Christmas at Mammy & Papa's

We celebrated Christmas this past weekend because Kit, Ashley and Foster came in from Amarillo. Maile, Jeremy and James, Dawn and Gail came over on Sunday for lunch, then in the afternoon we exchanged gifts. It was a delightful time!! I made a "Baby Jesus in the manger" for under the Christmas tree. Both grandkids enjoyed him. It nearly made me cry when Foster (the 2 1/2 year old) said, "He's sleeping on hay." It was worth all the trouble I went to to build the manger and fix it just right!

I made personalized jammies for Foster and James. It was like herding cats, but we finally got a photo of the two of them together in their matching jammies...How cute!!

The toy nativity set was a big hit, too. Both boys played and played with it. (Precious helped!) James kept one eye on the scary stocking hanging just above the stable...

We all had a wonderful time!! Merry Christmas 2009!

Under the weather???

I noticed that on my October blog I was "under the weather". Well, it's the end of November and I've been sick most of the past 3 weeks. It's getting very, very tiring!! Maxey said I'm bound and determined to stay sick until I share it with him...

I was able to fix Thanksgiving Dinner for 8 of us: Maxey and I, Dawn (my sister), Gage (my nephew), Janie (Gage's girlfriend), Jennifer (Janie's niece), Gail (my cousin), and Jeremy (my son-in-law). It was a wonderful day!!

The minute everyone left, I came down with fever and went to bed. It was so extreme that I halucinated all night. It was weird. Friday morning (Black Friday) I was supposed to go shopping with Joyce Lange. I called her at 6:3o and told her I had been sick all night but that the fever had gone away about 4am. I didn't want to share a germ with her. She was so excited about shopping that she wanted to go anyway...as long as I promised not to "kiss her". (No problem!) We had a great time shopping, but I really wasn't myself. The minute we got home, I went to bed. It felt great to lay down!

Whatever this is needs to move on out...SOON!! I'm tired of it!!!!!!!

2009 State Fair of Texas

Last week, Jimmy & Judy McAnarney drove in from Amarillo to spend a few days with us. Judy had never been to the State Fair, so we joined the masses and rode the train last Saturday...on Texas vs OU weekend! It wasn't the best time to attend the fair, but we had a wonderful time. We even stayed to see the closing parade and fireworks. (That was even a first for me!)

Flowers galore!

I've been a little under the weather (translating: confined to the house), so I started looking for something fun to do. I've created the cutest flower pins! They're made out of folded material. They really were fun, so I made a few...

It's a double-decker!!

Our Latest Camping Trip

Joe Poole Lake isn't very far away, but being there makes you feel like you're really on vacation "somewhere". We had a delightful time camping and fishing...even though the fish avoided us. Here are a few of the photos from our weekend:

Busy, busy, busy...

How can I be so busy? I'M RETIRED!!

Dear me, it's been another 2 1/2 months since I posted anything. Time flies when you're having fun! And I'm definitely having fun!

The end of June Maxey and I celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary with a cruise to Alaska. Yes, it was "a little" early, but we wanted to go while we were both young enough to enjoy the trip. It was wonderful. Here are a few photos (which look just like everyone else's photos of their Alaska cruise) plus a few of the flowers we saw while on the trip:

In July things got crazy around here! Maile resigned from her job to stay home with James. That meant that Jeremy, Maile and James could no longer afford their house. They put it up for rent and started looking for an apartment. Meanwhile, we decided it was a good time to have a garage sale. Or two... We gathered all our valuable junk and had a garage sale the middle of July, then another one (with deeper weeding) last weekend. That was fun!!

The house rented in about a week. Maile and Jeremy had a little trouble finding a suitable apartment, but God ran a "one day special" at the Tallows that seemed to be just for them. Yippee! They moved on the 10th, and the renters moved into their house on the 14th. Look how big James is now:

In the meantime, we've decided to redo one of the rooms in our house. I had it full of exercise equipment, but I exercise at the community center and senior citizens' center now. We sold all the exercise equipment last garage sale. I wanted to set up a kid's playroom, but after a few visits from Foster; I realized that kids don't need their own room at Mammy and Papa's house. We might set up another bedroom...or get a longarm quilting machine...or both. Right now I have the room piled up with "stuff" that can't find a home since I sold 4 bookcases last weekend in the garage sale. Oh well...

I've been to a Travis Cottrell concert where my hearing was literally damaged. It was ridiculous how loud that was!! It was physically painful...with lasting ill-effects!

I've been to Canton 1st Monday Trade Days with the ladies of First Baptist Carrollton. We had a delightful day!

Maxey and I were in Amarillo the first week of August. We got to stay one day in Clarendon visiting Maxey's kinfolk; and we stayed a couple of days with my friend Suzanne; we got to visit Maxey's kids and grandkids; Maxey played golf with his buddies while I just goofed off; we stayed with Kit and Ashley 3 days and attended birthday parties for both Kit (30th) and Foster (2nd).

Meanwhile...Maxey and I decided that the pool (which takes up our entire backyard) has been in the way long enough. We are taking it out!!! We have spent the last week and a half tearing out all the beautiful flowerbeds. I gave most of the perennials to Gail, who lives across the alley. I still have 2 shrubs that I can't find homes for. That's so sad! We've stacked all the border bricks til our backs are sore. Maxey disconnected all the water, electricity and gas lines. We're ready! The pool removal people will be here tomorrow morning to demolish and haul all of it off. That's the rule in Carrollton. Nothing can be left in the ground. Then good fill dirt will be brought in, packed down, and topped with about a foot of topsoil. Then we'll have a REAL yard! Yea!! It'll take a year or so for it to look like a yard, but it will be a lot better than a backyard full of water.

