memorial day 2010

Today is Memorial Day! It started early - real early for a select few of us who were on 'flag duty'!

This photo of Whitney was taken up north at Heather & Brian's place! As I was walking up the driveway I loved the reflection of the flag in the window directly behind her - perfect for this special 'day of reflection'!

For the run-down of today's haps with lots of photos, check back Tuesday afternoon! Hope you had an amazing day.

(click any photo to get a closer look!)
***Mosaic #1 -
Our host and hostess (with the mostest - sorry, had to say it!) - Brian and Heather

***Mosaic #2 -
Food - meat-cabobs / veggie cabobs / fruit cabobs - yes, that IS dying and going to heaven! (Are you drooling yet?)

***Mosaic #3
Auntie Whitney taking time to read to the kiddos - and they're loving it

***Mosaic #4
Cousins playing - Carson, Kelton and Leah emerge from playing in the canyon - a kid-paradise

***Mosaic #5
Kickball anyone - be sure and double click to get a closer look

***Mosaic #6, 7
Bodin and Cooper 'posing' (don't tell them!) for GmaBerta Heather and Brian's home has the most amazing natural light - all of these photos were taken with natural light indoors - pretty amazing!

happy, happy birthday . . .

"my life is an endless battle against maturity!"


How can you get mad at such an adorable face (3 years old - Berta) for not posting this instant - I'll be back to fill you in on the details! Yes, it IS my birthday today - and I had a wonderful day - free of stress and with family - and I did practically NOTHING! Yes, I share my birthday with my dad - and I'll tell you more about that soon.

Please come back - I'll be posting photos and much more - but right now I'm heading to bed as I have a big day tomorrow and the next. I had an amazing day on Facebook - seriously, I had more birthday wishes there in (1) day than I had birthday wishes my whole life - how fun is that. THANK YOU all for making my b-day special - really!

MORE SOON!
Hugs!

on vacation . . .

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!

team-up thursday - HAIR

I had the illustrious honor of choosing this week's theme and had some ideas in mind - dog hair, fuzzy hair in the artichoke we bought at the store, hubby's lack of hair (!!!) - but it was going to be something hairy! Dah!

Left photo:

Corey's photo is so feminine and sweet - anyone who follows her blog can immediately recognize Sugar Bear's cute little neck and hair! Who can resist the sweet little neck of a child - love the way hair sweeps across - something I can't relate to anymore - as my hair is as short as it can get! Thanks Corey for this darling photo - perfection as always.



Right photo:

Little Cooper came for a visit and found out his beautiful, long, little-boy hair had a wad of gum the size of . . . well, it was big . . . fused to his head! So, the gum had to come out - operation 'gum removal' began! My daughter, who's a fabulous hairstylist, came to the rescue with her skilled hands and razor-sharp scissors. Little Coop grew up fast this day as he looked like a different kid when operation 'gum removal' was over!

(click mosaic for a closer look)



Be sure and stop by Megan's blog-pad for more "Team Up Thursday" - YOU and a partner can join in the fun - really, you can!

spring? not quite, but really trying

What the . . .



Some photos taken during the week as our weather went from good to worse - but I thoroughly enjoyed the warm while it lasted. I must admit, with all the moisture, this desert high country is looking more like Ireland these days!

The mosaic:

Top row:

#1: See Mrs. Robin? Look at her fat belly - she's nesting! I watched her one day and she built the most amazing nest - guess where? Right on top of the vent to our fireplace!!! Eeeeek! Dangerous to her and to us - it gets really hot there! So, when hubby got home, he had to remove it and throw it away! I couldn't watch (being a mother myself) and felt so guilty as I was afraid she would have to lay her eggs on the ground! But, I watched during the following days and she was pulling dead grass out of our lawn and finally found another spot in the trees. Last year, another robin built a nest there - we had turned off the fireplace for the season - and all was good - we even sacrificed barbecuing until the eggs hatched! On my way to Utah, Bob called saying, "We have babies!" (the chicks hatched) and I was so excited - I felt like a new grandma - haha! Well, the very next day Bob called back and said all the chicks were gone - some critter came in during the night and ate them! So, this year we tried to ward off another disaster!

All other photos: our wild and crazy spring - loving the flowers though - thanks Heather for the great Mother's Day flowers!

Bottom Row:

Left:

The bush outside our bedroom window - I wait for this sight every year - year after year! It gives my spirit a lift after a long hard winter! God is good!

Middle:

This is my little bud-pug named Drago - he's the world's best pugster. I just happened to catch him so relaxed his eyelids were falling as I took this photo. He's really great at sleeping sitting up. Normally, he loves the sunshine and heat - but on this wintery/spring day the kitchen carpet was a good substitute!

Bottom: Daffodils picked by Bodin at grandma-greats for his mama and then replanted into my vase!

