tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9196411546530781442024-03-14T10:07:05.816-05:00INOKWACASmithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comBlogger376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-31762892528567678742016-02-17T14:43:00.000-06:002016-02-26T15:00:32.564-06:00Be Mine!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Day 4: Sunday, February 14 </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a sweet treat getting to spend Sunday morning together. We all met at Liesey's apartment at 8AM, then walked several blocks and enjoyed brunch at a great little spot called Huckleberry. Healthy, fresh, organic fare was the order of the day. And did I mention that the coffee was tall, dark, and handsome?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After we returned back at the apartment, I handed out Valentine gifts to my sweethearts -- yummy chocolates and BIG lips! The big red and pink lips were purely for a photo opportunity. See?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> AJ and Markkk headed off to the airport, so the rest of us squeezed in just a little more fun stuff before we had to say farewell. Liesey Lou and I decided that we "needed" one more sweet treat, so we stopped in at a Ghiradelli Chocolate shop for a Sunday sundae. You simply cannot go wrong with ice cream and chocolate that is made for sharing...And even more so, since it was Valentine's Day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a special note of interest, I want to point out the awesome necklace that our daughter is wearing. Our Airbnb hostess makes jewelry and teaches jewelry making at Santa Monica College. We bought this "signature piece" for our daughter. I knew she'd love it. And she did.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our flight back to the DFDubs was right at three hours long, the shuttle ride to the parking spot only took a few minutes, and the drive back to Keller was 40 minutes. It's good to be back home, but I'm ready to go back to California for another visit any day of the week.</span>Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comHuckleberry Santa Monica, CA34.0238568 -118.4921004000000334.0103593 -118.51227040000002 34.0373543 -118.47193040000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-47998990715130290772016-02-16T11:45:00.000-06:002016-02-26T14:28:52.803-06:00Showtime!<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 3: Saturday, February 13</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Saturday morning, as we were making a trip to Costco to purchase roses for our ballerina girl, we happened upon this unusual "artwork" above a CVS pharmacy. This sculpture is somewhat disturbing, yet it somehow seems right at home in Venice, CA. It is apparently a "marriage" between a classically trained ballerina and street performer/clown. It is a masculine, yet feminine looking all at the same time -- definitely the kind of thing that might make me have bad dreams, yet I "had" to take a picture of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am pretty sure that we may have seen the inspiration for this piece of work strolling on the Venice Boardwalk...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the flowers were purchased, we met up with AJ and Mark at the Santa Monica Pier. They had an early flight from Portland to LAX on Saturday morning. They, too, had tickets to the best show in LA -- Pepperdine's Dance in Flight!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was very crowded in Santa Monica, as preparations for setting up the finish line for the Los Angeles Marathon was underway. There were barricades set up, news crews, and more street vendors than usual. Traffic was a wee bit heavier than usual -- both vehicle and pedestrian. We didn't mind the crowds. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See those two people waving? Braxton and Millie are in the #17 car of the Ferris Wheel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here they are close-up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The main reason we made this trip to Southern California was to see the annual performance of "Dance in Flight," Pepperdine's resident dance company that our girlie has been a part of for the past two years. We were not able to attend last year's performance, but we did get to see a video of the performance. It was amazing! We decided that we would have to be present and accounted for at this year's show, since it IS her senior year.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">DIF auditions are held in September, then rehearsals take place every weekend until showtime in February. There is a tech rehearsal, a dress rehearsal, and a show for elementary school children before they get to the four shows on Thursday-Saturday. We opted to see the final show.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;">Dance in Flight dancers perform </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #414042; line-height: 19.1264px;">Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Ballet, Modern, Theatrical, Ballroom and World dance. Although there are 30-some dancers in the company, if I am being TOTALLY honest, we were really only interested in seeing one of them light up the stage with her smile. :-)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We met up with our dancer in between the Saturday matinee and evening shows. We didn't have time to tour the campus, but we did have time to get a quick bite to eat together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As expected, the show was FABULOUS! (I might be somewhat biased...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am including two photos from a ballet piece and one picture from the salsa number that our girlie was in. We were not allowed to take photos during the performance, but these photos were taken by a Pepperdine photographer during one of the rehearsals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can tell by the smiles that we all enjoyed the "flight."</span></div>
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Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comSanta Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA34.0092419 -118.4976037000000134.002660399999996 -118.50768870000002 34.0158234 -118.48751870000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-45022711736382684782016-02-15T23:58:00.000-06:002016-02-25T23:31:17.247-06:00Sand and Stars<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 2: Friday, February 12</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Big squishy hugs were given and received when we got to see our Pepperdine girlie! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We were given the 2ยข tour of Liesey's apartment before we headed to Pacific Palisades to have breakfast at Maison Giraud -- one of the best places, aside from traveling all the way to France, to get a yummy, flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth authentic French croissant. We were not disappointed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We simply had to sample several different kinds of baked goods (Gluten? What gluten?!), but the consensus was that the chocolate and plain croissants are the best of the best of the best. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not a single crumb was wasted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The French toast is pretty fabulous, too! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After breakfast, we drove north along the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu to visit a few favorite beaches. Zuma and Westward Beaches are both nice, but the best photo ops were found at El Matador State Beach. The rock formations and magnificent waves were oh, so picturesque. And best of all, we found some happy faces to photograph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We then headed to Venice Beach just for comparison sake; however, there is no comparison between the beaches in Malibu and Venice. People watching IS a bit more "colorful & interesting" at Venice Beach -- no contest there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Our SoCal tour guide needed to leave us in the early afternoon, as she had a dance performance to get ready for on Friday night. When we were back on our own, we drove into LA to find Neapolitan pizza at a plain Jane warehouse looking restaurant. Cheap, fast, plentiful, tasty, and gluten-laden all describe our experience at DeSano Pizza Bakery. (I had already declared that this would be a day for allowing gluten into my diet, so I went in with knowing what I was in for. No regrets.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After eating all that bread, it was time for a walk. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">There are nearly 2,400 stars/names covering 3.5 miles of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the Walk of Fame. I don't think that we saw every single one. I lost count! However, we saw a good representation. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqn93eXZrtKeS-FqZwN_8fySuO_iOF1uoHlt8rVxRwS5HmNz-PfJHeFZV4LBQgkVkKhj_uvApG6pB58K35EnQyWCGDfp6wSO0mBQqLadymxYl5X46LI5IWjkP6qcWSsbg7bjgYmzz8oZSW/s1600/IMG_0172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqn93eXZrtKeS-FqZwN_8fySuO_iOF1uoHlt8rVxRwS5HmNz-PfJHeFZV4LBQgkVkKhj_uvApG6pB58K35EnQyWCGDfp6wSO0mBQqLadymxYl5X46LI5IWjkP6qcWSsbg7bjgYmzz8oZSW/s640/IMG_0172.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Elvis, Bob Hope, Lassie, Mickey Mouse, Harrison Ford, Ronald Reagan, and of course Marilyn Monroe are some of the big names that we walked all over. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtPAeS4sn8p2SM0RyQ5fsACmc11vp66aiEYxKpuA2gyrtoToJ6srIh0vZzu_k8NdN01jvatHJC0OeOjX-DQpbZp9HBqF-aiFmbbwLwRdAZQb8LkzeWgmX2asGQqqJoL08l7Nks0rnfoni/s1600/IMG_0390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtPAeS4sn8p2SM0RyQ5fsACmc11vp66aiEYxKpuA2gyrtoToJ6srIh0vZzu_k8NdN01jvatHJC0OeOjX-DQpbZp9HBqF-aiFmbbwLwRdAZQb8LkzeWgmX2asGQqqJoL08l7Nks0rnfoni/s640/IMG_0390.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grauman's Chinese Theatre might now be called TCL Chinese Theatre, but the hand and footprints on the front sidewalk of the theatre haven't changed since the first impressions were made in 1927. Again we saw a lot of names, but most are ones I did not recognize.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We made one quick detour before heading back to our guest cottage accommodations. We (quite literally) drove by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see Chris Burden's "Urban Light." This sculpture incorporates 202 restored 1920s and 1930s street lamps. It is...well...enlightening. </span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comEl Matador State Beach, 32350 El Matador Beach Rd, Malibu, CA 90265, USA34.0394151 -118.8758127.3751721 -160.184406 60.7036581 -77.567218tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-90054482493722855372016-02-15T13:36:00.000-06:002016-02-25T23:15:44.365-06:00Hooray for Hollywood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Day 1: Thursday, February 11</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtpqqyZROJQyBjXOuFpei-s7cNcUQgmCcyT0jyD9Q_TPPLPQtZdVnuSofh3IPo_-pjnQXLNv2sCB6KpX1QI7FDYRQEJrEOrid7L334nh5BQ70k8j5KZag-wNpd8q627G1RJaiO9m27kI2/s1600/IMG_0370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUtpqqyZROJQyBjXOuFpei-s7cNcUQgmCcyT0jyD9Q_TPPLPQtZdVnuSofh3IPo_-pjnQXLNv2sCB6KpX1QI7FDYRQEJrEOrid7L334nh5BQ70k8j5KZag-wNpd8q627G1RJaiO9m27kI2/s640/IMG_0370.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position, seat belts are securely fastened, and smiles are on these travelers' faces. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All ready for takeoff! </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are SoCal bound.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">After a very quick and very direct flight to Los Angeles, we hopped in our rental car, navigated a crazy route (all thanks to Waze), and headed to a two-hour tour of Paramount Studios.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our tour guide took our group of seven (four of us and our three Aussie buddies) all around the studio in a golf cart. We got to visit a warehouse filled with retired (and some very recognizable) props, we walked the streets of the backlot, and we toured a few sound stages as we learned a lot about what goes on behind-the-scenes in Hollywood.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_GPC8zV0kHSZWNDThVladshwyuBAdQY399V6g3fl75a6N7U2-ZISm1RKHeS1e-qGob5cq992-sJEG1QZ3Rn8tbTN-eCw9lob5aFqRHiNiGKAxp1MLMKMMEUHqX1bb2VpMZ1jeu1n9-X5/s1600/IMG_0080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_GPC8zV0kHSZWNDThVladshwyuBAdQY399V6g3fl75a6N7U2-ZISm1RKHeS1e-qGob5cq992-sJEG1QZ3Rn8tbTN-eCw9lob5aFqRHiNiGKAxp1MLMKMMEUHqX1bb2VpMZ1jeu1n9-X5/s400/IMG_0080.jpg" width="335" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQY6EN0es1xkj6QV2QulTEQP8MigTGz3YdeoikRcCJvO7b-DlR_hBE_PjLr_j7SV_2ZJ0Ofj6kP8o8bagl7KrEgr5mmCUfES7JvGOX5gJhOTDhcuy0XU75BDaY2AWH4NGmuSf6jtY0d0lA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-24+at+2.12.45+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQY6EN0es1xkj6QV2QulTEQP8MigTGz3YdeoikRcCJvO7b-DlR_hBE_PjLr_j7SV_2ZJ0Ofj6kP8o8bagl7KrEgr5mmCUfES7JvGOX5gJhOTDhcuy0XU75BDaY2AWH4NGmuSf6jtY0d0lA/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-02-24+at+2.12.45+PM.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpBJNDqFGN_oHz3RkMlaFaHeGUTVYjE3rbsTJK52D0nDCoHp8PycfA__5vN7ta8hkfr_TVHujijvw6g3DQk846T7Y5tNcv9COlJ7ZJbCeD509ErrUfAx9XIRWxuTb7V3TCFG8PQXzoqtm/s1600/IMG_0082+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpBJNDqFGN_oHz3RkMlaFaHeGUTVYjE3rbsTJK52D0nDCoHp8PycfA__5vN7ta8hkfr_TVHujijvw6g3DQk846T7Y5tNcv9COlJ7ZJbCeD509ErrUfAx9XIRWxuTb7V3TCFG8PQXzoqtm/s640/IMG_0082+%25281%2529.jpg" width="354" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Look at these two "celebrities" that we saw on the streets of New York!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, the paparazzi!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmpbPqKkoa76kZKgw_pGsgCOqlcgrunVlDJ9D5IoXdf4oFY96NHTaCfnbpoLcHEN0SEBPJ-4dEyDqVyYxDwhWVXSWdIM0iFSC02hBXEBs-q9yMWZmQf0db19-t8WZOgyhMV20m-7pBv71/s1600/IMG_0074+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirmpbPqKkoa76kZKgw_pGsgCOqlcgrunVlDJ9D5IoXdf4oFY96NHTaCfnbpoLcHEN0SEBPJ-4dEyDqVyYxDwhWVXSWdIM0iFSC02hBXEBs-q9yMWZmQf0db19-t8WZOgyhMV20m-7pBv71/s640/IMG_0074+%25282%2529.jpg" width="358" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Braxton demonstrated that all of those workouts for baseball have obviously paid off. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlFDoUF1-8ODheQNKcAuuzNmeVLeupIWHq84ZyqfBoD3P-RjIc8A4X55K5Bvbk3GAxFgKlnVOhpJ5N5qXJPdGPYUmLcy0zSqZbaB-58G11CgXypLbfCdo00Nxw4-qHpUd3eTBxJ85z2rI/s1600/IMG_0374+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlFDoUF1-8ODheQNKcAuuzNmeVLeupIWHq84ZyqfBoD3P-RjIc8A4X55K5Bvbk3GAxFgKlnVOhpJ5N5qXJPdGPYUmLcy0zSqZbaB-58G11CgXypLbfCdo00Nxw4-qHpUd3eTBxJ85z2rI/s640/IMG_0374+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Forrest Smith?!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CQtONwI8WnzMnhGBXydkDM0B98-MvG6Nnr35DymbxkMGOMKkw2JFFDFPb720_-5a31I0-zjM9lM1HgE5cUehtM3orRoDkQIn3_m1unypZRcbRblXtClg9XD8vHOz4fqLJgnc5N4N8LOc/s1600/IMG_0084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CQtONwI8WnzMnhGBXydkDM0B98-MvG6Nnr35DymbxkMGOMKkw2JFFDFPb720_-5a31I0-zjM9lM1HgE5cUehtM3orRoDkQIn3_m1unypZRcbRblXtClg9XD8vHOz4fqLJgnc5N4N8LOc/s640/IMG_0084.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Okay, so this might be about the most touristy thing that we did while in LA.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Well, maybe not...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">After stopping at In-N-Out in Hollywood, we headed to Santa Monica to check in to our Airbnb. We had reservations at a Spanish-style guest cottage for three nights. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">The sole reason for our trip to Southern California was not to visit Hollywood, but it was to visit our middlest child, and watch her perform in "Dance in Flight" at Pepperdine. Our college coed was unable to see us on our first day in California. On "Day Two" we were promised big squishy hugs with our California girl. :-)</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comHollywood, Los Angeles, CA, USA34.0928092 -118.3286613999999934.040211199999995 -118.40934239999999 34.1454072 -118.24798039999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-85982027717977667212016-01-02T13:59:00.000-06:002016-01-20T17:33:44.482-06:00Out With the Old; In With the New<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I will start off this NEW YEAR by sharing a few pictures from our final road trip of 2015. The day after Christmas, we loaded up the car, then traveled "over the river and through the woods" to get to Indiana.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkVPTBQSIXy79VL_Onghd2bP-j3rUm7IKbPwk7JGAUhXIaSrDaD711TdAFab-tJm6PJXMcycvZvj0XUtJUqrQVHftSUZMStrVBLceZRexNvGQl6swyROKkeFxoHUHNHz2JMKIq0nX_yL6/s1600/DSC_5457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkVPTBQSIXy79VL_Onghd2bP-j3rUm7IKbPwk7JGAUhXIaSrDaD711TdAFab-tJm6PJXMcycvZvj0XUtJUqrQVHftSUZMStrVBLceZRexNvGQl6swyROKkeFxoHUHNHz2JMKIq0nX_yL6/s640/DSC_5457.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On December 27th, we spent our 28th anniversary with a good representation of people who were with us at our wedding -- minus the three Smithlings, of course, and a few newer additions to the fam. The headcount totaled twenty-one for our after-Christmas family gathering. We cannot imagine a better way to spend "our" day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhGGEe_jFOh6h21Dsavf35fdMQwlVOal5IrZvxsrH7Q9ixSkXrNynUzvitUm0HxFk-ZCcQnnFNylLi5Za0yxVnR_oB5gXRlC7fZMlnHYvh-pkSjP0EgJpOhEuXGUjisP47bN1dZ3EvOM3/s1600/IMG_2451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhGGEe_jFOh6h21Dsavf35fdMQwlVOal5IrZvxsrH7Q9ixSkXrNynUzvitUm0HxFk-ZCcQnnFNylLi5Za0yxVnR_oB5gXRlC7fZMlnHYvh-pkSjP0EgJpOhEuXGUjisP47bN1dZ3EvOM3/s640/IMG_2451.