Trip back from OK

Oh my!!! I really have some catching up to do. I haven't blogged in oh so long. Things have been fairly busy since we got back from Oklahoma mid November. I started working...finally (Paul breathes a sigh of relief). So far I've evaluated 3 kids for occupational therapy and have 2 more evals very soon. I'm not too busy with it yet, but it's starting to pick up. I've also been doing many things with my Stampin' Up! business - holiday bazaars, stamping classes, Christmas card making days, etc. Paul has been busy getting the squadron ready for deployment. Thankfully, he's had some time off this week and has been able to relax. Thanksgiving and Christmas have really snuck up on me this year. Anyway, I'm going to try to post a bunch of pictures.

Random truck parked on the side of the road in Altus, OK. I haven't seen the movie "Cars" yet, but people tell me this looks like one of the characters.
My friend Vicky invited me over a few days to do crafts. I made this gift for a friend.
I made this for myself. It's so easy! Would you believe it was made with a napkin?

When we took our trip to Oklahoma, we visited people on the way there and on the way back. I posted the pics of everyone we visited on the way there. However, I have yet to do that for all the peeps we saw on the way back. So here are the pictures from the trip from Oklahoma to SC...with stops in Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and Tennessee.

Lambert's is a famous restaurant in MO. There was a LONG line to get in, but we waited patiently.
They actually throw the rolls to you if you want more! It was great! The servers also go to each table with "pass arounds," all-you-can-eat style...we were stuffed so full when we left! This log cabin bed and breakfast, Cedar Springs Country Inn, is where we stayed one night. The couple that ran it were so kind and inviting. We enjoyed our stay.
Paul's cousin, Debbie, and her family welcomed us one night. We enjoyed seeing them again and catching up.
We had some extra time one day and decided to visit some of our favorite Missouri wineries, just outside of St. Louis. Our favorite wine, Chiaretto, came from Balducci Vineyards. So we stocked up on some of that. But we loved going to Montelle Winery for the fabulous view.
Our old Sunday School class got together at a mexican restaurant while we were in town. We were so excited to see everyone! We still miss them dearly. What a great group of folks! Of course, they seem to have multiplied since we were there last...so many babies...and more on the way!
Leah, Ben & Bailey
Cora & Mark
Jon, Anitra, Justus & Matthias
Emily & Ashlyn (daddy Mike shown later)
Me & Paul with David, our Sunday School teacher when we lived in IL
Jon and Lesly
Posing with Chelsey and Devin
Doug and Paul
Abby and Bob. They lived across the street from us when we lived in IL.

After we visited our friends in IL, we continued south to Nashville, where we saw my friend and old roommate, Adea, once again. This time we got to see her new condo!

Then we went to Knoxville and stayed with Sarah, Luke, and their daughter Natalie.
Before we left TN, we visited Mike (Emily's hubby...from a few pics back). He moved down there with his job, and Emily and the kids will join him soon when she is done with school.
And of course, we couldn't go through Greenville without stopping to see Mem. I hadn't even seen her cute house yet. We stayed and talked for a few hours, then headed home to see our pooches after almost 6 weeks.
All in all, we had a great trip and were glad for the opportunity to see friends and family along the way. Thanks everyone for being so hospitable to us!

Happy Thanksgiving

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep
The leftovers beckoned - the dark meat and white,
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.
Tossing and turning with anticipation,
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
And gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
'Til all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...
Happy eating to all - Pass the cranberries, please.
May your stuffing be tasty, May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump,
May your yams be delicious,
may your pies take the prize,
May your thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.

May your Thanksgiving be blessed!

