Random January happenings...

I'll finish up the month with some random happenings...

Katie took me to Chicken Salad Chick for lunch one day - very good food!

Sushi lunch one day!

Mum got a new lamp. Thank goodness Katie was in town to take care of this - I couldn't have done it!

Katie got a new car!  Taking her brother to see it.

Love my kiddos!

Kenneth unloading Bob's wheelchair at Tom's visitation...so sad to lose another dear friend this year.

This girl and I can't get enough sushi!!  There were two other lunches I didn't get pics of, too!

Kenneth figuring out Tom's job of drawing up the ramps and ordering supplies.  Not only will he be missed by all who knew and loved him, the wheelchair ramp ministry is going to miss him.

Mum waving the Terrible Towel while watching the Steelers in the AFC playoffs.  Unfortunately it didn't help.

Trip knows the warmest place in the house...smart cat.

It snowed!!  January 16th we had measurable snow for the first time in years!  I worked from home for two days because the temps never got above 28 degrees and both bridges I cross to get to work were iced over.

I'm still a pretty good aim with a snowball!!  Got her twice...

Lunar Eclipse!

We got up this morning and drove to the Mooringsport boat launch to see the eclipse.  It was cool to watch it but my phone doesn't take great pictures of things like this.  You really need a good quality camera so I always take my pic and then go online to get really great pictures.  It was awesome to witness history!

 

Picture from our local news channel

My picture of the lunar eclipse over Caddo Lake

As an added bonus, we saw a beautiful sunrise...:)

Fun Sunday ride

Yesterday we left the house around 8:45, stopped at Waffle House for a great breakfast, went to the 10:00 service at Simple Church, stopped by Rita's so Kenneth could fix something on her car and then met up with the group for a birthday ride for Keri to the Los Pinos Ranch in east Texas.  It was a beautiful ride, great wine and meal and fun group to hang out with.  The only downside was we left the winery a little bit too late and had to ride in the dark which we do NOT like to do!  So many critters out at night on all of the roads leading to our house and we saw deer so that makes us a bit nervous but thank the good Lord, we made it home safe!



Leaving church



 

 

 

Friends of the vineyard owners flew in from Dallas for the day and were headed home.  It was a beautiful day for riding AND flying!!  And look at that beautiful moon!

Just the girls...

Now everyone!  Fun day with a fun group.  Looking forward to more adventures in 2018!

Bingo!

Last night Katie and I met Holly for crawfish at Shane's then on to Bingo at the Veteran's Bingo Parlor in Shreveport.  They've been before, but this was a first for me.  WAAAAY more to it than I thought, but by the end of the night I wasn't as intimidated as I was when we first sat down.  The folks there are VERY serious about their Bingo playing!  And the last game we played was worth $3,000 - it's no wonder they're serious about it!  It was a really fun evening - happy these two friends included this old girl...:)

Look at all these cards - it really was all I could do to keep up.

Fun kids to hang out with!

Sunday ride and visit

One day, it's 17 degrees and all you want to do is sit by the fire and five days later, it's 64 degrees and you want to get outside and do something!  Well, Sunday the 21st was the 64 degree day so we go on the bike after church and headed out for a ride.  We ended up riding over by where we lived when we first got married and has that area ever changed in the last 35 years - I didn't recognize a lot.  We stopped and ate at Crawdaddy's Kitchen and then on to visit with Kathy and Charlie.  They enjoyed getting outside, too.  Fun, unexpected day!

Getting ready to roll!

The crawfish were still small so I went with the boiled shrimp - turned out to be a great choice!

Happy Kathy...:)

Enjoying the sunshine.

We'll get to see them again in a couple of weeks for the Mardi Gras parade.

Kaylie Jayne cashed in her coupon!

Amanda texted me January 8th and said Kaylie wanted to use her "Day with Aunt Elaine" coupon she got for Christmas so we set a date for January 20th.  What fun I had hanging out with this precious 11 year old!  She wanted a backpack that could only be found online so I ordered it and had it when I picked her up.  She gave me her Christmas money to pay for it (a requirement of her mom - she's trying to teach them about money, budgeting, etc.), switched all of her stuff from her current purse to the new backpack and off we went!  We went to the Boardwalk in Bossier City, shopped, ate sushi and went and saw "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" in 3D.  I had such fun talking to her and learning about who she is now - a sixth grader who loves art and social studies - but still seeing that sweet little girl I've known since the day she was born.  I asked her if she would rather me get her a present or another coupon this year for Christmas and she said she wants another coupon which is fine by me!  Thanks for the fun day, Kaylie Jayne!!  Looking forward to our next day already!

Headed out!

Kaylie with the fountains of the Boardwalk behind her.

One of the many shops we poked around in.

Sushi!!  Love that I have someone else to eat sushi with...:)

Since she didn't want a manicure, I told her to pick anything she wanted and she got a unicorn from Justice.  We put him in the car before we went to see the movie.

Stylin' in our 3D glasses!

Happy 2018!!

This new year has come in COLD!!!  The temps all over the United States have been way below normal for the past ten days and it's no different here in north Louisiana.  We've been as low as 17 degrees with the wind chill dipping into the single digits.  Thankfully it's not raining so there is no snow or ice.  Both Moms and Daniel were able to make it for our traditional New Year's Day lunch of pork loin, hot dogs and sauerkraut, macaroni and cheese ( I tried my hand at homemade this year and it was a huge success!), blackeyed peas, mashed potatoes, applesauce, cornbread muffins and mimosas using the leftover champagne from last nights toast.  Mum added her yummy green salad to the mix, too!  Love the comfort of starting every new year the same.  Here's hoping that this new year is full of blessings, laughter, love and LOTS of new adventures!

 

Farewell, 2017...you've been a memorable year!

2017 was a wonderful year for us - way too many blessings for me to count.  All I can say is "Thank You, LORD"!!!  Looking back at my posts for the year have been so much fun - I can't wait for the book to be printed!  We spent the day sleeping in, cooked breakfast, went out to eat at Walk On's, stopped by Milton and Jill's to see the awesome train set-up and for a nice visit, back to the house to snack for dinner, bake some cookies, watch some movies and toast with champagne at midnight.  Katie was home this year so she was able to take our picture this year - no selfies necessary!  Looking forward to a wonderful 2018!

Such an awesome setup!!

There were so many little displays within the larger display.

Lights out!

Loved this from every angle!

I have so much fun with this guy - he still makes me laugh every day...:)

Happy 2017 to us!  Looking forward to 2018 with him!