Time in Texas

I am here!!! Yeah!! Great weather followed me. We have enjoyed sitting outside in the back yard for two days...rain is forecast for the next couple of days...so we are taking advantage while we can.
Remington has been a very hospitable fellow and seems to like me. Hopefully he will still like me when Mom and Dad disappear to the hospital in a couple more days. We will get some good "granding" time together (grandma with grandson).
Rem is a natural with a shovel, a good look in to his future on his Dad's dream farm.
There is always good food to be had while visiting in Texas. As a birthday surprise for Keith, Papa Frank made and sent a big batch of Christmas Eve-style fish sauce. It traveled well in its frozen state in my suitcase. All we had to do was thaw, heat and eat...yum-yum. It was a well received surprise!!
Check out this fabulous looking and incredible tasting Carmel Apple Pie that Keith made!! Just fill the pie crust with Granny Smith apples, add the lattice top and pour on a homemade carmel sauce and bake. Served with Butter Pecan ice cream it was indescribable!!!
When the time is right (Rem is not napping and the doggies are outdoors) Keith takes time to practice on his bagpipes. (They are a "little" noisy.) He is getting real good and is able to practice most of time on an electronic chanter using head phones. Well done, son!! Take a minute to listen to this short clip.

Sunday Dinner

When Frank cooks....the kids come!!! Frank put on quiet a spread on Sunday. There is something in his blood that gives him a passion for cooking (that and lovely new pots that he got for his birthday!!) This week the menu included Antipasto platter, Meat Lasagna, a delicious pasta and seafood dish, steamed asparagus, a German Pot Roast with vegetable gravy and roasted potatoes. All this he made "just in case somebody was hungry"!! Anyway, the food was TERRIFIC and we got to see our precious Utah grands. Bridget was a bit sober - most pictures show ear-to-ear smiles - but this one caught her in a more serious mood.
Dallin, AJ and Ethan always enjoy Grandpa Franks good cookin'!
The Lad and his Dad. I marvel at how much Ty looks like AJ did when he was a baby.
Aunt Katie and Princess Mia. Maybe someday, when the family gets together, Keith's family won't be quite so far away....we have our fingers crossed. I am feeling very lucky because this time next week I will be with our Texas kids to welcome our seventh grandbaby!

Grandma Brown's Adventure

I am happy to report that my Mom is recovering nicely from open heart surgery a week ago. She needed to have a valve replaced and a hole in her heart repaired. Wonderful doctors, nursing staff and hospital have helped her to an amazing recovery. She still has several weeks of recouperating but it is such a miracle!!
It was a blessed experience to unite with my siblings, family and friends to provide support and encouragement to her through her ordeal. Mom's "dark gift" provided us kids with the chance spend lots of time together.

Grandkids are the Greatest!!!

Last Wednesday we had the chance to play with all of our Utah grandkids. Bridget came to my work for a little while while Bridget & Mike went to an appointment. She was a perfect little lady and won the hearts of my co-workers.

Later on, AJ and Cami dropped the kids off while they enjoyed a dinner date and a Utah JAZZ basketball game. Here is a cute pic of our oldest and youngest grandkids! That will change real soon when Keith and Candice bless us with a new youngest grandchild in just two more weeks!!!

Grandpa Sano treated us to homemade Calzones!!! They were delicious....right, Dallin!?

Mia taught Bridget some new tricks....somersaults!! Bridget loved mimicing Mia's every move.

Ethan and Ty make beautiful music at the piano! I think it was music...kind of hard to tell with all the NOISE!!!

Jared found out that Jell-O is not the easiest food to feed to a toddler, especially a wiggly one like Ty.

Some of Grandpa's favorite games to play are Chinese Steps (guess which hand hides the coin and progress up one step) and LONDON BRIDGE is falling down, falling down, falling down.....

.....take the keys and lock him up, lock him up, lock him up...... What a fun Gramps!!!

Dallin is almost as tall as Cami. How can that be...it seems like it was yesterday that Dallin was our one and only grandchild and we had the wonderful opportunity to tend him everyday and spoil him. I would not say that we spoiled him rotten because he is a very nice boy and we are so proud of the way he treats his siblings and his cousins.

What a blessing it is to spend time with our children and grandchildren. We have truly found "joy in our posterity". We love you all...each and every one!!!

For Kaggie's Heart

Found this cute pic from 2(!) years ago and just thought I would share...

Slow Season

I just realized I haven't blogged for quite a while. Sorry to our blog followers. It is not that we haven't been busy...seems like every weekend is fully loaded with to-do's.

We typically take on an indoor home improvement project during the winter. This year we are freshening the basement rooms. Last weekend we painted the family room. It turned out GREAT eventually. As we got started we found the paint to be the consistency of water so we returned it. This gave us the lucky chance to choose a different shade of yellow which looks wonderful!!! Really brightens the room. Frank and I love to do home improvement projects together . We find the oldies station on the radio and hum/sing along. I do the cutting in of the edges and corners and Frank does a great job at rolling the paint on the big surfaces. What a great team we make!!! But as we have "aged" we find that we have to rely on the heating pad, Tylenol and a soak in the tub to keep our stiffened joints and achy muscles quiet!!! Despite the pain, it is still one of our favorite pastimes.