My Girl

Well, I wish I could claim her as my own. Well, she is mine ~ in a remote kind of way... Rick's neice, Dena's daughter, my girl with the rainbow hair.
She came to E.T. with Dena in May, stayed a week and upon arrival back in Georgia told her mom that she wasn't done in E.T and came right back. She's been here all summer ~ flitting in and out of my house at her whim. She and Tim have found a different kind of 'cousin' relationship - they're both near adults now - right and taking advantage of their freedom from 'can I... huh, can we please go, Mom?' of years gone past when Dena and I ruled the worlds of teenagers.

I love her untamed free spirit, quite ways of coming / going, and rambling nature that is an excellent work in progress. Her future is so bright and she burns brighter still.... And I love her ever-changing rainbow hair, constantly new toe nail polish... yep, I'll take her every minute I'm graced with.
We are missing her already and she's only been gone for 2 days. We've been so blessed with her visit. I'm very sure she had the best summer ever in... where else... East Texas.

East Texas Summer

We had such a great time with these kids. Tim is such a clown ~ he and Angelica keep each other on their toes with constant jabbing at each other.

Tim is sure he'll win the bet of girl vs. boys fishin' tournament - that got Angelica's competitive spirit up
"no way, boy". Rick was impressed how she took care of business ~ baited her hook, patiently brought in the biggest of the bluegills and even took 'em off the hook.

Excellent day, even if it was hotter than hell... but that's a July day in East Texas - 105 degrees in the shade.

Fishin' with the kids

What a great day. A short 1-1/2 hr. drive to Purtis Creek State Park. Rick took the newly re-newed (4 yrs in reconstruction) john boat for it's maiden voyage. Problem is it only holds 3 peeps... no problem, rent another boat for the girls and see which team can catch the most fish. Girls win... yeah.
This is a first trip to this state park and won't be the last. It has great RV spots and lots of water to fish.
After a morning of fishing, time for a great picnic of sandwiches and then swimming while Rick talks fish-shop with a local 9 yr. old - 'what ya fishin' for, what kind of bait you use, been here before?'... Rick always talks patiently with young folks.

Beautiful Babies

Great niece & nephew... I love these grand-ones, and claim them as my own even if they don't fall into the traditional mold of grand-babies. They are the joy of all that have the pleasure.
Cambrie is a jewel, always smiling and content to explore her world. Celton is busy, busy, busy with whatever has his attention at the moment. Jed & Mel are such exceptional parents to these 2 young ones.

I am blessed to say they are my family and I love them.

New Years 2009

More old pictures - not quite so old.
2009 found us camping at Tyler State Park. Kind of an odd thing, but the weather was fair and we figured we might take advantage of a great camping park only 40 miles away. I had the bright idea to take Suki Na... she was miserable... so after only one evening I was up and headed home to drop her off. She loves to go riding any time ~ an open car door must surely mean she'd invited. She has pouted many times because we tell her she can't go camping, but has a change in that thinking... NO MORE CAMPING - EVER.
Heidi - she is a different story - she loves the adventure, the attention, the new smells, extra treats, the endless reasons to bark... yep, she's a camping buddy.
We had another successful camping trip... I can't wait for the next one ~ coming up this weekend... excellent.