Friday, July 27, 2018

Our Trip to the Desert - Chapter 3 and Some Heart Warmers!




Hello out there! Before I tell you more about our trip - I have to share something that
touched my heart at the Noon Mass (12:10 p.m.) today. Three young adults were
sitting in a pew in front of me, two young ladies and one young man. The young
ladies grew up in San Angelo and at our parish, Sacred Heart Cathedral. They have
all graduated college and are involved in a college campus ministry known as,
Focus Campus Ministry. For more information about this ministry and what they do
please go to http://www.focus.org/
I smiled at the young ladies, I am proud to know them. The young man joined them
right before Mass began and he was wearing a Focus t-shirt. I watched as he knelt
down and prayed - so very reverently. Of course this touched my heart and filled me
with so much hope. My eyes teared up as I watched one of the altar servers, a young
man in high school, light the candles and help with other preparations before Mass
began. I was thanking God for these young people when another young man walked
by - he graduated from Texas A & M a year ago and is now a seminarian. My smile
could not have been any bigger and I felt like my heart might burst with the joy I
felt at seeing these young people who are so devoted to God. The young seminarian
also served as an altar server. There were quite a few people at the Noon Mass
today - people of all ages - and I pray that they felt the same hope and joy in their
hearts watching our youth and young adults choosing a journey that will bring them
closer to our loving God.


On Tuesday evening, as Jim and I drove closer to Tucson, I took this beautiful picture.
I'm so glad I was able to capture the sun beams as they broke through the clouds. I
can almost see God reaching out to hug us with the warm sun rays. We spent the
night in Tucson and had breakfast at a very old Mexican Restaurant on Wednesday
morning. Our waitress told us how it had started out as a drive through back in the
1930's and they kept growing and they continued to add on. The food was very good and
when we were leaving I spotted this right outside - Our waitress was happy to help out!

We sent this picture to the kids and they laughed and laughed!
But hey, we were on vacation so Jim finally agreed!
Our next stop was the PIMA Air and Space Museum - amazing place - you would
have to go back multiple times to see everything. So much history - we loved it!
Here are a few pictures:




The next place we visited was one of my favorites!
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Look this up and read about it!
A picture of the historical maker is at the bottom of the post!
I took a lot of pictures!

The history, design, artwork, and most importantly; the faith these people had is
so inspiring. The desert flowers, cactus, and plants were beautiful. All kinds of
lizards would dart right out in front of you. Can you see the ground squirrel in
the picture above the cactus? They were everywhere! I will add a few more
pictures and then close out Chapter 3! This is just Wednesday afternoon of our
trip - I will begin Chapter 4 with Wednesday evening and the covey of quail
that were outside our window!






Thursday, July 26, 2018

A Thankful Kind of Day!

Good morning out there! It's the beginning of another hot day. Please pray for the
people who work out in this heat. I've been sharing stories about our trip last week.
A quick break from that story to talk about some super special people in my life!
When I was young I always knew that I wanted to be a wife and a mother. I've been
very blessed with a wonderful husband,  children, and grandchildren. Our family
has grown over the years and our hearts grow with each addition to our family. I am
truly blessed to be able to spend time with our grandchildren. We have ten all
together; two boys and eight girls. Many of you already know this but if you are
new to my blog this information is for you! When you have ten grandchildren there
is always a birthday to celebrate or a school function to attend, etc.
The week before our trip we were able to spend the whole week with our
granddaughters who live out of town. When they visit we make sure that they
get to spend time with all of their cousins. It was a busy week! We went to the
movies, skating, swimming, and played outside. We went to Mass on Sunday
evening and on Friday at noon.  I love spending time with them and I'm glad we
always have fun but going to Mass together and praying together will always
be the most important and what I hope they always remember!
So... we spent a week with our grandkids, going here and there! We left on our
vacation two days later and when we got home we hit the ground running!
One of our granddaughters turned eleven yesterday. I picked her up and we met
my daughter and her daughter (who turned twelve in May) at the Mall. We went
shopping for school clothes and then went out to eat for lunch. I took a picture of
the girls as they sat across from us. They told the waitress what they wanted and
used their manners so nicely. We had a good time. My daughter had picked up
some very pretty cupcakes and we sang (in a low voice) the Happy Birthday song.
We left and came home so that "the birthday girl" could get ready to meet her aunt
and cousins at the pool. My daughter has two more little girls who were at Mother's
Day Out and they had gone to pick them up. I went to the grocery store and ran
some errands while they swam the afternoon away. My granddaughter was going to
spend the night with Nana and Pa. She is one of five children and the second oldest.
It has been many years since she spent the night with us all by herself. We did a
puzzle (I need to buy some more) and stayed up late and watched a movie. She
requested cinnamon toast for breakfast and that was easy peasy! I will take her home
later on this afternoon. A picture popped up on my computer from 7/25/2013 and it
sure pulled on my heartstrings. It was a picture of my granddaughters when they were
six and seven, sitting side by side, eating frozen yogurt - oh my goodness,
how time flies. I'm going to print both pictures, the one from yesterday and the one
from five years ago, and make three copies and put them in frames. A picture for
them and one for me - they grow up so fast.
I love this picture - respect, love, wonder, and grace, beauty, mercy, and so much faith!


