In Texas

We arrived in San Antonio safe and sound Wednesday afternoon.  It was an interesting flight - at least the beginning was.  We arrived at the airport - looking like traveling gypsies!   When we put our suitcases on the scales, Angela and mine were both overweight - Marianne had about 4 pounds to spare.  So we opened up our cases and started rearranging things.  I had 2 12 packs of Cheerwine in my suitcase and Angela had 1 in hers so that was a lot of the weight.  After moving things around, then the gate attendant told us that our carry-ons were too bulky.  So .... a little more rearranging.  Then we discovered that because I had a Delta credit card, we got all our luggage for free.  I knew mine would be free but didn't know everyone traveling with me would be free also.  So, we ended up checking one of the carry on bags since Mom and Angela were sharing a suitcase.   Luckily we had arrived at the airport really early so got everything switched around with lots of time to spare.  As it turned out, when we got to our gate, the airplane was full so they checked our carry on bags for free to our final destination.  That has happened for me the past 2-3 times I have flown.  Our plane was late leaving Charlotte which cut into our layover time in Atlanta.  We were supposed to have an hour but it ended up being only about 40 minutes and of course, as luck would have it, we landed at Terminal A and were departing from Terminal E.  We had Mom in a wheelchair and were racing her through the Atlanta airport!!

We have been busy since we've been here.  We had some good Mexican food Wednesday night.  Yesterday we went to the outlet malls in San Marcos and were there for 7 hours!  Oh my!  We laid all our purchases out when we got home and Ashley is now trying to decipher all our receipts so we can all "settle up."  We combined some of our purchases because of coupons or military discounts.

Our Vera Bradley and Bath and Body Loot

Part of our loot!

Probably a good thing Sonny doesn't read my blog!!  And Marianne's husband told her not to come home with another Vera purse.  Well, she didn't buy one - she bought several!!  It was a fun and successful day.  Angela, our non-shopping sister, was a good sport about it.

Today we went to the Alamo and to the Riverwalk.  The weather has been nice - in the 70s, low 80s today.  Tomorrow and Sunday is supposed to be in the mid 80s. 

All of us in front of the Alamo

Home again!

We are home!!  We got home Friday afternoon.  Sammie thought it was about time!!  She was really meowing loud the last few hours of the trip and had had enough of the car.  We didn't blame her - we had too!!   Sonny and I did most of our unpacking Friday and spent Saturday just vegging out.  I really needed to go the grocery store but just couldn't make myself get back in the car again! 

Today we had our family Christmas at Marianne's house.  My brother even came up from Charlotte.  It was so good to see him.  Unfortunately with his job and family, we don't get to see him as often as we would like to.  We had a great dinner and then exchanged gifts with each other.  I got a great tee shirt from Marianne!!

It is a family joke that I - who is the oldest by 11 years - is the favorite of Mom's.  When I first moved back to NC, 6 years ago, I started having Thanksgiving dinner at my house.  After dinner, while we were all still sitting around the table, we played this "table talk" game that had been gifted to me.  Each person gets 2-3 cards from the box and has to answer the question on his/her card.  The questions are very thought provoking.  Well, mom's question that year was something like what is the greatest thing that has happened to you in your life.  Her answer was the birth of me!  Of course, after she said it, she wished she could have taken the words back.  But what she meant was having her first child (which happened to be me!!)  Anyway, my sisters have not let her forget about it since then.  Marianne also included a Christmas ornament she found this year that says "FIRST BORN - Mom's favorite"  

I got my Spring Mini goodies today so hope to be making a few cards and project with me in the next couple of days to share.  I am playing bridge tomorrow and going to the grocery store (our cupboards are bare!) but have no plans for Tuesday except Soup Kitchen in the a.m.

Pictures from our trip

made with MDS2

Hope you are having a wonderful 2013 so far ..... 364 more days to go so make the best of each and every one of them. Sonny and I enjoyed a good movie last night (Jack Reacher) and are just "vegging" today while we watch my favorite parade, the Rose Parade. Some day I will be there watching it in person.

Thought I would share a few of the pictures I've taken while on our trip. I haven't done any card making so don't have any creative items to share. My new catalog items are waiting for me at home so I hope to be sharing some new things with you next week. We will start the drive back home tomorrow and have Christmas with my NC family on Sunday.

