Flying High!

Hi Ya'll!

Most of you probably know that we are NOT night owls. Every now and then an occasion comes along that keeps us upright later into the evening. Yesterday was one of those special times. Nichole was flying in from Copenhagen and her plane was landing at 8:30P.M. We ate a light dinner and then headed over to the airport.

Two planes landed about the same time and they were coming down opposite escalators! Sharon was stationed at one of them and Ellen was on the lookout at the other. Nichole came down the one where Sharon was waiting, but it didn't take Ellen long to make her way over to where they were!
When Sharon said smile, Nichole immediately gave the guns up sign!! The Tech vs UT game is still a hot topic around here.

This is the flag in the main lobby of the airport. We have many people in the military who arrive here and this is a huge "Welcome Home" symbol.

We stayed up much later than our normal bedtime, but had a great time just talking and sharing. Joe came over for a little while. He got off work later than expected, so instead of going to the airport with us, he went home to take a little nap. Nichole brought a wonderful little surprise for us to share when she got here. Hand carried all the way from Denmark were fresh Danish rolls. Oh my, they WERE wonderful. We polished those off in record time.

We are not sure if this picture really does justice to the tasty little treat, but there were not even crumbs left by the time we finished.

Nichole is going to be busy with her friends and Joe this weekend, so we did not cancel our little trip to Albuquerque. We'll be leaving tomorrow, but will return on Sunday.

Nichole was in the air at 33,000 feet for many hours, but her mom was flying just as high because both of her "little ones" are at home!

Until next time. . . . . .

Our Flowers' Winter Home!

Hi Ya'll!

It seems our blogging has become a weekly post rather than day to day happenings. We often think and say to each other "We need to post that", but then we don't get around to it. We shall try to be better, but we are not making any promises.

Our temperatures are finally beginning to cool down a bit, but the highs have still been in the 70's. It's not quite cold enough to put our greenhouse to use, but it is ready whenever Mother Nature wants to send some cold weather our way. Here are some pictures of us getting the greenhouse all put up.

Here is Sharon and her trusty little hammer putting a stake in the ground.

This is looking in through the front door. What you see is the back door!!

Ellen is 5'6", so you can see how tall the house is! We think it was like putting up a tent, but since Ellen has never gone camping in her whole life, and Sharon went camping in an RV, we don't know that from first hand experience!

Here's our "handylady" hard at work! Sharon always thinks that Ellen doesn't get her best side. This one really shows how thin her hair is getting. By the way, she really shouldn't be on her knees, but Ellen can't keep her off of them when the need arises.

It's all up and ready to use! Sharon has already installed the shelves and be sure that there is a thermometer inside.

So that is the story of our little greenhouse. We should have a few more things to share over this next week or so. Nichole is arriving from Denmark on Wednesday evening. She is coming for her 10-year reunion from Coronado High School. We can't believe it is 10 years already!! It will be great to have her home.

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

Our Saturday Project!

Hi, Ya'll,

We thought we would tell you how our Saturday went today. First, we actually put
our new greenhouse up over the floor that Paul made last week. We had a slight problem when we came to the stakes and the tie downs. Now we are smart women! (No laughing allowed!) We got those little suckers hammered into the rocky ground. Ours is the one on the bottom of this picture.
That took us until nearly noon. Then, we headed to the other side of town. We wanted to go to lunch at BJ's so we could watch the rest of the Texas Tech Red Raider game. They slaughtered Kansas. While we had lunch, the Texas Longhorn game came on. They beat Oklahoma State, but not by much. The score was 28 to 24. That was a closer game than we thought it would be. Mrs. McCoy's son, Colt, is just a wonderful quarterback.

After BJ's, we went over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond! We were looking for just a few things, then headed to Lowe's. We wanted to buy a little ceramic heater for our greenhouse, and some shelves for the inside of it to hold some of the smaller plants. Ellen bought some pansies for the front entryway.

This week we learned that Bed, Bath, and Beyond is going to open up a store on our side of town. That just thrilled us, since Linen 'N Things is closing.

We will post a picture of our new little project when we get the shelves put inside.

The Last Day With Miss Kate!

Hi, Ya'll!



We wanted to share a few more pictures of Katelyn. She wanted to see some more of herself!! This first picture was one of her modeling poses.

We were just playing around!

These were all taken on her last day at Polk.

Mrs. Peeps loved to write her notes on the white board. Kate always had something to write back! This is the one she wanted us to show because she was clowning around, and tried her bug-eyes! (Such a silly girl!)

