Progress

The front of the garage just lacks a few rocks to be complete. It looks really good. Greg did a little fancy finishing work around the window. The "Rose of Sharon" (althea) by the garage door had to go. It was very pretty with its purple flowers but it had grown as tall as the roof, and besides, I am so proud of the pretty rock work that I don't want anything covering it up!!! At some point, I may plant some little dwarf shrubs of some sort along the front but for now, I am just going to enjoy the look.

When I got home on Friday, this is what greeted me at the end of the garage. It looked a bit like a cross between a circus tent and something in a bad trailer park.

But the next day when we worked in the shade of the tent, I didn't really care WHAT it looked like. I think it was about 103........again.

Greg had the rocks all on the ground like a jigsaw puzzle, ready to go on Saturday morning at 7. He says it goes a lot faster that way when he doesn't have to look for the pieces as he goes. It took both of us to set this big bubba in place. It was HEAVY!!

The rock pile has diminished but still a lot left.

What drew me outside this evening was the fact that the sun wasn't glaring outside. When I went out, this is what I saw.......CLOUDS!!!

It has been a long, long time since we have seen clouds. Maybe, just maybe, they will come with a chance of rain.

Jonathan

Jonathan hadn't been to visit us since before we went to Florida. Since it was so hot today (I think it was like 105), we got the pool from the garage and let him play in it. He had a good time, although I don't think he quite understands why it is ok to get in water other than in the bath. Papa even cooled his feet in the pool.
Jonathan LOVES the dog for some reason.

Tonight, he kept putting the cup full of water to his mouth and choking himself. I finally had to take it from him.

Next, we went to visit the horse that now lives next door. I have taught him to come when I whistle because I also take a carrot or pear from the tree for him to eat. I think Jonathan must have thought this was the biggest dog he had ever seen. He wasn't so sure about it at all.

After dinner and his bath, we took Jonathan for a wagon ride (after it had cooled down into the 90's). He sure looks like he enjoyed it!!

I think we tired him out. After a bottle, he went to sleep and I don't think he moved. He was sound asleep when his mom and dad picked him up.

Tomorrow we get up early to work on the rock on the garage. It is lookin' good!!

Nancy's Haute Affairs

As if the birthday girl doesn't have enough going on with a restaurant, a diner, and a successful catering business that has been running out of both establishments, Nancy has now opened another food related business. She makes catering appointments for weddings and parties here now.

They also offer a daily selection of gourmet "take out" food, ready for the busy woman/man going home from work and wanting to grab dinner for their family. The day we were there, the food looked yummy.

Nancy, as well as her sister Kristy, have such an eye for decorating and knowing just where to put what.

She has oils, and sauces, and butter, and wine, and pasta.

She also has samples, which Greg was taking advantage of....

It is really a nice place.

Kristy works for Nancy several days a week, as does Stosh.

I know Nancy's new venture will be a wonderful success!!!

The Party

Finally, it was time for the surprise party. It was at Skopelos on the Bay, also owned by the birthday girl/husband. The view from the restaurant is great!!

Greg took this picture of the cake. We thought all we would have to do was flip it but it just didn't look right from that angle.

There was great food and drink, a wonderful band, and lots of Nancy's family and friends.

Greg and Nancy sharing a sweet brother/sister moment.

All the girls: Lorie, Sara, Millie, Nancy, Kristy, and Ashley.
(Sorry Lorie, I just had to snag this picture that was taken with your camera.)Nancy and Gus

Kendall and Uncle Greg

Alex and her dad, John (Lorie's husband)

Greg and his mom

Gus is Greek so he and the family did this really great Greek dance. It was a fun end to the night!!!

Destin, FL

We rented a car on Sunday morning. After lunch, we drove to Destin. I have heard many people say that it has prettier beaches than Pensacola. Being a Texan who only has Galveston and South Padre to compare to, I couldn't see how any beach could be prettier than Pensacola Beach. I have to say that they are pretty close. Greg couldn't get over how many people were on the beach at Destin.

