The Wandering Workentins

The Wandering Workentins ~ Ron & Ali: God loving, couple with two great sons, two delightful daughters-in-loves and five wonderful grandchildren, Max, Opal, Christopher, Treyson and Alexander. Following the Lord wherever He leads. Travel along with us as we visit family, friends, work wherever He lands us all the while trusting Him every step of the way. We enjoy meeting new people and seeing new things along life's journey.



Monday, May 30, 2011

More Family Pictures

Just have to show off more family pictures.  These were taken on 5/26 in the evening while Skyping with Brandon and his family.
 
Max ~ isn't he an handsome guy!!!  Can't wait to actually get to give him some hugs in July.

Christopher ~ age 3

Another picture of the smiling boy!

Max & Christopher together!
 Daddy holding Treyson up to the camera!

Christopher snuggling up to Daddy and holding Treyson.

 Christopher showing Grammy how big Treyson's foot is.

Grandma Lynda holding Treyson's foot up to the camera so we can see how big is foot is.  Notice the comparisonn to her hand.

And the print of his foot...almost too big for the paper :)

Christopher and Treyson

Christopher doing what he does best, making funny faces and showing off Treyson.

Max holding Treyson

Treyson shortly after he was born.  Our first glimpse of him. 

And can't leave Miss Opal out of the family pictures.  
This was taken just before we left Blaine in January 2011.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Catch Up with Pictures

Hello Everybody!!
Sorry it has been so long since I have written a blog.  Could make lots of excuses but what good would that do ~ nothing.  So to get you caught up to where we are I thought I would just post some pictures and tell a little about what we have been doing.  Hope you enjoy!!

In case you forgot who we are and what we look like ~
Ron & Alice, also known in Texas as Ali

 On Saturday, May 7th, the US Postal Carriers had their annual food drive.  The members of Lone Star Corral came together and made a great donation of food for the local D'Hanis community.  The collected food covered half the floor of the office lobby.  Great job Lone tar Corral members!

 Touring Comfort, Texas

 Stopped for lunch at Brinks Cafe in Bandera, TX.  They serve ice tea Texas stytle in a quart mason jar.  We had a beautiful view from the window...if they were to get rain this would be a beautiful waterfall.  And just look at the size of those onion rings.  Also on that sampler plate was huge slices of zuchinni, cheese sticks and jalapeno slices called bottle caps.  There were also these bright red bottle caps that I, Ali, thought were carrot slices, nope, red peppers and boy were they HOt!!!

More pictures of Comfort, TX.  We were only there for an hour or so, so we are planning another visit to that sweet little town as they have a winery that we would like to visit.

 More sights of Comfort, Texas.

On Saturday we went into Bandera for Funtier Days.  It was a fun day to check out an arts & craft sale and watch a delightful parade.  Our only complaint was it would have been nice if the people to our right and left would have stayed to our right and left.  Nope, they had to move in front of us to watch the parade...it was a bit frustrating but we finally got to the point where we would just look at them and then at each other and just laugh.  
This weekend, Memorial Day Holiday, we took a mini-vacation and went to Medina Lake Thousand Trails.  They also serve food up Texas style ~ check out the bottle of syrup!  We heard one little boy telling his Grandma that he saw 32 deer from their campsite to the swimming pool.  The deer are fun to watch.  Had one lady tell us that one came right up to her as she was sitting at their picnic table to sniff her and looking for food.

And then I did some decorating for the holiday.   Love to have all my red, white & blue decorations throughout the motor home. 

We have had a great mini-vacation.  Spent a lot of time just reading, relaxing and taking a dip in the pool.  Spent Sunday evening up at the Family Lodge visiting with new friends and listening to some great country music by Bimbo and the Borderlines.  Even danced a few times with Ron ~ y'all would be happy to know he behaved himself on the dance floor.

Where to Begin?

Guess i will start with our newest member of our family ~~~


Welcome
Treyson Xzavier Tate Workentin

 Top Left ~ Daddy with Treyson
Top Right ~ Brandon, Danayln, Max, Christohpher and Treyson
Bottom Left ~ Momma with Treayson
Bottom Right ~ Treyson, about an hour old


Treyson Xzavier Tate Workentin
weighing in at 11 lbs. 6 oz.
22 1/2" long
Born on 5/25/11 at 8:30 p.m.
Lewiston, Idaho

The family is doing well and we are so thankful that Treyson arrived safely and healthy.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Our New Pet!!

We have acquired a new pet.  Not sure if he is a he or a she and a horny toad or a lizard.  
We think it might be a horny toad because it is so fat but the tail seems a little long for a horny toad so really we do not know.  Any one have an idea?

Our new pet lives in our backyard, usually hiding by the patio set that we have been loaned from one of the members.  Let me tell you, I do make sure to move the cushions on the chairs before I plop down in one of the chairs.

We have not named our pet but he/she greets us most days when we come out of the office for lunch.  He/she sits patiently until we get close to the gravel and then he/she takes off on a quick run.  He/she is fun to watch. 








