Friday, July 12, 2013

A Waterfall and a Buffalo





It was just an ordinary Thursday yesterday. However, for a few hours, I felt like I was on vacation.


 With Maria and the granddaughters I went to a little waterfall. It is a beautiful little setting and only about 15 minutes away!


Both girls enjoyed the water. The spray felt good!


Cordelia and I were wearing flip-flops so we felt free to splash through the shallow creek at the bottom of the waterfall.


Elise thought she should do the same.


It was relaxing and fun.


I had beautiful company...


...and lovely water. 


It just doesn't get better than that!


We drove back into town for another adventure. Maria had received notification that Cordelia had won a little drawing at a local grocery store. Her prize? A Buffalo! She wondered on the way there if it would be a real buffalo. Were you wondering that as well? That would be absurd but my Mom once won a Shetland Pony!

Thankfully, Cordelia's buffalo was a manageable size.


What a sweet couple of hours out  of my day! 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Happy 1st Birthday to Elise!

Oh, last year on this day we were all pretty excited!

I remember the feelings of nervousness. I was first worried about my own child, Maria. She had given us quite a scare when she had her first baby. I tried to not think about it but I admit it crept into my mind a bit. Thankfully, that particular drama did not occur.

I remember the feelings of happy anxiousness. I was so anxious to hold and touch and see and smell and love on that new little person!


She arrived and we did all those things!


We bonded with her, even though we really didn't yet know her.


I stayed the night at the hospital so Eric could take care of Cordelia at their home. It was a long night but so precious for me. I got to hold her a lot and I got to spend that night with Maria. I felt so honored!
I also felt so tired, but it was worth it.

This photo is my absolute favorite from the day Elise was born!


It is a year later already. We now know this little beauty as a spirited one year old, someone with opinions and ideas of her own. 


We know she has a great laugh.


We know she loves music and has some awesome dance moves. My favorite is when she throws her head back and forth and the long strands on top remind me of a man with a come-over that has gotten out of control. 


We know she loves balls and dogs and stuffed animals. We know she has a cute way of snuggle hugging that melts my heart. She loves to follow her big sister, play with Betty Sprinkles, loves being outside, blowing kisses to her Daddy...and she is just so cute!



We know there will be so much more that we will know by this time next year!

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

New Cleaning Ladies and a Gasp

Maria often sends me photos of her girls when I am at work. It absolutely brightens my day!

Yesterday she sent me this one first...


I texted back that I didn't know they had hired a cleaning lady. She responded that she had two.


On another note...

Sunday morning we were out of town. I called to speak with Cordelia just a bit. At the end of our conversation I told her I was going to church with Grandma Carol. She gasped! She said, "Grandma Carol!? She is one of MY grandmas!"

That's it. I just wanted to share a couple of moments that brought me joy. Have a nice day!


Monday, July 08, 2013

Blongo Blog!

Say this three times fast... Blongo Blog, Blongo Blog, Blongo Blog...

I find ways to entertain myself.

My mother-in-law, Carol, recently purchased Blongo Ball. Do you know about Blongo Ball? Well, that is why I am writing a Blongo Blog, so that you will know and understand the game of Blongo Ball. Trust me. You are going to enjoy this game! It is easy to learn the rules, but challenging as you attempt to perfect your skills.


The game is played with two goal apparatuses. It is a bit like horsehoes without all that clanking and dust. My husband and my brother-in-law were the first to break out the box. Each got three sets of blongo balls. These are basically golf balls with holes drilled through them and an attaching string tying them in pairs. There are three yellow sets and three orange set.


I was proud to capture blongo balls in mid-air with these photos.


All you do is throw them toward the goals. If you can loop them onto the top bar, it is one point, across the middle bar it is two points and if you manage to wrap it around the bottom bar, three points. If you get it to bounce off the ground and up over a bar, it counts as 5 points. The first player to 21 wins. Easy enough, huh?


Well, it turns out that you really do better if you can kind of "whip" the blongo balls as you release them. I had a little problem with control. Let's just say that I am grateful to my husband for chasing down blongo balls gone wild.


Sometimes, you need to resort to distracting your opponent. My brother-in-law, Joe, was good at that!


Although it looks like Mike is pretty good at just tuning him out.
He practices that skill on me.


I'm not sure Mike even noticed all of Joe's efforts.


Later we got my sister-in-law, Sue, involved.
She was a natural.


Although we got a little wild, don't worry,
we had adult supervision.


Thanks, Carol!
 Blongo Balls were a fun idea!

Sunday, July 07, 2013

Cross in Clouds



Mark 8:34

English Standard Version (ESV)
    And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Saturday, July 06, 2013

Featured Post

My Life as a Travel Agent

On a recent morning I was at work and as one of my patients was waiting for his death, I thought again about an idea that keeps popping int...