June 23, 2010

How Was Your Father's Day?

It was a lot of fun at the Sawyer house hold on Father's Day.  Katherine and I got up early to make breakfast for Jeff.  Ebilskievers (small round pancakes) were on the menu and they were delicious!



Jared and Emerson also had their share--Emerson ate 7 of them!  Ebilskievers may become a new family favorite.



We had a houseful for dinner which included an awesome layered cake--made with a lot of TLC by Juliet, and of course presents.  I'm sure little Emerson was wondering where the candles were and how come Dad and Grandpa were having another birthday. Hope you all had a great Father's Day! Tell us all how the day was for you by leaving your comments below please.

Holy Crepe Myrtle!!!


Crepe Myrtles are one of my most favorite flowering trees of Texas.  Well, they're not native to Texas but they thrive here.  They bloom from June through July.  They love the heat and sun and are drought proof but after 2 years of drought and a lot of rain this spring the Crepe Myrtles in Round Rock are thriving--exploding!  Its as though they've been saving all their blooms for a rainy-er day.

I've never seen such thick blooms--the branches are just heavy with them!  I've been here almost 23 years and I don't remember these flowering trees looking so spectacular.
My neighborhood
 You see them in big puffy clouds of pink, deep fuchsia, red, lavender and white and they are everywhere!  You see them in the grocery store parking lot, McDonald's, next to buildings under construction, along streets, parks and in very lucky home owners' yards.



They are beautiful and I just can't get enough of them. I think my family is getting sick of hearing me say "Oh look at that gorgeous Crepe Myrtle!  Oh look at that one!"


So look at these!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
See!  I told you!  At McDonalds!
At Sprouts
 In my neighborhood

June 19, 2010

Happy Father's Day!

Here's to all the fathers out there!  Thanks for all you to support your wives, children, grandchildren, dogs and cats.  We love you and appreciate all you do!


June 18, 2010

"Stories From an In-Flight Slave" by Allyson Johnston

Blogger alert!  Check out the new blog--funny stories by our family flight attendant Allyson.  If you've ever heard any of her stories while working at 37,000 feet or even on the ground with the crew, you'll enjoy reading more here.  She's just getting started so hang in there.  This should be good!

http://storiesfromanin-flightslave.blogspot.com/

June 14, 2010

Texas Memorial Day

Still waiting on photos from Jared's I phone since I forgot my dang a camera.  We dragged the jet ski out (no Emerson this time--maybe on the 4th of July) and we've all decided we really need 2 jet skis to make it the most fun so Jared has been perusing Craigslist for a pair.  Miss Payton was the most pleasant participant that day.  She was just happy to be there with everyone and to be outside. I swear, the child rarely cries.

Stay tuned for pictures...just waiting on Jared...

Okay, here we go....

At the Pool

 
















Emerson, Jared, Zach and I had a little fun at our neighborhood pool yesterday.  Emerson wasn't too keen on the idea of getting into the water at first.  I thought we were about to go home until two little boys and their mother arrived and he watched them swim around, dunking their heads completely under and having a great time.  One of them was probably a little older than Emerson and the other one younger.  I think he has some of the "competitive nature" of a few of our family members (what an understatement) and wasn't to be outdone by these kids, so it didn't take long until he got in and had a blast.  Now if we could just get him to keep his mouth closed underwater he might learn to swim one of these days.





June 13, 2010

Where's My Blog Title?

Not sure what happened to "Signs of the Loveland Family Times."  I tried a new template (I'm not sure I like this one) and when I did the title went away and now I can't get it back.  I've emailed Blogger for help but until I hear from someone, this is as good as it gets. Kimbur...got a solution for me?

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Wish we could all be there to celebrate. Just wait until next year!  It will be a BLOW OUT!!!

Super G-ma and G-pa Trip 2010

The Spring "Super G" trip has become an annual thing. There was some fear that they weren't going to make the flight but they got on after all--even First Class. We had the bonus of having Andrew visiting on the same trip--on break from school and work for a week and he was on the same flight--although not in first class--sorry Andrew.  It was really nice only having to make one trip to the airport!

Our goal was to keep Grandma and Grandpa busy without wearing them out and allow them to have a little down time to relax.  I hope we accomplished that.  The first thing on the agenda the night they arrived was celebrating Grandma's birthday. With a little help from Emerson she extinguished the question mark candle and finally put that thing to its final rest. (You will see it in at least 2 other birthday posts.) We did dispense with the trip to San Antonio (boo) but we ate a lot of good food, celebrated Mothers day, (I was in Utah on the real Mother's Day), did a little window shopping at the "Domain," took in a Round Rock Express baseball game and had a lot of family time including a great Family Home Evening.  And of course, we drove down to Oak Hill to see the old "homestead" and did a little reminiscing. Now if only we could get Zach and Grandpa to smile for pictures.  Actually, we got close, if you look very closely you will see it.

 Happy Birthday Grandma!
One week went by very fast.  We always wish they would stay a little longer.  We'd love to have them visit even more often but I think Grandma likes her bed better.

And let me take this opportunity to make a standing invitation to anyone who would like to visit us in the great state of Texas.  We do our best to show you a good time!

June 12, 2010

The Dennings Go to Moab

This past Memorial Day weekend Bruce and a fairly large gang made the trek to Moab Utah for a few days of camping, jeeping, biking and apparently climbing and rolling down hills of sand.  Bruce gave me a pretty detailed travelogue of their adventure and although it sounded way fun...it also sounded just a little bit crazy.  But what else would we expect?  I lifted these photos from Danielle's Facebook page.  There are some pretty spectacular photos here of the red rocks and shots of the front of the jeep driving into the wild blue yonder.  Like I said...just a little bit crazy!  We would love to hear the comments from all who attended as well as those of us who did not but wish we had.  Enjoy!






Jumping Back In

Its been a while since I've even wanted to post anything here.  Losing Lynette really knocked the wind out of me. My last posts were done in sort of a fog--in an effort to get "back to normal" but eventually I had to put it, and just about everything else aside for a while.  I wondered if I'd ever feel normal again.  But just in the last day or so I'm feeling the beginnings of a "new normal."  Not exactly the same but I'm at least able to get through my day a little easier--feeling less of the grief weighing down on me.  They say that "time heals all wounds."  I wasn't sure I believed that a month ago but I'm beginning to see just a glimmer of it now and I am grateful for it.  How could we survive if we felt that much pain forever? 

I hope all of you, my dear family and friends are feeling some measure of the comfort and peace I have just begun to feel.  I pray every day for all of you and that you will.  You are what is MOST important in my life.  I know that's the way Lynette would want it to be for all our family.  I know you all have similar feelings. Your thoughts and comments are welcomed.  Just click on Comments below.



Love,
Jenny