Phantom

We saw "Phantom" last night at the Venitian. It is a condensed version of The Phantom of the Opera. I don't know what was left out from the original. It was great. I forgot how much I loved Broadway type productions. I left thinking if I could just sing those songs. I tried, but it just wasn't pretty.
Tonight we are exhausted from walking the Expo. Ron can barely walk. I have blisters.
The food at this place is unbelievable. Fresh fruit and vegtables, I have eaten fresh guacomole every morning, blueberry pancakes, for dinner, there is a prime rib buffett, also crab legs, salmon.
We miss being at the Fall Festival and seeing the grandkids dressed up. I love seeing all the kids enjoy the games, rides and booths.
Wish you were all here!

Flowers

Ron saw the guys from Orange County Choppers getting on the elevator this afternoon. This expo is the largest, worldwide, auto parts expo.

The Wynn

We are staying in a beautiful hotel, The Wynn. We have this view out our window. The night view is great, but the picture didn't take.
I feel like a queen for a day!

Viva Las Vegas

After an extremely busy week at work, we are in Las Vegas. I have worried and fretted about leaving work, jobs undone, I ordered new furniture, it came in this past week, we did major cleaning and organizing.
I have been preparing for a government inspection. So the week was stessful to say the least!
Saturday was great, Andrea's shower was really fun. We enjoyed catching up with the Hix family. We never get to talk, even though Carol just lives down the street. I am so glad Andrea is getting to enjoy these events in her honor.
Then I was able to keep Jackson and Tucker. They always make me happy. I call them stessbusters.
Now we are in Las Vagas for a business meeting. We took today off and relaxed. Ron and I both have needed today. The rest of the week with be tough. Lots of walking, looking for suppliers. This expo is gigantic! Ron walks every inch of it! And I drag along. But he shopped with me today. So I will follow him! EVERY INCH of the EXPO!!!??? If I can make it.

Luau Fun!

Thanks Girls for throwing Andrea and Steve a great party. Paula, Amanda, Amber and Kay hosted a luau for Andrea and Steve's wedding shower. It was perfect. Perfect weather, really great food, wonderful company, fun games. Everyone really pitched in to add to the fun. Ronnie and Brad cooked the shisk-ka-bobs(msp?). Ronnie cleaned the pavillion! Amanda and Paula decorated. I think they all cooked the great food. There was ham, the chicken-veg kabobs, fruit, punch, potato salad, sweet potato cassarole. We had tiki lights and grass skirts. Amber arranged the fun games. Paula picked out the pinata. That was great fun! And we always love a fire to sit around!

Dowler's Flowers

We are famous! Julie Mayberry interviewed Amanda and I about the weddding. Julie called and said she had an assignment to write about a wedding for America's Bride and Groom in Arkansas. I had told her about the wedding plans while working in the nursey one day at church. So she wanted to use Amanda's story. I emailed her our pictures, the real photographer was supposed to provide her access to those. They evidentially didn't get ready in time.
Does that mean I am a published photographer?

Cooking and Recipes

I want to start cooking more. How about we start sharing recipes and dinner ideas? My first will be the pork roast.
The roast I bought was a tendorloin pork roast. Directions say to cook 25 minutes for each pound. The roast weighed 5 lbs, so needed about 2 1/2 hours. I used my garlic press to fill the roast with garlic, coated it with olive oil and seasonsing. I used a large roasting pan, added water to the bottom, potatoes and onions. Cook at 550 for 20 minutes to brown, then 2 + hours to finish cooking.
I am cooking the same thing at the shop on Friday. I found a pork roast on sale for 1.99 a pound at Harvest Foods.
I know this is boring news, but I haven't seen the grandchildren since Sunday.

Updates

I have been cooking dinner for my family on Sunday, after Church. It is too crowded to take a crowd out to eat.
My newest attempt at cooking was a pork roast. Ann made one years(and I mean years) ago, she cut slits and added garlic. That is what I did, coated it with olive oil, added potatoes, and roasted it. First on a high temp to brown it, then down to 320 while at church for the remaining two 1/2 hours. I loved it. We have been going to the Pamper Chef parties, and I like trying recipes. Also, they all brought side dishes to complete the meal.
The best part was playing with the boys after dinner. Veronika wasn't here this time.
Jackson has a favorite book, Elmo plays songs, one is, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" I was singing it to Tucker and making a little toy touch his head, etc. Then Jackson picked up the toy and started making it touch its head, knees, eyes, etc. and saying the words. It was so cute.

Geese in the park!

I met Paula and the boys downtown Friday morning, we dropped Paula off at Brad's swearing in, then I took the boys to MacArthur Park. It was a beautiful day, they have about 100 geese. It's really pretty, right in the middle of Little Rock.
Then we met up with Brad and Paula for breakfast at Community Bakery. Then I met up with Andrea and Amanda for a wedding dress fitting and lunch.
This has been the best Friday!

My Gourd

This is my gourd. This has been hiding on the back side of my fence just growing away. The other side has my lovely morning glories. I will attempt to dry and decorate it or paint it or whatever you do with gourds.
I am sorry this is not as lovely as the Tucker picture.

Ron Camper

Ronnie has a new 5th wheel camper for deer hunting. It's quite large. And it's violet colored. Did I mentioned it's large. You all are invited to the deer woods.
His old camper, that we had for most of our married life, met with some unfortunate water damage.

Tucker

On Sunday, I cooked dinner for the family. After dinner/lunch, Andrea, Steve, Veronika and Paula went shopping, Josh went to play tennis, Brad, Ronnie and Jackson were sleeping, so Amanda and I were babysitting Tucker while Amanda gave me a massage. Tucker just sat in his carrier laughing. Afterward we were playing with Tucker and giving him a pretend massage.

Tucker was wearing green, the sheets on the massage table were green, so we put Tucker on the sheets, and the reflection of the sun coming through the window was a beautiful site. We decided to take pictures of Tucker. I was running around getting the camera and extra blankets, while Amanda had a little photo shoot with Tucker.

He is so sweet and so beautiful.

After we were finished Brad woke up and said all the stomping through the house kept him from sleeping. I think Ronnie could sleep through a tornado.

Zoo Trip

Saturday I took Jackson and Veronika to the Zoo. The Little Rock Zoo has been improving and it was crowded. The weather was great, so I guess we all had the same plan. I wanted to see just a few animals and ride the train. But the train had just jumped the track, thank goodness we weren't on it. So, we saw the monkeys and the elephant, played on the playground. We kept it a nice short visit so we wouldn't get too tired, me and the kids. I am ready to go back to finish the visit and see the giraffes. We are supposed to have penguins or be getting them.