Just Call Me Mrs. Happy Pants!

Do I look happy in this photo? Well, there are many reasons today that contribute to my happiness.

1. The first being that I got onto Walgreens photo, checked my account, and I have MANY more photos on there than I first thought-which include Slade's bday, Christmas, San Antonio trip, and Thanksgiving. Hallelujah!!! I'm a happy camper tonight. Let me repeat.......BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS!!!

2. My wonderful and might I say talented friend, Jerilyn over at http://thehedgerfamily.blogspot.com/ made me this dandy new header! Isn't it super cute!?! And are you proud of me, Jerilyn, that I just did a "link". She is awesome and cooks really good, too!

3. I started and finished the new Janet Evanovich novel, "Fingerlickin' Fifteen" in two nights, ok three nights. (I know you are supposed to underline book titles, Mrs. V-P, but I can't find the underline button on here.) These are a series of books called the Stephanie Plum novels. They are hilarious! She is a bounty hunter in New Jersey that gets into all kinds of mishaps. There are 15 in the series, hence the number in the title, and you do not have to read them in order. They will keep you in stitches!!! I often laugh out loud to myself while reading them and then look around to see if anyone was watching.

4. I gained a pound last week after eating chicken salad sandwiches from Appletree three times in four days, at least two cups of Beth's artichoke dip, and two lemon bars. Oh, never mind, I'm not happy about that. My mistake. But the dip was absolutely delish!

5. I have my laptop back. I'm not very happy with this DELL Inspiron E1505 which they do not make any longer (for good reason). I do not recommend a DELL Inspiron laptop-EVER! Mine has been an absolute lemon. If there was a rating scale of lemons, my DELL would be a large Florida lemon tree. I am using it for awhile, as I look for another laptop that won't eat photos. That won't freeze. That will pick up my wireless printer signal. That won't have me making the computer man's house payment because I have to call him all the time. Is that so much to ask?Any suggestions on computer brands? What do you guys recommend? I am happy, though, with Mike Scarpa, my computer man for hooking me up with the new hard drive and being super nice. ACR Solutions if anyone here in Lubbock needs a computer fixer man. And there's a really cute dude that sits in the office that is friendly, as well.

6. We get to go to Ruidoso on Friday!!!

Saturday Evening Post

Since my laptop is a goner and I have no photos loaded, I will just have to write. Let me see what is newsworthy. Hmmm. We packed Brandi's house today and I am absolutely too pooped to pop. Is that how you write it? I didn't realize my sister is secretly a packrat!!! We have actually packed for the last two days since mom has been here to help. Campbell has had the pukes and green poop and fever in the middle of all this-nice. Kyle took Slade to the Monster Truck races and came home with a tshirt and earmuffs. Evidently it's very loud. Max made an escape in the laundry room and Kyle went berserk when he ran across his foot. We all got screamed at a few minutes. I wonder why the top was open......Slade? I'm sure Kyle will laugh about it....someday?Finey is loving her new puppy-sometimes too much buy smothering her and improperly carrying her. Lord, let the pup live to be 6 pounds. Oh, and did I mention what we named her? Bella. I wonder why!?!? I might have had a little to do with that. And did I mention we are dog tired? Happy Saturday.

Needing Your Prayers

I have been avoiding blogging this, hoping that we will find out it was a mistake. Unfortunately it's not and my sweet friends did receive bad news. The family I spoke about that her husband had a tumor in his lung-they had it removed last Monday. It came back from pathology and it is lung cancer-not what they had expected to find out. It was shocking. It is a rare form of large-celled lung cancer(large-celled being better that small-celled from what I understand) that is normally found in older smokers. Randy is 35, works out, eats well, is normal weight, and has never smoked. He should not be sick. Period. Some good news is that they do believe that they did get all the tumor and he will recover from the surgery and go back to work in six weeks. They will do four rounds of chemo every 28 days. We think this is a preventative treatment so that the cancer doesn't return. The doctor did advise them to have their home checked for radon-a gas that has been found to cause lung cancer in young people. I think everyone should do this if it can prevent cancer. They are doing really well, all things considered. They have two precious girls who are four and one. Please pray for Randy and Angela. Your prayers are powerful.

