jolee and Gina were flying into New Orleans. They had rented a car but I had a big surprise for Gina. Parker and Ashley helped me pull it off. Since some of you don’t know I’ll give you a little background information on Gina and I. Back in 2008 when we decided to start traveling we sold all our cars. We always had a car that we could borrow whenever we came home to Louisiana for a few days. When I went back to work last year I needed transportation and bought a Toyota truck and it filled our need. It was great to have around the house. Then we bought Mike & Janna’s jeep to tow behind the trailer. For the most part we have enjoyed having a truck and the jeep. However, Gina has wanted a car. She just missed the luxury of her Lincoln she used to have. Even though she has not asked for a car I just decided it was time.

The search was on. It should be easy right I’m in Houston and there are a lot of dealerships. The problem was I didn’t know what type of vehicle she wanted. Did she want a car, SUV or one of those crossover vehicles? As you all know we have two grandchildren and two more on the way. Of course they all live from the east coast to the west coast. I decided that we needed a car and that on those rare times when they may all be in Louisiana we can rent a mini van so they can all fit. Well, that was the first decision. Now what car would she want and that I'm willing to buy? I had narrowed it down to either a Mercedes or BMW. I cannot tell you why but those are the two that I liked the most. I finally found the car after six weeks of looking and hundreds of miles driving all over Houston. Gina is the proud owner of a new to her Mercedes S430. For you baseball fans, Art Howe purchased this car new and his wife said it was time for a new car. He took excellent care of it.  For you non baseball fans.  He was the manager of the Oakland "A" and was depicted in the movie "Moneyball" The car looks brand new inside and out. I picked up the car last Monday and had it ready for Gina’s arrival on Friday.

Now the surprise part, Gina had no idea that I bought a car and for sure not a Mercedes. I asked Parker and Ashley to tell their mom that they decided to hire a Limo to take them to our house instead of renting a car. Gina thought I was at our house grilling burgers so they would have something to eat. Needless to say I was at the airport parked at the curb. I was texting back and forth with Parker so I knew where they were. Once they had their suitcases and were walking toward the back of the car I opened the trunk and as Gina walked past I got out of the car and walked to the rear. The opened trunk blocked her from seeing me. Gina tells Parker there is no driver in the car and then walks to the rear and sees me. I said surprise!!! Ashley captured the moment.

Look at that face!!!

Now look at that SMILE!!

Gina loves her car That was just the first highlight of the weekend. Jolee was here for the weekend. Okay, my daughter and SIL were too. I hadn’t seen Jolee since she was four days old. She is now over two months old. I had a great time with her.

Ashley, Me, Gina, Parker and Jolee at the airport

 

Jolee has big blue eyes

I'm playing with Jolee and she is just a smiling

She is a wonderful baby. She is sleeping through the night without waking up and always seems so happy. She smiles all the time.

I left Sunday afternoon and drove back to Houston and while I was driving Thomas called me and told me that he and Ashley just bought a new car too. They purchased a new Nissan Altima.

   

 Look how cute they look with their new car

Ashley, Abigail & Thomas

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! I hope everyone enjoys the day doing whatever you enjoy.  We have the freedom to do whatever we want to.  Not just today but everyday.   

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

It's Great to be Blogging Again

Gina and I enjoyed all the comments. It had seemed like forever since we had heard from everyone.  We are back for sure we only hope that we don't bore everyone with our grand children.  We thank everyone for all the kind words. Now let me tell everyone that we sure are loving our two grand daughters and we are looking forward to Nicole and Shane giving us two more grand children.

  

Nicole today as she is officially 12 weeks pregnant 

She has just about finished the baby room (times 2). She has the two beds and a changing table that are white. She also has the two dressers that are dark almost black.

   

The two beds with changing table

  

 Here is the bedding in one of the beds 

Parker, Ashley, Jolee and Gina are flying into New Orleans on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend in Louisiana. Gina has been in New Jersey since June 12th and I’m ready to see her along with Jolee. I haven’t seen her since she was five days old. Jolee went for her two-month checkup today and the doctor said she is doing Great!!

 

Plus she's looking pretty too

 

Abigail is out for a stroll

 

Ashley and Abigail having fun on a slide

 

Thomas and Abigail taking an afternoon nap

We are glad to hear that Mike the other half of Janna is recovering well from his surgery in Montana.  He should be heading back home on Wednesday.  He has the best nurse taking care of him so I know it will only be a matter of a few days and he'll be tacking some new projects.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

We Decided to Continue Our Blog

Gina and I have decided to continue our blog. I’m not sure what it will become since I do the writing but I do miss capturing the events in our lives in a blog format. I know that our lives are not near as exciting as when we were traveling around the United States. However, it was our way of communicating with our family and friends. I’m not promising that it will be a daily thing and it might be boring sometimes but it will capture the highlights in our family.

So how do I get back started after almost a year of not writing? For this first entry I will just try to capture the highlights and move on from there.

I left off with Abigail, our first grandchild coming home from the hospital. We have seen her often even though she lives in California with Thomas and Ashley, her mom and dad. Here are a few pictures of her.

Me and Gina with Abigail

Thomas with Abigail at Christmas

 

Thomas, Ashley & Abigail

Abigail

They sure grow quick

The next big event in our lives was spending three weeks in Europe for our 30th wedding anniversary. It was exciting to show Gina some of the places that I had been too while she was back at home raising our children. We had a wonderful time and will treasure the memories forever. When I arranged this trip I made sure that on the actual day of our anniversary we would be in Venice, Italy. We took a two-hour gondola ride to top off our day. It was a wonderful anniversary spent with the woman I love.

Me and Gina in front of Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Gina holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Me and Gina in the Gondola with Maximo

The next big event was the arrival of Jolee Adair Jenkins, our second grandchild. She was born and lives in New Jersey with Parker and Ashley, our Son in law and daughter. Here are a few pictures of her.

Parker, Ashley and Jolee ready to leave the hospital

Look at that smile

Jolee ready for her first doctor's visit

Jolee is a very happy baby for sure

For the finale and last event thus far is when Nicole and Shane, our oldest daughter and Son in law announced that she was pregnant with twins. She is due in December. We flew up to Colorado so her daddy could spoil his first-born child just a little bit more by taking her shopping for maternity clothes. I only got to spend the weekend with them. However, Gina stayed for the week so she could paint the baby’s room and help Nicole do a little decorating.

Myself, Gina, Nicole and Shane at Colorado National Monument

Nicole and Shane

(They are so happy to be expecting twins)

We do still travel a lot. However, it’s by airplane since Thomas, Ashley and Abigail live in southern California. Nicole and Shane live in Grand Junction, Colorado and Ashley, Parker and Jolee live in Hackensack, New Jersey.

Gina and I took a cruise with Dana and Rickey (my sister and BIL)

Mike and Pat (aka Mom & Pops) came to visit us in November

Mike and Janna came and spent New Year's Eve with us

There were a lot of other events that occurred but there is no way that I could put all of it in one entry. However, this we do know, God has and continues to bless us beyond our wildest imagination and our blog title still applies, “All Because Two People Fell in Love”


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.