Christmas Even......ho ho ho

It's Christmas Eve....(so it's almost over!), We went to Dona's for breakfast and the annual christmas pkg. opening. Bill and I always feel bad about this part of Christmas, because we buy NO gifts, and yet Dona insist's on buying us something. Even the other inlaws buy us a little something, like potholders and/or candy. Anyway, the breakfast was delicious and the kids were fun to listen to and watch while they opened their presents. The "kids" are almost completely grown up. melissa is the youngest and is 13. It was cold and snowy, very cold, but there were alot of smiles here.

Here is Melissa, she got to be Santa Claus this year.

Here is some more of the Halterman gang, having a good laugh at Brad's Russian hat..

Amanda always likes funny footwear, so grandma didn't disappoint, this time she go some "E-orrs" (as in Winnie the Pooh), she kept falling over the ears when she was walking in them.
Humor always abounds when Amanda is around (hey,I'm a poet, hee hee)

Brad always like funny shirts too..

"I think I brained my damage"..

Even Trixie got in on the fun.

The magically appearing chickens.

I went to Teresa's today. We picked up her mom and went to lunch at Long John Silvers. We went to Mt. Vernon to the dollar store: Deals. We had so much fun just buying junk. As I was walking around , I would leave the cart with Teresa. Everytime I came back there was some kind of chicken in my part of the cart, a rooster clock, a rooster chicken frame, a lazer clear cube with a rooster in it, just a plain stupid statue of a rooster, a post card with roosters on it....it just went on and on, of course it was that silly Teresa. I did keep a couple of things, but I made her put the rest of the "magically appearing chickens" back where they came from...she is such a nut!

Then she had to go to Walmart...I told her "You have got to be kidding, 4 days before Christmas and you are going in Walmart??". Well, I just stayed in the car, needless to say! She came back in 45 mintues and was just disgusted!!

That was my day with my buddy....

We are officially Chicken farmers!

What an experience today was!!!! Finally, we have chickens. We went to a smal animal auction in Iola! Lots of rabbits and mostly roosters, but we DID find 3 brown leghorn hens, and a rooster of the same breed. Thy cost us a whole $2.00 each, big purchase. While we were at the auction we ran into a friend of ours from down the road. He told us he had some more laying hens if we wanted them. We went to his house and when we decided what kind we wanted he was trying ot catch them for us. He said he was too old to chase them around, so he got a fish next and caught them in mid-escape mode, meaning they were running, it was hilarious. I have never toughed a chicken except to put it in the pan, so this was a new experience for me. We held them by the feet and put them in our cage. They just hung there looking up at us, too funny and kind of pitiful too! We put all of the chickens in the coop, but Sally wanted one for lunch, Bill had to smack her with his hat and then we had to put boards on the bottom of her fence so that she couldn't dig into the chicken pen....well THIS ought to be interesting! It was really a fun day, even though the high was only 20 degrees and the wind was horendous! The final hoorah was when our rooster "cock-a-doodle-do-ed"....

I talked to Shelly and Cary, they think we are nuts, but I don't care, it's just another fun day with Bill and the chickens!

Christmas at Applebee's

Since everyone has to work on Christmas, we had our family dinner today, but first..........Shelley, Cary, and mom came to our house for breakfast. I even made little menus for everyone. We had a great breakfast and Shelley and Cary stayed until it was time to go to Applebee's. Mom had to leave early to get her hair done. Preston and Kara also came, along with Kelly and her daughter, Ashley...and mom. Preston and Kara bought Bill and I wonderful gifts (even though they were instructed NOT to.) They got me a foot spa, what a treat! There is not enought SPA in my life!. They got Bill and gift card from Menards in Effingham, something he can always use! The "perfect marguaritas" were to die for! We had a great time and kept sitting at the table until we finally got the hint from the waitress that it was TIME TO LEAVE...:-).

Here is everyone at the table, well everyone except ME!



Well, I just don't know what happened to that first picture, it must have shrunk in the dryer!!!
Anyway, here is Preston and I...

Takin' it easy at mom's house

Went to mom's today. We ran some errands and went to Subway for lunch. Then back to mom's we are still working on our vacation pictures....scrapbooking again. Here are the picture pages I did, mom is one ahead of me! Mom, wait for me.

