MY PEONIES BLOOMED!

I couldn't believe my eyes today when I went to check on my lonely little peonie and it was just blooming as pretty as could be!!! I had serious doubts whether it was going to make it or not, but...it DID!! YEA!!! The little things in life--It smells sooo good, just like I remember from MANY MOONS AGO! AWWWW---

Thoughts

I don't have any pictures, so...here goes.

I talked to my sister Alice tonight for about 2 hrs. It was soooo great to talk with her again, since the last time I saw her was the day after they had been up to their property and saw their devastation from the fire. My heart just aches for them.
After talking with her for a while I know one of the things that she will miss most are the pictures of her kids when they were little. Some of the other things can one day be replaced when needed. She said the outpouring of love and support, even from people she doesn't know, has been AMAZING! It is fantastic. They have had people volunteer to help go through things, people have offered them tools, saws, $$, whatever they need. Right now though, their immediate needs are being met. They have a furnished apartment in town where they have been living for 4 years while they have been working on their "dream home". As we were talking tonight they realize how fortunate they actually are. Alice & Alan at least have another home to go to, where some people that were living up there, had to find someplace to live. Others LOST EVERYTHING, and only got out with their cloths on their back.
Alice told a story of a newly wed couple that had just finished their home, and were just moving in their furniture and putting up pictures when they had to evacuate. When they returned EVERYTHING was burned. Although, their friend had left his pickup up there. Now listen to this...The pickup was burned inside and out, but...his BIBLE and ID that were left on the seat of the truck were NOT burned. That just gives me chill bumps. They are an amazing witness to the community. He told Alice, that "I guess God just wants me to be a city guy for a while". Their new home they were building was way up in the mountains. Pretty amazing.
Another thing Alice told me was Alan was going to make some sort of a sifter, to take up to their property as soon as they are allowed back in, to sift their stuff to separate the bigger things. The forest dept. is afraid trees could fall or more fires could still start because it is so dry. Anyway, Alan soon realized he doesn't even have a hammer, nails or anything like that. So...he had to take a step back, take a deep breath and rethink the whole process. Whewwww-Needless to say, Alan did NOT have a very good day today.
She says most days are ok, although she will be going through the grieving process for quit some time. It will be VERY interesting to see what the next chapter in their lives has for them. Only God knows and only time will tell.

My sister and her family

We got to see my sister-Alice (on the right) and her hubby Alan on the other end, with their daughter Dawn Marie and her 2 kids. I had not even met the youngest till this year. It was GREAT to see them. They had just been allowed back to their home after they were evacuated for 1 week because of the fire in Los Alamos, NM. Their homes in town were not damaged this time, but my sister and her hubby's dream home that they had been working on for over 10 years, was a total loss. Along with their storage shed, that had most of their belongings in it. All their tools, a tractor, 2 camper trailers, pre digital pictures (baby pictures of Dawn Marie and her sister) , furniture and lots of other things. Last I heard they were not even allowed back up there to go through their things until this week, because of the hot spots. Alan was making this an environmentally safe geodesic?? home, to try to help with Alice's allergies.
We are VERY THANKFUL they were not hurt physically anyway. It will take a while to recover in other ways. They could use your prayers.

Look at those beautiful smiles! It was soooo great to see them again and hug their neck!!

Uncle Tom and Aunt JoAnn with Ramon and Airanna.

Just for fun

Big cousins posing for the camera.

Not sure what they aren't looking at...LOL

The girls--Left to Right==Marlynn, Breanna, Penny, Lindy, Mom (gradma, great-grandma, aunt) Muriel, Debbie, & JoAnn --I loved seeing and hanging out with these gals. Family is the best.

Hmmmmm...?????/////

Mom and I--She is the neatest lady and doing really well. I cherish my time with her.

Lon and I being silly.

Cousins having fun

These crazy cousins having fun. LOL It was soooo great to see them together!

Muriel and her kids

Look at this beautiful and handsome family!!

Patz family

Darryl, Penny, Brian, Karl, Jason, Logan and Chad--one pose. :)

The sun was pretty bright and hard to try to get a picture. Check out Chad--In this picture who does he kind of look like? Maybe Spock from the movie Star Track ?? :)

Now the sun has gone down a little more so it's not so bright in their eyes. Penny and her handsome family. :)

Cousins

Top to bottom--Karl, Chad, Jason, Tyler, John, Kaleb,
Bottom then up--Aspen, Benaiah, Breanna, Brian, Lindy, & Logan-- hanging out on the 4th of July 2011.

More handsome men

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Star gazing in the middle of the day. :)

Messing around like they do very well.

Look at those muscles--Even little Caleb is showing his, although we can't see them. :)

Patz men

I missed Jason--So I'll try this again. :)

A few more pictures

A few more faces

This -n-that

Aspen trying out her bike...

and Jason showing us how it's done. :)

July 4th sandwich!! Now that's a sandwich!! Subway fed a all for a couple of meals.

Had to have at least one picture carrying the water from the creek for the toilets, since mom's pump went out and we did not have any water for a few days.

Natures beauty

Mom, aunt Muriel, grandma, or great grandma--whatever she is to you-had some beautiful flowers out this year that we enjoyed and so did the butterflies. We enjoyed warm and sunny days most of the time, with a couple afternoon showers to cool things off. Simply delightful. I'm ready to go back. Anyone else??