Visit with Family

We had a chance to visit with family back in the States recently, and it was very welcome. Kathi flew to Jacksonville, FL, to visit with Karissa and Dante on 5 April and Chuck joined them on the 7th. On Sunday the 9th we both flew to Phoenix and were joined by Jill who had flown in from San Diego. For the next few days we visited with Chuck's Mom and with Julie and Justin and our grandson (now 5), Tyler.

Karissa and Dante recently moved into a very nice townhouse in a new development in Jacksonville. The 3-bedroom unit is located on a small man-made lake that's part of the development. We had (a Karissa-prepared) dinner at their house on Friday night (very nice, Karissa) and on Saturday morning went to see coach Dante's soccer team in action. The kids are about 6 to 8 years in age and Dante's goal is for them to have a good time and to learn to love soccer. He and the other coaches (and parents) seem to be in accord that winning is distinctly less important -- good for them. (And for Dante's coaching career as the score was quite one-sided against his kids!) After the game we drove over to St. Augustine and spent the day there, visiting all the historic sites and buildings. Then on Sunday morning Kathi and Chuck left for Phoenix.

While in Arizona we were able to see, several times, Julie and Justin's 5-bedroom home in a new development in rapidly-growing Surprise -- a suburb of Phoenix. Their house, complete with pool, is quite nice (bigger than anything Kathi and Chuck have ever owned) and should serve their needs for a good long time. Julie seems to be genuinely enjoying the decorating process.

We visited Tyler's school, where he is learning rapidly and doing well -- he took us through an exercise he has learned about decimal places, distinguishing between units, tens, hundreds and thousands. His teacher, "Miss Jill", was very nice. We had a chance to visit Julie at her law-firm's office in a high rise in downtown -- lovely setting and very nice offices -- and had a chance to see the Mazda dealership where, in one year, Justin has become the senior (and most prolific) salesperson.

Kathi and Chuck, as well as Jill, stayed with Chuck's Mom, who continues to enjoy her independence in her Phoenix home where she's lived since 1978. We accompanied her on one of her weekly bingo outings (Chuck won the first game for $25 and Kathi won the last for $79 -- not quite enough to pay off our mortgage, but fun nonetheless.) On several of the evenings, the four of us played Pinochle, a new pursuit for Jill, who left us all highly impressed with how quickly she learned the game. The series of about 10 games over several days (Mom and Kathi vs. Chuck and Jill) ended up in a draw. Way to go Jill!

Jill, Kathi and Chuck drove to Sedona, Arizona on Jill's last day in Phoenix and enjoyed the beautiful desert and mountain scenery. On Friday, Jill left for San Diego, on Saturday Kathi left for London and on Sunday Chuck flew to a short stop in Washington before going on to London.

Chuck and Kathi were very happy that things worked out so they could see Chuck's Mom, all three girls, their husbands and Tyler.

The pictures show Chuck's Mom in the family room of Julie and Justin's new home, Chuck helping Tyler assemble a dinosaur model in Chuck's Mom's dining room and a typical Sedona view.