Big Cedar

We went to Big Cedar outside of Branson for Memorial Day weekend. This may be favorite place to go! There are restaurants, several swimming pools, walking trails, beautiful gardens. There were some great fireworks on Sunday night. We went to Silver Dollar City for a few hours on Sunday. We mostly just let the kids swim and play!

                                          Jackson, Phoenix, Veronika, Violet & Tucker

Happy Birthday to You and You and You...

Happy 2nd Birthday Phoenix!

Happy 3rd Birthday Violet!

Happy 1st Birthday Fiona!

Happy 9th Birthday Veronika!

Happy 5th Birthday Tucker

I have missed making blog posts for my precious grandchildren! I love celebrating with family!
We have had a movie/lunch party, Dorey's Catfish, Build A Bear, swimming, cakes, and more cake!
I am a blessed woman to be able to share in the life of these kids!

Proud Poppa and Dodi

Wow, I can't believe we have 8 grandchildren! These kids are the best thing ever. I would say that Ron and I really enjoyed our kids. But these grandkids, they are just so precious! I didn't know that I had been missing holding a baby, but I did not want to put that baby down. The funny thing is, Jackson is 6, so in these 6 1/2 years, our kids have had/gained a total of 8 kids. That is more than 1 a year! The year Tucker was born, Andrea and Steve were married, so we gained Veronika. Violet and Evie were born the same year. Phoenix, Fiona and Wyatt have there own year. Church friends have noticed that we have a baby every year about the time of Vacation Bible School, the East End Dowlers are getting a reputation! A good one though!

Sweet Wyatt, born July 3, 2011, 3:20 am. Paula was amazing, being a L/D nurse, is it so funny watching her in action. I don't really think she needs all those nurses and medical people, except maybe the anesthesiologist, she really likes her epidural. The anesthesiologist was especially useful. The doctor wasn't arriving quick enough, so this great guy stays to sure everything is going good! Wyatt arrived so quick! They are going to have a great birth story to tell about the night Wyatt was born!

I have been  blessed to wittness the birth of my grandkids. Welcoming these precious souls into the world is a gift. I know I would bond with them anyway, because Ron hasn't been in the delivery room, but that man loves these babies. But getting to share in that joy is so awesome!

I can't wait to see what personality Wyatt has and am so excited to watch him grow as I have his brothers and cousins. God has blessed us by allowing us to live so close to our children that we see them regularly and watch as they learn and develop. We are blessed to watch them as they grow physically, but most important we are able to watch them grow spritually.

I know Brad and Paula are the best parents Wyatt could possibly have. They are raising their children to be kind, loving young boys. They are giving their kids the best start in life, and I don't mean the material things, but the things that matter, love, trust, respect, love of God!

Andrea posted this on Facebook while I was writing this post!

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6

Violet's Birthday #3

Happy Birthday Sweet Violet! Violet's 3rd birthday was celebrated at The Wonder Place. I love this place, imaginative fun for the kids, it feels safe for the kids. A quite space for the parents.
Violet had friends and family to celebrate with her. Her present from us didn't come in before the party, so I will have to post Violet's special transportation her later.

Easter 2011

Jackson

Caleb

Jackson's Eggs

Violet

The Hunt

Violet would stop to pose, the rest would not pose for me!

Violet & Phoenix

                                                     Evie loves her candy!

                                                         Jackson & Tucker

                                                                        Violet

The Eggs

                                                                           Caleb

Tucker before the hunt, he was ready to get started!

