Scrapbooking 101

I admit it - I am a scrapbooking rookie. So is Sarah. She's smiling in this picture, but inside she's saying, "What do we do next!" This weekend we began a scrapbook of Beth's wedding from the engagement picture to the "It's finally over and we're going to St. Thomas" - picture. I think we're organized - after much thought, and we're off and scrapbooking. Our goal is to finish it by Beth and Matt's first anniversary on December 9th. Beth and I made a wedding scrapbook for Sarah way back in 03, so now Sarah and I are doing the same for her. So much fun and such great memories.




Hey Beth - remember these stickers? She hated them and I wanted to put them on her wedding programs. I think there may be one or two in the scrapbook!





Here's a little peek - this page only took about an hour and a half - oh well.

Tyson came too, but seemed uninterested in the scrapbooking!

The Queen's Tea

Since Tyler calls itself "The Rose Capital of the United States", it's only fitting that we have a Rose Festival each year in October.

We have a queen and her court, a parade, coronation, flower show, craft fair, tours of the rose fields, etc. It's quite a social event here in Tyler and brings lots of tourist dollars to the city. While part of me thinks it's kinda silly and shallow, the other part of me loves the dresses and flowers and hoopla. This is a picture of the entrance to the Rose Garden Center. Besides being beautiful, the scent of roses was amazing.

So... Beth and I decided to go to the Queen's Tea yesterday afternoon at the Rose Garden. It's an annual event thrown by the queen's family and the whole city is invited! There are punch and cookies for everyone (we didn't see any tea), a string quartet and like I said, girls in pretty dresses.

Here are a couple of the ladies in waiting. The little girls who come to see the queen are especially adorable - brings back memories of taking Beth and Sarah when they were little.

Here is the train of the queen's dress.

The queen.

There were roses of course.

Princess Beth!

Sweet Sarah

Last weekend we (Greg, Dana, Beth, Matt) went to Carrollton to celebrate Sarah's 25th birthday with Sarah and Tyson. She's officially 25 on October 3rd at 7:02 AM, but since it falls in the middle of the week, we had to party a little early.

First we ate lunch on Saturday at a restaurant called The Tin Star. Good old Texas food - soft tacos, quesadillas, chips and hot sauce.

We decided a movie would be a good idea so we drove over to The Angelica Theatre and saw In the Shadow of the Moon. It's a compelling look at the lunar landings and included interviews with most of the astronauts involved (except Neil Armstrong). Afterwards us girls did a little shopping and the boys, well just waited on us!

We trooped back to Tyson and Sarah's house for presents and a tour of the new bathroom.

Matt and Tanner decided to give poor Bruiser a hard time.

Next it was time for more food, so Sarah picked the Macaroni Grill, which was really good. One of the waitresses sang the birthday song to her in Italian. Pretty impressive.


We all went to church together on Sunday morning at the new Vista Ridge campus. Really a great experience. We came back and had a piece of cake and then it was time to head for Tyler. It was a fun weekend, and so great to have everyone together. Family is such a blessing!

New York Style

Beth and Matt are in New York! They left last Thursday and will be back in Tyler on Wednesday. They had plans to take in all the sights, go to museums, shows, shop, etc.

She called me Friday morning while they were standing in line to get tickets to the Conan O'Brien Show. She said the weather was beautiful and that their hotel was great.

PS Greg and I have Tanner and Bruiser. They just took ME for a walk.

DAD'S DUPLEX

Last year Greg purchased a duplex hoping that one day Dad would be able to move in. Since both sides were occupied it wasn't possible at that time. Last month one of the tenants moved out, so Greg and Dad have decided that now is the time. Greg gave the apartment complex notice, and Dad will have to be out by the end of September.

The duplex is about a mile south of our house, and is very conveniently located for church. There is also a good "back way" to WalMart, so this will keep Dad out of the high traffic area that he's used to for the most part.

The duplex was built in the 80's and is pretty dated, so Greg is working hard at having it painted, installing new floors, replacing light fixtures, mirrors, some bathroom fixtures, etc. Dad is working hard at packing, and we expect to help him finish it off as the move gets closer. Please pray for a smooth transition and move. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and is very spacious!

Bathroom video!

No, not one of those! Here is your first look at Tyson & Sarah's remodeled master bathroom. (Tyson had to help me with getting the video to play here)

Beth and the Boys

Beth brought "the boys" over this morning on her way to work. Tanner and Bruiser are lots of fun. So like any good grandma, I took the kids for a walk around our little lake and to the park for playtime. As we were walking across the dam we saw two herons that were standing at the edge of the water. Of course we scared them away, but they were beautiful. Then we came back and went for a swim.

Bruiser (the black one) dashes back and forth and tries to bite the water, and Tanner (the tan one) just stands quietly in the shallow end and refuses to play. Oh well. I could tell they were tired so I gave them a doggie treat and put them in the laundry room for a nap. I take good care of my granddogs!

Hey Sarah - look in the background of the last picture and you'll see the flowers that we picked out for Rea's shower last weekend. I like the way they turned out, and she had a good shower too.