2 for 1

Unfortunately, our vehicles were wearing out. We were down to the need to buy new tires for both...get work done on the wheels for BOTH, so we started looking around. We were looking for a car for me. We were either going to keep the old truck as a clunker for the farm and hauling hay, etc and get something with really good mileage for trips. We looked at the Ford Explorer and I really like them, but the no matter what we looked at, the gas mileage wasn't what I call good for any of them UNLESS, you went to a small car that to me wasn't the safest on the highways with all of the other huge vehicles roaming around on the highways. As much driving that we do, we needed some comfort as well.
My Hyundai was great for short trips and zipping around here and there, but bad gas mileage (21 mpg tops) and it was very loud  (lots of road noise) The small Honda and Prius's were very good on mileage, but I hate cars that are so low to the ground that (unfortunately with my age) are hard to get in and out of, so I started looking at small SUV's and ones that got at least 26-28 mpg.So, very perplexing as to what to do AND...we were upside down on both...so.......when we started seeing all of the incentives for cars now that the 2012's were coming out. We started looking a little more seriously.
We went to a Hyundai dealer, 7 different Ford dealers, 1 Mercedes dealer, 1 Volkswagen dealer, and several different sites online to see what was out there. We had a lot of different options.
Finally, a salesman caught Carl's eye....showed him an F 150 & he fell in love............................................

 
I can't say that I wasn't a little bit going YUM either. So, last Monday, we called them and said  that we would be over. (I was still trying to figure out how we were going to do this. I did not like paying two car notes and I knew that the vehicle that he wanted would be more then his current note, soooooooo, I got to thinking, well, we really only need one vehicle and if they give an incentive for EACH vehicle, that would be a little closer to breaking even on our upside down ones and if it was at least close or less than what we were currently paying AND got better gas mileage than either of our current vehicle... Who knows, maybe this would work!     Needless to say...it did. We got enough incentives to pay off both of our vehicles (which we were upside down on by 4k), get all of the goodies that Carl wanted on the vehicle, good interest rate and extra warranty on everything plus, nicks, scratches, tire rotations, oil changes, so when all was said and done, with the higher mpg for our trips....we got a new vehicle with new warranties, far better gas mileage and a small enough difference on monthly note that would probably be made up in the gas mileage, if not a savings. V6 Ecoboost...sharp looking
Did I justify it enough???????
Actually, I think we really did make a good deal. So, we made a deal and I will get a refund back from my Hyundai GAP insurance, so still don;t know exactly how much that will be.

I have been told by many friends now that have seen this vehicle, that I do not have a truck. I needed something out in the back the other day at the garage sale and they were so worried about scratching something and I kept saying..it's a truck...it has a lining in the bed of it...it has coverings on the top of the bed, put it in. They kept saying, No, this isn't just a truck. So he went and got a blanket and laid it in the bed of the truck before he would put a cabinet in it. LOL
It really is a NICE truck...but it is a truck! I actually can get in the bed of the truck. It has a ladder and a stick to hold onto to help you get in. It has a passenger assist that opens up when the door opens to help you step up or down from the truck. Moon roof. Butt warmers and coolers. Navigation system with rear camera. All kinds of memory buttons and a whole lot of other things that I still haven't read up on. It has the remote start...(gotta do the Darth Vadar thing with Ethan on that one)
We are pleased, but now to get used to having only one vehicle..............

Whoopee

Another dessert experiment. I have been seeing these in my quests for recipes, so, I finally decided to give it a try. It was okay...but I don't have to do it again. Just not my favorite. I think if I had used a chocolate filling, then I would have liked it better, but the recipe called for marshmallow. I did my bite of it and Carl ate one, then the next day ate another (after I reminded him that they were there!), then he was through with them. ....Gave the rest away.......But, they LOOK good and cute!

                                                                     Whoopee Pie

Bragging rights on big brother

My big brother is getting closer and closer to finally retiring, but for now, he is still working and living in Center. His wife Lynda will be semi-retiring at the end of next month and hopefully Phil will be able to in about six months or less. Phil played 7 years with the Cleveland Indians and 2 years with the New York Mets. When he was with the Mets, they went to the world series (hence, the world series ring). I have never posted the jacket or the ring before, but I have had previous posts of his bubblegum trading cards.

                      Hey, why not do it again?







Carl & I had a nice little visit with them on the way back this past weekend from Toledo Bend. We worked our way up the beautiful winding roads lined with hardwood and pine trees. (Nice autumn colors mixed in with the evergreens and green grass on the side of the road.)

