up up and away

This is one of my favorite sights in Salem....
I love to see the hot air balloons wafting in the sky....

they move faster than you'd think though, this one almost got away, while i was trying to take this pic! LOL

I always thought it would be cool to go for a ride in one of these but it's the combination of my 2 biggest fears...heights and small spaces that has made me think better of it.. oh well maybe someday!

Welcome Grandbaby James!

So this is Brittinie's baby boy James born on August 18, 2009.

We got the call at 9:30 that morning saying she was in labor and at the hospital, but James wasn't one to be rushed he didn't make his apperance until 9:30 that night!

So here is a tired momma and her new born baby boy.

Our second grandbaby! and their birthdays are a week apart!
We are looking forward to many more birthdays with and for these two gorgeous little grandbabies!












Look at those tiny little baby feet!!!

And here is a happy Grandpa holding Grandbaby James for the first time!!!

George lives for this stuff! He is MAJOR baby mush!!

Welcome to the world little guy we are looking forward to watching you grow up!

Home Improvements (small scale)

I know this is a small thing but these light fixtures have driven George crazy for eons!!

He hated the old style we had, and has been threatening to update them....

Well here is the updated version....TaDa!

They look pretty nice. I wasn't sure if they would let enough light out with the frosted cover that they have but with some florescent bulbs in them they light up the kitchen really nicely (once they warm up).

I'm kinda hoping we can find something for the dining room now these look so nice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEE!!!!

WOW it's hard to believe Rylee is a year old!

The cake is soo cute.... absolutely adorable!!!

Look at how much she's grown!!

Those cute little baby teeth....

We sooo wish we could have been there for her birthday...maybe next year...love to see her and get to snuggle that little cutie!!

Sorry no cake face pictures... yet

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS

It's been crazy hot here in the valley temp. over 100 degrees for a week and since we have no A/C it's been a challange to keep the house cool! we have a pretty good system worked out but it's been more of a challange since we lost so many of our shade trees last autumn. Even the animals are trying to be creative with ways to stay cool, the hardwood floor in the dining room, and the linoleum in the kitchen have become incredibly popular and of course Thank God for the basement!!! We all have hid out down there for a couple of nights!!

Here are "the bobsey twins" hangning out looking cool trying to beat the heat!

Happy Birthday George!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE!!!

So for George's birthday we meaning us and his buddy Rick and his buddy Ken (also our roommate) all went to the Great Wall for dinner. It's George's favorite..it's chinese buffet, which I like since that way I can try some new stuff without the risk of a complete yucky dinner!
It was a nice dinner, and afterwards we stopped to check out a new night spot in town, which was nice and then we headed back home for margaritas! MMM...Mmmmm...Yum

george's new ride

So...we went looking for a newer vehicle....mostly a fact finding mission....what do we like....what to they cost...etc. primary thing being that we weren't sure what kind we wanted. I knew more or less what I wanted, but George...not so much and since in theory it was to replace his truck, we went test driving some things..most of them seemed crazy expensive..or maybe that's just me. lol.

but we were just looking...gathering information...for a future purchase we knew we would need to make in the next couple months...

ya..well..not so much the next couple months as now! we found a really nice Ford Explorer with pretty low miles and completely loaded, that was a price we could live with...and then we got them to drop it by half!! needless to say we now have an explorer sitting in the driveway.. in theory it's George's vehicle...and I am driving his little ranger truck. we'll see how long that lasts....lol. my poor little red wagon will be retiring shortly..it has been a good rig but there's getting to be too many maintanence issues..ie..transmission going out. that it's just not practical for us to keep patching my poor baby together..
so it's hello new explorer and nitey night to my little red wagon...