Too Stinkin' Cute!

Ok, so maybe... just maybe, I'm a bit biased... being his Grandmother and all... but come on, you can't tell me that THIS is not just the cutest Angel you have ever seen!



credit:
Angel of Nostalgia by Royanna Fritschmann at Divine Digital
font - Jacoba

And The Angels Sang

Well if that wasn't the cutest thing! On Wednesday I got to pick up my adorable grandson from day care in Hidden Valley Lake, meet up with my daughter at her office at St Helena Hospital, join her husband and go to the Discovery Land Preschool Christmas Pageant in Angwin. Rylie was an Angel... really... he WAS an angel! And he played his part well! I took 123 photos.. something with the lighting in the chapel though.. every single one of them had major red eye... I have never had a problem with red eye and this camera before... but then.. I generally do shoot outdoors... hmmm... I also seem to have a problem with digital noise in this batch... dang it! Oh well... he's a dozen photos.. OK it's really only 8 and I have gone edit wild with one... LOL.. that's me!

Looking

As promised here are some of the photos I took while out looking for my muse the other day.... nothing spectacular.. just photos around the area... a burning rice field, the Sacramento River, some uncooperative sheep, and a persimmon orchard...
Now I'm out of here for a couple of days, maybe I'll come back with some great photos... and then maybe not...

Yea! Yea!

It's been over a month.... I've been struggling! Trying so hard to push on... went out today to find my muse... took lots of photos, I'll share later... then came home and found something in one of my folders to play with... it's the simplest of layouts... but I just can't decide.... that's to be expected these days... I got lost coming home from the grocery store the other night and took a little drive on a dirt road... don't ask!

BTW.. there are 3 songs on the play list!

Lost & Found

while finishing up the Dulle layouts yesterday, I found this in my layouts folder... simply titled "Brushes" (created August 17, 2007)... I evidently was playing with brushes.... I probably wrote down what I used.... but at this point I have probably also thrown it away, not knowing what it was... because I totally forgot about this layout.... hmmm... I fear old age is REALLY starting to settle in....

that's SCARY!



Oh yes.. and a new play list! Enjoy!

A Ghoulish Answer

While poking around in the online version of the Napa Register I found the following :

Like Stratton, Danielle Dulle of 2192 Penny Lane knows that her neighbors can’t wait to see the yield of her decorating labors. “Last year, we were out of town and the neighbors were disappointed because we didn’t to it. ... When we do it, they always come up and say ‘thank you’ and that makes it worth it,” she said.

Dulle, who has celebrated Halloween vigorously for 15 years, said her yard currently features ghosts, spider webs, crosses, skeleton bodies, skulls, black lights and more. “We left it up to the kids this year to decorate and they did a pretty good job,” she said. "

Don't ask me how I could have missed it for 15 years...LOL I have to drive right by it to get to my moms.. Penny Lane is a dead end street (no pun intended) Oh, and the Register had this wonderful interactive map... with the whopping 8, yes EIGHT, count them, spooky houses in town.... http://www.napavalleyregister.com/maps/halloween/ you see the Dulle's little skull and crossbones int he lower right!

Ghouly Dulle's

Last week I went to Napa and took my grandmother to the grocery store. My father generally does that but he had been out of commission. After taking grandma to the bank and to the grocery store, I stopped by my moms house on the way out of town... A large Halloween display at the Dulle's caught my eye as I was leaving moms. I wondered why I hadn't noticed in on my way in... The only thing I could think of was that it was still daylight when I came in and they generally have so much "stuff" on the street around their house I'm generally looking at that! I'm use to seeing the ever growing, garish Christmas display; but, for some reason this was the first time I can remember seeing a Halloween display there....

Credit:
papers and elements by Lei Fhung at Ztampf
frames by Melanie Willmann (melgen designs) at Pocket Pearls... ok pocket pearls seems to have vanished; but, you also find the frames at OScraps

Perfect (details)

that adorable pumpkin patch layout I posted the other day but couldn't say anything about?! Well, the secret is out! A new collaborative kit, "Bountiful Blessings", by Julie Mead, Doris Castle and Michelle Sheveland is now available at Cottage Arts!

Oh, and right now... all downloadable page paks are on sale at Cottage Arts. (sales ends November 5, 2007)

Perfect

On the way home from our "beach session" a couple of weeks ago, we stopped by the Petaluma Pumpkin Patch and I snapped a couple....



