Thanksgiving 2009

The holidays, which we have always anticipated and loved, have been a real struggle for the last few years. First our daughter married and moved away, then both of my parents died. We have have gone from being an big group of people to share them with to only the three of us. Austin suggested today that we need to start some new traditions to make up for the loss and absence of those we love. He even volunteered to cook some of the things that were Gran's specialites! One thing Jim and I have been doing is going up to the wildlife preserve in Muleshoe on Christmas Day. The preserve is where many thousands of sandhill and whooping cranes winter. This time we decided to go today, on Thanksgiving. It was fairly cool and the sun was out. We could see more and more sandhill cranes grazing in the fields as we got closer to Muleshoe.

This shot is for my cousin Paul--who didn't believe it was flat on the Texas plains--THIS Paul is a hill.

This is the platform at the lake--called Paul's Lake. It is about a mile across the lake where all the cranes gather. With binoculars you can see the cranes across the lake from the platform.
This is probably several hundred cranes. My camera will zoom x25 but it still was not close enough to get a good picture of the cranes. The noise they make is a cooing sound, but with so many together is it very loud.

Skye loved running in the high grass. She zigzagged through it like she was chasing a rabbit. Then she would turn around to make sure we were watching.For one second she was still enough for me to get this picture with the sun behind her.

On the way out I was going to get some pictures of prairie dogs. They had been sitting out everywhere when we drove in. However the sun had gone down just enough that the temps had started to drop. They were all tucked snuggly in their holes--so I just got a picture of the hole.

The cotton had been picked and put into the modules ready to go to the gin. These looked kind of odd, I don't know if some of the cotton was dirty or they got alot of trash when they harvested.Then it just wouldn't be West Texas without a pretty sunset. I always thought that Texas should have been called Big Sky country--because we don't have any mountains to obstruct the view of the sunsets.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thanksgiving

Holidays just haven't been the same since Mom and Dad died. We always shared our holidays with them. My mom enjoyed not having to cook and being able to just relax and visit. I enjoyed having the house full and cooking.

Time has moved on and holidays are quiet with usually just Jim, Austin and me these days. It gives me time to reflect on past holidays with the kids and my parents. I worried so about the food turning out perfect, and getting just the right pose for our "Norman Rockwell" family picture at the table. With those days gone I am glad I have the wonderful memories we made.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dad

Today would have been my dad's 91st birthday. Since he and Austin had birthdays a day apart it isn't the same. Austin was always given the option of a birthday party or spending his birthday with Papa. Papa always won out. I have so many wonderful memories of him--it just doesn't seem like he can be gone. Happya Birthday Dad.

Happy Birthday Austin---!

Austin's birthday is November 22 and Papa's was November 23. For Austin's birthday we drove over to Clovis to Joe's Boot Shop and bought Austin some boots.

Papa always wanted to take Austin to Joe's and buy him some boots. Papa had found the place when he and Gran had driven over to Clovis to just get away and go to lunch. They would always eat at Red Lobster and drive back.

After buying the boots, we had lunch at Red Lobster, and drank a toast to Papa and all the wonderful memories we have of the years with him. This is Austin's second birthday without Papa and it doesn't get any easier.

Happy Birthday Austin--We love you!!

Austin in the Texas Guard

Austin 14 months

3 years

Austin 1 year

Austin 3 years

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Mom and Dad