This is the Day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
This morning I was greeted on my walk with an incredible sky! It was filled with many hues of rose and blue. The sky burst with sunlight of soft golden rays that blended with the pink to create a rosy glow over the land. I should have taken a picture with my phone, but I am sure it would never have done it justice.

After my walk, I checked my phone to find a text from Lauren exclaiming God's truth and righteousness and praying for my day. Thank you love!

My bible study is going so much better this week. Last week's lesson in Mark covered Jesus' scourging and crucifixion. It weighed heavily on me to read and study the suffering He volunteered for on my behalf. I suppose it should be a source of joy that He chose to do it because He loves me. Even when He was praying in the garden and asking the Father if there was another way besides the cross to accomplish His task, His will to obey the Father is stronger than His desire to avoid pain and especially the separation from God. THAT IS LOVE! I can't even begin to grasp it. This week, we are studying the resurrection. It is because He rose that I can "approach (literally 'storm') the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Heb. 4:10

Arkansas Traveler. . . . pt. 4

Thursday, Pat & I planned to visit Hot Springs Natl Park. The drive was long and took us through the Quachita National Forest. Pat snapped my picture driving. I did alot of driving that week! I enjoy driving though.....1300 miles in all.Hot Springs is a different kind of Natl Park...there is no entrance where you have to pay or show your park pass. I thought I hadn't brought my park pass with me and the night before we went, I was talking to Paul and he said "It's in your wallet". I looked and he was right! How did he know? Anyway, there is this observation tower there so Pat and I went up. At the top Here's one of the views All of the hot springs have been capped and diverted to the town where bath houses were built long ago and used for medicinal purposes. We walked the promenade behind the bathhouses This is one of the springs along the promenade with the steam rising from it We toured the Fordyce Bathhouse....Pat had told me to bring my swim suit that morning so we could "take a bath" but once we had a look at the bathhouse, we decided the day spa of today's era is much preferable Looks inviting doesn't it? The Needle Shower The gymnasium


Our day was fun and we enjoyed seeing Lake Hamilton with all the condos right on the Lake. We had supper at Cracker Barrel and followed that with a stop at the 2nd Starbucks we found in Arkansas there in Hot Springs. Another fun day exploring!

Arkansas Traveler. . . . pt. 3

After spending the night at Pam and Dennis' home. We drove the 3 1/2 hours back to Clarksville, stopping in Knoxville to pick up Mom from Aunt Edna's. This took longer than we expected due to Mom planning on fixin' (yes that's fixin') A. Edna's hair. When that was accomplished, we dropped Mom at her cousin Basil's house and went back to the hotel to clean up. We picked Mom up again and went to Aunt Paula and Uncle Joe's house. Paula is my Dad's sister. She allowed Pat and me to go through a couple of shoeboxes of old photos since, we have maybe 5 photos of our paternal grandparents between us. Here are a few: My grandfather, Thomas Manton Fleming in his military uniform. (My dad's father) His military headstone My grandmother, Clara Elizabeth McCartney Fleming My parents, Finis and Letha, taken at the time they were married Our family in 1956, Mom, Dad, my brothers Ron & Mike, my sister Pat & me

Wednesday, we decided to drive to Ft. Smith and do some shopping. We were looking for a camouflage hoodie and not the hunting kind with all the twigs and branches on it, but the army style of camo....the hunting brand is extremely popular in this part of the country though. :)
We were listening to the Mamas and Papas in tribute since Denny Doherty had died on January 19th. So bopping down the highway to "California Dreamin" and "Monday, Monday", somehow we missed the turnoff to Ft. Smith and found ourselves crossing into Oklahoma (where the wind comes sweeping down the plain). Unfortunately, we had to go about 16 miles into OK until we could turn around and go back. Eventually, we arrived in Ft. Smith and did some shopping. We bought Razorback T-shirts and hats, but couldn't locate the elusive camo hoodie. Boo :(

After shopping, we traveled south to the town of Greenwood where my cousin Diane (another daughter of Aunt Edna's) and her husband Joe have purchased a home. They plan to move from Temecula to Greenwood in February. So here are some pictures of their house in Greenwood:They have a nice neighborhood with plenty of land around each home They have a pool in the back which they fenced because of the grandchildren (Their two daughters and 5 grandchildren plan to move to Arkansas as well) They also have this great pond on their property.

We made our way to Russellville from Green wood, traveling through many small towns along the way. I took a few pictures of interesting sites:The Logan County Courthouse is one of many colonial style buildings in the state Sunset over Lake Dardanelle The nuclear power plant in Dardanelle

Pat and I finished our day with dinner at Colton's Steakhouse in Russellville. The food was great! We were ready to head back to the hotel and get some sleep. Fun day!

Arkansas Traveler . . . . . pt. 2

There is nothing better than having a variety of options available to me. Especially when it comes to music....I love having choices! It's no different here in Arkansas...our radio in the hotel has choices. Do you want to listen to country, country, talk, country, or country?

Poor little armadillo!

