A Memorial Day weekend to remember

Brian & I loaded up the truck with the pups, the cooler and the tent and headed to Cross Timbers State in Toronto, Kan., for our first camping trip of the year. We've come to really love the park, where we camped for the first time last Fourth of July with friends Tony & Nicole.

We celebrated the unofficial start of summer, took a dip in the lake, saw shooting stars and relaxed. The only bad part of the trip? I got stung by a scorpion. OUCH! (See a photo of the kind of scorpion that got me. Click on this PDF and scroll to the bottom.) The sting may give me some good bragging rights, but these will be the memories of the trip that I'll hold tight:

Go ahead. Pull up a chair.

Sunset over the lake, seen through the trees.

Campfire coffee. We also created our own signature campfire coffee concoction: the S'Mocha. Add a chocolate square and three marshmallows to a piping hot mug of coffee made on the open fire. Dip graham crackers as desired. Mmm!


Lilly fell in love with her new toy, which I'd highly recommend to any dog owner. It floats, so we let her play with it in the lake. And we played fetch with it all weekend, and it's still in one piece. That's a toy.


Meanwhile, Dakota kept himself entertained with sticks big and small:


Brian kept the operation running smoothly, was in charge of the fire and was our cowboy cook. After my sting incident, he also kept a watchful eye peeled for mean scary scorpions.



The trip was our last with Daisy, Brian's 2001 Ford Escape, which now has 177,000 miles. She's been a good truck, but we'll be trading her in for a younger model later this week. I must confess that I'll miss that truck. She's taken us many places, including these states:

• Arkansas
  
• Colorado
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• Texas
  

Now on to new adventures. From our family to yours, Happy Memorial Day! And welcome, summer!

(See additional photos in my Facebook album.)

Happy haircut

The pups got an at-home warm-weather makeover before our Memorial Day trip. Crazy fur balls.

Before:


During:


After: See their new look in my next post.

Pretty peonies

You can always count on peonies to bloom this time of year. Our garden looks more colorful thanks to the cheerful flowers.


Our rose bushes are going crazy right now, too. And I can't help but hum Poison's "Every Rose Has its Thorn" whenever I'm pruning them.

Miraculous Mom: One year later

Mom reminded me this afternoon that she was admitted to the hospital a year ago today after suffering from respiratory failure. She spent time in critical condition, part of it sedated and on a ventilator. She underwent a successful tracheotomy. She spent her wedding anniversary and birthday in her ICU room. After 22 days, she was released to a regular hospital room. After 26 days in the hospital, she came home.

Since her release, she's welcomed a new son-in-law and grandson into the family. She's sewn baby quilts, traveled and is now helping my dad renovate the house. She attends physical rehab to grow and stay strong. The past year has reminded me to keep the faith, to rely on friends and family and to never take a day for granted.

Brian & I met my parents for dinner tonight, where we toasted Mom's recovery. Brian snapped this gorgeous photo of her. To me, she has never looked more beautiful.



Thanks again to all of you who have shared your love, prayers and support with Mom, me and my family in the past year.

Mom, you've come a long way, baby. I love you and couldn't be prouder.


Click to revisit the posts I've written in the past year about my miraculous mom.

Crazy Screwballs

Brian is on Aldersgate UMC's softball team, the Screwballs. In the first two weeks of the season, the team witnessed a broken nose (a guy on the other team got a broken nose that game, too) and a dislocated knee. Ouch. Thursday, the team suffered no major injuries and went 1-1. Not bad.

Brian in action ...


... in the outfield ...


... as first base coach ...


... and up to bat.




I hung out with the girls (and the dogs).


And Brian's parents joined the cheering section during the second game.


I'm hoping they continue their accident-free streak. In the meantime, do you know of any minor emergency centers looking for a city league team to sponsor?

(See additional photos in my Facebook album.)

What's new, pussycat?

Meow Meow was being especially photogenic recently when I caught her curled up in one of her favorite spots: our living room recliner.




Sunny side up, Meowsers!

Lucky No. 13

I played my fifth round of golf on Sunday at Wichita's Sim Golf Course. It's my new favorite place because I reached a major newbie-golfer milestone: I hit par for my first time! It was on lucky hole 13, a par 3.

Brian was there to celebrate, as were our friends Tony, Nicole & Rob, whose 33rd birthday we were really supposed to be celebrating.

Brian on the tee box:



Me still trying to figure it all out:


When I sunk my putt for par, I screamed and jumped up and down. Yes. Very nonchalant. I think I drew the attention of this little guy. Makes sense. I heard that he likes nuts.


(View more photos in my newest Facebook album.)

Going out with a bang

Brian & I headed down to the Wichita River Festival on Saturday afternoon to hit the food court, meet up with the Connect young adult group from church and spend some time together. Watching the fireworks together is an annual tradition that we always enjoy.


Some sights from the event:


The water feature at the Hyatt Regency downtown, near where we set up camp for the evening.


The sun setting over Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.


People peeking out from the Hyatt.


Lights big and small as dusk set in and before the real lights lit the sky:



(View more photos in my newest Facebook album.)

Bright spot

At Quilt Guild on Tuesday, Mom, Janice & I relished quilter Sandi McMillan's colorful projects and equally vibrant sense of humor. A few of her quilts:

Got a camera? Stay awake!

After a delicious dinner at Mom & Dad's on Sunday, I fell asleep while relaxing on the couch. Seeing a chance to take advantage of the situation, my family seized the opportunity ... and my camera. Lucky for me, my camera has a 2GB memory card. Jen tried diligently to fill the thing up. A few of her nearly 100 pictures of random things around my parents' house:








Funny story about the above drawing: It's a self-portrait that my sister Amanda did when she was a wee tyke. I'm proud to say that her art skills -- and self image -- have improved since the 1980s.