~Our Vacation~

Again this year we were very blessed to have a vacation with my parents.. Larry just loves traveling with them. Now, how many SIL's or DIL's can say they LOVE their in-Laws??? But we have alot of fun with them. This year, we had a few hiccups, but had a blast even with all that. One week prior to leaving, Larry hurt his shoulder, which we later found out was a torn rotator cuff. Then the night before we were leaving, mom's front crown fell off, which we super glued back on, because we could not get ahold of a dentist.. Then on the way as we were in Baltimore waiting on our flight to Ft. Lauderdale, I stood up and twisted my back out. Yeah, A ROCKY start.. None of that kept us from having a great time. We boarded the Largest Cruise Ship in the WORLD - Allure of the Seas on Sunday, Nov. 13th... You can read the particulars about the ship on the side of the pic.. It was HUGE!!!!! We immediately went to find the Carousel, yeap a real working carousel on a ship... Mom, dad and I promptly jumped right on and around we go.. It was GREAT!! Then we found the hot dog stand, right there on BoardWalk beside the carousel. Dad was in Heaven, He LOVES hot dogs.. We could not get into our cabin until 2 so they had time to clean them good from the last group. So we waundered around the ship. Out of 16 passenger decks we were on deck 11... Way up there.. That night we attended the Oceanaria show, it was a diving, acrobatic water show, outside under the stars and you could hear the waves beside the ship.. Then we spend a relaxing day at sea, exploring the ship. Comedy show that night was the PITS! Really vulgar and NOT funny at all.. Then we were in Nassau.. Who does that young man look like?? Yeap David Brown, even sounds like him when he talks... It was a great day there, Had to buy Larry some short sleeved shirts, he was about to burn up.. Sat in the market place and listened to them play steel drums. I could listen to them all day... The show that night was Chicago... I enjoyed it, kinda skimpy costumes, but the show was good.. There is just SO MUCh to see and do on those ships, you cannot possibly do and see it all. We found a "neighborhood" on the ship called "CENTRAL PARK" it was on Deck 8, when we left the cabin going anywhere, we went to deck 8 and walked through Central Park and got on the elevators at the other end of the ship to go where we wanted to. It was so peaceful and fresh.. Lots of trees plants, birds chirping (real and audio recorded) shops, places to eat, places to just sit and relax.. Mom's favorite place on the ship. They had a salad/sandwich shop there that made an awesome salad and a really good roast beef sandwich.. There were cabins on the ship with balconies that overlooked Central Park, Boardwalk and the ocean.. Ours was an ocean view.. only in this pic you see the docks in Ft Lauderdale. But you get the idea.. Here this one is better. We are leaving the port of Ft Lauderdale. They had parades on the ship, with the captain of the ship as the grand marshal on his motorcycle. They have belly flop contests, of which we did not join in. There is a casino, lots of eateries, Spa, salon, bars on every corner, if you need/want it more than likely they have it on board. we were having dinner in the Windjammer one night and they were dipping ice cream out of tubs like Baskin Robbins has, Dad handed the girl his bowl and she asked 1 scoop or 2? His reply was "whatever you can fit into this bowl" so this is what he got... He LOVED it. He had ice cream every night.. I have barely scratched the surface of my pics. I took over 1000 in the 9 days we were gone.. But maybe you get the idea that we had a fabulous time... Thanks mom and dad for going along with us.. We had a Great time.. Can't wait for our road trip this year.. Niagara Falls, HERE WE COME!!!!

~Out Little Man~

Aunt Sue, Please do not have a heart attack.. I am going to try to do better about posting... I PROMISE!!!!

Well, it has happened. Larry never thought it would, but it did.... Bruce moved out in Mid March... It was really a sad day for me. I helped clean their new home and get it ready for him to paint 2 rooms, the baby's room and another bedroom... So now it is just Larry and I here in this house.. But I have adjusted fairly well.. I still get kinda jumpy, but that is getting better..

Then there came "ROBERT EASTON".. Yeap, he finally arrived. May 27th at 1:33 AM, by emergency C-section. He weighed in at 9 lbs, 15 ozs, and 22" long... With a healthy set of lungs.. Mom, Dad and Baby are doing well... I was just informed at 6 weeks, 3 days he tips the scales at 12 lbs 15 1/2 ozs.. He i taking 4-5 ounces of formula every 3 hours. only waking up twice during the night for a bottle. He got his days and nights mixed up for a couple of days, but then straightened out... He is a really good baby.. He nows his daddy's voice.. Bruce only works 4 10 hour days, so Fridays are his and Easton's CAMO day... That is his day with Easton.. The girls are tickled to death with him. Nana has not been able to keep him at her house yet, they are keeping him at home away from most germs for awhile. I did get to pick him up and take him to see mom and dad after she came home from her surgery.. That is another story I will get to in a minute... We spent a couple hours over there..

Just 3 weeks after Easton was born, mom had colon surgery. Hopefully her Divertculum is CURED!!! She had done GREAT with her surgery. Still has very little energy most of the time, but other than that she is PAIN FREE!!!! Praise the LORD!!!!! I have not been there to help as msuch as I should have. Got caught at Bruce and Lyn's one day when Easton had his days and nights mixed up. Lyn asked me to watch him and let her take a nap, he had only slept 1 hour that entire day.. How could I refuse.. Then I came home from work one day with a virus so I did not dare go over there with that.. But she is doing so well, the doctor released her 2 weeks post op.. That is very UNUSUAL...

