NEW Flea Market Style Magazine!!!

It's almost TIME, people!!!  Get on over to Margo's blog, RoboLady, and pre-order your new Flea Market Style Magazine!  If you pre-order, they'll send it right to your house  OR  Margo, gracious lady that she is, will work out a way for you to get yours from her!  If it's anything NEAR the one last year, this'n will be DA BOMB!  I'm getting mine ordered for sure!  Bet I can beat you to it!  While you're there, check out Margo's brilliant junky and industrial creations that she does out of her barn.  I can't wait to see what those "Junk People" have been up to in the new Magazine!  Snag this button, too, if you want!!!

A Haven for Vee

Just had to stop in to ask for your prayers and thoughts for our dear blogging buddy, Vee (A Haven For Vee).  Her dear sweet mother passed away quite unexpectedly on Saturday the 15th.  And not too long after the passing of her grandmother.  What heartache she must feel.  I ask that you remember her in your quiet times.  I've known her for several years now, and she's a lovely, caring friend with a tender heart and a kind word for everyone.  And she cares deeply for her family.  Keep her in your prayers and stop by when she's ready and offer your encouragement.  Thank you ~~~  Vickie

Pre-Christmas FUN!

I'm sitting here with my daughter watching the Bachelor - her favorite show, well, she's 20-something, what do you expect...  new season and new girls and cute hunky guy.  And if you aren't watching, I'm serious, there's a girl on here that's into "vampire-ism" and she has fangs.  This is going TOO far.  This is making me gag... Blech. 

Lots going on around Sand Flat Farm this holiday season.  I guess I should catch y'all up.  First off, my middle son J GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE!  He actually graduated in August, but the ceremony was right before Christmas!  We were so proud of him - 6 years it took- course he changed his major a time or two, but he's OUT!  Here he is walking across the stage to accept his diploma at the University of Texas at Tyler.

And a pic after the graduation with his family!  We are thrilled to have one more kid off our payroll!!! One year closer to me quitting work! 

And of course, have to have one with the proud fiancee, too!  They are both SO happy! 

Then, we were so sick of holiday food in between that I busted loose and fried up some chicken fried steak, mashed taters, gravy and purple hull peas - which we all gorged ourselves on and later had some Tums for dessert...

Josh and Lindsey at our home in an artistic shot by Princess... 

Of course, we had to celebrate Josh's birthday a few days later.  We had chocolate cake with the good ole orange & white University of Texas colors on it! 

THEN,  me and Princess took off to Fort Worth and met up with my sister and her daughter, Erin, for a fun day at the Gaylord Texan Hotel.  If you've ever been to a Gaylord Hotel, you know how huge and fancy they are and how they go all out on decor and architecture.  At the Texan, they were having the Ice Show "A Charlie Brown Christmas" there and we were taking that in.  While we waited for the show, we spent time browsing in shops, having ice cream and designer coffees and touring the hotel and enjoying all the Christmas decorations.  It was SO over the TOP!

Since it was the "TEXAN", the hotel was all decked out in Texan stuff - a Riverwalk like in San Antonio, Oil wells, mission style shops, Texas style landscapes and vegetation - nothing was left out.  It was great. We took a hundred pictures, me and Erin. 'Course she has a new fancy 35 mm digital camera and my pics do not compare with hers, but I wanted to show you some of what we saw anyway. Thanks for your tolerance.

Here's our girlies in a sleigh - perfect photo op! Aren't they cute!

And me and my sister!

The interior of the Hotel upon first entering.  It was truly breathtaking...

There's no tellin' how much $$$$$$ they spent on Christmas decor...

This is a Gingerbread House replica of the Gaylord Texan Hotel!  WOW!!!

This guy was a NUT - but he was keeping the kiddoes laughing and running around crazy!

Are you in San Antonio at the Theater on the River?  Or are you still in the Gaylord Texan?  Enquiring minds want to know!!! 

Now, I'll tell you a bit about the Ice Show.  The Hotel invited 40+ Chinese ice sculptors and they came over and transformed 2 million 2,000,000 pounds of solid ICE into all the sets of the "Charlie Brown Christmas".  They were spot-ON!  The ice characters were so life-like.  We entered the Ice Show and they provided us heavy knee-length parkas to wear.  They keep the temperatures in there at 9 degrees to keep the ice solid.  They told some scientific reasons why 9 degrees is perfect, but I couldn't begin to explain it to you. 

Anyway, there were quite a few folks there that day, 23rd day of December right before Christmas, so the hotel was pretty full.  But it makes it so much more fun, don't you think!!!  It wouldn't have been nearly so much fun if there were nobody there.  We wove through the maze and visited all of the sets, took tons of pictures, and froze our BUNS off!  Our toes were numb, our fingertips were numb, and our mouths were stiff so we could barely talk!  Man, it made me think about all you folks that live up in the north and have to deal with the frigid temps all winter long!

I'll let you stroll through the scenes with us...

Two Ice Maidens....(below)

And me and seester huddling to stay warm!

Got a little free counseling while we were in there!!!

These were the ICE Slides - talk about freezing your tokey off!

Now actually my favorite sculptures were the angel announcing the birth of Christ, and the whole Nativity Scene - they were so realistic, and they were bigger than lifesize - they were amazing!

It was beautiful and the colors were awesome.  You can kinda see baby Jesus laying there in the manger...

Gotta have a little Alamo in there, too...

And oil wells for Texas...

Gorgeous!

And finally, here's a photo of the whole Gaylord Texan Hotel.  The Gaylord in Nashville is just as luxurious - if you ever get to visit one of these, jump on that chance - it's well worth the effort.  We 4 had a blast all day long - but more than being at the hotel and Ice Show, just being together - just us girls and making some new memories! 

http://dbeckdesigns.com/final_project/links.html

AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO CHRISTMAS YET!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year, Everybody!!!  May the Lord bless you and keep you and may He shower His goodness and grace on each one of you!  And may I say that I treasure your friendship and I am daily thankful for the good friends I've made here.  Thank you for your kindnesses and your comments and I'm looking forward to another year of getting to know you all better!  You've all truly touched my life in ways that I can never repay, and have blessed me more than you know!

I've got lots to tell you and I'll be back as soon as possible. And I've got pictures to show you.  We've had a busy, busy Christmas season.  One son left today and daughter will be home for a couple of weeks more, but I promise to be back soon!  Please take care of yourselves and give yourselves a big ole hug from me!!!

Merry Christmas to All My Blog Buddies!!!

We'll be Christmasing for the next few days at least, but I wanted to check in and wish you all a wonderful season of home, family, friends, giving, peace, joy and love for the Savior as we remember His Holy Birth. God gave us the best gift of all - His precious Son, and this gift was totally free - just because of His great love while we were still sinners!  It's almost too much to comprehend!  Rejoice, Rejoice and praise His Holy Name!!!  Sending my love and best wishes to you all for a spectacular Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And Merry Christmas from Alice, the washing machine cat!!!

And it's a chilly 78 degrees here today!!!

PS - Edited to add - NOPE IT'S 81 DEGREES HERE!!!