Meg at LinguaFest

As promised, here are a few pictures from Meghann's trip to Germany. While we stayed home and worried about our little girl traveling the world alone, she was out having a great time. The way it should be. Cool Tudor house.

Just what Germany should look like, if you ask me.
A delicious pastry she loved enough to photograph.
Meghann played the part of the "Frog Prince" in the little play her German class did. Yes, she went as a Turkish language student, but she spent the week learning German. Wunderbar!
She got to tour around this castle, she had a good time. All in all, she met new people, learned a little German, and basically proved she is growing up into a responsible, pretty young woman who is AWESOME!!

Tagged

I wish to thank Kacy for including me in her tag, I have never been tagged personally before and it is super exciting. I have just returned from a 3 day trip to Izmir and I am a little loopy. With any luck, that will be to my benefit. Here I go.....

10 years ago...
I was getting ready to move from Texas to Illinois. My kids were 5 and 3. We had just adopted our cats, Dinah and Abby. We owned a Ford Escort station Wagon as I had not yet been issued my official Mormon mama minivan license.

5 Things on my to do list...
Unpack.
Wash the unpacked stuff.
Return Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4 to the library.
Find somewhere to live in San Antonio.

5 Snacks I enjoy...
Cool Ranch Doritos dipped in cottage cheese.
Popcorn.
Candy ( I eat it like a Spaniard.)
Cheese.
Whatever you're having.

5 Foods I love...
Salmon.
Steak.
Meat that isn't lamb.
American restaurants, all of them!!!
I am hungry right now, all I got on the plane was something called a "Pop Kek" which is like a stale Ding Dong with a hint of orange flavor. Pass.

What I would do right now if I suddenly became a billionaire...
AFTER I paid tithing (because THAT'S how I prioritize) I would buy a cabin somewhere in the Utah mountains, a house somewhere in Utah, a house in Maine, a new car, and put away for my kids' college. Then I would set up all my siblings and their families with whatever they wanted. Then I would travel in very expensive circles, eating meat that isn't lamb.

5 Places I have lived...
Florida.
Texas.
Illinois.
Utah.
Virginia.

Favorite Quote...
"We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always whirling, whirling, whirling towards freedom!" - The Simpsons
OR
"Sometimes you can't help these people until they hit rock bottom- and by then you've lost interest." -Seinfeld
OR
"Over the mysteries of female life there is drawn a veil best left undisturbed." - Little Women

There you have it, blogland, aren't you glad you tuned in?
Tune in next time for pictures from Meghann's trip to Germany and our travel report from Izmir.

We Love You, Abby

Abby was born on September 21, 1997 on Laughlin AFB, Texas. When she came to live with us Meghann was four and Sydney was two. She and her sister, Dinah, each caught a bird before they turned one. We had to nip that in the bud.
Abby loved us all, but by degrees. She loved Meghann most of all, then Sydney, then me, and she would only give Doug the time of day if there was no one else home. Until a few years ago. Then she turned into a teddy cat and loved and cuddled and spooned with any of us.
She was what might be considered a "dumb blond." She was never as clever as Dinah but she had infinitely more patience. She could watch our fish or a bug crawling along the floor or the birds outside the window for hours.
Some of her favorite things were eating, asking to eat, spaghettios, and barfing for spite as she did the time I put her on diet cat food per the vet's instructions. She ate some, found it lacking, went into my room and hurled directly into my slippers. We went back to regular food after that, so I guess her methods were effective.
Abby loved being outside and that's how she spent her last day, outside in the sunshine. She loved playing with souvenir rabbits feet that we would bring back from vacations with us. No one knows how to kick back and relax or snuggle like Abby, she is the master of cozy.
We will miss more than words can tell and she will always be in our hearts.


"Life is made up of meetings and partings, that is the way of it. I am sure we will never forget Abby or this first parting that there was among us."

Goodbye, Abby

We said a very sad goodbye on Wednesday, April 2nd to our furry baby, Abby. After giving us ten and a half years of love, she had to leave us.

Here are a few pictures of her through the years.

A Few Random Things

Sydney has always loved the sky here. When we first got here it was the ONLY thing she liked. Since she got her own camera she spends a lot of time chasing sunsets.
Here is one of her better ones.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, late.
Meg.
I love this official notification.
Get out of his way.

Antioch the Last One

Here is a castle that Doug captured from the tour bus. Like I said, these old things are everywhere.
I forgot to mention on the trip to Antioch we passed through a town on the Mediterranean Sea and the tour guide told us that this was where Jonah was spit up by the whale. I had no idea that Jonah was here, too. There is so much history here!!

Antioch Part 5

Sydney took a lot of great pictures as we walked along the trail. How about this multi-colored duck?

Urns in a waterfall.
A curious montage of furniture in a waterfall. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be art or just a pile of junk.

This was by far my favorite. In the middle of all this natural beauty, we find this old sofa. But it is not just any old sofa, it looks like a valuable , hand-carved piece of furniture just set outside to rot. Or set there for special people to sit on while they are appreciating nature, perhaps?

Again, I report, you decide.