With everyone feeling and doing well, Larry and I ran off to Branso for the 4th of July weekend.. It was fun, really HOT, but fun. We saw the Dixie Stampede. I enjoyed it, but don't think Larry do so much... Did some junk shopping, alot of walking.. It was good. Came home arund 4 PM on the 4th. Rocky, Deanna and Lil Bit came out and we pull started the 1931 Farmall regular that Rocky has rebuilt for us. It moved under it's own power after Larry pulled it with the Blazer.. Rocky was beaming from ear to ear. What a Great thing. Mom and dad came out and got to see it move as well. It was AWESOME... Hope you can view the video. NOtice toward the end after Rocky gets back on it, he runs over the chain Larry is pulling him with...

Wow that was exciting. I think Rocky is still grinnin over that...

This past weekend, I took Cem, Gab, Maranda and Bri to the lake house for the weekend. Kelsey's grandma from CA is here visiting. SO we snuck off without her, I hated doing that, but we planned this when we thought she was not going to be here this past weekend. Did not want to tell the others we could not go. There will be lots of other weekends.. They are not letting Easton go places yet, so that will come also.. The weekend of the 22, I am going to Dallas with Cem and Gab on a youth group trip, that will be exciting. We are going to a Rangers game on Friday nite, then Six Flags all day Saturday. Then back home on Sunday... Rocky, Deanna Kelsey and Deanna's family are going to the Lakehouse that weekend...

Well, better get off and get some sleep. Work tomorrow. This is the beginning of our Fiscal year. so I am keying some 100 plus contracts for this year... I will get them all done...

Nite all. LOVE TO ALL!!!!!!

~STORMS~

I do not like Storms.. But living in AR as I do, we have lots of them especially this time of year. Last Tuesday night I had all the kids over here dying Easter eggs. and along comes storms... I had everyone texting me, calling me.. sending me messages about the sirens going off and the storms... Then the very next night, I was all alone, the power went out, it was again storming, and guess what??? NO phone calls, NO texts,,,, not anything... Oh well... It stormed all night long,,, But I survived...

THen we had a GORGEOUS weekend for Easter... It was a great day. We all gathered at mom and dad's, just missing James's Family and Buck (he was working). Had a great time with the kiddos hunting eggs, then they decorated sugar cookies.. Had icing and sprinkles all over the patio, but the rain washed it off that night... I will add pics when I get them off the camera. I am adding this between tornados tonite.. We had tornados last night and again tonite.. They are saying the ones tonite are going to be really bad. but so far. has not been too bad.. Kelsey told her mom, she needed to go check on her Nana, cause Nana was scared of storms too like her.. SO they came out here since Rocky is in class in Litte Rock and will be in later,,. So here I sit, Kel is in living room watching Madagascar... I am doing a little updatin watching the sky out the window in the office.. Looking a little dark, I think the next storm is supposed to hit about 7:30 or so.. Guess I better get off and shut down the computer. All you in Storm Land, be safe tonite. May God keep his protecting hands on all of you and also on all of you that are in good weather right now. LOVE YA!!!!!!!

~Hyacinths are in Bloom~

Aunt Jeanette's favorite flowers are in bloom.. This was her favorite flower, I think Uncle CW planted them shortly after the funeral in hopes they would bloom this spring and they did... They are so pretty just like she was... I miss her SO MUCH... After mom's knee replacement I pressed the call button on my phone on her number, I almost did the same thing on my way home from the hospital the other night after dad's shoulder surgery.,. I just cannot make my self take that number out of my phone... I feel as if I am erasing her from my life and I never want to do that... I had told Brent, I would keep an eye on these flowers and send him a pic when they bloomed... Well today I was out there and they were in bloom, but I did not have my camera, Deanna had borrowed it to take pics of Kelsey at Soccer practice the other day... Good think I had my trusty phone...
Just when we thought Spring was here, with all the warm days, today it is COLD again... I am so ready for warm weather... I just do not like the cold, it makes me hurt too bad, but Spring will be here soon...

Well gotta go, I think the peach cobbler is done. Gonna let it cool a bit and then take it to mom and dad... I went and sat with dad today for a couple hours while mom went to get some groceries... He is doing great.. He forgets and tries to use his arm, but soon is reminded that he cannot do that just yet... But soon he will be able to do things he has not in a very LONG time... I am so blessed to have my parents and to have them so close to me.. I have a friend that is sitting in an inpatient Hospice unit tonite with her mother... I cannot imagine the pain they are feeling right now... But I pray for them to have the strength to endure this pain. God will wrap his loving arms around them and give them comfort and strength... After all he is the GREAT COMFORTER>>

~WAY BEHIND~

Where to start. So many things have happened since I last posted.. Sorry, I have not finished the trip, may complete that later..



First, I am going to be a Nana again.. Bruce is going to be a daddy in May.. Found that out end of Sept. Since then we found out Dec. 27 (Mine and Larry's 15th Anniversary) they are having a BOY.. My FIRST GRANDSON!!!! His name will be "Robert Easton" Wow, how exciting.. Now we will have to change "GIRLS NITE OUT AT NANA"S" since there will soon be a boy in the mix... But we can do that..