Wheewww, I'm Tired!

So the good news is that we had a wonderful birthday party here at the house for Miss Finley-it was so much fun! It was a crazy busy week trying to unpack from the river, cook, clean, wash, visit, swim, shop for bday stuff, etc.

The bad news is that my hard drive crashed on my laptop and all, I repeat, all of my photos from my new Nikon were on there and the computer guy cannot retrieve them. Let this be a lesson to all-BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS! Yes, it can happen to you. I don't want to talk about it because I'm so depressed about it. So I haven't been able to post photos or blog because of the crazy week and computer problems. I will have to load my Nikon CD to Slade's computer so that I can work on my photos that are on my camera, but I will first have to find the CD. Plus, there is a connection problem on his computer and half the time it won't connect to the internet. I'm jinxed. But hopefully I will post a photo someday again. Until then, I'll hit the high points.


Finley is officially 3 and even looks older to me!


We were able to visit Slade's kinder teacher and her new baby boy! They are such a sweet family.


Slade's sunburned, peeling face recovered from the river.


I finished my photo collage in the kitchen, including frames and hanging them. They look great!


Brandi and Shane sold their house. They close a week from Tuesday.


Brandi and Shane bought a house. Yay! They can move in on August 13th!


I cooked several recipes from the Pioneer Woman for Finley's party and they were a big hit.


They party was really a blast and we had no pesky mosquito's bother us!


Kyle had a minor lapse in judgement and got Finley a new puppy for her birthday. Yes, I think working in the scalding sun has somehow got to him. More to come about the puppy story!!!

Lucky 13!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, my sweet brown eyed baby girl! My world is a better place because you are in it! Love, Mom

When It Rains..............

It pours. I came into Ozona tonight to check messages since we have absolutely no phone service where we are camping-even the "OnStar" in the vehicles don't work. Evidently, even the best satellites don't reach into the deep West Texas boonies! I called Kyle and his grandad passed away yesterday(Thurs) around 4 pm. Of course I didn't know this till tonight. I feel bad for not being in Lubbock, but we just didn't know what to expect. Papaw, Don Smart, died just about six weeks after Mamaw. I suppose there is something to be said for being together for over 60 years-it's a hard habit to break. May he find peace. I was also here when Kyle's dad passed away 11 years ago. Ironic. Such a fun memory filled place for me with some sad ones, as well. My friend said it is a bittersweet place for me-I think she is right. Papaw's funeral will be on Monday.

My friend who's husband is undergoing the testing has had a roller coaster few days. After initially being told yesterday that the spot was a malignant tumor, the PET scan today showed that the preliminary results are BENIGN! Praise God! Please pray that they are right about these results. I can only imagine the torment of the last few days for this sweet family. He will have surgery on Monday to remove the tumor. I feel so bad for being gone during all this. I can only pray for them and keep positive. Lord, give us strength this week.

Hug the ones you love. Life is precious.

Let It Shine!

The kids and myself are leaving in the morning(very early) to go on our annual trip to Devil's River. There are going to be about 30 of us the year and I'm excited to see them and play in the water. I'm a little worried about the heat, so I see lots of swimming in our future. It should be an adventure. I'm leaving though, with a heavy heart. They have brought Kyle's grandad to Lubbock and he is not doing well. His cancer seems to be spreading and I think he is getting weak. Some of Kyle's family are coming to town to be with Papaw. We'll see what the week brings. You know we just lost Papaw's wife in May. It seems that they just may not be able to be apart for long and I think that is probably fine with Papaw. They will just keep him comfortable for now. Secondly, a close, dear friend of mine received some troubling news this week. They found a large spot on her (very young and healthy) husband's lung. This week's tests will hopefully give them some answers. If you pray, please get on your knees tonight and ask God to help this sweet family. Her husband is a good Christian man that takes care of his family. Our greatest hope is that it is infection that can be healed. They have two precious girls, four and one that need a strong and healthy daddy. Please pray for good news and peace.


Let his light shine..........................................................