Sunday, we decided that we needed to get out of the "dry" county we were in and get some wine....so we headed to Altus, where there are about 5 or 6 wineries. We had to get back to Aunt Edna's because "the kids" were coming, so we stopped only at Wiederkehr. A german family who had a dream of building a winery and chose this area because it reminded them of Germany. After a couple of tastes and some purchases, we headed back to Aunt Edna's place to greet some more kinfolk. This is Mom with her brother Ted , her brother Alvey Joe, and her sister Edna. Mom with her sister Norma Sue and Norma's husband Floyd. Pat & I with our cousin Hal David. Hal and I share the position of fourth child of six. Cousins Donna and Debbie....Donna is Edna's 2nd born and Debbie is the 5th. It was fun spending time with our cousins. Donna and Pat hadn't seen each other for 20 years. Donna is full of fun jokes and stories and loves to entertain.

The NEXT DAY......we decided to drive to Heber Springs. My dad was CFO at Rockwell International in Anaheim until he was forced to take an early retirement at 55 years of age. He decided to move back to Arkansas and live a more quiet, simple life. So he and his wife Patty moved to Heber Springs and built a house on the Little Red River. From Clarksville, we drove about 2+ hours to get here. This fruit market is right at the town entrance and carried a variety of things including sorghum. We like their claim to fame though, "the fried pea". This picture is for my darling husband: this is his dream vacation home. What more could a fisherman ask for than a bass boat in the driveway and a fish mailbox? This is the house my dad built. The people who now own it made a room out of the garage and added the carport in front of it. My dad lived here for about 10 years until his death. This pic is taken from my dad's driveway looking across the road. My dad owned that land as well and had a barn there with a huge garden planted. It has obviously been sold and the owners built a house on the land. This is the back of Dad's house overlooking the river. The steps down to the dock and river Here is his dock at the back of his house where he kept his fishing boat


From Heber Springs, we traveled north another 2+ hours to Oxford where my cousin Pam and husband Dennis live. Pam and Dennis own a hog farm. They have 5000 sows and provide pork for Farmer John, Tyson and other companies. Pam was taking care of her grandson Jude because he was sick and his mom is in school to obtain her RN. He was a real cutie and we enjoyed playing with him until his dad (Pam's son Chad) came to pick him up. We had so much fun visiting with Dennis and Pam! They insisted we had to spend the night because of the dark winding roads and so we did. They drove us to Melbourne where we bought toothbrushes (because we obviously hadn't intended on staying overnight, so brought nothing with us) and took us to dinner. We had catfish and hushpuppies with slaw. You would think we would have had ham, pork chops, etc. Nope, but the catfish was great! Here we are at the restaurant. Pam loves to travel and said if we ever get together for a sister trip and want a cousin to tag along to give her a call. We may just do that. Lots of driving but a great time!

Arkansas Traveler. . . . . . pt. 1

Mom and I were dropped off at Ontario Airport at 9:30 am, in plenty of time for our flight departure of 11:40. We got checked in and after being turned back to the counter because Mom's drivers license was expired, (She didn't renew it because she hasn't driven for about 7 years or more) we made our way up to the gate and sat down to wait. The flight in front of ours which was also headed for Dallas was delayed, which gave me some concern.....but decided just to wait and see. Spent the time conversing with a nice guy "John" who had moved years ago from California to a suburb of Dallas and was on his way back from a business trip. We finally got boarded "late" around 12ish due to the flight before ours being delayed. We were seated way in the back of the plane and it would have been a great flight except for the 2 people seated behind us who kept up a very loud conversation that was so idiotic in content I considered locking myself in the bathroom for the entire trip. The poor guy next to me kept shaking his head and insisting that we must be part of some candid camera episode. Anyway, when we approached Dallas, the captain told us that due to an overload of planes trying to land in our plane's corridor, we were being rerouted to land from the south and that would be an additional 15 min to our time. I was beginning to get nervous now. We finally landed only to be told that our arrival gate was occupied by a plane needing maintenance and they were going to find us an alternate gate. At this point, Pat called me to ask where we were. I said we were sitting on the tarmack awaiting a gate...she said "no prob, we still have 50 min." It seemed like forever to get to the gate and then to wait as everyone deplaned (we were 3 rows from the back) We got off the plane at gate A21 and asked the attendant for the quickest way to B11. She said go to gate A14 and go upstairs to catch the skylink. I grabbed my Mom by the arm and started running her short little legs off for 7 gates and up to the skylink. Pat called and I said "we're getting on the skylink" She told the guy at B11, he'd have to hold the plane because were on our way. She called back to ask if we had any luggage as the guy wanted to close out flight and he was stepping away and when he returned we better be there. The guy came back and my sister told him we'd be there any minute (and she was hoping we would) just then we came around the corner and jumped on the plane. There was only one flight to Ft. Smith after that one and no vacancies, so we would have been spending the night in Dallas, so I'm thankful that we got to get on....

