Let see if this will work for me... Stacy helped me download pics from my camera. If I can figure this out I'll post a pic. If not... this will be a failed experiment!!

Eureka! It looks like I did it! But it sure did take a while to download--probably because I still have dialup ?!?!

This pic is of Karl eating some barbecued ribs on his birthday. I will try to get some pics of our Branson trip up in the next few days.

Thanks...

...for all the birthday cards and wishes! I had a really great day. Ron wished me Happy Birthday before he left for work this morning. I have gotten several cards in the mail and good wishes over the internet, too. One of my sisters sent me a huge bronze colored mum plant. I'm going to put it out by the front porch. Ron took off work at noon and we drove over to Columbia so I could do a little 'shopping' at Hobby Lobby, the new mall, and JoAnn's [took my coupons for HL&JA's!]. I found some great deals on scrapbooking stuff.
We met Kris at his house after he got home from work and went to supper at a little out-of-the-way Greek restaurant Kris knew. All of the bigger 'chain' restaurants were swamped with customers due to the holiday weekend. Had a good steak dinner and some of the hottest 'wings' we have ever had for an appetizer. They also brought me a piece of Baklava for my birthday. I was so full I brought it home and will eat it tomorrow!
Kirk and Stacy are coming for breakfast in the morning[actually, brunch--since it will be late morning!] and Kevin and Cory are coming out to barbecue in the evening.
BTW: I don't mind telling it--I am 64, now, 2 years younger than Ron!

Boy was she MAD!!

Emily loves to eat lemons! If we get them with our tea, we save them to give to her. She had had one slice at McFarland's and was working on another when Ron got up to go pay the bill so we could go to SDC. Stacy thought Emily had probably had enough so she took the lemon so she could clean her hands, etc. to leave. She was NOT ready! and boy did she let us [and the rest of the restaurant] know!!
Ron said he was standing in line to pay and he heard her. The next thing he knew, here came Kirk carrying her out as fast as he could with his hand over her mouth! That didn't go over very well with her either! He took her clear outside and sat with her on a bench until the rest of us got out there. She was still snubbing from her crying when we all got outside.
Usually she is a sweet, placid, happy baby... but watch out! She CAN throw a temper tantrum, too!!

Last thoughts about Branson trip

How about Breakfast Burritos to start the day? YUMMY!!

Saturday, we went to another one of the Outlet Malls. Stacy wanted to look at the Corelle store to see if they had medium sized plates to match her dishes. They didn't have her pattern. She and I also hit the "intimate wear" shop for a couple of bargains a piece.
Then we headed for The Branson Landing. Rode the tram from one end to the other so we could go to the Bass Pro Shop. Spent quite a while in there just looking around. I came away with a Hush Puppy Mix and a breading mix for fried chicken that looked good,too.
Ron and I headed for the Bath and Body Works to pick up some hand soap.We met the rest of them at the fountain area after that, just in time to see the water and fire display! Ron got to see the tail end of it last year but I missed out. The shooting water and bursts of fire are all synchronized to music. Quite a display!! Next time we will try to catch it at night, too. Should be even more interesting with colored lights, too.
While we were riding the tram, Bostin saw that there was a Build a Bear store. So we went there next. He made a bear dressed in a Batman cowl etc., and Emily got a puppy dressed in a pink outfit. We had planned to go to the Disney store, too. but decided we were ready for our early supper instead. We had a coupon for so much $ towards our dinner at McFarland's in the IMAX complex so that is where we headed. Ron and I were hoping to be seated at one of the 'special' tables but they were already full. So we just watched instead! If you don't know what I am talking about...you will just have to go and figure it out for yourself! It is a lot of fun!

After supper we headed back out to Silver Dollar City to take in the evening show. We got there in plenty of time for Bostin to ride some of the rides in the kid's area that he had missed when we got rained out on Thursday. The show was good, but not as good as some we have seen there. But we had a good time anyway!

