Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

We had never been to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch so while we were all together we decided to check it out. It was a fun place and if you ever want to see and interact with wild animals on a very personal basis, this is the place.

I took many pics with my phone camera but through all the computer hoo-ha I have lost track of them temporarily. I did manage to scrounge up a few...unfortunately not my best ones....like the one of the ostrich reaching in the window and trying to snatch Toby's Iphone out of his hand while he was taking a pic of him...hehehehehe







Dangit!! As I'm posting this I realize how many pics I am missing......

Falling Off The Face of the Earth

Goodness gracious!! I'm sure by now what little readers I did have have forgotten all about me or just plain given up on my return.

There have been many bloggable happenings while I have been away and I am looking forward to putting them on paper for my own therapy and reflection more than anything. Blogging gives me an internal sounding board and I have missed the company.

Without boring you with the thousands of details that had me fall off the face of the earth for the past few weeks I'll just start from where I left off.

So my son, Lucas, made it for Christmas. The weather was cold and dreary...I guess like the weather is suppose to be during that time of year. I mention the weather because we are all outdoorsy types and most of our family activities depend on sunshine and tolerable temps. After all, we are southern born and southern bred. :-)

Opening presents. I'm making note to myself for next year to either give money or take a family vacation together...



Imagine the men's disappointment when they discovered that my oven decided to die on Christmas morning of all mornings. It was very interesting preparing Christmas dinner in between the toaster oven and microwave oven....



One of the things I love most about my son is he is always willing to get on the floor and play with his sister no matter what it is. Brotherly love....



"Mama's Little Yelper"...



If it had not had been so cold we probably could have had a little more fun with Summer's new tent. I was surprised to find that it was fairly warm inside the tent though....





Luckily the temps warmed up enough in the next couple of days to get outdoors....stay tuned...

Well It's Christmas Eve

I think I'm going to be back on track soon folks!! Got my new camera and even though I had a few glitches unrelated to the camera I think I got it under control enough to begin my blogging journey again....JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS.

Okay, let me get my bearings.....

The plan was Lucas would come for the Christmas/New Years holidays. If you remember from previous posts he had his car stolen earlier in the year. My dad was gracious enough to offer him and older model El Camino. Granted it's old but it got him around town and back and forth to Austin a few times.

This time around though I think "ole Cami" decided she was just to old and haggard to make any more 1,000 mile trips. Bless her, I could empathize...

Luckily, Lucas has a mountain bike buddy/friend that was in a very giving mood and offered him his BMW to make the trip to visit his family for Christmas. Never met this guy, but I gotta love him!!!!

I will give more details later. It's Christmas Eve and I have a hubby and daughter waiting on me downstairs and a grown son that is on his way. ♥♥♥

And So..

I can't stand it. I don't have a camera and I have been missing blogging. Toby tells me to just use my phone camera but it's not the same...plus there are too many steps to get them from my phone to the blog. I'm sure it would agitate me more than anything. My blog is suppose to be a source of relaxation, not stress for me.

I haven't really been doing anything all that interesting but I still like to keep track of my goings on since this is also my personal diary.

I'll try to give a summary...without pictures...grrrrr.

Summer had her 4-H Christmas Party. 4-H events are as much fun for me as they are for Summer.

We had a cookie swap play date. It was a cold day, but fun and the pay-off was a bunch of yummy cookies to take home.

Last week we went to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. It was fun and Toby and Summer walked out of their with some unique finds.

Well, now my mind is blank because I don't have any pictures to jog my memory. Can you tell this camera thing is about to take its toll on me???????

Hopefully the next time you "hear" from me my blog will have pictures attached..

Last but not least, I want to wish everyone a very Happy, Merry, Joyful Holiday season!!!!

UPDATE

Just a little update. In case no one has noticed, I hibernate in the cold months. I don't like being outdoors in the cold so that leaves me doing activites like shopping or hanging out at home...neither of which are bloggable.

Another thing that has added to my blogging absence is I am now without a camera. Being without a camera is like being without a limb for me. I use my camera daily and blogging without pictures takes the fun out of blogging for me.

This makes the third camera that has managed to die on me. I had to use Toby's hand me down camera and it managed to die on me too...making it my fourth. As much as I like camera's I don't think they like me...at least Kodak camera's anyway.

Hopefully Santa will be bringing me a nice new waterproof camera for Christmas.

Until next time...

What's Your Favorite Holiday?????

We all have favorite holidays. Some favor Halloween and I have known a few that love 4th of July and Valentines Day. Everyone has a reason for their favorite holiday whether it be pleasant memories they may associate with it, the way it is celebrated, or the meaning behind it.

My favorite happens to be Christmas. Yeah, I know most people dislike Christmas because of the hustle and bustle and commercialism of it all. But Christmas has not always been that way..or at least when you're a kid you don't recognize that part of it. When I think about Christmas as a child I can always bring myself back to those exciting days of anticipation, festivities, and spirit.

I think I choose Christmas as my favorite holiday because of the memories I associate with it. It was the only time of year, besides our birthday, that was made special for me and my brother.

Then there were the Christmas parties and programs at school. Gift exchanges, caroling, and Christmas goodies. The Catholic school I went to as a child always had a way of making any holiday special and I carry fond memories of them all.

It was exciting for me when we went to the mall to see all the decorations and sit on Santa's lap...which I always found traumatic I might add. Then there was always the Christmas parade at the mall where they actually threw candy canes and Hershey kisses.

On a Friday night before Christmas my parents would grab us a treat at Dairy Queen and then ride around and look at the fancy neighborhoods Christmas decorations.

Then there were always the Christmas specials like The Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, Charlie Brown and my favorite The Walton's Christmas special. I can remember me and my brother lying on the floor in front of the T.V. watching the specials with the lights turned off and only the Christmas tree lights illuminating giving it that Christmas feel.

I can remember a few times also going to midnight mass. As tired as I was I always enjoyed listening to the choir sing Silent Night and Oh Holy Night and it echoing down from the balcony in that huge stained glass church.

Yes, I love Christmas....but somehow, somewhere along the way, it's just not the same as it was when I was a kid...

Thanksgiving Weekend

I know my Thanksgiving post is about a week late, but better late than never.

Lucas arrived last Thursday afternoon just in time for the our Thanksgiving meal. I love having Lucas around to eat my cooking. He always gobbles it down as if it's gourmet food. I guess after being single and living on your own for a while you appreciate a good home cooked meal....of course, Lucas has always appreciated food from anyone who has ever been willing to give it to him.

It always seems so short when he comes in for only a couple of days but I take what I can get. I didn't even have to shed a tear when he left this time...I knew he is going to be back in a few more weeks for Christmas.

While he was here him and Summer spent time outdoors working on their bikes..



and trying to beat me at Connect Four....



Lucas also took time out to ride the Walnut Creek trails while he was here.

It was a short but sweet visit.