November 2011

The first day of school is over and Halloween , I do have some pictures, and here we are in the first of November.  Sarah had baby Cooper right smack in the middle of Halloween at 6:15PM. No pictures yet, but let's get them settled first.
Randy's Mom and Dad celebrated their 63rd Wedding Anniversary and I hear Anne and Dan Madsen celebrated their 40th. Congratulations!
Randy and I made a trip to Newton and spent an afternoon with his parents. Lavon had a Birthday, plus the Anniversary. Randy's sister and husband Bill brought a cake. Betty and Lavon certainly seemed to enjoy it.
Today Randy's son and wife, Becky are coming this way to celebrate their 7th Anniversary.
Good grief...a lot of activity this month.
The kids are all busy in school and then we will be getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas...Wow, they sure come up fast.
We are doing fine here in Diamondhead.  Randy is cleaning up his summer plants and planting some winter crops of cabbage and broccoli. He has some onion sets and we are still getting okra and the last of the cucumbers and green beans. The weather has been nice, no rain and mostly in the 70's.
I will post a few pictures, but please let me know if you have any questions???

Til next month, bye for now.........

October 2011

It is almost the middle of October and it seems we have been busy. The first week  we had a great trip to Dothan to see the Birthday girl turn five.  She had a special party with two other little girls who also turned five.
Tooooo many kids, but we just went for some pictures and the left...

At noon, Becky's family and Ella Grace's other grandparents went to Brad and Becky's home for another party, lunch and presents. Ella Grace had about seven other kids(cousin's) there and they were able to play in the backyard.  Beautiful weather and it made the party so nice. I am posting some pictures.
  The amazing thing was seeing the big change in William Putnam. Just a few months and we hardly recognized him. He has grown up so much and starting to talk at 15 months.  He is definitely going to follow in Brad's footsteps, but he looks more like Becky.

Such fun to see the kids.

William had a great time. He was getting tired and finally went down for a nap. He loved the power car that Grandma Suzann helped him with.

Randy's Mom turned 80 last month. We missed, but we are going up the end of the month.
Congratulations to Anne and Dan Madsen on their 40th Wedding Anniversary this month.
Randy and I are Celebrating Twenty Years together. He surprised me yesterday with roses. They are beautiful.
Pat Quiggle has a birthday this month and so does my cousin, Barbara Brown McCusker. Happy birthday to all...

My cousin Nancy Hartley, in California found out she has Breast Cancer and in one week she had a mammogram, ultra sound and surgery. She says she feels fine and is home for now recuperating. Then she has to start radiation. I know she will do well because she has a really upbeat attitude. Good for you Nancy and we will help spread the word...Get a Mammogram...

I promised to keep you updated with Cindy. She is now home and doing well. She will have to have a lot of therapy, but she is making progress. Both the girls need a lot of support. Let's give it to them.

All is well at home here in Diamondhead. Fall and Winter are suppose to be mild, so lots of watering. We are enjoying Randy's vegetable's. We have okra, bell peppers, green beans and coming soon are cucumbers, cabbage and whatever else he planted. His garden is doing well. I just have parsley, rosemary and basil. They will die out when we get frost, but we can enjoy them for a while longer.

Guess that is enough for this time, I better save something for my next post.

September 2011

Well, September is here and I thought maybe we had been lucky enough to have missed any Hurricanes that had developed. No no no, here comes tropical storm Lee and we are under a warning and our Governor has called for a state of Emergency. Oh darn. Right now it is pretty calm. Dark, but dreary. I have the fridge loaded with cold drinks and water. Guess we have propane and I gathered all the flashlights and counter lights. Looks like it won't get here until tonight. Randy has secured the yard. Sorry, birds...but Randy had to bring in all your food for now.
So for now we will just wait and see.

Back to September(and I don't like the way it is starting). There are some Birthdays this month, Sarah  Dewing and Amy Cousineau. Happy Birthday. I am still trying to collect, Back to School pictures. They are coming slowly.  Please continue to post them.