I'm not suppose to post this yet but I wont be around when it is suppose to be posted... besides, I figure nobody reads my blog anyway... LOL. I'll post the credits when the word is out! (big secret)

So Sweet

Just one of the photos I took on Saturday... I love this photo!

The Problem With Mormons!

I dunno.... I found it funny!

Christmas Cards

The kids wanated me to take some photos of them at thebeach to put on their christmas cards, so Saturday we went to the beach. Here are a few of the pictures

Challenge

I did this today (instead of mopping floors) for the October Week 2 CT challenge over at Cottage Arts. The theme is nature.... These are pictures takenlast year at the pumpkin farm.... of course you recognize that adorable pumpkin in the middle!

Faux Pas

It's a funny thing about men... as they age, they grow hair from every orifice of their bodies. The well groomed man keeps these hairs trimmed... if not, the lady in his life generally makes sure extraneous hairs are kept in check. I'm not quite sure how this one slipped inspection... this man sat in front of mom and I at a concert last weekend. He had a small pet growing in his ears and I'm not even going to discuss the stuff stuck in his nose... Come on ladies.. for heavens sake... check your men... get rid of that hair... at least in the nose and ears... other defurring or waxing is entirely optional!

Say What?

I don't know, this is such a silly thing... It shouldn't bother me... could be the stress I have put myself under lately... I'm sure I'm making something out of nothing... with my weight issues of the past few years I have become sooo self conscious... So the thing is... My mom who has often commented on how shiny my hair is... and has even asked how I keep it that way... on Friday, told me that if I plan on washing my hair every day (have for the past 40 years) that I should use one of those "shine products"... because my hair is always "dull" So now I'm second guessing everything about myself... argh!

News to Follow Soon

I'll tell you in a couple of days why I made this Layout!

"One"

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head and all you want to do is play it over and over? Well, I'm listening to Joe Cocker in my head and on my web! I'm thinking the lyrics might serve as inspiration for something....

Is it getting better
Or do you feel the same
Will it make it easier on you now
You got someone to blame
You say...

One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's...

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One...

Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One life

One...

I had forgotten what a genius this guy is! (my opinion) Yea, I suppose I should give U-2 some credit here too....

Darkness

I started a layout yesterday.... I was going to use a new pink kit from Doris to make a new page for my art therapy book... started and was going are key phrases here... This layout quickly got dark and right in the middle, I lost all focus, so here it is... unfinished... I guess I will have to come back to it another day... maybe one when I really feel pink!

Hello darkness... is that a song?

Hmmm... the other day, I was feelin' pretty good, thought I would buy myself a treat... It wasn't what I was looking for, but at Gottschalks I found this beautiful gold chain and they were haveing a great sale.. $1000.00 came down to about $380.00. I was using my debit card to pay for it. When I showed my drivers license to the clerk, she looked at the photo and said "Wow! That must have been about 100 pounds ago." Great... just what I need right now... another reminder.... I think I'll take the chain back today.....
Oh yea, I remember now!

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

New Project

The 2008 Cottage Arts CD Case Calendar Templates have arrived! you can find them here. All other papers and elements used on this adorable calendar of Rye are also available at Cottage arts. The specifics for each are posted in my gallery here

Back At It

sort of.. it's been about a month since I scrapped anything... and I'm not happy with anything I do.... argh! This is Rye last month when he caught the frogs. The entire quote is, "I catched him on the ground and I had him and he pee'ed on me. He was hungry but he wanted his mommy and his daddy and I like him! Is that not just the cutest thing!

Smile

Have a good time, make life cheerful and bright, dance if you want to, sing if you can, play as long as you live and leave the world with a smile. - Lemuel K. Washburn

