Special Events: Our Horses • House Addition • Mustangs 2008/09 • Mustangs 2007/08 • Mustangs 2006/07 • Summer Vacation 2011 • Family Traditions

So we headed over to Kalyn's to spend some time with them for Christmas. Jack and Mia seemed to have a good Christmas so we got to see all their presents first hand. We then headed out to have some lunch over at The Shops at Clear fork. it was a little chilly today, so we had to keep the kids bundled up. After lunch we explored the mall and spend some time at the commons grounds where the Christmas Tree is - Mia was part of an avocado - imagine that.

It was a quiet Christmas morning at our house, we got up a little late and started the festivities. Everyone made out like bandits as usual :-). We face-timed with everyone to see how the other houses were doing - same thing there, no one went without. Its always fun to see all the excitement on the kids faces on Christmas morning. They all get up so early! In the afternoon we headed to Rick's house to visit with them and open presents with Violet. She had a very good Christmas I think :-) Looks like other branches of the family had a good Christmas as well - I captured some images from Facebook. Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a very small Xmas Eve event at the house with a Ham dinner, pies and cobbler for just the 5 of us. Everyone else was doing their own thing so it was a quiet evening given all the activity we've had around the house the past few days - not complaining mind you. I took one last sweep around the house of the Xmas decorations and the Xmas Tree for this year - I think we're all set for the Man in Red to make his visit tonight. Ho Ho Ho...

Mia, Mamaw and Grandma spent their day in the kitchen cooking up the annual Xmas cookies. In the morning, they made the cookie dough and cut it up and baked them - a few dozen. In the afternoon, we all contributed to the decorating process for all the cookies. Jack couldn't hang with it, he fell asleep in the process :-). Its always a fun tradition to make these cookies. Melody swears that they won't be eaten but somehow each year they seem to disappear. This year, Mia got to take some home so that helps them go!

Today we took the kids over to The Dinner Bell to check out the Christmas decorations they do every year. The theme this year was an underwater Christmas - interesting but i wasn't too impressed with the theme. Good use of pool noodles and such - very creative but again, not sure i get the whole idea behind it. The kids enjoyed it and that's what counts.

Kalyn, Sean and the Kids came over to spend a couple days with us - here's some additional highlights of their stay for the holidays...

After dinner we drove over to the house in Canton known as the Grinch House for their Xmas light display. They have a large plot of land and have it covered in lights and animated stuff. They have a local radio station that play music that's synchronized with the light display as well which is pretty cool. They also collect donations for a little girl with cancer (I believe) to help with her medical bills - a good cause. It was pretty chilling tonight so we didn't stay too long, just enough to get some pictures and see everything. Each year the display is different and they add things and move them around so its never the same. Glass these people do this each year, its always fun to come see it.

Its become somewhat of a tradition that after Santa visits, we all go to Jerry's or Pizza Hut for dinner. This year we went to Jerry's. We shot some pool and played video games, and had some really good pizza (as always). I am so glad that they re-opened the dining room (after Covid) and I like the inside remodel they did. Still a fun place to spend an evening with the family.

We had our annual visit from Santa tonight and we had quite the turnout. Santa was very jolly and spent about an hour and a half with us. Its always fun to see what the kids may ask for and Santa always has some sage advice for the kids (although I don't know if they really understand what he's saying :-). Always enjoy this event, hope it continues for a long time...

This has been a really mild fall and start of winter this year. We still have some plants blooming this late which is unusual. I'll take it though, I enjoy seeing the color and enjoying to foliage as long as we can before the harsh cold hits for the season,

Jalen continues to grow and is crawling and standing all the time. Won't be long before he's walking I'm betting. Here's some highlights from December of him...

Captured some family photos of Laura and Monti and the kids from FB - the boys are really growing up. Looks like they also went to a lantern festival or display for the holidays - the lights looked really neat!

Here's some random shots of Mia and Jack during the month. We got to spend time with them a fair amount this month which is great. Jack is growing quacking and he and Mia together are a hoot. Mia is quite the big sister!

We added some new decorations to the back room this year and I got out the train set and put it under the tree extending the loop a little bigger. Always fun to see what we can add each year.

We went up to Lewisville today to see Violet participate in a Theatre program of The Wizard of Oz. She played the part of a munchkin and a Lollipop kid in the play. She seems to really like performing on stage which is great. Her Great Grandma Choo was able to attend as well which was special. Well done Violet, it was a great performance!

We went over to Fort Worth this evening to attend Mia's Xmas program at Saint Andrews. Mia and her class performed several songs and the other grades did as well. She looked like she was having fun which is what its all about. It was a good program to see - glad we were able to make it.

Rick has set up a new fish tank and stocked it with tropical fish. It looks pretty good from here. Its a 35 gallon tank and he has quite a variety of fish in it already. Good luck with the tank Rick!

Violet had her Winter Dance Recital today and she did great. These programs are always fun to watch, with all the different grade levels doing their routines. Afterwards, we went for Hibachi at Rick and Kelly's favorite spot in Highland Village. The staff there seems to know them quite well, and one waitress in particular was very kind to Violet, giving her a balloon! Good times!

