Tree Trimming

Jerry and I worked for two days trimming trees. He made many trips up and down the ladder. I think we loaded the farm truck with the equivalent of ten of these loads! The last several loads Rick and Justin were around to help chain some of the larger limbs to the truck so we could drag them off which saved Jerry having to cut them up. We finished just in time as yesterday we got three and half inches of more rain.

Bill Arrington

Bill died Tuesday, May 15. He was a special man to our family. He and Dawn were very active in the community including the school and our church. He and "Dawnie" (as Justin, Jenna, Greg, and Chad called her) were the first children of about 70 that she babysat in their home over the span of many years. Bill's funeral was today. It was such a special celebration of a life well spent for God, his family, and the entire Gunter community. We will miss him.

Hill Country Trip and Jackson's 2nd Birthday

Monday, April 22
We left town the day after Easter around 11:00 and arrived in Fredericksburg by 5:30. We stayed at a downtown campground until Wednesday morning.

Tuesday
We just hung around the campground. Little Elly sure enjoys camping.

Wednesday
At noon, we moved out to Lady Bird Park Campground. Although we have been to Fredericksburg several times, this was our first time to stay here.

Thursday
Today was a very pretty, sunny day. We had lunch downtown and then made our way to the Fredericksburg Pie Company - a real treat!

Friday
The planes started coming in this morning. The airport adjacent to Lady Bird was having a "fly in" this weekend which was why we wanted to stay here. These war planes were flying all weekend.
Juli McNeff drove here from San Antonio to visit and catch up. We crammed as much "catching up" talk as we could into three to four hours. We had lunch at the Airport Diner (thanks, Juli!) and sat out to watch some of the planes coming and going.

Saturday
Rick had a beautiful sunny day on his birthday. We drove to Gruene as we do each trip here. We enjoyed a birthday meal at The Grist Meal. We shared a chicken fried steak as well as a birthday dessert! We finished up the day watching more planes come and go.

Sunday
Today, we just took several walks and watched some more planes. We didn't go anywhere and just enjoyed the day.

Monday
Today, we drove to Kerville and Bandera. When we got back to Fredericksburg, we had some great pizza downtown.

Tuesday
We just enjoyed hanging out at Lady Bird Park today.

Wednesday
We said good-bye to Fredericksburg this morning and left for Joe Pool Lake. We set up there and then  went to Jenna and Jared's. We surprised Marlow and Jackson when we went to pick them up from day care with Jenna.

Thursday
This afternoon we hung out at the kids' house again. I made some cake balls for Jackson's birthday party tomorrow. Today is his actual birthday, so I had made some birthday brownies to go with dinner.

Friday
Jared cooked all afternoon. I picked up the cupcakes for Jenna as she was running late from a meeting at work. Jackson's party was at 6:00 p.m. at the house. He's such a cute two year old little boy!

Saturday
After lunch, we attended a Gaither's Concert there in Grand Prairie. Jenna and Jared had given her dad tickets for Christmas.

Sunday
This afternoon we packed up and headed home after 14 days away. It's been great, but now I'm ready to see the family back home!

Happy Birthday, Rick!

We are in Fredericksburg this week. Although I plan to document our trip in more detail, I want to wish Rick a happy birthday! We are celebrating in Gruene. Love you!

Celebrating Easter, Fitz, and "Baby Girl" Davis

What a great and blessed weekend! We packed as much as we could into three days. Jenna, Jared, Marlow, Jackson, Chad, Tara, and Fitz all came into town on Friday.  Justin, Keelie, Jonah, Glory, and Molly were with us all weekend as well (with the exception of Justin on duty Saturday). Rickie was around off and on as he had to have shoulder surgery on Thursday. Friday night we enjoyed a meal together and some nice patio time; the guys shot some fireworks off after dark.

We had a beautiful Saturday. The kiddos all got to participate in our FBC egg hunt. Kelle and Martha brought the twins to join us there. After a fun egg hunt, we went to Marilyn's for lunch. Afterwards, Marilyn had planned everything for Fitz's first birthday party. It was such a fun time celebrating him with everyone. The kids all enjoyed the crafts, eggs, and just being outside! Later, we grilled at her house.

Today, we enjoyed a great Easter service together at church. (When Marilyn and I have our grandchildren with us, we celebrate the blessing and legacy of fifth-generation family members worshipping at FBC.) For lunch, we had an awesome brisket Justin had smoked; he's got this brisket thing down to an art! After lunch, we surprised Chad and Tara with a "baby sprinkle." Their second baby is a girl yet to be named. We played a Scattergories-style game to name that baby! I am not sure how much we helped them, but it sure was fun. We will meet her in July!

This mom/Nanna/Aunt Di is so blessed!

Psalm 100:4 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving...."