December-January! Where Has The Time Gone?

Hello, Everybody!





It just doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed since we did our last post! Sharon decided to finally look at all of the pictures from December and January, and to choose those that might be appropriate for posting.
Queen of Peace is always decorated beautifully for Christmas. Fr. Trini is the mastermind behind all the decorations.
The nativity scene is from Italy. The previous pastor, Fr. Joe, started the collection and it has been added to ever since.

The photo makes it look rather small, but the figurines are quite large.

The picture below shows what you look like after tasting the delicious wines of Star Canyon Winery right here is El Paso! We had a wonderful time there and hope to be able to go again very soon.

Scott and Steve are putting together a popcorn maker. Ellen was happy when she saw Scott get out the tool kit she had given him, probably ten or twelve years ago!

Concha is the best cook. She fixed the Christmas dinner, which is no small task. There were 25 of us!

Margaret and Scott's brother are checking out the new popcorn machine.

This is Frank Zona. He is Paula's father-in-law. We all had Christmas Day Dinner at his home. The guys cooked and cleaned. It was wonderful.

The presentation of the food was spectacular.

This was dessert. It was fruit, but it had been soaked with some type of liqueur. Yum, yum!

On Christmas Eve, the Zonas and the Pieplows gathered at the Pieplow home. Paula was in charge of the cooking. She did a fantastic job. Sharon had already cooked the brisket, and Paula added Croque Monsieur Mac and Cheese, and Brie with crackers. You can also see the Six-layer Bars that Ellen made for dessert.

Here's the chef working on the horseradish sauce for the brisket.

Here we see Sharon with her daughter, Paula.

These next few pictures show the Zonas at Christmas Eve. Their daughter is Jaimi who is a college student working toward a degree in nursing.

Here we have Kristi and Jeremy Zona, and Austin Martin, who is Jaimi's significant other. These Zonas live in Phoenix.

You surely recognize Ellen with Jason.

On Martin Luther King Weekend, we headed toward Albuquerque for our annual shopping trek. We stayed at our favorite Residence Inn. The nice thing about this visit was that the hotel had recently completed their renovation. It was truly beautiful. This picture shows the redecorated lounge area. We have a story about our trip here this time.

When we arrived at the Residence Inn, the manager was there. We remembered her from last year. Her name is Bernadette. She even remembered us from last year. Before we knew it, she had upgraded our room to a two bedroom suite! What a treat! We already had a special deal, but when we checked out, we had a special surprise!! Since this is our favorite hotel chain, we accumulate points for each stay. We used our points to pay for two nights, and would split the cost of the third night. On the morning that we were going to check out, the bill was under the door. (As it always is.) When Ellen looked at it, the Balance Due was $0.00. We couldn't believe our eyes!! Not only had we been upgraded to the two bedroom suite, our third night had been comped!

We are lucky ladies, huh? Until next time. . . . . . . . . . . .

The Majestic Mountains!

Hello, Everybody!



On Friday morning, El Paso was covered with snow and ice. Schools were on a two hour delay for opening. Ellen had a doctor's appointment at 8:30 AM, and then we were going to leave for Ruidoso when she finished. Fortunately, the streets on the westside of the mountain were not iced over. The eastside and the northeast side were very treacherous. Ellen had no problem getting to the doctor's office and getting back home. However, the road we normally take out of El Paso to Ruidoso was closed from the state line to Alamogordo. We waited until 10:00 AM and drove to Las Cruces, and took Hwy 70 to Alamogordo. All was good! Ellen drove to Las Cruces, but then turned the keys over to Sharon. Since the time that Ellen did a 360 degree turn on the freeway in Lubbock, several years ago, if there is even a hint of ice, she refuses to drive, ESPECIALLY, when we are in Sharon's car!



We kept thinking the temperature would warm up a little. We were between Tularosa and Ruidoso and this is what the temperature was registering!

We were greeted by this beautiful site as we entered Ruidoso!

It is not unusual to see horse trailers on the road. On Saturday afternoon as we were driving through town, we got behind this trailer. Yes, that is really a camel being transported!! It was on its way to the church where they hold "A Walk Through Bethlehem." We will be going there Sunday evening.

The Festival of Lights Parade was Saturday evening. We thought you might like to see a few pictures. Yes, it was cold and somewhat windy! Ellen got Sharon all wrapped up!

We were all set with our chairs, blanket and hand warmers!!

The theme of the parade this year was Gingerbread Houses. We picked out a few of the best pictures, but we have many, many more!

Most of the floats were very detailed and the lights were simply spectacular.

This guy was probably 12 feet tall!