Rick, Kelly and Violet went to Six Flags this weekend. I believe this is the first time Violet has been there. Looks like they had a good time and rode several rides. I believe I heard that Violet likes roller coasters? Brave kid :-)

Haley and Jalen spent the night after going to ICE - we caught some pictures of them with Mamaw - 3 generations there - very special.

We took the family to ICE at the Gaylord Texan again this year to see The Grinch on display. It was pretty neat, I think they did a really good job on the ice carvings and display. The kids followed it up with ice skating on the rink they had in the area which was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went over to Cracker Barrel for dinner which was nice. Its always good to get the group together but its always hard to get everyone due to schedules and such.

Haley came down for the weekend and attended Charlie's basketball game tonight. Charlie's team has a good game tonight. Haley got to introduce Jalen to several teachers and acquaintances at the ball game - reminiscing and catching up. Charlie's team won the game - so it was a good evening for ACPA!

Charlie started his senior season of basketball now. They took team photos and had their first games as well. He has a wrist issue that is a result of a football injury so he has to wear a wrist brace. I'm thinking its affecting his shot as well. We'll see how the team does this year, most of the same players are back with a couple new faces. Good luck Storm!

We started the Xmas decorating process today with Charlie's help. He assembled the tree and we started putting up the Garland and other decorations. This is always a multi-day process to get all this stuff out. I'm glad we had some help with it!

Things continue to bloom on the patio into November, which is nice to see. Weather has been good to keep things going, but I'm assuming we'll get a cold snap anytime now which will end this colorful display for the season. Enjoy it while we can!

Allison and Luckas celebrated their B-Days at the skating rink in Athens this year. They had a pretty good turnout for the event and there was plenty of skating going on. Happy Birthday Allison and Luckas!

Oh yes, we can't go without the annual outing so Melody can sniff the fresh Christmas trees that have come in for the season. We made a trip to Home Depot and she went directly to the trees to check them out. Her assessment was that the trees weren't as fragrant this year - wondering if the hot weather cause this? Not a good year for sniffing. But not all is lost, its always fun to look through the Xmas decorations and lights they have at Home Depot and its always hard for me to walk out without anything this time of year.

I dabbled in some AI generation today while watching the parade and football. Focused on Thanksgiving themes to see what I could come up with. Got some interesting results from it. Fun to play with, but i think i need to learn how to better control the targeted items i want to show up in the images.

We started with the usual pattern for Thanksgiving with the annual watching of the Macy's Parade, and then the Detroit Lions game. Dinner was ready in the early afternoon and we sat down to watch the Cowboys game. It was a little different this year given the recent passing of John Madden - a key historical figure with Thanksgiving Day football. His legacy was celebrated as part of the festivities with a special patch on the uniforms and such - displayed all over the place. Good part was it was a classic match up with the Cowboys playing the Redskins (Commanders now). John Madden left quite a mark on NFL Football - he will be missed but remembered.

Starship went through its 2nd test flight, this time with all engines burning. Its exciting to see how quickly they are progressing with the ship's performance, it will be interesting to see how far they can take this. This time they added some water to the launch platform which should help reduce the damage around the launch pad area and keep the sound down I think. We'll see what comes next...

We lost Hucklebee this month do to several factors - he's been losing weight and having multiple other issues, affecting his quality of life. Haley had to make the tough decision to let him go which was tough. They bought a nice memorial package from the Vet's office that came with his ashes. Huck, you were quite a dog and you brought many hours of fun to the family - you will be missed!

Got some pics of Autumn with the kids around Thanksgiving - they are both continuing to grow like crazy. Time needs to slow down!

Jalen continues to grow and is standing and crawling all over the place. Haley was down for a visit and we went to dinner to spend some time with them. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Violet seems to be flourishing at her school and received an award this week - very exciting. They seem to be getting into the fall spirit, even dressing up as a turkey - nice job!

Chris and his pickle ball partner came down to Dallas to compete in the Pickle Ball National Championships this weekend. We spent the day out at the site taking in the festivities and watching them play their matches in their bracket. This was a pretty big event with a lot of participants. Chris and his partner had a good day, winning most if not all of their matches and by the evening, they were in the championship match for their bracket. It was a very close exciting match and in the end, Chris prevailed and won. Learned a lot about the sport and how its played which was good, but it was a long day :-) Congratulations Chris!

We had a quiet birthday at home for Rodie to celebrate his 45th. Very low key, with presents and cake. Happy Birthday Rodie.

We headed over to Fort Worth and spent the day with Kalyn and the kids at the zoo. Its always fun to walk around and see the animals, plus they just opened a new enclosure for the elephants called "Elephant Springs". Its a nice space for the elephants with a water pool and places to roam around. They have a baby elephant now that is really fun to watch. It was a good time seeing the kids and spending time as always.

Finally, the Texas Rangers won the World Series over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 games to 1. This caps an amazing playoff run where the team won a ton of games on the road and dominated their rivals in most of the series. its been an exciting playoff run with this group and they played their best when it counted. Very happy for all the fans and the players - they deserve it! The future looks bright for this team given the core players they have, excited to see where they go!

It was a really quiet Halloween around our house so I grabbed what I could from around the family of their Halloween activities. Mia was Dorthy this year, Sean the Lion, Kalyn the wicked witch and Jack the Wizard. Violet was Mirabel from Encanto, and Jalen was Curious George. Tex was an alien, and Autumn and Remi were scare crows. Even the dogs got into it and got dressed up. We didn't have any trick or treaters at our house this year unfortunately - but that's how it goes...