Kirk, Stacy and the kids needed to leave early the next morning to get back and see her cousin from California before they left to go back home. So we got up earlier than we had been and went to the breakfast buffet at Dockers with them as they were on their way out of town. Ron and I hung around the condo for a while afterward and then went to do some buiness at the officethere before we headed on home. We stoppd in Springfield on the way for supper. And at the Sonic in Warsaw for a drink. Got home in the early evening, but it wasn't real long before we headed for our chairs for a good sleep! We had such an enjoyable time together!

More about Branson Trip

Friday we had Ron's biscuits and gravy before heading out for some shopping. First we had to stop by and get our tickets for the show that night. Then we headed for one of the shopping malls. Went to a Christian bookstore first. Kirk was looking for a certain CD but I don't think he found it. I did run across some boxed Christmas cards that were 50% off and Ron found a Gaither DVD we've been wanting. Next we went to the VF Outlet. They have Wrangler , Lee, Healthtex,Jansport, and Vanity Fair brands. We have always been able to find jeans and slacks there for 1/2 off or more of the regular price, plus sweatshirts and tees, and other items. Some are stock over runs and some have a slight flaw. I have gotten some really good bargains at these stores over the years. Kirk and Stacy found a few things as did Ron and I.
We stopped at a McDonalds for a little snack because Emily was hungry . We didn't want to eat too much because we were going to Dixie Stampede! If you have never been, you need to try it out at least once. At first you might think it is a little expensive ($40 for adults/$20 for kids) but remember--- you are getting dinner AND a show. And you get your money's worth out of them both! First you go into the "Saloon" for a pre-show. This time it was a great juggling act. He kept us all entertained! Then you go into the arena for the dinner/show. When you order your tickets you decide if you want to be on the North or South side. It doesn't really make any difference. It is just a little fun gimmick that is part of the entertainment. There are no 'utensils' to eat with, but you really don't need them. and if you go away hungry...Well, that is YOUR fault! Plus there are horses and wagons and singers and dancers and long horned steers and tric riders and ostrich races and pig races, and water fountains and ...
Bostin watched and laughed and ate and laughed and was really entertained by it all! Emily liked it very well, too.As did all of the 'grown-ups'
When you are going in or out of the building, you pass right by the horse stalls. You can take pictures there and anywhere outside, but you can't take any in the arena. That is liable to 'spook' the horses and other animals. I got several photos of the horses and will try to put them on when I get my camera/computer thing worked out.
Since we had gone to an early show, we went to the activity center at the condos and swam for a while in the indoor pool. By that time we were ALL ready for our beds! More later!

August Trip to Branson

We had a really great time! Met Kirk and Stacy and kids at Preston- they drove over hwy 54 to 65- and then drove on down to Lambert's for an early dinner. Had a great meal[of course!]. They brought Ron some birthday balloons and gave us $10 off on the meal,too. He gave the balloons to Bostin and Emily when we got to the Condo.
When we made the reservation we knew that we would be staying in the older buildings because they didn't have anything available in the bigger rooms in the newer buildings. Our rooms were great--spacious and clean, good decor-- but the older buildings weren't built with an elevator! Of Course, our rooms were on the 3rd floor!! That was the only "con" to our trip though.
We went out to Cakes and Creams for ice cream that night. This is one of our favorite places in Branson--the ice cream is good and the 50's/60's music on the juke box is always fun.They have more than ice cream, too, but that is usually all we get there.

The next day we fixed breakfast in the condo and then went out to Silver Dollar City. The weather was great- not too hot or too cold. The first ride got Kirk, Stacy and Bostin wet! Then they played at Geyser Gulch in the balls and with the water. We spent the day watching Emily while they went on the rides,etc. There were a few rides that Bostin was too small to ride so he sat out with us, too. Not one complaint from him! Emily fussed everytime she saw Mama leaving but we were able to distract her by getting her to look at something else. She did take a good nap during part of the afternoon, too. Hooray for strollers!
We were just getting ready to head for the evening show when they closed the park due to a rainstorm in the area. We got to the entrance/exit area just before the rain started gushing down! They moved people to the trams and to the parking lots pretty quickly but we still got pretty wet. It rained all the way back to town and quit about the time we got back into the condo.
I'll write more another time.

