TRIBUTE

The Arkansas State Veteran's Cemetery was composed of rolling hills, Fall painted trees and a small lake with a fountain bordered by a memorial to our war heroes replete with flags waving over the edge of the lake. The ceremony took place in a pavilion bordering the same lake. There were two marines at attention, holding the American Flag which was neatly folded. The minister was from Janelle's and Travis church and he was a tall elegant man with snow white hair who had the most wonderful kind expression on his face.

Brother Grey gave a wonderful sermon about the nature of death. He gave the analogy that death was like birth. The baby is content in its mother's womb with all that it needs to survive, but in order to pass into Life it must leave that safe haven. It does so and enters a totally new and better life. So the person dying must leave the safety of this life for a new one that is even better. We are afraid of this passage but it is just as natural as birth and just a normal passage into a new phase of "living".
After his sermon, the taps were played and the two marines unfolded the flag and refolded it into a perfect triangle. Then each Marine saluted it in turn and one of the young men went to the family and knelt on one knee. He presented the flag to Travis with the words "On behalf of the President of the United States,the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a grateful nation please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's service to Country and Corps."

I have been to several military funerals, army, air force, navy and now marine. The ceremony never fails to touch my heart and make me so very proud of our country and the men who defend it. Rocky served in Viet Nam during the Tet Offensive when some of the most brutal fighting took place. He had a wonderful kind heart and loved and admired Herb. Herb had served in the Army ahead of Rock in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam. They had much in common in their shared feelings about the war and their love of family and country.

We will miss him very much.

His son Travis did a wonderful job of honoring him with such a beautiful service. Present for the service was his son Travis Crofford, ex-wife Janelle Crofford, his sister Judy Hennig, four cousins including us, and a sister in law. Melissa and Mike Catlett.

Sunday Dinner with Big Grandma

Movie Lust

I wish I could create this quality.
West Texas

Father Finds a New Chair

I wouldn't let him bring it home!

Advice

When was the last time you tried to organize you photos? Don't wait for 50 years. By that time you will have forgotten who's who and the date. I'm finally getting to my in-laws packed boxes of old photos. I'm finding so many classic and wonderful pictures that have no names or dates on the back. I can't believe my mother-in-law left this world without doing this. What a scramble it is to get them identified. Most of the ones who knew them died a while back. So, I'm depending on relatives who might recognize someone or the picture of someone. Sometimes, just getting one person named allows the picture person to identify the same person in other photos. Still, too many remain unknown and lost to future generations..

Gotta Love the Hair

Granted, he just got out of bed, but this boy has a record number of cowlicks. My favorite it his Alfalfa look. Aside from the hair, it's also great that he is reading. I know, you see him reading the funny papers here, but you're just as likely to see him with a thick book. A grandmother could go broke buying this boy books. I keep promoting the library and borrowing. When was the last time you visited your local library... well, that's too long.

Visiting Grandchildren

Yes, you see Hunter with a hammer destroying what was a boom box. Truth is, it was a 70's model we no longer use. I rescued it from the trash where Walt put it, and kept it for a "take-apart" project for the boys. Ethan became bored with after about 15 minutes, but H2 and I stuck with it for a couple of hours. That was one tough plastic encased unit. Our goal was to reuse the parts in an art project, but we didn't quite get to that part.

Fishing Pictures

Just so my New Zealand Family knows they don't have a corner on the market of "cute kid fishing pictures."

A Pie for Tom

Tom came to dinner Sunday and got a surprise... a rhubarb pie, my first one. I did it just for him.

Big Grandma's Bird Nest

Big Grandma liked her birthday wreath so much, she has kept it up since April. Now, she can't take it down until the garden wren's eggs hatch.

A Wow Commerical

Dirt Devil-The Exorcist from MrPrice2U on Vimeo.

Irony

Walt got his new I-Phone on Wednesday.
This appeared in the Thursday paper.

Comment of the Day

Walt approached me today and said, "Bad things are happening in this world."

"How? I ask.

"I just heard a mocking bird sound like a cell phone?"

YEP!

Saturday's Adventure

This picture resulted after 2 1/2 hours of standing in line in front of Williams and Sonoma's La Contera Store. Glad we did it. Eva is so nice. You might also note that she is the best looking on in the picture.

In the Garden TODAY

What fun it's been to watch this happen! We've watched this family for months. We drank coffee on the deck as a pair of wrens built the nest. We drank coffee on the deck as they took turns sitting on the eggs. We drank coffee on the deck as they have fed the brood. We'll drink coffee on the deck when they have gone.

These unlikely pals will no doubt entertain us as we drink coffee with our waffles while at the kitchen table.

Adult Mischief

At Mom's 90th Birthday Party, there were only 6 little boys and no girls. The rest of us were proper adults until...

Stehle filled up the leftover balloons with water and distributed them quietly. Not a kid realized what was about to happen when they were lined up to take a picture. I loved it!

Sunday Dinner with Big Grandma

We invited Jim and Edna to dinner, and got Bob and Gloria as well. What a treat to have all of them. Bob and Mom hadn't been together since Dad's funeral in 1994. She was so excited she couldn't sleep that night. Bob charmed her in a big way.

HEB Song

Mini-adventure #1

This is the time of year when cabin fever sets in and I long for an outing. One beautiful Friday we hit the road to Fredericksburg for lunch and a visit with friends. Wonderful!. On a back road on the way home, this beautiful creature along with a couple of her friends appeared just inside the fence. Couldn't resist stopping and snapping. She made be one parading downtown soon to hype up folks for our February Rodeo.

Green Christmas Salad

This is a Christmas family tradition for for decades. Until, that is, my children came along. It absolutely horrifies them. I doubt a single one of the three has even taken a bite of it...if so, I bet it was spit out. Just a simple lime jello salad with cream cheese or cottage cheese, canned pineapple and nuts. It's cool and sweet and LOW in calories. Use sugar-free jello and even the diabetics and large folks can eat guilt free. Great leftovers. These days, I have to make it just to create a little drama at the Christmas table. I'm tickled when they protest so much and make fun of my jello salad.

Now, not the case with my nephews. They believe in traditions like green Christmas salad. I heard from my sister that nephew Brice was talking wishfully about it at their Christmas dinner in New Zealand. When I explained how easy it was to make, she informed me that NZ jello just wasn't the same. I've written a note to myself to send HEB lime jello to NZ for next year.

I wonder if others have a Christmas traditions that gets mixed reviews?