Siblings 2011

It's been a yearly thing now for about 6 years in which Carl's 4 sisters along with his brother (spouses included) have a weekend get-to-gether just for them. No sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, kids, grandkids, etc. just brothers, sisters and their mates. We've been to Little Rock, Arkansas, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Corpus Christi, Texas,  Sam Rayburn, Texas and now for the last couple of years at a lake house on Toledo Bend, Texas (which is generously made available by a Hatton cousin). Toledo Bend has worked out really well for everyone in that the only cost is food and the short transportation to get there. Which means we have MORE time and energy to just spend quality time together. We don't do anything strenuous except eat, sleep, play games, take walks

The water level is suppose to be many feet OVER the tall stick-like figures just above  in the picture

 and reminisce. The meals are simple (at least in the time to execute them at the camp)....planning is necessary. Debbie seems to draw the most preparation (that's what she gets for being such a good cook). She prepared the basics for gumbo and others pitched in with the expense of the seafood. So........we treated ourselves to wonderful seafood gumbo one night

Shrimp, crab & oysters

, fantastic ribs one night, and absolutely great steaks another.

T-bones & ribeyes

 We originally planned on  3 meals a day, but after the very first day, we realized that we just could not eat that much food. So we revamped our plans by cutting a lunch and a breakfast (by deciding what could be frozen and taken back home & what couldn't) Everyone brought goodies either already prepared, or easily assembled. FOOD was always in front of us. (I believe that somewhere in a previous post, I mentioned that our family always has put the three F's in with Hatton get-togethers........FAMILY........FOOD......FUN........It hasn't changed. The ? little ? (LOL) accompaniments that we had to snack on........fruit cookies(secret family recipe), choc chip cookies w/pecans(deceptively plain looking, but YUMMY) ,  apple muffins (made with fresh apples) , fruit salad (with EVERY fruit in it.) pound cake (melt in your mouth good). We had SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much food!
But you know, this is how memories are made. This is how families are kept close. Spending good quality time together

Back2Life tryouts

...no TV, no radio (well except for a few minutes of fading in & out when the last few minutes of  LSU & the Ala. game was on) almost no cell phone reception (you know the kind ...stand in a certain spot on one leg with your tongue stuck out), and VERY limited internet) So, you see, we can live without today's modern conveniences. It was nice....just family.......quiet and only ourselves to entertain. SIGH............................

The T-shirts were done for us by Debra & Iris........many THANKS!!!!!!!!

Truer words were never spoken...huh Dudley?

Preview of the house that Debbie is building

The new Hennigan home as it goes up. Debbie is building the cutest little house on her street. It is going to be gorgeous. I love the front double doors. All of the bedrooms has great windows, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths...all built the way SHE wants it. Way to go Debbie! Can't wait to see the finished product. I will be doing updates.
She tells me that she wants to have stamped concrete floors with the Texas star as you enter the living room, then on the backsplash above her stove...the state of Texas....IF she can find it all in the right colors. She has to budget everything 'cause this is all has to be within the budget that she got when she sold her previous home.
Way to go and good luck.

Ghoulish and Creepy goodies!

Carron is "doing her thing". She is creating some wonderful  little treats for the tricksters.....She loves decorating and creating goodies for ALL of the different holidays. She is turning into our local gourmet treat maker. Just look............................

 Then she really got creative with the double stuff oreo cookies that have been turned into spiders and ghouls.

REALLY cute! She was creating more today, but we had to leave to come home, but maybe she will have leftovers when we get back Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rice 2011 Reunion

The annual Rice /Wheeland reunion was held this weekend. There were a lot of missing faces, but it was a really good time for those that attended. Excellent food, a little domino action, lots of laughter and hugs.Aunt Myrtle turned 79 on the 23rd of October, so I think that she was the oldest one there.

                                              The Hatton Clan that was there.

                                                       All of the men that attended.

                                        The women........also had some absolutely excellent singing done by the little lady that is on the far right. Beautiful voice. then she had to run off to work where she does solo "birthday" songs for Elijah's where she waitresses. (Cute also)

Fall Crafts

Our Super Saturday was today. Once a year, we get together and make crafts for gift-giving and decorating.
We enjoyed crafting four different items, but I only did three. I absolutely loved the scissor holders. The pumpkins were cute  and the door angel made from old ties was cute also. By the time I got around to the candy holder snowmen, I couldn't find a reason to make one, so..........I passed.
Then we enjoyed a fantastic luncheon of beef stew (made by Pat), pumpkin bread (Shirley) with cinnamon butter & corn muffins (Dorothy), apple dump cake & pumpkin pecan cake (Alberta).
What a fun Saturday! Just the right festivities to get one in the mood for the fall and the holidays that are RAPIDLY approaching.

