Brothers

We had Hunter and Colton this weekend. We met Becca and Clint at Baybrook Mall for the hand off Friday afternoon. They spent some energy walking around the mall, after being cooped in their car for three hours. We picked up the movie Marmaduke at Walmart and stopped to pick up a pizza on the way home. After baths, we watched the movie and ate pizza.

Saturday morning I searched the computer to see what kind of fun stuff I could find for us to spend a Saturday doing. We had a choice of a dinosaur exhibit at the zoo, Imax theatre, or train museum in Galveston. I showed the boys each website and let them choose. We decided on the dinosaurs. I fixed drinks, crackers and peanut butter, oranges, and bananas. While I was dressing the boys, the bottom fell out of the sky and the rain came pouring out. Odie pulled the radar up and said it should pass shortly, so we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally after about an hour (Do you know how long an hour is to little boys?), we bundled the boys up and shuffled them through the rain to the truck. According to the radar, it wasn't raining in Houston.

The rain wasn't letting up, so we decided to stop in Pearland and eat lunch at Gringo's. After lunch it was still raining, so we headed to Bass Pro to wait until the weather cleared up some. All my grand babies love Bass Pro. We spent over an hour looking at the fish, shooting the guns, pretending 1 minute naps in the tents that were set up, driving the boats, riding the elevator, checked out all the different stuffed animals, and petted a stuffed deer snuggled up next to a fence on the second floor. We came out to face more rain. Odie and I realized the dinosaur exhibit wasn't happening today.

I got out the iPhone to check what movies were out that the boys might want to see. We checked out the movie Alpha and Omega. We went to the Brazos Mall to see the movie. I got both boys some popcorn, sprite, and candy. I just got Odie a coke figuring we could share with the boys. About the third time that Odie reached over to get some of Colton's popcorn, Colton moved his popcorn away from Pawpaw and informed him that this popcorn was his and Pawpaw could get his own popcorn. This was a great movie that I will be adding to my kid's movie collection when it comes out on dvd.

We finished the movie and headed out in (you guessed it) the rain. Hunter had been promised a trip to Tokyo, so we headed there for dinner. It was Colton's first time to get to eat there. There was another couple at the table, and I made sure they had no problem sharing their table with a couple of little boys. The other couple got a kick out of the boy's reactions and a good time was had by all. We all tried catching rice with our mouths, watched an onion volcano that turned into an onion train, watched eggs roll, and fingers on fire. The food was as wonderful as always and way more than we could possibly eat. Colton was falling asleep as we drove home. There were baths to be had. I cuddled up in bed with the boys to read as they watched the movie Robots. Colton made it through about 20 minutes before he was out. Hunter and I lay there talking and catching up on school.

He shyly told me he has a girl friend that is very pretty. Her name is Kara. I asked what his least favorite thing at school was. He said he hated when he got a sad face. Every day at the end of the day you either get a happy face or a sad face. He had shown me his folder, when we were changing vehicles. He actually only had a couple of sad faces. He loves school, his teacher, riding the bus, and learning. Hunter can be very head strong, but he really wants to please and learn.

Sunday morning we stopped for breakfast at IHOP before heading out to Mainland Mall to pass the boys back to their parents. It was such a short fast paced weekend, but this Grammy loved it very much.

I don't live close enough to any of my Grand Babies to see them on a daily basis. I hope that grandparents that are that fortunate realize how lucky they are. I consider myself lucky, though, because I don't live more than 4 hours away from any of them. I only get them a day or two a month, so I try to pack as much fun in the short time I get to share with them.

This is one blessed Grammy!

LATER

Towel Animals

Last week we went on a wonderful cruise to the Bahamas with Travis, Jonda, Carissa, Raymond, and Cassandra. This is the second cruise we have been on with Carissa. We were on one with her a little over a year and a half ago, and she wasn't too interested in Kid's Camp. She would go a little, but didn't stay long. Wow what a difference time makes. She loved Kid's Camp this time.

I will probably leave some of the fun stuff out, but she had a schedule every day just like the adults did of things going on. She came in one night growling with her face all painted up like a lion or a tiger. One night she was painted like a pirate. There was a scavenger hunt that was a family affair where her, Jonda, and Travis worked as a team. They won first place taking away a genuine gold plastic ship on a stick. Carissa was very proud of her trophy, as she should be beating out children older than her. There were tee shirts to paint, cookies to decorate, and a dog to build. I think she also painted a back pack, but Grammy missed seeing that. She had pajama parties, played hide and seek with flash lights, and ate pizza. We can't forget the wonderful 24 hour available ice cream machine that was only one floor up from our rooms that Carissa and I would have to visit in the afternoon.

