Alexa Isabella's Birthday

August 30, 2010, finally arrived, and Jason and Karla got to Hendrick Medical Center around 9:30 AM after dropping Kaila off at Rainbow School. Kaila loves to go to her daycare school and was a happy little girl that morning. Once at the hospital, Karla was hooked up to an IV and awaited her C-section. Here are pictures of Jason and Karla, "Papa" and "Abeyo" with Karla, and "Nana" and "Ab`be" with Karla as we all waited and waited until the nurses came at 11:45 with Jason's garb to wear in the delivery room.

The nurse dismissed us 4 grandparents to the waiting room, and she then took Karla and Jason to the delivery room. The four of us enjoyed drinking coffee together and talking to each other while we waited. Finally around 12:45 or so, Jason appeared in the nursery window holding the baby. He confirmed that she is a girl, we found out her weight and length and that all was well with the baby and Karla, but Jason wouldn't tell us her name until he and Karla could tell us together.

In these pictures, the nurse is weighing the baby and checking over her carefully to make sure everything was well with her. She didn't like all the bright lights, cold temperature, and probing, so she wailed loudly and stuck out her little bottom lip. Beautiful sound to all of us! Jason tried to comfort her as best he could and picked her up as soon as possible to cuddle her close.

Here is the nurse putting on her first diaper!

Here's a picture of us four grandparents enjoying our first look at the baby: Antonio and Margarita Angel and Danny and Maggie Craddock. Proud daddy is inside the nursery.

Love this picture of Jason and the baby!

Here is Karla and Jason introducing Kaila to her little sister, Alexa Isabella Craddock!

Jason gives Kaila a closer look at Alexa!

Here's a photo of me, Nana, with Alexa!

A photo of Margarita with Kaila.

A photo of Jason, Kaila, Margarita and Antonio.

A photo of Danny "Papa" with Kaila and Alexa.

Kaila couldn't wait to hold Alexa.... she told Jason, "Sit down." She meant for him to go away and let her hold Alexa by herself.

And here she is holding Alexa all by herself! She gave her a kiss and kept rubbing her hair.

Jason and Karla got a gift for Kaila from Alexa... a toy camera so that she could take pictures like everyone else! Funny thing is we all look like animals on her camera when she takes our pictures!

Around 6:30 we grandparents and Kaila left the hospital so that Karla could get some rest and so that Kaila could go home with "Ab`be" and "Abeyo" to eat and go to bed. Danny and I returned to our RV and enjoyed an evening of rest! A long and wonderful day.... God's blessings overflowed and we are so thankful for His care.

More to come another day!

Waiting for Grandbaby #2

Well, here we are at Abilene RV Park in Ablilene, Texas..... Not the most beautiful RV Park, but it's OK.... near Jason, Karla and Kaila and that's what counts!

We arrived following a 10 hour drive and were pretty much wiped out... at least I was. Danny did another great job of getting the Fifth Wheel set up and everything level.... check out the picture of the level!

If you are familiar with Abilene, you'll know that there aren't many tall trees, so we feel very fortunate to find a full hook up site next to a tall tree. We don't have cable for the TV, but as you can tell, we do have wireless WiFi.

After getting everything hooked up and things situated, we headed for Jason and Karla's home to see them. They are in the waiting mode..... Karla is sooooo ready to deliver Baby Girl or "Gertrude" as Danny has nicknamed her since they won't tell us her name until she's born.

Abuelo's was calling our names, so we headed there to eat dinner together. In the picture, Kaila is singing, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...." she is such a loving little girl and thinks the sun rises and sets in her parents! She will kiss and hug "Baby Sister" now, and let's hope she continues to do so after she is born. In the next picture, you'll see what a cute expectant mom Karla is! Baby girl is all out front and from behind, Karla doesn't even look pregnant! She's really uncomfortable now.... lots of pressure. BUT, she is always a happy camper! I really admire and love her sweet positive attitude.

Once we finished dinner, we headed back across town to their home. They enjoyed opening gifts... especially Kaila who tore into her presents with gusto! I think she enjoys the unwrapping more than the gifts.

Saturday we shopped for groceries and had Jason, Karla and Kaila join us for a swim in the park's pool and a steak dinner. Found out that the Fifth Wheel doesn't like the air conditioner and the microwave both going full blast.... tripped the breaker! Since we wanted baked potatoes in just a few minutes, we turned off the air during the cook time. There was a very nice breeze blowing, so we didn't suffer much.

After dinner, Jason and Karla went home and Kaila spent her first night with us! What fun it was to give her a bath and read to her before she went to sleep. She did GREAT! Slept all night without one whimper for Mom or Dad!