A friend of ours, Cindy Hodges had a stroke on Wednesday this week. She is improving and I hope to keep everyone updated. She is a close friend of my sister's and Mike is very close to Tom. We all went to High School together. Cindy has no children, but she has unofficially adopted mine and Carole's. Good luck Cindy.

For those of you who don't know the Murray's. Billy is the son of one of Bob's cousins. Bill Murray and his wife Gayle introduced Bob and I. His son Billy and daughter Heather just happen to be about the same ages as my kids, Kristin and Bobby. Billy plays some of the same games as I do, so we just happen to keep in touch.  Billy and Julie have been trying to adopt for some time now and after some horror stories, they finally have a beautiful daughter, Lianne. They are two of the happiest people I know right now. Congratulations once again. Billy lives in D.C. and Heather lives in Fresno. Their parents lived in Pleasant Hill when Bob and I met.

Now for a few pictures...Katie Madsen, Grant Faircloth, Bay Watkins and Ella Grace Smith, all starting school...Out of time, but more later

Short Note August 26 2011

I just want to write a short note about the Hurricane Irene. I feel sorry for the people on the East coast as they await Irene. Not much they can do until afterwards. Let's pray there is not much damage. Hopefully FEMA will re-act faster than did for Katrina.  We will all be there to help in any way we can.

On another note, I see Billy and Julie Murray are in Lubbock signing their final papers for the adoption of their daughter Liane. A big congratulations to them. This has been a long and tedious venture. You are now proud parents...

August Just catching up...2011

My, but time has passed. It is hard to keep up on everything, especially since I have been back and forth to California. First, for Katie's birthday. Yes, she is three already. Then, I went back to sit with Aunt Dorothy while Bob and Monica took a well needed vacation. They took a wonderful trip to Canada and the glaciers .

I had a great time in California with my daughter and Katie. My sister, Carole and I went for a few days to Carmel in April. What beautiful weather we had. Carole and I have learned to travel well together. Everyone says it reminds them of Aunt Sis and Aunt Dorothy. Surprise surprise! Anyway, we had a good time exploring a few new places and restaurants. We stayed at a place recommended by our cousin, Nancy Hartley. They like to stay there when they go to Carmel. Except for size, it was really nice. And right on Ocean Avenue. Our trip to Carmel was very relaxing. I love to be near the Ocean.

Katie had her third birthday party with Winnie the pooh as the theme. Kristin worked really hard on it with a lot of pleasing things for the kids. They even rented one of those big jumpy houses. It was a big hit. Katie loved her party, with all her friends and parents. It was a big success...go Kristin!

When I returned in July, the weather was a bit cool. I don't know where the hot weather is? Aunt Dorothy and I accomplished a lot while I was there. The main thing she did was to donate her car to James and Sarah who are expecting a little one in November. They can't fit the car seat in their vehicles, so Dorothy let them have hers. She was wanting to be rid of it anyway. It runs like a dream even though it is a 1995. James can work on it and it will run for a good long time.

Once again, Carole and I went on an overnight getaway.  This time we went to Cache Creek Casino.  It is a pretty new place in the middle of nowhere. Up near Woodland and on Indian Territory of course. A beautiful place in the Indian motif. Rooms were very nice and we enjoyed our short stay. On the way up there we stopped at the Outlets in Vacaville. Carole wanted Jellybelley's for a baby shower we were giving Sarah the next weekend. It is always fun to stop there as it is a break and different from other shopping we like to do.
Carole won some money this time, but I was not so lucky. We had a fun time.

The shower for Sarah was a great time. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Sarah received a lot of nice things and I think she is well prepared for this baby. Now for three more showers, finishing her Cosmetology course, take the State test and then delivering baby Cooper after all the heat in Livermore and then settling down for the baby...wow, she has a lot to do before November, oh and decorating baby's room. Good luck Sarah!

Here I am home now getting ready for Hurricane Season and trying to keep cool in this ungodly heat. It just doesn't want to cool down. And then an earthquake comes along on the East coast! What next?  You will just have to wait and see.

March Madness 2011