August 2008

August was another very HOT month. In spite of that we managed to get some things done. The garden is completely gone...just dried up. Water is too precious and expensive to keep watering it. We managed to keep some plants alive by using the water coming off the a/c.

Brett has been working on an old VW Bug he hauled out of a field. He also hauled out a second one that he used for parts. So the F350 got a run when they hauled what was left to the metal recyclers. At least he got some money out of it to apply towards fixing up the other bug.

Here is the load ready to go to the recyclers.

Our next big adventure was a pontoon boat ride on Lake Travis with the Austin Community of Christ. The boat goes out on the lake and then anchors so the kids can swim off the boat and the adults mainly watch the kids and eat!! We had to cut the trip short when a thunderstorm warning was given.
They slide down from the upper level and also jump off the boat. You can see what the adult activity entailed. Of course some of the adults went into the water also.

Bob got involved with the building committee for the church and the fund raising for a remodel of the main sanctuary, kitchen, restrooms and new entrance. The church has a community outreach project of feeding the homeless breakfast every Sunday morning before church. They have been doing it for 15 years. It is time to upgrade equipment etc so they can continue that ministry and make it easier on the workers. So Bob has been doing a lot of computer time and home visiting to organize the fund raising of $300,000 for the project. So every now and then he meets with the computer guru to help him on things that don't work quite right. Here is Larry (computer guru) and Bob (computer novice) hard at work. We were at Val and Sharron's having shrimp on the barbie!! It was yummy

The other big highlight of the month was a trip to Corpus Christi to participate in Gilbert (Paula's dad) and Naomi's wedding. We stay at a motel where we share a suite with the kids. Ben and Bobby love to get in the pool. We took them down with us and we got in ahead of mom and dad. So straight to the pool we went.

Bobby wasn't too sure of the pool, but he loved putting his feet in the hot tub.

Grandpa Gilbert with 2 of his grandsons before the wedding.

Naomi the bride, waiting for her entrance into the church.

Bobby at the reception.

Ben at the reception

Gilbert and Naomi

July 2008

July 4th and a time of celebration. It was over 100 most of the month and no rain to speak of. Texas is in a very bad drought and water supplies get lower all the time. There is a constant burn ban. However this does not include burning on the grill.... So Brett fired up the barbie and we had a fun picnic in the house with a/c. Here is a picture of the barbecue supervisors.

Of course there is only one main chef...

Here is a close up of the burnt offerings. Chicken and brot's.




As evening came we went to Fisherman's Park by the Colorado River for fire works. Of course Pop introduced the boys to Kettle Corn. It was fun eating it out of the frisbee...




Fireworks over the Colorado was fantastic. They put on quite a show. It actually was better than setting off our own.

We had a visitor in the driveway who was trying to dig a hole in the gravel. Of course she hid her head when I tried to take a picture. It looked like this box turtle was trying to find a place for eggs?

We need to introduce you to our other friend...Inca. A chocolate lab that lives at the main house. She is Brett's dog. Grandma gets to walk her every day when they are not home. She helps me get the mail.

Our next celebration took us to Independence, MO where we shared in Nick and Merilou's 50th Wedding Anniversary.

While we were there we visited other friends like Hazel and Doyle. They took us on a tour of the new sanctuary at the Wood's Chapel Community of Christ.

Then to finish our stay in Independence we went to Verona's on Independence Square to celebrate Myrna's birthday with our friends Ken and Mary Joan.

July also brought a 2nd airconditioner for our 5th wheel. We couldn't do summer here without it. Myrna also had her 3rd surgery and that's all for this year!!! Hopefully no more ever.

June 2008

Happy New Year everyone!! New Year resolution number 1 is to catch up the blog. My resolution is to get it caught up before we start a new adventure and this lodge starts travelling again. What a better way to start than to see the picture of Ben's sunflowers, so bright against the clouds and blue sky. We didn't measure but I am sure they were 6 ft high.

Maybe this one was 7 ft, we should have measured. The white pole is an extensio to the bean pole. The lima bean grew to the top of this extension also.
Bobby graduated from preschool at Montessori. An important day for him.

The best part was a party afterwards. He even wanted candles on his cupcake cake!!

Another special day was the wedding of our friends Gailyn and Evelyn. A beautiful and very meaningful service.

June was also the month of my second surgery. I received a pace maker to keep my heart beating at night at a regular rate. I also had a cardioversion to shock my heart from atrial fibrillation to normal sinus rhythm. They are still manipulating my heart rate etc with a computer and the a/f with medication. Welcome to the golden oldies!!