Today is Sunday and we're headed back to their house after resting here in the Fifth Wheel after services and lunch with them. Karla's parents should be arriving soon and then tomorrow BABY GIRL will be born with a C-section at noon! YAY! Can't wait to meet her!

Forty Years and Going Strong

Where, O where did 40 years go? It seems impossible that we've been married that long.... and I must say they've been wonderfully fulfilling years! We were married on August 1, 1970 in the church of Christ in Kosciusko, Mississippi. We've lived in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Arkansas during our marriage. We have two wonderful adult children who chose their own spouses so well! We have a beautiful granddaughter, Kaila, and two more little girls on the way. We're presently in good health, still love each other and enjoy each other's company. Can't get much better that this!

We had this photo recently taken and published it in the local newspaper to announce our anniversary. Danny spoiled me by giving me a gorgeous diamond necklace and earrings, and he planned a wonderful trip to Oklahoma city, OK, to celebrate our anniversary.

We left Springdale, AR, on Friday morning (July 30th) and drove to Claremore, OK, to tour the Will Rogers Museum. Danny had toured it 46 years ago and had often wanted to return for a more leisurely tour of the grounds and exhibits. It was a great museum and I had no idea that Will Rogers was so talented and did so many different things. The grounds were lovely and the view from the crest of the hill it is on was especially pretty.

We arrived at the Embassy Suites in the late afternoon and were delighted with the lovely two room suite.... After relaxing for a little while, we strolled a couple of blocks to a nice restaurant and enjoyed some yummy Hawaiian barbeque. We wanted to soak in the hot tub, but there were so many kids and adults there, we decided our suite was much more appealing!

Saturday morning we slept in (8 which is late for us) and then lost all control when we ate the fabulous breakfast provided by Embassy Suites! Made to order omlets, French toast, fruit, cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits & gravy, donuts, bagels, juices, and on and on! Really pretty setting, too.

We wanted to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial and its museum and chose to do that early in the day. So glad we did, as it is a lovely tribute to all those who suffered that horrible terrorist attack. The memorial's two gates have the time of 9:01 and 9:03 inscribed on them to mark the time just before and just after the explosion when the previous way of life ended and the new altered life began. The Reflecting Pool and the Victim's Chairs were silent reminders of so many who lost their lives.

Picture is of the museum. It was so touching to see and hear all of the tragic stories that were told. Very somber and sad!

We left the museum needing something much lighter to do, so we headed for Bricktown, which is a smaller "San Antonio River Walk". It was over 100 degrees and we were sweltering, so we retreated to Sonic for strawberry smoothies and then escaped the heat by going to the theater pictured at right to see "Inception." The movie was action packed and took some serious thinking to keep up with all the twists and turns of the characters dreams within dreams! Can't imagine how anyone could even think about the plot and keep it all straight in his/her own mind!

Following the movie, we strolled along the river in Bricktown and ate at a Mexican restaurant that had been recommended to us.

We returned to the hotel after dinner and found the pool and hot tub relatively empty. YAY! Felt wonderful after walking so much at the memorial, museum, and Bricktown

Sunday morning (our anniversary) we ate an earlier breakfast and went back to our suite to open the gifts that our children sent us..... Beautiful monogrammed sheets and a sweet Willow Tree figurine of a embracing couple.... We then enjoyed worshiping with fellow Christians at the South Yukon church of Christ.

The afternoon was spent shopping at Garden Ridge and one of the malls where it was cool! We finished the day by dining at Cimmaron Steak House with a delicious steak! YUM!

We were so full after eating that we took a sunset walk in a nearby park along the river. Really pretty and quiet right in the middle of lots of the rush of the city.

With some reluctance, we checked out of our hotel on Monday morning and turned toward home. But before leaving town, we took in one last museum.... Oklahoma City Museum of History. It is made up of several large galleries which included the history of the Indians who have inhabited Oklahoma, the history of the land rush, oil well history in Oklahoma,rock and roll music in Oklahoma, & cartoonists of Oklahoma. Looking out one of the huge windows in the museum you could see the capitol building across the street..... really pretty.

















We really had a good time and had so much fun being together. What a blessing Danny has been to me over the years! I do hope that we can be together for another 40 years! We make a good team! Love you, Danny!

Branson, Memphis, and Rosedale High

June 12 - 21, 2010 - Danny and I set up camp in Branson, Missouri, at "The Wilderness" campgrounds which is affiliated with Silver Dollar City (a theme park in Branson.) Our good friends, Mike and Linda McClenny, from Lindale, Texas, joined us for this outing. Our site was shady and level, and Danny did a great job of backing in and setting up the RV. A great advantage to this campground is that a bus came every two hours to shuttle campers back and forth to Silver Dollar City! The bus let us out and picked us up right at the entrance.... No hassle to park or put up with Branson's heavy traffic! The Wilderness has a pool, rec room, nice showers/bath house, & a general store. Because we have season tickets to Silver Dollar City, we got a discount on the camping charges, and we were able to go back and forth to the park at our convenience.... much needed as it really was hot and humid!

