World's worst blogger

I know, I know. I am bad at this, but I don't have all the cute pics like Amanda and D'Lynn have of kids so mine are boring. Anyway, things are as crazy as ever. Made a trip to Mason last week for a band concert and mom went along and Saturday Rena and mom and I went to S.A. shopping and mom found a purse for her birthday, some shoes and I took her to lunch since it was her birthday. Monday night we went to Mason for a basketball game which was fun just because we get to see the kids (although John and Colten were ice skating with the boy scouts) and we get to eat the The Willow Creek Restraunt. Friday night the doctor took all of us out to eat and to the Rock Box afterwards. If you have not been to the Rock Box you have got to go. It is soooo much fun. Tonight (Wed.) is our Bunco Christmas party where all we do is eat and drink and we have a Chinese gift exchange which is a lot of fun. Tomorrow we have a little in-office Christmas party (more eating, but no alcohol we have to see patients in the afternoon). Sat. there is a bake sale and Sun. mom is having Christmas. I am tired already, but it will all be fun. Probably will not blog again until after the new year so here's to a Merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy New Year.

Love you all.

Not so dizzy blond....yeah

Well I made it though a 4-day weekend trip without ANY dizzy spells. I was soooo happy. We went down to Garner State Park and visited Lost Maples State Park while we were there. Both parks were really pretty in their fall colors. We hit Lost Maples just in time and at Garner the cypress trees were putting on their own show. The photo below is of the Frio River in Garner State Park. The water was so clear that it was hard to tell how deep it was because you could see right down to the bottom.



The rest of the pics are from Lost Maples State Park. The trees really were pretty, but I think that I must have thought there were going to be more than there were. I am glad we went because they said this was one of the better years because of the dry conditions. Go figure.



We had a good time and did some hiking and lots of eating and drinking. Ask Larry about umbrella insurance sometime and see if he can remember anything.

I feel much better about trips now and we will have to see where we go in January and February. We have a park pass that expires and want to get some more use out of it. Ashlyn and Colten are already trying to figure out where they want to go with us in June when school lets out. They told us that they like to go with us and I told them that I thought we were too boring, but they assured us that we were fun and cool. How about that? We will see how long that lasts, but I am going to enjoy it while I can.

Got to see Amanda, Jimmy and the girls and of course Carol over the weekend. The girls are so cute and growing up so fast. Ashlyn enjoys playing with them. D'Lynn, Serena and I might go shopping this Friday if D'Lynn can get off and if Serena is still here. We want to get started on Christmas shopping. It will be here before we know it.

Here's to a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who keeps up with us. I will probably see most of you at Thanksgiving. Be safe and don't eat too much turkey.

Some snow

We are sitting in Starbucks again after walking over from our room. As you can tell from the windshield (below) it would have taken about an hour for us to be able to see. It was a rather invigerating walk seeing as it was 18 degrees. The hot chocolate is warming me up again so that we can walk back.

It did snow, but not as much as what I thought it would, but then we have not gone up into the passes yet either. We will drive up Rabbit Ears pass this afternoon and see what it looks like.

The mountain above did not have any snow on it the first day we drove up to Steamboat Lake so the higher places did get quite a bit of snow. The pic below shows the snow on the top of Buffalo pass and that was before the snow came down in Steamboat Springs and it made me pretty nervous driving through that so I can't even imagine what it must look like now.

The barn below looks like it is in the middle of nowhere, but it is just across the street from where we are staying. They are trying to preserve it. I took lots of pictures of the barns in the area, they are so neat looking, even the ones that are falling apart.

Well this will be the last blog. We are checking out tomorrow so we are not so rushed to get back home. All in all it was a pretty good trip, but we did miss our camper, but then again I don't think I would want to be in the forest in the snow with it either. Till next time.

Steamboat here we are...finally

Hey everybody. I am back from the dizzy blond place I seem to like to go to once in a while, whether I want to or not it seems. It is not a fun place and yes I will go to see my doctor once I get back (when I get time).

Anyway, back to the good stuff. We drove through the Garden of the Gods on Sunday morning before we left for Steamboat Springs (a day late). It was really pretty and I am glad we took the time to go.

