The Worleys

December Fun!

2012-01-24T23:44:00.002-05:00

Beware! This is a very long post!

December was a very eventful month for the Worley gang. We had THREE birthdays, Breakfast with Santa, Christmas, New Years, and a family dinner with my sister. And the biggest event went by very quietly - my retirement.

It all started with Breakfast with Santa on December 3. A bit early this year! This event was held at our usual Breakfast hangout, Texas Star in Euless. We had fun, a neither kid cried on Santa's lap! How often doe that happen? There was reindeer food to make, cookies to decorate and eat, yummy breakfast, etc.

Next was Jay's birthday, December 5. We won't speak of his age. It is tradition now for all of us to go to Jay's house where Sarah has lovingly prepared Jay's favorite meal...well actually it is a Worley favorite as well...Beans and Cornbread. YUM!

Jay and Sarah already had their tree up. Kids changed into their jammies and went to bed before we left. Ava dressed up her outfit.

Next event was Eli's birthday! His FIRST Birthday! There was a cake for all of us, and a "Smash" cake for Eli. As you can see, he really got into smashing and eating his cake!

Then comes Christmas. We had such fun opening presents that I really did not take too many! And, my camera has been deleting photos at random, so it is also possible that some are just "gone"!
We always have Mike's famous Monkey Bread, and Sarah's Excellent Sausage Balls, and make a grand mess as we unwrap the presents. No picture of the mess!

We did manage to take a family picture, but also BEFORE we unwrapped anything. We managed to get a picture with Mike's eyes open, although I had to enlarge the picture to tell that!

Jenni's birthday is right after Christmas, December 28th. Her birthday was on a Wednesday this year, and there happened to be a fellowship at church. So we surprised her with a cake at church.

And of course, there was a birthday dinner with the rest of the family on Thursday. We Worleys do love to get together over food! We went back to Jay and Sarah's house to have cake. Ava became Rapunzel and helped to blow out the candles!

And the last major event we had, again without pictures, was The Palmer Girls Family Christmas Dinner. Every single one of us were there! And all I have is one picture of the littlest ones! We put in all the leaves in the kitchen table -- which happens to be my Mother's dining room table, and we all managed to squeeze around. Now, once you were seated, you really did not dare move! It was crowded! This was the first year we have had it at our house. Should we ever manage to all get together at the same time again, we will make the living room the dining room! We might be able to walk around the table!

We put the cousins at a card table in the living room, and they watched Tangled while we ate. Ava is in the back, Lucas in to the left, Ayden in on the right, and Emyle is in the front. You can just barely see the kitchen table in the background.

It was quite an eventful month! And I know we must have crammed more fun in there somewhere!

Now it is 2012 and I am just now having time to play with all of this! I hope to be more organized this year! Maybe make a picture book out of the whole year! That has always been a goal for me.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,

and He will give you

everything you need."

Luke 12:31

Phone Photos

2011-11-25T22:40:00.001-05:00

My camera keeps deleting pictures from the s/d card before I can put them in my computer! So, I am resorting to phone photos! Ava received a lot of dress up clothes for her birthday. Sarah sent me this shot of her in her new Cinderella dress.

This is Ava in her Thanksgiving hat she made at preschool.

And Ava now has moved up to a big bed at Grammy's! This is in what used to be Jenni's room. Ava likes to sleep in "Jenni's bed." It is a queen size, which is a lot bigger than her twin size at home. She wanted the pillows beside her so she would not fall out of bed. I am spoiling her rotten -- we watch "Olivia", or sometimes "Tangled" in her room before she goes to sleep. Fun Times!

This is precious Eli supporting his teams! I am amazed he actually kept his hat on. Is that a guy thing?

Speaking of "guy" things -- this picture definitely is not! Ava loves to play dress up, and now she has her own little person to dress up! Poor Eli! Does not look like he minds right now, though! And he absolutely adores Ava. They were both playing on the floor at our house last week. Ava started emptying the drawers in the TV console, moving the DVD's from one drawer to the one below it. Eli just sat there and laughed and laughed at her! This lasted several minutes, while I wished I could capture it on film. By the time I found the camera, the moment was over. But Eli has a wonderful laugh.

Mike's birthday was this month. We went to dinner at the Raven to celebrate, and took the cake along. Ava put the candles in, Jenni lit them for her. It was also the day before Rod and Jenni's friend Renzo's birthday. So we celebrated both birthdays.

Ava helped Mike and Renzo blow out the candles. Good cake, too!

Ava does not like cake! But she really loves icing. Sorry this looks like she is gagging, but she is eating a big lump of icing off her finger! She did actually take a bite of cake just to please me. Said she liked it, but went right back to eating the icing instead of the cake!

Thanksgiving is over, and not one picture did I take! We had breakfast at Jay and Sarah's. Wonderful Monkey bread, egg casserole, sausage balls, and cinnabon creamer with our coffee. Thanksgiving was spent with my sister's family. A great day of eating!

What would Thanksgiving be without the Texas/ Texas A&M game? Well, I guess we will be finding out! The game was not in Austin, so we gathered around the TV. What an exciting game! Jenni and Rod came over and helped us cheer. What a way to win it at the last minute with a field goal! Jenni practically fell off the couch laughing at the UT Field Goal kicker -- he appeared to be running away from his team; they had to chase him down to envelope him!

Looking forward to the end of the year. Mike and I decided that I will retire at the end of the year. I am looking forward to a little rest the first of the year -- maybe a trip? I am not worried I will be bored...this family is too busy for that to happen! Oh, and I asked Santa for a new camera for Christmas!

"Come, let's sing joyfully to the Lord.

Let's shout happily to the rock of our salvation.

Let's come together into his presence

with a song of Thanksgiving.

Let's shout happily to him in psalms."

Psalm 95:1-2

Ava Turns Four!

2011-10-31T22:27:00.000-04:00

Our baby girl turned 4 in September! Can hardly believe how grown-up she is! We started her birthday party day at our family Saturday breakfast spot. Sarah was at home preparing for the party!

The theme for the day was: BALLET! Ava loves taking ballet! And she loves wearing tutus! And what little girl doesn't? The door was decorated with Sarah's Ballet shoes! Cute!!

And the color for the day was PINK! Surprised, aren't you! Ava wanted chocolate cupcakes with pink icing. Her party favors were pink, and of course, the Ballet Slipper Pinata (I don't know how to put the little sign over the "n", but you can figure it out) was pink!

Cousin Bella

Ruthie

Of course the little girls wore ballet outfits
and Tutus! I only managed to get a picture
of two of them. Cute!

Then came the whacking of the Pinata!

Ava got the first whack.
And it took a lot of whacking to break it open!

Once properly whacked open, the gathering of the goodies began!

Of course, there were presents to be opened and cupcakes to be eaten.

All in all, it was a very fun day, very fun to watch. Ava changes from year to year. She was really interested in the actual present this year, and very thankful for her gifts. She gave each person a big hug. She is also much better at blowing out candles!

I will end with a picture of her "Cupcake Icing" Face! She really does not like the cake, just the icing.

"Let your roots grow down into Him,

and let your lives be built on Him.

Then your faith will grow strong

in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow with thankfulness."

Colossians 2:7

On Having Rotator Cuff Surgery

2011-10-09T22:35:00.000-04:00

I am the proud graduate of a 5 month round of Physical Therapy after having had my left rotator cuff repaired on April 7, 2011. Those are the weights I now use as I continue the rehab process at home. Please don't laugh! Those of you who work out will recognize these are only 1 lb and 2 lb weights! But believe me, when I first started, these were very heavy! In fact, there were no weights when I first started rehab!

Rotator Cuff Surgery was quite an experience! Something I had not planned to ever experience. I take care of patients with this surgery -- I am not supposed to NEED this surgery, right? It was an amazing learning experience! I really can now counsel patients having this surgery with a lot more information!

I wish I could say I had this injury from some wonderful physical activity experience...you know, like a sports injury. But no, I had bone spurs in my shoulder that severed my rotator cuff from the bone. I had no choice but to have surgery if I wanted to use my arm normally the rest of my life.

The surgery part was easy! The doctor and the anesthesiologist had the hard part! It was a little rough on Mike, too. I got to take a long nap! The block they gave me took away all the shoulder pain for almost 24 hours. My first Physical Therapy appt was the next morning for a dressing change and home exercises to learn. No pain for that was nice!

The hardest part was the Physical Therapy. It seemed to get more intense every week. But I always left feeling better! It has now been 6 months. I am told it takes an entire year to recover fully. Meanwhile, I continue to do exercises at home. I have started on a program with our fitness center to increase strength.

Things I have learned from this experience (not in any order, except the first one):
1. My Husband is the most awesome husband ever! He changed dressings, he helped me shower, he helped me dress, he fed me, he drove me places, he became an expert at setting up the ice machine...He was just Awesome! And of course, still is!
2. I can wash my hair with one hand.
3. If my hair is cut short enough, I can blow dry it with one hand, too.
4. I am very grateful that I have naturally curly hair! Mike was not good with a curling iron! And I was dangerous with one!
5. Working out can be fun. Really!
6. I can arrange pillows in such a way as to be comfortable when sleeping sitting up on the couch.
7. I have great friends. They fed us and encouraged me a lot!
8. I have a wonderful family! They were the ones who really had to put up with me!
9. I have the sweetest granddaughter! She really worried about my shoulder! And she was so excited when I could pick her up again! It was a long 4 months!
10. I can drive my car with one hand, too.
11. I know all the best channels to watch during the middle of the night when I could not sleep.
12. Ice machines are a wonderful invention! Ice water flows through a little half vest type thing that you strap on. Deliciously cold! Very helpful! I often went to sleep with it on!
13. I am claustrophobic. Did not know this until they strapped me in an MRI machine.
14. I can overcome being claustrophobic in an MRI. Put a cloth over my eyes! And I did a lot of counting. If the series was 2 minutes, I counted to 120. I had to be in the machine about 30 minutes.

I had a great Orthopedic Doctor, a great Anesthesia Doctor, a great Physical Therapy team, a Super Great Husband, and most of all, a Great God watching over me.

"The LORD is my strength and shield.

I trust Him with all my heart.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

I burst out in songs of Thanksgiving."

Psalm 28:7

So Grown-Up!

2011-09-09T21:47:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe how grown up Ava has become in just one year! I was just looking back at last year's cute picture for comparison.

This year she got a brand new full size back pack! And she is totally big enough to carry it!

Doesn't she look older? She won't turn Four until September 30, which is not really too far away now.

In these two picture she reminds me a bit of her big cousin Devon Worley. She really loves going to school. She goes two days a week, and then on Friday has ballet lessons. She had her second ballet lesson today. Last week, she showed me all her Ballet positions. I cannot imagine teaching a 45 minute ballet class to 3 and 4 year olds!

The ballet school that Ava attends has very strict rules. They have a uniform and they must wear their hair up in a bun or held out of their face if it is short. Ava was so excited to tell me all about her hairdo for ballet. I love the pink tights! Her legs look so cute!

As soon as she knew she was taking ballet, Ava began twirling around, walking on her toes, etc. Look how well she can point her toe. She looks so proud of herself!

And finally, my favorite picture of my little ballerina! She looks so perfect! She is such a bundle of energy, hardly ever stands still. It amazes me that Sarah was able to get her to stand still long enough to take this picture! But then, Sarah is a pretty amazing mom as well as a pretty amazing photographer!

Ava has been my favorite blog topic for almost 4 years! Eli is still too young to be jealous! But there will be more and more posts about Eli as he grows and grows! It has gone by so fast with Ava! I plan to spend as much time as I can with Eli! My shoulder surgery kept me from picking him up and holding him for 4 months. I need to make up for lost time!

"Your hand created me

and made me what I am.

Help me understand,

so that I may learn your commandments."

Psalm 119:73

Pajama pictures

2011-08-25T20:19:00.001-04:00

We now have a new Worley tradition: Put the Baby in Ava's Elmo pajamas. Below you will see a picture of Eli in Ava's Elmo pj's. He is EIGHT MONTHS old! And they look like they fit him to a T. And of course he looks adorable in them!

Now you can feast your eyes on Ava wearing these same pj's! As you can see, she is standing up. She was already walking by this age. She got the pj's for Christmas, if I remember correctly, so she is at least FIFTEEN MONTHS old in this picture! Judging from the fit, probably even a little older. She started the tradition of looking adorable in these pajamas!

I promise you, Eli is not big for his age. On the other hand, in this picture Ava WAS small for her age! She has now grown to be tall for her age. Amazing what time can do! I look forward to seeing another grandbaby in these pj's in the future! (no, not expecting any more grandbabies right now.)

"As long as we have food and clothes,

we should be satisfied."

I Timothy 6:8

It is all about ELI!!!

2011-08-21T18:03:00.001-04:00

Who is my favorite grandson in the whole wide world? Elijah James Worley, of course! Mike and I have recently begun having BOTH Ava AND Eli over lately. It makes for a busy evening! We are not used to having two to watch! This past Friday, we decided to have pizza. Ava and Pop went to get the pizza, which left me alone with Eli for a little while. Below is the video I took of Eli reading the newspaper. He seems to really like newspaper!

He is really fond of Pop. He was hungry, but would not take his bottle of breast milk from me! But he was quite happy to let Pop give it to him. Same story, second verse with the applesauce. But he quite happily sat at my feet and played with Pop's pen for 15 minutes while we ate pizza.

The next video is at breakfast the next morning with the family at the Raven. He was quite happy the whole meal. He has started playing "Where's Eli", and he was just so cute! I handed Jenni the camera so we could record the fun. (I realize we may have enjoyed this more than you will!)

Sometimes I get an extra Thursday off from work. This gives me an extra chance to play with Ava and Eli. Always fun. Eli sits pretty well, but we always prop him up with a boppy. If he happens to wiggle backwards, he is not really good at doing sit ups to get back up yet.

And lastly, a picture of Ava sitting on Grammy's bed watching an episode of "Olivia". We love Olivia! And Ava is my personal Mac Genius. She uses my iPod Touch to play all her games. It amazes me that she knows exactly where each game is located.

Looking forward to more time with the grandkids!

"Come, Children, listen to me.

I will teach you the fear of the Lord."

Psalm 34:11

Minnesota 2011!

2011-08-04T23:06:00.002-04:00

Every July we congregate at Uncle John's Cabin in the woods of Minnesota. It is a lovely time together. This year, it was very cool while we were there. A nice respite from the 100+ temps we were, and still are, having here in Texas!

Below is the view from the upper back porch. My favorite view. Very peaceful looking.

Mike and I drove up. We met Rusty and Patsy on the way and all of us spent the first night on the road in Des Moines. So proud of Mikey -- he negotiated a deal at a very nice hotel for all of us. Very, very cheap. We arrived on Friday in Minneapolis in time for lunch with Pat and Leah, and then on to the cabin.

One of my favorite meals at the cabin is Steak Night. This is usually on Saturday, and Pat provides the best steaks in the whole world! And they are always cooked to perfection! Leah makes the absolutely most delicious salad to go with it.

This year I was slightly handicapped. I had rotator cuff surgery in April and was not allowed to use my left arm until August. It got to hang loosely at my side or in my lap. That curtailed my activities a lot. No card games. Enjoyed a lot of reading time, though. Read at least four books. Finished reading The Help in 2 days!

The rest of the group spent one day tubing the river, and another on a 3 hour canoe trip. The canoe trip ended with an encounter with some of Minnesota's biggest mosquitos! Glad I missed that part!

The food is always awesome. The Worley's have some mighty fine cooks! And they cook healthy!

Mike spent some quality time reading on the computer. Or the iPad. Or anything else he could find.

Mike also made desserts for us. One of my favorites: Dump Cake! Mike makes the best Dump Cake in the whole wide world! He adds real fruit to it. Does that make it healthy?

Terri surprised us with a new mexican dish. Although I cannot remember what all went in it, I do remember it was wonderful! Her dish is pictured below. Hope we have this again next year!