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While in the Midwest, the three Smith "kids" took a day trip to the Windy City. Despite being a cold, blustery day, they had fun seeing the city, meeting up with a friend, and enjoying Chicago-style pizza.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xd5T57biEznQJJyrmNgXIqmI0CVEoi7HPRZBYjMjBelCbFLOT3A1w1H2iSHGAVGhGnk8pxO-X61i_bjvOQoHd_LdeFq58ljeqpx0-JAjqgHh4DeNm7zU3HW9F7zZql47s6UxPLbZpz9B/s1600/E45C1292-A169-4841-BD89-3AEE18E8C5FD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xd5T57biEznQJJyrmNgXIqmI0CVEoi7HPRZBYjMjBelCbFLOT3A1w1H2iSHGAVGhGnk8pxO-X61i_bjvOQoHd_LdeFq58ljeqpx0-JAjqgHh4DeNm7zU3HW9F7zZql47s6UxPLbZpz9B/s640/E45C1292-A169-4841-BD89-3AEE18E8C5FD.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLZxGJ5NKL34sHNFNVtijZUtS7-Xa-eQmIGH2160ZY0nqKyt0zDKP8RkOP_EjBjTIpIjEahXD3TyHjUyGbskxUgrM1ZymuYcKj4uHkGfZ8zF1UTH79DvQqa24DGuj6eMi4syLTu_F698J/s1600/IMG_2453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLZxGJ5NKL34sHNFNVtijZUtS7-Xa-eQmIGH2160ZY0nqKyt0zDKP8RkOP_EjBjTIpIjEahXD3TyHjUyGbskxUgrM1ZymuYcKj4uHkGfZ8zF1UTH79DvQqa24DGuj6eMi4syLTu_F698J/s640/IMG_2453.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7X3Ezy2DXK9Q6oVOyhvdRLCSRFUBejZkDwq0xglGD0FBSXa7LXhj2ojvs3HzEKG6P4pN6Voth9LkdqT-twDGfAzLwDZ_C20HwCNv1njvmweGwqmw7cuRAA_LaWRgGARkYjKVOm6zRe7qu/s1600/IMG_2482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7X3Ezy2DXK9Q6oVOyhvdRLCSRFUBejZkDwq0xglGD0FBSXa7LXhj2ojvs3HzEKG6P4pN6Voth9LkdqT-twDGfAzLwDZ_C20HwCNv1njvmweGwqmw7cuRAA_LaWRgGARkYjKVOm6zRe7qu/s640/IMG_2482.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We made it back to Texas for New Year's Eve, and we somehow managed to stay awake until midnight. As you can see, we had a "wild" evening, full of bubbly stuff. To be honest, the bulk of the champagne went down the drain, but the sparkling cider was a hit. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGk28iF3WSaPxUAYFbE2AmGfVRmk2i1xCDy9j-9G0WXIgWmi9fft_5j17apmj2r_LB2tM5uf96D_SUfFVUrVo2LeFFAJmZcI_06p7yQY58L-OHSW2L3NjTK4pW65Q9pV8qJ0TnK6gPiCkq/s1600/IMG_5724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGk28iF3WSaPxUAYFbE2AmGfVRmk2i1xCDy9j-9G0WXIgWmi9fft_5j17apmj2r_LB2tM5uf96D_SUfFVUrVo2LeFFAJmZcI_06p7yQY58L-OHSW2L3NjTK4pW65Q9pV8qJ0TnK6gPiCkq/s640/IMG_5724.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On New Year's morning, this trio rolled out of bed and headed to the other side of the Metroplex to lend a hand with Operation Blessing's cleanup efforts for the communities that were hit by the December 26th tornadoes. Nine twisters hit Texas and eleven people were killed, not to mention the hundreds who lost their homes and pretty much everything to the storms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are a few pictures that M. took while they were in Rowlett:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vrjSRKzyMcPSC1iokO-ISGpoAY-75nMEiqhyphenhyphenDGVsA4gLHOjz03nrKEcM4l9hriksdW3ANXPrFfZpJZw3YqaR6AEVoE8igzQ9br80YMFm5rN4o0rESgSP2gNZ0C4Ut4dHWATX9jQdXH55/s1600/IMG_4168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vrjSRKzyMcPSC1iokO-ISGpoAY-75nMEiqhyphenhyphenDGVsA4gLHOjz03nrKEcM4l9hriksdW3ANXPrFfZpJZw3YqaR6AEVoE8igzQ9br80YMFm5rN4o0rESgSP2gNZ0C4Ut4dHWATX9jQdXH55/s640/IMG_4168.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbwSEjHYiPkMGx5uhX_O9YgYQkNLmJ6JLkPz4N4Gk5Vpom5BFM2sG_orp8sHpq3t67frb0tMHraduaNeUj8VgGW5vxKm2g60amRv3pqFx1xhgpieXBaKSylZBxMAIInY4lRGZEKOSL-hP/s1600/IMG_4170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbwSEjHYiPkMGx5uhX_O9YgYQkNLmJ6JLkPz4N4Gk5Vpom5BFM2sG_orp8sHpq3t67frb0tMHraduaNeUj8VgGW5vxKm2g60amRv3pqFx1xhgpieXBaKSylZBxMAIInY4lRGZEKOSL-hP/s640/IMG_4170.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, there were many stories that were shared... Every picture tells a story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the happier tales was of a gentleman who lost his home, his beloved pet cat, and pretty much everything. He then went on to explain that he found his cat, alive and well, a few days after the storm. He was encouraged by getting his pet back, and was eager to get his home and life rebuilt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr89X3gdZhXPKAwc-my3GGFjzpBmQZsQTSM8ocKeblLZOhliTG7x0wxp91pkQ_2c8jOoOS7KDUW7PvrQdmQXcvMCK9rPK3lGLATqHz9cwJ8vp3upAsp2XeEYAx22GN2tag_kwY1nGQZT_u/s1600/IMG_4178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr89X3gdZhXPKAwc-my3GGFjzpBmQZsQTSM8ocKeblLZOhliTG7x0wxp91pkQ_2c8jOoOS7KDUW7PvrQdmQXcvMCK9rPK3lGLATqHz9cwJ8vp3upAsp2XeEYAx22GN2tag_kwY1nGQZT_u/s640/IMG_4178.JPG" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Perhaps finding humor amidst the tragedy aids in the healing process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are surely counting our blessings as this new year begins.</span></div>
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Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-3139864039007653532015-12-25T23:05:00.000-06:002016-01-23T17:47:01.350-06:00Merry and Bright <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqWb784HmKPEF8nIjvOtARfwkqgVkMEm5NBeryyvIC0xjp6juJP1bil-Mo_KnNZGZyfsW7cOaT5vfReOJRqSbLglewHEDAmD0hNJ4G-ShnLXy3YsGhFcyBj82Juh2x4H_0sDWqS9jyN8J/s1600/IMG_2235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqWb784HmKPEF8nIjvOtARfwkqgVkMEm5NBeryyvIC0xjp6juJP1bil-Mo_KnNZGZyfsW7cOaT5vfReOJRqSbLglewHEDAmD0hNJ4G-ShnLXy3YsGhFcyBj82Juh2x4H_0sDWqS9jyN8J/s640/IMG_2235.jpg" width="438" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All of the decorating was done under Jemima's watchful. Around our house we say that "Maine Coons are helpurrs." And it's true. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYVxQjx9fOOskrXaUjxMWw5O14kOQqn41k7amchOspxcxuWPQ_-epL0GJXhmHZrfGbD_nkrpirE60w6yrqXMezWmIrAh_4D_rvmUyXjCaxwxzDz7LsLSrFKXFQwm2UzwyReoNDXCN9GoW/s1600/IMG_2418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYVxQjx9fOOskrXaUjxMWw5O14kOQqn41k7amchOspxcxuWPQ_-epL0GJXhmHZrfGbD_nkrpirE60w6yrqXMezWmIrAh_4D_rvmUyXjCaxwxzDz7LsLSrFKXFQwm2UzwyReoNDXCN9GoW/s640/IMG_2418.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The cards were hung on the baker's rack with care... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our cats received Christmas cards this year from several of their Instagram friends. What is sad is that the number of cards that Bart and 'Mima received exceeded the number we humans received by one. (It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that they have smug expressions on their fluffy little faces.) They are loved. They even received cat toys and cat treats from friends in Canada and the UK.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXynuyv3J2OmjBx0PYHT-7Hc2TSwGs3EQddqIZqHJ99hEShzyyqzwVEFMASIcXYRyRiFp3qZXeyk5XnDTh-IXsySxeeOlM5MqlIybdxGtYRdEE7zrh_BcEnsZFdN3SdSysTWJ6m-ECNvL/s1600/IMG_2522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMXynuyv3J2OmjBx0PYHT-7Hc2TSwGs3EQddqIZqHJ99hEShzyyqzwVEFMASIcXYRyRiFp3qZXeyk5XnDTh-IXsySxeeOlM5MqlIybdxGtYRdEE7zrh_BcEnsZFdN3SdSysTWJ6m-ECNvL/s640/IMG_2522.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU1avaRWjtYYMiW5MFIRQIITFUqJWoq3J_Mq3cE2RG_pr6a6bixC6NbO-FC2g_OsxqTMcMI3Q03twdoEwqze3TIJopurEUssyv1cY0smfg896KDqQ1D7VAqYCriSrG46Up0ZvzgbpZzY7t/s1600/IMG_4113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU1avaRWjtYYMiW5MFIRQIITFUqJWoq3J_Mq3cE2RG_pr6a6bixC6NbO-FC2g_OsxqTMcMI3Q03twdoEwqze3TIJopurEUssyv1cY0smfg896KDqQ1D7VAqYCriSrG46Up0ZvzgbpZzY7t/s640/IMG_4113.jpg" width="462" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were no cat's pajamas for Bart and Jemima, but everyone else received the traditional and customary Christmas Eve jammies. I even got a pair of plaid Victoria's Secret PJs to match the girlies. No, the boys didn't get the same kind of pajamas as the girls, but their navy and grey "comfy-wear" coordinates nicely with ours. Let it be noted that we are a well-coordinated fam.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsgm8mYCRdW-JyHx0WQIyroGYujG1M6Jd5vZV9hhfVuJhCRH_XLzhVtvYJxeWsYpTTt7tIwjX4oqfzcuNyIK_LZJinkD9R-ryMmmLI1NR3lNlFkedHHbMwEeZDaZ_dKMS5qEYT75ve6p1Y/s1600/IMG_5737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsgm8mYCRdW-JyHx0WQIyroGYujG1M6Jd5vZV9hhfVuJhCRH_XLzhVtvYJxeWsYpTTt7tIwjX4oqfzcuNyIK_LZJinkD9R-ryMmmLI1NR3lNlFkedHHbMwEeZDaZ_dKMS5qEYT75ve6p1Y/s640/IMG_5737.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Building/decorating a gingerbread casa is yet another tradition that had to be checked off of the "must-do" holiday list. Never mind that there is one even TON of glutenous material in this Home Sweet Home, as well as tons of sugar. We built it, enjoyed looking at it, then tossed it in the trash without tasting one bite.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bart and Jemima are getting a lot of "air time" on this post, but before I wrap things up, I have to share a video of our Maine Coonies shaking paws. They are all decked out in their festive finery. (Yes, I truly am a crazy cat lady. I'm comfortable with that title -- really, I am!)</span><br />
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<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/s_vi/P_T9PAa-lZQ/default.jpg?sqp=CPygkLUF&rs=AOn4CLCfA42NDJCeWNAB1Uh3XbFvwWRDug" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_T9PAa-lZQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jingle paws</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jingle paws</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jingle all the way</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, what fun it is to shake</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then get a cat treat right away...</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-71501495256994301052015-12-01T16:26:00.000-06:002016-01-18T16:28:43.777-06:00The Annual Family Photoshoot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's difficult to get a family picture. Silliness ensues. Eyes blink. Stuff happens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are a few shots that were fired with my Canon for our Christmas card photo.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquETk_vlwNjzpdhIAT7ViSZlTiCHN0SFhLTriT5sXRvBMYBlxN4rpYeiqK8sTXZy9ze7uBMKjCT1tY6XBwuKJHL63BeWay8uxeRKPH953_ZGY4wQm1LpO4Lgc7pTx8SKjMkGQ7ssncsYA/s1600/IMG_5414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquETk_vlwNjzpdhIAT7ViSZlTiCHN0SFhLTriT5sXRvBMYBlxN4rpYeiqK8sTXZy9ze7uBMKjCT1tY6XBwuKJHL63BeWay8uxeRKPH953_ZGY4wQm1LpO4Lgc7pTx8SKjMkGQ7ssncsYA/s640/IMG_5414.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrh4KGmTOMAlnUXMvRKi8sbyKR08rSxkDPbOdA5JdJZRlQXu4T5__eVVKjYDQ3xKLrAWpxXXkg_OtzAnOEVd3Uz-1US7V57fGGoC2v3eoPglloomz0tKbetVqp9AgGpE7Q_rag5JJvqto/s1600/IMG_5420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbrh4KGmTOMAlnUXMvRKi8sbyKR08rSxkDPbOdA5JdJZRlQXu4T5__eVVKjYDQ3xKLrAWpxXXkg_OtzAnOEVd3Uz-1US7V57fGGoC2v3eoPglloomz0tKbetVqp9AgGpE7Q_rag5JJvqto/s640/IMG_5420.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's hard enough to get all five humans to cooperate, but then we had to add a new level of difficulty in the form of two fluffy (yet festive) Maine Coons.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7rc02YP2JkdzFN5d1Kp6t_yNzDPPF5wVrE-pJXhBkaqTN4khuyZHncI7wHyE18ef7-DkvcS0az8vBdRqTwKXDQzVGQwl1lCqzQ5JTuTPox7j9srm1K1UQZu0Pw0RwgJtgs-CIZcRN4eG/s1600/IMG_5427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7rc02YP2JkdzFN5d1Kp6t_yNzDPPF5wVrE-pJXhBkaqTN4khuyZHncI7wHyE18ef7-DkvcS0az8vBdRqTwKXDQzVGQwl1lCqzQ5JTuTPox7j9srm1K1UQZu0Pw0RwgJtgs-CIZcRN4eG/s640/IMG_5427.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once again, everyone is looking at the camera, except for Bartholomew and Jemima.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It'll have to do.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26Gl7UJm_HY-5FJsZs0P7F_joG9c9Z64Jk9Ac64xSxgwc0jj4EMYwt4_rYOKivkoFT1QC_w3B_DNZFvJdOVQoS3GjCKTT9Q3bzh3Y6bPMbM04pG0yJ2qgJUaVo5pu6xEuuKyIcHQ8CKWp/s1600/IMG_5455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26Gl7UJm_HY-5FJsZs0P7F_joG9c9Z64Jk9Ac64xSxgwc0jj4EMYwt4_rYOKivkoFT1QC_w3B_DNZFvJdOVQoS3GjCKTT9Q3bzh3Y6bPMbM04pG0yJ2qgJUaVo5pu6xEuuKyIcHQ8CKWp/s640/IMG_5455.JPG" width="632" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I love this trio!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9fAzjSdsV_97hajqR2wP_371JPGyLIc7ekpGmKu0fYncMJ1jz_r3AF6vOgyPrDaCMkyvgEYA2Uc_fzfvSDQZcMofAbs-P5B-ebRk1LM-VIUgDLL17hAZ7EBG5MsOfaYmQSCWFQtxkx9Dm/s1600/IMG_4201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9fAzjSdsV_97hajqR2wP_371JPGyLIc7ekpGmKu0fYncMJ1jz_r3AF6vOgyPrDaCMkyvgEYA2Uc_fzfvSDQZcMofAbs-P5B-ebRk1LM-VIUgDLL17hAZ7EBG5MsOfaYmQSCWFQtxkx9Dm/s400/IMG_4201.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of our son's friends had a little fun editing this picture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can you see the family resemblance?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's all in the eyes... </span></div>
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-10256782254583076492015-11-27T15:53:00.000-06:002016-01-18T15:54:22.857-06:00Giving Thanks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiful4aCh3G-63gvt7Lsn-7gfG-Q3Vy6YoKZLKJPo2maaQMfWx_99bckr5HNqAEnYsiHlbynmVVdKvJXOuqfqMiNQ5TNf85KWmPMAJcrCY9GaTm5R2wHVjIpqGEJSO4bSq9geZRYQUtiMDa/s1600/IMG_1923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiful4aCh3G-63gvt7Lsn-7gfG-Q3Vy6YoKZLKJPo2maaQMfWx_99bckr5HNqAEnYsiHlbynmVVdKvJXOuqfqMiNQ5TNf85KWmPMAJcrCY9GaTm5R2wHVjIpqGEJSO4bSq9geZRYQUtiMDa/s640/IMG_1923.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chalkboard pretty much says it all. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI6MaGfQ1Kc6HgGOP9HTWeJKNi0bGWXAMqGchSsoyx37mlccsRpH5pZ7RLDpruMeewhh7FiO9a3Idtk3WCf2akNRWeRGbmM4SlGitty4RNMDPWJXvAk1D2EhYwvHu_EXuEk8BnafhcAFt/s1600/IMG_0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI6MaGfQ1Kc6HgGOP9HTWeJKNi0bGWXAMqGchSsoyx37mlccsRpH5pZ7RLDpruMeewhh7FiO9a3Idtk3WCf2akNRWeRGbmM4SlGitty4RNMDPWJXvAk1D2EhYwvHu_EXuEk8BnafhcAFt/s640/IMG_0037.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Family. Love. Togetherness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(And lots of yummy food!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2hCJD3xGaYo9-VgCG-OA_ySi5bL1zqVtIs5bLBkzCsxuVJwFoHjaJvhVhdxDjW1A1z_ni-cIFDNU8fcp51aIsed_4eSKt43uB0ZVTrFTWDYPINjoFMc7xP9Ifkcmkc-SDAxmC2vtcei0/s1600/IMG_0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2hCJD3xGaYo9-VgCG-OA_ySi5bL1zqVtIs5bLBkzCsxuVJwFoHjaJvhVhdxDjW1A1z_ni-cIFDNU8fcp51aIsed_4eSKt43uB0ZVTrFTWDYPINjoFMc7xP9Ifkcmkc-SDAxmC2vtcei0/s640/IMG_0038.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> As a bonus, we got to help the "Birds" celebrate five years of wedded bliss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are blessed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And thankful.</span></div>
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-20689649054501415602015-11-25T15:56:00.000-06:002016-01-21T11:31:53.178-06:00Cruising in Blonde Millie's Wheels <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeUB0QazufzQ703cmx9xgHN2w_b2wCDpXTOtL08WWVHTE5e_8LIbkEuo2iZljxY7kAQ3q6vcb2ZlOuMVCnJNuAaoIIaHsJ7ghpFdrmfq6nM0NO7pOc4PBIcZBMzlAOaF1KCgsFmo6ULkH/s1600/IMG_5272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeUB0QazufzQ703cmx9xgHN2w_b2wCDpXTOtL08WWVHTE5e_8LIbkEuo2iZljxY7kAQ3q6vcb2ZlOuMVCnJNuAaoIIaHsJ7ghpFdrmfq6nM0NO7pOc4PBIcZBMzlAOaF1KCgsFmo6ULkH/s640/IMG_5272.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Grandpa wanted to take a spin in a convertible with a pretty girlie. It's a good thing that our temps were in the 70s while he was visiting. And there was no rain in the forecast. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXCk9oiwgf-mquiB-C_sUR_w4ggC-kHglC26N6r_xMZr3zVOTnBUK8smn6ceIGZoqrsmvjak0OK0EcU5FxjHMw5A0Ik5ekMJo2rcTka5FS4aVuWmdDH0f3W0sHg-fUYw6g0Ll6A2V4qRl/s1600/IMG_5278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXCk9oiwgf-mquiB-C_sUR_w4ggC-kHglC26N6r_xMZr3zVOTnBUK8smn6ceIGZoqrsmvjak0OK0EcU5FxjHMw5A0Ik5ekMJo2rcTka5FS4aVuWmdDH0f3W0sHg-fUYw6g0Ll6A2V4qRl/s640/IMG_5278.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Millie added a couple more victims... er, uh.. I mean PASSENGERS, and they were off.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUAXa5cviWkTW4x8XqqE5ZT4Gk7NwZqkfvw80vVxhJV_OHyPQwYBsv7cJbMrCMhl9aMrTkkZaSCdFsSKVrT9mI4DBS7atYGVS0JE9NETbLfA2uAmmxfp7zFIkuUJWDTQUrFvXzEiahPVc/s1600/IMG_5285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUAXa5cviWkTW4x8XqqE5ZT4Gk7NwZqkfvw80vVxhJV_OHyPQwYBsv7cJbMrCMhl9aMrTkkZaSCdFsSKVrT9mI4DBS7atYGVS0JE9NETbLfA2uAmmxfp7zFIkuUJWDTQUrFvXzEiahPVc/s640/IMG_5285.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwe7NHm0Fv4Bc7fjvGwJTpQIPywzvXWDMivf2uzuV_2pjQlcEUW2mE3KBdM77fUucJUU90aKFy_6sGxjRWKT614OiSS4OgfVCKhnfl_i7HantriQ8MnV0FI5QBtHEXYRoHXmwPhuQM-94d/s1600/IMG_5285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wheeeee!</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-21185597261423066052015-11-09T15:41:00.000-06:002016-01-18T15:45:03.467-06:00Forecast: Gourd-geous Weather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was a picture perfect day for visiting the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Even though my camera can get heavy to lug around, I am glad we brought it to preserve the day with our youngest Smithling.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxWTAc-LxuCNJMG_6rTCxWeE1x7ByPCQxlmAMHAPM-HG6sqIuwnqU-4TauSIF1qLxUnuwClHD7LHZTWfbDaCYIi55X84hykTkFRw7fg2ZzVEKfMAPKL47w79swnguNEH0pyhWXCpVXnYj/s1600/IMG_5184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxWTAc-LxuCNJMG_6rTCxWeE1x7ByPCQxlmAMHAPM-HG6sqIuwnqU-4TauSIF1qLxUnuwClHD7LHZTWfbDaCYIi55X84hykTkFRw7fg2ZzVEKfMAPKL47w79swnguNEH0pyhWXCpVXnYj/s640/IMG_5184.