Jyls "Family" Life

My version of Egg McMuffin Breakfast Sandwich

2011-09-11T08:06:00.004-05:00

I've been making these for years. When Tab and Sam were still at home they liked them for breakfast and now that I'm working, it's nice to be able to make them and run out the door. I hardly ever go to McDonalds so don't know how much they cost there, but my version cost around $0.91 each!

First, here's what you'll need:

English Muffins, an egg, sliced Canadian Bacon and a slice of cheese. Oh, and a quick spray of cooking oil.

Being the "frugal" person I am, I mostly use store brand groceries. To me they taste fine, but a few things (like the cheese slices) are better with the name brand. HEB (a local grocery store) does not have plain label Canadian Bacon.

Split the muffin either with a fork or cut it with a bread knife.

We only use a toaster oven in my house, so place the muffin in the oven and toast it - I don't like mine too crispy, so I just do it a little more than a light toast.

While the muffin is toasting, find a small bowl close to the size of the muffin. (Mine is a Corelle dessert bowl.)

Spray it with the cooking spray.

Crack the egg into the bowl. Now you have to decided how you want the egg, I like it more like a scrambled egg, so I use a fork to beat it lightly.

If you don't want it that way, at least break the yolk of the egg with a fork.

Put the bowl in the microwave and cover it with a paper towel (to cut back on the mess in case it "explodes"). The first time you cook the egg, do it for three minutes, only on 20% power. This is important because if you do it full power, you'll have a mess in the microwave.

The muffin should be toasted by the time you get the egg in the microwave. Get your Canadian Bacon and slice of cheese ready. I open the door to the toaster oven and place the cheese on one part of the muffin and the canadian bacon on the other part. (I fold the corners of the cheese slice over so they don't drip to the bottom of the toaster oven.) This time I'm using two pieces of canadian bacon because I like to use packaged meat up within a week after it's opened.

Since the toaster oven is still warm, it will heat the bacon and melt the cheese when you close the door. No need to toast them again.

Here is my egg after three minutes at 20% power.

It's still shiny so needs to be cooked some more.

I put it in for another two minutes (also at 20% power).

And it's PERFECT!!!!!

Now pull the muffin out of the oven and place on a plate.

(That would be a good breakfast in itself if you were watching your cholesterol.)

Take the egg out of the bowl and place on top of the bacon, place the cheese part on top of the egg and you're done!!!! Here's how your breakfast looks:

YUM!!!!!! Not bad for a home made breakfast costing less than a dollar!!!!

It's been a while since I've updated my blog.

2011-09-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

The main reason is I'M WORKING AGAIN!!!! yay! I started a full-time job a few weeks ago and it's going really well. I love the people I work with and it's REALLY NICE to be around people all day again! (Not to mention the money is nice.) It's been hard getting used to being away from home all day and by the time I get home, I'm tired and I don't get too much done. I am, however, doing really good at getting up early and working out for 30 minutes on the elipitical machine. I'm finally to less than what I weighed last year when we went on the cruise!!!!

Todd's been home a couple weekends. He was home last weekend since it was Labor Day, and he was also home the week before. Most of his home time is spent working on the truck for some reason or another. He's had to replace the brakes already and then last weekend he went out to wash the truck good. If anyone knows Todd, he doesn't do an "OK" job at anything. He's almost a perfectionist so something that can take one person an hour, it can easily take Todd two or three. But he's VERY HAPPY being self-employed. He's making good money, but the expenses of owning his own truck are lots higher. In the end, he's doing great and is happy, that's all I can hope for him.

Today I decided to bake some cookies. I'm going to spend the afternoon tomorrow with some friends in Sun City and wanted something to take. I found a great recipe for Molassas Ginger cookies!

And what's better than plain cookies????? Ice cream sandwiches made with the cookies!!!!

Made with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and they are WONDERFUL!!!!

I have some sewing that needs to be done, and I'm working on another baby quilt. I don't think I've ever taken pictures of the first one that I made, but that will be done soon.

Sam's son, Tyler, had joined Boy Scouts this year. He's pretty excited and his dad is one of the leaders, so it will be nice for them to do that together. Even though Sam's been around me sewing for YEARS, she still needed me to put his patches on his shirt for her. They came over this afternoon and I got it done.

Todd was home last weekend

2011-08-03T15:28:00.001-05:00

so we had Tab and Sam bring the kids to see the truck. Boy did they have fun! They all were crawling around on the inside and Alyssa thinks it would be fun to camp in!!! lol

Of course, I took the camera to get some pictures of them.

(It was hot and bright outside.)

Alyssa

Angel

Tyler

Finally some pictures of the inside of Todd's truck

2011-07-16T12:07:00.001-05:00

They're not the greatest, but it's hard to take pictures in such a small space. But first, here's the picture Todd's been wanting since he was 18:

And the inside:

He's still working on getting everything organized. He had some shelves that he used in another truck that he put into this one, so it will take him a few days to decide where he wants everything.

Since Keim uses only flat-bed trailers, he decided he didn't need a condo. His truck is a Mid-Roof and has only one bunk. (The condos generally have two bunks.)

Next week, he'll get Keim's logo on it in addition to the other numbers, so as soon as he's home again I'll update more pictures.

He should be to Falls City, NE today and he'll stay with his Dad then be at the Keim terminal in Sabetha, KS Monday.

Today I'm enjoying the quiet house, getting some cleaning done and catching up on laundry. Tomorrow I'll get a few groceries and a newspaper and start the job hunt. Wish me luck!!!!

It's just me and Brute in the house now.

2011-07-15T20:50:00.001-05:00

We finally got the phone call that Todd's truck was almost done, so we left for Dallas late morning today. We still had to wait a little bit on it, but soon after we pulled into the dealership parking lot, I saw his truck leave the service parking lot. (He put a yellow ladder on the headache rack, so I knew for sure it was his.) They were taking it for a test drive, then the salesman took it over and filled it with fuel. They told us one of the mechanics also noticed the turbo was leaking, so they put a new one in today, also. Apparently it's very hard to get the turbos lined up with the other rebuilt part they put in the back (axle). I'm no mechanic, so I won't claim to have all the right lingo, but suffice it to say, Todd's now on his way to Kansas!!! A week late, but I'm REALLY hoping this trip turns out better than the last one. He'll go to Falls City and stay with his dad until Monday. We're hoping he'll be able to leave for his first load Wednesday at the latest. He'll still have a few things to do when he gets to Keim such as getting their logo on the truck, along with the other DOT numbers and the truck has to be inspected by a Kansas Trooper to make sure it's safe to be registered in Kansas.

We took some more pictures of the truck, both inside and outside (with Todd), so I'll get them uploaded and do another post, but for now it's been a long day and Brute and I are going to head to bed soon. lol

Where's Todd????

2011-07-12T10:09:00.001-05:00

Well right now he's home, but he's SUPPOSED to be in Kansas getting ready to leave with his first load with his new truck. What happened? Ugh!!!!!

Here we go: The first time we went to look at the truck was June 29th. Todd decided he wanted it, so we agreed on price, financing, etc. They needed to do a bunch of stuff to it, so said we could go back on July 7th to pick it up. Phone calls the morning of the 7th told us it wasn't ready yet. So we decided to give them another day and go up on Friday, the 8th. We got there at 11:15 am and were told it should be ready at 2:30 or 3:00. OK, no big deal. Todd had a few things he needed to pick up and we could go for lunch. Back later that afternoon, truck's still not done. Found out it sat for an extra two days after the 4th of July because it was taken to the wrong place to be worked on and no one found out until Wednesday afternoon. Anyway, my patience was wearing very thin and Brute was really tired of not being at home. We finally actually took possession of the truck about 6 pm (after it was washed and detailed). We had taken the pickup to Dallas since Todd had tons of stuff to put in the truck. The sales part of the dealership was to close at 6, so we moved it over to the parts department that's open 24 hours. Got everything switched from the pickup to the truck (well, most of it). Brute and I finally headed home around 7:45pm. What a long day! Home at 11:15 pm took extra time since I hadn't had supper yet and there was an accident on the interstate in Waco. Talked to Todd before I went to sleep - he had fueled the truck and was going to had north. He wanted to get past a scale in Oklahoma while it was closed. He drove until about 2:00 am Saturday morning. When he stopped, he smelled something smoking so went to investigate - it was the truck. The forward axle was so hot he couldn't even touch it and there was smoke coming out the vent. Not GOOD!!!! He called the service dept. at the dealership and they said there's not much they could do - he'd need to wait until the Sales Dept opened that morning (9 am). Of course, being the loving husband that he is, he had to call me at 2:15 am to let me know the truck's broken down and it's going to have to be towed somewhere and fixed. I was NOT HAPPY!!! He only drove 130 miles and the truck's INOPERABLE! So much for being in Kansas and starting to make some money this week! Since Todd's a diesel mechanic, he knew what happened. Part of the warranty that he purchased with the truck included a 168 pt. inspection. In addition to that, when he test drove the truck, he noticed part of the (now broken) axle leaking so he told them that needed to be fixed. Apparently they replaced the gasket on said axle, but failed to replace the oil. (Minor detail - just a hint if sarcasm there). There were a few things that Todd found that weren't done, so they are supposed to do them, also. So Brute and I had to make ANOTHER trip to Dallas to pick up Todd. The dealership paid to have the truck towed 134 miles from OK to the dealership in Dallas. They called us this morning to let him know that what he thought happened, actually did. (Of course, the service tech he spoke to Saturday morning didn't believe Todd when he said someone forgot to put oil back in the axle.) We now have to wait to see if the dealership is going to rebuilt it or if they are going to find an already rebuilt one. Either way, we don't think it will be ready to be picked up again until late Thursday or sometime Friday. Todd's not as upset as I am, he's looking at the point that he's going to have a rebuilt rear end, but I'm worried about our rather large truck payment that's due in Mid-August. Not to mention another trip to Dallas and what it costs us in gas. While we were on he way home Saturday afternoon the salesman called Todd and asked if I was mad - Todd just said "I think I have her calmed down pretty well for the moment." lol He said he'll see if he can get us a tank of gas when we have to go back but I'm not sure that will happen. I hope I'm wrong, but we'll see.

Anyway, Todd had to call Keim to let them know he wasn't going to be there yesterday morning. He's having some supplies (straps, bungees and chains) delivered there, so they'll just hold them until he gets there. I certainly hope he'll be up there this coming Monday.

I did snap some better pictures of the truck before I left Friday, so here they are.

Celebration of our parent's 50th Anniversary

2011-06-30T17:08:00.001-05:00

The day after the reunion, June 19th, we got together at Barry's house in Lincoln to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary. It wasn't actually until the 22nd, but close enough. Jerolyn made brisket for sandwiches, I made potato salad (from Mom's recipe) and Penny (Barry's wife) got the cake. Brian just showed up, I guess, lol!! He's not married so he gets a "pass". Todd and I also took one of the salsas that we won at the auction so everyone could try it.

Here are the decorations:
(I thought this was neat)

After we ate, we went outside to take some pictures (in front of Barry's weeping willow tree we got them as a wedding present):
Entire group

Front: LaNeisha (Penny's daughter), Penny, Jerolyn, Mom, Dad, Me
Back: Brian, Josh (Jerolyn's son), Barry, Ben (Jerolyn's other son), Dave (Jerolyn's husband), Todd

Then we had cake and ice cream

I wanted to get a picture of how green everything was up there - this was take right outside Barry's garage.

(Everything is so brown and dry down here in Texas.)

In other news, we spent yesterday in Dallas. Todd has wanted to own his own truck for a long time and we're finally taking the plunge. He picked out a 2006 Freightliner CL260. We forgot to take pictures but here is the link to see pictures.

We have to go back next week to pick it up, assuming we have all our work done. We've spent all day running to the bank and making phone calls and faxes and we're still not done. Tomorrow Todd has to go get his drug test and DOT physical.

Auction items

2011-06-25T13:34:00.002-05:00

At our Troyer family reunions, we have auctions to make money for the next reunion. We all bring things we've made or family heirlooms. I took a baked potato bag, knitted baby booties and a set of three reusable shopping bags. Mom ended up winning the bid for the shopping bags with a choice of just one (for the bid price) or all three - she decided she wanted them all. I told her later on that had she asked, I would have made her a set. lol But at least the money goes to a good cause. (I had also made a set of shopping bags for my sister, Jerolyn, since she told me she'd like some. She has given me a few great pieces of stained glass, so that was my gift to her in return. I made them out of fabric that was my MIL's - really pretty white fabric with violets on it. I wish I would have remembered to take pictures before I gave them away.)

Anyway, I did get a fairly good picture of the tables with the auction items displayed.

The tall blue candy dish was also something everyone remembers being at Grandma and Loretta's house. They always had Lemon Drop candy in it. It brought back lots of memories for us all. My brother, Brian, ended up winning it - and for a pretty good price, I thought.

This year Todd and I actually bid on a few things! Here's what we won:

Salsa one of my cousins's wives made

It's pretty good. Since it's marked "XXX" so we thought it would be pretty hot, but I guess maybe since we're Texans it wasn't too hot for us. They brought 12 jars, a few of which were peach flavored, but someone else won them. We bought two jars and opened one the next day when we got together for Mom and Dad's Anniversary (post yet to come about that).

The other thing we won I kinda decided at the last moment that I'd like to have. It's a candy jar that was my grandma's (Mom's Mom). I have a few candy jars around the house from Todd's grandma, so I decided it would be neat to have one from mine, too.