This was a Jeep that was decorated!

Wouldn't it be fun to take a sleigh ride in this?

He is hard to see, but Santa made an appearance on this one!

More lights, more fun!

Who doesn't love the story of Cinderella? This one definitely put you in Storybook Land!

There were several marching bands in the parade. The kids all had decorated themselves with lights. Some had even put lights on their instruments. We had a wonderful time making friends with those around us.

When we got back to the hotel, we had hot tortilla soup. It took several hours for our bottoms and legs to finally get warm. Thank goodness we have a fireplace in our room. It helped to get us warmed up.

We will post more pictures after our "Walk Through Bethlehem tonight."

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

Round And About!

Hello, Everybody!

Today is Veterans' Day. Ellen had the day off from school. Wednesday is not such a bad day to have off. We work two days, are off a day, and then only have two days until the weekend! We didn't want the day to be like another Saturday. You know, grocery shopping, running errands, catching up on things around the house, etc.

In the past, we have taken summer trips where we make a complete circle in our journey. We leave home one way and come home another. When it is plotted on a map, we have encompassed several states and completed a full circle. Today we did a circle trip around El Paso.

We started on I-10 and headed East, all the way to Zaragoza and the Las Palmas Shopping Center. We went to World Market. They had their coffee, buy one pound, get one free. Who can pass up a deal like that?! After getting what we went after, and a few other things, we decided to pick up Loop 375 to return to the Westside. That took us through the Northeast side of town! But the trip over the mountain was beautiful. There was not much traffic, and it made us feel like we were out of town. Where did we end up next, you ask?

THE OUTLET MALL!! How fun to go during the day on a Wednesday! We went in several places and then decided we were hungry. We stopped at the Food Court for lunch. Customer Service is located in the Food Court. They have wheelchairs available for anyone who needs one. In order for Sharon not to get too tired from walking, we got a wheelchair for her. Off we went to investigate more places! We did a little Christmas shopping and lots of looking.

When we finished at the mall, we got back on I-10 and headed to The Texas Store. We haven't been there for awhile, and wanted to see what new things they had gotten in for the holidays.

By this time we were both tired and ready for a little rest. We headed to Ellen's home to put our feet up and relax a bit. It has been a great day. Like we said, Wednesday's aren't such a bad day to have off!

Until next time. . . . . .

Fish Tacos!?!

Hello, Everybody!

This may be a shock to you, but we are actually making another post already! Today, after church, we decided to go to Red Lobster for lunch. We were both in the mood for clam chowder, and of course, lobster pizza. We sat in the bar because we wanted to watch a little football while we ate. We ordered our drinks and the chowder and told the waitress to wait to put in the order for the pizza. We were having a great time, just chatting and watching the game. Eventually, the Manager came over to say hello. He is always very nice to us and goes out of his way to make sure everything is okay with us. Today, he asked us if we had ever had fish tacos. We told him we had heard of them, but never tasted any. He told us he made great fish tacos. The next thing he said was, "I'll send some out to you."

Oh my, were they delicious! We aren't sure they are on the menu. We think it is a recipe that he came up with. The salsa on them was perfect, and the flavors all blended together perfectly. We have been told that we should try fish tacos before, but the opportunity presented itself today.

We are so lucky to live in El Paso. The people in stores and restaurants are friendly. They remember us even when we don't go in that often. There must be something about these two old ladies that is unforgettable! (Hee, hee.)

Until next time... . . . . .

A Christmas Fair!

Hello, Everybody!

If you thought we had croaked, this is to let you know that we are still alive and kicking! We really haven't done anything too exciting until this weekend. It was time for the annual Junior League of El Paso's Christmas Fair. The theme this year was Noel a Paris. These are our admission tickets. They were given to us by a dear sweet lady from Polk who is in the Junior League. Notice that our tickets no longer say, "Adult."

The Eiffel Tower greeted us upon arrival. There were several other Towers in the Hall. We arrived at 10:00 AM. By 11:00, Ellen had to make the first trip back to the car to put our purchases in the trunk. That gave Sharon a few minutes to sit and rest until Ellen returned. Then we were at it again! By a little after noon, it was time for trip TWO to the car!

This time Sharon went along. We had packed a "picnic lunch" and we were both getting a little hungry and were more than ready to sit for a little bit. Our picnic was eaten in the car. We enjoyed watching all the people who were coming and going! After that little respite, back we went to finish up the aisles we hadn't seen.

These were just two of the Christmas trees that had been decorated. It's always fun to see all the different ideas.

