Thankful!

God has blessed us with our special family......and with grandkids!! We love being able to spend time with our grands whenever possible, plus we planned Thanksgiving with Grandpa way earlier so that was a given!

The first pictures are from Thanksgiving day where of course we ate too much but we were happily miserable! Before dinner however, we got to spend time with the three kids riding bikes, taking a wagon ride, coloring, playing babies, and playing football. We had such a beautiful and glorious day we just could NOT stay in the house too much! Saw some geese at the pond and then had to get home to do chores for my sister....

 The cars Konnor is playing with were Eric and Shawn's when they were little guys.

Saturday we flew the 182 to Independence and then drove our beast truck to Grandpa and Bernies for another Thanksgiving dinner. We are so thankful God has brought grandpa through such a horrible trial this summer, but he is so much stronger now and looks great in his blue jeans again! Bless his sweet heart!  Also thankful that Jo and John were able to make the trek down from Emporia. Jo and I had visited on what to bring so we ended up with plenty of vittles for us all to be miserable. We all decided we needed to walk off our lunch, so we went out and checked the pasture and the deer hunting area, and had a great time being at the home place. After more pie and dessert, we made the trip home in time to witness another glorious sunset. In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE sunsets!

Home Sweet Home Airport - KAVK....

I have a really sweet video of our approach too, but you have to come home if you want to see it!  :-))

Houston International Quilt Show

Going south with a carload of quilters is indeed a dream....especially to see the most gorgeous quilts on the planet - not to mention enough vendors to fill the huge convention center from one end to the other. I never had my camera with me there but it was unbelieveable. I cannot imagine how many people were there, but it was staggering.

Besides the beautiful quilts, vendors, and eating out, we also decided to head to Galveston on Saturday. We took the ferry across to the peninsula and then up highway 10 back to Houston. What a trek! When we got back it was about time to gear up for the OSU and KSU game - so watched that! Way to go Cats. Sunday was spent driving home which took 12 hours - I was sure tired but glad to be home. Here are just a few of the images of my pictorial journey....

 Kristi and I went to the park - it was so pretty to see...notice the giant balls in the trees!

 This is our carload of girls.....me, Kristi, Susie, and Glenda. We literally shopped till we dropped!

 This is one of the artsy quilts that is not a block but just pieces of fabric and then free motion quilting on top!

 I really enjoyed looking at the traditional quilts - all of them were so unique.

 I bought this pattern at the Lynette Andersonn booth. The wheel barrow is a hand painted button. So pretty!

 One of the ferries coming back with a load of cars and people and motorcycles.

 Ships in the bay waiting to come in and dock and unload their cargo. We also saw some dolphins swimming close by but they were too fast for my camera. I'm sure the ferry stirs up some food for them but I did not see any in a pod like at Fripp.

 Letting my toes soak in some of that gulf coast water and sand!

I took a lot of pictures with my cell phone so I'll try and get those downloaded too. Downtown Houston was certainly pretty at night, especially from our hotel window. What a great time! Back in Kansas again.....until the next trip.

I HEART Sunsets!

Well, once again I haven't posted for so long.... I guess because its pretty much the same day in and day out! Hot, dry, dusty! But now it is Cooler, dry, dusty! I guess that qualifies as a little different. The flowers are all done now after the hard freeze we had this weekend.. got down in the lower 20's here. Still roofing but that will cease in 2 weeks and Bruce is way past ready for it to be over. Already is starting a To Do list for next year. However we do have a lot of gutter jobs to do.

We have been having baby calves for the last 2 weeks. I forgot to take my camera tonite as I was walking around and discovered we had a new calf. So far we have 5 little heifers(girls) and the newest member is undetermined since mama is keeping us away...and she means business! There will be no coyotes getting close to her baby I assure you!

I am excited to be leaving on Tuesday to go to Houston with three of my quilting friends ( one is Carrie's mom, Kristi!) to the International Quilt Show! We will start our long journey home on Sunday - I think we'll be road foundered by the time we get home! 