Evie, Violet, Tucker, Phoenix, Violet, Jackson, Caleb

We had our Easter early because Brad and Paula will be traveling to Tusla on Easter Day. In the past few years, we have had plastic eggs, filled with candy. A friend of mine wrote about dying Easter Eggs, and they did this even when all the children were grown. I decided to have the kids dye eggs this year. I bought and boiled 10 dozen eggs. The had so much fun dying the eggs. The kids stipped down to their undies and tshirts to save their nice clothes from the dye. Good thing, it was messy. Ron actually got in on the fun, read the directions on the dye, and helped the kids dye some vibrant egg colors.
The kids dyed the eggs, then we hid the plastic eggs, that were filled with candy. Ron helped me hide the eggs, Never in all the years are kids were little, did he dye eggs, or hide eggs! I am so glad he is enjoying the grandkids so much.
I was so glad that Brady and Dawn were able to join us and bring Caleb to enjoy the fun!
Easter may be my favorite holiday. All the traditions are centered on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The MOPS group used Resurrection Eggs to tell the story. The first egg had a tiny donkey to teach about Jesus entering Jeruselum on a donkey, each egg told part of the story, the coins, the goblet, until the last egg is empty, like the tomb! The children love the story and what a great visual aid to teach such a powerful story.
The Church has an Easter Egg hunt and activities this Saturday. The choir performed the Easter Cantata this morning, and we still have Easter Morning to go.

Trumpeter Swans

A small private lake in Heber Springs is the winter home to a flock of Trumpeter Swans. I drove up to see them a few weeks ago. The lake was full of swans, ducks, geese and many birds that I didn't even recognize. I am really enjoying bird watching! I have so much to learn about identifying the birds. I have books to help, I bought a CD of bird calls. I guess the older you get the harder it is to learn. I cannot seem to remember the sounds of the bird species. I think that is related to my musical memory, I don't have one! But I am still enjoying the effort to learn more. Now when I am working in the garden, and I hear the birds, I stop what I am doing and really listen to the bird songs. As I get older, I see me spending more time with bird watching than gardening. A serious bird watcher might go hiking to see rare birds, but you can still enjoy bird watching without a lot of physical effort. Gardening is usually pretty physically difficult, I wear myself out. I see my future as taking it a little easier, I will see how I feel after another season of blooms!

Weekend Fun

This was such a beautiful weekend! The weather was so nice. I was able to do a little weeding in my flower beds. We decided to cook burgers and hot dogs for lunch Sunday. Everyone brought over the riding toys for the kids. Jackson and Tucker have a Rip Riper and EZ Rider, those things look fun. Violet and Phoenix brought their riding toys, the Radio Flyer and a 4 wheeler. Steve took the kids riding on the 4 wheeler.
Poppa restored the John Deer tractor that we bought for Jackson when he was two. They have loved riding the tractor again. The girls are trying to learn to drive it without running into the cars, trees, people...
Poppa cooked, then actually played with the kids. He often justs sits on the couch while they play around us.
Poppa pushed Phoenix in his little Radio Flyer, then helped Violet and Evie with their bubbles.
He is also working on his table for the train sets. He has been working every free minute.
Thank you Poppa!

California Dreaming 2011

Ron and I went on a business trip to California. I had a room booked at a perfectly nice hotel, very rustic and old. Ron saw it, and just as I thought, he was not happy. So we went to The Post Ranch. This place is the nicest place we have ever stayed. The place looks over the Pacific Ocean, from every room, the living room, the bedroom and the bathroom. There is a soaking tub on the patio, and two infinity pools and another pool. There are hiking trails, we saw turkey, deer, hawks. The most exciting was seeing the water spray from the gray whales. We were pretty high on  the mountain, so we couldn't see the whales and I could not get a picture! That was so frustrating! Ron and I both saw several spouts sprays. The gray whales migrate in January and February, south to Mexico all the way from Alaska! There migrate farther than any other mammal. In April or so, they migrate back to Alaska, with their babies. 

We hiked the trails around the hotel, and saw huge redwood trees. Flowers were blooming early, we saw Monarch butterflies, which also winter at Big Sur!

We drove through Pebble Beach, which actually has several golf courses and a "17 mile drive", we saw all kinds of shorebirds and sea lions.

Clint Eastwood restored a sheep farm, Mission Ranch, we had dinner at the Ranch. They say Clint is often seen dining there, but we did not see him! It was some delicious food though. I think we had fish for every dinner, and artichokes. California has some great food, and some great scenery!