The other thing I brought home was something else that we bid on, but didn't win. There were a couple things that we in Grandma's house that my Aunt Loretta brought. The guys doing the auction paired a couple dishes together. Amy, my cousin, was sitting next to me and was also bidding on the pair and she won the bid. After the auction was over and we were getting ready to head home, Amy asked if we could give her a ride back to Milford. We both had all our auction winnings and she said she had actually been bidding on the pair because she wanted the green dish. I laughed and said we were bidding on them because I wanted the other piece. lol Anyway, she said she'd check with her mom, Betty, and if she didn't want it, Amy would let me have it. Sunday morning she was on her way to the airport and stopped by Mom and Dad's to give it to me. I was so excited! I remember this hanging in Grandma's kitchen, so I'm going to find somewhere to put it in mine.

The other funny thing about this is that I found a plate at Mom's that has the same saying on it, but it's round and larger. It even has the same heart boarder!

A while ago, Mom had also brought me a small crock that was HER Grandma's (so my Great Grandma's). I have it in the china hutch that we brought home from Todd's Grandma's. One of these days I need to mark everything so the girls remember who's everything was.

June 2011 Nebraska trip

2011-06-22T08:14:00.054-05:00

I took LOTS of pictures in the last few days. I think I'll break them up into a few different posts. The first few days of our trip were spend with my Father-In-Law in Falls City, Nebraska. We got there Wednesday evening and made a trip to Runza (a requirement on these trips - can't get them in Texas). Thursday and Friday we spent the afternoons going to St. Joseph MO for his last radiation treatments for a form of skin cancer. We are all happy he's done. He needs to go back in a couple weeks for a follow-up and hopefully that will be all.

Friday evening we headed to Milford. Had supper with Mom, Dad and Jerolyn. Saturday was the BIG family reunion and that's where most of the pictures are from.

Just a little background - Mom is #11 of 12 kids. The order of birth is:
Dorothy, Loretta, Glenn, Lester, James, Mary, Betty, Eunice, Ivan, Harold, Violet , and Leonard.

Three (Glenn, Lester and Ivan) have passed away and one (Leonard) couldn't make it, but the other eight were there:

Front: Dorothy, Loretta, James, Mary
Back: Vi, Harold, Eunice, Betty

The siblings and their spouses:

We also took a picture of the cousins (the next generation, mine):

There were 23 in attendance out of 37.

Then someone had the idea to line up from the oldest to the youngest. Todd had to take five pictures to get everyone:

The oldest ones: Deryl, Linda, Kathy, Pat, Doug and Tim

Randy, Todd, Karla and Rick

Terry, Brent and Amy

Lori, Julie, Kim and Don

And the youngest: Brian, Paul, Jerolyn, Jyl, Barry and Kyle.

It was hard to get everyone to look and not talk at the same time, but I think Todd did a pretty good job. Most of the people I haven't seen since the last reunion I was at and that was probably 9 years ago. It was so fun to see everyone!

Major Milestone

2011-06-17T08:49:00.003-05:00

On June 22, my parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! We have a Troyer family (mom's family) reunion, so Todd and I are attending. That way we'll be around to help Mom and Dad celebrate a little early.

Here they are on their wedding day:

And this picture was taken a little while ago for church:

We are having a "card shower" for them, so if any is interested in sending a card to them, send me an email at: jylslife@gmail.com and I'll send you their address.

I can't tell you what great influences they have been to me and my siblings. I'm so anxious to see them later today!!!!

Baby bluebird

2011-05-22T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we had a little show in the backyard. Brute saw a squirrel on the ground, so (of course) he wanted outside to chase it. The squirrel ran up a tree, but apparently chose the wrong tree as there was a adult bluebird in it. The squirrel was caught between Brute at the bottom of the tree and the bluebird on the top of the tree. Each time the squirrel tried to go higher in the tree, the bluebird would swoop down and attack it. It was really funny and Todd and I laughed watching it for about five minutes. Finally the squirrel made it high enough in the tree to jump to another tree and get away. He had to run down the trunk of that tree to get to another clump of trees in the backyard and Brute totally missed him.

This morning we got up and were sitting outside having coffee and noticed a bird nest in the tree the squirrel was in. Todd saw there was a baby bluebird in it, so I ran in to get my camera. More to see it better from the ground, but then I decided to snap a few pictures. I actually took quite a few, but that was because I was playing with the different settings on the camera.

Anyway, here are a few pictures:

The adult male was around, and actually fed the baby before I ran in to get my camera. I was hoping he would come back while I was watching, but he didn't. It was fun watching it for a little while.

Tyler had another birthday!!!!!!!

2011-05-10T09:23:00.002-05:00

He's 6 now and we had a party for him at the pool of their apartment complex. We had the usual grilled Hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and dip, etc. It was a lot of fun!

One of his presents from Sam & Jason was a scooter.

Todd enjoying a hot dog.

Angel and Alyssa trying to play baseball with a beach ball and swimming noodle. lol

Alyssa got cold so went to sit by Todd for a while. They looked like they were have a very serious conversation. (She's growing up so fast!!!) LOVE this picture!!!!

Easter Egg coloring!!!

2011-04-18T16:24:00.003-05:00

As anyone who know me can attest, I like to have "Traditions" that we do with the kids and grandkids. One of those is Easter Egg Coloring. (We also do pumpkin carving and decorating Christmas cookies every year.)

We did it yesterday, a week early, but we always do it BEFORE Easter. So of course, I had to snap some pictures!!!! We had over four dozen eggs to decorate.

Gosh, Alyssa is really growing!

And so is Angel - he doesn't have a pudgy face anymore!!!!

Todd and Jason didn't help this time, they were watching TV. I bought the newest Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows Pt. 1) when it came out, so I think that is what they were watching. Either that or "Judge Dredd" - worst movie EVER!!!! lol

But they did take time to go hide some plastic eggs I had filled with Robins Eggs, Jelly Beans and Bubble Gum. The kids were so excited!!!!!

Angel and Tyler were so funny. Right before I took this picture, they walked up to each other and tried to peek in the others bucket and bumped their heads. It was so funny - I wish I wasn't the only one who saw it happen.

So Brute got a haircut last week,

2011-03-13T13:05:00.001-05:00

then we had a short cold-spell come through. The poor little thing was sitting on the floor shaking, so I decided he needed to have a shirt on. (I have a couple sweaters for him, too.) He didn't like having it on much, though. He stood in the same spot in the office for a good 10 minutes before he took any steps, so I snapped a quick picture.

I guess I need to put making him a sweater on my "Things to Knit" list. lol

I am so far behind.....

2011-03-05T11:35:00.001-06:00

And I can't believe our oldest Granddaughter, Alyssa, turned 8 last month! We all went over to Tab's apartment to celebrate. It was lots of fun !!!!

The birthday girl!!!!!

We had pizza before she opened her gifts. Angel really liked the pizza, I think. lol

Then she opened presents

(We gave her earrings and a bracelet.)

Aunt Sam gave her a snuggie, which she loved!!!!

And she left it on the rest of the time we were there. She even left it on to eat her cake!!!

She's getting so big! (well, really, they all are.) And just to Tyler isn't left out, he was there, too. (Nice haircut, right? lol)

I'm getting down to just a few weeks left before my boss closes the agency and I'm out of a job. Todd and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas the first week in April, so that will be fun. It's nice to have a trip to look forward to!!!!

Christmas is finally over!!!! lol

2011-02-06T15:05:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we had our last Christmas celebration with all four girls and their families. Our SIL made it home safely from Iraq (PTL) just before New Years, so this was the first time we could all get together. McKenna is getting so big and it was great to see everyone together again!

Todd passed out the stockings

And everyone opened their presents

Then we had a late lunch of ham, prime rib, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, etc. The prime rib was EXCELLENT and everyone ate lots.

The weather was so nice, we all sat outside and visited for the rest of the day. Lots of FUN!

Todd and I had been thinking about getting another vehicle. My 2003 Mazda Protege LX has over 98,000 miles on it and the 2001 Dodge Ram PU is getting lots of miles put on it with Todd driving it to and from work every day. So Saturday night after we took Kate and Brandon out to supper at Joe's Crab Shack in Round Rock, we stopped at the Mazda dealership (same one where we purchased the Protege). We were looking at a used CX-7 when one of the salesmen came out to talk to us (it was 10 minutes before closing, so I thought we'd get lucky and they would leave us alone). He told us he had a 2010 that had a reduced price, so we looked at it. It was nice and we said we'd think about it, then ended up going back Sunday before everyone came over for Christmas to see it in daylight. Anyway, to make a long story short(er), we ended up purchasing it. So I have to share pictures!!!!

The color is called Black Cherry Mica - in the sun it looks purple with specks of red, but in the shade
it looks almost black.

Not trunk, and LOTS of storage space in the back. This will come in VERY handy on our trips up north.

We wanted something to protect the cloth seats, so I made some seat covers. No pattern, just winged it!

LOVE IT! Todd finally got to drive in last night when we went to Olive Garden in Round Rock. It's getting pretty good gas mileage.

Today is the super bowl. We aren't fans of any sport, really, but we're planning to watch it for the commercials. lol For supper I'm making some good snacks - hot legs (not wings, Todd likes legs), steak bites and onion strings. They are all Pioneer Woman's recipes (where the links take you) that I've made before and we really liked.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T07:48:00.001-06:00

We had our first Christmas celebration on Christmas Day. Tab and Sam and their families came over for lunch, Todd deep fried a turkey and it was GREAT! We had the usual green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and jello salad (it seems like I'm forgetting something). Anyway, after lunch dishes were done, we opened presents!
We had the kids all pass out the presents

Dom received a nerf-type gun from my parents

And so did Angel

Alyssa received an Easy Bake Oven!

Tyler received a camo back pack (and gloves, which I didn't get a picture of)

I gave Tab and Sam stained glass that my sister made:

We gave the grandkids clothes, so they weren't too excited, but it was a need. lol
After the presents were open, we had cheese ball and crackers, and punch, then everyone went home and Todd and I could relax for the rest of the night.

We don't use our fireplace for wood very much, so I put a bunch of candles in it.

Later in January we'll have our Christmas with Megan and Kate and their families. David is getting home from Iraq today, so we are all excited for that. I'm planning to make Prime Rib and a ham when they come, yum!

We did have some bad news on Christmas Eve, my brother-in-law in Nebraska had a heart attack and open heart surgery that morning. He's doing well and still in the hospital, but this was the second year in a row that we've had family in the hospital over Christmas (last year Brandon, ours son-in-law was there after his bad fall). Jerolyn was hoping to take Dave home tomorrow, but the doctors say he's not ready yet. Hopefully he'll be home by the weekend. We're keeping them in our prayers.

Christmas Cookie Decorating!!!!

2010-12-22T10:20:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday we had the grandkids over to decorate the Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun and the kids did a really good job. It's one thing that I do every year and they seem to enjoy it.

Angel:

Alyssa:

Tyler:

All of them:

And I always have some little Christmas toys or fun stuff. I made them each a little bag and sewed each if their names on it.

I think I only have one more present to buy for Christmas, but it's for McKenna and I need to talk to her Mom to see what to get her. We're celebrating Christmas with them later in January since David will get home from Iraq in a couple of weeks.

December 13, 2010

2010-12-13T09:51:00.003-06:00

I couldn't think of a title for this post, so I'm just using the date.. lol

Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much with the family since we got back from Nebraska for Thanksgiving. I've completed a quilt and have been knitting and crocheting, so you can see that on my "sewing/craft blog".

Today I made Christmas cookies since the grandkids are coming over this weekend to decorate them. I'll make sure I take pictures then. (Since we have ceramic tile on the counter tops, I have to roll the cookies out on the stove - at least I can do that instead of having to do it on the table!)

Kate gave me a tip on using powdered sugar to roll them out instead of flour, so I tried that and it really worked! However, the later cookies were very flat and when cooked they spread out much more than the first ones. I probably should have used a mixture of flour and powered sugar. I may try that next time.

One of Todd's co-workers requested some more Malted Milk Chocolate Chip cookies when I met him at the Christmas Party, so I'll do them sometime this week. I don't have enough chocolate chips, so need to head to the store in the next couple of days.

I also started decorating for Christmas. I usually do it right after Thanksgiving, but we're having Christmas with Megan and Kate later in January since David, Megan's husband, is getting home from Iraq at the end of December. So I just put the Christmas tree up last weekend. Then caught a cold or Cedar Fever, not sure which, but felt bad on Saturday. I still need to finish, but I can take the rest of the week to do that. We're really looking forward to being home for Christmas this year. Since we moved to Texas in 1998, I think this will be the 4th Christmas we'll be home, all the other years we've went to Nebraska. Now that the grandkids are getting older, I think it's time we are here to start building traditions with them. And speaking of grandkids, Angel has a birthday this week!!! On Wednesday he'll turn 6! (Can't believe it!!!)

Time to put some more cookies in the oven. Please check back next week for pictures of Christmas Cookie Decorating!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!!

November 2010

2010-12-05T09:05:00.001-06:00

I guess I can title this post November 2010, since it's already December. :D

Todd finished the gate so we could move the trailer to the back yard. It looks good!

It's so nice to have it moved from the driveway!

Todd and I were trying to decide what to do for Thanksgiving this year. It's been a while since we've gone somewhere just the two of us - the trips we've taken in the last 18 months or so were always with family (funerals, holidays, cruise, IL), so we thought about going to Vegas, then maybe to the coast, but ended up going to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. It's always nice to see family, but soon we need to do something just us. Anyway, we drove all of Thanksgiving Day to Falls City, celebrated with them on Saturday, drove to Milford on Sunday and had a nice meal with them that afternoon. Got up Monday morning, went to breakfast in Lincoln w/ Mom and Dad, then heard about a snow storm coming and decided to head home early. We left early afternoon, stayed overnight in Pauls Valley, OK that night and made it home early afternoon on Tuesday. Todd had to be at work Wednesday Morning, so it was nice to have a while to relax.

Anyway, while we were at Mom and Dad's, Jerolyn wanted a family picture, so I took my camera down to snap a few.

Ben and Josh

Jerolyn and Dave

All of them together

I'm organizing my Photobucket account,

2010-11-15T16:20:00.002-06:00

so if you see any pictures that are missing, please send me an email or comment on the post and I'll correct them.