He said when they would go as kids, there were never many people at the beach.

The sand was so white and the water such a pretty jade blueish/green. We weren't dressed for the beach but I had to get my feet wet.......and my pants got kinda wet, too.

On the way back, we crossed a bridge and these boats were all stopped on a sand bar. It appeared to be one big party. People were walking from boat to boat, visiting and having a good time.

Scenic 90

We ate breakfast several mornings at the Scenic 90 Cafe, where Millie works and owned by Greg's sister/husband. I made Kendall a hat out of a piece of the Sunday paper.Kate was having fun with some sunglasses.

This shot is blurry but I think it might be the beginnings of a "stink eye".......

Kate was playing with Uncle Greg.

Rock Update

Greg has really made good progress on the garage. He worked on it most of the day yesterday. I think we finally cleaned up at about
9:00 PM.

I love the look and can already tell that I am going to wish that we had rock on the house as well. But maybe at a later date we can do some rock on the patio by building a fireplace/cook area as well as a pond.

Lunch

Saturday we met Ashley and the grandkids at Cracker Barrel for lunch. The kids have grown so much.

Kaila gave Papa quite a run for his money in a lively game of checkers.

I think she beat him at least once!! Good job!!

Kaila will be in second grade. She is really a "girlie" girl. Her outfit was all matching, even down to her flip flops and the bow in her hair!!!

Bricen is all boy, through and through. He noticed that there was one hole with no "tee" in it on the game at our table so he just politely reached across to our neighbor's table and took one so that all the holes would be full. Then we had to explain to him that to play the game, one of the tees had to be missing, so that, like checkers, tees could be jumped. He understood, and he and Papa got a very good score on one of their games.

We had a good visit, really enjoyed seeing them all!!

Family

We stayed at Greg's mom's house and so did his baby sister and her two girls. We got to visit with them and totally enjoyed Kendall and Kate (and it IS Kate....if I called her Katie, Kendall was very quick to correct me!). The girls were such a joy to be around. They were polite, pleasant, happy, and well behaved. Their parents have done a great job with them!!

Millie worked hard on this cake for the "decoy" birthday party on Friday night. It was yummy!!

The reason for the "fake" party was so that the birthday girl wouldn't suspect anything about the "real" party on Sunday night. She was totally surprised when she saw everyone on Friday night and thought that was the end of the celebration.
Nancy, the birthday girl, and her son, Stosh, who was heading to a fancy dance later.

Nancy, Kristy, and Millie are acting silly!!

Uncle Pat making Alex and Dani take a breathalizer test BEFORE going to the dance. What is with that???? Aren't they supposed to do that afterwards???

And we thought flying would be quicker.....

We thought flying to Pensacola would be a good idea.....easy, quick, more relaxing than driving all day. Well, it looked like rain all the way to Fort Worth, then it BEGAN to rain. And it continued to rain, and thunder, and lightning......which keeps airplanes on the ground. No planes were going anywhere. Our 10:40 AM flight got delayed until well after lunch. DFW was PACKED!!

At one point, Greg was at the end of this line, until I was able to print our tickets at the Delta kiosk.

There were people everywhere. At one point, there was not any available space anywhere.

This was our view for most of the day.....sitting on the floor, waiting for the weather to pass.

At noon, it finally cleared and planes began to depart the airport. I think we finally left at about 4:00 PM.

Our connecting flight in Atlanta was nowhere to be found at that point. We were rebooked on another later flight. Which moved from gate, to gate, to gate. At that point, I just knew our luggage would never make it with us.

It had been years since I had flown at night. It was kind of neat. Greg let me have the window seat. Not the best of pictures since there wasn't much light.We finally arrived in Pensacola at about 10:00 PM. And to my great amazement and relief, our luggage made it, too!!! When I saw it, you would have thought that I had won the lottery!! Greg's sister and brother in law visiting from Kansas were nice enough to pick us up at the airport. We were very glad to see them and even more glad to see that someone had our bed turned back and ready for us!!