The Wedding Day Arrives

Finally the wedding day arrived. It was a horrible cold day. Bill, mom and I drove to Decatur. The ride there was uneventful, except for mom spilling coffee all over her dress! It was okay though, you couldn't see it and she looked lovely all day! The wedding was in the chapel at Decatur Memorial Hospital. It was a beautiful little chapel with tall stained glass windows. Mom and I found Shelley in the banquet hall getting dressed. We took some pictures (one of Shelley's butt) and then we went into the chapel. Cary was there, lookin' all stylin' with his pink pasley tie and his happy face. He thanked us all for being there and so started the tears for some of us. It was time for the wedding party to enter, but there was a "musical malfunction" so Kelly and the best man had to do a speedy entrance and Kelly literally ran to her spot! Everyone was laughing, but we settled down pretty quickly when it was time for my beautiful daughter to enter. She wore a long light pink gown and looked just beautiful (as always). The ceremony was very sweet and intimate and they both looked so happy. There were probably about 40 of us there, so the chapel was almost full. Afterwards there was much picture-taking. Shelley and Cary toured the hospital to see their friends that were working and couldn't attend the wedding, which I thought was really a cool idea.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding.




The reception was at the Pastabilities pasta house. It was really cute and was decorated like an outside cafe only inside. Shelley and Cary cut the cake there....and so we all at and had cake for dessert!

And, my favorite picture.....

Scrappin' again

Went to mom's today. We wanted to work on our vacation scrapbooking again. We have so much fun doing this. I can't believe I was poo-pooing it, ha!..what did I know?

We had some sandwiches from Subway, then put on the Yanni and Clay Aiken music and had a grand time cuttin', and pastin'. It was over all too soon and I had to come home.

Here are the pages we did today.

Feeling "Cooped" Up?

We finally finished the chicken coop today. We tore down the building next door and used the materials to build our coop. Bill and I had such a fun day working together. We let Sally loose and she had fun chasing the mice in the old building we tore down. At lunch time Bill bought some cheeseburgers and we went to the lake for a picnic.

It was so muddy from the rain that I kept getting stuck in the mud. Seriously, I would try to walk and my feet wouldn't. It was really funny, well, to Bill anyway!

We finished at 4:30. Here is a picture from a few days ago when we just started it. That is how much was done when we started today!



And here is the finished product....looks kinda like Ma and Pa Kettle...but the chickens won't care.

Spongebob squarepants....where are you?

It seems that all of the "Spongbob Squarepants" promotional balloons have been stolen all over the united states. They were all on top of the "Wendy's". It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

I mean, it's just like tongue piercing........"WHY"...

The media has been full of photos of empty Wendy's roofs, squashed up and deflated spongebob's that were returned. Spongbob balloons tied on the bridges of the interstate! What is the world coming to?

Alas, the thieves must have had a guilty conscious...the spongebob's are slowely being returned.

Can ya tell that nothing much happened here today????

The Shanendoah choo choo

Today we were at the Christmas tree farm. We were NOT busy, so I took a few pictures. There is nothing to report when all we did all day was just sit and wait....and wait....and wait...I will be glad when this is over. Anyway, here is the train that takes the customer out into the christmas tree forest. Some little girls in santa hats saw me taking thier picture and gave me a smile. Hey, it was even WARM...bah hum bug!

Chain, chain, chain....

Ok, lame title.....

We worked on the chicken coupe today. Helped mom hook up her tv, vcr, dvd, etc on her new entertainment center. Watched "The Apprentice". She fed us and we came home and started making a chain thingy to go on my lamp by the computer. Yes, I am bored.

Here is a picture of it. That's all I got.

Kentuckian Goober Award

Off to Kentucky we went today, more tobacco products for hubby...(baaaddd hubby). We had a great time and went out to lunch. Bill drove all the way to Salem on "E", but he is such a smarty britches, he made it just fine.