Disconnected Thoughts

without cohesive words (A to Z) version 1 A Message, Alone, Another Brick in the Wall, Apology, As Time Goes By, Back Where We Started, Breakdown, Can't Fight This Feeling, Childhood Dreams, Collide, Comfortably Numb, Complicated, Constant Craving, Control, Crush, Crying, Dancing With Myself, Darkness, Darkness, Dazed And Confused, Deliver Me, Dirty Little Secret, Dream, Eyes Without a Face, Far Away Blues, Forever Blue, Free Fallin', Full Circle, Gloomy Sunday, Going out of My Head, Hanging On, Harden My Heart, Head Games, Heart of Stone, How Long, How You Gonna See Me Now, Hysteria , I Grieve, I Keep Forgettin', I Try, In Too Deep, Isn't It a Pity?, Its Not Easy To Be Me, Just a Dream, Killing Me Softly, Lines on My Face, Little Drop of Poison, Lonely People, Losing My Touch, Manic Monday, Midnight Confessions, Misery, Misunderstood, My Destiny, Nasty Habits, Never Know, Numbness for Sound, Obsession, Ocean Of Sorrows, Only Fooling Myself, Out of Touch, Paint It Black, Panic-Stricken, Paralyzed, Precious Illusions, Ramble On, Reflections of My Life, Refugee, Rumors, Sad Eyes, Same Old Situation, Shattered, Silent Running , Strung Out, Stuck in a Moment, Tainted Love, Tears On My Pillow, Tempted, The Compromise, Time After Time, Too Many Voices, Torn & Tattered, Us and Them, Use Me Up, Vacation's Over, Waiting, Walk Over Me, Warning Sign, White Rabbit, Who Am I, Wicked Game, Yes Or No, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, ~J

Hanging On

by a thread.... Several years ago I suffered a huge emotional trauma that I am still trying to recover from. One of the many "issues" I am left with is the inability to cope in social situations. They just drain me and for years I avoided them all together. These past couple of months have just been full of them for me. I can't remember them all, but in the past two weeks, I have attended a birthday party for a family friend, had visitors from church on two occassions, took missionaries to dinner, picked up a hitch hiker, spent the day at the gun range with family (yes that counts), and hosted a birthday lucheon for my mother (today)... I have way over done... I am soo frazzled.... I sit here now in my home town at my mothers house knowing tommarrow only brings more and wondering how long I will be able to hold it together. 12:42 omgosh... i need to go to bed... moms dialup is too slow to do anything with anyway... I even canceled my incomming mail because it was too slow... LOL i picked it up on my blackberry zippy quick!
Night All!

Happy Birthday

to my dear friend Dan, whom I met when I was 10 years old... Todays play list is for you!

Prices

Am I the only one who thinks the pricing is way out of line on this product (as beautiful as it may be)

You're Worst Nightmare!

I'm finally up and running! Oh no.. it's not MY worst nightmare... it's YOUR worst nightmare! hehe
I have updated the playlist with three songs!
I have my data all moved and the wireless going.. well sort of... I can access the laptop from the PC and the Internet from the PC and all the externals from the PC and I can access the Internet with the laptop... but the PC doesn't seem to want to let it in... I have checked everything I can think of from file sharing to the firewall and just can't figure it out... alas... oh and the router I switched out for the one I gave my mom... I don't think it's as powerful... The only time I seem to be able to get the laptop to connect to it is when it's sitting on the desk next to the PC... LOL a lot of good that does eh?

So, this is a long weekend for many... and Wednesday is my moms 70th... Hopefully I'll have some photos to share next week.. heck.. I haven't even shared the photos from the peach festival last month. I have lots of catching up to do!

If you don't hear from me before then... Have a SUPER weekend!

Lost

It's one thing not to have my computer, it's a totally different thing to have my computer but none of my data.... that's where I have found myself now and for most of the past week... Remember that 1.5 terebyte external I bought? Well, I had some difficulty formatting it then once I finally got it formatted I started moving the data... v e r y slowly because my pc is rather antiquated and has gen 1 usb... aka: s l o w ! Needless to say, I was getting frustrated... So I took all three externals to a place in town to transfer the data. $60.00 seemed reasonable. I was told it would probably take a day... that was Friday morning. I'm still waiting for the call that they are finished. I don't think they're open on week ends... I know they're closed on Sundays. (the owners are LDS)So, can you imagine how lost I am with out my photos, scrapping supplies, brushes, textures, actions etc!

With that said, Rye is spending the week with us as DD and SIL are on a cruise. He's so darned cute! On Friday night he caught this frog in our front yard. I can't wait to scrap it!

FRIDAY!

Wow where does the time go!?
My poor computer is huffing and puffing... I'm trying to format my new 1.5 terabyte external storage! Oh yes I said terabyte... yes I know that 1 terabyte = about 1000 gigabytes.... I'm tired of adding storage!Unfortunately I think my computer has stalled at 73% and it has been going for about 20 hours... YIKES!
I am off to Napa today to help my mom with her yard sale.... DH has gone fishing... or should I say he went with the office boys who are fishing... her went drinking I think! LOL
OK yes it WAS time to change the music... don't you just love the oldies! Always makes me want to dance... It's a good thing I don't drink, I would probably be a Karaoke queen! LOL I bet my mom was glad when we got off our road trip and she didn't have to listen to me sing anymore! I honestly think she took some extra long turns at the wheel just for that reason!
Have a great weekend y'all!