All the young folks and their families left on Wednesday. So it was Adult Night at the Cabin.
It was very peaceful. Wonderful meal with great people.

Our last night we went out to dinner at a local restaurant. Great meal. Then Friday, time to go. We ate lunch in Minneapolis with Pat. Only made it to Des Moines. Stayed at the same hotel and Mike got us the same great deal. Rusty, Patsy, Mike and I used some of my apps and found PF Chang. I love the food there!

Now that we have had 30+ days with 100+ temps, I am ready to spend next summer in Minneapolis and come back in time for UT Football season!

For more pictures, check out my album on Facebook.

"And be sure to take on board enough food

for your family and for all the animals."

Genesis 6:21

Summer Reading

2011-07-13T16:35:00.007-04:00

I love to read, but seem to take forever finishing a book unless I am on vacation. I look forward to our trip to Minnesota every year because there is time to read. Mike and I usually drive up each year. That is a 20 hour trip. I cannot spend the entire trip reading, but I do my best.

This trip I have managed to read four books so far! You see them posted in the blog. I read The Help first. Jenni gave me a copy. Good, fast read. And I was excited to find out that a movie based on the book is coming out in August. I cannot imagine that it will be as good as the book, but I hope to see it! This book is very popular. In case you are unaware of the plot, The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.

Safe Haven I read in the Reader's Digest condensed books. My family has subscribed to them since I was a little girl. I cannot imagine not having a subscription. I developed a love for certain authors because of Reader's Digest Select Editions (as they are called now.) I actually read my first Nicholas Sparks book in Reader's Digest. Safe Haven tells the story of a strong young woman named Katie who appears suddenly in the small town of Southport. She meets, and falls in love with, a shopkeeper named Alex, who is a widower and the father of two young children. She is beginning to enjoy her new life, but then her dark past comes looking for her. It has romance and mystery all rolled together. I had a hard time putting it down.

Heaven is for Real I read on my iPad. Now that is a fun way to read! Mike has a Kindle, which we both like, but for the trip I brought my iPad. It provides me with more entertainment than the Kindle. And I purchased 3G service for the month of July, which meant I could keep up with email and Facebook! This book is also a fast read. It has a lot of scripture in it to support what the little boy sees in Heaven. Enjoy it.

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is the last of the four I have read. I have never been to Provence. I hope to go next year, though. I have been to Paris, and I think this is why I was attracted to the book. And there are small details in the book that describe the area and things that happen there. It is of course, a romance. No mystery to it. Well, I take that back. A small mystery involving the main character's mother. Heidi is the main character, along with her son Abbot, and her niece Charlotte. The family owns a house in the small town of Puyloubier in the south of France. The house has had a fire in the kitchen, and Heidi is sent to get it in order. Heidi, by the way, has lost her husband in a tragic accident two years before. I had a hard time putting this one down, too. I hope we can visit Puylobier just for the fun of it.

I have a long trip home back to Texas. My Bible is also on my iPad, so of course I will be dipping into scripture as well. I have not decided what other books to read. Maybe I can find a really long, interesting mystery.

'Then he took the Book of the Covenant

and read it aloud to the people.

Again they all responded,

“We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.”'

Exodus 24:6-8

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2011-06-04T21:05:00.000-04:00

At the Worley house, we are always excited when summer comes because it means we are getting really close to time for UT Football! I was excited when they opened a University Coop in Ft Worth, so we could shop any time we wanted! And it is always a good excuse to eat out somewhere in the area, too!

Not long ago, the Coop sponsored a visit with Bevo, the UT Mascot. It sounded like a good Worley family outing. And it was. They had Bevo outside the store for folks to snap a picture. So here are our pictures.

Afterwards, we of course had to shop! Ava really liked the floor pillows and the children's chairs. She really wanted to sit in the chair you can see behind her. The little girl sitting there did not want to move, though, so Ava happily picked another spot.

This picture looks like it needs to be rotated at first glance. I took the picture from overhead. She is clutching her Bevo and pretending to sleep. And, no, she did not go home with a new Bevo stuffed animal, although it WAS tempting.

Jay got the very best picture -- Ava holding up her "horns". And it is the best picture of Bevo, also.

The first game is in Austin against Rice. See you there!

"He makes my feet like those of a deer

and gives me sure footing on high places."

Psalm 18:32-34

PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM

2011-05-29T23:01:00.001-04:00

I just emptied my camera of all the pictures I have taken since January! I am very behind! And a lot happened in that time frame. We went to the 60th anniversary party for Mike's Aunt Patsy and Uncle Ellis Worley. Great time visiting with family that day.

The Happy Couple

Kayla, Jeff, Patsy, Ellis and Butch

Just had to go ahead and put those in here! Now on to the main topic, Ava's Preschool Program.

Ava attends PreSchool two days a week. And she has learned so much! I love listening to her sing a new song! I can never learn too many songs!

We went to her end of the year program. It was all about animals. The green background you see is sort of a jungle look. She was ever so cute! And very active! One of the few who actually did all the hand motions to the songs. Jay said at their practice for the program, the kids were not singing very loud. The teachers asked them to sing louder. Ava was very obedient! Now, in a full auditorium, I could not distinguish her individual voice. I guess my Grammy skills were not functioning well that night.

Ava is on the top row in the middle with the yellow visor on. There were a ton of kids on the stage, so you are only seeing a few.

If you enlarge, you might actually see her face!

Ava really getting in to her hand motions. More so than most of the kids. She is second from the left in this one.

At this point she is off the stage, heading for the aisle to go back to her classroom. Although shelooks like she is waving at me, she is actually shouting, "Hi Poppy", to Sarah's dad. I am not sure she ever saw me! She is third from the left, waving.

Just included this one because I think she is cute. She may have actually seen me in this one.

One last shot of her after Sarah retrieved her from her classroom, snack in hand. A good time had by all. Afterwards we all went to Red Robin for burgers. She got to stay up late that night!

And what a little sweetie Eli was the whole time! How could he complain? He got passed around to be held and admired. I still cannot hold him due to my shoulder surgery. I don't think he misses me holding him, though. Aunt Jenni and Pop make sure to hold him a lot! He is so cute!

^"5But I trust your mercy.

My heart finds joy in your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord

because he has been good to me."

Psalm 13:5-6

Teamwork!

2011-04-25T00:20:00.001-04:00

Ava loves "Wonder Pets.". We now know the theme song very well. We even noticed our security alarm plays part of this theme when we set it! The part of the song we hear is "What's gonna work -- Teamwork!"

If I had to pick a theme for our family, I think Teamwork would be a good one! But poor Mike is the one doing all the work this time!

April 7 I had an arthroscopic left rotator cuff repair. I am told by my Physical Therapist that this is not a surgery for the faint-hearted! I really had no choice if I wanted to continue to use my arm. My rotator cuff had torn off the bone, probably due to lots of use and bone spurs. It is completely cleaned out and tacked down now.

The really hard part is the therapy! My home exercises are no problem. But during my rehab sessions, my PT guy, Chet, really pushes my arm to the limit! The first time I actually had tears running out. But then comes the wonderful ice bag! And I noticed afterwards that my shoulder felt better. And it continues to feel better each time. No more tears, now.

Now, the Teamwork part...I cannot use my left arm! The elbow has to stay right by my side...no lifting, no carrying anything heavier than a coffee cup. I cannot really get dressed completely by myself, although that will get better as the swelling and bruising goes away. Mike has been a wonderful help! I don't get to start using my arm until August! I hope he is not worn out by then!

"If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.". Ecclesiastes 4:10

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Location:Oak Timber Dr,Euless,United States

Eli -- Favorite Photos

2011-03-21T21:42:00.001-04:00

Here I am again, finally! I do not seem to be on the computer much anymore, and I have not taken a lot of pictures lately. So I decided to lift several pictures from Sarah's Facebook and share those.

I love this picture of Ava holding her baby brother in the hospital. She is so proud to be a Big Sister!

Our little Christmas baby! So cute! He was literally a week old at Christmas.

Ava and her brother enjoying a giggle together. Well, at least one of them appears to be giggling.

Eli sitting up like a big boy in his bumbo chair. Love his little playsuit!

Ava, of course, had to join in on the picture taking. Are they the cutest brother and sister you have ever seen? But, of course they are, because they are Reale Worleys!

I love this shot! Jay and Sarah got some extra snuggle time with Eli one night while Ava had a sleepover at Grammy and Pop's house. We all had a great time!

Too cute! I really like Jay without a beard. Apparently, so does Eli!

What a happy baby! And what a happy family! We are all so blessed!

"May the Lord continue to bless you and your children."
Psalm 115:14

The Last Home Game -- November 2010

2011-01-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

One of the most memorable games we attended last year was the Texas/ Texas A&M Game in Austin. These games are always interesting, always fun, because Jenni is an Aggie and we are not! The games in the last few years were moved to Thanksgiving night instead of the afternoon on Friday after Thanksgiving. It has never made sense to me to play a game after dark in November! And this year, it made even LESS sense!

Through the kindness of one of my friends, we were able to stay at the Omni Southpark in Austin. What a wonderful hotel! And you can get free Starbuck's delivered to your room! Very comfy bed. Free water. Free robes to use while we were there.

The robes were comfy, too. We mainly just admired them hanging in the closet.

I think that this game was the coldest game I have every attended. When we first arrived in Austin, the temperature was in the 50's. By the time we got to our seats, the wind chill had it below freezing. We knew it would be cold, but we really weren't prepared for it to be THAT cold. We did our best to dress warmly.

Don't they make a cute pair? We all wore layers. By the end of the game, we wished we had on our ski clothes!

We decided to eat at the club this time. We thought it would be nice and warm and have a few places to at least sit down. We were wrong. But, on the way there, we got to see Bevo really close up. He does not look cold. But then, it wasn't as cold then as it was going to get.

As it got colder, we used anything we could find to stay warm. Rod used my gamebag towel, Jenni was wrapped up in my blanket, I was squeezed very close to Mike. We all had our ears covered. We had gloves. We had to start cheering for the Aggies to stay warm!

When we got back to our hotel, we found this:

Our bed had been turned down, and the robes placed on the bed. We also found this:

A note addressed to me, free water, and a lovely box of Godiva Chocolates. Which were yummy, by the way!

Well, it will be two years before the Aggies play in Austin again. And apparently they are talking about moving the game to the first weekend in December! Hopefully in the afternoon?

"Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins."

I Peter 4:8

Christmas Eve at Jenni and Rod's

2011-01-23T00:41:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve dinner this year was at Jenni and Rod's house for the first time. Rod's family always has steaks for Christmas dinner ( it is summer in Chile), so we have continued that tradition since Rod has been in the states. Jay and Sarah usually spend Christmas Eve with her family. And of course this year was special because it was little Eli's first Christmas!

Jenni and Rod had recently purchased a new table and chairs. She sets a lovely table, doesn't she?

Do we look like we are ready for a banquet? Well, we were! I really wish I had taken a picture of the food, too. You can just barely see it on the table. The steak was prime rib, loaded mashed potatoes, salad.

We used the ceramic napkin holders that my mother made for me many years ago. It was good to continue the tradition.

Not too much to tell here. Just a lovely evening hosted by my wonderful daughter and her husband. The food was wonderful, and we played a Chilean card game after dinner. Now the dessert was extra awesome. Our family really loves dump cake. Jenni has now topped her dad in this recipe! She made an apple dump cake...melted in your mouth good!

^"4So I will thank you as long as I live.

I will lift up my hands to pray in your name.

⁵You satisfy my soul with the richest foods.

My mouth will sing your praise with joyful lips."

Psalm 63:4-5

Elijah James Worley

2011-01-09T19:39:00.001-05:00

A lot has happened since the last post. I have plenty of pictures to prove it. Ahhh, someday perhaps I will post them, along with the rest of the pictures from France (from Sept 2009!). For now, I will just concentrate on the most important event in the Worley family in 2010, the birth of Elijah James Worley on December 18!

Jay called us Friday evening (December 17) to tell us they were going to the hospital. He sent texts through the night. Finally the call that little Eli was here! He and Sarah were hungry! So we stopped by the Raven for some breakfast tacos! Here is Hannah wishing them well!

Jay and Sarah had a plan this time! So, Ava got to meet her new baby brother before anyone else did. She was all dressed up in her new Big Sister shirt that her clever Mommy had made her. She even had a Big Sister bag full of surprises.

We actually did not stay long, but long enough for all of us to hold Eli ( or as Ava says "Baby Eyi")

Our first picture of all three of us together! Next time -- someone tell me to hold my head up!

Jenni looking beautiful with her new nephew!

A close up of the new arrival!

All of us taking turns holding the baby gave Jay and Sarah a chance to eat!

Pop finally gets his chance to hold little 'Lige.

Proud Dad!

It is so considerate of our grandchildren to arrive on a weekend when everyone is available to go visit!

Ava was born on a Sunday, Eli on Saturday. I hope that continues to be true for all our grandchildren!

I rarely see Eli awake. He loves to eat and sleep and grow! He is already over 7 lbs. Here is the last picture I have of him.

"Grandchildren are the crown of grandparents,
and parents are the glory of their children."

Proverbs 17:6

Pizza Night!

2010-10-15T23:04:00.001-04:00

Ava loves pizza! This last week, Ava helped make the pizza! Don't you love the way she squeezes up her face to say cheese? We used a already baked crust. Ava helped spread some olive oil on the crust and then she got to smear lots of pizza sauce on the crust.

Next, of course, the cheese. She was quite the expert at sprinkling cheese, although it was a challenge to get it even over the pizza. We actually made two pizzas, so by the second one, we were getting pretty good at it.

She had fun dealing out the pepperoni, green olives, and sausage.

And at last, we all got to eat some pizza. The pizza turned out great! Very tasty. Tomorrow night -- let's learn to make brownies!

"There, in the presence of the Lord your God,

you and your families will eat
and enjoy everything you’ve worked for,

because the Lord your God has blessed you."

Deuteronomy 12:7

Celebrating Ava!

2010-10-12T22:40:00.000-04:00

Ava is now a tall three year old! She measures in the 90th percentile! Weight in the 50th percentile, so she is still petite. Hard to believe she joined the family 4 weeks early weighing only 5 lbs even. Ava loves Sadie, and loves the dog bed even more. There have been lots of pictures of her on the dog bed! The absolute last place we want her to be.

Here is Baby Ava when she was first born, with Jay's hand there for reference as to how small she was.

A picture of the Worleys together at Cheddar's.

This is at On The Border. From the dress, it might have been close to Christmas. Still tiny!

Ava age 1 enjoying her birthday cake with Aunt Jenni.

Ava fell in love with Elmos very early! She is still in love with Elmo, although now he has to compete with cars and princesses. One of our very favorite You Tube videos is Tickle Me Elmo. We both get a giggle every time we watch it.

Age 18 months, and still enjoying her play piano. I love this picture!

Jenni and Ava always have a good time together. Ava has always been a great mimic!

And Ava's love affair with sunglasses began at an early age! Isn't she cute?

And then she turned TWO! Complete with an Elmo Cake, an Elmo Candle, and an Abby Candle.

Ava and her best friend Jacob Halloween 2009. Jacob is a year younger than Ava, and is taller, but then, so are his parents! Don't they make the cutest Dorothy and the Lion?

This is my absolutely favorite picture of Jenni and Ava! We should send this one to Braum's!

Okay, I could go on and on! I am absolutely head over heels in love with my granddaughter! And now she is THREE! She spends the night with us, she helps me clean, she helps me cook, we have such a good time! I can hardly wait for Elijah James Worley to join in on the fun!

So, the final picture! Ava blowing out her birthday candle. This year was an under the sea theme. She loves Nemo, but Nemo party ware has disappeared!

Thanks for walking down Memory Lane with me. Lots of fun things are starting to happen around here! Ava's birthday is first -- and we have one or two every month through February!

