Leftovers!

From this past week!

Isn't it always a happy day when you get to spend time with people you love? On our way up to Branson, we stopped in Tulsa to stay with my sister. She cooked a delicious meal for us and both my nieces were there, as well as my brother and his wife. Roberta took a couple of pics and since I neglected to take one of her, I am including here a pic of my sister with her husband, Don.

It was a nice visit around the table after dinner

with some good laughs.

Robyn and Jacque

(Jacque would not show her face that day.)

And therefore, I am including a family photo of them all together.

Phil and Susan

Outside the Osage Restaurant at Big Cedar Lodge

On the trail.

I love the way flowers can grow in the strangest locations - among weeds, out of rocks, through cracks in concrete. Thousands (millions?) of flowers grow in the most remote places all around the world. These delicate little flowers growing in the wild or hard places remind me of the untold number of people who go unnoticed every day as they humbly serve bringing pleasure to God as He takes notice of their beauty.

The Taneycomo River

This is a sinkhole! Is it not amazing?

You can read about it here.

I never imagined such things in a sinkhole.

Inside the museum.

You can see how he's rocking that raincoat of mine!

This is in front of the Sight and Sound Theater where we saw the

production of Moses! It was a very good production although they

did take some liberties with the story of Moses. I was relieved to see that

by the end of the performance, the truth of the message did come out.

If the right one don't get you,

Then the left one will.

You load 16 pounds

What do you get?

Another day older ...
And wider still yet!!!!

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Coming back home, we stopped again in Tulsa to stay with my brother and Susan. Now she knows how to grow a flower or two.

Smoke gets in your eyes when my brother grills up a steak on a windy day!

They treated us to a delicious dinner, and one of the vegetables Susan served was sooooo yummy, I am sharing the recipe here. Roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon and sliced apples.

The morning we left Tulsa, Susan's little ensemble had a practice for their gig later in the day. It's fun to watch and listen to them prepare for their concerts for the elderly and infirm. I think they are such a blessing!

When we came home, I felt like a vegetable - a couch potato almost all afternoon. Some chores HAD to be done and the next morning to be ready for this little guy to come stay with us. We went to see the movie Boss Baby, played at the park, had watermelon, went shopping for new Legos, and watched TV. He's really good with the Legos and insisted he could put together the 7-14 set. By George, he did it, too. (I did help just a little by separating and finding pieces for him.

I had to run an errand that had been neglected while we were gone, but neither of these two wanted to leave the house. The two of them left home alone TOGETHER can sometimes be risky because they have a tendency to play too hard and almost always somebody gets their feelings hurt. So I made each one of them "pinkie promise" they would be very good while I was gone. This is the scene I found upon my arrival back home. They kept their promise.

In last week's Hodgepodge questions, Joyce informed us it was National Motorcycle Week. Most everyone in their answers were agreed on the dangers of motorcycles. Upon my return home last Friday I was shocked to learn that my cousin's son was killed instantly when his motorcycle left the curve on the road and ran under a tractor that was mowing alongside the roadway. He and his Dad were riding together when it happened. Northwest Arkansas highways are full of dangerous curves and hills and two other cousins of mine were killed in car accidents there in the past. I am so very sad for my cousin, Lonnie who said,

"I lost my only son Tuesday, May 16. I was with my son while he died in my arms. I loved him as the good son he was, enjoyed him being the close friend he was, and I miss my son like nothing I've ever experienced. ... I wasn't done with him yet. I do have peace in the fact that Shawn is with Jesus now. He beat me there."