I'll try to blog again soon with photos of the removal!! Here are a few photos of our progress so far...

Two and a half months?!?

How can it have been over two months since I updated my blog?!?

Let me see…
What has been occupying my time?

In April, we weeded the entire front yard. We had some places that washed out every time it rained last year, so Maxey planted some Fescue grass to keep the ground from washing out. Well, this year the St. Augustine grass we planted is finally spreading over those washed out areas. The Fescue was dark green and the St. Augustine was bright green. So…we spent 2 ½ weeks pulling up all the Fescue. Whew!! What a job! But boy does the yard look great!!!!!

• My flowerbeds are absolutely beautiful this year! In fact, we were going to replace our fence this spring, but the flowers were already too pretty to be disturbed. The fence will just have to wait until late fall.

• James (my new next door neighbor) is now ten weeks old. He’s a real delight. His mommy brings him over to see me a little while each day. He’s already learned my “loud” voice and silly faces. He smiles at me a lot! (I think it’s because I help him find his elusive thumb…) I’ve gotten to babysit him twice already! He really enjoys himself at Mammy and Papa’s house!

• One of my closest friends, Suzanne Couch, had brain surgery (a craniotomy) the end of May. Boy was that scary…for her, but for me, too. The week after she got to go home, I went to Amarillo and spent a few days with her. She’s a walking MIRACLE. I am so blessed that she has been a part of my life for over 30 years! And I praise God that she’s recovering from her surgery like nothing ever happened!! God is so good!!

• Early in June, I started filet crocheting “Jones” for Lindsey (Underhill) Jones. I’m about half finished with it. She asked me to make it for her just after she got married, but I told her it would probably be mid-summer before I could get it done. Wow!! I’m right on schedule!! (no photo...yet!)
  
  
• Precious is now getting her haircuts at home. We tried taking her to two different groomers, but they just couldn’t seem to do what we asked them to…plus it was nearly $40 each time; so Maxey and I decided we could cut her hair. We didn’t do too well the first time, but we clip her about every two weeks, so we’re getting better. This last time she looked absolutely adorable! She sure is prissy when she knows she looks cute!

• Foster came to visit us June 12th. His mommy and daddy brought him, but they only stayed here two days. They flew to Cozumel for a week. They’ve been snorkeling with the sharks and sea turtles while we’ve been having a blast with Foster. HE IS SO MUCH FUN! We’ve taken a walk in our stroller every morning after Papa went to work. We’ve been to at least one park every day with Maile and James. We’ve played for hours with the water hose (his favorite activity) either at Maile’s or at Mammy’s. He adores Precious. They are the best of buddies!! The living room is now full of toys…we find different ones of interest everyday. PLUS, every evening after supper we all swim for an hour or two. We’ve been having a great time!






• Tomorrow Maxey and I leave on our 50th Wedding Anniversary Cruise!!! We decided to take it now, because when we've been married 50 years there's a possibility that neither one of us will WANT to go on a cruise!

James Jeremiah Srader is here!

Maile and Jeremy had their baby on Good Friday! He's adorable.

We had a busy, busy Spring Break this year.

Kit, Ashley and Foster came to see us for 3 days. Foster is such a delight! He kept us all entertained...especially Precious.

We had an unexpected visit from a pair of ducks one evening. Precious was outside and started barking and barking and barking. I went out to see what the ruckus was and found ducks in our pool. Shoo! Shoo! Go away!

Maile's friends had a Baby Shower for her on the 14th of March. The hostesses created a beautiful cake and great table decorations! We had a terrific time and Maile and James got many wonderful gifts! Those attending,in addition to Maile's friends from church, were Debi Srader (Mimi), Dorene Srader (MomMom-James' great-grandmother), Ashley Black (James' aunt)Dawn Wolfington (James' great-aunt), Gail Black (cousin and neighbor), Jennifer Higgins (Maile's best friend), and me (Mammy).

Toward the end of the week Gail, Maxey and I went on a "FISHING TRIP" to Fairfield State Park. The lake there has a power plant on it. The water of the lake is used to cool the power plant. Consequently, the water in the lake is very warm. We were able to use our floating tubes without any discomfort at all. Not bad for March! The only problem was the fish seemed to have taken a trip for Spring Break...WE DIDN'T CATCH ANYTHING!! But we had a great time!

We just got back from a quick but wonderful visit in Amarillo. Our original reason for the trip was to witness Maxey's grandkids, Brooklyn and Logan, being baptized on Sunday. When we spoke to Kit and Ashley, we learned that they were supposed to pick up their new puppy that Friday...in Arlington. Well, there was no reason for them to drive to Arlington when we live right next door. So--Maxey and I met the "dog lady" in Arlington and got to be the first to meet Aggie, the new family basset hound. I wasn't sure what a basset hound was. I had visions of Jed Clampett's dog, but it turned out that Aggie is much cuter that his dog and not nearly as large.

We had no trouble at all with Aggie in the car. She slept almost the entire trip. Here are a couple of pictures of her in the car:

Foster enjoyed Aggie. She's a terrific addition to the family.

Precious' Golf Excursion

We had a "free day" at home last Monday, so Precious and I went to the golf course with Maxey. It was a little cool and very breezy, but we had a great time riding around in the golf cart while Maxey played 18 holes. As you can see by the photos, Precious even tried it.

First Haircut...I can see!