Christmas is over.  I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  Is is ok to admit that?  

We started off the week with Mom's cataract surgery.  I can't tell you how glad I am that day is over.  

Thankful Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  My family had a wonderful day.  We were blessed to have Scott's uncle, Ken, and his brother, Will, with us.  Oh...I just realized that I don't have a single picture of Will!  He was in the den watching TV when I took these photos and didn't get a single one of him!  

Turkey Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving long weekend!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Scott and I hosted the family at our house this year.  Guess what?  I found out that, for the first time ever, I actually liked cooking for other people!!!  I don't have a lot of confidence in my cooking abilities but, it was fun!

Blossom Meets Uncle Ken

Blossom loves her Uncle Ken.  Everybody loves Uncle Ken. 

Special thanks to Michael Funderburke for editing my photo.  (It was really dark!)

Happy New Year!

Scott and I said goodbye to 2011 by spending time with some people (and canines) we love very much but we don't get to see near as often as we would like.   We always enjoy visiting Uncle Ken, but this time we got to visit Uncle Ken, Scott's brother Will, and the Funderburke family!

Here is a picture of the Funderburke family that I stole from their 2011 Christmas card. 

L to R:  Saraya, Michael, Jill, Steely Dan & Bailey.  You may remember the dogs from my post about their famous annual calendar.  Saraya is a Great Pyrenees just like our Sadie was.  Steely & Bailey are Golden Retrievers.  Here are some pictures that I took on Friday night:

Steely Dan has his own spot on Uncle Ken's couch:

Life is so hard.

 

Here's Saraya...the little sister.  

 

Bailey is busy:

Waiting patiently for Jill to hand them a "treat": 

 

(Ken and Will are in the background)

 

We had a great night with Ken, Will & all of the Funderburke family.  I hope I don't have to wait until next Christmas season do to it again.  

Last night, Scott and I spent New Year's Eve with Grandmother Lanford.  Here she is celebrating Scott's win at the board game, Aggravation.  

 

After a fun night with grandma, we finished the night by watching The Big Bang Theory marathon on TBS.  And yes, I did fall asleep before midnight.  

Sleepy Saturday

I promised that I would post some more pictures from Florida so here are a few.  Here is as close as we could get to the launch pad.  Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side.  Endeavour is there....just on the other side.

Some local fishermen:

Scott's family:

Although we did not get to see Endeavour launch, we had a wonderful time visiting Scott's family.  

Super Bowl

It's Super Bowl Sunday again and Scott has invited the usual suspects over ....family & a friend.  Here's a picture of Dad and Uncle Ken watching the game on the big screen:

 And here's a picture of the game on the big screen (that's Dad's hair in the bottom left corner):

And here's a picture of Greta in the sunshine:

 

Sorry, I just had to throw in a picture of Greta.  Greta was just as excited as I was to see the sunshine today.  I am so happy that we had another mild day to sit outside and enjoy.

This past week has been a rather tough week for me and my family.  I have 2 Uncles and an Aunt in the hospital.  Please pray for my Uncle Dick, Uncle Coy and especially for Aunt Faye who is not doing as well as we would like.  I am hoping that this week will be a much brighter week.  

We did have a little family fun this week.  My cousin Annette and I started an email called "If Grandma was on twitter".  Some of the cousins and I sent "tweets" that we thought our Grandma might send.  If Grandma was alive today she would be 112ish so you can guess the fun we had.  We all love her and miss her very much although I think she would probably have a few words for us after all of the "tweeting" we did for her.  Have a great day!   

Hello 2011; but first...

Goodbye 2010.  It was the coldest December on record where I live so when I walked outside and realized that it was rather warmish yesterday, I jumped at the chance to try out my new zoom lens.  Here it is...

After seeing numerous birds yesterday morning...of course....I couldn't find one single bird the whole time I was outside.  I waited and waited and this is all I got...

Nothing. There are bluebirds in that tree.  I saw one fly in the hole while I was setting up my camera.  Thanks to my new zoom lens...I'm actually far away from the tree.  I didn't get to "shoot" any birds but I enjoyed my time outside enjoying nature and thanking God for a wonderful 2010.

