WOW!

 Liking avocados is usually an acquired taste.  It takes several years for most people that I know to finally grow to like avocados, but Lyle is unique.  He popped a smile just after his first bite of a mashed avocado.

A welcomed visit

I had a surprise visit from my youngest Grandson, Brandon and his family last night.  Brandon just had a birthday on September 10th.  He is now officially 31 years old and I am so proud of him and for the young man that he has become.

Here are a couple of pictures of Brandon, Krystal and their 2 year old son Ody.

We had so much fun last night exchanging family stories and watching Ody play.  I hated when they had to leave, but it was getting late.

Ody is a very cute energetic 2 year old, full of spunk and I loved the way he giggled, laughed and smiled.  I bet he keeps his parents on the go at all times until nap time.  I gave him some toys to play with while he was here, but he seemed to get more enjoyment out of an empty box after he tired of the toys.

I'm looking forward to their next visit.

 

Youngest Great-Grandson

 Lyle is my youngest Great-Grandson.  He's 6 months old and boy can he bounce.  This is one of my favorite videos of Lyle.  Lyle is Megan & James Malear's youngest child.

Lyle hardly ever cries.  Ive only heard him try to cry once, but his grandma Sharon began playing with him and he didn't know whether to cry or laugh in the second video.

Poem: Making me a Grandma

I read this poem about being a grandma. It definitely sums up what it feels like. I don't know who composed it, but I liked it enough to pass it on.  If it's yours feel free to let me know in the comments.

“Making me a Grandma”

—The day you were born,

I thought my heart might burst.

I had loved before—

as a daughter,

as a wife,

as a mother—

but nothing prepared me for this love.

It is different.

It is softer,

but somehow stronger.

It is love without rush,

without the weight of doing everything right—

it is love that simply sits in the moment

and soaks it all in.

When I hold you,

I hold the years I’ve lived,

and the years that will outlive me.

I see the little girl your mother once was,

running barefoot through summer grass.

I see the man you might become,

kind-eyed and steady-hearted.

You are every answered prayer

I didn’t even know I had prayed.

You are proof that God’s goodness

doesn’t just visit once—

it lingers,

it blooms again,

it spills into the next generation.

In your giggles,

I hear the echo of my own childhood.

In your hugs,

I feel the strength of every hand that has held mine before.

And when you look at me with those eyes—

oh, those eyes—

I see the future

and the past

all at once.

Some people say grandchildren are the reward for growing old.

Maybe they are right.

But you are more than a reward—

you are a blessing so big

it swallows the word “blessing” whole.

And if the Lord lets me,

I will spend the rest of my days

telling you how much I love you,

praying over you while you sleep,

and thanking Him

over and over and over again

for making me a “Grandma.”

David Shattler

 On July 28, 2025 my step-brother David died of a heart attack leaving behind his beautiful wife of 6 years, Adriene Mickey Dodge Shattler.  David was larger than life and I will miss him terribly.  He leaves behind his only surviving brother, Ronald Shattler, Sr. and his son Tim and his wife Staci and his beautiful grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and of course many friends.  We all loved him and may you rest in peace forever in our hearts David.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 Today is another year without my dad.  This year I'm missing him a whole lot.  My dad was the only constant in my whole life.  He was always there for as long as I can remember.  The only parent that is.  I'm not referring to any other relatives, just my dad.  

My dad spoiled me and always made me feel special.  For as long as I can remember he would always bring me surprises, even when I lived with his parents while he was attending college.  My dad was a single parent.  My mother disappeared or left sometime when I was about 9-10 months old.  I say she abandoned me and my 3 year old brother,  but some say she left under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps we'll never know.

Anyway, it was my dad who was left with 2 young children and he did the best he could.  He worked 2 jobs to take care of us.  He waited 7 years for my mother and finally she was sort of declared dead or missing, so he remarried and we got a real baby brother.  I was a 7 year old girl and now I had a real baby doll, and me and my baby brother were inseparable until the divorce.  I still got to see my little brother who had to remain behind when my dad left with his two children in tow.  I was heartbroken, but excited at the same time because now I had four new children in the new family that we moved in with.  This family remained my family, even after another divorce, for my entire life.  A baby girl was added to this family, but unfortunately I never really got to know her because by that time I was married and then I moved to Kentucky.

I was told that my dad remarried yet again, but I never met that wife, and eventually years later my dad moved to Kentucky from California and remarried yet again.  My dad was a very hard worker and also a very handsome man.  He was a very good provider but unfortunately he never stayed around for very long, but he was my dad and I loved him very much.  

In this picture my dad is holding his first born grandson and kneeling next to him is Brian's dad,  James "Jimmy" Eals Hatcher. Brian's full name was James Brian Hatcher.

My dad's name was Thomas Diaz, but most people called him Tommy, but I called him Daddy.  My dad's parents were Pablo & Natalia Diaz.

Trouble? or am I just getting forgetful?

I wanted to share some pictures here but either I have forgotten how or things have changed here in my absence.  Either way now you just have to read what I say without pictures or illustrations.  Use your imagination.

Yesterday Rick mowed his property at Calico.  The grass was waist high because he hadn't mowed this year, not once.  He has been busy mowing my yard and his other property in Farristown, and that has kept him busy keeping the mowing and weed eating up between all this rain we've had.  We've had an unusually amount of rain this year so far and in fact it is raining again today.

Picture waist high grass.  The tall grass along the roadside kept winding around the weedeater head causing Rick to have to constantly stop to unwind the knotted up mess.  The weed eating suffice to say took much longer than expected.

While Rick was fighting with the tall grass and the weedeater I was bouncing around here and there taking pictures of beautiful wildflowers and a curious big salamander that was curious as to why I was invading his porch, and who or what I was.  The salamander wasn't a bit afraid of us.  He might have been a little cautious, but definitely he was not very afraid.  As Rick weedeated around the porch he threw debris on the salamander, but the little thing didn't budge, but surprisingly walked around and watched Rick.  When Rick was finished around the porch, the little thing climbed off the porch and went to inspect what Rick had done down below.  When he was finished with his inspection he climbed back up on the wooden porch and remained there while I tried to feed him a peanut butter cracker, which he didn't seem to like.

The next little critter that I saw was a tiny little field mouse who came from under the porch and made her way over to an old woodpile of rotten and seasoned out firewood.  Once she made her way back and forth under logs she disappeared.  I assumed that Rick had scared her out of the woodpile with the weedeater and mower and now was her chance to get back to her nest.  After that I never saw her again and we were there for 7 hours.

Rick was exhausted when he finished, and I got a bunch of cool pictures.

I did try to help Rick, but after 5 minutes the weedeater got too heavy for me.  I'm really out of shape.