A Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That

April, 2012

A “Little” Overview of April

This month was unusual in the fact that Jim and I both were sick for a longer period of time than usual. This really cramps our style as it means that we cannot afford to go see Edith for fear we might expose her to something and with her immune system that wouldn’t be good!

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Monday, April 2

Happy 18^th anniversary on the 2^nd to us!

April 4 Wednesday

Our Easter lunch with Edith was a huge success mainly because I got her to laugh which is not an easy feat. However, Bonita really was the cause since she kept licking her private area every time I’d try to get a picture. Finally, in frustration I said, “Bonita! Quit licking yourself! It isn’t polite.” Edith just belly laughed! Awesome!

April 5 Thursday

Angela now has a chicken coop filled with chickens and she brought us her first batch of fresh eggs.  They were delicious.

TJ took Angela, Ladd, Jim, and I out for Chinese to celebrate Angela’s birthday. After the meal, Jim and I went out to the lake to see Bob and check on the progress of their new home.

April 7 Saturday

We spent the morning out at the church helping with the children’s Easter egg hunt and then the afternoon at Big V cleaning out and straightening the shed.

Sunday, April 8

Happy Easter, Everyone!!!

We got up early and drove to Swearingen Park on Lake Fork for the annual Easter Sonrise Service.  As always, it was a wonderful time of early morning fellowship to mark a pivotal moment in Christian history.

Later, we attended the regular Sunday morning service at Yantis FBC.  Barbara took an opportunity to get photos of our pastor, David Bagwell and his family, and our youth pastor, Jeremy Durig and his family, all dressed up in their Easter finery.

The day also included a nice luncheon with Mother at Wood Memorial Nursing Home.

Monday, April 9

Jim:  I haven’t been able to take part in the Monday night fishing with the men from the church lately, but was able to make up for lost time tonight.  I didn’t catch the most fish, but I did land the largest one of the evening.

Tuesday, March 10

Spring has sprung in East Texas, as is evidenced by these photos taken at Our Little Lot and around Mother’s house.

Friday, April 13

We were at Holiday Villages this morning so I could attend a meeting with our board and employees.  While I was at the clubhouse, Barbara was visiting some of our neighbors.  Our friends Gary and Linda Fox have been doing quite a bit with their property, including adding a new workshop for Gary.  When he built his shop, Gary added in a room for Linda to work on her paintings and crafts.

When we got back to the house, I decided to do some backyard spring cleaning.  Mother has some beautiful flowers and plants, so I did what I could to give them a good setting (with a little help from Bonita, of course).

Saturday, April 14

We decided to take some of the bounty of Mother’s flower beds to her today.  Barbara found a vase in one of the cabinets and put together this arrangement to brighten up Mother’s room.

Wednesday, April 18

Sunday night we received a call from Leah that Ryan’s father had passed away after a lengthy bout with cancer.  We left Monday evening for the trip to Follett and arrived this morning for the funeral service for Dudley McQuitty.  There was a very nice reception in the community building after the service and we had a chance to get reacquainted with some of Ryan’s family.

Thursday, April 19

We returned from our trip this afternoon to find that the contractor we hired to do the new driveway at Our Little Lot had the strip dug out and mostly ready to be poured.  We were hoping it would be finished today, but rain while we were gone slowed the project.

Friday, April 20

We went back out to Holiday Villages of Lake Fork today to check on the progress of the work on Our Little Lot.  While we were there we had lunch with our friends Bob and Mary Royar, who are fulltime residents, and our Kansas/Texas friends Gene and Michelle Young, who are in the area for a short visit.  Of course, any get together of friends is fair game for the photographers.

Saturday, April 21

We made another trip out to Our Little Lot today to check on the progress of the construction crew and found that our longtime dream of a real driveway was now a reality.  David and his crew did a beautiful job of finishing off the serpentine drive leading from Geronimo to Big V.

Sunday, April 22

Barbara discovered last night that our “niece-in-love,” Amanda Terpening Duke and her family were in the area attending a wedding in Sulphur Springs.  After doing some cyber-talking, they made arrangements for Amanda, Zeke, Daniel, and Jonah to join us at our morning worship service today.  After the service, we tried out a new restaurant close to Holiday Villages and then gave them the grand tour of Our Little Lot before they returned home.