Yesterday, Bruce told me he had placed an offer on a house and it was accepted... So now we are buying our first home... So his world as he knows it is about to CHANGE DRASTICALLY!!!!!! But he has a good head on his shoulders and he will do fine.. Me on the other hand... Not so sure about, Have not been childless for almost 32 years.. What an adjustment. But this too I will handle..


Mom had knee replacement, that was not so much a piece of cake.. Her knee has done great, even with all the set backs. She ended up really sick the day after surgery with some type of virus maybe, not sure... She was real sick for about 48 hours.. Then went to rehab with some type of rash on her back... then home... Well for awhile, then in the hospital (OVER CHRISTMAS) with a severe bout of Diverticulum... Then she went into Bronchial Pheumonia. Hopefully she is on the road to recovery now...


Dad was supposed to have Shoulder replacement on Feb. 17th, but he had a bad cold so it was postponed until March 1st.. So hopefully that will go off with little or no hitches... I need them to both be well. We have trips and tractor shows to attend to...

Christmas:: We had Christmas on New Years Day, since mom was in the hospital on Christmas.. We had a great time. Almost everyone was there.. We played the Left Right Family, and then Dirty Santa. It was hilarious... We had a GREAT TIME. but it always is a Great time when Family is together... Our family is getting really large.. It is hard to fit all of us in the living room.. But we manage....

Larry had his cardio check up. His cholesterol was good, but his triglycerides are way high.. over 500.. So now we are on fish oil caps... Hope that gets those down.. We are supposed to recheck in 3 months, that is if I can get him to the doc for re-check.. Men.....



My girls are doing great... Kelsey had her 5th Birthday at the Wellness center pool. A pool party on the 29th of January and the outside temp was "75"... Imagine that... Could have had an outdoor party at the park.. That would have been great too, but in AR you never know what the weather is going to be.. I think we had about 25 4 & 5 year olds, plus Cem and Gab... We had a pool full. And K bug, said, "I had a BLAST at my pool party"


Rocky and Buck have our 1931 Farmall Regular completely torn down. I have a parts manual ordered. As soon as it comes in, we will be busy ordering parts to rebuild the motor in it as it was locked up, which we knew when we bought it.. They have had a blast tearing that old thing down. Can't wait to get it running, and painted. We may try to haul it in the parade, cannot drive it as it has spikes on the wheels and it would tear up the pavement. It will be Battleship gray..


I have been creating a Family Photo album on Facebook. There are some really OLD pics in there. Everyone seems to be really enjoying seeing them old photos. Some are more recent, but there are some of Grandma and Grandpa Tuberville's parents in there. Check em out.. I have more to scan and post. So far I think there is almost 300 photos in 2 albums... I am having a large time putting them up there..


Other than all that, not much going on here at our place... I will try to do better about posting more frequently..


LOVE TO ALL!!!

~Part 3 - JUNEAU AK~

Today we arrive in Juneau, the capitol of Alaska, It is raining..... Going to be a wet, kinda cold day... Before leaving the ship we "HUNT" for somewhere to get some breakfast... HAHA.... After breakfast we are off the ship and on our way to Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls (off to the right of the glacier).. Soon after arriving there the rain stops.. Great now we just have cool weather... What a HUGE chunk of ice... It is beautiful coming out of the mountains.. What a gorgeous view of God's creative imagination... This is a receiding glacier, it is getting smaller.

Now back on the bus for a narrated trip on down the road to Auke Bay, where we board a boat for Whale Watching.. What HUGE amazing creatures they are.. I LOVE watching them.. They feed in the waters of Alaska and then travel to the warm waters of Hawaii to have their babies. I was up on the open observation deck of the boat we were on taking pictures.. It was cold up there, but it was amazing to see these whales... Now back on the bus to head back into town.. We do a little shopping and looking around before heading back to the ship and Dinner.... I wish there were someway I could tell you every little detail of everything we did and saw, but there are just not words to describe it accurately.. It was just spectacular... And to be able to share this with my parents is beyond words... I only have about 1000 pics of this trip... and not one of them does justice to what it is of... So let's see where are we off to next... I believe Skagway....

~Part 2 ALL ABOARD~

Sept 3rd, we headed for the Pier and to board "Rhapsody of the Seas" for Alaska... I had done most of the checking in online before we left for Seattle.. So we got checked in and on the ship... You should have seen the look on mom and dad's face when they saw the ship.. WOW... It was spectacular.. So we are on board and found our cabins.. We are on Deck 7 with Balcony cabins.. They are ajoining so there was a door between our cabins.. Then it was off to expore the ship and grab a bite of lunch.. We headed for the Windjammer for a buffet lunch of all kinds of food, salads, desserts, and breads... Eat all you want and walk out, no waiting for the check.... Just as we were leaving the pier we had to Muster, a safety drill so you know what to do in the "Unlikely" event of an emergency.. So off to our lifeboat stations we go.. We made sure we were on deck 4 when the alarm sounded, so we did not have to go up or down alot of stairs, easier on mom's knees... After Muster, it was off to dinner we go... We went to the dining room this time. I heard the people seated at the table next to us talking about beans, cornbread, fried potatoes. I said, "You must be from the South" and guess what, they were from Berryville AR. they knew Sister Yarbrough and all her family. Small world we live in... We enjoyed chatting with them..

