Yeah -- A Winter Storm!

What's so great about a winter storm, you may ask? Because they have been so rare for the past decade! We had a great rain storm..... thunder, lightening, wind, the whole package LOL

First came the clouds, they lingered all day long. Finally about 1:00 in the afternoon the thunder and lightening show began, then the rain. Then the high winds that knocked out our power source! No electricity for about an hour, just as I was getting ready to write this blog :o) I just had to amuse myself with candle lighting, a little reading, and enjoying the rest of the storm. (Fortunately the power came on in time for us to cook and enjoy a fam fav --- Old Fashioned Beef Stew)

We even have some colorful leaves, finally! Gorgeous greeting as we turned onto this street.

How Do You Know It's Christmas in the Desert?

You have the usual home decorations
The Cactus are wearing Santa Hats!
And Thom is on his way to have fun being "Uncle Thom"!

Happy Birthday, Tommie-Toes!

Hey Thom-- we hope you have a great birthday week! Maybe get a little rest like you and dad when you were 7 weeks old! We treasured every minute back then as we do today.





Your first birthday you got the 'birthday cupcake' and stayed pretty neat with it. At least that's what the picture shows, and I'm stickin' with it LOL














You were the first grandchild for the L. side of the family.
Here are 4 generations walking along.




















Then you got a little sister. How fair is that??
And yes, we kept her and you all did just fine.



















You absolutely LOVED reading with grandma, almost as much as she loved reading TO you! She kept you supplied with great reads!









you were a creative child......loved to explore and pretend.





















































"Is this really my life??"
You were usually a patient brother, and you have always been a joy to know! Being the oldest had its perks and its drawbacks, I'm sure, but we wouldn't trade a single minute of it!
We love you forever.........

Happy Thanksgiving to You All

Ahhh.. family gatherings in the 'good old days'.....those days being in the 1950s!
This was a complete family gathering for my side of the family.....we're working on locating one for papa's side!
Grandpa L. is nearest to us, Grandma to his left, Uncle Randy, Great Grandma, Great-Grandpa, 'Granny', Uncle Gerald, and Uncle Scott.
I can still walk through every room of this house in my mind! Do you notice those great aluminum style glasses?! I loved those things! They always felt soooo cold to your teeth!

School Intensive?!

It's been quite the week! Spending the bulk of a day among 200 singers was .....interesting!
The high school near our school hosts a festival for the 3 elementary schools within it's boundaries. We bring our junior high choirs to sing for each other, meet & hear the high school choir, and get a tour of the facilities. Then....they ALL get on stage to sing one number together. It was impressive to see 200 kids file onstage and sing a patriotic piece. I believe it was the highlight for most of my 70 students attending. But wait....there's more.....that evening we came back to sing a concert for the families. ALL the students dressed in black and white. which made the mass-choir even more impressive.
Just our school on stage performing their piece.
During the day we wore our own chorus uniform. Ah, the joys of transporting 70 (missing 15 of us) to and from a high school, keeping them from disappearing into the high school crowd, and getting them back and actually returning to their classes is always a plate-load!
But wait......there's more!........ The Friday before papa and I spent the evening at the equivalent of a school carnival. Every fall our school hosts a Family Fun Night, so we spent the night hawking candy, setting up portable lights, teaching students to make change, keeping a hawkeye on the change box AND the candy, and saying hello to a ton of students and their parents.
And yet....wait.....there's more! The week ended with our State Convention meeting in Tucson, a DOEM retirement party in the northern regions, and several speaking engagements on Sunday.
We are truly an 'integrated' parental unit LOL

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUNKIN!

2 weeks old, and a joyful addition to our little family

1st Birthday - mommy was a coward and gave you
a cupcake in a bowl for you to devour. Daddy encouraged
you to put it on your head a few frames later.
Several proud Grandma's here! 4 generations
are loving every minute!
2nd Birthday - there was a top to this carousel cake
but the missing chunk was the result of an early
birthday nibble!
5th Birthday, your last in CA. Love your smile!
You got to have a party this year!
6th Birthday, our first winter back in AZ
And we'll stop our post here so we don't cause you any embarrassment,
but we loved and still cherish every year we've had with you. What a joy to see how God has grown you into an incredible women, wife, mother, and friend!
Love you forever, our sweet daughter :o)

Someone Stole October!!

Record heat....record cold....end of baseball season (for most teams anyway),... beginning of Fall....October holidays......all of a sudden October is in the past and it's November!! I have NO idea where it went, but I must have been in it somewhere along the way LOL
We went to the last D-backs game, enjoyed a 3-day cold spell last week, and now 'enjoying' record temps in the 90s.
Our schedule is slammed to the hilt, adding some sinus/allergy/junk days along the way, and we're just trying to keep up! Hopefully it won't be over a month before we sign-in to update again! I actually forgot our password it had been so (too) long!
Happy Fall Ya'll!