Monday, April 23

We were up early today to ride the motorcycle to Greenville and join 200 East Texas Patriot Guard Riders and countless thousands of area residents in bring home a local hero, U.S. Army Sgt. Tanner Higgins, who was recently killed in a fire fight in Afghanistan.

Tuesday, April 23

In a continuation of yesterday’s activities, East Texas Patriot Guard Riders assisted in providing an escort and the final honors for Sgt. Higgins and his family.

Saturday, April 28

East Texas Patriot Guard Riders had a busy day with two veteran funerals in the area. While one team of riders assisted with a funeral in Chandler, more than 40 PGR members, with 37 motorcycles and additional support vehicles, arrived in Mineola to honor the service and memory of Viet Nam War veteran, Don David Mewborn 2AUG1949-24APR2012. Mr. Mewbern served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Airborne, and the 173rd Airborne. He was awarded a Bronze Star. All Honor to the name and memory of this American hero.

Monday, April 30

We ended the month with an afternoon run to Holiday Villages of Lake Fork and Our Little Lot to do some more work.  David Vasquez, our contractor, was there to set the last of the railroad ties that serve as retaining walls around the deck and storage room.  While David drilled holes and set rebar in the ties, we did some cleanup and I hauled away some dead cedars that David had cut down for us.  As we were finishing the work, our friends Ken and Donna Goode stopped by.  Ken and Donna are also property owners at HV/LF, but are currently working as rig sitters in South Texas and were only back for a brief respite from their jobs.

Birthday shout-outs for April go to:

Aunt TJ Logan, Mineola (5^th); Cousin Lynette Sandley, Birmingham, AL (6^th); Aunt Glennis Wright, Marianna, FL (15^th); Friend Joyce Whitaker, Houston (17^th); Daughter Whitney Farnham, Olathe, KS (20^th); Great-nephew in love Daniel Duke, Knox City (21^st); Grandson Jimmy Farnham, Olathe, KS (22^nd); Cousin Rob Sandley, Childress (23^rd); Niece-in love Stephanie Francis, Lewisville (29^th).

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  They are but trifles, to be sure but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." – Unknown

And how can you help but smile when you think of grandchildren and the blessings they are!

From Mineola in Wood County, Texas

Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams

A Little March of Time

Thursday, March 1 – Saturday, March 31, 2012

 A “Little” Overview of March

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When we had finished with March and were moving into April, we felt that we hadn’t done anything worth writing about.  Now that we are back in the journal/blog mode and have started reviewing photos from March, we see that we were pretty busy after all.  Hoping to keep this edition as colorful as possible with a minimum of words, we are attempting a slightly different format from what we have previously used. We’ve also left out the visits to the nursing home to see Mother which we make several times a day.

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Thursday, March 1

Almost as soon as we published the February Journal/Blog, we realized that we had left son John’s birthday, which was the 26^th of February, out of the report.  It’s a little late, but Happy Birthday, John...hope it was a great one for you!

Barbara was helping Jean in Artesia as we started the month and I was in Mineola watching the house, taking care of Bonita, and checking on Mother at Wood Memorial Nursing Home.  Today was so nice that I decided to take Bonita for a walk around Heritage Square and observe the beginnings of spring foliage.

Friday, March 2

Today was Jerry Terpening’s birthday in Artesia.  The family had a nice celebration and Barbara did her usual great job of documenting the occasion.

Mother got a new permanent this morning.  Shortly after Leslie finished working her over, TJ and Vanessa (one of the outstanding aides at Wood Memorial) dropped by and I got their pictures.

Later in the evening we had another visitor, Johnny Banister, our long-time next door neighbor from Artesia.  Johnny tries to stop by and see Mother whenever he is in Mineola to see his aunt.

Sunday, March 4

Barbara finished her stint in Artesia yesterday and headed back toward Mineola.  We decided that we’d have a little adventure and a mini-vacation, so while she was driving toward East Texas, I struck out on the motorcycle and we met last night in Granbury.  We got up this morning and rode/drove to Cleburne to attend church with Tom and Nancy and their family.  Ryan worked a late shift last night, but Leah joined us for church and family time at a local Italian restaurant.

