Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010

goinggoingalmost gone!

And then a gorgeous full moon rises.

Wow, where has time gone. Feb. is almost over. Dave & I will celebrate our 42nd anniversary in 2 more days. Today we went to Johnny Carino's for lunch. It was really good. Made a few stops at Target and Dollar Tree (my favorite place) and then we met Randy, Carol, Joni, Daniel, Laura, Tony for supper at a Japanese restaurant in Lake Charles. This was my first time at a Japanese restaurant and I was so glad we had people with us who were fluent in Japanese cuisine. I have to say Dave and I both enjoyed it and it will be on our list for returns. I had a Philidelphia Roll which was a sushi roll of rice, cream cheese, avacado, and smoked salmon. VERY GOOD. Dave had beef yaki udon, which was beef , noodles, and vegetables, and it also was very good. we tasted Miso soup, soft crabs, tempura shrimp, a wonderful crunch roll sushi, and some really good fried rice. Dave and I enjoyed sitting at the lake for a while today and just enjoyed watching the water, people, and sunset. Then there was a huge full moon and we went home after a wonderful day in Lake Charles, La.

Feb. 23, Holly Beach

beautiful and peaceful

Dave & I by the water.

Dave & I and Carol all took a day trip to Holly Beach, south of Cameran. That is where hurricane Rita came in at in 2005. They are beginning to clean up and build up. We spent the day there and then headed over to the Museum of the Gulf in Port Arthur. We had a great time and the museum was awesome, so if you get over to Port Arthur go in and give them a visit. Besides the historical facts, the nature facts, they have alot of stuff up on the 2nd floor from alot of singers and stars. I was amazed that back in 1970, tickets to a Johnny Cash concert was 2.00 and for Buddy Holly,Big Bopper,   June Carter you could see for 1.50. Try about 75.00 now.Well, I'll post a few pics of the beach and the rebuilding and hope you enjoy them. Hopefully it won't be as long before my next posting. We are only here until the 15th of March and then we are heading over to Florida for a couple of weeks before heading back to Illinois and to Nikki, Derek, Ami, Derrick, Dominique, DayQuan, Davion, Clint, Alex, Brett, Andrea, Haley, Sami, Becca, Davey, Dee, Tara, David, and World Harvest Worship Center. I'll be glad to get home. love and miss all my family.

Rebuilding goin on.

Birds on the beach. Peaceful and content.

Feb. 13, 2010

Billy, Sheila, Joey & Angie

snow in Texas on the 11th of Feb.Mr. & Mrs. Jimmy Atkins & Ariel

We went to Texas, Marshall , to my niece, Angie's wedding. Davey & Dee met us there and we surprised Becca, cause she didn't know we were going to be there. We stayed at the same motel as Davey and had a great time. Angie got married at 2 , or around there, it was very pretty and the food was so good. Catfish and brisket and slaw, mmmmmmmm . It was so good to see family. On Sunday, we went to Shreveport to see a Mardi Gras parade. Davey and Billy went too. When we got there we noticed a trail, and I mean trail, of what appeared to be diesel fuel. Low and behold it was, and it was ours. Needless to say we, Dave & I, left and went to Sheila and Joey's (my sis) and we put a new fuel filter on and it fixed our problem. Thank you Jesus. I'm glad the kids all got to stay at the parade tho. From there Sheila, Carol, Angie, Billy, Davey  ( and their families) and Dave & I all went to Golden Corral for some good food and fellowship. It was so much fun. After we all said our good byes, Carol and Randy headed back to La. and Davey and his bunch and me and Dave went to see my brother-in-law, Phil and his kids. We had a great visit. We left about 9 as Davey had a long drive the next day. After a good breakfast , we said our good byes and Davey and Dee headed back to Illinois. Being wore out as I was, and check out not being to noon, Dave & I went back to our room and took a nap and then got up and showered and headed on the road back to La. We had such a good time this weekend. On the 11th, Sheila got about 6 inches of snow, yes SNOW, the 4 letter word we hate. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Angie was already married here and it wasn't a shotgun wedding.

This is a real crew, Randy with a guitar and Joey with a gun. lolwaiting for the wedding to begin.Looking normal. lol

Monday, Jan. 25, 2010

Dave in front of the Tabasco Art.