This year there were over two hundred vendors! The aisles were smaller because they had to pack that many booths into the Hall; however, we were able to see all of them. Some we just walked by because we had no interest in what they were selling. Others, we spent time looking and enjoying all the beautiful items.

Christmas shopping is now in full swing! What a wonderful time of the year!!

Until next time . . . . . . . .

PS As if we hadn't done enough shopping, on the way home, we stopped at Pier One to see all of their Christmas items.

Oops, We Are Sorry!

Hello, Everybody!

We know that we have been very lax at writing for our blog. Facebook has shown us that there is a quick way to communicate with friends. Never the less, we really miss writing for our blog. We don't have a lot of news to share with you. We have been very busy at school screening the children. We have now finished our Polk School students! To be done and have them all charted by mid-October is quite a feat. We are proud of ourselves!! The last few days have been filled with seeing sick children and sending those home with high fevers. Flu season has hit early this year. Between Seasonal Flu and Swine Flu, everyone is a bit nervous. We will survive this, too!

We are looking forward to Thursday. Thursday?? Cirque Dreams is at the Plaza Theatre and we are going......thanks to some friends who could not use their tickets!! We are very excited. We shall be up a little later than usual on a "school night", but the next day is Friday! We can do this!! YES, WE CAN!

Staying in touch with our blog friends is important to us. We hope all is well with everyone. Have a good rest of your week. We will let you know how we enjoy Cirque! PROMISE!


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

Fun Times At The Stein's!

Hello, Everybody!



We gave up posting photos on Facebook because Sharon couldn't figure out how to add more than one at a time. Oh, well! After Scott and Margaret had such great success at the body building championships, they threw a party for relatives and friends. We had a great time, and would like to show you some of the people who were there. Here are Ellen, Paul, and Maria!


Sharon was trying to get a smile out of this one.

Mark and Ellen are clowning around.

Here they are again.

The picture below shows you that kids really never grow up.

Our award winning host and hostess.
Scott and Margaret, are happy to be able to eat something! Concha's Mexican food was outstanding!!

Below are Ellen, Daniel, and his wife, Hila. They have been in the States visiting from Israel. Teresa was happy to have her eldest son home for a few weeks!

This last picture shows Mark with his mom, Mary, and his step-mom, Ellen.

We had a wonderful time at the Steins, and these pictures by no means show all of those who were there. These were just the ones we captured on our camera.

Until next time. . .. . . .

My, How Time Flies!

Hello, Everybody!


It is amazing that a month has passed, and we haven't posted a thing!! This will be a miscellaneous news catch-up blog post!


School has been going very well, except for the kids who don't want to be there in the first place. We have had a few criers and whiners, but all in all, it hasn't been too bad. This is our first holiday three-day weekend.


We both lost our hairdresser this past week. Mary, our long-time hairdresser decided to move closer to her family in Arizona. After knowing her for over 25 years, it has been an adjustment. We have known for about a year, that she and her husband were going to move at the end of August, 2009. We just kept putting it to the back of our minds in hopes that the reality would not come! She has seen a lot of life changing moments for us both. She even traveled to Lubbock to do Nichole's hair for her wedding. We wish her and her husband much happiness in this new phase of their lives!


This last Thursday, Sharon tried out a new hairdresser at a different shop. Her name is Carol. Sharon will probably go back to see if she will continue to do her hair. We hate trying to find a new hairdresser.

Tuesday afternoon brought a visit to Ellen's orthopedic doctor. He was very pleased that she had worn the boot that he had prescribed. She really has been faithful in wearing that boot; however, he told her to begin weaning herself off of the boot for a couple of hours a day. She seems to think that means she can wear it when she wants to wear it. Today, Sharon hasn't seen hide nor hair of that boot!


On Saturday, we went up to Las Cruces for the Southern New Mexico Wine Festival. We had a great time. We enjoyed the food, music, and the wine, of course. The weather was great. We went early, at noon, when they opened. It was not too crowded yet, and the lines for tastings were not long. After sampling several different kinds, we bought a cheese and grape platter and sat in the shade for a lite lunch. Some of the local high school band students were selling the cheese and grape plates. We know how hard band kids work, so it was an easy decision to support their fund raising efforts.

The past several days, the newspaper has been advertising a group who was in town buying old gold and silver. We took ourselves over to the Holiday Inn by the airport on Sunday morning. We had a few trays that we weren't sure if they were silver plated or sterling silver. Turns out they were silver plated, so we couldn't sell those; however, they were paying a good price for non-rare silver coins. Ellen had a few of those, so she sold them.

