NAUVOO Revisited........Church History trip..

Carl's cousin, Garnet and his wife Debbie have never been to Nauvoo, so we decided to get in the car and go! We left Monday morning about 8:30 and got to Quincy, Il that night around midnight. Had a very good nights rest and took off for Carthage for the first stop of sight seeing.

Coming out of the jail

Statue of  Joseph and Hyrum

Carthage Jail entry walk way

Very humbling experience to be in the same room where our dear Prophet was shot. I am so grateful that the Church has preserved so many of the historical sites for us and future generations to see and experience.
Next stop was Nauvoo itself, beautiful scenery all along the way and to think it once was a mosquito infested swamp like area.

Visitor center gardens

Nauvoo temple

A view of the Mississippi river

We had a great time and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. I just love "Green" with splashes of color!

dinner plate size hibiscus

All of us on the way there when we stopped at Lambert's to eat. The home of the "Throwed roll"

Annual trip to Flaming Gorge

Flaming gorge was just as beautiful as it always is. This year, we were a little handicapped since Carl had just had surgery two weeks prior to the trip, but he "mustered" through and we certainly enjoyed being with family. We stayed at the same little place we have since 2007. Prior to that we had stayed in a couple of different campsites. Twisted Timber Outpost is fantastic. Really rustic log cabins hewn from timber the owner himself cut and constructed. Really nice accommodations and and even better people!

We only did one trip down the river in the rafts, since the water was a little slow and it started raining. The "gang" was anxious to get to the caves to explore. We had boating, sking, wakeboard, tubing, knee boards, etc in the water. .Some just hanging out at the beach.....

                                                           Hiking was done by some

and extreme ATV ride by Pappaw and me!!!! I felt like I was riding a bucking bronco going over those BOULDERS!!!!

We did take it slow, but I can't say that it was easy. (Easy for the atv, but not on an old body, LOL) Thoroughly enjoyed our trip.

Next stop was Colorado to see Tyler, Ann and little Addie Grae whoi could not make it this year due to work and illness. I cannot believe how much she is growing. She had to show us her little acrobatics and her artwork! Sigh.....she is so adorable. Looks so much like Tyler and Ann both...great combination. We had to get our sandwich kisses in while we could, then we had to head back to Texas.

More beautiful memories made...............................................................

Trees of East Texas

This year was not as colorful as in years past, but then maybe I was expecting too much for it to be our first year BACK to actually experience the spring.

The dogwoods and azaleas were beautiful, but they just didn't seem as plentiful. Dogwoods do not stay in bloom very long. Only about 10-4 days and voila, they are done!

The "grancy" greybeard is still going strong and I am coming to appreciate them much more.

They are abundant in the forest this year. NOW, my quest is to look for the blue seeds that some of them display later in the year.??????????

But still one of my favorites is the wisteria. I love the way that they wind their way up into neighboring trees and make pines look as if they are drooping in grapes, but overall, I still like just the look of them all by themselves.

I have driven countless miles looking for the "perfect" dogwood, but it has evaded me this year. Oh well, maybe next year....................sigh..................

But, as far as majestic...all I have to do is look in my front yard, but alas, my computer is acting up right now and I can't load the picture, but I will later. Sigh...................again............................

                                Exceeds the height of the tall pines across the road, really nice tree.

Out of business!....Longhorn business, that is....