"But let righteous people rejoice.

Let them celebrate in God’s presence.

Let them overflow with joy."

Psalm 68:3

First Days for The Worleys 2010

2010-09-12T21:47:00.003-04:00

Let me start with the most important First for the Worleys this year! Ava's first day at preschool!! Ever!! She started at Young Childrens World at her church this year. She will be in the Two year old class. Here she is with her new lunch bag all ready to go to school. Jay and Sarah both took her. They said she just bounced on in and started playing. Good Girl! The teacher said she was very good.

This is the same preschool that Jenni attended. And she pretty much bounced right in, too. Starting a Worley Tradition at YCW!

The next most important FIRST!
First home game for the Longhorns! And of course, we were there! It was a night game, so we opted to stay overnight, rather than drive home at 11 pm!

I am treating you to another picture of our hotel room. Maybe this will be the year to do Hotel reviews! This time, Springhill Suites in Austin. The room was nice. Perhaps not as plush as the Crowne Plaza, but certainly nice enough! And much cheaper! We did not make a reservation. Just drove right up and Mike asked for the best rate, and got a really, really good rate!

Now, what is this, you may ask. And, I really don't know! But, it is towel art! I have never been on a cruise, but I understand you get towel art in your cabin. Not sure if this was a kitty cat or a rabbit. I took several pictures from several angles, and I still don't know! Certainly impressive though!

Next we headed to the campus. Parked in our usual parking garage, and headed on campus! We had a mission to complete! Baby Eli is going to have Longhorn ribbon in his room, and we were just the ones to go find it! Ok, it is UPHILL all the way to the University Coop. It was about 95 degrees, and we are carrying our game gear! Pleasant walk. Really, except for the sweating part! We walked the same route we had walked all those years ago. I marveled at how perfectly all the steps were spaced on the different levels. They were so easy to walk up. Good thing, since sweat was dripping in my eyes! We made our purchases, and after all that walking we were hungry. It is now 5pm. Getting close to game time.

We headed for the campus Chipotle. Good choice! We have the menu memorized, so that was easy. No one was in there (they were already at the game), so that was easy, too. Mike had just bought a new hat, so I decided to take a picture of his hat and my visor as proof we were there.

Now, off to the game. Kick off was at 6:10 pm. We made it! Remember, it was all DOWNHILL all the way back! But it was still hot. There was lots of sweating to do on the way there. As far as I could tell, everyone in line with us was soaking wet! I think I get the prize, though. Even my hair was wet around the edges.

Our seats are great. Very high up. Already in the shade at that time of day! We had a lovely cool breeze, as well. Had a great time.

Wyoming fans mostly wore yellow shirts. Can you see them over in the corner there? Those are the students. There were adult fans sprinkled all over the place with the rest of the Texas alums. Much harder to spot. The stadium is huge, we had over 100,000 fans there. Can you imagine playing on a field where most of the fans are rooting against you? And being loud about it?

Of course, I love the Texas band. And no, I was never in the band. My children were never in a band. But from the time I was young watching Texas on TV, I have always loved watching our band march! Would not be right not to post a picture!

And, just so you know, here is the final score. We always stay to the bitter end. It is our tradition to join the team in singing "The Eyes of Texas" at the end of the game. Get your horns up!

"When the people heard the sound of the horns,

they shouted as loud as they could.

Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed,

and the Israelites charged straight into the city

from every side and captured it."

Joshua 6:20

First Texas Game 2010!

2010-09-06T22:14:00.001-04:00

Our wedding 38 years ago was on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. I do not know if there was a football game that day or not. But for at least the last 10 years, we have spent Labor Day weekend in Austin for the first home game. Until this year! This year the first game was in Reliant Stadium in Houston. So, off to Houston we went! Above, our hotel room at the Crowne Plaza, chosen mainly because it is right across the street from the stadium. Nice room. And it was very, very cold in there! Definitely a plus for me!

We had seats on the goal line, about 25 rows up from the field. We could see the band from our seats, and sometimes we could actually hear them!

The Rice Band was unusual. They were unusual when I was in school way back when. Always fun to watch! They were called a marching band, but they did not actually march!

Loved the hats on the band! They reminded me of New Orleans. The cymbals guy was rocking out most of the time.

This is shot from our seats. The Rice team entered right where we were -- to a sea of orange! Besides the band, do you see any Rice fans? Very few!

Now, if you look closely, that dark area of fans you see above these guys heads -- that's the band and the Rice students seating. Really, truly, surrounded by orange! And our fans are loud! I cannot imagine what it felt to be a Rice player with all of us yelling!

This is the one and only game where I have been close enough to see the cameraman! And close enough to be on the big screen when they show the fans. I wasn't, but at least I might could have been! And it was great not to be sweating! The air conditioning was great!

My sister Nancy and her husband Greg went with us. We enjoyed their company a lot! And we drove down in our new car, which was very comfortable. When Nancy and I were little, people would ask my mom if we were twins, a lot! This trip we found out we snore identically!

"All athletes practice strict self-control.

They do it to win a prize that will fade away,

but we do it for an eternal prize."

I Corinthians 9:25

Ava at the Playground

2010-08-30T21:00:00.000-04:00

The last Friday of the month, our Spanish congregation has a party. This month it was at the park. So, we decided to take Ava to the park and join them! We all like hot dogs, after all!

This park has an awesome playground! We had so much fun, we may have to go back! It is even sturdy enough for adults! She was posing for me in this picture, but she actually climbed that ladder to get there! Who knew?!

Jenni helped her down the first slide. She needed to have one of us hold her hand. She doesn't look the least afraid, does she?

Now she is on a taller slide! Looks a little skeptical that she can do this. Jenni could not quite reach her, so what you don't see is Grammy at the top holding her other hand so she could slide down to Jenni's hand and then slide on down. Before we left, she could slide all by herself all the way down to her Pop's waiting arms at the bottom.

There was a cute little bridge connecting two partsof the playset. Ava had a great deal of fun walking back and forth, trailing her arms behind her. She got faster and faster. She wanted me to be up there,too, and then practiced running and jumping at me.

And just another cute picture of my favorite girl!

After we had eaten, some of the other little girls were playing on a bike. They were nice enough to give Ava a turn. She actually did very well. She has been saying she wants a tricycle for her birthday next month. Take a look -- think she is ready?

"So I concluded that

there is nothing better for people

than to be happy

and to enjoy themselves

as long as they can."

White Coat Ceremony

2010-08-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

Jenni is now a student in the Physician's Assistant Program at UNT Health Science Center in Ft Worth. She is pictured above with my friend Pam Wuollet's daughter, Sarah. So handy to have a friend with a name close in the alphabet to you! Every picture I took, DID NOT turn out! I did not know digital cameras could eat your pictures, but apparently they can! So the picture above is courtesy of my friend Pam, taken before the actual ceremony.

You may wonder what a White Coat Ceremony is or why there is such a thing. I pasted the information from the UNT website below:

"Students will receive white coats symbolizing their careers in medicine. This event encourages a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy and the incoming students will take an oath acknowledging their responsibilities and willingness to assume the obligations of their new professions. "

The Physician Assistant Students received their coats in the same ceremony as the first year Medical students. It was truly an awesome ceremony. Like going to graduation, only more fun! The Keynote speaker was a physician; she gave a really inspiring address. Made me wish I was a student!

Then the students walked across the stage as their names were called, and a member of the Medical School faculty put the coat on the student. It was so much fun watching Jenni receive her coat!

We are so proud of Jenni! She will be the best P.A. that every lived!

"She is clothed with strength and dignity,

and she laughs with no fear of the future."

Proverbs 31:25

Dump Cake -- A Worley Reunion Favorite

2010-07-28T10:50:00.006-04:00

Here we are, at the 2010 Worley Reunion in Minnesota. And instead of posting about the reunion, I am going to post about "Dump Cake"! It is a real hit with all of us. We usually serve it when it is our turn to cook dinner. But this year -- Devon requested we make it Monday night so that her friend Elle could have some before she had to go home.

In order that the whole family could have the recipe, I decided to post it! I meant to do this last year. So, better late than never!

Dump cake is very easy to make. You don't have to mix anything! So easy that KIDS can make it!
It turns out something like a cobbler.

First step, spread a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple on the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch pan. On top of that, use a spoon to put globs of a 21 ounce can of canned cherry pie filling and then spread evenly. It should look like this:
Next, "dump" (I actually sprinkle it and then spread it evenly with the back of a spoon) a 18.25 ounce box of yellow cake mix on top of the fruit, and spread evenly. It should look like this:
The last step is the most fun! Cut up pats of butter and place on top of the cake mix. Recipes vary as to using one stick or two sticks of butter. Whatever suits you! If using gluten free cake mix, I recommend two sticks for sure. It should look like this:
Don't think I was quite through with the butter pats when I took this! There are folks who sprinkle nuts on the top. My family is not crazy about nuts, so I omit this step.

Now, bake at 350 degrees for one hour. When you take it out of the oven, it looks like this:
Now, to eat it -- it is better served warm, but still good if it is not warm. My favorite way -- put some vanilla ice cream in a bowl and then put dump cake on top! It is soooo good! It makes about 10-12 servings. We have also made this substituting blueberry pie filling -- yum!-- and also substituting apple pie filling -- also yum!

Recipe:
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained.
1 (21 ounce) can pie filling
1 (18.25 ounce) box Yellow Cake Mix
1 or 2 sticks of butter (not margarine)
1/4 cup chopped nuts -- optional.

Gluten Free - substitute Gluten Free cake mix. Read the directions for the cake mix. Ours called for adding 3 cups sugar. Mix that in before you sprinkle the cake mix. To me, that sounds like an awful lot of sugar! I would probably use 2 cups next time I make it. You want a cake mix that is for a two layer cake. Two sticks of butter is better. When re-warming, we added some butter on the top before we warmed it in the microwave.

For our reunion, we made one with cherry pie filling and one with blueberry pie filling. The gluten free dump cake was make with the cherry pie filling.

There are about 35 of us up here. It did not last long!

And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. Ecclesiastes 3:13

Devon Worley Concert Video

2010-06-30T17:48:00.001-04:00

Devon Worley Concert!

2010-05-25T22:36:00.014-04:00

We were so blessed to be able to fly up to Minneapolis for The Devon Worley Concert this May!
Devon is our great-niece, and one of the most talented young ladies you will ever meet. She is only 11 years old, and already an awesome performer!
Sarah told us to rent a cool car. This was as close as we could get! It was fun to drive around in! And also comfortable!

We arrived on Thursday, so we would have plenty of time to rest up for the concert on Friday night. This was May, right? It had been in the upper 70's in Minneapolis earlier, but not the weekend we were there! Definitely sweatshirt and jeans weather! We were so lucky to be able to stay with John and Patty! Darbi and her boyfriend, Kel, came in for the concert, too. Darbi was Devon's back up singer. Lots of singing talent in the Worley family!

Friday, we went shopping! Mike deserved a new pair of jeans! We found an Applebee's nearby and had lunch. While waiting to be seated, we noticed that a uniform from Pat's Karate school was on display! That afternoon, Darbi and Devon had rehearsals for the concert. So, the rest of us cheerfully headed to the movies! Got to see Iron Man 2. Great movie!

Time to go home and change for the concert! It was getting colder outside. Here's Mike!
We were excited to be going to the concert! And to add to the excitement, we were given VIP passes! Never had those before! Aren't they cute?
On the way to the concert, it started SNOWING-- big white flakes! I have never seen snow in May before!
When we arrived, Devon and Darbi were still on stage for rehearsal. They had on the cutest "Devon Worley" t-shirts! I bought one for Ava, Sarah, and Jenni! Pictures to come of that later! That's Darbi on the left and Devon on the right!
And a close up of the star. Wearing her t-shirt!
We went to dinner at the restaurant where the concert was held. Afterwards, I went backstage to get a picture of the Darbi, Devon, and Kelly (Devon's dad and Darbi's brother.)
And I could not resist getting a picture of the proud parents, Kelly and Jamey Worley.
I tried, but failed, to get a recording of some of the songs during the concert. There were so many amps on stage, all you can hear is a lot of background noise. So I posted a video from you tube right above this post. I do have some pictures of the performance, though.

Beautiful Darbi!

Costume Change after intermission

A great time had by all! This concert was a fundraiser for The Shriner's Hospital. And all proceeds went to the Shriners. Great event!

The rest of the weekend, we visited with family. We had a family gathering Saturday night at Jamey and Kelly's house. And Sunday, we went to a restaurant named "Brasa" for lunch. An organic place. They had no diet drinks, and the Dr Pepper was the smallest bottle I had ever seen -- made in Dublin. The Coca Cola was a huge bottle, made in Mexico. (And this was not the land of free refills!) It was good ole family cooking, too. Beans, cornbread, greens, spinach, brisket, chicken and gravy, and the list goes on. Served family style.

Patty, John, and Mike at Brasa

The TWINS!
Rhett, Kelly, and Cassidy Jane
Close-up of sweet Cassidy!
Jamey

Sunday night was dinner and a movie with John and Patty. All too soon Monday came, and it was time to fly home! It was a wonderful weekend! And we're going back the end of July for a week to escape the Texas heat!

"A person may plan his own journey,
but the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:9

I Love Ava!

2010-03-29T21:22:00.002-04:00

Ava is learning to string blocks together. I love Melissa and Doug products! So bright, so cheerful, and just the right size for little hands! When Ava and I first started playing with these, I started humming "La La, La La La La..." It dawned on me I was humming the theme song to the Smurfs! So the whole time we were stringing, we were singing this tune. The next time she came over, we sat down on the floor to string. She starts singing the Smurf song again! I could hardly believe she remembered I had been humming that! So, I guess we have started a little tradition of our own!

Ava and I like to watch Elmo on You Tube together. We particularly like "Tickle Me, Elmo". We can play that over and over, and we both just sit and giggle! At some point, it becomes "Tickle Me, Ava", of course. Such fun.

For the first time the other day, when we were through with Elmo watching, Ava took my computer glasses off, took my hand, and pulled me to the floor to play with blocks and cars.

Another thing I love about Ava is the way she literally bounces and twirls into the house when she comes over. I have a lot of pillows on the couch,and before you know it, she is right there in the middle of all those pillows with just her head showing. It makes me think of ET hiding in the closet with all the stuffed animals! Too cute!

I love that when you ask her if she is ready to go to bed, she says, "No, I awake!" And I love the fact that when it is really time to put her to bed, she goes without fussing. We lie her down, say prayers, and she goes to sleep.

She is a delight! It is so much fun watching her grow up! My favorite Granddaughter!

"You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what you have done."
Psalm 92:4

Ava and Her Tutu!

2010-03-24T20:43:00.008-04:00

Ava loves her Tutu. This is not her first, either. So I thought some pictures of Ava and the Tutu would be in order. Pictures courtesy of Jenni.
I love this picture! She was playing with her cars on the kitchen floor. However, she looks like a professional model here!

The Back View!
Sitting on Belle. Why Belle is letting her sit there, I do not know.

And my favorite picture, courtesy of Sarah. Ava putting on her Ruby Red slippers with her Tutu getting ready to play! She is sitting on a box made by Sarah's dad. Ava is a bundle of energy! I will part with one last shot of her twirling in her Tutu. Ava twirls wherever she goes. Sometimes we twirl while listening to the opening songs of Barney. Even without a Tutu!

Isn't she adorable?

"Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
Shout to God with joyful praise!"
Psalm 47:1

Happy Birthdays!

2010-03-16T23:54:00.012-04:00

Lots of birthdays to celebrate in the Worley family the first part of the year! Jenni ends the year on December 28, then Sarah picks it up on January 8, and finally Rod on February 8. Then came niece Katie's birthday February 24, and then my great-nephew Ayden turned three in March. We celebrated all these birthdays! So glad birthday cake is my favorite dessert!
Yes, Sarah had an Abby Kadabby (spelling?) birthday candle. Sarah picked Chipotle for her birthday dinner. So after a wonderful meal -- we LOVE Chipotle -- we went back to Jay and Sarah's house for cake and milk. Ava was especially excited about the cake!

