Grand Canyon Adventures, The End!

Big old palm tree outside our hotel room, very pretty and tropical, felt like I was at the beach.
A view from our ground floor hotel room across a very pretty courtyard.
Me, thinking of heading home to a cooler Missouri and my own bed.
Yogurt Berry, a very pretty in pink shop!
Oh Honey, look at those raspberries, yes they were as good as they looked!!!
Me by a palm tree in front of the hotel rooms and courtyard.


Okay, this is my last entry about the Grand Canyon adventure of May 2009, here is a random few pictures that didn't fit in any where so I will add them to the end. We arrived in Phoenix and checked into our room at the Crown Plaza which was very nice and the cheapest place we stayed at the entire trip, less than $80 per room. After resting a bit, we drove over to see Steph and her family, my sister-in-law was visiting so I got to see her also. We had good pizza and a lot of fun with Miss Kayley, she loved showing us her room, her baby and crib that papaw made for her, her Bob the Builders and lots more. We had a nice visit and then a very tired crew returned to our rooms for a good nigh sleep. We had a wonderful breakfast at Denny's and then just drove around the Phoenix/Mesa area looking and killing time until our flight. We stopped at a very nice upper end mall, which was all outside stores and lots of walking, so none of us felt like trying out the 107 heat, but I did get some very yummy yogurt at Yogurt Berry, topped with beautiful real raspberries. Probably the highlight of my day, we got to the very small airport two hours early, but really needed all that time to get through the ticket area and security. Our flight home was quick and easy and we got to fly into the new terminal in Springfield which is really nice. After finding our car in long term, we headed home, thankful for the cool, fresh Missouri evening and our own beds. Thank you Lord for helping us have such a great journey and a safe and mostly pleasant trip!! Love to you all.

Grand Canyon Adenture, Continued

Cactus with flowers
Closer view of flowers
Me with a very old cactus, I bet Indians and cowboys roamed around this area when this guy was born.
Burr Holes for the birds and varmits to live it.
Beautiful country side near Sedona, Arizona
Scenery near Sedona





After visiting Bedrock and an aviation museum, we started the long drive to Phoenix, where we would spend the night and also see Stephanie's family. We took the scenic drive through Sedona which had been highly recommended for the beautiful canyons of red and the cutbacks up and down the mountain areas, well, I got so sick, I never get car sick, but I guess from the antibiotics I was still on I felt like crap and really don't remember much, except popping Rolaids to keep from throwing up. After a couple of Chicken Nuggets at a McDonalds farther down the road I felt a bit better, it kept getting hotter and more dessert like, then we started seeing the soldiers of the dessert, the Saguaro cactus, a little history about the cactus is that the large tree-sized cactus are native tot he Sonoran dessert in Arizona. They have long life spans and it can take up to 75 years to develop a single arm, these cactus may live for 150 years, its illegal to harm them and they supply homes for woodpeckers, purple martins and finches. To me, I know this is crazy, but I thought it was more interesting in some way than the Grand Canyon, they were right out of a John Wayne movie and I was thrilled to have a photo with one, there were bunches and bunches everywhere as we entered into the Phoenix area. Look for one more blog to complete my Grand Canyon adventure. Love you all!

Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry, Brian + Krysta

The Mountain dew cake and the remaining layer of the wedding cake.
Brian and Krysta, guests-of-honor get to start the food line first.
You are looking at the Chinese chicken wings and the Asian salad with noodles that Carol made.
Brian and Krysta, almost one year married.
Acting goofy, this wasn't really a serious shot.
She still fits in her gown, yes it completely hooked, snapped and fitted perfectly
She got her dried bouquet from the china cabinet and carefully posed with it.
Brian and Krysta
Up close view of her dried roses, when they were fresh they were called sunset pink, a beautiful glowing pink with lillies and greenery.
Out on our front porch steps with the long train spread out.
Krysta and Brian