Thanks!!!!

Two posts in less than an hour!!! SHOCK! lol

2010-11-11T16:48:00.001-06:00

So after I posted the last entry, I heard some noises outside and looked out the window. Much to my surprise, I see a guy out there with a gun! I grabbed my camera to get a picture, but never could. I saw him go over to talk to our neighbor, so I went over there to see what was going on. There was a deer with a broken leg and they called animal control, who came over to take care of it. He tranquilized it and took it away. Soon after, this is what showed up in their back yard:

Apparently it was around her this morning, before they realized she had a broken leg. I was wishing I had my other lens for the camera, but I cropped it and it looks OK. We always have a bunch of deer around here, but it's not often I've see such a big one. (And all the deer in TX look smaller than the ones in Nebraska.)

Anyway, that was my excitement for the afternoon!! lol

Wow, where has the time gone!

2010-11-11T15:45:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog! We had a visit from my parents (and I was bad and didn't take any pictures), spent time with the girls and Todd and I took them to "The Oasis" in Austin while they were here. It was lots of fun and their visits always seem to go so quickly.

The current project we're working on is adding gates to the backyard so we can park the trailer there. Currently it's sitting in the driveway, and we want to move it. Unfortunately, our city has "ordinances" where trailers can be parked and the backyard is really the only place we can park it besides the driveway. Originally we wanted to park it next to the garage, but it can't be within 6 feet of our property line.

Todd stopped at Home Depot on his way home from work on Saturday and got most of it set up. This is what it looks like right now:

The chairs are around the concrete so that the deer don't bother it. We still need to cut the post down to the right size and shorten the chain link, then we can move the trailer there! It will be nice to get it out of the driveway!

Other than that, no major projects going on. I'm still going through all the jewelry we brought home from IL. We have a lot of nice costume jewelry, unfortunately most of it is silver and all mine is gold, so I can't really wear it. I've been searching the internet looking to see if I can find values, but haven't had much luck.

Today is Veteran's Day, so please take the time to thank a veteran! We're looking forward to our Son-In-Law to come home from Iraq in a couple of months. They are going to come see us in January, so that will be nice. I'm hoping we can get everyone together for a family picture while they are here.

China Hutch is finally in the house!

2010-10-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

Todd finally had a little time to work on the china hutch we brought home from Illinois and his grandma's house. The quarter-round on the inside was loose and we didn't want to break the glass, so he had to buy some small screws to tighten them up. After we got it in the house, I cleaned it good, then started to fill it up. Most of what I have it in was Grandma Rena's. I took a few pieces of the china we brought home and put them in there. I think it looks pretty good! We put it in the foyer so it's the first thing you see when you come in the front door.

Mom's going to bring me one of her teapots next time they come, so I left room for that.

I couldn't find a date on it and sure wonder how old it is.

What a year we've had.

2010-09-30T16:24:00.001-05:00

Today is the first anniversary of Nel's passing. Brings back lots of memories of the emotional two or three weeks our family went through last year. Two weddings and two funerals in the span of 15 days. Lots of miles we put on our vehicles going to Falls City, Kansas City and Pleasant Hill during that time. Larry's come a long way and doing better than I thought he would. I can tell Todd still misses his mom a lot, but I hope it's becoming easier for both of them.

I'm still working on the quilt top I brought home at Christmas, but I use her sewing machine quite a bit. I used some of her fabric to make a blanket for Josh and Ruth's baby, which I think they probably appreciate.

It's nice to see reminders of both Nel and Rena in the house.

Lots of treasures!!!!

2010-09-15T10:23:00.002-05:00

Last week Todd's family met in Pleasant Hill, IL to clean out his grandma's house. She passed away last October and the house is getting ready to be sold. I've blogged a lot about grandma - I visited her over Labor Day in 2009, then Todd and I went to get her in Pleasant Hill late September of last year for Nel's (Todd's Mom) funeral and Josh and Ruth's wedding. (Rena passed away just a few days after the wedding.) Anyway, you can look at the tags on the side of the blog to find various posts.

She lived in a HUGE, old house and there were lots of antiques to choose from. The trailer we took is only 1/4 empty, so I don't have pictures of everything, but I wanted to post a few things we've unpacked already.

Aluminum Pitcher

Blue Bubble bowl (my mom has a complete set of this that she put together piece by piece)

Crock Pitcher

Beautiful glass vase - can't wait to get a dozen pretty red roses for this!

A complete set of china

Silverware

Kate wanted this chair, so we brought it home for her. We're also giving her the drawing of Grandma's house so she can make more for everyone. Also an antique high-chair to the left.

Glider that Todd remembers his Grandpa Homer sitting it it.

Old lawn chair - we're planning to strip and repaint it.

Drop leaf table that we can't get open - one of the legs is tucked inside the other legs, so we have to figure out how to get it out. Also an ottoman - I'm thinking of recovering it to match the chair I'm working on. I'll have to see if I can find more material, though.

I'll add more posts as time permits. I have pictures of the foggy morning - she lived on the hill in Pleasant Hill and it looks over the valley. I also took pictures of the headstone that has the date of her death on it. Brad also moved Tobe's headstone up there. (That story will follow with the pictures.)

Lots of work for Todd and I now, we'll see how long it takes us to get it all done.

Woohoo!!!!

2010-08-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

So excited - we got a new fridge! First time I've ever had water and ice in the door - WONDERFUL!!!!!

THREE gallons of milk on one shelf (in addition to juice and a gallon of sun tea)!!!!

Three crisper drawers for fruit/veggies, plus one long one for deli meats/cheese, etc.

LOTS of room in the freezer - also has small pull out shelf!

Small door compartment - this is the side w/ the ice maker/dispenser.

Larger compartments on the other door - a couple of them are large enough for a gallon of milk.

The matching dishwasher is huge, too. Stainless steel on the inside and holds lots of tall things on the bottom.

We're lucky enough that my husband could install them himself, so we didn't have to pay anyone to do it for us. The appliances they replaced were both at least 11 years old, so it was time for new ones.

Quick post while I'm supposed to be making supper.

2010-08-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

We had storms a couple weeks ago while I was at home and I had to snap a quick picture of Brute. He doesn't like storms, so he'll sit under whatever it is I'm sitting at. On this particular day, I was in the office at my desk.

And a picture from supper last week - our Chicken Kabobs we had on Monday (8/2/10). They were SOOO GOOD!!!!!

Better go before supper burns!!!! LOL

Just because I haven't had much to post lately,

2010-07-31T08:45:00.001-05:00

I decided to post our meal plan for the week. I started doing this a while ago because when I worked full-time (and after Todd came home), I always forgot to get something out of the freezer for supper and then I'd panic, or I couldn't figure out what to make each night. It seemed like I made the same things all the time. After that, I signed up at Meal Time Makeover (endorsed by Dave Ramsey) for a few months and got lots of good, new recipes. It gives you a meal for each day of the week, the recipe and grocery list that you can print out each week - so it made things SO MUCH easier for me!

Since then, I've kinda made the same concept for me, but we now have much more variety for supper. However, since we bought a new gas grill a few weeks ago and this week is supposed to be really hot, I tried to do a lot of meals on the grill.

So here's our menu for the week of 7/31 to 8/6/10:

Saturday:     Lunch: Left overs
             Dinner: Out (we only eat out once a week or less)

Sunday:       Lunch:     Mushroom Swiss Burgers (on Grill)
                                     Sweet Potato Fries (on Grill)
              Dinner:   Salmon (on Grill)
                                   Green Beans
                                   Salad

Monday:       Dinner:   Chicken Kabobs (on Grill) (marinated chicken, red pepper, red onion and               marinated mushrooms)
                                     Rice

Tuesday:       Dinner:   Steak (on Grill)
                                     Sautéed Mushrooms
                                     New Potatoes

Wednesday:   Dinner:   BBQ Chicken Thighs (on Grill) - trying new recipe
                                       Grilled Zucchini
                                       Salad

Thursday:   Dinner:   Burritos
                      Charro Beans (made last weekend, need to eat)
                                    Spanish Rice

Friday:       Dinner:   Sausage (on Grill)
                                   Sauerkraut

Todd takes leftover for lunch every day, so I do usually make more than enough for us. I usually have leftovers or a sandwich for lunch.

Today we're going to Walburg to meet with a Thrivent rep to get our IRA's started and hopefully he'll be able to help us out with a Health Savings Account. Todd signed up for one back in March when his company was bought out and they've been taking money out of his paychecks, but never got an account set up for us. This week they finally said we could do one on our own, but our bank in town doesn't do them. I looked online and Thrivent does, so we'll talk to him about that, too.

In other news, our new Plasma TV that we bought in March quit working last night. It doesn't turn on at all, so Philips is going to pay for someone to come out to the house to fix it. Good thing it happened now while it's under warranty!

This morning while Todd's at work, I'm getting groceries, then back home to hopefully hear from the company about setting up a time to come fix the TV and getting other things ready for our meals this week. I don't buy taco seasoning anymore, I found a recipe online and make it at home!!! Along with Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning, Lipton Onion Soup mix and a mix to make Spicy Hamburgers (bought the original stuff at a craft show and it's hard to find). Anything to save a buck!!!!

Brute got his hair cut again yesterday, but this time they didn't charge us because they nicked him! He's got a little cut on one of his back legs where it meets his body. It doesn't seem to hurt him too much and doesn't bleed, but the poor thing! I haven't decided yet if I'm going to take him back there next time or not. Usually if I take him early in the morning, they have him done around noon.   Yesterday I took him at 8:30 am and didn't pick him up until 4:00 pm. When I dropped him off, I asked her how long it would take and she said she had four dogs in front of him to do - so I don't know why she had me drop him off so early! That should have been a hint.   Anyway, busy weekend and I need to get going.

Have a wonderful week everyone! And let me know if any of the dinners sound good and you want me to take a picture!

For my cruise journal

2010-07-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

I thought I probably should do a post and put the links with the days in order for easy viewing:

Pre-Cruise
Pre-Cruise Part II
Day 1 - Embarkment
Day 2 - At Sea
Day 3 - Curacao
Day 4 - Aruba
Day 5 - At Sea
Day 6 - Dominica (this post is very picture heavy)
Day 7 - St Thomas
Disembarkment and post-Cruise

Enjoy!!!! I'd love to hear comments!

Another picture from the cruise....

2010-07-13T11:10:00.002-05:00

I had to get this one from Brad. This was taken after the first formal night on the cruise. It's not the best picture we've ever taken, but still pretty good.

Cruise Journal - Day 8 - Disembarkment - 6/20/10

2010-06-26T09:24:00.001-05:00

(My big camera, the Canon, is packed, so all I had with me was the small Olympus, but I didn't take any pictures. So the next couple posts will be boring- lol)

Up early for breakfast with everyone. The ship has Disembarkment down to a science. They break everyone up according to when your flight leaves. So the ones with the earliest flights are the first ones off the ship. They have each group gather in a certain area (our group gathered in the Schooner Bar) and when it's time to leave, they have a crew member lead everyone off. Our group was scheduled to leave at 8:25 am. Our flight was scheduled for 1:15 pm. When you leave, you go into a big building where they have all the bags set out (but they are broken down by colors of luggage tags they gave you the night before). It wasn't hard to find ours. Then you have to go through customs - we filled out a form the night before, it asks where you live, if you are declaring any food or produce, an estimate of how much money you spent while out of the country, etc. We had a porter help us with the bags, and we just breezed through - the customs agent glanced at our form and just asked "Is this about how much you've spent?" and we said Yes, and he let us go through.

Then they put our bags in a truck and we get in shuttles for the trip to the airport. It was only a 15-20 minute ride. Once at the airport, we have to get our bags again to go through USDA Inspection. They scan your bags and I laughed when I saw the "Top 10 Insects" they are looking for plastered on the side of the scanner. After they looked at all our bags, we got little green stickers on them, and we could proceed to check in for our flights.

We found our gate and were sitting there by 9:30 am or so. We decided we wanted something to drink, so we did that and soon L found us. (B&C are spending another week in the Caribbean, on St. Lucia, so their flight wasn't until later in the day.) His flight was scheduled for 2:45 pm a couple of gates from us, so he sat with us. About 11:00, I looked at my Blackberry and saw that I had a couple of unread e-mails. They were from Delta - BAD SIGN! Our flight had been delayed until 3:15 pm. and the funny thing was, there was no announcement or anything at the gate we were sitting at. The board still said it was to depart at 1:15 pm. I read it to T & L and the guy behind me said they had gotten them, too. Most of the other people sitting at the gate had no clue unless they heard us talking about it.

Luckily Larry's plane left on time, so I gave him a big hug and told him thanks for the trip (for about the 100th time in the last week). Todd walked him over there and he got on his flight with no problems.

So, since our flight was delayed, that meant we'd miss our connecting flight in Atlanta. The email said they had re-booked us on another flight out of Atlanta at 8:15 pm. (The flight from San Juan to Atlanta is almost 4 hours.) We eventually left at 3:15 pm, got to Atlanta and went to the gate where the email said our 8:15 flight was leaving from. There was no one at the counter, but we saw a machine that said "Have you missed your flight?". All you had to do was scan your boarding pass and it would print another boarding pass for the flight you are re-booked on. OK. Scanned Todd's and it said he was on the 9:50 pm flight. Scanned mine and didn't read it because we were panicking - the late flight meant we wouldn't get to DFW until 11:15 or so and the shuttle from the hotel where the car is STOPS at 11:00 pm. The lady got to the counter, I gave her the things the machine printed out and told her the email I received said we were supposed to be booked on the 8:15 flight. She said it's full, but we'll put you on standby. Well, not much else we can do, so decided to get a sandwich and something to drink. While sitting there eating, Todd decided we might as well stay at the hotel for another night since our luggage probably won't get to the airport the same time we will. I called and had them reserve another room for Sunday night. I looked at the papers we have and noticed mine said I was on the 8:15 pm flight even though Todd's said he was on the 9:50 flights. Went back to the counter and showed her, so she printed me a boarding pass and said Todd was the first one on Stand-by for the 8:15 pm flight. We decided if I have to go first, I might as well, and Todd would take a cab to the hotel if he needed to. Turns out we both got on the flight - I sat in row 6 which was first class :D and
Todd was in coach. Not the best, but at least we were on the same flight!

