A little of this, a little of that!

This may seem like a mish-mash of things to post about, but that's the way it is today.

Ken made a poached egg breakfast the other day using, of course, a farm fresh egg from Simply Country Farms. There is just nothing like a farm fresh egg . . . just look at the color of the yolk! Delicious!

Tonight we enjoyed having our good friends Gary and Cecile over for dinner. We haven't had a chance to visit with them for quite a while, we've both been pretty busy.

Ken was in charge of the barbecue. I was in charge of the salad and dessert.

The chicken was cooked to perfection, plenty to eat, and plenty leftover! He wanted to cook them the way we did 45 years ago at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. At that time we cooked 500 chickens split in half, grilled on bunk bed frames placed over hot coals! Now that's a memory that takes us way back in time. In fact, I was pregnant with our first child at the time . . . oh my!

Last night we watched JD's team, the New York Yankees, play the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a close game, and a really good game. The Dodgers are the number one team in the league, and often wins their games with a wide spread in the score, such as 13 to 1. Last night the Dodgers won, but the score was only 4 to 3. "We" made them really work for their score.

I love this tradition . . . the two teams acknowledging each other's sportsmanship!

Life is good!

Poppies are poppin' up . . . it must be spring!

This time of year is one of my favorites. The California Poppy and Mountain Lupine are blooming everywhere I look . . . even in the most unusual places!

Life is Good!

Happy Easter

What a beautiful Easter day we had today. After church we spent a relaxing afternoon at Jen's preparing a nice Easter supper of a nicely glazed baked Ham, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, an interesting pineapple, marshmallow, and cheddar cheese casserole (which we all decided could even be served as a dessert). KL had made some yummy chocolate cupcakes for our dessert. Before dinner we caught the Dodger game on TV, and following dinner we played Phase 10 . . . a lovely day with family. Happy Easter!

Pretty Easter table

Perfectly glazed baked ham . . .

A father/daughter moment . . .

Not only were they pretty, they were delicious too!

CD came up to me with his hands like this and said "Grammy, I have a frog!" And knowing I'd be squeamish he had that "devilish" look on his face . . .

And then he made me jump a mile when he opened up his hands to reveal his frog! Of course he knew I'd jump a mile even though the frog was pink and very rubbery. Boys!

Life is good!

Astro's Starting Pitcher

CD's baseball season is off to a good start—he is playing on the Astros team this year!

The first game was played last night, beginning at 7 p.m., with CD positioned as starting pitcher. How proud (and anxious) we felt . . . and he did real well pitching two innings and striking out two players! The game at his level is played with only three runs allowed per team per inning. The game goes for one hour and forty five minutes unless an "open inning" is called toward the end of that time. Open inning is where the kids are allowed to make as many runs as they are able before three outs are called. We thought the game was over, with the score 9 to 8 Astros, both teams were ready to call it quits, however the game was thrown into an open inning (which would mean the game could go really late —it was already 8:45 p.m. and these kids are 7-9 year-olds—not that we were exhausted too).

So we decided to leave and find out the final score in the morning. We found out they didn't get home until a bit after 10 o'clock last night. The good news is the Astros won 12 to 10! Needless to say, the starting pitcher was pretty sleepy this morning!

There is such a difference in size of this league compared to JD's league, but the players are just as serious about the game. It is such a joy to watch as they improve from week to week.

He's got a good swing too . . . he's a great hitter!

Life is good!

A Tribute to My Mom

My mom passed away on Tuesday, March 31. Born on February 14, 1920 she lived a wonderful 89 years. She was a great mother to five children . . . four girls and one boy, and a loving wife for 63 years. My brother died in 2000, and my dad in 2001, so I with my three sisters have lost a sweet and loving mom, but have so many memories of an awesome childhood, plus being raised by loving parents. Ken and I got to see her and say good-bye a few weeks before she passed away in Bishop, CA. She is survived by her four daughters, nine grandchildren, and fifteen great grandchildren. We will all miss her dearly. Here are a few pictures I have on my computer of her last couple years. I can picture her now dancing with Daddy and all the angels in celebration of her life here on earth.

Four generations on Mother's Day 2006

Mother's Day 2006 . . . the "Burns Women" . . . clockwise from top left: Janice, Shari, Jackie, Mom, and Patty

Almost the whole family . . . 2006 . . . Mom is fifth from the left in the front row.

Here she is Christmas 2007

Her 88th birthday, 2008 . . . Mom, I love you.

Life was good for Mom!

Play Ball!

It's baseball season here in the mountains. And this year JD is a member of a Major Team . . . the New York Yankees! These are older boys and they are good players. The game goes so much faster and is pretty exciting to watch. Saturday's game was lots of fun because the Yankees won 10 to 0, with JD hitting in the winning run. And it was only in the fourth inning. (Apparently, in this league, the game is over at 10 to 0 so that it's not real embarrassing for the losing team.)

Out in left field JD awaits those ground balls and fly balls. He caught a great fly ball in the third inning.

Waiting for the perfect pitch . . .

Heading to second base . . .

Final score!

All the boys are great sports and love their game!

Life is good!