Brian and Krysta will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Sunday, so we decided to have a little celebration dinner for them. They had an Asia buffet for their wedding dinner, so that was on the menu for tonight's supper. We had Springfield style cashew chicken, pork lo mien, egg rolls, Asian salad with crunchy ramen noodles and fried rice. For desert we had Key Lime pie, Mountain Dew cake, Brian's favorite and also his grooms cake, and the remainder of the top of the wedding cake that has been stored in my freezer for a year. The white cake with raspberry filling, white icing and pearl glow pink fondant held up amazingly well, it was very moist and very flavorful right down to the raspberry filling. Cameo Cakes did an outstanding job on replicating her cake to look like her dress and for a cake to hold up that well through freezer conditions, well worth the money. A good little group came together, including Brian and Krysta, his parents, Larry and carol, Grandma Helen, Grandpa Long, Uncle Davis and Aunt Florence, me and Danny and Pete even drove down from his new residence in Springfield. David gave a wonderful and heartfelt blessing for the young couple to bless their continued unity to each other. We all ate too much and I am pooped after cooking and cleaning up all evening, but it is always fun. Pete was glad to take home some leftovers and we all helped to clean up afterwards. Krysta tried on her wedding gown and it still fits perfectly, she was pretty happy about that. so, we had to take a few pix with the dress and the dried flowers too. Plans are to go to Brian's family lake house for a nice weekend, out on the lake and just relaxing. Happy Anniversary! Much love, Mom and Dad

A Visit To Bedrock

I am in front of the huge Fred Flintstone sign that overlooks both the highway to the Grand Canyon and the Bedrock museum and town, a true to size replica of the village of Bedrock and the home of those wacky guys, Fred and Barney.

I am checking out the Flintstone's car, ready to take people for a ride on the track that circled the replica city of Bedrock, I keep saying replica for those of you who might think it was the real place.
I am helping out by turning the huge spit that had a dino carcass on it, cooking for dinner. I worked so hard I lost a leg, just call me Peg Leg Sherry.
I am helping out at the local grocery store, eager to check out anyone who might need raptor eggs, dino steaks or teradachtal wings on their grocery list.
Yes, look at my hair, you can see for yourself that I need a haircut and style badly, the dry heat just made my poor hair curl up and dye!
Pretty cute of me, checking out my new hair-don't from Ms. Pebblebottom, herself. I look lovely!!
Remember at the first of the cartoon, where Fred slides down off his working dino to clock out for the day, well folks here it is, the original workasauers, it even has a built in slide, just wait.
Yes, I am at the top, and it was pretty high, I would have slid down in normal situations, but considering I still had a drainage tube in my groin and a compression garment giving me a wedgie, I decided not too.
Time to visit Fred, very nice home, although Wilma need to give it a better cleaning, the bird-operated Victrola was on display, but not giving us any music, I wonder why, and by the way no one was home, not even Dino.
A visit to the good old school house, pretty small but you could still learn something here, like how hot it can get in these little buildings.
Inside the classroom, must be one of Betty's cousins, they kind of look alike.
The nurse at the clinic, seemed nice enough, but I don't think I could even squeeze into her uniform, I think she is one of Wilma's sisters, she had the red hair thing going on.
One of the last stops was the creepy movie theater where they had a continuous loop of the Flintstone show running, this is where, in the horror movie, a mutant, in-breed giant clubs you in the back of the head and drags your lifeless body away, then the normal looking cashier takes your car keys, credit cards and ID and dumps them in the hot, rocky, dusty badlands of the remote southwest and you are never heard of again. Just kidding, we got out alive and it was pretty cheap entertainment for $5.00 each. Please continue to watch my blog for more of our Grand Canyon and Phoenix adventure.

Going To The Beach, South Beach That Is !

