The Rest of July

Last weekend, after we moved Kaitlyn and Michael to their new apartment, Joe and I went into frenzy mode.  I had bought two new beds from Dillards the weekend before, a new king bed for us (I will NEVER buy a pillow top mattress again - broke down very quickly and didn't last more than about 5 years) and a new queen bed for our "guest" bedroom since Kaitlyn took her bed with her and Kristen took her bed last year.  We cleaned, organized and threw out, and hung pictures, and voila! we have a new guest bedroom (for the girls when they come home for football game weekends - HA!) We kept all of Kaitlyn's pictures and tried to make it still feel like it belonged to both girls, but picked up and looking nice for guests.

4th of July

For the 4th of July, we were invited over to a friend's house again this year.  Since we had Kaitlyn and Michael temporarily living with us, we came home early to go watch the annual Norman Day fireworks with them.  For those of you who didn't know, Kaitlyn and Michael are moving to Oklahoma City so she will be closer to the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for her school and Michael will be closer to his job too.  They had to be out of their old apartment here in Norman by June 28 and could not move into their new apartment in OKC until July 6. So they lived here with us for a week, with all their furniture in our garage and all their boxes and clothes in our living room and stuffed in the back of their cars.

We found a spot on the OU campus by the tennis courts and there happened to be some benches there.  Joe and I grabbed a bench and waited on Kaitlyn and Michael who were riding bicycles back from campus corner where they had dinner.

Joe and I had not actually gone over to the campus to watch the fireworks show in several years.  It was a beautiful night outside. We rode over in the jeep with the top down - lots of fun!

Kaitlyn's 21st Birthday

This year was a "big" birthday for Kaitlyn as she FINALLY turned 21.  She has been counting off the days since the first of the year.  All her friends have been 21 for awhile so she felt very left out. We celebrated the night by taking the WHOLE "family" (all 6 of us) to dinner at B.J.s. Then we went to The Mont (a local Norman bar/restaurant "landmark") so she could have a Swirl.  A Swirl is the Mont's signature drink and MUST be drank (drunk???) on the patio in the summertime so that you can be "seen" and hob nob among the Norman locals (i.e. people my age - attorneys, socialites, university professors, long-time Normanites, etc.  During the school year, it's frat boys and sorority girls having drinks in the "blue room" inside - it is a bar after all). A Swirl is sangria mixed (swirled, thus the name) with a frozen margarita. There is usually a wait to get a seat on the patio.  Kaitlyn's best friend, Lindsey and her boyfriend, Tyler, joined the 6 of us to celebrate the momentus event.  After about 10:00, Joe and I bowed out and left the young ones to head for Campus Corner and a night of drinking and debauchery.

Kristen's Birthday

Kristen's birthday snuck right up on me.  We got back from Siesta Key on Saturday, June 9 and Kristen's birthday was Tuesday, June 12.  Her boyfriend, Pat, had come down to visit her and stay for a couple of weeks so we took some time to get to know him while he was here.  Joe enjoyed playing golf with Pat (and Kristen) a couple of times and we also went to the lake one day (all 6 of us including Kaitlyn and Michael).  I love  my little "family" (all 5, boyfriends included) and we all get along well together.  I feel so blessed.

June - Catch-up

I've been lax lately and haven't updated my blog in a month!  Sorry about that.  I'll try to catch you up.  June, as always, is a busy month for me with 3 birthdays and Father's Day in there.  And then life just happens at random times and the next thing you know it's the middle of July!

When we came back from our Siesta Key vacation, the OKC Thunder NBA basketball team was smack in the middle of semi-finals, then the finals.  It was Thunder fever here in Oklahoma, and while I did not go to any of the semi-final or final games (I really don't care for crowds so I let Joe take the girls and their boyfriends), I did make some "Thunderwear."  I had purchased some Thunder licensed material in Guthrie when I went with my prayer-shawl group last Fall. I was holding it for the right moment, so I made rag-flops.  I also bought this cute bright blue top (one of the pictures was obviously taken with a different camera) in Florida at the outlet mall and I rhinestoned it and added a couple of colored stones and made my own Thunder shirt.  Joe also got me a flag for the front of our house.

Random Picture from Fall Tailgating

Kaitlyn sent me these pictures the other day that she had in her camera. They are from a tailgating party last fall.  It was a game I did not go to.

Florida Vacation

Here's some pictures from our trip to Siesta Key, FL last week.  This was the view from our balcony. We stayed in the same place we stayed last year only this year we were on the 4th floor. Last year we were on the 10th.  The view from the 4th floor is still pretty good; however these were looking through the screen on the porch.

The next couple of pictures were made at restaurants.  The one below was made at one of our favorite places - The Old Salty Dog.  The second picture was made at our "new" favorite place we found in Longboat Key - The Starfish Company - just a place on the docks where you're served the catch of the day - PERFECT!!



Everyday we picked up our chairs at the sea wall and set up camp on the beach.  We had to buy umbrellas (which we shipped back home).  We would stay out there most of the day.

This picture was made at another of our favorite restaurant/bars - Gilligan's Island.