Events, Comments, and Pictures

Since July 2010

My blog posts are getting farther and farther apart. It isn’t that my life hasn’t been full. Maybe it’s because life is getting too full or I’m getting too slow to keep up. Anyway, I do have some significant life-changing events to report. First and most exciting – I have a new granddaughter. She is Ella and what a charmer. I’m so happy to have a new baby to love and to watch grow. But this doesn’t take away from the tremendous love that continues to grow for my beautiful Megan.


The main reason for this belated post is to share some pictures. There’s too much news relating to all of us to begin to relate here, so I’ll try to find time to post bits and pieces here as time progresses. One major event that I will report is my pending retirement late this year or in January. Maybe after I retire I can find more time for things like blogging and certainly more time to spend with the grandkids and other family.

Here are some pictures.
       







This is a picture of Ella 3 months old with Mimi and Granddaddy.








I decided to include this picture so that you can see the extended family on the Beck side. 4 girls seated: Megan, Laura, Jen, Ella, and Barbara. Guys standing: Matt, Jamie, and me





Looks like she's starting to walk already. At 3 months I don't think so. Her legs are strong though.  The name on her bib "Jamifer" is what Jamie and Jennifer started calling her.  They didn't want to divulge the name "Ella" until after birth.
   










Beautiful Megan after her dance recital last weekend

Catch-up Since January, 2009

I don't check my blog very often. I've mostly been drawn to Facebook to interface with my friends and loved-ones (which includes my friends, so I guess that's redundant). But each time I check my blog it is more and more out-of-date. That's the way time works. So recently I decided that I should either update or remove it from the web. I decided on the former for several reasons. First, it's free and so far doesn't include annoying advertisements. Further, it's ALL ABOUT ME and my family/friends. Now, that may sound a little self-centered, but when I want to catch up on the goings-on of my buds, I don't want to wade through a plethora of posts or get bombarded with requests for game-pieces or view the "wall" postings of friends of friends (ala Facebook). Finally, the pictures that I post here are chronological and of higher definition than Facebook if you click on the pic to bring up a larger view.

Here are a few pictures that I have taken since my 2009 post.

This first picture is one that I made of the play set that Barbara and I helped Matt & Laura assemble for Megan's 4th birthday. This picture was after the first day was almost over. There were millions of individual boards, screws, nuts/bolts and sundry other items. We decided to stay the night and still didn't finish after two full days. Laura put the finishing touches on the set after Barbara and I left.







Here is the finished masterpiece. -->















These next two pictures are of the actual celebration of Megan's 4th birthday at our place. The "guests" are (clockwise from Barbara) Jamie (AKA Uncle Jamie-The funny one), Jackie Jobe (AKA Grandma), Martha Jobe (Megan's GREAT grandmother), Laura (AKA Mommy), 4-year-old Megan, Clint Jobe (AKA Papa), Matt (AKA Daddy), and Aunt Jen.









This picture is when we celebrated MY day at Laura & Matt's place. Not my birthday - Fathers Day 2009. Megan gave me a gift also. Guess what it was?




Below is a cute picture of Megan taken during our September 2009 visit to the outer banks.







For our "big trip" in 2009 we went with our travelling buddies to the Northeast to see the fall colors. We were two weeks together in a minivan. We drove from Durham all the way to the northern tip of Nova Scotia and saw many beautiful sites. The first image is of the six of us atop Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park in Maine. People go up there to watch the sunrise and the other beautiful views. I took a couple dozen pictures of the sun as it was rising and plan to ultimately make a slideshow of the sequence.






















We also visited the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia which boasts the most spectacular tidal changes in the world. Both of the pictures below were taken just outside Alma, Nova Scotia. the first was at low tide and the boats were grounded. The next was after the tide had released them.




















These next two shots are just a few of the hundreds of beautiful scenes of the fall colors along the byways of Vermont and New Hampshire.



















This is just one of the many covered bridges that we saw along the way.


















Here is the group again under what appears to be an international sign. Actually, these are all cities in Maine. We also visited the L.L. Bean store in Freeport and let the girls do some shopping






We also saw lots of beautiful scenery along the Cabot Trail in upper Nova Scotia, the northernmost part of our journey. The first pidture is only one such scene. We also visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, NS. There's a little park outside the museum and we couldn't resist having our picture taken with the Bells









We thought that we'd never see a moose - though they're supposed to be plentiful up there. Then we saw this one and pulled over to take some pictures. By the time we left about a half-dozen other cars stopped also. The moose didn't seem to care.





The next big event in 2009 was of course Christmas. Here's a picture of Megan after her nightly bath, her dad, our Christmas tree, and the cookies and milk (beside my chair) that we left for Santa. They tasted good after Megan went to bed. The next picture is on Megan and Uncle Jamie on Christmas Day.






