A Spanish Terrible Towel - these people were from Mexico cheering on the Steelers!  I tell you, Steeler fans are everywhere!

I got to meet Reed Coskey!  Such a cutie!

Sammie's favorite spot at Ashley's house!

Sonny & I with Heidi and Reed

Christmas Day - my pillow and scarf from Ashley

Another cutie - we met one of our son's best high school friends (Landon & wife Rachel) for breakfast in Grapevine and I got to play with Liam Montgomery

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

One week from today and Christmas will be over!  The time is running out and I still need to shop!!  Hopefully I can get a little done today and a lot done when Ashley and I go out later in the week when she is off work. 

We have arrived in San Antonio no worse for wear.   The trip has been interesting so far and with the cats in the picture, I know the next couple of weeks will be the same!  We arrived in Dallas last Thursday afternoon.  Margaret and Graham came by and picked me up and I went with them to their daughter's house.  I had never met Samantha's twins, Jake and Morgan and they are already 5!!  Such cuties!  After a quick visit, we met Sonny for BBQ back in Grapevine.  On Friday we met our good friends, Don and Sharon for a long lunch (Mexican, of course) and a  nice visit.  Then on Saturday, I had a 3 1/2 hour lunch with some of my girlfriends that I used to work with and my bunco-playing buddies!  It was so great to catch up with each other.  Sunday we headed over to "Jerry Jones land" aka, Cowboys Stadium.  All I have to say about that is .... it was an exciting game.  Just wish the outcome had been in the Steelers favor.   The Steelers fans outnumbered the Cowboys fans in the stadium and we saw a lot of Terrible Towels waving in the wind!  It was a beautiful sight!  Our seats were great - we were about 15 rows up from the field in the corner of the end field.  I have the best daughter in the world - she got us good seats .... if she could only have assured us a win!!

After a visit with our financial planner Monday morning and another quick visit with one of Jeff's old high school friends (who still calls me Mama!), we hit the road to San Antonio.  Sammy traveled most of the trip great but she was pretty restless on the final leg.  I finally got in the back seat with her and she settled down.  We stopped off in Austin to see our friend, Heidi and her 11 week old baby, Reed.  Awww - so adorable!  She is doing good with him and it is amazing to see her as a mom! 

We arrived at Ashley's house and after unpacking let the two cats meet each other .... not good!  Ashley's cat, Bogart does not meow - she is a mute cat but she has her claws.  Sammie does not have claws but she can definitely hiss and bite.  They just do not get along!  So at night, they sleep with their respectable owners and we shut our doors.  During the day and evening, we take turns letting one of them have the run of the house.  Although Sammi is pretty scared to even come out of our bedroom.  She spends most of the day curled up on the bed.  I really don't know what to do about it and hope they work out their differences and at least tolerate being in the same room.  Last night while we were watching tv, Sammie came out into the den.  Bogart was on the couch with Ashley & Sonny so Sammie came and sat in my lap.  Ashley had to hold on to Bogart to make him stay there.  Sammie didn't have any interest in going over to see Bogart.  And just now, Sammie & Sonny were still asleep when Bogart pushed his way into the room.  All I heard out here was hissing!  Sammie had crawled in her carrier and Bogart was trying to get her to come out and play.  Poor Sammie - she has never been around other cats so she is really scared.  Guess we'll just have to keep them separated while I'm here letting them take turns wandering around the house.  Anyone else have any experience with this? 

Ok - how about a little Christmas trivia on Christmas Cards!  I finally got mine in the mail this week - I was mailing them along the way as I finished them.

The first commercial Christmas card produced was in London in 1843. John Callcott Horsley produced them for Sir Henry Cole. The scene depicted both adults and children, sipping wine and having a spirited time. It was a bit controversial but proved to be a lucrative endeavor. The cards, a total of 2,050, sold for a shilling each. One of these cards sold in a 2001 public auction for about $36,062.80 in American dollars!

The early Christmas cards rarely depicted snow or religious scenes. They leaned more towards flowers, fairies, and other fanciful designs depicting the oncoming of spring. Again following the earlier traditions of Winter Solstice! Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals became popular as well as elaborate designs, shapes and decorations.