The rock formations were spectacular. I have many, many more pictures (of course) and some of them have Pike's Peak in the background.
Onward to Steamboat Springs. There was already snow in the higher elevations when we went over the pass. It was really pretty.
This is the mule deer we shot while driving around the Steamboat Springs area. Not to worry, it is still running, but he was pretty.
We drove up into the mountains on the forest roads and there was quite a bit of snow up in the higher elevations and we finally turned around so we would not get stuck up there. I am in a Starbucks right now and it is SNOWING outside. There is supposed to be 3-5 inches on the ground tomorrow. It should look really pretty. The sun is supposed to come out tomorrow afternoon and then me and my camera will go pretty crazy. Will try to send more pics when I can. That is all for now. I am afraid we are not doing as much hiking as I had hoped, I still get a little lightheaded and so am afraid to do too much. This is very annoying.

Some Adventure's are not so fun

Well it turns out not all adventures are of the fun nature. This is Rena's apartment post Ike. The stuff on the floor was really slick and we are not sure what it was and did not really want to know.

The ceiling did come down in the kitchen and made some more mess, but it was hard to tell with all the other mess. We were able to save some of her stuff, but the furniture, i.e., sofa, bed, recliners, coffee table and end table had to go.

Here are her things laid out on the curb to be taken away :( It was quite sad. We did pick through the neighbors stuff and found better chairs than what we had and a really nice drop leaf table. Who knew I would be a curb diver (as opposed to a dumpster diver).

This is just one of many, many, many piles all over Galveston. It looked like this in front of every buisness and every home. I don't know how they will ever get it cleaned up. I was just glad I did not own the building Rena lived in with the way the mold was growing up the walls already and this has certainly cured me of EVER wanting a beach home.
But, the main thing is that Rena is okay and still has a job (since the ocean is still there). We will deal with everything else as it comes along. Hopefully the next blog will not be so messy. Ha ha.

Where has the summer gone?

Finally got around to bringing my computer to work so I could add some pics. This is the playhouse repainted. Someday the house will look like this too. Larry has been working hard around here, but it is a lot to do. The deck has a few posts on it now so it is slowly getting there.


We did get to spend some time at the creek this past summer. It was amazing that it was still running since we have not gotten any rain. There is no place more relaxing than the creek.
Thought I would share this sunrise with you. It was raining somewhere between the sunrise and me and so there is rain falling. I thought it looked really pretty.
Well that is it for now. Back to work. So much for a 4-day weekend. It was nice while it lasted. All you kids have a good school year and all you parents quit doing the happy dance.

Busy weekend

Wow, that was exhausting!! We had a hamburger supper Thrusday night at the auction, another hamburger supper at Cave Creek for the Cave Creek Wildlife Management Assoc., a couple's shower on Saturday (which was lots of fun) and two family reunions on Sunday. All I did was make sweets so that there would be something for Larry to eat for dessert. It was all fun, but we were pretty tired by Sunday night. This weekend will not be any better. Bunco tonight, go to the fair grounds Thur. to set up the Friends of the Schools booth, listen to the singers who compete in a contest they hold every year. Friday morning go to the parade, then probably go to the fair and look at everything and then go dancing Friday night, Saturday night we work at the fair from 6-9 and then Sunday we have to tear the booth back down and then there is a band we like to listen to playing at Marketplatz starting at 6:30. Man, I'm tired already. I guess I better eat my Wheaties. As the saying around here goes "See you at the fair."

I am a dizzy blond

Well, we had to cut out camping trip to Lake Ivie this past weekend. Everything was going fine until I couldn't get out of bed on Saturday without getting dizzy and nauseated. I was pretty sure I didn't drink too much beer (really I didn't) so I didn't know what was going on. By 3:00 I was not getting any better so Larry and our friends got us hooked up and we drove back home and I thought I was getting better, but when I started moving around at home I knew things were not better. So we went to the ER. First time I have ever been to the ER as the patient (been there many times with Larry). It turns out that I had some kind of inner ear infection from who knows what kind of virus and the vertigo (dizziness) was from that. They gave me some medicine for dizziness and things got better and by Sunday I could move around better (slow, but better) and it is all better again now. So that was quite an experience and needless to say I will keep the medicine in the camper and hope that I never have to use it again. Hopefully the next trip will be better.

