Where The Orange Blossoms Grow....

Hello! Welcome to the Stricklen's blog. We hope to keep our family and friends up to date with what is going on with our family. You will find a variety of experiences posted here -- you may find pictures of the never ending project of building our house, Callie helping William with his first steps, Mary studying a rare insect species, or perhaps you may be terribly bored with Molly's numerous fruit trees, berries, vegetables and rare plant pictures! Who knows what we may find Chris and CJ doing -- probably something having to do with a tractor or machine of sorts. Abby and Margaret will keep us entertained with costumes from other lands or a fairy story. Whatever we post, we trust it will lift your spirits and bring honor and glory to our Lord!

Friday, December 4, 2009

More Trip Pictures

Finally, here are some more pictures of our trip to Ark/Mo.

Sorry it's taken me so long, our computer has been having problems:/ Someday I'll start posting something more recent. Boy am I behind.....Anyways, here they are--Hope y'all enjoy them:)
"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
I Timothy 6:11


We all hopped on a 4-wheeler or the Polaris and took a ride up to the top of the mountain to look at the property.


Uncle Jay and Deeda




There really is a lovely view from the top



Callie and Vanna


I love this yellow tree, it looks like its glowing:)
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The Millers came over to the property and we spent a lovely day with them


Hehe:) something must have been funny:)


A little goofy girl


Aha! Caught in the act of stealing chips!:):)

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There were thousands of these little Asian Beetles all over the RV and the house


Meet Uncle Jays little (or not so little) pet, "Harry" They found him on the property


Deeda and Vanna had alot of fun together


Seizing the opportunity to go outside without shoes while it was still relatively warm, I grabbed a camera and Deeda and I took a walk down the driveway and on down to the creek.



(No, I couldn't resist...)

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The creek was nice and clear.......


.........and absolutely freezing I might add. Next time I'll think twice before doing this--I couldn't feel my feet for a while.....:)


Deeda looking for neat-looking rocks:)





Hmmm...A jacket and no shoes? That makes sense. No, she couldn't be from anywhere but Florida.....

 Callie Susie

Deeda, our faithful dessert maker:)

 Savannah loves big bubbles:):):)

Rachel stayed the night up at the property, so we enjoyed her company for a few days:)

 The creek almost came up over the bridges after it rained one of the days




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Granddaddy started up the Polaris and we hopped on and headed down to see the cemetery

The path going up to the cemetery

Trying to take a few pictures before it started pouring on us:/


"Tut! Tut! It looks like rain!!"
(In case anyone wondered, we didn't escape the rain.We got home quite drenched and cold....)

 There was a warm fire burning in the fireplace when we got home much to our delight and relief:)
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We all loaded up and headed down to the Miller's house after enjoying a week at the property with Uncle Jay, Aunt Ashley and Savannah. We couldn't wait to get there and see our "favorite-cousin-named-Joey":):)

 Our lovely hostess


 RG.... ummm......enthusiastically telling a story.....:)

 Matt listening intently

 My "Favorite-cousin-named-Sammy" enjoying his meal:):)

Matthew telling us a story

Wow, it must have been funny.....:)

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 Joey and I took a walk up to the RV to get the camera.....Obviously, Joe has the camera:)

Rachel and Margaret picked us some greens to have for supper from Aunt Katie's lovely garden. Rachel would be in this picture, but she strongly objected to having her picture taken, so.....here is Deeda picking greens:)




 Uncle Robert frying some really, really good chicken wings:D

 Rachel and Margaret made some delicious sugar cookies for us:)
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We played and sang some music together for a while



RG in his "I'm acting like I'm a grump and don't want my picture taken" pose

  My lovely Grandmother

Matthew and I challenged each other to a game of "Fireseat" and everyone else joined in. Wow! Is it ever painful!!:):)

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Time to hop into the RV and head back over to the property to plant some trees and say our final goodbyes

Lovely Arkansas wildflowers

Getting ready to put a whole bunch of trees in the ground

Grandmother overseeing the operation:)


A lovely autumn day

 The freshly hayed field

Man's best friend..... Hehehe:)


No, I couldn't possibly go anywhere with nice, clear water and pretty scenery without having a photo shoot........

Callie Susie



 Howdy, friend!

Yours Truly


Mmmm....cool water!


 Speedy Gonzalez (aka Matthew)

Finally, to say our last goodbyes, we all ate lunch at a BBQ restaurant



Sweet cousins


Aunt Katie and Savannah

...And goodbyes were said all-round




...And thus ended a wonderful, blessed, fun-filled trip!!! Thank you Granddaddy and Grandmama!!

Posted by Mary Noelle