By being at the Holiday Inn, we were halfway to our favorite restaurant, BJ's! The thought of a thin crust, tomato, basil and Italian sausage pizza was too good to pass up! Before eating, we went all the way to Joe Battle Street to check out the new Kirkland's store that just opened. It is was fun to look around at what they had. We haven't been in one for quite some time.

When this weekend began, we had no plans whatsoever. All of our "goings" have been spur of the moment! We didn't even take a camera with us to the Wine Fest! We'll let you know what we come up with for tomorrow!

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

Ellen's First Day of School!

Hello Everybody!

First days back at school are always exciting. You see people whom you haven't seen since school was out. There is a sense of a newness, even if you've done the same job for many years. Ellen was anticipating the beginning of the year -- and all the craziness that surrounds registering children and assuring parents that all will be fine.

Wednesday evening she had her clothes all ironed and ready to go. The alarm clock was set and the coffee pot was fixed for "automatic on". There is nothing like having a pot of hot coffee all ready to pour as you sleepwalk to the kitchen in the morning. Sharon was going to go to school, too. When you've taught for 36 years before retiring, there is just something about getting ready for a new year that doesn't leave your soul.

The following scenario is how Thursday went:

Ellen woke up thirty minutes AFTER the alarm should have gone off.
She went to the kitchen to pour a cup of Snickerdoodle coffee. It was COLD! The timer was set for 4:30 PM instead of 4:30 AM! Forget about reading the paper before school-- it was straight to the shower. After the shower, the coffee got heated up in the microwave. She ate breakfast, got dressed, and was ready to go. It was time to get the name tag and be off to Sharon's house. SHE COULDN'T FIND HER NAME TAG! Oh, well, that would be a job for the weekend.

Sharon was waiting for Ellen to come. She still needs a little help in the morning to get dressed, but is doing remarkably well. We get that job done, Ellen is out the door, and Sharon will follow soon.

It was great to see the ladies in the office. We have a special relationship and can't imagine working without one another. After catching up with one another, it was time to get started in the office. Ramona, our head custodian, came in to tell me that the air conditioner was not working, but she had already called it in to be repaired. (The temperature was expected to reach 100 on Thursday, and there are no windows in Ellen's office.) Okay, so it is going to be a sweaty day...

Sharon arrived at school, and her first job was to figure out why the monitor for the computer would not turn on. She solved that problem, but then it would not let us connect to the Internet. UGH! All medical records for the school are on the computer now! Ada came in to see if she could figure it out, but in the end, she had to report it to TIS (technology) so they could send someone.

Someone called to speak to Ellen, and at that point we realized her phone was not working. Susan reported that to the powers that be.

We worked real hard all morning and got most of the walls decorated. By this time we were hot, sweaty and ready for lunch. After we ate, Sharon went home for a nap. Of course, it was nice and cool at home!!

Ellen spent the afternoon getting things straightened up and all ready for when registration begins on Monday.

What a day!! There is a saying that when a dress rehearsal goes bad, the main performance is usually outstanding. Here's hoping that it is an outstanding year! After that first day, it should be just about perfect!

Until next time. . . . .

Travels To Northern Texas Panhandle!

Hello, Everybody!



After the reunion stuff was over, we headed to a little town east of Amarillo near the Oklahoma border called Canadian. Sharon used to live there back in the 70's. She also has relatives who live there. This picture shows her with her first cousin, Sue Lynn. They both have those Cherokee cheeks, don't you think? We visited with Sharon's Aunt Fannye, Sue Lynn's mother. She has not been well, but was able to visit with us for a few hours and seemed to enjoy the company. We enjoyed Sue Lynn's margaritas! Aunt Fannye's sadness was that she couldn't have one, too!


Ellen finally got to see the storm cellar and "basement" of Aunt Fannye's house. She has heard many stories of how they would gather there during the bad weather that is so prevalent in the Northern Panhandle. When Ellen saw the big, beautiful bar down there, she immediately knew why this was also the gathering place when the weather was just fine!! Her Uncle R. E. knew how to entertain.




One of the little towns on the way to Canadian is White Deer! We detoured off the highway and rode down Main Street. Sure enough, they have a statue of a white deer in the middle of town!

Ellen fell in love with the rolling hills of the Northern Texas Panhandle. Here is a picture of them as we were headed back to Amarillo.

When Sharon lived in Canadian, she and a few of her friends would drive to Amarillo every few weeks to go grocery shopping. Ellen can't imagine having to drive over a hundred miles to do that, but the scenery is beautiful. It makes the time pass quickly!

We did quite a few things in our few short days! We managed to explore some different areas of the Panhandle and enjoyed a wonderful time.

Until next time. . . . .