The Gang's All Here!

Hi Ya'll!

Saturday morning rolled around and off we went for tamales at Lupita's! Ellen's oldest nephew, Russ, who was coming into town for the festivities, LOVES tamales. Actually, he loves all types of Mexican food, so we did not want to disappoint him. Of course, Michael hasn't been to El Paso for almost a year, so we knew he would be ready for a tamale or two!

Nichole and Michael arrived at the house around 11:00, and Russ was soon to follow! Needless to say, the tamales were still hot and were ready for these hungry travelers!

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and no one could resist the sunshine. For the two St. Louis visitors, it was welcome relief from the zero degree temperatures they had been experiencing at home.
Carol could not resist a picture or two of Lupita's. Neither could Sharon!

Joe took off a few days from work so that he could enjoy the family, too.

We were just hanging out and enjoying the afternoon sun!

This is Nichole, Carol and Russ. Michael was ready for some sunshine, too. Remember, they have been back from Denmark for only a few weeks.

Carol was making the rounds so that she could have her picture taken with each one!

The dinner menu was going to be green chili chicken enchiladas, guacamole, and beans. Ellen and Sharon spent some time in the kitchen getting everything prepared and ready to put in the oven. Russ was observing. He enjoys cooking and wanted to see if Ellen had any new twists to fixing the enchiladas.

Saturday evening everyone went to bed with full tummies and happy thoughts of a wonderful day shared with family!

Until next time. . . . . . . . ......

Are You Tired Of Us Yet?

Hi, Ya'll!

Sharon did this without Ellen's knowledge, so she doesn't even know if it will work or not. Here goes....... And, yes, she knows that there is a duplication of one of the pictures. All you have to do is, "Click on the arrows." You can view it full screen, but why would you want to? (Hee, hee!)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Until next time. . . ........

Let The Par-tay Begin!

Hello, Everybody!

Our weekend began a day early! We picked up Ellen's sister, Carol, at the airport yesterday afternoon after school. We had the foresight to bring her a little "liquid refreshment." (If you know what we mean!)
This picture was taken before we unloaded the car. Ellen is really happy that Carol came down to help celebrate her birthday.

Of course, she had to see the new TV. The picture is good of everybody except Oprah. (Don't tell her, though!)

Of course we had to show off our school. Below is Nursie-Pooh!

Here is one view of our library. We think it is cute because of how the walls are painted. We know that several of our readers are teachers, and we thought they might like to see it.

Here we have the sisters in Nursie-Pooh's office.

After our school visit, we had a great lunch at BJ's.

After lunch, it was time to do some serious shopping. Ellen was looking for a new console for that new television. Below is the one she picked out. It won't be here for a few weeks.

Tomorrow, the house will become a little crowded with the arrival of Nichole and Michael, and Russ, and Joe. We are all gathered to celebrate the big 6-0 for Ellen. Shall we pray?

Until next time . . . . . . . . .

Hello, Everybody!

Today we went to Santa Fe. We went to The Outlet Mall in Santa Fe. Many of the stores just vanished from there. How sad, huh? We know that it is a sign of the economic times, but it is still sad! We worked (shopped) until around two o'clock in the afternoon. Then, we went to Applebee's down the road. We knew that they would have the playoff football game on. Sure enough, we got a great table so we could have lunch and watch the Cardinals WIN their game. After that we went back to the mall and finished making our rounds.

On the way home, it was getting close to sunset. You can see our beautiful views if you watch the slide show. A few years ago, we were coming home from there and the sun was so bright at that time of day, that people were pulling off the road. It was very scary because we couldn't see anything in front of us except God's light. Thankfully, He gave us a few clouds today! Thanks, God!

The only bad thing today was when we got back to the hotel, our keys wouldn't work AGAIN! Poor Ellen had to go all the way back down to have the cards re-keyed.

We return to El Paso tomorrow. We say that sadly; however, we do have a birthday celebration coming up on the 27th. Sister Carol will come to town on
Thursday, the 22nd. We look forward to that, and then Nichole and Michael will come on Saturday. Ellen's oldest nephew, Russ, will also be here on that Saturday. Joe is taking vacation days from work. We will have a wonderful celebration. By the way, it is Ellen's 60th! (Just in case, we hadn't told you before.)

Until next time. . . . . . . . ...

Shopping Marathon!

Hello Everybody!

Yesterday, our first order of business (shopping), was ....
It was a beautiful day. The weather was sunny, no wind, and the temperature was 45 to 50 degrees. Walking outside was very pleasant. We visited a few shops we had not been in before- Chicos, Black Market/White House, plus a few others. The next order of business was lunch. We thought about trying a different restaurant, but decided we would do that next time. We returned to ......

This time we sat in a booth in the bar area. We were able to watch the shoppers coming and going. There is certainly a mix of people in the Albuquerque area. We saw everything from sleeveless shirts and shorts to that Santa Fe look that you can't really explain, but you know it when you see it. People watching is so much fun!! Here we are waiting for lunch.

