Lunch with the Johnson's

What a nice treat! Matt and I were able to enjoy a nice visit and yummy lunch with Eric, Robin, and their adorable 2 1/2 year old daughter, Camy.

Peaceful and cozy Sunday evening

What a nice way to spend a Sunday evening....a crackling fire in the
fireplace, a good book "Christmas Hope" (a gift from a sweet friend),
a warm, soft robe and Matt relaxing nearby on the love seat. Ahhhh...
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Duchess and the snow

Duchess is not sure what to think of the snow we received in Lubbock
on Christmas eve. She made a path in the snow that avoided all the
large snow drifts. We tried showing her how to go through the drifts
by running and jumping in the large drifts, but she would just stand
at a distance at stare at us like we were nuts.

Guess who's coming to town?

What a nice treat! Lanette's granddaughter, Trina, came to Lubbock for the day. Trina treated me and Lanette to a yummy lunch at Logan's Roadhouse. Yum! Thank you Trina!


Trina and Lanette with Kitty and Tootsie with a pretty Christmas tree in the background.

Home for the holidays!

Went with simpler Christmas decorations for our home this year, and
quite pleased!! We even found a great spot to highlight the Christmas
cards we receive from friends and family....our tree!

Looking forward to spending the Christmas and New Year holidays at
home with our family and friends.
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Cactus Cuties

What a nice treat! Lanette took me and Matt to see the Cactus Cuties at the Cactus Theater in Lubbock. What a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon....in the company of Lanette and my wonderful husband listening to Christmas carols and hymns sung by adorable girls (and 2 little boys) ranging from 5 to 17.

Lanette's Christmas tree

Wishing all of you a very merry Christ-mas and a Happy New Year!

Lanette's little 3-ft Christmas tree looks so cheery. We had a fun time decorating it and it hardly took any time at all (what a difference it is decorating a 3 ft tree vs a 6-7 ft tree!)

Merry Christ-mas!!

"By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

Jesus is the true reason for the holiday season.

Thanksgiving Fun in Jasper!

Uncle Matt with Skylar and Taylar. Baby Kaelyn and Mom Strother are the little speck in the background by the silver SUV.

Dad Strother riding Zoe and Spence riding Sandy. What a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous fall afternoon!

Matt & Stephanie (Hope let me borrow her cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots to make a perfect outfit for riding!)

Matt riding Sandy!

Yummy breakfast with family

Yum! On Saturday, my mom treated me and Lanette to a delicious
breakfast at Golden Corral. The omelete bar featured made to order
omeletes and the chef was a great cook and funny too! The French
toast and fresh fruit were excellent too! It was such a treat to
spend time together visiting and enjoying yummy food.

Fun visit with friends

Matt and I enjoyed the chance to visit and eat a yummy meal at Cracker
Barrel with Matt's buddy, Eric, and his wife, Robin, and their
adorable daughter, Camy.

Fun at Vacation Bible School

What fun we had teaching and learning about Jesus with a group of 4th
grade girls at Vacation Bible School this week!

I am so thankful that God provided my friend, Jenny. She was a great
teacher and a great help with the girls.

What an awesome group of girls we had! They were so eager to learn
about Jesus! Skyler and Savannah even accepted Jesus Christ as their
Savior during VBS! I know that there was rejoicing in heaven over
their decisions!

I will continue to lift up each of these wonderful girls in prayer
that they will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and
fulfill the plans God has for each one of them.

Yum! Paella

Matt and I had recently seen a Bobby Flay throwdown where Paella was
the featured dish. A rice, chicken, seadfood and vegetable one pan
dish... it looked yummy!

So on Sunday afternoon, Matt and I went grocery shopping for all the
ingredients (shrimp, orange roughy, chorizo, drumsticks, peas,
tomatoes, chicken stock and rice) and the paella pan (a very large,
but shallow pan). (thankfully Bed Bath and Beyond carries them!)

Matt an excellent chef, and I, the lovely assistant were quite
pleased with our first attempt at paella. Yum! 

Lanette's Memorial Day spirit

Lanette's flowers are doing great and she even added some U.S. flags
in honor of Memorial Day!

