Monday, July 27, 2009

Meet Katelyn Breanna (Breanna) Whatley, born Friday, July 24, 2009, weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, with a head FULL of dark hair. BEAUTIFUL!











Pawpaw getting to know Breanna




Mimi Chris and Pawpaw with Breanna


Big Brother Taylor - 4 yrs old.








































































































































































































































































































































































Thursday, July 23, 2009

We have left Ketchikan, had a month off for "retirement" and are now back on assignment in Norwood, North Carolina. We flew out of Ketchikan, had a long lay-over in New York (unplanned) and arrived in Raleigh where Rod, our close friend, picked us up and took us home. We had a few days home, then went on a trip to Kiawah Island in South Carolina, played tennis, and relaxed, then went to visit our grandchildren (and children) for a couple of days. After returning home we had about 2 weeks to get ready for the next leg of our adventure.

The clinic Howard is working in is located in Norwood, but we are staying in a guest house that the Stanly Hospital in Albemarle, owns. It is very nice and very comfortable. The drive from the house to the clinic is 12 miles through beautiful countryside. Albemarle seems to be a little bigger than Rockingham, and I have been impressed with how clean it appears to be. People seem to take pride in their surroundings.

I have been able to connect up with my "adventure buddies", Audrey and Barbara, and we have had a chance to catch up on things.

One sad note -- on Wednesday morning we found out that a former partner of Howard's, Dr. Stan Vetter, passed away during the night on Tuesday. He had been in Rockingham for probably 50 years as a family practice physician. I'm sure the whole town will miss him.

Well, as soon as I can take more pictures of our new place I will post them. I have signed up at the local community college to take a digital camera class. Hopefully I will soon be a pro at taking pictures!
OH, I must add here that Howard and I will soon be grandparents again -- no, not Heather. (boo-hoo). Tracy, Howard's oldest daughter, will be delivering Breanna on Friday and we will be flying down on Saturday to see her. We won't be able to stay long, so we will be flying back on Sunday. Breanna's big brother is anxious for her to arrive and has been a big help in taking care of momma. Maybe I can get pictures of them too!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures I've posted on the blog. Love you all.
Pat and Randy Deering and myself standing in front of a totem pole at Saxman Village. Pat and Randy are dear friends from long, long ago, when I was a mere teenager. He was my youth director at the time. They were on a cruise and the boat stopped in Ketchikan and got to "ketch" up on our news.
H.J. holding our sign welcoming Heather and Andrew, after a very long, and tiring, plane ride.

Andrew, Heather and I went exploring and found this frozen lake. It was beautiful.
Heather taking pictures of the lake ....

Andrew testing the frozen lake.


Howard, Heather, Andrew and me about to board a float plane for a tour around the island. It was a lot of fun. We saw lots of sea lions gathered on a big rock (from the plane they looked like magots).



We got to go to a Lumber Jack show and had a lot of fun. Here they are having a competition chopping wood. One side was the "U.S." and one side was "Canada." The show was fun, funny, and they had a lot of talent.









This is a picture of a primitive doctor's office in Ketchikan "back in the day", from a local museum.


Heather and Andrew standing in front of a beautiful lake we "hiked" to.

Local plant called "skunk squash"; when bears come out of hybernation they love to eat this -- it "cleans out" their system. (Like a giant laxative!). They love it.


This is Heather standing below the root system of a giant tree that has fallen over. It was HUGE!



Pull my finger! Whew! Howard having a little fun with one of the totem poles in the Saxman Totem Pole Park.


Another totem pole.


this is a stream I saw on the 7 HOUR HIKE I took with Heather and Andrew. Yes, a SEVEN HOUR HIKE!!!!! I almost died. It was beautiful but WAY TOO LONG...... Heather and Andrew did fine. I tried to get them to save themselves and leave me behind, but they wouldn't leave me.



Here Howard is enjoying his part-time retirement. He's playing ping pong with a good friend of ours.