Last night, we went to Uncle Ken's house to spend time with Ken and our friends Eric, Michael, Jill and the dogs.  Here's Ken.  He invited us over and then napped with Saraya the whole time.

Not really.  :-)  Here's a picture of Ken feeding Frosted Mini Wheats to Steely Dan, Bailey & Saraya.  Notice how attentive they are...

This is Michael, Jill & Bailey...

Jill is brushing Steely Dan. Notice how much he LOVES being brushed.  

Here's our girl Saraya again.  (Michael is in the background.)

 

Sleepy Steely....

 

Hungry Bailey (Eric is in the background)

Happy Julie with Saraya the lap dog...

What a great way to say goodbye to a great year.  Thanks again to Michael for answering all of my photography questions.  I learned more last night than I've learned all year.  Happy 2011 to everybody!!!

It's A Doggy Dog World

Scott & I are always excited to visit with our friends Michael, Jill and their 3 dogs Steely Dan, Bailey & Saraya.  Two weeks ago, the whole gang was in town staying with Uncle Ken and he invited us over for some good food and good fun. Here are some pictures that Jill sent me from our visit.  Next time, I'll be sure that we get some pictures of her and Michael too. 

 

Aren't those dogs just the cutest?  Saraya (pictured with me) is a Great Pyrenees just like our Sadie was.  She is such a sweet dog.  Steely Dan and Bailey are Golden Retrievers....they don't come much better than a Retriever.  

Well, it's 1:30 am and I suppose I better go set my clock back an hour.  I guess if you don't like how you spent this hour you actually get a "do-over".   Scott is busy fighting with our smoke detectors.  Apparently, they have all decided to start chirping again this week.  On this week's episode of Modern Family, one of the characters was having the exact same problem.  He said that every time it chirped he felt like it was saying that he wasn't a man.  I'm pretty sure that is what our detectors are saying to Scott. 

Three Dog Night

Scott and I had a really great evening last night.  We went to Ken's house (Scott's uncle) to visit with our friends, Michael and Jill, who were in town from Cincinnati.  Michael and Jill brought their three "babies":  Steely Dan, Bailey and Saraya.  As usual, I have pictures.  Here is a picture of Michael and Jill.

Poor Michael.  His vision is so bad that I don't think he realized that he was wearing his glasses in the wrong place! (wink, wink)  Here's a picture of Saraya.  Saraya is a Great Pyrenees just like our dog Sadie was.

Next we have a picture of Saraya's brothers.  Steely Dan is on the couch and Bailey is on the floor. Steely and Bailey are Golden Retrievers.

Here I am playing with Saraya and Steely.  It is always a good idea to wear gloves when rough-housing with Saraya.  She doesn't know her own strength.  Oh, and I'd like to send a shout out to Aveda Smooth Infusion Shampoo and Conditioner for providing me with such shiny, manageable hair.  (Note to Aveda: I am open to receiving free samples for shameless plugs.)

Here's a picture of Jill strangling Saraya while I point and laugh.  (Not really)

Ken is petting Saraya in this picture; note the gloves...

Steely Dan and Bailey playing...

I really enjoyed getting to visit with Michael and Jill; not to mention Ken, Eric, and Scott's brother Will (not pictured - I was too busy visiting). I look forward to seeing everyone again.  Hopefully very soon. 

Dog tired.

What a day....

This is Scott's uncle, Ken.  He is the kindest, gentlest person you could know.  Oh and that's Scott's moms' dog, Eclair, sitting in the chair.

This is Ken's car...I hit it with my truck today when I was pulling out of my garage.  Oh...I feel so bad.  It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. 

I was on my way to meet my friend, Deanna, for lunch.  Deanna and I have been close friends since the beginning of time.  Well, the beginning of first grade.  This is a picture of my 2nd grade birthday party.  I'm the 2nd one from the right.  Deanna is the one on the end cheesin' it with her eyes closed. 

We decided to meet for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants...Sweet T's Diner. 

But it had closed!

 So we decided to go elsewhere for lunch.  All of a sudden, Deanna had a great idea!!! Cupcakes. 

 We've been through a lot together over the last 30+ years.  It's great to have a friend that shares the same neurosis as I do.  :-) 

It turned out to be a good day after all!