So Game 1 of the 2023 World Series was pretty thrilling. Corey Seager hit a spectacular home run to tie the game and Adolis Garcia brought in the winning run in the 9th. What a way to start this series. The Rangers have been hot throughout the playoffs, and it continues here. This is a special team.

Rodie and Cassie set off on a 2 week road trip around the western US to see some sights and visit some family. They met up with Lynn and the girls in Arizona and Grandma Linda and Tim in Santa Cruz. They went through Pikes Peak and all the way to the pacific ocean.

Mia got a Spa Day present for her birthday and spent it with Alyssa and her cousin doing "girl" things. I believe they got their nails done, a pedicure, and lunch.

It festival time of year and Autumn took Tex and Remi to the Hog Fest in Ben Wheeler. It looks like they had a good time and ended up with some hog noses and got to pet some farm animals - very nice! Strange though, I don't know if any hogs (boars) showed up or not, I'm guessing it was only Harley Davidson type hogs - maybe?

We had to run Mia home for school on Monday so we spent some time at Sean and Kalyn's before heading for home. Fun afternoon playing around and enjoying outside given the nice weather. Can't beat that!

In the afternoon we traveled over to the Mineola area and visited Calie's Acre - a pumpkin patch themed farm that specializes in the fall season and pumpkins. This was a neat farm and they had quite a bit of things for kids to do. Mia and i got our faces painted, and we took a hay ride, and did some bouncing, and even panned for gold! Then we got down to business and selected some pumpkins - they weren't fresh off the vine but they will do. it was a lot of fun - I'd recommend this place for a family outing.

Mia came out to our house for the weekend so we took her over to the Dinner Bell in Van for breakfast. As usual, they have decorated the Dinner Bell for Halloween with ghouls and goblins and such for the season. As we were finishing up breakfast, we heard sirens and bull horns out in the street - the annual Home Coming Parade for Van High School was coming down the street. Mia got to see Disney Princesses, Horse riders, firetrucks, and candy from the floats as they came by. Had no idea that was going to happen - a very nice surprise!

Work (Dell) coordinated a team event to go volunteer at the North Texas Food Bank. Its been quite a while since we've done this given the departures we've had across the organization. Some of the persons who would usually set these things up have departed the company so its harder to get these going. We've all been working from home for quite a while so it was good to see faces in person, instead of on video for a change :-). I miss the personal interactions, but I don't miss the commute. Although it was a smaller group than usual, we accomplished quite a bit in our 3 hours - always rewarding to do this and provide some level of impact for the community!

October weather has been pretty good and things on the patio continue to bloom, the grass is still growing, so we get to spend some time outdoors on the patio. Even had dinner out there since its not so hot. I really enjoy all the flowers, and so do the humming birds and insects!

Jack got to go to his first Horn Frog game this month, and continues to grow and change. Spending time with the extended family and his cousins and aunts and uncles quite frequently. He's a popular member of the family now!

We headed up to Highland Village in the morning to watch one of Violet's soccer games. Grandma Lynn was there as well so we had a good chat and watched the match. Rick is still coaching, and the team is coming along. They play very hard and do a lot of running :-). They seem to be really getting the concepts, even attempting to pass at times but most of it is break aways and overpowering the other players to get the ball into the goal. After the game, we went to a restaurant over in Coppell called the Local Diner. Its a 50's style motif and the food was pretty good. Its fun to spend time with Violet off the field, wish we could do it more.

More of Jalen growing in the month of October. We got to spend time with him early in the month, and he continues to get bigger - the dimples are killing me!

So all the kids got their Halloween boxes and we sent along some themed pajamas for them all. Here's what the little pumpkins looked like :-).

Not too much going on with the dogs other than the weather is getting nice and Lily likes to play more outside. They are a goofy pack - no doubt about it.

Mia is verify busy in October with a new baby brother, school events and sporting events she participates in. She and her parents went to the school fall festival and won a cake at the cake walk!

We took a quick trip down to Sulpher to visit Haley and Tank and Jalen and drop Charlie off for the Fall break at school. We got to play with Jalen and did some sight seeing in the old part of Lake Charles where theres some really neat older houses. We are some good Cajun food a a popular local spot, Steamboat Bills (man can Jalen put away the rice and beans!) and on Sunday morning, we went to Dunkin Doughnuts and had breakfast before we headed for home. It was a good trip but too short as always.

The weekend extended into October so there's more adventures here....

We went over to Kalyn's for the weekend to help out and spend time with the kids. Jack is closing in on being 2 months old and continues to change more and more. Mia fights for attention since Jack is the focus - its a balancing act. Jack is a happy baby and its fun to try and interact with him. The different expressions and faces are unbelievable - I know he doesn't really know what he's doing but he does react to things. Its pretty cool. Mia does real well with him - and tries to entertain as much as she can. Hard with a 2 month old. We brought over their Halloween stuff with us and took Mia to her favorite, Taco Bell. It was a fun visit but alas, no Holocron store visit - what's up with that????

Jacquelyn got to babysit Jalen for a few days at her house so we stopped by to see Jalen. Jack has a bunch of toys for him and Haley sent along some as well. Plenty to keep him entertained. he is getting so big now, won't be too long and he'll be walking I bet.