I was outside this evening and the sky just kept changing into a beautiful pallet of colors that I'm not sure I have in my arsenal of paints! So I grabbed my camera and started shooting! Wish I had one like E & T or S & C and the colors would have shown up more vivid. One blessing to living in the boonies is witnessing God's hand painting such beautiful sunsets! Hope you enjoy what I got on my camera roll!

GOD IS SO GOOD, and a fantastic artist!

John Deere tractors and shooting sports

Eric came home with Konnor and Kelton to the farm the end of September - Eric and Kelton had planned on hunting doves, but the doves decided not to cooperate and flew the coop!  Papa said we had approximately 100 birds the day before at the pond but saw only a few when they came home. So Kelton and Eric shot blue rocks and other targets while Konnor and I played outside a lot and of course did our usual gator rides, visits to see the horses, and of course ride the John Deere tractors. Theresa and Katie stayed home and shopped and did girly stuff - I'm sure they had fun too!

 Konnor told Papa he wanted on the forklift, but not just one--instead all of them!

 Emmy and Moose getting in some hugs..

Little Bear loved helping papa water the apple trees.

 Moose was out with Daddy while sighting his gun. Somehow I missed having my camera with me when he was shooting, but he did hit some clay pigeons.

 That was one loud BOOM!

 and I really can't believe how the horses were watching Eric do this....

 You tell me.... is little Bear happy???

and our harvest moon. It was so much bigger and prettier than this, but I tried!

We did get to go watch Kelton play soccer on the 6th, but we forgot the camera, I probably couldn't have taken any good shots anyways since the play is so fast, and it was pretty cold out that day. My hands are shakey the way it is!  We have had several really hard frosts now and the freeze killed the sweet potato vines, so papa dug up all the potatoes and they are now in safe residence in our cellar. Won't that taste wonderful in another month!? The holidays are fast approaching and I have some sewing I'd like to do, so I better get the old machine out and see if I know how to sew after working all summer! Well, I haven't worked that hard!! But with the cooler weather, I'm looking forward to being inside with a nice cup of hot tea or hot chocolate!

Our 3rd Fripp Trip ;-)

Returned from another wonderful trip to Fripp Island with what we now call ourselves - The Fab Four! We have been together through times of trouble and lots of happy times too, so when we get together - there is never a dull or quiet moment!! Some of our highlights from this trip included seeing the Lt. Dan Band - or Gary Sinese and his band to raise money for the Wounded Warriors. It was such an emotional time for us witnessing these brave warriors who were severely wounded overseas. I thank God for them and Gary Sinese for all the time they devote to making sure these soldiers have the things they need just to survive from day to day.

 The warriors were right in front of the stage. Gary Sinese and lead guitarist, another veteran from the Viet Nam war on stage.

Also - maybe the best for me anyways, was seeing the little Loggerhead Turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean with a little help from the volunteers on Fripp. Again a very emotional time for us all. They have quite a challenge ahead of them to make it to the Gulf before they finally rest and begin eating. What a long trek! Also we got see where a mother alligator was with her babies but we weren't quite so brave getting out to see them. We just took their word for it! 

Always, we enjoy seeing our friends, the dolphins, from our back deck of our cottage. Their playful antics bring a smile as I think about them right now!  One day we saw 6-8 dolphins in a pod at low tide.

We made our way to Beaufort over and over and on one excursion we decided to take a carriage ride around the city. Indeed it is full of history and the houses boast such beautiful architecture that many films have been made here. One of the oldest cities in South Carolina.

This time Gayla got us a golf cart to haul all of us around and we truly enjoyed this mode of transportation as does most of the inhabitants of Fripp.  On one of our joy rides we ended up at the Nature Center where I got to hold a Corn Snake. I had never seen one before so it was interesting - and I also held a python. That was a little scary!

Gayla, Vic, Me, and Jackie all enjoying our day at the beach on Fripp...

Goodbye to our beautiful beach!

The turtles beginning their long journey!  I loved seeing them....