AT home

I am on vacation this week, but we did not go anywhere. It is just too hot and Larry didn't want to take time right now. He is saving it until it is cooler. We did go to Ivie Lake a couple of weeks ago with Shell and Jerome and had such a good time that we are going again this weekend and Rick and Vicki are joining us. We are looking forward to sitting in the lake and drinking the beverage of our choice. Here at home I did some yard work (in the mornings while it was still a little cool) and then I tried to figure out how to tape onto DVDs with the new DVD/VCR we bought. I guess I need to wait for one of the girls to come home and show me what to do (how sad is that?). I did take one day and go to S.A. to return a dress I bought and tried on about 15 other dresses before I found one that I think will work. Needless to say it is a good thing that Larry was not along, although I could have dropped him off at the Bass Pro Shop and he would never have noticed how long I was gone. Then of course I had to stop at Target and wander around for a while and things just kept jumping into my cart. I hate when that happens. I would have put some pics of Lake Ivie on here, but I am on dial up here at home and I do have to go to sleep sometime. Back to work next week, but on to Lake Ivie first.

Moose and the creek

Well the moose made it, by 18 wheeler no less, but he is now residing in Rheingold. The crate was pretty big as you can see.

Here he is without his antlers. Looks kinda naked.
Here he is all decked out.
Then we had to have a little fun with him.
He lived on my utility room floor from Friday until Sunday.

He is now living on the wall in the "old kitchen" looming over our roll top desk.

When I look up from doing paper work this is what I see. Kinda scary. Hope he doesn't fall on me. I think it would hurt a little bit.

We then had a great day at the creek on Sat. We stayed until 10:00. Looks like we are having a terrible time doesn't it?

Colten caught a big catfish later in the evening and he was so excited that he fished until we left hoping to catch another one.

Abiline and the grandkids

What a hot trip that was. We got to the park on Sat. and had a little lunch and then drove around to see the park and found the playground and let the kids play and then found out that the pool is only open from Thur. - Sun. so we let them go swimming Sat. afternoon, Sun. morning (Larry and I got in, too) and Sun. afternoon. The kids played with a neighbor girl a lot of the time. We took some walks, some bike rides and durning the heat of the day we watched movies in the camper. It is hard to do anything outside when it is 100 degrees.



Here the kids are at the campsite. There were lots of shade trees thank goodness. It make it pleasant to sit outside in the mornings and the late evenings.
Here the kids are playing with Alex (short for Alexandria). She is from Midland and they had lots of fun together.
Can't go camping without a campfire and marshmellow roasting. They sure are yummy. The kids enjoyed trying to get them just right.
And then or course there was fishing. Colten caught the biggest one (probably about 4" long), but it was also the only one. Oh well, they tried. We enjoyed spending time with them and I think they enyoyed it, too. Will have to see where they want to go next year.

Heading for an adventure

We are going to take the grandkids on a camping trip to Abilene State Park starting on Sat. There will be much swimming, bike riding, hiking, and fishing done, so Opie and I need to rest up so we can keep up with them (or maybe they need to rest up to keep up with us, ha ha). We are looking forward to spending some quality time with them with no computer games to distract them or us. I will send pics after we get back. One thing the state parks don't have is internet access for campers. Check in week after next and I'll see how fast I can get a few pics up for you all to see.

Sand Fest

We had a great time with Shell and Jerome at the Sand Fest in Port Aransas this past weekend. Larry and I took a walk Sat. morning on the beach and saw a Jack Ship which is a type of ship that Rena has been on. The three legs sit on the sea floor and anytime the waves get too big they just "jack" the ship up the legs and get the boat out of the water. Rena was out and I thought she might be on the one we saw but she was way out south of Mississippi on a barge. But, seeing the jack ship out there was pretty interesting.

Now on to the sand fest. The sculptures were fantastic and so detailed it was unbelivable. They start on Friday and have to be finished by Sunday noon. I wish I could send more pics, because I took a bunch, especially since we went there Fri., Sat., and Sun. so we saw the works in progress. Here are just a few. I will try to add some more so this may look really long, but I have a few close up ones where you can really see details.

Look at the details. You can see through the "rocks" that are stacked. Some of the scluptures are taller than the people doing the work. There were faces, mushrooms that grow on trees, owls, cats, squirrels. It was amazing.

Anyway, I have lots and lots more because I just could not get over how they do that. I would love to go again. Each year they have different sculptures and I don't know how they come up with the ideas, but they are incredible. Oh yeah, we also ate lots of good seafood and drank lots of cold beer. What a relaxing weekend.

