New Year's Wish

Here are some nice thoughts for the New Year...



For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning. - T. S. Eliot

Then sing, young hearts that are full of cheer,
With never a thought of sorrow;
The old goes out, but the glad young year
Comes merrily in tomorrow -Emily Miller


Glory to God in highest heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given;
While angels sing with tender mirth,
A glad new year to all the earth - Martin Luther


Each age has deemed the new born year
The fittest time for festal cheer - Walter Scott


Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin


A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year. - Edgar A. Guest

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas.

The Missing Months

Life goes on, things are busy, and this has not been a priority.  I hope to post a bunch of pics in the new year. 
Thanks for your patience.

Some Nice Ideas to Share

This was sent to me as a forwarded message and I was asked to "keep it going" for good luck.  I usually don't do those types of messages, but I like this one enough to share it here.  It seems like there is a little something for everyone in the list below.

ONE.  Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 

TWO .... Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their
conversational skills will be as important as any other. 

THREE.  Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you
want. 

FOUR . When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it. 

FIVE.  When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye. 

SIX ... Be engaged at least six months before you get married. 

SEVEN..  Believe in love at first sight. 

EIGHT.  Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams
don't have much. 

NINE . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the
only way to live life completely. 

TEN. .  In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling..  

ELEVEN.  Don't judge people by their relatives.  

TWELVE.  Talk slowly but think quickly. 

THIRTEEN.  When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer,
smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?' 

FOURTEEN.  Remember that great love and great achievements involve great
risk. 

FIFTEEN.  Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.  

SIXTEEN.  When you lose, don't lose the lesson !

SEVENTEEN.  Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for
others; and responsibility for all your actions. 

EIGHTEEN...  Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.. 

NINETEEN.  When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps
to correct it. 

TWENTY.  Smile when picking up the phone.. The caller will hear it in
your voice. 

TWENTY-ONE.  Spend some time alone.

Southern Friends

My mother-in-law shared this with me.

FRIENDS: Never ask for food.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Always bring the food. And lots of it. 
 
FRIENDS: Will say 'hello'.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will give you a big hug and a kiss.. More than one.
 
FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. And Mrs.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad, and often.
 
FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Cry with you. And for you.

FRIENDS: Will eat at your dinner table and leave.
 SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will spend hours there, talking, laughing,
and just being together. Then do the dishes before leaving

FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you. And most of the time know you better than you do yourself.

FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds' back-ends that left you.. Then walk beside you in the front of the crowd.

FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, 'Are you home?' If you are not home they will wait.

FRIENDS: Are for a while.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Are for life. And then some.

FRIENDS: Might ignore this.
SOUTHERN FRIENDS: Will forward this to all their Southern Friends Without hesitation

I have been Blessed with SOUTHERN FRIENDS

Sunday

Fun day today.  We worked on our garden patio.  I've been laying bricks, and am almost finished.  Everyone helped today and I can't wait to share pics.  David took Sarah golfing this afternoon.  She was excited to caddy for him, and hoping to catch a horny toad, which he has seen frequently on this course.  In the meantime, Alex and I went geocaching.  We went for a target here on post.  Unfortunately, we did not find our goal, but picked up a ton of burrs along the way.  (Note to self - do not wear crocs when exploring the El Paso area).  I was "tenderfooting" my way back to the van.  So, in the meantime, David and Sarah arrive home, not with a horny toad, but with a TARANTULA.  A big, black, hairy, TARANTULA.  I am slightly arachnophobic so this was not a happy moment for me.  We are looking EARLY tomorrow morning about taking this fun find to the zoo for donation. 

The Beach

Top 10 Wonderful Things About the Beach

1.  Outdoor showers - something wonderful about bathing outdoors...
2.  Sand crab hunting...and then the retelling of the adventure
3.  Special people, and being together
4.  Sunrise over the ocean
5.  Treasures:  seashells, sand castles, sand critters, mermaid purses, sand dollars
6.  Seafood -  and MaMa's spaghetti dinner on the first night
7.  Firecrackers (thanks Uncle Dean), and treasure hunts
8.  Walking, tennis, swimming, laughing, resting, eating, playing, ....then doing it all over again
9.  The sound of the waves as you fall asleep
10. Memories to last a lifetime!

At Corolla - a few years back

Sarah vs The Waves

Alex "on the Sound"

Making dribble castles with the kids

Friday Garden

What a beautiful day it was.  I couldn't resist snapping some pics of my back garden.  Container gardening seems to be working well since the soil here is so poor.  We have a wonderful raised garden spot by the back wall for tomatoes.  So, here is my Friday Garden.

Basil - a must have

Roses, basil, more roses, mint....

Winter creeper and gardenia

Gardenias - just like in MaMa's garden

TOMATOES!!!!!!

Our volunteer pumpkin

Smokey on the back steps.

 

April Pics

Sarah and her Husker team mates.

Alex and a little friend from the NM hike.

Sarah by the stream on NM hike.

Pops and Teela at White Sands

Pops, Sarah, and Alex just outside of cave.

Family pic at White Sands Natl. Monument, NM

White Sands, NM

David and Alex on dunes

Flat Stanley and friend in the Chihuahuan Desert

Great pic of Sarah with her morning hair, and below.....

Sarah as Thing 1 - see any resemblance to above?