Carl decided back in January that he would sell the bulls from our little herd of longhorns, so I put an ad on the internet and they were gone! So all we had left was the 2 momma cows and 2 heifers. Then at the end of the month, a man stopped by and asked if we would be interested in selling the rest of the longhorns, so we said, why not? He took the 2 mommas, but left the little mix breed heifer. Over the last few weeks, Carl has built up his herd of 1 little heifer to a total of 8, then Saturday he bought 3 more larger and older cows. One is in the last stage of carrying of calf inside and the other two have just weaned their calves (but they did not sell with their momma) So, we had a few lonely momma cows searching for their calves and doing a lot of bellowing. After we brought them home from the auction, Carl put them out in the large pasture that had held the longhorns and we left for a wedding. From the wedding we went straight to a friends house for a meal and some games. I did not take my phone inside, so when I got in the car to go home that night, I realized that I had 4 missed calls from a local number, but it was unfamiliar to me. the last call came in at 10:20PM and the first one was at 8PM. since I did not know who it was from, I did not want to call them that late at night...................MISTAKE!!!!!
Came on home went to bed, heard the cows still bellowing. Woke up a few times during the night and still heard them bellowing. got up Sunday morning, started getting ready for church, looked outside and it looked like the cows were on the WRONG side of the fence, in our backyard neighbor's yard. Well, needless to say, changed clothes really fast and headed outside to see what was going on. The NEW cows from the large pasture was walking the outside fence of our other pasture where our other cattle were. When we went to try and out them back in, they weren't sure if they wanted to go. they are very mild and gentle cows, but they are big and when they want to go in a certain direction, they go! This was all new territory to them, so the neighbors come out and assisted us. One said they were at her house all night long (next to the forest) and they kept trying to go back behind her house. We finally got the 2 largest ones back in and started looking for the 3rd one. It seemed like I was hearing her from in the woods. We kept calling and calling, but she never appeared. We got in our vehicles and golf carts and started driving all around looking. Didn't ever see her, starting knocking on doors to let people know that we were missing one.
I made some small fliers up and took them to the local convenience store and gave them to some of the neighbors down the road from us. Later that afternoon, someone drove up and said that a black cow had been run over down the road from us. We jumped in the car and took off to see. Finally about 5 miles down the road, we see her, but she did not look like our cow. The one we were missing was really skinny, with pronounced bones showing under the skin because she was so skinny. The cow that had been hit ( and I had no clue as to when) seemed to be a lot larger. Anyway, we decided that it was not ours and came home. Several hours later, there was a knock on the door and a gentlemen asked if we unloaded some cows yesterday and where. He said that someone told him that we were either loading or unloading from here and he wondered if we took them down the road and unloaded them. Then he told me what had happened . he said that our cow totaled his car. OMG and that he had just buried his wife Saturday!!!! I felt sooooooooooooo bad. I thought that it had just happened and she had just now wandered out of the woods.. I asked when and he said Saturday night about 10:00 PM. I told him that I was sure that our cows were still here this morning and we got all but 1 of them back in and that she was still missing. I told him that we had gone down the road to see the dead cow that he had just told me he hit and asked if that was the one and he said yes. He said that he was just coming over the hill going 75 mph and he hit her. He also said that the cow he hit had a sale barn sticker on it!!!! And that it was number 919. "COULD IT BE???" I honestly don't know. I could have sworn that I had seen all 3 of them Sunday morning, but did I? I do know that I never saw all 3 of them at the same time side by side, but we were trying to corner and chase them one at a time, then one would get away from us and go into the woods or behind the neighbor's house..........but it seems like I distinctly remember two of them going Carl's way after we had just gotten one in. It took us so long to get the two back in that we did and we felt like the 3rd had gone into the woods. I stayed outside for almost an hour listening for her. I kept telling Carl that I heard her bellowing from in the woods. He kept driving in the other direction across the road and I I told him "NO", she is in the woods.
So when the gentleman came and said that he had hit the cow the night before, I just knew that it could not have been ours, he said that across from where he had hit her was a pasture of the same kind of cows. He said the took the sale barn sticker to the highway patrol but they told him that nothing ever comes from that. (I think they told him that also because  - after much searching on the Internet - the laws in the state of Texas for FM roads, the owner is not responsible nor is the driver responsible for reimbursing the owner of the livestock unless it was totally negligence on either part. (from what I could understand)
BUT wait, there's more.......the man said that he took care of Mother when she was in the hospital before she died and commented that she had a weird sense of humor.............Excuse me, but my Mother had a great sense of humor, nothing weird about it. She was one of the happiest people I have ever known and loved to laugh.
That is the saga of the month for me, so unless the highway patrol knocks on my door sometime in the future.......................................I am still here down on the farm!