The first night we ate dinner, Carissa finished her pasta early since that was her only course. The rest of us had many courses. A little too many courses. I didn't need or want to dessert, so her and I headed back to the room for a game of crazy eights while the rest of our group indulged in their wonderful desserts. On the first day, Carissa started calling our room the hotel room. When we got to the hotel room, there was a towel walrus waiting for us on the bed along with wonderful chocolates. Carissa is picky about some snacks, but she loved these chocolates. She had to be limited to how many chocolates she was allowed that late at night, so I think she brought enough extras home for another week.

Every day when mine and Carissa's path would cross, we would have a discussion as to what kind of towel animal we thought we would find in our bed that night. I am partial to the hanging monkey that I got on other cruises, but we didn't find him hanging out until the last day of the cruise. We had a towel dog, elephant, and crab that were also cute. I lined them along the back of the sofa.

Travis had to fly out to Kentucky Sunday afternoon on the day we got back from our cruise. As he was getting ready to leave, Carissa told him not to forget to send her a picture of his towel animal every night in his hotel room. Thursday night, I received four pictures of the towel animals that my son created in his hotel room every night. It is heart warming to know that as tired as my son was from being gone and working out of town that he loved his daughter enough to take the time to create an animal for her each night. It is also good to know in this ever decreasing economy that he seems to have a talent for another line of work...creating towel animals.

I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful, caring family and extended family.

LATER

First Day of School

Time passes way too quickly. Two of my "babies" started kindergarten this week. They were both to call Grammy and let her know how their first day went. Alex called and started talking so fast, I had to get him to slow down a little so I could try and understand all that he was telling me. He colored, played, ate lunch, and generally loved his first day of school. I asked him if he had made some new friends. He told me yes and that he already had a girl friend. I replied, "Wow you already have a girl friend on the first day of school. What is her name?" He replied, "I don't know her name, but she is pretty. She had on a pink shirt and blue pants." I asked him last weekend if his teacher was young and pretty or older like his Grammy. He said old like me but a little pretty.

Hunter got to work on a computer the first day. I asked if he liked being on the computer. His response was, "I liked it. I liked it a lot!" He has a beautiful young blonde teacher. This is her first year of teaching. I surely hope it will not be her last. The second day of school was Hunter's first day to get to ride the bus. Becca had it worked out with my father in-law. Hunter would ride the bus to Crit and Bobbie's house. Crit would meet the bus, and Hunter would spend an hour with him until Becca could pick him up. The bus driver pulled to the top of the hill and proceeded to stop. Hunter said, "No, no I am suppose to go home."

Bus Driver: "I thought this is where I was suppose to drop you off."
Hunter: "No, I am suppose to go home."

The bus driver proceeded on past Crit's house. Crit, wondering what was going on, jumped in the truck and followed the bus driver. They got to Hunter's house, and the bus driver noticed there was no one at home. Fortunately, Crit drove up and told her Hunter was to be dropped at their house. Hunter proceeded to tell them, no he wanted to go home after school was out. Crit took him back to his house and fixed him a couple of grilled cheese as they called Mom and discussed it. Hunter said the bus could stop there, but he was NOT getting off.

He finally apologized to his Pawpaw, agreed to get off the bus, and Pawpaw will pick him up on the four wheeler and fix him a snack.

I am still laughing!

LATER

Baby Cherry

I found out yesterday that my grand baby coming in January is going to be a boy. When I got in the car yesterday there was a missed call on my cell from Jonda. I returned the call, and Carissa was on the phone. She told me she had been to the doctor with Mommy and Daddy. She said she got to see a picture of the baby in Mommy's tummy. I asked her if she knew what the baby was. She said it was a boy. At that point, I got a little choked up. I know that every parent just asks that they have a healthy baby and that each child is special and unique whether a boy or a girl, but I am so happy that Jonda and Travis will have the experience of raising a boy and a girl.

Beth and Travis live thousands of miles apart, but still have a bond that only a brother and sister can have. Carissa is going to be a good (make that great) big sister, because she is independent, likes to help, and has that take charge personality.