Today we went up to Highland Village to watch one of Violet's soccer games. Rick is coaching the team and bringing them along. They seem to be getting the concepts and doing pretty well. They have some really fast players and they seem to be able to score often. Most of these girls have played together for several years on the same team so I think that makes a difference.

In the evening, we went into Athens to celebrate Jaquelyn's 42nd Birthday at the El San Luis Cafe - Hola! Food is always good there and can't complain about the service. It was a run of the mill birthday - Happy Birthday Jacquelyn!

We are on a birthday roll lately - Today we went by Ericka's house to help celebrate Maddie's 19th birthday this year. She has a Barbi theme which was cute, and Ericka had the cookies and such to go with it. All the kids a re growing so fast, time seems to be speeding up! Happy Birthday Maddie!

We helped celebrate Mia's 6th birthday at home today, with a party for her and her friends in the morning, and a family birthday event in the afternoon. Sean and Kalyn had a "foam" party in the back yard for the kids - looked like a lot of fun with bubbles all over the entire back yard! Then the kids came in and had pizza and cup cakes to celebrate. In the afternoon the rest of the family came over and we had somewhat of a brunch all together. Mia opened her presents and we did the cake which Jacquelyn made for Mia. It was fun time had by all I think - Happy Birthday Mia!

Jack is a month old and seems to change every day. We've seen him a couple times this month already, and he's different each time. We even get to Face-time and see what he's up to. Mia continues to be a good big sister and seems to enjoy interacting with Jack which I'm very happy about. I hope they will form a strong bond for the long term.

We got the extended family together for dinner up in Addison to celebrate Violet and Mia's birthdays for August and September. We went to a place called The Time Machine which has themed rooms/dining areas which are pretty neat. Given the size of our group, our seating area had different things on the wall but didn't really have a theme that I recall. The staff dresses up in costumes of super heroes or other characters they like. I believe our waitress was a character from the Teenage titans? Violet and Mia got some fancy fruiting drinks, walked around the restaurant to try and get autographs from the characters, and get some pictures. I think they had a good time. I always like to see it when they get together, they are so funny :-)

The flowers continue to bloom into September. Hibiscus are blooming everywhere (thank you Miracle Grow) and the bees continue to tear apart the butterfly bush. Hoping things will continue to grow/bloom into the late fall if the weather will allow. Time will tell. But for now, spending time on the patio is nice with the temperatures lowering. Enjoy while we can....

In the evening we went to a Rangers game against the Minnesota Twins and it was Star Wars Night. I walked around and saw lots of characters walking the concourse and got my picture taken with them. Missed out on Darth Vader though, he was walking through surrounded by storm troopers as you would expect. Still - a really fun night. Unfortunately, the Rangers lost in the 10th inning :-(.

We spent the early part of the day up in Frisco to attend one of Mia's soccer games. Michael is coaching the team so its interesting to watch how this plays out. Afterwards, we went to lunch at a restaurant down at the Cowboys Star area which was really good. Got to spend some time with Jack as well which is pretty cool. Michael had his new girlfriend join us as well so we had extra guests with us.

Violet celebrated her 6th Birthday today at home (she had her friends birthday party last month). She is getting so big and has multiple different interests and activities. This birthday had a unicorn theme - Happy Birthday Violet!

So 7 man Football returned to ACPA this year and Charlie agreed to play. The team doesn't have a huge number of players, but enough to field a team. The game got off to rough start for ACPA with the team from Wichita Christian scoring first. ACPA struggled on offense and were wore down through the game. Charlie ended up hurting his wrist in game, and his hip from a tackle. It was a tough start to football returning - we'll see how it goes...

We've been gone for most of the month but while we've been home, the bumble bees have found the butterfly bush and have been partying. Its always fun to watch them get what they need from the flowers, but they do make a mess. Flower petels all over the deck from their work.

Jalen continues to grow and gain more personality. Haley claims that he like dinosaurs, so we'll need to keep an eye on that one. He;s getting more hair all the time and is crawling all over the place.

Its becoming a ritual now that when I go over to Mia's house, we have to pay a visit to the Holocron store and check out the Star Wars stuff. Most of the time, I can't seem to leave empty handed, which means Mia doesn't leave empty handed - you see where this is going. It a fun place to go window shop and see if they have anything new out there. Now that Star Wars is owned by Disney, they are really pushing collectors type stuff which is interesting. Go Darth Vader!

Today we got to meet Jack in person. His pictures don't do him justice :-). We spent the afternoon with Kalyn, Sean, and Mia which was fun. Mi is getting used to her role as the big sister - given this is really her baby. Nice to see another leaf growing on the branch of the family tree.

Going around the family, all the kids had to start back to school this week. Here's the rundown.

Mia started Kindergarten today at Saint Andrews Catholic School in Fort Worth. She's pretty excited to go to this school so it should be interesting to see how she does. I hope this will be a fun year for Mia, definitely a new experience for sure.

Violet is going to McCauliffe Elementary again and is part of the Purple class this year.

Charlie is a Senior this year at Athens Christian Preparatory Academy - almost done Charlie.

Tex will be going to Van Elementary again this year.