We arrived in a very short time (45 min) in Ft. Smith (a beautiful airport). Got our rental car, and found a beautiful sight: STARBUCKS! After stopping for a sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte, I was good to go. We drove to Clarksville and checked in to the Hampton Inn. Here is our hotel room: We were all starving! I hadn't eaten all day, Mom had eaten 1/2 a banana and Pat had eaten a couple of appetizers, so we went in search of a meal. Unfortunately, it was 9pm and this little podunk town was closed up. We did, however, find the South Park Restaurant which is a huge draw for truckers and rv'ers. We went in and had cheeseburgers and fried okra....very yummy! Back to the hotel to sleep.....THE NEXT DAY......
Today was cold and rainy ALL DAY! Pat and I decided to go get Mom something to eat from the continental breakfast and then we put on our swimsuits and went down to exercise in the pool for an hour. We came back to the room, dressed and headed over to Walmart. We then drove east and south to Knoxville, where my Aunt Edna and Uncle Tony live. This is their house: We spent the day visiting with Aunt Edna and Uncle Tony. Here is Mom with her younger sister Edna: Mom's friend Virginia came over to see her, then we had dinner, washed the dishes and got ready to leave. Mom is going to stay with Aunt Edna this week....We'll go back tomorrow as several of my cousins will arrive to see us. Aunt Edna, like my Mom has 6 children, and we will get to see 3 of them. Here is Pat with Uncle Tony: And Pat and me with Aunt Edna: WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE OZARKS, BE SURE TO DRINK THE NATURAL SPRING WATER CALLED "OZARKA"

Walking Wounded

This morning I went for my usual 3 mile walk......It was cold and icy out there! The park is still on it's normal watering schedule and all the water run off made the sidewalks ice over, so I was walking on the lawn which was still kind of slippery. I took one misstep onto the sidewalk and the next thing I know, I'm on my bum! Since I'm well padded back there, it didn't hurt but the hand that flew back to catch me is another story!A little sore and swollen with some bruising. How dumb to walk through the park!Live and learn

What's Been Going On?......

Since the holidays ended......I started back to Community Bible Study. Currently studying Mark & the passion week in particular. It's interesting that 1/3 of Mark's gospel and 1/2 of John's cover the last 7 days of Jesus earthly life. I am challenged by the cursing of the fig tree. Even though it had the appearance of producing fruit, there was no evidence of fruit. Pretending holiness is much different from pursuing holiness. Getting to know God through His word, through prayer and the Holy Spirit is how faith grows.

So, Jared has been working occasionally for the Rancho de Andellusia winery on Wolf Store Road. He called me on Friday to tell me that they were having a slow night and that Paul and I should come for dinner. The chef had prepared chicken fettucini for dinner and for an appetizer, smoked salmon with cream cheese. We decided to check it out....for $20, we had dinner, they comped our glasses of wine and there was a guitar player and singer who entertained us with cover songs from Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffett, and Aerosmith. Now that's a bargain! We then drove down to San Diego Airport to pick up Gramacita who has been visiting John and Denise in Maine since mid December.

Saturday, we drove with Lauren to REI in Encinitas. She was looking for crampons and snow baskets for her hiking poles so she can go and do some hiking in the snow. It was a beautiful day and perfect for driving. I was surprised to see how much San Marcos has developed. It's been awhile since I drove that way.

Paul and I have been watching Season 5 of "24" over the last two weeks to refresh our memories and to prepare for Season 6 which will debut Sunday and Monday evenings. A four hour extravaganza!!

In other news, I had an interesting conversation with Lauren and friends in December. Lauren shared with Christina that I have an affinity for red shoes. I have always like shoes, but red shoes just do something for me. Christina, it turns out, shares my enjoyment of red shoes! All of this got me thinking and dreaming of owning another pair of red shoes. Christmas morning, I joked that the desired shoes were under the tree and every package, I shook and said "Do you think they're in this one?" Anyway, they never surfaced. A couple of weeks ago, Lauren and I were shopping and looking at shoes. I found a beautiful pair of patent red leather pumps! But I didn't buy them.....I don't know, it seemed silly. Later, Paul and I were shopping and I saw them again. This time, I bought them! I dont know when Ill wear them, maybe in Boston next summer. Here they are....... insanity? maybe, but it sure seems fun!

This week, I am preparing to fly to Arkansas on Friday with my Mom. She wants to visit her sister Edna who is celebrating her 80th birthday. My mom will have her 83rd birthday while we are there. My sister Pat is going as well and we hope to see some of the state while we are there.

Welcome 2007!

Family and friends are such a joy to me! I enjoy so much spending time together! Here are some fun holiday timesDinner and Cards with Andrew and MelanieThe Riser Boys do dishes! Way to train them Melanie!Dinner with Jan, Rilla, Diane, & BelindaDesperately seeking Sushi with Juanita & NealThese pics are from our annual Christmas Tea.
Jan and her beautiful grandbabiesLori with daughters Erica and KatrinaBaby Jacob -a very happy guy!Meredith with her blessings!Sophia with her Auntie ElizaElizabeth and her new blessing Joseph Kyle (3 weeks old)Our 8th annual Tea!This photo is to inspire a friend of mine who did not decorate at all this year, but claims next year the house will shine!Happy New Year to all!