Thirteen

This is my thirteen year old.  I took these pics a few weeks ago after getting my new lens.  I wanted to capture a typical evening of homework and fiddling with the itouch.  I wish I had one of those when I was 13.  Instead I had my brothers' stereo and his cool collection of LPs to choose from.  (So now you know, Dennis;-).

Here he is studying science.

One of my most dreaded subjects.

Um, you are supposed to be doing your homework.

But let's see what is playing on your itouch.

Okay, back to homework.

Sunday Inspiration

Arizona Family Vacation-Part III

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we hit the road yet again for the final leg of our trip in Arizona.  And the most exciting.

We headed south toward Scottsdale.  On the way, we made a pilgrimage to a Sonic for a snack.  Since Sonics are rare in our neck of the woods, it was a real treat.  I finally tried a cherry limeade.

Yum-my!  I wish we had a Sonic in my hometown. *sigh*

A couple of days after arriving in Scottsdale, we witnessed a very exciting event.  It was to see this lovely couple exchange vows.

This is my favorite nephew, Kent and his beautiful bride, Amanda. (*Note*.  For any of my other nephews who may be reading this, you are ALL my favorite.  So I'm not playing favorites, okay?:-)).

Ryan was asked to be in the wedding, so we got to see him in a tuxedo for the first time.

Doesn't he look handsome?:-)

Here is the groom.

Here comes the bride.

My sister-in-law looked stunning in sapphire blue and my brother-in-law looked dapper in his tux.

I feel like getting the kleenex out just seeing these pictures. *sniff*

My other favorite nephew, Jim.

My favorite niece, Kerri. (Don't worry Dayna, you are my favorite, too!:-)).

Floating on air.  These two would win the disco ball trophy on "Dancing with the Stars" for sure.:-)

Arizona Family Vacation-Part II

Upon leaving Sedona, we headed north to the Grand Canyon.  Along the way we passed through some beautiful countryside which included deep canyons and panoramic vistas.  Much of it reminded me of some of our favorite old westerns.  Especially this one, which happens to be one of my favorite scenes:

Here are some pics I took along the way.

We stopped at an Indian marketplace along the way.

After a couple of hours we reached our destination.  The Grand Canyon.  And how Grand it is!  I was finally able to mark another thing off my "Bucket List".  I saw one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World with my hubby and son.  Again pictures cannot do justice to the beauty and grandeur of this place.  It is a place that if you have the opportunity, you must go and see it for yourself.

Arizona Family Vacation

Over Easter break, we decided that we needed a break and headed off to the hills (and desert) of the Great State of Arizona.

What a beautiful time of year to visit. It wasn't too hot. (We spent some of the time in the Scottsdale area). And the flowers and desert blooms were beautiful. In the next couple of days I will share some memories of our trip.

We got off the ground without much difficulty.

After landing and loading up the rental car, we hit the road.

Let's see....Carefree Hwy.  Yep, I would guess that we are headed in the right direction.

We also knew we were in the Wild West when you see signs for "Horse Thief Recreational Area":-).

Our first stop was the small mining town of Jerome.  We ate lunch at the "Haunted Hamburger" at the suggestion of the nice girl that took care of the car rental.  Boy, am I glad we did!  It was delicious.  And the view was gorgeous.

This town has many cool shops and art galleries.  It is also now inhabited by a bunch of hippies and ghosts.  When the "Adopt-a-Highway" sign says, "Adopted by the Psychedelic Mariachis" we knew that we were in a unique place.  A t-shirt in one of the shops that we visited said "Twilight Zone + Mayberry= Jerome, AZ".  Ha!

We then arrived at our destination of Sedona.  My!  What beauty!  It is a must see when visiting Arizona.

Here are some pictures that cannot do justice to the beauty that you are surrounded by.

Sunday Inspiration

Birdbrain

Ahhh!  Spring is in the air.  You can smell the fragrance of spring flowers and new grass.  The balmy breeze feels so good against your skin.  The sun is shining warm on your face.  And the sound of birdsong is music to your ears.

But on a Saturday morn.  The one morning of the week that you finally get to have some extra shuteye, you are awakened not by the birds singing a harmonic chorus, but by a robin who is in love with himself.

Easter Blessings

Aside from gaining five pounds from eating way too many Easter treats and my moms' wonderful ham dinner, we had a fantastic Easter.

We started the day by getting a head start on our sugar quota of the day by eating doughnuts and watching Ryan open his Easter basket.  We then got ready and went to the early service at church.  Our pastor, as always, gave an inspiring message.  You can listen to it here.

After church, we came home to get ready to go to Mamaw and Papaw's house.  (Mamaw and Papaw is southern for Grandma and Grandpa, in case you are wondering.)  There we filled up on ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beens, yams, baked beans, cole slaw, my sister's deviled eggs and Norm's potato/asparagus salad.  (I will post the recipe soon).

We then dug into the desserts and ate cake, brownies, sweet potato pie and my dad's famous chocolate pie.  My dad has been sick.  He is starting to slowly recover, so it did my heart good to see him feel well enough to bake his chocolate pie.  He did it especially for his sidekick, Ryan.  He will move heaven and earth for his only grandchild.  But for his kids, well, he would tell us that we are on our own.

We then headed outside to find Easter eggs.  For once, we had mild and balmy weather to enjoy on Easter Sunday.  Ryan decided to turn the tables and he hid the eggs while us adults hunted them down.  Norm, who claims to not have a competitive bone in his body, was mowing everyone down to get the most eggs.  Then we hid eggs for Ryan.  We made it really difficult for him.  We wound up hiding the eggs in our pockets, up our sleeves and my dad put one under his hat. It was so funny to watch Ryan try to figure it out at first.  But we did leave one egg that we hid in the wheel of one of the cars parked in the driveway.  After that, we headed inside to watch the movie "Up", which my mom had gotten Ryan for Easter.  Since we had never seen it, well, all I can say is, we LOVED it!  It was definitely one of the best Easter Sundays that we have enjoyed over the years.  Here are some pics I wanted to share of our day.

He Has Risen!

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said.  "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.  He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head.  The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.  Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside.  He saw and believed.  (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)




                                                                                            John 20:1-9