The Ink Blot Spot

Back from Vacation!

Well, I've taken a loooong vacation from stamping and blogging, haven't I??  There has been SO much going on, that I have found it impossible to blog lately.  DH has a possible opportunity to transfer to Birmingham, Alabama, so we took a few days to check out the area.  The company had him there to train his potential colleagues and I tagged along!  This was the first time our teenage boys stayed home alone, so it was a little scary!  But they did very well feeding the dogs and taking finals in school.  Can hardy believe what responsible young men my babies are becoming!  Here is a photo of hubby coming out of the building where he could work in Birmingham:

It's really a beautiful area and the people are so warm and friendly.  It will be a BIG adjustment for us, "yankees," but I know God has a plan for our family and I have learned to trust in that plan.  This news is not official yet, but it is likely to be finalized in the next few weeks.  The big move will probably not happen for another year, while our eldest son completes his senior year.

VACATION

Then, a couple of weeks later, we went on a mini-vacation.  Some friends of my in-laws have a beautiful home on Lake Anna in Mineral, Virginia.  They invited all of DH's siblings and their families, as well as his parents, for a long weekend.  We were treated to boating, tubing and water skiing.  There was a slide from the second floor of the dock, which the kids found thrilling!  Their golden retriever thought she was a FISH and spent hours swimming in the lake, watching over the children, making sure they all came up after jumping in.  As long as we didn't tire from throwing her ball, she would swim out and bring it back again.  And our hostess (probably in her seventies) served 3 meals a day for 22 of us!  I am talking about pancakes for breakfast, with our choice of blueberry, apple or chocolate chip, made to order!!  She is truly amazing and inspiring.  Here are a few photos:

  

We'll have another long weekend in August when we will meet with family again in Ocean City, MD.  Thankfully, these are very economical vacations for us this summer, except of course for the gas prices!  We must schedule visits to colleges for Chris soon, also.

Well, now you have a glimpse at some of the things that have been keeping me busy recently.  Business at my home care agency has also picked up a bit which is good but also time-consuming.  I HAVE made a little time to scrap and stamp in the last couple of weeks and I will share them here as some blog entries.  I am really going to try to make regular entries...REALLY!

So, if anyone reading this knows some stampers or scrapbookers or Stampin' Up! Demonstrators in the Birmingham, AL, region -- please leave a comment for me!

There's No Place Like Home

This summer, our travels took us to Lake Tahoe, CA.  The main purpose of the trip was to attend a family reunion on my mother-in-law's side.  Karen (m-i-l) has 3 siblings and their children & grandchildren are spread across the country.  They are of Swedish heritage and Karen and some of her siblings have traveled to Sweden a few times and have re-connected with cousins there.  We are so pleased that, over the years, several of the Swedish cousins have come to the US and visited with us!  This reunion was no exception, as we had the great pleasure of spending time with our cousin, Lena (pronounced Lee'-ena)...pictured below, to the right of Brian and me.  Lena is a lovely young woman who taught us about life in Sweden.  She works in a music archive near Stockholm and she even sang some Swedish songs for us around the campfire!  Several years ago, we met Lena's twin sister and, separately, her older sister.  Well, it was a great reunion, as always...and a fantastic ending to our week out west.  I have lots of photos and stories to preserve...guess I better get scrapbooking!

Vacation...A distant memory!

Can't believe it's MARCH already!!  Our family traveled to Cancun, Mexico, during February and it's hard to believe that we've been home a week and a half now.  Re-entry is difficult!

We've vacationed there a few times now (since Mom has a timeshare and invites us as her guests), so we have done most of the sight-seeing and excursions in the past.  This year, we decided to just relax and spend our money on the restaurants!  Now, I REALLY must start my diet/exercise plan.

                           

The boys posed for a photo with "Senor Frog" even though we never went inside!  Below is a photo of the boys with "Flat Stanley."  Have you heard of him?  We received him from Brian's nephew in Maryland, asking us to write about adventures that Flat Stanley has with us and send him back, with photos.  Of course, we had to bring him along to Cancun!  He stowed away in my carry-on bag.

I learned recently that Flat Stanley is famous and, in fact, has been to the Oscars!  Check out his photo with Clint Eastwood by clicking this link:

Flat Stanley and Clint Eastwood

The boys had fun on Jet Skis on the ocean, but it's not the ideal place to get photos of the action (unless you have one of those water-proof cameras, but I didn't).  Well, time to get back to real-life...and STAMPING!!