Need a video made?

Our son, Jeff, has been working on one of his hobbies ... videography and is starting to advertise as a wedding videographer. His new company name is Happy Bride Productions. He has done some now and is enjoying it, though I keep cautioning him that brides and their families are notoriously hard to please. ;-)

I told him I would make him up a business card from the components of his new website at http://www.happybrideproductions.com/. Here's my latest "draft"...

So if anyone has a need for a videographer, he's ready for some jobs.

Weekend over...

Well, the busy weekend has passed. Thursday evening did bring us some snow!

Friday morning, everything at the farm had a dusting of snow!

But nothing like our son, Jeff received in the DFW area! Their snowfall clobbered the old record from 1888 with 12.5 inches around DFW airport.


Then after a careful drive into Waco on Friday morning, I spent several hours at the hospital with my aunt who was having vertebroplasty to repair 3 vertebrae.

Then off to the show hall to set up for the cat show. Most of it was done by the time I got there. And boy, was it cold! But we got it all ready for the exhibitors to come in Saturday morning.

The weather was better Saturday but there was some freezing fog that iced some of the bridges. I came upon two vehicles who had just lost control. One could have been really bad, she went airborne and landed upside down in a deep ditch. The good Lord must have been watching over her because she crawled out with no injuries. It took DPS over 30 minutes to come and by that time two more vehicles came sliding off the bridge. Luckily no injuries again, but one had traveled about 150 feet to come to rest on the shoulder of the oncoming traffic. Family members arrived to help the girl in the truck and they went to flag traffic down before they hit the icy bridge. I left after the trooper finally came and went on to the cat show.

We had a great entry and lots of great cats. I didn't get around to taking any photos unfortunately, there was some gorgeous cats there.

Photos from Jeff and Robin's Reception

Jeff and Robin had a house warming/ wedding reception August 8th. I am finally getting around to downloading the photos! It has been a busy month!

We had their invitation made into a poster at Sam's and had guest sign it.

The Condo is Ready!

I just got an email from my son, Jeff. His condo in Ruidoso is now ready to be rented. He and Robin did a great job renovating the 3 bedroom condo. Take a look at it here http://www.vrbo.com/258268.

Too blessed to be stressed?

A great saying, I have had to repeat it to myself quite often these days. We have been busy even though work at the office has been slow. We have used the extra time off from work (me on 32 hours a week and Bob on a week off each month) to get some things done around the farm. It has been super hot and humid so we do our outside work early or after sundown.

We took time out to go to Jeff and Robin's house warming and wedding reception Saturday. Looks like they are already finding out the joys of home ownership... tree roots in the sewer line backed up the downstairs toilet at peak party time. But everyone seemed to enjoy the party... we took a stab at the Jamaican theme in honor of their honeymoon destination. I spent the day before baking pineapple upside down cupcakes and rum cake. Bob did a great job helping cut up veggies for shish kabobs. There was plenty of food for the big crowds that came buy to welcome them to their new home. Robin's parents brought lots of fresh fruit and deli sandwiches.

One of my favorite of the wedding photos

Bridal Shower Time

The wedding date is getting really close! Jeff and Robin are certainly two very busy people!

Here are some photos from the bridal shower last Thursday:

This is Robin with her mom and grandmother.

The sweet friends of Mrs. Thornton did a wonderful job hosting the shower.

They had a cute "game" where bridal gowns were created from toilet tissue.

Home is a great place to be

Well, we are home finally and getting kind of back to normal, I will try to go in to work this afternoon. I went by for about an hour yesterday while I was in town to grocery shop and pick up meds for Bob. Lots to catch up on but I guess it is a blessing that business is slow right now.

Bob had a great report from the doctor. Though the polyp was malignant, no other tissue was affected, lymph nodes were clear too. So that means no other treatments, HALLELUJAH!  He will have another colonoscopy in one year. And the Dr. recommended family members get checked as soon as possible.

This is the drawing of the colon ressection, the red dot was the polyp and the left area in the circle was all  removed, at least he doesn't have an appendix anymore.  ;-)

Back from Ohio...should have stayed?

Things got very hectic after we got home from Wooster. I am just now catching up on emails. Bob and I got home Monday afternoon from Ohio. We went to work Tuesday, but Wednesday Bob had a colonoscopy scheduled recommended by our Dr. because Bob recently turned 55. So early Wednesday morning I took him to the clinic for the procedure. When the Dr came out and showed us a photo of a large polyp it came as a surprise but he said he had removed it and would send it to the pathology lab and have results next week. If there were any suspicious cells he would suggest that section be removed.