So we get to DFW and down to baggage claim. I see the Delta worker with some bags that have been there a while and noticed one was Todd's! Apparently it made it to DFW on our original flight (how, we can't figure out). We waited until all the bags were out from our flight. Of course, mine was no where to be found. Spoke w/ the Delta guy again and told him we're staying in DFW tonight, so if it gets here before 9 am, deliver it to the hotel. If not, they'll have to get it to us in Georgetown.

Luckily, the shuttle from the hotel was still at the airport, so they came to get us and we got to the hotel just before 11 pm. We were hungry, so ran to get something to eat and back to the hotel. We didn't get to sleep until after midnight. The front desk called at 1:45 am to let me know the bag was there (YAY!!!), so I ran down to get it and went back to sleep.

We slept until about 8 am on Monday. Todd figured traffic would be bad, and we weren't supposed to be at work until the afternoon anyway, so no rush to get up and going really early. The hotel had hot breakfast for everyone, so I had scrambled eggs, bacon and bagel/cream cheese. And off we went for the trek back to Georgetown.

I called my (new) boss on the way home to see if it would be OK if I just wait until Tuesday to go in and he said OK. (YAY again!) We stopped to get Brute on the way home (I missed him SOOO MUCH!!!!) and something to eat. Todd ate quickly and left for work. I unpacked everything and got laundry separated and started, then got my menu done for the week and went to get groceries.

And we're back to reality...... Todd hasn't been feeling well, actually both him and L have had sore throats and coughs. Not sure where they picked it up, but I'm feeling fine. I'm hoping they both are feeling better soon.

Next post will be about the cruise, traveling and what I'd do different next time.

Cruise Journal - Day 7 - St. Thomas U.S.V.I. - 6/19/10

2010-06-26T09:22:00.001-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

Today's Compass

Some more of the TV channel showing where we are:

We arrived in St. Thomas on time.    The ship has to go “through” channels to get to the pier inside the island. The pier is really pretty - lots of scenery and water on both sides of the ship. We were eating breakfast w/ B, C & L while arriving, and it started to rain.
(Just to show that I do actually let Todd use my camera - he took this of L and I while having breakfast in the Wind Jammer):

Sailboats:

This yacht was outside our balcony

Lots of excursions were canceled. We (me, T & L) were just going to go shopping, so we decided to wait a while to see if the rain let up. Soon after, there was a break in the rain, so we decided to chance it and go ashore.

The shopping area was very close to the pier and there were LOTS of shops.

T and I were talking about getting me something for me for our 12th anniversary that was earlier this month (the 8th), so we decided it would be neat to get something on the cruise.   We stopped into one of the jewelry shops in St.Thomas to see what they had. I have been wanting diamond stud earrings for a while, so we decided to look at them. The guy showed us some that were on sale and we picked out a pair. They are white-gold, which I don't have any of, but we got a better quality diamond in WG instead of YG. .75 ct total

They were about 1/3 of what the retail price is, so we’re hoping we got a good deal. After that, we looked around some more shops. I was running out of clothes, so bought a new T-shirt there. L was tired and done shopping, so he went back to the ship while T and I walked around some more. There was a butterfly farm close to the pier, also, so we decided to go there. Unfortunately, it was closed. We’re guessing it was due to weather, but the sign didn’t say - but it did say “Open all cruise ship days”. (????) Anyway, we walked around some more, took a few more pictures,

Then we decided to go back to the ship. Called L to see if he was ready for lunch and he was, so we went to the WJ. That afternoon I think we sat around relaxing and doing nothing, getting travelers checks cashed and getting the tip envelopes ready for wait staff and stateroom attendant.

The Galley Tour that came with the purchase of the Cookbook was at 4 pm. It was a lot of fun!
While we were waiting for everyone to get there, I snapped some pictures of the nearly empty dining room.

The upper part of the dining room is for people who chose "My Time Dining" - which meant they could go eat whenever they wanted, they were not assigned either 6 pm or 8:30 pm.

The Head Chef started the tour:

Carved watermelons waiting to be displayed:

Our group was so big, they decided to divide us into two different groups. While waiting for the Head Sous Chef to come, we were listening to the Head Chef.

Mathew (his name is Joseph Mathew, but they call him Mathew) finally got there, so we went down to the galley on Deck 4 (we started out on Deck 5)

He was so funny!!!! (He's from India)

Showing how they set up the plates to start the desserts - they fill the entire top with plates!

For each dessert, they have instructions and a picture of how the final product needs to look. This one is for Portofino's - a specialty restaurant they have on the ship. You have to pay an additional charge to eat there, but it's supposed to be really good.

Then we went to see where they bake ALL the bread - it smelled SOOO GOOD!!!!

Made for a presentation:

I thought this sign was funny since it's in the kitchen!

Dinner was at 6 again and our last night with the wait staff.
Carpeze Salad:

Scallops & Risoto:

Roasted Garlic!!!! It was good! (I don't remember what the name of the appetizer was)

No, I didn't eat all of these, I took pictures of some other people's food. lol
The whole wait staff came together again for us

Then dessert was served (we also had coffee with dessert every night)
Tiramisu

Raspberry something

And some kind of chocolate cake

(I have to say I was kind of disappointed with this dessert. I have one via Pioneer Woman that is much better - Molten Chocolate Lava Cake .)

We gave out the tip envelopes (L prepaid, but T & I decided to give them a little extra, too.)

Our tablemates!! They were so nice! I really enjoyed getting to know them!

Luke and Michael.

After supper, it was time to go pack to get ready to leave tomorrow. I let Todd pack first since he wanted to go to the casino while I packed. We had to have the bags out in the hallway no later than 11 pm.    After I was done packing, I thought about going to play bingo again, but was too tired. I watched Julie & Julia again (I actually never watched the entire movie all at once, just bits and pieces, but I think I saw most of it) and fell asleep by 10.

Tomorrow we get up early to disembark. :-( Then the flights home......

Total nautical miles of the cruise: 1503. 8 days at sea . (Hoping I'll be able to add to this!)

Cruise Journal - Day 6 - Dominica - 6/18/10

2010-06-26T07:12:00.001-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

Roseau, Dominica (This post is VERY PICTURE HEAVY!)

Today's Compass:

Todd came in early this morning from the casino (1 am or so). I was asleep WAY before then, so I was up at 7 am. The ship was getting close to Dominica, so I took lots of pictures. It is such a pretty island! Lots of mountains and TONS of trees. I'm wishing we would have taken an excursion to see the rain forest.

(Love the boats in this picture!!!)

The umbrellas are all the vendors

(Another one of my favorites)

I think I'd like to live in this house! Could you imagine the great view?!?!?!?!

Out our balcony window:

I got a good picture of Captain Karin in the bridge while we were pulling into port.

Called L to let him know he could come watch from our balcony, so he did, then it was off to breakfast.

It was busy and everyone wanted to sit to see the island, but we did eventually get a table next to the window. Michael, our Asst. Waiter in the Main Dining Room, was working the coffee cart at breakfast, so we said HI. (Most of the crew members work anywhere between 4 to 6 months straight, then they have 2 months off to go home and spend time with their family. They work HARD!)

About 9 am we went on shore with L to do some shopping and to take some pictures.
This is what happens when I told them to act like they are having fun.

He's so funny!!! It was great to be able to spend so much time with him.

I had to snap some pictures of the ship while we were on shore.

Our balcony! (We woke up this morning and one of the flags was gone - must have been pretty windy out!)

Larry got tired after just a little while, so he headed back to the ship and Todd and I shopped some more, then got back to the ship about 10am. We got a snack at the Wind Jammer and decided to eat a late lunch at about 1 pm. We were walking through the Solarium (pool area for people 16 and over) and saw C sitting there, so we talked a little. T wanted to take a nap, so I changed into my swimsuit, got my book and went to join C by the pool. We visited a little and I actually took a little nap. The four of us (L, C, T and I) went to lunch at 1. B wasn't back yet from his scuba dive and C wanted to go ashore. We decided we'd go together at 2 if B wasn't back yet. At 2 I met them at the elevator, and decided to go ahead and go ashore again and take some more pictures (I had put the other lens on the camera) and maybe do some more shopping. Before we split, I wanted to take a quick picture of B&C.

It's HARD to get that big ship in one picture!

After getting back to the ship, T and I watched "UP" on TV, then it was time to get ready for the last formal night in the dining room. Just before going to supper, the ship left Dominica and there was a BEAUTIFUL rainbow, so I had to take a bunch of pictures.

Another one of my favorite pictures!

((I have 42 pictures of the rainbow))

Supper was excellent, as usual. Tonight we had Lobster Tails and Prime Rib.

Another towel animal was waiting for us in the stateroom when we got back from dinner - this time a Turtle!

We went the the casino after dinner for a little while. They had "Gambling with the Stars" - the Captain, Head Chef and Chief Financial Officer all came in to deal at the tables for a little bit. Then we decided to go to the "Vibe*ology" (A journey through popular music from Elvis and the Beatles to Cher and Janet Jackson. Featuring the Serenade of the Seas Orchestra) in the main theater. It was good, I think I enjoyed it more than the other ones we've seen. They had a crew talent show after than, then "The Quest" was at 11:15. Both were good and the Quest was REALLY FUNNY!

When we were done at the Quest, I headed back to the cabin and T headed to the casino.
(Sorry for all the pictures - I took 357 just while we were in Dominica - that's how pretty the island was!)

Tomorrow is our last stop, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands - I can't believe we're getting to the end of the week! ;-(

Cruise Journal - Day 5 - at Sea - 6/17/10

2010-06-25T20:53:00.009-05:00

Today's Compass:

I actually slept in until 8 am today!!!! (finally) Larry wanted to do breakfast in the main dining room, so that's what we did. They put us at a table w/ a bunch of other people. Menu was limited and we weren't very impressed, so we'll go back to the WJ tomorrow.

After breakfast, L went back to his cabin and T & I went to the library on deck 9 to do crossword and Sudoku puzzles and to take a stab at the daily trivia. While we were there, the Captain and other upper crew members were having a Q&A session in the Centrum on the main floor, so we listened a while. It sounded interesting, but we didn't pay too much attention.

Then we watched a cake decorating demonstration.

They were adding additional liquor to the cake and it looked really good. I'm hoping the recipe is in the cookbook I bought (Black Forest Cake). We were supposed to meet L, so we couldn't hang around until it was over. They had some for everyone to try, but we left before then.

Since it was a sea day, the casino was open early, so that's where T & L were. I went up to deck 11 and found somewhere to sit, read and get some sun. It was around the corner from the pool where they were having a "Sexy Legs" Contest. I couldn't see it, but could hear it and it sounded like fun. Later in the afternoon I found Todd (after another shower) and he said he wanted to try Bingo. We had a coupon for a free T-Shirt, so I was game. Good thing I went because I won $200!!!! YAY! Then it was time for supper.

Tonight we had Ceasar Salad, and I picked French Onion Soup and Spinach Dip - both were great. I had Grilled NY Strip with green beans and mashed potatoes - excellent! After the entrees were served, the waiters danced for us and this time I had my camera!!!! (Luke warned us last night to make sure we brought them.)

Sam (The "Booze Guy")

Luke (our Waiter)

After that, everyone did the Macarena!!!!! (I just took some pictures - lol)
Luke (again- he was so fun!!!)

Michael (Asst. Waiter)

Todd - Isn't he a GREAT dancer!?!?!?!?! ;-)

After all the fun and before dessert, I snapped a picture of Brad, Larry and Todd.

And since I had my camera, I decided to take pictures of the desserts.
Chocolate Brownie Sandwich

Banana & Crunchy Nut Parfait

We all admired the painting at the end of the dining room.

Another towel animal from our stateroom attendant!!!! They are so fun! A Monkey this time!!!!

And since I was taking a picture of it, I thought I might as well take pictures of the stateroom

The sheets even had the RC logo on them.

Ship directory in the elevator

After supper I thought about going to the show ( "It's All About the Music" by Domenick Allen), but decided not to. Todd went to the casino (surprise!) and I headed back to the cabin. Flipped through the channels and found RCTV (Royal Caribbean TV) was showing a tour of the bridge, Chef interview and Galley tour).

Hope you are enjoying my posts! Tomorrow is Dominica and I have TONS of pictures. That night is also the last formal night for dinner - we're supposed to have Lobster and Prime Rib!

Cruise Journal - Day 4 - ARUBA, 6/16/10

2010-06-24T16:26:00.059-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

Today's Compass:

I woke up again at 5 am, so decided to shower then grab my camera and take a walk around the ship. They aren't in any specific order, just some random ones.
Pulling into Aruba

A double rainbow!

Todd finally woke up, so we went to get some coffee before meeting everyone else for breakfast.
This was at the very back of the ship.

After our coffee, we went back into our stateroom to watch the ship be docked.
Captain Karin pulling us close to the pier:
We've been port side both stops so far, so that was fun.

Back inside, this is how you know what day it is - these are in all of the elevators.

All the buses waiting for us to dock - to take people on excursions.

We decided to go walk around a while with Larry. I found gifts for Tab, Sam, Megan and Kate in Aruba.

I can't imagine they get too much snow here......

