Our Anniversary Trip To Branson Missouri

***First of all I want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HARRISON! This little guy is Two Years Old Today!!!! We thank God for our sweet little Grandson***

Join in today for Wednesday's Walk by clicking on the button above and linking up your story so we can read about the memories you are sharing today.

Last week we headed to Springfield Missouri where we stayed in a Value Place for a week while we made trips back and forth to Branson which was about 35 or 40 minutes away. We were thinking of purchasing a condo in Branson as a vacation home for ourselves and our daughters and their families to use at separate times when each of us could get away. We couldn't afford a place that was big enough to sleep all of us at one time,...but we thought it would be a fun place to get away,...since we do go there from time to time.

Value Place

Here is the outside of a 3 bedroom condo that we liked.

This is a picture of the livingroom and diningroom.

This is a view of the kitchen and looking towards the laundry room that had a window to the front and a door to close it off..

Here is a look at the little dining room space and the front door.

Here is a shot of the back of the condo. We were looking at the ground floor.

This was the view from the back yard area off of the patio.

These are two fawns that we saw when we were looking at some other condos further up in the hills. We saw them two different days and their mother wasn't with them either time so we think she may have been killed on the highway or something.

One day we went to Silver Dollar City.

There is always a lot of traffic because it is a popular place. But last week there was a Kids' Fest going on so it was pretty crowded.

Our Grandkids love this place. Next month we are going back with our middle daughter Lynnette and her husband Kyle and their family.

I snapped a picture of John when we first got inside the park. The flowers are always so pretty there. And they had colorful pinwheels and banners for the Kids' Fest.

Then John snapped a picture of me.

These were some Champion Cloggers that we saw. They held the title 8 times in a row.

John ate a wonderful meatloaf meal with mashed potatoes and green beans and rolls. I have food allergies so I took my food and we ate our picnic by the trees in the shade next to The Lost River Ride.

These guys were called The Sons of The Silver Dollar, and they were really good.

These ladies were called Pure Love, and they were good too. Two of them were sisters. The one with the dark hair won a yodeling contest and she was great.

This is a picture I took as we were leaving.
Being from Kansas we are used to the flatlands. So it is nice to see hills.

John likes the rocks from where they cut through to make the roads.

I like the rolling hills.

When we got home John bought me these pretty roses for our anniversary.

I love roses.

The vase of roses looks pretty on my buffet.

It was a fun trip. We didn't end up buying the condo, but it was fun looking at them. There are so many fees and expenses that even if we paid cash for the condo there are still 400.00 or 500.00 a month fees and utilities that we would be paying whether we are staying there or not, even if the building was paid for. So we are re-thinking the whole thing. I am not sure what we will do.

While we were in Branson we saw Bill Medley from the Righteous Brothers, and Paul Revere and The Raiders together and that was fun. John knew all of the songs and enjoyed remembering his youth. They perform at the Andy Williams Theater and we have been there before to see Andy's Christmas show and it is really nice.

Branson is so pretty at Christmas time with all of the lights. One time when we were there at Christmas we saw Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, along with the Lennon Sisters, and they all did a wonderful Christmas Show. Another of our favorites is John Tweed. He has a five octive range and can sing anything and everything!

While we were in Springfield we did some antiquing and went to a movie and also watched some movies in our room. We could cook in our room and that was convienient because of all of my food allergies. And the Value Place is really inexpensive. There is nothing fancy about it, but it was clean and close to shopping.

Just across the street and down a couple of blocks there was the Ridgecrest Baptist Church and we attended Sunday Morning Service there. It was excellent and we felt refreshed and challenged from the Word, the teaching, and the music. John played golf with two men from that church on Monday at the Springfield Golf and Country Club. God was so good to us all along the way, and then He brought us safely home again.

So, all in all it was a very nice 33rd Anniversary. I thank God for our marriage, and for all of the blessings He has blessed us with over the years.