I remember one night when she was spending the night at the house with Hunter and Colton. They were going upstairs to play. I told Carissa she was in charge and to let me know if the boys were getting into something they should not be getting into. I could picture Colton climbing the book shelves, or climbing the toy bin to look over the ledge, etc. Hunter wouldn't tell on his brother until after a deed was done or a limb was broken, but I knew I could rely on my Carissa. This was confirmed as I listened to them going up the stairs. Carissa took her responsibility seriously as I heard her say, "Now remember boys, I am in charge!"

There have been so many things over the past four years that Carissa has said or done that we have shared between us, that have made us laugh, and taught us the simplicity of seeing things through the innocence of a child's eye. We will be going into a new phase of life with Baby Cherry as we watch and listen to the interaction of a new brother through Carissa's eyes. These past four and a half years have been such a joy with my Carissa, and this Grammy is so excited to move into the next phase of Carissa with a baby brother!

LATER

School

It seemed only yesterday that my own children were in school. Travis did not miss a day of school until he was in third grade. One morning I woke him up, and when he came into the kitchen I notice his face looked really flushed. He had 102 fever. I told him to get back in bed. He was not going to school. It was at that point that the war was on. As sick as he was, he was refusing to stay home. He had perfect attendance and had no intention of missing school. I felt so bad for him, because he was so proud of having perfect attendance, but at the same time my little guy was so sick.

Now I have two of my little people starting school. Alex and Hunter both get to meet with their teachers this week. They have all their school supplies, new clothes, and shoes ready to go. I do not know when kindergarten became an all day class, but both boys go to school all day. When my kids went to school, you either went in the morning or the afternoon for kindergarten.

Crystal is not working at this time, since Aubrey is due in November. She has all of Alex's clothes ironed. (I could never be bored enough to iron!) Alex will not be riding the bus. He is excited, but really nervous about starting school.

Hunter will be riding the bus. He will ride to Papaw Campbell's house to wait for Mom to pick him up. He is not really looking forward to school but is excited about riding the bus. He received a post card from his new teacher telling him how excited she is to have him in her class. I think it is wonderful that the teacher took the time to send each of her new students a card.

Hunter, Alex, Carissa, and Colton are all so eager to learn, to do it by themselves, to create with their hands and their imagination, to be competitive, and each one so compassionate. I count my blessings that they have such wonderful parents who give them the love and opportunity to be themselves. I am a truly blessed grandparent!

LATER

Hair

As an adult, we all have good hair and bad hair days. I was thinking today, at what age does this obsession with hair begin. We cut, curl, straighten, color, and style our hair. This think process began, when I took Hunter for a hair cut today. He wanted to look through the books. HUH? He wanted a rock star hair cut. He is a five year old little boy. A rock star hair cut? We finally agreed on something we thought the hair dresser could work with. I had to blow dry his hair and put stuff on it to make it stand straight up after his shower tonight. He had to go show his Pawpaw how handsome he looked.

My beautiful Carissa refuses to wear anything in her hair. I heard that a pair of barrettes that one of her dog's wear was in her hair all of a few seconds. Last summer I managed to get her to put a band with bow on it, that matched a new gown, long enough to take a picture to send Mommy and Daddy. When we wash her hair, it must be blown dry as soon as she is out of the shower. Absolutely dry. She pats her head all over with her hand to be sure no spots are still damp. We were at my mother-in laws house once, and I had four kids I was bathing. I tried to slide by and told her I didn't think Mamaw had a blow drier. We would just let it dry naturally. Her response was, "Go ask." Needless to say, we got Mamaw's dryer and dried Carissa's hair. She keeps her hair in a beautiful bob around her face.

Alex has been picky about how his hair is styled since he was about three. He wants his hair standing straight up with gel in it like Hunter has now decided he wants his. He has his hair razor cut on the sides, but cut with scissors on top like his Dad.

I do not believe Colton cares much about his hair, but if we were talking shoes; I could fill a page on his obsession and love for shoes!

It is amazing how set it their ways these little people already are on how they want their hair.

