December is Done

We have had a really nice month 
until this morning, December 14th 

Survival of the fittest---

Texas bluebells still standing! :-)

We drove to Minnesota on the 16th 

and had time to share with the kids

and have supper.  

Just in case you can't figure out who is who...

Cecelia, Bob, Claire (back), Lydia, Ana, Corey

Bob looks like he's falling asleep....

must have eaten too much spaghetti :-)

Gramma had made

a plastic-wrap discovery ball, so we

watched the kids and grandkids

uncover some surprises.

Since we arrived a day after Claire's birthday,

Grampa explained that he would get a

birthday bounce for each year when he

was a kid.  So, Claire, 12,

and then Cecelia, 9,

and Lydia, 9, had to be bounced, once

for each year.  Later, Ana took us to the

motel near the airport.

We flew to Harlingen, Texas, on the 17th,

and after renting a car, we headed to La Feria.

Our first stop was the DQ where we discovered

the latest treat--had to send this one to

Trina and Sara. RJ's response,

"Seriously, why do they call it DAIRY Queen?"

When we arrived at our park, our friend Dennis

was pretending to be the "Fiddler on the Roof."

Actually, he was the scrubber on the roof.

Our Minnesota friends have a lemon tree

next to their mobile home, and said that

we could pick the lemons since they were

not planning to come to Texas this year.

Their lemons were bigger than the grapefruits.

I have a gallon of lemon juice now!

After Bob installed our new

water heater, he decided to build

a Christmas tree.

This idea came from Corey and Ana.

But Bob added his own 

personal touch.

Bob and his "Dinkfather" shirt

Beware of Grandma

Tom & Trina's crew all dressed up :-)

Annika

Caiden

Jett

Ariana

Sara and Doug's finery

Cecelia, Ana, Lydia, and Claire

try out their cross-country skis.

Jimmy & Kelly's kids

with matching gifts?

Cool gift from the kids! :-)

Bob carried the ladder over to 

Ron and Charlotte's, so I could pick 

more lemons. But he decided that

he didn't want me "going up"

in the world, so he picked them.

The tree was "loaded" above my reach.

This is after Bob had picked some.

All in all, I "juiced" 200 lemons and froze

most of the juice. Gave away two gallons

and several lemons. I still have a couple

dozen to give away.  Yes, I have an electric

juicer thanks to Pat and Pierre.