We weren't too far from the ship

After walking around on shore, I took some more pictures from the ship

The airport wasn't too far away apparently

After walking around town, T and I sat in the Solarium for a while, then decided we'd find Larry again for lunch. While walking around trying to find a phone to call him, he found us, so it was off the the WindJammer again. Then it was time to go snorkel. So we went off the ship again, found a taxi who took us to the Northwest corner of the island. We told him to be back in about 90 minutes.

The water was sooo clear!

We had bought a bottle of water earlier, so after we finished it, we put some sand from Aruba in it to bring home.

And then my camera batter ran out!!!!! UGH! (Sorry, that's all I have of snorkeling - sad!)
Our taxi driver was back when we asked him to be, so it was back to the ship around 3 pm. On the way back, we stopped and bought a few bottles of water, some cokes, sprite and Gatorade to put in our fridge, and to give a couple to Larry for him to have in his cabin.

We showered, rested a little and met everyone for dinner again at 6 pm. While we were eating, we left Aruba. Tonight for dinner I had crab cakes and clam chowder for appetizer, entree was herbed chicken breast and dessert was white chocolate fondue.

Back to the cabin and we had another towel animal waiting on us!!!!
Todd was tired from snorkeling, so he took a quick nap and I walked around some more with the camera. This time I decided to take some pictures of the artwork on the ship - these were all by the elevators/stairs.

"Love and Marriage" was that night, and what fun that was!!!! After that, they had a midnight buffet by the pool and "Dancing Under the Stars". It was way past my bedtime, so I went to watch some more of "Julie and Julia" and guess where Todd went -------- to the casino!!! (of course)

lol

Tomorrow is another "at sea" day........

Cruise Journal - Day 3 - Curacao, 6/15/10

2010-06-23T17:36:00.052-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

Today’s Compass:

Woke up at 6 am again to find us arriving in Curacao. What a beautiful island! So colorful. The ship pulled in so the pier was on our side and we watched it be tethered to the dock.

The view of the bridge from our balcony:

I had ordered breakfast for us since we’re having our couples massage at 8 am. It was delivered at 7 and we ate it out on the balcony. Today we had scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and coffee - T also had baked pastries and apple juice.

I put a couple flags on the window of the balcony for a couple reasons - 1) it is FLAG DAY and 2) so that when we are in port, I can figure out which one is our cabin. (Pictures to follow)
I could SO get used to someone delivering breakfast every morning!

Massage - we picked “Couples Hot Stones Heaven” - from the pamphlet - “This indulging massage will send your mind, body and soul into a heavenly state. Your muscles will be totally renewed with the combination of rhythmic massage and the power of warm volcanic stones. Working with the key energy points of the body leaving you totally relaxed. 50 minutes”   This was the first massage I’ve ever had and it was GREAT! I was worried about being too ticklish, but it wasn’t so bad after I got used to it. The volcanic stones were kept in a roaster at about 300 degrees, and they also had to massage oil heated up. The lady that did my massage had me take a couple of deep breaths and she put a hot stone on my lower back and one mid-back and left them there while she massaged my legs and feet. After the massages, they put Todd and my hands together and rang a little bell over them and we were done. (of course, they tried to sell the massage oils to us, but they were over $100 and we decided to say no thanks.)

After the massages, we made a quick trip back to the stateroom to shower and get ready to go ashore. L decided not to go, so we took off by ourselves. We walked a little ways taking pictures of the ship.


This was taken pretty close to the ship - you can see the flags on our balcony window! (look two decks above the very front of the first lifeboat)

We traded pictures with another couple. (We took their picture and they took ours).

I saw this license plate with the abbreviation of TX on it and had to snap a picture:

Pictures of the buildings close to port:

We walked through the “floating market” - I saw this fruit and didn’t know what it was, so took a picture. If anyone know what it is, please tell me via a comment!


After being out for a little while, our feet were hurting (and I had twisted my ankle), so we started to head back to the ship for lunch and to check on L. I saw an electronics store and told T I wanted to go in and look at lenses for my camera. The Canon Rebel XS only came with a 18 - 55mm lens and I’ve been wanting to get another one for the trip. We went in to see what they had and ended up buying a 55 - 250mm lens. I’m hoping when I get home and check on prices we didn’t get ripped off! Should have researched it some more before we left, but at least we have it for the rest of the cruise. On the way back to the ship we took more pictures this time with the new lens and we could see our balcony much better!

Got back to the ship around 2, called L and he went to the Windjammer with us - he had already eaten lunch, but said he'd have some more dessert. Which he did, but then he went back to get more food and MORE DESSERT!!! We are so glad he's eating good. I've never seen him eat so much, but he really needs it. He's gone through a lot in the last year, and it's nice to see him having fun and eating well. After a late lunch, we went to Guest Relations to cash a few travelers checks, then back to the stateroom to relax before supper. Tonight it's "Business Casual", so no shorts. Glad I brought one pair of long pants!!!!

B&C are scuba diving and snorkeling with CC people today, so I'm anxious to hear how it went.

Supper was great. And we were joined by two women who missed the ship in San Juan, so they had to fly to Curacao and board there. They seem very nice, and I'm sure we'll get to know them better as the week goes on, also. Escargot was on the menu as an appetizer, so we decided to try it. They really didn’t have much taste, but the topping was good - I’m guess it was made out of bread crumbs, parmesean cheese and butter. It was the only time they serve it on the cruise and was pretty good. The entire wait staff sang songs for us and I was sad I didn't take my camera. They also had cookbooks for sale, so we decided to get one. That also entitled us to Galley Tour which will be later in the week. Can't WAIT!   It will be fun to try some recipes from it.

After supper we went to see the main show - The Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers in "Stage to Screen" (Salute to Broadway shows that made their way from the Broadway Stage to the Silver Screen) I thought it was good, but L was not impressed. ;D   After that, Todd went to gamble (like father, like son - ha!) and I went back to the stateroom.   Watched part of "Julie & Julia", then went to sleep.

We had a surprise from our room steward after dinner, a towel animal!!! He was sitting next to tomorrow's Compass.

A BUNNY!

Just a couple other pictures I took:
Storm very close!

A shop in Curacao I had to take a picture of for my daughter

Tomorrow - - ARUBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cruise Journal - Day 2 - At Sea 6/14/10

2010-06-23T16:01:00.022-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

Today’s Compass:

I’m up at 6:30 am (which is late for me) and waiting for our pre-breakfast to be delivered. I put the card on the door handle last night before we went to bed - we ordered coffee, OJ and a fruit plate for each of us. Planning to eat out on the balcony!

We just piddled around on the ship most of the morning and early afternoon. We had a coupon for 10% off a spa service, so we went there to see what was available and decided to book a Couples Hot Stones Heaven for 8:00 am tomorrow. Went to deck 5 to look at the jewelry that was on sale at the shops on board - they were having a 40% off sale. Found a couple of things that were pretty, but didn’t buy anything. We also found the picture gallery and found our pictures from dinner last night. Ours wasn’t good, but I thought B&C’s was very good. (The ship has photographers that wander around during dinner and take pictures, then you can buy them later if you want.)

The Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle was tonight at 5, dinner at 6, so I started getting ready around 3 (formal night). Todd LOVED the dress I made - for the first night I wore the last one I made with black, yellow, orange and red. We met people from all over and the Cruise Director, Simeon Baker, stopped by and gave away prizes. B won a small camera holder. We were also give something free - a little note book that says “Royal Caribbean International” on long cord with pen and slots for credit cards. L didn’t want his, so he gave it to us.

Supper was great. I had the Grilled Seafood Broquet (kabob) with Shrimp, Scallops and another kind of fish. It also came with broccoli and a patty of potato and cauliflower (which I need to find a recipe for because it was REALLY GOOD). Dessert was Strawberry Cheesecake.

After dinner, T gambled for a while, then we went to the show for that night - The Unexpected Boys - a Musical Tribute to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons! There were really good! After that, we went to the Battle of the Sexes. We were split up (of course) . Todd helped the men lose by not knowing how to turn his 6 into a 9 quickly! Lol While he went back to gamble after the game, I made a food run -- back to the SeaView Café. This time I got a Reuben and a Nathan’s Hot Dog and took them back to the room and split them so we could each have half. Soon after I crawled into bed to watch some TV, T came back to the room and we turned in for the night.

Tomorrows post will have many more pictures!

Tomorrow - Curacao!!!!!

Cruise Journal - Day 1 - Embarkment!!!! 6/13/10

2010-06-23T15:29:00.007-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
Serenade of the Seas

I woke up at 4 am (again) and couldn’t get back to sleep. After the sun came up, I took a bunch of pictures from the balcony. After Todd woke, we went up to the Ambassador’s Club for breakfast at 6:30. Later checked in w/ L, B&C - they were going to go to breakfast, so while they did that, T & I went for a walk on the beach! (one block from hotel).

I tried to take a picture of the two of us, but it didn't turn out very well. I won't be doing that anymore!!! lol

I was much more impressed with the nice clear ocean water than the brown water in the gulf of Mexico.   After our walk we went back up to the Ambassador’s Club to have some more juice with everyone. B had scheduled a scuba dive, so the rest of us got our baggage ready and down to the lobby for the trek to the ship.

Another run to Walgreens (we kept thinking of things we needed and I had already started buying present for the grandkids), lunch at Subway and the shuttle was scheduled to pick us up at the hotel at 1 pm to take us to the pier. The driver came for us promptly at 1 pm, there were no hotel porters available so we had to get the luggage out to the curb by ourselves. Not an easy task, but we managed. One stop at another hotel to get other people on our cruise, and we were off to the pier. The drive was pretty, but traffic was heavy. We had to stand in line at the pier for what seemed like a long time (it was VERY HUMID!) Next time we won't use a shuttle service, but instead take a taxi to the pier earlier - you can actually start boarding the ship at 11:30 am instead of waiting until 2 pm when EVERYONE gets there, so I'm sure there aren't lines early. We gave the cruise line our large bags, then it was through security, then in line to get our SeaPass Cards.

A04 is for the muster drill, it has the last three numbers of our stateroom on it, it doesn't list the first because that is the deck we are on. That way if someone finds your key, they won't know what exact room is yours and they are also used as your room key. It also lists your dining room, time and table number (447). The whole ship is cashless, so you use your SeaPass card for EVERYTHING. Drinks, purchases at the stores on the ship or spa services. The only time you use cash is at the Casino.

We all checked in together since all five of us we were charging to one credit card. Our pictures were taken - they attach them to the sea pass card and when you get back on the ship after being on land at the various ports, they make sure you are the person who’s supposed to be getting on the ship. Boarding went pretty quickly, they asked if we had any alcohol in our bags, I said NO and they didn’t even scan my bag, I guess I don‘t look like the kind of person who would smuggle it onboard. We found our rooms - B&C and L’s staterooms (8512 and 8528) were on the right side of the ship and ours (8026) was on the left, all toward the front of the ship. The rooms were very nice. I didn't take pictures of it right away, but I will later, promise! Here's a picture of the ship for now... :D

We met our Room Steward, Allen, right away and I asked him to empty the refrigerator for us, so we could put water or soda in it that we bought. I also asked him if he could find a foam egg-crate for the bed. He did and put it on for us while we were out of the cabin. (The beds can be either together to make a full size bed or separate to be two twin beds, so the egg crate foam helps a lot.) Each day they give us a “Cruise Compass” that tell us what’s happening the next day, when the restaurants are open and a schedule of activities. This was in our stateroom when we arrived:

A final call to Tab and Sam, and my Blackberry was put away for the week!

T & I went over to Larry’s cabin to see the view from his balcony. The wine truffles I ordered for him were already in his cabin, so he opened them and let us try one. They were good and I think he enjoyed them. I figured that was the least we could do for him taking us on the cruise. We walked around for a little and met up with B&C @ 4 for a small snack at the WindJammer (buffet). We sat outside at the very back of the ship - it was NICE since we weren‘t moving yet!   I just had a piece of pizza and since dinner was at 6 pm, we didn’t want to each much.   Our luggage still hadn’t arrived in our rooms, so we freshened up as much as we could and went to dinner in “Reflections” (there’s a reason dress suggestion for Sunday night is casual). Our table is right next to the captains table in the middle of the dining room. The 5 of us were the only ones at the table, but it was set for 8, so not sure if the other people just didn’t want to eat in the DR that night or what, we’ll have to wait and see.
Here's the dining room from the top of the staircase - the captain's table is the large one in the middle. Ours is right next to it toward the back of the room:

Our waiter is Luke and assistant waiter is Michael. The “Booze Man” is Sam (easy to remember) and Head waiter is Monty. They were all very nice. I’m sure we’ll get to know them better as the week goes on.

After dinner our luggage was finally in our room, so we started to put it away. (Todd started, at least). 8 pm was the mandatory Muster drill, which only took 15 to 20 minutes. The captain spoke at the end of it saying we were on time for departure, so we headed to the Helicopter pad!   A note about the captain - her name is Karin Stahre-Janson and this is the information we received about her: “Captain Karin was born and raised on the west coast of Sweden, in Stromstad. At age seven, her parents taught her how to sail her first sailboat. With several generations of pilots and captains in the family, it’s no surprise her nautical skills goes deep. In 1993, she graduated from Chalmers University of Technology, in Goteborg, Sweden, with a bachelors degree in Nautical Science. Prior to joining Royal Caribbean International, Captain Karin worked on a variety of cargo ships, as well as Petroleum and Chemical tankers, up to 80,000 tons. She obtained her Unlimited Masters License in 1995 and joined RCI in 1997, serving as First Officer aboard Viking Serenade and Nordic Empress. She served as First Officer and Chief Officer aboard Vision of the Seas, and Chief Officer on Radiance of the Seas. She then served as Staff Captain onboard Brilliance, Serenade and Majesty of the Seas. She made history when she was appointed as the first female Captain of a major cruise ship Monarch of the Seas. She hopes you enjoy a wonderful cruise vacation aboard the beautiful Serenade of the Seas.”

