Christmas '09

Christmas 2009 has come & gone.

December 23rd brought 70+ degree temperatures. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Who would've thought that the next day would produce a WHITE CHRISTMAS??! Soon after we woke up on the 24th, it began to rain. Shortly thereafter, snow begin to mix in with the rain. Perhaps it was predicted, but we hadn't watched the forecast & didn't know it was coming. There were lots of folks that were inconvenienced by the icy roads & delayed flight schedules. We were among the fortunate that had nowhere to go. We just stayed inside & enjoyed watching it through the windows, while sitting by the fire in the fireplace.

Tommy suggested late afternoon that we go drive through the pasture. I took my camera & will post a few of the pictures we captured that we will enjoy in days to come.

BEAUTIFUL redbird that we could barely see through the brush...

Our family was blessed to be healthy & with those we love. My prayer is that your holiday was happy as well!!

Goodbye.....again!

This is the picture I just took as Cori was driving away.

She was home for a long week-end. They didn't have class Friday, so she came home Thursday afternoon & we enjoyed some lazy "home time". It was great! Laundry was done.....a trip was made to Urban Outfitters....three nights' sleep that, I'm confident, each consisted of more than a week's sleep does at the dorm.....LIFE IS GOOD!

Hopefully, it'll get her through until Thanksgiving holidays. We love & live for those visits!!

Anticipation

This is dedicated to all the "moms" sending their babies to school......whether it be Kindergarten, middle school, high school or college.

Today is the last official day of summer. Tomorrow AM, the school buses will be out & about early. Everyone will have butterflies......students & teachers alike!

Kindergarten moms will have tears. There may even be a few tears from the Kindergarten students. Moms of HS seniors will have a tear in their eye as they know this is likely the last day they will get to witness their "baby" leaving for high school. Moms of college students will be a bit anxious all day until they hear from their kids to hear how the first day of classes went. I know I'll be waiting for my phone to ring!!

Excitement is in the air. Hope it's a good day for all the students, teachers, staff that live at your house!

Cori's 3rd grandmother

I can't remember the first time I met Floyd & Bettye Antwine. They are a couple that are about the same age as all of Cori's grandparents. When Cori was about a 2nd grader, they started attending her Little Dribbler basketball games & continued to be VERY faithful fans....all the way through volleyball season her senior year. They became an important part of our lives. I loved trading fishing stories with Floyd!

At the Granbury Church of Christ, we have an awesome program where families whose children are gone from home "adopt" one of the younger kids & commit to pray for them daily. Floyd & Bettye chose Cori & we loved knowing that they were covering us with their prayers.

When Jodie & Wade (my cousin & her son) moved here about 5 years ago, they took Wade into their circle. Floyd took him to play golf & they enjoyed each other's company.

Floyd passed away about a year and a half ago. We still miss him! Bettye has continued to be such a support and encouragement to our family.

She has recently sold her house & is moving tomorrow to be near her children in Tyler. We had a great visit over lunch yesterday. We will SO miss her, but commit to keep in touch & go visit.

Here are a couple of pictures of our time together yesterday.

Oh.....and another thing......

In my last post, I mentioned Erin (my cousin, Krista's 3 year old). Also at the hospital were Erin's two big sisters, Ashley & Cameron. They are all three sweet girls. I have pictures to post, but they need a little explaining.

There was a promotion going on that day at Chic-Fil-A. The deal was if you wore a cow costume in, they gave you a free meal. So......the girls were pumped about that & here's what they came up with. They got quite a bit of attention as they entered the hospital lobby. Fun times!

Uncle Bill's surgery

My uncle Bill, who is VERY near & dear to my heart, had back surgery yesterday in Dallas. Mom, Cori & I went to be there during his surgery & to "take care" of him afterward.

Any of you who know him, knows that someone needs to be there to supervise him. He's a huge practical joker and about the only way to get him is to find him shortly after anesthesia. :) His 3-year old granddaughter, Erin, & I were in the room early in the afternoon. He was dozing & I was telling her about the time we painted his toenails while he was sleeping without him knowing. He never noticed......until he went to the foot doctor the next week & the doctor asked him about it. It was GREAT. Erin thought that was funny & we decided that he needed some lipstick while he was sleeping this time. We didn't have any in the room right then, but later got some. He played along (since Erin was a party to the prank). Below you will see the results of that fun.

What a blessing to be part of a family that can support each other through good and tough times & be able to laugh along the way!!

Please take a moment to say a prayer that Uncle Bill's back surgery will yield some pain relief and that we'll be back running together again before too long. :) I love you, Uncle Bill!!

Royal Family Kids' Camp

I am writing this as I wait for a DVD to burn of pictures from this week's Royal Family Kids' Camp. We will watch these pictures tomorrow before we say goodbye & enjoy reliving the fun we've had this week.

