Cupcakes, Cousins and Aunt Betty

My sister-in-law Betty is much more than the "run-of-the-mill" Aunt to my grandsons, William and Camden.  They spend a lot of time at her house and love her dearly!!  I'm happy to share "grandma" status with her as she loves and cares for them as well as I could (with even more patience!)  She is always coming up with fun things for them to do, and while I was there in January, she decided she was going to make cupcakes and let the boys decorate them. 

WHAT A BLAST WE ALL HAD!!

 

Sprinkles

Camden getting the chocolate chips from Aunt Betty

 Putting the chocolate chip on the cupcake with his mouth!!

It was too cute...he'd get the chip, put the tip in his mouth and very carefully place them on the cupcakes. 

Can we please just eat one now?!

Mmmm...these are pretty good!

This one's for Papa Bill!

Camden, Aunt Betty and William 

All finished and ready to clean up!!

We have a new Granddaughter!!

 

Chesleigh Abigail King

born January 5, 2010

8# 4 oz - 19 1/4 inches

Parents are Carl and Crystal 

  

Proud big brother is Camden giving his baby sister her first kiss.

 

Having a daughter came as a huge surprise to Carl and Crystal as they "did it the old fashioned way" and didn't find out the sex of their baby until she was born.  The look of awe on Carl's face when he came out of the delivery room pushing her little bassinette to the nursery was priceless!!  Crystal's Mom and I both squealed in delight so loudly that Crystal heard us in the OR.  Chesleigh was born by c-section and put her mark on the world feet first!  Hmmm...already doing things her own way!  

Their little family settled right in with Camden anxious to read his baby sister a story.  I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of that in the days to come.  He will have lots of things to teach her.

I can't go without posting some pictures of the proud Grandparents and Uncle Zeke with Chesleigh.  Enjoy!!

Broken Arm and Lost Tooth

What a big day for a 6 year old!! William fell from the monkey bars at school and broke his right arm! They put a cast on it in the ER, and he will see an orthopedist in a couple of days to get another opinion. He is doing well, and practicing ways to do things with his left hand that he usually does with his right. Also figuring out how to do some things with one hand when he usually uses two.

And just a couple of hours after that picture, I got this one:

He pulled his own tooth!! The first one to come out!!
Way to go William!!

Ahhh...the beach!!

Can't you just hear the surf, feel the sun on your face and the sand between your toes...

We had such a great time at the Outer Banks, NC in July. We had a big family vacation on the beach and also celebrated with my niece Jessica as she and Doug became husband and wife. (More on the wedding later). We met on the beach about 10:00 every morning and stayed until 4 or 5 each afternoon. It was beautiful; sometimes overcast, sometimes bright sun, always with the ocean spray, sounds of children playing and adults laughing...and of course, the seagulls!

Scott (nephew) is laying in the sand, Me, Betty(sis-in-law), Beverly(sis-in-law) and Debra (sis)

Beverly, Randy (brother), Debra

My niece Hannah - yeah, she didn't turn many heads!

Bill, Rick (brother) and Terry (brother) taking a swim.

We had such a great, relaxing time! The best
part was visiting with family we haven't seen in a long time and really getting to catch up. I really hope we are able to do it again soon.


We shouldn't put off spending time with those you love! I don't want to take it for granted that they will always be here, and that we'll always have time later. So go now!!! Plan a getaway for you and those you love!!

Summer Travel 2009

We have had such a busy summer this year!! We have traveled more than ever and had the opportunity to spend time with more family than in a very long time! I am so far behind in blogging, but I know the "dulldrums" will sink in when the world gets back on "school time". Funny how even if you no longer have children in school, it still influences your travel and various other activities.

William has been in San Antonio with us since July 18, (keeping us very busy), and will soon be going back home so he can start the 1st grade. He is very excited about it! Following his departure though, will come the dulldrums and I will try to fill that time with some really good blogging.

I've been to AR for a good long visit. Bill and I went to NC for a whole week of beach living and to witness the marriage of my niece, on a pier at a lighthouse. From there I went to VA with my sister and Bill went to AR to catch up with the kids. We then met in Searcy to spend a couple of days with Levi, Laura, Gavin and Carrigan before returning to SA.

Here's just a couple of great photos from that visit.
Zeke, Gavin and William in front of PF Changs where we met for dinner.










Levi, Gavin & William...they loved that big horse!
Carrigan loves reading with her G'pa!



G'pa can charm Gavin and Carrigan at the same time when he takes them for a little spin in the car. They love it!










Carrigan wasn't a big fan of G'ma this trip, but I'm still a big fan of hers!! Isn't that the sweetest little sad look?!

Gavin and G'ma enjoyed good reading time together

We have always felt so blessed to have our 5 Sons. The blessings just keep coming as we also have 2 Daughters (in-law) and 4 wonderful grandchildren....also another one who will make his/her entrance in January 2010!!
God is so good and faithful.
more to come soon.....

Chuck E Cheeses with Friends

Last year we took William for his first visit to Chuck E Cheeses, and like all 5 year old boys, HE LOVED IT!! So this year, to make it even more fun, we asked two little neighbor boys to go with us. Ethan and Isaac live right next door to us and are very sweet boys. They and William became quick friends this summer and had a great time at C.E.C













On our way in the car.