Jelly Fish

We went to a meeting in Fulton at Charlotte Plummer's restaurant and when we got through, we decided to walk along the dock. There were jelly fish EVERYWHERE. Carl wondered if it had anything to do with the "red tide", but I don't know. I was amazed that they were all over the place, floating all around. Pretty cool!

Anyway, guess I'll do a little investigating and see what's up. Sure was a beautiful day out by the water.  This time of the year in Texas on the Gulf Coast is pretty amazing!

PEACHES

I love this time of the year, because it means FRESH yummy peaches. After living in Colorado so many years and enjoying the peaches from the western slope in late July and August, then we would go to Utah and get them all the way to the first of October. Unfortunately, the ones we found in Texas just didn't compare, but we are still searching..(before we left Tx, we had a source , but can't find them anymore)
 Since we try to attend conference, we made it at the end of the season and we were rewarded with "total deliciousness"

Tried to wait until the last possible minute to purchase, (got the last of 3 cases that was left) so that we could get them home to can them without them spoiling. I think we lost bout 5 of them, but that's about normal. This was the first time that I actually "canned" them. I usually put them in freezer bags, but I wanted to try my hand at the canner.  Fantastic results.........see for yourself. Yummy, too!
                                                                        28 bea-U-ti-ful quarts

Conference

A view from our seats.

What else can I say except absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !! !
We were so fortunate to be able to get in and out so quickly. Parking was easy and no traffic problems.
Wonderful day all around. Conference in the morning, then that afternoon, went to Dave & Irma's for
a fantastic meal and enjoyed more fantastic talks during conference on the TV. Sigh....................

Old friends...Then & Now

Carl finally got to meet up with his cousin and longtime friend, Paul Barnes. He hadn't seen him since around 1969. They had recently been in touch by phone for the last 4-5 years, but that was all. Finally....when we went to a rush trip to Illinois last week,  Carl remembered that Paul lived in Illinois. We looked on the map to see how far it was from where we were and it was all the way across the state, but we thought...maybe???? We were not able to get in touch with them, so we headed home......and wouldn't ya know it, Paul was in Texas!!!! So, we went home (2 days driving with the short side trips, etc), changed clothes and headed back to East Texas. What fun! Paul was so excited to finally be around family again and the feelings were mutual to be around him and his lovely wife. We all enjoyed a full day of relaxation, eating, reminiscing and laughter.

                                                          Paul and his lovely wife, Jean

Then headed home again to stay for just a few days before we head out again for General Conference.

See the miles we put on the truck?

Nauvoo

Went to a very spiritual place in Nauvoo, IL. It is amazing to me to see how families lived back in the 1840's. This village has been restored and in only a few instances, replicated. I absolutely loved the very special feeling that one gets when you are there. It is definitely a place tht I will HAVE to go back to when we have more time to spend there. The MAIN reason we went at this time, was to see a very special young lady tht was serving a mission there. She was due to go home in a few days and we knew that if we didn't take this opportunity, to see her AND Nauvoo - then it would  probably be one of those things that we just didn't get "around to". I am so GLAD  that we did.
We had a whirlwind of a trip, but very enjoyable. In four days, we covered Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa, then all the way back. WHEW!!!!

 One of the places in Nauvoo that Carl really enjoyed was the Browning store. He was the maker of the original Browning rifle. His son John Moses was the one that made the rifles famous. Very interesting.

They were one of the only families that actually had indoor water. They dug a well in their basement and had a door in the floor where they could pull a bucket up from the well.
Anyway, I loved the scenery, the trees, the GREEN, the water. It was on the Mississippi river, so very beautiful views. The temple sits facing the river and the view is magnificent.

From there we headed home and enjoyed more beautiful sights. Got home and gonna rest for a few days then take off again.

Amazing what you can find on the internet.

Even had a statistic that even I did not know. My brother was one of only six baseball players to serve in the Vietnam war. I knew he served, of course, I just didn't know that "so few" others did. A fun place to find some interesting facts, 'course I knew most of them, since I grew up with him, but still fun to find them on the internet, Cool

Phil Hennigan Phil Hennigan Autograph on a 1971 Topps (#211)

Did you know that Phil Hennigan was one of only six (Al Bumbry, Bill Campbell, Roy Gleason, Jim Holt and Bobby Jones were the other five) Major League Baseball players to have served in the Vietnam War?

