Sassy Is Growing Up .... And Out On Her Own

Well, not exactly on her own ..... after all, her trusty and loyal companion Gizzy is her roommate ....... but just when she thought it was safe to go out into her own living room ..... guess who showed up ???!!!?!?!?!?

None other than Mr. Walker and HIS trusty and loyal companion BR549.

The two boys insisted on getting a picture with Sassy (so she could "display it proudly in her new apartment").

SASS -- I am sure you have this picture printed and prominently placed on your mantle ..... right ??

God help you .... let's just hope they forget how to get back to your apartment.

XOXO ---- We love you Sass -- and we love your new home !!!

She Didn't Let Us Down ....

Well -- today we are "officially" celebrating our Christmas since David & Becki are home.

Since dad has been recovering from his surgery, the plans to come over to the Walker residence were scratched and instead, Mr. Walker and I transported the turkey, ham, dressing, etc. over to the Milner-household for Christmas dinner.

Even though the actual dinner was a treat, the highlight of our evening was the Red Velvet Cupcake. Now -- I will admit to you that it was a Cupcake large enough to share, but none the less a Cupcake.

I don't care what you say -- I still maintain that Mother took half of the recipe and made a donation to someone else besides us ...... afterall -- take a look at this picture. For comparison sake, we held up a quarter so you can see the size ......

I must admit though .... it was very yummy ... maybe my favorite one so far. And we had a fabulous time speculating as to what Mother had done with the remainder of the cake !!!

So anyway -- after all of the cupcake excitement and then discovering the water heater in the basement was leaking and had completely emptied into the laundry room closet, we completely forgot to take any pictures of the family ... I guess we will have to do family pictures at Easter --- after we all dry out and recover from this Holiday Season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

The Walker Family Christmas (Not a New Tradition)

Our celebration with Mr. Walker's parents has been the same thing for the past 15 years and we always have a great time ......

But this year ... Christmas at the Walker's was a bit different. Mom got the bright idea to "shake things up a bit" and since we are such a fun-loving family, we decided to go along and see how it turned out.

Well -- our festivities started out by Mom making an all-night visit to the ER/Newton County Hospital and then proceeding to come home, lay on the couch and not cook Christmas Dinner.

See ... I told you we were a "fun" family.

So -- Sorry guys -- no pictures .... they were lost somewhere during the mad dash to empty the cupboards and organize their contents into a Christmas Dinner that would have made Rachel Ray set up and take notice. Hmmmm.....maybe Tammy and I should write a book .... 30 minute Christmas Meals .....

Not to worry though -- Mom is on the mend and all is right with the Walker's once again.

Hugs and kisses to all ---- & Merry Christmas.

An Unbelievable Feast !!

Well --- here we are again ... Christmas Eve, and as usual, Mother has really just gone for the gusto and outdone herself. The sandwich tray she served up tonight turned out to be the best one yet. Not only did we have cheese and meat, she also fancied it up with a little lettuce and olives for decoration.

WOW -- what a Christmas Eve feast !! She even broke out the "fine china" for us this evening.

AND -- you have to see the Christmas Tree this year .... it would have made Charlie Brown himself proud !!

So .... David, Jr., Becki and Trey were not here tonight to share in our celebration. They are coming home the end of the week. I can hardly wait to see what she has in store for us then.

BUT -- in her defense, I did have to FORCE her to spend Christmas Eve with us .... she wasn't about to rob me and Dad of our "tradition" !!

Got to run now ... I think I hear Santa on the roof.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL .... and To ALL A GOOD NIGHT !!!

My Deepest Apologies !!!

Well -- OK -- I have been beaten into submission and I plan to start keeping the blog updated more frequently from now on. It is just that since I have gone to work with Dwayne .... there simply are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. YOU ALL KNOW THAT HE IS A FULL-TIME JOB........but I plan to do better and start sending him to bed early without dinner so I can BLOG more often.

Thank you so much for your patience .... It has actually been nice to know that you guys miss my updates .... makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside :-)

We LOVE Our Home

We absolutely LOVE our new home !!!!! At least once per day, either me or Mr. Walker makes the comment that we LOVE living in this house !!!

So -- since some of you have not had the chance to come over and see since we have moved in, I thought I would post some pictures. Keep in mind that this house will be a "work in progress" for quite some time. We have purchased some new furniture, we are still waiting on some to be delivered and we have BIG plans for other things in the future. The FUN part is .... we are loving every minute of putting this house together.

I cannot wait until everyone gets to see it in person !!!

Just to highlight some of the big things we have done ..... (i) We have completely furnished the basement with a pool table, pub table, dart alley, wet bar area, big screen TV for movies and a standard sized Texas Hold-Em styled game table complete with chairs. We have not yet decided on the decorating theme yet, so you will notice the walls are still bare .... but we are close to making our decision. (ii) We moved the entertainment center from the old house's living room into our master bedroom, so now I have a big screen television that I watch every night until my eyes slam shut (that usually takes about 7-8 minutes); and (ii) we are still awaiting new furniture for the sunroom off of the kitchen. We find we spend a good bit of time in that room, so we have purchased some furniture that provides more seating in the area for guests.

Enjoy these pictures:

FOYER ENTRY

LOOKING INTO SUNKEN LIVING ROOM

LIVING ROOM WET BAR AREA

MASTER BEDROOM

MASTER BEDROOM

WET BAR AREA IN BASEMENT

BILLIARD ROOM

VIEW FROM BILLIARD AREA

THEATRE AREA

Vegas In December

Well -- I must say, out of all of the times I have visited Las Vegas, this was the first time that I have ever needed a jacket. What a trip .... the desert at 55 degrees !!

You see, we had to visit Las Vegas because there is this little event that Las Vegas hosts every December called "COWBOY CHRISTMAS.

A close friend of ours promised us a fabulous time complete with more shopping than a girl could image, a fast-paced rodeo, good food and great fun. Well ...... so what that all of the shopping was for cowboy hats, cowboy boots and sterling silver jewelry ......... it was shopping none the less. Thank goodness for the side trip to the Macy's store.

Anyway .... the trip to the rodeo turned out to be a DUD, but overall, I would say we had a great time. Besides .... who wants to see the bull-riders in person when you can watch on the hotel TV ???

I would like to mention just a couple of things though ..... this was the first time that Mr. Walker and Mr. Roberts have ever utilized public transportation (aka "the bus") on a regular basis. I must commend them for doing their part to conserve their 'dineros' (instead of renting a car). The didn't seem to mind at all !! As a matter of a fact, I think they are on board with foregoing the car when we take our trip to Colorado in 2008. I am sure the buses in the Rocky Mountains are very reliable !!

Also -- we spent our mini-vacation at the Hotel Flamingo right in the heart of the Las Vegas strip. The Flamingo was the very first hotel on the strip way back "in the day" and the hotel has a wonderful natural habitat for the real pink flamingos that call the hotel home. You could imgine our surprise when they found a flamingo they wanted to have their picture made with ..... Leave it to our guys to always want to help conserve the environment.

The last day of our trip was spent exploring "old town" Vegas down on Freemont Street. It was a blast - and Mr. Walker managed to win back most of our money on at the Craps table. In fact, I was the only one that came back with a lighter load ...... but, Mr. Walker shared some of his good fortune with me .... so I am a happy girl.

VIVA LAS VEGAS !!!