Deep Inside

One of the other participants in the Transformations program this year at the Center for Health in ST Helena was a beautiful vibrant 17 year old, Christina. For the most part Christina was a fun happy person, always smiling and chatting. I noticed when Christina didn't think anybody was looking, I could see a deep sadness with in her. I knew this sadness, this was the same sadness I had last year while attending the program and I can so relate to her. My heart was breaking for her. While I was looking through the photos I took I happened upon one that I think really captured that look... Christina, if you are reading this... you are BEAUTIFUL inside AND out! you have embarked on a wonderful journey, your mom, as the rest of us are here to lend support, if you will let us.... we love you sweetie... be strong! Your life depends on it!
Oh my.. I added the word art to buy me time to think about journaling and I think I just wrote it!

credits
Papers - Venetian Verdigris by Lauren Bavin
available at DSP
Under Moonlite Skies by Lauren Bavin
also available at DSP
Butterfly: Midnight Rose by Lauren Bavin
available at DSP
Word Art- Special You (Autism Awareness)
by Tina Chambers available at DSP
in Freebie section

Will It Blend? - iPhone

Marketing Mavericks!

You might want to scroll down to the ipod on the right and click pause so you can give this video your full attention!

Just a Couple

Layouts I did yesterday. The first I did quickly yesterday after I was told Cottage Arts needed layouts zippy quick for todays ezine release... this is my friend Thom's youngest child, Owen watching his sisters boating at the lake in Wyoming. no journaling because my friend sends photos and no explanation... and my requests go unanswered...LOL So I'm happy to have the pictures!


credits:
I used the masking technique to blend the photo and layer
blending on the flying creatures
kit: Butterfly Wings2 from Cottage Arts http://tinyurl.com/33uwao

Owen and his Mommy....

credits:
Rustic Floral elements http://tinyurl.com/2ztzzh and paper http://tinyurl.com/2jb5xy by Jackie Eckles available at Little Dreamer Designs
stamped frame:
Dragon Fly Dreams also by Jackie Eckles at Little Dreamer http://tinyurl.com/ypadzn
action:
Peeled and Revealed by Marcie Reckinger at Funky Playground http://tinyurl.com/3d6efj
template:
Peeled and Revealed set 5 by Marcie Reckinger also at Funky Playground http://tinyurl.com/3bugaw
font: thenaughtygrl

Fun, Interesting or Just Plain Stupid?

Do you like to be in the know on all the bizzar happenings in our society? If so you should read this blog..... News of The Wierd Daily... Breaking News Culled for Your Eyebrow-lifting, Sanity-gauging Pleasure by America's Weird-News Anchorman, Chuck Shepherd

Here's a sample of todays post
Civilization in Decline
One place we might be headed, the Safety Police say, is standard equipment in cars (the technology is done) to remind you, when you park, to take your urchin (in the back seat) with you [Ed.: and, let’s see, what else from the News of the Weird’s archive, oh, yes, standard equipment to detect whether there’s a pedestrian that you’ve hit, embedded in your windshield] . . . . .

Can you see me rolling my eyes? Oh yes!

Evolution

I keep trying to do a particular layout and I keep
getting something totally different... I think this is
number 6... ack

Culture

This is another of those photos I took last November. I love the native dress worn in the parade by the Hmong youth... so intricate and so beautiful!



credits:

Punch Love by Doris Castle
available at Scrapbook Graphics...
(some parts recolored)

font - times new roman

Just Some

of my latest work that I have failed to share... betcha thought I wasn't working didn't cha?!

Back At It!

Can you believe it... I have changed the play list and it has only been five days! WooHoo! hehe This play list is dedicated to the other DJS lurking out there!

Omgosh... I so struggled with this layout... It started when I saw a preview of a kit by Doris Castle that she was still developing and I was inspired... since that hadn't happened in a couple of months I sat right down to start my layout... I started by blending two photos... then off to the shop to get that new kit... only it wasn't in the shop yet.... I then thumbed through my recent purchase folders and found this great Kay Miller kit! I needed to strike while the iron was hot... I didn't realize the fire would turn to an obsession. After almost 30 hours straight at my computer, the days began to blur.. did I eat today? did I take my meds? was that yesterday or the day before.... my original inspiration had morphed four times and I now have this! The past 12 hours have been spent fretting about journaling.. I wanted to tell how I know the personal storm I am currently enduring will result in a strong beautiful garden.. but I just couldn't get it out, so I scoured my brushes, quotes and word art.... and come up with this great defiant quote!

thank goodness it's done!





