Billings - Two Days

I am up to Billings for a couple of days and cannot wait to see my little ones.  First stop is at Rhiana's to say hi to Miss Elena.  I cannot believe how quickly she is growing and my heart hurts to be so far away from it all.

She is so sweet and I get to hold her until she falls asleep.  Bliss.  Now I have to go to work for awhile.

It is day two and I did not take near enough pictures yesterday.  Drat.  This morning I am being treated with "what we can do" moments.  I love this time so very much.

Uh oh, Mommy left her purse available and I watch as Missy thinks she needs to be made up as well.  Oh this one is definitely going to be "all girl."

I get a little bit of time after work to spend at Matt's with Master Hyrum.  Oh these kids and how quick they are growing.  Sigh.  What a cutie!  I LOVE that he knows who I am and is excited to see me.  Becca said he watched out the window until I arrived.  OH, melt my heart now.

The days here have just flown by and it is time to leave again.  Ugh.  I'll be back soon though --- cannot get enough of these little ones.

Flowers - While I'm Away, Mister Plays

Mister's orchids.  I will let them speak for themselves although their beauty deserves a WOW from me.

(The violets are mine, but Mister takes good care of them as well.)

It is going to send up a new shoot -- waaay cool.

Yard/Lisa/Quilting

My friend Lisa is rapidly becoming an incredible "collage artist" and I am lucky to know her.  She is currently having a showing just down the road from us and so we make a point to drop in and say howdy.

It's so cool to have a good friend from back in Billings right here in Dallas.  Lucky me.

Mister is at it again out in the yard --- everything is in bloom and I think his favorite thing in the world to photograph are flowers.  Enjoy.

First up:  Iris

Next:  Asian Lily

Our blackberry plants and a pot of herbs:

Bordering the beds are phlox

And to finish it off are the pots on the back patio.  What a delightful burst of color everywhere we look.

While he is out taking pictures:  I am busy working away on a quilt for Miss Zyra, who is due in a couple of weeks.  I am soooo excited.  This is a pink tricot whole cloth with a Sunbonnet girl quilted in.  I have holes in the tips of my fingers and a long way to go still but it will be done on time.

Fort Worth Art Festival

A day in Sundance Square is always the best.  We wandered the booths, found a terrific glass bowl, had lunch on the rooftop at the Reata and just enjoyed the day.

As we were walking, we spotted this hotel and had to snap the pic.  Like it Cass?

All in all -- a really fun day with absolutely beautiful weather.

Look What We Found

Mister was out working in the backyard turning the compost piles over and discovered that something had decided to make a home back there.  Knowing my love of all things "turtle", he brought me this Eastern Box Turtle that he found in the leaves.

How cool is this?  We enjoy it for awhile and then let it loose in the flower bed.  I am absolutely amazed by how quick it moves away and sets out for it's home.  I really would like to keep it -- but I know that it will be happier in the "wild."  What fun though.

Mister shot some pictures of the beautiful flowers while he had the camera out.  Don't the flower beds look amazing?  I LOVE them.

Happy Easter!!

Up early, finding cards that the Easter Bunny had hid around plus a picture of a turtle that I saw at the Deep Ellum festival the day before, making Au Gratin potatoes and failing at rolls, lol, we then spent the day with Mister's family up in Grapevine.  The dinner was delicious and we went away feeling full and content.  Late that evening we decided to color Easter eggs and had a nice time together.  Mister was trying to do a technique that he used when he was a kid, but we didn't have the right kind of wax.

Mr. Green Jeans

After numerous trips to the nurseries, Mister was quickly put to work and spent each day for a week making the yard look absolutely wonderful.  All new flower beds all around the front and back yards were accented with flowers/coleus/grasses.  A couple of new Japanese maples found their way home in addition to some shrubs.  The bench got a new coat of varnish, new pots were hung in front and back, and the bushes got trimmed back to basically nothing in places.  He has been a very busy man.  Will have new pictures of it all a little later.

Trellis were later added to the yellow flowers, impatiens and ferns were planted all along and we close our eyes to the neighbors fence and I keep dreaming of a nice new one.