Sarah did manage to blow out her candle before we devoured the cake!

This is not a birthday celebration, I know. Jenni is going to be a Matron of Honor! And this was her invitation! You will have to click on the picture and enlarge it to truly appreciate the decorations on the brownie.
Rod chose a Mongolian Barbeque restaurant. Another good choice! His friend Renzo drove up from Houston to join us. Then back to our house for milk and cake.
Here we all are, gathered around Rod's cake. What a masterpiece it was! Since Rod barely got to taste his cake at the wedding, we went back to Creme de la Creme and got him the same cake for his birthday. This was an eight inch cake. Delicious!
For Ayden's birthday, we all went to Boston's. Enjoyed visiting with my side of the family. This is Ayden blowing out his candles. Can you guess he just turned 3?
Katie had her own cake. She got lots of help from Emyle and Lucas and Colton. Although Colton may not have been able to blow very hard!
Ava had a good time getting to know her cousins. She and Colten look pretty happy sitting in Sarah's lap.
And this is the only picture I got of all of the older ones together where they were all looking at the camera! The kiddos had fun getting their pictures made. There were so many of us snapping pics, you would have thought they were famous!

"And be sure to take on board

enough food for your family

and for all the animals.”
Genesis 6:21

Adventures with Ava

2010-03-04T21:59:00.005-05:00

A picture of my favorite granddaughter sitting on her favorite spot -- the dog bed; only this time she happens to be sitting with Sadie. She is sharing her Elmo blanket.

Wednesday we had a treat! Ava was at our house for the afternoon and evening! Jenni and Ava played during the afternoon. Watched Barney, and a few other shows, played with her cars, and evidently played with Sadie, too! Aren't they cute? Pictures courtesy of Jenni.

She was staying with us that evening so that Jay and Sarah could go to the Dallas Symphony's performance of Pink Floyd music. I was excited to get home to have some time with her before church. We open the door, and see Ava standing by the coffee table. We both say "Hi Ava!". Ava looks up, gets very excited, throws her arms out wide and starts running towards us. I am just bending down to scoop her up, but she yells "POP!" and runs right past me into his arms. I just stood there with my jaw dropped! First time for everything! But it was very sweet. She basically ignored me for a few more minutes, and then finally came over and gave me a a big hug, too.
Ava's other favorite activity at our house is jumping on the couch. I keep a ton of pillows on it -- basically so there is no room for a dog to get up there and sleep! Ava thinks these are to play with. Apparently she had a great time throwing them all on the floor. By the time I got home, Jenni had helped her put them all back. She came up and sat on my lap while I was sitting on the couch. The next thing I know, she stands up and literally launches herself into the air and lands in the middle of a pile of pillows on the couch. It was amazing and scary to watch! Then she announced "I'm hungry!"
We headed for our favorite Wednesday night eatery -- Taco Bueno. Ava had not been there with us before. We were heading to church after this, so we took a bib with us. So you are seeing Ava wearing one of Jay's bibs from childhood. She had a great time eating the chicken out of her chicken soft taco. Then tearing the tortilla up into little pieces and eating them. She had her first Lemonade, too.

She was very grown up at church. She walked right into her class and sat down at the table and did not look back. No problem. I was going to take her picture sitting at the table when I came back to pick her up, but she saw me first and came running over.

Home again. Time for a bath. Ava asked for "Bubbles, please." She played with her trucks in the bath tub -- who knew the Tonka Chuck cars liked to swim? We washed her hair,too. When she had her jammies on, she let Pop comb her hair. And fifteen minutes later, she was in bed, saying her prayers with Pop. All in all, a great time!

"Your goodness is so great!
You have stored up great blessings for those who honor you.
You have done so much for those who come to you for protection,
blessing them before the watching world."
Psalm 31:19

Paris!

2010-02-04T21:20:00.009-05:00

I am finally getting around to our Paris Trip. When we first set the dates for our trip, Mike began to study French. Or I should say, re-study. He has used French phrases our entire marriage. So, what can a good wife do but give him Rosetta Stone! He went through the first level very quickly. Then he decided I needed to know some French, too. So above you see how I learned phrases -- Mike posted them on the bathroom mirror! And I would practice every day. And he would laugh at me every day!

We arrived in Paris on a Sunday. Really early. We took a cab to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and started exploring. (We could not actually check in until 3 p.m.)
The Hotel Alessandra was in a little cul-de-sac. Right next to an Apple Computer dealership! Very close to several street markets. Walking distance to the Arc de Triomphe, good food, bakeries, etc! So guess where we headed first!
As you can tell, it is located in a big circle. No way do you walk across the street! It may not look busy right now, but it really was! Now, we looked like tourists, so as we are standing on the corner trying to figure out how to get there, a police care drove by and shouted and pointed to the underground stairway. In French.
We spent quite a long time there. Looking at the architecture, reading the quotations, looking down the streets. This was the grave of the Unknown Soldier. We spotted a McDonald's and went in for coffee. There was free wifi, so I turned on my itouch and looked at the church address and how to get there. That was to be our next stop. It was within walking distance. Turned out to be a very LONG walk! But fun.
We had to pass by Pizza Hut. Delivery on motor scooters! All these scooters were just lined up and ready to go.

We really enjoyed the Paris church. Everyone spoke English. But of course, the service was in French. The songs were not familiar at all. But I bravely sang on, probably mispronouncing the words! Mike was great. And he actually knew what the preacher was saying. We met lots of French folks, and lots of Americans, too. They do actually have an English service at night.

We had our first really French meal at a little restaurant near the church. An American couple took us out to lunch. Told us what to order, etc. Great meal. Great company! Really great way to start off our stay in Paris! They had a car--so they dropped us off near our hotel.

By this time, we were tired. And it was past three! We checked in, and it did not take us long to fall asleep! We slept quite a while! More on our first night in Paris soon!

"You have given me greater joy
than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe."
Psalm 4:7-8

Adventures at Chuck E Cheese

2010-01-28T19:41:00.016-05:00

We are so fortunate to spend time with Ava every week! We enjoy exploring new things with her. We had a lot of fun taking her to see Alvin and the Chipmunks on New Year's eve. We have enjoyed going to McDonalds and Chick Fil'A to play on their playgrounds. So, we decided we were ready for a new adventure! When Ava came over last week, we asked her what she wanted for dinner. She didn't even stop to think, she just said "Pizza!" And that is how we ended up at Chuck E Cheese on a Saturday night!

The first hurdle was just getting in the door! Slow moving line! But necessary. We finally got to the front of the line, and got our arms stamped. Ava did not like this at all! Mike had to hold her and I had to pull up her sleeve and hold her arm out for the stamp! Afterward, Ava thought the stamp imprint under the light was OK.

Mike headed to the line to order the pizza. I love the fact that they escorted us to a table so that we did not have to hunt one down after ordering. So Ava and I played while we waited. Of course, we had no "game card", so we just enjoyed playing.
The carousel was right next to our table. Ava got to sit on the ponies, but the carousel was broken, so it never went around.
Of course, there was a slide! Ava has no fear of slides. She went down every which way--
She looks so long in these pictures! I cannot believe how big she is getting!
The Gorilla was the first "ride" Ava went on. She was not sure she liked the fact that it moved. However, we told it was ok, and she actually liked it! She wanted to ride again!

Finally, Pizza came. We felt like in control grandparents! We were all having fun! And the pizza was great! However, Ava now wasn't hungry! She really wanted to play more. But she did manage to at least eat the toppings off the pizza and drink her milk. Then it was Mike's turn to play a while. That's when we lost Ava! Mike took her over to the crawling thing that goes up around the ceiling. She climbed up the slide and disappeared.

This is where she went in. It looked pretty steep to us. We really did not think she could climb it!

This is the back view of her climb to the ceiling.

And this is the view of where she ended up -- traveling all around the ceiling of the room! We would see her walking by various windows and could track her progress.

Oh, and by the way, there is no real way to lose her, thank goodness! The entrance to the play area (what do you call these things?) was directly beside the exit -- so no way she could get out without us noticing! She went in the exit, so of course she came out the entrance! She missed all the fun of the big slide!

After that adventure, she got to ride a horse. This horse did move, and she really liked it.
And what would a visit to Chuck E Cheese be without adventures with Barney!
What an amazing amount of energy this girl has! And how smart she is! She figured out quickly how to buckle her own seatbelt each time. You slide your game card through that white box you see in front of her. She learned to slide that through the slot all by herself! Soon it was time to leave. Surprisingly, Ava would not let them look at the stamp on her arm! But she was happy enough to let me pull up her sleeve. Thank goodness! Or we might still be there!

When we got home, we changed her into her jammies, and it was time to watch Elmo with Jenni and Rod in their room. Aunt Jenni knows all the cool channels on video on demand. By the time her daddy got here to pick her up, she was sitting with me on the couch cuddling and watching a race car cartoon. All in all, a great evening!

"As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
I wait confidently for God to save me,
and my God will certainly hear me."
Micah 7:7

White Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T14:37:00.011-05:00

Can you believe it! It snowed 3 inches in Euless this year! Started during the day on Christmas Eve. This is what our house looked like when I got home from work around 3:30 p.m. It was still snowing! Hard to tell in this picture! See the snowman? Rod made that! By the time we went to bed, the yard was completely white. And it had stopped snowing.
This was our front yard this morning. Santa left his footprints in the snow for us. He couldn't get down our chimney without getting dirty.
The Christmas tree before we tore all the presents open. All of Ava's presents were wrapped in blue paper with Santa Claus on them. She knows who Santa is. And I thought we could find her presents faster! This little girl really likes opening presents! And it only took one present for her to figure out all her presents were wrapped in blue.

The Newlyweds second Christmas together!

Ava and her parents arrive! Santa left their gifts unwrapped for them! Ours were accidentally wrapped. Santa must have had too much eggnog and cookies when that happened!
Jenni and Ava with her favorite fish, Nemo. I cannot believe Ava actually posed for this picture! But then, her favorite Uncle Rod was taking the picture! Ava associates all things spanish with Uncle Rod. Jenni and Rod have been teaching Ava spanish words, like "Gracias". However, she never says the word by itself. She says "Gracis, Rod". All her spanish words are like that.
Ava got new pink converse high tops for Christmas. I was trying to get a picture of her in her Christmas Jammies with her new shoes on. She quickly stepped in front of the table. But the joke was on her---you can still see her shoes through the glass on the table!
And after all the fun of opening presents -- Ava ends up playing with one of Jenni's present boxes! She would hide her Nemo and the Santa puppy in the box. Then wait til you asked where they were, and gleefully open the box! But truthfully, she was excited about every present, whether it was hers or not. She had a lot of fun helping all of us rip into our packages, too. We usually hand out a present to each one of us, then we all open together. This year, it was get Ava to take the present to the folks, give Ava a present, watch her rip into her present, then open ours! She is a great helper!
After all the presents were opened, we all gathered together for a White Christmas picture. We used the timer function. We were freezing in our jammies, and it took awhile to get all eight of us in the picture. And the snowman is still hanging in there!

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." ~Burton Hillis

"For where two or three gather together as my followers,
I am there among them.”
Matthew 18:20

LAST HOME GAME 2009!

2009-11-23T21:07:00.009-05:00

ROAD TRIP! We love going to Austin. We have the drive down there memorized. I think if our car could hear, we could just say "Austin" and we'd be on auto-pilot the whole way! My sister Nancy and her husband Greg joined us for this trip. Lots of fun! We had to take a new route to the game, and we saw more tailgaters than ever! This is nothing like the game days of my years at UT. Much more fun! Love the smell of all those hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. cooking before the game.

We sit in the same seats every game. We are up high, row 36 of the upper deck. The lady who wears this cap is there every game. I love this hat! This lady is probably in her 70's, very healthy. Nice goal for us to attain!
Love the Texas band. It would not be the same without them! We always watch them march into the stadium. The opening songs are always the same, but I love it. And I have Deep in The Heart of Texas memorized now.
And this young man has made the last 4 years especially fun to watch. Colt McCoy. This game was Senior Night. Last home game for the Seniors. Great game. We won handily. We always stay until we've sung "The Eyes" anyway. Afterward, the Senior Football players took a lap around the field. So much fun to watch, because the cameras were on Colt the whole time.
Colt had a lot of fun making the lap. He stopped where the Cowboys were, and fired the cannon. That's only during the game usually when we score, quarter ends, etc. Made me laugh. Next he heads for Big Bertha, the band's giant drum, and gives it a whack. Finished out getting pictures made with the cheerleaders, etc. After 4 years, it was like watching part of your family make the rounds!
And I don't think I can ever get enough of seeing the Tower all lighted up in Orange! We have seen it a lot the last 4 years! I hope we see the whole thing lit up with a #1 on its side in January!
We all had a lovely time! It wasn't even too cold! Sweatshirt weather!
The next day we went to the 620 Cafe for a great breakfast before heading back to Euless. Next time I am getting a cinnamon roll! They look too good!

The season is still got a ways to go! A&M next week, then on to the Big 12 Championship, then on to the Rose Bowl for the National Title BCS game. Lots of confidence in my team!

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord
their hope and confidence."

Jeremiah 17:7

The Worley Trucking Company

2009-10-28T22:52:00.005-04:00

Ava loves Cars the movie. She has "CARS" books to read. She has Lightning McQueen and Doc that she carries in her Pink Pack when she is out. She went shopping with me once to buy a baby shower gift, and she pointed out everything that had CARS on it!

So, we decided the other night that we needed a new toy for her. We haven't added anything to our toy collection in quite a while. She happened to be with us for the evening, so shopping was actually more fun! While we were in the toy dept of Walmart, she would pick up a toy, look at Pop and say "Thank you Pop." She was so cute! She was quite happy with what we chose.
This is how The Worley Trucking Company came to be. We were playing with the cars, trying to load them on the big purple truck, taking the purple truck apart, putting it back together, rolling the cars, etc. I asked Ava what she wanted to name her cars. This might be a new concept for her. So, above you have Ava Truck, Daddy Truck and Mommy Truck. We picked Mommy Truck because of her lipstick.
Starting with the small purple truck, you have Jenni Truck, Rod Truck, Great Truck, and Pop Truck. (Remember, she calls me "Great" right now.) We had a lot of fun naming the trucks. And Ava recited all their names and pointed to them over and over. When Jenni came home from work, she showed her the trucks and named them all perfectly.

The trucks get to stay at our house. They are so cute I have not put them in with the rest of the toys yet. They make a Kid-friendly centerpiece!

"How happy I was to meet some of your children
and find them living in the truth,
just as we have been commanded by the Father."
2 John 1:4

Ava is Two!

2009-10-22T21:46:00.013-04:00

Ava turned 2 on September 30. She had an Elmo cake, as you can see. Elmo is still her favorite, although Cars is coming in close now. The candles are lit. I did not get a picture of her blowing them out, but we were so proud -- She blew them out all by herself! I should have known she could, because she had been pretending to blow out candles around my house. I just thought it was cute, but she was apparently practicing for her big day!
This year Ava was much more interested in her presents. Last year she liked ripping the paper and looking at the cards. She is sitting on one of her favorite presents -- an Elmo chair that folds out into a bed.
And Ava can now eat her cake with a fork. Last year she used her hands and made such a cute mess. Very little mess this year.

Just cake frosting all over her face!
Happy Girl playing after all her presents were opened!