After a fun and leisurely lunch, we continued our journey back to Mineola, making a traditional stop at a Sonic in Balch Springs.

Wednesday, March 7

Happy 6^th Birthday to granddaughter Abby Dondis!!

We called Heather last night to see if we could come surprise Abby and Alexander at school today.  She said that Alexander would be on a field trip, but we could come to the school and have lunch with Abby.  So, we got up early this morning and made the drive to downtown Dallas, stopping first at the Tanger Outlet Center in Terrell to scout out appropriate gifts.

We had a wonderful time with Abby and Heather at the school and then Heather led us across the area to the school’s environmental science center for a visit with Alexander and his classmates.

As an aside, we were totally blown away by the quality of the environmental science center.  Their labs were far better equipped than the classrooms and labs we had at Liberal when we were there.  They even had “talking microscopes” that told the kids exactly what they were looking at when they were viewing specially prepared slides.

While we were returning to Mineola this afternoon, we received a call from our friend Mary Royar letting us know that she was throwing a surprise 50^th anniversary get-together tonight at Paredes Restaurant in Mineola.  We assured Mary that we would be happy to join them and our Holiday Villages neighbors to help them celebrate the occasion.

Thursday, March 8

Tonight I went to Jim’s community band rehearsal with him so that I could take some photos since they have a concert coming up.  It was very interesting as I thought they probably goofed off and joked around during the evening; but was astounded to find that everything and everyone was focused on music. They did get one 10 minute break so basically it was 1hour and 50 minutes of straight playing. Impressed (and, for the record, don’t need to come again, as one can only take so many pics).

Saturday, March 10

Jim had been given a bugler assignment in Atlanta, TX, so we check the map and hit the road. As the weather was cool, Jim donned his long coat to add some dignity to the event (even though when he plays he’s hidden from the family and friends so that the notes of Taps float through the air. It’s a chilling experience each time I listen to him honor a vet!

Since this was a part of Texas we had never experienced before, we did some wandering around and taking pics before returning home. I was fascinated by these trees that were growing in water everywhere.

Sunday, March 11

We decided that this should be called musical Sunday as Jim played the offertory at church this AM and then that night we went to Edith’s church to support Gene since it was because of his playing at Edith’s birthday lunch that he was asked to play at Harvest Acres.

Wednesday, March 14

Not really sure why Jim made a collage out of these unless he just wanted to prove that occasionally I do work out at the lot! Our friend Linda is sporting a new hair cut that is super on her so while her husband Gary helped Jim move one of the railroad ties, I captured her new “do.” And, the men decided that Jim and I would be looking for hired help to move the rest of those ties! Jim even said, “I used to be able to carry these by myself.” Well, duh! That was just 30 or 40 years ago!

Friday, March 16

Imagine our surprise when we received this wonderful package from Mal and Len in Boston! Wow! Did this make our day! On our “bucket list” is a trip to hang out with them for at least a week! They have many adventures that we wish we could share.

Saturday, March 17

Once again Jim proves to be my hero as I couldn’t find all the yearbooks that my classes at WMS designed and published. I had looked everywhere for them and had given up when Jim called from Big V and said, “Guess what I have found?” My first thought was “a snake?” Never even thought of the yearbooks as I had given up on finding them. Yay! Jim!

Sunday, March 18

We had to make a quick getaway from church day as Jim had to be at the community theatre by 1:30 for the band concert which was dedicated to the many vets of the community. After intermission, the audience was treated to the introduction of 25 veterans of WWII. Each man was called and as he stood, a short explanation of his role in the war was given. For example, one Mineola man spent his years in a concentration camp while another was rescued behind the line of fire on Iwo Jima at the exact time that his wife was having their first child, a boy. Tears were flowing as these heroes struggled to stand and as each turned to the flag and saluted it. The youth of our country could learn much about patriotism by spending just an hour with these men or men like them! Gene Bright, a resident of the same nursing home as Edith was one such vet being honored (bottom right). Jim and I were also surprised at intermission to find that his aunt TJ and her friend Cherrie were in attendance.  

Tuesday, March 20

Rain! Blessed rain! Lake Fork is now beginning to look “healthy” again!

