was basing the asian oaks suggestion in part on the recommendations of "the southern living garden book" an apparently widely used but probably NOT infallable guide for the general area. OTOH, q. laceyi from limestone regions of texas i believe does just fine here on very acid soils as do a number of mexican oaks from potentially limestone derived soil in their native habitat. my experience is that many oak (and other species) may be suprisingly tolerant of different soil chemistry and they also may be tolerant of differing heat and/or moisture regimes (or they may not) with proper siting/microclimate (let alone providing protection against various types of varmint predation) AND a certain amt. of just plain luck. however, guy sternberg (who posts on the oak forum) in his "native trees for north american landscapes" seem to indicate that his experience was that dry summer oak species had difficulties dealing with wet summer climate---but how this may or may not apply to san antonio conditions i don't know and only you can find out for sure. good luck!!!!

It was a great time, it was the first time for the class and it went longer than the 4 hours. Should be a day class with breaks and lunch. I learned so much, things like using the paint and the distressing pads. I've been a very simple with my pages doing matting and some embellishments. Plain and simple. I learned to use ribbon, staples, brads, and flowers. I love the pages I did now I just need to add pictures, which is something else I learned I always picked pictures then did the pages. Nancy

I am so glad, Sue, I know everyone will enjoy it! Funny you mention the cost. When I first embarked on this, I was thinking it will be a big impact present where the gift is our time not the cost. Yikes, even with the 50% off, each book was $200 OMG. I didn't really expect that, but after all the work putting it together, I wasn't going to go back and trim. I may regret making them so large, 11x14, but I know i usually like photos to be bigger. I also fell for that very pricey for that "lay flat" upgrade that allow you to do those "centerfold" shots. Heck, i actually fell for every type of upgrade they offered, including a storage box. And then I have the engraved USBs and those boxes. But oh they will be so pretty. I actually went with this one because I liked the idea of putting a photo with it. They also have them in navy, grey, and Tiffany blue. I was upset that I had to switch my product to Shutterfly, but I have to give them a big shout out. They have added so many features to their books, and so many options for designing them. Plus, they still had my photos on there from 2005, though I had not done business w them in years. In some cases, they were photos i did not find anywhere else in my files. Whew. One of the best parts of making the book was doing the captions, and adding in things like scans of their footprints, their baby announcements, etc. I also commissioned DH to write a letter to each of them talking about the day they were born and their first few years. He did a wonderful job, brought tears to my eyes and made me laugh, too. We finished yesterday. Finally. Annie - love that tree! we do have a few photo ornaments, but a whole tree! Fab Running - Even from book 1 to book 3 i got better at it and fancier. There are soooooo many options and embellishments and features. And if you have the right dates on your photos, the autofill feature is a great start. Enjoy!

We did something similar for my dad's 75th birthday-- everyone provided 5-6 memories/stories of what they'd learned from my dad. Some were funny, some were family jokes, some were touching, some were practical. it was and is a much treasured gift. One of my sisters got a book at michaels to which she affixed printed out versions, photos etc. I admit, it was not what I'd have done and it wasn't the most professional -- but she took ownership and I didn't want to upset her. In the end, it didn't matter. It didn't take away from it being very special. I still read through it-- it makes me laugh and cry!