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVHKQymxRfEbMMzoYjoK1bXNu4G7Hal8J4SONoiHSQ3nOXjg-PKeVRD1Nccjwgadk1A2xEHLOYKdexaAQluS4FZnGR7JhBns5w8cXXteQ_ClOVo4-W3cDU9w5KaA_ZjyxOSr1HRAVBlOh/s1600/IMG_5189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVHKQymxRfEbMMzoYjoK1bXNu4G7Hal8J4SONoiHSQ3nOXjg-PKeVRD1Nccjwgadk1A2xEHLOYKdexaAQluS4FZnGR7JhBns5w8cXXteQ_ClOVo4-W3cDU9w5KaA_ZjyxOSr1HRAVBlOh/s640/IMG_5189.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is one of the buildings in Pumpkin Village. More than 75,000 pumpkins, gourds and squash are used to make up the village.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0BABDXGU-9g101AVAxVTK7R5x9r79xZxC70Za6ffGyAK5Qc4RMIV6i9uV9kk3kzNMAxf8u-mMpf8O1OeS1ZNv2me-LZFInxccAjYQ7bwuldXmaadmSHqHdZDJi2pXeRY55-C6pgLCOVN/s1600/IMG_5193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0BABDXGU-9g101AVAxVTK7R5x9r79xZxC70Za6ffGyAK5Qc4RMIV6i9uV9kk3kzNMAxf8u-mMpf8O1OeS1ZNv2me-LZFInxccAjYQ7bwuldXmaadmSHqHdZDJi2pXeRY55-C6pgLCOVN/s640/IMG_5193.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I made her do it...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvh7OwqpXKFiZysP2KX3WIc6TkEsYnlSrQVbdnSvObifyDqz6jB0nKTGQIZ2pw0wGqSuexFBcfqMZyAqufT_T8_wOhxFYztCn9smzGEn_jAEFYmvrO_mpEifn-Pqe8AjvDmDGfLTesveJ/s1600/IMG_5195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvh7OwqpXKFiZysP2KX3WIc6TkEsYnlSrQVbdnSvObifyDqz6jB0nKTGQIZ2pw0wGqSuexFBcfqMZyAqufT_T8_wOhxFYztCn9smzGEn_jAEFYmvrO_mpEifn-Pqe8AjvDmDGfLTesveJ/s640/IMG_5195.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNJBjiezsPw3-NP4Gfk4NLBxHGa1LKIY8DYW9OSt9Qjo0HHU4If_Ms9Io-ZZhyphenhyphenDuwxpVj-lCLOg282hTh-SG1yAiQusT1HE6UgrvJU-DE3eCgpyXBTs4iBeBmsNFMkWxdfnLe5wcFvaiY/s1600/IMG_5178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNJBjiezsPw3-NP4Gfk4NLBxHGa1LKIY8DYW9OSt9Qjo0HHU4If_Ms9Io-ZZhyphenhyphenDuwxpVj-lCLOg282hTh-SG1yAiQusT1HE6UgrvJU-DE3eCgpyXBTs4iBeBmsNFMkWxdfnLe5wcFvaiY/s640/IMG_5178.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I captured a statuesque blonde and her statuesque friend.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6Sh4IyAHePrHSKXbwRC0RD0yZRkRbLLtWFayosKRQrKO3IETBZBxQfXUhDeFpP4NwDpZbygWYc3B8c1hIzQhX1U4mFKbLo-Hs39DWlMccaef7nKalQDw3bW_CDTNL3cIDHm9VMprkabp/s1600/IMG_1889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6Sh4IyAHePrHSKXbwRC0RD0yZRkRbLLtWFayosKRQrKO3IETBZBxQfXUhDeFpP4NwDpZbygWYc3B8c1hIzQhX1U4mFKbLo-Hs39DWlMccaef7nKalQDw3bW_CDTNL3cIDHm9VMprkabp/s640/IMG_1889.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We are a bit self(ie)-absorbed.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sp_Eb9dtoJCmn_sOY-vFXO1V_NGZ2_HcxanCTa6g0AfT69t7W_ZjQU-Y24IoMXxJxoW6cOT3Xpc5zR8ET7xkhhJeqUKBpP1dl_1K3vfb_JyVJobabXbgnKZa2-iqARUvD64CkxIAK4lr/s1600/IMG_5187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6sp_Eb9dtoJCmn_sOY-vFXO1V_NGZ2_HcxanCTa6g0AfT69t7W_ZjQU-Y24IoMXxJxoW6cOT3Xpc5zR8ET7xkhhJeqUKBpP1dl_1K3vfb_JyVJobabXbgnKZa2-iqARUvD64CkxIAK4lr/s640/IMG_5187.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We hiked around all of the gardens, visited Pumpkin Village, and toured the "12 Days of Christmas" displays -- all under glorious sunshiny skies. By the end of our outing, we had seen many beautiful plants, taken "one or two" pictures, encountered countless 15-year-old Mexican girls and their entourages out taking <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.4px;">Quinceaรฑera</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.4px;"> photoshoots,</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> and walked more than fives miles. But best of all, we tallied up countless smiles. We will be back...</span>Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comDallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, 8525 Garland Rd, Dallas, TX 75218, USA32.8225834 -96.7170356000000316.1583404 -138.02562960000003 59.4868264 -55.408441600000032tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-70955476570065817232015-10-31T23:47:00.000-05:002016-01-18T14:50:49.102-06:00Fall Catch Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the past weeks, I have had more than one friend comment on my inability to get any blog entries posted. You know who you are! (Thank you for your gentle promptings and nudges.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, I have neglected INOKWACA. To be honest, I write things that never see the light of day. I am currently looking at a little button on this Blogger.com page that says "Publish," but more often than not, I don't hit it. I write things. Honest! I just opt to keep things saved as my own personal journal. I fear that you might not find some of these random entries very interesting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In an effort to catch up a bit, I will share pictures and offer up minimal explanations as to what each photo represents. Deal?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ozwye12v7WUpPwx3yZvWVxuh6FJzjYdfAR0BXGLV5j_jjtM1rDb8RKhBBW4i20CSRskCnZ3BSLimxlyjOw9ELkJVGz3FZd-c3-DmJjscTZkoMdlCnQkeEqHiA9-_aPaeXg23J_hDT_N4/s1600/IMG_1371.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ozwye12v7WUpPwx3yZvWVxuh6FJzjYdfAR0BXGLV5j_jjtM1rDb8RKhBBW4i20CSRskCnZ3BSLimxlyjOw9ELkJVGz3FZd-c3-DmJjscTZkoMdlCnQkeEqHiA9-_aPaeXg23J_hDT_N4/s640/IMG_1371.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can you tell that Jemima disapproves of my lackadaisical approach to blogging? She shouldn't be too grumpy; she gets her fair share of posts/exposure on Instagram. She likes attention, I guess.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtDG9uOg64ZPA4wiahRLS-hKjPgFY9sLwAhE-cxXWJA0fbLL861Oc-s7DvArtX0ztaf6BK7RQ_vSR4RcikoIb3bfqKru1hKIhEQWoHlIx9eh8nHAlJuTHFXAfyVVr7dg874zvHYzg_pBu/s1600/IMG_1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtDG9uOg64ZPA4wiahRLS-hKjPgFY9sLwAhE-cxXWJA0fbLL861Oc-s7DvArtX0ztaf6BK7RQ_vSR4RcikoIb3bfqKru1hKIhEQWoHlIx9eh8nHAlJuTHFXAfyVVr7dg874zvHYzg_pBu/s640/IMG_1800.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love this picture of the "angry" sky. The weather this fall was unseasonably warm. To make it even more exciting, we had an occasional thunderstorm/tornado warning to contend with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My youngest was not pleased that I snapped this photo as the storm siren blared. I was looking for Jemima, who was eventually found asleep in a corner in the family room. The big fluff ball was oblivious to the impending danger of the approaching storm. Thankfully, Bartholomew & Millie were already safe inside our storm shelter (a.k.a. the windowless guest bathroom). As my cat and I made our way to the bathroom/shelter, I just had to take just one picture of the storm clouds. A small tornado did touch down in a neighboring community, so it was "exciting" to say the least. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22MZdeu8ycncgYEsHA7JyuoLw9CvnndUwsa7-Q2P-SjY6oJcBdKS7rmJOkJgZzbwpF4pagRVbBXbRzz4n1ixYUp3u37wlUTSl0TkUFRCQumjjQK5EcaPrQEX__dH-jriNBnNIEfDBH6h-/s1600/IMG_1802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22MZdeu8ycncgYEsHA7JyuoLw9CvnndUwsa7-Q2P-SjY6oJcBdKS7rmJOkJgZzbwpF4pagRVbBXbRzz4n1ixYUp3u37wlUTSl0TkUFRCQumjjQK5EcaPrQEX__dH-jriNBnNIEfDBH6h-/s640/IMG_1802.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Texas does not get much fall color, but this red oak in our backyard surely put on a colorful show.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL3XHiNN98iredYKEBm1MLqWQjfsJo9iT5FnIwfD-Ymq-ONu9WeiFEXrPp0R4QPP1v_4WIX_3S398piR4ietWrfOgxu1elm3iVlBbRow6qHtxZVFKmtyD43Mn-RytiSXMm4wtdktNlf3k/s1600/IMG_4722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtL3XHiNN98iredYKEBm1MLqWQjfsJo9iT5FnIwfD-Ymq-ONu9WeiFEXrPp0R4QPP1v_4WIX_3S398piR4ietWrfOgxu1elm3iVlBbRow6qHtxZVFKmtyD43Mn-RytiSXMm4wtdktNlf3k/s640/IMG_4722.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two are pretty colorful, too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went with A&B to a nearby pumpkin patch.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfm0Pcu17QVY0-s9flrs-_XQ0yIQNgk-iqyciNKvEUD0Al3zCkS7_-I_N7VZtHbhotcu9BngTqgn9hzJk7qVxE_4woELxkziC3x_F7h2Q3nxuf6XA-Af7d7JRDS9kSMSog1m2HOtqljtmG/s1600/IMG_4727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfm0Pcu17QVY0-s9flrs-_XQ0yIQNgk-iqyciNKvEUD0Al3zCkS7_-I_N7VZtHbhotcu9BngTqgn9hzJk7qVxE_4woELxkziC3x_F7h2Q3nxuf6XA-Af7d7JRDS9kSMSog1m2HOtqljtmG/s640/IMG_4727.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxkIPXKzh5mgTAdras8LgZm0-GR-_teLbhtYZ5Yfkoly7padXcoL_FcXZ-kXfuKLeoyO9lg4l7I1VlzRCiaTcOdBdI9xNfvX3FDE2C1O2zH1M1bwBY1CyFsW3VHP3jfGC3oztzIeNbERz/s1600/IMG_4732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxkIPXKzh5mgTAdras8LgZm0-GR-_teLbhtYZ5Yfkoly7padXcoL_FcXZ-kXfuKLeoyO9lg4l7I1VlzRCiaTcOdBdI9xNfvX3FDE2C1O2zH1M1bwBY1CyFsW3VHP3jfGC3oztzIeNbERz/s640/IMG_4732.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Braxton picked a pretty punkin'.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Rka-OE4bGVptUeGd9awo502vkCmt9wrn-pQ8E9RmKoPVY0GkPB5LgvBpEfQFrpbtq7LaRbviNar9mocGm0ob9BcJ8JoLMgVPxeUbst-t97O4NySSyLmNZ0NYnk3ZBAbykdkHolwcCpW7/s1600/IMG_4741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Rka-OE4bGVptUeGd9awo502vkCmt9wrn-pQ8E9RmKoPVY0GkPB5LgvBpEfQFrpbtq7LaRbviNar9mocGm0ob9BcJ8JoLMgVPxeUbst-t97O4NySSyLmNZ0NYnk3ZBAbykdkHolwcCpW7/s640/IMG_4741.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I picked this one.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQPiCdIZYwohqCeG-R8NrAkox71XN8WfLt3pppLQO8a9if76a6t8u9ojAOP5kjSUMe44fEm8sbKJl-bcfOWs7T27tDVvq5_D_gu39fPO4uzrdAMYsSmeHTjDL0P68FDiCDDj4EooVGzXJ/s1600/IMG_5123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPQPiCdIZYwohqCeG-R8NrAkox71XN8WfLt3pppLQO8a9if76a6t8u9ojAOP5kjSUMe44fEm8sbKJl-bcfOWs7T27tDVvq5_D_gu39fPO4uzrdAMYsSmeHTjDL0P68FDiCDDj4EooVGzXJ/s640/IMG_5123.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More fall color...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2YM5_2JRc7akSb7fP2fQMi2z1B6UkpCLKoKY7c6zZS87s2ze1rfnFW75Ou-ihSLJhXfgvwUubBsEGSiV1Nzi5tpT5cwspJfs1xVLD6sf2hzKW2Fdf2daKJNO466gQRezihsBJUkSIqOA/s1600/IMG_5158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL2YM5_2JRc7akSb7fP2fQMi2z1B6UkpCLKoKY7c6zZS87s2ze1rfnFW75Ou-ihSLJhXfgvwUubBsEGSiV1Nzi5tpT5cwspJfs1xVLD6sf2hzKW2Fdf2daKJNO466gQRezihsBJUkSIqOA/s640/IMG_5158.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilARyBkKxvmGbcqti8oWk310_7GPeJoT2ODgFLyWg0oyXT2n0LUyc9gWEXA0CPgR3BSU3phnDjKS476jRB4rrQS740RXy8meKoetCktwGFaKf0ihxSLQ3WI-gvCZe8my08YxLW0z9RY0D8/s1600/9BA037EF-A1EE-4B89-BA0D-BB1376300954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilARyBkKxvmGbcqti8oWk310_7GPeJoT2ODgFLyWg0oyXT2n0LUyc9gWEXA0CPgR3BSU3phnDjKS476jRB4rrQS740RXy8meKoetCktwGFaKf0ihxSLQ3WI-gvCZe8my08YxLW0z9RY0D8/s640/9BA037EF-A1EE-4B89-BA0D-BB1376300954.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jemima was shell-shocked that we dressed her up as a Maine (Coon) Lobster for Halloween. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">This one is all about the treats, no tricks...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjb-NVAgM-kMNvJKU3aa38yCXt9iG4xbaNal1wm4aAZPQQDtqR3LM-tU7yXOBEDl8qfUteEbkWNvr_IkpVg46RfAEnqOZrx0Tjq6qheryLOVs2-K4M3_quTe9FUpULw5aNatKYcyJ-vVW/s1600/IMG_1728.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihjb-NVAgM-kMNvJKU3aa38yCXt9iG4xbaNal1wm4aAZPQQDtqR3LM-tU7yXOBEDl8qfUteEbkWNvr_IkpVg46RfAEnqOZrx0Tjq6qheryLOVs2-K4M3_quTe9FUpULw5aNatKYcyJ-vVW/s640/IMG_1728.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Millie and her friends decorated some ghoulishly delicious cupcakes. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">The spider web and the mummy are my faves.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WiMKbDiZpG_jL7SEGk0htlUxxd1i8ZxgGnExbzbRGlENSZexmz_I5Gc24KaAJgikWMSOf-6Jf5RPa2yXqgEcUmha-Rs4xJKwv3S1cvsDqDikfAweFMNT3jCrB3aKlOEriNoL1zFigs9L/s1600/IMG_1739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WiMKbDiZpG_jL7SEGk0htlUxxd1i8ZxgGnExbzbRGlENSZexmz_I5Gc24KaAJgikWMSOf-6Jf5RPa2yXqgEcUmha-Rs4xJKwv3S1cvsDqDikfAweFMNT3jCrB3aKlOEriNoL1zFigs9L/s640/IMG_1739.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Halloween night, our neighborhood social committee sponsored a trunk or treat gathering -- right outside our front door. They had games, a movie, and lots of food. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our friends, Rey and Julie, had the best display, as they turned the back of their pickup truck into a pumpkin patch. The Great Pumpkin and a farmer made the scene complete. Mr. Smith and I didn't decorate our car, so we just hung out with these two and handed out our treats to about 60 kids. Most years we only have 10 trick-or-treaters come to our door, but this was a well-advertised and heavily promoted event in the 'hood. I am glad that I had purchased plenty o' full-sized candy bars at Costco. We gave every last one of 'em away, so I didn't have to eat any. Ha ha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If we start planning now, we might be able to come up with a creative trunk theme for next year's event. Hmmm... On second thought, I think we will just do the "come as you are" approach again.</span> </div>
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-51238713820415272032015-10-12T12:12:00.000-05:002015-10-20T14:43:28.961-05:00Meet Me in St. Louis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RXp-m3BoE3RqyebYAUPjNWJx5N3JSFSIhilFlhG8JcsU1YZLGLW7Eek7QG_2_JmWD_D_e8Y5-LzpsoZj6boOJ4YKLlyMS3TVz4HOpWP-u4h5hJraYumgb7OT7l2xfcBiWYl_kyYSKtu3/s1600/IMG_1525+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RXp-m3BoE3RqyebYAUPjNWJx5N3JSFSIhilFlhG8JcsU1YZLGLW7Eek7QG_2_JmWD_D_e8Y5-LzpsoZj6boOJ4YKLlyMS3TVz4HOpWP-u4h5hJraYumgb7OT7l2xfcBiWYl_kyYSKtu3/s400/IMG_1525+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr. Smith and I packed an overnight bag, loaded up the car and traveled a little bit north and quite a distance east to get to "The Gateway to the West." This road trip was so we could attend our niece's wedding. None of the Smithlings were able to make the trip; however, somebody simply had to be there to represent the Smith fam. We love our niece to pieces, so we wouldn't have missed her special day!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMt0nRX8A_C8PgOjtmDZff2W1V-81qI6QjW67K-Vw1LquPrPDt58k7zkwhPoWnL6DFwYel3EMApOPHiiO5Gh7ojwEVvKSiqBrajbLdGlXN4SxH5mkAjpRWnFbT9RG2RLweRHhVZznu03E/s1600/12112324_755084787096_6310782500139812588_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMt0nRX8A_C8PgOjtmDZff2W1V-81qI6QjW67K-Vw1LquPrPDt58k7zkwhPoWnL6DFwYel3EMApOPHiiO5Gh7ojwEVvKSiqBrajbLdGlXN4SxH5mkAjpRWnFbT9RG2RLweRHhVZznu03E/s640/12112324_755084787096_6310782500139812588_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Molly and Nate tied the knot on October 9th at the <a href="http://www.thirddegreeglassfactory.com/" target="_blank">Third Degree Glass Factory</a> in the 'Lou. This proved to be a lovely venue for a wedding.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqRM-L1htq-qIHaBRJsqkW5d1yKtZn0i9BQ94QO_7XG7ckkXfUbF6xx4fCPjBnpxnqBDhrysEdCaGzG1eOobl3d7zTtoOEYII8No8ftV46qXls9hZDcoBOa8Xb24Hv1j3T4JBTEgh-2v1/s1600/IMG_1400+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqRM-L1htq-qIHaBRJsqkW5d1yKtZn0i9BQ94QO_7XG7ckkXfUbF6xx4fCPjBnpxnqBDhrysEdCaGzG1eOobl3d7zTtoOEYII8No8ftV46qXls9hZDcoBOa8Xb24Hv1j3T4JBTEgh-2v1/s640/IMG_1400+3.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's quite apparent that we don't "selfie too good!" I simply had to try so I could send my kids Snapchat messages from their cousin's wedding. (They thought we were funny. Or odd. Or amusing. Or something like that.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was sooo good to see my daddy!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNJHpUbsXtFv1lyKcwXRpOxZLB08a_WvWXbYSRa2Wb_xMWIq2VtOPRQbsfWcKqdpCJwWDaZeWAjNJ8lldxSBcLJbaKFfTWP-iJ_g3xk5TIrPlOAMkWGU4m7boxM0VlYn-N_LmCEd4LT5n/s1600/IMG_4746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNJHpUbsXtFv1lyKcwXRpOxZLB08a_WvWXbYSRa2Wb_xMWIq2VtOPRQbsfWcKqdpCJwWDaZeWAjNJ8lldxSBcLJbaKFfTWP-iJ_g3xk5TIrPlOAMkWGU4m7boxM0VlYn-N_LmCEd4LT5n/s640/IMG_4746.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The bride and her grandpa posed for my camera.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HBEFP-MHtDKec8CFqS7nRkTEnLoOhyphenhyphenzPZ0sDkdK13UmB1dRLPAtrj_xJsHxt_WpDFfS7z1FtSGQ25VzUETK8OkDyDgJWnGeiDQrfUiZ5urTVx7irI6COPKrc-hXbjD7ntmZP2svl2YKb/s1600/IMG_4748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HBEFP-MHtDKec8CFqS7nRkTEnLoOhyphenhyphenzPZ0sDkdK13UmB1dRLPAtrj_xJsHxt_WpDFfS7z1FtSGQ25VzUETK8OkDyDgJWnGeiDQrfUiZ5urTVx7irI6COPKrc-hXbjD7ntmZP2svl2YKb/s640/IMG_4748.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The mother-of-the-bride and her daddy also smiled for me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I didn't even have to ask this very proud father-of-the-bride and his daughter to look happy. This joy just came naturally!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The desserts at the reception were all of Molly and Nate's favorite recipes that friends and family make.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It was hard to choose just one thing, so I chose three! Little bites. Honest.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu4Csvyq2709KgINXlxsCEK0Sjp_FwhYLar0rQcUJEEZcsd_BG8u4R6LiJ366QXhyphenhyphenJZZWqMqpVsEUVjGMm8KmyFzYT6GXTteshuB7FehQgvZkO5nZ_-SlIPUxcRDLUp64iS4ynykWqe9D/s1600/IMG_4785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu4Csvyq2709KgINXlxsCEK0Sjp_FwhYLar0rQcUJEEZcsd_BG8u4R6LiJ366QXhyphenhyphenJZZWqMqpVsEUVjGMm8KmyFzYT6GXTteshuB7FehQgvZkO5nZ_-SlIPUxcRDLUp64iS4ynykWqe9D/s640/IMG_4785.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There were lots of "pretty no-nos" in the gallery. This is the kind of place that would make a mother of young children very uneasy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYENA6VDYYHazcCy91e1E2y5Afw6zITwunBK9Zkdq77j3P1mhAUA9nutEKKvtodafLnyCfDnQ7YuQHC5PdkK-vtZlqxHmYNCFTB8dUMKShczZkDrPrb_ynZ3Fw2YtU6gLTjReyBWAi5Fp/s1600/IMG_4812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYENA6VDYYHazcCy91e1E2y5Afw6zITwunBK9Zkdq77j3P1mhAUA9nutEKKvtodafLnyCfDnQ7YuQHC5PdkK-vtZlqxHmYNCFTB8dUMKShczZkDrPrb_ynZ3Fw2YtU6gLTjReyBWAi5Fp/s640/IMG_4812.