Makes you wanna go...AH!

What can you say about a view like this? Sunset at the campground.

Oh the wonder of fairs and festivals. I was able to share my sister's birthday with her this weekend. I haven't been able to do that for a very long time. We hit two different festivals as a family and then enjoyed camping at Muskegon State Park which I have written about before. My mentor told me I should visit water every chance I can and believe me, this summer, I took her advice and ran with it.

Clogging Superstars

What do you say about a sister that you can remember being the best sister in the world. She is six years older and when I was little, she was like a second mom. She hovered over and protected me but most important, she always included me with her friends and always made me feel welcome. I love my sister.

My wonderful big sis







If I were inclined to get a dog....I would consider a bull mastiff.

They are better known as gentle giants but they are just adorable.

This puppy intrigued me.

St. Joe County 4-H Fair

Summer isn't complete unless you attend the annual 4-H Fairs. Last week we saw and met Taylor Hicks at Elkhart's fair. This week it was St. Joe's fair. The sights and sounds are the best as the carnival rides, food stands, and animals fill the senses with the best of what summer offers.

We took in the grandstand show which was absolutely fantastic. A tribute band called American English reproduced the Beatles with an eerie realism that if you closed your eyes, they were there and you were back in the 60's. I was a very devoted Beatle Fan. I was such a fan that after I graduated high school, I worked three jobs to earn enough to travel to England, St. Johns Wood to be exact and I met Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, and their daughter, Mary along with their romping dogs at his home. Sounds outlandish, but I promise you, the experience happened and I was very blessed to be able to tell someone I admired growing up how much they meant to me. My teen years were plagued with a lot of family problems and Paul and his music were my escape, my solitude, and my safe place. Being able to share my art with him and to tell him meant a lot to me, especially when everyone doubted me even getting near him. Linda was gracious and made a special trip back out of the house to tell me to have a great holiday. Sitting there watching my daughter and grandson enjoy the music of my youth was great as they loved it as much as I did.

You have to know that with anything I do...there has to be an "event". This was no exception. Intermission brought an Elvis impersonator to the stage. There truly is only one Elvis impersonator that actually has ever captured Elvis with reverence and dead on accuracy. Doug Church has, does, and always will be the only one that Elvis himself would have been proud of. So, this impersonator jumps from the stage and proceeds to "shmooze" the ladies and he went up to one and proceeded to plop down on her lap....unfortunately, fair chairs are rather, um, cheap and the woman went crashing down..... He laughed about it until he saw the woman running down the isle to leave due to humiliation, tears, and so "Elvis" goes running down the isle after her....talking her into coming back not to her seat as hers is flatter than a pancake. Then he proceeded to smooch her all over her face. Meantime, a lady behind us is yelling "suspicious eyes" as her song request. The title is Suspicious Minds and we all around her could hardly hold it in. I just didn't have the heart to correct her but each time she yelled it, I seriously thought my sides were going to split.

After watching more of the American English, we left to let Dawson ride the rides and he had a blast as rides were one ticket each so he tackled four alone and then one with his mom. We bought a police memorial book for my son, Jon, on the way out to help support their quest to put our fallen policemen's names on a national memorial. Two of the policemen were Jon's friends, so I am sure he will love the tribute to his friends. It was a great night. Family, laughter, and great food, music, and old fashioned fun.

My silly little Dawson waiting for the concert to begin.

Lindsay and her boy

The family enjoying the evening together.

Lindsay shared a ride with Dawson

American English....Beatle tribute band....FANTASTIC!

Taylor Hicks - Do I Make You Proud....YES!!!!!

