The BEST!

There are sisters and there are sisters. Though not born into my family, Lynne and I couldn't be closer. Neither of us has a true sister, and we are so have become each other's "sister"....we think alike, have most of the same food likes and dislikes (which, by the way is uncanny) and so much more than what I can only imagine most people have when they have a true sister. I am SO lucky!

Well, since mid November all the way to this past Sunday night, I was blessed to have her staying at my house! Oh it came and went so fast....and, true, though she had to leave for out-of- town business trips for a couple of weeks, it was great knowing that this is where she would return, to continue where we left off! We had so much fun cooking together for Thanksgiving,

shopping (but only once or twice to the mall), and just hanging out and crocheting while keeping ourselves up to date on our fav tv shows. (lame, i know). It's what we do. It doesn't take much to keep us laughing and we talk non-stop. Oh, looking back, I see I didn't mention that we LOVE to eat, but anyone who knows me knows that that's a no-brainer....pretty much of our time we were deciding what or where to eat next! (and that we would deal with losing the wt later) ;)

There's so much we didn't even get to do, but looking back, it was a pretty great time! And helping her and Dan at the artfairs was such a joy for me...happy they asked.

So, Lynne, when you read this, just know that you mean the world to me and I'm so thankful for the bestest sister I could ever wish for! Miss you!

After-School Time!

We got the fun of picking Logan up after pre-school last week and watching her for the afternoon. It started off with an exciting lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup, and then Logan decided it was time to go swimming. Here she is modeling her new bikini ("with a skirt that matches, Grammy!")

And then into the pool she goes....

She thought she couldn't do it without her goggles, but she went off of the diving board for a few cannonballs, and then she hung out with Papa in the shallow end, practicing her strokes.

Then it was time for her supposed nap. But where did i find her, but playing with MY 45 yr-old Barbie under the dining room table! Poor Barbie had no clothes on when I discovered them, but she immed. was dressed and went back into her patent leather double case (oooh...aaah!) with Ken for another time. And needless to say, there was no nap. ;)

Just Waiting Patiently.....

Yesterday after church, Julie, Ryan, Logan, Jake, and I went to grab a bite. I had thrown my camera in my purse "just in case" and waiting for breakfast were two little people who were having about as much fun as you can have waiting to eat! Thank heavens for crayons and some activity placemats! This is the first time I've seen Jake in action....

And then Logan had to learn word search tactics from "the pro". It was either that or Sudoku, but that may have been a little hard for a 4-yr-old! ; )

What I should have captured was the look of joy when pancakes and syrup were served up! They were both in heaven, especially Jacob, with the "mmmm, mmmmm" sound effects with each and every bite! So funny!

SPLASHDOWN!

July 4th came one day late at our house, but was so much fun just the same....minus the fireworks! You may have already seen Kelley's blog....and if not, go here...to view a GREAT cannonball by the newest little swimmer in our fam, as well as some incredible cupcakes!

It was just fun to all be together, to eat and swim and laugh and eat, and eat and eat. Kel and Patrick, Julie a nd Ryan, and Doug all did diving board feats, that gave us some laughs. And truly, I now wonder why I didn't have my camera going for those !! Between very BIG cannonballs, to the guys trying to point their toes to enter the water with the least splash, it was quite a site!

Meanwhile, Julie and Jake and I hung out in the shallow end, just relaxing....

Kelley got to entertain Jake for awhile, too. He forgot his own hat, so we rounded one up and he did pretty well at keeping it on.....

And this post wouldn't be complete without one more performance from Logan Emily....and this wouldn't be just ANY performance, but the inaugural one! So as you watch, the kicker is the 'thumbs up' after every single jump....and darn! Buster was in the way, but ck out the arm-pump at the very end. She kills me!

So the day ended up being bittersweet....Julie ended up on the couch...not feeling up to par and she had to miss the food! ( You KNOW she wasn't feeling good if she, of all peeps, skipped the food!) Then to top it all, after they got home, we got a phone call that she thinks she lost her DIAMOND earring in the pool on one of her "attempts" at a cannonball. It was dark out, but

with the pool light on, a good set of eyes, and Doug with a mask, voila!.....we produced the lost earring! Whew!

MY PHILOSOPHY...

