What to do when it is 105 Outside

1. Blog. I haven't been writing much, because there has been nothing to write about. But, we did have temps below 100 yesterday & rain (well, sprinkles at least) for the first time in ages--so I'd call that news-worthy!

2. Garden. Really? No, not really. It is too hot to do much. We did plant some cantaloupe and black eyed peas recently. Mark tends to them mostly late in the evening.

3. Crochet. This is one of my favorite ways to pass the time! Just stay away from heavy afghans. Summer is a good time to work on smaller, lighter projects. Since we're about to welcome our first great-nephew, I'm enjoying making baby booties & baby afghans.

4. Learn to play the ukulele. This is a picture of the 'Flea' ukulele Mark bought for me. It's great! I'm having lots of fun picking out different songs. (This picture was taken shortly before Oscar let out a big sigh, left my lap, and crawled under a pillow. It is kind of sad when even the dog is a critic. It could be that he's not fond of my playing, but I prefer to think that he just doesn't want anything to do with an instrument called a 'FLEA.'.)

5. Nap! This is Oscar's favorite way to pass the time when it is too hot to go outside. I think he has the right idea.

Lafayette June 2009

We recently made a quick trip to Lafayette timing it so that we could see our nephew Heath, meet his fiance Ashley, and then attend their wedding two days later. He is having a busy two weeks while on leave from Iraq! We were so happy to see Heath, to meet some of his Mom's family, and to meet Ashley & her family. We enjoyed our visit and will be glad when he his back at Fort Hood. [In the meantime, we'll keep the post office busy with care packages!]

We also had a delightful visit with our nephew Chris and his girlfriend Heidi. We loved getting updates on their jobs, their plans for school, and everything else--and hearing about their dogs Bubba & Cooper. We can't wait until our next visit with them. In the meantime, I'm glad for cell phones (yes, even text messaging), email, and 'snail' mail!

Unfortunately, we missed seeing our beautiful niece Ana and great-niece Audrey. Ana had been invited on a cruise and we were glad to hear that she had a nice time. We're looking forward to seeing her and the lovely baby sometime this fall. Here's a picture from our last trip:

These are just 3 of our niece & nephews--we could go on & on about them and the ones in Texas & Georgia too! But I'll spare you the bragging--for now at least! We're looking forward to welcoming our first great-nephew later this month (our nephew & niece-in-law on the Mitchell side), so watch for news about 'Hunter' soon!