Alleluia and Happy New Year

Happy Easter to all. The Church observes 40 days of Lent and during that time refrains from saying (or singing) Alleluia. And now we are celebrating 50 days of Easter and we get to say Alleluia every chance we get. The Happy New Year? Well Alex and Ashley taught Michael to say "Happy New Year" and he still says it...it goes something like this, "good-nite...luv you...happy new year" or "goodbye...happy new year". So just as Easter is celebrated more than just one day, a Happy New Year is always welcome.

And welcome to Dene' and my new tradition of blogging together each week. Click here to see Dene's blog.  If anyone wants and feels the great pull of blogging please join us...we would welcome one and all :)

We were blessed with both families being in Lincoln for Easter. The activities ranged from watching basketball (a lot), playing board games in front of  a fire, taking turns cooking some of our  favorite meals and just hanging out and enjoying each others company.

You can't have too much cuddle time.

For being in Nebraska we struggled getting enough
 wind to fly this baby but Michael enjoyed watching it CRASH.

Somebody is ready for bed.

The best aunt and uncle you could ask for.

With enough popcorn we can watch basketball all night!

A little father and son time.

 

 

 

 

Here is Liam chatting with great grandpa.

Liam looks like he is sitting in a giant pile of bubble gum...the "boppy"
seat works about the same way...you're stuck in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Liam loves his big brother.

 

 

 

 

Dene' and Tyler will be moving to North Carolina this summer
to continue their ministry in FOCUS.

 

 

 

 

Alleluia and Happy New Year.

Cranes (the bird type)

 

 

 

Cindy and I went to Kearney Ne yesterday to view the annual migration of the Sandhill Cranes. Pretty impressive experience every time we have gone. There are approximately 650 thousand Sandhill cranes and about 80 percent of those stop over in their migration North on a 75 mile stretch of the Platte River near Kearney. They have been doing this long before we moved down here...like...billions of years. Anyway we spent the day along the Platte taking pictures and listening to their wonderful cooing calls. Now I won't share all 165 pictures we took but will share enough so that, you too, can feel like you were there...kinda against your will for some :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what we woke up to this morning. Winters last hurrah we hope.

 

 

 

Kinda random but Cindy made dilly bread today and it was sooo good just wanted to share it with y'all...at least you might imagine it :)

 

 

Changing of the Cars

This past week we refinanced our house,bought a new car, sold our van and yelled at our boss and quit our job. That last one is a movie line and isn't completely true...although lately Cindy has come home quite often and said "I yelled at my boss but I didn't quit my job."

We did refinance our house in a little over two weeks completely on line except for the 1&1/2 hours signing of closing documents. Interesting technology now a days. They had a web site setup so we could upload and download documents for the whole process with only a couple phone calls in between.

Cindy's van has been dying a slow death these last couple months and not so slow these last couple weeks. The whining when being started in the morning was becoming louder and longer, so much that I think our neighbors were starting to use us for their alarm clock. The heater started to emit a burning smell so Cindy wouldn't use it...and if she needed to use the defrost she would roll down the windows for ventilation and pull her scarf up a little tighter. The power steering went out so it was talking us a few more maneuvers to get into a parking place...you get the idea.

So my job of researching a new car went from sometime next Fall to let's do this deal. The research was fairly easy with what we wanted in a car and the choices out there. And my new best friend, Bob at Toyota, was very helpful. We bought a Camry Hybrid. This process didn't take much more time than the refinance stuff. We found the car, they got us the color we wanted, we closed on the house Thursday and we brought home the newest addition Saturday.

Now Ashley shouldn't hear this next part since she does struggle with "out with the old and in with the new" (you're not getting rid of that brown chair are you? We've had that since I was born...yes...that's why it's going away. You're not getting rid of that brown kitchen rug are you? I grew up with that rug.  Yes...it wasn't brown when we bought it.)

 

So getting home Saturday around 1pm and 3 phone calls later at 2pm we sold the van to a recycle parts place. The negotiations went something like this....he said "I will give you $350 for the van". I said "OK". We drove the van across town dropped it off and said our good buys. I'm not big on sentimental goodbyes...especially when it comes to cars...but it was a little sad.  Even though we've long been calling it our '"cookie car," I had to remind Cindy that it's an inantimate object.




And as you may notice our Rav is parked out on the street...it lost it's place in the garage.
So the moral of the story is "No whining or creating a big stink or you may find yourself out on the street...or worse."

Dog Days of Winter Are About Over

Frannie goes back to her real people tomorrow. We are meeting up with Dene' and Tyler in
Des Moines for the weekend. Dene' has a class there and we are having a Super-Bowl party Sunday.

 

Frannie has been leaving dog biscuits all over the neighborhood as we go for walks. They must be for her friends because she has no idea or clue where she left them as we walk each day. Although, someone dropped a sandwich on a street corner that Frannie got a a chunk of before I pulled her away and everyday since she runs to that spot looking for the left overs.

One thing Frannie did get me to do was start walking morning, noon and night.

 

 

We will miss Frannie...and there will always be apart of her in our home...the vacuum just can't pick it all up.

Seven Quick Franny Takes

Guest blog by Cindy. Idea stolen from Ashley (or rather, conversationdiary.com).