The bottom right is the missing skinny minnie!

Here are the part of the rest of the family. We now have 6 black (angus or brangus), 1 white (who knows?), 2 red (mix hereford & red brangus) and 1 red with white face (hereford).

Ginger is top left, which is the one we have had from the beginning, then the two new ones are Coalie, the black one and Candy the brownish red one.

The next new ones are Bessie (red with white face), Blondie (little white one), then Furby (the slick looking black with brown tinges one) and Bossy the other black one and Sissy, the little sick looking one, bottom right.

Peanut Butter anyone???

Carl and friends went to Houston the other night for a night at the cannery. They got to make peanut butter.
Bet it smelled wonderful with the big roasters going. Since the roasters have to stay on until the entire project is finished, it was a "round the clock" type of thing. Our little branch was just a part of the workers that had the midnight until 4 AM shift. So, another experience and addition to his resume......"Peanut butter maker"

              PEANUT BUTTER ANYONE?

"Say it ain't so......."

Please say it ain't so. ANOTHER year has come and GONE????? My momma always said that time would fly faster the older you got.......well, she was right AGAIN. Here it is another year gone. Sigh! In ways, it went extremely fast, but then again, I am glad that it is over and a new chapter begins. Here we are almost full circle back to our roots in East Texas to live out our golden years. HA! I don't think my feet are planted anywhere that solid....yet..... Who knows what this year will bring. I have never been opposed to change (Now I am not saying that something is in the very near future...) but I cannot say that this is my last residence. I know, I know, when I was moving into this house I did say that I am NOT doing this again......and I won't.....at least not today, anyway.
So, Carl and I just celebrated our 46th civil ceremony anniversary on the 15th of January. We went to the Houston temple for the day. I REALLY enjoyed it. Maybe it was just the day, maybe it was the place, but whatever it was.....I feel that it was the best one that I have ever attended. (Unfortunately, as I age, sometimes I forget how I really felt at other times until something flips a switch in my head., LOL) Which means, that at this week, at this time....this is how I feel.

I am truly blessed to be married to this man. I love him with all of my heart and for eternity!

Just finished a absolutely fantastic trip to the frigid north (not really frigid - it was actually kinda nice weather for being WINTER!!) Christy and Carl went on a cruise and asked us to come and stay with the kids while they were gone. We did and enjoyed spoiling them. THEN, we flew to Denver (took Savannah and Sarah with us) to go to Greg's house for Thanksgiving. Christy, Carl and the rest of the kids drove over a couple of days later. EVERYONE was there for Thanksgiving!!!!!! So nice!! It had been years and prior to several grandchildren that we had been able to do that. It was Soooooooooooooooooo nice. Took pictures, made memories and had tons of wonderful food. BUT - the company was the BEST!!! I can honestly say that I believe that this was the best Thanksgiving EVER!!!!!!!!!! I am truly blessed

UPDATES

Just looked at my last post and it said "We're packing"...well.....we did....we really packed, moved and are into a new place in Southeast Texas. Considered to be home territory. Tyler county TEXAS. Whoohooo. Never thought it would happen, never wanted it to happen, but we are very glad that it did happen. It is an adjustment as any move and new part of the country is. AND yes, southeast Texas is a new part of country.
You have a totally different way of life here from the other parts of the state. Our previous location was "Island time" with a little mix of melting pot because of all of the tourists and Winter Texans. This area is totally "downhome" lifestyle. Some people might call it redneck, some might call it the deep south, some might even call it backwards. I prefer to call it downhome. People are laid back, slow talking, sometimes even slow moving (and I am not talking about me and my old age...lol) Most of them were born here and raised here and never left and the ones that did leave...came back to what they knew and loved. There are even a few that came for a visit and loved it so much that they moved here. But for whatever reason, it is different. I personally, love the beauty of it. I was born in this area, raised in this area and feel the tug of my heart strings when I look around. I love the tall majestic pines and the music it brings when the wind rustles through them. I love the hard woods, the blooming dogwoods, the redbuds, the magnolias.....etc. I have been to many part so of the country and I find beauty no matter where I am, but this tugs at my heart, It is HOME.
So, Carl and I sold our house in Aransas Pass without putting it on the market, found this one that we are in and are in the process of  buying  it.

