What
a beautiful weather week! Mornings began in the mid-50s, but hit the low- to
mid-70s by afternoon. Lovely. Sunshine. Mostly cloudless skies. Light breeze.
Yup. Love it!
Dick
continued to work all week, but took Saturday and Sunday off. As you’ll read,
we filled up those 2 days with lots of activities. No laziness here!
Tuesday
I attended the weekly “Stitch ‘n’ B…,” along with about a dozen lady friends.
There are lots of quilters here, so tables were filled with sewing machines,
quilt squares, etc. There were knitters and crocheters, as well, and ladies who
just like to chat. I delivered the endless circle vest to friend Nancy, who had
ordered it a couple weeks ago. It just happened to be her birthday, too, so she
was happy…and she loves the vest.
Later,
Sharon and I went to the pool for a while in the afternoon. Man, the sun felt
good—hot!—so the pool felt especially nice, as did the hot tub. Then, it was
home to get cleaned up to attend happy hour at friend Robin’s. The weather was
so nice that no one wanted to be indoors. About 20 of us attended. Robin has a
new park model and had a deck built alongside that accommodated all of us.
That
evening, after dinner, Dick and I went to the Adult Club House to watch the movie,
“The Judge.” The movie stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Hank Palmer, a big city
lawyer who returns to his childhood home for his mother’s funeral. While there,
his father, Judge Joseph Palmer, played by Robert Duvall, is arrested for a hit
and run death. Hank defends his father against his father’s objections,
ultimately restoring relationships with his father and two brothers (Vincent D'Onofrio, Jeremy Strong) that he had walked
away from years before.
Wednesday,
another beautiful day, was the perfect pool day for Sharon and me. Quite a few
folks took advantage of the day by spending time there along with us. Nice.
Later
we attended happy hour at 4:00, followed by dinner at the Family Club House.
For $7.00 per person we dined on chicken piccata, asparagus, rolls ‘n’ butter,
and a wonderful peaches ‘n’ cream pie
for dessert. Almost 70 people enjoyed the dinner
with us. Good times, good friends, good food. Yum! Chef Betty, you’re a star!
Thursday was an errand day, starting
off with breakfast to go from Whataburger: sausage breakfast sandwich and
coffee. We always stop there first before heading out to do laundry. We were
almost done with laundry when friends Dale and Margaret (friends from Bay View,
and Minnesota) walked in with theirs,
so we spent time chatting with them.
Then, it was off to Dollar Store and
HEB (a Texas grocery chain). We picked up fresh shrimp and tilapia—YUM! I
dropped off Dick at the office and went home to unload. As I was doing that,
friends Steve and Marty stopped by to see if I wanted to go to Walmart with
them. Yup! So off I went again. I wanted a low pool/beach chair, so picked up
one for $15.00.
Later, it was happy hour at Steve and
Karen’s. Sharon and I were the only ones there until Dick finally showed up
from work. After spending time with them, it was off to Illinois friends’ Randy
and Jeri’s for dinner. Randy smokes his own meats and brought some with him
from home. We noshed on pulled pork, baked beans, roasted cauliflower, and
coleslaw. And then…freshly baked brownies with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge
sauce. Dinner was with Randy and Jeri, Marvin and Shirley, Bill and Carole.We DID NOT walk away hungry! Thanks,
friends, for a wonderful evening.
Then…it was off to the Family Club
House for all of us, to play Pegs ‘n’ Jokers. Women: 2, men: 1. Woot-woot! Ladies, we’re gettin’
our mojo back! (The guys hate it when I say that…ha!)
I know that when Dick gets out my
KitchenAid mixer it’s time to do some baking. That’s what happened Friday. So,
I made a batch of chocolate-chocolate chip cookies and 2 loaves of banana
bread. Yup, he was happy! Although the day was sunny and beautiful, the
temperatures were still rather cool, reaching only into the mid-60s. Perfect
day for baking.
Later that afternoon at happy hour,
we were blessed by the music of Brian Arnold, known as “America’s One-Handed
Pianist,” and his friend Dan Lyming. Both are from the Branson, Missouri area.
Brian is also a singer, speaker and author, as well as the host of a weekly
television show on TCT, called “From Victim to Victory.” Brian performs
country, oldies, patriotic, inspirational and gospel, throwing in some comedy
occasionally.
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| L: Brian Arnold, R: Dan Lyming |
Brian has quite a testimony,
inspiring others with his life’s story. At 6 years old, Brian lost his left leg
in a lawn mowing accident, causing his mom to direct him towards music and
becoming a pianist. By the age of 20 he was making a living with his hands at
the piano. Then in 1994, he was in a life-threatening auto accident involving a
semi-truck, leaving him with his left arm paralyzed from the shoulder down.
Not giving up, and believing God was
not finished with him yet, Brian continued to play the piano, sing, and inspire
others. For
more than 20 years, Brian has performed for millions all around the world,
continuing to encourage people with his inspiring life story. His show consists
of favorites from artists like the Statler Brothers, Jim Reeves, Alabama, Dean
Martin, Frank Sinatra, Merle Haggard, George Strait, Elvis and many more.
Nearly 15 years were
spent in Branson, opening for some of America's premier talent, including Roy
Clark, Conway Twitty, Charlie Daniels, Ray Stevens, Ricky Skaggs, Loretta Lynn,
Porter Wagoner, Frankie Avalon and many more. While in Branson, Brian also sang
and played the piano for Silver Dollar City's resident quartet, Chosen
Few. This award winning group also traveled extensively across the United
States, while performing on TV, radio and in concert events of all sizes.