Jack came home from the hospital this day and he had a full agenda. Family stopped by to seem him, he went out for a walk, played with Mia, ate and pooped, etc. You know, what all babies do when they get home for the first time. He got to try on some new clothes, and take some glamor shots. He's a very cute baby, but don't tell him that :-).

So while we were gallivanting through Europe, Kalyn decided she would deliver a baby. Jack Maloney arrived on August 7th, weighing in at around 8 lbs. (if I remember right). We got the message overnight by text that Kalyn had gone into labor and was at the hospital. It was a smooth delivery (as far as I know) and he looks great from the pictures. Family all around to welcome him - Mia seems very excited to be a big sister :-) I can't wait to meet him in person when we get home!

So, the way I understand it, while Kalyn was going into labor, Logan took Mia and they went to a FC Dallas game while all the delivery happenings were going on. While in Europe, we saw a post about Mia at a game, but didn't really make the connection. It looked like a good distraction to keep her busy while Mom and Dad did their thing.

Paula came into town for a visit and Uncle Rob was also in the area and dropped by to visit Mom. I believe they all ended up at Marty's for a barbeque and we got pictures of everyone. Glad they were all able to get together, doesn't happen as much anymore with everyone's schedules.

This summer be took a big leap and traveled across the pond to Europe for the first time with Ken and Hadie. It was a very exciting journey starting in Paris and ending in Zurich Switzerland. We chose to take a Viking riverboat cruise which was fabulous - smaller vessel, but with enough attention to detail to make it a fun and relaxing way to travel. We kept busy most of the trip trying to take in as many of the sights as possible - so the trip was tiring in that respect. See some of the towns and sights we encountered on our adventure!

Here's some random shots of Jalen from July. He's growing like a weed these days!

Violet had a early birthday party at the local indoor water-park in Flowermound this week with all her friends from school and soccer. It was a really neat water park and the kids had a blast. Rick and Kelly rented a room and spent 2-3 hours playing in the water and having cake and presents. Happy (early) Birthday Violet!

So Charlie's school is trying to bring back football to its sports offerings. Charlie has planned to play so the Athens Newspaper was doing promotional photo shoots of all the high schools in the area for their yearly review. We'll see how ACPA fairs this season.

Mia and the dogs spent the weekend at our house for the weekend, I ventured over to pick them up and brought them over to stay while Sean and Kalyn went to Austin for an event. While Mia was over, we ended up building a solar system based on her recent experience at Space camp - goes with the theme she picked out for the bedroom. We ended up making a mobile and hung it in her room.

This week Mia went to the Perot Museum in Dallas to attend their Summer Space Camp. She made a space craft and got very interested in the solar system from what I can tell.

So another key member of the old Credant guard decided to leave Dell - Doug Gillespie chose to leave which was unfortunate. We gathered as usual at the Fox and Hound for his send off and its always a good time when the group gathers - unfortunately I wish it wasn't for things like this where someone is leaving. Doug will be missed.

Tex and Remi celebrated their birthdays at the local park in Canton this year, a great place for the kids to be able to run and play. The theme was Sonic the hedgehog - they had a really nice cake for this. The kids made out like bandits as usual and it a good time was had by all. Happy Birthday Tex and Remi!

This week Mia went over to Weatherford and attended the Tennis camp that Ken is associated with. Mia seems to really like to play tennis so this was a good camp to go to. There's a coach that she really likes (Rocky) and he seems to enjoy teaching her as well. Looks like she had a good time.

I grabbed some shots from Facebook of some of the grand kids for July from across the country - All seem to be doing good. Hard to try to keep up with everyone and their events/activities.

So we got some of the extended family together for a "camping trip" to a resort style location in Waco, TX this summer. Some of the cousins were able to make it so it was fun to still have the kids along. They are all getting older now so its more difficult to get their schedules to allow for summer vacations anymore. We had Bethany, George, Colt, Addie, Allison, Haley and Jalen along with us. We spent a day, at the camp, and another day exploring Waco, while finishing up with a Butter My Biscuit breakfast before heading for home. See what a Waco adventure looks like...

Erik celebrated his birthday with Jalen and the family this year. He's got some extra protection now so he can play with Jalen safely :-) Happy Birthday Erik!

All of the Bryson kids were able to meet up in Omaha for a get together (a rarity these days given everyone's schedules) so it was nice to see them all together for a spell. Too Bad Ken and Hadie couldn't make it as well. Looking good everyone!

Things continue to bloom and grow, but our garden is struggling. Tomatoes are getting burned up with the heat. We are getting some cucumbers and peppers, but not a great growing season. Flowers are doing well as usual and our yard is filling in more - less bare spots.

Rick, Kelly and Violet spent a few days up in KC so they did some exploring of the sights. They spent time at Science City in the old KC train depot, and went to another Royals vs. Dodgers game in the evening. Violet even got her picture with the KC Mascot!

Rick, Kelly, and Violet made a trip up to Kansas City and took in a Royals game vs. the LA Dodgers (Rick's favorite team). I'm envious, I really want to see the fountains at Kaufman stadium in person myself. From the pictures, it looks like they had a good time - and the hot dog in Kansas City don't look bad either...

Darrell decided to retire from Dell this month. I've worked with him for several years on different projects and have really enjoyed his spirit and personality - he's a good guy. Hoping he and his wife can now do all the things they want to for traveling, etc. Happy Retirement Darrell!

