Rancho Loma and Perinis with friends! (and a fire!)

Rancho Loma is an experience that YOU MUST HAVE!!

Expensive, but AMAZING!!!! (check out my our cottage blog for more pics etc.)

www.gatewaygetawaycottages.blogspot.com

Robert and Laurie are hosts (chef) extraordinaire! Truly you will experience something

out of the ordinary and worth the expense! DO NOT MISS IT!

Our main course for the evening was a 2inch thick porterhouse for 2 that melted in your mouth!
(can't forget the decadence of the chocolate praline dessert! oh my goodness!!!!)
www.rancholoma.com
Then.... another can't miss area experience is Perini's
Don't forget the jalapeno bites!!!!
Karen and Keith came in on short notice, and we loved the opportunity to catch up and fill up at
another of our favorite places! (I wish Susan and Curtis could have been there too! next time!)


Funny to think.... Keith was my first "date".... and Troy my last!
Two of my favorite guys and one of my dearest and oldest friends...
Love you guys!
Next time LONGER!!!

I must conclude this post with a THANK YOU JESUS!!! not just for friends like all these, but for the events of this past day.... the huge (for Texas and us) fire that burned over 2000 acres and evacuated home.... well, much like the flood of a few years ago, and the horrible tornado that followed a year or so later....

God's hand seems to just rest over this little Jim Ned Valley, and we do not take it for granted!

No person or home were injured in this fire... it is truly amazing!

That is the business our LORD revels in...

HE IS AMAZING!!! thank You Jesus for evidence of your hand.

Floods, Tornadoes, FIRE.... water, wind, flame..... what next????

NEW LIFE!!!!

Valentines 09: Friends, Golf, Pink Jeeps, and Rainbows on my wrist

Valentine's weekend this year was spent in Scottsdale Arizona area

Art was everywhere... Indian as well as bronze and glass!

Gaye and I made all kinds of new friends!
Some we warmed too more easily than others.

Amazing... the typical Native American Storytellers (that I've always loved) seemed to have

new renditions in the shops we frequented.

There were several Jewish storytellers... many to match their shop owner's religious

preferences.

And food.... so many different restaurants....

this one was a recommendation from Rich and Sue via Elly and Will...

When they asked if we wanted to be on the stage,

I might have chosen otherwise had I first observed the unique person watching over our table.

Troy and Randy gave up one of their ALL DAY golf adventures to do the pink jeep tour of
Sedona....
You'd have thought a pink jeep might be for sissies...
Let me assure you otherwise!
Gaye and I have the bumps and bruises remaining 5 days later to testify to the
REAL JEEP adventure!
Please Gaye... wear the seat belts all the time next time we go!
I prefer to have a seat all to myself!

By the mid point of the trail... Troy and I were mere shadows of the people who began the

trek!
Must we get back in the jeep Troy??? Let's just walk back, I think I can!

But then upon reconsideration, I suppose I should think about how I am going to get over that

particular summit!

Curt, where are you when I need a billet???? (is that how you spell of what I speak?)

This picture is one of the funniest ones I've ever seen..

okay, you may not see it, but I just have to laugh

every time I look at Randy down there on the lower level of rocks.

Where in the world does he think he's going?

and at such a rate???

There are NO bathrooms here... just ask our guide

Does anyone notice something strange here?

NOW don't be silly.... I'm not talking about Gaye and Randy's hats.

This is Arizona... where people go for warm weather in the winter...

It's winter... IT IS NOT WARM!!!!

Golf.... golf... and more golf...
any time any where, any day you want!
and these two had all day passes!

Yes... he really is talking on the cell phone and making a putt!

or maybe it is really a chip... or whatever... the point is the way he's doing it!

He's always told me that he's a multi tasker!!
There could be a problem here :)

Valentine's dinner

The Morton's Steak House

AMAZING!!

thank you Jim for the recommendation,

WE loved it!

Steak, lobster, asparagus, hot apple pie,

and

champagne with hibiscus blossoms

lovely!

again with the multi-tasking!!!

even at Valentine's dinner!

TROY...

are you there

TROY???

To friends... the kind that God puts in unexpected places...

like the parents of your daughter's husband!

cool huh?

Then back home to the ones we most like to text!

even in the same room...

it's fun to see the written word from

the ones we love!
"I love you PoppT... do you know who this is yet?"