Louis Prang produced the first American Christmas card in 1875 in Boston, MA. Sometimes he is referred to as the “Father of the American Christmas card.” For graphic designers, you should know who this man was. He produced many beautiful lithographs for various items … books, postcards, cards, maps, etc. Actually he started in wood and steel engravings and then went to lithography. At first this was a very lucrative business for him but then printers came out with cheaper reproductions, ending this aspect of his business. He is also known for his endeavors to improve art education in the US, publishing instructional books, and creating a foundation to train art teachers.

Towards the end of the Victorian period, postcards became very popular. But by the 1920’s, cards and envelopes returned as the popular preference. During World Wars I and II, many cards were produced with a patriotic theme. During the 1950’s more humorous and risqué cards hit the market. The only prevailing type of card that has remained popular are the home-made, or hand-made, cards. Producing the cards was a family tradition right along with decorating the tree, exchanging gifts, singing carols, etc. Many often accepted the card to be the gift as it was made, not produced, from the heart and carried a high sentimental meaning. Consensus was hand-made cards started due to economic reasons. Now many produce these for artistic reasons or to avoid the commercialization of Christmas.

Tea Lights Box and Flower Holder

We've arrived .... in Dallas that is.  We spent last night in Shreveport, LA which used to be one of our favorite hang-outs when we lived in Texas.  We liked to spend a weekend there at the casinos - back before the economy went south and we had money.  It only took us about 1 1/2 hours at the blackjack table to lose a couple hundred dollars!  I was done but Sonny went to another casino after dinner and won a little bit of our money back!

Sammie is getting used to the traveling I think!  I've been worried about her because she hasn't eaten or drank anything since we left NC.  But tonight when we got in the room and she had checked the place out, she drank some water and ate a little bit.  

Here is one of my favorite things to make at Christmas time.  They are great to give as small gifts.

E-Z TEA LIGHTS CANDLE BOX

·        For the box bottom - cut a 3-3/4x8-1/4" piece.

·        Your longest score lines are at 1/2", 1-1/8", 2-5/8", & 3-1/4"

·        Your short score lines are at 1/2", 1-1/8", 7-1/8", & 7-3/4"

·        Cut out the shaded areas and on the cut line to make flaps.

·        Decorate box as desired.

·        Crease all folds well with bone folder.

·        Apply sticky strip to the 4 outer most sections and assemble to box.

·        For the box cover – cut a 5x6" piece of card stock. 

·        Score lines will be 6" long side -  5/8", 2-1/4", 2-7/8", & 4-1/2".  (see picture below)

·        Crease folds well with bone folder and put sticky strip on one edge flap.

·        Decorate inside if desired. 

·        Peel the sticky strip and wrap cover around box, adhere flaps together. 

The box opened

EMBOSSED FLOWER CANDLE HOLDER

 The Fun Flower Sizzix die is used to make the holder using hardware flashing material.  Cut out with the die & Big Shot and emboss.  Put a "glob" of glue in the center to hold all together.

 

CANDLES:

·        Fold a piece of tissue paper into 4 layers, and sandwich between 2 layers of copy paper (to make it easy to punch – you don’t need the copy paper when you are done.) Punch out 1-3/8" circles.  Leave it between the copy paper layers and punch 3 times in the center with the 1/16" punch to make a hole big enough for the wick to fit thru.

·        Stamp tissue paper with desired images and color with markers.

·        Slide tissue paper over the wick onto top of the tealight.

·        Put tealight down!  Do not hold for this step.  Heat top of tea light  with heat gun until the tissue  paper melts into the wax.  All done! 

Clean and Simple

Today is my son's birthday - 34!  Hard to believe my baby is that old!  Wish I could be with him today.

I am not so good at doing Clean and Simple cards but I do like how this one turned out.  It's hard for me not to add just one more thing when doing these types of cards. 

For this card, I spritzed the Crumb Cake card with Marina Mist and Summer Starfruit inks.  As you can see, I used lots of Framelits and Dies to make this card.  They make it so much easier!