With more SNOW on tap for tomorrow!!! Oh yeahhhhhhhh, baby - we can handle it!

Journaling Notes:

I was so tired last night and couldn't cope with the forecast of more snow today that I caved in and went to bed early (for me) - no midnight oil! Bob was already in bed as he's up at 4:30 a.m. M-W-F to teach drivers education. Know what I did? Watched the finale of LOST! Yes, me!!! I was not a faithful watcher of the series but from time to time I did tune in. I was definitely there for the the beginning (they had me hooked) then lost interest as it got dark and sinister. Rather than be taken in by the plot, I got bored with the dark side of the weekly series and a slightly unrealistic approach to the characters! For example, Hurley never lost any weight while on the island - how can that be, no Krispy Kreames or KitKats, everyone wore the same thing for 7 years with no wear - how can that be? Everyone beating each other up (tons of blood) with no medical facilities nearby - stitches and the like. Well, shallow me - lost interest. Last night was a different matter - it sucked (*****slurping sound****) me right in. What a great way to watch 7 years worth of LOST in one sitting! Cheating? Maybe, but I loved it. The ending was probably one of finest I've ever seen for a finale - ever! I was sobbing and taken in by it all - how funny is that? After watching all the twists and turns in the finale, you would have seriously had to watch the entire series to understand everything that was going on - and, for sure, I would not have been one to be in front of my TV every week for 7 years! Last night was all I needed! Kudos, LOST - nicely done!

a cupboard named lela

I have some journaling to catch up on - some note-worthy things have been happening around here! I'll start with the fairly boring and then move to more exciting matters! I had some of my photos sent to the lab sometime ago, then framed. Guess what? They've been sitting in some corner of my very messy room for months! So, Saturday I went to "Real Deals" to find a little something (wall hanging) to go with my arrangement. I figured my 'little something' would cost me, at the max, $15 or so! Well, I got slightly side-tracked and found this side-table in the corner of the shop SCREAMING my name - "ROBE, OVER HERE! I LOVE YOU! TAKE ME HOME WITH YOU!!!" Well, how could I possibly resist such an invitation? Side note: I have been looking for something for a particular wall that has been bare for a long, long time AND looked for over a year for just the right 'something' AND cheap ! ! ! Well, what do you know? There 'she' was! If you can name furniture (which I did), I called her Lela - after one of my black lab 'daughters' who is gone now! "Lela" means "black as night" - in some language! . . . no, really it does! She sure perks up the room and I'll put her to good use. SO, before I got side-tracked I wanted to mention - went into the store to spend $15, came out of the store and spent $?????? (secret!) OH MANNNNNN! The store lived up to it's name - I got a real deal on her! Oh, and BTW, my pictures are still sitting in the corner but, "Real Deals" is open tomorrow!!! I'm going in with blinders on - well, at least sun glasses!

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KANDEE (daughter-in-law) ALMOST LOOSES HER ARM -

Kandee almost became a farm-statistic the other day! She and her son Shade were out moving irrigation pipe early in the morning - wearing gloves and a long sleeved shirt. As she reached through the waterline, one of the moving gears caught her glove and began to gobble it up. It then attacked her shirt sleeve and starting strangulating her shirt with her arm still inside - it pulled tighter and tighter and would not let go. I can't image the panic she felt as the hold got tighter and tighter and there was nothing she could do. She said, "If Shade had not been there, I would have lost my arm!" He pulled his pocked knife out and starting cutting her shirt off - Shade saved her, literally! The pressure from the ordeal ripped a lot of her skin off her arm and she got some medical attention. She's bruised pretty bad but thankful to still have a functioning arm that will be better with time. Wow, someone was definitely looking over her. Shawn (my son) said she was in shock when he got to her and she was in bed for two days recovering.

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MORGIE'S ORCHESTRA CONCERT - rocked!

Morgan has been playing violin for several years and they really sounded amazing for as long as they've been playing together. She's growing up fast and becoming such a beautiful young lady - soon to become a teeny-bopper! Photos coming soon.

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MOM'S CONDITION - battling back

For the first time in many months, grandma said yesterday that she almost feels back to normal! We finally fired her family physician and found her a new competent doc that adjusted her medication, gave her some new meds for her leg pain and she seems to be a new woman! She's back to her daily walk - and reported she finally walked the full distance the other day!!! Triumph!!!

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CARSON SCORES BIG AT BALL GAME - what a stud

Got a text from Heather the other night. It simply said, "Carson just hit a HOME RUN!" How sweet is that - hope she had her new camera to capture the moment!!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

sleep - team up thursday

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!



Upper photo: by Berta
Lower photo: by Corey

This weeks diptych speaks for itself - how can I possibly elaborate on such a sweet, beautiful scene? Sometimes less is better!

*****whispering voice:*****

If you want to join in on the fun each week, visit Megan's blog-pad and join in with everyone - no special invitation just start shooting with a partner.