Lifes Ups and Ups

My grandkids are a constant reminder to me that there are reasons to be in this world and to continue the good fight.



In May we nearly lost Rainy - yes again. She's had another surgery and another birthday (her 9th) and we celebrate and praise God for her.














Fox is doing well and going strong. He's an amazing kid. I love to talk to him on the phone and hear him tell me about his day. He's so smart.







Max is a darling who just celebrated his 5th birthday. He love zebras so of course we had to send him some for his big day.





As I said, they always remind me that no matter how bleak things might be - God is still in control. This last month there have been some huge ups and downs - problems that I can't begin to tell you about. It seemed with each of the good things a dozen bad things followed. I felt a little overwhelmed at times, but God remained faithful, and just when I needed it most - He gave me a glimpse of heaven in the eyes of my grandkids.



I'm truly blessed and no matter whether life dishes out the good, the bad or the ugly, I know God will be there and that I don't need to be overwhelmed.

Home Again

It's so good to be home again and back to the routine. Before I close out my book tour related blogs, however, I wanted to share just a few interesting moments.



I know I mentioned how the storms seemed to follow me. There were tornadoes in states that rarely ever have tornadoes. There was also flooding and the threat of flooding.



Our trip started out with the flood waters of North Dakota and Minnesota.





We managed travel throughout the problem areas, however, and we met all those wonderful folks I told you about in the previous posts.



Tornadic storms were evident in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and even poor Wyoming.



My husband captured some amazing shots and here are a few I thought I'd share.













On our final night in Pierre, South Dakota we were rather nervous. Here's the reason why. Everywhere we went - including our hotel - we found evidence of the flooding Missouri. Here's our sandbagged hotel.







and the flooded Missouri River














Now we're safely back to Montana where the weather has been rainy and our own little Gallatin River is threatening to flood due to snow melt and rain. Ah well, such is life.


God Bless You!

Wrapping Up

So we're on our final week of the booktour and we've had a great time.



I've met some of the neatest folks. Here are a few photos from our days on the road.

This is Erika and she was so sweet. She came rushing in at the close of the signing having just gotten off work.





















And this is our Montana neighbor's sister Wanda and niece Amanda. They live in Pennsylvania. It truly is a small world.



















This is an incredible young woman name Emmalyne. I had the best time talking to her about writing. I also got to meet her friends Andrea and Kayla, but didn't get a photo.























And these are some dear new friends at the Lincolnway Villa Living Assistance Home in Iowa. These are some super great folks and I had so much fun getting to spend time with them.









We have a dear friend in Belgrade, MT named Charity Kaufman and this gal's name is also Charity Kauffmann. She is the daughter of the folks who run the Friendship Bookstore in Burnham, PA.





So soon we will be headed home and I can hardly wait. It's been a great time of seeing folks and talking about my writing ministry. The only strange part has been the way the tornadoes have followed me across the country and back. While in Cedar Rapids, IA we even had to take cover. Well, hopefully the tornadoes won't follow me back to Montana.



God Bless

Week 3 and Graduation

So we've had a nice time in Boston. This is a wonderful town in which to do research. I'm trying to learn all I can as I search for story ideas. The history here is so rich and the old buildings quite enticing.




We have toured the Museum of Fine Arts and enjoyed not only the great old pieces, but some new ones as well. Here are some of the Chihuly glass art exhibits. This is amazing work.















We enjoyed Renoir















and Van Gogh







Also enjoyed some great old furniture on exhibit, as well as old musical instruments.







Jen graduated with honors from Harvard on Thursday the 26th. It was so neat to see her reach her goal. She is bound for the master's program at Boston University come fall.







We had hoped to start the booktour this week,but we're having car trouble and have had to cancel a couple of stops. I really hate doing that, but I'm stranded in Woburn, MA and awaiting a car part from GM. Please pray for us to have the car fixed quickly and be back on the road soon. God Bless You