LATER

Benihana

Sometime this pass year, Odie and I were talking about Benihana Restaurant, and Hunter wanted to know what Benihana was. I explained that it was a restaurant where they cooked at your table. He couldn't quite understand the concept but became obsessed with how they could cook at your table. He did not forget. Every time he came to stay, he wanted to know if we could go to where they cooked at your table. Finally two or three months ago, we took him and Carissa to a Benihana in Stafford. He was fascinated with the fire and the tricks the chef did. Carissa liked her fried rice, had a good time, but she was not as impressed as Hunter.

Every time we have had Hunter since then, he wants to know if we can eat at Benihana. This is a kid that can't remember his brother's guinea pig's name, but can remember Benihana. They opened a new restaurant in Lake Jackson within the past couple of years called Tokyo. We have heard good things about it, but had not had a chance to try it out. We took my parents and Hunter last night. This is one of the most awesome restaurants I have been in in a long time.

Besides the fact that the food was great, the look on Hunter's face was priceless. I enjoyed the chef, and enjoyed watching Hunter interact with the chef so much that I neglected to capture any pictures. Our chef was actually a Japanese/Mexican, but he was talented and funny. He went around the table and tried to let you catch rice in your mouth. Odie was the only that could catch it. Leave it to Odie to not waste any food. The chef let Hunter try three different times to catch it and two of the girls at the other end of the table caught it with their hands.

The chef showed us the definition of Japanese egg rolls. He took his large spatula and rolled the eggs down it. There was one fake egg that he acted like he accidentally threw at the birthday girl at the other end. He balanced and tossed an egg and then a shaker into his hat. He made a volcano with onions and then turned it into a locomotive with smoke coming out of it. The entire time, Hunter would go from laughing, wowing, and participating. My parents enjoyed watching him as he was mesmerized by the fire and imagination of our chef.

We all ate until we could hardly waddle out of the place. I would give this place five stars. The prices are not too bad, the atmosphere is wonderful, and the food is delicious! Hunter is already asking when can we go again.

LATER

The Doll

I had the pleasure of Carissa's company a couple of days last week. My girl is all girl in some ways, but has a few tom boyish quirks. She doesn't care for Snow White, Cinderella, Minnie Mouse, or Sleeping Beauty; preferring Scooby, Pluto, Lightening McQueen, and Mickey Mouse. She refuses to wear dresses (although I recently saw her looking absolutely beautiful in a blue dress), and instead prefers shorts, jeans, and t shirts. Carissa has not been much on dolls preferring dogs instead. She dresses her dogs and has them all named.

We went to Walmart looking for some Crazy Eight and Go Fish cards to keep at Grammy's house. While we were there, we checked out the toys for some Christmas ideas. We went down an aisle and Carissa said, "Look at that doll Grammy." What? Grant it, the doll had a little dog. I asked Carissa if she wanted it. Her answer was, "Sure, Grammy." We got the doll that says mama and cries. We got a couple of outfits and a diaper bag filled with wet wipes, baby powder, juices, a bottle, spoon, and baby dish.

As we were walking to the car, I started throwing out girl names. She picked the name Jenny for her new baby. It may have changed by now, because she was having difficulty in remembering it. This was a girl's afternoon, and we were on our way to get pedicures. We pulled up to the nail salon. I was listening to something on the radio so was sitting there finishing listening to the news. I glanced back, and Carissa had gotten out of the car seat and was trying to secure her doll in it. She said her baby needed her seat belt on, so she wouldn't fall out when the door was opened. She left toys in her lap to play with while we had our nails painted. Carissa picked a pretty blue shade and had a little white flower painted on each of her big toes.

She played with her doll all afternoon, changing her clothes, feeding her, rocking her, and changing diapers. I had to hand her back to her Dad, so they could take Mommy to Sea World for her Birthday Weekend, but it was a wonderful day that I hated to see come to an end.

LATER

Carissa

This past weekend I was fortunate to get my only girl (till November) for the weekend. I picked her up Saturday on my way back from Louisiana. Pawpaw and I took her to see "Cats and Dogs" at the theatre. It was a great movie and there was a lot of giggling as the cats and dogs worked together to stop the most evil of cats.

We went down to TJ's near the mouth of the Brazos for dinner. There is a huge wonderful porch on the back of the restaurant where you can eat or just sit and enjoy the scenery. Carissa piled up in one of the Captain's chairs, and we watched the boats come through. There was a barge with a tug boat that passed through, boats with people tubing, and jet skies. She waved back at people and watched sand crabs crawling around on the bank. We kept asking her if she was ready to go, and we kept getting a "not yet" until almost dark.