I put this picture in because she makes me smile! We were out to dinner with her. I cannot remember what we were doing, but she sure was having fun!
Ava and I spent the day together while we sent the rest of the family to the OU game. She came over in her pj's. Isn't she cute? She surprised me by saying "cheese" when I took the picture! Another first! We started out with breakfast and playing. We shared some toast and Chilean jam. Yum!
We worked on the loading the washer next. Or at least I did! I did not see her grab my lip gloss as I was heading to the washer. When I finished (it didn't take THAT long), I see Ava on the sofa, painting her face! I laughed and took her picture. Too cute! I tried hard, but I could not get all of it off, so she looked like she had glitter on the rest of the day!
The game started at 11 a.m. So, time to change into her Cheerleader dress. You can't tell, but she has bloomers on that say "TEXAS". Those are my slippers she is wearing, but you guessed that, didn't you? She is holding my socks in her hand. She had just finished loading all my spare change from the dresser top into the socks before putting on the shoes! She had a lot of fun clomping around in them, and shaking her coins.

We had fun watching the game together. When I got really excited 'cause UT was running with the ball, I would yell "Go, Go, Go, GOOOO! Ava and I would jump up and down and clap. And yell YAY! Then I would get her to say "Hook 'em". She is pretty good at it, too!

She eventually took a nap, and I enjoyed the game alone. She was so sweet when she got up. She was in Aunt Jenni's bed (no more cribs!) so she got up, and walked in to find me loading the dryer. She sweetly said "Hi Great" and then smiled. She just melts your heart!

"So I concluded there is nothing better
than to be happy
and enjoy ourselves as long as we can."
Ecclesiastes 3:12

Has It Been That Long?

2009-10-13T22:12:00.003-04:00

A lot has happened since my last post! Now that I am ready to start blogging again, I do not know where to start!

We have been to Minnesota, we have been to Paris, Ava has turned Two, UT Football is going strong, and Jenni is waiting to hear from all the PA Schools she applied to.

So, I will start by changing my blog template for now! Then decide what to talk about first!

"You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever."
Psalm 16:11

Games with Isabella

2009-07-07T21:16:00.004-04:00

Jenni emailed today. Sounds like they are having a good mission trip in Guatemala! I know they are working hard! They have a very nice hotel. Hope they get to do something fun, too, besides translating! Although I am sure that is very rewarding.

The cat is still here. We have not lost her yet, at least not completely! It is amazing how fast Isabella can run! And how deeply she can put her claws into the carpet!

She likes to sit in our lap or on our shoulder. But that does not last long. Then she disappears, like, in a flash! So, we spend a lot of time looking for her. Tonight, she was under the bed again, no, she's disappeared! Mike called for help.

So our first game, look under the couch. Next game, look under the bed. Like magic, she has re-appeared under the bed! No, wait -- where has she gone?

Please picture Mike and I on our bellies trying to catch this cat! Mike is still in his suit pants, I have not changed out of my uniform. We both have our arms stretched out like blind men without a cane! We definitely have the room covered! And all this to catch the cat so we can feed her!

She is now happily eating her dinner. She always eats a lot! And I am thinking -- why didn't we just wave her food in the room and put it down? She surely would have surfaced without as much work!

I am sure she feels abandoned by Jenni and Rod. She is surrounded by strangers and two big dogs! No wonder she hides!

"Never abandon a friend--either yours or your father's.
Then in your time of need,
you won't have to ask your relatives for assistance.
It is better to go to a neighbor
than to a relative who lives far away."

Proverbs 27:10

The Adventures of Isabella the Cat

2009-07-05T22:31:00.004-04:00

Here are Jenni and Rod at the airport as they prepare to head for Guatemala! They are going on a Medical Mission trip with the Prestoncrest Church of Christ. Jenni is translating, and Rod is translating pharmacy prescriptions to the folks. At least that is what I understood! They are going to be gone a week. So....we get the cat!

Meet Isabella! Jenni and Rod found her running scared in the church parking lot a while back, and adopted her. She really is very pretty. However, we have 2 huge dogs, and she does not like them! She spends her time in the guest bathroom. Her food, litter box, and bed are all in there.

Mike wondered why we were deemed trustworthy. It must be because Rod doesn't know about the first time we met Jenni's puppy Belle (who now has become ours). She got Belle at A&M, and brought her home for spring break (I think). She left Belle in our care and went out with her friends. Silly Jenni! Belle absolutely loved Sadie from the first, but Sadie did not appreciate the little puppy yapping at her. She snapped at Belle, and Belle caught her own tooth in her lip, and we couldn't get it out. So, that meant a trip to the emergency vet -- never cheap! But the vet couldn't get it out either, so she had to be sedated! And we had to tell Jenni!

Right after he said that, I went to get Isabella. I had left her door open while I filled up her water bowl and her food bowl. Mike had cleaned the litter and shut the door. When I went in, no Isabella!

We looked everywhere and looked everywhere again. Finally, I decided to pull out the trundle. We had not looked there, since it only has about 2 inches of headroom. Well, there she was, perched on the trundle bed. She then ran backwards to the floor behind the trundle, now that there was space. We ended up pulling the trundle bed completely out, with Mike squeezing under the bed ( and I do mean squeezing! I should have taken a picture) to reach her. Good times! We were saved!

Isabella still doesn't like the dogs, but she does venture from the couch back to the trundle. At least now we know the secret! Looking forward to an interesting week getting to know Isabella!

"For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock."
Psalm 27:5

Good Times with My Favorite Worley Girls

2009-07-05T22:06:00.008-04:00

Ava just keeps getting cuter! We met Terri and Mike and their family at Fuddrucker's to go over plans for our trip to Paris. We had a lot of fun visiting. Stayed pretty late. Ava loved Jake and Alex! She was so well behaved! And this is the only picture taken the whole evening! At one point Ava met a little girl about her age, and surprisingly about her size, named Ella. She surprised us all by going up to Ella and giving her a hug and a kiss! I think Ella was the most surprised -- she backed off quickly. I have never seen Ava do that before!

We all had lunch together on July 3rd, since Jenni and Rod were leaving on the 4th for Guatemala. Ava and Jenni were looking at a picture of Jenni and Rod's cat, Isabella. Don't they look cute together?

Ava and her Mommy. They always look like they are having fun together! When Ava starts pre-school this fall, it will be very quiet at their house!

Ava and I were playing a game. She would try to sneak around the chair and come get me. If I caught her, I would tickle her. She would laugh, and go running back to her mom. She would peak around to see if she could surprise me. We did this many times. This shot was when I saw her running and managed a picture just as she got to me. Probably one of the cuter pictures of her, don't you think?

I grabbed my camera to catch a picture of Ava reading with her book perched on her toes. She was very involved with the pictures. Just as I snap, she puts her hands to her head and this is what I got! But you can still see the book perched on her toes!

Looking forward to lots more time with my favorite Worley girls!

"Tell those who are rich in this world

not to be proud and not to trust in their money,
which will soon be gone.
But their trust should be in the living God,
who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment."
I Timothy 6:17

Date Nights with Ava

2009-06-28T00:18:00.009-04:00

We are so blessed to be able to take Ava out to dinner with us almost every week! Here we are at Joe's pizza in Euless. Ava and Elmo entertained us all! Here we are playing "where's Ava." This is the point where she says "Here I am!."

Ava surely loves her Elmo. And she loves to hug Elmo !
Don't you love this picture?! What hams they both are! Jenni and Ava have lots of fun together!
This was breakfast one Saturday at the Raven. She came in wearing sunglasses. Love those hair ribbons, too. She is quite the movie star!

Here she is hamming it up at Spring Creek. One of the few times I remembered a bib for her! She loves to wipe her hands on her shirt, and apparently on mine if I get too close!
Ava seems to have the hang of balancing a spoon on her nose. I think Sarah can actually do this. I can't. The spoon falls off every time!

Hard to believe Ava is 21 months old this week! She is growing up so fast! She talks up a storm. She is a bundle of energy! She knows exactly where her toys are at our house. Jenni had a game called "Critter in the Candy." It is in the den. Ava and I played it (sort of) once. The next time she came over, she went right to the den and got out the game.

She loves our dogs. She calls Sadie, "See" and Belle is more like "Ball". She says Pop very well, and talks to him all the time at her house on her play phone. She says Rod very well, but very drawn out "Raud". She won't even try to say Jenni or Grammy. She loves to walk in the grass in the front yard. And even better, she can get in her carseat all by herself! Of course, we have to buckle her in!

We usually get Ava a biscuit or Sarah sends a snack with us to hold Ava over until food arrives. This kid can really eat! I just love the fact that every time the food arrives, Ava says "Food!" and is really excited to see it!

Ava is amazingly easy to put to bed. She and Pop read a bedtime story, we all get kisses, and then she goes to bed. Mike put her on our trundle bed for the first time last night. We could hardly believe it, but she just snuggled her Elmo and went right to sleep! And stayed on the bed! (It was our first time without the pack and play.) She's growing up!

Pop and Ava reading her new Elmo and His Blanket book.

I pray that your love for each other
will overflow more and more,
and that you will keep on growing
in your knowledge and understanding.

Phillipians 1:9

Advertures in Dining with Ava

2009-04-02T19:40:00.014-04:00

Isn't she cute?!! Here we are, at breakfast again! With Ava and Elmo. She loves Elmo! She has more than one. She has Elmo bibs that she likes to put on, too. She has Elmos socks, Elmo jammies, Elmo shoes, and an Elmo blankie, among other things too numerous to mention. She gets excited about Elmo and Abbe in books, too.Did I mention she likes to feed Elmo? Here he is, enjoying a big bite of Biscuit!
So, Elmo asked us to give Ava a lemon!

We do get together a lot to eat, so most of our pictures are going to include food. Ava was finished eating, so she decided to climb on her high chair. And we let her. Anything to keep her entertained.
Then she found Grammy's finally very organized purse. I bought a purse organizer 'cause everything kept getting jumbled up. So, it was very easy for Ava to find things to play with!
Moving along to our next meal with Ava. Jay and Sarah were going to the Stars game, so we got Ava early. She joined us for dinner. Doesn't she look cute in her make shift seat! We put her in a armchair and sat her on telephone books (can you believe we still have some!), and put a pillow behind her. Jay was amazed we gave her a real plate, too. We really enjoyed the meal!
A close up of Ava using her fork! She managed to stab some black-eyed peas and green beans and make it to her mouth. She is not so good with spoons. She turns them over and dumps the food out on her way to her mouth!
This is Ava telling me dinner is over, can I please get down and play? Love those eyes!
She went in to Jenni's room and rummaged around. Found some beads and had a great time playing with them.

Lastly, a little video. Ava is so lucky to have Aunt Jenni! Aunt Jenni makes Elmo dance and laugh. Aunt Jenni knows where the cookies are. Aunt Jenni let Ava help her make cookies - did not get a picture of that! And Aunt Jenni knows how to have fun! I had a big empty rubbermaid type container in my room. It became a car. Jenni and Ava road all over the house. This is only a short clip. The funny part I did not capture -- when Jenni would lift Ava up, she would not let go of the box! She would hang on, and teh box just came up in the air with her. Of course, we laughed alot and encouraged her. But by the time I tried to capture that on film, she was ready to quit.

"So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink
and to find satisfaction in work.
Then I realized that this pleasure
is from the hand of God."
Ecclesiastes 2:24

On Being Alone

2009-03-04T17:27:00.006-05:00

Sadie, in her "The Water Bowl is Empty" pose.

I have spent the whole day alone! Well, Sadie and Belle are here, too. My goal was to sleep late, catch up on laundry, and read through March 4th in the Chronological Bible. I am happy to report, I have met all those goals! I felt a little bit like Mary or Martha today, depending on my activity. I would work some, read the Bible some, eat and drink something along the way. There was some praying occasionally, too.

I have been in the book of Numbers today. One of my favorite hymns comes from this chapter six of this book (I am still trying to learn the alto part!):

22 Then the Lord said to Moses,
23 "Instruct Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing:

24 'May the Lord bless you and protect you.

25May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.

26May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.'

Of course, one of our greatest blessings is Ava. She is getting so big! She has become very adventurous, and explores the whole house now! Below is a picture of her kissing her Elmo.
She also likes to give Elmo a drink, too. Elmo looks a little surprised!
Ava is quite into love and kisses. And she is talking quite a lot, too. Jenni and Rod came over on Saturday so we could all babysit Ava. At one point, Rod and Mike leave to go get something. Ava was standing in the living room looking at the door. As soon as the door shut, she says, "Love you!", still looking at the door. Jenni and I both heard it, and it made us smile! First time we have ever heard her say this!

Ava loves her Mojo, and has been known to sit on him or use him as a pillow. Ava loves Sadie, but Sadie is not so sure about having Ava lie down upon her.

Well, back to my job tomorrow! One of the blessings about that this week -- I only have TWO more days until the weekend and fun with the family!

"Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future lies before those who love peace."
Psalm 37:37

Fun At Grammy and Pop's House!

2009-02-14T22:47:00.011-05:00

We are so blessed to be able to have Ava over at our house! She is a delight, but is she every busy! She is too cute not to share a few pictures! Here she is in her Valentine jammies. I gave them to her the night before Valentine's, so she could wake up in them on Valentines Day.

A few from the rear! I think the back of the jammies are so cute! They are tailored!

And she has such a cute little tummy now!

Looks like a yoga pose!

Tonight, Ava came over while her Mommy and Daddy went to dinner and a movie. Ava is sitting on our couch eating her dinner off a TV tray. She is wearing a bib I made for her Daddy when he was about her age. We propped her up with pillows. We do not have a high chair or booster seat, so we figured this was the next best thing. We also covered her lap and the couch with a napkin to protect the couch. We thought we were being clever, but we still made a mess. She had a kids' organic meal with beans, rice, and a quesadilla. She loves to dip her food, so she dipped her quesadilla in her beans a lot.
After dinner, it was playtime! We bought this piano when she was around 3 months old. She still loves it. Now she pushes buttons, and dances to the tunes.
Jenni managed to catch a picture of Ava as she was picking up the piano. She looks so gleeful!
Ava plays hard. And she plays non-stop. She is in constant motion! And then suddenly, she winds down, and is ready for bed. Tonight she and Pop read a book and then it was time for bed. She didn't even cry when we put her down -- she had her Elmo and her Elmo blanket, and just went to sleep.

The end of another fun night at Grammy and Pop's!

"I will lie down in peace and sleep,
for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe."
Psalm 4:8

Rod's Birthday!

2009-02-14T22:31:00.004-05:00

Rod's birthday was February 8. His first birthday in the United States. We celebrated very simply. Rod wanted to have dinner at Logan's Steak House. So we gathered there and took turns throwing peanut shells on the floor. Good food, good fun.

We had cake and milk at Sarah and Jay's. Hence the picture above. There are such varied looks on the faces in this picture. It will be one of my favorites!

Thought I would throw in a picture of Ava playing in her Baby Einstein Play Station. She is really too big for this now, but still loves it. She and Rod had fun playing with the toys.

A fun, relaxing evening. My family is a gift from God!

"And it is a good thing
to receive wealth from God
and the good health to enjoy it.
To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--
that is indeed a gift from God."

Ecclesiastes 5:19

Jenni's Adventure

2009-02-08T21:29:00.002-05:00

So far, Jenni has been scared by a lizard in a drawer, and a bird on the floor in the house. Could she have any more fun? Apparently!

Jenni and Rod live in an interesting apartment complex. Today, they were riding bikes in the complex. Jenni sees a rabbit come running in front of her bike, and before she knows it, a bobcat crashes into the back of her bike. Yes, a bobcat! The bobcat was focused only on the rabbit. No harm done to Jenni or Rod.

Jenni managed to slow down the bobcat's pursuit! The rabbit hopefully is now sitting somewhere in hiding singing praises to Jenni!

To end the exciting times, a baby bobcat comes strolling after mom. Rod managed to get a picture of the baby bobcat with his phone.

We have decided Rod needs to follow Jenni around with a video camera!

"So be strong and take courage,
all you who put your hope in the LORD!"
Psalm 31:24

The Front Door!

2009-02-03T20:59:00.004-05:00

Currently, I am afraid of my front door. Although Jenni and Rod put up all the Christmas decorations in the house, I keep forgetting to change the front door arrangement. It is now February.

