A Time to be Thankful

I love this time of year. The weather is perfect here and that is great because I love to be outside. The holidays are just around the corner which means time to spend with family. That's the best part. This last week was fun and full of great activities. Saturday was the annual pomegranate festival. The arts and crafts were awesome. Then the best part of the day. Zach, Nikki and Lincoln came out for Nikki's piano concert at the Showcase. It was absolutely fantastic. She is so talented I am in aw every time I hear and see her play. Thank you Zach for bringing Nikki into our family. We love her so much. I had so much fun playing with Lincoln. We went for a 4-wheeler ride. Of course he loves to check every detail of everything out. He always starts by pushing the intaglio button on my watch. He starts up the quad and we are ready to go. I took him to see some cows, horses, pigs, chickens, our goats and lamb and a big John deer tractor. (That was his favorite) He loved sitting up on the big seat and grabbing all the knobs. We then played in the building. He loves bikes. Then I caught him a great big gigantic green grasshopper. It was fun chasing it around and catching it. He would get the funniest look on his face when I would hand it over to him. It was squirmy and he didn't know if he liked it or should be scared. What a brave boy. I love to play with the grand kids.
On Monday and Tuesday we decided to go for a quick and close camping excursion since Leslie and Erin didn't have school for the Veterans holiday. I chose Whitney pocket since it is close to home and I haven't been there for a long time. It was a great choice. I was beautiful and the hiking and riding was fantastic. Cami, Dantzel and James came and spent Monday with us. It was so fun to play with the kids. I wish Tim was there with us. He would have been so proud of little James. He is a great rock climber. He is such a little athlete and reminds me of Cam when she was a little tike. He is very coordinated and no fear for him baby. When he was scaling the side of some cliffs his little fingers were gripping the cracks as he climbed. His little grin was so cute when he made it to the top. I was a nervous wreck watching him but it was sure fun.

Continued Adventures

Well, Well. I guess I will try again. I am still learning how to blog. This time I will attach a message to the title.

Remember, I am the learning Granny at this. I will persist and get it down though.

This last week has been full of adventures each day as always.

On Tuesday Erin had the opportunity to go and participate in the Division Tennis tournament in Las Vegas with the high school. This came as a surprise to us. She thought she had finished her Tennis season and even had her hair cut. "Oh No!" Now it won't fit in a pony tail. No worry, I helped her glue it in place with lots of hair gel, hair spray and clips. We made the trip to the fancy courts at Darling Tennis Center for the tournament. This is where Andrea Agassi practices. It was fancy. She ended up playing a girl who was ranked #4 in the State. She was very good and also very nice. Erin had a lot of fun but was beat 6-0, 6-0. She had a lot of fun and was excited because she actually had her a deuce in a couple games. That's my Erin. She is always so happy about such simple things. She felt like a winner and it was easy for her to overlook the big loss. I am always learning from her example.

Hooray! Leslie got a new hearing aid. I am always so happy when she hears better. It is so much easier to communicate with her. She only has one but they are building her other one for the other ear. Life will only get better. She is learning lots of new things at her Zoo job. I enjoy hearing interesting facts that she shares with me about the different species. This week Valerie and her husband Jay, with her family will be attending a big Veterinarian's conference. Leslie won't be there the whole week. We will miss that. She will be volunteering at the elementary school with her favorite second grade class though. She loves to do that also. It is a good thing she is keeping herself involved. I failed to mention she has been helping to place baby Desert Tortoises in homes. Valerie has people bring them to their clinic and Leslie helps to find homes for them. They are so cute and adorable. We have been having so much fun with them. We had a great concert at the Showcase last Saturday. We had a very talented professional pianist come and put a concert on. His name is James O Neil Minor. It was very entertaining. Jay got me all 9 of his published Cd's. I am so spoiled. Next Saturday, we will have the best concert ever. Nikki, Zach's wife will be performing. She is my all time favorite pianist. I have had a sneak preview of what she is going to play. She practiced for Jay and I when we were at their house a few weeks ago. I was mesmerized by her talent and skill. Anyone who wants to come and enjoy her talent, is welcome. It will be wonderful. Oh, and you will also get to see Lincoln. What a cute little guy. I love my grand kids.

Adventures continue

Grandma Rhonda getting in the Groove

Relief! Now I won't feel so guilty when I am enjoying everyone elses blogs and never share anything from our house. Believe it or not, even with four kids out of the nest, things are still going on around our house. Erin and Leslie keep us hopping with their activites and it even gets more fun when the grandkids come play. WOW! Life is great. I am sure enjoying it.

Here is the latest from our house.

Last night Leslie brought her new 4-H project home. She purchased a beautiful baby lamb. He is so cute! I already love him. She told me she would let me take the morning feedings. I know it is the kids project but I sure love helping out. We pulled him off a pasture so he was full of cockleburrs (baby porky pine eggs). He looked like dirty chocolate. Yum! We gave him a bath and sheared him. Surprise! Now he looks like Nibs black licorice. Oh he also got wormed. He is pretty skinny but we will give him plenty of exercise and good food to help him grow some nice leg muscles. (Makes good Leg o Lamb) Most important, he seemed to have a good temperment. He was gentle during his bath and he walked with her when she haltered him. She said he was so nice that she decided to name him Buddy. Good choice. We put him in the dog kennel. He seemed a little sad and lonely so this morning we took Poka Dot, her baby goat and put him in the kennel too. Buddy seemed happy to have a friend. Poka Dot is adjusting. She keeps calling for Lucky Erin's baby goat. I would be surprised if Poka misses MaMa Betsy much though.

It is Homecoming week. Last night Erin performed at the High School in 3 different Orchestra Groups. She loves her Viola and I love watching her play. She also just found out that she qualified for division in Tennis. She is sure excited about that. She thought she was done but now starts practicing again tonight. She plays on October 14. I'm sure it will be Vegas somewhere.

Jay and I are enjoying working in the cooler mornings on the old chicken coop area. We have all kinds of projects and dreams we are working on around here. We are building new individual pens for the goats and lamb. Maybe we will even help tend a milk cow this winter. I decided to put some grow boxes down by the pomegranite trees. Jay decided to rototill the dirt before I started and "SURPRISE" after 10 years or so of pigs, chickens, goats, lambs and turkeys, we discovered a gold mine. Well, acually I guess it isn't really gold, its manure. What a great place to grow things. I think I will put in 2 grow boxes. One for Aspergus and one for strawberries. I'm excited. We also have plans for a new chicken coop, tack room, playground, campground with tent spots, RV parking, picnic table, fire pit and barbeque area. Man alive, we are dreaming big. It's nice to have space and big dreams. Anyone for winter camping? Some day there will even be fresh eggs for breakfast and maybe fresh milk to go with the garden produce.