Sunday we put together puzzles. She puts together 100 piece puzzles now. We played crazy eights. You can definitely tell she is my son's daughter. As I was getting dressed, I could hear her talking smack to her Pawpaw as they played crazy eights. We headed out to get her home to have dinner with her Grandma and Pa, but we had to make a couple of stops first. We had to stop at her favorite store, Target, to get a couple of puzzles. We took her to eat at Pei Wei. She loves their fried rice and edamame soy beans.

It has been a wonderful month to be a Grammy.

LATER

Hunter and Colton

A couple of weekends ago we got to keep Hunter and Colton for the weekend. A friend of Odie's has a race car and invited us to watch him race. On the way we stopped to eat at the Boiling Pot in El Campo. The boys fed the ducks, turtles, and fish while we waited for our dinner. The atmosphere was wonderful, but the food left a lot to be desired this trip.

We carried the boys to the race track over in Edna. They got to sit in the race car and have their picture made. Just before the race was to start, there was a down pour of rain. We raced to the car and waited it out. The cars had to go around the track to dry it out. The boys stood by the fence, and Odie's friend would give a thumbs up to the boys every time he rounded the track.

An elderly gentlemen sat in a lawn chair at the end of the bench next to me. He sponsors students to A&M and was having the best time getting Colton to make the A&M sign. He kept saying he was going to have to sent up the funds for Colton's college, but hmmmm he never did get his information. The young woman with him said he puts students through A&M yearly. Oh well, we can dream can't we. I enjoyed watching Colton make an old man laugh.

When the races started, Colton would stand there waving the cars around the track saying, "Go car go. Go car go!" Since the races were over two hours late starting, the night seemed to stretch on. I finally took the boys to car with the AC while Odie tried to hang with the races to see his friend race.

In the car, I told the boys they were going to take a bath with the wet wipes. They were hilarious as they bathed with the wet wipes and put their pj's on. Hunter took a better bath with his wet wipes than he does in the shower. He washed behind his ears and between his toes.

Before we knew it, the weekend ended; and we had to return them to Becca and Clint following a breakfast of pancakes and bacon at the IHOP. Hunter and I did manage to get a couple of games of memory in before he headed home, though.

Since they live so far away, it will be even more difficult to see them; BECAUSE my Hunter starts kindergarten this year. I have only been a Grammy for less than six years, but it is hard to imagine just how dull my life was before grandkids!

LATER

Alex

One thing about not working is that I was able to spend more time with my grandkids this past year. A couple of times this summer I have picked up Alex and Crystal for a day or two. We have been to see Despicable Me and Toy Story. He jumped on the harnessed trampoline at the mall. We have shopped for school clothes and picked out onesy's for his new sister that will be arriving in November.

Crystal and I took him to Incredible Pizza for a birthday lunch and to Toys R Us to pick out his birthday present. He had decided that he was going to get a sister even before Crystal and Gus knew what the sex of the baby was. He helped to pick out baby girl onesy's. I told Crystal we would go ahead and get them. They could always be exchanged.

Crystal found out about a month ago that it was going to be a girl. She came home from the doctor and told Alex, "We are going to have a girl! You are going to get a little sister." Alex looked at her and said, "I know."

Alex's name starts with an "A" and they have been bouncing around girly names that start with "A". Crystal has already started calling our new girl Aubrey. She is still putting middle names with it, so we are not sure yet what the middle name will be. One of the names that came through their name bouncing was Allie. Crystal told Alex that they were going to name his sister Aubrey. Alex said, "No. We are going to name her Allie." Crystal said, "No, we are going to name her Aubry." Alex said, "Okay, but I'm going to call her Allie."

LATER

Sports

I went to watch Hunter's first game a few weeks ago. It consisted of two innings. Hunter made it through the first inning just fine. It was hilarious watching them have two players on one base, running the wrong way, hitting the ball and running straight to second bypassing first altogether. The outfielder would grab the ball and stand there as the parents shouted from the sidelines, " throw the ball". The player would look around with a blank look on his face as if saying, "Ball, what ball. Throw what ball where?"

The second inning was going along much as the first, when Hunter came running off the field shouting, "I gotta pee; I gotta pee, now!" Becca took him to the restroom while Colton and I continued to watch the game. Becca and Hunter finally returned with Hunter saying he couldn't play any longer, because he was hungry. Hmmm there was a concession stand right next to the restroom with hotdogs that must have triggered his hunger. The coache's wife finally coerced him into finishing the last few minutes of the inning.