It was the middle of January before I really realized the front door was still Poinsettas and ivy with Christmas packages. Luckily, you can't really tell that from a distance. The next morning, as I was leaving the house, a bird flew out of the door arrangement. That was a little startling.

Later that night, when we headed out, TWO birds flew out of the door arrangement, causing Mike and I to duck. We knew one headed into the house. We searched the house high and low (literally), but could not find the bird. I slept a little fitfully that night, wondering if the bird was going to light on my face during the night.

Rod and Jenni came the next day, and the bird miraculously appeared and flew out the door. So we thought this episode was over. Did I change the door arrangement? Of course not. But what are the chances of that happening again?

Then last week, Bird again gets in house. Again, Mike and I could not find it. We looked harder this time. Another night sleeping with a bird hiding in the house. I am used to it by now.

Rod and Jenni come over the next day, again. Jenni opens the door, sees something walking on the floor in the living room, and Rod says, "screams like a girl." I don't know what they did to get the bird out, but Rod finally got it outside. (Jenni also found a lizard in the house last fall. She was reaching into a basket drawer in a desk, and there is a lizard, a pretty big lizard, staring up at her. Rod said she screamed pretty loud -- he thought she had been hurt, he comes running, and rescues the lizard. It's a wonder she didn't scare the poor thing to death.)

Time to conquer my fear and change the door arrangement!

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the strength of my salvation,

and my stronghold."

Psalm 18:2

Be Happy!

2009-01-29T21:50:00.005-05:00

This little girl looks like she got interrupted on her way to play! Don't you wish you could be a little girl again and play all day?

At work we have been charged to come up with things our Mother used to say that taught us how to act toward others, and illustrate it with a picture. Finding a picture was not a problem -- but trying to think of something my Mom used to say that fit the picture -- not so easy!

This picture looks like "Stand still and smile so I can get your picture!" And it was probably taken by my father. I think the picture was taken in either Miami or Corpus Christi -- just a guess from the background. But it could have been taken in Houston, too.

Things your Mom told you -- "Clean your plate!" (I really did not like to eat when I was little.) Of course, I heard about the "starving children in China" as well. There was a chicken place in Waco that gave kids a silver dollar if they cleaned their plates. One of my favorite memories!

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything." Very wise words. And the classic -- "If Jenny jumps off a bridge, would you want to?" when I said something like "but Jenny gets to do that." And of course, "Because I said so." That's now a movie.

Although I cannot think of the exact words, my Mom did teach me to be kind to others. She did this many times by her own actions. She was nice to everyone. She had a lot of friends. She was kind to my friends. She didn't kill me when I volunteered her to be Room Mother. She made my clothes -- and cared about my opinion. She was someone I could depend on. She made me be nice to my little sister. She shaped my sister and I into caring individuals. She was proud of us. Who knows? Maybe the reason Nancy and I are both nurses was due somehow to our Mom.

In the end, I just turned to the scriptures. I have memories of my mom taking my sister and I to church when we were little. The scriptures always have something to say on any topic.

"Happy are those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right."

Psalm 106:3

Are You Smarter Than A Fifteen Month Old?

2009-01-18T22:13:00.007-05:00

Here she is, our favorite 15-month old granddaughter! She absolutely loves Elmo. Sarah said the only Elmo pj's she could find were in the boys department, but I think Elmo pj's should be for all kids! She is carrying her new Elmo book I found at Walgreen's.

Ava now runs everywhere, and I do mean run! She is very fast on her feet! The good news, though, is that she only gets her feet dirty most of the time, cause she hardly ever crawls around on the floor anymore. We are privileged to get to babysit every so often. I just could not resist taking pictures of our little Elmo Girl.

However, she does love sitting on the dogs' bed! And so do the dogs! So I know this is not a proper place for a little girl to sit! However, Ava does not share my sentiment. I finally got her to stay off by saying "Shoo-ey! Don't sit on the dirty dog bed!" She associates that with changing diapers. She started saying "Shoo-ey" and got off! I am feeling pretty clever at this point.

But, it turns out I am NOT smarter than a Fifteen Month Old. I did not know her diaper needed changing, but she did! The diaper bag was on the couch. She went over and started pulling a diaper out. I said, "Ava, do you need your diaper changed?" She looked like -"Finally!" I handed her a diaper and the wipes, she heads off to her room to be changed! Shoo-ey!

"Don't be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the LORD and turn your back on evil."
Proverbs 3:7

Just Another Night of Football!

2009-01-09T18:15:00.010-05:00

This week has seen us on the couch two nights watching College Football. Monday night was great fun watching Texas beat Ohio State. I even cooked!

Last night was the National Championship Game. We decided to have chili and cheese. Then Jenni and Rod came over. The feast enlarged quite a bit. First thing we had --Pebre. Like pico de gallo, only a Chilean dish. Best stuff you could ever eat when prepared by Jenni and Rod.

Okay, this picture does not do it justice! Lots of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro! With regular white vinegar added. We opened the chips!

Next, Rod starts making Chilean sopapillas. They put carrots in the dough! No recipe. Rod just starts mixing flour and whatever else goes in them. Then you shape them into little round pieces of dough and fry them.
I just realized how cluttered my kitchen counter is! Daily vitamins, cards, and a picture of the four brothers from the first annual Worley Minnesota Reunion. And carrots in a bag! Not exactly a picture out of a cookbook! The sopapillas are sitting on a dish towel I got in Santiago, so all the words are in spanish.

Now what is a meal with Sopapillas and Pebre without Guacamole! Jenni is the expert here. She makes amazing Guacamole! We took the picture from a different angle so you can see all the parts of the meal.
If I had just moved the new pictures of Ava off the counter, this might almost be a cookbook picture! So now, we are all happily munching on Pebre and Guacamole while Rod works! But, as you can see, Jenni helped!
This ended up being quite a feast! More food than the 4 of us could possibly eat! Lucky for us Rod and Jenni's friend Terry was there! And we still had leftovers! Below is a picture of the final feast layout. We all ate on TV trays in front of the football game.
We had a hard time deciding who to root for, but we had NO problem deciding what to eat! The chile was already dished out; everything was delicious! Have you ever had a sopapilla dipped in Guacamole? Or Pebre? I have, and it was good! And they were even great with honey!

A good time was had by all. But I am glad College Football is over for awhile!

"But I would feed you with the best of foods.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."
Psalm 81:16

And A Happier New Year!

2009-01-06T00:06:00.002-05:00

We were all dressed in our orange and white, settling down to watch the Fiesta Bowl. Can we win? Of course we can!

It was a very long game! We jumped up and down, we screamed, we scared the dogs a few times. We ate a few cookies, gulped some milk down, too. When it looked like all hope was gone, we persevered. We had faith in our team. Mike and I have been watching Longhorn football waaayyy too long to give up that easily.

And we won the Fiesta Bowl! Maybe not great in your lives, but very great in ours! And now Mike has started counting the days until UT Football season starts again!

"Fight the good fight for what we believe.
Hold tightly to the eternal life
that God has given you,
which you have confessed
so well before many witnesses."
I Timothy 6:12

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:24:00.013-05:00

December was quite a busy month. We had two birthdays and Christmas. Lots of fun and good eating. And lots of shopping! I re-discovered Amazon.com for shopping. Good service, gifts were all good quality. And I got to spend some quality time with my computer in my lap!

The month started off with Jay's birthday. Sarah cooked some amazing beans and cornbread, and we had buttermilk pie for dessert. Had lots of fun watching Ava walk and dance around. Here is Jay on his birthday. As you can see, Christmas decorations were already up at his house, too!
It seemed like every week end after that was taken up with some sort of fun activity! Once I figured that out, the shopping at Amazon began! It was so easy, I may need to do that from now on! Just earlier, so I have more time to wrap! One of our most fun traditions is taking out JABS Kids class from church caroling every year. We go to homes of our senior members or those in nursing homes. This year we gave everyone a bookmark to remember us by. Here is the "crazy" picture before we started. We had a barking dog puppet with us this year. When you made it bark, it barked a christmas song!
Then comes Christmas morning! Jay, Sarah, and Ava came over. So did Rod and Jenni. This is Rod's first Christmas in Texas. Sarah brought sausage balls, and Mike made the most delicious Monkey Bread he has ever made! There was Eggnog, Coffee, Flavored coffee creamer, and juice.
The scene before we opened presents!
Jenni and Rod were with us Christmas Eve. They decided to spend the night. We all watched "Scrooge" with Albert Finney before we went to bed.
Opening presents was more fun this year, because Ava could participate. Jay played Santa, delivered a present to each of us, and the opening began! But we did watch Ava open her present up first each time. She really enjoyed the bows and ripping the paper! Not always impressed with the present!
Santa brought her an Activity Table. Rod and Jay had to put that together right away. She was playing with it in the box. Of course, once it was out of the box, she played with the box for awhile before she returned to the table!
All too soon, everything had been opened, there was present wrappings and the newly unwrapped presents stacked around. We managed to finish off the sausage balls and Monkey Bread before Jay and Sarah left. They spent the rest of the day with the Reales. The rest of us decided to take a nap! Then it was time to get food ready to take to Aunt Nancy - my sister. Once there, the eating began anew! Lots of good food and good times that day.

We waited until December 26th for our annual Christmas movie outing. We went to see "Marley and Me." We have read the book, and were really looking forward to it. The movie did not disappoint! It was very funny, very touching. Either see the movie, or read the book! Both are great!

Next comes Jenni's birthday. It was on Sunday this year, so the whole Mike Worley family, once again, was eating together. Jenni chose Freebirds for her celebration. Freebirds catered the rehearsal dinner. Originated in College Station. Very appropriate place for an Aggie to celebrate.

Finally, New Year's eve arrives. We were very blessed this year to have Ava spend the evening with us while her parents hosted a party. She even got to sleep over! We started the evening with a short devotional at church, then some more eating and playing games. Ava had fun with the blocks.

Ava was back at our house and in bed by 9:30 p.m. I wish you could have seen us trying to change her into her jammies! She wanted to play, not get dressed! But seeing as there were two of us and one of her, we did manage to get her jammies on and put her to bed. She is so great at going to sleep. You kiss her goodnight, put her in her bed, and close the door. She put her head down and was asleep within seconds!

Jay and Sarah lent us the Baby Monitor system, so we felt very secure that we would hear Ava if she woke up. We could actually hear her breathing with it! This morning, Mike actually got up first, found her sitting in her bed playing, and brought her into our room to play. Ava actually went back to her room and got her new Elmo blanket while we were playing before breakfast. Jay and Sarah joined us for a home-cooked breakfast one more time!

A fun holiday season. Great family times. God continues to bless us richly!

"The LORD lives!
Blessed be my rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!"
Psalm 18:46

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2008-12-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

Christmas seems to come faster every year! It is already December 3, and I have done very little shopping. I am feeling particularly proud of the fact that our Christmas Tree is up and decorated. All thanks to the loving hands of Jenni and Rod. Mike and Rod got the tree out of the box and assembled it. Jenni and Rod decorated. We discovered that there are lights that are out in the tree, but somehow, it looks great anyway.

I am continually amazed at the resourcefulness and talent of Rod. We haven't used our music box/light box with our tree in the last couple of years. The Tree already has lights in it and we could not figure out how to attach it. The plugs are different. Rod fixed the problem! So we have music and twinkling lights again! Christmas morning will be noisier again!

You might wonder what I was doing during the tree decorating. Finding the additional decorations for the house, and putting up the stockings, of course. And surprisingly, cooking dinner for all of us! And enjoying the joy!

Christmas doesn't start for us until after December 5th, traditionally. Jay's birthday. In order to keep his birthday special, we always shopped for a tree after his birthday. We put up the tree earlier these days, but I seem to start shopping later! It just doesn't seem the right time until after Jay's birthday!

This year we are babysitting Ava on Jay's birthday! What a new tradition to start! And that gives me one more day before I give him a present! Time to shop!

"You will have great joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice with you at his birth..."
Luke 1:14

Thanksgiving -- Texas Style!

2008-11-29T18:27:00.010-05:00

Can you guess where we spent Thanksgiving Day? Of course, the above picture is of the END of the day. The END of the game, too. We were so excited that it did not rain! The weather was perfect! We took sweatshirts, but did not need them.

We started the day by driving to Austin. We had a caravan of cars. Us, Jenni and Rod, then Jay and Sarah and Ava. Traffic was not too bad. We tried to leave early enough to arrive in Austin in time for Turkey Dinner. Once we were checked in at the hotel, we headed for Luby's.
Here we are at Luby's. We started out in the foyer. HUGE line ahead of us. The manager came out and told us it would be a 45 minute wait! We decided to stick it out. And it really WAS a 45 minute wait. Ava did very well!
Here we are as we start our Turkey Day Meal. I don't remember who asked for ketchup, or even WHY they would ask for ketchup with Turkey and Dressing. We ate too much, and it was our second time that week to eat too much! Did not need to worry about a snack at the game!

Now we headed to the game. We only have 4 tickets and there are 6 of us. So it was Rod, Jay, Mike, and I driving to the game. We had a great time watching. And I loved half-time. The Aggies are a great marching band, fun to watch the precision. Of course, my favorite would be the Longhorn band. At the end of their performance, they spelled out "TEXAS". Then marched of the field, leaving their shoes on the field! It took us a minute to figure out what they had done. We just saw that the word TEXAS was still on the field. Fun ending. Late night. We did not make it back to the hotel until close to midnight.

The next morning, we watched Ava and Sarah swim, and then headed back to Euless. A very busy weekend!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name."
Psalm 100:4

Thanksgiving -- Family Style!

2008-11-29T18:00:00.008-05:00

This year it seemed we all had places to be on Thanksgiving Day -- but not together! So, we had Thanksgiving Dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

We all got to help cook! Emylie got to help with the sweet potatoes. Her most important job was guarding the marshmallows until it was time to put them on top of the sweet potatoes. I think she ate a few, too. And after dinner, I know she had "coffee" with marshmallows in it with her Aunt Katie.
Rod was first to get started mashing the sweet potatoes. We all consider him to be our best cook.
Jenni and Katie helped season. I know we had at least one stick of butter in them, and who knows how much brown sugar. They were VERY tasty! Rod did a great job -- and we found out later he really didn't like sweet potatoes!
Bryon was in charge of the Turkey. Well, Nancy cooked it, but Bryon cut it all up for us. A very time consuming job. Not too easy, since hungry people kept trying to get bites of turkey! I brought the Green Bean Casserole and a Pecan Pie, which both turned out to be very good! My sister did an outstanding job on the dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. We think we used at least a stick of butter on the mashed potatoes, too! By the time we got everything ready, we realized we didn't have a whole lot of butter left for the rolls!

Mike and Greg had the enviable job of watching Zoe the dog and also the Football game. It looks like Zoe settled in with Mike. Greg was the same pose -- just different chair and minus the dog. The kids who took this picture thought Mike and Zoe looked the funniest.

Emylie also helped us watch Ayden when he got up from his nap before lunch. Love their outfits!

I really did not take enough pictures! After lunch, we all got to look at the Christmas pictures of the kids. Katie is looking at them with Emylie.

It was a fun, and relaxing, afternoon. We got to visit with family, eat a lot ... and eat some more! My sister is a great cook and a wonderful hostess.

"Every time I think of you,
I give thanks to my God."
Phillippians 1:3

Halloween!

2008-11-29T17:43:00.005-05:00

Ava was a ballerina this year. She and her parents came to the Funival at church. This is the only picture in our memory that she actually POSED for! I said, "Let's get a picture of you and Elmo", and she put on a big smile and held it while I took the picture. Has not done it since! But she does love her Elmos!

Jenni and Rod opened their trunk for the "Trunk or Treat" event. I am not sure what Rod dressed up as, but Jenni is an angel (type-casting.) They decorated their trunk and had a "Candle Shoot Out" game going.

