Beautiful Irises

Couldn't resist sharing these beauties that were in our backyard in April.... gorgeous!...
I hope you like them as well.

(both photo credit to my hubby - Brad Bagwell)

Stunningly Ominous!.... Mammatus Clouds...

Back in mid-April, my hubby took this photo from our driveway when he got home from work...

Mammatus Clouds

at sunset

Pay It Forward Game - Spread the LOVE

Pay it forward is a great thing to do!

On Aug 26, 2012, I participated in a "Pay It Forward" blog post at
Scramping with Carol. I was one of the first few people to respond, and as such, I will receive a handmade gift from Carol Labuski (a woman I don't personally know - but I follow her blog, since she always has wonderful creations posted!)... AND I won't even know exactly when it will arrive!... Won't that be awesome?!!! With my brain, I'll totally forget all about it and when the gift comes, I really will be surprised! lol :)

Rules of the game - and you know there are some :) 

They are as follows:

1. To the first 3 people to comment on this post.... I will send a
    
     surprise gift!*  This gift will be handmade by me and I will send
    
     it sometime within the next year (yep... 365 days!) 
    
     Exactly when... well... that will be a surprise!

2. To sign up to receive a gift from me, you must play along, too.

    Share the love on your blog ("pay it forward") by promising to

    send a handmade goodie to the first 3 people who comment on

    your blog post.

3. Of course to do #2, you MUST have a blog!

4. After commenting on my post, you must post this Pay It Forward

     game on your blog to spread the love. If you haven’t posted it

     within 48 hours, then the next commenter will be chosen.

If you want to join in and spread the love around, just comment below and then post the Pay It Forward game on your blog.... AND if you’re one of the first 3 to comment, I’ll send you something before the end of August next year!

* (Sorry, I can't afford overseas shipping) Open to residents in the U.S. or Canada only

Avree

Finally.......

           A close-up photo of that precious baby girl! (I've told both parents that I want 24 pictures a day, at least, but they are NOT cooperating! I think they've tuned me out, lol :(

But I had to share this latest one..... can you tell, I'll be obsessed with posting her photos? I'll try to curb my urges to do that, so I won't overwhelm the Blogger system!!! and you!!

New Mom and Baby Girl

Well, I promised "more later"... here she is!!!...

Our New Granddaughter

Avree Diane

(about one hour old)

Born Monday August 13, 2012 - 4:31 PM

Weight - 8 lbs 7.5 ozs

Length - 22 inches ---21 inches (confirmed by pediatrician at checkup)

And just absolutely PERFECT!!!

and the next morning... sleeping on Mom!

She looks almost exactly like her mom did when she was born.

We can't wait to see her in person in about 3 weeks, when they come for our son's wedding! She'll get to meet this whole side of the family, which is extremely small and only consists of the two of us, her Uncle Josh and brand new Aunt Michelle, her Great-Aunt Melissa (my sister), her second-cousin Derek (my nephew and sister's son) and his fiance, Sandea, as well as my BFF and "adopted" Granny, Carol... she can't wait to get her hands on

Avree either!!

You'll probably be seeing lots more of this little gal on here in the coming months, if I can get her momma to take pictures with a "real" camera, and not just on her phone, lol :)

It's Official!

We're finally GRANDPARENTS!!!... Avree Diane has arrived! :) ... More later...

True Friend

Another quote I saw and made into a small sign to be able to cut out.

I thought I could use this on the front of a card. Might need an encouragment card sometime.

Not a Lack of Love

I ran across this quote somewhere... I can't remember now exactly where, but it was someone's favorite quote, and just typed out.... Anyhoo....

With our son's upcoming wedding and our own 32nd anniversary in October, I have 'marriage' on the brain! When I saw this, I thought "yep, that's sure true!"

So I put the quote in the square box to make it into something I could cut out. And I've counted my blessings that my hubby and I are friends! :)

I just have to say something!

This will probably not be funny or even in the least bit interesting, nor amusing to most of you, but to the few who really know me and my daughter well, they will understand why this is hilarious to me...

Big changes have already happened on my daughter's Pinterest Baby Board. Just since Friday, it's gone from blah, blah, blah to PINK! (I wonder why?) ROTFL!... :)

It's a ----- GIRL !!!!

I'm so excited, I just had to share....

Our first Grandbaby is going to be a GIRL!!! YAY!!! Just what we were all hoping for (except the dad, of course, but he's happy!)

We just found out a little bit ago. Our daughter woke me up with the news! Such a nice way to start this beautiful day! :)

EXCITING DAY!....

Just wanted to share some exciting news!...

I heard our FIRST grandchild's heartbeat for the first time today! :)  Our daughter is due in August, but she lives 998 miles away! She emailed us a Wave Sound on Feb 27th, and since my hubby works long hours, I wanted to wait to be able to hear it with him this weekend when he's home....

Now I tried to wait until my hubby could listen with me, but
I failed miserably!! I could NOT wait any longer, so I listened (bad Grandma).... DEFINITELY an out of the ordinary day, week, month, year, etc. for me! I just cried and cried... happy tears!

Ya Ya Sister's Diet

My daughter sent this to me and that in itself is so AMAZING! She never... and I do mean NEVER, sends me what she deems "trivial" emails. :) 
But this time, she said she "just had to" because it made her laugh so much! (I think it's because she is pregnant... with cravings! She has always watched her weight, working out everyday, and I know she doesn't want to gain too much with the baby!) But for whatever reasons it made her laugh, I'm happy she sent it, because it made me laugh, too:)

I hope you have a good chuckle, too!

The Ya Ya Sister's Diet

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Tea
The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember:
Stressed spelled backward is desserts.

Spectacular Clouds Over Mt Rainier!!

Someone sent me the following photos in an email today. They are so spectacular that I wanted to share them. They were taken from a Cessna by Scott Sistek.

THIS IS AWESOME, Enjoy - 14,411ft.

This is the information that was sent with them:

On Feb 3rd 2012...

Those of us NOT living in Tacoma, WA or surrounding areas, will appreciate these pictures…. take a look at some of these incredible clouds captured over Mt. Rainier!

Gig Harbor

Those are called "lenticular clouds". They're caused when the winds blow over Mt. Rainier in just the right way! The air gets pushed upward, where it cools and condenses into these clouds. Depending on the winds, you can get some amazing cloud formations !