It will be interesting when he starts playing an actual game that lasts longer than two innings!!

The following week after watching Hunter play T-Ball, I went to watch Carissa in her gymnastics class. She wasn't in one of her better moods, but Pa persuaded her to join the class. Things were going along smoothly until it was time to hand out these little hoops that you stand in. There was only ONE blue one. Now anyone that is around Carissa for even a short period of time knows that if it is blue, it is Carissa's. The first little boy chose the blue one. That was it, Carissa didn't want to complete the class, and the mini melt down was on. After going out and having some discussion about not getting to go the McDonald's, Carissa settled down and finished the class. I will note, though, the little boy put down the blue ring, Carissa snagged it and held onto it for the remainder of the class. What Carissa did complete in her class, she did extremely well. I know that Grammys have a tendency to be a little biased, but my Carissabella is so far advanced for her age!

The reason behind this story is that when we went back in for Carissa to finish the class, I stood at the door next to a row of Moms. As Pa led Carissa back out on the floor, the Moms got to telling melt down stories that made my Grandbabies look like the angels that their Grammy sees them as.

LATER

We Don't Root For Them

I had picked up Carissa one day, and we headed for the house. About half way down our street there is an old longhorn cow with some of the longest horns I have ever seen! Hunter had been really excited when I had shown it to him. Most of the time, he is way out in the field. It is not often that he is up close to the fence and easy to see. I slowed down, rolled Carissa's window down, and I told her to look at this longhorn. Carissa glanced up, took one look, and calmly said, "My Dad said we don't root for them!" WHOOP!!

An Ordinary Day

This has been a busy month. We had Dad's 75th birthday, Hunter's 5th birthday, today is Vickye's birthday, and Carissa's birthday is next week! We want to get the house on the market next weekend so have been quite busy on getting the house in shape. I still found a little time to have three of my Grand babies this weekend. I picked up Colton and Hunter yesterday. We went and picked Carissa up this morning from Pa's house.

Carissa is getting so grown up. I think she is three, going on twenty instead of just four. As soon as we walked in the door they ran upstairs to play. I will have to figure out an equally fun area for them to call their own in our next home. Earlier this week, Carissa and I had culled the toys. We had two trash bags, one Goodwill bag, and the rest of the toys sorted into catagories. I instructed the kids to only take out one box at a time and put everything away before moving onto another box. I told Carissa she was the guard dog and was to let me know if one of the boys didn't abide by the new rule. As the three are storming up the stairs, Carissa is running behind the boys yelling, "Hey, hey, don't forget; I am the guard dog!" She was a very good one, too. With her help, there was little clean up and everyone had a good time.

When Hunter was first born, I picked up a book with a hand puppet monster that you worked through the pages. It has always been one of his favorites. The four of us sat down and read it. They had me in stitches as we tried to help the little monster get over his hiccups. We also read the Cat in the Hat, because it was a blue book. I have loved books and reading as far back as I can remember. I passed the joy of reading onto my two children. As I sat there for an hour laughing and reading with my Grandchildren, all stress and worries slip away as I watch their faces as I read to them. Everything seems so fast paced and stressful these days. If more people would stop and take the time to be a kid again with their kids, there would a lot more happiness and a lot less stress within the world.

Today was nothing special. I walked as the three of them rode in their Artic Cat, we read, watched Pawpaw on the tractor as he spread crushed concrete, and watched Scooby Doo. They played Care Bears, cooked dinner, built cars and planes out of blocks, chased Shasta, took turns throwing blocks into a box, and hide and seek. As I said, nothing special, but for this Grammy it was one more wonderful memory of a day with my Special People to file away for the future reference.

LATER

Happy New Year!

As 2010 slipped in, and 2009 slipped into the past; I reflect on how special this year has been:

January 2009: We went on our first cruise with Jonda, Travis, Carissa, Cassandra, Raymond, Ryan, and Valerie.

February 2009: Hunter turned four, and Carissa turned three. Dad celebrated yet another anniversary of being 59. We celebrated Vickye's birthday.

March 2009: Odie moves on to Hanging Rock, OH. We went sight seeing in West Virginia. I had a wonderful birthday surrounded by all my kids and grand kids (except Beth & Marco, who are too far away). It is almost worth turning another year older just to be able to get together with our family!

