Beach pictures in December

As a favor and for FUN...I took pictures of our neighbors on the beach for them. Like they always say, if you take
enough, then you are bound to get a few good ones. It has been so long since I really did any professionally AND....my camera is really not quick
 enough, but all in all, I did get some fairly decent pictures. I really had a hard time actually seeing the images through the viewfinder since the sun was so bright, but............here are a couple of shots that I really like.

Christmas 2009

Our new next door neighbors with their cute little girl came over and shared Christmas dinner with us and some other friends. Had a wonderful time. Tessa will be one next week and she just loves Carl!






Seems like we just got through with Thanksgiving and now this year is almost over. It's hard to believe that another Christmas is here and gone! Had tons of plans, but as usual, I did not follow through on them. Most of them were with photos, but the program I had already paid for, is so very difficult, I just couldn't get it done. Oh well, there is always next year, right?
Our Christmas was very nice. We had the Bailey's, the Thompson's, the Stone's and the Jessen's over for dinner. Fantastic food and good friendship!

Talked with almost all family members to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Looking forward to next year and full
retirement!

Humanitarian Project

Signed, sealed and delivered. Our small little branch took on a service project to raise a $1000.00 to purchase items to make hygiene kits for disaster victims that our church distributes as needed. (I thought the goal of a thousand dollars was a little high considering we only have just few members in our little branch.) Irregardless, we did it! We decided on a garage sale, so we started collecting items and in October, we had the sale. It was fantastic. I cannot believe how such few families can do so much. We sold over $1700.00 and still had a ton of stuff leftover! Then Carl & I went to Utah and while we were there, purchased all of the items and brought them back to Texas. Then the first part of December, we had a potluck and put them together. In less than 40 minutes,27 of us put 300 kits together. Our branch president then took them to the Bishop's warehouse in San Antonio so that they can be distributed when needed. Everyone had a fantastic time and we were truly blessed by all of the efforts of our sisters and the community in helping us far exceed our goal.

Christmas tree 2009

Finally, I got the sand dollars that I was hoping for. Had some absolutely wonderful friends spend (I don't know how many hours, days, etc) picking up the dollars on the beach this past summer. They were so kind as to do this for me 'cause I wanted a tree with those beautiful sand dollars ever since we moved to the gulf coast here in Texas. Sooooooo, another friend and I went to work on them to fashion them into a Christmas ornament and look what we came up with! I love it. Thank you so much Bonnie and Jim for the dollars and Traci for helping me put them together. The tree itself it still a work in progress, but it is getting there. I don't have too much creativity in me, but I copy really well. As soon as I see exactly the "look" that I am looking for.....I'll do it. Meanwhile, this is what it is.

Fun & Spiritual weekend

One of the missionaries, Emil Cluff, that was here in Rockport a year ago came back for a visit this past week and stayed with us for a couple of days. Doug and Traci Thompson was baptized by him and Saturday they were sealed in the San Antonio temple. It was a very special day for them and him. We had a lot of support form our small branch. That is what is so special about a small branch. LOVE and SUPPORT.
After the session, we went to Pappadeaux's to eat and then the Alamo and did the river walk thing with Emil and his Mom. We had a great time, then today, got up and went to the branch for church and rushed home to eat then ushered emil and his Mom off to the airport. Sad to see them go, we had a great time and I am sure that Emil's Mom enjoyed seeing part of her son's mission and meeting members that were brought into the church through his efforts.

Amish community

We went to an auction today at the Amish community near Beeville. Had a great time. The food was excellent. For lunch we had meatloaf, brisket, corn, beans, coleslaw and pecan pie. Then we enjoyed the auction. They had a ton of stuff up for sale. Old tools, harnesses, buggies, horses, beautiful homemade quilts (which really went for a low price- $325.00 was the highest price one) Absolutely gorgeous and beautifully done.
Amazing at the craftsmanship! Didn't buy a thing, but enjoyed it all. Also couldn't resist taking a great picture of small sunflowers along a fence row. Good day!

Guest bedroom

My new guest bedroom! Got a few more finishing touches to do. Some things I just love, some I'm not sure about. I love the framed pictures above the headboard. (Garage sale frames - prints that I printed off my computer, card stock and construction paper!!) I made the shams for the bed and pieced the rest together. The bench was another garage sale find. (Still need to clean it - that's tomorrow's project and if it doesn't clean up well enough to my satisfaction, then I will recover it - probably in red)
The grape vine thing-ama-jigger was another garage sale find that I put my own flowers in. I think that it might be too large, but I couldn't figure out how to make it smaller. Anyway, until I come up with something better, it stays for now.
Several years ago, I found some prints at ARC that I picked up for a couple of dollars and now I finally have a use for them. I think they go well in this room.
Carl still has to put up another ceiling fan and then it will be ready for a guest!
Oh, yeah, the really nice bed frame and really comfortable mattress (practically brand new) was given to us by dear friends that were trying to downsize her storage unit, so, I was able to build this room for next to nothing. I do love bargains!