Bob was discharged and we went home, stopping by McD's for a breakfast sandwich. And then home for a nap. It went downhill after that. Bob couldn't get any relief from the bloating caused by the air they filled him with for the procedure. We called and they said walk around and lay on his left side. He couldn't stand the pain to lay on his left side but did walk a little. Then he sat in the recliner for a while. He called me over and said his neck felt funny when he ran his fingers over his skin it crackled like bubble wrap. Another call to the Dr and they wanted him to come in at 4. So back to the Dr office. A quick exam and the Dr asked which hospital we wanted to go to. Removing the polyp had perforated his colon. So over to the hospital for emergency surgery. He got out and into a room at 10 last night. This morning when the surgeon came in to answer questions he drew a picture of the colon and showed us that he removed over half of it!

Bob is doing really well for the type surgery he has been through. They told him tonight to use more of the morphine drip, he hasn't been pushing the button very often. He was able to get up three times today and walk a little more each time. We should get the pathology report tomorrow and the surgeon suspects it will be malignant. So we would appreciate everyone's prayers and good thoughts.

It's our anniversary!

Happy anniversary, Bob! 

I'm so blessed to be able to share my life with such a wonderful husband.

4-27-1973

Semi-retired.... or an opportunity?

I was just told that my work schedule will be reduced to 4 days starting next week. Sure beats being laid off completely like some folks!

I guess that I will now have time to ramp up the web design business. I already have a website in place at http://www.unicornerweb.com/ and if anyone is interested in some web work, please let me know!

Bob's New Venture

Here is Bob's new business card for his photography business. we will be setting up a website soon at http://www.unicornerphoto.com/. The gorgeous mini model shown is our friends, the Cox's stallion, Dragon. We are expecting a foal sired by Dragon from our gorgeous palomino mare, Locket. Dragon is super special to us because we now own his mother, Easter Acres Midnite Satin and she is one of our top producing mares.

Birthday Time for the Girls

It is hard to believe it has been a year since my two great nieces were born.

Grammie and the moms had a great time decorating with the flowers and colors of pink, purple, yellow and green.

Don't you love the cupcakes?




Lots of friends and family came to celebrate Avery and Rylie's first birthdays.

Baby Dedication

While Bob stayed home to feed Trooper throughout the day, Mom and I went to church. It was an extra special Sunday for our family, my little niece Rylie was dedicated.

Dr. Dub Oliver, our pastor had a wonderful message for the dedication based on Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Rylie (and the congregation) also enjoyed the bubbles passed out for the occasion.

Happy (Kinda) New Year

I hope everyone is having a good year so far, can you believe it is already the middle of January.

The photo is of my darling son, Jeff and his girlfriend, Robin.

Christmas Memories

We had a blessed Christmas! The family all remained healthy, from the oldest to the youngest. Above is Nanny (Mom) Bekkelund with her great-granddaughters, Avery and Rylie. We had many fun gatherings and lots of gift giving and receiving. And we remembered Christ is the reason for the season.

One of our favorite traditions is the Christmas Eve program at church. The pews were full in our little country church. The children's recitations were excellent, the play was well rehearsed and thoughtful, and the candlelit readings and songs were such a nice finish.

We hope your Christmas was as wonderful and Christ-filled!

Another Birthday

Another birthday party, this time for Kade who turned two years old. He loves Tom and Jerry (who doesn't?) and that was the theme for the party. Here everyone is singing Happy Birthday to him before he blows out the candle on his Tom and Jerry cake.

Birthday Time

We have been celebrating lots of birthdays lately. My aunt Hilma turned a young 90 years on Halloween. We celebrated with family at the retirement home she lives in.

A Long Lapse

It has been a while since I last posted on the blog. It hasn't been a good time for family health matters. We have had one death in the family, Bob's precious sister, Becky; two hip replacements, Mom and my Sis; and a fractured back, Bob's grandmother. Time does heal though, doesn't it.

I will try to start posting news again from the farm.

Love is in the air...

Or something like it...
Our little cat Ellie-Mae has been calling and calling... then she started spraying all over the house. We knew it was time to make a decision to spay or breed her. She is a 3/4 Birman from Annbirwaves Cattery's cinnamon point breeding program. She has very nice Birman type and GORGEOUS deep blue eye color but we didn't know if she had inherited the sought-after cinnamon gene.

Luckily there is now a test to see if a cat carries the cinnamon gene. It only requires swabbing some saliva from the inside of the mouth. The test is done at University of California at Davis,
http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/cat/.

So I sent it off and received the results yesterday. I highly recommend them! Very prompt and only $40. We found out that she is not a carrier so off to the veterinarian she went today to be spayed. This service is so welcome, no longer will we have to test breed cats to find out if they carry the preferred (or not preferred) colors.