Jalen was a busy boy in June. We got to spend time with him around Kalyn's baby shower and Haley and he spent some time in the pool at home, and other fun stuff. He's getting so big, every time we see him he's changed so much.

This week the repairs/upgrades on the kids bedroom were completed. It turned out really nice, much brighter than before which is what Melody was looking for. Emma felt that the bed needed to be tested so she took a nap up there to break in the new remodeling. Mia has tried to claim this as her bedroom now - we'll see how that works out down the road :-).

To help keep cool this summer, Mia has a splash pad in her backyard now. It looks like a fun way to cool down and keep busy - plus it waters the lawn! Can't beat that!

Now that the deck is finished, we can get back to gardening again on the back porch. Things are blooming like crazy and we have a bunch of color all around. Since transplanting the Texas hibiscus, its started re-growing and is blooming which is good to see. I'm trying some other plants in pots and we'll see if they make it through the summer. The Black Eyed Susan's are going crazy which is neat the flowers are so big.

So the rebuild of the deck began this week - the entire deck foundation is being rebuilt due to wood rot and water damage over the years. They are also installing some air vents for the deck foundation to allow for air flow to help things dry out better going forward. The connections to the house foundation will be re-enforced and flashing installed to help direct water away from the beams. New updated decking will be installed that don't require screws - they snap into tracks so its seamless surface. It should be nice once its all finished.

All the Father's in the family checked in (one way or another) on Father's Day - we kept it low key at our house. Welcome to the Fatherhood club Tank - this is your first one!

Haley and Charlie have recently started doing these crazy forehead selfie shots where you try to capture an image from over your head and it blows your head up in size. Not sure what the point of all this is but I had to participate. We even got Jalen into the act as well. Hoping its just fad...

This weekend we hosted a baby shower for Kalyn and Mia to celebrate the coming arrival of the newest Maloney. This was a really big deal for Mia, given this is going to be Mia's baby :-). They got quite a hall from the event and had a really good turnout. It was a lot of fun with everyone here - nice way to prepare for the coming arrival - only a couple months away! After the event we went to Jerry's Pizza for dinner which was a good way to close out the day. Congratulations Kalyn and Mia!

So this week Charlie adopted a little gray tabby kitten and named him Oliver. He's a cute little booger. Their other cat doesn't know what to make of him so far so I hope they will get along. Time will tell...

So we're at a point where we need to decide on colors for the paint and carpeting in the kid's bedroom where we had the ceiling damage. We went to Lowes and Home Deport and checked out the color patterns, Melody wants to go with a yellow tone this time. Things are moving forward...

The pair of Purple Martins continues to use the nest in the car porch and I believe there's now little ones hatched. They are in and out of the next continuously so they must be feeding now. Late in the month I expect to see them as they grow. Its always fun to watch this process the birds go through each year. Wonder if this pair is the same ones from last year?

So when it rains it pours - literally. We've already has issues with the ceiling leak in the bedroom, and now the patio deck had become detached from the foundation and is sinking. Most likely this is due to water damage and the beam holders have likely rusted or water rotted away. We're going to work with the Contractor who is doing the bedroom repair work and get this fixed as well. The deck is over 15 years old so not surprised its time for an upgrade.

On Sunday Bubba came over and we celebrated his birthday with cake and presents. He's an outdoors man so his gifts were targeted more in that direction. Happy Birthday Bubba!

So this weekend we switched it up and we went to Kalyns house overnight. We were helping out with some preparations for the arrival of Jack in August. In the morning, I worked with Mia on a Home Depot kids project and we built a putting game for her dad for Father's Day. Mia got all decked out in her tool belt and safety glasses for the task - safety first ya know. in the afternoon we met up with Ken, Hadie and Colt over in Weatherford for Hibachi which was fun. We then went and had some yogurt at the shop across the freeway. Colt and Mia had fun goofing off together as always.

Mia came over for the weekend and we spent some time on patio gardening and planting. Mia had no problem picking the black berry bush clean of fruit they have recently been ripening so her timing was perfect. We planted some flowers, and she picked one of my apples from the new apple tree I got last month - a tree growing on a trellis. We then played with the toy space shuttle I got at Easter - its RC and runs all over the backroom floor. Its pretty fast if you try and outrun it! Just ask Mia!

Allison graduated from 8th grade this year and Maddie graduated from High School. Quite the achievements for each of them - definite milestones to remember. Congratulations to both of you!

Tex also graduated from Kindergarten this year - we went over to the Van Elementary school to attend the ceremony. They also had caps and gowns and got little advancement diplomas as part of the ceremony. Congratulations Tex!

At Mia's school, they had a little graduation ceremony for the kids who will be moving on to Kindergarten next year. They had little caps and gowns and I believe they got a certificate or something for advancement. A nice milestone for the kids. Congratulations Mia!

Violet made it through a first year of Kindergarten and had a blast. She's grown so much and she's one sharp cookie. She reads really well and does really well with all her activities. I think its been a good year for her in school - can't wait to see what next year will bring.

I caught some pictures tonight of the fountain/waterfall all lit up at dusk. The sound this things makes is very relaxing - I really like it. Nice addition to the patio.