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Rachel and Anne</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Mitchell and Sarah </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Siblings! </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we are in order of age. Our brother Jay couldn't make it...Maybe we should Photoshop him in!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iKz5G17y1MYUo1d0APcFeaJhDdPQuiYf4ROil6rxdf5u_PnyM19bs9TC4Ei17LwjBGGhZlalJAg81oTD64B6tHxgxX4DXQsiCjmg-rotBBs6oOHkDNn72HRTg4nsdVpK2GVB-_6pOtv9/s1600/IMG_4825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9iKz5G17y1MYUo1d0APcFeaJhDdPQuiYf4ROil6rxdf5u_PnyM19bs9TC4Ei17LwjBGGhZlalJAg81oTD64B6tHxgxX4DXQsiCjmg-rotBBs6oOHkDNn72HRTg4nsdVpK2GVB-_6pOtv9/s640/IMG_4825.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3T3u8V-eQnSIgOQxQgVRntT5zRR85Z_B0dkyK5H0SppO0imntMxvtw1j4KvgngnTNopV338HTRJPy-_82-yHNibNKmD-sVNldQA6qc0HIODZXM0m5hWWTpoKVGlWIlEXr3WTbNCSbRJp/s1600/IMG_4830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3T3u8V-eQnSIgOQxQgVRntT5zRR85Z_B0dkyK5H0SppO0imntMxvtw1j4KvgngnTNopV338HTRJPy-_82-yHNibNKmD-sVNldQA6qc0HIODZXM0m5hWWTpoKVGlWIlEXr3WTbNCSbRJp/s640/IMG_4830.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> AJ and Mark</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRxpNwx2P5UKSkjdPv52XeYgQHUU8yo_G6Una7cGCeJwv_rlkKPy4onyvC7YllEzXQ9lwhacEzRva33spov1cNFlTXE1SacBiWm7zxV4H_gNQK8bvWp1hyphenhyphenDF4cyp7eBlT8_h_qclyxBrC/s1600/IMG_4832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRxpNwx2P5UKSkjdPv52XeYgQHUU8yo_G6Una7cGCeJwv_rlkKPy4onyvC7YllEzXQ9lwhacEzRva33spov1cNFlTXE1SacBiWm7zxV4H_gNQK8bvWp1hyphenhyphenDF4cyp7eBlT8_h_qclyxBrC/s640/IMG_4832.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The twins posed for an "almost birthday" photo.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ3CQAy4megNd8f_e5T0HIwv4eMAGXoSonHL3KTA_dgwhMNQI9inAr2ARCmjSgfDr7Dife_td7bW8sfQFXpNHP2b8EefdduYtCGjW-OzAG4LwO0QjQWC2k894b_2Y9yEuEA60gQ99WNFI/s1600/IMG_4842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ3CQAy4megNd8f_e5T0HIwv4eMAGXoSonHL3KTA_dgwhMNQI9inAr2ARCmjSgfDr7Dife_td7bW8sfQFXpNHP2b8EefdduYtCGjW-OzAG4LwO0QjQWC2k894b_2Y9yEuEA60gQ99WNFI/s640/IMG_4842.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> #1 Son and Dad</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTgWQIJ9ojyYRvGTYOMbq5l4SAnqOLFQtCV1nJy3suoWTyfZu3H93DdE6IyvHFWHtvohm0hZQcv0e5bi61YjuGjAJtUbhesYlo6iRn1Ysc4cROGdlKZ8UNTS9cDfbXIABT9Xycays4lKr/s1600/IMG_4843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTgWQIJ9ojyYRvGTYOMbq5l4SAnqOLFQtCV1nJy3suoWTyfZu3H93DdE6IyvHFWHtvohm0hZQcv0e5bi61YjuGjAJtUbhesYlo6iRn1Ysc4cROGdlKZ8UNTS9cDfbXIABT9Xycays4lKr/s640/IMG_4843.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Me and my road trippin' buddy</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6dO21j6YkfxdkH_gArQYELmRrVifgkgeaNgoTG7N91LSzaThCqlIT0f1lVapM586WIrc1aRx-C7_IKgHdE-CDPNSg3nhY8qvMqpTSeX6_pgKTsfbw6_JJkHxTAZNUVhW998oLC2dbydO/s1600/IMG_6472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6dO21j6YkfxdkH_gArQYELmRrVifgkgeaNgoTG7N91LSzaThCqlIT0f1lVapM586WIrc1aRx-C7_IKgHdE-CDPNSg3nhY8qvMqpTSeX6_pgKTsfbw6_JJkHxTAZNUVhW998oLC2dbydO/s640/IMG_6472.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOC_c_yWsQBfSksmTgXbDOm5c64iqU9xFEv5SKhVyHYwVG8BVzL9XiPoU2dN1Zfka8jU3VVkII8zKASEDSsei-teUg6kVbxCq2_LdascUS_OjAr5JmER4cFcdq7fvbE-4n88u7EpZ2B80/s1600/IMG_0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOC_c_yWsQBfSksmTgXbDOm5c64iqU9xFEv5SKhVyHYwVG8BVzL9XiPoU2dN1Zfka8jU3VVkII8zKASEDSsei-teUg6kVbxCq2_LdascUS_OjAr5JmER4cFcdq7fvbE-4n88u7EpZ2B80/s640/IMG_0104.jpg" width="466" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nate's dad brewed up a special ale for the occasion, "I Thee Red."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Too bad I'm not a beer connoisseur. It looks good.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmXRFN-hGtV1odr3IkROTYW9_uV0jQKwerB3aLrI0AXKNh3OvG6wzVtN2y1LtyMdm3pUzRjL6eKlfHMwlUcNrZqj14jt0Kv_xZjSD14U6PWwmStxFVJK2Is95qZxKnfhyBwbhXiOotH1w/s1600/IMG_4857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmXRFN-hGtV1odr3IkROTYW9_uV0jQKwerB3aLrI0AXKNh3OvG6wzVtN2y1LtyMdm3pUzRjL6eKlfHMwlUcNrZqj14jt0Kv_xZjSD14U6PWwmStxFVJK2Is95qZxKnfhyBwbhXiOotH1w/s640/IMG_4857.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To cap off the evening, we got to see a glass blowing demonstration. It was either do this or go hit the dance floor. :-P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all met for breakfast on Saturday morning, before the Texas contingent hit the road. We picked up two more passengers for the return trip -- well, baby-to-be makes three!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7iOlmqs0SNLasywh-Yv8NNyBlLgtsHA1lckMTMcC_UJ7Hu5CaNrbTldPURtD0xHQ-SasS7ybIlQcHvA63RwK3ouzhcnKhb8Or4KhwPf6BCD3CUQGZPbIQgH32PbuMrJ-4XcqWVt-YIR2/s1600/IMG_6503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7iOlmqs0SNLasywh-Yv8NNyBlLgtsHA1lckMTMcC_UJ7Hu5CaNrbTldPURtD0xHQ-SasS7ybIlQcHvA63RwK3ouzhcnKhb8Or4KhwPf6BCD3CUQGZPbIQgH32PbuMrJ-4XcqWVt-YIR2/s640/IMG_6503.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqc2TzQAzaPht9_huqvuT76W5U3Eju6itz4KeuJYO3koTtHsCG9QSwUpvrGlWW7USlQGOH0zbzJ547rCSf6EZWVjuQYfB-rQcVeAhY4ZPQPyX14yqZwNr5qNwmaWSYXSkm4n2bi-hOGF9s/s1600/IMG_1409+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqc2TzQAzaPht9_huqvuT76W5U3Eju6itz4KeuJYO3koTtHsCG9QSwUpvrGlWW7USlQGOH0zbzJ547rCSf6EZWVjuQYfB-rQcVeAhY4ZPQPyX14yqZwNr5qNwmaWSYXSkm4n2bi-hOGF9s/s640/IMG_1409+3.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> We simply HAD to stop here. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's going to be a new tradition of places to stop along the I-44 corridor in Missouri.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RtJuV4YKKV6QJf_DgvpFvQVHHaVSEWkq09XM6G7c8wrEbmc9ea8KThbR-ryfqNxRFYdnEYbPYOE-HGA-crsFdyyDPhOOIB4JqzUAnCkWFnUl5EUSyzjdDchTKdniQl3PMcZApk5QQt7b/s1600/IMG_1410+3+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RtJuV4YKKV6QJf_DgvpFvQVHHaVSEWkq09XM6G7c8wrEbmc9ea8KThbR-ryfqNxRFYdnEYbPYOE-HGA-crsFdyyDPhOOIB4JqzUAnCkWFnUl5EUSyzjdDchTKdniQl3PMcZApk5QQt7b/s640/IMG_1410+3+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why did we cross the road?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To get to the chicken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">AND because it's so ridiculous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And because we needed a potty break.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Road trips need to be packed with silliness and El Pollo Camino.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And clean restrooms!</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comSt Louis, MO, USA38.6270025 -90.199404238.230193 -90.844851200000008 39.023812000000007 -89.5539572tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-4292409688104817072015-09-23T23:39:00.000-05:002015-10-02T11:23:26.779-05:0021-17-23<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The title of this entry is NOT the combination to our safe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Random digits? No.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winning lottery numbers? Nope. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These numbers represent the recently "updated" ages of the 3 Smithlings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could have gone with their birth years: 92, 94, and 98.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or I could have used the actual dates in Septemnber: 9, 18, and 22. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I opted to go in order of first September b-day to last, using the birthday celebrant's "new" age. Are you sufficiently confused?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>21</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov0h41YwM9N2Dw4YxZHxJWphuADs69gfxvVha0b8-vZUsZzkPH-dV0mbwQNGzHifK6ojLXgzvsSN-ZJj1be_VD4HBfIS6uVlyBCnam7XbKO6axmZAu31pp1C2GYdd5KUTklwVIOeEFoo8/s1600/IMG_1381.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhov0h41YwM9N2Dw4YxZHxJWphuADs69gfxvVha0b8-vZUsZzkPH-dV0mbwQNGzHifK6ojLXgzvsSN-ZJj1be_VD4HBfIS6uVlyBCnam7XbKO6axmZAu31pp1C2GYdd5KUTklwVIOeEFoo8/s640/IMG_1381.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since Liesey Lou is away at school, we had to celebrate with her in a virtual kind of way. I shipped a "self-contained party" package to her door. It was filled with some of her favorite things. Keeping in the "spirit" of the occasion, we also included a few items that are appropriate for a freshly turned twenty-one-year-old. Cheers! (FYI, the box has "TWENTY-ONE!" and a whole bunch of colorful "Happy Birthday" messages written all over it. The folks at our Post Office loved it.)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VIyEy1sTIRAZtrSo0INwJBQmzRQj91fHgO7YAD_Ymc3djLVxhbBMVdDKmXoJsobxo9QyjUnVSuKuUsRTNh9dH16fBugSYOXSK1g0D6zOVPJPgX0Jbo3a78Cesaa4drHDcT5H9pwdh3Pm/s1600/IMG_1377+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4VIyEy1sTIRAZtrSo0INwJBQmzRQj91fHgO7YAD_Ymc3djLVxhbBMVdDKmXoJsobxo9QyjUnVSuKuUsRTNh9dH16fBugSYOXSK1g0D6zOVPJPgX0Jbo3a78Cesaa4drHDcT5H9pwdh3Pm/s400/IMG_1377+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Viniq is too pretty to actually drink...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7WTc2sl3h49r0CbdrlAE6qH-so9HpKjL4ZY42OBJ6bsjwFxMifinO6tOQ1-3zTSGiw46op3Bv1QT48bsUY4-Gh4zYHpLsHoh5cDGW7ui7SvI_lp6G93ifr574HlNVwfB0v2aWlCaA0BR/s1600/IMG_1376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7WTc2sl3h49r0CbdrlAE6qH-so9HpKjL4ZY42OBJ6bsjwFxMifinO6tOQ1-3zTSGiw46op3Bv1QT48bsUY4-Gh4zYHpLsHoh5cDGW7ui7SvI_lp6G93ifr574HlNVwfB0v2aWlCaA0BR/s400/IMG_1376.jpg" width="307" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The little sister bought the big sister a decorative shot glass to commemorate the day. <span style="text-align: center;">Printed on the glass is the message, "September girls have all the class." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We really surprised our girl by shipping a red Vitamix to her doorstep. The intent is that she can use it daily to make smoothies or soups. <span style="text-align: center;">Or she might think it could be used to make some "adult-ish" frozen drink </span><span style="text-align: center;">concoctions, now that she's 21 and all.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ66Ekk2G683uAHPfgNtUS4-OcO4Ftz5xwKBU0gnyog_LH5zEKhmqA4BiEjjV7XCm0SkD7f5_kb7C5pUEvZP3y1iIaj0aQ2BoUnPZa_vWz5me9t3uPQAMprmLI_GdKFn4W_7HaoQwXrjT/s1600/IMG_0951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ66Ekk2G683uAHPfgNtUS4-OcO4Ftz5xwKBU0gnyog_LH5zEKhmqA4BiEjjV7XCm0SkD7f5_kb7C5pUEvZP3y1iIaj0aQ2BoUnPZa_vWz5me9t3uPQAMprmLI_GdKFn4W_7HaoQwXrjT/s640/IMG_0951.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This Snapchat sent from my girlie says it all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm sure that her neighbors love the noise this beauty makes!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">17</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This girlie turned seventeen on the eighteenth!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made sure the windows on her car had a little b-day chalk art on 'em, but nothing too crazy. Thankfully, it didn't rain, so my artwork lasted a few days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Look! It's a bumper crop this year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bagel tree had to move indoors this year. The pest control guy was in our yard treating for wasps and fire ants, so I wanted to make sure that no residual spray ruined this plump "fruit." Also, I figured that he'd think we were nuts if he saw bagels outside, on a metal tree. Naturally, it would be perfectly "normal" to see a bagel tree on the inside of the house. I am sure he thought nothing of it, if he did see this view through the windows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At least the people on this side of the table were having fun. I'm not sure about the two guys on the other side. There's no picture to show their status. B-day dinner at F&G Eats in Keller was delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Birthday girl got and early start on Saturday, September 19. We agreed to help with the packing of 500,000 meals for Haiti. We got to church at 7:30 and found stacks and stacks of supplies. It is pretty amazing to be a part of this operation each year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After we completed our shift of meal bagging, we headed home to get ready for a party.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was instructed to get Millie out of the house for a while so her friends could decorate her room. 400+ balloons later, her room looked like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Sam, Mak, Millie and LOTS o' balloons</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, she was surprised!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We added Braxton and Brandon to the mix and headed off to the Dallas Galleria for some ice skating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Millie received lots of great gifts: her favorite new perfume, Gucci Bamboo; a Kendra Scott necklace; gift cards; hard, cold cash; "Naked" eye makeup; a Nerf gun (Yes, for real.); and this lovely James Avery Ring was from her bf.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After we returned home from ice skating, we had pizza, salad, and homemade checkerboard cake. Yay for Tillamook chocolate/peanut butter ice cream and chocolate cake. Oh! And buttercream frosting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To finish off the evening, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Guardians of the Galaxy </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">played on a big inflatable movie screen in our backyard. Then three friends spent the night -- GIRL friends; no boys were allowed to stay for that part of the party! :-P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think it is safe to say that our teenager had a perfect celebration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a post b-day treat for our girlie and a pre-birthday gift for our son, we attended a Rangers game on Sunday. We were about 25 rows up on the third base side, so we had a great view.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The seats may have been great, but it was very painful to watch the Rangers lose to the Seattle Mariners. Ugh! However, the sting of defeat was softened by having field passes to see (David) Crowder perform after the game. It was a great time of worship!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">23</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made the birthday boy a cheesecake with Snickers and Reese's PB Cups as garnish. SnReese's or Reickers? Whatever it's called, it was delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What did the 23-year-old receive as gifts? Ca$h, new lenses for his Oakley sunglasses, vinyl, and a PS3 game. He also was given a box of his favorite things like Pop Tarts, chewing gum, Cookie Butter, Bee's Knees peanut butter, "Chateau Smith" zin., and a couple of brews.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To cap off the month o' birthdaze, we went out to eat with our favorite Uncle Julio, because he makes the best fajitas. Too bad that we don't group selfie too well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's it, that's all. September celebrations are all wrapped up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let the diet resume.</span>Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-45033640480042550222015-09-02T23:36:00.000-05:002015-09-03T17:45:14.177-05:00These Colors Clash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Out of the blue, Millie was invited to go to a "color clash" that one of the local church youth groups was hosting. I gave her the green light to go to this event, so she donned a plain white tee and met up with her colorful group of friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although she was tickled pink to be there, she was soon seeing red, orange, purple, green, and every other color of the rainbow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> These are the casualties of "war," but at least everyone is color coordinated.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcehFEfD5aC1sZ7iXwYy4P4dm0e8lPARRtOILnNSLLGtGqhcEuN8NVVWi7T5ar75-u4XrZdYY4Ku_74o0-mogjzfco7W7vLwOmnO-qWss9TIDUpmQtRm9pPJLKy3JKle6k5wMCWu0ErK6s/s1600/IMG_0868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcehFEfD5aC1sZ7iXwYy4P4dm0e8lPARRtOILnNSLLGtGqhcEuN8NVVWi7T5ar75-u4XrZdYY4Ku_74o0-mogjzfco7W7vLwOmnO-qWss9TIDUpmQtRm9pPJLKy3JKle6k5wMCWu0ErK6s/s640/IMG_0868.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Talk about a splash of color...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnoi36PuofWKZVeR2rAU1MeX1zTwjteRlguPSLR5I-Jiemfe64cWoiHnkYdcfM2wUjpZNFsUKEyX2Z6Ji5HmYUikvcFsYVwdafe-6cU7ItJJqx47pM2A4JEfi2CxVvswl1meVUu5HASnM/s1600/IMG_4363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnoi36PuofWKZVeR2rAU1MeX1zTwjteRlguPSLR5I-Jiemfe64cWoiHnkYdcfM2wUjpZNFsUKEyX2Z6Ji5HmYUikvcFsYVwdafe-6cU7ItJJqx47pM2A4JEfi2CxVvswl1meVUu5HASnM/s640/IMG_4363.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think a little pretreating of spots will be necessary before the next load of "colors" goes for a spin. </span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comJohnson Road Park, 640 Johnson Road, Keller, TX 76248, USA32.9406568 -97.2393288999999756.2764123000000005 -138.54792289999997 59.604901299999995 -55.930734899999976tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-27729291963266527112015-08-27T14:33:00.000-05:002015-09-01T15:53:41.875-05:00Moving Boxes, Backpacks, and a New Semester<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's that time of year again...