Home for the Holidays...

A couple of weeks ago, we left the warmth of the RGV, and traveled just a little over 500 miles north to Fort Worth.  And, here we are parked at Karen and Kenneth's, which we will call home until after the new year.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my mom's, where the kitchen is

is always a busy place.  Kourtney is getting a lesson from Great MiMi on how to assemble the relish tray and then she learns from

Aunt Bobbi about baking rolls.

Kinley

is just hanging out enjoying her first Thanksgiving.

This year, it was just Mark and I, the little girls, our moms, my sister, brother-in-law and one nephew.  A little on the quite side...lol

The rest of the family was either out of town or having lunch with their spouse's families.  However, before the day was over, most all of them showed up for visiting and leftovers.

We were both thankful and blessed to have shared the day with family.

On Friday, we joined the kids at the Gaylord Texas Resort in Grapevine. 

While they all attended the

Shrek Ice Show, played on the

ice slides, and

snow tubes, Pop and I chose to keep

Kinley and take a tour of the resort.

And, as always, the decorations were awesome.  There were

snowmen,

giant toy soldiers,

gingerbread houses, and

 

beautiful Christmas trees.  And, all of the settings are underneath this glass domed lobby of the resort.  We enjoyed coffee and the terrace of the

W

Alamo.

Kinley and

Poppa walked and looked until

she couldn't look any longer.

It was a great day.

With the holiday weekend behind us, it was time for Poppa to help out at Scott and Jennifer's house where they are having a

pool installed.

The boys have stayed busy

digging holes and moving

fences.  Of, course, there was time to have fun

riding their bikes in the deep end of the pool.  Oh, what energy!

It has been less than a week now, and, the pool is

taking shape.  If our weather holds out, it should have water in it by Christmas.  Maybe, a dip in the hot tub by New Year's!

I have had an agenda of my own.  And, one of the things on my list was to have my sewing machine serviced.  Even after not using it for quite a long time, the technician said it was in great shape and running like new.  I am now looking forward to several projects.

Last night, the grandkids got together for their annual Christmas project.  This year, they painted

glass ornaments.  And, when the evening was over they were

quite impressed with their talents.  They can't wait to hang them on their trees.

Today, we woke to cold rain which has stayed with us all day and is suppose to last through the weekend.  In, fact, the forecast brings the possibility of a freezing rain and a little snow to just west of us by Monday.  We will have to wait that one out.

Well, I guess, once again, that catches us up, and even though we are a little late, Mark and I hope each of you had a blessed Thanksgiving and we wish you a very happy holiday season as it is beginning to look a lot Christmas everywhere you go!

Life is Good...

I can't believe we have been here at Retama almost a month now.  We love it here and stay busy with all sorts of projects and activities.

After the coach house and motor home were cleaned inside, it was time to make the call to Steve II and have them come and

wash the outside.  This is just about the best bargain around town.

Then with everything clean and shiny, it was time to get down to just having fun.  We re-established our weekly Weight Watchers group and started once again attending our weekly meetings.  We also welcomed a few new members from here in the community.  Of, course, we go to the meeting and then head straight to Jason's Deli for lunch.  So, much fun to support each other.

We have also been biking, shopping, swimming, shopping, going to water aerobics, and shopping.

Mark has had he own agenda with projects like

trimming Kathy and Bob's palm tree.

Well, there is fun for the guys too.  They all go to breakfast on Friday mornings and have their own little get together on Thursday afternoons where they solve all the world problems.

And, if he isn't busy with a project, he is down at Niles and Sue's drooling over her new

trike.

I guess, if I had to say there was something on his bucket list, he would like to scratch off, it would be to own a Harley.

So, yesterday, Niles came and made arrangements for us to take a trip to the

Harley dealership where he had reserved for us

a trike for the day!

Last night along with Niles and Sue, and Mike and Penny, we took the trikes and went into town for pizza and frozen yogurt.  We had a fun time.