Their song, "The Little Things" (written by Brian) is still in
regular rotation on many radio stations around the country. Also in 2001,
Brian and Chosen Few were awarded Branson's "Show of the Year"
honors.
One of my favorites
of all time is Jim Reeves. Here’s a link to Brian singing one of Reeves’ hits, “Am I Losing You?”
Here’s Brian’s
website: http://www.guesswhoiscomingtotown.com/
Also thought you’d enjoy hearing “Danny Boy,” sung by Dan Lyming, who
accompanies Brian on the road as his sound manager. Dan has such smooth tenor
voice; I know you’ll enjoy it. And, here’s “How Great Thou Art” performed by Dan Lyming in another
venue. (Just had to include it.) I know you'll be inspired.
We were blessed,
and didn’t want the evening to end.
Saturday…Valentine’s
Day. (We put off celebrating ‘til that night at dinner.)
By 10:15 Saturday
morning we, along with Bob and Sharon, were on the road to Lamar, Texas for
their annual 2-day “La Mardi Gras” celebration, which actually started Friday.
La Mardi Gras is a fundraising celebration to benefit the Lamar Volunteer Fire Department,
with all proceeds going toward facilities, equipment and training. People come
from all over south Texas to participate in the parade, as vendors, and just to
have fun. The parade started at 11:00 a.m., with participants throwing beads,
candy and souvenirs.
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| Watching and waiting for the parade to begin. We are not dancing in the bottom two photos--ha! |
After the parade,
at the Lamar Volunteer Fire Department facility, food, beer, wine, water, and
soft drinks were sold, all while being entertained by various music groups,
including Whiskey Bent, The Drugstore Gypsys, and Riptide. While we were in the
food tent we listened to the music of CHER-LA-BAS, a Texas Cajun band. Quite
good! In addition to all this they held a Valentine’s Day raffle, Chinese
auction, live auction, a casino, and casino drawing.
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| Little Bay Sea Queens are here again! |
 |
| You never know what you'll see at La Mardi Gras. We had heard of Midnight Cowboy and the Rhinestone Cowboy, but NEVER Green Spandex Cowboy with spurs! |
The food menu this
year included BBQ pork ribs, egg rolls, fried shrimp, gumbo, jambalaya, red
beans and rice, hot dogs, nachos, and baked potato topped with Lamar VFD
brisket. We ate ribs, egg rolls, nachos, and funnel cake. YUM-YUM! (Couldn’t
eat too much, knowing we had our Valentine’s dinner that evening…) Also, the
Lamar Women’s Club sold home-made baked good, including funnel cakes, fried
Oreos, cakes, brownies and cookies. Then, we shopped the vendor booths, picking
up a few things, like Bob’s hat.
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| Bob bought his hat; I didn't buy mine. The gentleman in the bottom right sells the hats and is being critical of what he sees on Bob! |
We
returned back to Bay View about 2:00 p.m., giving Bob time to get the sound
system set up for that evening’s Valentine’s Day Dinner and dance. Happy hour
started at 5:00 p.m.
 |
| Photos taken during Valentine's Day Happy Hour |
Happy hour was followed by our dinner of prime rib, baked potatoes,
salad and crème brulee. YUM-YUM! Chef Betty did an outstanding job, along with
her kitchen crew, of preparing and serving this wonderful meal to about 70
folks.
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| Chef Betty and her fabulous volunteer kitchen crew, also fellow campers |
Then, dinner was followed by a dance with music by the “Park Players,” our own group of
musicians from Bay View, and Bob who played CDs of favorite dance tunes. Everyone had a wonderful
time…definitely.
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| Our "Park Players" Individual photos clockwise: Hap, Tom, Steve, Dennis, and Larry |
Sunday,
we attended the 8:30 a.m. service at First Baptist Church. Pastor Jones
continued his Spiritual Awakening series, this week focusing on “Revival.”
Revival is the reawakening of religious faith, spiritual life and activity.
Scripture was taken from the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 7:11-14. The emphasis
is on God’s people and their collective repentance, to which God will respond.
Verse 14 says, “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I (God) will hear
from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” God always has
mercy on a remorseful people, who sincerely mourn over their sins and have a
sincere desire to change.
We returned home, where I made French Toast topped with fresh strawberries and
blueberries and sliced bananas thrown in, and sausage. Dick was a happy boy!
Then, at 2:00 p.m.
we headed to the Family Club House for the ice cream social and a few games of
Pegs ‘n’ Jokers. We had enough people for 2 tables of 6 each, as friends Jamie
and Ann arrived to the park earlier in the week. The results: our table, gals:
3, guys: 1; the gals: 3, guys: 1 at the other. Woot-woot!
Dinner that night
was shrimp primavera, with fresh shrimp from the Gulf. YUM! Dick loves that
dish, and I’m only too happy to accommodate him, as I like it too.
As we close this
week’s blog, here’s a photo of friend Ida, who is in Houston at MD Anderson
undergoing cancer treatment. We’ve been caring for Lucy, a cat that “adopted”
Ida and her husband Joe a couple years ago. We ask for prayers for Ida and Joe,
as she faces a number of weeks of intense treatment. Thanks.
Hugs to you all.
We’re blessed to know you and have you as friends.
RJ and Gail
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