What a perfect morning this is!!! I'm sitting at the table of daughter Heather's out-door patio/room/gazeboo -- what ever she calls it. It is a fantasic place to sit and have coffee and listen to the birds and enjoy this 79 degree day. We are in Menefee California for the week to celebrate the kids graduations, -- Lauren from highschool and Jon from 8th grade.

Getting here, on the other hand, was another whole story. We left home yesterday around noon to drive to Nashville, TN. We had a 5:00 pm flight from Nashville to San Diego so that gave us plenty of time to make a three hour drive to the aorport. We knew that there was the possibility that we might run into rain on the way down so we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there. Well, --- at the Tennessee border it begaan to pour, and pour and pour some more. Traffice came to a crawl because it was that hard to see. So, for the next fifty plus miles, we averaged about 30 mph. Nerve wracking is a good description; but we made it in plenty of time to get checked in through security. Well, the storms thaat we had driven through to get to the airport caught up to us again. Weather delayed our plane coming in and we ended up siting there with a two and a half hour delay. But --- we finally got out and landed in San Diego around 10:00 pm. Then, we finally got the luggage and our rental car, which is a POC, and headed out to Heather's. We finally figured out that we had gone the wrong direction on Hwy 5 and had to turn around and go back for about ten miles to our starting point. But, --- we made it safely and that is all that counts. Poor Heather stayed up until we got here around 12:30 this  morning and then had to get up to go to work this morning.

Today our grandson Jon graduates from the 8th grade. He is a dude if ever there was one. He's got a personality that will charm you out of your socks and he's always got something going on. High school will not know what hit it when he starts in the fall. Lauren will graduate from high school on Thursday evening. She just started her first job yesterday and is working for the people that build and rebuild her dirtbike. Not sure what she will be doing but since she is a professional moto-cross racer it is a great place for her to start for a first job.

Ms. Kate and I have been sitting out here in this patio all morning and are just enjoying the solitude. Somewhere around here somebody has chickens because the roosters were crowing up a storm awhile ago. It was so neat to hear. There are a few birds singing so it sounds like home. Everyone will be home from work soon and then we'll get busy with the visitin' that we came here to do!

I'm feeling blessed today and I hope you aare too. I give God thanks for our safe journey yesterday. There were certainly a million opportunities for something disastrous to happen but we were in God's hand every step of the way.

Take time today and smell the roses in your life. God put them there for you to enjoy.. Have a blessed day.