Happy New Year! 2024 is Here! This year my goal for myself is to be Joyous. To Have Joy! This will be difficult for me since life has been difficult lately, especially with what my Doctor told me and having a not so ideal family situation.  But, I am so glad to be alive! Hopefully, finding Joy in my life will help me life another year! And if not will at least I went with Joy! in my heart! Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 My 2024 Goal: Joy May Joy Always Find You!  2024 Goal: To Choose Joy One of My Favorite Photos

Cheer Olive, Cheer! Go Olive, Go! Competitive Cheer is not like your normal sideline cheerleaders cheering on football or basketball players, but it's more tumbling, flipping, pyramids and throwing cheerleaders in the air. And cheerleaders are Heavy! Even the small, skinny ones! I've been suffering from the consequences of a hernia and the consequences of hernia repair for all of my adult life. And it's been a medical nightmare for me. My Daughter, has suffered from a different type of weight lifting injury in the form of a cartilage tear. I enjoy spending time with my granddaughter but dislike her acting like a male cheerleader and lifting other humans.  Olive Lifting Another Skinny but Heavy Cheerleader Love you Olive, but not always loving your choices.  Great job this weekend and it was a joy to see you compete. Praying that you don't injure yourself like all the other women in the family. Cheer Olive, Cheer! Go Olive, Go! Cheering for Olivia Denbina!    Nice Pose

One of our Traditions: Gingerbread house Decorating One of my favorite Christmas Decorations for our Christmas table is our Gingerbread House. We usually make one in early December and by New Years! it's mostly eaten! Yes, when family members go by they usually take a piece off the House! It's one of the things I enjoy! Even my granddaughter decorates her own Gingerbread House! I start collecting candy after Halloween. The more candy, in my opinion, the better the House! So much Fun!  Granddaughter's First Gingerbread House She Decorated !!    Gingerbread House Decorating !!

 Whew! Decorating for Christmas is Done!  At my age, it took me a while to get the Fall decorations packed up and the Christmas Decorations put out. Special shout out to my husband and the Denbina's for helping out!  Dining Room Before and After Afterwards we decided to reward all our hard work, by looking at what other's had done. So, we went around looking at the Christmas Lights.  Me and Granddaughter enjoying the Drive to look at Christmas Lights. Daughter, driving us around to look at the Christmas Lights Great Job Neighbors! Your decorations are amazing! 

Enjoyed every sip of my Caramel Apple Spice Drink  Short post, but had to share. I stopped by the drive though at Starbucks for a drink and since I already had my  morning coffee, I ordered the Caramel Apple Spice with whipped cream. This warm drink tasted like an apple pie! There is no coffee in it, and I enjoyed every sip. Wow totally amazed! Just had to share my excitement.  Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks

 I went to CVS to buy some last minute camping supplies and I saw Santa! Well, a statute of him and he was just the right height! I like to decorate for the Christmas Holidays after Thanksgiving, but it's never too early to stock up on Christmas decorations.  At CVS with Santa! Back to camping... I really enjoy the Fall Camping, the weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold. Camping is a time for me to recharge, and I really enjoy just getting away and relaxing.  And  on top of that our campsite was named Inspire!  Sign at Campsite Not only did we relax outdoors, but we also toured the nearby town. We were also not to far from a Museum, where you could take a walk and enjoy the sculptures. The Deer Sculpture was one of my favorites since it blended well with the nature.  Outdoor Deer Sculpture  Admiring the Art with Family Fall Camping

Corn Maze Recovery  This weekend was Corn Maze Weekend! I walked so much that at my age it took a day to recover. I am not used to walking that  much. And yes, I got lost in the maze, but it was lots of fun! There are several corn mazes in the area that you can go to a a couple in a day. FYI, if you really feel like your lost, you can be "rescued." I did not need to be rescued by was lost for a good 3 hours. The hardest thing about it is losing your sense of direction - all the corn looks the same! So, I may of been walking around in circles for a while.  Had a lot of fun! View of Corn Maze Peek-A- Boo ! Granddaughter jumping to see if we can find our way out

Halloween - Alien theme I decided that this year I will revisit the Alien themed for Halloween. I'm working on invitations for my Alien themed Halloween Party.  I have set up my spider web, with an Alien in it! I even put spider lights on the black cob web. The White cob web has plastic spiders on it, but no lights. I'm thinking I'm going to go back to the store to see if there are anymore spider lights.  Spider Web with Alien And of course, I had to include a photo of my favorite Alien! My granddaughter's Alien costume was home-made, not store bought. We found some eye ball glasses at the store, and some green powder make-up and there you have it, my favorite alien!  My favorite Alien

Shout Out! To my Fun Loving Granddaughter!!!!!! Happy Birthday!  Lets Do the Birthday Shout Out! Celebrate Today With Style! Celebrate Today with Cake! Celebrate Today with Fun! Celebrate today with Smiles! Celebrate Today with Friends! Celebrate Today with Family! Celebrate Today by Jumping for Joy! Celebrate Today with Laughter! Celebrate Today by being You! Celebrate The Years Ahead! Celebrate Today with Wisdom and Grace! Celebrate Today Because it your Day! Celebrate Today with more Laughter! Celebrate today with More Smiles! Celebrate Today where ever you are! Celebrate Today with because it's your special day! Lets Jump for Joy, Hip Hip  Hooray!! Today's My  Birthday!!!!!!! Love you, Olive my Olive!!!!  