Then there was the 2010 Superbowl party at our place - a tradition started about 10 Superbowls ago. Note the beautiful (and delicious) apple-pecan cake made by a friend.



Here's a picture of Meg in her cheerleading outfit. She cheers for her church's Upward Basketball team.





And to finish this post, here's a picture taken of Princess Megan in her tiara. Taken during her 5th Birthday celebration at a restaurant on June 3, 2010.

Our Vacation

We went to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji for 3 weeks in Feb - Mar 2008. I took a bazillian pictures, but will just share a few here. I'll post some albums on my Facebook page when I get the time to arrange them.



This first picture is of a Fijian sunset. Probably not much different from one on a good day from the NC coast, but it was beautiful being in Fiji and we had a great time boating and snorkling.


This is at the beginning of our trek from Fiordland National Park across NZ to Dunedin. Beautiful area called Milford Sound.

A Few Good Family Pictures

The first picture was taken at the Durham Museum of Life and Science at the Butterfly House. I showed a friend the pic and he commented "I didn't know that angels grew wings so early." I totally agree.
This second picture is of Megan on Haloween 2008. A princess of course.
This is just a good picture of Matt & Laura for those who haven't seen them for a while.
This is a picture of some beautiful dolls. Megan is the one in the middle.

The Fire

A lot has happened since I updated my blog in fall ’07. I can’t remember any good excuses from November 5, 2007 until February 16, 2008. But on February 16, 2008 my house burned down. Now, before you get too alarmed or begin feeling sorry for me, let me add that no one was injured and materially I actually am better off now than before the fire. I suspect that there are only a small handful of people that might read this blog that do not know me well enough to be aware of the fire and the year following, but here is a quick synopsis:

• The things most commonly referred to as significant losses – family photos – were saved since I had archived them to CDs which I was able to recover
• We had good insurance which has enabled the purchase of a home that better suits our needs and egos than the one that burned
• The main thing that was lost was time. We have been consumed with the replacement of essentials (like clothes), securing temporary housing, purchasing a home, and all new furniture.

Now, having said all of the above let me reiterate the main thing. We actually are better off now than before the fire. We probably should have moved 10 years ago or earlier, but the hassle kept us from it. The home that we bought in 1976 served us well, but was purchased as a place in the woods with room for a couple of horses. Now that Barbara and I are the only residents (kids and horses long since vacated), living closer to town in a neighborhood suits our needs better.

Enough about the fire, and I won’t mention it further in the blog. I only do it here since it would seem strange not to mention such a significant event in our lives.

We travelled to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji shortly following the fire (oops, there I mentioned it again). This was a trip in the planning for more than a year. We were able to recover our passports. God knew that we needed the trip – and we did. The 6 days between the fire and departure had us physically and emotionally exhausted and the getaway allowed us to rejuvenate and provided time far enough away that we were not dealing with the daily needs relating to the fire. I’ll post some pictures of our travels later in “catch-up” entries.

Megan continues to develop as the blessing that she began 3.5 years ago. More pictures of her, of course, will follow since she probably is the greatest reason for my starting this blog.

Funny how this Internet thing has evolved. I started with a personal web page, migrated to blogging, and opened my Facebook page in October. Each activity has its own benefits, but I’ll probably continue to use this blog for sharing pictures. I am fully aware that not many people are that interested in my personal thoughts, but it’s a catharsis for me to put them down, and it gives me a resource to use when friends ask for pictures of trips/grandchild (hopefully multiples in the future).

More to follow in the days to come.

Our Mountain Weekend

We took a trip to a mountain hideaway the weekend of October 26-28. The cabin belongs to some friends (the couple on the right end of the photo). It was waaaay off the road (several miles) and the weather and scenery were beautiful. So was the fellowship.

We had a great time.

Megan on Haloween

Megan went trick-or-treating as Minni Mouse. We couldn't get her to wear her mouse-ears, but she was cute anyway!

Peaks of Otter Again

Megan and Pumpkins

Fall is here and the air is crisp and clear. I decided to take some pictures of Megan by the pumpkins beside our home. After setting the tripod low and taking the first pictures, Meg wanted to try her hand at photography.

The big picture is the one that I took first. The first of Megan's photos is of Granddaddy acting silly. I was trying to keep her in a jovial mood. I got in front of the camera and told Megan to be the photographer and take MY picture. Much to my surprise - SHE DID IT! The picture on the right is the one that Megan took of Mimi and Grandaddy. The picture on the bottom is one that Meg took of her dad after I called him out to show him her new skills.

Not bad for a 2-year-old!