Happy Birthday, Ron!

We both have our birthdays in August, along with our anniversary. Ron is 66 this year. He could retire, but he is not quite ready to give it up yet. Probably won't be too much longer, though, as I can see that he is finding that there are a lot of things he would like to do--if he had the time.
It is just after midnite as I am writing this[on his birthday] we are going to leave before noon for a trip to Branson with Kirk, Stacy, Bostin and Emily. We have talked about this since April or May and finally got all of the timing worked out. We have a day at Silver Dollar City planned and have also talked about going to the Dixie Stampede plus some time 'shopping' at Branson Landing. Not sure what all we will do, but we plan to do some FUN things with Bostin as our biggest priority,
We plan to stop at that certain big restaurant in Ozark on the way down to see if we can catch some rolls! Thought that would be a good place to celebrate Ron's birthday!
I love you, Ron MCS!

Forty-six and counting!!

Today is our anniversary--46 years, today! Sometimes its is really hard to believe that we have been married all those years, and yet, it seems like we have always been married, too. We were so young [probably too young!] and there were several who predicted that we would not make it past 2 years, if that long. They didn't know what we knew--God intended that we be together. I can't explain HOW we knew, but we just did!

Has it always been easy? NO! But through all of the ups and downs we have known that we had LOVE for each other. When times are the toughest, you can not take it out on each other, you can't listen to others who want you to throw blame around or encourage you to be discouraged about your circumstances. Instead, you draw your stregth from God, and you realize, again, that He knows your circumstances. He sees the things we cannot see and knows the things we cannot understand about the things we go through. Most of all, He knows the "End of the Story"! And, he encourages us to encourage each other.

We didn't always know all of that. So, we were not always 'kind' to each other and 'forgiving' to each other but as we walked with our hands in God's hands we learned to listen to Him more than we listened to our hurt feelings and the wisdom[?] of others . Yes, we still make mistakes, occasionaly--after all we are STILL learning how to live, even after all of these years.
Happy Anniversary, Ron. I love you!



A special Happy anniversary greeting to 2 couples who share our same date: Roy and Lenore Simpson, and Mandy and Gary Billingsley. God's blessings to each of you!

State Fair--Dollar Day!

We try to make it to the State Fait at least once each year. Today was opening day and the admission was only a dollar. Plus! We had tickets to go with friends to see Air Supply at the Grandstand to night!! So, Ron and I spent an evening at the fair. I picked him up after work and we drove all the way to the fair (Uh-what is that, 2 blocks??). We went in the "historic" main gate, and they had us park really close to the "new" main gate that comes in off of 65 hwy/South Limit, so that is where we bought our fair tickets and entered. Ron had not had much lunch so he suggested we get something to eat, first thing. He had a list fo all of the concession that were giving dollar day specials. First we had a hotdog and a drink-total $4. Then we walked towards the Midway area and saw aplace with dollar corndogs, add $2 -total $6 . Down by the Varied Industries building, another place had $1 Funnel cakes, now the total is-$8. We walked back up by the Grandstand as it was time to meet up with our friends, and the Fair parade was close to starting. Saw several different friends to visit with as we were standing there. Cory 'found' us and brought Maggy and Danielle over to stand with us to watch the parade. Dakota is in the Smith-Cotton band and they were at the front of the parade--right after the High patrol 'escort' cars and the color guard. Kevin was one of the 'spotters' that walked along with the band to help if there was some sort of need with/for the band.
After the parade, Ron headed to the Kettle corn stand for $1 bags to take into the concert with us. Now the total is $10. He picked up a bottle of water for us to share, total-$11.
The concert was WONDERFUL! They sang all of the songs we know and love, and 1 or 2 new ones. At one point, one of the guys went down into the 'track seat' area and the other came out the gate and into the Grandstand. He was about 3 rows away from us! I don't think I have ever been to a concert at the grandstand where anyone did something like that.
After the concert, as we were walking o our car we stopped and got $1 drinks again, so now the total is--$13. Add the price of 2 tickets for the concert and the whole evening totaled $33.00!! Hey! that was a pretty cheap date, don't you think!
We had a great time!