American Idol is a mainstay in this household as well as with the rest of the family. Avid watchers, we have voted, screamed at the voting, and cheered on most of the idols. We voted for Kelly, Clay, Diana, Taylor, Carrie, and Jordan. We have seen most in concert at this point and last night, we added another to our list. Taylor Hicks (Dawson's fave from the audition stage) solo who appeared at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair. We were fortunate to see Idols on Tour where he and the entire top ten appeared. We had track seats and were able to get many good pics of Taylor. What a ball of energy. Some artists look and sound different in person but not Taylor. The one big surprise was his loss of weight since the show and his new dancing abilities. That boy can keep an audience entertained. You never knew whether he was going to sing, play the harmonica, or break out the guitar. Afterwards we were going to leave but noticed that some had gathered on the side of the stage where the singer's buses were. We had a clue that possibly with the small group remaining that Taylor might stop out for some autographs. The crowd grew as we waited but luckily we had front spots just in case. Sure enough after a refreshing shower, Taylor came out. The rules were, no pics with him but you were welcome to snap away. He quickly made his way down the line rarely looking up until......he came to our little group. He stopped, looked up and discussed the show with us paying close attention to Dawson and what his mom was saying to him. After a while he moved on but not without little after smiles to the group and finally a personalized wave to us as he left the area. It was definitely one of "those moments" you will remember. All I can say is that we thought he was very good looking before the evening but after our up, close, and personal encounter with him, I can say with confidence that...no words can describe his looks and how incredibly nice he was. He signed Dawson's shirt..pictured.... What an awesome evening with the "Soul Patrol".

Taylor Encounter pics

On our way to the concert!

Awaiting the concert! Dawson was in the same row but with his Dad.

Courtney and Lindsay waiting for the music to begin!

Taylor with his famous harmonica

Taylor gettin' down

Can you tell he works hard for the money?

See the lightbulb? Linz got the idea to wait after the concert.

Taylor as he came out to meet the fans.

"The" first (well, not mine...I was holding the camera) eye to eye encounter!

Listening to Dawson telling him his history of being his fan!

Signing Dawson's shirt as he stood on a chair.

The famous "Signature" on D's shirt!

"I JUST MET TAYLOR HICKS"

The Weekend Blessings: job, family, friends

I had such an amazing, productive weekend. Though working was part of it, it was fulfilling and I felt that I had accomplished something. Secondly a visit to my friend's lake cottage and also a visit to a great little zoo rounded out the weekend with lots of family fun and giggles. I was able to spend time with my great friends, Bob and Lori for breakfast which is always a fun way to start the day.

My dad made an emergency trip to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia and had a rough couple of days but is home now doing great which is a great blessing. I needed a little R & R after that. I won't bother you with the work details but lets just say new opportunities for my territory were found and contacted. Yippee.

Dawson is so cute no matter where we go. Monkeys and horses and kangaroos were the highlights of the zoo. We also spent time with my life long friends, Butch, Deb, and their awesome son, Aaron who was awesome teaching Dawson how to fish and egging Lindsay on to be competitive ......we tied with the number of fish we caught. Its a GOOD thing. We might have been out on the boat all night trying to outdo each other's caught fish. (I think I caught one twice lol). Aaron also saved Dawson after he fell off of the raft out in the water. I guess those swim lessons were successful as he was able to tread water until Aaron dove in and saved him in a matter of literally 2 seconds. I was impressed!!!

God showed his array of blessings this weekend.

I love sharing with my Grandson!

Lake Time! Dawson's first fish!

Linz, always up for a smile!

Awww...relaxation, sun, and fun!

Hmmmm.....another redhead....lol

Attitude is Everything!

Uncle Jon and Aunt Elena bought Dawson a "bicycle" (not just a bike but a super cool bike) and all the gear to keep him safe...but...when Dawson puts the helmet on...he transforms to that of "super dude" with an attitude.

I have never seen a child that can have so many visible "personalities" than this boy. His many smiles, faces, moods, and his no fear of just being himself amazes me.

People probably wonder why we take so many pictures but this is a good example of why we like to "capture the moment" as much as we can.

Adorable, funny, imaginative, silly, serious, thoughtful, mysterious, obnoxious, hilarious, goofy, sincere, empathetic, emotional, and strength. These words describe this little guy. I can't wait to see who he will be when he grows up. Until then....I will just enjoy who he is each and everyday.

What can I say....I love him, adore him, and feel so blessed to be a part of his life.



Thank you so much, God!

Oh those crazy Tiki Dudes

Well after nailing, pounding, gluing, and yes gluing and ungluing myself too, the Tiki Dudes were finished. I must say I was very pleased at how the Tiki men turned out. Here is a midpoint look at the headless bodies and then the finished product. Me likey the Tiki Dudes.....

Wooden forms nailed and glued together

And...drum roll....here is one of the Tiki Dudes hanging out at my house.

