Christmas 2023

 We had Christmas dinner with my older daughter, her boyfriend, his two daughters, and his mother.

Suzanne's birthday.

My older daughter, Suzanne, will be turning 25 years old soon.

Because her birthday is going to be on a Wednesday this year, and I have more free time on Sunday's, I decided to cook one of her favorite meals, pork, eggs, green onions, and rice, the Sunday before her birthday.

I also bought a chocolate cake.

 

Hitch mount bike rack.

There's room for a total of four bikes, although we will only have three at most.

It tilts out of the way to access the back of the car.

I also have an adapter to allow for the cargo carrier to be used at the same time.

Hitch mount bike rack.

There's room for a total of four bikes, although we will only have three at most.

It tilts out of the way to access the back of the car.

I also have an adapter to allow for the cargo carrier to be used at the same time.

Thanksgiving 2019

Wikipedia describes Thanksgiving as: 'Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and Brazil, and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.'

This year, my father drove two hours from near our state capitol, where he lives, to share Thanksgiving with my older daughter, her boyfriend, and myself. The rest of the family went to Missouri to have Thanksgiving with other family that could not make the long trip here this year.

We had a very nice visit with my father, as well as some wonderful food.

broccoli rice cheese casserole 

deviled eggs 

green beans casserole 

ham 

mashed potatoes and gravy 

pumpkin pie 

rolls 

sweet potato pie

I'm a grandfather.

On Thursday, November 21st, my older daughter went into labor. It was late at night, about 11:30 pm when I was woken, and I drove her to the hospital. At 12:04 am, on Friday November 22nd, she gave birth to my grandson, Bowden Everett, weighing only 3 pounds and 13 ounces.

Because he was so small, and our local hospital is not trained or equipped for such small babies, he was transferred by ambulance 90 miles away to a hospital in Little Rock, our state capitol.

He is receiving the best of care, and we pray he will thrive and be able to come home by December 5th, which was his due date.

UPDATE 

Nearly 4 years old. 

Easter 2019

These are my two daughters. Suzanne will be 22 at the end of September, and Destiny will be 10 at the end of August.

I always enjoy spending time with my daughters. For Easter this year, our church had a fellowship and egg hunt at Beech Springs on the Friday evening before Easter.  

And on Saturday before Easter,  my mother prepared a wonderful meal for everyone. Then in the afternoon on the same Saturday, I took Destiny to another egg hunt at White Oak Lake State Park. 

We attended church Easter Sunday morning, and again in the evening to listen to a Christian concert.

From before to after Thanksgiving 2018.

Every year, right around Thanksgiving, the leaves of a tree in the middle of our front yard turn golden and fall to the ground.

I bought 200 Christmas lights and put them in my new car. 

Destiny had a friend stay one night, and I took them to see a Christmas light display. We met my older daughter, Suzanne there.

I decorated the front of my new car for Christmas.

Destiny loves to play in the leaves.

The day after Destiny had her friend stay over one night, Destiny went to two different birthday parties for her friends.

The second party was at night and outside. They had a fire to first tell stories around. And then after going on a hayride, the kids had S'mores.

I took Thanksgiving week off from teaching. We had family all Thanksgiving week.

Arkansas State Fair / New car

This last weekend, Suzanne, her boyfriend, Destiny, and I, drove to our state capital, Little Rock, to go to the Arkansas State Fair. The fair is held each year. They have rides, food, games, exhibitions, vendors, contest, music, and live performances. When we went, it was raining, so there weren't very many people there, and the rides weren't operating. We still walked around looking at all the animals, some of the exhibits, the vendors, and tried some of the food.

Before we went to the fair, I bought a new car.

