Hyrum and Zyra for a Week -- M&B to Mexico

Matt and Becca wanted to get away for a little "couple time" down in Mexico and wondered if we would watch the kids for them.  Seriously??  Was there any doubt?  Of course - any opportunity with the little people is treasure in this house.  Once Mom and Dad were on their way, it was time for us to have our way with Hyrum and Zyra.  Too fun.  What should we do first?  Oh, I know -- Gammy should get sick.  Yep -- the first 3 days that we have them, I barely get off the couch and so they make do with playing around the house with Grandpa.

Somedays, I don't even think anyone gets dressed.  Ugh.

I try and take advantage of a few bursts of energy and make a memory.  Hyrum wanted to feed the birds thus providing me with an opportunity to get some fresh air (yep, in my robe) and teach him at the same time.  He was then in charge of feeding the birds for the rest of his time here.  He loved it.

I am so glad that Mister felt well enough to take pictures, otherwise we would not have any from these first few days.  I really think he should consider photographing children, especially the really young ones as he manages to get such good shots of them.

Bath time always provides great moments.  After this particular bath, I placed her on the futon in a towel while I went to get clothes.  Mister came around the corner to make sure she didn't fall and couldn't resist the light.  Before and after pics.  Love them.

Next up:  Hyrum.  He put it off as long as he could and then gave in and cleaned up.  Once he was dressed, he said he was tired --- what kid does that?  A few minutes later, he was sound asleep on the futon.

How sweet is that?  I thought it looked pretty good and went to take a nap myself.  When I woke up, Mister had Miss Zyra in the highchair munching away on a carrot.  Yep, she is teething and he gave her a cold carrot to gnaw on.  Creative.

I smiled and went back to bed -- next time I woke up -- Mister and kids were playing in the living room.  I am betting that he is wishing I would get better and soon.   Solo duty is hard at our age.

The rest has done me good and I am recovering quickly now.  The next day we venture out to the mall.  My favorite spot at North Park Mall is at the turtle and duck pond.  Naturally.  That makes it our first stop.

It is train time at the mall so Mister takes Hyrum in to see the display while Zyra and I walk the mall -- well I walk and she sleeps in the stroller.

The train displays are great and since it is not packed today, Hyrum is able to see all of them up close.

I love this scene of the Texas State Fair and Big Tex.  This display is full of scenes from Dallas and beyond.  The center of the mall contains some gardens and we popped through them on our way to the stores on the other side.  I don't think anyone wanted this picture except me.  Too funny.

Back home and back to the toys.  The Cars Duplos are always a hit with Hyrum -- he LOVES to drive them around and up to the gas station.

It was fun getting out today, but it wore me out.  The rest of the day was spent quietly playing with these two sweethearts.

We are getting company tomorrow -- better straighten the house too.  Guess who is coming to visit?


Yep, COUSINS!  My goodness - when I told Hyrum who was coming he got so excited.  It was very hard for him to wait for them to arrive.



Bekah was the only girl in the family for such a long time, that having a couple of female cousins is still fun for her.  She takes Zyra aside and plays with her for a long time and it looks like both of them had a good time.

It is so fun for me to see grands playing with the same toys that my kids played with. Some truly do stand the test of time.  It is also fun that our toy cabinet gets a workout when the house is full.

The boys go after the Duplos, blocks, and monkeys quickly.  It only takes Josh a few minutes to enter "hoard" mode.  I always have to laugh at this stage.  Why do kids do it?  They can't play because they are too busy holding all the toys, but no one else can have them either.  Fascinating to me and it seems all children go through this.

After awhile, it appears that we need to run off steam.  Jen has brought several modes of transportation along and soon the boys are outside trying them out.  Hyrum grabs Josh's Strider bike and then informs us that he needs a helmet.  Well, okay.  Jon lends his and soon the boys are having a great time.

The driveway is only fun for a short while and as soon as we have Zyra ready to go, it is off to the school playground for some climbing and energy burning.  Yay.

It is only a few blocks to the school and even though it is December, it is warm out so no coats required except for Zyra as she is not moving around as much as the others are.

I laugh at Hyrum all the way to the school as he is just zooming on the bike, but I have to keep reminding him to "sit" on the seat.  It doesn't take long and he has it mastered and we are at the school in no time.

I settle on a nice bench in the shade to watch kids scurrying from activity to activity.  Jen sits down with me and we have a nice visit for awhile.  I love watching the kids play and shout, "look at this."

Josh and Hyrum are virtually inseparable.  If you spot one, the other is sure to be very close by.

Bekah gets into the fun with all the boys for a short time -- then she is done and kills time away from the action.  Zyra soon wants out of the stroller and her turn on the playground.  As I walk around with her, each on of the cousins and her brother shout out that they want her to ride with them.  

