Lyle's Cons from Nate & Meg

Just before Lyle's birthday, THE package arrived!

Nate and Meg gave Lyle a gift card to design his own Converse Tennis Shoes.

After much thought, many hours of thinking and toying with the ideas, and finally deciding, the order was placed, shoes made, and now were delivered.

TA DA.......

Peacock Feathers with black details!

They are titled..."Cool Grandpa" in aqua stitching.

The wrapping said...
So there they are...

One of a kind, Lyle designed, Cool Grandpa Cons. Thanks to Nate and Meg for the really fun Christmas present!

P.S. Lyle wore them all over Las Vegas, and they are comfortable too!

I'm Diggin' Up Bones........

The Silverton sent us tickets for Randy Travis on Friday night. Thought the show would be good but didn't know how good. He was great! What a show....all his hits from the past just like they were recorded, and there are a lot of them. His band is unreal, they are so good. The time flew by. There's a taste of the show attatched although the quality is not the greatest. Anyway, it was well worth the trip and I'd recommend seeing him. In fact he's going to be at the Palace this week and I wouldn 't mind going. We also met a really nice couple next to us and really hit it off. It was definately a Divine moment in time as they are in a really hard spot right now. I hope we can follow up and develop the friendship.

Rental Painting On Lyle's BEE-DAY

Painting started at 8:00 in the morning. Going from White to "Blank" at 1212. The rental was in need of a new paint job!

Dave Fox came over and helped Marlene tape over the windows, steps, french doors.

About 3 hours later, Lyle was around the house.

Under the carport and all the eves got a fresh new look. It is sooooo much better!

Lyle is wearing the paint speckles. He said he took a face full one time.
Dave made a Starbucks and cleaning scrubber run for us.

With both Dave and Lyle cleaning, it took over 2 hours to clean the sprayer and hoses of the power sprayer.

Big job over by 2:00. It looks fresh and clean.

Touch up and trim work is next...but not today!

A big thank you to Dave for helping!

Happy Birthday Lyle!

Happy Easter 2010!

Today, we celebrate a risin Christ!

After church photo. So glad Nate is in town to celebrate Easter with us!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Clayton's Home Going Celebration

Today we celebrated the home going to heaven of a wonderful man... Clayton Arnold Bruce.

He was a wonderful husband to Colleen for over 46 years and Darlene for over 12 years.

He was a great dad to Lyle for over 57 years and Coleen, Doug, and Martin over 12 years.

He was a fantastic grandfather to Nathan for over 30 years and Cory over 26 years and Darlene's grand-children as well.

He loved his Great-Granddaughter, Bee. He loved and enjoyed all of Darlene's great-grand-children as well.
He blessed his family!

Clayton knew and loved God! He was a faithful, kind, loving, generous, and honest man.

We are proud to call him dad.

Today, Pastor John Stafford spoke at his graveside service. He did a wonderful job.
John knew Clayton because he visited him regularly at the nursing home. Thanks John! God's Divine humor.... Clayton and Colleen purchased their burial plot 1 space away from Darlene and Ralph's burial plot many years before he decided to ask her to be his 2nd wife! Interestingly enough, Colleen and Ralph died about 5 months apart. So all their bodies are lying close together in the cemetery. But they are rejoicing in Heaven around God's throne.
God always has a plan!

Today we found out that Darlene's daughter Coleen will be buried just one row away.

God knew! He makes me smile!

We were surprised, amazed, and thankful for the many friends and family to came to the graveside memorial service today. There was a huge gathering!

Lyle is catching up with his cousin Bruce who traveled from San Jose for the service.
Thanks Bruce for taking your time and driving all the way to be with us!

Uncle Quint is the last surviving Bruce in Clayton's generation. Clayton and Quint built their houses next door to each other. They were always together. Susan, Lyle's cousin, made sure that Quint got to the service from Fresno. We love being with family! Thanks Susan & Quint!

We have such good friends who joined us today. We love Dave and Debbie Fox, Arlene Heinrich, Susan and Paul Bringard. You are faithful friends and surround us with your prayers and love!Thanks you guys for taking your time to be with us today!

Nate and Meg drove over this morning from their vacation at Morro Bay. We know that Nate loved his grandpa very much. He made it a priority to come and visit both sets of grand-parents on a regular basis. It means a lot to us that you both were there. Thanks Nate and Meg!