Well, today Dave & I made a trip to Avery Island over by New Iberia, La. It was a gorgeous day, we didn't even need a jacket We went to the tabasco factory and did the tour thing and it was very interesting. Didn't realize that they buy all the used Jack Daniels barrels and then they use them for the Tabasco sauce. They grow the peppers on the Island just for the seeds and then grow the peppers in Latin America for the sauce and ship them here on the same day as they are picked. In the little movie thing they said they grow them there because of the longer growing season but if the truth be known , I think it is because of the cheaper labor, you know corporate America. At the little gift shop, we tasted some Tabasco Ice Cream and believe me IT WAS NASTY! They gave us some free samples of the hot stuff which we sent to Clint since he likes to drink the stuff. Dave got a LSU hat and T-shirt for under 20.00 here, unbelievable huh? We each got a stick of boudin (rice sausages) and went out and sat on the veranda under the big oak trees and ate lunch. It was really nice.

Saturday, January 8, 2010

Can you believe we are already into the 2nd week of January. We had our first King Cake at Jerry & Kayla's on Thursday night. These girls reallly take care of us. I cook 1 night, Joni cooks another, Kayla cooks another , and believe me they are awesoome cooks. It is cold here and we can't wait to feel the heat again. This morning is was 24 when I got up. brrrr, of course in Springfield , Ill. is was a big -8. so we were 32 degrees warmer, when you look at it that way we are so lucky. We'll be content. One thing I love is all the sunshine. In Ill. the gloom really gets to you or to me. Ill. has had lots of snow, thank God we left when we did or we probably wouldn't have gotten out until Spring. Davey bought a new 4 wheeler so I guess those kids are enjoying the snow. Tara and David went on the last day of the year and bought a new car, a 4 wheel drive to get around in the snow. Something to look forward to this week is the 60 degree weather heading our way on Monday.Guess we'll be heading to Holly Beach. Hip Hip Hooray! Well, better get off here, gotta go fix a big breakfast for everyone. Biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon, fried taters, eggs, grits, we're eatin a brunch, no lunch, and then supper. Have a good day everyone and don't forget to go to church tomorrow and bless the Lord or stay home and bless the Lord, Just Bless the Lord.

Friday , January 1, 2010

Here we are in a new decade. Praying for the best year for all my friends and family. We are praying that the Lord blesses each of you, blesses our country, guides and directs each of us in His will, and gives our President wisdom, courage, and common sense. Today I am cooking, visiting, and playing more games. We had pork roast, cabbage, blackeyed peas, carrots, potatoes, mmmmmmmmmm it was a good day. God bless you all, everyone of you.

Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009

wow, hard to believe, this is the last day of this year. Where has it gone? This has been a hard year, economically for a lot of people, but the Lord is still my provider. Let's look at this year in a nutshell. January, my baby turned 38. February, Dominique turned 5, DayQuan turned 3, Becca, turned 13. She is growing into quite a young lady, Alex turned 16, John turned 64, we had lots of snow in Illinois, swore we would not spend winter there again if we could help it, homeschooled Becca & Sami for the rest of this school year, started our garden stuff. March, Dave & I married 41 years, (WOW), I turned 58,, Donna made it to 57 (BIG WOW), April, Elsie turned 83, Alzheimers is getting worse., we had a chocalate themed birthday party for her, she loved it.Dereck turned 21. May we moved in with Davey to help him out and planted a huge garden with heirloom seeds. June , my other baby, Tara, turned the big 40 . (Am I really old enough to have a 40 yr. old?) We also got a beautiful new great grandson. Davion Dakota Lee Clark was born on the 21st. (Davion is by the way the black version of Davey) July , my Brett turned 19, Derrick (our little miracle) turned 3. We had a really nice summer. Lots of rain, cooler temps, vegetables going wild. August , Nikki, my oldest grandchild, turned 24. She is such a beautiful lady and a wonderful mother to 3 beautiful little boys . Sami turned 15 and got her Drivers permit, (better watch out). Sept. went to our last Family Camp at Lake Williamson. Kind of sad, but it is now a business there instead of a christian retreat. October, Dave turned 62, yippee, SS time, but due to being born on the 5th instead of the 1st or 2nd, he is penalized and won't get his first check until Dec. (grrrr). Haley turned 17.November, we have no, I repeat, NO birthdays , we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we are getting all packed to head south for the winter. December, yeah, Daves 1st SS check, Had Christmas early with everyone. packed up done, 16th left Illinois and from there read my blogs. As you can tell it was a wonderful blessed year. Now I'm gonna go play some games with my sis and her family and welcome in 2010. Praise the Lord!