Glory Hills Ranch

When we go to San Antonio, Kyle's-best friend's-father(are you confused?) graciously lets us stay at his ranch. He and his wife are planning on retiring here and have built two really neat houses. They also plan to build another I believe before it's all said and done. It is about twenty minutes outside of Helotes, close to a little place called Pipe Creek. It is a neat place-I could live there!!! I thought I would post some pics of their beautiful place they call Glory Hills Ranch from when we went on our trip a few weeks ago.

I love to take pics of the little red swing. It is as peaceful as it looks. I ordered some really neat notecards that have four pics of the ranch on them to give the Liner's as a gift for letting us stay. I cannot wait till they get here.

View of the winding little road from the front of the little house. I think it could be in a movie, this little road!

This is the big house! And grand, it is!!! I love the steps. I love the white rock! I love this house. If we bring more people with us, we get to stay here. I'm thinking we need to round up some friends.

I had to show a pic of one side of the kitchen in the big house. I am head over heels in love with the pressed tin backsplash. The dark cabinets are yummy. If I could design my own kitchen, it would be this one. I love love love this kitchen! The cabinets remind me of my favorite piece of Thomasville furniture that is in my living room. Dreamy! I could cook some mean meals in this kitchen!

This is the little rock house we stay in-it has a fabulous spiral staircase to the loft. My kids think it's the berries! It has four beds, Dish television, washer & dryer, and a kitchen with all the dishes-everything you need to be happy on vacation! I so wish I would have taken a pic of the staircase. Guess I'll just have to go back and stay again!

Our last day at the ranch, waaa, boohoo, sniff sniff!!! I don't want to leave.

The kids posing at the lookoff of a pretty spot on the ranch. It hasn't rained much this year in that area, but it looked pretty nice to a Lubbock gal!

Kyle and Fin

Deer. Big Deer. Big horns. Kyle's dream. He doesn't like to shoot them. He prefers to look at them only. He finds this quite amazing. He drives all over the ranch looking for them. Pressed tin is my love. Deer are his. Venus and Mars!?!

The infamous Mule. The favorite thing to do at the ranch (besides chase deer). Slade got to practice his driving skills. Scary thought. You really need this Mule to properly chase deer and circle the perimeter of the ranch. Boys and their toys. And no, Kyle usually does not wear a beard-he was getting a little crazy before shaving this day. You have to search hard for wildness when you turn thirty and have two kids. This might be in the form of a foo-man-choo for him or blue fingernail polish for me. Rebels we are!

And I had to include this pic of Slade and Finley outside of Gruene Hall-oldest dance hall in Texas! We also ate at the Gristmill and I had onion rings for my friend, Beth. I'm sorry they went on my rear instead of hers, though. Paybacks, girl, paybacks.

Red, White, & Blue Day!

Happy 4th of July! We are home resting from our morning festivities. We went to the Fourth on Broadway Parade at 9am. It was great weather and didn't feel hot till around eleven. Last night we popped firecrackers with the Glover bunch and the kiddos loved that-almost as much as Kyle did! We had a few small fires that had to be stomped out, but luckily no call to the fire department had to be placed. I think that we will go up the park tonight and watch the big event-major fireworks that are pretty cool. They are quite the big deal here in the Hub!
Say Cheese! We are getting ready for the parade to begin.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Ok, so I must slip in my little story of the deal that I stumbled across at Hobby Lobby. All the garden things were 60% off, so I quickly strolled down the isle. I saw these cute little condiment bowls that were so adorable. The box was in bad shape, but nothing seemed to be wrong with them. They were on clearance for 7 bucks! I decided then and there I needed them-just in time for Finley's birthday party!

Then to my surprise and absolute satisfaction, I found this plate in the bottom of the really beat-up box when I got home and unpacked the bowls! I was soooo excited. It is the base for the little bowls to sit on and I hadn't even noticed it was there. How cute is that?!? Even better for only 7 bucks! I call it a steal! I felt like it was Christmas and I just looked in my stocking!

And here they are on the hidden tray! I can use them separate or together! Snap!

Cute Rodent?

Max says, "HI!"