We had a good time this weekend in Atlanta.  Before we got on the highway, we met Margaret & Graham in Charlotte for lunch.  Margaret called me Friday night to tell me they were in town - a last minute decision.  Too bad she didn't call earlier and she could have come to my Christmas Card Stamp a Stack!  We met Ashley and her friends for drinks and dinner when we arrived in Atlanta.  Sunday we walked over to the Coca Cola Museum and toured it.  It was really interesting.  Afterwards, we found an Irish pub to watch some football.  Ashley thinks we much have a touch of Irish in us!  Ashley went to her conference Sunday night to hear the opening speaker; Sonny stayed and watched more football and  I went back to the hotel for a nap!  This morning after breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Underground Atlanta.  How disappointing!!  Back "in the old days" when Sonny and I were dating and were first married (early 70s), Underground Atlanta was THE hot spot!  I have many fond memories of bar hopping and having fun in Atlanta in the Underground.  Today though it is just a plastic, sterile shopping area with really junky shops and kiosks lining the roads.  You can still see some of the original architect - brickwork, granite archways, cast-iron pilasters, ornate marble, wooden posts and gas streetlamps from a centuries earlier but other than that, it's not worth the $3 we paid to park!  The only store we even wandered in to was the "Made For TV" store! 

I have a really busy week so bear with me if I don't post much.  Tomorrow Ashley and I are working in the Soup Kitchen early and then coming home for afternoon Stamp Club.  Wednesday I have my second Christmas Stamp a Stack and Thursday is my other Stamp Club.  After the ladies leave on Thursday, we are heading to Asheville for a couple of days.  Somewhere in the next week, I need to plan my menu for Thanksgiving and do a little grocery shopping.

Fall Beauty

Sorry I've been MIA but have just been on the go here.  Friday, I played mahjong and when I was through, I met Sonny for a meeting at the fire station regarding our neighborhood and the state taking over and maintaining our roads.  After that, we drove into town to see a movie.  We saw Taken 2 and he got his movie picking privledges back since it was a good action packed movie.  On Saturday, I volunteered at the Sherrills Ford Library Fall Festival and did face painting for a few hours.  After that, I HAD to go check out the new Hobby Lobby that opened last week in Mooresville!!!  I also stopped by Stampers Alley and had a nice visit with Brenda - it had been too long!  I didn't buy much at Hobby Lobby but it is good to know that it is there when I need something and can't wait for SU to ship it. 

On Sunday, Sonny and I drove up to the mountains to check out the fall foilage.  It wasn't great but what we did see was pretty.  It really depended on what altitude you were out whether there was color or not.  We drove through Blowing Rock hoping to have lunch there but the restaurant was packed and we didn't want to wait.  So we went on to Boone and finally found a restaurant that didn't have a line coming out the door!  The foilage in that area really hadn't changed much yet.  So we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway and started climbing.  We got to Linville Falls and walked down to see the beautiful falls.  The leaves there had changed and were very pretty.   We did discover that there is not much red in the foilage this year - mostly orange and lots of yellow.  We left Linville Falls around 5:00 and within an hour we were socked into the clouds.  It was scary to me not to be able to see ahead of the car so I kept trying to fall asleep!  We ended up in Asheville and found a hotel for the night.  The fall color was spotty at best in that area - with some of the trees already bare.  On Sunday, we drove over to Lake Lure and had lunch before heading back home.  They are expecting the leaves to change there within the next 10 days.  But, we had a beautiful view of the lake while eating lunch.  That is a place I want to return to and rent a place and just have a relaxing weekend.

Enjoy the pictures!

Our view from the outside patio having lunch at Lake Lure

Lake Lure view from restaurant

Trees along the road after leaving Asheville



Not many reds in those mountains!



Linville Falls

Lake (or river??) at Linville Falls



Linville Falls

Home again.

I'm home!  We got back late Wednesday night.  Sammie was sure glad to see us when we got home ... she didn't have any water or food left so we got home just in time.  She didn't want to leave my side and even slept right next to me all night which she doesn't normally do.  All day today, she has stayed close and even now, she is curled up in the chair next to me. 

Thought I'd share a few pictures I took while I was in Texas.  We got to meet my nephew, Jack and his wife, Katrina with their cutie pie baby, Jack IV.  They call the baby IV ... I called him Jack!!  Just don't know that I would want my son to grow being called IV (like "ivy"), would you?  But he is a doll baby with the biggest eyes.



He loved drinking from the straw!

  On Saturday, Ashley's best friends came over with their twins (Alec and Julia) who are so cute.  They were born when Ashley was deployed and will be 2 in January.  We played in the pool with them and they were little fishes.



Bogart's favorite way to drink is straight from the faucet!!