Now we are off to the Welcome Aboard show in the Theater with the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers.. Great show.. But it's time for a snack before going off to bed... Are you beginning to see a pattern here with "Food".. Yes, you can literally eat 24 hours a day somewhere on the ship... Tomorrow we are at Sea all day... Nothing to see but the Sea on every side... No sight of land...

~Where to START?? Part 1 Seattle ~

I am so far behind in posting.. I may break this up into several... Back on Sept. 1, mom, dad and I left for Seattle, met Larry at the airport as he was getting on his flight... He hung out with us for awhile, then headed home to regroup, print boarding passes and get ready to head out the next day to join us in Seattle...

We had a long travel day,, but finally made it to Seattle and our Hotel... Hotel shuttle took us to a local restaurant called "the Roaster" for dinner. Then it was time to turn in, because we had a busy day planned the next day..


Charles, Mashelle, Nick and Joe, picked us up around 9 and we headed for Snoqualmie Falls, beautiful place.. LOVED IT... we walked around the area and viewed the falls from all angles and waundered through the gift shop before heading out to our next stop..



On to the Seattle Space Needle. They were getting ready for the Labor Day festival that weekend.. Great park... Had lunch at the Food Court there in the park. Waundered around some of the street vendors, in the Space Needle gift shop (no one went up in it)... Weather was great, Not too hot and not too cold.. Got some great PICS....

Then on to a drive along the coast, where we saw beautiful parks and GORGEOUS hanging basket planters... Then back to the Hotel to wait for Larry to arrive... Then to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory... WOW,,, What a great dinner... We laughed and had a great time.. Thanks Charles and Mashelle for a WONDERFUL day aroud Seattle... It was great seeing them and getting to meet your 2 youngest sons.. I had not seen Charles and Mashelle since Josh was about 2 weeks old, that is A LONG TIME!!!! Hope it is not that long till I see you again...
Then we called it a nite. Tomorrow onto the Ship and North to Alaska....

~21 DAYS~ and stuff....

21 days from today, right now, we will be on a ship with my parents headed to Alaska. We will probably just be finishing up with the Mandatory Muster (Emergency Drill)... I am so excited, but sad at the same time. Larry's favorite Aunt and Uncle are not going to be able to join us. I totally understand the circumstances, but still sad about it.
Larry and I have been on an Alaskan Cruise before, but this time will be SUPER special. We get to experience it through my parents eyes (remember to take your glasses)... They have never been on a cruise nor have they ever been to Alaska. This is going to be SPECTACULAR...

Things at work have been just absolutely crazy. One of the secretaries, that thinks she runs the entire show there (only been there a little over a year) has filed a grevience and I, along with several others has been named in it. We all had to write a statement about things that have been going on. We really want her out the door. She is just a real piece of work... It has been a really bad atmosphere to work in. Hopefully they will have a hearing soon and things will change..

This past month, I have had some health issues and all the doctors are pointing their finger at other doctors, it's not what I treat, it's what you treat... etc.... It has been crazy, but I think we may be getting somewhere now. I have had a COMPLETE cardiac workup, stress echo and all, and it is not my heart, My heart is in excellent shape according to the cardiologist, but they did pulmonary function tests and found Reactive Lung Disease, caused by exposure to toxin.. I go Monday to talk about a plan of treatment, but until then I have an inhaler I have to use twice daily. In looking back over my records the doc says I have been complaining of most of these same symptoms for almost 3 years now.. So I probably got it when we were building the house and I had pneumonia and spent alot of time out here with all the paint, glue, grout, etc in the house with my lungs already compromised with the pneumonia. It took me almost 6 months to get well from that... I was beginning to think I was allergic to my new home.. Heat aggravates it alot and we have had ALOT of triple digit temps the past month. The cooler weather in Alaska will be great for it.

All the kids go back to school on Thursday. They are all back in the same school again this year, except Kelsey and she is still in Day care, but next year will be Kindergarten... That is going to be something... Not ready for that...

Well better get off here and fix my husband some supper...

NIte All.

OH Tomorrow mom, dad, larry and I are off to the LawnMower races in Hope. Another exciting outing.. Can't wait. Gonna be a HOT ONE!!!!!!!!

~Only 47 Days~

This is Mendenhall Glacier...