So Mia's class had a little performance called "Around the World" and they sang and acted out a song created by their teacher (I believe?). Kalyn was able to attend and captured a short video. Very cute kids

The dogs love to snooze under my desk during the day a lot of the time. I usually have 1-3 foot warmers under there most days. As always, they are a big part of our daily routine, we have to attend to their snack needs, playtime, and of course bed time where they are the ultimate bed hogs. Not sure what we'd do without them.

We traveled up to Highland Village for Violet's Spring Dance Recital which was really good. The whole program had a Disney theme to it and all the routines were danced to Disney music. Violet's dance was to "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid. She (and the group) did a really good job - quite the toe tapper she is!

Jalen continues to grow and is 4 months old now. He keeps changing week by week. Haley and Tank are now in their routine so that helps. Looking forward to seeing them again soon, I think we'll be making a trip down to Sulfur in the near future.

We had an afternoon storm roll through our area and afterwards, there was a really nice sunset with the trailing clouds on the front that came through. Caught it at just the right time I think.

We have several bouquets in the house for Mother's Day - several persons sent some for the ladies in the house. Brightens up the place, don't you think? Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

Things are really starting to bloom around the yard and the patio so we're getting some really good color this year. I've planted some additional things in pots so we'll see how they do. the day lilies looked really good this year, and the other plants are taking off. I really enjoy all the colors - and I hope it brings in the humming birds and bees for the summer.

Its Spring and the Purple Martins have returned. A pair have taken up residence in the nest that was built some years ago in our car port. She looks to be getting ready to lay some eggs so we'll see what happens. Its always fun to watch the little ones develop and leave the nest.

Its taken almost 20 years but we have a plumbing issue in our bathroom tub. Started finding water around the bottom of the tub outside and it was coming from underneath the facade. I had that removed and we found that the faucet valve is leaking - calling a plumber to replace the part. Finding this is going to be fun, not sure they make these anymore, may need to switch out the whole faucet. We'll see...

We took another trip up to Fort Worth to take in another T-Ball game with Mia. Watching these little tikes try and play is interesting with a bunch of parents in the field trying to guide them around, and get them to pay attention and play their positions. Its organized chaos for sure. But, I wouldn't miss it for the world - good experience for these kids. they'll get it...

This is the first time in my life time that there's been a change to the Monarchy in Britain. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth earlier this year, her son Charles has assumed the throne as the next in line. Charles's son Prince William, who is now the Prince of Whales is the next in line behind Charles. I do have respect for the pageantry around the monarchy, they've been rocked by scandals and such during my life time which is sad, but I guess every family has its issues, its just theirs is made so public.

Its that time of year again where the school year is coming to a close and we have to recognize the different accomplishments for the year - this time its the sports aspect. Charlie played in only 1 sport this year; Basketball. This was the first year the team made it back to the playoffs in some time so it was special. Coach Brown did a good job pulling the group together and getting them to play as a team - Hoping this will carry over to next year and be just as competitive...

We traveled south down to Weslaco in the Rio Grande Valley to help celebrate Danny's birthday at their house. Danny and Nellie are now engaged and will be married next March. The party was held at the park that Nellie and Danny live in and family came in for the event as well as local family and friends from the park. It was a very nice party that Nellie put on for Danny, they even has a Mariachi Band show up and play music - they were really good. We continued to socialize until the sun went down and then a smaller group met up for dinner at a local Italian restaurant - Cortino's which is always good. Next morning we met with Nellie and Danny and the immediate family for breakfast in Weslaco before heading for home. It was a good weekend trip. Happy Birthday Danny!

Seems like its become a tradition now that kids when they become seniors will have some personal photo shoots to outline their personality and important things they want to celebrate or recognize before ending their high school days. I think its a cool way to sum up this point in their life given this is an important milestone to remember. Maddie's going to be going to A&M Commerce up in Greenville, TX so she's showing off that aspect of her next ambitions. Looks like a good set of photos to remember this point in time. Good luck Maddie!

Charlie and his friends all met up for pre-Prom pictures in Athens at the Arboretum. Charlie was going to the Prom with Kiley and Mack and his date, and another friend and his date. Not sure where they got the car for the background but I like the color. Everyone looked pretty spiffy in their duds and from all reports, they had a good time. Time marches on...

So we planned to have some of the kids over for Easter after events at their house in the morning. Everyone showed up around lunch time and we started the festivities. the Easter Bunny had baskets for the little ones and we BBQ'd some pulled pork and hot dogs for lunch. We also snuck in a late family recognition of my birthday (ie. the NASA cake). Things got set up for the backyard egg hunt and the competition was on. Tex, Mia, Remi all looking for eggs furiously. Autumn brought a friend with her who had a son so we had a new member to the troupe today. Once all the eggs were found, we got out the confetti eggs and the kids got to smash them on each other and the parents - its messy but they sure do like to do this. Even the dogs got some eggs on them. It was a good Easter celebration with everyone.

This month Rick has been working with Violet to learn to ride her bike. The training wheels came off and things got serious :-). She picked it up pretty quick from what I've been told and we got to see her actually ride it while on Face Time - Congratulations Violet on this important milestone! Just remember, when you fall off the bike you just need to get back on and keep peddling!