Paper Craft Crew Challenge

For today's Paper Craft Crew Sketch Challenge (whew - that's a mouthful!) I decided to go with a Halloween card.  It won't be long.  I've noticed the stores already are stocking Christmas .... what's wrong with waiting till Halloween is over????  Too early in my opinion.

I am still in Texas .... leaving to fly home this afternoon.  It's been a great working visit and I'm always sad to leave but it won't be long until Thankgiving when we'll be together again.  Ashley took off work all last week and we did a LOT of work in the yard and got a lot done.  Monday when she went back to work, I decided to tackle the front yard.  I put down black plastic on one side of her shrub bed and Sonny poured 10 bags of mulch over it; dug up about 10 small nandina bushes and moved them; planted a few other plants that she had bought at Lowe's on Sunday; and trimmed up some of the larger shrubs that are already established.  It looks pretty good but boy was I hot, sore and tired Monday night!  It was nice to jump in the pool when I finished.  Yesterday I worked inside making slipcovers for one of her window seats and pillows and hanging a few pictures.

We had a little extra bonus last night.  One of Jeff's best friends from high school was in town doing some work.  Scott came over and we visited a little while before going out to dinner.  It was really great to see him.  Sonny had not seen him since his wedding and it had been 3 years since Ashley and I had seen him in College Station shortly after his first child was born.  We had a great visit.

OK - on to the card I made.  Here is the sketch that I had to work with:

Here is my card:

How do you like that folded corner?  It took a bit of maneuvering but I finally got it!  The stamp is a single stamp in the Holiday Mini Catalog (I think!) 

Just a quick post to share with you my Paper Crew Challenge card this week.  I used MDS2 (as usual) and had fun with these hexagons.

We worked out in the yard most of the day Tuesday pulling weeds and cleaning up some of the mess that the contractors left in Ashley's yard.  There are a lot of issues with the work that was done and Ashley called the contractor to come by today and look at things - fence, concrete work, sprinkler system not working, trash and planks from original fence just left laying in the yard, etc.  He was not happy when he saw some of the shoddy work that was done and told Ashley he would make it right.  We've got the irrigation people coming on Thursday and hopefully, some of the other workmen to fix things.  We went to the movies Tuesday night to see Bourne Legacy.  It was pretty good.  We are going to Brenham on Wednesday to take a tour of the best ice cream company in the world .... Blue Bell!  I have been there before but it was on a weekend and the tours are not offered on the weekend. 

I lost a good friend and fellow Stampin' Up demonstrator this weekend.  I just learned of her death today.  I knew she was close to the end but was still shocked and saddened.  Becky was such a great gal and always so upbeat even while she was fighting for her life for the past year.  She will be missed by a lot of people.

Circle Flowers

This is a very simple card I made using punches.  I just punched circles to make the flowers and placed them randomly on the card.  The leaves are also punched and for the stems, I just cut a few strips of cardstock.  The DSP I used is the SaleABration paper which I have hoarded!

I am all packed and ready to go. I got my hair cut today as well as a manicure and pedicure so I am all "spruced up."  We leave tomorrow for Texas and are excited to be going again.  I have not been there since last March but it has been since Christmas for Sonny.  I can't wait to see the remodeling that Ashley has done on her back patio and yard.  I think Sammie (cat) is tired of seeing me get out my suitcase.  She knows she's going to be left alone again.  But this time, my mom and sister are going to come over and stay at our house for several days.  They will be attending the state Association for the Blind convention next week and it is being held here in Sherrills Ford.  It will make it an easier commute for them to stay at our house.  (Plus, they both want to use my whirlpool tub which I never use!!)  This is a good time for us to be leaving since the Democratic Convention is going to be in Charlotte next week.  I don't want to be anywhere near that!!  I hope Charlotte pulls it off but I really don't think they are a big enough city for this type of event.

Home Again!

Wonder how many posts I've done with this title!  We had a great time in the Outer Banks.  Unfortunately, the weather was a bit of a problem but we worked around it.  Ashley and I laid out on the beach most of the day Sunday and Monday.  The water was ice cold and we never got much further out than our waists.  Don't know if it's always that cold or not but our legs would feel like they were frozen when we got in.  We stayed in Kill Devil Hills Saturday - Tuesday and then drove to Hatteras to catch the ferry to Ocracoke.  We stopped at the Bodie and the Hatteras Lighthouses along the way.  The Bodie Lighthouse was under construction with scaffolding all around it.  Luckily, the Hatteras Lighthouse wasn't (it was when I was there a few years ago!)  So there were lots of photo opps. 