8:30pm was scheduled Sail Away. About 8:45 the Captain made an announcement that there was a delay (immigration papers or something), but we should be moving in a few minutes. That turned into a few more minutes - we didn’t actually pull out of port until 9:30. It was neat to see them drop the lines of the ship and things. There was another ship, the Carnival Victory, who was also in port in San Juan and was waiting for us to leave.

After the long delay, they clapped for us as we went by. We stayed there until we were in open sea, then decided it was time to go. Todd went to the casino to find L and I was going to go to the stateroom because my feet were killing me. I got the rest of my clothes put away and sat down for a little bit, but then decided to put my swim suit on and head to the Solarium to sit in the hot tub. I had taken post it notes so we could leave notes for each other, so I left a note to let Todd know I was. He came about 30 minutes after I got there. We decided we were hungry, so went to the Seaview Café for something to eat. Todd had the Rueben, which I had heard on CruiseCritic.com was pretty good and I had “Feathers & Fingers” (chicken wings and tenders) and Onion Rings. Great Food! We went back to the cabin and sat on the balcony for a little, then decided to turn in for the night.

Tomorrow is the first day at sea, so we'll be able to wander around the ship to get to know her better. It's also the first Formal night at dinner!!!

Cruise Journal - Pre-Cruise - travel day (6/12/10)

2010-06-22T21:54:00.001-05:00

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
On the Serenade of the Seas

Pre-Cruise Travel
Saturday, June 12, 2010

(We're in Dallas - today we fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico.) Alarm set for 5 am, but I’m up at 3 and can’t get back to sleep. Decided to get out of bed @ 4, made coffee in the room and got in shower. Good thing I was up early as it ended up that I only had a few minutes to spare before the 6 am shuttle to the airport (2 miles away).

Flights went fine. Larry, Brad and Cynthia were at our gate waiting for us when we arrived in San Juan. Brad needed to get his scuba gear, so we went to the baggage claim area with them. Found out they would take our checked bags to the ship, but the bags were sitting outside, not being watched so we decided to take them with us. Waited for what seemed like forever for our bags, got them loaded on the bus and were on the way to the Radisson Hotel & Casino.
Went to check in at the lobby and they said we were VIP’s so we needed to go to the Ambassador’s Club on the top level of the hotel. It was a nice area with chair and tables, TV, etc. They told us they have complimentary breakfast in the morning, and appetizers in the afternoons . Bar is available on the honor system (write down what you had and your room number). It was also next to the roof-top pool. Got checked in - L, B&C’s rooms were ready, ours wasn’t yet but they said all they were waiting on were wash clothes, but if we wanted we could go and they would just bring them when they are done, so we said that was fine. We again had a suite (although L, B&C’s were not) with sink, microwave and refrigerator, love seat, chair and ottoman, desk w/ chair, big flat screen tv in the “living room” part, bedroom had a king size sleep number bed (35 for me, 40 for T, btw) another large flat screen tv and bathroom and there was also a balcony with a view of the ocean and beach!
Here's the view from the balcony:

And the room (I was too tired to take pictures as soon as we got there, so this is before we left and it's a little messy):

We decided to go back up to the Ambassadors Club for drinks and appetizers before supper with everyone. We sat and visited while enjoying a glass of wine and beer, then went to the hotel restaurant for supper. Supper was good - we all had one free drink w/ our meals. I ordered a Cuban sandwich - pork, ham and cheese with FF. It was good! Todd had fajitas, which I’m not sure why because we can get that at home in Texas . L had ribs that were served w/ cole slaw - he said they were good. B&C decided to have fish - and when it came to the table it was a WHOLE FISH deep fried! Fins, eyes, teeth and everything! I wish I would have had my camera to take a picture!

After supper L went to the casino (which will probably be a theme our whole trip) while T , B & C and I went to Walgreens just a couple blocks away. Then we went back to the casino for a while. T & I sat on the balcony in our room for a little, but it was raining so we decided to crawl into bed.

Long day of traveling, but we are all VERY EXCITED to get on the ship tomorrow!!!!!

Cruise Journal - Pre-Cruise (6/11/10)

2010-06-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

We're back from the cruise, so the next bunch of posts will be my"Cruise Journal" and pictures. First I'll start out with the beginning of our vacation, on Friday, June 11, 2010.

Royal Caribbean International cruise June 13 to 20, 2010
On the Serenade of the Seas

Pre-cruise
Friday, June 11, 2010

Todd worked in the morning, I had the whole day off to get ready to leave . Took Brute to the vet/kennel late morning and we left home around 1:30 pm. Drove to Dallas. Had a reservation for that night and to keep the car there while we are gone at the Holiday Inn Express South (highly recommend it!) Arrived there around 5:30 pm. Room (#204) was a suite w/ microwave, refrigerator, sink, small table w/ two chairs and desk and a king sized bed . Our 12th anniversary was on the 8th and we hadn’t celebrated, so we decided to go next door to Red Lobster. The manager came over and started talking, of course we were so excited about the trip, we had to tell her. She was SOOO NICE (wish I would have gotten her name). She asked if we wanted something to drink, so Todd ordered something, I said I couldn’t decide, so she said she’d pick for me if I wanted. Well, OK, I’m all for new things this week! She brought me a Cosmopolitan and it was GREAT! I ended up having 2 and they were pretty strong. After Todd’s first drink, she asked him if he wanted another one. He said “I don’t know”, so she said I’ll pick on for you!!! :D She brought him a Bacardi Limon and coke -it was strong and really good! We were both happy! We laughed and told her that it was a good thing we’re staying next door; she said she made the strong only because she knew we were. At the end of the meal, she asked if we beat the service we get in Austin, and we both had to agree that yes, it was MUCH better service than in Austin! Lots of fun and what a great way to start our vacation!

Back to the hotel after that, watched a movie (Mama Mia) then went to sleep - early morning tomorrow and a long day of travel.

No pictures for this post, but the rest will have them!!!!

We're back!!!!

2010-06-22T07:09:00.000-05:00

The cruise was wonderful. Todd really liked the dresses I made, but liked the last one the best with all the bright colors. I'll be working on a new blog post/journal on my personal blog for pictures of the cruise. Once I get it/them done, I'll post a link. I think it will be way too long to do everything in one post, so I'll probably break them up into each day.

Back to work today for me!!!

Another graduation!!! 5/21/2010

2010-06-08T06:20:00.000-05:00

This time it was Angel graduating from PreK! It was fun to see all the little kids he went to school with. They were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up and he said a Guitar Player in a Rock Band! lol How cute!

Anyway, here are a few pictures:

What a sweet boy! I can't believe him and Tyler are starting Kindergarten next year! And Alyssa will be in 2nd grade!

Check back in a couple weeks after our cruise - hopefully I'll get a few pictures posted right away!

High School Graduation

2010-05-20T17:32:00.001-05:00

It seems like it had been a long time since I've been to a high school graduation! I went back to Nebraska last weekend to see my nephew graduate high school. The ceremony was only 35 minutes long! It was wonderful! The principal spoke, the choir sang one song, the two valedictorians spoke (on 10 min and the other about 3), they handed out diplomas and it was over!

I decided not to take my big camera, so just took the small Olympus I bought for the cruise. Some of the pictures are grainy, so I guess I didn't have it set right, but here they are.

Josh with my parents

I went the day before to help my sister decorate the garage. She had a picture of his first day of school for EVERY YEAR. I told her she's a much better mom than I am. lol

And my cousin Jim came to the party. I hadn't seen him for YEARS and it was GREAT to see him again! We spent lots of time together when we were young and were in the same class throughout our school year - just a few years ago - HA!!!!! We had to snap a picture with my sister.

As promised, Bluebonnet pictures!

2010-04-28T07:49:00.002-05:00

I've been sewing a lot to get ready for the craft bazaar next week, so I forgot to post the Bluebonnet pictures. Sorry!!! lol

I had all but given up on getting pictures of the kids in the bluebonnets this year, but it finally worked. They are not great, because there were some other weeds in the bluebonnets that are now tall, but hey, better late than never.

All four kids:

Tab's kids (Angel, Dom and Alyssa):

Tyler (Sam's):

Angel:

Dom:

And Alyssa (isn't she pretty!!!!):

And while we were out there, I took a few pictures of Sam, Jason and Tyler:

Unfortunately, Brian (Tab's Husband) was working, so we couldn't get a family picture. Hopefully he'll have a day off soon so we can get one this year.

It would have been nice to get picture of me and Todd, but he refused. What could I do??? lol

Thanks for looking! We are very proud of all of our grands!

Busy day yesterday!

2010-04-26T08:20:00.003-05:00

We had Tab and Sam and their families over to celebrate Tyler's 5th birthday. It was wonderful outside, so we were out there most of the day. Again, I used my new camera and was VERY happy with the pictures!

When I was shopping for Tyler's present, I grabbed a pack of punching balls for the kids to play with. Here are some pictures I took of them:

Alyssa:

Dom:

(His popped shortly after this from bumping into the tree)

Angel:

Tyler:

More (I had over 200 pictures before we even did the cake and ice cream):

Here's Tyler opening his presents -

Airplanes and helicopters!!!!

And BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!!!!

And his cake (baked by Sam and Tyler, decorated by Jason):

"I'm 5!!!"

We all had fun. After the party, we went to get some pictures in the bluebonnets - I'll do a separate post later with those pictures.

Georgetown Red Poppy Festival 4/24/10

2010-04-25T07:51:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I spent the morning in downtown Georgetown with Samantha, a couple of her friends and their children. I got there a little bit before Sam and everyone else, so I walked around the craft booths for a while. Lots of neat things there, I found some things for my hair to take on the cruise. Here is the link. I bought one small and one extra small, the gold tone. I'll have to practice using them, but they are really neat! There were also many people set up that made and sold their jewelry (and I was happy to see a lot of them have a shop in etsy.com). One shop had BEAUTIFUL jewelry! She has her own website you can see here. I was wishing I had already decided what I'm wearing for the two formal nights on the cruise because I could have bought some jewelry to go with it. (I also could have bought the hair accessories to match, but what I bought will go with anything.) One specific piece of Stacey's jewelry I was looking at is not listed on her website, but it's similar to the three-strand necklace shown here. The price was $250 though!!!! I think Todd would have divorced me if I had bought it! lol But it was stunning! Plus, she was having a sale that if you bought the necklace, you got the matching earrings free. Anyway, a girl can dream, right? lol

The main reason we went was to see the parade. I grabbed my new Canon Rebel to take pictures (practice for the cruise).
Everyone waiting (this is the "Historic Downtown Square"):

Tyler anxiously waiting:

From the play at the Palace Theater - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:

The Shriners:

(they cheat)

Antique cars :

I took LOTS more, but won't post them - it would take me all morning and I have to clean yet.

Sam and Tyler after the parade:

Tyler trying to throw balls into the holes:

He tries SO HARD!

Well, better get going. Everyone's coming over today for Tyler's 5th birthday, so I need to clean a little. Luckily, it's going to be nice outside so we'll be able to be there most of the day. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post tonight or tomorrow.

I thought I had posted these already,

2010-04-16T08:28:00.000-05:00

but apparently not. Must have been on Facebook.

Tab needed a walking buddy the other day, so we went on the trail past our house and I grabbed my new camera to try it out. It's a Canon Rebel XS and came with a 18-55mm lens.

Most of them turned out pretty good. I have one large memory card and one HUGE memory card, so that should be plenty for our cruise in June. We also bought an Olympus waterproof camera that we'll be able to use when we snorkel, and also have two large memory cards for it.

In other news, Sam's work is having a small craft show, so I think I'm going to do it. It's early May, so I have a couple weeks to get things done. I'll need to go buy supplies and figure out what all I'm going to make, but at least that will keep me busy.... :D

Just a quick post (Sam - DON'T READ ANY FARTHER!)

2010-04-02T12:36:00.001-05:00

I've been spending my day on the new message board I found and couldn't resist but steal a picture. It's the cruise ship we'll be on in June!!!! (It's my new desktop picture)

Can't explain how excited I am! I have a whole list (well, quite a few, actually) of things that need to be done/purchased/etc before we leave....and don't even get me started on what I'm going to pack!

Meet Mollie!!!!

2010-03-15T08:36:00.002-05:00

Mom let me bring home some more of the Porcelain dolls that she made a while ago. I already had one and she wanted Tab, Sam and Alyssa to have one, also. Alyssa has a small one, Tab and Sam have medium sized ones (I'm passing my old one on to Sam) and I have a larger one. I don't have pictures of Sam's, but I do the rest.

This is Alyssa's:

This is Tab's:

And I brought home Mollie:

Here's a close-up of her face:

She's so pretty and looks SO REAL! I have to find a good place in the house for her. Right now she's sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room. I don't want to put her on the floor because I don't want Brute to do anything to her.

In other news, while I was in Nebraska, Todd and I received a very nice sympathy card from the vet's office. It also had a copy of "Rainbow Bridge" and Buddy's paw print on it. I think I'll frame it along with his picture and his collar and tags.

We also received a letter from Todd's dad. He's offering to take us and Todd's brother and his wife on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean islands. We have to do research and things and agree on when to go, so I have more work to do. Todd and I don't have passports, so I'm working on getting them, too. That will be lots of fun, so I'm really looking forward to it.

After being gone for a week, I have a lot of work to catch up on. I need to plan the menu for the week, get groceries and go to the bank today. I'm kind of glad I only work 10 hours this week since Megan and McKenna are going to be here on Friday for a couple of days. Todd and I are really looking forward to it!

