Grace to You: 2013

November 30, 2013 - Part 2

Our new granddaughter, Decker.

Isn't she beautiful??! :)

November 30, 2013 - Part 1

My two favorite little guys, together - Jed and Super Dyce! :)

Leaving Maine has been hard, but this little guy is one of the reasons we came home to North Carolina. I got to spend the week of Thanksgiving with my older son Brad and his wife Jenn in Charlotte to help with this young man and his new little sister. I'm worn out but it's all good! :)

Here he is modeling the moose hat we bought him in Quebec this summer. Quite the high fashion for Charlotte - he's probably the only kid in the city with a hat like that. :D

November 25, 2013

Tracy was delighted to find a fellow chess player at his workplace in Maine and they played every day at lunch. His co-workers gave him this beautiful chess set as a going-away gift. He was pretty happy to find there's a chess club in Wilmington, and he and Jed have been honing their skills.

November 19, 2013

There's a large window between the two dormer windows on the front of the house in Wilmington, which is part of the stairway and allows a beautiful view of the night sky, which is especially nice when there's a full moon. Only these pictures weren't taken at night - they were taken mid-morning! It was pretty unbelievable to see the moon that clearly in the middle of the day.

Capturing that bird flying around it was pretty cool too. :)

November 7, 2013

We discovered a white heron had landed on the dock this morning. Jed went out to make friends but the heron wasn't interested. :) We were kind of fascinated with the different poses he struck while keeping an eye on Jed's approach, though. :)

October 30, 2013

So this is our new home - North Carolina. Wilmington, to be exact. On the coast, so that's nice. If you like the beach, we'll be expecting to see you next summer. :)

This marsh is a big reason why we chose the house we did...not because we're big fans of marshes, but because it gives us some privacy, which is sorely lacking in Wilmington.

This creek is another reason...it leads to Masonboro Sound, which leads to the ocean. During low tide we can paddle under the bridge near our house to the sound and then the ocean, if we're feeling lucky. I hurt my elbow during the move, so I won't be paddling till spring probably, but I'm anxious to get out there.

It certainly is a different landscape that Maine, but pretty in its own way.

Looking back at our new place.

October 28, 2013

Driving through New York City on our way from Maine to North Carolina.

October 25, 2013

Jed went to his last speech therapy appointment this morning. Lynda, the lady on his right, has been working with him this year, and Palmer, the lady on his left, worked with him years ago when we first moved to Maine. She was our neighbor at that time, and our first introduction to the life of a real Mainer.

After speech therapy we drove to Union to say good-bye to our friends there. The gentleman on the right and the lady seated next to him were two of our neighbors in Union, and the other two ladies were from our church there. We met at the only diner in town, aptly named Come Spring, considering none of these folks are big fans of Maine winters. :)

After lunch we met with Jed's friends and their moms at Beth's Farm Market in Warren, where Jed and his friend Grace have gone every October for the last few years to enjoy a hayride to a corn maze and hay pyramid. Joining us this time were the Richardsons, the DeWicks and the Richards.

This was a really hard week, saying good-bye to all these lovely folks. I was fighting back tears constantly. I really love Maine and the people who call it home. You can't imagine how much I'm going to miss you all.

October 24, 2013 - Part 2

Our last visit of this day was an extra-special treat...seeing our dear, dear friends the Smiths and Chicks for one last writing class, celebrating Jed's birthday, and saying good-bye with a bona fide New England boiled dinner. Doesn't this picture look just like the embodiment of New England? :)

And how about raspberry pie for dessert?!

Mrs. Smith's youngest, Matthias, is the cutest little guy.

The boys seemed to enjoy our special lunch as much as the ladies did. The boiled dinner was so scrumptious!

The boys enjoyed their dessert on the deck; judging from Elijah's face, Mrs. Smith made a wise call on that one. :)

This was round 2 of the birthday celebration and Jed was plenty excited about that. :)

Our last writing class with this group of young men.

Did I say young men?! :D

October 24, 2013 - Part 1

Next on our list of folks to visit was the girl who cuts our hair. Jed was only 3 when we started going to her, so she's seen him grow up quite a bit. It's always a treat to see her in her shop in the quaint Winthrop downtown.

October 23, 2013 - Part 3

This is one picture I never would have expected to take before moving to Maine. That's our dentist peeking out behind Jed, our hygienist to his left, and their front desk person extraordinaire behind her. We were so glad to be able to squeeze in one last visit before moving...it's such a relief to me that I have 6 months to try to find a dentist in our new town, but I don't expect to ever find one that even comes close to Dr. Seywerd and the amazing ladies who work with her. They make us actually look forward to going to the dentist! How many people can say that?!