"I surely do KG... I love to get text messages from you
any time... your words touch our hearts
whether they come from your
mouth or your fingers!"
It was a good Valentine's with friends,
but it was
good to be back home too!
Happy Valentine's Day to all our precious friends and family!

My Ellena is 29 today!

First Baptist Church had its baby dedication at Easter this year.

Believe it or not, the boy next to the Longacres is named John Wayne.

We were all such proud young mommies and Daddies! Look at our faces.

We took at trip to Coleman this year...

it would be the last time Mimi would see you my little one, but we didn't know that then...

we just loved getting to see yours and Em's great grandmother.

She sat you on her bed... the one in the room with the twin beds where she slept.

The front bedroom with the chenille blanket (you have a teddy bear made from it) was kept

for guests.

Em loved the little porcelain doll, and tried her best to interest you...

You, just sat there charming us all, as usual!

For your birthday... I just had to invite a little of our Mim to the celebration.

She loved them you know!

So her rose plate held the pink and red cookies that KG picked out.

You were supposed to be a Valentine's baby... but as a precursor to the rest of your life,

You came 4 days earlier than your 2 week early scheduled birthday.

I think you've always liked things done in your time table!

But that's just fine my precious one...

I wouldn't change one thing about you!

You captured my heart then...

when the Lord sang your song into my life,

and today, you are still at it!

Happy Birthday my precious little one.... You are "the only one of your kind"....

like the song you and Em sang so often

"I'm something special,

I'm the only one of my kind...

God gave me a body, and a

bright healthy mind....

He had a special purpose that

He wanted me to find,

so He made me something special...

I'm the ONLY ONE OF MY KIND!"

Yes, you are.... and we like it that way!

Sunny Days, Ice Storms and Super Bowls

January Days... never predictable in Texas!

80 degrees and play in the sand one day

Sit around in shorts and t-shirts while the kids ride in the red jalopy with Tahtee one day...

then a mere 4 days later...

Same place... 60 degrees lower... in the 20's and an ice storm!

Then... in 5 days... back to warmer, clearer, regular Texas Winter days.
Moving stuff and rearranging is the order of Troy's and my life right now... here comes the sofa
and the piano out of the office. Out goes the bed and again another season for the
YES room... no bed... just sitting and talking and playing places.
(Oh yes... still a diaper changing place)

This is man's work... thus the 3 feet tall helpers whose assistance is sorely necessary!
At least that's what their mommies told their daddies!
Oh the sweetness for this Tahtee to watch boys learn how to be men!
I love it! really really I do!

Then yesterday... again... here are the men.... around the TV watching what half of America is
watching.... Super Bowl Sunday!
But there was something Bigger on this Sunday for some of the guests in the house today!
KG had a friend baptised this morning.... not only that... it was along with her precious mommy and Daddy's rededication and a brother joining her in the water as well.......
YES... I'd say this was INDEED a SUPER Sunday!

Nana and Pop came by with the assurance that they could stay as long as they wanted and
leave whenever they wanted.
Clipper was at home... but there were also 12 children 8 years and younger at the house for
THE GAME... and THEIR GAMES!
We had fun!

I've been working on some genealogy things of late, and my Dad is most helpful in keeping me in line with whose who... but more importantly...
He tells the BEST STORIES!!
The whose who is usually left to Aunt Bette who he called on this particularly difficult question!
of course she had the answer! and we set a date to go to the Coleman library and
correct all my mistakes.
(What do you expect when his mom comes from a family of 29 children???
yes, 2 different mothers, but wow.... really 29 children)
I got one of the direct line names wrong!
Better get that corrected quickly or the lineage will be wrong exponentially!

What would an event be like without the FIREMAN??
yes, there was a fire to put out, and my wonderful man knew just what to do!
It's so nice not to have to call an electrician, a plumber, or any of those expensive
odd job folks! Sometimes it's a dirty job, but I thank the LORD for giving me a guy that
knows how to handle the tough stuff! (it was merely a leaky valve:)
My "fireman" is always (nearly always) around to put out all those fires that occur
on a regular basis around here!

okay... took out the picture... but the box was HONEST KIDS! with Elly, EE, Jeanine, Em, and Cody Laughing around the kitchen table!

you may think it is strange to end with this picture... but some of you GET IT!!
notice the name of the drink box for the kids!
Don't ya love it?
Hope your day was a special as ours!
Happy February friends!!!!