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> #2 Smithling loaded her car and hit the road back to Pepperdine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Big Brother made the road trip with Liesey Lou to help get her new apartment set up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Architectural style used for apartment buildings in 1959 may be kind of plain Jane, but the location is fantastic! This place is ideally situated in Santa Monica, blocks away from the beach, restaurants, and shopping at the Third Street Promenade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The college girl still needs to hang a few more things on the walls, but she is pretty much settled into her new digs. She shares a two-bedroom unit with one of her roomies from last year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kitchen is newly remodeled (complete with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances), and the hardwood floors are original equipment. This place has a lot of character.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm sure that there will be a lot of hours spent right here hitting the books.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkuT7AXyciXNTpDeLIpTSc55Zm6dQAvU0mRV91iXe0ltA_5SYUAunSuJGOjLgDs-CWh1EbfBpooVgzYiFqh-hr-t5GO5PsK9ZhSW06waAc0cqedH6uj_WvS0wZjW-kQiSTY5X2JpbokKJ/s1600/IMG_4186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkuT7AXyciXNTpDeLIpTSc55Zm6dQAvU0mRV91iXe0ltA_5SYUAunSuJGOjLgDs-CWh1EbfBpooVgzYiFqh-hr-t5GO5PsK9ZhSW06waAc0cqedH6uj_WvS0wZjW-kQiSTY5X2JpbokKJ/s640/IMG_4186.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was o'dark-fifteen when this girl left for her cosmetology program. Millie's alarm went off at 5 AM. (Yawn!) She has a 20-25 minute commute to get to the technology center, and thankfully, traffic is not an issue when she's making her morning drive. She will have time to come home each morning before going to her high school for regular classes: History, English, Physics, Art, and Algebra 2. This year, the high school adopted a block schedule, so her afternoons consist of three classes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8-vOyfy-5uK90Bm_6dqbbzRQqEnFnhh2Zc_QUlvHtHeXJ66yQPg8YmWIgikw9UcCRzqikbC1oi4ivtgp2ymId2TxZtMsWF7N29HquyUk_ho1izRi0DVcRSK1QbDLJ4QuY_VHyv2YQ0HE/s1600/IMG_4193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8-vOyfy-5uK90Bm_6dqbbzRQqEnFnhh2Zc_QUlvHtHeXJ66yQPg8YmWIgikw9UcCRzqikbC1oi4ivtgp2ymId2TxZtMsWF7N29HquyUk_ho1izRi0DVcRSK1QbDLJ4QuY_VHyv2YQ0HE/s640/IMG_4193.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had to do a traditional "by the front door" back-to-school shot when my high schooler got home from school.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKIGk69is3NrPI1_ojpH9MRVZiCz4o8Wh94oSRwXkUiruasoBx95PbD6GO95KUTrSNVTwUjxtX19g6m4tD4Rf_uBaAfX7MkCNzJX1dPTpdLCmfVN587oR3-IT4Drs5VfuQex4YpMXVJ_1/s1600/IMG_4200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKIGk69is3NrPI1_ojpH9MRVZiCz4o8Wh94oSRwXkUiruasoBx95PbD6GO95KUTrSNVTwUjxtX19g6m4tD4Rf_uBaAfX7MkCNzJX1dPTpdLCmfVN587oR3-IT4Drs5VfuQex4YpMXVJ_1/s640/IMG_4200.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhIeIgF8-SvVol85h-9x0OQ-1UrFJEjY8oalE8RCNePHA9Xm2PHYupINsPqWGixNvzy3JiBLrCIiwoZdrjaVMofHJIVTFlnOjWr1ftvag0g4CAEJN6htuGmJSlf61hdsKtqbgXbASzF22/s1600/IMG_0302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhIeIgF8-SvVol85h-9x0OQ-1UrFJEjY8oalE8RCNePHA9Xm2PHYupINsPqWGixNvzy3JiBLrCIiwoZdrjaVMofHJIVTFlnOjWr1ftvag0g4CAEJN6htuGmJSlf61hdsKtqbgXbASzF22/s640/IMG_0302.jpg" width="422" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a recent trip to the mall, I made my teenager pose for this picture. Nearby, there were mothers with small children who gave me questioning (but not disapproving) looks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See. She fits perfectly!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, I did not load the slots with quarters, but I <i>was</i> tempted.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgra7Vemakf-BFB__68Vln0kPDtCtm8bXRGbG6lW1GEnyOFTHgyN4eSncqRRcIa8P0P-cda1nqMSKJ3xGuVBjVbHoaSoqeSdgG6TcgWC6y2kiIumXrywne7vYY6bQqedDwKDPXXA-3Bb7rj/s1600/IMG_0715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgra7Vemakf-BFB__68Vln0kPDtCtm8bXRGbG6lW1GEnyOFTHgyN4eSncqRRcIa8P0P-cda1nqMSKJ3xGuVBjVbHoaSoqeSdgG6TcgWC6y2kiIumXrywne7vYY6bQqedDwKDPXXA-3Bb7rj/s640/IMG_0715.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last, but certainly not least, this guy got started on his next-to-the-last semester at UTA. That diploma is in sight... Yes, he willingly agreed to my taking this picture. He is a good boy. He is my favorite son.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amazon boxes filled with textbooks are starting to arrive at the front door. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hopefully, fall weather will be arriving soon, too. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I placed my order weeks ago, but there was some nonsense about 70ยบ temperatures being backordered. This 100ยบ stuff is getting old.</span>Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-62072833124763049632015-08-16T22:33:00.000-05:002015-09-01T23:34:01.626-05:00Four Threes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a recent survey, four out of five car owners in the Smith family prefer to drive a BMW 3 Series. I'm the oddball Audi owner, so they made me stay outta the picture. Ha ha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All four cars were clean at the same time, so it was declared picture day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0xamUjScXdvfUJ9JC50oT_GoN4Lw7-Mz92_zVMCnJoIz0gqq1p6mrxQ_yVhMF6G7kp73hdnBMlOqINRHP5Iy_rEFcivDi66iPpbfKtvbHjNi2ap3agQWcXZJmMEW4MgXVu9tr26wiNxC/s1600/IMG_4111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0xamUjScXdvfUJ9JC50oT_GoN4Lw7-Mz92_zVMCnJoIz0gqq1p6mrxQ_yVhMF6G7kp73hdnBMlOqINRHP5Iy_rEFcivDi66iPpbfKtvbHjNi2ap3agQWcXZJmMEW4MgXVu9tr26wiNxC/s640/IMG_4111.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Starting from the the left, the fleet looks like this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2003 330i "Blue" -- 190,000 miles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2001 325Ci "Blonde Millie's Wheels" -- 98,000 miles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2000 325i "Blackie" -- 215,000 miles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1995 325is "The Beaker" -- 197,000 miles</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr. Smith & Son are considering opening their own repair shop since they do all of the oil changes and other maintenance on these driving machines. These four cars are just getting broken in, so it's going to be fun to see just how many miles we can rack up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh! The four cars have acquired the nicknames Eeny, Meeny, Miney, and Moe.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2N1zcOV1yXSyz9GPRKI-1cbPhYIpyOBSfWRdRXKF2tyo6pU9_u6IxVIV7xYH1aT3-7nLu8c-fc7Ov0bMZ6TJzus7g742c1n31B1Aj2hcvfkVX88ZphO2OKfq9ityQIjC7oWW8FoiSoGY/s1600/IMG_4124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2N1zcOV1yXSyz9GPRKI-1cbPhYIpyOBSfWRdRXKF2tyo6pU9_u6IxVIV7xYH1aT3-7nLu8c-fc7Ov0bMZ6TJzus7g742c1n31B1Aj2hcvfkVX88ZphO2OKfq9ityQIjC7oWW8FoiSoGY/s640/IMG_4124.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Left to right: Miney, Eeny, Moe, and Meeny! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Bimmers are named in order of acquisition, not by the age of the vehicle, so that makes things a little harder to keep the right name with the right car.</span><br />
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-86407845121914065002015-07-30T23:50:00.000-05:002015-09-01T14:56:51.957-05:00The Big Friendly<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The girlies and I decided to tag along with Mr. Smith to OK City for the day. He had business meetings, and we had nothing on our schedule.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We started out our day in "The Big Friendly" by walking to the Myriad Botanical Gardens in the heart of downtown. It was a very warmish day, with afternoon temps promising to be over 100ยบ F, so we decided we had better do our outdoor activities before we got into the really "heavy sweater" part of the afternoon! Our morning stroll through the various gardens was actually quite pleasant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of our favorite things in the botanical gardens is the Thunder Fountain. The water feature opened at 10 AM, so we had plenty of time to take a few photos before the water turned on. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37ueG_xvL-IvMUsTpuwFRhpWes-pmgYExp7AdqkpyQpmtQpRMT17HBmIXy8Rz50ljbFjLsUY6kCeKi1UkldoZKQcQ9-AA-Gozo8qbYnoOTc-L8bXgdTRqc8M-tthM7PitoevSxQ-IntMw/s1600/IMG_0202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37ueG_xvL-IvMUsTpuwFRhpWes-pmgYExp7AdqkpyQpmtQpRMT17HBmIXy8Rz50ljbFjLsUY6kCeKi1UkldoZKQcQ9-AA-Gozo8qbYnoOTc-L8bXgdTRqc8M-tthM7PitoevSxQ-IntMw/s640/IMG_0202.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had the place to ourselves at 9:45 AM, but precisely at 10 o'clock, the "thunder" began to crash, and the water sprays turned on. Almost instantly, this colorful water feature was filled with wet, giggling children. Obviously the locals know exactly when this fountain springs to life. It was almost as if the children materialized out of thin air. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbarMJqh36-26PASMLdZcO6YvXnTnKBG_96NI6Ro1Ux1zWq70JC4qTca9sj9YoM3VGvnOY2I8DL7xK4UbEPrFdL73GX54-nCF02si9foKZWA2xar_HpZ-Cz4DZ7kFoiaEhqggpSgHv9jC/s1600/IMG_0206+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbarMJqh36-26PASMLdZcO6YvXnTnKBG_96NI6Ro1Ux1zWq70JC4qTca9sj9YoM3VGvnOY2I8DL7xK4UbEPrFdL73GX54-nCF02si9foKZWA2xar_HpZ-Cz4DZ7kFoiaEhqggpSgHv9jC/s640/IMG_0206+%25281%2529.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBFdyShUh1LlcWT4loaEHM3lBXyMxS1lnjuFS1AdAOS_Y3-Ye66D12yM7QjdN-jK5BAwHJq32kBzwqgw3tXxwwkLB-qWq7SO5rCOiSmrB8LN9hb4EXTCsBZrIdrW5PXTAxhAtbyDvT33P/s1600/IMG_0208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdBFdyShUh1LlcWT4loaEHM3lBXyMxS1lnjuFS1AdAOS_Y3-Ye66D12yM7QjdN-jK5BAwHJq32kBzwqgw3tXxwwkLB-qWq7SO5rCOiSmrB8LN9hb4EXTCsBZrIdrW5PXTAxhAtbyDvT33P/s640/IMG_0208.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUU-OizmLRHNgIAnjHl5Lh-s-fd0q0Ki6ROTnomnOFU_VWR-RZC1aDQrV_UnreK-SVLknvbCBs7O4pk-6siefhX_rXecSYZcdL1STVVVGqkXw1oBVymdY5cK3BLPoIz2fyy3NFuZrb7bS/s1600/IMG_0212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMUU-OizmLRHNgIAnjHl5Lh-s-fd0q0Ki6ROTnomnOFU_VWR-RZC1aDQrV_UnreK-SVLknvbCBs7O4pk-6siefhX_rXecSYZcdL1STVVVGqkXw1oBVymdY5cK3BLPoIz2fyy3NFuZrb7bS/s640/IMG_0212.jpg" width="440" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we left the gardens, I captured one of my girlies peeking around the edge of a big red sculpture. We agreed that we need some yard art like this at our casa to get the neighbors talking. (This should fit on the top of the car, right?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We next toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The last time I remember seeing this area, it was a year, or so after the April 19, 1995 bombing. At that time, the rubble from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building had all been cleared, and a chain link fence was surrounding area where the building once stood. Flowers, teddy bears, pictures, ribbons and other memorabilia was affixed to the temporary fence. There is still short section of chain link fence with mementos attached to it, a</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">s a part of the permanent memorial.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although my middle child was only six months old at the time of the bombing, and the youngest one wasn't even born yet, the girls found this to be an interesting, yet sobering place. The memorial is very well done and it truly honors the victims, survivors, and rescue workers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uFIjZ2VRqDa9GDY8p0-3plEu5T8BSJBpj2clS_KrzXvEDiVGSdEfwCXVc48mHi8PGUHlin7kSkKsTS5ylPs7DWSha-SpULeMXjcXWQoKWmxekEUtw6LP4EnxkH05NKZelvIhHlTV20o7/s1600/IMG_0215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uFIjZ2VRqDa9GDY8p0-3plEu5T8BSJBpj2clS_KrzXvEDiVGSdEfwCXVc48mHi8PGUHlin7kSkKsTS5ylPs7DWSha-SpULeMXjcXWQoKWmxekEUtw6LP4EnxkH05NKZelvIhHlTV20o7/s640/IMG_0215.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each "chair" represents one of the 168 men, women, and children who were killed in this domestic terrorist attack. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We continued our walking tour of downtown, detouring through air conditioned buildings a couple of times to get cooled down as the afternoon temps heated up rapidly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDc2CRzzBaaF4PU1kmZn11XgFTFurlASFHGZdu1YAxKtrrFOPfsMg-bQUw9aTEee397WEKqFFIKU1MsnRj8pIINxvnJ0jFiMl3oR3N8UV4cpTk9B4TUh2BbvpwZyrqz-3FWprXeu8bRcq/s1600/IMG_0220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDc2CRzzBaaF4PU1kmZn11XgFTFurlASFHGZdu1YAxKtrrFOPfsMg-bQUw9aTEee397WEKqFFIKU1MsnRj8pIINxvnJ0jFiMl3oR3N8UV4cpTk9B4TUh2BbvpwZyrqz-3FWprXeu8bRcq/s640/IMG_0220.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last, but certainly not least, we happened upon this <i>interesting</i> building in the "Automobile Alley" district of downtown OKC. We did not venture inside, but learned that this is a gallery of sorts. I am a bit curious as to what is on the inside if the outside looks like this!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a late lunch with the mister, we started our drive back to Texas. We've taken a look in our neighboring state and can confirm that Oklahoma is still OK.</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comOklahoma City, OK, USA35.4675602 -97.51642759999998635.053806200000004 -98.16187459999999 35.8813142 -96.870980599999982tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-41758451494939713102015-07-24T22:28:00.000-05:002015-09-03T17:53:11.198-05:00Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My "middlest" child and I drove through Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois just so I could be <i>back home again in Indiana</i>. See, "going home again" can be done! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went to Indiana to spend a few days with my dad -- it was a spur of the moment decision. Spontaneity and summer seem to travel hand-in-hand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be honest, the opening lines from "<b>Indiana</b>" did go through my head as we crossed the state line. It always does. Sometimes I actually break into song. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><i>Back home again in Indiana,</i></span></div>
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">And it seems that I can see</span></i></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></span></i>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The gleaming candle light, still shining bright,</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><i>Through the Sycamores for me.</i></span></div>
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The new-mowed hay sends all its fragrance</span></i></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></span></i>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">From the fields I used to roam.</span></i></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"></span></i>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash</span></i></div>
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Then I long for my Indiana home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbMZelIa0Xrph2GAfnD7kZp2BDO-5u0eqtPUe_39wFhn-BT4BU6lvJ3gCTFKm2tzp0ZY0N7ml9fNASCkS39EHmBRoxVDWxvm_-jfbCX_vFujqjKI-vweNsb3Cv-P2PzNwPXMO9ZTffkwa/s1600/IndianaHomeAgainCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbMZelIa0Xrph2GAfnD7kZp2BDO-5u0eqtPUe_39wFhn-BT4BU6lvJ3gCTFKm2tzp0ZY0N7ml9fNASCkS39EHmBRoxVDWxvm_-jfbCX_vFujqjKI-vweNsb3Cv-P2PzNwPXMO9ZTffkwa/s400/IndianaHomeAgainCover.jpg" width="308" /></span></a></div>
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Let's back up a few miles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liesey Lou and I agreed that if the two of us were going to do this trip, there would have to be some interesting diversions along the way. We are all for taking the road less traveled, as long as we can still make good time while having a good time. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDg9RC1lGIusZAVtnygAdpu6rkwNBE3EWN6JQ-IlmZuPPdqw4MGPh1s0m_NnB4lzrxRbi00fxhJt_wQi9RBmwwC_JUxKiBvp80dZsy8NnrfhnhRNa_aGEpsFPT-AJRluGllWdC102jA2a/s1600/IMG_9946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDg9RC1lGIusZAVtnygAdpu6rkwNBE3EWN6JQ-IlmZuPPdqw4MGPh1s0m_NnB4lzrxRbi00fxhJt_wQi9RBmwwC_JUxKiBvp80dZsy8NnrfhnhRNa_aGEpsFPT-AJRluGllWdC102jA2a/s640/IMG_9946.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Somewhere in Missouri, this happened.</span></div>
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Road tripping with this girlie is never boring. It was soooo very much worth stopping here to get this picture. And the "Cookin' from Scratch" sign in the background makes it even better.</span><br />
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After nearly 15 hours in the car, we made it to our destination; my home town.</span><br />
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Indiana is a great place to grow up. (I'm sure that there are people from the other 49 states who also think that their home state is a great place to grow up.) </span><br />
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Indiana is special. And there is more than just corn in Indiana. There are soybeans, too!</span><br />