As many of you know< i had a tummy tuck on April 2. There were several reasons for doing this. Foremost of all the reasons was the 13 pound apron or pack of loose skin and fat that hung down to my groin. I know gross, but after three pregnancies and many, many times of weight loss and weight gain the skin stretches out and there is not a thing you can do about it, nothing. So, you live with it in envy of other people who have flat tummies, you tuck into snug undies or pantyhose and hope for the best. It bothered me the most when trying to move quickly, example with a code at work, or exercise or even just getting in the floor with my little guys to play. I had lost about 40 pounds since nursing school, this over a couple of years and had maintained that lower weight, I so desperately wanted to continue to lose, trying to get under 200 pounds. Yes, for vanity, but for also health reasons, to prevent many of the issues that drug my mother under, high blood pressure, diabetes, artery disease that affected her circulation, hence losing both legs, renal failure and so on. So, I decided last October to get a abdominaoplasty or a tummy tuck along with liposuction, to push me to work harder and motivate me to continue my weight loss journey and feel good about myself in the process.
Well, here I am, 2 months later, yes a very hard journey filled with multiple drains, out-patient IV therapy, wound packing's, many, many sutures, depression, crying jags, days that I thought would never end, photo-sensitivity from Bactrium, rounds of antibiotics and finally healing with the support and care of an excellent doctor. So, I told myself as soon as I could I would be back on track with what my sister calls, a life change, watching the food I eat, so sugars, no breads, no junk for 2 weeks, this is a trial, It's a watch-see change, if it isn't for us, then we will try another path, if we see success through weight loss and feeling better we will continue. I am 9 pounds from 198, this is my first mini-goal, then we shall see. I am planning on going to the fitness center with Susi on Thursday night and restart the walk/run plan I wanted to do a year ago. I want to run, maybe not races, but I want to run and feel the lightness of a new body that is healing and only getting better each day. I thank all of you for your continued support through all the days of my tummy tuck journey, all the calls, cards, and well wishes. My co-workers were fantastic checking up on me and worried about how I was doing, my wonderful husband who was with me through thick and soon to be thin, who helped change those dressings and reassured me when I cried over biscuits and gravy, helped me get up from the couch and into the truck for those bi-weekly doctors visits, he gave up his days off to go with me and listen to my moans, whines and blubbering.My poor son who also endured days of mom having mini breakdowns and getting her things from the kitchen. All is good now, I am back at work and getting better everyday, I love my still slightly swollen and a little funky looking tummy, it's tight and no flapping skin, It will all mellow with time, at least 6 months and then maybe a touch-up. Enough rambling, I am headed to the Beach, egg white omelet with veggies here I come!!!

In Rememberance Of Me.

Mom's marker, I think she would have really liked this pinkish rose color of the stone.
Front view of mom's stone
Another angle, I think the real flowers are from Wanda, the pinks from me and Dad's arrangement is behind Wanda's, Susi had not made it yet.
Debby and Danny, the twin, I always place something there for mom.
From right to left, James, mom's younger brother killed in the Korean War.
My grandparents, Clyde and Opal Davis Stevens
Another shot of James marker.
Aunt Shirley, Uncle Donald's wife, a very funny lady who enjoyed good food and good fun!
Aunt Loretta, Uncle Junior's wife, skinny as a rail but was a very special person and worked very hard to make her family a good life.



Memorial Day or Decoration Day as the old folks called it, is a holiday for some people from work, a time to go out on the lake or rivers, have a few drinks, grill up some burgers and dogs and relax. As a kid, we never did any of the above, my folks never even owned a bbq grill, ever! But one thing we did was go to the cemeteries. We visited those with our family members resting in peace and even cemeteries without family members. Us kids loved climbing on the tombstones, and I like to think that those folks buried and dead kind of got a kick out of the laughing and racing around on the mostly quiet and solemn grounds. We took flowers to the graves of great-grand parents long gone and especially to the tiny grave of out older brother and sister, twins who died right after birth, babies who if not for their death I might not have been born. The weather is usually pleasant this time of year, mild with sunny skies, just right for a picnic somewhere. For many years we traveled with other family members to a local rest area near Conway to enjoy the nice clean shaded picnic tables. I'm afraid the tradition of taking flowers to the graveyard is a quickly dying tradition, most people don't want to spend the money or time to decorate a marker for a couple of weeks a year. It is one tradition I am holding true to, I will continue each year to buy the flowers and decorate graves, It's something I want and need to do, not just that I think it will help me remember mom, but I think of her everyday and miss her, but it makes me feel good to know that others See her stone and know her family cares about and misses her. It's just important to me! Have a safe and healthy Holiday weekend. Love you all.