I thank God for my blessings  -  my cup runneth over and over! Thank you, Jesus,
for all of my babies, big and small, oh how I love them all!
Hug your kids, hug your spouse, spend time with your family! Put down the phones,
get out a puzzle, or the coloring books, or go take a walk! Life is a gift!
                                                                      Blessings to you and yours!
                                                                                  Bye for now, Sharla

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Chapter 2 - Our Trip to the Desert - Pictures and Memories Along the Way




Hello out there! I made it back to my computer! I ended Chapter 1 with Tuesday
morning in Las Cruces, New Mexico just as we were leaving.
We headed west on I 10 and enjoyed the scenery. I took pictures as Jim drove.
We came to an area where there were warning signs about the dust storms and then
we drove by these humongous boulders - Jim said that they looked like something
out of the old Flintstone's cartoons.
We stopped in Lordsburg, New Mexico and ate at Kranberry's Family Restaurant also
known as Kranberry's Chatterbox. The food was good, the people were friendly, and
the restrooms were clean! We like to eat at original restaurants when we travel out of
town -  no fast food chains or places we can go to when we are at home.
We finally made it across the state line into Arizona. I had looked up some places we
might want to visit along our route and St. David, Arizona was our next stop! The
Holy Trinity Monastery is in St. David and the area is so peaceful. A beautiful chapel;
Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel, a pond, a prayer path,  a cemetery, a huge cross,
gigantic trees, peacocks, and more. I took a bunch of pictures and you will see 
how amazing this place is!
We even stayed for the 4:00 p.m.
Vespers Prayer Service.
I will write more tomorrow!
    Blessings to you and yours!
         Bye for now, Sharla























Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Our Trip to the Desert - Pictures and Memories Along the Way - Chapter 1

Hello out there! It has been such a long time since I've written a post - fifteen days
to be exact! I have so much to tell y'all! Let's get started...……..
Guess how many miles are on my new car - Jim and I took a road trip last week and
we drove all the way to Phoenix, AZ! We made lots of stops along the way and I am
ready to tell y'all all about it! I am also going to share a bunch of pictures because
they are awesome and you need to see them!
3503.6 miles - that is what my odometer says! I think it had 48 miles when we bought
it and that was on June 27th! I'm trying to think of a name for my car - when I had my
truck I would say, "It's in the truck, Where's my truck, Jump in the truck" stuff like
that and this vehicle isn't a truck, or a car, it's like a mid-size SUV. I told Jim that I
thought we should call it Camino (that stands for road/highway in Spanish). Jim just
looked at me - I couldn't tell if it was a, "Sounds good" look or "Are you serious" look.
Anyway, I'm still debating about the name thing - "Jump in my mid-size SUV" is just
not going to work! One of my friends said that since it is a Latte color I should call it,
"Lottie" but that doesn't fit either - I still like Camino!
I like road maps, good old fashioned road maps - the only problem is.....they take up
way too much room when you open them up and they tear. Jim bought me an Atlas
when we were on our last trip. It's great! Yes, we do use the map ap on our phone
when we are looking for a certain place (and that lady is always mad at us - reroute,
reroute, she shouts!) But when we are driving down the highway I want to see where
we are going and what town/city is next.
You might be wondering why we chose Phoenix, AZ as our destination. We were
invited to attend the 40 Days for Life Symposium (7/20 - 7/22/18) for campaign
leaders. Our room and most of the meals were paid for - we just had to get there! Since
we had never been to Arizona we decided that we would turn this trip into a week long
vacation with the Symposium right at the end. I called it our "35 years anniversary trip"!
Our anniversary was in June and I found this card a couple of weeks after our
anniversary. I decided to give it to Jimmy on our 35 years and 1 month anniversary -
I could just see us in this card - driving down the highway!
He loved it! I placed it right in the middle of my Atlas on the Arizona page for y'all
to get both pictures!
I better get busy if I'm going to get through the first day much less the whole week!
We left last Monday (7/16/18) at about 11:00 a.m. or so. We took a little detour
because Jim wanted to show me this area he had seen while he was driving in from a
job. We went through Ozona and headed west on I 10. We took the exit to
Fort Lancaster and pulled over at this parking area. The picture below is the incredible
view and the next picture is a really interesting Historical Marker that was right
where we parked.