 Enjoying Nature Wish I could say that I took a nature hike in this beautiful fall weather. But being on the older side, I took a causal nature walk instead. This is a great time to take a walk, the weather is great and you might be able to see a monarch butterfly on it's way to Mexico! The Fall Migration for Monarchs begins in September and October there seems to be a lot around.  Monarch Butterfly Up Close After our walk, we just rested and enjoyed the outdoors. We even started a Nature Journal so we can remember this wonderful day! Resting with Granddaughter Olive from our Nature Walk and Drawing Monarchs in our Nature Journal to Remember this Wonderful Day! 

  Lost Maples State Natural Area - Take 2! October is also a great time to be outdoors. The weather is cooler than summer and it's not too cold. We took a hike to Lost Maples. The first time we hiked there we came to a point of interest called Monkey Rock. But we couldn't find the "monkey" or why it was a point of interest. Also, with limited cell service, it's not like we could just look it up. Then, later we realized that we just needed to look up! So, again we went back to see Monkey Rock.  Close Up View of Monkey Rock Monkey Rock Photo Bomb! LOL!  Another favorite of ours is the Grotto. It's just beautiful! In Front of the Cool Grotto This is a great place to see nature. We were also able to see some monarch butterflies before they made their way to Mexico.  We had lots of fun in this great weather. 

 Pumpkin Time! It's that time of year where I like to put out all my pumpkin decorations. For me, using pumpkins to decorate for fall is easier so that I can use the same decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. That way, I don't have to re-decorate until it's Christmas Time! This year, I have decided to put a fall Tree. I have this mini Christmas Tree I bought for Christmas, and I want to use it now! But it's fall, so, I'm trying to make it fit for fall. I may need to add more to it. I got the decorations from the local dollar store and my granddaughter Olivia  put "Fall Bears" underneath it! Oh, I'm getting excited for the Holidays! Can't wait.  My Fall Tree

Bucket List # 56  : Grape Stomping and Going to a Harvest Festival.   I finally did it!   This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time.  For centuries, stomping grapes was the universal method used to extract juice from the grapes. Lots of grape varieties thrive in the heat of the Texas Hill Country, including Mourvèdre, Grenache, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Amarela, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot, and Albariño,   but the big favorite is the Tempranillo.   Grapes Ready To Be Mashed Chiming Belle Stomping and Smashing Grapes Enjoying the Grape Stomp

 Labor Day, Great time to take one last dip before the weather cools. Labor day is one of my favorite holidays to take a final dip in the springs before the weather cools. The water in the springs is naturally cool, but if feels so much better on a very hot day! We also had a pic-nic lunch. We ordered some to-go tacos from a food truck and at them after our swim. Swimming gave everyone an appetite.  At the Springs Taking a Refreshing Dip in the Water before the weather gets cooler.  Hope everyone enjoys the extra day of rest that Labor Day Brings.   Wishing everyone a Relaxing Labor Day! 

Watching the Perseid Meteor Shower Last night I stayed up late to watch the well-known Perseid meteor shower. Apparently,  since 811 it's been people have been watching this magnificent meteor shower. Even though it was blistering hot during the day, the evening was actually very cool with a refreshing breeze every now and then. And with the Perseid meteor shower no special astronomy equipment is required, just the naked eye.  Star-gazing and watching meteor showers is very relaxing and tell stories of long ago.  I like to tell my granddaughter all the famous star lore associated with the constellations. The meteor shower gets its name because it radiates from the Perseus constellation. Sometimes the meteor's from this shower are called the "tears of St. Lawrence" because the meteor shower is usually close to the Catholic feast day of St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence was a famous Christian martyr who helped the poor and was cooked by Romans on an outdoor grill  - hence th

  Staying Cool by Touring Caves. Touring a cave in this August heat is cool. Literally amazing and physically cooler than the air at the surface.  The average temperature was about 70 degrees Celsius. Sometimes after a rain the caves were humid so it felt a little warmer. So, touring caves makes for a great day out in the summertime. I was able to go to a few caves. Texas has a cave trail, so I decided to visit all those caves first.  It was quite an adventure admiring all the caves. Some of the cave formations are huge and spectacular. There really aren’t any words to describe it. It's something I highly recommend doing.  Family in Front of Huge, Spectacular Cave Formations! Granddaughter in Front of Huge, Amazing Cave Formations!