One of the fun things about visiting my brother and sister in law Steve and Denise in Kansas is being able to check out Denises quilting. SHe’s the most advanced quilter I know.. she’s got a 8 foot wide computer controlled quilting machine, a computer controlled pattern cutter and a computer controlled embroidering machine.. just like grandma used to use..

Seriously, Denise’s work is amazing and their house is a museum !. she has stacks and stacks of the most beautiful sewing i’ve ever seen…

Denise is going to make one for us.. .. we got to pick out the design and buy the fabric.. cant wait to see it !
nite all, nite sam

-me

It was tiem to leave Santa Fe.. We’ve had a great time with Max . Becky and Violet,.
We took one of their cars to the Santa Fe airport and got there by 5:50 AM. It’s the tiniest airport I know.. After 2 short flights we were in Kansas. Diane’s brother Steve and my sister-in-law Denise met us at the brand new MCI airport  and whisked us back to Leavenworth where they live. We haven’t been here since our nephew Michael’s wedding in 2019 (?) .. Visiting here is always fun for many reasons.. One is the animals !

It was also very good seeing the humans. Part of our mission here in addition to catching up is to get some help from Steve on planning our trip to italy in September. Steve has written 11 (I think) well edited books on the geneaology of his and DIanes family. There are 2 whole books of data on the parts of italy we’re visiting.. It’s so great to ge his help

It’s also very cool to check in on Denises quilting.> She’s the most sophisticated quilter I know.. More on that in a day or so.

Nite all, nite sam

-me

Our very good friends the Lachmans are in Santa Fe at the same time as we are again. This time its a sad reason. Steve’s dad Marvin is in hospice care and the family is our visiting him and his wife Carol who live out where Max and Becky used to live. Last time we saw everyone it was last summer when they were out for Marvin’s 90th birthday. He’s an incredible guy  and known around the world as a book critic of mystery novels. Marvin and Carols house is like an incredible library . You can see pictures of it here when we visited back in 2020 .
Steve isn’t here, but his wife Kate, their son Matthew his wife Caroline and their 2 year old daughter Anna are here. We spent a good part of the day with them.. First we met Kate, Matthew, Caroline and Anna at the very fun Santa Fe Childrens museum It’s a big bright place with lots of great hands on fun. It was especially fun for me to look at it as a make of interactive exhibits.   It was also fun to try and see it through 2yo Anna’s eyes !

Later in the afternoon we all met up again at Harrys roadhouse. A really fun place we go to often thats down near where Kate and family are staying. Max actually helped pain the tables here when he and Becky first moved out here.   Its a fun and family friendly place .

It was great to get Max and Becky together with Matt and Caroline. Max and Matt have been friends since they were 8 weeks old !

Even though it was a bittersweet reason or happening.. It was a great visit..

Nite all, nite sam

-me

Pretty quiet day. Diane and I didn’t have a car so we took a long walk downtown which was really nice. We checked out our favorite places, the , Seret  and Sons, the  toy store and found  a couple of new places.. like  this very cool light shop 

 

Later that evening we opened a gift that diane had bought for  violet (and for Nova) .. a kit from King Arthur flower for making your own high quality dog biscuits.Diane baked a batch and  I tried an apple one .. they were pretty good.. you just had to think “biscuit” not cookie. 

That night Max, Becky, Diane and I went to Marias.. our favorite Southwestern place for great food.. and the best soppapillas.. It was so nice !

Back at the house Max showed us his mushroom set up.. He is currently growing Blue Oysters.. It’s aa very cool process !

Nite all, nite sam

-me