CATCHUP AND SPAM-A-LOT

It's been a LONG time since I've posted here. We've had a lot going on , so I though I'd better play catch-up before we leave for Santa Fe and a much cooler climate ;-)

I have been very busy working with my latest very worthwhile project with the church, Remain Faithful, so I really haven't had time to keep up with my blog. Check out our web page to see what it's all about, http://www.remainfaithful.org/ . To date, we stand at over 475 members representing over 19,000 collective years of membership in The Episcopal Church and we've only been organized for a little over 3 weeks. It's been a lot of hard work and this is only the beginning, but I'm so glad that I am able to help with this wonderful effort for the church and the Anglican communion
Father's Day was the 15th this year and we had a wonderful brunch at Franklin's house. Beth's Father, Joe was there, so it was a triple celebration.... the three Fathers

and we 3 Mothers who made their fatherhood possible. Without us they would just be three guys hanging out together ;-)

I might also throw in here that my now 45 year old baby was born on Father's Day in New Mexico and that was a real blessing for us. Father's Day didn't fall on his birthday this year but we still always celebrate this wonderful event in all of our lives. Here is a photograph of Franklin when he was only a few weeks old. His Papa was really proud as you can see.

And speaking of boys ... here are the puppy brothers, Harry and Bailey, together again this year. The little toots just go crazy when they are together. And they have the strangest eyes. Maybe that's what the song is referring to when it says "She's Got Bette Davis Eyes". In this case it would be "he's got" since they are both males.

They're a brownish pink, so they look like flashlights when you photograph them! They're supposed to be Pomapoos (part Pomeranian and part Poodle) but they are the most unique looking dogs I've ever seen. (You'll note that I didn't use the word strange.) I think a Dachshund possibly came to visit their Mama on occasion prior to their birth. They're absolutely precious and I love them to death but they are very unusual looking!
Beth made shrimp tacos for our lunch with refried beans and everything was delicious. We had a great visit. It's always nice when family gets together.

Frank has a good friend, Lou, and they go to ball games together quite a bit, both baseball and hockey. Lou is a big Ranger fan and they have season tickets together. I don't think that Lou has missed a game all season! Here they are in all the fan paraphernalia on the way to a game. They really enjoy each other's company.





Then last Saturday we had another family gathering (I just LOVE family get togethers) and celebrated Franklin's 45th birthday"
The cake is an Italian Cream cake and the ornament on the top is nearly 30 years old. You can pull a little tab on the top and it plays Happy Birthday and of course we all sing together off key to the birthday person.


The birthday person has to eat their meal off of this plate. We have used both the singing ornament and the special plate for every birthday celebration in the family for the past 30 years. Another one of the Salazar traditions.

One of Paco's gifts ( that is my special name for my precious son .. it means friend in Spanish), was a chicken cooker. There's a long story behind it but I won't bore you with it. Bottom line, we were on a fishing trip and Franklin prepared "Beer Butt Chicken".
The meal turned out to be less than desirable as it was a little undercooked and he and I had a "discussion" about it and I stormed out of the room and didn't return for the rest of the evening. It was the first time in my 71 years that I went to bed without my dinner. Enough said :-)

The young and almost all of the old swam for a couple of hours. Ethan, my great grandson was not able to be here, but his step brother, Tyler came. Tyler is the one on the left. They all love the jacuzzi as much as they do the pool.

The adults visited, had a few libations and Rachel, Nick's sister, showed him the best way in her opinion to drink beer.


We all enjoyed the mild weather outside and I even left my perch in the kitchen and went outside.

Papa drank a toast to the fact that I left the air conditioning long enough to join the group.

Beth always looks adorable and always has a smile on her face.

It was turning into a perfect day, even in the Texas heat!

Matt, Rachel's husband, seemed to really enjoy himself.

So did my darling granddaughter, Rachel.

We discovered that when Dayna sits on Nicky's shoulders the combined height is almost ten feet. That's one tall twosome!

I served a real comfort food meal for the birthday feast. I usually try to fix something really fancy, but this old body doesn't have the stamina it used to have, so I fixed a roast with potatoes, carrots, gravy, fresh green beans and rolls.

They ate the entire 18 pound roast and left only about a cup out of 5 pounds of green beans. Ian even told me that it was the best meal he'd ever had and wanted to know if we could have it for Christmas dinner! My old time cooking was a real hit and it was SO easy to fix. I must do this more often!!!
Last night we went to see Spamalot at the Bass Hall. I don't remember when I have had so much fun and laughed so much. It was a terrific musical and an excellent production.

Monty Python's Spamalot is a comedic musical "lovingly ripped off from" the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre. Eric Idle, a member of the Monty Python team, wrote the musical's book and lyrics, and collaborated with John Du Prez on the music. It was originally directed by Mike Nichols and won three Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Musical of the 2004–2005 season.

When I was a young girl, my parents took me to New York and I saw "Kiss Me, Kate" at the Shubert theatre. It was a wonderful experience. I'll tell you more about that later. The Shubert is where Spamalot is playing in NYC. New York New York, What a wonderful town!
Idle explained the title in a February 2004 press release about the musical:
"I like the title Spamalot a lot. We tested it with audiences on my recent US tour and they liked it as much as I did, which is gratifying. After all, they are the ones who will be paying Broadway prices to see the show. It comes from a line in the movie which goes: ‘we eat ham, and jam and Spam a lot."
Franklin was huge fan of Monty Python when he was growing up so of course, Frank and I were fans as well. You know the old saying "If you can't lick them, join them" and we did.
We will be leaving for 3 wonderful weeks in The Land of Enchantment on Friday and I will blog from there. Please stay tuned as there will be some very exciting things going on in our travels for the next couple of months.

XOXO, Pcasso