April 2009: We celebrated Mom's, Steve's, and Odie's birthday. Carissa and I went to the 3D Shark film at IMAX and to the butterfly museum. Hunter spent a week with me working in New Braunfels. We went to the Snake Farm (yuk) and drove through the Wildlife Ranch. He went to sites, and zoning offices, played while I had conference calls, and we ended the day swimming. We shared in the celebration of 50 years of marriage with Bobbie and Crit.

May 2009: Odie and I have been married 15 years! Odie and I took a road trip into Pennsylvania back to where the kids and I lived for 6 years. We stayed on Lake Erie one night with a beautiful view of sail boats. Odie took off three weeks and spent some time with his parents, and we kept the grandkids for a few days.

June 2009: I had my first trip to Disney with Jonda, Travis, Carissa, Cassandra, Raymond, Odie, and Hunter. It was truly magical.

July 2009: Our company lost more work, so I started the month in the unemployment line. I didn't have time to really worry about being unemployed, because Beth and Marco married in Texas on July 10. We had the pleasure of meeting and hosting his parents. Once the wedding was over, the German's headed back to Germany, and Carissa and I headed out on a road trip to Illinois. She is an awesome travel companion. We went swimming at the beach, played mini golf, ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, had our nails done, played "Boogie Man", had Pawpaw do daily oil checks (consisting of under arm tickles), roasted marshmallows, and sent several pictures daily of our shenanigans to Jonda and Travis. Somewhere in this month, we managed a weekend in New Braunfels with all the kids and grand kids (with the exception of Beth and Marco who were too far away).

August 2009: Jonda hits the big ??. Travis pulled out all the stops with a beach house complete with the Amazing Race. We celebrated Crit's and Colton's birthday together at Bobbie's house. I went to Wascom for a day and took Colton and Hunter to the Alligator Farm. Hunter came back and spent a week. Carissa and Alex came and spent some time, too. Odie and I took a road trip to New Glarus, Wisconsin and spent a wonderful afternoon at a brewery drinking beer with names of Fat Squirrel, Uff Da, and Totally Naked.

September 2009: September was a rather quiet month. I got to take Carissa and Hunter to the Children's Museum. Travis had a quiet birthday. Odie and I did take a road trip into Amish Country in Indiana. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast. in the country, sitting on the porch watching the birds. Instead of hearing traffic, you could hear the horse pulled carriages as the Amish went about their business. We rounded out the weekend by visiting friends that own a beautiful bed and breakfast in Ohio.

October 2009: Wow, I got to spend an entire week with Beth, Marco, Christiana, Odie, and Wolfgang on a Royal Caribbean out of Florida. The stops are nice, but I just like the cruising the best!! Jonda and I took Parker, Hunter, and Carissa to the Houston zoo for a wonderful fall afternoon.

November 2009: Odie has moved from Illinois to Missouri. I went and spent several weeks there. We bought a new fifth wheel. We took a road trip to Iowa to pick it up and went gambling at the new Jumer Casino. It was wonderful that this was a non-smoking casino. We flew home for Thanksgiving and got to see all the family, (except for Beth and Marco, because they are too far away) We took a day off and road the Arch. We went to the Museum District in St. Louis and ate Chicago style pizza.(yum)

December 2009: Odie and I took a driving tour through a park that had been transformed into a couple of miles of Santa wonderland complete with a light covered bridge while listening to Christmas music. We visited Old St. Charles with quaint shops all decorated for Christmas with Charles Dickens's characters and Old St. Nicks in costume. We came home on the 19th and spent some quality time with out wonderful family. Christmas night was chaotic with all the kids and grand kids filling the house.(except for Beth and Marco) I enjoyed it so much!

Beth and Marco were truly missed, when we were all together.

I guess with the year I had, I should be a little depressed that this wonderful year has slipped into the past. I have captured so many of my memories into pictures that I will enjoy for years to come. So as I sit here, my thoughts now change to the future. I start a new job tomorrow. Two of my Grand kids start Kindergarten this year. We have Monster Truck tickets for all the kids and grand kids (except for Beth and Marco, because they are too far away). I have tickets to see Brad Paisley at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo. So, although we are only three days into 2010, I am looking forward to the adventures of 2010!


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