What I'm Reading

Right now I am reading a series by Brodie and Brock Thoene.  It is historical Christian fiction.  I actually read the series several years ago, but it was so great that I decided to buy all the books and read them again.  The series is the Zion Covenant.  I am on book six, Warsaw Requiem.



The books are set during World War II in Europe.  I have 3 books in the series to go before I am done, and I just can't get enough of them.  I have also ready the series the Zion Chronicles which is also by these authors and ties into the other series. Great authors! 

Now We're Cookin'

 Kevin had a guy at work make us this smoker.  I think he did a great job!  I think Kevin's ready to cook some brisket and ribs.

Baby Blanket

I can now post pics of a secret project that I was working on.  Our friends in Scotland, Jason and Erin, finally had their baby several weeks ago.  This is what I sent little Andrew.

 

It might be a little difficult to see because of the color of the blanket, but that is an "M" in the middle.  They did not know if they were having a boy or a girl, so I did not have a first name initial to go by.  The "M" is for the first letter of their last name. 

We were working at the new house last weekend.  I was raking and Kevin was spraying pesticide around the house to keep the bugs out this spring.  As he was spraying, he discovered this:

 

Strawberries!  We can't eat these strawberries though.  Kevin had already sprayed them with pesticide before he discovered them.  I can live with that though.  He surprised me the other day by growing some watermelon plants.  This is especially nice because he does not eat watermelon.  We also expect some tomatoes this summer. 

Vacuum

 I was vacuuming the house the other day and my vacuum cleaner began to smoke.  Not a good sign.  The motor had burned up.  I bought this vacuum almost 8 years ago at Service Merchandise on sale for $69.  Needless to say, it had lived its life.  The next day I read an endless amount of reviews of vacuum cleaners and discovered one that outshown most of the rest in its price range.



It's the Bissell 5770 Healthy Home Bagless.  It's half the price of a Dyson and many reviews said that it worked just as well.   Sears was having a sale, so we bought it.  I love this vacuum! 

My New Pet

 

Just kidding.  Kevin found him in the backyard.  He finds them from time to time and catches them for me.  I hold them for a little while, then let them go in the front yard.  I love the feel of their skin.  He had his tongue out quite a bit, but I couldn't manage to get a picture.  He had quite a grip on my fingers.  It's hard to believe they are that strong. 

Catching Up

Three weekends ago I took some time off work to do some visiting.  I drove to East Texas to first visit Tish.  We knitted in public and received quite a bit of feedback from the customers in Starbucks.  Here is Tish knitting her first hat!



We ate great food, and had a wonderful time.  Next I drove the almost 2 1/2 hours (still in E. Texas) to visit my parents.  On the way through Mount Pleasant, I had to take a picture of the gigantic Bo Pilgrim bust.



We had a family get-together on Saturday at my grandparent's house.  It is uncanny how much my grandfather and dad now look alike.



I had a restful time and accomplished quite a bit of knitting (super secret project to be revealed later).  We also watched Dead Silence.  Pretty good for a horror flick about dolls.  

Veronica and I went that following week to a conference/meeting at the Dallas Arboretum.  These are the pictures we sent to our bosses to thank them for letting us go to the conference.





They got a kick out of it!  This was actually taken during a break that we had.  It was such a beautiful day!