Lots of work goes on in the nurse's office, but the children know it is a fun place to go!! There is always a hug or two just waiting to be given.
This last picture is the one that she wanted to stand alone and strike her "Model Pose." She balanced herself without her crutches, and strutted! When she saw the picture and noticed that her feet were crooked, she told us to straighten her feet.

Katelyn's mom has started a blog. We will have the link on our side bar with the other blogs that we read. It is titled, "Our Lives in Switzerland." She already has taken some beautiful pictures. The leaves of the trees are just gorgeous. The whole family looks so happy in their new country! We can't wait to see pictures of snow.

We all miss them.

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

Finally--New Lamps !

Hi, Ya'll!

How are you? We are fine, and decided to show you Sharon's new lamps today. We finally found them. We found them at (Are you ready for this?) Lowe's! We had to have a little help to get them down from a high place. After the young man climbed up the ladder to get them down for us, Sharon took a good look at him. It turns out that he is a former student of hers. We find former students all over! He is going to college, and this is a part time job for him.

Because the end tables are smaller than the other ones, we decided to get smaller lamps. Paul isn't too happy with them, but I guess he will just have to get over it.

Yes, the pictures in the background are indeed Sharon at three different times in her life.
Everything at school is going well. Today was Ellen's first "Open Airways" class for a select group of students at school. It went very well. This summer, she did some training with the American Lung Association. The Open Airways For Schools program helps teach students how to recognize their asthma symptoms and how best to manage this chronic illness. She will have a total of six classes for students with asthma.

Not only are the days flying by, it seems one weekend is running into the next! Some days we just want to shout, "Slow down!" Before we know it, Nichole will be here and gone! These are times that we really wish time would slow down.

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

Touched By An Angel !

Hello, Everybody!


As you may remember, we have some friends who are moving to Switzerland this week. In fact, today we will say good-bye to our special angel. This is Katelyn. She and her family are moving to Switzerland. Her dad works for Johnson and Johnson. What a nice company. They have made every consideration for a family moving from the United States to a foreign country. Miss Katelyn is in second grade and has two older brothers; one of them is in fifth grade and one is in sixth grade. Do you know who is the queen? Of course, it is our Miss Kate.



She had surgery this past summer to correct a problem with her foot. She had to wear a brace that kept her from walking. Did we hear one little peep from her about being unable to walk? NO! She wore that brace and had a cast on her foot for weeks. When they took the pins out of her foot, she brought them to school to show us. They were this long _______________________! Maybe even longer.

She has had to sit in her wheelchair more than she wanted to, but her spirits remain undampened. She is such a precious child. She always wants to push herself to the highest level. Here she is with her Nursie Pooh and Miss Marissa, her paraprofessional. Miss Marissa helps Katelyn maneuver around the campus.

As soon as the doctor told Kate that she could walk with her crutches again, she was off and running. (We mean RUNNING!)

Nursie Pooh is going to miss her more than any of us. It is going to be a very sad day for the entire school to have this family leave us.

This is Katelyn when her true personality shines through. We asked her what this was about and she told us that she was a bull! What a honey she is. She can't wait to ski down the Swiss Alps with her family. They have bought all of the gear that they will need.

So, now she is tired, and pretending to be asleep. She is such a "Ham." After all, picture taking makes one tired.

Put a halo on this little one. She has such a personality that just brings a smile to your face. People can't talk to her without feeling happy that they have encountered her today. Sometimes, she would tell Mrs. Peeps that she needed to be all "stickered up." It was one of Mrs. Peeps' great pleasures to find a new place to put a sticker--either on her, her wheelchair, or her crutches.

She will conquer the world, we have no doubt. If you tell her, she can't, she says, "Oh, yes, I can." She was born into a world that has tremendous challenges for her. She will always set the bar for those with or without physical disabilities. She is looking forward to living in her new country. She tells us about her new home with elevators, and her new school where she will study French. (Mind you, she already knows lots of Spanish.) She will be tri-lingual. The following picture can only have one caption. "Look out world, here I come!!"

Dear, dear, Katelyn. We will miss you terribly. You have enriched our lives more than you will ever know. God sent us an angel when He introduced us to you. Please stay in touch with Nursie-Pooh and Mrs. Peeps! Maybe we can talk on SKYPE sometime soon. We will always love you dearly. And to your mom and dad, we thank you for letting us share Miss Kate. You all have blessed us and enriched our lives more than you know.

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

A Little Bit of Heaven!