Darlene's family was such a wonderful part of Clayton's later life. He loved spending time with this family. They are a fun bunch and took him in and loved on him. We appreciate them so much! They brought a lot of life into Clayton's world! Thank you Hodsons' and Grabows'! There were many church friends and people who worked with Clayton at the Memorial.

Although I missed getting their pictures, we are grateful that they joined us. Thanks to all these friends and especially the kind loving ladies at Glad Tidings Church who provided and served a wonderful lunch for our family and friends. You are sooooo gracious, generous, and good to us!

Lyle with Don Jenkins. Myrna is in the background. More great friends!

My mom, Lois, is being hugged by Donna Yeary. These were great friends of Clayton and visited him regularly.

I need to take a moment and give my mom credit for the many days and hours she spent with Clayton in the nursing home. She was faithful to visit 5-7 days per week from the time Darlene died until the end. (Almost 2 years!) On Clayton's last day on earth, Lois did not go to church that day, she spent it with Clayton singing, praying, and reading the Bible. This is very special to Lyle and I. She really cared for Clayton and for people. (She has made so many friends at Hacienda, she has decided to continue going to the nursing home on a regular basis to love on those people who can't get out and go like she does.) She is a wonderful woman of God!

I need to mention Cory, Annie, and Bee for a moment. We know they really wanted to fly in from New York, but we told them not to come. God blessed them with purchasing a new apartment in Brooklyn and this is a critical time for them to be in NY to move into their new place. We know they love grandpa and hated missing this special service. (This blog is for you!)

I have been blessed with wonderful in-laws. Colleen and Clayton took me in from the very start. I was the daughter they never had. They loved on me and made me feel like part of their warm loving family. I learned from them and grew because of them. Their strong Christian values became the center of our home and family. I am grateful for the legacy they have left and I pray that my children and grandchildren will know, feel, and continue in Christ's love and purpose as shown by Clayton, Colleen, and Darlene Bruce.

Lovingly,

Marlene

Saturday in March

Typical Saturday morning at the Bruce's. Catching up on friends and events. A video chat with Cory, Annie, and Bee. After this, Lyle will go to mow lawns at the rentals. He has already baked a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies for a friend in our Bible Study. (What a guy!)Dottie is being lazy on the top of the couch. She has been watching me take pictures of my new Bee Bees Originals bags to put up online.Here are some of the large denim beach bags I will be posting in my Etsy shop today.

I hope they sell! Go to www.beebeesoriginals.etsy.com to see my other original items. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Pancake and Friends + LV Town Center Pics

Yea! On Feb. 21st , Pancake, his girlfriend Ani, and the German came by for a visit. It was fun catching up with these great friends. It is always great to see how time is changing and growing the old high school kids into wonderful independent adults. We are really proud of these kids!These are promised pics from the new Las Vegas Town Center that is being built in the middle of the Las Vegas strip. It was our first visit to this place. We marveled at the architecture. It is amazing! It almost seems that there are no squared off walls in the place. It was a fun adventure.



These steps are lighted from behind. They are thinly slided rocks floating in the glass. The colors and shapes are amazing!

This curved wood was part of a restaurant. Beautiful woodworking!

The high end stores were everywhere. The displays were amazing. The pillars are melting ice into a pool. I am sure that in the summer, this will be a "hot spot" for cooling off.

This is inside the mall area. Unbelievable lines!
Outside from the strip, you get the angles of the buildings, sticking out in all directions!

Outside again! The glass and looking inside to see the structure....again...amazing!

The name of this mall is called Crystals.This was just a portion of a huge wall painting. Still under construction.

The mosaic is individual wood tiles! PATIENCE to put this together!

We were fascinated at the wracks! Did not go in...just admired from afar!

These are metal trees down the center of the mall hall. Very cool!

A closer look.The natural light was wonderful.

There was an abundance of are and amazing structures. I love this piece out of marble.

This is a gigantic curved wall of water. You can see some workmen walking at the top. This is not a public place. But it gives you some perspective of the size of this beautiful place. It also is very tranquil.

There are lights in this fountain that change the color. Also there are many water patterns this fountain performs! Fun to watch, but we got kicked out from standing by it and taking pictures. It is by the hotel valet drop off for the Aria Hotel.

Inside the Aria, there was a lot of eye candy. This was by a confection shop!



These buildings are leaning in many directions. It looks as if they may tip over. The yellow and gray is not open, but looks to be offices or apartments. Very modern and fun to look at.Well, there was so much more to see and do there. We will have to go back and gather more wonderful pics as buildings open and the center expands. It is the newest thing in Vegas that we know about.