May 2011

Well from December of 2010 till May of 2011.....we had a great time in Texas. It is getting harder and harder for me to update this blog now with Facebook and emailing but I'll give it another shot, who knows when the next post will be????

We left Texas on April 14th, went to Bonnie's in Missouri City (suburb of Houston) and had the most incredible Shrimp Creole. Then we headed to Dave and Karen's in Baytown for a couple of days. We went the second day to Galveston and were really impressed by the statues that have been carved out of trees that fell during Ike. How impressive was that!

The next morning we headed for Rogers to see Larry and Linda. We had Monte Ne Chicken (one of our personal favorites), and celebrated Charlie's 61st Birthday at a great Cajun restaurant.

We left in a couple of days and headed for Glendo. Charlie's cousin's wife, Marge Wilson passed away after a vigilant battle with breast cancer. The funeral was a very nice celebration of her life and we all have had our life enriched and blessed from knowing her.

By now we've slept in 5 different beds, 10 days have passed, I finished the binding on our new RV Quilt and the car turned 50,000 miles. Oh yea, and Charlie met a Wyoming Highway Patrolman up close and personal on South Pass!

We are glad to be back home in Pinedale and look forward to hearing about all your winters and what you are doing this summer.

Then we headed north to Arkansas to see our friends, Kurt and Sue Bender in Little Rock. They had endured a tornado 36 hours before our arrival and still didn't have power. We all made the best of it and had a wonderful dinner by candlelight! The next morning they showed us all over Little Rock, we went in the afternoon and saw a wonderful play, and then went to a quaint little Mediterranean Restaurant and had GREAT food!

Snow is upon us!

Dorothy just blew in from Kansas.....Candice

The sharpest shooter in the West...Emma

Matching her American Doll as a cheerleader...Lexie

A Fairy Princess .....Bele

Louis is hot on the trail of the bunny sitting at the corner of the fence, he checks for him every morning when we open the curtains....and then looses him as he hops under the deck.

I'm not sure where November went, but it has came and gone! Mid-October I came down with Bell's Palsy and the left side of my face was paralyzed for about a month. Slowly it began to leave, and now I am probably about 90% back. You can't tell to look at me, but I can certainly tell doing simple things like brushing my teeth. Linda Whitaker came and surprized me with a visit about a week after the onset, she kept busy sewing and laughing I forgot I had anything wrong. Little Bele (Andrea's youngest girl) was so funny she didn't know any different so she would imitate me, talking sideways, it was hilarious we couldn't stop laughing which of course a 5 year will perform if you laugh at them!

I left just before Thanksgiving (which by the way I will NEVER fly at that time of year again) to go help my Mom as she was preparing to have a total Hip Replacement. She is now walking with a cane (less than 2 weeks from surgery) and doing great. Thanks for all your prayers.

We are packing for Texas, time to head south we're freezing! Charlie got a new motor for his boat so he's very excited to get in the bays! We're going to stop in Fredericksburg for New Years with Paul and Marilyn. They are helping us work on "our" dancing skills so we're going to a New Years Eve Dance at Turner Hall. Maybe we'll be able to master the "Polka" for Wurstfest 2011!

We really enjoyed this summer and fall and now WINTER..okay maybe not WINTER but we have enjoyed our kids and grandkids. Bele and Samuel have really fit into the family nicely, Bele is the newest Drama Queen, and Samuel has the cutest sense of humor although I'm not sure he knows it's humor yet! LOL Clancy is cross country skiing for school this year, he's such a good distance runner he is doing great, we will miss getting to go to his meets. Emma has really grown up this year and stepped into the big sister shoes, she love her ice skating and doing really well at it. Lexie is loving school and her Barbies. Her imagination is so creative and she loves to draw and color, we are always amazed at how well she can draw, she keeps our refrigerator decorated very nicely with her talent. Candice is the cutest two year old...she has a smile that will make you melt and busy, oh my gosh that girl never stops except when she sleeps. Thankfully she's a good sleeper! She talks non stop (well she has to in this family to try and get a word in edgewise) and keeps us in stitches laughing. Chauncey and Angie are now the sole owners of Pinedale Properties and doing an excellent job. Chauncey has really stepped up to the plate and has a good mature business head. They hosted the annual Christmas Party and Angie went all out as usual, the house was gorgeous, even Lexie told me , "be ready to sit at two BEAUTIFUL tables", and she was right everything was perfect. I think they are known as the Griswalds on their block, drive by and see their outside lights or check them out on Angie's Facebook page they are great! James and Andrea are busier that ever, James is now working primarily as a Ranch Consultant for two major ranches, one here and one in Nevada. His expertise and advise is well sought after and he gets to spend more time with the cows so you can imagine his smile is much bigger now! Andrea, well she stepped back into the past with a 4 and 5 year old that are learning everything all of us learned from 1-5. She says often it's like having a two year old in a 4 or 5 year body, the kids are learning great but there is just so much to learn. She of course wants the very best for them and is preparing Bele for 1st grade and Samuel for Kindergarten next year. She is pretty drained most days still but we all get to see the fruits of her work, and lucisous fruits they are.

