Play it again, Sam...

This trombone player braved the bitter cold to collect for the Salvation Army in front of the new WalMart on Little Road at noon on December 7. Collections, along with the wind, were brisk!

Hanging around looking for insurance customers

Connie found this little guy hanging from a spiderweb in her shed. She rescued him and sent him on to another insurance customer.

You know you live in the country when...

The place you get flu and pneumonia shots is the local feed store.

And it rained...40 days and 40 nights

This is Shelby Road about 1 p.m. Sunday, September 13, after 7 to 8 inches of rain. Anglin, Timberview and Shelby were all barricaded.

Not low enough

So Mom sent an e-mail out a few weeks ago saying to lay low since our stake RS president was getting released. Well, I guess I didn't lay low enough. No, I'm not the president (phew!), but I was called this morning as the 2nd counselor in the stake RS presidency. I said to Pres. Spitzer "That's what I get for cooking for Girls' Camp" and he replied, "Oh, this won't get you out of Girls Camp." The president is Becky Anderson from Mansfield whose husband was just released as Bishop--she also works for MISD as a special ed teacher. The other counselor is Janelle Jones, who I don't know, but I met her this morning and she seems very nice. I have no idea what to do and have only attended RS for about 6 months out of the last 12 years. Will be interesting!

Wow! What a crater!

Construction is continuing on the Baxter Junior High at Forest Hill Drive and Shelby. At the dedication of another Everman school last week, I met the architect, Bob King, who explained what they are doing. There is a HUGE retention pond being built required by Fort Worth. He started trying to explain to me about the drainage and I told him I knew about retention ponds, so I was his instant friend. They have removed $250,000 worth of dirt which would have had to be bought to build up the other end of the property. That property was sort of a bog like the lot down the street we looked at. King said the big hangup in construction is getting the permits from the City of Fort Worth. It seems that they are even slower than Arlington. Anyway, it is fun to watch the construction. This hole just gets wider and deeper every day.

Lights, Curtains, Action...

Anna, Tommy and Eddie spent the morning at “the farm” recently while Danny and Melinda worked at his new school on organizing the music. Anna set up the new puppet theater and made a cute puppet from a paper sack to entertain us. The theater is for rent - cheap - for anyone who has a brainstorm.

Grandma’s Critters

Paul and Jared laughed when I got the motion camera for the backyard. They said most people are watching for burglars but I was looking for critters. Well, here are the some of the first movies from the camera. I could not take a still shot off, but this is better anyway. What are the mysterious things in UFOs? The other critter film is the raccoon (on the left) who is in a lot of other pictures, also. Enjoy!

I want to live here!

Thanks to everyone who helped with Chrystal & Jonathan's wedding. Attached are photos of the perfectly clean house, which didn't last long, but at least there are pictures to prove it looked great for a little while.

Just for fun..

Little Carter McMurdie showed off his masculinity at Ginny’s during a wedding cleaning spree by wearing Disney Princess heels. No Comment!
And then there was Mary von Bose at the wedding breakfast who has been taking eating lessons from her uncles.

Reception Rainbow

After spending several hours helping Ginny with reception preparations, it was time for relaxation. Look to the right and you will see the Reception Rainbow!

And wedding preparations continue...

Family members got together on Friday, July 3, for a Gazebo Raising at Ginny and Jared’s place in preparation for Chrystal and Jonathan’s wedding reception on July 11. Other family members have helped in other ways and that will continue until the final moments (or maybe the last minute),

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone for coming today--it was wonderful to have so many members of our family together to be with Chrystal.

And extra thanks to Suzy, who came over afterward and spent 4 hours putting all my girls camp food info into an excel spread sheet. It's awesome, and I actually have a prayer now of surviving the next week! I'm so lucky to be part of such a great family!

Tetris turns 25

Remember this game? One of the first I remember. Tetris turned 25 on Saturday, June 6, and Google marked the event in their logo. I love Google!

Opening Soon

A new wholesale restaurant supply is opening in Fort Worth next door to Home Depot on John T. White at East Loop 820, actually on Bridgewood. It is as big as the Home Depot or close. Ginny and I visited their location in Irving and I got membership cards. You have to have a tax ID to get a card but can let others use them. Anyone who needs large quantities of anything should check them out. They will be open in June and I will get more info. I am on their mailing list but have not received the June list. They have everything from a whole frozen goat to a soup ladle. What a place!

Gary and Romanda’s New Deck

Here is the new deck that Gary and Romanda had installed in their backyard. They joined it to a cement walkway replacing a really old uneven rock walkway. It is wonderful. Romanda sits at this table and reads her scriptures.

Party time!

at the von Bose house, Saturday night, 5-10, swimming, food, dive-in movie. See you there!

Oops--my mistake--no party on the 6th

Talked to Suzy last night and 2 of the guests of honor will be unavailable on the 6th. So, anyone who wants to is welcome to come to my house on the 30th and we'll just celebrate with whoever is here!

Wedding events

Here's the plan so far for wedding events for Chrystal:
June 6th, temple endowment 11 a.m. session
(Also June 6th in the evening will be a graduation party at Suzy's--see previous post)
June 20th, bridal shower, 10ish?
July 11th, wedding ceremony 9 a.m. brunch afterward at Cindy's, reception 6-9 at my house.