This is embarrassing, but so typical....Our Vaseline Intensive care lotion ran out, so I grabbed a bottle of Philosophy's "Amazing Grace" that a patient had given me about a year ago. I've been using it for about a week and I noticed my skin has been so soft and silky. Because it's about halfway gone, I thought I better think about buying some more, or something similar. So just now I put my glasses on to see what the ingredients are that are SO wonderful. I'm talking it is FABULOUS!! As i'm reading.....it says it will give my HAIR enhanced strength and leave my skin feeling soft and silky. Turns out...if I would have just read the larger print that I can see even WITHOUT my glasses....

OK...so just for future reference.....SHAMPOO AND SHOWER GEL make a great lotion, but probably better for it's intended purpose!!! Guess I better put my glasses on more often. (Now that would be a novelty) : )

Well, at last I've got a few pics from our trip to Puerto Vallarta in February!  It was a great 8 days and SO wonderful to be near the ocean again!! My brother and sister-in-law invited us to share their time-share with them.....a big thank you to them.

This is the entrance to the resort

Jim and Diane had arrived and gotten settled before we showed up....and then welcomed us with none other than margaritas!!!

So, of course, the next morning we had to go to the Puerto Vallarta version of Costco....

Just kidding......there actually was a brand new Costco within walking distance, so we went and stocked up for necessities for the week.  It felt like home!

We did have to take a taxi home and then all of the bellhops loaded up their vehicles and delivered the loot right to our room!  What service!

The Palapa 2 resorts down from 'ours', had a very fun happy hour....

....serving all flavors of margaritas, but the mango was the BEST!

and the popcorn, of course!

Some of the beach vendors hanging out together at the end of the day

....and the 'boys' ready to head home after happy hour.

Every morning when we got back to our room, the maids had created very cool swans to grace our beds.

Each unit had their own private pool, so we had poolside meals....

but our favorite dinner was at this 'off the beaten path' restaurant right on the ocean.  The food was fantastic, and the scenery....

...was incredible.  It was one of the best sunsets....took a million pics until it disappeared!

Even though it appears that all we did was down the margaritas, that's just what I happened to take pics of.  Look at the size of these!  This was at Senor Pipi's, where their motto is :  Don't Drink the Water, Drink the Margaritas!  (we did)

These are just some sights from around the resort....it's an older resort and has many very cool touches that you don't find anywhere else.  

and, of course the beach....it was lovely!  Nothing like relaxing for the day, under a palapa, reading a book or two.  It was wonderful!

And another great sunset the night before we left for home.....hated to leave.

There were so many beautiful sights....everywhere we looked, there were flowers in bloom and the grounds were incredibly cared for.  It was sooooo relaxing...great to take the time.

We highly recommend it!  :)

Buenos Dias!!

I'm so mad i didn't bring my usb cable to sh;ow you all what a fun time we're having .... and it's only day 1.!!!!  Stay tuned.  We are currently in the process of having margaritas for everyone that asked us to.  Oh boy.  :)  Have a Happy Valentine's DaY!!!!!  Love you all!!!!!  Adios  from Mexico!!!  Ole!!!!

More to come....

....on someone else's blog....I thought I had my camera out for more pics today, but I guess they were on someone elses....so hopefully it won't take long for you to see lots more pics of today's Rock n Roll Half Marathon!  Kelley and Patrick finished with great gusto, and it was so exciting to be among all the people who were cheering all of these determined people to the finish!  Wow! 27,000 half-marathoners, plus thousands of full marathoners, plus all of the walkers ... I can't even imagine being among them...all of that training and determination truly paid off!  I'm so proud of them!!!!  This was the sign we held up near the finish to let K&P know we were supporting them ALL the way, and also a pic of only one of their medals.  Don't know where the other one was....we were too busy watching the CARDINALS WIN!!!!  Wow!  What a day!  Winners on all fronts!  Anyway, pictures or no pictures.....just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS ON A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT, KEL & PATRICK.  You truly rock n roll!!!!  :)  Love you so much!  xoxoxox

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a fun, safe New Year's Eve.  It was pretty quiet at our house...even went to bed before the ball dropped!  Are we getting old, or what? But I realized I had some pics from before Christmas that I wanted to share...

The Sunday before Christmas, Logan's Sunday School class put on a program at church.  This is the little angel when she first eyed us from in front of the congregation...

I'm not sure if she's yawning or singing loudly in this next one...

(Sorry about the pic quality..my camera isn't performing too well anymore.  :-( )

How angelic can she get???? (Notice how she's the only one not facing the front?)

I'd say she loves the camera!

The kids were all so cute.  Reminded me of Julie and Kelley when they were in their programs!  Gosh, time sure flies!