Christy and the kids helped us in mid July with our first load of goods and unpacked them,  then in August, we went back and got another load and finally got the last load the middle of September.We really like it here. Cannot believe it took us so long, but then we had a few diversions like family reunions, trips to Utah for our annual trip to Flaming Gorge, more family reunions, life in general......, but now, hopefully this is it for quite awhile.
One miniature horse came with the place, then Carl stopped by a mini-horse ranch to find out a littl;e bit about the minis and came home with another one/

It is serene and peaceful  nice to sit out one the porch and watch them in the fields.....well....WAS....until yesterday we bought home some new babies......

Two moms that will calve this winter and 6 calves...4   bulls and 2 heifers.......these calves have been separated from their mothers, so they are not too happy and one of the mothers was separated from her young heifer. So we have a lot of mooing and bellowing going on until they get used to their new surroundings. Carl had to do a little rodeo last night when one of the momma cows broke through the fence, but she settled down really well when her heifer calf arrived today (couldn't catch that little thing yesterday, so they finally caught her this morning and they brought her over)
The two older cows are registered, so their shortened name is Queenie (the one looking straight at the camera in the top picture) and Strawberry Shortcake with the mostly white face. Strawberry is the one that broke out, but her baby arrived today so she is a lot happier to be re-united.
And so life begins on the farm................................

We're "Packing"

Okay, we are out for a day of target practice. We loaded up the Rugers, Smith & Wesson, Browning and a little fun rifle and went to the woods! Had a great time "plinking" the guns. No surprise that Terry and Carl were usually dead-on center with the target. Carron and I hit the target and occasionally got a bullseye, but I can guarantee you if it was a predator instead.......they would be dead, so, all in all, we did pretty dang good. It was a lot of fun. I really like the 22's, even though that is not what I carry. Actually, I don't carry anymore.....had to give my S&W 38 special back to the original owner, since it ws just a loaner.

Sandra's Yard

Here we are in East Texas the first part of March and spring has sprung. Azaleas are just about ready to brighten the skies with their colors, some redbuds, wild plums, and all other glorious trees are blossoming out in the forests and yards. Here are just a few out of Sandra's yard.

These are from some of the houses that we were working on just before we left last week in Rockport, so spring is beginning to show her grandeur.

PUMELOS 2013

Carl loves these gems. He planted 3 trees from grafts from my cousin Johnny E. Lindsey. He has nurtured these for 6 years now. A couple of months ago, he enjoyed the first fruits of his labor. One tree had put on 3 fruits. It takes them almost a year to bud, flower and have harvestable fruit. So, man was he excited to go out and see all of these buds on his tree this year. His mouth is watering already for the juicy delectable taste that he has to wait until next January or February to put into his mouth!!!

Hundreds of those little buds. They had just started to blossom as we were leaving, so I hope there will still be some blossums when we get back so that I can see what the actual flower looks like. Anyway, the tree is coverd with these. If they all make fruit, he is going to have to prop the tree up limb by limb, 'cause those little suckers make huge fruit! They are larger than a grapefruit and just a little smaller than a cantalope in size, so just imagine.....WOW!

Spring is in the air, so are........

KITES...
I had to run into Rockport just before we left for East Texas and this view was more eye candy.
WOW, how beautiful these are to watch. I even observed more when I got home to download them. I didn't even notice the claws on one of the kites until I saw my picture. AMAZING.