Hope you enjoyed meeting our new pet!

Views of Lone Star Corral

One of the things we do here at Lone Star Corral is to take drives around the park in the early evening's to just see how things are looking.  The other day I took the camera with me so I could share what some of the sights we see right here in our little community.  

Hope you enjoy!


This little motor home belongs to one our boon-docking guests.  It is about 22' long.  
I thought it was kinda cute.  What do you think?
This is the front of the office.  My home away from home.  The two flowering plants are wild sunflowers.  We were being told to pull them there weeds.  We liked them so we kept them.  They grew to about  2' taller before the flowers started to die off.  Then Ron removed them.  They were a bright yellow and beautiful to see from the window inside the office.



One of the many "sheds" through the park.
 Ron keeps threatening to "steal" Judi & Dave's wheels.  Don't think he is too serious though because she has been known to leave the keys in it while it is parked outside the office and Ron never does try to take it. 








 This little house sits across from the office.  I understand it has been pulled in a few of the local parades.  I think it would make a great playhouse for Opal - do you think we could tow it behind the Jeep when we head back to Washington?



 Ron likes this little cowboy!


 Can you tell what this landscape is made of?
 Hundreds of Golf Balls!!!

 This is one of Ron's favorite lots here in Lone Star Corral.

Hope you enjoyed this visit to Lone Star Corral.

Friends, Wal-Mart, and Turkey ~ What do they have in common?

Last Tuesday, Walker came into the office and said Wal-Mart was having an unadvertised special on turkeys for 39 cents a pound.  He and Evelyn had bought 4 and were thinking of deep fat frying one but wondered what to do with the all the oil.  

Bonnie was in the office and said you could use it to cook up to 4 turkeys.  The conversation continued with the three of us deciding we could have a Turkey Frying Party.  So Bonnie made the trip to Wal~Mart.  Picked up a couple of turkeys for them and one for Ron and I.  Having no room in our motor home we decided to let ours thaw in the bathroom sink in the office.  We will cook them up once they are all thawed.

Wednesday, Margie & Ed bought a turkey as well.  Now we were up to four couples cooking at least 5 turkeys.

All the turkeys were thawed by Friday afternoon so the cooking commenced.  Ron and I were busy working so we could not participate in the cooking so we sent some cheese and crackers over to the cooks would not get too hungry and start munching on the turkeys as they were cooked.

About 4:30 p.m. Walker arrived and handed me this:


Now isn't that one pretty turkey.  I put it on the counter in the motor home and let it sit while I closed up the office.  Once the office was closed I made a Risotta (type of rice) dish with Italian seasoning to enjoy with our turkey.  Both of us exclaimed "delicious."  The turkey was so moist, melt in the mouth and filling.  After dinner Ron de-boned the turkey.  We ended up with enough meat for at least four meals all for less than $6.  

Side note: while Ron was busy working hard de-boning the turkey, I was off to play bingo in the clubhouse ~ and I won!  Two $4 wins!!  Not big dollar amounts but still lots of fun.

Thank you Bonnie, Ed, Walker, Evelyn, Ed (yes there are two of them) and Margie for doing all the cooking.  We will definitely have to do this again, but hopefully next time it will be on a Saturday or a Sunday so we can be included in all the fun.

A Beautiful Sunset


 One evening a few weeks ago we had the most beautiful sunset and viewing of the moon.  Hope you enjoy these views taken from our front door or deck here in Lone Star Corral.




Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Middle of April Already

Thought I had better pop in here and give an update on what we are doing.  I have been struggling with what to write about on my blog since we are stationary right now.  And I don't want to bore people but I think some of you like to know what we are doing.  So here is an update of what we have been doing the first 17 days of April 2011...

...Ron was sick for 4 1/2 days.  He got the crud that I had had in March.  He spent 3 1/2 days either in the bed or sleeping on the couch, drinking lots of liquids, taking Nyquil, Dayquil, hot water with lemon and local honey.  I knew he was feeling better when he started complaining about what I was watching on TV :).

...We have gone on a few day trips.  We drove around for about 3 hours the other day and never was more than 20 miles from the SKP park.    We went on paved roads, gravel roads and dirt roads.  Saw a house out in the middle of what we thought was nowhere and then drove right through the middle of one ranch just from following the turns in the road.  We saw some beautiful flowers (pictures to follow later) and even a yellow butterfly (no picture).  Saw a brand new baby calf, estimate it was just a few hours old.  She was just the sweetest honey brown color.  We saw lots of deer.  Even one fawn that just stood by the fence for the longest time.  She was beautiful.

