1-16-17 Back to Atlanta:

The kids were off work today because of the Martin Luther King holiday, so we went out to lunch in downtown Knoxville again.  And to another little brewery.

 food was very good, too.

1-15-17 --- 7 birds park--I mean 7 islands birding park!

Since the kids have moved to Knoxville, they have become hikers.  Even plan on going on an overnight hike in the Smokey's this summer.  So they asked if I'd like to go to 7 Islands birding park about 30 miles away.  Of course I said yes.  We knew Ken wouldn't do it, but he's content to sit at home with the animals.  But first----breakfast was in order.  So we headed to First Watch and had a great breakfast.

My first quinoa blueberry pancake and hopefully not my last.  Yummmm!

1-14-17  shopping!

The kids had errands to run which was mostly shopping, so I joined them.  We left Ken with the "kids"---Clawdine and Jesse.
Miss Clawdine

Mr. Jesse

1-13-17  walking around the neighborhood:

Since it was Friday and the kids had to work, Ken and I were left to our own devices for the day.  Since it was in the 60s, I decided to take a walk down to the nearby lake.

Looking up at their house as I was turning the corner.

 Looking back at their back yard and extra lot.

1-12-17  off to Knoxville:

After some debate, we had decided to leave on Friday the 13th and spend the holiday weekend with Tim and Faith.  I think Ken was just using that rational as an excuse for staying in ST. Louis a little longer then we "needed" to.  But the weather made it necessary to leave on the 12th instead.  They were calling for a huge ice storm to hit on the 13th.

We did hit rain in Illinois---as always!  But it was above freezing and the farther south we went, the warmer it got.

It was quite foggy, too.

1-9-17  back to Alton and the bird refuge nearby:

Not too exotic, but interesting birds none-the-less, Canadian Geese.  There are a lot of them in the Midwest.

Looking over towards some of the migratory birds---Swans and Mallard ducks.

1-6-17  snow and ice:

Time to head back over to Alton for another eye appointment---Ken's 1 week after surgery follow up.  All went well there.  Other then complaining of a "hairlike" line in his peripheral vision which the Dr. said some people experience and should go away in time---he's seeing as good as ever.  Must be nice to have never needed glasses (except for reading glasses for really small print now)!  I've had glasses since 4th grade.

Since we were out by the river, we decided to check it out.

 We're in a deep freeze right now so the ponds are freezing and the little bit of snow we got is sticking around.

1-5-17  Cold and snowy !!!

Didn't know if we were going to be able to make our pre-arranged lunch date with some Illinois friends of ours because of the snow storm, but the roads were well treated and we made it.  Times like these are when I miss South Florida the most!!!

At least the snow was light and it didn't take us long to plow the driveway.  

 Just a few random pictures from the highway as we headed to O'Fallon, Illinois to meet up with our friends.

12-31-16  Last day of 2016!

What a year this has been!  Started it out in Oregon for an extended family Christmas vacation.  Then went back to our apartment in South Florida for the next 5 months.  Loved it so much we even agreed to renew our lease when it came due in June only to have the "kids" move back to Atlanta before then.  So we ditched the plans of renewing our lease and packed up and moved to an apartment in Buford, Georgia (2 bedroom, 2 bath instead of the 1 bedroom/1 bath we had in Florida and still cheaper than Florida).  The day after we moved into our Georgia apartment we drove back to St. Louis for a friend's wedding and Dr. appointments to renew our meds.  My heart Dr. appointment ended up in me having to go back about every 6 weeks or so for the rest of the year because my A-fib had gotten a lot more frequent.  Finally had surgery on Halloween to cook part of the inside of my heart.  Wonder how anyone thought of that as a treatment---and who was the first patient to say, "Sure, burn the inside of my heart!"?  Seems to have helped considerably, though.  Ken and I also made our longest trip to Hawaii so far---4 weeks (2 in Maui, then 2 in Kauai).  This was our 3rd time to Maui (my 5th time) and our 15th time to Kauai.  Instead of getting tired of going there, it just keeps getting better!!!  I also made a quick trip to St. Thomas to join Angie and Josh---too short, but so worth the effort!  In Nov./Dec. Ken and I made it back to South Florida (between our many trips to St. Louis) and enjoyed 4 nights there before going on another Caribbean cruise---this time on HAL's brand new ship the Koningsdam for 10 nights.  That was another fantastic trip.  Then we headed back to St. Louis for Christmas (by way of Knoxville to celebrate Tim's 38th birthday with him).  Angie, Josh and the pups even joined us in St. Louis for Christmas and a couple more Dr. appointments---Ken even having cataract surgery.  I will admit, I had a pretty good time, even though I like to complain about St. Louis.  At least now when we go back, we go out with family and friends several times.  When we lived there full time, we hardly saw anyone!  3 weeks later, we stopped back in Knoxville for 4 nights on our way back to Georgia.  Ken likes to say our apartment in Georgia is an expensive storage unit.  But it's nice that we can afford such a nice storage unit!  It's also been nice getting out and exploring what Georgia has to offer.

As for how we spent this New Year's Eve----Ken and I went to our "go-to" special restaurant---Cunetto's on the Hill.  They make the best bistecca Soto!!!  Not to mention their cheese garlic bread, salad, and pastas!  You know it's gotta be good when there's a waiting line to get in and it's still early!

