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Picture taken by my friend Cyndi Leos....thank you Cyndi.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

What's Been Goin' On...

Hello dear blogging friends...just a quick update to check in and let you know what has been going on in our house...

My cell phone died the day before I was to pick up my girlfriend Jan, visiting from Missouri, at the airport.  I had to order a new one, and in my haste to hurry up and order one to get it delivered the next day, I dove deep into BUYER'S REMORSE...

Received the new Samsung Revolution the next day, and turned it back in Saturday, unopened.  Traded it for a special offer on a Samsung Continuum, which is just like the Samsung Fascinate, only skinnier and has a ticker display on the bottom of the screen.  So far, I really like it.  My first "smart phone".

Two days after Jan arrived, my sister Holly, girlfriend Bonnie arrived for another Creative weekend.  They drove straight to Barb's house and Jan and I met them there, after we spent three hours at the Verizon store getting my new phone...

Had a blast with all the girls...we went to the MGM and saw the baby lions.  Holly and I had our picture taken with 60lb "Buddy".  We also went to the Bellagio Conservatory and took pictures of the latest display.  Here are a few pictures below...

Buddy, who was fed ground up meat in a bottle in between pics to keep him happy.

Handlers inside the Lion enclosure...

Handler watching as Lion gnaws on plastic ball... (see all the teeth marks?)

These guys are either crazy or very vulnerable...

Pictures below are from the Bellagio Conservatory...




Made of flowers

Parrots inside the bird sanctuary

Koi fish in a pond


Barbs, me, Jan, my sister Holly and Bonnie

We collaborated on our laptops....(did a lot of admiring on Pinterest)

We took pictures of clouds...(can you see the horse?)

We took pictures of sunsets...

We posed for pictures...to imitate a poster...

We designed cups, baked them, but forgot to seal them...so some of us lost our design when we put it in the dishwasher...

We made apple crisp to go in small jars

We made lanterns with coarse salt and votive candles to hang on fences or tree branches...

We mixed colors and made scented bath salts

My sister and Bonnie left Tuesday the 25th of July and Jan left at the end of the month on the 29th.

My husband's friend arrived the evening of the 29th to stay the weekend to celebrate his 70th birthday.  We had a family BBQ on Saturday night.  He drove home Monday morning.  My husband's son was in town on business, so he stopped by two nights to visit and join in on the birthday celebrations...

My Mom and Dad celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary on August 4th.  Dad is in a nursing home and Mom has been down with a sore back since April...Dad will be 91 in November and Mom is 84.

Friday, August 5th, 12 of our family caravaned up to Mammoth Lakes, CA for the weekend.  Eight adults and six teenagers.  We met our friends at the  Mammoth house.  What a great time we had!  The house was incredible!  Being among all the pine trees, sitting out on that deck enjoying nature was a masterful, soulful experience.  Lots of good food and laughter...

View from the front window...

From the back balcony...

Fishing up at Mary's Lake...


Up the hill, looking down on the family fishing...

Several of us looking at our pictures on the kitchen table...

No great weekend is complete, without Smores...cooked on the back balcony

We also went to Twin Lakes, June Lake, Convict Lake (had a nice dinner there too) and Silver Lake.  Everyone except for our friends Ray and Lana, Jerry and I, went to Yosemite on Sunday.  They had a great day except for a controlled brush fire, which make their pictures kind of smokey...

We got home Monday in the early afternoon and picked up Izzy from boarding.  I have been busy doing laundry and getting unpacked.

Yesterday, the nursing home called.  Dad was taken to the hospital for some tests as he had been throwing up.  By 5pm, they determined he was fine...only his potassium was a little elevated.  We think he over ate for breakfast.  Apparently he ate a big breakfast and then asked for a large fruit plate...

This weekend we will relax and take it easy.  Next week, my youngest daughter Jodee, her honey Jeff and son, baby Jacob, will be in town.  She is here on business, so Jeff will come visit with Jacob during the day.  We will meet them at their hotel for dinner a couple of nights...I will watch the baby while they go out for a few hours.  I cannot believe Jacob will be one year old next month!

I hope to attempt to catch up and visit some blogs this weekend...big hugs to you all!


7 comments:

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi there Donna. What a lovely post with some great photos. You certainly have been busy, and having a lovely time by the sound of it. Good times my friend. Holly is very much like you.

DJan said...

What a fabulous time you have been having, Donna. I love the picture of all of you smiling and lined up. And you didn't even mention that you successfully upgraded to Lion! Yayy! Thanks for the great write-up.

Pat said...

You have been a busy little bee!

I love all the projects you did with your sister and girlfriends!

Love all the photos, especially from the cabin!

Betty W said...

Wow!! That was some action you had there. You´re excused for not blogging. LOL!
Thanks for sharing that with us, I´m just a bit jealous of your "girlie" weekends!

Jeanie said...

Boy, you have been a busy lady, but it sounds like fun busy so that is good. I hope your back is doing okay.

Southhamsdarling said...

Me again Donna. I forgot to say earlier that I just love that photo of you all with those lovely different coloured laptops!!!

Sultan said...

Big cats!