An Afternoon with the Cousins

Our nephew Scott and his wife Brandi moved to Oklahoma a few years ago with their three children.  We don't see them nearly as often as we would like. The kids are spending a few weeks with Sandra & Tony. Sandra brought them, along with sweet Anna, swimming.  Cathy and the kids were here for most of their visit, but I am going to save that for another time.....Fun was had by all.

First the Slide-

Cade and Ty headed down!

Anna getting the slide ready

What a look!!

It starts innocent enough.......

And then the fun begins!

                                          Precious Grace


Play Ball!!

This game went on for quite awhile.  The rules also seemed to change with each play.  But, it was lots of fun.  Also the boys won BIG!!

What a hit!

The girls gave it their all.....

Caleb arrives home and joins the fun.....

Such cute boys!

I am sure these two will continue to have lots of conversations over the years.

Up! Up!

And Away!

Cathy's kids seemed to be a little overwhelmed at first, but quickly joined in the fun!

Cade was a big hit.  They will miss him when he's back in Oklahoma.

These two always seem to have something to talk about.

Don't you agree that simple things like this are simply the best.  We loved sharing our day with this sweet group.  Next time, we hope Anna's brothers (Wyatt,  John William, and West) can join in the fun. 

Red Pepper, Hot Sauce, and Hyacinths

Our goldfish pond has been a yucky, horrible green all summer.  The problem is our precious Gus.  He truly LOVES the pond. He likes to balance himself on the stones in the middle and "hunt" for fish. He also doesn't like anything in his pond.  We have tried unsuccessfully to put hyacinths in the pond to help filter it.  As soon as we turned our heads, Gus would promptly drag them out and chew them up. Well, we once again found some hyacinths on the river and got a few extra from Reed's parents.  I told him I thought we were once again wasting our time.  But, Reed filled a spray bottle with water, hot sauce, and red pepper.  He has been spraying the plants for the last few days, and Gus is so far leaving them alone.  I am amazed by how much the pond has cleared up in such a short time.  I am still a little doubtful that Gus is not going to chew them up again, but so far so good!!  The fish also seem to be very happy about this new development.........

Sunday afternoon you couldn't see a fish.  Hyacinths are amazing!  Reed loaded the top and the water filters through there before it gets to the fish.

Not only are the hyacinths amazing, so is the red pepper and hot sauce mixture!  Who knew? I have found a couple of the plants on the outer edge of the pond.  I think he had to quickly drop them after getting a taste.

He was watching me as I was taking pictures of "his" pond.  I truly can't explain how many hours he has spent in this pond.  I know he has to be wondering what he's done to deserve red pepper and hot sauce.....All he really wants is a little taste of goldfish every now and then.

I have to tell you a little about this batch of goldfish.  Earlier in the summer, all but about 5 of our fish died.  We are not sure why.  They were all pretty big and healthy. I also don't think Gus had anything to do with it either.  Well, my friend Jean and I ventured north about 10 miles to purchase some more from a bait store.  I had called ahead to make sure they had some before we went.  However, when we got there, they were a little reluctant to sell. At first he dipped out 3 or 4.  I had to ask at least twice for more. After assuring them that I had only honorable intentions concerning these fish (no use as bait for these little guys), they finally let me have 10.  The man even told me that the biggest one had been in the tank for a year and a half, so he would have to charge me more for him....While I was happy with these, Reed ventured south to another bait store and brought home about 15 more.  This man was happy to sell no matter what my intentions were.  Anyway, all is now well in the world of the goldfish pond.

All In a Day's (or Two) Work!

Last month, we had an EXTREMELY high water bill.  We knew we must have a leak, but it has been so hot and dry we couldn't find one anywhere.  About a week or so ago, I happened to be in the yard when the meter reader came.  He called me over and showed me this small red arrow on the meter.  It was slowly going around and around.  He confirmed that there was indeed a  leak.  He also said we had used over 10,000 gallons of water last month, and over 14,000 this month.   Finally, we found the leak.  Reed has patched this line more than once, so this time he decided to replace it completely. So let the fun begin.....