(Sorry again for the bad pictures, we're planning to purchase a new camera soon and hopefully it will take better pics. lol )

(edited to correct spelling of Mollie's name)

More changes in our house

2010-03-04T19:47:00.002-06:00

this one was sad. Todd got up Monday morning to let the dogs outside, and Buddy couldn't even stand up. His back legs wouldn't work at all and he was whining with pain, so we gave him some pain medicine we had and I sat on the floor with him for a while. He did eventually get up, but Todd and I had always said we'd never want him to suffer and he's had arthritis for years, but this made us decide he's had a good life and it's time for him to go onto a better place. So Tuesday morning, we took him to the vet to have him put down. We both stayed in the room while it was done, but that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The house seems soooo quiet. I think Brute misses him, too. He walked around the house whining on Tuesday and seems to have hope that Buddy with be with Todd when he comes home from work. We adopted Buddy from the Animal Shelter right after we purchased our house in 1999, so he had a long life and will be missed very much. I'm planning to get a picture frame or show box to put his picture and tags in.

My parents have sold the farm where I grew up, so I'm heading back to Nebraska next week to help them move to the house they purchased in town. I didn't get to see them at Christmas due to weather, so I'm excited to see them again. My brother from St Louis will be there, too and I haven't seen him since my road trip last August/September. I'll also probably stop in Falls City to see my Father In Law, but not sure when. I'm off work until after the 15th.

Check out my sewing blog HERE to see what I've sewn this week for my trip!

posted March 4, 2010

SNOW!!!!

2010-02-24T14:09:00.000-06:00

It's not often that we get snow in Texas, especially this far south (central Texas), so when the snow began to fall yesterday it was pretty exciting. I took pictures every hour or so until I had to work a few hours in the afternoon.

This was at 8:00 am yesterday (2/23/10)

9:00 am

10:00 am HUGE snowflakes

10:30 am

11:40 am

3:00 pm

The snow was still there when we woke up this morning, but now (2:00 pm 2/24/10) it's almost all gone. But it was fun while it lasted!!!!! :D

Saturday, 2/6/10

2010-02-06T08:50:00.000-06:00

Saturday again. The sun is shining (after two days of rain) and it's supposed to be in the mid-60's today. I have errands to run this morning (bank, groceries and stuff), then tonight we're going to Red Lobster. Tomorrow I'm watching the grandkids while their moms go to a baby shower. That will be fun! It's been FOREVER since Todd and I had them all here by ourselves. I'm thinking a Disney movie or if the weather is nice, going to the park to feed the ducks.

I've been offered a full-time position with work (Alpine Access, working at home), but I'm not sure when it will start. This last week I worked 26 hours, but that's just because I was able to pick up a shift someone had to give up. Next week I'm scheduled for 16.5 hrs. :-( It's such a bummer because I LOVE working at home (I haven't left the house since Monday) but I need something with more hours. I keep sending resume's, but have not even gotten phone calls back. Most of the jobs online don't give contact info, so I can't even call to follow up on the resumes that I send out.

Nothing else going on. Next weekend we'll probably have a birthday party for Alyssa - she'll turn 7 on the 12th! I can't believe it! I'll make sure to take pictures to post.

A quick post Monday Jan 25, 2010

2010-01-25T09:49:00.003-06:00

I had to run to to the post office this morning to send off a purse I made, and on the way back home I saw a big bird in the river. I got home, hopped out of the car and ran into the house to get my camera, but by the time I got back there, it was gone. I decided to walk around and snap a few pictures anyway.

They are letting a lot of water out of Lake Georgetown, so the water is running pretty fast.

I heard some quacking from across the river, and saw this duck

She saw me and decided to go for a swim, so I stood there and took a bunch of pictures

Apparently she liked getting her picture taken, because she came and stood less than two feet from me.

Actually, I think she was looking for something to eat. I wished I would have taken a few pieces of bread with me.

After I took these pictures, I took a video of her, but the quality on my camera is pretty poor, so I won't post it. I decided I had wasted enough time and decided to leave, but when I took the first step, she hissed at me!

This park is by the Georgetown Country Club, which is just a few blocks from our house. The pictures I posted here are from the hike/bike trail that goes all through Georgetown and is on the other side of the house, but they are all connected. Really neat to take walks on and lots of people go to the park by the Country Club to feed the ducks and fish. Maybe sometime this week I'll head out early with my camera to see if I can get a picture of the big bird that was there earlier. Todd and I saw it on the way home from church early one Sunday.

I'm still working on my resume and need to get it sent out for some jobs this week. I'm only scheduled 15.5 hours for Alpine Access and that's just not enough. I really like working at home, but I HAVE to have more hours.

This post is also on the same trail, but going from the Country Club toward the interstate

Have a great week, everyone!!!!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

2010-01-20T07:56:00.000-06:00

Not too much has been going on. I've been working about 20 hrs a week, sometimes a few hours more, sometimes a few hours less. Still looking for something full time so when I'm not working, I spend time sending out resumes. Todd's also decided to start looking for a new job. The owners where he works now are selling it to a big corporation as of March 1, and he's not too excited about that. He also says he's tired of working on tractors, he'd rather go back to semi's. He had a lead on one job, but has not heard anything yet. We're still trying to tighten our budget and not spend any money unless we have to. We've talked about making a major change, but haven't decided anything yet.

I have another purse to make, and also a baby shower gift. So I have plenty projects to keep me busy. I don't even want to count the number of unfinished projects I have around her. I keep telling myself I'm not going to start anything else until I get one done.

My parents have found a house to purchase, so they will be selling the farm, which is kind of sad. There are lots of memories there for our family, but I do see why they would rather move to town. Mom was nice enough to send us some cinnamon rolls - I was supposed to get them from her when we were there at Christmas, but since we didn't make it there, she sent them to us. They were SOO GOOOD! They didn't last very long at our house.

Anyway, I have to work a few hours today, split shift - 8:30 to 10 am, then 3:30 to 4:30 this afternoon.

Tonight for supper we're having Manwiches and French Fries, which I'm excited about. It's been a while since we've had FF!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting my blog!!!!! :D

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post.

Sunday, Jan 10, 2010

2010-01-10T09:12:00.000-06:00

Well, David is on his way to Iraq.

It's still cold in central Texas - the coldest weather we've had since we moved here 11 years ago. We're so not used to the cold weather, it's terrible! I was talking to someone for work last week about the weather and they said "I suppose you had to go buy a coat?" . I thought that was funny. Since we moved from Nebraska we had coats, but I guess people think we don't ever need them here. The most I wear is the poncho I made, but every once in a while it's not enough.   Todd won't let me put the electric blanket on the bed, so we have flannel sheets, two blankets, a comforter and a quilt.

I worked more than 30 hours last week and was happy with that, but this coming week I'm only scheduled for 17, which is not enough, so I'm going to keep sending out resumes. Wish me luck!!!

Brandon is doing good, I guess. We haven't heard a whole lot from Kate since he's been home, but that's OK. He's home and that's what's important.

Tab and Sam have been busy with the kids, working (Sam) and school (Tab). We haven't seen a whole lot of them, but that's OK. We talk on the phone often.

Todd's work has been sold to another company, so next week will be interesting to see what all will be changed with that. He's been browsing for another job just to see what's out there. They were told everyone will keep their jobs, but that doesn't mean the new owners will not make any major changes.   Just another reason I'm glad we're debt-free except the house.

That's all that's going on with us. I've started on the last memory quilt which for us. You can see information on that at my other blog here.

Today would have been Nel's 76th birthday, so we are going to call Larry later on today. I would imagine this will be a hard day for him.

Quick update on Brandon -

2010-01-07T17:43:00.000-06:00

He's HOME!!!! YAY!!!!! He went home on Monday - can't lift anything heavy, work or drive for 4 weeks when he goes back to the Dr.

I'm so happy he came around. I was so worried about him! Our prayers were answered, PTL!

In the next couple of day, though, another SIL (Megan's hubby) is leaving for Iraq. He's to be gone at least a year, so please keep them in your prayers. It will be a difficult year for Megan and McKenna, but I'm hoping it goes quickly for them.

New Years Day 2010

2010-01-03T15:05:00.000-06:00

Todd and I went to Fort Worth on Friday to see Kate and Brandon in the hospital. Brandon's doing very well. We are all hoping after the Drs. check him out on Monday, we'll know for sure when he'll get to go home.

We took Kate out to lunch and had a nice talk with her. We also told Brandon that when they let him out, they need to stop and buy a lottery ticket on the way home, because he has been VERY LUCKY lately. He's had two trips on life-flight helicopters in less than 12 months - first when they were in Tulsa and he was burned and this last one from his fall. Kate said she has not taken all her Christmas stuff down, and was going to wait until Brandon got home so they could do a late Christmas celebration.

Other than that, not much else has changed. I have a full week of work coming up, so that will be good, but I've also decided that I'm going to keep sending out resume's. I just don't feel like this is where I'm supposed to be in my life right now, so it won't hurt to keep looking. I'm praying the right thing comes up soon. I feel like I've been in "limbo" for a while now.

As 2009 comes to a close,

2009-12-30T18:59:00.000-06:00

We get good news on Brandon - he's awake and breathing on his own and finally out of ICU (after 16 days). Todd and I are planning to go to Fort Worth to see them this weekend.

And reflecting on the past year, the first part of the year seems to be a blur, then I quit my job in August, late Aug/early Sept I took a 10 day trip to visit family - stayed w/ my parents in Milford, saw my sister in Seward, brother in Lincoln, then went to Falls City to see Todd's mom and dad, then a couple days to Pleasant Hill, IL to see Todd's grandma, and on the way back to Texas I stopped in St. Louis to see my older brother. Got back home and started looking for a job. Was offered a job so accepted it, then Todd's mom went into the hospital. The job required 30 days training that was 100% attendance mandatory. So Todd and I decided I probably shouldn't do that since his mom was not very good, so I explained to them the situation and that I couldn't commit to not missing any training, so declined the offer. On September 29, Todd and I decided we should head to Nebraska to see his mom. We left early in the morning of the 30th and drove all day, arrived at the hospital at 4:50 pm and she passed away at 5:05 pm with her husband, sons, granddaughter and great-granddaughter at her bedside. Todd and I went to IL to get his grandmother (his dad's mom) for the memorial service. Todd's nephew was getting married a few days after that, so we stayed to attend the wedding in Kansas City the next weekend. Said goodbye to the family and headed home on Oct 11. We were home less than 48 hours before we received a call that Todd's grandmother passed away (on Oct 13), so that was another trip - this time to IL. It was a quick trip - stopped in Ft. Worth to get Kate, drive all night, stay one night and start home again. During this trip, our oldest, Tabitha, was married so we had to miss it. This time when we left, we told the family we hoped we wouldn't have to see them for a while! Started a new job working at home, but not having a whole lot of hours, but it's better than nothing. Dec 12 we went to Stephenville to attend Kate's college graduation (Summa Cum Laude, btw) - we are all VERY proud of her! Bad news again on Mon, Dec 14. Kate's husband, Brandon, fell 30 feet while working on an arena and was life-flighted to a hospital in Fort Worth. He was in ICU until today, and things seem to be looking up. (I've been PRAYING for a Christmas miracle - we didn't quite get it on Christmas, but we're not complaining.) For Christmas, Todd and I headed to Nebraska - we knew we needed to be in Falls City for most of the time for his dad, but were planning to see my family on Saturday. We left Wed. night and drove most of the night, then the midwest was hit with a bad snowstorm and we couldn't make it to see my family :( We even had to stay an extra day and both of us missed work on Monday.

So the last five months have been a roller-coaster of emotions. I'm glad that 2009 will be over and hoping 2010 will be less emotional. My parents are planning to sell the farm they moved to when I was 6 months old and will be purchasing a house in town, so that will be odd next time we head there. But with the last snowstorm, they are ready to be off the farm. They were without power for 5 hours and snowed in for a couple days.

I'm still debating on looking for another job. I love working at home, but the pay is not much and I really don't feel that I'm where I'm supposed to be. Todd really wants me to find something else, so I'll look and will pray something promising comes up.

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!

Friday update on Brandon 12/18/09

2009-12-18T17:13:00.001-06:00

Kate posted on FB ab out 4:45pm today: he's back on the breathing tube, but his lung is slowly getting better! Things are looking up and maybe in four or five days we'll be out of ICU. Then, we'll be transferred somewhere else to tackle the next obstacle.

I chatted with her a little - she said his oxygen level is at 100. heart rate down to 86 instead of 124. and respitory rate down to 18 instead of 40! MUCH better than yesterday.

She said she has plenty of company this weekend, so we'll stay home so I can get ready for our Christmas Celebration with Tab & Sam on Sunday. Not sure if we'll be able to stop on our way to or from Nebraska, but at least she's only a couple hours away, we can make it there and home in one day.

We appreciate all the prayers!!!

December 17.2009 A Plea for Prayers

2009-12-17T19:05:00.005-06:00

A Plea for Prayers

On Saturday we were in Stephenville celebrating Kate's college graduation. On Monday, her husband, Brandon, took a really bad fall while working. He was life-flighted to a hospital in Fort Worth around noon or one.

I'm going to copy what Kate has posted on Facebook:

12/14/09, Monday, 11:19 pm: Here's what's going on: B fell 30 ft from a top beam on an arena today and landed on the ground. Two broken ribs, bruised lungs, and a minor contusion on his brain. He's aware of his surroundings and can respond with his hands and feet when he feels like it, opened his eyes a few times, but not quite awake yet. The main goal is for the contusion not to spread. He's at Harris in Fort Worth.

12/15/09, Tuesday, 9:10 am: Here's the sitch: Another scan at 2am (looked good), he is now opening his eyes completely when the nurse wakes him and nodding his head, but he goes straight to sleep when they're done. He's going to continue to sleep for a while because his concussion is pretty severe. Just taking baby steps.

12/15/09, Tuesday, 3:16 pm: Did an MRI this morn. waiting on results. Had his eyes open earlier when i went in! And he nodded his head when I was asking him things, so that was good. How he's doped up on morphine and he is out. That's about it, no other changes.

