Girl's Day Out

Yesterday was lovely. I enjoyed a girl's day out. Maria and I went out of town to visit with my Mom, sister, aunt and cousin. We've been trying to make this trip for weeks but every time I had a day off, something came up. In fact, the last two times we scheduled this trip, we endured snowstorms instead. Anyway, it finally happened!

From the moment we arrived at Mom's house, Elise was ready for adventure.

She wanted to hug everyone and inspect everything. She was especially excited over Mom's cat and dog. They weren't so thrilled to see her but she didn't seem to take it personally.

She just kept on moving!

When my aunt, Michelle, and cousin, Anne Marie, arrived, Elise wanted to have time hugging everyone.



Unfortunately, Cordelia started feeling pretty sick. She remained sweet and adorable but we could all tell she wasn't her usual sparkly self. Anne Marie read books to the girls, which was
perfect for Cordy.






My daughter, Maria, gets a turn snuggling Cordelia. Throughout our visit, Cordy would ask different ones if they wanted a chance to snuggle with her. That was about all she had to give. Even sick, she was sweet as can be.

My sister, Tina, uses a motorized wheelchair. Usually, that is a disadvantage to her when it comes to little ones warming up to her. Not so with Elise! Elise loved it!

She even got Tina to take her for rides, sometimes even trying to "drive" it herself. Thankfully, Tina did not give up the controls. Cordelia, who has always been a bit worried about that wheelchair, decided to go for a ride as well.

She was polite but quickly said, "You can let me get down now."

I love all of these women and it was nice to spend time together. If you haven't already, go back to their names (Maria, Michelle, Anne Marie) and click to be magically taken to their personal blogs. Four out of five of us are bloggers! If my Mom is a blogger, she's still keeping it a secret.

Thanks for a fine day, ladies!

Wyoming Road Trip

Remember that we are doing that big one week sale on Wyoming Rose Boutique. Use the coupon code word JAZZY at check-out and you will receive 50% off ANYTHING IN OUR SHOP!

Yesterday I was called off work so Maria and I took advantage and headed to visit my Mom, little girls in tow. Cordelia was pretty excited to go see Grandma Grace. As it turned out, my sister was sick and couldn't join us. My aunt and cousin came over for a bit. It was a fun day!

Cordelia does well on road trips. She has a little DVD player which helps.  Elise slept for much of the trip. We actually saw two bald eagles sitting on a fence but did not stop as we didn't want to disturb Elise. I'm kind of regretting that. Seeing two bald eagles hanging out is not an ordinary event. You would have liked the photos...sorry about that.

Elise enjoyed exploring my Mom's decor.

Cordelia loved up on my cousin, Anne Marie.

She sometimes loves kind of rough.

She also enjoyed my aunt, Michelle.

Do you see that Cordelia is wearing a shopping bag as her backpack?

It was a lovely girl day.

Meet the Bloggers

I've taken to preparing posts ahead of time for when I am scheduled to work long shifts at hospice.  This is one of those posts.  I hope you are all having a lovely week-end, maybe laying around reading a good book and sipping on lemonade, while I am slaving away.  Sorry.  Putting people on little guilt trips just comes naturally to me.  The honest truth is I had several days off in the middle of the week while you were likely slaving away.  This post reflects on one of those days.

We are a bloggy bunch, me and my relatives.  Maria (daughter) has been blogging daily for years.  I was perplexed when she first started blogging.  Why would anyone do that?  Why would anyone want to give themselves a writing assignment every day?  And isn't it like writing a diary?  That's something you should hide under your mattress, not put out for the world to read!

Well, apparently we are a writing bunch of relatives as many of us have followed in Maria's footsteps.  When we were at the cemetery the other day four of us were together.

Maria, Me, my Aunt Michelle, My Cousin Anne Marie

Cordelia doesn't blog - YET!

Maria's blog is Little Things are Big.  She has been writing in it for years.  

I love reading it!  

She writes well and I enjoy seeing the world through her eyes.  

She finds beauty just about everywhere. 

My Aunt Michelle writes A Wyoming Woman's Thoughts.  Anne Marie writes Bits & Pieces.  

I'd encourage you to check them out as well.  They both write about family and living in Wyoming.  

They also have some great photos!   

When we left the cemetery that day we went on to have lunch with my sister.  

Guess what!?  She's a long-time blogger writing Living With Cerebral Palsy.  Her blog helps connect people who are handicapped.  It is also great for anyone who wants to better understand how a handicapped person deals with obstacles and overcomes adversity.  You will learn about real courage there!

So, if you have some time, know that you are invited and welcome to stop by their blogs as well.  Maybe you will figure out what's wrong with us; why do we impose writing assignments on ourselves?

Remembering Jerry

This is my cousin's blog... check it out!  I want to encourage her to keep writing.

I'd especially like to share the post she did about the day her Dad, my uncle, died.  Her Dad was a great guy and he died a hero.

A Windy Day at Hobby Lobby

Recently my aunt and cousin, Michelle and Anne Marie, were in town for an event.  They gave me a call and we got together for a bit.  I also got to visit briefly with Anne Marie's husband and daughter.  First we met at the mall but we quickly migrated to our REAL destination... Hobby Lobby.

Are any of you Hobby Lobbiers?  I LOVE that store!  My mom always wants to go there as well when she is in town.  As she put it, "It is a lovely store full of things that no one really needs."  Well, it is true that it doesn't carry the necessities of life, but sometimes I really think I NEED a certain color of yarn or some new beads for earrings or fabric for a dress or ......  They have SO many things I really, really need... ok, things I WANT. 

My Aunt Michelle was a pretty important person during my elementary school years.  My family moved to the same town in Nebraska where she taught at a college.  I remember lots of times spent following her and my Mom around doing exciting things like touring through new mobile homes for a Sunday outing.  When we'd drive to Wyoming for Christmas or something, Michelle sometimes rode along with us.  For some reason I often had leg aches as a kid and they were especially bad when we were in the car too long.  I remember Michelle massaging my legs to help me feel better. 

Anne Marie is a lot younger than I am so I can remember back to her infancy.  I remember her as being very smart and very spirited.  Our two families did not live close together by then so I only saw her occasionally.

For many years, though, I've mostly only seen Michelle and Anne Marie at my Grandma Rose's house.   Grandma's house was really the gathering place for extended family.  Grandma Rose died just before Christmas last year and since then so much has changed.  We don't have that center to our extended family anymore.  It seemed kind of odd to get together with Michelle and Anne Marie somewhere else, but I mean odd in a nice way.

I'm so very grateful that Michelle and Ann Marie made the effort to call me so that I could see them.  Oddly, it made me feel a little closer to Grandma Rose again.  There is something comforting about being with people who have known you your whole life.  That feeling of connectedness is something I've come to value.

I brought my camera to document the occasion but had left the SD card in my computer.  Duh.  Luckily, Michelle had her camera along and has shared some pictures with me.   Thanks, Michelle!  As she noted, we have the Wyoming Wind hairdos!

Anne Marie and me...

Michelle and me...

Michelle and Anne Marie

Thank-you for stopping by. Feel free to use my photos but please link them back to my blog. I am honored if you wish to share content of any of my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as long as it is linked back to my blog.