Happy Birthday Sweetie!

(Photo of Dave above was made in 1990's)
While cleaning out the basement storage, I found a banner that I think I made in honor of Dave's 30th birthday! Each letter was cut from a "significant" magazine page.
The H is his love of cars, A is tennis, the P's are both fried chicken, and the Y his love of blue shirts. Well, he still loves cars and fried chicken (I just don't let him eat it too often)
The B is obvious, the I is because he had traded in a lemon, the R is a magazine article about the Space Shuttle which he was working on and the T is a girl who looked like me. Well, he still likes me and beer.
The H is skiing, the D and A are for float trips, the Y for Volvos---the car he used to drive. Well, we still like pretty sunsets and water.
The D is for golf, the A for antiques/history, the V is skiing and trips, the E. . . I can't explain unless it was a subliminal message that he needs to do more of that. Well, we do still like antiques and travelling.
OK, Dave, you may have that many candles, but you look so much better and I still love you.

Dave's trip to Japan

In the 1980's and 1990's, Dave did quite a bit of travelling (the above calendar says he travelled 66 days in 1983). The "downside" was missing the girls' Suzuki violin concerts (3 daughters--2 years of violin concerts--he missed ALL of them---hmmm). The upside was he got to go to many interesting places, brought us back souvenirs, and racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles which allowed us to visit interesting places too.

He even had special business cards printed up. He sent us beautiful post cards and one letter.

I also received a beautiful Satsuma vase and a saki set.

The girls received little kimonos, adorable dolls and these little trinkets below (note the penny to the right to show how tiny these little figures are:

Happy Grovermas!

If my brother can have Jimukka, then my husband can have Grovermas (actually I was thinking Candlemas not Christmas when I coined it)! As part of his celebration (and because he doesn't have his own blog), I'm going to give a few highlights of his career at "Mac".
Above is his resume from 2001---call it the "Cliff Notes" for Dave's career at "Mac" and Boeing.
When I first met him, he was working on the Space Shuttle, but before that he worked on Gemini. By 1974, he was working on the Skylab. In 1975, we moved to Pittsburgh where Dave worked at Westinghouse. But, we were back in St. Louis in 1978 for Dave to work on the Fusion Energy project where he got his patent.

Another Eagle---Scout

I went to the Eagle Honor Court of a former student who overcame many challenges to achieve this honor. Several years ago when he was my student, he told me he was going to be an Eagle and would invite me to the ceremony. I promised him I'd be there. At one point in the ceremony, his 6th grade geography teacher asked that all of Kris's teachers---past and present---stand up. I made a quick count of 16 teachers were there. That speaks volumes about Kris.
We were all so proud of his achievement that we were wiping tears from our eyes. People used the same words to describe Kris---enthusiastic, trust-worthy, kind, honest, hard-working. We couldn't agree more.
Kris with his mom (above) and grandma (below)
Finally the full-regalia.
And cake! Kris, I wish you all the best---remember "Fly like an Eagle. . ."

Other Fun Winter Sites in Alton and Grafton

Our first stop was at the National Great River Museum at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam---an interesting museum about the rivers, locks and water. They also had telescopes for eagle watching.
We got to see a barge go through the locks. They also had a simultion to "drive a barge"---I confess to crashing into the side of the Martin Luther King Bridge.
Later we went down the Great River Road where we spotted the Piasa bird (it is an ancient Indian bird which has been painted and re-painted over the years)
While on our way to Pere Marquette State Park, memories began to come back. Our MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) group used to go to that park at least once a year. I think we just picnicked, played ball, hiked. I thought the Lodge was further up the hill and that it was larger. I do recall the chiggers I got rolling down this hill.
The exterior looked very nice. I checked a plaque and as I suspected, this was built in the late 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Inside was very warm and cozy, like I recalled, but the chess pieces weren't as nicely carved or as large as I had remembered.
We had lunch in the Lodge---Dave had fried chicken and I had catfish. Both were delicious.
While there, we tried to remember the last time we had been to Pere Marquette. . . .

It was 38 years ago when we got engaged! Dave proposed to me on the ski lift (no snow---we just were riding it up for the scenery). But the road is closed and the ski lift is probably gone, so we couldn't re-visit the scene.
We're thinking of staying at the Lodge for our 40th anniversary. Only 2 more years to go.