Midnight Ride to Branson!

We received a call from the bunch in Branson. The car broke down, and they needed us to bring the van down to take them home, and pull their car back.

HERE'S THE UPDATE......with Pictures.

Well...we made the trip down in just under six hours. We unloaded the van and slept in it so we wouldn't disturb anyone at 2:30 AM. We were so thankful to have made it without problems. We were blessed beyond measure! Mom was the first to wake up, and we surprised her....and I DO have a photo of that surprise, however, because I am a very kind and considerate daughter, I have decided NOT to post it here. However, I will keep it in my files....just in case. We then loaded up the Oldsmobile, but unfortunately, I was so busy pushing it up onto the trailer that I didn't even get a picture. It went on much easier than I expected! We enjoyed a very fine breakfast, courtesy of the Ramada Inn, and at about 10, we were on the road for home. Just about 10 miles west of Lebanon, we had some tire trouble, but were able to pull off of the interstate to fix it. Dennis was unloading the jack, while Tyler got ready to pull the bad tire off. As soon as Dennis lifted the trailer, Tyler put the spare in place, and within an incredibly short time, it was done! Any NASCAR teams looking for a tire man might want to look at these guys!

Seventeenth Annual L-Bird Convention Weekend!

What an absolutely perfect weekend for the L-Bird convention! We've been enjoying the overhead activities since Wednesday, when several of the planes started arriving for the convention. Since we are just a short distance from the airport, much of their flying is right over our house. Still, it's much better to see it from the airport. We went over this morning for the pancake breakfast. We picked Jake up on our way and Travis met us there on his way home from work. There was already quite a crowd for pancakes at 7:30 AM. Also going on this weekend is the Bluegrass Festival in Montrose, and Hot Air Balloons at Ft. Madison. I'm hoping to go over for at least some of the Bluegrass show later today. Tomorrow is Jake's birthday. He'll be 16, and will be home for good August 3. He told us today that he's applied for work at a few local businesses, and already has his car (1999 Mustang-black), so he really needs a job! He will be getting his driver's license as soon as he gets home in August, and then watch out! Actually, he is a careful and cautious driver, may it continue to be so!
Dennis is busy today attacking the weeds using chemical warfare! He's pulling our tank sprayer around with a tank full of GlyStar and spraying the driveway, parking areas and around the buildings. When we were away last week, the grass nearly covered all our gravel. It seems that even when nothing else will grow, the weeds thrive! It's a constant battle!
Since I have no more to say, I'll put just a few more pictures of the colorful planes on here and get outside. It's a cool 59 degrees...or was when I started this post. Anyway, I'll go out and do my work while it's cool!

Twenty-five Hundred Miles-Pure Perfection!

Well....in truth, it was NOT a perfect trip. We did make a wrong turn or two, but other than that, it could not have been better! The boys were great travelers, and I believe everyone had a wonderful time. We can't thank Don and Ada enough for their generosity. We enjoyed every bit of the time we were there. One of the highlights was the train trip from Durango to Silverton! What a ride! (THANK YOU DON!) It was beautifully scenic, and there were several places that were downright frightening! The train runs along the side of some cliffs overlooking the Animas River, and it literally made my legs turn to rubber when I looked out. If I'd dropped anything out the window it would have fallen straight down into the river hundreds of feet below. The pictures I took don't do it justice!
We crossed several bridges, and on the one pictured, the engineer blew off some excess steam. The Animas (upper portion) is a very fast moving river with a lot of big rapids. Very beautiful, but too challenging (dangerous!) for us to think about rafting on. We understand that there are folks who do, but it's not for amateurs like us!
One day, Dennis and I, along with Zach and Wyatt, rode four wheelers up the mountains. Ada encouraged us to pack a lunch, which we did, and we were very glad we did, because by the time we got to the top, we were hungry! We rode lots of the trails up there, but then it started clouding up, so we headed back down. We did get rained on just a little bit, but it didn't matter. We had a great time even getting wet. The boys thought it quite exciting!
We enjoyed seeing Cathy, and meeting Reese. She seemed to really enjoy the boys---especially Zach! They had fun playing together. Swimming in the hot tub was a lot of fun for them. They also rode bikes together, played ball, and rode the wheelers too.
We enjoyed the opportunity to attend church with Don and Ada, and left right after the service. We were heading to Kiowa for a visit with the Pickerings. Dennis met Fred while he was serving in the Army, and when he was in the Denver hospital, Frances (Fred's mom) drove down to get him out of the hospital for visits at her home in Granby. I don't really know how she knew he was there, and why she took such an interest in him, but Dennis has never forgotten her kindness and generosity....then and still! We had a nice, although short, visit and then needed to get on down the road. We were hoping to make it home early Monday night, and we did get home around 7:30 PM.
I'm happy to say that this morning, we got nearly one inch of rain. It came hard and fast, but hopefully it didn't all run off! We're glad to have it, and there seems to be potential for more yet. It's a critical time for rain here with all the corn tasseling and making ears and we're very thankful for what fell this morning.