Rick's work requires him to travel to clients sometimes and this month he made a trip to Chicago to meet up with a co-worker and visit a client. As part of the trip, he and his co-worker took in a Chicago White Sox game on the South Side. I believe its still known as Cominsky Park and has pin wheels on the top of the scoreboard. Its cool to be able to see things like this when on a business trip. I hope to go there one day - its on my bucket list to visit and see a game at each of the MLB stadiums.

Mia decided to play T-Ball this year and she is going to play on the Yankees. We made a trip over to watch one of her games. She's one of the younger kids and is still learning the basics. She can throw and hit, and knows how to field for the most part. Its interesting to notice the difference between boys and girls at this age. You can tell by how they handle themselves in the field. She seems to enjoy playing and does pretty well - I think she has enough coordination that she could hit from someone pitching to her but they make them use a T - wish they didn't, starts bad habits I think.

So, we unexpectedly found that our AC drain got plugged up and caused a water leak which destroyed part of the ceiling in the spare bedroom. Nice. insulation and wet dry wall was everywhere and soaked ans stained the carpeting as well. We called out a AC guy and they fixed/converted the drain to a safety switch that will kill the AC if the water level reaches a specific point. this should help going forward. We got an estimate on the repair work and worked with a local contractor for the repair work. Hoping to get it done by next month - Melody wants some upgrades so this is now a project more than just a repair job.

Jalen continues to grow and is continuously changing. He's going through the thinning hair process this month it seems. Haley made it down for Easter so he got to spend time with Papi and Memaw which is nice, and we went over and stopped in to say hi one evening. Jalen and Charlie have an interesting relationship - they seem to like to stare at each other. I hope they converse at some point :-)

We made our way up to another soccer game for Violet. The Dolphins continue to play well and be competitive. Violet really seems to like soccer and is pretty good at it. She occasionally scores and gets along with her team mates well. Rick continues to coach which he seems to like and he does well with the kids.

April is really the start of spring and things start growing. We got off to a good start in April with many blooms and planting additional things to get some color going. As usual, we made our annual spring visit to Hand Nursery and Lowes and Home Depot to pick out new flowers. Miracle Grow is your friend and I use it religiously. I've found that i get more blooms and foliage on the plants when I do use it, usually once a week. Enjoy the color, hoping the humming birds and butterflies do! We also ended up getting a new waterfall fountain at Calloway's and put it on the back porch. Our other fountain finally gave out and was leaking so it went bye bye. This new waterfall fountain has a really nice sound to it.

This is Maddie's senior year so of course, she's going to the Prom. She and her escort (I will need to get his name) took some good photos together, I'm assuming they had a good time at the event as well.

Today we traveled over to Fort Worth and picked up Mia and headed for the zoo. Wanted to see the new Elephant enclosure that has opened since we were here last time - Elephant Springs. They have a new baby elephant on display now too (Brazos I think?). We made our way around and saw many animals - unfortunately the Giraffes weren't eating so we couldn't feed them but we got to see them. There was a new baby giraffe as well - very young. And some sort of large vulture bird in the giraffe area - hadn't seen these birds before that I recall. We rode the train, the merry-go-round, and spent time in the Texas Farm animal area which was fun for Mia. We then got some tattoos, and then finished things up with the gorillas and the flamingos. We then went back to Kalyn's house just in time to get some hail. Crazy weather this time of year in Texas. It was a fun day all around.

There was an Art Show being put on in Athens at the Arboretum and Charlie entered one of his paintings from the sessions that we did with Mr. Vic at Hobby Lobby. There were several different art types on display, which reminded me of the State Fair and all the different art projects they show there. Charlie's paining ended up getting a blue ribbon which was nice. I really liked some of the quilt work that was on display there - really nice patterns.

Jalen is now 2 months old and so much has happened to him so far. He was born, his parents got married, and he got to meet most of his extended family over the past week or so. He's a real cutie and it was fun to get to spend some time with him at the recent wedding. Looking forward to watching him grow!

Ken was asked to be the photographer for Haley and Tank's wedding and as usual, he did a fabulous job. These are the official photos from the event that were given to Haley and Tank.

Well the day has arrived. We got up early and headed over to the venue to finish off setting up the wedding ceremony area with chairs and decorations, finish off any last prep needed in the reception hall, and then everyone hustled to get ready for ceremony. We went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and dressed, and then headed back again. Ken spent the day around the venue taking pictures of everything, he was the official photographer. Festivities got started on time and Haley looked beautiful. All the flower girls were in their glory with sun glasses and such. The ceremony was simple and straight forward - George was the officiator and did a great job.

Once the ceremony was complete, guests headed for the reception hall and the wedding party took additional pictures. The we all gathered in the reception hall for food and fun. There was a DJ playing all kinds of music, and all the families got out there and had a good time. All in all, it was a very special day - Best wishes for a long life together Haley and Tank!

On Sunday Charlie and I went into Dallas to visit the Perot Museum and in particular, to the the Pixar animation exhibit that's been on display. Charlie may have an interest in computer animation or something after High School so we thought this may be a good thing to check out. The Pixar exhibit was really good, and this being our first time to the museum, I found the other sections to be pretty interesting as well. A Good Dinosaur display and the science sections was pretty cool as well. The also have a Hunt family display which had some KC Chiefs and Dallas FC memorabilia on display. All in all, it was a good adventure.