Mug Shots

On Thursday evening we were finally able to get the whole gang together for a family picture
We were even able to get all the grandkids to sit still together to have this great shot made.
This was Tara Patrice's first professional photo. She sure has grown and already a photo ham.
After the pictures were all done we had six of the grandkids spend the night with us. These pictures were actually made this morning and in the first one Ryann was still asleep. We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Then everyone helped clean up. Ryann wanted to get done in half the time so she used both hands.

Brendan, Kyla and Ryann will be with us until Wednesday next week while Kathy and Steve are in Utah looking for a house. That's right for all you that didn't know, they are moving to Utah and taking the children with them. Steve has a new job out there and starts work on June 11th.

We can't beleive they are going and even have a hard time writing about it so I won't.

More Pictures from our Hill Country Trip!

Hill County: Nana-Dandy Style

Summer's coming quick and we knew that one of the reasons we got the cruiser was to ride in the Texas Hill County in the Spring during the Wildflower seasons and Spring was slipping into Summer quick so we decided to hit the road last weekend. Everything seem perfect for a long week end...especially the weather (at least according to weatherman --- HA!), so we took off Friday May 4th after Carolyn got off work! Two pair of Jeans each, few more shirts and undies, toothbrush and our rain gear and off we went!

We had decided to drive as far as Eagle Lake (about 100 miles from Pearland) by the long way to avoid traffic on country roads. We arrived the Eagle Lake Lodge (sort of a B&B without the last B), before dark and then had supper ... Next morning we had big breakfast at the Sportsman Resturant in Eagle Lake and hit the road. The day was cloudy and as we got into the Hills we started running into misty rain, but did not dampen our spirits.

After a couple of stops we pulled into Fredricksburg and found our B&B, The Oak Cottage at the Rosewood Manor, which was beautiful and was hosted by Daine and Bob ? We stayed there Saturday and Sunday nights and enjoyed the great setting, nice room and excellent Gourmet Breakfasts...Awesome!

Even though we had the misty rain most all of time, we continue with our plans to "roam the Hills" and roam we did! We just drove slow and carefully and had a ball! We know it is all about attitude and we decided we were going to ride, enjoy God's beautiful Texas Countryside and each other and we had a wonderful time! Carolyn and I know that we are constantly being "Graced...by our Gracious God" in our marriage over and over again! And you know, we've been to the Hill Country before and traveled some of the same scenic roads before in our Car, but there is nothing like being out in the country on a motorcycle...you not only see more, but you feel the wind and the various temperture changes as well as the sweet smell of the flowers and trees as well as the smells of the farms and ranches and some of the other "natural smells" like skunk and the occasional dead animal...but it is all part of the package when you are experiencing the Great Outdoors from the back of a 1100cc Motorcycle....kinda like the Cowboys must have felt on Horse back...just a little faster!! Enjoy the pics....until next time...just living life...."The Grand We Two" way!! God Bless.

Quilt Shop Hop...The Grand We Two Way

It all started when Carolyn approached John with the suggestion that he take Friday (March 30) off (perk of being "self employed") and spend the say with her going to five different Quilt Stores...."on the Motorcycle"...she quickly added. As mentioned in an earlier post, "Carolyn loves Quilting and John loves Carolyn" and since we both love riding the "cruiser" it was an no brain er!

We got up bright and earlier and headed for west side of Pearland (Silver Lake) for breakfast and a very expensive stop at a flooring store....but that's another story for another "post". After a nice IHOP breakfast, we took a drive to the very west side of Houston (Mason Road & I-10), then to the northeast area (Humble), but on way stopped at the ONLY Krystal Hamburger Restaurant in greater Houston area (only two in Texas). If you have to ask...you've been missing a real treat! From there we went to the Quilt shop in Humble and thanks to a envious store clerk who rides with her hubby, we found a neat (albeit) long way to the 3rd shop in La Porte, Texas. After a brief stop over (Carolyn checks out the fabric and I checked out the cookies at each shop...somebody had to eat them...), we then departed for our last stop which was in Galveston, Texas. It was late when we finished there (due to the visit to the flooring store...do you have any idea how many different types of wood floor styles there are....thousands), and we were pretty tired after dealing with some very heavy winds for the whole 250-300 miles, so we decided to skip the 5th store which is the store Carolyn works anyway (if you can call it work), Quakertown Quilts in Friendswood and headed on home! It was a great day, but due to the limited space available on the Cruiser, Carolyn was not able to buy very much fabric....darn!

The Grand We Two...

...are John & Carolyn in the "Best Years of Our Lives", happily married 39 years, proud parents of two beautiful Daughters and even prouder of our 8 (count them...seven) grand children, two boys, Brendan & Sean and five girls; Kyla, Melody, Ryann, Lizzy, Tara and Caitlyn. The oldest was born in August 1994 and the youngest made her appearance August 2008!

We enjoy riding our motorcycle, participating in our Church and its ministries, quilting (Carolyn loves quilting and John loves Carolyn) and of course being active with our girls and their families who all live close by. John owns his own counseling business and Carolyn works part time at her favorite quilt store.

We may be in our 50s (Carolyn) and 60s (John) but we are loving and living life (and each other) more than ever before and it is the intent of our blog to share with our friends and family how loving each other and serving our Savior while pursuing our passions adds up to the "Grand We Two"!