Reed and the Trencher-

Not only did this save LOTS of time, I think he enjoyed this big "toy".

This beautiful magnolia tree seems to be the "root" of the problem.

The trencher couldn't get under the sidewalk, so out come the shovels and hole diggers.  I don't think these were as much fun as the trencher.

Help Arrives

 Caleb comes home from work and class, and he gets to reacquaint himself with manual labor. He is really a great worker.  Reed loves doing things with him, even if it means getting hot and sweaty.

Here he is surveying the problem.

Next, he digs out from underneath the sidewalk.

This digging seemed to take a while.

I think this conversation went something like this, "Can't you find anything useful to do besides taking pictures?"  To this I reply, "No, remember I am blogging now."

Connecting the new pipe.  I thought they were almost finished, but the project continued on the next morning.

Day 2- Laying the Pipe and Filling the Hole

Reed stayed in this position a looong time.....

Almost done!!!!

Reed and Willie finally complete this project!!

 We were only out of water for a short time, but you don't realize how important it is until you don't have it.  It is also great to have such a handy husband that can fix so many things.  I promise we are going to do something really exciting soon.  I don't know what it may be, but I promise to keep you posted.

Unplanned Fun

Our family has spent lots of time on the river over the years.  It is something we have always enjoyed, especially when our children were little.  Once Caleb got his boater license, he and the guys began going to the river quite often.  Our family trips became much less frequent.  A couple of weeks ago, Caleb was on the river when he noticed our boat was taking in lots of water.  He quickly left.  So today, Reed and Caleb decided to put it in the water and see if they could find the problem.  I tagged along because I knew I would be great help!  Ha!  We actually never left the landing in our boat.  Reed and Caleb quickly found a small, hairline leak.  Not sure how they will fix that.  Anyway, as we were headed home, Marnetta and Tim were coming down the hill in their NEW boat.  Of course, we couldn't resist helping them test it out.

Putting our boat in to test it out.  This boat has provided us with lots of great memories....

Reed and Caleb searching for the problem....

The McDaniel's New Boat

               Captain Tim

There was one little problem.  Marnetta backed over a big hole at the foot of the landing.  The guys had to lift the trailer up, so she could drive out.

Sitting on the new dock

Caleb getting ready to ski

Ready for the ride....

He's been doing this for many years now, but I still love watching him.

To me this is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Sometimes the most enjoyable times can come when you least expect it.  Have a great week!

Dog Days of Summer

It's really a slow time in the world of blogging.  I told Reed we have got to start doing some exciting things, so I will have something to blog about.  Until then, I thought I would introduce you to some of our other family members. We have two spoiled rotten dogs that we love dearly.  Gus (our lab) is 2 1/2 years old.  We got him right after we lost Jake (Our lab of 10 years-We were devastated when he simply disappeared).  Caleb blessed us with Maybelle a little over 2 years ago.  He was coming home late one night, and found her lying in the middle of the road.  He actually rode around after seeing her, thinking her mom would come back for her. No such luck-she was destined to be ours. She was about 4 weeks old, weighed 2 lbs. and was COVERED in thousands of fleas.  She has come a long way since her humble beginnings. I am convinced she will live to be at least 25.......

First-Gus

He is a great dog, and actually occasionally works for his keep.

Mostly though, he does things like this.  We cannot keep the goldfish pond clean.  It stays a lovely shade of green.  The really sad thing is that he occassionaly catches a goldfish.

He also loves the pool.  And no, it is not good for him to go from the goldfish pond to the pool.  However, he is such a sweety that I have a hard time getting on to him.

Gus has a really tough life!

Now let me introduce you to Maybelle-

We are often asked what kind of dog she is.....What do you think?  She has the head of a small dog, like maybe a fiest.  And the body of a...?????  I usually just tell people she's anything they want her to be.

She loves to dig holes in the yard.  Gus likes to

help with this too. They also enjoy chewing flower pots, table clothes, floats, and anything else they can find.

They are best buds!!  (And yes, we had her fixed the first day she was old enough.)

Here they were watching Pop and Maddie in the garden.

They are wonderful with Maddie!

Have a great weekend!