School's Out, School's Out...

Let the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer begin... NOW!

An "OK" Memorial Day Weekend

 ♭♪ ♫ Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain... ♯ ♩  ♬

Harvest time in the Sooner State has a beauty uniquely its own. The wheat was truly wavin', just as the song suggests; however, I'm not completely sure about the sweet smelling part, as no rainfall fell prior to our visit. Timing is key, I suppose, in order to be treated to the olfactory sensation of sweetness. ;-) 

...And when we say 

Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!

We're only sayin'

You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!

Oklahoma, O.K.

These two cousins were doin' fine, too, as they got back to their Okie roots. Cousin Linda flew into DFW from California, and we then made the five-hour drive to northwestern OK.

The main purpose of our visit to Oklahoma was to decorate graves for Memorial Day. We also visited one aunt, miscellaneous cousins, and a few friends. 

This annual pilgrimage is something that we promised my mother-in-law we'd do after she was no longer able to do so. For decades, she faithfully decorated the graves of all the military men in the family with flags and flowers, but also made sure every other deceased family member was remembered, too. Florence passed the "torch" to us in 2010, and we are doing our best to carry on, even though she's no longer here to assist.

On this third Memorial Day outing, we visited three different cemeteries and decorated the graves of twenty-eight dearly departed ancestors. 

After all of the tombstones were decorated, we visited the family farm in Lahoma. The girls had to pose in front of the grain storage bin. This photo shoot location is an annual tradition, too.

We had made reservations two months in advance of this trip; however, the nice folks at the Hampton Inn somehow managed to give away our requested non-smoking room. 


The NJCAA Division II World Series was taking place in Enid on Memorial Day weekend, so every single room in and around the city was booked. We HAD to accept the stale smelling room, so we simply donned gas masks and entered the room armed with Febreze. Okay, so the gas masks are a bit of an exaggeration, but the Febreze part is true. The room may have smelled horrible, but it beat the alternative of sleeping in the car, or in a stable, or under an overpass... 


In all fairness, the hotel management treated us very well. They outfitted the hotel room with an ozone machine, which dramatically cut down on the smokey smell. Best of all, we were given a reduced room rate (fire sale?) AND a gift card to IHOP. Perhaps they thought we were in town for the baseball tournament and would appreciate having a "Grand Slam" for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was a nice thought. 

We arrived back in Texas late Sunday evening. Mercifully, we not only had a non-smoking room at the Smith Haus B&B, but a completely non-smoking environment! No Febreze was required. :-) Ahhh! There's no place like home.

On Monday afternoon, we showed Cousin Linda around the DFW Metroplex.

 The new Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in the Big D proved to be photo-worthy.

From downtown Dallas (Sixth Floor Museum, the Galleria, and a driving tour) to Fort Worth (Sundance Square, Smitty's office, and the Stockyards), and literally all points in between the two big cities, we gave Mr. Smith's cousin a pretty good idea of what the metroplex is like -- endless road construction, traffic, terrific shopping, lots of buildings, and too much to see and do in one day!

The "Turned Tassel" Bash

The RSVPs were tallied.


The house was clean.


Food was prepared.


The Maine Coons went into hiding. (How do our cats always sense that company is coming over at least 45 minutes before the doorbell actually rings?)


It was time to uncork the bubbly! We were DEFINITELY ready to celebrate our recent graduate's accomplishments.


I snapped a few photos prior to the first guests' arrival. I think Martha Stewart would approve. 

The menu consisted of: mini pulled pork sandwiches, bacon-wrapped chicken stuffed with jalapeño strips and cream cheese, caramel-nut brie, mini quiche, spanakopita, meatballs, salami and cheese platter, veggies and dip, deviled eggs, punch, sparkling cider, champagne, red and white libations, and water. For dessert, there were two decadent cakes from Central Market Bakery and (Pepperidge Farms) Pirouettes. Our celebrant is a ballerina.



We had planned food for forty people, and I think the final count was at 36, so it all worked out perfectly.

I almost forgot about the Edible Arrangement for the table's centerpiece, complete with the year "2012" spelled out in pineapple cutouts. Very tasteful indeed.

The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent... 

The diploma really does have a complete first name. It's not just  A.

Of course, there had to be roses and stargazer lilies, as these are a favorite of all three Smith girls. These flowers smell even better than they look. 

Our graduate girlie had to decide which pair of shoes to wear for the big event. 

Decisions, Decisions...

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo?

Eeny won.

 If the shoe fits, wear it. So she did -- with a little black dress.

I attempted to get pictures of all of our guests, but somehow managed to miss a few -- quite a few, actually. I'll share a few of the smiles:

 Tia and Liesey

The glad grad, Claire, Kaytlynn, and Isabel

 Millie, Olivia, and Katie

 SuJean, Luke, and Lane

 The Thomsons minus one plus one Smith

 Jim Tom and Diana with a very happy girl

 Miss Claire got artsy with the confetti. Too cute!

The girls went to see The Avengers after the reception was wrapped up, but I think our graduate was a little embarrassed to drive her car. 


I'm responsible for the graffiti, and I think it looks classy!

Artsy Fartsy Award

Our youngest Smithling was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Art award. (I could insert a random thought about Millie's brush with greatness making me bristle with pride, but I won't... But I already did, didn't I?! Oh, well! The "badder" the pun, the better?) There were only two students who received art awards, so this is quite an honor. 

Go ahead and draw your own conclusions, but we think this young lady is a masterful work of art!

"For we are God's masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  - Ephesians 2:10

GLADuation

The Lone Star Christian Academy proudly announces the addition of one more alumnus to its list of distinguished graduates. The count is now up to TWO. 

CONGRATULATIONS, Liesey Lou!

Yep, she's in a class all her own -- quite literally.

Senior Shoot

My intentions were good. It just didn't happen -- all school year long. Obviously, it's been a busy year.

Somehow we neglected to get an appointment scheduled with a professional photographer for senior portraits. Aren't senior pictures traditionally taken during the fall semester? And now the school year is pretty much over. Our SENIOR graduates on May 12th!

After an impromptu outing (almost in our literal backyard), we managed to get a few poses that capture our grad's personality, and best of all, there was no sitting fee. :-)  I took just over 100 shots, and ended up with several really nice pictures. Well, to be honest, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. Don't worry, I am only sharing a few. Enjoy!

  As an added bonus, I snapped a sister shot. Two-for-one!

 My fav.