Farm City Week

Last week Altus celebrated Farm City Week. Paul and I decided to do the farm tour that was offered at 8 AM on Wednesday. It was an early morning, but one worth waking up for. We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about cotton farming, peanut farming, irrigation, and tractors.
This was our tour guideOur first stop was at the cotton gin in Humphreys. Here we learned how the cotton is cleaned and baled. There are different grades of quality that determine how much the farmer will get for a bale. The lowest grade cotton goes into the seats in your car, under the floorboards and stuff. It also goes into making jeans. The higher quality cotton goes to make nice shirts and blouses.
We were told that this bale was a low grade cotton. We also learned about cotton seeds. Most farmers use genetically enhanced seeds that resist insects and diseases. They are not allowed to harvest seed since they sign a contract with the seed companies.
These are cotton modules, ready to be processed in the gin.The gin we visited had just survived a fire, which is fairly common. When cotton gets caught somewhere and gets too hot, or if the metal parts spark, it causes a fire. As you can imagine, this spreads very quickly and they have to contain it fast! It smelled pretty bad in there, but we got to see the facility. What a mess! It looked like snow all over the place! Everytime I breathed, I felt like I was inhaling cotton fibers.
This picture was taken inside the building.Next we visited a cotton farm. Here we learned about planting and harvesting cotton. The farmer also showed us how the equipment worked. Here he is explaining how the very expensive cotton picker picks the cotton off the plant. (These are only 2 parts of the machine.)This is the large cotton stripper. It is less expensive, but doesn't do as good a job. Each farmer has to evaluate what type of equipment to use and when to harvest. A view of the cotton stripper from the back And this is a hopper
Our next stop was the Altus Peanut Company.There are some peanuts grown here, but this is mainly a storage facility where other growers can store their peanuts. I think this company buys the peanuts and then sells them. The man who ran the place taught us about growning peanuts. In this picture he is showing us what the plant looks like. Peanuts are the part of the plant that grows underground.He made us guess how many pounds of peanuts were here. The pictures doesn't show all of them, but there were 8 million pounds of peanuts stored under this roof!These are spanish peanuts.After the tour of the facility, we went into the business office and tried all kinds of peanuts: roasted, salted, jalapeno, and cajun. There were also peanuts without the shell in a variety of flavors.

Paul and I had a chance to ride on some tractors at the end of the tour. Paul was so excited to see me on a tractor...I think all I needed was a cowboy hat!Me on the small tractorPaul on the huge John DeerePaul convinced me the big tractor was so cool, I had to try it out for myself.They really were fun to drive! Especially the big John Deere - it was like a luxury sedan inside! So comfortable, with heating and air conditioning, a radio, and a great panoramic view from the high seat! I really wouldn't mind having one of these.
And here are some videos of us driving the tractors. This one is me:


And this one is Paul:

Altus Speedway

I'm a week behind in my blogging, so these pictures are from last Sunday when we went to the Altus Speedway. They were hosting the 7th Annual Spooker Nationals. There were USLMA late models, supertrucks, superstocks, bombers, chargers and hornets (if you know what all those are, you know more than I do). I just know the cars got better looking the longer we stayed (and I wasn't drinking!). It actually is quite fun to see these things go round and round and crash and stuff. Here are some pictures.
Small carsSupertrucksRandom guy checking out the race from the skySunsetBig cars lining up to raceBig cars racing

Saturday Events

Last Saturday we drove all over the place! First we went to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge to see buffalo, prairie dogs, and longhorn cattle.





Then we went to a place called Meers. It used to be a mining town, but now there's just a restaurant known for their huge burgers and delicious peach cobbler. Paul and Travis got the huge, plate-sized burgers and finished them! Amanda and I just got regular sized burgers. I got the peach cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream and shared with everyone. It was sooooo good!


Last, we went to very tiny winery in Roosevelt, called Windmill Winery. Paul found it on a website, but this place was in the middle of nowhere! We weren't too sure about it driving up, but it turned out to be fun. We sampled 7 or 8 different wines, talked to the woman who ran the place with her husband, and toured the facility, which really only included the one room where they store 4 large stainless steel vats. Not a large operation at all. We bought 2 bottles, one of them a hinie wine, called Blushing Hinie (you'll have to see the website). Anyway, all in all it was a great day. Who says there's nothing to do around here?