Wonder Years with Chris and Wendy

  Grandchildren Visits and Trips  June brought us a visit from Jax, our 12 year old grandson, son of Ben. He spent most of his week at Dinnerbell Farm Camp, a wonderful experience for him that included gardening, carpentry, lots of animals and walks in the creek.  Of course, we had loads of fun with Jax when he wasn't at camp as well. Especially at our local pool.  In July, we had a special week with 15 year old grandson, Wesley, on a trip to Boston and Maine. We got to visit some historic sites and celebrate our 250 years as a nation with fireworks, whale watching and lots of ice-cream! Also in July, we hosted our goddaughter for a week of Vacation Bible School. Livvy's mother and sister (our other goddaughter) also visited for part of the week. A week of crafts, pool, Bible School and lots of love! We finished off July with a trip to the beach with Wendy's sister, Michelle and her two children and their families. while there we got to celebrate a special birthday w...

 Since May, we have been busy, on the road and hosting guests. It has been a great season of reconnecting with friends and getting to know our grandchildren better. Here are a few of our guests/friends we have had the privilege of spending time with.  John and Deb Shanks were our first and best friends when we moved to Mebane in 1980. They had two boys and welcomed our daughter, Lily, like family. We visited them in May with the intention of doing tandem jumps near Salisbury, NC. the weather decided not to cooperate, but we had a good time reminiscing and getting to see their oldest son, Josh, who is now a grandparent himself! Bobbi is a Peace Corps friend who now lives less than an hour from us here in NC. We get to hike with her and enjoy some time with her and her fiancé whenever we are both home at the same time (rarely!). Bobbi and her former husband George were influential in getting us to NC in the first place and we treasure the memories of our first years as a married...

 Dr. Claire E. Shaw  December 18, 1949-June 29, 2026 Claire was married to Wendy's dear sister Michelle and was a part of our family for the last 15 years.  Claire was a beloved dentist in New Hope, PA for many years and built a thriving practice based on excellent service, humor and love for her patients. She collected friends like other people collect knick-knacks and it was not possible to walk down the streets of New Hope without meeting someone who just had to stop and talk to Claire. She will be missed by so many.  Upon hearing that Chris' favorite movie was "The Princess Bride" Claire gave him a hard time for choosing such a girly movie as his favorite. Obviously, she had never seen the movie. But, we all had a good laugh. Upon her death, I reflected on this anecdote and realized that while Claire never did see "The Princess Bride" she epitomized the story. She was Wesley to her beautiful wife, Michelle, her princess. Anything that Michelle wanted, Cl...

Last weekend, I attended a local festival as a volunteer, but I also got to wander around and spend a little money. When I got to the festival, I realized I had only $30 in my wallet and had forgotten to bring any credit cards, so would have to spend wisely. I put the money in my pocket so it would be easily accessible and went about my day.   I bought a few food items for a total of $15 and still had $15 to blow but didn’t see anything else I needed or wanted and was relieved that I was able to get by with so little money. After enjoying a great concert from a local group called Chatham Rabbits (if you haven’t seen them, check out their  website ), we ended our day and packed up, heading home.  When I got home, I realized that the extra $15 had fallen out of my pocket. My first thought was, I hope someone who really could use that money found it. There have been many years when an extra $15 would have made a huge difference in my budget. Chris and I lived much of our chi...

 We were busy in February with several small trips for Wendy and lots of work at home, church and the HOA for Chris. March seems to have flown by, and here we are on the first day of April, 2026 with a rundown on some of our activities for the end of winter.  We were happy to see our grandson, Jackson for the first time in several years as he made the trip with his Dad out to NC in January and again in March.                                    Wendy and Lily got a chance to get away at the beginning of February. We were in NY City on the coldest day in several decades. But, we managed to to have a great time. We saw the musical of The Outsiders, one of Lily's favorite books from high school. We also spent a great evening with cousins, John and Britt, and John's partner, Alex. Good food and wonderful company.  .   Continuing on in NY, Wendy spent a week with her Mom in Wyomi...