Hello, Everybody!

Monday afternoon a lovely gift appeared on Ellen's desk at school. One of our families is moving next week. They are off on an adventure that some of our readers will be able to identify with. Dad has taken a job across the pond in Switzerland! When Jason (dad) came back to El Paso to help with the final preparations, he brought some CHOCOLATE with him.


Words cannot explain what this chocolate from Neuchatel tastes like. It REALLY melts in your mouth! We are limiting ourselves to one piece in the evening. We want it to last as long as possible!

We thank you for this wonderful treat! We will write more about this family later. We will miss them immensely!

Hopefully, it will not take long for them to become part of the "blogging network"!

We look forward to seeing lots of pictures from Switzerland!!

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

Another Busy Weekend!!!

Hi, Ya'll!


We hope you had a wonderful weekend. Weekends just always pass too fast, don't they? Sharon's new den furniture was delivered on Saturday morning just as promised. She had planned to give the old stuff to St. Vincent de Paul Society, but one of the delivery men asked about the old things. He said that his partner had been married only one month, and he would like to buy it. Of course, you know we just gave it to him and wished him a happy marriage. Besides, it was great not to have to walk around it for another few days!


So here are three pictures of the new things. They are really pretty, but those lamps simply must go!!!!!!! Don't you think? New ones will be top priority on our list of things to do next weekend. It's great to have a shopping mission a whole week in advance!

Saturday was also the beginning of the Symphony season. It was wonderful to see friends that we hadn't seen all summer. The concerts are now held at the Plaza Theater. It is a lovely venue and one can be whisked away from the daily grind with the beautiful sounds written by Masters from many years ago.

Paul's favorite uncle passed away last week. He was ninety-five years old. He was a wonderful pianist. He began going blind when he was six years old. He went to blind schools, and even a college for the blind. He gave piano lessons and tuned pianos for a living. He even tuned a piano in the White House! Paul went to his funeral in Hollywood, Maryland. Ellen got busy and fixed him up with airline tickets and a rental car. He flew out of El Paso early Sunday morning, and will return on Wednesday evening.

Happy first day of Fall to everyone. From reading some of our family/friends blogs, it seems that Fall is a favorite season for many of us. There just seems to be a sense of peace that comes with the season. We can let go of the past and just "be" before the craziness of the holiday season.

Nichole, Ellen's daughter, has a birthday tomorrow. Happy 29th honey! Have a wonderful day!

Until next time. . . . .

Isn't She Pretty?

Hi, Ya'll!

We know, we know--it has been awhile since we posted. So, here goes.

We had a very busy weekend. On Saturday, we shopped until we dropped-literally. We started out the day meeting Paul to look at some new den furniture. Paul had already been to this store to pick out something. Since we rarely sit on the couch, we told him that he had to pick it out. We must admit that he did a very good job. We got the couch, a new chair, new coffee table, and new end tables. What fun! The coffee table we have now was from the mid sixties. (Well, it was good stuff.) The old couch was pitiful. We mean PITIFUL!! When all the new things get delivered in a couple of weeks, we will take pictures.

In the meantime, we had not shown a picture of Ellen's new refrigerator. It is truly beautiful and very roomy. It actually has an ice crusher that works. (The old one never did.) Isn't she pretty?) The ice maker is working SO good, we wish we could send some of the cubes over to Kelli. We know she would make good use of them!

This week at school, we are screening more third graders. We caught one today who could barely read the top line of the eye chart. Poor baby. We have this new computer program which is a web-based program. It is really nice, but has taken a lot of work for us both to learn it. When we enter the heights and weights, the program automatically gives us the BMI and the percentile. We are amazed at how many are at risk for being underweight and overweight. We have fewer normals. Isn't that something? What is even more interesting is that when you look at the children in the abnormal category, they look "normal" in size.

One more thing.....we are happy that football season is back! Texas Tech had a blowout game on Saturday. Go Red Raiders!! Also, HOW ABOUT THOSE COWBOYS???!!! We love the fall season!

Until next time. . . . .

Remembering Sharon's Parents!

Hello, Everyone!



This post will be just a short one to remember Murry and Ferne, Sharon's parents. Today is the second anniversary of Ferne's passing, and later this month on September 19th will be the fifth anniversary of Murry's. They were special people and we loved them very much. Here they are all dressed up for a party at Sharon's sister's house many years ago. Aren't they cute?



Rest in peace, Murry and Ferne! We know you are enjoying your new home in Heaven!

Until next time .. . . . . . .