Got an e-mail from Royal Caribbean today. Our travel documents are ready for printing. I did not realize it was only 47 days, I was counting weeks, 7 weeks from last Friday. Mom dad and I fly out on Sept. 1st.. Then Larry will follow on the 2nd. then we board the ship on the 3rd and head for Alaska... I cannot wait. I am a little anxious about this trip. There are some things that Larry and I have not seen and some that we have. But to see mom and dad's reaction to it all will be (I Hope) AMAZING... Larry and I LOVE to cruise, this will be mom and dad's first and hopefully not their last... We have picked out some shore excursions we think they will enjoy and we have enjoyed them on past trips.. One is Whale Watching, those creatures are AMAZING.. We LOVE to watch them... We have seen them double breech (2 at once), we have seen a mom playing with her calf and a calf playing with a Sea Lion.. They are so HUGE and yet so graceful... I hope we get to see alot of them.. Then we are looking at one for some glaciers, those are just gorgeous. The first time we went on the Alaskan, was the first anniversary of 9/11. We were at Hubbard Glacier that day and at noon, the captain called for a moment of silence, then they played the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. as the last note ended, a huge piece of ice fell into the ocean, now who was the orchestrator of that event??? You got it God Almighty... You could have heard a pin drop anywhere on that ship at that instant.. We will NEVER forget that day... Then at another port there is a train ride up to the yukon we want to take.. I just want so bad for them to have a good time, and I want my husbands Favorite Aunt and Uncle to join us... We had a WONDERFUL trip last year and I want this one to be equally as WONDERFUL as last years... We will also be cruising Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier and then visit Victoria British Columbia, these are places Larry and I have not see before and to experience them with my parents and hopefully my Aunt and Uncle will just be THE BEST!!!!!!!!! So we are on the COUNT DOWN to our New Adventure, but prior to that we still have another tractor show and Lawn mower races to attend.. that will be coming up on August 14th...

But for now, I am off here to get my stuff ready for work tomorrow... It has been a lazy weekend. Larry and I almost finished up 2 more tractor seat bar stools yesterday. Mom found a bargain on some Fun fur yarn for me. I love it, can't wait to decide what I am making with some of it and get started...

For now. God Night and May God Bless and Keep each one of you....

~Summer Happenings~

What a busy summer it has been so far.. Our Alaskan Cruise with mom and dad is coming up so fast. But I bet the last few weeks will DRAG!!!!!!!! I am really anxious about this trip. I want mom and dad to have the time of their life.. Last years trip was GREAT!!!!!!!, But I want this one to top that.... Alaska has some AWESOME scenary. The Redwoods last year was Spectacular. and the visit with Larry's FAVORITE Aunt and Uncle was GREAT!!!!!!. Hopefully we will get to see Charles and his family, hopefully for dinner one nite.. I will send our travel information to them as soon as final plans are made...

Now for what has been going on this summer.... Mom, dad, Larry and I attended the Tractor shows at Nashville AR in May, and the Purple Hull Pea Festival in Emerson AR last weekend. They were really good days.. We however, did NOT get homemade ice cream in Emerson this year, but we did have purple hull peas for lunch. Then they had a cook off and we got to eat after the judges finished. They had a Cream Cheese Peach Cobbler that was really good. Not sure why they did not have any, but oh well, it was a good time anyway. Got to see more tiller races this year than last, but did not get there intime to see the kids race.. Oh well.. There is always next year... They were both FULL days. We left home around 7 AM and returned around 7 PM.. The tractor show at Nashville, had almost 200 tractors there. They had SLOW races to see which tractor could run the slowest and remain running.. Larry Harrington (Sheridan) won for the oldest tractor. He had a 1934 John Deere.. He and Pinkie had restored it. It looked GREAT!! Hopefully one day we will have the 1931 Farmall Regular running and take that trophy away from him.. But we will have to find a trailer wide enough to haul it.. The served a BBQ lunch that was REALLY GOOD. They also had a snow cone stand that had homemade ice cream snow cones, they were really good, I think mom and I had 2 each...

Larry and I were on Vacation for the past 5 days and we have finished restoring the Farmall Super A and have it i the Big Pout house with the rest of the tractors. It is looking REALLY RED in there.. When the 31 is completed it will be battleship gray with red wheels. Then we have an F-12 that we bought restored, but it is red and should be gray. Someday we will repaint it the correct color, but for now, it is OK.. We also got 2 of our milk can tractor seat stools completed.. They look kewl.. Now we have 2 more to finish.. Gotta get a seat for one of them and go to the lake house and get he lid for the other milk can..

We have at least one more Tractor event prior to our cruise, that will be the Watermelon Festival in Hope on August 14th,to see Antique Tractors and watch the Lawn Mower Races.. Boy can they go fast.... Can't get my pics to move where I want them to. The lawnmower at the top is one we saw last year.. It has 5 engines on it.

Then it is OFF to ALASKA~~~~~

~LET"S NOT HAVE A STROKE HERE~

It has been forever since I have posted anything here. Just a really busy time. Trying to close out this Fiscal year at work, Convention in Hot Springs, To Nashville (Vanderbilt Univ) with Cember on a school trip, Tractor shows, rebuilding a tractor, making bar stools out of old Milk Cans and Tractor Seats,, Watering the neighbors plants and garden while he is in the hospital. Just lots of BUSY things going on...



Spent 4 days in Hot Springs early May at our annual Public Health Assoc, Convention. That is always fun, but alot of work..



Mom, dad, Larry and I went to the Tractor show and races in Nashville AR on the 15th of May. That was a FULL WONDERFUL DAY!!!!! I am so excited that mom and dad enjoy (or seem to) going to those Tractor shows with us. They had over 150 tractors on display, a man from Sheridan, Larry Harrington, won the trophy for the oldest tractor, a 1934 Model A John Deer (Wrong Color Tractor), Crops are Green, Tractors are RED!!!!!!! , then they had a raffle for a restored Ford Tractor, another Sheridan man, Ken West, Won that.. GO SHERIDAN!!!!!! They had a bbq lunch plate that was really good, then they had a Snow cone booth, that had the most WONDERFUL homemade Icecream Snow cone, I have ever had. Did not know they had such a flavor until mom mentioned it.. It was GREAT!!!!!