Credits:
Kit: Midnight in the Garden by Kay Miller
available at Kay Miller Designs http://tinyurl.com/2g2bfc
Bubbles: Blowing Bubbles Accent Pack by Lie Fhung
available at Ztampf! http://tinyurl.com/2hgp4q
Word Art: Quotations-Strength by Nancy Rowe Janitz
available at Scrap Artist http://tinyurl.com/2hvbja
Butterfly: Punch Love by Doris Castle
available at SBG: http://tinyurl.com/23e69o

Memories...

Blank Paper
DOES NOT equal
Lack of Thought!

Service Announcement

I would like to take so time out from my vacation blog to share an announcement from our Aussie friends at Designs in Digital...

Carla Gibson, a beloved designer here at Designs In Digital and Oscraps, passed away this morning after a recent brain aneurysm.

We would like to do something for Carla's family so 100% of the proceeds from our Mega Kit that we have in the store, will go to Carla's family to help with the financial burden.

Thank you for showing your support to Carla's family in their time of need.

Our sincere thanks
Designs In Digital Team

preview:

Saddle Sores

This was definately the longest drive of the entire trip. I personally drove 8 hours straight. Moms took the first three. Once I got started I didn't want to stop! Too tierd to give a good account or upload photos. Be prepared to be deluged with info, soon!
~J

Ps wanted to do some chalk art tonight, but its not gonna happen. So, if you're a fan,please imagine you saw it and let me know what I drew!

Push On

Today we started in th middle of Nebraska, drove all the way across WyomIng and in to Salt Lake City! A wonderful peaceful feeling came over me as we approached the Park City area.A calmness I haven't felt for a long time.I wish I could spend at least a week here, alas, we will press on
Photos to follow

MIA

Oh yes, I have been MIA for a couple of days. I have been at my sisters house in Springfield Mo. On our first full day we took at trip to Branson. We ate lunch at Dick Clark's AB Grill then took a ride on a DUCK! Can't wait to see the photos? Me either... Problem is, I put fresh batteries in the the camera before we left... made sure I had everything I needed in my camera bag... set it on the floor in the middle of the family room so i would be sure to see it on my way out... Which is exactly where I found it when we returned to the house! I have given you links if you're interested. FYI... the food was great and the tour was humorous, informative and had many photos ops... dang! dang! dang! Oh wait! I did take some pictures with my camera phone....

Yesterday we relaxed around my sisters house, I picked my 15 year old niece up from school and took her shopping at the mall. She really wanted this pair of Van's with little green frogs on them, but they were out of her size... she ended up with a pair of Heely's... My sister made a great pork tenderlion dinner, we all loaded up and went to a nearby park so Celeste could practice on her Heely's...

Arrived in Lincoln Nebraska tonight!

Update tomorrow.

Chow

Tri State Drive

Whew! What a day! Three states one day! We left Texas this morning in questionable weather conditions...



It rained so hard we had to pull over a couple of times due to lack of visibility.
We drove all the way through Oklahoma and into Missouri. All the photos I took were taken out the window going 70-75 mph, so quality is lacking... but this is what I have!
In Texas....



More rain in Oklahoma



It's beautiful but does the road ever end?



This lake in oklahoma went on forever... fingers in every direction.. we crossed it three times. Sometimes on one side of the road it would be blue and on the other red, sometimes the other way around... then sometimes you could see the color change in the middle of the lake



In Oklahoma we came across this...



Then a few hundred feet down the road a trooper sat in the divide with is radar gun....a few hundred feet more.. another sign, and another trooper. Imagine if the CHP did this LOL









and that was our second Wednesday!

Missed a Couple

Oh I forgot to let you see the view from our window here in Seagoville... Check it out!



how about a closer look!



Oh yes, it's the Federal Pen.... nice huh?

Off to luch with Auntie Dee and clan...

Rain, Rain and flash flood warnings..

What Day Is It?

First off I have to let ya'll in a a little secret... all day today I thought it was yesterday and I can't even remember what day I thought it was yesterday... did I think yesterday was yesterday and just forgot about it when I woke up and started Friday all over? Or did I think yesterday was Thursday? I have no clue except at some point during the week I lost a day... what a dork!

