Eden Elizabeth Brooks

This beautiful little lady came into our lives August 14. Phil and I went to see her at the hospital in Fort Worth and got to spend additional quality time with Aunt Suzy. We left the hospital and went to the Dickies clothing outlet and Phil did his back to school shopping. All in all, a lovely day in Fort Worth.

Big Snake, Little Lizard

Here are a few exciting shots of the very big snake getting interested in the lizard on the log. I think it was an all act and they have been trained by the Moody Gardens staff to make it look exciting. Well, it worked for me.

The Saga continues

These are a few of the wonders of Moody Gardens. Pretty amazing, actually, and I fondly remember seeing these scenes with GS Troop 1299 back in the day.

Hey, that post showed up this time when I logged on so I went ahead and posted the two shots of Little Cath for your enjoyment. I will get to more of the details of that fabulous day, but now I have decided to go more in order, at least as far as the pictures go.

James and I got to go to Galveston, specifically Moody Gardens on a school board-related seminar. That was a really lovely trip as far as I was concerned. I did lots of reading and gazing at God's beautiful world. On Sunday morning we drove to Baytown and went to church with Steve and Denise, which we really enjoyed.

But while I was standing in the foyer after church, I got a call from Jan who was in Evansville with Michael and family. Amazingly, she was informing me that Mike had "coded" twice in the ER and she was on her way to the hospital with Mike's sons, not knowing what lay ahead. I heard reports periodically thru the day. Valerie offered to look up flight info for me and I wound up flying to be with Jan a day after we got back to Big D, or actually, Not so Big FB. Michael's recovery was not for certain for awhile, but he is healing and in fact has gone back to work. Jan has remained there to help him with child care. for riveting reports of her housekeeping, pet and child care, check out .

Back in the Blog World...or Not???

The shark is from Moody Gardens in Galveston, and the other shots are from around the island. We were there when the surf was up because of one of the tropical storms.

Okay, so I started to post a day or two ago and find that I have forgotten how. I can only assume that my brilliant work did not get saved, because, well,where is it??? The deal is I've got some great pix of recent historic events and feel a need to share. So I signed on and immediately was offered the opportunity to download Picasa which will manage my photos and make sticking them into the blog an almost, dare I say pleasant, experience. Well that took a good bit of time while I experienced angst about how it would work with Kodak EasyShare and Adobe, where lots of pix already are, and where I used to know how to get to them, so what if that knowledge, once I can recall it, is no longer useful?? You can see how a person could start to doubt their wisdom. Well, I wrote a little something about our terrific Austin weekend (just past) and downloaded a picture, then somehow did something to download the exact same picture and could not for the life of me figure out how to delete one of them. And the more I looked, the more I thought I should use another picture entirely. I think that's when I shut her down, thinking, "Tomorrow is another day..."

so what I need to know is how to get the text to wrap around the pictures. I downloaded a few and they are, as you might notice if you are paying attention, all above the words, which came first and it seems like they should come after the words, but oh, well. I have to go to a shower, so I must take my leave, but rest assured there is more.1 We haven't even got to Baby Eden E. Brooks, not to mention Catherine's gala shower and bridal portraits in Austin.

So hang in there, Peeps...the best is yet to come...maybe...

It has been a busy few weeks of late. Most recently Catherine flew in from Tucson and we drove to Austin. Some of her buds were throwing her a shower, so Cath, ever the organizer, decided it would be a great time to meet her friend/photographer Lisa and get those bridal portraits knocked out Saturday morning before the shower. Well, Lisa is also organized and she made Catherine a hair appointment at a fancy little shop in funky downtown Austin, where Cath got her hair done by a sub for the person Lisa had made the appointment with, but wonder of wonders, she was very good at her craft and Cath's hair not only looked good, but was indestructible for the rest of our busy day.

Father's Day Fun

Philip and Trina met us at Pei Wei for lunch. They were a tad late and we had eaten when they got there, but hey, it was still good to watch them eat and celebrate the day with Uncle Jimmy. Phil said he had a note for him but actually never did hand it over that I am aware of...better check into that, I guess...