Surprise backyard visitor!

Imagine our surprise when we returned home from work to find this
little black, abandoned puppy had snuck through the gap in our gate
and was hanging out in our backyard with Duchess!

Fun with Trina

I was in Austin on business and had a free evening. What a treat it was to catch up with Trina (my great Aunt Lanette's granddaughter, so therefore my 2nd cousin). We had a wonderful time catching up and enjoyed a yummy meal at the South Congress Cafe!

Fun visit with Veronica, Jeff and baby Ronen!

What a treat! Veronica, Jeff and their adorable 8-month old son, Ronen, were in Texas for a racquetball tournament. I was nearby (in Austin on business) and had a free evening, so we all enjoyed the chance to catch up and visit.
Mommy (Veronica) and Ronen. Ronen is so cute and so interested in what is going on around him.

Ronen's favorite position in his carrier/stroller....so he can check things out and won't miss a thing! Isn't he adorable?
Veronica, Ronen and Stef. (The kind waitress in the background was getting Ronen's high chair setup).
Veronica and Stef. Veronica and Jeff were doing very well in the racquetball tournament. Both of them had games later that day....unfortunately, I had to head back to Austin for work. Hopefully, next time I will get to see Veronica in action on the court!

Mother's Day with Great Aunt Lanette

What a wonderful Mother's Day treat! Lanette invited me and two of her young lady neighbors to attend a Mother-Daughter tea at her church. Lanette looked so pretty that we just had to get a picture of her before we headed to the tea.


The tea at the church was tasty and lovely. About 25 ladies attended (plus two gentleman!). We enjoyed some delicious sandwiches, muffins, punch and tea and then heard an excellent testimony and short stories from Virginia & Hanna Joy Meltzer, missionaries.

After the tea, Lanette and I decided that we were still a little hungry and that it was pretty close to supper time. Thankfully, I had a gift card to a local steakhouse (thanks to a co-worker), so Lanette and I went to Logan's Roadhouse for a delicious steak supper! Yum! Apparently, we were not the only ones that thought steak sounded good for supper. While we were waiting for our seats, we were admiring the beautiful pansies and decided to snap a few pictures. Lanette looks great in blue, it really brings out the color of her eyes!

A helpful passerby offered to snap a shot of both me and Lanette.
Happy Birthday and Mother's Day Lanette!!

Lanette's Flowerbed

Lanette and I have enjoyed seeing God's handiwork revealed in her flowerbed. We have enjoyed spending time together on beautiful Spring weekends, weeding, clipping and fertilizing her flower bed. Below are some pictures of her beautiful front flowerbed. If you're in Lubbock, you should come by and see the flowerbed for yourself!

What a beautiful crysanthamum centered between the beautiful irises!


Lanette is ready for spring in her beautiful blue outfit and her flowerbed is looking lovely!

An up close shot of Lanette's dianthus and shamrocks. The dianthus just love their sunny spot and bring smiles to visitors that walk up the front walk. It is so exciting that the shamrock is blooming! Can you see the one little pink flower just to the right of the dianthus?

One more shot of the Lanette's flowers as you walk up her front walk.

Fun on Sam Rayburn Lake

Thankfully, the weather was nice enough on Saturday that we were able to take the boat out on Sam Rayburn and enjoy some fun & fishing!
Matt & his mom are ready to get to the fishing spot!

Matt's dad- Captain and guide for the day!

Matt is very focused on his fishing!

Matt's focus pays off with a nice size catfish!

Easter Egg hunt

The girls had a blast dying Easter eggs on the back porch. (They are quite creative with their designs)
After the eggs dried, Hope and Jakole hid the eggs in the backyard while Skylar & Taylar and I filled their Easter baskets with soft padding (purple Easter grass).

Then the hunt began! Skylar found the one hidden by the trailer tire!


Not only did the girls have fun finding all the eggs, they had fun counting and eating them too!

Not only is Hope a budding seamstress, she is also enjoying Ballet, Jazz and Tap classes. She modeled her Tap costume for us and even gave us a sneak peak of a tap dance from their upcoming recital

Our adorable nieces, Skylar and Taylar!