Happy New Year

When I think about this being the last day of 2008, it is like spending the last dollar you have before payday. With everyday that we used this past year, we were so blessed.

We have had good health both for ourselves and all of our family, and for that we are so blessed.

We have three great children, all grounded in their lives and beliefs. They each have spouses that are wonderful. And above all, they have given us 5 unbelievable grandchildren. This past year, we have watched them grow and been able to spend time with each of them. We are so blessed.

We have taken some really great trips this past year and spent time with both old friends and new friends. And along the way, we've met so many to add to the list. And, with the RV Dreams chat and website, there even some that we visit with that we haven't actually met in person, but look forward to meeting. Each of you are special to us. We are so blessed.

Now, life is not always a bowl of cherries. But, each one of those days that was a struggle or a challenge, was a day of learning. We are so blessed.

Now, we approach January 1, 2009, a new payday. It has 365 new days to spend, but with only a promise of one day at a time. So, as we use each of those days, I pray we choose to use them wisely.

And our prayer from our family to yours is for each of you to have a blessed and happy 2009.

What A Weekend

Christmas came and went in a flash, but the celebrations continued. My mom celebrated her 80th birthday on Saturday and we had surprises planned for her from start to finish. My brother and sister in law flew in from Birmingham to surprise her and wow did they. We had a large family dinner planned on Saturday evening. We were all there, with the exception of 4 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

On Sunday, we all went to her church and then had a surprise reception afterwards for all of her friends at church. Everything went great and she was surprised on all occassions.

Thanks mom for all you love and support!

Myself, my sister, mom, and my brother

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, we would like to share this Christmas Candy Cane with you...

The old candy maker began with a pure white hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The old candy maker then made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down to lift the fallen lambs. "We all like sheep have gone astray"

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the old candy maker stained it with red strips. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Every time you see a simple candy cane, may you remember the Wonder of Christ and His great love that came at Christmas.

Again, from our family to yours may this Christmas fill your heart with joy now and always.

An Afternoon With Friends

It's cold here in Texas, and a day that you would have liked to have just stayed inside where it was warm. However, we had made plans with friends for the day. And I am so glad, because there is nothing like having friends to share time with.

We picked up Jim and Ellie and drove up to the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma, which is about an hour from here. We met Joe and Sherri there and enjoyed lunch a then spent a couple of hours in the casino. I don't think anyone was a big winner, but no one was a big looser either. We all just had a good time.

Thanks all you guys for a great afternoon.

New Toy

After our three month trip and having to experience crazy, iffy wifi service in so many different parks with some being free and some being paid for, Mark decided it was time to get an air card. Well, the only problem I saw with that was who was going to get the air card? You see, Mark and I don't share very well. So, I was the hold up becuase I didn't want to pay the monthly fee for the service on 2 cards. Now, I had talked with Bob and Molly and Glynn about a wifi system that was available for the motor home called Cradlepoint. So, we looked into it the other day and then talked with both AT&T and Verizon.

Here is what happend. We got the cradlepoint, we decided on a Verizon air card, we took them home. Then, Mark, who can barely turn on his computer, had it hooked up and working in about 3 minutes. Great job!! We now have one air card with one service and a wifi system for the motor home. And, now, Mark sits in his chair, I sit on the couch and we both use our computers at the same time, while the air card sits in the cradlepoint on the shelf at mid-coach providing us great service.

Graduation Congratulations

Our son in law graduated from the University of Texas/Arlington today. He has worked very hard over the last 28 months to earn his MBA. Congratulations, Kenneth, we are very proud of you.

Taking A Moment for A Real Opportunity

Things have been really busy around here with book orders, grandkids, Christmas shopping, doctor's appointments, etc. However, today, we took time out for a moment that not everyone gets to enjoy.

Yesterday, due to inclimate weather in Florida, the space shuttle landed at the Naval Air Base here in Fort Worth for an overnight stay. This morning, we went out to watch it take off for its return trip to Cape Kennedy.

It was exciting to get some pictures of the shuttle from it's recent trip to space, because it had carried with it all the signatures of the kids and teachers from Westpark Elementary. That is the school where our daughter Karen teaches and two of our grandchildren, Andrew and Lauren attend. It was exciting for us to see and I thought it would great for them to have a picture to remember an event they had the opportunity to participate in.

Here are a few of the picutues I got this morning...


First sight at take off

Clearing the end of the runway

Right overhead



Off to Florida

Well, that was extent of our fun today, and now I must get back to my paintbrush.

