Veloma, from Cajun Country!

My nephew Matthew reports to the MTC day after tomorrow. He's been called to serve a mission in Antananarivo, Madagascar. He will teach the gospel in their native language, Malagasy. We're so excited for him!!! Here's his Mission Blog for those who want to follow: http://mattlovesmadagascar.blogspot.com/

He and Lou Ellen came to Louisiana a few weeks ago and we tried to have as much fun as we could....lots of delicious food was involved, including: cracklins, boudin, strawberry cake, and Andouille Chicken. Any more fun and we'd have ended up in the ER. :)

One thing Matt did that weekend was to sing in church on Sunday. I was so happy that he finally got to do that. He sang a beautiful rendition of "Whole Again" and it was awesome!!

I wish our whole family had been there, but it was still wonderful. Our group:
Don, me, Matt, Lou Ellen.

We love you Matt, we'll miss you!!!
Aunt Susan and Uncle Don ~

(fyi to readers: Veloma means "goodbye" in Malagasy)

The Best Day

The photo book I made is posted below, it's fun to listen to Taylor at the same time! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpVo1hntbY0

The Best Day

Click here to view this photo book larger

Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and things that go BUMP in the night...

Ghosts, goblins, witches...it's the scariest time of the year, you know. I was looking at pictures of Halloween from long ago. I meant to scan some of our photos from when the kids were little, but so far I haven't gotten to it. Maybe later.

2007: Cowgirl (Katie Baxter Montou) and Marge:

Our grandgirls are old enough to get into the act. I just mailed them Halloween treat bags from us...filled with candy, a shirt, some stickers and pencils. I love fixing it for them and they love getting it! They have big plans for trick or treating, because that means even more C-A-N-D-Y.

2007: The Cowardly Lion (Kirra) and Dorothy (Alahna):

2008: Fairy princess ballerinas: (angels!)

With wings to match...

Fun Friday Photos

Just because it's Friday...

I love this, it's Jennifer swimming with Payton, summer 05. He's so cute. Is there anything more darling than a four year old???



This was after our moms & daughters lunch. These three girls were in the same classes, Spark and regular, from 1st grade on. They're smart as whips, sweet (mostly) and really fun to be around. It's cool to have friends that have known you forever...lucky girls!
L to R: Magen, Julia, and Jennifer.


Jason (center) on the day he graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy. It was a stirring and solemn ceremony.


Justin, Jennifer and Jason...just hanging around.

This picture's for Donna...thought it might inspire you to make a sign for the U2 concert. I made this for a Keith concert in Salt Lake City in Sept. '05, painted it on a fabric scrap I got from Goodwill for $1. Bummer though, the venue would not allow signs, so I gave it to Keith's bass player. But I wish I'd kept it!!!

Kirra & Alahna, dressed up for Easter Sunday. One word for these grandgirls of mine...adorable!!

What do you do after you graduate from BYU and hear Vice-President Dick Cheney speak at your commencement? No, you don't go to Disneyland, you pose by the Cougar.

Then Clarissa and Jennifer pay homage to that symbol of all Cougars everywhere....Chocolate Milk from the Creamery! And yes, they actually DO hand out chocolate milk after graduation. :)

This is a picture the photographer shot outside the temple. I think it was one of those moments where if you'd been at a funeral, you'd try to contain yourself, but since it was a wedding...let the good times roll!
L to R: Kristin, Andrea, Rita and Gwen.

Red-neck Girl...for a day

"Redneck girl likes to cruise in Daddy's pickup truck
And a redneck girl plays her heart when she's down on her luck"

I was singing that tune last weekend! Hunting season is just days away and the guys on the Lease are ready. So some of the hunters decided to have girls day before the real deal begins. It was my first time there. I always pictured going on one of those glorious fall days - you know...clear, cool and dry, where the wind whips through the trees and the leaves fly through the air, my favorite kind of day!!! But that would be a perfect day, and last Saturday was not perfect.