CJ's graduation

From CJ: Graduation will be on Saturday, May 16th. I realize that this is somewhat late notice, but my last class of medical school was yesterday and they gave us the final details on our graduation ceremony. The graduation will take place at the Fort Worth Convention center in downtown (near the water gardens). They recommend arriving around 2 pm to find seats with the ceremony starting at 3pm (we'll save seats if you let us know you're coming). Estimated length of the ceremony is 2.5 hours. Seating has never filled up since they moved to the convention center so anyone who would like to come be part of this day is more than welcome. It will be a pretty exciting day for us. However, with 2 parties already planned I don't want anyone to feel obligated to come (the parties should be more fun anyway). Afterward we will be going to Joe's Pizza Pasta & Subs on Little Rd. just north of I-20 for dinner. We'll look forward to seeing anyone who makes it down.

PS from Ginny: The Parties mentioned will be the evening of May 30th at my house for anyone who wants to come for a going away for CJ & Randi. This event will also have the von Bose clan invited and CJ's high school/old singles ward friends and will include swimming and hot dog roasting.

Suzy & I are also wanting to do a party for the Fowkes Fam on June 6th at her house. This will be a graduation celebration for CJ, Kenny, Carrie (who finishes her masters), Abraham & Damaris. Time & other details to be announced later.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WOW! What a car show!

The FH Lions Club held a car show and along with some magnificent vehicles, these two motorcycles were on display. No one was around to talk to. If they were mine, I would have an armed guard on them. I took a closeup of the gun, so you could see details.

Spring

I love our rose bushes in the country. Most of them were bought cheap and Melinda and I planted them when we moved here about 15 years ago. These orange roses started out as little miniatures in a pot. Who would have thought that they would live; not just live, but thrive! It is fun to watch them and smell them and try to nurture them!

Open House at Gary & Romanda’s

Lots of folks including most of the local family came to see how well the house turned out after the fire. The new furniture is scrumptious and the house looks magnificent. Everyone was inspired to go home and de-clutter and clean.

Which ones are for real?

A message from Chrystal...

“We have a new family member.” This is the text message and picture I got this afternoon from Chrystal. We are waiting for...the rest of the story! Congrats!

Woody was here!

The best part of living in the country is watching the critters. My latest little friend lives in the mesquite tree next to the storage shed (near the compost for snacks). I took this through my car window the other morning. I was afraid to move and scare him away. He is a busy little guy, digging for bugs and probably destroying the bark. Oh well. mesquite trees are just considered junk trees anyway. This little guy is a yellow-bellied sapsucker (sounds like a red-neck insult) and drills holes and sucks the sap along with insects from the trees. Unlike regular woodpeckers, he has a brush-like tongue not barbed. So much for your nature lesson today. By the way, our Readers Digest North American Wildlife book is the most worn in the house except for the old FHE manual and our scriptures. Show this picture to the kids. I told some of them about it and they will be excited to see little Woody or should it be Sappy!

Gideon has new jewelry fetish

Gideon recently won seven, or was it six, medals in the Academic Decathlon Competition for Summit High School. Way to go Gid! Maybe Ginny will add to this post exactly what they were for since I did not write it down, only took a picture. But hey, nobody else did that! Congrats! I will have to print one of these for Julie!

Heard on the radio today...

1. “That is great that you have taken out a home equity loan of $40,000 to have emergency funds available. Just park that in a CD or money market and you are ready for a crisis.”

2. “Yes, you should get a student loan as big as you can and invest that in good, solid mutual funds. You have 20 years to pay back the student loan and you could make a lot during that time.”

3. “And next, coming up, The Medical Hypnosis Hour right here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”

4. And for a healthy colon...

5. And don’t forget the Omega 3 Fish Oil...

It was definitely time to turn the radio to KLUV or WRR or maybe OFF!

! Disney on Ice Magical Journey including Mickey and Minnie with Little Mermaid, Lion King, Lilo and Stich and Peter Pan

I would have put up a movie of this, but if you are interested, go to the Disney on Ice website and see it all. Mickey and Minnie join characters from Lilo & Stitch, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, and Lion King for a Magical Journey. I am looking at tickets for Wednesday, March 18, at AAC in Dallas. I know that is spring break. That many be better, we can sleep in the next day! The next week, they are in Fort Worth but it is the Credit Union Dinner on March 26, the cheap night.

Here is the deal - if you wanna go, let me know this week (by Friday evening, January 23) so I can try to get the cheap seats. I cannot afford the expensive ones, Sorry!

Damaris, this is the blurb I was talking about! If not very many want to go, we will regroup!

LOVE, MOM/GRANDMA

Vintage/Antique Baby Clothes

These were found in the top of the bathroom closet. I guess we put them there when we moved. I remember Mandie in the little red dress and Melinda in the pink coveralls as well as Missy in the white and green outfit. Girls, these are here for the taking and I have some vintage linens including pillowcases I actually embroidered myself. Girls, you have first dibs, then it is open for anyone and lastly - to Goodwill!

1,000 Pieces

Well, gang it is finished. Another 1,000 piece puzzle. Thanks goest mostly to Chrystal and Jonathan who get kinda obsessive over a nearly complete puzzle. This one was fun but a challenge. Next is a Thomas Kinkade capital with the fog with flags. (You just have to see it.) That fog may not lift for four years.
Congratulations on the great finish!
Grandma

Guess how many!

I spent two days packing the nutcrackers in new boxes in a more condensed manner so they would be safe. One of the little guys escaped, but I found him later hiding on the table. I will miss them while they are in the closet. They are fun to look at and talk to since many have a history – but Melinda says I’m losing it. I guess nutcrackers make you nutty! Anyway, here is a picture of the fireplace just to jog your brain (notice the roaring fire). Remember there are two more shelves full. The first one to guess the exact number in the collection wins a prize - and it’s not nutcracker!

Global Warming

Ice has been forming all day today on the trees. Poor Fluffy was weighted down. Her tender little limbs were dragged to the ground (see bottom) and she was leaning due to more ice on one side. I hope the pretty thing will not get injured.