We walked around a little bit and got back in the "Camino" and headed west once
more. We drove across this old bridge above the Pecos River. We continued on and as
we were passing through Fort Hancock the clouds became darker.

And we drove all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico, which is about half way, and
found a place to stay, grabbed a bite to eat, and called it a night!
The next morning (Tuesday) we ate breakfast at the hotel and then we decided to go for a
walk before the long drive ahead. We went to the college campus and walked all around
it - New Mexico State University. They have a beautiful campus and I would have taken
pictures of the turtles in the pond but I didn't have my phone with me! We drove through
town and right behind a bank building was the statue of "The Pieta"! We made a U-turn
and parked.
The inscription on the bronze plaque reads -
"O Suffering Jesus!
O Sorrowful Mary!
September 24, 1941"

Isn't that heartbreakingly beautiful? We thought it was so wonderful that it was right
in the middle of Las Cruces.
I have so much more to share but I have to go and fix dinner! I really will write another
post tomorrow about the rest of the journey on Tuesday! I will probably have to wait
until Thursday to write about last Wednesday and Thursday!

                                                                         Blessings to you and yours,
                                                                                       Bye for now, Sharla










Monday, July 9, 2018

Morning Blessings!

Good morning out there! My granddaughters and I are fixing to go for a walk but
I wanted to say hello and re-share my prayer for all of you out there!


I pray that your day is full of blessings.
If you are sick, I pray that you will get well.
If you have lost a loved one, I pray that you will be comforted.
 If you are anxious,
I pray that a feeling of peace will wash over you.
 If you are lonely, I pray that someone
will reach out to you.
 I pray that you will know that even though I may not know you,
I really do care.
If you are struggling financially,
 I pray that God will send you what  you need.
 If you are struggling with addiction,
 I pray that God will give you strength
and courage to give up whatever is holding you hostage.
 If you are in a crisis pregnancy,
I pray that you will be directed to the path of life,
 and guided to all the help that is available for you and your baby.
 If you are a caregiver, I pray that you will get the rest you need,
 and know that it is ok to take time for yourself.
Dear God, I lift all the intentions I've listed above to you.
 I pray for anyone and everyone who might be suffering
or going through any of the things I've written  about.
 Please God, show us how to take care of each other,
to love one another
 and help us to be discerning in all that we do.
Thank you for today.
Please guide us and help us to live the way you want us to.
 Please keep us safe and help us to look to You,
 and not the world for direction and answers.
 In Jesus Holy Name I pray, Amen.

Blessings and Peace to you and yours!
Bye for now, Sharla

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
The First Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Summer Blessings!

Hello out there! It is 11:15 p.m. and everyone is tucked in for the night! Jim and I
picked up two of our granddaughters today - we are blessed to have them with us
for a whole week! Our summer has been a busy time - it always is! Anniversaries,
Birthdays, and more Birthdays, oh my! All of our grandchildren are growing so fast!
Three of them will soon pass me in height and two of them already wear shoes my
size! Our daughter and her family came over after Mass and the kids were so happy
to see their cousins. They played outside and everyone ate in shifts. The little boy
who lives across the street ran over and joined in the fun. After they went home,
Jim went to bed. The girls and I watched a movie, "The Parent Trap" and we laughed
and laughed. The night lights are on and I brewed a cup of herbal tea. I decided that
I better write a quick post before I get ready for bed. I will be busy this week, busier
than usual! We will celebrate two of our grandchildren's birthdays tomorrow at our son
and daughter-in-law's home. Two of their children have birthdays close together and a
special day has been planned.
Last Saturday, June 30th, we had our first, United March for Life, in San Angelo. About
330 people participated in the march and several groups were praying for us. It was a
peaceful march for life letting people know that we are united against the possibility
of Planned Parenthood returning to San Angelo. I am too tired to go into all the reasons
why we don't want them here but if you've been reading my blog for very long you
already know why. Look for the Live Action Facebook page - they have so much
information about how Planned Parenthood works and it is really informative, stuff
that will hurt your heart but also open your eyes.
The girls and I are going to bake some of their favorite things this week; Pumpkin Nut
Muffins, Rice Krispy Treats, and Smores are some of the fun and yummy things!
I made Cappuccino Royale Cookies this afternoon to take to the party tomorrow!
Cookies with Espresso mixed in - my daughter-in-law likes them and so do the kids!
Well I think I will call it a night!
Blessings to all of you out there -
Blessings and peace near or far,
Blessings to you wherever you are!
Bye for now, Sharla