We've had lots of rain lately so before I got there, my first thought was...how bad can it be? My second thought, after arriving, was...someone better have mosquito spray. All the guys kept saying what a good day it was. Well...if damp turning warm and muggy, and semi-muddy is good, then OK, I guess?? We girls looked slightly dubious when we got there:



The truth is that we were pretty happy to go 4-wheelin' with the guys. We went on a tour of the stands: Don's Harley Stand (all self-respecting deer hunters name their stands), his River Stand, his Box Blind, Billy's Cypress-Tree Stand (aka Bonnie's stand), his East Boundary Stand, and of course we took a whirl around Rattlesnake, and the Sand Bar, where rumor has it that the big cat (black panther) roams. But we weren't afraid, our guys were packin' heat. ;)




After lunch, we went shooting at the bridge. I'm not a bad shot, if I do say so myself. I think it would be fun to go to a shooting range and practice. Sounds like a plan.




Jennifer poses on Zack's tractor, it belonged to his Pawpaw. That thing may be old and ugly as sin, but Don says it gets the job done. A bushhog on the back comes in handy.







So, I'm not likely to give up shopping and pedicures and Keith Urban-izing for deer hunting, but still...being a red neck girl for a day was kinda cool.

Galveston

“Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin”

This year for Labor Day weekend, we wanted to go somewhere fun but not too far away…I’m not a fan of long car trips. So Galveston was calling my name. We got a reservation, packed fast and hit the road. Jennifer & Chris came along too.

We left on Friday and drove straight there. We were meeting Lou Ellen, Charles and Matt at Gaido's, the world renown seafood restaurant: http://www.gaidos.com/

I knew it was pricey…I’d been there once before with Lou Ellen & Charles and had been blown away by the oysters. Good oysters are hard to come by and those were amazing. So we were expecting good stuff! The traffic was light, and the ferry was fast so we arrived first. Jen was reading the menu when she said, “Mom, I don’t see oysters.” And I, so sure of myself, said, “Well of course they have oysters.” Uh, no. Actually, they only serve FRESH seafood, and it’s not oyster season. No way!! Don't tell me that, I've been dreaming about those oysters for a month! We were so disappointed, at least the oyster eaters among us were (this did not include Don). It was a nice dinner, but not amazing. I had the shrimp but the lump crab cakes we had for appetizers was the best thing.

Having fun on the ferry.

Our gang at Gaido's.

Lou Ellen & I posing in front of the copper dive helmets on display. Yes, we look wild-eyed and bushy tailed. That's the Lyons in us.







The next day we went to Schlitterbahn. I’m a chicken when it comes to water, but I figured I'd sit in the sun and do the lazy river. Yes, sometimes you float, but many times you get tossed and thrown around like crazy, with fast moving water...uh, not sure about that, but yes I did it, several times.

After the waterpark, we met Lou Ellen & Charles on the beach for a cookout. They brought Guy, their dog too. We had a ball!!! I love the beach even though sand is a hassle. Charles grilled hamburgers and we just sat around talking. One drunk man came up and wanted to "talk" to Guy. What, he wants to talk to the dog?? Lou Ellen just told him that Guy (the dog) only speaks to family, ha! Hey it sounds good to me. We finished up the night at Yogurt Bear, where Guy licked all our cups clean. :)




Jennifer holding Guy, the family dog.

The day after we were kind of lazy. We got up, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed for Kemah around noon. Kemah's got such a cute boardwalk area, but it was too hot. I want to go back in the evening next time. There was a restaurant nearby that Jennifer wanted us to try but they were closed, so in our quest to ONLY eat at places that we don't have at home, we drove back to Alvin and went to Joe's Bar-B-Q. It was tasty! Then we went back to Lou Ellen's and I made gumbo for supper.

Our last day was Monday, Labor Day. We checked out of our hotel and met up with the gang in Silverlake...don't ask me what town that is, but that's what the area is called. The girls (Lou, Jen and me) hit our stores, and the guys (Don, Charles, Matt) went to Fry's and Bass Pro-Shops. We met at Gringo's for lunch. I found some good bargains (got a pair of bronze Born sandals for $17!) but we ran out of time.

So we had an awesome weekend and all I can say is that I have a new appreciation for Galveston and I AM going back. When Gaido's has oysters. I'll call first. ;)