Can You Just Imagine

 Song - Imagine by John Lennon

I can't imagine what you have been doing for the last 6 months!?

It has been 6 months since my last post and I have been missing putting together songs, text and photos to share with you!  Let's just say that my October 2022 knee replacement didn't rehab very well but I have recently been doing much better.  Oh my I am getting so much done around the house and it feels great!

In April Mr. B and I spent 10 days visiting his bio-family in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.  Above is a photo of the Texas Bluebonnets blooming along the highway.  We were just there for the tail end of the spring bloom. 

 

A lot of time was strolling around cemeteries looking for Mr. B's family headstones and paying our respects. 

We met wonderful new relatives, got re-acquainted with some relatives we had already met several years ago, went on picnics, out for dinner, to Native American celebrations, on boat rides for dinner....

 

....and ended the trip in Waco, Texas at Magnolia Market and The Silos. The night we arrived there was a tornado warning.  We got inside our hotel and had a wonderful cozy dinner while watching things whip around outside.
 

Above is the view from our hotel room.  Trains ran all night long and while you might think it was noisy it really wasn't as I guess they were very insulated.

 

 One of my favorite treats there were Joanna's biscuits....Mmmmmmmm!

Every year a group of my girlfriends and I take a long weekend together.  This year we went to the little town of Cayucos near San Luis Obispo down the coast of California. This is the sunset from our incredible home we were renting. And below are some otters playing in Morro Bay. Great meals, stories, laughter and love.

Mr. B and I spent several week days in San Francisco doing research on one member of his family tree who was a sea captain and operated a ship building yard in the early 1900's. We did our research at the Maritime museum and treated ourselves to some fun lunches in the city.

This summer Mr. B and I spent a month in my favorite relaxing place - Lake Tahoe at our family cabin which sits at the base of Mount Tallac.

Loads of bear sightings this year as I have heard that because of California's long winter they are coming out of hibernation very hungry!

Our grandson's and their parents came up to join us for a week. Lot's of walks, beach time and loads giggles.

"The highlight of my childhood 

was making my brother laugh so hard 

that food came out his nose."    

Garrison Keillor

Deep In the Heart of Texas

Song - My Hero's Have Always Been Cowboys by Willie Nelson

Last week Mr. B and I were in Texas and Oklahoma to meet his new first cousins.

Thanks to DNA we were able to find cousins from both of his biological parents.

This trip was to meet his dad's side of the family and they generously shared

 stories, photos and laughter with us! Some of his cousins flew in or drove to Forth Worth to spend the day with us and it was very much appreciated!

Last Tuesday after a full day of visiting, we stepped outside of our hotel to see the

"The Herd" - these are Texas Longhorns herded by authentically dressed cowboys called Drovers.

These guys take their job calmly and seriously as just the day before they had trouble with one of the cattle when it wouldn't cross over a metal plate covering a hole in the street.

 The cowboys worked with him over and over again and eventually moved the crowd back
as he was getting feisty.

Tuesday they tried him again and he hesitated for a moment before moving forward.

"If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, 

take a look back every now and then to make
sure it's still there."

--Will Rogers 

You Know You’re In Texas....

You know you’re in Texas when.....

We are working on Mr. B’s family tree.....in Texas !

And I can’t wait to see the cowboys driving the Longhorns through the middle of town tomorrow!