The Path

One day recently, Johnny asked me if I had noticed how the dogs created paths around our property.  It was so dry that all the places that they traversed were accentuated by the dryness of the drought.  Honestly, I had noticed but had not really stopped to think much about it.  But then I started looking around further, I saw that the cows make paths, too.  Can we safely say they are all creatures of habit?  Cows and dogs alike?

If I base my answer on our animals I would have to say yes.  Our dog Penny for example, does the same thing nearly every day.  Takes her morning walk, venturing down the street a short ways and then comes back home.  Each day she does this.  I like to think she's checking out the area, making sure we're all safe.  But, it really just reminds me that this is her habit.  She's a creature of habit.  She does this because it's what she's always done and she doesn't know any different.

General Update

Wow - so much has been going on this time of year and no time for blogging.  This post will be my attempt to catch you up on the Parker household.

I had plenty of baking orders to keep me busy these last 2-3 weeks with four birthday cakes, 8 dozen cupcakes, and 24 dozen cookies.  It was a lot of work, but it seemed to bless others and that something I like to do.  Here are a few pictures of some of my projects.

Nursing Home Blessings....

It's an annual event for our home school group, singing at the nursing home and making stops at the homes of local shut-ins.  It was started by a dear friend of mine 5-6 years ago and Caleb, Randy, and I joined in making this year our third year to participate.

It is truly a blessing to spend a few hours visiting people who don't get a lot of visitors on a daily basis.  Very touching and heart-warming and I suppose a bit bitter sweet as well.

Every year I tell myself I will not wait another entire year to come back and visit, but time gets away and 1 year later I find us back there, singing and hoping to bring a few minutes of joy to someone who needs it.  All of them touch my heart, but this year 3 nursing home patrons have stayed steadfast in my mind.  After we sang to them, we went around the room, greeting each one individually with a "Merry Christmas" and a hug.  Some of us handed out gifts.  My family gave some home made Christmas ornaments.

Sweet Family Connections

The opportunity to reconnect with family I haven't spent a lot of time with for a while was something I will definitely remember and treasure for a long time.  My daughter Christy came for a visit.  She brought with her her husband Wes and her son, Tyler, who has grown so much, even since the last time I saw him in April.

They arrived on Saturday, blessing us by preparing King Ranch Chicken for dinner!  I asked my other daughter Allie, her husband Aaron, my oldest son Dusty and his family to come join us that evening for a get-together.  Randy was already here spending Christmas time with us.  My heart was full having all my kids and grand kids together in one place, at one time.

We played a round of Apples to Apples - bible edition where we laughed and laughed - - who knew how much fun the bible edition could actually be?   Then we traded gifts with one another.  I would have loved a group portrait, but who would be the one to stay out and take the picture?  So, I decided to take one picture with my grandkids and one picture with my kids.....If my camera hadn't decided to be FULL, I would have taken one with all of them together, but drat the camera.  I tried to delete photos to make room, but by then the little one's scattered back to Caleb's room to play.

Operation Ornament

September 29, 2010 marks a significant day in the life of my parents.  It was that day they were flooded out of their home and lost nearly everything.  The point of this blog though has to do with the loss of their Christmas decorations/ornaments.  Christmas 2010 was a sad one.  They were living in a home, with the barest of necessities.  So, Christmas tree ornaments were not a priority.

In November of this year, 2011, my dad asked all of us to make homemade ornaments for mom.  Buying would have been nice as there are definitely pretty ornaments out there, but homemade would offer that extra bit of love to each one.

Operation Ornament was underway.

I decided to make salt dough ornaments and some with popsicle sticks.  With the help of Caleb, Randy, & Allie, we had quite a variety for her.

Happy Birthday!!!!

It's always fun to actually be able to surprise someone for their birthday.  This year we were able to do just that to my mother-in-law, Ava.  Dec 4th was her 80th birthday and the family wanted to gather together to celebrate in her honor.  It was decided that the 3rd was a better time for all to be able to meet so, the Parker's gave her a call as we drove to her house, a little over 2 hours away and invited her to lunch.

The plan you see, was to take her to her favorite restaurant.  The surprise would be that the rest of the family would already be there.  It worked.  She was surprised.  ;o)   It was a great lunch at a seafood place called The Oyster Bar.  Unfortunately, not everyone could make it, but we still had a super crowd and it was an awesome time of fellowship.

Here are some pictures of the event:

Caleb and Nee Nee as she opened her present.

Wordless Wednesday

Praying Mantis