G Dog

We had to say goodbye to our G dog a couple of weeks ago. He was the best golden ever.  I have loved every single golden we've had--five now, and he was our only male dog.  He was so scared and skittish when we got him, but we always called him our big strong brave boy.  He was a great dog and I'm going to miss him in the garden.

We were so sad when we lost our first goldens--Sandy and Kelly--and we thought we were rescuing Lilla and G dog, but they really rescued us.

One of my favorites.

This one always makes me laugh.

We couldn't keep a collar on Lilla when they first came to us.  He thought it was great fun to get it away from her.

We'll miss him something awful, but so grateful to have had him with us for these years.  And thankful we have our Skye girl now.

Kyle with Skye

Happy Thanksgiving!

No, this pic above wasn't from yesterday, but doesn't it look like a Thanksgiving picture?!?  This was from October when we met all our peeps at Patti's.  I loved having everybody there together--my Michigan family, my Madisonville family, both my sons, my beautiful daughter in law and my amazing grandchildren.  I do feel so truly blessed to have had that chance for us to all be together.

So yesterday was a bit of a smaller celebration, but we're still beyond blessed and it was a great day.

Mark got up before sunrise to start the smoker.  We agreed this was the best bird ever!

We had a lovely keto meal--turkey, cauli-mash, green beans, deviled eggs, pumpkin "pie", chocolate pecan pie keto-style.  I have thought over and over to myself, I am so thankful we're not worried about fat pants or diabetes anymore.

We missed Judson and his family yesterday.  They're in the process of moving and Kyle was sick :/  So we'll have another Thanksgiving celebration next week.  Mark is thinking ribs for the smoker for that one!  I'm loving that smoker. . .

It's been wonderful having Isaac home lately.  Skye is pretty happy about him being here too :)

October Visit

 Betsy & Kyle came to see us and we had a wonderful time.  Betsy liked my bubblegum bliss keto ice cream. 

 V was on the hunt for a bingo game and she found a really nice one at Goodwill.  Betsy & Kyle always like playing board games at V's.  They seemed to really like being the one to spin the ball and announce the letters--B7, etc. . .

 They got to have real ice cream at V's too :)

Betsy is taller than V now, almost as tall as me.  Kyle is close behind.  We're loving watching them grow up.  We are beyond blessed.

Fall Report

 Mark & I meet good friends for breakfast on most Saturday mornings over at Boone's.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather on this date and ate on the patio.  Mark's been busy buying keto t-shirts :)

 Morning pages on the back porch.  It's too cold and too dark already to write out there these days.  I can't wait til spring :)

Tabitha took our pictures.

Mark's been working out!

We had such a good time at the lake this year.  It made me so happy to have everybody with us.  Isaac, PJ & Jeff, mama, me, Judson, Mark, Chuck, Kyle, Laura, Rachel, and our Betsy.  Now that was a family dinner :)

More later :)

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My Sweet Friend Tami

 Our little fundraising team with Tami:  Mary, myself, Vickie, Tami, Dan, Dana, Roni.  It was an emotional day seeing so many people turn out for Tami.  She is loved.

 The silent auction was huge!

Our friend Dave K played with his music friends.  Dave was a social worker with us in the McFarland days but he's always been a musician at heart. 

  Doesn't her mom look great?   

 The old CP gang!  Tom, Mark, Sue & Mark visited and laughed together.  It was so good to see them!

 And Edward.  Our friend Edward traveled all the way from St Louis to be with us.  How long has it been? 

And this little shot was taken in Tami's backyard a few weeks ago.  I'm so thankful that she's in remission and we are in this life together.   

Keto Con, A Reunion, & A New Boat

Here's a happy man with his new boat :)

We went to Keto Con in Austin and met so many of our keto peeps!  Here we are with the amazing Carrie Brown who is a pasty-chef-turned-keto-cookbook-author.  She has an incredible story of how keto helped her recover and get her life back too, and now she's helping all of us have success in our keto kitchens. 

We also met a baker who's lost 50 pounds and then founded Fox Hill Kitchens where she bakes bread for us.  Another person's recovery story led to building a wine company Dry Farm Wines that provides keto friendly wine to the world.  Keto Con was one inspiring story after another.   As Robin Roberts said, make your mess your message. 

We ate amazing barbecue at Black's barbeque.  Like every day!

We got to visit with Uncle David, Aunt Fina, and my cousin Denise.  They came to Austin to visit with us from their hometown of San Antonio.  We're already planning to go back to Keto Con next year!

August News

We have a new picture for our fishing wall.  Kyle caught some huge catfish at Carol's pond.  He and Mark had so much fun!

 We had chocolate keto ice cream while the kids were visiting!

Mark said this was as happy as he's been since we started eating this way :P

I celebrated being able to fit in the back seat with Betsy & Kyle.  We went to see Despicable Me 3 and it was so cute.   

Jennifer posted this sweet picture of her with Isaac.  They are living on the beach this summer.  It sounds like quite the adventure.  I can't wait to meet her.

 Betsy is only about an inch shorter than me now.  She's way passed V in height.

 The kids love to go to Sgt Pepper's for their pancakes.  We have keto pancakes at home and they're okay with them.  But at Peppers, they go for the the plate sized regular ones.

Rachel took me to the sweetest little country shop. 

Betsy's pretty hair.  And in her cute apron.  

The front door garden this year.

And 40 years ago this month, Tommy and I had that bad accident.   He and Nan are my guardian angels.  I know they are happy for me to have an August like this.  And Mark, Tommy would say buy the new boat :)

July News

July has flown by! Mark got a new smoker and has made some amazing meats--pork belly, brisket, ribs.  We have chickens to smoke next. 

This is the chicken salad from the recipe posted previously.  It was so good.  Makes me think of Paducah and I get a little homesick for family.

Our G Dog is hanging in there.  He had a little turn for the worse this month, but then he's rallied again.  Too much medicine made him weak, so we cut back and he's better.  We tried the raw diet for the dogs, but it proved to be too much for us right now.  I really wanted to get the carbs out of their diets because it sounds like too many carbs are as poison for our dogs as they are for us.  We found a new brand of dog food that is 40% carbs, which is low for a commercial dog food.  I'd rather have them down around 5%, so there's still room for improvement. Anyway, we're happy to have our G Dog feeling better.  He's 12 now.  I used to call him my big strong brave boy, but now he's my wise old man. 

I wore a dress one day!  That's different!

We're still low carb happy.  Mark has been working out at Fit Club and is building a bunch of muscles.  My little Keto With Kynda group at the church is going strong and I'm so happy that this  many of my friends and their friends have been able to lose weight and drop their blood sugars and blood pressures and feel so much better while eating good food.  It is my dream come true.

Mark's first tomatoes here.  We love the bacon & tomato--I add lots of mayo to mine!--even without the bread.  I hear Betsy & Kyle are going to be here this week, so August is going to start off with a bang!  I am so thankful for these so many blessings.