I took a picture of the puzzle during daylight hours, so there wasn’t any reflection from the camera light. It came out much clearer.

Last Sunday after church Clara & I headed to Tony’s Ice Cream in Gastonia for an afternoon outing. We did eat a tiny bit of real food – well, a hotdog and some chicken strips – but then the highlight of the day was our ice cream goodies for dessert. I had a banana split for the first time in decades, but Clara went with a peanut butter swirl milkshake. YUM. MY.

We did a little bit of shopping at Bath and Body Works, and then after I dropped Clara off I got home and finished up the jigsaw puzzle I had been working on. Jeff had been sick since he got home from his trip to Indiana, so I managed this one on my own. It was a fun one to work.

The Worship Arts committee at our church is so talented. I absolutely love the display they’ve created for the front of the church for the season of Lent.

This past weekend Lesley was in town, along with Connor, to go to a wedding, and we had lunch here at the house Sunday afternoon so as many people could see her as was possible. Lindee & Clara were sick, as was Meg’s husband Mike, and June had a dance competition so they weren’t here, but we had so much fun with the ones who were here. I got this group picture before everyone started dispersing. Bottom row is Boo, Lesley, Adam, and Meg. Those three in the middle are Ryan, Connor, and Charlie. In back are Leesy, Shea, Andy, Amy, and Jeff behind Jenny and Andrew in the shadow. As always, it was such a blessing to be together.

I worked this jigsaw puzzle while Jeff was in Indiana helping with his mom. I think this was the first time I’ve worked one by myself in like 50 years. Crazy.

Saturday we were at Rock Hill High School to see Adam’s first track meet as a high school freshman, and his first ever as a pole vaulter. It was a huge meet – 11 schools – and Adam ended up coming in 5th overall in the pole vault. We were SO excited and happy. His highest jump in practice had been 8′, and he jumped 8’6″, so he was fired up. Fun way to start the season.

Sunday night Jeff & I were at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte to see Blackberry Smoke in concert – a band that I have loved for a long time, and Jeff has become a fan, too. We were very excited to see that Duane Betts was opening for them, and he and his band were amazing, too. I got this picture of his guitarist, Johnny Stachela, during the concert. He was just so, so good.

Saturday Jeff & I were in Rock Hill for Adam’s basketball games – he had two. First was against the other undefeated team, and they ended up losing by four points. They played a good game, and it was very exciting.

Second game they played against a team they had beat before, and they won big – although not as big as they do sometimes. This coming Saturday will be the playoffs – should be a good day.

When I was on my way to pick Clara up to go to school this crazy car pulled out right in front of me. I don’t think I’d ever seen anything quite like it. And it didn’t make it very far. Probably traveled maybe the distance of a block and then pulled over and sort of broke down. It was an interesting start to the day, though.

Clara was so excited to show off that she’d gotten her boot off when she went to the orthopedist the day before. They are trying her in just a brace now, unless being on her foot all day at school makes it start swelling up again. She is so hoping that won’t be the case.

Jeff & I celebrated Valentine’s Day with an afternoon at Monster Golf in Gastonia. Our first visit, and it was so much fun. Pictures of each other didn’t come out that great, but you can see some of the great decor. Here are a couple of photos.