More Busy Days

Wow, it is getting busy around here. Just lots going on as I am sure holds true with everyone during the holiday season. Mark and I had dental appointments yesterday and then headed out to do a little shopping. However, our shopping consisted of shopping for ourselves.

First of all we headed to the AT&T phone store to get me a much needed new cell phone. If I could figure out how to use it, I would give you a call. Or, if I could figure out how to get it off of "silent" I would know that you were calling me. Guess I had better get out the instruction book.

Then we were off to Wendy's to get some lunch. I love their chili and yesterday was a good day for it. Afterwards, we headed to Bed and Bath where I got some new cookware. I just had some bits and pieces here in the motor home and never just exactly what I wanted. Plus, I think now Mark thinks I will cook more. Maybe so.

Then for the fun stop...Costco's for food. See, I told you I might do some cooking. Okay, now, that we have done the budget in, it was time to go home and find a place for all the stuff we had purchased. And, everyone knows the rule...if something new comes in, something old must go out. So, I boxed up all of my old cookware and called my nephew and asked if wanted or needed it.

Last night we took Caden and Kourtney to Build A Bear to make a Christmas Moose each and to play at the mall playground for awhile. They had a great time. Sorry, I forgot the camera.

Today, started out really cold, about 28*. The warm up was slow. I had an early morning Weight Watchers meeting. Despite the extra layer of warm clothes, I lost another .2 lbs. keeping me under goal. This will start my 3rd week of maintenance, making it 2 down and 4 to go.
After the meeting, I needed to run a couple of errands and go by my mom's to drop off the box of cookware. My sister was there for lunch and we had a nice visit.

Upon arriving back at home, I find that Mark is still having satellite/TV troubles. He has talked to Tiffin, Panasonic, Direct TV, some electronics place, Direct TV for the 3rd time, etc. And...after much deliberation, they decide that the problem has to be in the receiver. However, Direct TV cannot just send us a new receiver box, but they can credit my account for $99 and I can go to Best Buy and get a new one. Then upon activation of the card, they will send me a box to mail them the old receiver. Do I really have to say that this procedure took all afternoon? And only time will tell if we actually got all of the problems addressed. We did manage to get the connection cable out of the window that we were having to use to pick up the local channels. That is a step in the right direction. Now, if the TV doesn't go off at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, we will be home free.

Tonight I have been sorting papers, etc., which is not my favorite job. I still have several more stacks to go through. Tomorrow, I am keeping Kourtney as Karen has a Gifted and Talented workshop she has to attend for some CE hours and Kenneth has school tomorrow. Yeah, he is almost finished. He will be graduating with his MBA on December 14. We are very proud for him.

Well, I guess that about catches us up again...have a great weekend, and see you soon.

Busy Days

Gosh, here it is already Wednesday and I am not sure how the last couple of days got by me. Well, really I do, painting, laundry, grocery shopping, grand kids, book fairs, sick grand kids, etc.

Over the last couple of days I have made a dent in the book orders, however, I got some new ones tonight. Mark has been working in the wood shop and has the toy box front ready for me as well. I should have most out of the way by the weekend.

We have Andrew and Lauren the last couple of afternoons after school and enjoyed them. I still haven't seen Zachary since we have been home, guess I will try to catch up with him this weekend. Kourtney was sick last night and today, so she stayed home with me today. Mark spent the afternoon with Scott and Andrew at the gun range. After Karen got home from school, I met up with Mark, Scott, and his crew at Pei Wei's for dinner. It was yummy even though it was a few more points than I needed. But, thank goodness, I had some to spare.

Guess that just about catches us up. Not much else planned for the rest of this week as we are suppose to have some really cold weather for the next couple of days, so we will probably stay close to the fire. Until next time, take care and see you all soon.

You Ask For It

The day here started chilly and windy, but turned out to be a nice day. Everyone is back to school and work, so Mark and I were off to a slow start this morning. I caught up on a little computer work and cleaned out a basket that had collected a bunch of receipts, etc.

I started a grocery list, a Sam's and a Costco's list along with a Christmas list. Hope I don't misplace my list. I decided it was time to start the laundry. After that, I tackled sorting out the special orders for the books I have to paint and got patterns drawn off on most of them.

Mark worked in the wood shop today. This afternoon we picked up grand kids from school and are enjoying them. That has been the extent of most of this day. Tonight I am going to play BUNKO and have dinner with a group of friends for an early Christmas get together.

Now, for the you ask for it...

Last night on chat we were discussing the wheel topper for the motor home, and several of you ask that I take pictures so here they are.

The storage space is great