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You know you're a Hoosier when:</span><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You measure distance in minutes, not miles.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "Where are you gonna go to?"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You have heard &/or used terms like "catawampus," or "kitty-corner," or "whopper-jawed."</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: normal;">You know several different definitions as to what a Hoosier really is.</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: normal;">You've ever said, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."</span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: normal;">You have no problem pronouncing Terre Haute. And you know the correct Hoosier pronunciation of Versailles. It is not pronounced ver-<b>sahy</b>;</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> it's ver-</span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">SALES</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> Really. Truly. Or what about Milan, Indiana? It is pronounced </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">mai-l<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px; white-space: nowrap;">ษn</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> -- nothing at all like that "other" city in Italy. Russiaville is pronounced </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">roosh-a-vul</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">, and Moscow is pronounced </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">muss-go</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are so many other wonderful names given to Indiana cities and towns. Here are some of my personal favorites:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Toad Hop</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Possum Trot</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">French Lick</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Santa Claus</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Little</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hooker Corner</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Floyds K</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nobs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Normal</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hogtown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Farmersburg</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bean Blossom</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gas City</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gnaw Bone</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nope. You simply cannot make this stuff up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a native of Indiana, I am entitled to poke fun at my home state. It's allowed. It's even encouraged. (I think!) I am really making fun of myself because </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am (and always will be) a Hoosier. N</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">o matter how many other states I've lived in, I've learned that <i>you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can't take the Hoosier out of the girl.</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All kidding aside, there are also interesting factoids about the Indiana that must be shared. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Indiana produces more than 20% of the United Statesโ popcorn supply. In a typical year, almost half of all cropland in Indiana is planted in corn.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll bet that you didn't know that professional baseball got its start in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The very first Major League game ever played took place on May 4, 1871. It was a National Association contest between the Cleveland Forest Cities and Ft. Wayne Kekiongas. The Kekiongas won the contest 2-0. (What is a Kekiongas, any way?!)</span></li>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bedford, Indiana, is known as the "Limestone Capital of the World." (That's right, the WORLD!) <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.142858505249px;">New York City's Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center, as well as the Pentagon, the U.S. Treasury, a dozen other government buildings in Washington D.C., and 14 state capitols around the nation are all built from Indiana limestone. (These are the hard, cold facts!)</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Interesting, huh?! You'll thank me the next time you are on a game show and need to know this stuff to answer the "million dollar" question.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDg9RC1lGIusZAVtnygAdpu6rkwNBE3EWN6JQ-IlmZuPPdqw4MGPh1s0m_NnB4lzrxRbi00fxhJt_wQi9RBmwwC_JUxKiBvp80dZsy8NnrfhnhRNa_aGEpsFPT-AJRluGllWdC102jA2a/s1600/IMG_9946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_68l-7ZAUMIjBpaFewMOvXaSycJf2vjNNTcwGbydF13Rn3kmNY1JP97UbZTXVb5rPp_SskfHB3_O74AK6G5HxCJoMAsEQhN2Lm5hItsd2edttgrwgEhMJ65j2DSP6IIROn8QEhBM5s847/s1600/IMG_3906.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_68l-7ZAUMIjBpaFewMOvXaSycJf2vjNNTcwGbydF13Rn3kmNY1JP97UbZTXVb5rPp_SskfHB3_O74AK6G5HxCJoMAsEQhN2Lm5hItsd2edttgrwgEhMJ65j2DSP6IIROn8QEhBM5s847/s640/IMG_3906.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were happy to get to see these faces.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjyZvFz9SvnxEnnEo7KtF3XYaOSk0EtE8Dz8PluuqknR_NGrXcH7Wa7_esRXwQbJB4NVGrQ8D611VhXLnQOp_Y9L7LdwGuy_Cqz4t3bTtguKIeqU9IUdiqCUDMvAp1o9q6zImaKdFQNEb/s1600/IMG_3931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjyZvFz9SvnxEnnEo7KtF3XYaOSk0EtE8Dz8PluuqknR_NGrXcH7Wa7_esRXwQbJB4NVGrQ8D611VhXLnQOp_Y9L7LdwGuy_Cqz4t3bTtguKIeqU9IUdiqCUDMvAp1o9q6zImaKdFQNEb/s640/IMG_3931.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Liesey Lou got to put the Dixie Chopper to good use.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDQc3cyE56R1JjgV4gEX6XPg8z9wbqThxbuNTU8rOTjDr_sb_HClpbP_GhpCcQe-oTxcyspm6wcZ54IjisHOAqRG78GK8pDUF4JOj44qYk2srExqXABXx4-mJ-RMK94oc8ajPCTmUFlQu/s1600/IMG_9958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvDQc3cyE56R1JjgV4gEX6XPg8z9wbqThxbuNTU8rOTjDr_sb_HClpbP_GhpCcQe-oTxcyspm6wcZ54IjisHOAqRG78GK8pDUF4JOj44qYk2srExqXABXx4-mJ-RMK94oc8ajPCTmUFlQu/s640/IMG_9958.jpg" width="494" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our visit overlapped with my seester's visit by a couple of days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do we look related? It must be the sunglasses.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICgK4u9kJnUmH9FM3j2lCp-ktX8faG1S9Mp7XS-_nJstkVKsOQzUK0IE-nfRVIVxmc8rxj3jb6cJecMpMF0BC36eP8OfMHENZBN0pkwBmV83jX_eqR8v9ibnXOugVwrkI-wNwf0fJVn7u/s1600/IMG_9975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICgK4u9kJnUmH9FM3j2lCp-ktX8faG1S9Mp7XS-_nJstkVKsOQzUK0IE-nfRVIVxmc8rxj3jb6cJecMpMF0BC36eP8OfMHENZBN0pkwBmV83jX_eqR8v9ibnXOugVwrkI-wNwf0fJVn7u/s640/IMG_9975.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No trip to the Indianapolis airport is complete without </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">making a quick lap around the Circle City. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">It was monumental. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">You might even say that we have come full circle.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHilutt0apLOQX9ZpAkBWW3xkbmFGIvraCuljg7VFDqonWBoy7T4nFIfPLLkHPn50WQa6cbsTTul_zuREqRE8AFuXn27OXoXWpWf1MBasYt6cXhT8i7JJZH9w_jGJ1aWyqtc5IcTz12Qs/s1600/IMG_3934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHilutt0apLOQX9ZpAkBWW3xkbmFGIvraCuljg7VFDqonWBoy7T4nFIfPLLkHPn50WQa6cbsTTul_zuREqRE8AFuXn27OXoXWpWf1MBasYt6cXhT8i7JJZH9w_jGJ1aWyqtc5IcTz12Qs/s640/IMG_3934.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Does this ring any bells?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMh2SiKwe9JGb5CnEPiV5nOzCQLbYVdq8RwraopOmVsVZ8v7tpfJdzx-CA1tXp0T4e13HlvvuHaFyl6uGoy1hhXfRL5CLNxgRSW0S1BHYMmdxnAbm4QWRGtH1j_Ckuw8N0X054KVwOIUq/s1600/IMG_3936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMh2SiKwe9JGb5CnEPiV5nOzCQLbYVdq8RwraopOmVsVZ8v7tpfJdzx-CA1tXp0T4e13HlvvuHaFyl6uGoy1hhXfRL5CLNxgRSW0S1BHYMmdxnAbm4QWRGtH1j_Ckuw8N0X054KVwOIUq/s640/IMG_3936.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The official state bird of Indiana dropped in for a snack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We told him to "suet" himself.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXhBW9j-cgZHTuSS_BnL73sDGBTw-7_UrukhuYpEXSjmY1YbcUaOAOyHcMiqVwzXXvdDYec6VzUworFOVXTBDKnDobIOURLbNX8LWrlbFNtyLYK_nbXIYR_X38_1GVNjMtB9BlJ7SCZRE/s1600/IMG_3946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXhBW9j-cgZHTuSS_BnL73sDGBTw-7_UrukhuYpEXSjmY1YbcUaOAOyHcMiqVwzXXvdDYec6VzUworFOVXTBDKnDobIOURLbNX8LWrlbFNtyLYK_nbXIYR_X38_1GVNjMtB9BlJ7SCZRE/s640/IMG_3946.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obviously, this is the road less traveled.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYjG1fB3BpaD_MHBouneBzS3etNYC8zPqyI5vsXTGb-o4gGteMKigqgdLX1q0sQ2_XnsVUQiQRJpMcjpLTmbLbYlRQ2OR7Vm48C5RoPZ_0F3wQ9_IenvCkPyPTYckUpKUVKU3kQDxPlKM/s1600/IMG_3957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYjG1fB3BpaD_MHBouneBzS3etNYC8zPqyI5vsXTGb-o4gGteMKigqgdLX1q0sQ2_XnsVUQiQRJpMcjpLTmbLbYlRQ2OR7Vm48C5RoPZ_0F3wQ9_IenvCkPyPTYckUpKUVKU3kQDxPlKM/s640/IMG_3957.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This trio looks a little moo-dy to me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJrh-bMx_tzmCdClH1TP6n6KLVqFZlSlHd-eBCpZVsbnZ1WrG4hDsYqVFURDe6Z6KZEvDBKW_6Ae9tSoOPX9ILEKdEsCGLsvmW-9k1rgBcWM1g4CRCvKSGp3Wn6K_8_Jb4KwgmyDhoEuk/s1600/IMG_3966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiSqRHrB1-QHHWg_YXx0cfkNgbrsgA7kMFOQHYL05AyEWJkuNr-US3ChG5WEAvIQhOEja6HUwbreSTTcqZmvfDjZNXBN5dwrwa07VZTBa4bj_0scuVs2a3_QMVzE2bfCB7b_fUXeqSnzX/s1600/IMG_3968.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiSqRHrB1-QHHWg_YXx0cfkNgbrsgA7kMFOQHYL05AyEWJkuNr-US3ChG5WEAvIQhOEja6HUwbreSTTcqZmvfDjZNXBN5dwrwa07VZTBa4bj_0scuVs2a3_QMVzE2bfCB7b_fUXeqSnzX/s640/IMG_3968.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVQCGVMPJODzIO2A0QfefXGpEcfK3PwsQHZnoSCAVvBn4aY0vaupt9FOapDnrxV_y0iZdtPoFZtfO1AitIDsf20q1b7RNguN7YL0cjElsfFUOyDq35zaLtu8BUfI8dU697AJJM3chwEZR/s1600/IMG_3992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVQCGVMPJODzIO2A0QfefXGpEcfK3PwsQHZnoSCAVvBn4aY0vaupt9FOapDnrxV_y0iZdtPoFZtfO1AitIDsf20q1b7RNguN7YL0cjElsfFUOyDq35zaLtu8BUfI8dU697AJJM3chwEZR/s640/IMG_3992.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are pretty sure that this corn was way ahead of the "knee-high by the Fourth of July" growth rate. We were in Indiana a couple of weeks after Independence Day, and this corn was sky high! Pretty a-maize-ing.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cWZ8w-Vge1NyZQflAWvpqL_SNgo4gj92SiH9snpmI7HIcQVylFfV3kkcUOoOHQN1R4xzYivgmGVj6AW6H6qWKYdF6GmZUxUWCHsfFvs71nkGBjqZ6K_lEwYAA0mtBSm46eO55ltnLXFr/s1600/IMG_3951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cWZ8w-Vge1NyZQflAWvpqL_SNgo4gj92SiH9snpmI7HIcQVylFfV3kkcUOoOHQN1R4xzYivgmGVj6AW6H6qWKYdF6GmZUxUWCHsfFvs71nkGBjqZ6K_lEwYAA0mtBSm46eO55ltnLXFr/s640/IMG_3951.jpg" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My daddy even let me drive the Black Beauty while I was back home. This is still the finest $1 vehicle that money can buy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We enjoyed driving the backroads and taking in the scenery. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hoosiers have been known to say, "Take your time, but hurry." We took our time. And we were in no hurry. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIRYuNk2zqysacHASptG3hx8bDpewTPrg7zqGjClMj3Gir0UWWmmLOo_1bvCXqmfVTD9RgBfSM5Tr1sfBsOE7jqSH-Z5dd6PRtDrVtkIe4u5_ihrPAg1dbBEjVBWfzkV7PxWZbTF9n3qV/s1600/IMG_1356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIRYuNk2zqysacHASptG3hx8bDpewTPrg7zqGjClMj3Gir0UWWmmLOo_1bvCXqmfVTD9RgBfSM5Tr1sfBsOE7jqSH-Z5dd6PRtDrVtkIe4u5_ihrPAg1dbBEjVBWfzkV7PxWZbTF9n3qV/s640/IMG_1356.jpg" width="640" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hoosier sunsets are spectacular.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3tewr0AzEHffr_vvaAc_eg5ZjyjAEw73oh2WIucMYlkLIHdDhPTOJcjKDwP6AftZ9CuiiFCxbBpYZobygh-do_-yzwAU09unhAJwcdPCwEXiIfkIoR1FiLbi3Ys6epvBCwOcD-Qf_ZVr/s1600/IMG_4020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3tewr0AzEHffr_vvaAc_eg5ZjyjAEw73oh2WIucMYlkLIHdDhPTOJcjKDwP6AftZ9CuiiFCxbBpYZobygh-do_-yzwAU09unhAJwcdPCwEXiIfkIoR1FiLbi3Ys6epvBCwOcD-Qf_ZVr/s640/IMG_4020.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All good things must come to an end. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We loaded up the car and headed west. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, I am pretty silly for taking a picture of our car's reflection in a big rig's hubcap, but that's how we roll. Silliness adds joy to the journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the other silly things that we do to pass the miles away throughout Missouri is play the rumble strip game. The rumble strip<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">a.k.a. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">sleeper lines</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">audible lines</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">"the corduroy"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">growlers, is actually part of the painted white</span> edgeline along I-44. If one deviates the slightest little bit from the lane while driving through the "Show Me" state, a rumble is heard. The object of the game is to keep it 'tween the lines for 293-ish miles -- no rumbling, no growling. And it's harder than it would seem. We successfully passed through MO both directions without a single growl. Them's braggin' rights for sure. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We made the return trip to Texas in fourteen hours, despite taking a slight detour to see this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVfE7To64f59fusdvyOtyXrYSVnuADg8XWH1b9ysw6NaWU5xPyOqbVi3-jacYN3WH57uAHqGkw6JphbxVF_nH-WqlVq8I4h86RFdxlf5c4qapZlQpv7Tmy5_sZZkge1tLFYbe3OdiaagM/s1600/IMG_0010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVfE7To64f59fusdvyOtyXrYSVnuADg8XWH1b9ysw6NaWU5xPyOqbVi3-jacYN3WH57uAHqGkw6JphbxVF_nH-WqlVq8I4h86RFdxlf5c4qapZlQpv7Tmy5_sZZkge1tLFYbe3OdiaagM/s640/IMG_0010.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because we are are off our rocker.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I-44 has all the good stuff. Ha! Ha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, we had to take a slight detour off of I-44 onto Old Route 66 to find this peculiar roadside attraction. It is 42 feet tall. I think they should have gone for 44 feet tall since I-44 is nearby, but they didn't ask me. 66 feet tall would just be silly. (As if a 42' tall rocker ISN'T silly...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This oversized piece of furniture is located at the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.039999961853px;"><i>US 66 Outpost and General Store </i>in Fanning, Missouri.<i> </i>It<i> </i></span>was built to attract I-44 travelers to the store. We only stopped to pay homage to the rocker, so their larger than life marketing strategy didn't work on us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8rpdSfhCivxuy0TYUPGa728iDKvLbH8hc6ZtoXXIV5ofLf4ztOKV0N59qSq3tXVMas9qH2tLl3GvYioXJmAHneUTyCIQ8hmRPBRUa44T-OLUdZLhRg9ddcml1HVo7Wrjt5hIPVyMmEJ/s1600/IMG_0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1H8rpdSfhCivxuy0TYUPGa728iDKvLbH8hc6ZtoXXIV5ofLf4ztOKV0N59qSq3tXVMas9qH2tLl3GvYioXJmAHneUTyCIQ8hmRPBRUa44T-OLUdZLhRg9ddcml1HVo7Wrjt5hIPVyMmEJ/s640/IMG_0007.jpg" width="478" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have our shades on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You might say that we are true rock(er)stars. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the past couple of months, my travel buddy has visited Rome, Paris, London, Munich, Geneva, Barcelona, and she's passed through Austria, but I am certain she never saw ANYTHING like this in any of those locations. Thank you, Missouri, for making this trip such a big deal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it, or not, it truly is one for the record books! </span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comCurry, IN, USA39.178108161538596 -87.40083997783204939.1534906615386 -87.441180477832049 39.202725661538594 -87.36049947783205tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-18640576712446064412015-07-17T10:02:00.000-05:002015-09-03T10:05:43.495-05:00California Girls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGM3ZykgI6g5MWJvOf1KJJV6CkFNUtkpgbPRe-cjCT341N6MIm-z7nOe_L6vWUWaYfgZ2vGV3ywep55tltNGV7P6X21JDA5mAGZ_IIIFt3pvNyquQhp41iV16APcYIx9KCzQxrn2a7Jee/s1600/IMG_9934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGM3ZykgI6g5MWJvOf1KJJV6CkFNUtkpgbPRe-cjCT341N6MIm-z7nOe_L6vWUWaYfgZ2vGV3ywep55tltNGV7P6X21JDA5mAGZ_IIIFt3pvNyquQhp41iV16APcYIx9KCzQxrn2a7Jee/s640/IMG_9934.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This summer, the "Blonde Best Friends Forever Reunion" (BBFFR) is being held in Roseville, California. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">This girl's bag is packed, and she's ready to go.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPdLtGFmT1NcET1zSR0cit9tygyfUCBbUeCWOxxXxVn9b68oqvcQWZomDRSPGm2YD-ltsYCc9j6UfIkONY59A_cizyQySOAgbPxVArN2fwWWdWkhlbMrPZv5IBjNc2VzBRTRqI55zCqOg/s1600/FullSizeRender-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPdLtGFmT1NcET1zSR0cit9tygyfUCBbUeCWOxxXxVn9b68oqvcQWZomDRSPGm2YD-ltsYCc9j6UfIkONY59A_cizyQySOAgbPxVArN2fwWWdWkhlbMrPZv5IBjNc2VzBRTRqI55zCqOg/s640/FullSizeRender-6.jpg" width="618" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A BIG hug was awaiting Millie in Sacramento. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">The next three pics are a few of the iMessages &/or SnapChats that I received. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7saCwt-C4QWHIAnqGusSiKPACZgONRuOIqbeUFL3Dio36eICCCTojfEiX0fYmH5AKAmMB6zuKGKAeSOTSoDCGMxwnAc14p4KVT2hgp2nZgnO92zbqhS6InD1OqkY6meAoPnZGdgRSkKh5/s1600/IMG_0390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7saCwt-C4QWHIAnqGusSiKPACZgONRuOIqbeUFL3Dio36eICCCTojfEiX0fYmH5AKAmMB6zuKGKAeSOTSoDCGMxwnAc14p4KVT2hgp2nZgnO92zbqhS6InD1OqkY6meAoPnZGdgRSkKh5/s640/IMG_0390.jpg" width="566" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's obvious that these two aren't having any fun.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUitK5QpoG3t0nGpfDHC-_ki4W8123XZPtDbK_wUaEg8jmd-U2fEv0WQ_37WrROkBG1Y2my83bDi2jpetU20OixNNzdjVSfryji1bz5KaYkV2g8IA7I025ibiAWrvhH6qozFGufaDXhgKG/s1600/IMG_9984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUitK5QpoG3t0nGpfDHC-_ki4W8123XZPtDbK_wUaEg8jmd-U2fEv0WQ_37WrROkBG1Y2my83bDi2jpetU20OixNNzdjVSfryji1bz5KaYkV2g8IA7I025ibiAWrvhH6qozFGufaDXhgKG/s640/IMG_9984.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16Tjy7Ga84mxP_6L9hGM6UBKHvq0DheYhuydtKCWBHw63fHBLd7GT0sOphfuO64cUeW0zRJXjKDbF54cTxk8Qt01SCc6UEvPt2lmXPQ7Xtm7FvYsw-9giI399ZaP_Aovony5UdsDiZ71U/s1600/IMG_9986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg16Tjy7Ga84mxP_6L9hGM6UBKHvq0DheYhuydtKCWBHw63fHBLd7GT0sOphfuO64cUeW0zRJXjKDbF54cTxk8Qt01SCc6UEvPt2lmXPQ7Xtm7FvYsw-9giI399ZaP_Aovony5UdsDiZ71U/s640/IMG_9986.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I just hope that they send her home at the end of the two weeks! I'm going to be ready for a reunion of our own. </span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comRoseville, CA, USA38.7521235 -121.2880059000000338.554024000000005 -121.61072940000003 38.950223 -120.96528240000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-85637166438689188732015-07-08T00:02:00.000-05:002015-07-30T00:13:47.468-05:00There's Always So Much To Wander About<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been said that one should collect moments/memories, not things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have been trying to do that this summer; however, we have also managed to collect a lot of frequent flyer miles along with those memories. Our family has been traveling in lots of different directions, but we managed to meet up in the Pacific Northwest in July.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have a lot of family traditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some are silly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some are not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each Independence Day, we gather together in Vancouver, WA, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for a family gathering.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not silly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When anyone flies into PDX, a photo must be taken before leaving the 'port.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The airport sign must be obvious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Silly!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXL0VPdATBJE4aAavB_lLU_Tor5GRxDbiVKK3EH81La13zlMB05Mq9-ZD89nO5XT4bppuUGtkSi73lm1lBhEd2rDqzThmr3rbk53c-On6bQ5083fLKX8dkhZ9wTB8K1HuQwy-hCkIvPm-N/s1600/IMG_9854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXL0VPdATBJE4aAavB_lLU_Tor5GRxDbiVKK3EH81La13zlMB05Mq9-ZD89nO5XT4bppuUGtkSi73lm1lBhEd2rDqzThmr3rbk53c-On6bQ5083fLKX8dkhZ9wTB8K1HuQwy-hCkIvPm-N/s640/IMG_9854.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We flew from Dallas to Portland on June 30th. It's "plane" to see that we are have fun when we are up in the air.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the course of an eleven day time period, there were nine flights in and out of the Portland 'port, as family members came and went. My sister actually had the great idea of writing out all of the flight schedules on a whiteboard so that we could keep all the comings and goings straight. We kept a "shuttle bus" rolling to and fro. HA! Thankfully, it is only a fifteen minute drive from Point A to Point B. I think we all had reminders set on our phones, too, so we wouldn't leave anyone stranded at the terminal. Pulling double duty on the reminders certainly qualifies as the old "belt and suspenders" method. It all worked. Airport arrivals and departures all flowed, and no man was left behind.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Q4bJPptNDCKtbiFtfh9oJesLYRuera64xWPWkzEzdLnQ_rS_Uqn6QwowJKb4xwLIQ_rFC6uhnnS1IbiKsf-HVSpjPWFRuQbKA7xxcHX-tuIv53FpidOmhNuEjSwGMlUX8rZOvF1AbvmM/s1600/IMG_0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Q4bJPptNDCKtbiFtfh9oJesLYRuera64xWPWkzEzdLnQ_rS_Uqn6QwowJKb4xwLIQ_rFC6uhnnS1IbiKsf-HVSpjPWFRuQbKA7xxcHX-tuIv53FpidOmhNuEjSwGMlUX8rZOvF1AbvmM/s640/IMG_0007.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grandpa was the first to make it to the Pacific NW.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then 4/5 of our family arrived.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIcGCYMfBu8sqSmd55JKngNOJUkV7tOsaYi28jW2po2FIzS7k9x58kFlC1BgLu-a4-Xp_XlDhTuR0qyIqa5MpwgVG_AN3o7kJBLctIMtqoOxa6DSuXanB4zKK97OmSQk_DMNsksqIHQ37/s1600/IMG_0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIcGCYMfBu8sqSmd55JKngNOJUkV7tOsaYi28jW2po2FIzS7k9x58kFlC1BgLu-a4-Xp_XlDhTuR0qyIqa5MpwgVG_AN3o7kJBLctIMtqoOxa6DSuXanB4zKK97OmSQk_DMNsksqIHQ37/s640/IMG_0012.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The "father and son reunion" was a surprise to one, but not the other. It's pretty amazing that we are able to keep secrets and surprises... These two arrived on different days; #3 and #4 treks to the airport.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZezq6YpcQmoOBYqCwxPXHOZkUgMnSnazYer-3DGTaflSe89TKIafjUFCbKg1pyI4n8rnpyEEJBRdjqJbBHyjTW1uZxxlaqiLiGDGLuwVVWvuMKnrwMg6pRY2YoOiPMFqk7eRhCWB40E_/s1600/IMG_9871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZezq6YpcQmoOBYqCwxPXHOZkUgMnSnazYer-3DGTaflSe89TKIafjUFCbKg1pyI4n8rnpyEEJBRdjqJbBHyjTW1uZxxlaqiLiGDGLuwVVWvuMKnrwMg6pRY2YoOiPMFqk7eRhCWB40E_/s640/IMG_9871.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cousin Linda jetted in from San Francisco for a few days. It is always a lot of fun to get to spend time with her!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUd_zGpmbIzzzDQnA-QdyNxJzz9Ys-MXZCQQEdm-wCv7kw9K4r-i9f3xj0zgS0rN_-iAadn0jr8pTuHYYpFtxA7FLDrraRQ3659E143nIGc1TopOLoPLnaszqkrXYvd42PLA2HLRNWkxW/s1600/IMG_0032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUd_zGpmbIzzzDQnA-QdyNxJzz9Ys-MXZCQQEdm-wCv7kw9K4r-i9f3xj0zgS0rN_-iAadn0jr8pTuHYYpFtxA7FLDrraRQ3659E143nIGc1TopOLoPLnaszqkrXYvd42PLA2HLRNWkxW/s640/IMG_0032.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moments after Linda's flight arrived, the European Wander Woman flew in from Switzerland via Los Angeles. We all were VERY excited to see her!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns7jx4Y_-qyMspFLmY0t7YkhG60C4TL3tbuH-ls_rqgLgB4IWX-HzmV5WmfqE-hVYN8K8-cDzqFTZ3vMEzt3anJ43TOUbnmih2rzAQ5n7Ir_VZ6-0Pt-dEnzT8SRlBe11YhCUe52uMUO6/s1600/IMG_0027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns7jx4Y_-qyMspFLmY0t7YkhG60C4TL3tbuH-ls_rqgLgB4IWX-HzmV5WmfqE-hVYN8K8-cDzqFTZ3vMEzt3anJ43TOUbnmih2rzAQ5n7Ir_VZ6-0Pt-dEnzT8SRlBe11YhCUe52uMUO6/s640/IMG_0027.jpg" width="470" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She was not exempt from having to take a picture by the entrance/exit (depending upon one's orientation!) doors and that frequently-photographed sign.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Vh_HXMS0WCZ-iG6mKOqLIsUde-AedTpJ3FoenaHamsqwAGJa68FMHhkklmzmkRvGc8esqe19N357GI41RcPZxT0Ng4iihqUz501ThmMbiKluuhO2nCb5gKOzV8MAbUtLiB9DfncyPyCU/s1600/IMG_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Vh_HXMS0WCZ-iG6mKOqLIsUde-AedTpJ3FoenaHamsqwAGJa68FMHhkklmzmkRvGc8esqe19N357GI41RcPZxT0Ng4iihqUz501ThmMbiKluuhO2nCb5gKOzV8MAbUtLiB9DfncyPyCU/s640/IMG_0034.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a short drive to our "home away from home," Liesey Lou was able to give her grandpa a big squeeze!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here is how the rest of the week in Washington looked:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcALbhooyiPQdVElMmfjoEaJdhznh6J_CHcGDcUhsVE7SZMILkXQAk2r_Bh4FuSCYRbfyMkCD_2gFpSlqdsqqd9FwwZ7CTPUuAzZyFbVSLRhZOBaF4WwIdtlJ2y3AED2CqjgqERYnaahAW/s1600/IMG_9865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcALbhooyiPQdVElMmfjoEaJdhznh6J_CHcGDcUhsVE7SZMILkXQAk2r_Bh4FuSCYRbfyMkCD_2gFpSlqdsqqd9FwwZ7CTPUuAzZyFbVSLRhZOBaF4WwIdtlJ2y3AED2CqjgqERYnaahAW/s640/IMG_9865.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Millie Girl got to visit with 'Lina one afternoon. I think it had been three years since </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">our families had seen one another, so we had a little catching up to do. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were so busy talking that we neglected to get a picture of all of the adults together.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhcqjhzBNAlHXxUz7s31MxmNbDMzZHKuchUSgsP_400FlaT_OFL9Ke9AqqIUIY-BT1keOVVdnj9eh_mTSaljsSIhWS5iRJ9MciCIZYes_-dm9YbjiEhSOGynmcCoWl_HthW558vhyphenhyphenij0G/s1600/IMG_0031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhcqjhzBNAlHXxUz7s31MxmNbDMzZHKuchUSgsP_400FlaT_OFL9Ke9AqqIUIY-BT1keOVVdnj9eh_mTSaljsSIhWS5iRJ9MciCIZYes_-dm9YbjiEhSOGynmcCoWl_HthW558vhyphenhyphenij0G/s640/IMG_0031.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">German Chocolate Cake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nuf said.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcFI4TEVrcfrNPNswah0GUgVGK4rXu9VQzF-g09PbFbcXps_L8SRiILJvhqOD4m6P5KHumHl39sjZjC4oEuZT6XJthlAIPf8jO5x_uVBaHJLXzGiGfQaBm_pZuvOp_XW6VYZ_VyBL-ULg/s1600/IMG_0039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcFI4TEVrcfrNPNswah0GUgVGK4rXu9VQzF-g09PbFbcXps_L8SRiILJvhqOD4m6P5KHumHl39sjZjC4oEuZT6XJthlAIPf8jO5x_uVBaHJLXzGiGfQaBm_pZuvOp_XW6VYZ_VyBL-ULg/s640/IMG_0039.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> These four heeded the call of nature -- or something like that! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I meant to say is that nature beckoned, they listened, and took a hike.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Best of all, no one got lost.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYp6gYoPQAhFjk2C5a6mv3AfRgtSM9KoTxm6riXhoPmE7Rx2a7wG07-8UqJzEaBHhgZZXf8hNT03g5R6nEFySU4z5oDzz-gcNfEbxw5yXcIHXiFCPf5upE_RaIVQqYstonpFAOgUnqFdCb/s1600/IMG_0041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYp6gYoPQAhFjk2C5a6mv3AfRgtSM9KoTxm6riXhoPmE7Rx2a7wG07-8UqJzEaBHhgZZXf8hNT03g5R6nEFySU4z5oDzz-gcNfEbxw5yXcIHXiFCPf5upE_RaIVQqYstonpFAOgUnqFdCb/s640/IMG_0041.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ape Cave had some effect on these two. They are obviously selfie-absorbed spelunkers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPdkEkt44yD95e99CygO8pPdGLTYL7hDfRtYqEpv_bYAbCkD2TwkLsmoxOdd7sxjdJcKh0CZF3_aNy7b3Bt496ofcDAfhM_mDxwVtZUEdxJ443mscfmLyFlp6VdKxN-hVJva2yqHc20Cp/s1600/IMG_0044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPdkEkt44yD95e99CygO8pPdGLTYL7hDfRtYqEpv_bYAbCkD2TwkLsmoxOdd7sxjdJcKh0CZF3_aNy7b3Bt496ofcDAfhM_mDxwVtZUEdxJ443mscfmLyFlp6VdKxN-hVJva2yqHc20Cp/s640/IMG_0044.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grabbing lunch at the food truck block in Portland always presents the opportunity to pose for a pic and really mean it when you say, "Cheese!"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7M879XHFUQ1cSQ9fNlJUmH2Xu4nNC6kSWU50q8gtCSizYhw694KUEK_BBtwaswIvozHzzfXzBVzqYPLbff2m_fTXSAnAouKX4CKBUK7eG1Q7kZG9y1TOzYWOd7ux9C_Zs_ONtM1FzlHS/s1600/IMG_0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7M879XHFUQ1cSQ9fNlJUmH2Xu4nNC6kSWU50q8gtCSizYhw694KUEK_BBtwaswIvozHzzfXzBVzqYPLbff2m_fTXSAnAouKX4CKBUK7eG1Q7kZG9y1TOzYWOd7ux9C_Zs_ONtM1FzlHS/s640/IMG_0045.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> There's nothing cheesy about this crew...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8aa2C0cJu7rhtEUGGlnsSqyix7H-GiDV5yUuv5EAdCDr36Y8jyRGrbaPSRyd7_vUKiPDWr0vLmOZFwOzjSOkpBHBRuXn6UXYxoYS_o0hVoocwNaOTo5mfeqyhsopJb9kt5RMiu0ysSwK/s1600/IMG_0049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY8aa2C0cJu7rhtEUGGlnsSqyix7H-GiDV5yUuv5EAdCDr36Y8jyRGrbaPSRyd7_vUKiPDWr0vLmOZFwOzjSOkpBHBRuXn6UXYxoYS_o0hVoocwNaOTo5mfeqyhsopJb9kt5RMiu0ysSwK/s640/IMG_0049.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what do you call a fake noodle?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An impasta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These noodles were NOT imposters, they were the real deal. Homemade fettuccine noodle making is the only way these two roll when they are in charge of planning the menu. L<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">a buona cucina! (There were no leftovers, and I may have witnessed someone licking the serving spoon.) </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiw2f_GYhM6FXHK0wrvoSFQQr0KmpYcYY4N4ATCuYKmTEfdAH2NvFF4tkbwsA9umhuEeRf3nxn4h77GHh4ZkTDe73A5uxTx1mcHOIBkbIS64G5k-dejW048SH54hFzL8TNc3rzX0CmHXRq/s1600/IMG_0081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiw2f_GYhM6FXHK0wrvoSFQQr0KmpYcYY4N4ATCuYKmTEfdAH2NvFF4tkbwsA9umhuEeRf3nxn4h77GHh4ZkTDe73A5uxTx1mcHOIBkbIS64G5k-dejW048SH54hFzL8TNc3rzX0CmHXRq/s640/IMG_0081.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The twin grin is in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8uO3ZC37d6m2uhZ3LvyffYxpJQCMatrbZ-Xhd0tlpXIW1jZQTkWqtlGnOcY9pYq6gtW3sg2l3qejlQVYIX2Bpb454F8qncmL8CRQVtEEN0PGC5eA81TEQx4VgCGbcSg78GGhwy5ds0LV/s1600/IMG_0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8uO3ZC37d6m2uhZ3LvyffYxpJQCMatrbZ-Xhd0tlpXIW1jZQTkWqtlGnOcY9pYq6gtW3sg2l3qejlQVYIX2Bpb454F8qncmL8CRQVtEEN0PGC5eA81TEQx4VgCGbcSg78GGhwy5ds0LV/s640/IMG_0086.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> All the cool visitors to the 'Couv sport plaid shorts when playing croquet.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQf-t80tVUCSUDStoIpsOj4DjoeIKr0Nv4b8m6n96iGv5yXUPUwWNmiTvfh12iz_CJbtMDh9YSJj2hxm2KUHmXS3wTTZLt0NUilHSqbdsgqeOliIoT_iJ0Gk-DaBlVKhQ4G3Q09vZ_nxq1/s1600/IMG_0092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQf-t80tVUCSUDStoIpsOj4DjoeIKr0Nv4b8m6n96iGv5yXUPUwWNmiTvfh12iz_CJbtMDh9YSJj2hxm2KUHmXS3wTTZLt0NUilHSqbdsgqeOliIoT_iJ0Gk-DaBlVKhQ4G3Q09vZ_nxq1/s640/IMG_0092.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Family photos sometimes feel forced, look awkward, and don't quite capture everyone's true colors...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKEPbk9MrxEaFU168wqSMxjViGpcyF_wvHeHUIYr8Q5NWq_6GcyF82TRyE6gT8DjUPu96OsXLUbPtwrynoQl82k0oYlnqmo1PGF-E4s-sZimVa-D_1mRowp0-6yyPKsItpydTNSulVjSq/s1600/IMG_0093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKEPbk9MrxEaFU168wqSMxjViGpcyF_wvHeHUIYr8Q5NWq_6GcyF82TRyE6gT8DjUPu96OsXLUbPtwrynoQl82k0oYlnqmo1PGF-E4s-sZimVa-D_1mRowp0-6yyPKsItpydTNSulVjSq/s640/IMG_0093.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HOWEVER, this pose describes our family perfectly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think we just might have a winner for our 2015 Christmas card picture.</span></div>
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comVancouver, WA, USA45.6387281 -122.6614860999999945.461099600000004 -122.98420959999999 45.8163566 -122.3387626tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-74192378413746311502015-06-29T22:22:00.000-05:002015-08-26T17:36:34.068-05:00Batter Up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Millie Girl proved that she's is a big hitter when it comes to cake decorating.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She created a baseball cake for her catcher boyfriend's b-day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Does that make him a real catch? :-P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two have been dating for over a year, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">because they really hit it off when they met one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Okay, okay, I'll stop with the baseball puns before I really strike out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How about a joke instead of bad puns?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: start;">Q: What do baseball players use to bake a cake?</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: start;"> A: Oven MITTS, BUNT pans and BATTER.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: start;">(Is that a swing and a miss?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: start;">How 'bout pictures and no more jokes?</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XDAD4QdHgzJ8j4zpn2mMecx4AMXHFU6Opa5t7HRYlrSolOtxZmEfSLNtvegFBVd9UsG3Yw7M67TNbKgJhxUnIJ0f9VN9QS4pRlUR2r7xdFhybWVlNDNFYnWAvBDHL_sYJJeYN6-APCWe/s1600/IMG_9834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XDAD4QdHgzJ8j4zpn2mMecx4AMXHFU6Opa5t7HRYlrSolOtxZmEfSLNtvegFBVd9UsG3Yw7M67TNbKgJhxUnIJ0f9VN9QS4pRlUR2r7xdFhybWVlNDNFYnWAvBDHL_sYJJeYN6-APCWe/s400/IMG_9834.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOehWpdwnjx7S33_wzc43uuXHL1yWzNd4gdfvcz-ZDwH5fHMH66Sk_SWQATOh3n3kEaDwM1-u3c-97A3SMr-JGNTSZ8GGquZgddB1OJOwFkk8UIqK-5wfLFsZ4pNgZI1RJYzl4iompcvJ/s1600/IMG_9836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGOehWpdwnjx7S33_wzc43uuXHL1yWzNd4gdfvcz-ZDwH5fHMH66Sk_SWQATOh3n3kEaDwM1-u3c-97A3SMr-JGNTSZ8GGquZgddB1OJOwFkk8UIqK-5wfLFsZ4pNgZI1RJYzl4iompcvJ/s640/IMG_9836.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVGyOE6H98tlceNwcxU1DzxSl5ThLD_KG3HWtcpz6RnfMJhfrBdXoZORRBQr7n8VEJmwD_oJ1skk7uk_v6eDg-WrMbE2vklD1Yhm1Tkhrvo098hWs45XXnCSgohWf2YRnPT0CEbL3CBgv/s1600/IMG_9925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYVGyOE6H98tlceNwcxU1DzxSl5ThLD_KG3HWtcpz6RnfMJhfrBdXoZORRBQr7n8VEJmwD_oJ1skk7uk_v6eDg-WrMbE2vklD1Yhm1Tkhrvo098hWs45XXnCSgohWf2YRnPT0CEbL3CBgv/s400/IMG_9925.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Suffice it to say that the b-day cake was a hit.