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=henniph01

Generations

                                           


                                      Three generations that bear resemblance.
Even though there is another generation or two that also bear resemblance, I can't put my hands on those particular pictures right now. My grandmother also fits into this category. I can see some in Savannah and a little in Sarah, but not as much as the above minus Minnie Ola Lindsey Phillips' picture

Old pictures found

This picture was made in the 50's. It is of my grandmother and my uncle. Her name is Sarah Alice Viana Hennigan. since she was born in 1889, she would have been in her sixties. She died in 1969 five days after she turned 80. I was probably only about 2-5 when this was taken, so I have never seen any pictures of her where she looked any different, no does my memories of her vary. She always had an apron on, she always braided her hair and then wrapped the braid around her head, or knotted the braid at the nape of her neck in the back. I'm thinking also that the house in the background was theirs also. The porch was eventually enclosed to make a kitchen. It was just a one room house with a front and back porch (both porches were later enclosed to make a kitchen in the front and a bathroom on half of the back porch) I remember, that I would sweep the front dirt yard - there was no grass. If they grew anything, it was vegetables and some flowers. We would rake the yard, then sweep it clean to where the dirt was hard-packed. Funny how memories are, huh?

This is a picture of her with two of my first cousins and the one on the left was born in 1940....so one can kind of guess that this picture was made say in 1944-1946?
I haven't yet found a picture of my Grandfather Hennigan, but I do remember him. He died, I think in 1965 (I think....I have it written in records, but don't want to look it up right now )

"Joye" as she was!

I went to a funeral in Jasper yesterday. It was for one of my older first cousins whom I probably haven't seen in 40 or more years, but still, she was a first cousin. I have kept somewhat in touch with her sister and we shared some fond memories and some fantastic photos. I do believe this one picture that I am about to display shows my Momma as she truly was......full of mirth, full of life. I think this picture captures her as well as any I have ever seen of her, even though it is a small image...well, you 'll get the thought..uh.....picture!

                                                             "Captured in action!"

I just love it. To know Momma was truly to love her. Definitely one of a kind and her name really fit her to a "t".....JOYE

The family

The absolute highlight of this year's vacation and annual Flaming Gorge trip was that we had ALL of the grandkids under the same roof on the same day!...Now, not at the same time and all together, but the same roof, just at different times. The Woolston kids got to see their cousins some for the first time. It has been hard to get busy lives and schedules coordinated. (That's what happens when the kiddoes start to grow up and Mom & Dad's lives get busier and busier) Anyway, what a blessing. I absolutely love my family. Each grandchild is unique and special in different ways and I have been blessed with an exceptional daughter-in-law and son in-law who chose to marry into the family. The visit was short, but fun and the kids enjoyed seeing each other. Some had never seen Ethan and Sarah was only a few months old the last time we were all together at the same time, so it was a JOY.

Carl did not get to come with the Woolston's on their way to Texas and Taryn had to get up early and go to her first day of Driver's Ed that morning, so they did not get in the group picture, so I added them to the collage. So, all of the Woolston kids are there, along with their Mommy (Christy), then Mammaw & Pappaw, and the younger Hatton family (bottom middle pic)...L to R .. Conner, Greg, Tara then Tyler,  with Taryn inserted on bottom left of collage. The Woolston's Daddy, Carl is inserted on bottom right (taken at flaming Gorge which he did get to enjoy with us, but had to go back to SLC to work while the rest of them headed to Texas with Mammaw & Pappaw)

Our vacation started in SLC to get with the Woolston's and then head to Flaming Gorge (this has been an annual thing for six years now) Last year Tyler was able to go with us, but this year, his back was all messed up and he could not go. Conner had a basketball tournament in Las Vegas (see what I mean about busy schedules and conflicts) and Greg & Tara have so many irons in the fire, it is just hard to let go.
Anyway, Flaming Gorge was wonderful as usual.

 We did our annual river rafting and on our second run, we rescued a woman whose kayak had overturned with her and her husband and she had held on as long as she could and finally had to let go and make it to shore while her husband continued on down the river (She was absolutely terrified, so we rowed over, picked her up and started looking for her husband) We found him about a half miles down on the side of the river trying to get the strength to continue. She opted to stay in the raft with us (I don't think that she will ever do a white water river in a kayak again). We finished our second run and headed for Colorado.

