40 Years ago....

John graduated from Hollister High School in Hollister, Missouri. We attended his 40th reunion this past Saturday. There were a total of 25 students who graduated that year...and since then, 4 of them have passed away, leaving 21 still kickin'. 10 of those students gathered on Saturday nite at a lovely little establishment on the lake called Shorty Small's. I can not recommend them enough! They had a room available for us, overlooking the lake. They didn't charge a deposit, they provided us with nachos - gratis!. They have the most perfect waitstaff! The food was great and the company was outstanding. John was able to reconnect with some of the guys he went to high school with...and I got to hear some great stories!

It's fall here in the Ozarks...the weather has cooled down, the breezes are blowing, and the trees are beginning to turn colours. I love Autumn!

Thanks for stopping by.

Labor Day Visit

I spent Labor Day Weekend in northern Arizona, visiting my mom. It's been almost a year since I've seen her and my Mommy-meter was seriously low! I took a late flight from Springfield to Phoenix-Mesa airport. I'd not flown to that particular airport since it didn't exist when I lived there (100 years ago, at least). When Williams Air Force Base was closed, the airport portion was taken over and made into a public airport. To the best of my knowledge, only Allegiant Airways flies into that location. I got there at 10:30 at night, too late to get a rental car and they were charging a mighty premium for rental cars on the holiday weekend. My youngest brother picked me up and very graciously drove me the 2 hours north to Mom's house. He spent the night and then drove on home.


Mom and I spent the entire weekend talking..I don't think we turned the TV on the whole time. On Saturday we drove to the quilt shop in town. I picked up a couple pieces of fabric but nothing too expensive or heavy (I was not checking my bag since they charge a fortune to do so).



On Monday, we drove down to my other brother's house. Randy, Mercy, and their son, Scott, along with Mom, drove me down to Phoenix to catch my plane home. Scott is almost 5 and a real kick in the pants. He's not seen me since he was 2 and was very shy at first...then his exuberance for life kicked in. What a doll! I asked him if he would be willing to let me take his picture to show Uncle John. He dashed upstairs to get his hat! And then result is this:Is he not the cutest little cowboy you ever saw? And here he is on his horse.


And here is the whole family, plus Mom.
I totally forgot to get a picture of Bill...sorry!

It was good to spend so much uninterrupted time with my Mom. I miss her so terribly. And it was totally a bonus to get to see both of my brothers...it's probably been 4 years since I'd seen Bill and we had breakfast with Randy and his family 2 years ago when we went from here to Utah via Prescott, Arizona cause the weather forced us to use the south route.

I love you guys! Hope it's not so long between visits next time.