</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-6786514920179467392015-06-27T21:27:00.000-05:002015-08-10T22:36:48.158-05:00A League of My Own<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite enjoying a much cooler than normal summer in the DFW area this summer, my birthday proved to be the exception to the exception. It was a cloudless, sunshiny, AND very warmish day. Toss in a little humidity for good measure, thanks to the (also) unusual rainy weather conditions, and we were looking for indoor activities to participate in. No sweat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After considering several options of things to do in air conditioned comfort, we opted for bowling. Why bowling? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bowling is one of those activities that is right down our alley. (Hopefully!) And we wanted to be cool. (Literally.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll spare telling you every little detail, but</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I managed to roll my way to a pretty decent score, despite the fact that in an alley, split happens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What was my score? Take my age and add 100 to it, give or take a pin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And NO, I did not use the bumpers!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LIjjthuC1U3BztxFFXkRFSS8Q7zLD9HVmtq_vahXg3EmQAbTVqnQn_1Qrap7agYS14g9CiCl1z0SYtpN3hvjr0CVV4UN-0iOyqCr0SeS6yIa8hLTgaOWdrwTaTC5TDJ7GgcXGBbZn1oO/s1600/IMG_9776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LIjjthuC1U3BztxFFXkRFSS8Q7zLD9HVmtq_vahXg3EmQAbTVqnQn_1Qrap7agYS14g9CiCl1z0SYtpN3hvjr0CVV4UN-0iOyqCr0SeS6yIa8hLTgaOWdrwTaTC5TDJ7GgcXGBbZn1oO/s640/IMG_9776.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is nothing quite like striking out for an adventure on one's birthday, but that's how we Smiths roll... (Have you had enough silly puns yet?)</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGv9Rm7A0isvmMeCebKJbyCIuvHzUqTfQzBEpvO6ZSEsjqtKDL2DFFgD25YWnkTqi0E2bQWv91zi_jJKeVoHe0AYm2aRUVVJ95xTVnJYaFjDW0_tsm9B60mU_7pnyO_fdXw4cmpgABsxu/s1600/IMG_9780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGv9Rm7A0isvmMeCebKJbyCIuvHzUqTfQzBEpvO6ZSEsjqtKDL2DFFgD25YWnkTqi0E2bQWv91zi_jJKeVoHe0AYm2aRUVVJ95xTVnJYaFjDW0_tsm9B60mU_7pnyO_fdXw4cmpgABsxu/s640/IMG_9780.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not for sure, but I think that my bowling buddies may have <i>let</i> me knock down more pins than they did. I'm not saying that they threw the game, or anything like that...but at least they all spared me from the embarrassment of coming in last on "my" day of being the birthday kingpin. And best of all, I didn't need to be pulled out of the gutter when the b-day bowling was over and done with. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ9eZrQn5e9EeuZCIpfKZDqutPKyIEyRaVEPnGk26AcRRuOYF1lSr6LUfbrWmDO1MovBNwQlcoQAWjHdgPIAKHFQfD8TAuiduttMzEUa0YRe7bTsd6aYLWhximaLI0jk4K0qumaXJx2JX/s1600/IMG_9792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ9eZrQn5e9EeuZCIpfKZDqutPKyIEyRaVEPnGk26AcRRuOYF1lSr6LUfbrWmDO1MovBNwQlcoQAWjHdgPIAKHFQfD8TAuiduttMzEUa0YRe7bTsd6aYLWhximaLI0jk4K0qumaXJx2JX/s640/IMG_9792.jpg" width="402" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a great birthday celebration, from start to finish. Obviously, I now have the tee shirt, so I must've "been there and done that" when it comes to achieving crazy cat lady status. I'll take that title, just as long as no one adds "old" to that string of adjectives!</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comBrunswick Zone Watauga, 7301 Rufe Snow Drive, Watauga, TX 76148, USA32.877614 -97.23887832.6641435 -97.5616015 33.0910845 -96.9161545tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-24163340716894760372015-06-14T23:55:00.000-05:002015-07-12T23:55:49.030-05:00It's Driving Me Batty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BMW convertibles have batwings.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZJr6Dcd-v6a2qnOk0h5oqLafdsgLs7YgE1Z-G4wkHjE3MUNMZpK-4bj5EtblgTqmWvJUdRT9N_eo4OBKhOvB2Y0YcValxoJ3-o3jOgAbXzBKWJeinrnatitEhPSgiwHsi9a8ojmrQu7k/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZJr6Dcd-v6a2qnOk0h5oqLafdsgLs7YgE1Z-G4wkHjE3MUNMZpK-4bj5EtblgTqmWvJUdRT9N_eo4OBKhOvB2Y0YcValxoJ3-o3jOgAbXzBKWJeinrnatitEhPSgiwHsi9a8ojmrQu7k/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, batwings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite that renown German engineering, they are just not well designed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They crack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They break.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They need to be replaced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The repair is not easy, and it is not for the faint of heart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replacement parts ain't cheap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's a batwing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm glad you asked... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a little plastic part with strings attached (It seems that there are <i>always</i> strings attached!) that helps hold the headliner taut when the convertible top is up. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2G069lQrWLYBjRezGb278TwIAJxwx5SBB6hDISge-Kg1cEb8Nf424WhtIskDnNBAlCkKiYjCbVNGqeAndOjtRxpLUVCTSYGt5s8wf4Jhb7ZZYqb7KUqCvNSt_mS65b-1_7bWa5TOyTU1/s1600/28sn1o9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2G069lQrWLYBjRezGb278TwIAJxwx5SBB6hDISge-Kg1cEb8Nf424WhtIskDnNBAlCkKiYjCbVNGqeAndOjtRxpLUVCTSYGt5s8wf4Jhb7ZZYqb7KUqCvNSt_mS65b-1_7bWa5TOyTU1/s640/28sn1o9.jpg" width="516" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I won't tell you how much BMW charges for this part, because you wouldn't believe it. And nobody else offers it, except for BMW. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They obviously planned it this way! But I'm not complaining. We now have five German "Otto-mobiles" in our family, and four of them are BMWs. We know what to expect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4nCS8KH0qzqe59-K5430KdxFjiXRB5CUanPCBXWdwOH7rNIaIvTLp9ThqcQ8DJ_giwWOJ8ZB7x6VbyhmkSObndrzb5gu5toIzjo18bzb2PHDSkr49emPE7sdEU3w0cbYxK_oysI0OL4r/s1600/IMG_9696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4nCS8KH0qzqe59-K5430KdxFjiXRB5CUanPCBXWdwOH7rNIaIvTLp9ThqcQ8DJ_giwWOJ8ZB7x6VbyhmkSObndrzb5gu5toIzjo18bzb2PHDSkr49emPE7sdEU3w0cbYxK_oysI0OL4r/s640/IMG_9696.jpg" width="480" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><b>Holy Bat Trap! </b>This thing is quite a puzzle. Besides, we like a good challenge. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It took hours of trial and error, as there were not any instructions included with the replacement part. We searched and searched and finally found a step-by-step description of this repair on one of the BMW forums. The instructions were not perfect, but it was better than "winging" it on our own.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mY059-aTYNRym50aDrnhzm0dyOV0QK_8KUrypwmPKl2FH6pWU5NL1ypAj69IS-AiaZNoTfCeJbGbCCk48wPbYknvGehzXogli1V9uXbxKTqshMgMg_GiH69kLPi38kXKQYPURJYb2fd2/s1600/IMG_9699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mY059-aTYNRym50aDrnhzm0dyOV0QK_8KUrypwmPKl2FH6pWU5NL1ypAj69IS-AiaZNoTfCeJbGbCCk48wPbYknvGehzXogli1V9uXbxKTqshMgMg_GiH69kLPi38kXKQYPURJYb2fd2/s640/IMG_9699.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Batman and Robin ain't got nothin' on this dynamic duo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two are superheroes when it comes to auto repair.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pgH8Iqls1VHXPWbRFevOIcRhZWedGHTP3jteWS8_VCHJsaKj8WTX4DllbC5HZkQA7P_jLS-UHFOY2y3n252vHIGl4bONvoYdfGmX1XcKsTQs8gslC7WHKsGyYa_3JdyRmoXQV7AIH0RU/s1600/IMG_9700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pgH8Iqls1VHXPWbRFevOIcRhZWedGHTP3jteWS8_VCHJsaKj8WTX4DllbC5HZkQA7P_jLS-UHFOY2y3n252vHIGl4bONvoYdfGmX1XcKsTQs8gslC7WHKsGyYa_3JdyRmoXQV7AIH0RU/s640/IMG_9700.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If this part ever breaks again, we will surely send up the bat signal.</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-44316017487879697262015-06-12T23:41:00.000-05:002015-06-18T23:49:36.422-05:00Rangers/Twins<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYpUkdMysJGhry4_5oXrHVADbEqnJjVf8IL0PDauO_UjAKK1exBe7-YHpY3un8r9ZImiMczsvG7LQW3E8WKJfhDqM80GK59dUmIhxp-5IgJMixQoMWGTN_3vnEPORAcP7q-A665qOogus/s1600/IMG_9688.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYpUkdMysJGhry4_5oXrHVADbEqnJjVf8IL0PDauO_UjAKK1exBe7-YHpY3un8r9ZImiMczsvG7LQW3E8WKJfhDqM80GK59dUmIhxp-5IgJMixQoMWGTN_3vnEPORAcP7q-A665qOogus/s640/IMG_9688.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two just might be Rangers Twins... HA!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, we went to see the Texas Rangers <i>play</i> the Minnesota Twins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And our team WON!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDQmbHVqx_CwfnzNeBEBBBhyphenhyphenDLjPaNEmAbInjHWn5xjP3rEM8-T4wbxZCAurRCbR1XdGh2Z1jGPjRwwXZ18AgzM0LccjBNS-Cxyp96gTwA7kV1J8V112yEIRid7m3if8AAdtFLMWU0ZB8/s1600/IMG_9690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDQmbHVqx_CwfnzNeBEBBBhyphenhyphenDLjPaNEmAbInjHWn5xjP3rEM8-T4wbxZCAurRCbR1XdGh2Z1jGPjRwwXZ18AgzM0LccjBNS-Cxyp96gTwA7kV1J8V112yEIRid7m3if8AAdtFLMWU0ZB8/s640/IMG_9690.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Pop!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFMUJ18QEl00UXcNsi6HBCpWltdBT4A89fSHszFgV2vcW9fbfiVC-Jy46lc_bHDtGkATBKYDncN3tJ4KnXF9ac07qBOPzd8vLu6oPolMhheRaIWzFgWnY9k1NB998JFDpImc15DK71uqK/s1600/IMG_9692.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFMUJ18QEl00UXcNsi6HBCpWltdBT4A89fSHszFgV2vcW9fbfiVC-Jy46lc_bHDtGkATBKYDncN3tJ4KnXF9ac07qBOPzd8vLu6oPolMhheRaIWzFgWnY9k1NB998JFDpImc15DK71uqK/s640/IMG_9692.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Boom!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZd48wbY64Iy6GLqFYbvFpCYyWQFpkEhFT1MxUjWh2HkxM-ZMY34VoFJCLwHDRqNp2WemDqO2UFy7_-xoIUzhwrqQyEJ2-Nn5AqE-ZpJe-P_O67wXVUiYo1Jwne8SnuWd1b2uWrrFqS5z/s1600/IMG_9693+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZd48wbY64Iy6GLqFYbvFpCYyWQFpkEhFT1MxUjWh2HkxM-ZMY34VoFJCLwHDRqNp2WemDqO2UFy7_-xoIUzhwrqQyEJ2-Nn5AqE-ZpJe-P_O67wXVUiYo1Jwne8SnuWd1b2uWrrFqS5z/s640/IMG_9693+%25281%2529.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bang!</span></div>
Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comGlobe Life Park In Arlington, 1000 Ballpark Way, Arlington, TX 76011, USA32.7511446 -97.08245799999997432.747806100000005 -97.087500499999976 32.7544831 -97.077415499999972tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-919641154653078144.post-5623154320273598962015-06-08T21:45:00.000-05:002016-01-21T12:02:35.207-06:00@purrzle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's true.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am guilty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am a <b>semi</b>-crazy cat lady. (I'm not quite ready to admit that I'm 100% crazy.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yes, I realize that our two Coonies get WAY too much attention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No, I don't think that I need professional help --- yet. HA!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />As </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bartholomew and Jemima's</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Instagram "account manager," it is up to me to make sure that these two fluffs have plenty of interesting photos to keep their "fans" and friends a-mew-sed. The "mamarazzi" (not paparazzi!) is out in full force... and t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">here is no shortage of photo opportunities. These two cats are crazy, too.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We have met some wonderful people through the fluffy duo's Instakitty account, and I am sure that at some point our paths will cross in real time. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We have "furiends" from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Scotland, Africa, England, Canada, Russia, Australia, Florida, Oregon, New York, California, Texas, and all points in between. Many of our Instafriends own Maine Coons, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">we also befriend Ragdolls, Bengals, Lions, Tigers, but no bears. Oh, my! And as crazy as it may sound, there is an inexplicable bond within the Instagram kitty community. Surprisingly, there are no cat fights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are some of my recent favorite pictures.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEMcWk3ioOZQLYroYMYn_ftLdaU4a2yDUJJ83qxxhToVu87-vQRc6fA5g_hEHQvsuRYQsOSIRBwgtgJi5Ba_yXn3hkr3k-zQ5x8AFyAV9PVCe4Zigqj7Jo5xIr_F-9LKGpLP6Vt_CC3hH/s1600/IMG_1321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEMcWk3ioOZQLYroYMYn_ftLdaU4a2yDUJJ83qxxhToVu87-vQRc6fA5g_hEHQvsuRYQsOSIRBwgtgJi5Ba_yXn3hkr3k-zQ5x8AFyAV9PVCe4Zigqj7Jo5xIr_F-9LKGpLP6Vt_CC3hH/s640/IMG_1321.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEo3rugTDllY_4mVOAUBt3yYE3_1ggG5TEHs8eZb6TY2oFsx2baq8ize3uSMnTQskV_BnGx5A3pzASZzUJ8d1EwGYpjzzoZ-FFIR1qk1y_X-qd3vOy5iJnAJTyozkgTxkyyDcglE7INlm/s1600/IMG_1326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEo3rugTDllY_4mVOAUBt3yYE3_1ggG5TEHs8eZb6TY2oFsx2baq8ize3uSMnTQskV_BnGx5A3pzASZzUJ8d1EwGYpjzzoZ-FFIR1qk1y_X-qd3vOy5iJnAJTyozkgTxkyyDcglE7INlm/s640/IMG_1326.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgO3OHfMG1O0DhMwsJt3McbT4CYc_vBM0arCyJ5X8Bq30Qm4rdYa4OUCAxTtrhyphenhyphenMPG7GLYwpzrZ_SO04peEnvbZe-INTTc048Chz7eGfCdTo_6Zr7jD2c_Dd8b8AdqZiTva6Wqhp_Sgch/s1600/IMG_3628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgO3OHfMG1O0DhMwsJt3McbT4CYc_vBM0arCyJ5X8Bq30Qm4rdYa4OUCAxTtrhyphenhyphenMPG7GLYwpzrZ_SO04peEnvbZe-INTTc048Chz7eGfCdTo_6Zr7jD2c_Dd8b8AdqZiTva6Wqhp_Sgch/s640/IMG_3628.jpg" width="638" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCIkKK9c_q7BoTBZ1cNaEupG7WGcjkbkaOsyVW-Ngya4-fPXB8H5I1Us_8einDaaiibANok57d3m60430p9DLKQgHmuLR9Dwhf75g_C0LRhTgMrGpZMapE_knBLH6U9-nbAK-UTXgh5In/s1600/IMG_3650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCIkKK9c_q7BoTBZ1cNaEupG7WGcjkbkaOsyVW-Ngya4-fPXB8H5I1Us_8einDaaiibANok57d3m60430p9DLKQgHmuLR9Dwhf75g_C0LRhTgMrGpZMapE_knBLH6U9-nbAK-UTXgh5In/s640/IMG_3650.jpg" width="638" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Talk about cattitude...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoZBLmGn3v66Dns5onpJohNjirsvIbied1azpMhcesmFBHsdusKjR1UOQIR_f9lYFssPlagdT_YZzS0siqeTQIJLYAYGHfhyphenhyphenRZfWOwY40OvRJQTv9EWlY8-eMSHHpMd1YzBpdEhsJZIeb/s1600/IMG_3652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoZBLmGn3v66Dns5onpJohNjirsvIbied1azpMhcesmFBHsdusKjR1UOQIR_f9lYFssPlagdT_YZzS0siqeTQIJLYAYGHfhyphenhyphenRZfWOwY40OvRJQTv9EWlY8-eMSHHpMd1YzBpdEhsJZIeb/s640/IMG_3652.jpg" width="638" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These two often go in different directions. Herding cats is harder than it appears.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WsjcXjiPBFuKNaCwMOwxTN8e6D78lowSol9MTpQ9_VPqOuKaJjeXUaIe951b2Bu4DxUuPAU3uAlSgAJiDBOWOLbXOwC1ezCkIrmkhQR_-8FX6x-9MMd8qhLVEI5grEPBezofUw5B-Wl6/s1600/IMG_3653+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8WsjcXjiPBFuKNaCwMOwxTN8e6D78lowSol9MTpQ9_VPqOuKaJjeXUaIe951b2Bu4DxUuPAU3uAlSgAJiDBOWOLbXOwC1ezCkIrmkhQR_-8FX6x-9MMd8qhLVEI5grEPBezofUw5B-Wl6/s640/IMG_3653+%25281%2529.jpg" width="638" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrpLUvL8w5morn7O_Dn7pCIkWdIsCKLnNnSexBagTGvm99A9sOnhK6yKwi91RrOiS4RI3X1kYctonwdjBGHXe2xeXN6Oqao96lnuyDVmCCCxXKLKTIR83xXk4zwT0DqpLcm_6S4ZttnCj/s1600/IMG_8435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJrpLUvL8w5morn7O_Dn7pCIkWdIsCKLnNnSexBagTGvm99A9sOnhK6yKwi91RrOiS4RI3X1kYctonwdjBGHXe2xeXN6Oqao96lnuyDVmCCCxXKLKTIR83xXk4zwT0DqpLcm_6S4ZttnCj/s640/IMG_8435.jpg" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViQ42UZF5QRM70Qgk0V2Vd1JDhmCxfzxZx5dyBRhxnFj3QQqOIPh8q5o_30-F3pkIcRDtyZDRosXsbAfX0QCLW9Lwi-D2WBloiZjhLIJ8GSNCWiYqMoMNoc4TUHXsQgM7tEYx4DNUejay/s1600/IMG_9415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViQ42UZF5QRM70Qgk0V2Vd1JDhmCxfzxZx5dyBRhxnFj3QQqOIPh8q5o_30-F3pkIcRDtyZDRosXsbAfX0QCLW9Lwi-D2WBloiZjhLIJ8GSNCWiYqMoMNoc4TUHXsQgM7tEYx4DNUejay/s640/IMG_9415.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bartholomew enjoys participating in #tacotonguetuesday shenanigans any chance he gets.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF8n673DX2xBRSw0HM12JO7elnAgmZwHrWVHiPxMOrMs-08P2sGjyIjEfYw4TSt5WTpi_m3z2aklqvRqvtKAINyq3cutjJVsV27kMzfgbLoQhiF19RIL6oeTSJN37DcJeFsGjn12Xx0qc/s1600/IMG_9674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF8n673DX2xBRSw0HM12JO7elnAgmZwHrWVHiPxMOrMs-08P2sGjyIjEfYw4TSt5WTpi_m3z2aklqvRqvtKAINyq3cutjJVsV27kMzfgbLoQhiF19RIL6oeTSJN37DcJeFsGjn12Xx0qc/s400/IMG_9674.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This photo was taken on a recent visit to the veterinarian's office. Obviously the rule does not apply to Bartholomew. The sign clearly says "small" pets.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirc4bytO72z1FE2S4ZqUf-yxul9dIDJkzKpmvLxJ6Aon9ipfuS66mHx8_M9ocoQgF1Hga-SfV8c-ARPD1eg6Hk8gINmwZNhedbEMW8ERIW33HrCieV-SKi5A2LJ3LlEyvStGyN48LuhNI3/s1600/IMG_9405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirc4bytO72z1FE2S4ZqUf-yxul9dIDJkzKpmvLxJ6Aon9ipfuS66mHx8_M9ocoQgF1Hga-SfV8c-ARPD1eg6Hk8gINmwZNhedbEMW8ERIW33HrCieV-SKi5A2LJ3LlEyvStGyN48LuhNI3/s640/IMG_9405.jpg" width="474" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our college-aged girlie tells me that her friends in Switzerland keep finding out that her Maine Coons have an Instagram account. She doesn't know how they know, but they do. And they follow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Soooo, I don't think I'm the only crazy one out there. There must be a lot of crazy cat people -- especially if they are tailing MY cats on social media.</span></div>
<br />Smithlingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07152976560908142504noreply@blogger.comKeller, TX, USA32.9341893 -97.22929799999997232.8275758 -97.39065949999997 33.0408028 -97.067936499999973