Melvern Lake & Smithville Lake

(Still having problems with getting the pictures on here in order - so here they are up front)

Here are the Kansas flowers:

Here are the guys - Don, Dave & Jack:

Here are the girls - Becky, Cathy & Linda (and Brandy):

Our friends - Don and Linda:

Our friends - Bill and Donna:

Here is Melvern Lake at sunrise.

On Tuesday, September 15, Jack and I packed up the trailer and drove out to Melvern, Kansas, Lake. This was the first time we had been out to this lake. It is about 90 miles West of Kansas City. It is a beautiful lake - very well build and landscaped. It is a Corp of Engineer lake so it is very well maintained and beautiful.

Two couples that we met while in Florida last winter - Dave and Becky (from Illinois) and Don and Linda (from Alabama) were coming to Melvern also. Dave and Becky had some friends that were workkampers there and they had recommended the lake to them. So Dave sent out e-mails to everybody to see if we would want to have a reunion there for a few days.

Also, we have another couple who camp there a lot so I contacted them (Bill and Donna from Olathe) to see if they would like to go out at the same time.

As it turned out, we all were there for a few days. We had a really nice visit with everybody. The first night we were there, Dave and Becky had everybody over for chili and bar-a-que meat sandwiches. They were camped on the lake side so enjoyed the scene.

The second day we visited with Bill and Donna. We played games and caught up on our families. We met Bill and Donna in Arizona a couple years ago through mutual friends, Bruce and DeAnn.

The third day, Jack and I had everybody over for happy hour and snacks and then we went to Don and Linda's for chicken stew (Southern style)!! It was really good. Then we all played Yard Golf. We had a wonderful time and fellowship with all these great people.

Then on Friday, September 18, we packed up the trailer and headed back towards Kansas City. We had prior plans to camp out at Smithville Lake (just North of KC) over the weekend.

On Saturday, our granddaughter Emma, came out to spend the weekend with us. Also, on Saturday night our friends, Dora and Marlin, came out and we cooked out and build a camp fire. The weather was just great - sunny and no wind. Enjoyed the evening with them.

Emma went home on Sunday afternoon and Jack and I remained at Smithville until Monday afternoon. We could not have ask for any better fall weather than we had on these outings. Fall is great time to go camping!!

Stressful Three Weeks - Jack

We have had a stressful three weeks. When I last posted, we were waiting on the results of Jack's MRI on his left ear area. Well, we received the results on September 3, from his Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He said that the MRI showed a leison on his brain. He said since this was out of his expertise he was referring us back to Jack's internalist for further testing.

On September 9, Jack had a CAT scan and bone scan done. We got the results back on this on September 11, and everything looked good. But his primary doctor still wanted us to go to a neuro-surgeon to let him reviews all the tests and determine that things were all right.

So we had to wait until today, September 22, to get into this doctor. So today we finally got a complete "A- O.K" from the neuro-surgeon. Boy were we excited. He said everything looked fine but there was a small abnormality but was nothing to worry about. He says these things show up different ways in the films but not to worry about it. We really liked the doctor - had a wonderful bedside manner. He said to go out and enjoy life every day and that is just what we are going to do!!

Thanks to everyone that had Jack in their prayers and thoughts over the last few weeks.

Fall Weather in KC

What great fall weather we are having in KC!! September came in this a.m. with 50 degrees on our porch. This is my favorite time of the year - cool mornings and warm afternoons. August in our area has been quite cool and wet this year which is really a big change from our typical August.

We haven't done any exceptional type activities here lately. We have had the little ones a couple of times and have enjoyed them.

We went to the KC Royals baseball game a week ago. This was a really nice treat as they have just renovated the stadium this last year. It is beautiful!! It has an updated scoreboard with running scoreboards all around the stadium. The lights are so brilliant. They have added a number of restaurants, bars, and other eateries all along the back field. It didn't seem like a stadium more like a large entertainment complex. Very nice!! Of course, it hasn't helped our poor Royals to win any more games. And now our Chiefs are not starting off any better......

We have been to two concerts at Crown Center (which is a large entertainment/hotel complex in the downtown area of KC). These concerts are free to the public - you just bring your lawn chairs and find you a place to sit. We have been going to these concerts for about 15 years or more. It is a nice place to go a relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Update on Jack's hearing problems. The doctor decided about a week ago he wanted him to get an MRI on his ear area. He is still not satisfied with the other two tests. So Jack had the MRI last Friday but we have not received the results on it yet. You know it seems like it takes forever to hear back on tests these days. Hopefully we will get something by tomorrow or Thursday.

Enjoy this nice fall weather!!