No more food pictures.  I eagerly ate it as soon as it was served!

All in all, a pretty good year!

12-30-16  Time to get the patch off----

We were off to Illinois, again.  This time to Alton to the eye Dr.'s office there.  Ken got his patch off and ---Presto---he's able to see again.  Wish all surgeries were that easy and effective!

Since the Dr.'s office is only about a block away from Golden Coral, we headed there for lunch.  Love their $7.99 Senior early bird special! 

12-29-16  Surgery day---

It was an early day for us!  Ken had to be at the hospital by  6 am.  So we were on the road dark and early.  Once there he was checked in quickly and taken back for "prepping".  About an hour later they let me come back.  We had another hour wait before it was his turn.  The Dr. does about 12 surgeries there every other Thursday.  He starts with right eyes, then does the left eyes.  So Ken was one of the early ones.  He was taken back about 8:30.  Sounds like an interesting procedure---not that I'm interested in having it anytime soon!  Ken said he was awake the whole time and the Dr. explained what he was doing the whole time.

 After about another hour of being in recovery, he was released---complete with a patch over his eye.

Since we had been there about 6 hours, lunch was in order.  So we stopped at Lee's Chicken on our way home.  Can't get enough fried chicken!

Then came the 3 different eye drops 3 times a day for the next 3-4 weeks.  Of course he's a wimp and can't put them in himself! 

12-27-16---Ken to the hospital for pre-surgery registration----

 Kids final full day here.  They had lots of friends and family to see.  The pups stayed locked up in "their" room a lot of the time, but they did quite well.

 Today Ken and I had to go out to Jerseyville, Illinois, to get Ken pre-registered for his cataract surgery on Friday.  For a change it was him with medical procedures instead of me!  He wanted it done by the end of the year so it would be covered by the wonderful health insurance we're use to through Ameren, thus the trip out to Jerseyville some 50 minutes from home.  But it was a nice ride and the hospital was really quaint.  Everyone was very friendly.  Pre-registration went quickly and we were off to Fosterburg for lunch at Castelli's Moonlight restaurant.

(Speaking of insurance companies, we also just got a notice of denial from the insurance company for my cardiac ablation back in Oct.!  Seems they don't want to pay the $93,000!  They said it was "experimental"!  So another fight with them will ensue!) 

Back to today, we were treated to a rather nice sunset on our way home from Castelli's.

12-26-16 hanging out----

I think Micky's going to miss the our windows that were placed at a height just for him---or so I'm sure he thinks!

 our tree---

Micky resting up for the long ride home in a couple days.

After the busy week we just had, we were feeling about as pooped as the pups.  So Ken and I hung around the house and visited with them while the kids caught up with more friends and relatives.

12-25-16 a very Merry Christmas!!!

Even our Grand dogs Micky and Molly seemed to enjoy their short Christmas vacation to our house. 

 I hadn't planned on putting up a tree, but on Christmas eve, Josh helped me carry the tree up from the basement and helped me assemble it.  I didn't spend long decorating it, but it was nice having it up---finally!  And it stayed up until the day before we left to head back South (mid Jan.).  Angie and Josh even managed to pretty well full up the space under the tree with lots of beautifully wrapped presents.

12-24-16  Christmas Eve in St. Louis---

Christmas Eve has been the LaBeaume Christmas party night for as long as I can remember.  It use to happen at our house.  But in recent years, the LaBeaume's in Washington, Mo. have taken over the festivities.  Can't say I'm sorry about that!  It's a lot of work getting ready for and hosting a large party.   So now we get to just go and enjoy the parties!

This year we were even invited to the Hick's open house brunch on Christmas Eve with their family and close friends.  So glad to be included in that circle.  They really are great people and I'm happy to call them our friends!

 Carol is another one like Angie and Faith who really does it up for the holidays.  Some people sure have a great knack for that!  I, unfortunately, am not one of them!  She is also a great cook and always has a great spread. 

12-23-16  On to St. Louis---

Back to passing the time on our long ride by looking for photo ops.  At least this time we were on a different highway then we usually are.  Since we were leaving from Knoxville, we took I-40 to Nashville where we connected up with I-24 again.
The mountains along this route don't seem to be as high, but they still make for an interesting ride.

 It was another beautiful day to be stuck in a car all day.

12-22-16  Back in Knoxville---Happy 38th birthday Tim!

Since Angie and Josh were heading back to St. Louis for Christmas this year and we had yet more Dr. appointments the next week, we left a few days before Christmas and went to spend Tim's birthday with him and Faith in Knoxville on our way to St. Louis.  It was a short visit, only 2 nights, but we planned to spend a few more nights with them on our way back to Georgia.

We got there on the 21st.  The next day Tim took his birthday off work and we ran around to a few stores with him.  First to a huge very well organized used book store---McKay's.  I'm not an avid reader, but I did thoroughly enjoy looking around this store.  Loved the book Christmas tree they had by the entrance:

Then he was on the hunt for some new work shoes.  Who am I to complain about going to a shoe store!?
When Faith got home from work, we headed off to dinner at a really good steak house, Connors Steak and Seafood Restuarant.  It was so popular, that we had to wait about 40 minutes for a table, but it was worth the wait.