Sizzling-Sweltering-Steaming!

Yep! It's hot and humid! We're hoping for rain. The crops look great, but it's getting really dry, and with the corn tasseling, it's a perfect time for a good soaking rain.
Since I haven't posted since the 4th, I figured that I'd update while I'm inside cooling off! We did enjoy a very nice 4th of July celebration, and then again on the 6th we watched another great fireworks display just up the road. We enjoyed watching from Travis and Gail's house. Of course, Travis and Jake provided some excitement with their own stash of explosives. Jake nearly landed one on Dennis' backside as he was bending to pick up our "Redneck Washers" game box. It truly was accidental, but Travis and Jake certainly were tickled about it. It brought great stress and anxiety to Gail, but I remember the many "wars" that Dennis and the boys had with their fireworks, and this was tame in comparison.
On Thursday, Mike Shea came to the house to record the "SugarBabes" for the WCAZ IBD Radio Summer Contest. Zach and Wyatt and I had a cheer, and then sang the WCAZ fight song. There are six entries, and the radio audience will be voting for the best one sometime in August. You might want to call in and vote for the SugarBabes, because every person who votes will be in a drawing for a nice prize package. So, you could be a winner just for voting!
We've treated our decks with water sealer, and did Mom and Dad's on Sunday afternoon. After that, Mom and I went to the pond to watch the swimmers. Valerie and Shane were there with Trixie. Joy and Joe were there with Drew, and Drew's Aunt, Uncle and cousins. Tyler, Kathy and the boys were there also. It was a great day for being in water! And beautiful water it is!
Well....there's more I could say, but I'm cooled off now, and need to get busy. Grass is growing, so I should be out mowing!

Celebrating FREEDOM!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,

ONE NATION UNDER GOD,

INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one Parliament member why he believes so much in America, he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in... And how many want out."
(I read that more than 4000 people will become US Citizens today...July 4, 2007)




Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.



I could not have said it better.
HAVE A HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Two Boys Sentenced to Hard Labor!

Since Zach and Wyatt didn't want to go shopping today, they were sentenced to hard labor on the rock pile! Actually, they were asking for work to do, and hoping it would pay. I'd been thinking for some time about moving my pile of geodes to a new location, so figured I might as well take advantage of the help! It didn't take as long as I thought. I really thought I had more rocks. We made a pretty good team, and after the job was done, they got to play for a while. It's always more fun when Popo is here to play. He thinks of really fun things to do. For example, pulling the boys' bikes behind the four wheeler. You might not see it in the picture, but the bikes are tied onto the back of the wheeler! Certainly not something I would do with the boys! But, they were loving it. No wonder they always ask if Popo is going to be home when they come over. He is lots of fun!
Moving all those rocks was a pretty good job for the boys, and each earned two dollars. Zach took his in paper. Wyatt prefers coins, so he got two dollars worth of nickels. Next time they come over, they're going to bring their money, and I'm going to sell them "stuff". They love to play store, and I get my money back! What a deal!
This is a picture of one of the new places we piled the rocks, as well as a piece of one of the broken geodes. Below are few more of my beautiful lilies! I love those lily things, because they are the only flowers I've not yet killed!