Then Mother's Day, mom and dad were camping at Pendleton, Larry and I went and pulled their camper home for them on Mother's Day... They took us down to the dam where everyone was fishing... Beautiful camping area..



Then Memorial Day,, We just stayed around the house and worked on our Farmall Super A Tractor, getting it restored.. We are almost finished.. Having to rebuild a seat for it, but I think it is going to be GREAT!!!!! I will post before and after pics when we finish it. Larry said if this seat does not work, he is going to cut some plywood, paint it red and bolt it on so I can drive it... I am not very patient when we are this close to being finished and some little something stalls us out..



Then I got to go to Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, TN for a Aspirnauts Fieldtrip. That was a great 3 days. Loved it. I got to have 3 pre-teens ride back with me. Boy did I learn ALOT!!!!! Really they were real good. I thoroughly enjoyed having them. We got to do alot of hands on experiments, see how alot of Cancer research is performed, Go up on the Helipad and see a medical helicopter, We had a heart seminar and got to see actual human hearts, some that were healthy, or with a little plaque, or alot of plaque and even one with 2 bypasses.. Very interesting... We had a complete tour of the beautiful campus and dorms..

Then last Sunday was Father's Day. Again, my parents are at the Lake... I am so very excited they are going and doing and staying at lakes and campgrounds.. I miss them being just across town, but I am so very proud for them... I did call my dad and I told him I would buy him some Ice Cream on Saturday. As you see, they are going with us again on Saturday to the Purple Hull Pea Festival in Emerson, AR. We went last year and had a great time, they have Tiller races, you should see the kids with those Mantis tillers, they are out for Blood... Then they have tillers with motorcycle engines on them. did not get to see those but once. A LADY let it get loose from her and it was damaged, she luckily was OK, It DRUG her down the course, until she finally let go. They also had tractors there and they had a parade with them. They had a contest and the winner of it had their wedding at the Festival, That was kinda neat, but they had the BEST HOMEMADE ICE CREAM there.. Dad and I about made ourself sick on it. Can't wait to get some more...

Well, guess I have taken up enough time. I will post pics later, right now I cannot get them to upload... Will try later..

LOVE TO ALL!!!!!!

~The OLD MILL~

Ever seen the Movie "Gone With the Wind"?? Well, the Old Mill in North Little Rock was built for that movie. Part of it was filmed here. I LOVE that movie, but I had never been to the Old Mill. I decided to take off work on Wednesday of the girls Spring Break and spend the day with them. I brought them up to the office to show them off and then we got a picnic lunch and went to the Old Mill. The weather was Perfect that day. What an absolute AWESOME place.. It was beautiful, but will be even more so when the Dogwoods and Azaleas are in bloom in a week or so. May have to try to go back then. We had a WONDERFUL DAY>.. After we got back home, we had to sit down and watch that movie to see where this was in there.. We will definitely have to go back there. All the bridges were built out of concrete and made to look like wood.. This is a popular Wedding site in this area and I can definitely see why. It is an awesome place to take spring pics.. I think I took about 150 and then the girls, asked if they could just go play for a bit without me saying wait, Look here, Cheese!!! Imagine me saying that??? Love to take pics...

~Dad's Party~

It turned out really good. Had alot of people there from Church and Family.. Tons of food,,,, Cake, sandwiches, chips, dips, cinnamon rolls, brownies, snacky stuff.. Just LOTS OF FOOD!!! we decorated with all the party favors, table cloths, hats, plates, napkins, etc. that we had left over from all the kids birthday parties over the years. turned out kinda neat.. It is hard to believe my dad is "70", his oldest child is "50" and his oldest Grand child is "30" and his oldest Great Grandchild is "11, almost 12" yeah, I know it did not follow all the way through. Oh well.. We got 3 out of 4.... two of my boys did not get to be there, They were working 7 days a week 12-16 hours a day.. Pam's son was not there, but other than that, the rest of the immediate family got to be there.. Several of mom's brothers and sisters and their spouses were there. It was a GREAT TURNOUT and I think everyone had a good time and Plenty to eat..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD>>>> WE LOVE YOU....

~Moms' Entertaining Debut~

Here are a few pics from the Show mom got called on Stage for>>> Dad and I were laughing so hard. This was a very FUN Evening. Just a good CLEAN Family Show.. Lots of laughs. Lots of Old Rock songs, Thank you so much for including me in this evening... LOVED IT!!!!!!

This is Mom and Buford Presley...

~I'm BACK~

Sorry for the long delay not posting. Just crazy times.. SO much has happened... We got our water back at work, so we have working toilets, no more PORTAS!!!!!

Had something go wrong with my eyes, alot of pressure behind them. Went to the Eye doc, and they seemed to think it was just extremely dry eyes, I could not open them but just a sliver. I did manage to work everyday. Had to start using Restasis, hot wet compresses and natural tears eye drops, like 10-15 times a day,,, After 4 weeks of that, they finally eased up and I could open them all the way again. I am continuing all I was doing,, to keep them opened, that was miserable, especially when you have to be on a computer all day long...But I survived.

