I pledge alligence to the flag . . . .

that is hanging from my 23 foot flagpole

in my front yard!!!

It took all four of us to put the pole in position. Daddy had a plan!!

He had set a t-post into a deep hole, poured concrete, and set a flat metal plate on top several weeks ago.

We felt like the the folks in that flag pole raising picture. Daddy welded the pole to the plate. Jorge thought that the weld wouldn't ever be strong enough. Don't worry, I assured him that if he had touched or seen anything that Daddy had welded before, he should relax. Tornados won't even bring this sucker down!!!

Mama braced the pole with the rope. I so wouldn't have put that rope on the flagpole before we started. Duh!!! How else are you gonna get it up there after we set it? Sometimes I wonder how I am able to walk!!!!

Check out that aggie engineering at work. Simple tools for a good lookin brown aggie.

So here we are (hot, sweaty, and definatly smelly) in front of the house with

our huge new flagpole!! We're so proud.

The Texas is extra special!! Daddy cut it out and he ground it SMOOTH! Really smooth! On it he engraved JP (in Fort Worth) and AZ (in the Paris area) and 2004 (0ur anniversary). Let's hear it . . . one, two three, awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!

We LOVE it!!!! I keep looking out of the kitchen window and find myself surprised everytime! Thank you Daddy!!! This is such an original, wonderful, and functional piece of art/heart/time/creativity!

Isn't that cool?

So, meet us at the flagpole. Oh, by the way. . . there will be NO underwear hanging from this one!

More 4th Pics

Sue and Mama ready to watch the show

The Da-mobile hauled kids all afternoon long. There were kids in the front, kids in the back, and some lucky ducks got to drive the Da-mobile!!

Here's Braxton ready to roll!

That good lookin brown man is soppin wet!!

Eli is armed and dangerous. He had his bucket and was ready to attack any unsuspecting person. He got several too!!

So the boys all got together to play a little soft ball. The outfielders got a little bored waiting on the hitter. So, Jacob decided to get a chair and wait.

Then, the other outfielders decided to get chairs.

Pretty soon they had all gotten chairs and had Brazos run for the ball.

It was stinkin' funny!!

Boom Boom Pow!!!

El 4 de julio en Paris. . .

Andrea cut some sweet, juicy sandia for two hungry sobrinos.

Brazos didn't have time to smile here. He was all business with that sandia.

Kaden as well!

My cuñado, the PYRO!! Actually Karl designed and orchestrated this amazing fireworks show for us. He worked so hard wiring all the fuses together. When it was time for the fireworks to start, he came and sat down to watch the show with US!!! I really did a double take because he always is firing the fireworks and misses the show. Not this year!! I looked around during the fireworks. I saw young and old looking up to the sky with stupid grins pasted all over their faces. Thanks Karl!! Thanks for the smiles!!! You really did such a great job!! It was great!

Neil and a very freshly wakened Brayson! He kinda likes his Mama!

Can it be? Is it true? Five years have gone by, really? Really?

My good lookin' brown man and I went to Lake Tahoe where we had our honeymoon five years ago during the last week of junio.

We had a great time!! I'll post more pictures later.

¡Gracias Jorge! ¡Te quiero mucho! Los primeros cinco años fueron llenos de experiencias de amor, comida rica, y cosas divertidas.

Dios nos ayude en los siguente cinco años.

Why Hello Blogger Friends!!

Did ya miss me? I've missed me a little too! Since I last blogged, I finished six graduate hours, finished a year of kindergarten, added a class to teach at church, worked on remodeling our bedroom, started and finished a whole bunch of stuff, and then. . . . summer came!!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Life's a little easier now. We're getting ready for VBS. Are you ready? Hope you have a great day!!!

Peticures in Greenville?

The last Saturday of Spring Break my sisters and Jennifer decided we should all get together for an afternoon. The economy is tough and extra money is scarce. So, we went to the Greenville beauty school. We had a great time. They called Lyneil first. She had a very quick pedi and it looked like I painted her toes. That's right I said, "toes!" Her kids could have probable done a better job than the girl that she had. Oh well, it was only $6.00.

Next, we went. That's right. Jorge went too!!! His very first pedicure. He liked it a lot! He said, "it felt wierd at first, but then I didn't feel anything else because my skin is so caloused. I shoud have gotten a Mexican lady. We all should have."

Beauty school drop-outs!!!

Sittin' pretty! Jorge didn't get his painted. But we did!! Neil even got a hair cut! I think we shoulddo this again!!!