The object was to shoot out the candle in the jack o'lantern with a water pistol. We had a giant inflated slide, games, and lots of food. A good time had by all!

"What good fellowship we enjoyed
as we walked together
to the house of God."
Psalm 55:14

TEXAS FOOTBALL!

2008-11-04T21:32:00.012-05:00

Not the best picture!

In case you did not know, we love watching Texas play football. We have Season Tickets to the home games. Mike starts getting excited about the new season in March, and the first game is not until September usually!

My dad raised my sister and I on Texas Football. He was from Kansas, so I am not really sure why. My sister and I knew from the time we were in elementary school that we were going to UT. And if we had any other ideas, Dad always told us we could go anywhere we wanted, but he was only paying for us to go to Texas! And he must have brainwashed me successfully, because I really did not apply anywhere else! It never mattered what state or country we were in, if there was a game, we were watching or listening to it!

I had no idea that I was marrying such a fanatic about Texas Football. But I love it, too. And we have managed to raise our kids to love it, and we all are raising Ava to love it, too. Even Rod is excited about the games. (We are still unsure why we ended up with an Aggie!)

We let the younger Worleys go to the OU game, and we got to watch Ava. She was very properly dressed for the occasion. Watching her play is a riot. She stands over her toy basket, then carefully throws all her toys around her, then sets about playing with them. Then we had to put them all back so she could start again.

Her very favorite toy is her dog Mojo. Mojo enjoyed the game, too. Ava is trying to show us her new teeth!

This is the view we have of the field. We are in the upper deck. Thankfully, we ride an escalator all the way up! However, we do have to climb to the 36th row on our own power. I call this my weekly stress test. If I can do this without being short of breath or having chest pain -- I must be ok! And I do not stop on the way up! But really, we can see the whole field. I love our seats! I am not sure if I will love them when I am 70, but we have a couple in their 70's that sit below us, and they are still climbing!

And I love the UT band! The Showband of the Southwest! Big Bertha (the drum)! This is a shot on the jumbotron of the band marching. Love them! The band is so big! It practically covers the whole field!

And this is the sight that all UT Fans like to see after every game! They light the top of the tower orange for every win. When I went to UT, you could see the Tower light up right after the game from the Student side of the stands. This year, they added a whole section to the end zone, and now you cannot see the Tower turn orange. As we leave our section and head for the escalators, we CAN see it, though. Great sight! And when we win a National Championship (any sport), the ENTIRE Tower is bathed in orange. And THAT is a sight to see!

We did not go to the Tech game last weekend. We watched it with family in the comfort of our living room. We scared our dogs half to death with all the screaming and jumping up and down, and Mike yelling -- "Holding! Are the refs blind!" We also carried on a Text Message War with Kelly Worley. What fun!

We will be heading to the game again this weekend. The game is at 11 am. Look for us in the Upper Deck, about the 15 yard line. We will be the ones wearing Burnt Orange and flashing the "Hook 'em" sign!

Hook 'em Horns!

"This is the day the LORD has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

Ava Is One Years Old!

2008-11-02T18:14:00.010-05:00

Ava is now a one year old. Jay and Sarah gave her a Party in the Park. She was so cute! Don't you love her bow! We had hot dogs, guacamole, chips, dips, and of course, birthday cake!

Ava and Sarah opened the presents. Most of them were in boxes/sacks that were bigger than Ava. Ava actually got into taking out the tissue paper, and reading the cards.

And what girl doesn't need a longhorn Happy Halloween shirt! Ava's cousin Emyle helped deliver packages to be opened. That was her job at Jenni and Rod's wedding shower, too. She is quite good at it. Cousin Terri got the honor of writing down who gave Ava what! Thanks Terri! Do you have Carpal Tunnel syndrome now?

Ava really didn't know what to think about her cake. Sarah helped her blow out her candle.

A short video on Ava learning to eat cake with her hands.

As you can see, it did not take long to get the hand of it! While Sarah was busy cutting a bigger cake for all of us, Ava just sat in her high chair and happily ate cake. Another milestone! I am becoming a big fan of Ava. We enjoy her!

"May you live to enjoy your grandchildren."
Psalm 128:6

Jeff and Cathie Worley!

2008-11-02T17:14:00.007-05:00

Jeff and Cathie are married! I took a few pictures to share. They were married at Dave and Tammi's house in Sanger. The decorations were beautiful. This is the wedding ceremony altar.

The cakes were beautiful too. Jeff's had a picture of him on a motorcycle on the top.
And whaat would dinner be without specially shaped butter! Alex and Terri worked on those!
The newly married couple! Mike performed the ceremony. And that's Austin next to Jeff.

The first dance! Jeff and Cathie changed into "Bride" and "Groom" t-shirts right after dinner, then had their first dance and cut the cake. It was a terrific Worley gathering. Our family has enlarged once again! They both looked so happy!

"Let your unfailing love surround us,
LORD, for our hope is in you alone.'
Psalm 33:22

We Love Ava!

2008-10-03T21:46:00.012-04:00

So, what's NOT to love about Ava! She is cute, she is funny, and she let's us play with her! She loves to mimic. And she LOVES her Aunt Jenni!

Ava also loves to play with Sadie. Sadie is Eleven Years Old now, and she loves to play with Ava, too. I know it looks scary, but Sadie is very gentle.

Below is a Parent Approved Video of Sadie and Ava playing. Ava is tired, almost bedtime, so she rubs her eyes a lot. It is really not the dog causing that!

Breakfast with the Jay Worleys. Ava is wearing her "John is My Home-boy" Shirt.

This was taken tonight. Rod put Ava on Sadie, and although we weren't fast enough, she was laughing. Ava loved it. Sadie? Not so sure, but she tolerated the fun.

Ava seems to think Sadie is her own special climbing toy. Sadie really doesn't mind!

Shortly after this, Ava gave up. She was ready for a bottle and off to bed in the Pack 'n Play. She is currently snoozing, waiting for her parents. They went to buy her a birthday present and did not want her to see it before her party! I am afraid she is very dirty, but she is asleep. It is hard to keep clean if you are going to crawl all over the place and sit on the dog!

"So I recommend having fun,
because there is nothing better for people
to do in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life."
Ecclesiastes 8:15

Life After "The Wedding"

2008-10-01T22:55:00.004-04:00

I cannot believe it has been two months since Jenni and Rod got married! I have no new pictures -- well, actually, they are all still in the camera! No new activities to report yet. We mostly go to work, eat, sleep, and repeat! We are having lots of fun watching Ava grow up. She can do so many new things! She has upper and lower teeth now and delights in showing them off; she sort of wrinkles her nose and smiles. She is too fast to get that on camera, though!

Football season has started, so you know where we are and what we are wearing on Saturdays. If you happen to tune in to the game, we are in the upper deck, wearing longhorn orange, and flashing the "hook 'em" sign. This last week it was Jenni, Jay, Mike, and me. Something that usually does not happen! Rod was out of town.

Ava turned one Sept 30. Jenni called her to sing Happy Birthday, and Ava hung up on her! Her birthday party is Sunday. (I feel a new post forming!)

Saturday we will be at Jeff and Cathie's wedding. (Another post!)

Hasn't God been good to all of us this year! A wonderful year watching Ava grow, a wonderful year watching Jenni and Rod grow in their love! A wonderful celebration of love when Rod and Jenni got married! And now the wonderful bliss of watching another couple pledge their love to each other.

We've been studying Psalms. I love reading this book. The Psalmist spends a lot of time praising God, speaking of His Goodness.

"But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do."

Psalm 73:28

"For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right."
Psalm 84:11

"How kind the LORD is!
How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!"
Psalm 116:5

THE WEDDING!

2008-08-15T23:06:00.022-04:00

The Wedding -- the only one we will ever host! Why didn't we have more girls? This was fun!
Above, of course, Dad dancing with Bride Jenni. They had fun, didn't they? But of course, this was the reception, we are supposed to have fun!

The week before the wedding was a whirlwind of last minute activities. We had guests from Chile at our house -- Kani - Rod's friend from childhood, and Cristian -- Rod's brother. We also had Lindsey -- Jenni's bridesmaid and friend of Rod from Chile. We worked on wedding stuff and ate way too much!

Decorating the church was actually easy -- we had lots of help. We decorated on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, we finished up by adding trees to the auditorium. And, dumb old me, I have absolutely no pictures of it! I can only hope our photographer took some!

Table Decorations at Rehearsal dinner -- Cute!

Friday night -- rehearsal dinner. Wow! The Rehearsal went great. Decorations -- provided by my sister and our friend Sue Tate. The food -- awesome! We had Freebirds cater it. So everyone had lots of burritos made to order. And dessert -- Banana Pudding. Homemade by my friend Barbie. She even made some without bananas for Jay! A good time had by all. It was so fun seeing family and meeting folks from Chile.

Saturday -- the Big Day! We planned it to be relaxing. It mostly was! I have no idea what the guys did. I do know Mike and Rod took care of the honeymoon hotel and cleaning Jenni's ring. The girls started out with breakfast at The Raven. We were lucky enough to get the Treaty Room, so it was private. (Mike and Jay and Ava ate in the regular dining room. We could hear Ava talking sometimes.) Below, the Bride and her Bridesmaids after Breakfast.

Next up for us -- hair and make-up. My appt was first, the others came about an hour later. Kristin took pictures of everyone getting their hair done. I chose to take a picture of the Bride only. See below.
Next, the girls headed to the church to get dressed. Now that was a process! The dresses were all corseted in the back, so they each had to be laced in to their dresses. Time consuming. However, Jenni had to be laced, too, and that looked harder. It took two bridesmaids to get her laced in. And they had practiced before, so I know it went faster than for the bridal portraits.

And of course, we had to get Miss Ava ready for her performance, too. She looked so cute! And no one really saw her bloomers -- Sarah had put ruffles on her cotton panties to match her dress!

Now, the wedding is about to begin. I stopped taking pictures! Mike and I were downstairs greeting folks. It was probably the hottest day of the year! The church had left the a/c on for two days, but the foyer was still warm. However, the auditorium was cool. Both in temperature and in atmosphere. All the lights were off, except for the stage. We had hanging lanterns down the aisle, along with tulle and lights down the side of the pews. We had 10 trees on each side aisle, and lights in the trees. It looked great and felt good. As mentioned -- no pictures.

I was so impressed with the ceremony Jenni and Rod had planned. Very thoughtful, very spiritual, and very fun. After the bridesmaids were down the aisle, the wedding party stood at the foot of the stage and there was congregational singing led by a singing group -- members mostly of the missionary team in Santiago. Jenni and Rod walked up the stage and turned and faced the audience. Their minister, Kelly Grant, stood at the foot of the stairs. He began by talking to the audience, giving us background on this lovely couple, then turned to face Jenni and Rod for the actual vows. The ceremony was in English and in Spanish. It was just a great wedding ceremony.

Last stop, of course, the reception at the Cacharel Ballroom in Arlington. Oh my goodness! What a great place! Below is a picture of the decorations. Jenni and I and bridesmaids made the centerpieces. The pink and red ones are made out of cherry sours and strawberry whoppers (used toothpicks and hot glue on those).

The dinner was pecan crusted chicken in a wine sauce, green beans almondine, whipped potatoes. Totally awesome. I am using that word too much, but it was! The food was actually hot! And there were a lot of people to be served. Dessert, of course, wedding cake, and groom's cake. Both were absolutely delicious. If you look, the second from the top layer had Jenni and Rod's monogram. It was a white cake, very moist. We plan to order one soon just to savor the flavor again!

The groom's cake was quite a show stopper! Rod loves oreos, so the cake looks like an oreo! They decorated with oreos around the cake instead of the usual strawberries you see on groom's cakes. When Jenni and Rod toasted after the tasting of the groom's cake, they had big glasses of milk!

The top view does not do the cake justice, though. Below a picture of the cake from the normal view.
From here, I stopped taking pictures. I didn't even take one single picture of Rod and Jenni together! Can you believe it? But, two more pictures before I close. One of Jenni and her favorite niece, and one of Jenni with her favorite brother.

Truly an unforgettable evening. A real celebration of love. We are so thankful so many friends and family members were able to share in this joyous occasion. We were so thankful to see so many friends from Chile there. We are so thankful to have Rod as a member of our family now. I believe he and Jenni are truly a match made in Heaven. We look forward to getting to know him.

"So now we can rejoice in our wonderful
new relationship with God--
all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ
has done for us in making us friends of God."
Romans 5:11

Jenni Worley Rebolledo

2008-08-06T22:19:00.007-04:00

The Wedding was awesome! Too much to tell in one posting! So, I am just going to post my favorite Bridal Portraits for now. Our photographer was Sarah Reale Worley. It was just so awesome to watch Sarah work. Very professional. However, without Jenni's maid of honor, Melissa Reeves, and another one of the bridesmaids, Kristin McClure, these pictures would have been much harder to pose for. (Mother-of-the-Bride note -- always take the bridesmaids with you! They made sure the dress never touched the ground! And we had a white sheet under the dress, too.)

So, first, the official portrait. You should see this enlarged and matted!

Next, my personal favorite, the Audrey Hepburn pose.
And another favorite that really shows off the gown.
And, lastly, the picture the Father-of-the-Bride has chosen for his desk.
" The bride, a princess,
waits within her chamber,
dressed in a gown woven with gold."
Psalm 45:13

Wedding Shower!

2008-07-22T15:54:00.007-04:00

Hostesses and Jenni and Rod

Jenni and Rod were treated to a shower at church on July 13. Such fun it was! Above are all the hostesses. This was a sandwich supper/couples shower. There was lots of yummy sandwiches, chips, dips, etc. The shower cake was awesome!

They decorated with pictures of Rod and Jenni and the beautiful flower arrangement you see.

Jenni's 3 year old cousin Emylie got to help!
Jenni's family and friends were all there. We had the Althoff's, Alan and Barbara Tappe, Aunt Joy Boyar, cousin Patty Crowley, to mention a few. Jenni and Rod appreciated all the gifts. They are now safely stored away waiting for them to get an apartment.

And what would the blog be without a picture of Miss Ava! She is actually pulling up and cruising around now. Couldn't resist this shot. Isn't she cute?

Giving a gift works wonders;
it may bring you before
important people!

Proverbs 18:16

Fun With Ava

2008-06-29T18:41:00.004-04:00

Hard to believe, but looking back, it seems like all we talk about is Ava and eating! And we have lots of pictures of her in an eating environment. Just wanted you to know that she is actually up to other things! She can now pull herself up! She crawls, she sits, she loves to walk with you if you hold her hands.

So, above you have a picture of Ava standing. Aunt Jenni is right there, don't worry! And she is actually at our house, not at a restaurant! Now we have new problems to think about. Like getting rid of stuff on the coffee table, mostly books. Like baby-proofing all the cabinets. We don't have a lot of little things around anyway, because our dogs tails sweep those around if we do.

I said Ava could crawl, but I have not actually taken a picture yet. So far, I have just been on the floor clapping my hands and saying "Good Job!" I just watch in amazement. In this picture she seems to be saying, "Just what can I do now to amaze Grammy!"

When she sits down, she is actually right at good "dog licking on the head" level. Belle and Sadie are amazed at this baby crawling, too. Ava is not shy about patting them on the nose, though. Ava has been doing "the army crawl" thing for a little while. Jay and Sarah said that the other day, she was lying on the floor. She just crawled up and sat down, looked around, crawled to the sofa, and climbed it and stood there. Quick learner!

Just wanted you to know we do more than eat at the Worley house!

"Teach us to make the most of our time,
so that we may grow in wisdom."
Psalm 90:12

"For I long to visit you
so I can share
a spiritual blessing with you
that will help you
grow strong in the Lord."
Romans 1:11

Eating with Ava

2008-06-19T19:00:00.023-04:00

Ava in her high chair

Ava is a true Worley. Or, if you use her mom's maiden name, she is a REAL WORLEY. She loves to eat! I guess all the Worleys love to eat, because there are some pretty amazing cooks in the family. I have lots of pictures of Ava around food. Mostly taken at The Raven restaurant, because we eat there a lot! (I am NOT one of the amazing cooks in theWorley family!)

