Hello, Kasandra!

This is a special blog post for Kasandra. I would like to introduce her to all my family and friends. She is a girl from Bradford who has been my friend for a couple of years now. She is mentored by Mrs. Chris Palsgrove every week at school, and I am their prayer partner. Kasandra keeps a journal in which we write messages to each other every week about things that interest us. Since I am away from home this week, we are staying in touch via my blog, which Mrs. Palsgrove will print out for her.

Dear Kasandra,
How are things in Bradford this week? I am in Woodbridge, Virginia, which is about 26 miles south of Washington D.C. My son Andrew had to travel to California on business, so I am helping my daughter-in-law Amie take care of my grandchildren while Andrew is gone. I'll tell you more about that in a little bit, but first I'd like to show you some pictures I took when I flew out here on February 13.
This first picture was taken out the window of my airplane. These are the tops of the clouds. Down below the clouds the weather was gray and dreary, but up above the clouds it is always sunny. I try to remember that on cold winter days when I am feeling a little blue.

My first picture showed what it was like to fly above the clouds. The next one shows what it looks like when you are flying in the clouds. All you can see is white cotton fluff everywhere you look.

I had to change planes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As we were landing there, I took this picture of a large ship on the Delaware River. I saw many large ocean-going naval ships and cargo ships docked along the river.

I flew from Philadelphia to Baltimore, Maryland, because it is cheaper to fly into Baltimore than into Washington D.C. From the airport I took a shuttle bus to the Amtrak train station, where I bought a ticket to Union Station in D.C. The train trip there took around 45 minutes. After arriving I went underground to the subway, which is called the "Metro" in Washington. Here is a picture of a train platform:

I went as far south as I could on the subway, which got me within about 15 miles of my son's home. He and my grandson, Grant, picked me up at the station.

I soon found out it was a good thing I came out to help, because all the kids had some sort of tummy virus. Each day last week someone had to stay home with me because he wasn't feeling well enough to go to daycare. This is Grant, who is 4 years old, looking out the window into the woods to see if he could see any squirrels or deer or birds.

When Jordan, who is two, was home sick, we took our picture together. She is really a funny little girl. She is two.

My daughter-in-law's tummy hadn't felt too well all week, either. So on Friday she decided to take a day off. She is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and she works at the Pentagon. That is our nation's military headquarters in Washington. It is very stressful work, so she enjoyed her day off. It was warm, and the kids were feeling better, so we went outside to rake leaves.

The next picture is of the littlest grandchild here. Her name is Keara, and she was born on July 2, 2010. She is Oma's (that's me) sweetie pie.

Last night it sleeted and snowed here. Right now the sun is shining and the streets have melted off. I sure will be glad when spring comes!

I will be coming home Thursday evening. I will be glad to see my husband Dennis after 11 days of wishing he could be here to play with the grandchildren, too. I think I will even be glad to see the dog, Sydney.

I hope you have a good week. Stay warm!

Your friend,

Teresa