While we were in Kentucky there was a semi pulling out onto the road, we had the red light, so he was turning and from behind us coming fast like a driver in the Indy 500 was a car blaring on the horn at the semi. We started laughing as the said car screeched on the brakes after he realized how stupid he was...OUR light was still red....This is the recipient of the Goober Award (thanks, Kent)..*applause*.

When we got back home it was time for Melissa's Birthday Party. Happy Birthday 13th Birthday , Melissa.

Yanni out the Ying Yang

Went to Mom's today. We always have such a great time together. First we had lunch, while we listened to Clay Aiken's Christmas cd. We never get tired of it. Then we spent some time on the Apple laptop that mom brought home from California. After that we made CD's of Yanni's music, thus the title..ha ha.

Then we had some errands to run and that day was over. It has done nothing but rain for days now. I think Bill is getting cabin fever!

Just one more week and it will be Shelley and Cary's wedding. I am really looking forward to it. My little girl is so lucky to find someone who appreciates and loves her.

This is me....

Fa..la la....la la....lalalala....*raspberry*

Yesterday was the first day at the Christmas tree farm. We were pretty busy. It was a nice day and everyone was in the Christmas spirit, except ME...I don't want to be there!

The most exciting thing that happened today?...We saw a dog eat a styrafoam cup!

On the way to the farm someone spray painted on the bridge:
Happy 10 months (heart) Poopie...


That's all I got!...

Happy Turkey Day....Gobble...Gobble

Thanksgiving was at Dona's. Kent and Mom came too As usual..so much food, but it was yummy! After dinner was all cracked up at the laughing cat that Sylvia sent me!.

Shelley and Cary came over for a while. Darren's car was on the fritz so he didn't make it. Preston had to raise and lower the flag at Ft. Bragg, so he couldn't make it either. I talked to both of them though. Missed you guys...Hugs

Not much to report since vacation is over. Next big event? Shelley and Cary's wedding Dec. 11th. I am so happy for her, she deserves so much happiness.

Learning to Scrapbook, finding the pictures in your life

Today was spent transferring pictures from mom's ibook to mine. Well, that took a while!!!...after I figured out how to use the portable storage device..sheesh!

After that we had a snack and began printing out pictures to take to the scrapbooking party tonight!. Neither of us have ever done it before and we had such a great time!..Now we are hooked and will have to document all of our adventures on paper...what a novel idea!

Here are the two pages that I did, mom's were similar. We didn't even get to our picture of Yanni Yanson....ha ha...thanks, Sylvia!

Why do we wear high heels?

Someone on the Clayboard was begging for a comfortable high heel. I commented that men were the first ones to wear them....most people didn't know this so I had to find a link...it was pretty interesting so I am going to put it here....

Before I do I would like to say phooey to King Louie (XIV)....he wore 5 inch heels, names after him...what a guy!

http://users.powernet.co.uk/wingett/History1.html

There's no place like home...(click, click)

We flew home from CA today. Had such a grand time with Kim and Sylvia. Home seems kind of mondane now, except for Bill. He is just as entertaining as evah!
It's good to be back.

The Meeting of the minds...

Today was a very special day. Finally after 5 years of emails and phone calls I met my internet friend, Linda McAlvey. We had the best time ever! Linda came with her sister and we had coffee and laughed and talked like old friends. She was much prettier than her pictures and was just as funny as I thought she would be. She brought me a sweet little candle gift, which I will cherish. The funniest thing?..we are built just alike....I think she is my soul sister...only a white girl...ha ha..

We are waiting for Sylvia to come home and are having pork chops for supper. Tomorrow we are going to Sylvia's office and then to the airport for the flight home. We have had such a wonderful time. Kim and Sylvia have been the perfect hosts. There is no way I can repay them for their hospitality and thoughtfulness. All I can say to them is thank you very much for the best vacation ever.

Here is a picture of Mom, me, Linda and Brenda...

Hugs to Linda and Kim and Sylvia



Bill, if you're reading this...Linda says to tell you hello too!...I'm missin' ya...be home soon....*kisses and hugs*.

Einstein and the rest

We were very tired from our adventures this week. Sylvia had to return to work, so Kim, mom and I just stayed home and relaxed. So. here is a picture of Einstein.....


Kim and Sylvia's house is beautiful, so here is a picture of it too. The patio and garden area in back is also gorgeous.


