Weekend in Downtown OKC

We spent the weekend of Sept 26 in downtown OKC. We used the occasion of a family wedding to visit our OKC grandkids, visit Kent's cousins at the wedding, and then spend some quality time alone. We stayed at the Skirvin Hotel, which is a destination all to itself. The hotel is about 100 years old, and has been restored beautifully to its former glory.

Weekend in the Arbuckles

Since most of us have our birthdays within a few weeks of each other, we decided to meet in the Arbuckle Mountains and have a family birthday celebration. On Friday night, we celebrated Rayna's 2nd birthday and Samuel's 3rd birthday. They got to decorate their own cake: Rayna at one end and Samuel at the other. On Saturday night, we had more cake and celebrated the adults' birthdays.

We stayed at a four bedroom lodge in the country. We hiked, went on paddleboats, went to the animal park, and made s'mores on a campfire. It was so much fun, we plan to make it an annual family tradition.

Back to Sandieland

On July 18, we went back to my high school reunion in Amarillo. What fun! We saw some of my friends from high school that I have not seen in decades! Here is a picture of my good friends from high school, the BCP. There were five of us. The four that were there: Kae, Mary Nelle, Jane, and Janis. Miss you Ginny! Thanks to Celeste, Marla, David, and the rest of our classmates in Amarillo for organizing the reunion. It brought back lots of memories. Once a Sandie, always a Sandie!

Eva and Michael

During our time in Amarillo, we visited my niece Eva and her husband Michael. They just bought a new house, and it is just great. That evening, we went out to dinner with them and my nephew Shelby. Sorry Shelby, I didn't get a picture of you!

Weekend in Amarillo

Kent and I went to my high school reunion over the weekend. We combined the trip with seeing my niece and nephew and seeing some of the sites around Amarillo. We went to the Cadillac Ranch, Panhandle History Museum in Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon (it's really beautiful!) and the Amarillo Botanical Gardens. On the way back home, we stopped at Groom, Texas to see the largest cross in America. Really impressive.

Fixing the Truck

On July 5, Kent was putting a gate on Clark's truck in preparation for his upcoming move. Samuel grabbed some tools and starting "helping" his Padron. I think he has a future with trucks. During the weekend, if he didn't see his grandfather, he would say, "Where is my friend Padron?"

Sweet Girl

Our sons and family came to visit us for July 4. What a great time, even though the rain cancelled out our traditional setting off fireworks. Clark and Danielle are looking at houses, and plan to move near us in less than a month. Yeah!! Here are some pictures of our baby granddaughter. She is one now, and stands with ease. She hasn't started taking steps on her own, but it is obvious that she will be doing that very soon. She is beginning to say some words. She said "mama" and "dada". She says "look" and points. She says "hi." On Saturday, she learned a new word, "Nana"!! How exciting is that? I am definitely her biggest fan.

Aunt Mupp and Samuel

Danielle has a way with kids. It is a God-given gift. The kids call her Aunt Mupp. She and Samuel had a good time outside at the new swing set. Later, she and Samuel learned how to separate the leis into different colors.

Birthday Celebration

We drove to the city to attend Little Hazel's first birthday party. She had a grand time, and so did big brother. Hazel liked the gifts, but liked the cake even better. She made such a mess with the cake and icing that she went directly from the highchair to the bathtub.
We brought a little gift for Samuel, so he wouldn't feel so left out. It was a foam sword. Foam, so he wouldn't hurt little sister as he pretended a sword fight.

Fun with Rayna

Here are a few more pictures of little Rayna. She is a real talker. In fact, she chatters all the time. The only problem is that most of her words are just one syllable. When you are around her for a while, though, it is very clear what she is trying to say. She is very happy most of the time. She calls Nana "Le" and she calls Padron "Doe".

Mother's Day in San Antonio

We spent Mother's Day with Kent's mom this year. We had a wonderful bonus, because that meant I could have Mother's Day with my daughter and granddaughter, too! Our San Antonio family met at Kent's mom for barbeque and conversation. Little Rayna got to play with Hunter and Vicki's kids, especially little Katie who is her age. All in all, it was great fun. Here are some pictures of the family. The one with Grandma, Padron, Kara, and Rayna is four generations. Also, notice how sweet Rayna and Katie are. They are the same size.

Sweet Hazel

Here are a couple of more pictures of little Hazel. She was an absolute delight the entire week. She was happy about 99% of the time. She did cry when Samuel pretended to be a lion, and the lion roared and bit little sister. But, that unpleasant game was over pretty quickly!

8 Days in April

For the last 8 day, our house has been a hive of activity. Bret and Amber took a vacation to Hawaii, just the two of them. So, Samuel and Little Hazel took a vacation to Nana and Padron's house. Samuel is two and a half, and he is a bundle of energy, all the time. We scheduled some activities to keep him busy: a trip to feed the ducks, baking cookies, helping Nana make breakfast, a trip to the lake to see the water, and a few others. Little sister is very sweet and loving. She loves to cuddle, and she loves to laugh. Uncle Clark and Aunt Mupp (Danielle) were here, too, at least for half of the days. The kids love their Aunt and Uncle, and having some extra hands around was a tremendous blessing. My favorite moment of the week was the night that Samuel gave me a kiss and told me I was his friend forever.

Easter Surprise!

We had a great Easter surprise! My niece and nephew from Amarillo stopped in for a visit. Seems they selected a new puppy from Shamrock, Texas, and since Shamrock was fairly close to us, they drove on over to see us. What a blessing! Eva and Shelby, we love you, and hope you come back to see us again soon!

Country Fun

After the wedding, we spent some time at Kent's mother's place. We spent time in the sunshine with Kara and Rayna. Rayna loves the outdoors. She is quite a talker, too, but at 18 months, most of what she says is just one syllable. When we went for a walk, she pointed out the cow chips, and told us where to walk, and what to avoid. She pointed out the mess and said, "Poop. Yuck, Goss (gross)"