Olympic Fever

Have you got it?  We DEFINITELY do!!  Every night this week, we are hurrying to eat supper so we can jump on the couch to watch our USA team compete in the Olympics.  Last night was a blast.  Lindsey Vonn conquered the downhill and if you didn't watch it...there were 6 crashes on the women's downhill!  One girl, from France, I believe, hardly made it out of the gate before she took a tumble! My favorite though, is Apolo Anton Ohno!  He won gold in the short track!  Jake really enjoyed watching Shaun White in the half-pike, so I guess that video game will be in our near future!  He was really good and I loved that he didn't just come out and do a "blah" run on his last run, even though he knew he already had the gold metal.  He came out and did an even better run, which was a show of his character I think.  Good for him, and for giving the fans something to cheer for!!

It has finally warmed up to 50 degrees here!!  It is only temporary, I'm sure.  Suppose to rain beginning tomorrow and rain through the weekend.  I am so ready for spring time.  I can not wait to buy flowers and ferns.  We had to cut down one of our huge oak trees in front of our house, so I am trying to think of flowers we can plant in that spot.  We don't have anything flowering in front of our house except our crepe myrtles, so I'm thinking something with lots of color!

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!!  We don't have any plans for tonight, which is wonderful!  It's gonna be Barbecue Shake and Bake Chicken and a couple of vegetables then.....OLYMPICS!  

Bye for now......

Big Cedar Lodge

 

Last Friday, Joe and I went to Branson, Missouri, and stayed at Big Cedar Lodge.  It only takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there, but it seems a world away.  On the way to Branson, we go through a community called, Boxley, Arkansas, that we always stop to watch the elk.  Several years ago, the park service put some elk there and they seems to just stay in a few select fields that you can always see from the road. Boxley is only 30 miles or so from our house. 

We got to Big Cedar around 3 o'clock Friday afternoon.  We met Joe's nurse, Cathy, and her husband, Todd, there.  We had reservations at The Devil's Pool restaurant for dinner.  It was really good...Joe always gets the smoked prime rib and me, the filet.  Saturday morning it was snowing the most beautiful flakes.  It was a little warm to stick, but with the surrounding mountains, it looked like a post card.

Gran and Papa brought the kids up Saturday afternoon and we spent the rest of the day at Branson Landing.  Had a really good supper at Joe's Crab Shack.  Sunday, we all exchanged Valentine's stuff and ran off to brunch at The Worman House.  Champagne mimosas, chocolate-covered strawberries, omelets.....yummmmy.  There was so much food, I couldn't try it all!  We shopped some more Sunday afternoon and were home to watch the last couple laps of the Daytona 500!  What a nice get away.  

School is out for winter break until tomorrow.  I've been playing around with Photoshop Elements that I got for Christmas....

This is a picture before......

and after......

Jake has a ballgame tonight and Anna has an orthodontist appointment this afternoon.  Will be back in our "normal" routine soon, but it was a nice LONG, restful weekend!

Bye for now.....

Snowed In

I never thought I'd see the day that I would say, "I'm sick of snow!", but today.....I'M SICK OF SNOW!!!  This is our 2nd snow of 2010 and I've had enough!  It was fun the first day and everyone was Facebooking about how beautiful and fun, blah, blah......now, everyone is just ready for summer.  I have to admit, though, it was a beautiful snow and of course, I took tons of pictures, so you'll just have to bear with me as I show a few.....

I took this picture while the sun was just coming over our trees.  This was taken from our front porch.

Not sure why I like this picture, but I took this yesterday when Joe and I went riding to see the snow.  I was getting a little cabin fever, so we grabbed the camera and headed out... I wish you could see the pond better, cause it was beautiful.

Geese on our pond

 

Snowed in.....

My new Wal-Mart rain (snow) boots.  Love them!!

Shanae and Anna

 

Jake sledding

 

Shanae and Anna with Mr. Snowman

Other than snow, we have had a lot of medical "issues" lately.  Joe had a kidney stone, then Gran had 7 kidney stones and had to be hospitalized overnight.  Next, Anna had Strep throat, then surgery to have her two canine teeth exposed and ligatures were placed to "pull" the teeth into the right place.  After all that, Gran had to go back in and have "kidney sludge" pulled out with a basket and another stint placed for another week or so.  She had hurt for almost an entire month until the last procedure, so maybe she is on her way to recovery.

Anna is finishing up with cheerleading season FINALLY.  She is cheering now at the district tournament, then she will be through until tryouts...which is in March.  Of course, she'll still have tons of practice, but no games.  Jake is full swing into basketball now.  He has won several games.  I think they have only lost 1 regular season game so far.  He has only scored one point, but hopefully we'll get more chances to shoot.

Joe and I are going to Big Cedar Lodge this Friday for Valentine's.  I am so excited.  It will be nice to have a little adult time.  The kids and my parents are coming on Saturday and we will spend the day shopping!  

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and Happy Valentine's to you and yours.

Bye for now.....

Candy