Later that evening Sylvia's daughter, Amy and her husband and kids came for supper, also ex-son-in-law and his two kids. We had a great time, they were all so funny and interesting. Mom and I told stories on Kim and Kent.

Here are the grand kids acting silly down stairs. Kayla was sick, but smiled for me anyway.





Back home in one day...Bill, I miss you bunches...

The Butterfly zone underwater

First we headed toward Monterey to view the butterfly habitat where the monarcks were roosting. The trees were full of butterflies. It was hard to get clear pictures because the branches were all too high on the euclyptus tree, so here is just a branch with one butterfly. They were flying from one tree to the next, they were beautiful.


Next we had some lunch at a little cafe across from the Monterey Aquarium. It was beautiful and had lots of interesting exhibits. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the aquarium.






After the aquarium we went to Santa Cruz and had chowder (mom and I had manhattan clam chowder.) The gull was one of our little friends. He was looking in the window at us and so we decided to feed him...what a mistake....first there was one bird, then 20, then 50...we fed them our left over rolls and oyster crackers and got the heck out of there..

CELLMATES UNPLUGGED

Today mom and I met one of our on-line friends, Doris. She lives in San Jose and we had met on the Clay Aiken board. Mom and I didn't know what to expect, but she was just so sweet and fun. She was a chinese lady and is the same age and me. We met for lunch and exchanged Clay gifts. We did lots of giggling and laughing and the people behind us kept looking at us, but we didn't care. After lunch we went shopping and had a grand time. We got "attacked" by the "herbal neck pillow" guy, he was so insistant and we finally just ran off and left him. We bought some candles and had our picture taken in front of the kiosk because it said "Light My Fire" on top and we thought that would be a good message for Clay....we had so much fun. Here we are....


We came back home and had a wonderful delicious meal with Kim and Sylvia and then watched Shrek2...it was time for bed...tomorrow..off to the butterfly zone and the aquarium in Monterey.

Let me out...I'm innocent, I tell ya....Innocent!

What a wonderful and busy day today. First, we went to Alcatraz, which is now a National Park, bet the past inmates would never have believed such a thing would happen to such a horrible place. Such and interesting, creepy and sad place, too. I took so many pictures, but I will only put this one here....


There is so much history to this place. Of course, everyone knows about the Birdman of Alcatraz, the famous "escapees" and the fact that Al Capone was once incarcerated here.

How ironic that the beautiful San Francisco skyline loomed so close yet so far in the distance. We spent several hours here and it was a lovely warm California day.

After we got back on our boat and returned to SF we went to Fisherman's Wharf for a while. Mom, Sylvia and I had such a great time "fishing" for an oyster with a pearl in it. We all got jewelry made with our chosen pearls. After you chose your oyster, there would be a little ceremony by tapping the top of the shell, three times and saying out loud "Aloha", and then they would ring a big bell...ha ha...what a racket!...we fell for it anyway, the pearls were beautiful, mine was pink, but mom's was a beautiful white one and bigger than mine...wahhhhh (that's my crying..)


Then we had to hurry to downtown San Francisco to attend the musical : Beach Blanket Bingo...it was a musical about pop culture...OMG...we laughed so hard...it was the funniest and cleverest thing I have ever seen! From Madonna to Elvis, they were all live over exagerated characatures...so funny!...Love it,absolutely!

For dinner they took us to a swanky restaurant by the ocean, called the Cliff House, due to the location on a cliff above the ocean...so beautiful. The food was very good and the desserts were to die for! Chocolate bruellie, cocoanut cake with shaved lime ice, a fruit parfait, I'm making myself hungry again!



Thanks, dear brother and sister-in-law for another wonderful day.

The "REAL" Miss Swan

We have been having a grand time!

Kim gave us a tour of Apple Computer, which Sylvia likes to call "The Emerald City", the windows were tinted green all around, but leave it up to her...lol!

We went to see Yanni last night.....he was fantastic....not as fantastic as our beloved Clay.....but we all really enjoyed it.