They "won" 240 in tickets and each got to spend 70 on fabulous treasures.

G'pa Bill also had a good time with all of the boys...brought back a few memories :)






Good times.. :) Good times.

William's visit 2009

We brought William home with us when we returned after our trip to NC, VA and AR. We've been very busy, but I wanted to post SOMETHING, as I've been away too long!!










Here's G'pa and William getting in a quick game of tic-tac-toe before G'pa has to head out for work. It's so fun having him around we hate to waste even a minute of his visit!

Dear Grandson Gavin,

It made me so happy to talk to you on Sunday. I've been smiling ever since!
I'm very homesick to hug you and play with you. I love looking at all the pictures mommy posts on your blog and watching the videos. Right now the picture of you and Carrigan bathing in the sink is on our computer screen, so every time I sit down to log on I see two beautiful faces!!
You are such a great big brother! Little sisters love having a big brother to smile at and share car rides with. Grandpa's favorite picture is the sepia colored one of you and Carrigan in your car.

Give your baby sister, mommy and daddy big hugs today!
Grandma loves you very much Gavin!

Betty

My (favorite) sister-in-law Betty came to SA for a visit!! The day she arrived it was rather dreary and damp and she'd been driving for about 10 hours, so we just visited and went to Alamo Cafe for dinner. I was so excited she was here, I couldn't sleep :)

Sunday morning we went to Church where she got to meet lots of "brothers and sisters" who've been praying for Betty's daughter Danielle, and her whole family. Sunday was a beautiful Texas day, so we decided to spend a few hours at the ball park where the SA Missions took on the Tulsa Drillers and whupped 'em!




















Monday we spent the afternoon at Market Square and the Riverwalk shopping, shopping, shopping. Oh yeah, and eating at the Iron Cactus, a restaurant Rebecca, Bill's niece, introduced us to. They have the best guacamole I've ever tasted!!

Tuesday we had a lazy morning and then spent the rest of the day in San Marcos at the outlet malls. We barely scratched the surface since that mall is sooo big, but we shopped hard and long arriving home just as Bill was going to bed, with our packages secretly hidden in the back of my car....shh ;)

Wednesday afternoon we headed downtown to the Alamo for the TEA party. Glenn Beck spoke and aired his live television show from the Alamo. Ted Nugent was on hand playing our National Anthem. What a crowd of people!!! There were signs everywhere, people of all ages and a lot of energy in the air!! My favorite sign said "I AM NOT YOUR ATM!" However, I failed to get a picture of it. Here are a couple..
























I took these with my phone; quality isn't great and lots of them didn't come out. Of course that's just a little glimpse of the crowd.

Betty walked through the crowd more than I did and saw people in costumes, more signs and really got the feel of all the positive energy. It was a very exciting place to be. BTW...look at the size of that cactus...cool huh!?!

After the TEA party, we met Bill at the church building for dinner and then went to Bible Class where we are watching the Mark Gungor DVD presentation "Laugh Yourself to a Better Marriage". And laugh we did...that guy is hilarious. Then we headed home. It was April 15, so I had to finish our taxes and get them sent off before the midnight deadline. Why would anyone who has to pay send the money even a day early?

Thursday was a rather gloomy day weatherwise as if even the weather was sad that Betty was leaving me. Before she did though, we along with others from church, set up lunch for the Dental School students and listened to Dr. Branch talk about his experience with mission work which started 50+ years ago.

As sad as I was to see Betty go, I understand how ready she was to be with her husband and children again...also those great-nephews she cares for every week. We were blessed with gorgeous weather and even though I had therapy for 2 hours every day that kept us from doing a lot of other things we wanted to do, it is that therapy that made it possible for me to get out without pain; so that also is a blessing!

Can't wait until your next visit my sweet sister Betty!!

Tired of cooking the same old foods...

Bill and I have become quite adventurous lately with trying new foods. Eating foods we've never tasted before at a restaurant, where they know what they're doing, is one thing. I decided to give a few things a try on my own. We have wonderful markets here in SA!! I don't have to shop at Wally-world ALL THE TIME!! There are other grocery stores!!

So, the other day I went to Whole Foods and picked up a few yummy ingredients...purple potatoes (yes, they are dark purple all the way through), ruby sweet potatoes (deeper, richer color than regular sweets or yams), heirloom tomatoes, fresh asparagus, halibut, cod, bison and lamb.

Saturday evening after Bill got home from the men's retreat, I served him a dinner of halibut seared then gently cooked in chipolte butter, crispy pan fried purple potato quarters and coleslaw (made from a "real" head of cabbage, none of that bagged stuff for my man!) Mmmmmm yummy!

Tonight, I mixed up some spicy lamb meatballs, a skillet combination of onions, ruby sweet potatoes, purple potatoes and mushrooms, and more coleslaw. Hey, the coleslaw was a big hit Saturday and I needed backup just in case the lamb-balls didn't turn out so well! But whadda ya know...another home run!! It was all very yummy!!

Also, both meals were actually very light. We didn't have that "ugh" feeling after the meal. I was afraid the potatoes might be too much...we almost never eat potatoes because of the carbs. So, tomorrow night we will dine on cod and asparagus. Thursday will be "bison night". I'll come up with some side dishes I'm sure. For now, I just need to sleep on it.

This might be boring to all of you, but I love experimenting with food!!