One more thing...

Remember how excited I was because it looked like they were fixing the street? Well the part they DID fix looks great. All over town! But, when they oiled and chatted, or chip sealed, [what ever,] they did NOT do the whole circle. Just the part they evidently consider the 'traffic' area. Which leaves the rest , or 2/3's of the circle to finish. Hey, they ran the grader over the whole thing! Why didn't they chip and seal the whole thing????? Guess I will be asking that question when I pay the water bill!

Uummmmm! Yummy!!

Guess what we had for supper?!? Sliced tomatoes, and stuffed peppers. I must confess, Ron bought some tomatoes last week so part of them were from that. We had some sliced Roma tomatoes last week,too. If you slice them lengthways instead of across, you can get a fairly decent, 'meaty' slice . Especially if you are really hungry for tomatoes and that is all you have on hand. I like to slice them and drizzle a little Italian dressing over them. Danielle like Ott's dressing is the best.
I had 4 peppers that I brought in the house over about a week's time. I sliced them in half lengthwise and removed the seeds. Then I made up some ground beef like you do for meatloaf, mounded up the mixture in each half and laid them pepper side down in a shallow baking dish [sprayed with cooking spray]. Add about a half inch of water to the dish and bake for 3o-45 minutes in a 350* oven. I made the leftover ground beef mixtur into a loaf and cooked it at the same time.[ It cooked a little longer as it is 'bigger' than the peppers. You could make little individual meat loafs like Karen does for her family, too.
I picked 6 new peppers, today. I'll trim them and seed them tomorrow and put them into a freezer bag and freeze them for future use. There are lots more growing! I grow a sweet pepper called California Wonder that is from the pimento family of peppers. It does NOT have that bitter taste when cooked like a true bell pepper does. Sometimes they do not get quite as big as the bell pepper, but I like the taste so much better. In a few days, I will probably have enough tomatoes, mostly the Roma's, to make a batch of salsa, too. Yummy!

Moving on...

This summer seems to be the one for moving for several in our family. The Lambs led it off by moving from Hutchinson Kansas to Medford Oregon. They seem to be settling in pretty well.

Now Kevin and Cory have bought a house in the country North of Sedalia. They moved into it this past weekend. They have a small acreage with a barn, a pond they can fish in, a fairly new garage/ workshop included with the house. They bought from a friend who needed to downsize and had bought a place in Sedalia. The house has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large living room , eat-in kitchen, and garage on the top level. The walkout basement level has a BIG family room, kitchen, bedroom and bath,and a utility/storage room. There are several things they want to do to make it fit their needs/lifestyle a little better, but nothing that is a major concern right now. They still have a few things to get from the house they were renting, then they have a few things to do to it before the month is up to get it ready for the next renters. They had a deal with the owners concerning doing/finishing some updates to the home. So, they have some work to do on the floor in some areas and some plumbing issues to update/repair.
Robbie and Val are moving this coming weekend into their own house,too. They have been living in Clinton the past year while Val has been teaching at a high school about 15 miles away. The school district will give her an 'incentive' if she lives 'in-district' . Also, they spent a lot of time, both before and after school, at the school involved in one function or another. This way they might be able to 'go home' for a few minutes in between functions! The town they are moving to is: Lowry City. Val was so excited, after years of living in rentals (some not so great, either) to finally be able to buy her own place.
God's Blessing to all 3 families!