Hyrum wins for the slide and soon they are all lined up seeing how many they slide will even hold.  It has been fun, but all too soon we realize that we have not brought enough water along and it has warmed up nicely.  It is time for the return trip home.  Once again, we have to almost jog to keep up with Hyrum.  However, the older boys race ahead as we smile to ourselves knowing that we have the keys to the house.  Once we get Hyrum to slow down a little, it is a pleasant walk home.  What a beautiful day and I think we have achieved a small amount of energy reduction.

Back at the house, Bekah gets a little silly and I help.  Soon we have her all bundled up and locked in.

Snacks all around, with the older boys eating outside on the patio and the younger ones in the kitchen.  I am so glad that Jen was able to visit today -- it was great for the cousins to get together and I never mind a chance to visit with my beautiful daughter.

It doesn't take long after everyone leaves and it is time to get ready for bed.  Zyra and Hyrum play together for awhile, but soon the happy faces depart and we know everyone is very tired -- including Gammy and Grandpa.  Hyrum wants to know if Josh would be back in the morning -- he is very sad to find out that it will not happen.  Dang -- he is stuck with us again.




We have a quiet day around the house playing, eating, reading, eating, napping (yep, all ages) and just enjoying our time with these precious little ones.

I purchased a Zip Track from Discovery Toys and Hyrum is thrilled with it.  I am so glad we saved it for now, as he is content to play with it all day -- any thought of stopping makes him very sad.  He laughs and giggles and shouts to us with each new happening.

After a day at the house, we are ready to go again.  Today we are off to Adventure Landing for a little fun for Hyrum.  We start out with a go kart ride with Grandpa.  How fun is this?

They are the only ones on the track and so are allowed to make an extra run.  Grandpa says that Hyrum is very quiet during the ride, but my goodness once he is finished, he can't stop talking about it.  I think he had fun, although it was pretty brisk outside.  It is December even though it is easy to forget here in Texas.

Next stop is the arcade.  Hyrum and Grandpa go from game to game, seeing how many they can tackle in our time here.

Meanwhile, Zyra and I go and check out the Build a Bear.  After selecting one for each of them, we join up with Grandpa and Hyrum for the trip home.  Zyra is happy with her bear -- we need to get it dressed.

Once we are back at the house, we put the clothes on the bear and Zyra does not wish to part with it.
 As we play with her, she giggles over this silly bear until we are both laughing along.  Hyrum is not quite as enamored with his, but it does become his sleeping companion.  This is our last day with these little charmers all to ourselves.  Matt and Becca arrive in Dallas tomorrow after an extended stay in Mexico due to leaving Becca's residency card in Montana and having to ship it to her.  Way to spice up the trip -- but we got extra days with the kids so I think we won.

Once she is finished playing with the bear -- she discovers the race track as well, much to Hyrums dismay.  He keeps rerouting her and giving her other toys but she is pretty determine and finally he has to relent and let her have one of the three cars.

Ah, time for bed again -- tomorrow will be a busy day with Mom and Dad back and eager to see these two.

Matt and Becca arrive safely and we have the chance to sit and visit and hear all about Mexico before starting our day.

First up:  Hyrum's first haircut by someone other than his dad.  Mister does a quick search and we are off to Snip-Its.  I gotta say, this place is amazing.  There is a Thomas the Train set that Hyrum latches onto it right away and is kept busy until it is his turn in the chair (along with a small tussle with another child).

Between bubbles, suckers, and a video, he was set.  Everything goes surprisingly well and soon he is trimmed and ready to go.  I say surprisingly because we all know how outgoing Hyrum is.  HAHA -- he is so much like his father was at that age.  Sorry Matt, but oh my it is so true.

Meanwhile, Mister is entertaining Zyra to keep her out of trouble so that mom and dad can pay attention to the haircut.  He is playing with her in the window and I run outside and snap a picture.  We are going to have such a tough time giving both of them back to their parents.  Ugh.

Next stop:  The mall and a trip to see Santa.  We have the best Santa and we didn't stop earlier in the week when we were here so that Matt and Becca could be part of this.  After standing in line, Matt takes Hyrum up and well . . . . he is not excited about it at all.

Even after trying to distract him with a giant nutcracker, the minute the attention turns to Santa -- that is it.  No way, no how.

Zyra, on the other hand, is great.  She sits and just stares.  Who the heck is this?  Look at Santa's face -- even he is captivated by her.  What an amazing power she has.

Back to the house for naps and a chance to rest.  A short playtime in which Hyrum and Matt play with the bugs and once again color becomes an issue.  Too funny.

I get to snuggle with Zyra for a few minutes before settling her down.  Oh my -- My heart is already breaking.

This time has gone by way too fast and even though it turned out to be more days that originally thought -- it is not near enough days.  I do not wish to let either of them leave tomorrow.

During naptime, we give Matt and Becca their Christmas present.  Since it is so large, we want them to take it back with them on the plane and save us the shipping.  I know -- cheap me.  It worked with Amanda and so -- why not again?