The best moment of Zach's day might have been when Popo gave him permission to move the four wheeler all by himself. He didn't ride far or fast, but he did it all alone. I didn't think he could ride it by himself, but he proved me wrong again.

Main Street Music at Osage Beach!

We're driving to Osage Beach this afternoon to see the Main Street Music Show. Last year we were there with Zach, and had a great time. This time we are taking Dad (his Father's Day gift) and Mom. Bobbie is going too, and remember....where ever we go, there we are and you can bet we'll have a good time! We can't leave until Dennis gets his work done, so while we wait I will try mowing some more grass. We'll be driving back after the show, so it's going to be a "late night" for us old folks! These pictures were taken last year...and NO...that is NOT me in the red hat! Bubba Gumm had the audience cracking up when he came out in his Red Hat get up! We'll no doubt enjoy a fine show this evening. Just wish you could be there too!

Loons Are Beautiful!

I found a photograph of a loon, and since the loon sighting was one of the highlights of our Wisconsin trip I'm posting the picture. Understand that my camera was safely in the car while we were on the beach at Wood Lake, so I didn't get a picture of the actual loon we saw. But this is what he looked like.
Also, yesterday I found yet another one of those Lily Things that my friend Heidi is so fond of, so I snapped a picture of the beautiful blossom just to bring delight to the heart of my friend. Here's to you Heidi!

These Are My Beautiful Lily Things!

I'm posting this mostly for Heidi...since she showed off her lily blossoms on her blog site, I had to put mine on. I think mine is beautiful. The lavendar is also pretty, more so than the picture shows. Enjoy!

Wonderful Week in Wisconsin!

We had a great time in Wisconsin. The cabin was very comfortable and furnished with everything we needed, including towels! The day we arrived it was hot, so we ran the air, but then it cooled off, and we didn't need to use it again. We didn't actually do a lot, but just had fun doing pretty much nothing. One thing we did do a lot was EAT! I think both Wyatt and I gained weight! Good for him, bad for me.
Of course, as usual, the few things that we thought were really special memories didn't get photographed because the camera was in the car! One day we were at the beach on Wood Lake, and a loon popped up not more than thirty feet from us. He sat on the water for quite a while, preened a couple times, and then he dived under to resurface quite a lot farther. He never came close to us again, but we felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to view him so closely. We took Zach to Camp Forest Springs on Sunday afternoon, and while we were there we went paddle boating and a short hike on one of the well maintained trails. We might have walked longer, but we were not coated with Deet and were attacked by insects. At first, Wyatt didn't want to get on the paddle boat, but I pretty much made him do it anyway, and lo and behold, he really enjoyed it! I knew he would, and don't think I didn't remind him often about how smart I am when it comes to knowing fun stuff to do! He would have gone paddle boating every day, but we were not registered campers so we didn't have the opportunity to go again.
We stayed just long enough for Zach to get settled into his cabin, and then Wyatt and I went back to our little cabin. We did a little fishing, swimming, playing in the dirt, catching frogs and hiking. We went to bed pretty early (at least Wyatt did) and he also took naps most days. Wyatt couldn't figure out why he was going to bed because it wasn't dark yet, but I told him that it was the longest day of the year and would not get dark that night. He didn't understand it, but he went to sleep before it was dark. He also tried his hand at cooking and fixed us a really tasty casserole for supper. In fact, he liked it so well, we fixed it again the next night and he's going to make it for the whole family one day soon, perhaps for Sunday Dinner at his house. That was HIS idea! Anyway, it was a very pleasant and relaxing week. We enjoyed it. And I read three books!