All six of them are unemployed now and are for hire for parties, backyard luaus, and other such events. Please give Dixie a call if you would like Tiki 1,2,3,4,5, or 6 to pay a visit!

Stuck on You...WHAT????

I have the distinct honor of creating some "tiki men" for our Indiana Luau for work this Sunday. Things always look sooooo easy in my brain but I should know that carpentry is not one of my strengths even though creativity is. Somehow I must learn to combine the two so I can create great structures....ok, maybe not great structures but possibly little projects.

I gathered the wood and screws and nails and glue. Super glue.
Side note: Dixie should never ever play with super glue.

I was pretty pumped up to build the "tiki men" so I layed it all out on the living room floor and started pounding. Once I got the nails through the wood, I noticed that it wasn't nailed very tight. "Tiki men" should have strong arms...not floppy ones. I called my good friend Butch for advice because he can do anything. I mentioned that I could use a drill and use wing nuts so that I could tighten and loosen to change the arm positions. I would have to have a special piece for my drill that is running out of battery and I haven't a clue where the battery charger might be. Typical. So once again, I have wood and nails. He suggested that I use super glue in the holes so that it grabs onto the nails. That sounded simple. I went to Wal-Mart to get super glue.

Got home and proceeded to pound nails and I opened the glue and then it happened. My skin got stuck onto the nail...and then I ripped it off my finger and then my hand got stuck to the wood. I pryed it off the wood and tried to put the lid on the glue and the glue bottle stuck to my finger. I pulled the glue bottle off and discovered that my skin was stuck to the lid. I finally broke loose and discovered that I had bits of glue all over my hands which I CAN'T STAND..so I tried to pick it off... Now my fingers hurt from tearing glue off of them. Needless to say, I got them all built and painted. All that is left is putting the decorative mask and finishing touches on the little guys. What an ordeal. I recall that there were two other times I can remember not being a very good carpenter:

• The kids were little and we had bunk beds for the boys. We didn't have bed rails for the top one so I thought, how hard could it be to pound some bars onto the bed. Of course I did this while the father was away because the answer would have been no. I proceeded. By the time I put 40 some nails into it...(and we are talking the Daddy of all nails) the bar stuck. WHAT A MESS. It looked awful not to mention being hazardous with all the nails going every which way.

• The second was Lindsay and I trying to build our sweet little cat a play gym. We had seen them at the store and thought, "no problem" , we can build one. So we took it all out on the deck and proceeded to pound the pieces together strategically according to our outline we drew. We got it all done complete with carpet pieces and went to turn it over and discovered we couldn't. We had nailed it to the deck. So unless our cat wanted to play out on the deck and upside down, we would have to dismantle it and start over.

Crazy times just trying to be creative and proactive with "getting the job done".

Happy Birthday Bubby.....

What an exciting Birthday Weekend. I have some great picture memories of Dawson's 6th birthday. It was non stop celebrating for this little guy but....he was a champ and handled it very well. His party started on Friday with a visit from Uncle Jon (Auntie Elena had to work) and Dawson's two wheeler bicycle complete with helmet and pads for safety. It was a great surprise for D. Some school friends, neighborhood friends, Grandpa, Lindsay's friends from GCC and their kids, and Dawson's Godmothers, Andrea and Taya, and his daddy and stepmom and little brother all came to celebrate with him on his special day. Saturday at lunch, we met our good friends Lori, Bob, and their son Josh at Hacienda where the celebration continued. We then left town for Muskegon where all of his cousins came to swim with him at the hotel. We had pizza, pop, and cake and lots of giggles over those crazy kids in the pool. The next day we went to my sister's campsite at Muskegon State Park which is a little bit of heaven. The camper area is wooded and like a "forest" and then you look and there is an opening that you can see Lake Michigan and the beach. It is truly the best of both worlds. We had a great lunch and then we packed up and all of us went to the beach. The waves were great and the kids had a ball while my nieces and nephew, Linz and I and my sis chilled in beach chairs, relaxing, laughing, and just enjoying the sunshine and water. I am truly blessed!

Linz worked so hard to make sure everything was just right for her little one!

All of the little ones lined up on their blowup toys waiting for the big wave....so cute!

I loved every bit of the planning for the festivities with Lindsay
I was such a happy "Ga Ga" this weekend

Dawson and his killer whale water toy
My sis and I had a blast!