The only thing better than chasing squirrels is chasing squirrels in the snow.  During her visit last summer, Fran wasn't too interested in the back yard.  This visit she seems to be having a blast hunting squirrels.

Fran is a bone snob.  She enjoys her Milkbones.  She loves leftover rib bones.  She will have nothing to do with store-bought raw hide bones.  At least, at our house.

When Fran is upset with us, she goes to her 'room' and lays on her bed.  She has quite the pout.  When she's really upset with us, she gets on the leather couch.

I had my first trip to the vet.  Fran's left front paw was bleeding and we traced it to her toe nail.  Long story short, nothing serious.  She had mearly pulled it away from the skin, we assume during her wild hunting runs through the brush in the back yard.  She weighs 38 pounds.

Twice, within a few days, Fran took a Milkbone on her walk, and buried it in the snow.  She hasn't seemed interested in finding them since.

What is it about men?  Michael says 'Grandpa' clearly and 'Grandma' sounds like 'Grandpa'  (I am not complaining - I'll take any form of 'Grandma' I can get!)  Fran prefers Mike, if he's willing to pet her.

Franny hardly barks.  Unless she has a squirrel treed in our yard.  The other day she actually barked, like a real dog, at this squirrel.  She also barks when the post man or UPS man approaches the door.

Wonderful Christmas

 

    

We enjoyed a very nice visit with Dene' and Tyler as they made some changes in their travel plans and ended up spending Christmas with us. They originally planned on being in Alabama for Christmas but are on a bus as we speak (blog) heading for a FOCUS conference in Orlando, FL, then are spending some time with Tyler's folks in Montgomery. Then they fly to Dallas for Tyler's Grandmother's 90th birthday...then back to Alabama and eventually back to Dubuque, IA. Who is keeping Frannie (the dog) during these travels...oh that's us!    

 

 

 

We got some snow for Christmas...all the better to see squirrels with, my dear.

 

Trimming the tree

Dene' made an incredible apple cranberry pie.

These are Christmas cookies even though they look like something for Halloween...they are snowmen. And they were tasty.

 

 

 

 

I like to watch bowl games...and Tyler likes to watch bowl games alot! Tyler handed out the bowl schedule of each team with who and where they were playing and we all picked the the teams we wanted to win. This does make it a little more interesting since we all now have a dog in the race (so to speak). And not just bowl games, but Tyler is a huge Memphis basketball fan. It is actually way more fun to watch Ty watch Memphis play BB than anything else.

 

Our TV is not actually gift wrapped...we were watching this game and Tyler had the Memphis game taping on the other channel and did not want to see the score scrolling across the bottom of the screen. We are talking serious sports watching.

 

 

 

Frannie was gift wrapped.

 

 

 May our Lord bless us all in the New Year.

 



Thanksgiving

We made a trip to Castle Rock via the Black Hills for Thanksgiving. My GPS, whose name is "Dave," reminded me several times as we left Lincoln that the "Hills" were not on the way to Castle Rock. But Thanksgiving is a time to be with family and to thank our Lord for the many gifts we have...and Thanksgiving is not just one day...as we count our many blessings!

 

 

So here are a few of the many blessings in my life:

 

 

Mom cooked a turkey. My first turkey of the season. This is the first time I have not cooked at least a couple practice turkeys prior to Thanksgiving. And there is no better tasting turkey than Mom's. That's not the biggest blessing in going to the Hills...but its up there. Spending time with Mom and Dad and seeing our siblings and nieces and nephews is the biggest blessing. And breathing in the Hills is huge, actually being able to breath at all after going for a super hike with Sherry behind their house. It was a great hike...I'm just glad Sherry didn't have to carry me home.

 

View from the top of the world behind Sherry and Dave's place

 

 

Breath, just Breath







 

Another hike but at least we kept up with the dogs

Then off to Castle Rock. We stopped in Scottsbluff and had lunch with dear friends Doug and Joy Bolin. Heading South for Denver my low tire warning light came on. We made it to a little town on I-76 and pulled into a gas station. They directed us to a tire place on the edge of town and I had visions of waiting hours, if not days, for a 100 dollar fix for a flat. I pulled up to the door and the "super hero" told me to pull right in! Twenty minutes later it was fixed!!! He said it would be 10 dollars. I said, "how much?!" Thinking I misheard him. He said again "10 dollars,"I think wondering if I thought that was too much. I gave him 20 and said thank you Mr Super Hero!



Lead..oops I mean Denver

We had major grandson time...Liam and Michael are such gifts from God. Ashley and Alex are, too.

 

 

Michael and inseparable Thomas (and Percy!) train set

 Lots of Liam time

t

Grandma having some Michael time
 

 

 

Liam's Baptism

Proud parents and grandparents

Proud parents and grandparents



Love "Baby"

 

View from St Francis church

 

 

 

 

Pikes Peak from church

 

Michael and cousin Devon each had an I-Pad, which they drove like pros...watching movies and probably down-loading apps!

The plugged-in generation

Who is having the most fun?

 

 

 

This is our happy thought!

 

 

These are just a few of the many blessings our Lord has given us. In just a few days Dene' and Tyler are going to be joining us for Christmas...and the blessings just keep on coming! May the Lord bless us all.