Tuesday, November 10, 2009

New Orleans & More

Our first stop was in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
A quaint little town on the Red River.
The oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase.
One of its claim to fame is the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed here.

This area is famous for its Louisiana Meat Pies.
We stopped at Lasyone's and had their famous beef meat pie
and crawfish pie and a Shrimp Po-boy. Delicious!
Interstate 10 through south Louisiana is built on pillars and
you drive through miles and miles of road over the bayous.
Absolutely amazing!
New Orleans is below sea level so their cemeteries
are above ground. So unusual.
Finally we are in Jackson Square in the
French Quarter of New Orleans.
St Louis Cathedral is in the back.
Enjoyed cafe du lait and beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde.
There are fabulous street musicians everywhere. It is delightful.


These boys were break dancers and had been on "America's got Talent"
They did... a lot of it... they did incredible moves.
We had supper at the Gumbo Shop. Delicious Creole Cuisine...
gumbo, jimbalya, shrimp creole, pralines sundae.
Old Man River
The Garden District on New Orleans, just a short ride from the French Quarter
has some beautiful old homes with lots of wrought iron.
Natchez Mississippi on the banks of the Mississipi River was our last stop. Natchez is the oldest settlement on the Mississippi, settled two years before the French Quarter. It has a number of ante-bellum mansions. We toured a few.

Just incredible!

Longwood is a mansion started just before the civil war began.
It was to have been 30,000 sq. ft when it was completed.
It never was.... this is the view looking up to the 5 top stories.
And this was done before there were fork lifts!
Some of the original plans.
Amazing ideas and work.
Fields of cotton.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Home from Russia Off to Egypt

Yuriko drew this for me to keep on my fridge! They are off today!
What a great experience for them. Please keep them in your prayers. You can follow their travels here.
Before they left Erik & Yuriko made us
a Sushi Feast! This is just a sampling.
Erik was ready to go..... it was Hallowe'en
Jane loved playing with Grandpa.
He found this wonderful place for her to play.
Anders & Lucy continue to love the barn.
And Lucy liked our brown chair.
Here we are waiting at the airport for
Eraina to return from Russia.


Both Eraina and Lucy were happy.
So was Bryan!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Fall Festival

Always good to have your picture taken with Wolverine,
Cinderella, Dorothy, Mickey Mouse and alligator
(although alligator wasn't wearing her costume!)



Trying on Mickey's gloves

Loved having Karin come shopping with us.
She helped us find wonderful treasures.


Eraina & her mom, Sue, are on a mission trip to Russia.
They will be visiting the orphange where Orphan Outreach is working
and the money given in memory of Samuel Lars is being used.
Follow their trip at here. Please be in prayer for them as they travel.
They arrive back on October 31.

Meanwhile, we are looking after Lucy and her dad!
Lucy decided that Chaco's water dish would be a good
indoor swimming pool.
Don't think that Dorothy was the only one with red shoes...

Jan, Yuriko and I didn't want to be outdone!
And of course, eating at Babe's!


Jan & I went to the JFK Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas
and also visited Dallas Theological Seminary.
Erik & Yuriko drove to Okalahoma for front row tickets to U2!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Aunt Jan

My sister Jan arrived on Friday!
I am so excited she is here.
The family came over for a brunch on Saturday morning.
Needless to say, there were lots of laughs!
And she is meeting all of our wonderful grandchildren!
Saturday night, Jan, Eraina, Karin and I went to the
Broadway Musical Mary Poppins. It was absolutely incredible!
On the way to pick up Jan from the airport,
Elwood & I stopped at the Texas State Fair.
We saw the tallest ferris wheel we have ever seen!
Next year we will ride on it!

We have had a fun week with Erik & Yuriko here.
We went out to the McKinney Trade days - a huge flea market.
It's been a great week.



Monday, October 12, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a few over to help us celebrate Thanksgiving.
Bonnie-Jo is from Regina too. Great to meet the rest of her family.
They brought us these mugs and magnet which they had made!!
They will be part of our Thanksgiving celebrations for years to come!

James lived on the same block as us in Regina.
Amber, his wife, was born in Winnipeg.
And Coach Q is from New York... close to Canada.
Our centerpiece... Auntie Yuriko's work
Erik & Yuriko arrived early Friday morning. Larson, Secily & Jane had a sleepover on Saturday night while Karin is in Boston for a wedding and Ryan is working nights. They were glad Uncle Erik & Aunt Yuriko are here.

Chaco arrived too, of course...



Anders & Daddy...
Jane taking a few winks....
Lucy
We finished celebrating Elwood's birthday
by going to Bob's Steakhouse with Bryan & Eraina.
He is officially a Cowboy's fan now!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Happy Birthday Elwood ... a week of sports!

There are many sports events in the Metroplex and Elwood & I have been enjoying a lot of them. There is public skating every afternoon at a mall near our house so we have been trying to get out at least once a week. It's been great fun.
Tornado Hockey.
We bought 10 tickets for the season and are
going with friends from our Dalmeny days!!
The Texas Rangers...
Bryan got these great seats.

The Dallas Stars...
Elwood went with a friend, Rod, who got these great seats!
Other friends gave us this incredible barn which Joe had made.
The kids love playing with it.
The swings are still a big hit.
So was this box for Anders!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The rest of the week...

Dinner at Babe's. A Southern Texan Dining Experience!

A little different eating from their Sushi & Korean meals.
Babe's outside sink
Texan country decor
Enjoying Lucy
Enjoying the Files




Our fun back seat today.