Busy weekend

Wow, what a weekend!!! We had the open house at Rheingold on Saturday so I left the house at 8:15 to start setting up (of course Larry's sub needed off so he was not there until later). We were really surprised at how many people came. We had almost 100 visitors. Some former students came and visited with the members who were also former students. I would bet there were lots of stories told about the things they used to do back then. We were supposed to be open from 10-4, but people were still coming in until 5 and then Larry said we needed to be in Stonewall at 6:30 for casino night at the chamber building. He had bought tickets and I didn't know it until then. So we loaded up two vehicles and hauled it back home and unloaded some of it and got ready and went again. The casino night was fun, but we didn't win any prizes at the end of the evening. Then we got up early on Sunday because Larry had to fix 50 lbs of beans for the Friends BBQ. We left there at 1:00 and went home and crashed and burned. Then we unloaded everything else and cleaned up the mess from the beans and rested some more. Anyway, it was all fun and worth it, but very tiring. This weekend we don't have anything planned until Sunday when Tyler gets confirmed so hopefully we can get some things done at home...hummm home...where is that? Oh yeah it's that place where we sleep and change clothes, as least that is all we are doing there now.

We are going to Mason Thursday evening to watch Colten play baseball so that will be fun. That's all for now. I tired again just thinking about what we did.

Galveston, Galveston

We finally got to go to Galveston this past weekend to see Serena. D'Lynn and the kids went down on Friday and Larry and I went on Sat. We even saw some neighbors when we were down there. The Mohrs from down the road were there with their family.

The kids had a great time at the beach even though it was a little windy and cool. Kids do not care.




Here are Larry and I with our babies.


This is one of the homes Larry and Rena and I toured on Sunday afternoon. They have some really nice Victorian homes there and then we drove around and looked at more and then took a walk that evening around where Rena lives and looked at the outside of a bunch of them. Also had some excitement while we were down there. A riot broke out on the seawall where they were having a concert and 12 people got arrested and the sirens went on and on. Rena lives within walking distance of the wall and we were able to see all kinds of cop cars come and go and try to get cars directed out of the area. It was crazy. First time Larry and I have ever been in a town while a riot was going on. Needless to say Serena was glad we were there and we were glad we were with her, too. This is her first spring break in Galveston and I think she is just going to hunker down for the rest of the week. We did eat at some really good restraunts and enjoyed our visit very much. Now we just need to see when we can go again when there are not so many people there.

We also finally stopped at Bucee's on the way back from Galveston. Man that place has just about anything you want even though it is just a convenience store.

Fun Weekend

We had a great weekend with the kids. We watched Ashlyn play basketball on Sat. morning. You can see her here (in the purple shirt) doing a lay up and she did make another basket that day. She played really well and was more aggressive than she had been so that was good. You need to do that in basketball.



We took them home with us and Colten and Opie went fishing. They caught 14 fish and Colten caught the most. He was so proud and Opie was, too. You can see their catch below. Ashlyn wanted to watch a Harry Potter movie so her and I did that. She has really taken a shine to reading and is on the last book of the Harry Potter series (and these are BIG books). Takes after her Omie in that. I will have to see if I have other books at home that she may like.

After looking at a map of Texas the kids have decided that they want to go to Abilene State Park in stead of Caprock State Park which is almost in the panhandle. We are looking forward to that trip which will be the first week of June. That's all for now.

Getting back on line

Well, it has been a while since I have logged on. There has been a lot going on. Marilyn is finally getting her bone marrow transplant today so keep her in your prayers. She will find out in 1-14 days if it worked. If it works she will hopefully be able to come home in May.

We did go camping to Garner State Park this past weekend. The only bad day was Sat. and we came back into town for a funeral anyway so it did not matter. Larry's uncle, Carlos Young, passed away. Now back to the camping trip. Vicki and Rick went also and Vicki hates the hikes I pick out because they are "uphill both ways". She asked at the front office about an easy hike and they drew on off for her. So Sunday, which was a beautiful day, we set out on this "easy" hike. It took us 2 1/2 hours and we were going up rocky craigs and down washed out gullies and I just laughed because I got to go on my kind of hike, but didn't have to take the blame. It was great. Here are some pics of the vistas we were able to see from the "easy hike". Vicki is never going to hear the end of it.

It was nice to get away. We are planning on taking the grandkids at the beginning of June and we are looking forward to that and I think they are, too.

It is finally going up---the deck that is. We need to get it finished first so that we can get in and out of the bathroom upstairs without schlepping everything through the house. It will still be a while, but it is further than it was.

Rena is doing fine. Not working much right now, but hopefully that will pick up as the weather gets better. Keep your fingers crossed for her, she needs the work.

Until next time.