It is a 2017 Ford C-Max energi Titanium. It is a plug-in hybrid. It can operate as a hybrid, using gas and electric together, getting up to 42 miles to a gallon. Or, it can operate as an electric only, with a range of about 20 miles. The total range of the car is around 570 miles on a full tank of gas, and full electrical charge.
I bought the car because my older daughter, Suzanne, needs a second car for her and her boyfriend to get to work. The car she has is old, a 1997, and needs a lot of maintenance. So, I am selling her my old car, a 2003 PT Cruiser, in very good condition and a brand new set of tires that cost $400. It is worth $2,000, and I am selling it to them for only $800.
I only drive twice a day, 0.3 miles, during the week to my other daughter's school, and back. Then I drive twice a week to our church, and once a week to the grocery store, each only a few miles distance from where I live. So, I mostly only use my car in electric mode. I will use the gas motor, in hybrid mode, if I have to go out of town, like we will do next weekend, to go to Magic Springs Theme Park in Hot Springs, for something special before Halloween.

Here is a little preview of what I will be wearing for Halloween.

Birthday lesson.

This past weekend, I went to Little Rock with my older daughter to see and have lunch with my father on his birthday.

The restaurant we were going to go to didn't serve for lunch what my daughter wanted to eat, so we chose a different restaurant and told my father to meet us there instead.

We arrived at the restaurant and he wasn't there, so we waited. I tried calling him, but he wasn't answering, because he had left his cell phone at home. 

After waiting for 45 minutes, we guessed that he went to the same restaurant, but at a different location, since this was a restaurant chain with at least four or five locations in the city, so we went ahead and ate without him.

My daughter's birthday is the day after my father's birthday, and she wanted to go to a shopping mall. We left the restaurant, and drove to towards the mall.

Before we arrived at the mall, the stopped working in the middle of an intersection. We had to push the car into a parking lot. I took a look under the hood, and discovered the belt that works everything had come off, because some bolts had broke.

Now at this point, different people would handle the situation in different ways. Some might panic, and not know what to do. Some would call for a tow or a mechanic. Some could try to fix it themselves if they knew how. I knew how, but I felt the easiest would be to call a mechanic. I later learned that this was the wrong decision.

The mechanic came about an hour later, and said he could repair it. Four hours later, he told me that he had to order the correct size bolts, and that they would not be in until the morning. He said he would be back then to repair the car.

Now, for this next part, I know there are many people that would tell me that what I did next was a big mistake, and I agree. My daughter had also brought her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's brother with us, so I called my mother to drive two hours from our home to come get all of them.

In the meantime, my father had returned to his house and called me. He agreed to come get me, and let me stay overnight with him, since he lived not too far away, so I could get the car the next day when it was fixed, and drive it home.

I wanted to meet the mechanic the next day after he was finished with the car, and I would pay him then. Since I was going to stay overnight with my father, I decided to go to church with him the next morning. What happened next is the part where most people will disagree with what I did next.

The mechanic said he could fix the car in the morning while I was at church with my father, and if I paid him in full now, he would leave the keys with me, and I could pick the car up at anytime. He seemed like an honest guy, so I agreed.

The next day, after church, we went to check on the car. It was still sitting there just as I had left it. I contacted the mechanic, who told me the bolts he ordered at the parts store had not come in yet, and that it would be later.

We waited three more hours, and then I took matters into my own hands. I went to the parts store, and found some bolts that would work. I bought an inexpensive tool set, along with the parts I needed, including a new belt for the car. I borrowed a special tool I knew I would need to install the belt. And then I went back to the car and fixed it myself in only about an hours time.

If I had done this yesterday, it would have only cost me $45, and would have been fixed in an hour, instead of staying overnight.

That's not the main lesson learned. The main lesson isn't about the money. It's not about the time. It's not about what who was right or wrong. The main lesson came from what I didn't do after the car broke, and before I even made a decision on what to do.

When I went to church with my father that morning after the car broke, I learned that God wants us to talk with Him. He wants us to not only pray, but to simply communicate with Him. God still wants us to bring our problems to Him, but He also wants us to ask for advice. And then, after asking for advice, we should listed to what He has to tell us. If we regularly talk with God, and read the Bible, God will communicate back with us through the Holy Spirit.