Bruce turned 27 on the 5th of March, Still living at home (I kinda like that). At least I know someone will be there sometime during the nite...

Rocky turned 29 on the 10th and Daddy turned "70" on the 10th... So now Dad is 70, his oldest Child (Me) is "50" and his Oldest Grand Child (Buck) is "30".. Kinda Neat....

Mom, Dad and I went to the Ray Lynn Theater in Hot Springs last Thursday nite (March 11). Their investment group was having a Thanks for being our Client appreciation thing... It was alot of fun. THey had Free POpcorn, cokes, hot dogs, and candy bars. Then they did their little sales pitch and showed somethings they can assist you with in your investing and how to protect your money for retirement. Larry may need to talk to them, he handles all that for us, it is greek to me... THen they turned over the show to the Wilkins Music and Comedy show. It was really good, just good clean joking and singing.. Mom even got called on the stage to be serenaded by Buford Presley,, yeap the one and ONLY, Bare jello belly and all.. Dad and I laughed SO HARD... Mom seemed to be having a good time, Never would have believed she would do that.... I got black mail photos, but promised I would not post them... I even got serenaded, but I got to remain in my seat. I was sitting there watching the show and this guy come crawling in around my chair with a flash light and asked me if I had his seat... then the guy on the stage asked him what he was doing and told him he was not supposed to crawling around ladies legs, and he made the statement: "Well those legs ain't seen a razor in months"... He was part of the show. It was a really FUN Evening.. Thanks Mom and dad for asking me to go... I really ENJOYED It.... Mom, PLEASE let me post some pics....

Then Friday got up with an elephant on my chest.... Went to the doctor. I have become my MOther,, Not a bad thing all in all, but the past 3 years, I have had allergies (never before), and they have turned into Bronchitis,,,, Just like MOm does EVERY YEAR!!!!!! So after I got back home, I went to sleep on the couch and slept for 6 hours, then Larry woke me up and I went to bed and slept for another 12 hours... Saturday afternoon, Mom and I went down to decorate for Dad's Birthday Party on Sunday... That was alot of fun.... We took party favors left over from all the kids parties and put them on the tables. even had some table clothes that were used at a couple of them... Hung balloons,,, fixed food.. decided where to place all the FOOD!!!!!! Boy did we have FOOD,

Sunday morning, I get up wait for mom and dad to leave for church, go by their house, get the cake, cinnamon rolls, and crock pots and head to Wally World to get chips, ice cream and hellium balloons.. Then kill time and wait for them to leave the church... Then I go down there and start putting out all the food, oops I forgot the pinwheels in the freezer, and the pickles on the cabinet, but I don't think anyone missed them... we had so much food. Everyone pitched in and it was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!!!! so many people showed up, so much food... Tony brought his big 52" TV and we showd a dvd of dad and then we showed the one from their 50th Anniversary, we also had their scrap books of their Anniversary and the Redwoods on display for everyone to view... I really enjoyed the day... I went home and crashed.... I was worn out, but it was a good WORN out feeling... I will post some pics from yesterday when I slow down long enough to get them off the camera.. Maybe tonite. I am going to help mom finish cleaning up when I get in from work, We left most of the food for a snack after church last night...

I will try to post more often... But for now enjoy this one...

~Water - Water - Where's The WATER????~

Well, There was a major water leak in our building. So guess What..... They shut off the water today at 11:00 and it will be off the remainder of the day>... SO you got it, NO BATHROOMS!!!!! Oh, but the did bring in these lovlies??? Aren't we so special??? NOT!!!!!!!! I do not do Port-a-Potties... That is just a NOT GONNA DO thing with me... There are 3 of them for a 9 story building full of WOMEN!! Of course, most of them are like me and just not gonna do it. However, I did bring baby wipes and hand sanitizer just in case of emergency. I received some LOVELY DEPENDS for my birthday about a month ago and stuck them away for emergencies. Well, I have had 3 people in my office this morning wanting to know where they were, I have them stuck back in case I NEED them... THis has been a big joke in our office since we found out about it early yesterday.. Mom, Dad and Larry have had a large time with this. I have had one of the nurses in the field, e-mail me every hour, then half hour, then quarter hour down to the minute prior to it being shut off, about how much longer till we were Waterless.... You better go one more time, Get that last drink of water, etc... just cause she could. When they did shut off the water, she wrote about her nice warm, running water bathroom she had right across the hall... Oh, well. I am going to take lunch and leave at 1:00. I am going home to my own PRIVATE Bathroom with RUNNING WATER>>>.

~UPDATE and TIME FOR A CHANGE~

Ok, I know I am really far behind... But,, Things have been crazy.. I have not been able to stay on the computer for very long for over a week now. My eyes have been giving me FITS!!!! They hurt, burn, scratchy,,, etc... really bad and the bright light make it even worse. Was supposed to have an eye doc appt. yesterday, but due to ICE, they were closed and we could not get to Little Rock anyway.. So here I sit, at least for a bit, then I have to get off...