Stayed overnite there and visited, then took off for East Texas.
In East Texas more relatives were waiting for us with a yummy dinner and bunches of more relatives.

The next day we did a lot of visiting with even more relatives (Cousin David at the Sheriff's department) He handcuffed each of the kids and gave them stuffed animals.

On Friday, we headed to the lake and went tubing, skiing and had a picnic. During this stay, of course, we had to make a couple of stops at "The Pit". One of the absolute best places for bar-b-que and fried catfish EVER!!!! (AND cheap enough to actually do with a family of 6 kids).

Then the next day, more stops to visit family, then off to Aransas Pass.....the last stop for the Woolston's summer vacation.

So, at the beach....we fished, we swam in the ocean, we surfed, we fished, we went to the pool, we went to the movies for free popcorn night, we went to play putt-putt, we fished some more, we swam some more, we went to the island for souvenirs and waited for the ferry f-o-r-e-v-e-r!!!!!!, we played with the donkeys, we played "hand and foot" & "pennies from heaven" & "tripoley"...we caught "reds" and had a fish fry...we caught "sharks" and had a fish fry.

 We tried to cram it all in and I think we succeeded. The Woolston's left yesterday morning for the trip back to Utah...drove for 12 hrs and stayed in Moriarity NM then continued on their way to Utah today...they should be pulling  into home@ about 7PM
Whew, just doing the blog has tired me out.!!! Guess I will have to go to Los Comales to recuperate.

I have been busy!

Since I had the black paint out and since I had originally bought the black paint for the staircase, I figured that I had better get it done. After thinking and thinking and thinking about it and HOW I was going to accomplish this without getting paint on the light beige carpet, I finally figured it out. It was so easy. I don't know why I didn't come up with it before. Actually I almost did, but I was using much harder plastic. Anyway, I had some carpet protector in a roll. Works almost like saran wrap, but I had Carl cut the roll into three pieces, each about six inches wide. I rolled one on one side of the rails sticking it to the carpet and one on the other side, then kind of pulled them together in between. Then I cut up a milk carton and made a template to slip around each rail at the bottom. Made about 4 of them, then I slipped them on and pressed down to push the pile down as much as I could and painted the rail. Paint dried quickly and by the time I did the four, it was dry enough to move the templates onto the next 4. Worked like a charm! The templates fit so snug, not even a smidgen of paint seeped underneath the template. I was afraid that I was going to have to do masking tape, paint cloths and whatever, so I kept putting it off until I came up with this idea of the carpet protector. I may actually get my doors painted now! Anyway, I am VERY pleased with how they came out.
From left to middle down, then to the right for the finished product you can see how they started out when we bought the house, stripped the carpet (that is when I SHOULD have painted them), then painted half of them white (halfway through I decided that I didn't like them and it was taking me FOREVER because I was taping each rail, on at a time) to the final product which only took me about 3 hours total which I broke up into two mornings.

Scrap lumber anyone???

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I was left with a bed short for one of my bedrooms, sooooooooooooo, I started thinking and looking at online catalogs. Hey, a platform bed - should be easy to build, huh? So I told my skeptical husband my plan and being as easy going as he is and willing to do almost anything that I ask of him....Here we go. We had leftover hardie board siding from our hail damage re-do and I do hate to see anything go to waste.

I figured it was sturdy and hardy ( "hardie" board, hehe). Why not?

Carl kept saying that we needed this or needed that, but I had already decided, that this project was going to cost me "zilch".
 Okay, he finally talked me into buying 3 - 2x3's for $6.00. (He changed the interior support design after I bought them and then found scraps to finish it out) Anyway, it turned out almost perfect. IF, I had decided to actually spend money, I would have gone and bought some black and white print material to cover the actual platform that the mattress rests on, but I didn't. (I felt that since we were using scrap lumber and I didn't want to take  FOREVER sanding and making the wood absolutely smooth without any splinters, that I would just cover the board, also because the mattress that we were going to use is actually an air mattress that has a memory foam covering around it, so didn't want to take any chances of puncturing it) So,  I used what I had. Even the paint, nails and glue!

Since this was our first attempt, we didn't know how much room to leave for the actual bedding, so we did get the platform just a little too big, but if I change to one of those big thick and fluffy comforters, then it might be just right, Anyway for the first time, I think we did pretty good. So now, I have to decide if I am going to have him make me a headboard for it.