Christmas in October

We had fun yesterday at R.S. meeting. We had our annual Christmas in October in which we meet, do crafts and have a "pumpkinlicious" meal. I, myself, had never had the meal in a pumpkin, but I do believe that I will have it again!(Really good) We also had pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter, pumpkin brownies, salad, cranberry spread and another dessert that I had prepared the night before for our hand and foot get-together. I do believe that this was the easiest dessert that I have EVER made! I know that it has been around for awhile, because I know that one of my friends had made it years(at least 20) before, but I had thought that it was okay and she had told me how easy it was, but who knows why I didn't listen back then. ANYWAY, you have to try this, it is really good and it makes a good presentation as well. I served it Friday night warm with vanilla ice cream (VERY GOOD), then I served it Saturday just the dessert that I scooped into cupcake paper cups. Still very good! Okay, so here it is. It is called 'fumble free' cake.
Take one can of cherry pie filling, pour it into a 9X13 baking dish, then add a can of crushed pineapple (you can stir it together if you want, but if you pour it out of the cans fairly evenly and on top of each other, that is fine too)Now, the hard part.....open a box of yellow cake mix....any kind....sprinkle it over the pie filling and pineapple....yeah, that was the "hard" part - those boxes are hard to open sometimes! Then sprinkle a cup of coconut over that, then a cup of mixed nuts over that and drizzle 6 tablespoons of melted butter and then bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Served with vanilla ice cream!!!!!
Actually, I didn't even measure the coconut or the nuts, I just guessed. The picture above is when I scooped it up and put it into the cupcake paper cups, so it does make a pretty picture.
I also made the pumpkin brownies, but that was a little too detailed and I really don't like pumpkin all that much, so,.......I can bypass that one.
Now, for the craft part of it. We made teaspoon angels with "just a spoon full of love", then we made wreaths with shells and then we made colored blocks of wood with our favorite sayings or words on them and decorated them. We also decorated bottles for 'whatever"....pencil holders, votives, sand and sea shells, etc. Very cute and inexpensive gifts for anyone.

A new teenager in our midst!

Make a Smilebox postcard

My young Grandaughter will be thirteen tomorrow. What a milestone. My very first granddaughter to be a teenager. A couple of weeks ago, my daughter's oldest son became a teenager also. Whew....... I am feeling old, my oldest grandson just turned eighteen last month and my youngest grandchild turned 3. Needless to say this time of the year, we get most of our birthdays over with at once! 5 out of 9 grandchildren within 6 weeks of each other.

Colorado connection

Greg and family live out in the country on their farm outside of Greely Colorado. They have a menagerie of chickens, goats, dogs, cats and koi! Enough room to ride the four wheelers and grow some trees and alfalfa!
When we got to Colorado, Taryn (will be a teenage in a couple of weeks)was sick and when we left, she was still sick and Tyler got sick. We still enjoyed the visit. Wish they could have felt better, but it is always great to see them, no matter what! We love any amount of time that we can spend with them. Carl and Tyler (just turned 18) went to play golf and ended up coming home early when tyler started feeling the effects of whatever bug was going round. Conner (our sixteen year old)was doing good - loving the freedom of being able to drive his own car when he wanted to go somewhere.

Tara fixed us a fantastic meal of shrimp and sausage gumbo along with a great chocolate dessert. She loves to cook for her family and does a great job. I always love to se what new and different decor she does with her house. She has that natural talent of interior design that most women yearn after.

Shangrila Botanical gardens

More pictures of the botanical gardens with the beautiful cypress trees and luscious flowers. Notice the small alligators among the reeds in the water! Can you believe that we are the middle of Orange? Just hundreds of feet from malls and shopping centers! Gorgeous walk and boat ride down the Adams Bayou.

Then the Rice, Reed, Wheeler reunion. All of the brothrs and sisters, then along with spouses, then just the girls along with their cousin, Dorothy....then just me and Carl!