As I am sure you have read on mom's blog, her and I went to Batesville to a HUGE fabric store on the 25th of January. What a wonderful day. They had every type, color of fabric, trim, thread, lace, ribbon,, etc.... you could imagine.. You could buy it by the yard, or by the bolt or by the BUNDLE.. What a neat store.. We had a ball in there, or at least I did. Then we had lunch and headed home, stopping North Little Rock at Sams, then to Joann's (another fabric store) and Hobby Lobby ( I needed cake stuff for Lil Bits Bday cake).... We arrived home around 7ish... It was a full day and I LOVED it..



January 28th, Larry came in from a 2 week trip to Iowa, Nebraska and S Dakota, where he had lots of SNOW the entire time he was there (that is why he did not drive home on Friday to turn around and drive back on Sunday, he just stayed there.. When the alarm went off at 5 AM on the 29th, He told me to go back to sleep, he had already looked outside and decided I was not going to work... He had apparently brought it with him from up north.. We lost power about 2 pm on Friday and did not get it back until 6 pm Saturday. Our house was not bad cold, it never got below 55 and it was like below 20 outside.. It just being him and I (Bruce was at duck tails for the weekend), we just got a blanket and sat and looked at each other till it was too dark to do that then we threw an extra quilt on the bed and went to sleep..

Sunday, Jan. 31 was my baby grand daughters "4" Birthday. We had it at Playtime PIzza and it was all Tinkerbell. She had a wonderful time. Here papaw Mike (my Ex) asked for a hug and he was told: "All my hugs are for Nana today" he then turned to me and asked "How did you rank so high today" . We had so much fun.. Hard to believe she is "4" and only weighs "32 lbs" She is just tiny petite. But she can do most anything the bigger girls can do...

Last week was good, I got to work all week,, Then Here we are again, we woke up to Ice yesterday moring (Feb. 8th). State offices were on incement weather (in by 10 and you are not docked), but Larry decided I was not going at all. Then Got an e-mail last night about 9:15, that state offices were closed for today. So here I sit in the office, with the sun shining in the window. It is cold outside, and real windy, but there is no ice or snow.. Feel a little guilty about not being at work, but you cannot get there, maybe tomorrow will be better, then they are calling for more snow on Thursday and Friday... We will see..

Before After

Now for the Change: As you know mom and I have been making alot of quilts, well I did one to be used as a spead on my bed. It finally got finished.. So here is the before and the after: Let me know what you think..

~Hats Delivered~

I have delivered all the hats to Children's Hospital. I talked with the Knittin for Noggins Coordinator. They have given away between 27 & 28 THOUSAND hats since Mid Sept. 09.. That is AMAZING.. of course they not only give them to patients, but also to siblings of patients.. Just thought I would let you know.. They have collected over 30 thousand hats since July 1... So there is alot of KNITTIN/CROCHET going on in AR.... Keep them needles/hooks going...

~HATS HATS & MORE HATS~

Every year AR Children's Hospital has a "Knittin for Noggin's" campaign. I try to donate as many as I can each year, this hospital is so very dear to me. I had a niece that spent alot of time there with Cystic Fibrosis and they did so much good for her, then my niece was taken there just a week after she was born, prematurely for a blood transfusion and they did so much good for her, then my grand daughter was there for surgery at 6 weeks old and she too was taken very good care of, then my daughter in laws brother was in there after a bad car accident, 1 of my cousins was in there for burn treatments after an accident, I had an aunt that was in the burn unit after a can exploded in a burn pile. This hospital does SO MUCH good for so many families. So you see this hospital holds a very dear place in my heart... This year I have 125 that I am taking there this week.. I love to crochet, NO i do not knit... I use yarn that I find on sale through out the year, or some I have left from other projects or some that is given to me. I have made all sizes from Premmie to adult.. All colors.. It is fun to do this.. Last year I had 7 in there that were red/white santa style. I was told later by a nurse that I know that works there, they sent 7 premies home for Christmas wearing those hats.. When you turn these in, you leave no identifying marks with them as to who made them. I had told her I turned those in and she told me they were all used on Christmas Eve. That warms my heart to be able to make a child smile with something as simple as these.. I have already started a bag for next year... So if you know of someone that is looking for something to do with some yarn they have laying around, this is a very worth while thing to do with it. or send it to me and I will do some with it. Larry and I found 3 baskets of yarn at a junk shop and I am still trying to get the lady to give me a DEAL on it to be used for these. She wants a new price for it and some of it has been used, if I am going to do that, I am going to buy it at Walmart and pick out the colors I want.. Well gotta go for now. Tomorrow is a work day,,,

Wait,,, gotta tell you about my day.. The boys decided they were not working on the shop today, because Rocky had a HOG in his trap and needed some assistance in cleaning and cutting it up.. So they went to help him, I am fine with that.. It does me so much GOOD to see them doing things together.. So I called mom and asked her if she wanted to go running around. So we went to Benton/Bryant to Kohl's, Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Penney's. We found several bargains, I got Kelsey 5 pair of jeans for $5 each at Penneys, they were all embroidered differently... I also got me a couple of tops, then we got dad some jeans and shirts... Then we ended the afternoon with dinner. It was a WONDERFUL DAY. Thanks mom for spending it with ME!!!!!! Love you!!!!!!!! Now can't wait to go to Batesville.. Sorry that did not work out for today, but you and Jeanette needed to feel better...

NOw I gotta go and make another hat or two....

Nite everyone...