When we got to Oracoke, we found our motel, got unpacked and drove over to Howards Pub.  We all loved Ocracoke Island and wish we could have stayed there longer.  Unfortunately, it poured down rain on Wednesday most of the day.  We were able to sneak down to the beach for a couple of hours late in the afternoon.  It worked perfectly - Ashley & I took our chairs down near the ocean and read our books while Sonny sat up on the wooden shelter out of the sand and read his book!  Perfect!

Our motel had a great view of the ocean and the Ocracoke Lighthouse.   I got some great sunset pictures from our balcony.

Ashley and I on our balcony at sunset

Sonny and Ashley sitting on beach shelter railing

Beautiful sunset - see lighthouse in background

Ocracoke Lighthouse

Bright Blooms Sketch Challenge 43

It's time for the Wednesday Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge #43!  This week we had a great sketch to work with.  There are a lot of options for this sketch - make a pocket card, tuck a tag in .... etc. 

I have been working hard for a few days getting all my downloads on My Digital Studio up to date.  I printed out a list of ALL the downloads to date and have been highlighting the downloads that I have purchased.  Yesterday I went through the list and highlighted a bunch of downloads that I want to get in the future.  I ended up buying about $40 worth of new downloads yesterday so I just had to use one of them.  The flowers in the card below are from Tuesday's newest downloads.  You can see the newest downloads HERE.   Every Tuesday Stampin' Up releases new downloads.  You can view them all by clicking on the Digital tab above (in my blog title). 

I just love these flowers - called Bright Blooms.  They are pretty large and I just resized them (and copied and pasted them) onto the green scallop circle.

Items I used for the MDS card are:

Cardstock:  So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade DSP, Flirtatious (yellow strip)
Punches:  Scallop Punch (filled with green); Scallop Trim Punch
Accessories:  Bright Blooms, Pearls
Stamp:  Best of Everything

I received some new SU goodies yesterday but I haven't had time to play with them.  We went out to dinner with friends last night.  We went to an Italian restaurant in Cornelius and had a yummy meal although I have enough Baked Ziti to serve a couple more nights!  Why do they give you so much?  Just lower the price and give me a normal amount of food!  When we got to the restaurant, Sonny & I noticed a new bar in the same area called Paddy's Pour House.  It had shamrocks on the sign so we assumed it was an Irish bar.  After dinner, we convinced our friends to go with us to check it out.  Well .... it will not make our Top Ten list!  I am sure we stuck out like a sore thumb - everyone in there was probably in their 20s, it was very loud, and didn't even have any of our Irish beverages on tap.  Too bad but we have seen a sign for a new Irish bar that will be opening in Mooresville soon and we are waiting to check it out.

I am going to be a travel agent on the side!  Our friends that we had dinner with are waiting for their passports to arrive.  They want to take a trip to Seattle and the Vancouver area and wanted our input.  They convinced me to plan it for them since we know about the area.  I don't know much about Vancouver but I suggested they spend a few days in Seattle, take the ferry to the San Juan Islands and stay at a bed and breakfast on one of the islands (something I wish we had done when we lived there) and then get on the ferry and head on over to Victoria.  Victoria was our favorite Canadian destination when we lived in Washington.  It is such a quaint little town.

Anchorage - MDS pages

Thought you might enjoy my MDS scrapbook pages from our visit in Anchorage.  We flew into and out of Anchorage.  If you click on the pages, you can view them and read the journaling.  I usually have a hard time with journaling on my scrapbook pages but I think that is because I usually wait too late and it is difficult to remember all the details.  I'm trying not to let that happen this time!

 

Home

I'm home!!  We got back Friday and I've been trying to catch up on my sleep ever since!  We had a slight delay on our return flight - it was delayed several hours.  We were supposed to leave Anchorage at 8:30; instead our flight left at 11:30 making us miss our connection in Houston.  But luckily, we got on a flight leaving Houston at 10:00 am and arrived home around 1:30 p.m. only to find that our car battery was dead!  Welcome home!  We were both exhausted after being awake over 24 hours.  We both only grabbed a couple of hours sleep on the plane.   Saturday, I slept till about 11 a.m. and finally woke Sonny up around 1 pm!! 