12/15/09, Tuesday, 7:31 pm: well, he has a serious condition (DAI -Diffuse Axial Injury - basically shaken baby syndrome for adults) means most of the nerves and stuff in his head are bruised all over. It's not good, but he could be OK. He'll be out for at least six months, (no idea whether that's hospital or home care) just depends on how he does. each case is different. Was VERY upset about an hour, made some calls and the nurse called me and said he just sat straight up and pulled out his tube and he's trying to talk and he's nodding his head (I'm pretty sure this is the big thing we've been waiting for) :) So happy it's unreal. We're not out of the woods, but this just blindsided all of us, even his nurse.

12/17/09, Thursday, 6:45 pm: well, not doing so good. But it can be fixed, it will just take a while. The odd thing is, it's not his brain that's the problem yet. His body isn't getting enough oxygen. They're prolly gonna put the breathing tube back in, so everybody pray that his right lung heals.

That's all Kate's posted so far. Todd said yesterday Brandon was doing pretty good, but then today not so good. Please keep both Brandon and Kate in your prayers. Kate was so excited to bet on with the next step of their lives after graduation, so this is upsetting to say the least. I'll post more as soon as I find out anything.

This the only picture I have of them - it was at their wedding March 2008.

Christmas Stroll 2009

2009-12-17T08:34:00.000-06:00

I went to Georgetown's Christmas Stroll today with Sam, Jason and Tyler. Tab, Alyssa and Angel showed up a little later - the kids had visitation with their father until 12, which is when the parade started, so they missed most of it. The weather was cold, but we enjoyed it!

Jason and Tyler waiting for the parade to start.

Sam waiting for the parade to start - isn't she impressive!! LOL

Tyler always loves seeing the fire truck

There were lots of cub scouts with the cars they made. I thought this one was cute.

The cast of "Annie" - I'm assuming it's playing somewhere in town. We liked the clydesdale.

My husband was there (in spirit - he's a self-proclaimed Grinch)

And the end of the parade always has Santa.

This afternoon, I made Hot Chocolate Mix and Chex Mix - the kids and grandkids are coming over tomorrow afternoon to decorate the Christmas tree, and we're going to watch the Polar Express and have hot chocolate.

I finished MQ #4 this week, and have started on #5. You can check my sewing/craft blog to see pictures. I'll update it soon.

Saturday Dec 12, 2009

2009-12-14T09:41:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we had a monumental day in our family. Kate graduated from COLLEGE!!! (She's the youngest.) We are both extremely proud of her. She graduated summa cum laude - which means "with highest honors". That is so great considering she worked all through college and also was married in that time.

We left to go to Stephenville on Saturday morning, and after driving for more than an hour, I realized I forgot my camera. So the only camera I had was my blackberry and the quality is not great. (Not that the quality is great on my other camera, but it's better.)

Anyway, here are some pictures I snapped and I apologize for the poor quality.

After the ceremony we went back to Kate and Brandon's house. They have a pit bull named Punkin - she really liked McKenna!

After that, we went to an Italian restaurant for supper. I got to sit by McKenna so I snapped a couple pictures of her, too.

She's getting so big and she's SOOO CUTE!!

Unfortunately Kate and Brandon aren't going to be able to make it to Nebraska for Christmas, but we will see Megan, David and McKenna there for a little bit. Todd and I are going to celebrate Christmas with Tab and Sam and their families this coming weekend. Then Todd and I will leave either the evening of the 23rd or early the 24th for the drive to Falls City. It will be good to see Todd's family for a GOOD reason, but it will be sad to not have Nel and Rena there. Saturday, the 26th we'll celebrate Christmas with Todd family in the morning, then we'll drive to Milford for supper to celebrate it with my family. Then we'll head back to FC that evening and get up early the 27th to drive back home. Both of us have to work on Monday the 28th. It will be a quick trip, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Christmas Tree Decorating 12/9/09

2009-12-09T13:24:00.002-06:00

We had Tab and Sam come over on Sunday so the kids could decorate the Christmas Tree. I had also made some snacks (chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels, seasoned crackers) and homemade hot chocolate.

The kids did a really good job! Brian helped them put some of the ornaments high, but all the rest are pretty low on the tree. And I haven't taken time to move them, so they may just stay there this year.

For some reason, Tyler liked to put them really low.

After it was done, I tried to get them to hold still for a couple pictures.

November in Texas 11/30/09

2009-11-30T08:12:00.002-06:00

For the last couple of weeks, I've been meaning to take a walk to get pictures of the trees changing colors. Yesterday (Sunday, Nov 29) I finally went. We have a hiking trail that goes very close to our house, so Todd and I headed down that early yesterday afternoon. I was disappointed when we got to the trees (as I thought I might be) because most of the leaves have already fallen off. But here are a few of the pictures I took:

Earlier this year we were in a severe drought, but mid-September we started getting a lot of rain. Upriver from the trail is Lake Georgetown, and they have been letting a lot of water out. Because of this, we couldn't go very far on our walk. Here is the reason:

For those not familiar with Texas, this is the cactus you see everywhere:

We can also go the other way on the hiking trail, that would take us to the Georgetown Country Club. There is a sidewalk there, too, that was covered with water, so couldn't go far that way, either. We could have taken our shoes off and walked through the water, but it was kind of chilly and I had new Nike tennis shoes on and my hands full with camera so we decided not to. Next year I need to go as soon as I think about it instead of waiting so long.

Anyway, I'm only scheduled for 16 hours of work this week, so I'll be able to sew a lot. I got the third memory quilt done this last weekend and have started on #4, hoping I can get them all done before Christmas. You can check out my other blog to read about them and see pictures.

Have a wonderful week!!!! And thanks for taking the time to read my blog!

Thanksgiving in Texas 2009 11/27/09

2009-11-27T20:56:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. We had Tab and Sam and their families over for lunch. I made the traditional Turkey and stuffing, along with sweet potato casserole, jello salad and green bean salad. The girls brought pies for dessert and dinner rolls. It was a great meal and we enjoyed the time together. It was also the beginning of this year's holidays without Todd's mom and grandmother. This year will be different and difficult for everyone, I'm sure. Todd and I are planning to head to his dad's for Christmas this year so we stayed home for Thanksgiving.

After lunch, Sam, Tab and I sat down to look at some old pictures, and Todd went outside with the kids. He and Alyssa were playing catch, so I ran out to snap some pictures. (The weather was so nice!)

Alyssa is getting so big! She'll be 7 next February!

Angel and Tyler were outside goofing around, too.
They are getting big, too! Angel has a birthday in a couple weeks!

Halloween 2009 11/1/09

2009-11-01T20:05:00.001-06:00

Halloween was fun this year! Tab and Sam brought their families over to go Trick-0r-Treating in our neighborhood. We live on a HUGE block, so we just went around it and went home. But I snapped a few pictures before we went out.

Tyler was an Army Guy

Angel was GI Joe

Alyssa was Sharpay from High School Musical

These are the pumpkins that Todd and I carved last weekend.

On Friday, Tab and I went to help out at Alyssa's Halloween Party at school. There were lots of parents there, so I took a few minutes to snap a few pictures.
This is Alyssa and her friend, Riley.

They played a game that they had to roll a pumpkin with a spoon to the basket.

Then we went back into the classroom - Alyssa was distracted by me taking a picture.

First they decorated pumpkins to take home.

Then bobbed for apples (with no water), then dipped them in caramel and chocolate chips or coconut.

Then they had a snack.

Someone took some of the vegetables and arranged them like a skeleton - it was really neat!

And this is where she sits all day at school.

We didn't have many trick-or-treaters, so I guess Todd and I will have to eat the Snickers that I bought.... lol

Pumpkins and Dom's Birthday! 10/27/09

2009-10-27T23:17:00.001-05:00

We decided to have the kids over to carve pumpkins for Halloween, and to celebrate our new step-grandson's birthday that was on the 21st. Not much went on, so I'll post pictures for your enjoyment!

First step was to clean out the pumpkins. The kids had lots of fun with that!

Next, the kids picked what they wanted carved and the adults did the carving.

I didn't get too many pictures of that, but here are the finished projects!

We decided to have pizza delivered for supper.

Then we had cake and ice cream and watched Dom open his presents.

We all had a good time.

This week I'm starting to look for a job, again. There's not much out there! I did get a call from Alpine Access tonight. They have another opening, but the hours would be 10am to 6:30 pm, Monday through Saturday with either Tuesday or Thursday off. Training wouldn't start until Nov 21, we'd have off Thanksgiving and the day after, but wouldn't know about Christmas off until about a week before. Todd's not excited about it since I'd work most of the day on Saturday (he only works every other Saturday during the winter). And I think we'll need to go to see his Dad for Christmas this year - it will be a tough one since Nel and Grandma Rena are both gone now. I told them I'd get back to them in the next day or so, but will probably tell them I've decided not to take it.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm meeting a friend for lunch, so that will be nice to catch up with her and to catch her up on all that's gone on with us in the last month.

Onto better news..... Pictures from Tab and Brian's WEDDING!

2009-10-21T23:39:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 our oldest was married. We were in Illinois for Grandma Rena's funeral so we couldn't attend, but we did get to see pictures. I asked Tab if I could post them on my blog so other family members (who aren't on Facebook) can see them.

The new, happy family

Ty and Sam

Angel and Alyssa

The kids.....

During the ceremony - they were married by the same person who married Sam and Jason

And just because she's SOOOO ADORABLE!!!!!......

Home again.....

2009-10-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

We got home around 8:30 pm on Friday. Todd went to work on Saturday (they only work in the mornings on Saturday). I got most of the laundry done yesterday, so today we went to get groceries and ran a couple of other errands. We do still need to go get me a new cell phone - mine's been acting up since we were in Falls City.

It was a quick trip to Pleasant Hill IL. We left home at 7:00 pm on Tuesday and arrive there at 12:15 pm Wednesday afternoon. The family visitation was Wednesday night and there were a lot of people who came - people who had known her for a long time and a couple of the workers from the nursing home came (she had only been there since April of this year). Todd got to see a few people he hadn't seen for a long time - a couple gentlemen who used to farm the family farm outside of Pleasant Hill (one of their sons now farms it). There were also a lot of the Red Hat ladies who came. Kay, the lady who helped Grandma for years was there, also. I had spent some time with them when I was at Grandma's in early September, and Todd and I also went out for supper with them and Grandma on October 3, when we went to get her to take her to Falls City for Nel's funeral. Kay and her husband Gordon were very close with Grandma and I think Kay will probably be helping Larry with things for a while to come. Poor Kay will have to find something to occupy her time now that Grandma is gone. They used to talk many times a day and Kay had not been able to see Grandma since we had gone out to eat on the 3rd. They were on a trip when Grandma got back to Pleasant Hill and she hadn't made it to Pittsfield to see her yet. Kay was who the nursing home called Tuesday morning when they were getting ready to take Grandma to the emergency room. She was also the one the Dr. told that Grandma passed away. :( Apparently Grandma started feeling bad during breakfast Tuesday morning, and later told the nurses at the home that she thought she should go to the emergency room. The Dr. said when she arrived, her blood pressure was very low and they couldn't get a pulse. Rena had told us MANY times while we were in Falls City that she didn't like being in the nursing home. One good thing is that her last week of life was spent with family - both at the funeral for Nel, but also at the wedding of Josh and Ruth. I'm sure the trip was very hard on her.

So anyway, here are some pictures of our trip to Pleasant Hill. (You can also look back at this post to see some pictures from my trip there early in September of this year.)

This is Larry's favorite picture of his parents

The rose in this picture is from Gus - Kay and Gordon's little dog who LOVED Rena (and the feeling was mutual)

Rena and McKenna - taken last Christmas in Falls City

These pictures were of her adventures with the "Red Hat Mamas"

Flowers from the "Red Hat Mamas"

The Red Hat ladies all wore their Red Hats to the funeral

This is the view from Grandma's dining room window - it looks down on the church where her funeral was. Kate commented how odd it was that we could see the house so well from the church - especially when her casket was being moved from the church to the hearse.

She was buried next to Homer, who died January 24, 1997 (just a few months before I met Todd). At least they are together now. This was the third time I had been to the cemetery in the last 6 weeks, she took me up there during my trip and then we stopped with Todd when we went to get her before Nel's funeral.

Her funeral was very nice. The pastor who left their church years ago came back from Tulsa OK. He had also done Homer's funeral. He had some really nice things to say about her. He said that he always knew you're not supposed to have favorites in the ministry, but she was one of his. He also said she always told him that anything he had to say he could say in 15 or 20 minutes. lol He also told a few funny stories about both Homer and Rena. He had a hard time getting through it without breaking down. When he read her obituary (which can be seen here),
we all broke down when he got to the part about her being preceded in death by her daughter-in-law, Nelda Godwin. The current pastor of her church also spoke and said at the beginning of his part "What's better than one Baptist minister speaking at a funeral? TWO !!!!" He said he could just see Rena rolling her eyes at that. LOL He also read this poem - "The Dash".

After the family visitation on Wednesday, Megan, Kate, Cynthia (my sister-in-law) and I went through Rena's jewelry. She had some of them marked if they were received for special occasions. I brought a few things home and decided to wear one of Rena's necklace to the funeral and Todd wore one of Homer's tie-tacks.

While we were gone on Wednesday, Tab and Brian were married at the Justice of the Peace (the same one who married Sam and Jason). I was sad to miss it, but Tab and Sam's dad was here from Pennsylvania so at least he was there. They both have pictures on their Facebook pages and I haven't tried to get any of them so I can post them here. Maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can figure it out.

Anyway, Todd and I are going to try to relax for the rest of the day. It's pretty nice outside, so we're going to go sit in the backyard. Todd said he had a hard time yesterday - on his way home from work he told himself "I should call Mom", but then realized he can't do that anymore. We both have been having short spurts of sadness, but hopefully they will come fewer and further between as time goes on.