Fun, fun, fun

Had a great time visiting with Carl's brother and sisters. Our annual Sibling reunion. This year, we decided to just stay home in Tyler county. Carl & I and Carolyn & Pat were the only ones that had to actually leave home to go to reunion.
so, festivities were planned around, guess what...FOOD ! The first night, we had a fish and shrimp fry (Sandra's house). Scrumptious fried shrimp, fried crappie, french fries, hushpuppies and peach cobbler & pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. The next night we ate at Debra's and we had a mexican casserole, gucamole dip, fresh salsa, chips and sopapilla cheesecake. Then the next night we ate at Terry's house and had baked chicken, dirty rice, shrimp cornbread, broccoli salad, coconut meringue pie and pineapple meringue pie. The final meal of the reunion was eaten at the Picket house with good old fashioned chicken & dumplings, greens, cornbread, butter beans and peach cobbler. Whew, can you tell that the family really likes food? We also took in the botanical gardens at Shangrila in Orange, attended a potluck reunion for their Mom's family at Ivanhoe, then we all gathered one evening to play "Hand & foot". We really did enjoy each others' company and all of the wonderful food prepared by everyone.

Utah and birthday

Traveled for two days to get to Utah for a short visit with the grandkids. When we got here, we gave Ethan his birthday present, he is now three. Today we had a birthday party for Seth who turned eight today. Saturday he will be baptized, then we will watch Erik (he will be thirteen Tuesday) play a football game, then the next morning we move on to our Colorado connection for a seven hour drive to see Tyler who just turned 18 a little over a week ago and Taryn who will be thirteen in a little over two weeks from now. (Five out of nine of our grandkids have birthdays within 6 weeks of each other.) Out of the nine grandchildren that we have we try to make the birthdays, but there are some months, that they are the lonely ones in the month. Unfortunately, since we moved to Texas, we have a much better chance to catch two or three of them at a time. So, that means little Sarah and Conner always gets the short end of the stick. Either late or very early! Our big month is September with five and then April with two and then you throw in Christy.......the other two are singular and the grownups are singular....oh well, I just hope that they all know that we are trying the best that we can. Maybe after oficial retirement...who knows????

Trip to east Texas

Went to East Texas for a visit with Carl's family. Stayed with Sandra and enjoyed her beautiful flowers. Carolyn and her husband and daughter came for the weekend to celebrate Susan's birthday. We had loads of food, seafood gumbo, fried shrimp, fried catfish and then on the way home we stopped at one of the Pappa's restaurant and had their excellent barbeque. Carl can eat seafood, 24-7. So, he had his fill. We had yummy birthday cake and then took a walk down the country road and picked a bouquet of wildflowers. Good food, good family, good fun!

Retirement time...for someone else

One of my employees Sandy (pictured above with her tree)retired Wednesday and I made her a money tree. It really turned out great and a lot of people put "seed" in also. We had a great time and she will really be missed!. I promised her that I would stay until she left, so......as of today, I am officially on medical leave for at least 3 months, then we shall see what we shall see. I just might get so use to NOT going to work, that I may have to retire for myself. I am going to start therapy next week - hot packs, water massage, electrical impulse massage and chiropractic treatments. Sounds rough doesn't it? Then I have to put in a minimum of 4 - thirty minute walks per week. I need to build my bone density back up and strengthen my lower back and tailbone.

Last game of summer

We finally got around to going to a Hooks baseball game - just wish we had gone earlier. Loved it!

Reminded me of all those games I went to long ago. Small minor league stuff. Nolan Ryan owns the team (I think we saw him there) My brother and Nolan played together in high school and major league...(see where the memories are coming from?) I definitely think that we are going to have to go more games next season.

We went early and ate great food at the Brewster Street Ice House across from Whataburger field. (great names, huh?) Then we walked over to the field and went to our seats, eight rows up, between home and 3rd base. Wonderful weather, great seats and really cheap.

Why is it.....?

Why is it that the only time you see extended family members and friends is at funerals and reunions? It is so sad, but because our lives are so busy and our family grows so much that our immediate family when we were small becomes our extended as we grow and the less we see of them. So, I attended a funeral last Friday of my last "elder" generation uncle. Now I am down to only my Aunt left and then the elder generation will be "ME"and my cousins!!! Yikes, what happened?

So, here is his story from my viewpoint. Uncle George married into our family many years ago (He married my Mom's sister, Edna). He was a really great guy. Born in upstate New York, he was quite a phenomena for us Southerners. (He talked funny with that "Yankee" accent) Except for his accent, he became a true southerner, Mr hospitality, Mr Congeniality....he was it. We adored him. When I graduated from high school, I went to live with them for a very short period of time while I found an apartment in the big city. He always had advice for me and I really did listen and respect him for it and I just loved my Aunt Edna. They were so cool. Having lived overseas for about 8 years, I thought they were just so cool. They did things like I saw on TV. They had cocktails, went to parties, were members of the lodge, lived in exotic places- they were what we considered "rich" people.

