Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The handshake

The Handshake...

Not just any handshake... but the Papa/Thalia special handshake!  What a riot they were!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Hanging out at UJ's

For Thanksgiving week, a crew of us headed to Colorado.  My brother, 'UJ', and sister in law, Becky, moved there about a year and a half ago.  We were all excited to see each other...to see UJ and Aunt Becky's new home...but mostly, just to be together.
As is typical of UJ, he was busy making sure everyone was comfortable...everybody was happy.
I love their new dining room...
There was quite a bit of hanging out... Joshua, Erica, and Thalia were the 2nd wave to hit Colorado...  As you can see, Joshua had himself a 'Buckys'... aka Starbucks...  Um?  Looks like some others might have needed a cup of coffee to wake them up... 
Yep, this is one of the coffee-needers...
Not Joshua...he was full of energy after having his Buckys...
My sweet Erica... was listening to her husband tell stories...
Saddie was listening...
She wanted a picture with her great granddaughter...
and with one of her granddaughters...
UJ was trying to spur his daughter to action...
Sami woke up her Uncle Ron...
Now, we weren't all there, but Addison was there - at least electronically.  He's living in Korea, and so we skyped with him...
Addison had just woken up...even though it was 9:30 a.m. in Korea...
We all gathered around to talk to him...


We all enjoyed visiting with Addison...
My guy and I had arrived on Saturday... and Joshua, Erica, and Thalia had gone skiing...
The skiers, and UJ, were relaxing in the hot tub...
Joshua was feeling a bit stronger....
Here we are on Sunday morning.  We were all getting ready to head to church. 
UJ was... well, who knows.  His nephew, my baby boy, seemed unfazed by his uncle's antics...
Picture time... Saddie hopped in the picture.  Oh, I see...Joshua was repairing his wife's earring...
After church, and after a Buckys run, (and an unbelievably close call for a wreck...but Joshua's quick reaction saved the day) we started getting some lunch together.  Becky has a dip that I love...I make it a lot... and so that was on the menu...
It's Becky's recipe, but I threw it together....
Saddie was waiting...
In the meantime, a hot game of "P-P" aka, Ping Pong, was going on in the basement between Joshua and UJ...


I'm not sure who won...
Saddie got tired of waiting for the dip, so she started with some ham and the tops of the green onions...
My darlin' granddaughter was relaxing on the couch...

I don't think she was excited about me taking her picture.
Finally, about 2 p.m., my cousin Patti and GRITS came.  They flew in from Texas.  Liz, Patti's oldest daughter, lives in Colorado, about an hour and a half from UJ.  She drove up and surprised her mama and sister!


GRITS was taking a picture of her sister and mama... and her Aunt Judy was taking a picture of her taking a picture!
Barbequed hamburgers was on the evenings menu... Saddie had the job of making the patties...

OK...now, what is wrong with this picture? 

I love this picture of Thalia...I couldn't decide if I liked it better closer-up or not... so I just put both of them in this blog!
OK, another game of "P-P"....  I think Erica was the champion!  (Actually, I have no idea who won!)


Getting ready for the hamburgers, we lined up the cups to get ready to eat... 

Oops... here's another, "What's wrong with this picture?'
My sweet daughter in law is a true Johnston... snapping away at those pictures!
Hi Josh!
Erica just smiled at her husband's antics!
Saddie likes to make lotion...so she was trying to convince Thalia to put some on her chapped lips. 
We decided to take a 'girls picture'.... so I got the timer set on the camera...
I love this!  Unfortunately, Liz had already taken off...
Joshua!  This is a GIRL picture! 
Ahhh... we sure had fun together!

I am so grateful for my family!