Christmas at the Bealls

This year Christmas was the best ever. Both of my girls were home for Christmas.

Jodie and her boyfriend Greg flew in on Dec 19th. It was wonderful to see them and to meet Greg personally for the first time. Greg tasted Texas Barbque and especially enjoyed the brisket.

Jamie and Cody drove in from Corpus on the 21st. Scot had to work, so he drove on Christmas Eve with Cody's special gift of his own little power wheeled car. It even had its own radio.

The presents were nice, but the best part was the family together once again.

Summer Vacation in the HIll Country

BEWARE: ROAD TRIP STORY

Steep Trails and Dangerous Curves!

For the first time in three years, Ray and I went on a vacation. We loaded Ray's trailer down, and we left from Corpus to Utopia. Along with Ray's brother Louis, Dina, Daniel and Lindsey, we drove to River Haven Cabin Retreat in Utopia.

We cruised through Pleasanton, Jourdontan, Devine, over the Santa Anna Creek, through Biry (don't blink), Hondo, D'Hanis, Sabinal, and finally after Utopia. While we drove, we notice the landscape gradually changed from flat lands to hills. Ray, Lou and Tux pulled the trailer with the Jeep, and Dina and I and the kids drove in her Durango. As we drove, the kids watched their DVD players and listened to music on their iPods. I created a playlist of summer songs for the trip, and Dina had loads of CDs with 80s music.

Utopia is a quiet, sleepy town with the Sabinal River running through it.Our cabin had satellite TV, three bedrooms, AC, stocked kitchen deck, fire pit, and the Sabinal running behind the cabin.


At night we listened to the cicadas chirping and waded in the crystal clear river with the perch nibbling on us.
The next day, Daniel woke up with a insect bite that made his ear swell up quite a bit. He was courageous about it, and thankfully, he recovered quickly.



Later Ray and I drove to Bandera and hunted for antiques. We ate Mexican food at a cute restaraunt called OST (Old Spanish Trail). We drove to Leakey and enjoyed the scenery.



I found some cool wildflowers I had to pick for my scrapbook. When we reached the Frio River, I waded the river a little to enjoy the cool water. The river was not as cold as people said it would be.

The next day we drove with Lou and Dina and family back to Concan and enjoyed a fabuous meal at a resteraunt called Neal's. Neal's was located by the Frio, and we watched people tubing down the river from the terrace.

Late in the afternoon, we waded in the Sabinal and enjoyed finding river rocks. The water is clear and cool, the river was shaded by live oak trees, and a small man made dam made the pouring water sound like a baby waterfall.


The sun set, and the guys made a fire in the pit so the kids could make marshmallows.
In the morning everyone packed up and Ray and I drove home leisurely. We enjoyed being out in nature, and being with family.

Spring Break

Spring Break whirled through and left me dizzy and spent... but smiling.

Saturday Ray and I met Jamie, Scot, and Cody to bring Cody to the Homestead.

I f insihed reading the The Devil Wears Prada while Cody and Pawpaw spent all day outside.

Tuesday Lou, Dina, Lindsey, and Daniel drove in from Corpus. We barbequed steaks and enjoyed the evening. Daniel and Cody wore Cowboy hats and Cody had Pawpaws pipe.

The next day, we drove into Houston and braved the thunderstorms. Couldn't do much shopping, terrorized the mall and Barnes and Noble. Bought three books: Johnny Got His Gun, A Girl Named Zippy, and The Freedom Writers Diary. Finally we got everybody to hit the sack, including Lindz.

When they left to vacation a little more, Mamo and I drove Cody home. We had a visit with Jamie and Scot, then spent the night, and enjoyed a leisurely drive home.

Ray bought a satellite radio, and is enjoying the heck out of it. Everytime I hear a song I like, I write it down to download on my iPOD.

Saturday I recharged my batteries by scrapping all day long. I worked on Jamie's and Jodie's scrapbooks and created the layout for the spring scrapbook.

Sunday I will finsh chores and take all my books to prepare for UIL poetry and prose interpretation. Hope your break was great.

Love,

Glenda