This is a great 9-year tradition of the Granbury Church of Christ. We host between 20 & 40 campers who are between 7 and 11 years old at Glen Lake Camp in Glen Rose, TX. I wouldn't even guess at how many people it takes to plan & orchestrate this endeavor. This year, two men agreed to "co-direct" the camp. There were months of planning, training, organizing, recruiting involved.

There are directors, nurses, counselors, junior counselors, Bible teachers, song leaders, puppeteers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, photographers, craft ladies, snack ladies, fishing guides,coaches, quilt makers (who make each camper a quilt to take home with them) & many more that help to make it all happen.

During this week, kids who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity get to swim, fish, make crafts are treated to these experiences.

When it's all said & done, I'm not sure who is more blessed......the campers or the camp staff. My prayer is that the campers remember the lesson they heard this week......that God loves them!

I know that it's a week I'll never forget!! That's what keeps us coming back year after year after year.

Construction complete!

I'm a little behind in posting the good news that we're finished with our construction project. Overall, it was a pleasant experience (even though it lasted a little longer and was a little messier than we anticipated). We are very pleased with the end result & hope that you can come visit us soon!

Latest update...

Here are just a few pictures to prove that we're getting closer.  Looks like we'll be finished about the same time we get out of school.  A good "beginning of summer" present!

A little closer.....

We are a little closer to being finished......

here's the evidence......

roof is complete......

cabinets are installed.......

we're getting there!

We're making progress....

Slowly, but surely......we're making progress on the house project.  Here are the latest pictures...

Ft Worth Zoo Run

This was the fun for the day yesterday.  My friend, Martha & I went (along with a few thousand of our CLOSEST friends....HA!) to the FW Zoo & ran in the 5K fun run.  The weather was great....overcast, but didn't actually rain until the race was over & we were on our way home.  Good timing!

The Easter Bunny

There are definite advantages to working where most of the people are under 9 years of age!  One of them came this week.  The Easter Bunny came to Acton Elementary to visit!!  I couldn't let that happen without getting my picture made......so here it is.....

I LOVE my job.  Where else can you get paid to go play all day??

Arkansas trip

This past week, my mom & I traveled to Harrison, Arkansas to visit Rex & Norma Brazell, some long-time friends of our family.  Rex Brazell ranked among the TOP on my dad's "friend list".  They were cattle partners for many years.  Riding across their pastures in Boone County was one of Daddy's favorite pastimes.  I enjoyed many such rides over the years.  It is always a little bittersweet to go back & visit the old places we had shared together.  I cherish the rides (horseback & in the pick-up) counting, checking on & feeding the cattle with Rex.  It gives me an opportunity to revisit memories & feel my dad's very presence in a place he loved.  It always seems to bring a tear to my eyes, but also makes me smile at the same time.  Here are a couple of pictures......the first is of Bud, one of Daddy's horses that Rex now owns & uses......the second is of me with Rex's horse that I got to ride on one of our morning rides......the third is of a baby calf hiding under a tree that was broken off in a recent ice storm.  Good times with good friends!!

Making progress....

The concrete slab for our house addition was poured on Friday, March 6.  Saturday we had rain in the forecast.  It started raining Monday & rained most of the week.  We didn't want lumber to be delivered & sitting in the rain, so we savored the rain & didn't complain about losing a week of work on the house project.  

Monday AM the lumber was delivered & the framers got started.  They've made great progress. Look at the pictures in the slideshow a couple of postings down to see what's happening.

Cowtown '09

Today several of my friends ran.....walked....participated in some way.....in the Cowtown '09 half marathon.  It was big fun.....would've been a little more fun if the wind hadn't been blowing 100 mph (well......perhaps that's a little bit of an exaggeration.......but not much!).  We all finished & that was the goal.  Here is a picture of the Acton Elementary group of us that caravanned over EARLY this AM.

About seven years ago, we built a barn with living quarters in it.  We have loved living here.  Today we started a project of adding on a sitting room, dining room & enlarging our kitchen.  The dirt work was completed today & they'll start doing concrete work the first of next week.  Here are some of the before & during pictures.  We'll look forward to posting some of the "after" pictures in a couple of months.  :)

BEAUTIFUL DAY!

WOW......talk about extreme opposites.  Today was a beautiful spring-like day.  We enjoyed being outside in the 70+ degree weather.  We saw 5 geese down by the tank yesterday.  Today there were only 3 & we watched them fly away as we were heading down to the arena.

Ice and Snow

It started sleeting last night about 8.  This is what we woke up to see this AM.  Classic Chevrolet is open, so Tommy had to get up & go to work EARLY this AM.  Granbury ISD is CLOSED for the day.....so I'm enjoying a day on the couch with a blanket & a book.  LOVE IT!

Quick trip to Colorado

Cori & I left Monday for Colorado with our friend, Margaret Sawyer, to see John & Nancie.  We drove Monday......spent the day Tuesday just looking around Colorado Springs........skied in Breckenridge  Wednesday (I'll post a couple of pictures)........went to Stokely, Kaori & Jake Sawyer's house in Denver to spend New Year's Day......then drove home Friday.  A good time was had by all!!