March Madness - trip to Butler

John and I returned home today after spending a wonderful week in Butler, Missouri....my hometown. Butler is a small town of about 4,000 people....60 miles south of KC. Family flew and drove in from different parts of the country (Washington, Georgia, Texas) and different parts of Missouri/Kansas (KC, Wichita, and the Lake of the Ozarks). I've learned how to make picture collages....here's a collage of a group of us at Aunt Opal's the day Uncle Olin and Aunt Phyllis joined the madness. I just wish I had a few pictures of us playing cards.....

Here are some pics of Charlotte, Mom, Mac, and me with Pat & Janie's cherubs....Marcus, Jack, and Reagan:

Last Saturday night, John and I were treated to dinner at the Umstattd's. We had a wonderful evening with Kris and Kevin....and we were joined by Judie (Kris's mom), Don and JoAnn (Kris's uncle and aunt), and Tamee and Doug(Kris's cousin and her husband). Many memories were shared and we certainly had a glorious time making new ones! I finally remembered my camera by the time we made it to dessert. These pics hardly do justice to the feast set before us.....thank you, Kris and Kevin, for a terrific night!! We're looking forward to your visit to the Bay area!

I was so lucky on this trip to convince JoAnn to share with me her secrets for making her marvelicious sugar cookies.....and to get Aunt Ila to divulge the secrets of Grandma Bock's chocolate meringue pie. Here are a couple of pictures of the final products.....

We've had a long day, so I'll sign off for now. John and I are looking forward to my cousin, Benita, and her daughter, Renata, coming to visit us on Thursday.....most likely will update after they leave next Tuesday. Until then, enjoy your days.....relish in good memories......push yourself to make wonderful new ones! Life is good.....live it!!!

March Madness - trip to b

March Madness

Forgive me, my neglected blog. John and I are back to our very active social life, so updates should be more frequent! Life on Crossridge Road continues to be wonderful!!!

We kicked off our month of March Madness by spending the day in Orinda with Cathy Jensen and her partner, Kathy (sp?); Bill and Claire Jensen; Cathy and David (John's sister and brother-in-law). The Jensens were neighbors of John and Cathy's growing up and they've kept in touch. Here they all are gathered around the fireplace:

We were treated to a wonderful brunch of french toast, grilled sausages, fresh fruits, scones....and these yummy chocolate dipped orange candies (homemade....can you believe it?)....they were marvelicious!!

Oh, before I forget, here was the lovely table before we were seated....note the cute napkin ring holders are bottomed-out miniature clay pots....so darned cute!!! Here are our wonderful hostesses....gracious, generous, and so thoughtful! Thank you so much for a wonderful day!

So, why do I call this March Madness? It's packed with many activities....John and I are headed to Butler for a visit with my family from March 10th - March 17th. Many other "Bock family" members will be meeting us there, so we'll have a fun week of visiting, card playing, eating, drinking, and being merry! March 19th brings a visit from my cousin, Benita, and her daughter, Renata. They are flying out from Colorado and one of the highlights of their trip will be attending (with me, of course) the Scrapbooking Expo at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. It's Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st....not sure what to expect, but it should be tons of fun!!! They are staying until the 24th, so we're hoping to take them to Point Reyes one day and then maybe to SF. On March 27th, we're getting together with friends for a wild night of eating, drinking, and playing Bocce Ball in Livermore. There are a couple of other social events, but you get the idea.....madness.....in a good way.

That's it for now....going to make a couple of cards and then call it a night. If you're on Facebook, look me up as I often post photos on my FB account that I don't post here.

Happy days to you, dear friends! Love, Carolyn & John