Today we just sat around in our jammies and drank coffee and talked and then went into San Jose to the convention center to a craft and merchants show. While we were at this merchant's show, we decided to buy some purses. The lady running the stand sounded and acted like Miss Swan, it was so funny we could hardly wheel and deal with her. In the end Sylvia "jewed" her down $20, when Miss Swan finally agreed to our prices, she acted like she was sorry she gave us such a good price....She said "Looka at my aface"...and then she grimaced like miss Swan would do when she said "He looka likea man"...too funny. We like our purses though...

We then watche "Finding Nemo", ate some snacks and went to bed!..Another great day in San Jose...hey, I'm a poet...

A picture of Apple Computer building....


Tomorrow we are off to Alcatraz,,,,,,, the musical: Beach,Blanket, Babylon,,and then supper at the Cliff house restaurant...wow, brother is keeping us busy.

The real Miss Swan, well, the back of her head, anyway......!

Yawning on the plane, Yanni in SF

We finally arrived at San Jose today, the plane ride was endless, and it was so hot on the plane! We are at this moment sitting here in Kim's living room, mom and I are both surfing the internet on wireless apple laptops. We are going to see Yanni tonight in San Francisco...will update later.

Bill I miss you already...kisses.

You will only understand this if you are a Clay Aiken Fan...

This a poem written by a friend of mine on the Clayboard. We have not been in prison and do not have a warden....this has to do with : CONCERTS, CLAY AIKEN...and CELL PHONES...so this is just for me, (oh, and mom).

WRITER ROSS AND PAL ARE BACK ON THE BLOCK
IT'S TIME TO PARTY, GATHER THE FLOCK.
C'MON ALL YOU CELLMATES GATHER ROUND,
WHERE'S CLAYPERFECT, OH SHE'S STILL UNDERGROUND.

GET OUT OF THAT TUNNEL, IT'S TIME TO PLAY
WITH YOUR CELLMATES THAT HAVE RETURNED FROM AWAY,
WR I DON'T THINK I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE,
I CAN TELL FROM THE WELCOMES YOU MUST BE A TREASURE.

WALLA, CMP, PACK, HG,TSU AND AA2
WERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT ALL OF YOU,
SPARTUS, TLC, CAC, KAB GA, AND PUNK
THE JOY OF THIS PLACE MAKES ME FEEL DRUNK.

WITH SPIRITS SOARING WITH JOY IN THE CELL,
WE ARE IN FOR A SPECIAL TIME, THIS I CAN TELL.
PLFC, AA, RENNE, YOAMO, EMOTING,CLAYSYCRAZY AND CP
WITHOUT ALL OF YOU THE PLACE WOULD SEEM EMPTY.

TO ANY CELLMATES NOT MENTIONED BY NAME,
MY BRAIN IS NUMBING SO I AM TO BLAME,
DON'T FEEL LEFT OUT AS I LOVE EACH OF YOU,
BEING HERE MAKES ME HAPPIER IN ALL THAT I DO.

LOVE

LLBUN

LET'S PARTY.

There IS life from other planets living among us....

Went to mom's today. We are getting ready for our trip to California, so I needed a skirt hemmed up, where else but to mom for that one!....While was there we decided to use the Nero burning program to make me a dvd of some Clay Aiken Montages....after 2 hours it gave us an error....rats!......so mom, so kindly gave me one of her dvd's she already burns (thanks, again, mom)....

We had lunch and made a tote bag for a friend we are looking forward to meeting when we get to Caloifornia.

I feel like I am in limbo right now, just waiting for my vacation to begin. I am really excited...

Got some halloween pictures from my brother , Kim, today....he and Sylvia love halloween as much as I do...here are some pix...


Alien inhabitants above....and Zeta Recticulum babe, below....Sylvia...she is such a hoot!

Aurora Borialis......

Since we celebrated Shelley's birthday yesterday, we are just home relaxing today. Due to the activity of the sun spots our skies are blessed with beautiful colors of the northern lights. Our local St. Louis station showed pictures taken in our area so Bill and I were anxious to see the lights ourself. We stood in the cold, dark night...and saw....nothing!....there was some fog and a few small planes blinking in the sky, but nothing else...what a disappointment. Therefore, I had to steal this picture from the weather channel....