My next blogging will be from Texas....so until then.....Happy Trails

Arkansewer's Retreat Photos

The Sweat Shop (formerly known as Linda's Pool House)

Cyd, Margie/AR, Bonnie/TX

The whole crew with the aprons we made, and the bags we made,and the cups with sleeves that Linda and Cyd made for everyone.

Bonnie surrounded by a few of the quilts she donated to the women's shelter in Rogers. This woman is unbelievable!

AlBe, Debbie, Cathy and Bonnie, toasting to a good time!

October

Linda's Voting booth for Green Chili (mine) or Red Chili (Chauncey's)...It was a tie!

Emma as the All American Cowgirl

Bella's as a beautiful Butterfly

Lexie with matching outfits, her and her American Doll are cheerleaders.

"They come in peace".....Grant and Samuel as Buzz Lightyear!

Gosh seriously has it been since July that I updated this blog???? Where has the time went? I can't possibly remember what we did in August and September, I'm barely hanging on to my memory for October!

For sure the biggest event is the two new grandchildren from Ethiopia.....we are loving them and what a perfect fit they are in the family!

Check out Andrea's blog for updates on that... See the link in my page here.

I left September 30th for Arkansas to have some "girl time", with Linda. To say we had FUN is such an understatement. We sewed, ate, laughed, created, shopped and really what else do you need for "girl time?" Oh yea, we had chocolate too! We co-hosted a quilting retreat for friends from Wyoming, Arkansas and Texas. Some drove, some flew and we all congregated for a wonderful time.

I returned back to Pinedale on the 12th of October, rested, smiling and happy. That was Tuesday, and by Friday my whole world changed. I woke up with the left side of my face paralysed ! By the next Monday the neurologist in Idaho Falls confirmed that it was Bell's Palsy. So now 2 1/2 weeks later I've gotten a lot of the feeling back, can't close my eye all the way yet so still have to have it taped shut at night, and continue to have some pain, and paralysis but for the most part I'm about 75% back to what used to be normal. At least people don't say "Oh my gosh, what happened" anymore when they first see me! LOL We had to postpone our California trip though, good food, good wine just didn't go hand in hand with Bell's Palsy. We think we'll try and go next May, should be another beautiful time of the year there.

Wednesday night guess who came to my front door? Linda had driven all the way from Arkansas straight through to come and be my "pal" during rehabilitation. She is leaving tomorrow or Wednesday, no is that a friend or what? I don't know how I would of made it through these last two weeks without her, she has truly been a blessing to me.

I'm planning on going to Arizona and spending Thanksgiving with Mom and Leonard and seeing where I can help out there. We are planning on heading to Texas right after Christmas. We certainly aren't escaping the cold soon enough this year, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I can't get all the pictures in this post so will post more pictures on top of this.

July - What a whirlwind!

Gosh July went by so fast I think we missed a good share of it. We started off going to the HR Ranch outside of Wheatland to celebrate Ruth's (Charlie's mom) 80th birthday at the annual family get together. We had Clancy and Emma with us as James and Andrea went to Ethiopia to meet their new kids. We got home from the ranch on the 4th, and Sean (nephew) and his friend Katie came on the 5th! We all enjoyed the rodeos and street fair and doings of Rendezvous all week long. Then they left on the 11th, Andrea and James got home late the night of the 12th...then we left for Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for Weston (nephew) and Brooke's wedding on the 14th! We got home on the 19th, Charlie left on a fishing trip on the 21st, my friends from Texas came on the 22nd...they left on the 30th and Charlie got back on the 1st of August. Does whirlwind explain July???? We had a blast though, and enjoyed every minute of it!

The Roger's are packing up to leave on the 15th of August to go bring our new grandchildren home. The whole family is going this time, we see excitement, fear, anticipation and most of all love in all their eyes. We're all excited on this home front to meet them! Rogers 426 is a reality!!!!!

The Goodrich's are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, wow how did that happen. Candice is every bit of two year old, and her favorite phrase, is "no me", she wants to do everything herself. Wonder where she got that???? LOL

I'm attaching a picture of Emma's second doll quilt. She is entering it in fair this week. She made this one for Lexie.

Also the baby bluebirds have been so much fun watching the week....

See ya in August!

June Camping Trip

Stopping for lunch, how do you like the bill on that visor? LOL.... We rested well at night with the guard dog on duty! The Saw Tooth Range.....this picture just does not do it justice, it was a breathtaking view.