The lobster bisque is out of this world, and we shared a Healthy Chicken Platter. It was complete with a salad and veggies (steamed snow peas). It was a perfect amount and tasted wonderful.

The picture below is of the bar. It is a friendly and relaxing place to go.

When we finished eating, we visited a couple more of the stores that we do not have in El Paso. They are Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma. Then it was off to the Coronado Mall which is just down the street. It is similar to Cielo Vista Mall, only a little bit bigger. We went to customer service and got some wheels for Sharon (wheelchair). Off we went and spent several hours investigating and perusing the stores. We shopped until Sharon couldn't hold anything else. Ellen told her that if she bought anything else, she would have to walk. (She put her credit card away.)

We had a great time and neither one of us got too tired. It's a good thing we didn't get too tired because when we got back to the hotel we discovered that a jacket Sharon thought she bought was not with her purchases! When she inspected her receipt, it was not listed. By this time, dinner was the next order of business. We prepared something here at the hotel and then off we went again!! Amazingly, it only took us about 30 minutes to get to the store, make the purchase, and return to the hotel! We've had a good night's sleep, a great breakfast that included Sharon's favorite--biscuits and gravy, and now are ready for today's adventures. Santa Fe is the order of business for today!

Until next time. . . . .

Here We Go Loopty Lou!

Hello, Everybody!

This morning we woke up in Albuquerque. It has become a tradition to visit the Land of Enchantment over the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. We know that we come here frequently, but it is one of our favorite places to visit, and we always seem to go home rested and relaxed.



Sharon had a few health issues this past week, and we were not sure that we would be able to come, or that she would feel like making the trip. We were both very open to canceling the reservations if need be. She had a procedure on Thursday afternoon. They gave her medication that "puts you out" for a short period of time. The only after effect is that it makes a person rather "loopy". She certainly was!! Ellen got her home and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.



Sharon insisted that she was okay for the trip, and Ellen agreed. The doctors didn't tell her she couldn't come,so here we are!

We packed up Sharon's car yesterday morning and then took Ellen's car back to her house. As Ellen was closing the door, Sharon looked at her and said, "Bye!" Thank goodness Ellen does the driving! She was still a little "loopy", but a Starbucks Chai Tea latte, and a little nap on the drive up cured that! We will report later on our shopping adventures.



Until next time. . . . .

The Death of a Washing Machine!

Hello Everybody!



Ellen bought her home ten years ago. At that time she replaced the dishwasher, the hot water heater, the refrigerator, and the television in the living room. A couple of years later she had to get a new washer and dryer. When the hot water heater went out last summer, we knew that other appliances were going to begin passing away soon. This past Saturday, Ellen did a load of laundry and put those in the dryer. She put another load into the washer. When she went to get them out, all the water was still in the basket! You guessed it! Yes, now the washing machine has passed on to appliance heaven. UGH!! It's great to get new appliances and TVs, but not all in less than a year!



Sharon scooped out BUCKETS of water from the machine. We used a vase and then poured it into a bucket. About 15 buckets of water were dumped on the bushes out front. The new machine is a front loader, so there won't be nearly the amount of water used for it. We keep trying to think of positive things to help nurse the empty checking account back to life!



We made a trip to Lowe's and Ellen got herself a pretty new machine. While there, we also looked at small refrigerators because the one that is in the garage....yep, it died, too! So next Tuesday afternoon they are both being delivered.



There aren't too many more things that can break down, but we are not being too positive about that at this point. At least the new ones will be here by the time all of Ellen's company arrives next week. Sharon is about the only thing left to break down, and she is trying really hard not to do that.



Until next time. . . . .

Happy Birthday, Dear Janice!

Hello, Everybody!

Happy New Year to you all. Today is Sharon's sister's birthday! We won't say just which one. The picture above is a new picture taken of Janice with her husband, Jim. As you can see, she is a beautiful lady. She is involved in all sorts of community activities in her town. She surely meets herself coming and going, whether it is volunteering at her daughter's school, her grandson's school, the hospital gift shop, or her service organization. She is one busy lady, and Sharon is very proud of her.

Happy Birthday, dear Janice!

And here are Janice and Sharon many, many years ago. Sharon is not quite certain how old they are. They look to be about ten and eight years old. That would make it about 58 years ago. Can that be?

Ellen's sister, Carol, will be coming to town very soon to help celebrate Ellen's big 6-0 birthday on January 27th. We will have a celebration and we promise to take some good pictures to post at a later time.

Other notes and news--Ellen went back to school this week. We are having an influx of students who are coming from Mexico. If you have heard, the drug war across the border is getting very scary. Parents are trying to get their children into a safe environment. This is putting a big strain on the schools who must teach the children in whatever their native language. Our bi-lingual classes are approaching maximum enrollment. Homes seem to be selling around our neighborhood. Some parents are desperate to keep the families together. Ellen must keep up with the shot records of all of these new students. Almost all of them need immunizations.

That's about all for now. Until next time. . . . . . . .