James did get a card from Cath that she actually had found in my stash when she was here, pilfered it, and mailed it back for Father's Day! I don't know how long I've had it and why I never had bestowed it on the honoree in previous years, but oh, well...He's got it now! And it was timeless in it's cuteness, I must say.

For Father's Day, Lyndsey worked the last day of Fate's Imagination and was suffering with a migraine, but she did come through in a big way for FD and my birthday. She got us tickets to the roadshow of Spamalot which will be here shortly...how great is that!

Trina noticed that I have no photos of Phil on the refrigerator, so I intend to correct that. Check out a few spontaneous shots from the afternoon:

Fabulous San Antonio!

I really enjoy the opportunities to savor the Riverwalk in San Antonio when I get to go with James to the Texas Assn of School Board conferences each year. I basically sat and read awhile then walked awhile, went to the Alamo, went to La Villita, went to Starbucks, sat awhile and read awhile. On our way out of town we stopped at the Guenther House for lunch and some sweet cream waffle mix for Phil and Lyndsey. Veeves and Cath got jewelry from La Villita for their souvenirs. Hard to say who is the luckiest...

Family Fun

The Family Reunion was lots of fun with lots of good food. We got a lot of visiting in on Saturday at the Briar church building, then went to Roger and Ellen's to finish off the evening. After church Sunday we went to Carolyn and Arnold's for leftovers and more visiting. Philip and Trina came but I apparently failed to take any Sunday photos. Rotto!!

Uncle Arnold and his newest great grand child Miranda West, daughter of Jeremy and Marie.

This charming couple is blessed to be parents of Roger Lowe and the in-laws of Ellen!

Julie and Greg in front, Valerie and Craig to the back. Craig is fielding a call, if you are wondering.
Ellen and her sweet m-i-l!
Steve and Denise came from Baytown to enjoy the get-together. They stayed at our house.

You can't tell, but Carolyn and I were filling a few cups with ice.

Lindel and Betty came from Hugoton, Kansas and we are so glad they did!
Cousin Don Cullers and wife Sue of Granbury with Uncle Jimmy.
Uncle Jeff and young grandmother Debbie West with one of her twin grandsons, the children of Jennifer and Brent Russell.


I was amazed when I saw this very confident mother duck leading her flock of eleven through the neighborhood. Her babies were more obedient than mine! I had to take a picture to be sure I was counting them correctly. I wonder if she really sat on all those eggs or if she is in ducky day care....

The other bird was travelling solo, but I wanted to see how close I could get with my camera lens. I got that close....

Invited to a wedding in Jamaica...does it get any better??

The Caribbean as viewed from our villa balcony.
Veeves on the balcony of our villa.
Each villa had a golf cart in which the guests could explore the grounds .
Linda S., me, Veronica and Jeff, and Linda B. at the Rehearsal Beach Party.


Lots has happened, but I haven't blogged in forever, so nobody will ever know! If I can remember how to find the pictures on the computer I will show you some photos of the Denise Thomas-Aaron Mishel wedding in Jamaica at the end of April. Valerie and I had a wonderful time in an absolutely beautiful setting. All the guests who weren't Jamaica residents stayed in villas at the Tryall Golf Club. My daughters are now sold on destination weddings and are lobbying to be adopted by the Thomases.

Summer is here and we are looking forward to the family reunion this weekend. I am cooking a few choice items which will no doubt be the biggest hits of the ball. Just kidding, there are some fabulous cooks in Uncle Jimmy's family, and all I hope for is not to embarrass myself. When the babies were small I got away with corny dogs, but don't have the nerve to try that any more. So far, I have produced a Tortilla Cobbler, and a corn casserole is in the oven. I want to get a few dishes done today and some tomorrow, so Saturday morning won't be stressful.

James's brother Steve and our s-i-l Denise are supposed to arrive here Friday around 5 PM, so that is when I hope to be done cooking, overseeing a spotless home, sweat-free and charming. Is any part of that an attainable goal? I'll let you know.