Out with the old and in with the new

Happy New Year to all and hope you all have a great year. It is hard to believe that 2008 is history and we are on to 2009. I am pretty sure I never thought I would see the year 2000 back in the 1970's. That was of course a million years away and now we are already 9 years into it.

The kids were kind enough to sit still for long enough to get a pic with Omie and Opie. I will treasure these pics forever because before long they won't fit on our laps anymore.

Mom came over for lunch on Christmas day and I got a pic of her and me together in front of my tree. I think that is the first time I have ever done that. The next picture is of Oma Reeh and Rena in front of the Norfork Pine they decorated together for mom's Christmas tree. It looked really cute.

After Christmas we got invited to Corrine and JR's ranch in Menard for New Year's Eve. That was different and fun. We took our camper along and since we were so close and had a few days off we went to South Llano State Park for a few days. The weather was perfect and we were even able to have a campfire one night since the park did not have a burn ban. We always like to go to the bird blinds they have there and were lucky enough to see a bluejay while we were there. I was hoping to see a painted bunting, but they don't show up until April. It was nice to get away for a little bit and just do nothing. It will be a while before we will be able to do that again. Larry's sub is having surgery so I don't know how many Sat. he will have to work.

The Mason Stockshow is this weekend so we will be going to Mason to watch Ashlyn and Colten show their hogs. Hope they do well, but if not that is okay, too.

Anyway, hope the new year brings lots of good things to all of your lives and my God bless all of you.

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.