Wednesday, March 21

Tonight was our night to keep the nursery during youth meetings; but since Jeremiah was out of town with his mom and brother, Emily and Jameson, Jim and I had no one to keep. Therefore, I wandered around taking photos and enjoying all the activity. Have no clue what Jim was up to during this time.

Thursday, March 22

Having grown up in New Mexico and then living in Liberal, KS, Jim and I both are enjoying the different beauty of East Texas. This includes the few days that Edith’s azaleas blossom out and add color to the house. We knew we’d better capture their splendor while we could because by the time we returned from our short jaunt, they would be gone!

Friday, March 23

After spending the day packing and visiting with Edith, we finally left Mineola around 3 to begin our journey to see Jaycie play volleyball in Amarillo on Sunday, the 25^th. Since her games begin early in the morning, we knew we would need to be in Amarillo by Saturday night. We drove, shopped, drove, shopped, and drove some more! We found in Terrell at the Russell Stover Chocolate outlet store some Snickers wrapped in the University of Texas covers as well as Texas Tech. The UT ones were perfect for Jean’s birthday and we felt son John would enjoy sharing those with his dinner guests sometimes. In Gainsville, we found not 1 but 2 pair of shoes for Jim…now this might not seem like such a big deal but you see, he wears a 6 1/2  and in men’s that is NOT easy to find! Eventually made it to Wichita Falls to spend the night, but not before we found a Sonic and purchased a Sonic card for the Beck who also has a March b-day.

Sunday, March 25

Since I was up and at it earlier than Jim, I took time to work on my photography skills as I would need them today when we saw Jaycie. Lol!

Jaycie’s number, whenever possible, is the same as her Daddy’s always was, #8. He was always so proud of and for her; we know he would be beaming if he could see these pics!

I will make this observation though…Jaycie is enough like her Daddy that I had to give what I now call the “Jimmy speech.” He hated taking pics and always let me know that so the last time I saw him, I didn’t take a picture. In my mind, I can see how he looked and it breaks my heart that I can’t share it with anyone but Jim since Jimmy Clint was beginning to look a little healthier, I thought.

So now, when someone protests my taking pics I say, “If you’re important enough to me that I want your picture, then I ask that you grin and bear it. So…she grinned and bore it though one with her Grams and Gramps!

Jim and I watched Jaycie’s team from 9 to 12ish and then hit the road to Artesia since we wanted to get there in time for the Beck and Jean’s birthday dinner at Jerry’s house. One stop at Pat’s in Portales for a malt lunch, healthy don’t you think? I tried to impress the young girl with how dedicated Jim was towards Pat’s since he’s been going there for 50 years, but she just didn’t get the importance. Go figure.

Jim’s sole purpose in Artesia life, I think, is to torment Becky! Well, we did a good job of it tonight as be both donned huge ribbons on our heads and told her we were her birthday gift and she had to unwrap us. Blush city until she realized all she had to do was take off the bow. A great time was had by all though one might say that it’s the longest day Jim and I have had in a while!

Monday, March 26

NM Sunrise…enough said!

Tuesday, March 27

I forgot my camera when we journeyed to Roswell to celebrate Jean’s real 82^nd birthday with a meal at Red Lobster. Our phones are lousy at taking photos but any photo is better than not having one! We were pretty impressed that G-Ma wanted to make the 45 mile trip to Roswell after having chemo in Lovington on both Monday and Tuesday; but she made it great!

Wednesday, March 28

After waking Jean up for a quick good-bye, Jim and I left Artesia at 6 AM to make the 8 hour trip to San Antonio where we’d see John and family for a night before heading back to Mineola and the real world.

Friday, March 30

Up and at it early so we could grab Bonita from the vet at 9 and then head to Lindale where we were blessed with the opportunity to volunteer our services (notice I didn’t say talents) at Timberline Baptist Camp working with Heidi in the kitchen as she had over 200 guests coming in for Friday night and Saturday morning.

Now, Jim and I are out of practice standing on our feet for long periods of time; so by the time 7 PM rolled around, we were exhausted. But, don’t tell Heidi or she won’t ask us to come again!

Saturday, March 31

Jim had a men’s prayer breakfast to attend and then we enjoyed another experience with Heidi!

"Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable." - Anonymous

Staying busy in Mineola,

Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams