Sole Snapshot of People at Garner State Park

A grand cousin, grand niece, and Dan.

Phone {Picture} Dump V

This is the last dump post. Until next time.

Phone {Picture} Dump I

Phone {Picture} Dump II

Phone {Picture} Dump III

Phone {Picture} Dump IV

Artwork by a grandniece. June 8, 2015

She colored, used stickers and "wrote" things onto paper. I framed them and hung it on my wall.

PS I am hoping that she will continue to gift me with her art work and pictures and these will be replaced (updated). I would do the same for all the others. She was the first to gift me with her “art”.

Abby Gail, June 9, 2015

Abby Gail, June 9, 2015

Abby Gail, June 9, 2015

Note: I took a LOT of pictures during the period of time she was needy and sickly. She wanted me. I finally put down a towel beside my computer and she was satisfied.

My Turn Now! Gracie. June 10, 2015

She looked so pathetic and cute. I had to take another picture. June 16, 2015

This gives you an idea of the depth of her sickness. She did not torment me or my needlework during this time frame. She just wanted to be on me and rest.

June 17, 2015

Abby Gail, June 18, 2015

Abby Gail. June 20, 2015

Abby Gail. June 20, 2015

Abby Gail. June 25, 2015

A Weekend in Pictures

We went to the Dallas area last weekend (September 8-9) to attend a grand-niece's first birthday party. The entire weekend was rather lovely! I do so enjoy watching the kids and visiting with family and friends. There was a baseball practice, soccer game, birthday party and a brunch gathering.

It was hard to narrow the pictures down so that this post is not so heavy laden. I did not succeed so well. Anyway, below are some of my favorites shots I took. Keep in mind that these are snapshots. So, do not be expecting perfection. Also, the pictures shown have been resized to fit the blog; so, they are not as great as seeing the full-sized version. Enjoy!

(By the way, Dan will be posting his pictures on his blog soon. I will nag him until he does.)








The Birthday Girl


All the Toddlers Loved this Toy




Pure Joy


These two boys are cousins. They play well together, don't they?

These three are all cousins to one another

The following is a series of pictures of a lovely little girl that I just had to post.



And, last of all, this is my absolute favorite! I'm absolutely floored.

{To see the larger picture, go here.}

Oh how I wish I had captured the birthday girl like this! Maybe some day.

Remember, Dan will be posting his pictures on his blog soon.

Thursday's Thoughts

Thursdays have always been my “writing” days on the blog – sharing my personal thoughts or results from various writing challenges around the interwebs. Sharing my writings is a very tough thing for me to do; so, Thursdays are often neglected. Since I do not have much time for blogging and sewing/crafting due to life, I have decided I will just to do general recaps of my week. At the very least, writing will not get neglected.

Let’s see, since we finally closed on the house, we basically immediately packed and left that night (Wednesday, May 30, 2012) for a trip to the Houston, Texas area. We witnessed two of my nephews graduate from high school – one on Thursday evening:


{Yes. hats were thrown; but, they are obscured by all the people in the background}
and another on Saturday morning:


I am very proud of both of my nephews. Dan managed to get decent pictures from both ceremonies.

We also visited with Mother several times while we in town. She was doing better this time around than the last time I visited her. She has her ups and downs. And, we saw Lily! She and her mother came to town to attend the graduations too. She is the cutest little “bug” ever!
Overall, the long weekend was very good and we had a wonderful relaxing time visiting with family. Both Dan and I were very reluctant to pack and return home last Sunday because we knew we were going to have to knuckle down and start packing and planning for a week long camping trip. On the way home, I started working on a menu plan and grocery list. We tend to keep things very simple regarding food.

When we arrived home, we immediately noticed that Gracie’s food was all gone and Chessie’s was practically untouched. Chessie is eating Gracie’s food! I feel so frustrated. However, Gracie’s food is better for Chessie in the long run. Gracie needs specialty cat food due to her allergies and food sensitivities and these types of food are more expensive. I just dislike the idea of wasting good cat food (Science Diet) that we still have for Chessie; but, if she is not going to eat it, she is not going to eat it. Since she is already a skinny cat (has been all her life), we cannot afford to let her lose weight. So, we are switching her over to Gracie’s food. This means that I had to buy more of Gracie’s cat food before we go camping. Dang finicky cats!

Anyway, I have been finishing up and fine-tuning the menu plan, making the grocery list and taking stock of what we do have for camping. Dan brought out the big black boxes Monday night and started taking stock of the current camping stuff. He tested some old inner tubes and I believe they are fine. A few boxes are packed already with camping supplies. So, we are making progress!

I will be going grocerying this morning. Yes, I realize “grocerying” is not a legit word; but, it should be a valid word. Ha! I will also start preparing the food today. I tend to prepare the meats and freeze them ahead of time. For example, I make the burger patties and freeze them. I also tend to clean up and brine the chicken before throwing them in the freezer. By doing this ahead of time, it makes our lives so much easier while camping. All we will have to do is grab the meat from the cooler and throw it on the grill when we are hungry.

I will continue food preparation tomorrow (Friday). Both Friday and Saturday will be spent packing, packing and more packing. We will be leaving for Garner sometime Saturday. Due to the fact that Wi-Fi connection is hard to reach at Garner, I will be on a blogging break.

And besides, I do not think I will have the time or inclination to blog while we are camping. I am planning to return to blogging on Monday, June 18th. But, if I do not post anything that Monday, do not worry. I will be back. :-)

Snapshots of Christmas Break 2012: Part II

On December 28th,

We met up with my youngest niece, and her family (including her Mother) at IKEA. I had fun looking at all the stuff!

We visited for a bit and had a lovely time.

On December 29th,

We met up with my oldest niece and her family. This little girl is happy all the time. She is such a joy to hold and watch.

And, I enjoyed watching this girl play with a little toy she received. She really enjoyed this silly thing.

On December 30th,

We went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards. This is the view from above Love Shack -- a really good foodie place that accepts cash only.

And, Dan surprised me with a little side trip to the...

Fort Worth Water Gardens. One area of this garden, the Active Water Pool, is awesome!

I had injuried my hip; so, I could not risk taking a trip down into the "center". However, I took some pictures of Dan going down.



It is really deep, huge and loud!


We spent some time with my eldest brother and his wife on December 31st. I really love their little piece of property -- it is so much like what I wish for when we get a house of our own.

Life sort of returned to normal when we returned home late New Years Day.

It was a wonderful Christmas break. And, I hope we can do something like this again!