Then, this morning, seven of us loaded up and headed out

 

for a ride over to South Padre.

We had lunch at

Dirty Al's before heading off

down the island.  It was nice of Sue to let Niles drive her trike today...lol

Mike and Penny were the

leaders for the day.

But, soon, it was time to head home and

return the trike to the dealership before the

sun set on a great day.  And...

What a great day it was and what great friends.  Thanks Niles for allowing Mark to be a Harley owner for the day!

On To Retama

As always, Fredericksburg was a great stopover on our way to the RGV.  Along with Rod, Deb, Garry and Pat, we had lots of fun visiting,

eating,

and shopping.

And, as always, with friends the time passes by all too fast and yesterday we had to say so long to Rod and Deb as they headed out to Rockport.  We too were heading out and on to Retama, our winter home in the RGV.  Garry and Pat were staying in Fredericksburg for another couple of days.

We had an uneventful trip and arrived at Retama early afternoon.  We were soon

parked and had things all set up.

This morning, Mark was out early and ready to get started with the

clipping and snipping of the shrubs.  I started in on the cleaning for the coach house and the laundry.

This afternoon, Kathy and I helped out in the club house with the making of the Bierocks, a German meat pie, that would be part of

our Octoberfest Dinner tonight.

It is fun being back

and seeing friends that have become like family.  We are looking forward to a great season here at our winter home in the RGV.

Drop by occasionally, and see what's happening!

Heading South

Wow, how time flies.  Just a few short weeks ago, we were in Birmingham celebrating Sarah and Jason's wedding and enjoying time with family.  However, the time came that we needed to head to Texas.  We were able to take time to make a stop in Lufkin, to see Keith and Donna.

Keith

has an extra RV site

out back of the house.  How great is that!

  Once we arrived and parked, we enjoyed a leisure evening of sitting on the back porch and visiting.

Next morning, we decided to take a drive over to Livingston to visit the

Escapades home office.

Kim showed us around and gave us an extensive tour of the mail room and showed us every step of how the mail is received, processed, checked, double checked, requested, and finally forwarded on the the correct person.  And, just let me tell you, if you use their mail service, your mail is well taken care of from start to finish.

By afternoon, we were back in Lufkin and having an early dinner at Lufkin BBQ, home of the world famous "fried rolls".  Oh, my gosh, those things could be dangerous to one's waistline.  And, as if the fried rolls weren't enough, Donna and I had to try the

fried peach pie.  In order to walk off those rolls, we decided to visit the

Lufkin museum before heading back to the house.

We spent another beautiful evening sitting on the back porch.

By, Wednesday, it was time for us to say, "see you later", and head to Fort Worth.  We were there by a little after noon, settled in, and ready to stay for a couple of weeks.  Of, course, when we are in town, there is always lots to do.

There was

Hockey with Caden.  He is getting really good, now has all of his equipment, and is still taking classes.  He is trying to wait patiently to turn 5 years old, so he can be on a real team, just like

his big brother Andrew.  We can't convince him that at 10 years younger, he will never be on Andrew's team.  But, in the mean time he keeps

practicing.

Lauren is still enjoying playing

volleyball.

Zachary is playing

fall baseball and is quite an awesome pitcher.  He is also taking hockey lessons.

He celebrated his

11th birthday this month.

Kourtney and Kinley have been practicing for Halloween.  Kourtney is going to be a

Candy Corn Witch and Kinley is a

baby Candy Corn!  And, together they are quite a pair.

Kinley also had her first

taste of cereal.  Kourtney thinks she is way too messy with her eating.

We have enjoyed being home and catching up with all the kids and grandkids, however, we are ready to head South.  So, with the jacks up, the slides in, and the Jeep hooked up, we pulled out of Fort Worth this morning.

We made it to Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill Country.  We are looking forward to spending a few days here with Garry and Pat and Rod and Deb.

Later this week, we will head to the RGV.