...And we have eaten out way too many times.  Ron has wanted BBQ since we have been here and yesterday he got his wish.  We ate at Heavy's BBQ in Hondo.  I had a beef sandwich with beans and coleslaw and Ron had a 3 meat plate with brisket, ribs and sausage with beans and coleslaw.  Ron shared his beans and slaw with me as they are not his favorite things to eat.  Today the Lion's Club was having a chicken dinner fundraiser.  for $7 you got a bbq'd half chicken with beans and slaw.  We can honestly say this was a first for us.  The fundraiser was at Hondo City Park #1.  You drove in one gate, drove up to the table, ordered the number of meals you wanted, paid the server (in our case a young girl of about 10) and she brought us two to-go dinners and we drove out of the park.  And then we drove home and ate.  The food was great and it put a new name on drive through diner.  Ron ate his chicken about half of my chicken and I ate his beans and slaw along with my beans and slaw. 

And how many different ways can you make coleslaw...I think I have had it four or five different ways since we have been here in Texas.  From creamy to some with like an oil/vinegar dressing, one with lots of pepper and one with lots of carrot strips.  All have been tasty, even the one with lots of pepper.

...We have been participating in some of the activities here in the park.  I have played Bingo a couple of times, haven't won but have had fun.  We have gone to the ice cream socials a few times and yesterday I went to a yard sale here in the Park...I sure miss going garage saleing...Ron sees no need to do that since we don't have room for anything.  But I think it's still a lot of fun to go and look.

...Today we attended First Baptist Church in Hondo again.  We went to Sunday School and felt very welcome.  In fact, one of the men, Alan, shook Ron's hand and then told me he won't give me a handshake anymore...now it's hugs...made me feel like I was home.  The service was good, such great singing and praise time.  And the message was good - from Luke 23:32-33; it was on decision's we make.  One thing that Pastor Dennis said really struck home with me "even if we don't make a decision we are making a decision, it is just not a yes or no decision." 

I was hoping they would have a Good Friday service but they are not.  I always enjoyed the Good Friday service at Northwood and sharing in communion.  I will check the paper this week to see if there is a Good Friday service we can attend.

...We are so enjoying our jobs.  This last week Ron hired a helper for the summer.  Mario is 18 years old and just lives down the road from the park.  He is working on Tuesdays, Wednesday's and Thursday's.  He seems like a hard worker which is good.  I have been going through the Office Procedure book updating directions and making them easy to follow.  As well as making any changes that have been instituted since they were written.    Two weeks ago we did rearrange the office.  Yes I enjoyed moving and rearranging things and Ron was such a willing helper.  I will take some pictures of the changes and get them posted soon.

Prayer request ~~~

Last week I had my eyes checked for new glasses and found out that I have a double cataract on my right eye.  This was troubling since I only have one eye and to think I need to have surgery on it is very scary.  I talked with my doctor from Bellingham last week and he said I need to get it taken care of sooner than later.  So I have talked to a couple of people and gotten a couple of names of doctors in the area.  I will be calling them this week to talk about what I need and then make an appointment and go from there.  Please pray that my anxiety will not climb during this proc.ess and that things can be taken care of quickly and correctly and that the financial aspect of it can be worked out.  Since we don't have insurance the financial piece alone causes extra stress.

Guess that's all from here in D'Hanis, TX.   If anyone has any questions about what we are doing or you have suggestions on things we should make sure we see while here please don't hesitate to drop us a line.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Me from A to Z

I, Alice,  saw this meme on  FabGrandma and  decided I wanted to play along.

More About Me, Alice,  A to Z! 

A. Age: 53
B. Bed size: Queen.  We removed the little foam pad that was in the RV and put our regular queen mattress and a temperpedic topper on our bed.
C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the bathroom
D. Dogs: used to have one and we miss Charlie Brown.  Tried to talk Ron into getting another one a couple of weeks ago but he said no. :(
E.  Essential start to your day: Quiet time with the Lord
F. Favorite color: Purple
H. Height: 5′7"
I. Instruments you play(ed): clarinet
J. Job title: Office Manager, but the best title is Wife, Mom & Grammy
K. Kids: Jamie 33, Suzanne 27, Opal 3, Brandon 31, Danalyn 28, Max 12, Christopher 3, and Treyson due on 5/27
L. Live: In a 37' class A motorhome, currently in D'Hanis, TX.
M. Mom’s name: Margaret Jean, went by Peggy
N. Nicknames: Ali, Sweetheart, Grammy
O. Overnight hospital stays: several: 9 eye surgeries, appendectomy, gallbladder, total hysterectomy, 4x for emotional issues ~ glad to say I am now truly healed from the emotional and physical abuse from my childhood.  If you have questions I am happy to share.
P. Pet peeves: people who don't use their signals when turning, people chewing gum with their mouths open and smacking while eating
Q. Quote from a movie: ummm...can't think of any that come to mind
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.
S. Siblings: 2 biological sisters and many siblings in the Lord, 2 besties ~ one on the east coast and one on the west coast
T. Time you wake up: On work days 6 to 7 a.m., days off - sleep in when I can
U. Underwear: Definitely!!!
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Haven't really found any I don't like
W. What makes you run late:I try not to be late.
X. X-rays you’ve had: too many to count.
Y. Yummy food you make:Chicken Gumbo, Butta Soup & spaghetti
Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Elephants and monkeys...love all the babies.

Hope you liked hearing more about me.  Feel free to copy and input your own answers.