Ain't It Good To Be Back Home Again!

(That's a line from one of my favorite John Denver songs!)

Hi Everyone --

First, I want to let everyone know that my son, Kellen, is FINALLY returning to the U.S. after being in Afghanistan for over a year!!  YAY!!!!  Thanks to all who have kept him (and us) in their prayers during his deployment.  Hopefully, very soon, all of our young men and women will come home from that wretched place, where they have little regard for human life and value their cattle more than their children.

So, I'm finally back home after being in New England for about 3 weeks.  I started in Vermont, where I visited with my brother and his family.  I also got to tour the Ben and Jerry's ice cream plant -- a very tasty trip!

No, that's not Ben, nor Jerry!  That's me and my almost-7-year-old nephew, Carter!

After leaving Vermont, I spent a RAINY week at my mom's in New Hampshire.  When the weather finally cleared up, we headed to Maine, where her neighbor has a beach house in Wells, near Kennebunk, where the Bush (former president) compound is.

This is the front of the house -- the side that faces the street.

This is the side that faces the Atlantic Ocean.

I was standing on the beach.  At high tide, the water comes up to the front edge of the rocks.  In fact, the ocean has delivered all of those rocks!  It is quite a lovely place, and I am always happy to be near the sea!

More vacation pics and stories soon!