It's cold outside. . . but no worries! Spring BREAK is here!!! Jorge and I will leave tomorrow night to fly to the thriving metropolis of Midland, Texas. . . on the way to La Mesa, Texas for a Zant family reunion. It will be good to see cousins and how everybody's changed in the last year and 1/2.

The rest of the time, Jorge and I are going to be working on the bedroom remodel. We have a way to go before we finish. We moved out of our bedroom right after Thanksgiving. We'll see how far we get.

Also, we're working on LTC with our kids from church. We have two different groups of kids, an older group and an elementary group. The older group has nine members and they are doing the Rich man and Lazarus skit. The younger group has, ,. . . . . wait for it. . . . 14 members. That's right. 14. Not again! They are doing a skit that has several names that Jesus is called throughout the Bible. They're both going to be great. We have some really funny guys to work with. We have this weekend off though for our trip. I'm kinda glad!

On other news, Granny Zant is in the hospital. Please pray for her that her body can be stronger and that it fights to be healthier.

Feliz Cumpleanos Jorge!

Happy Birthday to my Brown Sugar!!! I'm so glad that I get to spend my days with you! I hope you have many, many, many more birthdays to share!

Who needs the farmer's almanac?

This weekend Michael, my brother-in-law on the brown sugar side came and helped us begin to plant some shrubs. Little did he know that he was gonna work for his supper! He really helped us quite a bit and I am so thankful that he was here.

So, remember when we planted the grass last summer? We left a big area under three trees bare with the intent of planting something interesting there. My mother-in-law has the best green thumb ever. She can grow anything. I, however kill plants. They don't talk and I can't hear them, thus they get neglected. I'm gonna try to do better this time.

We cleaned the area, and added manure, other fertilizer, and some bark or ????? Our challenge with our place is to find plants that will grow in extreme shade. We are pretty shady (take that how you want). So looking for plants that thrive in hot Texas summers with shade. . . and require LITTLE matainance is tricky. We decided to plant Phlox. I had never heard of this shrub. We bought it at Sams. The master gardener near us said that it should do well. It will have RED flowers and should smell good. If it grows. Please pray that it grows! We are going to plant more plants in this same area. . . but we have to wait for warmer weather. Hostas and other flowers will be added as we go. We also bought some azalea plants (12 of them at Home Depot at 75% off). But we'll have to build up beds for them because they don't like Texas native soils. GREAT! Good thing they were so cheap!

I'm planting lily bulbs here. . . I think.Speaking of Sams. . . .my darling husband decided to buy 10 boxes of iron work to fence a garden. 10? It will look nice when all of the flowers come in and get big. But right now, it looks like a grave yard. REALLY! It looks like we're going to bury somebody there. Yikes!

That's all folks!

More of Mexico

I had a few more pictures that I thought I'd post. The picture below is Aurelia's new dining room. Aurelia is the preacher's mom in Jimenez. She had added a dining room to her home.

Mama and Daddy
There were military guards all over the place everywhere we went this year. The church members said that it was to help keep the drug dealers under control because the police couldn't do it. So here's a picture of them.

Snow Day!! No school today. Instead of dusting my living room . . . I was side tracked and decided to update the ole blog. Looks a little better I think. What else do I need? Please let me know. I'm learning
S L O W L Y! Hope your day is wonderful!

A Quick Trip to Jimenez, Tamps. Mexico

On Friday morning at 3:40 there was a knock at my door. It was my Daddy, Mama, and Debbie and James Hawk. We all piled in a rented van and headed to see our hermanos south of the border. We arrived around 6:40 and headed straight for some delicious tacos. Here's Jorge with a plate full of tacos.


On Saturday we went to Cuidad Victoria and went shopping. We stopped at a street vendor for lunch and had some really great gorditas. The best ones were the pork ones with green salsa. MMMMMMMM!!! I can still taste them. Here are Daddy, James, and Debbie.

This crazy dude was standing outside of the pharmacy doing a jig. He looked like he was flat buring up in that suit. I made them take a picture with him.

Finally, my Maria! My good buddy Maria was there too. She's a nurse in Jimenez. We're the same age and well. . . I like hanging around her!

We got home Monday night and are already missing our hermanos there.

We had a great time and can't wait to return.

Happy New Year!!!

I have one more class and I will have 24 hours done for my masters program. Only 9 more to go, PEOPLE!!! Yippppeeee!!!! It's been great so far. I've learned so much about my profession and how to be a better teacher.

Tomorrow I get hear Erin Gruewell (the teacher from Freedom Writers). She's coming to our disctict. I'm gettin' her autograph! For the afternoon, I am part of a team that gets to do our campus staff development. It's fun! Just lettin' you know what's been happenin' for the last few weeks. : )