I don't think Matt is real excited about a gift for the kitchen, but a nice set of pots and pans is drastically needed in their household.


When the kids wake, we decide to head out to dinner for the evening and are off to Big Shucks to let Matt eat his fill of shrimp.  Grandpa messes with Hyrum by putting a shrimp head on his finger and moving it towards him.  He is NOT thrilled.

Matt, however, IS.  He has enough shrimp to keep him satisfied.  Mister even gets him to try a raw oyster or two.  It is a fun night and a great way to end our time together.  Once we return back to the house, Hyrum gets his 1/2 hour on the mini (oh, my -- he did love that thing while he was here) and then it is time for bed.  This has been time we will treasure completely.  Off to the airport at 4 tomorrow morning-- doesn't that sound fun?


One last shot of Miss Photogenic:  Wow  Thank you Matt and Becca for this truly wonderful time with your precious children.  We cannot wait for another chance to do this again.

Changing of the Seasons

When I first moved to Dallas, I certainly didn't expect fall colors.  I mean, after all, this is a city right?  Well, I was so wrong.  The colors in the fall here are astounding and this is just in my own yard alone.  Take a look.

We are resplendent in greens, oranges, and reds.  Standing on the porch or looking out the windows brings a smile to my face each and every day right now.

We have an oak tree in the backyard that is providing most of the color seen here.  It is also dropping acorns at an astronomical rate.  I so wish I could come up with something to do with the dang things.  It seems like such a waste, but everything I read involves a great amount of work and lots of boiling.  Would love to be able to just crack them open and roast them.


Cooler weather also brings a certain vitality to the plants in the yard.  They are perking up after surviving the intense heat of summer and are adding to the wonderful flavors produced in the kitchen by Mister.  Yummy.

Yes, it is the end of November and so time to get the house ready for the holidays.  This part does seem odd to me, as it doesn't seem like winter outside and seeing snow is rare, but one can always hope, right?

Up To Billings

Another quick trip up to Montana always provides me with treasure time with my grands and my own children.  Being so far away all the time makes me look forward to these trips with a smile on my face from the minute they are booked.  I am so thankful for my ability to fly stand-by due to the amazing endurance of my son in working two jobs.  It is such a blessing to me.

Miss Zyra and Miss Elena hanging at Matt's house.  We were able to read books, play, eat, play, and giggle for hours.  Well, at least until the computer comes out and then it is all eyes on the screen.  Seriously --- not a single eye is wandering.

It was time to go to Rhiana's for the second night of my stay.  Bundling up Elena, we were on our way.

I had a great visit with Rhiana and stayed up way too late.

The next morning, we had snow and I had time with Elena.  What a little joy.

A new outfit from Grandpa and Gammy.  She loves it.  Can't you tell?

These trips always end way too soon, but it won't be long before I go back again.

Cheesemakers -- Seriously? or Seriously Cheesemakers

I declared an all about me day!!! Shouldn't we all do that now and then?  I had already gotten tickets for the Trace Adkins concert a month ago for that evening and so was trying to figure out what to do for the day.  Of course, let's make cheese.  Isn't that the first thing that comes to YOUR mind?  Well, fortunately for us, the Mozzarella Company is located here in Dallas and amazingly enough they had a class for that day and had  two openings left.  I snatched those up and off we went.

We were not even in the building yet (which is located down in Deep Ellum) when  Paula Lambert came walking down the sidewalk towards us.  She is terrific!!!  Everyone there made us feel so welcome and actually seemed excited for us to be there.  Paula, herself, taught the class and was busy cracking jokes and taking pictures all during the event.  The place is incredible and the cheese is dang tasty as well.

We started out the class by donning aprons and ever so attractive hair nets and washing hands.  Then we were ready to get started and did so by getting the milk steaming for a ricotta.  A quick tour of the factory while the milk heated (pretty amazing -- 1,000 lbs of cheese a day!) and then to juice a big pile of lemons.  We then added the juice to the hot milk and voila --- ricotta cheese.  It was so simple and so very delicious.


Here we are scooping out the ricotta cheese from the whey and placing it in strainers to set up.  Then we moved onto working with mozzarella.  Since the curd takes 8 hours to make, we started with the mozzarella curd and chopped it up and put it in a bowl to which we then added hot water and stirred until the cheese was stringy and ready to be shaped.  First up, balls!





Mister was a natural at these -- mine were not near so nice.  Second, Queso Oaxaca -- a long strip of mozzarella rolled up like a ball of yarn.  Last was a olive roll in which the cheese was rolled out like dough and covered with an olive spread and then rolled up like cinnamon rolls.  All very yummy.

For some reason, I was unable to keep my mouth shut during photos.  Oh well, that won't surprise anyone.

The class ended with a wine and cheese party and some social time getting to know Paula, Mitchell (the manager) and classmates.  All in all a good time.