A new creation

I just made a new recipe for my files. I had gotten an excellent recipe from a friend of mine to make a yummy variety of a key-lime pie that was pretty easy and quick to make. I have made it severaltimes and it always turns out very good, but I got to thinking.........that's when I sometimes get into trouble.
A few weeks ago, I was in Utah at Christy's house and she and young Carl had gone to his work's company Christmas party. He had a dessert which was something like chocolate mousse and oreo cokkie crust. Christy and I got some ingredients to make it, but we didn't quite get the time to do it. I continued to think about it and today, I finally did my version of it. Talk about good!!!!
So, her are the ingredients:
2 containers of chocolate yogurt
1 sm pkg of instant chocolate pudding
1 8 oz container of cool whip (thawed)

Okay, so it was a long time in coming to actually posting this recipe.......bcause...my computer was acting up and no matter what I did, it would not let me retrieve a picture. so, I just happened to check tonight and IT WORKED!!!! I have tried it a couple of times since, but our favorite is still the key lime instead. Same recipe, just different flavors )two key lime yogurts and one lime gelatin mix)
YUMMY, either one. so, enjoy!

Letter to a daughter

I saw this on a friends facebook page, and a few tears fell for my Mom. She unfortunately did not live long enough to go through this phase in her life, but I think that I would have enjoyed those tender moments with her. She was a very special woman that turned everyone's frowns into smiles. She definitely fit her name.....Joye.  Any of the forgetfulness, slowness, losing her train of thought, sometimes inability to feed herself or any of the things that the letter expresses that was happening to the author, didn't happen to Mom because of age, but because of a medical mishap and a brain tumor. I would only hope that whatever the cause of these frailties or age induced qualities that a person goes through, that each of us would understand and be able to respond to that person with the gentleness that they deserve.

I have seen a few instances where the respect is not shown for an aging parent. I think everyone who deals with the elderly should read this letter often enough to try a little harder to understand what they are going through.

Like, I say, I didn't get that opportunity and I can't even begin to understand what someone goes through when they have to deal with these difficulties day in and day out, but I pray that more people that do have to deal with it, can be a little more gentler and kinder than before. Strange isn't it, how we sometimes end up the way that we start out ? Almost a complete role reversal....anyway........a gentle reminder of  what may happen....

LETTER FROM A MOTHER TO A DAUGHTER:

"My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.

If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”... Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep.

When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?

When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way... remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day... the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.

If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.

And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked.

When those days come, don’t feel sad... just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love.

I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you... my darling daughter."

- Unknown

I don't worry about this at all with my daughter. She is a rare gem. Actually, I think it is in OUR DNA. My Mom never got upset with her Mom - I don't think that I would have treated my Mom any less and I think that my daughter will carry on the "tradition" and love me forever.........................................
Sigh...........................I love you more!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carl's Birthday

As I have stated in the past, one of mine and Carl's favorite things to do is to drive and "lookie-loo". We enjoy seeing things and even if you drive in the same place, everyday, year in and year out......something is always different. BUT...our favorite is somewhere we have never been AND that would be a lot of different places. So, for Carl's B-day, he decided he wanted to visit this little area of the world. We took off driving up Hwy 35 along the coast towards Galveston & Houston. One of the first places that caught our eye was a sign that said "Boat launch", so we pulled in to look. HA! if someone were able to get a boat in there...well........ I think they would need a claw hook to pull there way around. Anyway, thought it was interesting. Someone was even able to catch something out of it. Lots of water...just can't see it!

Then we headed on up country and found another ideal place to take a look. Now this is one of my ideal
views that I would love to look at daily. I love the color and beauty of flowers, but I absolutely love the feel that I get when I look at trees, green pastures and livestock grazing. This area, right outside of Sugar Valley and Ashwood, which isn't too far from Blessing.......................great names, huh?.........is almost picture perfect.

Had a great time, doing our thing, celebrating Carl's birthday, being together...lookie-looing!!!!! NICE !!