The main lesson to learn here, is that I should have stopped after the car broke, and talked with God to ask him what I should do. He might have told me to fix it myself. Or, he might have told me to call the mechanic anyway, since that course of action led to me being able to stay overnight with my father and spend some time with him, including going to church together.

As a believer in God and that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins, we not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with God, but we have an obligation to do so on a regular basis. God is with us always, whether we choose to acknowledge Him or not. And He cares for us with great love. He is the perfect father, teacher, lord, and master.

Sharing old photos.

First, let me introduce my older daughter, Suzanne. She likes animals, including snakes, coloring her hair, piercings, tattoos, and Harry Potter.

This is Suzanne's snake, Banana.

This is our guinea pig, Moe.

And now, this is my younger daughter, Destiny. She is twelve years younger than her sister. She likes 'Frozen', animals, watching cartoons, and playing.

This is her school, Victory Christian School, which is only a ten minute walk from home.

This photo was taken just after Destiny was baptized.

This was in Little Rock just before Chinese Spring Festival 2018.

It was very cold to go see the lanterns and performers.

This is an old car we saw in a parking lot going into Walmart.

We were at Mid America Museum in Hot Springs.

Just before baptism.

Halloween 2015 at the nearby White Oak Lake State Park.

This is a little water park our town put in for the kids to have fun during the summer.

This is from Destiny's eighth birthday part.

This is at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

They have a real submarine, the U.S.S. Razorback, which you can go in. You can see a video tour here.

It was the longest serving submarine in the world, serving for 26 years in the United States Navy, starting in 1944, followed by another 31 years in the Turkish Navy.

This was our 2017 Christmas tree.

My little girl's bed.

I chop about ten different vegetables to make a large salad. The salad is seasoned, and I will have a little salad dressing on it for my lunch, and sometimes dinner each day. I keep the salad refrigerated, and it will usually last all week.

Easter 2018

On Saturday, Suzanne, her boyfriend, and I went to Little Rock to the movies. I went to see ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’.

This is the second movie I have seen starring Jim Caviezel. He plays Luke in this movie. In the first movie I saw him in, ‘The Passion of Christ’, directed by Mel Gibson, he played Jesus. It was a very powerful role. I later saw an interview with Jim Caviezel that explained how he was able to perform so well in the first movie.

The bottom picture shows my two daughters and myself at our church, Grace Baptist, on Easter Sunday.

For those that are interested, if you go to the link for the church, you can find links to videos of our pastor’s sermons, and his blog.

We also have a wonderful singing group named ‘Ten Steps Back’ that sings at our church. This is a link to watch one of their concerts.

Happy Easter.

Just playing.

Some times we have a small drip under the main valve for our heat and DJ likes to play in the swimming pool.

Girls and their fashion.

Now that's sitting pretty.

Guess who.

Thanksgiving and Deb's birthday dinner.

DJ and May and Deb.

One of our friends from the thursday social meeting we attend was kind enough to come with us to a restaurant to help us order and celebrate Deb's birthday and Thanksgiving.

 May also got Deb a scarf for her birthday.

George and Connie and Roxanne.

 

Chloe and Adam and May and Suzanne.

Carl, May, Deb, Suzanne, DJ, Chloe, Adam, Connie, George, Roxanne, Debbie, Archie.

Mid November update.