When I got married and had kids, they would come to visit, but because our son was having trouble remembering his name, he got stuck with a nickname. One day he was asking me about him and I was trying to figure out who he was talking about and he said, "You know, Uncle Beer"......(he always had a beer in his hand)...well that stuck. To this day, my kids still refer to him as Uncle Beer. Anyway, he was 88 years old. He was diagnosed with colon cancer on Aug 7 and approximately 2 weeks and 2 days later, he succumbed to the dreadful disease. His funeral was full to capacity. He was very well known, respected and loved. I got to see cousins that I haven't seen in probably 30 years and I got to meet some of his family that I had never met before. It actually was great and sad at the same time. Great in the fact that I met and heard some wonderful things about him that I either didn't know or didn't remember. Sad that it took a funeral and his death for that to transpire.

Summer is almost over!!

My how time flies, especially when one is having so much fun. It has been so hot down here in South Texas, with absolutely NO rain. Summer is almost over and the Winter Texans will start to come in next month. I have "almost" got my staffing back to normal. The last one coming on the middle of September, then it will be time to take some time off., 'cause come January, I will be down two people once again!!! Retirement time and it isn't even me! YET.............but soon, I hope!

I had an employee die recently and I have two relatives that are fighting the terrible "C" word. Everything came on so quickly for all of them. One feels so helpless in cases like this. It does make you think about "life" and our aging process. Where has the years gone? Unfortunately it is something that we all have to face someday - that our time here on this earth will be over. I am so grateful for my beliefs in knowing that there is a life after this mortal existence and that we can be reunited with our loved ones again. That it isn't over at death! How bleak life would be.

So with all of this being said, I do think that it is time that I seriously consider how I can "NOT" work anymore and start a bucket list. With my bucket list, I will need probably another good twenty to thirty years or so!

Summer fun with the grandkids

We have had six of our grandkids with us for the month of June. We did some pretty cool things and had a lot of fun. We went to Six Flags, Seaworld, the beach in Rockport, the beach in Port Aransas, the tea garden in San Antonio, fishing several times, crabbing, lots and lots of eating. We played "hand and foot"- Went swimming, etc. Christy mapped out one adventure per day- whether it was a trip somewhere or a special treat or food. The kids loved it here playing in and around the trees and riding the electric cars that we found for them before they got here and the golf cart. Since we took them home, we took the small electric cars back in our truck. (They would probably be too big for them next year!)

The month flew by fast and then it was off to Utah and Flaming Gorge.

Annual 4th of July trip to Flaming Gorge Utah

This is our 4th annual 4th of July trip to Flaming Gorge. It is still beautiful and loads of fun. We have stayed the last two years in this great little retreat about 4 miles from Manilla Utah. Custom made log cabins with really special handmade furniture and accessories. Fantastic craftsmanship. We stayed one year in Lucerne, then the second year in the Red Canyon Lodge area- but the best is Twisted Timber Retreat (Renamed "Rocky Road Retreat").

The river was not very rough this year due to the heavy rains, but it still had enough rapids to make it very fun.

Pappaw's blog

The harvest
Green Beans
Giant beans that Carl is trying - over a foot long
Squash patch
Pappaw wants to do his own blog now, so we will see how that goes. I am going to have to show him how to do it and I am still learninbg myself. He is really excited about his vegetables, so I went out in the garden with him today and made lots of pictures for him

FRESH VEGETABLES

It is time to start harvesting fresh vegetables from our garden. Carl absolutely loves working in it and he is STILL planting. So, if he can keep the varmints, ants and other vermin out, we will have fresh veggies for quite awhile.

Utah & Colorado trip

The cart that Greg gave me





We took a week off and headed to Utah to help Christy re-do a bedroom for Josh for his birthday (it was also Christy's birthday at the first of the week, then Josh's at the end of the week, but we were in Colorado on that day.) He wanted a Univ of Utah room...so, we did it, complete with U of U logo on the wall. Then we just had fun, taking their Easter pictures at the great salt lake and enjoying their company.
After a couple of days there, we headed to Colorado to see the Hatton grandkids and Greg and Tara. Greg gave us a golf cart and trailer, so we got it hooked up and ready to transport to Texas. He also prepared a very good brisket and pork roast on his smoker and Tara did all of the trimmings. Enjoyed playing Texas hold-em and UNO with Conner and Taryn, respectively- then having lunch with Tyler in Bennett. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was actually a pretty easy one except for he SNOW !!!!! It snowed on us before we got to Utah and then from Utah to Colorado, but we made sure that we were traveling in the daytime. Then on the trip home to Texas, it rained - but even with that it was a nice trip. The trailer pulled really well and no problems AND...it didn't totally wipe us out . So all in all, I would say that it was a success and I would drive it again. Not bad!