We woke up this morning in Quanah.... me paniced because I couldn't locate my blackberry. After seaching everywhere, I finally found it in the car, under the seat. DH had left 3 messages. Last night I was sitting in the lobby updating my blog about the time I call DH and thought I had left my phone in the room, so I sent an email to his office so he would get it in the am.... he doesn't use the PC at home. But I figured when he got to work and checked his email he would understand... not realizing it would be 4 days before he went to work. I even left messages on his voice mail at work.... 12 hours with no communication and he went out and bought a brand new car... ACK! I have been talking himm out of this car for over a year now.... this will teach me to go away!

So on the way out of Quanah, I see this



Can you beleive it? Drive through liquor store in the tiny little town!

We head out to Seagoville (Dallas). Our first stop... about 15 miles, in the next town, to by souvineers... lots of yummy pecan items! Then we stopped at a Bowie's Restaurant and had the best service and yummiest soup. Further down the road we saw this:





Camels in Texas? What's up with that?

Then these on the side of the road brought back a childhood memory... maybe I'll share it with you another time.... or better yet... ask me and I'll tell you... it's really rather humorous... about a couple of little girls and these:



We alaso saw some of these.... I have no clue what they are... I just thought they were pretty!



We arrive about 4:30, we get settled (this is when I realized it was NOT Friday but in fact Saturday)My mom calls her sister who comes by to visit:



We went to Denny's for dinner then back to the room.... I gotta tell you.... I'm ready to be home! I miss the comforts of my own home... the solitude I have there... I'm tierd of living out of my suit case... can I get a plane home?

We will stay here again tommorrow the head out to Misourri. I figure we will be there Monday night. My mom wants to stay 4 days max.... I want to stay... uh.... well less than that.... I am sooo home sick

That's it for today... Saturday.....day 5!

Small Town - Big Hearts

I was afraid we were going to have to high tail it out of Quanah before we did what we came here to do because of a lack of rooms... As it turned out, we got to stay...
I got up early, put on my best overall jumper and went bear footed out too the lobby to speak with the manager.... a good'ol boy who moved here to take care of his mother when she became ill and now that she has passed is counting the days until he leaves next month... anyway... I talked to him about vacancy percentages and overbooking percentages.... he gave me a sly smile as the chew washed across his teeth and said "well, I think I might be able to find something for you" . And he did! So today we headed out to the cemetary looking for my moms grandmother.... I was surprised at how large the cemetary was for the size of this town... I believe there are more people in the cemetary than in town. Oh and t here was a huge grave side funeral going on... must have what was left of town! LOL...








Once at the cemetary we discovered the person who kept the plat map and all the records was in town at City Hall... So we headed back to town. I had to chuckle when we pulled up. It would seem city hall is now housed in the old John Deer / farm supply building. We easliy found the person we needed to speak to and she was more than happy to help. She looked up the information, copied a plat map for us and marked it on the map. So we headed back to the cemetary... Sure enough therre she was Josie E. Kidd, burried in the Leonard family plot. Josie's daughter Viola had married in to the Leonard family and Josie was burried right next to Viola and had a beautiful headstone


While tooling around t he cemetary I also took these shots among others:





Once we leave the cemetary, my mom decides she wants to drive around town to see if she can find any familiar sites. My mom hasn't been here for 66 years... so I'll let you guess how many familiar sites she found! But we did meet this adorable couple



Pat has lived here all her life... and they knew some of my mom's kin.

we also went to the courthouse to see if we could find an exact date of death formy mom's grandmother since the headstone only has the year on it. I spoke to the sweetest gal named Tina in the county recorders office. She wasn't able to find any information on Josie, but did fins marriage information for one of my moms Uncles and told be if she still had the original certificate she would give it to me. She went in the back and came out with three bundles of yellowed certificates, unfortunately none for JL and Ruby Kidd... how cool was that of her to look and offer!



This has got to be the friendliest place that I have ever visited. Every single person we see makes some acknowledgement to us, whether it be a wave from across the street or a smile and a hello in passing. And the folks that we have had the pleasure to chat with have been more than helpful, often going far and above what was asked in an attempt to help us. This town is small and getting smaller everyday... but the people have the biggest hearts.

Here are a few more shots from today:



















We did tons more today, but I think I've talked your ear off enough for today... Off to Seagoville, just outside of dallas in the Morning to visit my moms sister... until then ... peace out!