I have been busy the last month transfering our movie collection from DVD to an external hard drive for easier storage and use. It will be easier to carry a hard drive than a suitcase full of DVD's. Since we are adding to our collection all the time, I have also purchased a program to catalog our collection. I have also started looking for the next job. My contract here ends on the 19th of February next year. We know we would like to find a place were Deb and I both can work or at least a place that would permit her to tutor on the side. We also would like to move to some where that doesn't have such hard winters. We had our second snow the other day and more is expected tomorrow. We went to a birthday dinner for David, who turned 19, but forgot to take the camera. Everyone was there, including all the TA's and teachers. Everyone except Mei. Mei was in Beijing on business, but after she returned, she had a new teacher welcome dinner for all the Ivy staff. Again, I forgot to take my camera. Debbie's boys came over to our house while the teachers had their dinner. Last week, Suzanne home bleached most of the black out of her hair and then went to get it dyed blue. She came home with purple instead. DJ has been busy as usual playing until she drops and takes a nap. We are having a Thanksgiving / birthday dinner for Deb next week with a few friends. I won't forget the camera this time.

Two sisters at rest and play.

Have a drink, have some rice, go to the bathroom, enjoy the view and meet the newest teachers.

DJ likes to have some of our drink now every since she learned to drink from a straw.

She has found that she really likes cola.

If she can catch the straw.

Suzanne was having lunch and doing school work while Deb and I were gone to a lunch meeting at Sharon's. DJ was keeping her company sleeping at her feet.

"I can't find it, can you Spot?"

Actually, DJ had spilled her rice by accident on the floor and Spot was cleaning it up when DJ decided to help her big brother by getting down on the floor and licking it up like he was showing her.

DJ calls her pacifiers 'bofoes' and still needs them from time to time. She was having an especially bad day here, needing three.

All at once.

"Stop taking a picture and get me a magazine."

If you looked at some of the previous post, you would see how this was an old building that they tore down six months ago. They have been building a senior living center. The buildings in the foreground are two levels with storage on the bottom and apartments on top. The tall, long, brown and white building with the red roof is five floors. They are almost ready to have people move in.

These are the newest teachers to Ivy, Chloe and Adam. They had been teaching in Cambodia for nearly the last two years where his father is a missionary. He's from Florida and she's from Essex in England. They just arrived on Sunday and started on Monday. We took them around today to get money changed, phones and groceries.

Friends on National Day.

Meet Winnie the DJ.

Roxanne, Archie, Suzanne and David.

David, Debbie and Carl.

 

Yesterday was China's National Day. The government offices are closed for three days and most people take off for the whole 'golden week', although most of the stores are open. We had Roxanne, Debbie, David and Archie over for the afternoon and evening. We had spaghetti, garlic bread and salad for lunch. After visiting and playing games we watched a couple of movies and brought back 'char'( meat on a stick) for dinner.

Early birthday dinner for Suzanne.

We had an early birthday dinner for Suzanne this evening at a very popular restaurant. Her birthday is September 30th.We invited a Chinese couple that live in the same housing community we do. His name is Jason and her name is Bella. She doesn't speak any English, but Jason isn't too bad. I was glad he could makeit, but the waitress was even more happy to see him because it would have been very interesting to try and order even with a picture menu.

This is a new family from England. They are from Essex county, just south of Suffold county where I lived for a while and graduated from high school. They just arrived a week ago. Her name is Debbie and works at Ivy with me. She shares a birthday with China's National Day, October 1. In the middle is her oldest son David who is 18, and on the left is her youngest son Archie who is 11.

Suzanne got this pillow from Jason and Bella.

She got a hair straightener and a few other things from her mom and 500RMB from me and $20 from her grandma back in the states.

The nice restaurants in China have seperate rooms for patrons. The smallest rooms are for eight people and you have to order a certain amount of food. Tonights dinner was 572RMB and there was plenty of left-overs to take home. We had pork ribs, fried shrimp, pepperd steak, asparagus, broccoli, fried rice, fried sweet tofu, spicy pork pies and brown sugar pies.

DJ and Suzanne.

DJ and Spot taking a nap on the couch.

DJ trying to escape.

DJ loves her big sister.

DJ's new winter hat.

Some old friends stopped by to say hello and give Suzanne some early birthday presents.

Suzanne loves her little sister.