Summertime Fun! Weds. Walk and Because Kids Live Here

This summer we have been blessed to be able to spend some fun times with our grandchildren, so this week on Wednesday's Walk Down Memory Lane I thought I would post some pictures of our fun times together when we were making memories, and a little poem called,...Summertime Fun! If you would like to join in the fun this week with a memory from the past or the present, just click on the button below and link your post with MckLinky.
And this post is also for the "Because Kids Live Here,...(and in my case I will add) This Week" to the title since we have our grandson Caleb with us "this week"! So you can get there by clicking on the Weds. button above to connect to Lynnette's site,...and then read both Weds.'s, and Thurs.'s posts,...and join in with your pictures and stories.



















Summertime Fun!


Summertime is a time for fun
When the grandkids come to stay

Sometimes we just sit around
But most the time we play

Movies, popcorn, swimming and more
And they like to go with me to the store

We pick up the foods that they like to eat
And that always includes something sweet!

Grandma has to cook for them too…
That’s just something grandmas do

Fruit smoothies is something that we make
Or Grandpa plays “soda jerk” and makes them a shake!

He gives them a ride in his convertible car
And sometimes they go pretty far

But most of the time they just take a spin around town
Music blaring with the top down

We play pool and board games too
We find plenty of stuff to do

It sure is hot out there today
So I think we’ll just stay inside to play

Maybe a game of Farkel or cards
Since it’s too hot to play in the yards

Whatever we do it sure is fun
To have these kiddos one by one

One day they won’t want to come stay
Or to visit Grandma for summertime play

So these moments I’ll treasure one by one
Making memories of our summertime fun!

Visitors

My sister-in-law Becky, and her daughter Chelsea


My husband, his little sister Becky, me, and our niece Chelsea


Our grandson William, and his cousin Bailey... our granddaughter


Will just chillin'

We have been blessed with visitors this week. First of all, on Sunday evening our grandson William came to stay with us for a week. He will be 14 next month. He and his mom and dad lived with us the first year of his life and we enjoyed spending that time with him when he was a baby.

Will is really growing up and his voice is changing now. He is as tall as I am,..and maybe even a bit taller. I am five foot six if I stand up straight! So I am sure he will tower over me before too long. ((smile)) Next week his brother Caleb will come for a week, and we will do everything all over again,...go out to eat, swim, go to the movies, shop, play games, watch tv,..and just hang out. (Our 16 year old Granddaughter Bailey who lives here in town comes over and shares in the fun when the other grandkids are visiting too.

We love it that we can spend some time with our grandchildren. We had Will and Caleb's little sisters a couple of weeks ago, and that was fun too. You probably remember my post about them for the "Because Kids Live Here",...(this week) blog hop, that I posted. They were attending Vacation Bible School here in town that week.

On Monday my husband's sister Becky, and her daughter Chelsea came for a brief visit.
Becky is co-owner in the family grocery store business in Nebraska, so she can't stay gone too long,...she has to keep two of her brothers (who also work there), in line. Ha! And Chelsea had to go back to work today too, so they left on Tuesday night. We had fun shopping till we dropped! (They live in a very small town and don't have a lot of big stores close by, so they enjoy coming to a bigger town to shop.)

We sure enjoyed their visit, and they were happy to see our new home for the first time. We moved in here two years ago, and they haven't been able to come until now. John and I had been spending quite a lot of time in Nebraska where Becky lives because their mom was ill, and we were helping out with her care,.... since we are retired, and we could stay for two or three weeks at a time . But sadly Mom passed away a year ago February and I haven't been able to see my sister-in-law as often as we were when we were caring for mom, so I was missing her.

We did spend a little time in Nebraska for a few days recently however when Becky's son Simon got married. We were so happy to share in their joy, and attend the wedding, and spend a few days with family.

I think Becky needed a little break after all of the wedding hubbub! So she and Chelsea felt like they could take a little road trip to see us here in Kansas for a couple of days, and we are so glad they did.

Our family is so very special to us. There never seems to be enough time to get together, so I am thankful that Becky made time for us! She is John's little sister and we really love her and enjoy her sense of humor.

Chelsea is 21 now and such a beautiful young woman, and also so sweet, and genuine, and real, just like her mom!

So, you can see I am counting my blessings. I am thankful for our,... visitors!