Ava loves her Cheerios! I know she looks like she is yawning, but she actually just put a cheerio in her mouth. She doesn't really have the thumb to forefinger ability yet, so she just uses her whole hand. She slaps her hand down on a cheerio, folds her fingers around it, and then heads for her mouth! However, she misses a lot, too. Under the chair was covered in cheerios that night -- we tipped extra!

This is Ava's signal that she wants more. Always accompanied by a sound or two, and the slapping of the hand on the table.

Look at the cute little double chin she is getting. Her doctor would like her to be chubbier, but tells us she is doing great.

This picture commenorates Ava's first bowl of mashed potatoes!

We just asked for a side of mashed potatoes. The bowl was bigger than Ava!

Can you see the "Yum Yum" look on her face? We had lots of potatoes left over!

Ava provides us with lots of entertainment. But we have to bring the props! She loves her Pop's hat. Jenni put it on Ava's head. She managed to pull it off nicely!

And Ava loves her Aunt Jenni. We really enjoy spending time with the family at The Raven! NO dishes to do! Quiet enough to hear each other speak. We can play "Pass the Baby"! We can eat our favorite foods -- and teach Ava to enjoy them with us!

"My child, eat honey, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste."
Proverbs 24:13

"And people should eat and drink
and enjoy the fruits of their labor,
for these are gifts from God."
Ecclesiastes 3:13

Thoughts on Mother's Day

2008-05-15T21:42:00.011-04:00

I know Mother's Day has come and gone. But I wanted to celebrate again, all the reasons that I love being a mother. But I wanted to start from the most recent reason and go backwards. So, the most recent "genetic" reason would be Ava. Here she is at breakfast with all of us at The Raven Grill. Our family tries to meet there every Saturday for breakfast.

Ava started out a little 5 pounder. She is now almost 12 pounds at almost 8 months! And she has learned to do so much! She can now grasp her "puff" and put it in her mouth! She talks a lot, mostly says "Da Da" when I am around. And she loves to eat! If we are eating, then she insists that she eat. Mike and I really look forward to these times.

Next reason -- Sarah. She is so special. So kind. Loves Jay, puts up with his parents! I don't have any funny stories to tell you yet. But I will be watchful for one! This was her first Mother's Day. Jay fixed her breakfast! They spent the time with each other and Ava. Starting their own Mother's Day Traditions. They came over later in the afternoon on Mother's Day, brought cards -- and Ava of course! Ava even signed one of the cards! And the bond between Sarah and Ava is something to be treasured.

Next reason would be Jenni, and of course, now Rod. We are so happy that they have found each other. Wedding plans keep on going. We are anxiously waiting for Rod to get here, hopefully July 3rd. Jenni will be back Memorial Day Weekend. And then the wedding work starts again! But it will be fun. And I will be glad to have her home for awhile.
I know this is not a recent picture. But I like it. Don't they look cute, and very happy? When I have seen them together, they just look like they complete each other. That is what a mother wants for her daughter -- someone who truly loves her. And Jenni chose well. Jenni has always been a treasure. Such a loving, caring, giving person, even as a little girl. She has so many friends, it is amazing. So many memories. She was funny. The "Roaring Rapids" ride at Six Flags became the "Roaring Rabbits." No matter how hard she tried, she could not say "Pink Panther." It was always 'Pink Panthra". We have had lots of fun. And we had such fun together in Chicago last year when we went to see "Wicked."

Jay, when Ava was born.

The next reason -- Jay. Without Jay and Sarah there would be no Ava. But I loved him long before he became a Daddy. Jay was a stubborn little boy at times, and I see some of those qualities in Ava. Some of the goofy looks I see on Ava remind me of Jay at times. Jay started walking at 9 months. Too soon! He once toddled over to the bookcase, and picked out one book and brought it to me. It was one of my nursing school textbooks -- "Your Child Is A Person, Too." Who knew he could read then? He loved to sit next to his Daddy when Mike was reading. Mike would read out loud whatever he had with him -- the newspaper, law briefs, whatever he was doing. I really enjoy listening to Jay and his Dad talk about their cases. Jay is going to be the best prosecutor the Dallas DA's office has -- he may be already!

And I saved the best for last! James Michael Worley, Senior. He started it all. I am the luckiest woman in the world. I am always amazed that Mike would pick me. He was the Senior Class President, I was the Latin scholar. He played football, I worked the concession stand. We don't sound like a match made in heaven. But college changes people. I prayed for an intelligent, handsome guy with blue eyes. Who knew it would be Mike! Well, of course, God did! Mike always says I am the girl his mother prayed for him to have. Who can argue with God? I guess we ARE a match made in Heaven!

"O LORD my God,
you have done many miracles for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them."

Psalm 40:5

Cinco de Mayo has new meaning!

2008-05-06T18:32:00.004-04:00

Now the 5th of May will forever be remembered as the day Jenni and Rod received approval for their fiance visa! For the details of the day, go to Jenni's blog.

On our end, we asked everyone we knew to pray for this to happen. Thanks be to all of you for your continued prayers! God continues to bless Jenni and Rod. This whole process took about half the time they anticipated. Our God is awesome!

Mike and I began the day praying, and each sent Jenni an email for our respective work emails. And then the waiting began. We waited, and waited, and waited. We were feeling like the Everready Bunny. The interview was 1230 Texas time. Mike and I called back and forth several times to see if we knew anything.

It was time to leave work. I had still not received any information. This was beginning to make me anxious! So, I decided I would call Jenni on my cell as soon as I got in my car.

As I am walking down the surgery hallway to clock-out, my cell phone rings (terrible reception in that hallway, too!). It was Mike. Of course I asked if he had heard anything. Mike said, in the saddest voice I have ever heard, "Yes, I just got an email." Okay, I never really expected anything but good news. Mike sounded so defeated, my heart sank. I say, "You mean they didn't get the Visa?" Mike, again in a very sad voice, says "Yes, they did." I must admit it took me a couple of seconds to realize what he actually said. He heard the pause, and started laughing. Don't misunderstand -- he IS really happy about the Visa and the marriage. But he also loves to drive me crazy! And he is SO good at it! Have to love him!

We talked to Jenni later. She sounded so excited. We are so happy and pleased. Later, when I was online, Rod popped up and tells me in Spanish -- "Me dieron la visa!" And all of us would know what that means in the context of the day!

"Your goodness is so great!
You have stored up great blessings
for those who honor you.
You have done so much for those
who come to you for protection,
blessing them
before the watching world."
Psalm 31:19

Ava Continues to Learn!

2008-04-23T21:23:00.013-04:00

There is no doubt about it! Ava is our favorite granddaughter! Watching her grow up and learn new things is one of our favorite pastimes. Just look at her in the picture above. She is pulling Pop's tie out and examining the pattern. She looked at it for quite a while. Pop looks like he is encouraging her, doesn't he?

Here she is looking at her book that teaches her colors in english and spanish, along with the names of animals. See her little hand holding the book? Doesn't she look extremely intelligent? But then, Sarah and Jay BOTH have very intelligent parents.

Here is Ava with her first toy at Grammy's house. My friends kept telling me we needed a toy or two at our house for Ava. Mike and I chose a piano with moving instruments on the top. It is really fun to watch Ava with this. She really likes it. She of course wants to put it in her mouth, too. But she can bang on all the keys as much as she wants. It produces some fun music. And when she is older, you can turn that part off and she can make her own tunes.

Ava is playing with the keys here, but just after this, she pulled the whole thing up so she could put some part of it in her mouth. I know it is not very heavy, but she is little -- how did she do it?

Now, you may be wondering what this picture has to do with Ava. Jay and Sarah's church has a dedication once a year for all the children born the year before. They hold a reception before the Wednesday night service. They put up pictures of all the kids. There are several tables around, and one of the elders of the church are at each table. The parents go around and meet with an elder and receive a blessing. The elders' wives gave each child a baby's Bible. There were other gifts, but I cannot remember what they were. When the Wednesday night adult service starts, they call all the parents and kids and the elders up on stage. Basically the elders promise to pray for and help these parents raise their kids in the Lord, and the parents promise to do the same. It was very nice. If you enlarge and look real hard, Jay and Sarah and Ava are very close to the left end of the picture.

Here is the family as they headed back to their seats. Ava looked so cute!

Ava and Sarah joined me at a Ladies' Retreat at our church. Ava was very good. We had balloons there. Ava loved touching them. She looks like she has no legs in the sling, but she really likes riding in it with her legs up in a crossed leg position. She got the award as the best baby there.
Lastly for this post, Ava is now sitting on her own! Here she is sitting in a play pen at the Ladies' Retreat. I apologize for the angle -- makes her head look a little big. I wonder which cousin she looks like this time. Last weekend at breakfast with Ava and her parents, Ava sat up in a high chair! My camera gave up, so no pictures of that. I have a new camera, so there should be more shots soon. She is still little, so she really looks cute sitting. And she is eating solid food now, too. She loves her cereal and fruit.

"So we have continued praying for you
ever since we first heard about you.
We ask God to give you
a complete understanding
of what he wants to do in your lives,
and we ask him to make you
wise with spiritual wisdom.
Then the way you live
will always honor and please the Lord,
and you will continually
do good, kind things for others.
All the while,
you will learn to know God
better and better."

Colossians 1:9-10

Ava's First Easter

2008-03-28T23:18:00.006-04:00

Our first Easter with Ava! I love this picture. She looks like she is smacking her gums! Like a little old lady without her teeth. Make up your own words to describe this face! Jay, Sarah, Ava, me, and my sister and her husband -- Nancy and Greg Althoff, all gathered at our favorite Easter Brunch at The Texas Star in Euless.

Ava was amazed at all the stuff we had on our plates and our table. We watched Ava while Jay and Sarah went to the buffet. We had the privilege of feeding her some mashed potatoes. Her first bite was something to see. No camera handy though. It was like she was thinking--"Oh my goodness, what is this?" And then -- "I think I like this stuff!"

Ava talked a lot during lunch. She is definitely a cutie. We didn't eat as much as usual, because we were watching Ava. She could be our new diet plan! But never fear, we managed to eat more than we should have. I did not want dinner that night or breakfast the next day!

And the end of the meal came. We were at the last seating, so we sat and visited a while. They turned the TV on -- The Longhorns were playing. Remember, Ava loves basketball. Ava and her Dad watched basketball for a little while before we loaded her up in her carseat and took her home.

Next year Easter will be a bigger deal at our house. Ava will be 18 months old, and we will have Jenni and Rod with us. I can hardly wait!

"And how happy I was with what he created--
his wide world and all the human family!"
Psalm 8:31

Adventures in Babysitting Ava

2008-03-19T18:47:00.012-04:00

Look at that cute face! Her pacifer is in a flower now that has a clip so we cannot lose it. So, no more Maggie Simpson. We now have Flower Girl (which is appropriate, since she is going to be in Aunt Jenni's wedding if we have to pull her in a wagon!)

We have been having lots of fun lately -- we have been babysitting Ava! She is so cute! We thought we had lots of experiences raising children. It never occurred to us we might have to learn new tricks with Ava! She has always been great. But when she does cry, it takes both Mike and I to figure out what she wants! Or if something needs changing!

Jenni was with us the first time Ava came over. We all had a lot of fun. Looking at the picture below, you do have to wonder if she was squeezing Ava too hard. Look at those eyes!

Ava is definitely growing up fast! As you can see below, we are already teaching her to read! Doesn't she look like she is reading? Teaching her Spanish is next!

Another picture of Jenni with Ava. Jay and Sarah were over, too. Always a fun time. We often play "Pass the Baby". Ava has just seen her mom with something to drink.

Ava has become very interested in what we are eating and drinking. She reaches for everything! We have reached the stage where you have to move everything out of her reach when you are holding her. She wanted a drink. Isn't she cute reaching for the cup? (Don't worry, it was just cold water.)

Yet another adventure -- figuring out when Ava is hungry. She is breast fed, but Sarah always leaves us a bottle of juice just in case. Doesn't she look relaxed in her Pop's arms? I will not go into detail about all the things we tried before we actually thought about hunger or thirst!

Now, look what a happy camper we have! Pop is her favorite! Don't you like that lopsided grin!
(I meant on Ava).

Don't ask me why, but Grammy always gets to have floor time with Ava. We just play. We have toys, and now we have her fingers and toes. We sing. She likes to sit in her boppy, but then again, she will scoot down and lie in it. We have discovered she likes to watch basketball. She really likes to watch it from her boppy. This is what she was doing below.

We look forward to many more Adventures in Babysitting. Ava is Adorable!

"Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him."

Psalm 127:3

Bridesmaid Day!

2008-03-01T15:03:00.012-05:00

Hooray for Bridesmaid Day!

Let's start with the youngest bridesmaid.
Here is Ava with Aunt Jenni.

Jenni and her friends all gathered at the bridal shop and began some serious shopping for their dresses. Below, Jenni with Brittney Snelson, and Laura Maurisch.
Jenni went to Ft Worth Christian with Brittney,
and met Laura at UT Austin.

Next, we have Kristin McClure, one of Jenni's roommates from TAMU.
Somehow we only had one dressing room for 5 bridesmaid!
Kristin was the first to try something on.

Next came Melissa Reeves. She is Jenni's Maid of Honor.
She and Jenni met at TAMU.
They were roommates the whole time they were in college.

Next, Laura, in another possible choice of dress.
She drove in from Austin for the day.

And now we have Sarah, with the last choice.
Don't be fooled, she is not that excited about the dress!
Miss Ava was performing in the audience!

A fun day was had by all.
Jenni has six bridesmaids.
Her friend Lindsey is in Tennesee and could not be here.
Brittney did not try on dresses -- she is expecting in April.
I did not capture all the dresses they tried on.
Susan Reale and I spent
our time spoiling our granddaughter!

They did not pick any of these dresses.
You will have to wait for the wedding to see the real thing!

What a joyful day it was.
I enjoyed so much watching all these good friends get together
to share in Jenni's wedding plans.

"But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Protect them, so all who love your name
may be filled with joy."

Psalm 5:11

Glamour Girls

2008-02-09T17:54:00.001-05:00

First, a picture of the newly "made-over" Grammy / Mother-of-the-Bride. In search of a new look, I went to a Lancome event for a make-over. Jenni watched. It was fun, and I learned a lot. We forgot to take a picture until we were at Taco Bueno. Not the dinner out I had hoped for, and I hope it was no reflection on how I looked!

Ava having "tummy time" at Grammy's house. Isn't she cute? Her eyes keep looking bigger and bigger, and she is noticing more things in her environment.

Sarah said she usually doesn't like tummy time.

We have noticed she also loves the television lights! She must take after her Pop, who will always sit down in a restaurant where he can see the tv and talk to me, too!

I know she is not smiling here, but we just thought this outfit was so cute! Look at her feet -- those are rattles on her feet! When she moves her feet, she can make a small amount of noise!

I never see Sarah that I am not impressed with
how beautiful she is. When she and Ava are together, they both glow. You can tell they have a special bond!

She has on cute boots this time! And that is a skirt she is wearing. The bib -- no matter how tiny she looks, she is now teething! She is four months old and now weighs 9 lbs.

We get to see Ava at least once a week, sometimes more, but I do not always have my camera handy. She has grown a lot. This morning at breakfast with the family, Mike held Ava and took her on a Texas History tour of the Raven. She still liked the television better, but she was very polite and listened intently to all he told her.

My other Glamour Girl has been busy making wedding plans. We spent a whole day doing wedding things -- looking at possible bridesmaid dresses and dishes, etc. Actually more fun than the tasting cake day. Life is good.

"He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!"

Psalm 103:5