April showers us with business

Okay, despite the "title" of this post, we've had NO precipitation in El Paso this year, save the bit of snow in February.  We remain in an extreme fire weather level, and everything is really dry.  April has come and is nearly gone so quickly.  I had a birthday in early April.  It was good fun, and I'm glad to move on.  :o)  We've just returned from a long weekend in Ruidoso, NM with David's dad and his wife.  We've had some fun exploring the area with them and checking out a few things we had not seen before.  Along for the ride this time was Flat Stanley, courtesy of Karley Haskiell.  I think that he's had a good time exploring with us.  Tomorrow (hopefully), I'll post some pics from all of our adventures this April.  Big birthday wishes go out to Ava Swirzinski!!!!!  Check in again soon for those pics.

Somebody is turning 48!

Happy birthday to David!  He will be 48 on the 29th.  He has a lot of fun surprises coming his way, and has put in his order for his birthday meal.  This year it will be:  filet mignon with twice-baked potatoes, grilled asparagus, and salad.  Yummy!  I follow with my 29th birthday in just a week or so!  How lucky is this guy with a child bride?  Thank you, God, for such a lovely husband!

Spring Break in San Antonio

This big fella greeted us when we arrived at the ranch.

We traveled to San Antonio for part of our spring break.  We spent some time on a ranch and the girls enjoyed the animals.  Day trips included the Alamo, the River Walk, Tower of the Americas, the Witte Museum, and horseback riding.  Good fun.

Goats and mini pony just outside of our ranch cabin.

Sarah and Alex at the Alamo.

Amazing art glass sculpture.

Live oak at the Alamo - beautiful.

The River Walk is fun - especially at night with the lights.

The girls tamed an anaconda  :o)

Sarah rode a bicycle in the sky.

Sarah rode a horse named "Circus"

Alex on "Pinto Beans"

Hey there, Cowboy! David is on "Manana". My horse was "Larry", very creative name.

Family on the River Walk.

Wind Advisory Top 5 List

If Chicago is the "Windy City", then we have to the the "Windier City" here in El Paso.  Today I had tennis from 8:30 - 10AM, came home gathered a few things and headed out on errands.  It was pleasantly breezy, just right for a day that is supposed to reach 80F. 

I finished up the errands, came outside and it was like being on a different planet.  The visibility was for just a few yards - the beautiful vista had turned sand-colored.  I must have been a sight trying to walk to the van holding onto my sunglasses, hat, bags, and posterboards.  So, now I've decided that when the weather is forecast to become "windy" I should have the foresight to think of the following:

5.  Take down the wind chimes.  A small breeze makes my way cool "Latin Trio -   Tango" wind chimes melodic.  Winds like this just make it nerve-shattering.

4.  Move the grill against the house.  Last windstorm took our new grill, rolled it across the patio, and tipped it into the firepit.  Nice. And dented.

3.  Close all of the windows in the house BEFORE going out.  I just dusted (by the way, buy stock in Swiffer cause I am personally keeping them in business).  Now I come home to sand on the window sills, sand underfoot, sand in places sand shouldn't be able to get to - aarrggghhh!

2.  Don't schedule the team soccer photos for the day when you know it's going to be windy.  Just not a good idea.

1.  And the number one reason to heed the wind advisory........It would be such a shame to miss the opportunity to watch the El Paso tumbleweeds (plastic shopping bags) tumble by my house! 

Many folks here refer to the windy weather this time of year as the "Lenten Winds."  Lets see, Lent begins on March 9 this year, and today is the 7th.  There you go, right on schedule!

Tough to see the mountains for the sandy wind.

Does this help?

El Paso tumbleweeds (thank goodness this IS NOT my yard!)

Oops! I forgot the camera!

Old(er) age or just being absent-minded, I forgot to take a camera to Sarah's soccer game.  My cell phone takes pics, but has no zoom, so I didn't even bother.  It was an exciting game as the Huskers took on the Warriors.  These teams were pretty evenly matched and ended in a tie.  Sarah had a great kick on goal attempt.  Maybe I'll get my act together for the Tuesday evening game.  FT Bliss OCSA Spring Bazaar went well with lots of terrific vendors and big crowds.  I don't have the $$$ figures yet, but I think we did well.  The bazaar is a big fundraiser for the many scholarships we give out to the military community. 
I hope you all had a great weekend, and I'll be in touch soon. 
Oh my goodness, how can I close this without announcing the arrival of David's new baby?  He got a new golf driver, a Ping G15 (or something like that).  He is ssssoooo happy.  Watch out all you ASW guys! 

Go Sunshine!!!!!!

We have moved to steady warm temps here, and IT'S WONDERFUL!!!! I live for this sunshine!  I might have some more pics to post of Sarah's soccer game tonight (Go Huskers!) and the FT Bliss OCSA Spring Bazaar.  Have a great weekend everyone.

February

Alex and Sarah at Winter Park, NM

Alex on ski "escalator"

Alex and David at Ski Apache

Ski lesson

Alex and Sarah

Ski Apache

Sarah snowboarding

Sarah and her smores

Snow in El Paso!

An Experiment

My front yard is a big problem.  There are two huge mulberry trees which are beautiful and provide shade (a rarity in El Paso), but they also don't allow any grass to grow.  So what I have around the trees is a dust bowl.  Otherwise there is wonderful grass in the sunshine.  I planted mondo grass which should be tolerant to the heat, shade, and poor soil.    I don't expect that the mondo will make the area lush, but I'm hoping to eliminate a great deal of the dust.  The landscaping guys just smile when I talk with them about solutions to make this area green. 

You can see how dry the yard is - powdery sandy soil.

Just a few yards away is this tree with the "experiment".  I added just a bit of topsoil with the dwarf mondo grass.  Time will tell if some green will grow...