Saturday afternoon, Mike, Linda, Danny and I went to Silver Dollar City and immediately saw Leon and Carolyn Welborn (friends from Tyler, Texas)! Small world! They recommended that we stay after closing for the Great American Country (GAC) show celebrating Silver Dollar City's 50th Anniversary. The show was really good with popular songs from the past 50 years being performed by some young talented singers..... not bad on the eyes either!

GAC Silver Dollar City's 50th Anniversary Show

Sunday, the four of us went to church in Hollister and then out to eat at The Hard Luck Diner where the waiters and waitresses sing to patrons while they eat. They sang beautifully and made our lunch even more enjoyable. Our afternoon was spent strolling through some shops and taking silly pictures as well as going to Branson Landing to watch the fountain show at seven.

Danny and Maggie

Linda and Mike McClenny

Branson Landing Fountain Show

We really enjoyed the beauty of the evening by sitting outside and catching up on news of our families and mutual friends. We had some great vacations in the past with the McClenny Family.

Linda McClenny

Danny and Mike McClenny

Early Monday morning, Danny and I caught the shuttle to Silver Dollar City in time for the opening ceremony which honored active military personnel & veterans who were present, held a flag raising ceremony complete with the Pledge to the Flag and the National Anthem..... very impressive and started the day well! Danny and I then enjoyed a couple of water rides and watched a funny Saloon Show before heading back to the campgrounds where Linda and Mike had prepared some yummy burgers!

The four of us saw some great shows: Pierce Arrow (funniest comedian in Branson), Branson Belle Showboat (dinner cruise and show), and SIX (6 brothers who sang acapella and made accompanying music with their own voices... fantastic!) We also went back to Silver Dollar City a couple of more time and toured Marvel Cave which is a part of the park. Astonishing that all of this beauty is below Silver Dollar City park!

Many, many steps down, but a cable car pulled us out.

Mike and Linda McClenny & Danny

Maggie and Danny

Marvel Cave has a room large enough for the Statue of Liberty to stand in it. A hot air balloon has been inflated inside this room. Long ago, dances and a wedding were held in this room.

Stalactite formation in the cave.

Marvel Cave waterfall colored with lights.

Reluctantly, the McClenny's and we traveled our separate ways on Thursday morning..... they back to Texas and we on to Memphis. The drive was challenging and tiring for Danny as there were many huge hills/small mountains with very curvy two lane roads between Harrison and Clinton, AR. Once we arrived in Memphis area, we checked into the East Memphis Campground in Lakeland, Tennessee. This camp was nice enough, but it was inside of a mobile home park. Our site was level, had full hook ups, and we had a tree shading our RV. It is located about 15 miles from Courtney and Keith. They stopped by after work for dinner with us in the RV, and then the four of us went to Bartlett Woods Church of Christ to help them get their room ready for VBS which started on Sunday night. We were definitely ready for bed when we arrived back a the RV.

Friday morning, Danny, Courtney and I met Cheri Creasy Vaughn and her husband for coffee. They live in Somerville, TN, which isn't far from Courtney and Keith's home. What a fun time we had catching up on news and reliving the "good ole days" in Rosedale!

Danny and Cheri Creasy Vaughn

On Saturday, we drove (without the RV) to Cleveland, MS, where we placed a memorial spray on Danny's parents' headstone. We really miss them.... hard to believe that they aren't still over in Searcy waiting for us to call or visit.

That afternoon, we drove to Rosedale High School's Reunion at the country club. He had a great time visiting with classmates and we had a delicious prime rib steak meal! There were over 200 people from several classes all crammed into a small space, so the noise level required that everyone yell at each other just to be heard, but that didn't dampen the joy of being together again.

Bill & Dianne Arnold and Georgia Smith in foreground with some of the other 200.

Lynn Fletcher Shurden and Danny

Laurel Burnside Travis, Danny and Bill Arnold

Bill Arnold, Danny, Thomas "Stick" Smith, and Kirby Lane

We drove back to Memphis Saturday night, went to church with our kids on Sunday, and enjoyed a Father's Day meal with them at Randy and Lynn Reason's home (Keith's parents).

After being away from home for 10 days, it felt good to pull out on Monday morning and head for home. Our first long trip went well, and we're looking forward to traveling to Abilene, Texas, in early September to meet our new granddaughter (she's to be born on August 30th). Until then.... adios!