Sit back, get comfortable and get ready for a long ride! It's been a while since we have taken the time to update our blog. So yesterday we decided to sit down and catch up on all the goings on and wouldn't you know it--we get half finished and the Blogger website goes down for repairs! This morning not a single word of yesterday's blog, including a lot of pictures, could be found! Gone, vanished into cyber-space! So, here we are again. This time we hope to catch up on the past 3 months of Jeepers Creepers!
Our big news is the arrival of our 4th grand child, little Leighton Grace Phillips, born March 10 to Jordan and Ashley in Abilene. She is a sweetie pie! She weighed a respectable 6 pounds 7 ounces but as we might have expected she was only 18 1/4 inches long! She had a head full of dark hair and looked a lot like her mother's baby pictures. Ashley did a great job even though she had to go through 3 epidurals before they got it right. Jordan was such a proud father and was floating around on cloud 9. It was nice to be there with them and to share their happiness. Now eight weeks old, Leighton is doing great, growing and continues to be the love of their lives, and ours, too.
While we were in Abilene we got word that Beverly's mother had fallen and broken her collarbone and two ribs! Following a week in the hospital(us,too!)and three weeks in rehab, she is now back in their assisted living apartment. Also, during this time, we had made arrangements to have some house re-modeling done. We decided to rip out the carpet in every room except the 3 bedrooms and put in hardwood floors in the remainder of the house. That meant that all furniture in those rooms had to be moved, so it all ended up in two of the bedrooms, stacked to the ceiling while they came in and installed the flooring. We made do with living in the back bedroom during the week long process but we are really proud of the finished product. We then decided to take out a door, enlarge the opening and have some drywall work done and walls textured. That took another week so we are just now getting back to painting and putting some of it back. A work in progress but hopefully it will be worth it.
We kept Taylor and Presley one weekend so Jennifer could run the Cowtown Half Marathon with her friends. The kids had a good time and Jennifer ran a really good race. During all of this time we celebrated Presley's third birthday. We had cupcakes and one of the things we gave her was a doctor's kit so we all had very thorough exams! We also took Taylor with us to Liberty Hill for a friend's 40th birthday party. Taylor was our GPS operator and we stopped once and took some pictures in the pretty Texas Hill country.
During Easter Jeremy, Annie and Jane came for a 5 day visit! It is rare to have them all to ourselves for that length of time and we enjoyed getting to visit. Jane is such a happy, pretty little girl! A little doll! She had changed so much since our trip to Denver earlier this year. She can sit up, turn over and is really interactive with us. And, she is growing and so much fun to hold and love on. We were able to get all three of our kids and their families together the Saturday before Easter in Stephenville and visit with Beverly's parents and family. We had four generations together and had fun visiting, playing Wii (Pictionary was a blast!) and of course, eating. A special thanks to Beverly's brother John and his wife Kay for letting us use their home for the day. (They weren't even there that day since John had to work and Kay was gone most of the afternoon for a friend's funeral. Sadly we had to take Jeremy and Annie to the airport in Austin on Tuesday and give up Jane, but the time together was wonderful. This summer they are going to spend a week with Annie's parents. We may have to crash their party!! Ha, or go to Denver!
The remainder of the time has been spent working in the orchard, going to Taylor's baseball games, going to Stephenville to check on parents or take them to the doctors, cleaning the yard several times after high winds and hail, and putting our house back together. It has been very busy, just like everyone else we know, but it keeps us young! Heck one day, we even saw Elvis. Hope you enjoy our update. Have a good summer!
The long wait was all worth it! Leighton Grace is finally here.
Presley had a good time on her birthday. I think her brother really does like her!
Best flooring decisions we have made. Second best decision was letting someone else install it!
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Taylor kept us on the straight and narrow with his GPS monitoring!
A visit with Miss Leighton in Abilene! What a treat. Eating at Texas Roadhouse wasn't bad, either!
Cinnamon rolls from the Pioneer Woman cookbook. Man, are they big and delicious!!
Hey- even Elvis showed up for the party! But, he has left the building!
A rare treat- having the Denver bunch here for 5 days!
Our children, spouses and grandkids (minus Presley who was napping). We are SO blessed and thankful for three wonderful children, their spouses and our precious grandchildren!! We thank God every day for his grace in our lives.
Jane's other grandmother (Jan) used her mother's vintage hankerchief to make this bonnet which can be taken apart and Jane can carry it in her wedding someday for something old. What a wonderful and special keepsake! Drool is modern age!
It's not winning or losing- it's the snow cone after the game! Taylor played catcher this year.
Mothers's Day was fun with a little one in the house!
Our hired help at the orchard! It's difficult to get hard working employees.
Well, if you are reading this, guess you hung in there and made it! We will try and keep up from now on.