My mom ended up having another surgery while I was gone.  She had her first back surgery about a week before I left town.  But, she was still hurting and not progressing like she should have.  So, she went back to the doctor and had an MRI done.  A week later ... when she went back to the dr. for the follow-up, he finally looked at the MRI and saw a mass where the incision was.  So, they sent her over to the hospital and prepped her for surgery on Thursday.  It turned out to be a blood clot pressing up against the nerve.  They kept her over night this time and now that she is home, she is doing much better.  The incision is hurting her, but she seems to be able to get up and around much better than before.  Hopefully, this will do the trick.

I haven't had a chance to do any stamping since I got back home but hope to do some this week to share.  In the meantime, I will share a few more of my Alaska pictures.

We went to Seward on Tuesday which is on the coast and pretty rainy.  It rained the whole time we were there,.  We were scheduled to go on a day long wildlifemand glacier viewing cruise on Wednesday but because of the bad weather, we were only able to go out into Prince William Sound to look at wildlife.  As it turned out, it was a good thing!  The closer we got to the open water, the more my stomach turned.  I never get sea sick, but I have learned to never say never!  I ended up standing out on the back deck in the cool air during most of the trip with the other people who were feeling queasy!  But before I started feeling bad, I was able to see a lot of wildlife - sea otters, lots of bald eagles, porpoises, seals, cormorants,  and puffins but no whales.   The scenery was breath taking with waterfalls and a couple of glaciers.

Enjoy this video of the porpoises that were swimming along side the ship for quite some time. (hope it works!)

Ashley & I at the beginning of the cruise on the ship.  We were all bundled up - that wind was cold!



Sea Otters lounging around on the rocks.  They also "sang" for us!



Sea Otters were posing for us on the top of the rock!

These are Black Legged Kittiwakes.  There were thousands nesting at the end of Cape Resurrection.  They secure their nests to the sheer cliffs.  

End of the day catch - unfortunately, not ours!!

Remember - you can click on the pictures to see them better.

Greetings from North Pole!

On Sunday after we visited the "resort" and ice hotel, we drove to North Pole, Alaska!  It's one of those towns that is typical of Alaskan towns - if you blink, you miss it!  But this one would be hard to miss.  Driving through North Pole in any season you will notice Christmas decorations, street names, and light poles that reflect their motto - "Where the Spirit of Christmas Lives Year Round."  We drove down Santa Claus Lane with giant candy cane light poles and stopped at the Santa Claus House, the official home of Santa Claus himself.  Many of the streets bear holiday names: Santa Claus Lane, Snowman Lane, Kris Kringle, Mistletoe, Holiday Rd., Saint Nicholas Drive, North Star Drive, Blitzen, and Donnor.  Street lights are decorated in candy cane motifs and many buildings are painted with Christmas colors and designs.  Live reindeer, a variety of photo opportunities, and Santa Claus himself are available for photographs.  The only thing missing was the cold weather!  We walked around in long sleeve tees.  It's amazing how warm it has been on our trip - we haven't needed our coats at all.  In fact, most of the time, in our hotel rooms, we have needed air conditioning and not all the hotels have it! 

Reindeer - none of them had a red nose though!!

Mural on outside of the building

I loved this mural on the building!

For over 60 years, they have been sending letters to children all over the world with the North Pole postmark and the assurance to the child that Santa is watching and will be making a visit soon.

We ended the day by returning to Fairbanks and wandering around Pioneer Park which is a themed park emphasizing historic Fairbanks.  It is a really nice 44 acre park that was built for the Alaska Centennial.  The park includes:  the steam train that Pres. Harding rode in when he drove the Golden Spike for the Alaskan railroad; a 40-foot antique carousel; cabins have also been refurbished as close as possible to their original condition and are occupied by local merchants offering an assortment of refreshments, gifts, and Alaskan souvenirs and a riverboat, S.S. Nenana, which once sailed Alaska's rivers, is permanently docked at the park and has a great diorama of the points of call in its heyday. It is  listed as a National Historic Landmark.  They also have a Salmon Bake that is very popular but we didn't have that since we had eaten a huge Chinese lunch about 3:00.