Elephant Walk

These elephants were a part of the traditional “Elephant Walk” at Texas A&M University.  It is a long time tradition and if I tried to explain the tradition it would sound even more silly than it is.  It has to do with the graduating seniors being as useless as an elephant and the juniors moving up to take their place.  Anyway, there were two elephants just a short distance from my work where the students could get their photo taken with them.  The trainer was giving lots of interesting information about elephants and you could feed them and get really close to them.  Steve and I took a morning break at work and stopped by to see them.

Alexander’s 10th Anniversary

Shauna and Mark’s love story starts way back in sixth grade.  At the end of that school year, Shauna said that she was “going with” Mark Alexander.  At the time I didn’t think much of it…they were only 12 years old at the time!  At the end of the summer I asked Shauna if she was still “going with” Mark and her reply was “I don’t know…I haven’t talked to him all summer!”  Well, that began a casual “I like you” relationship through 7th and 8th grade and by 9th grade they were boyfriend/girlfriend.

This photo is from Homecoming 1993 when Mark and Shauna were in 10th grade.  They continued to date through high school with only a brief break-up during their freshman year in college. November 26, 1999 was their wedding day.  And here we are ten years later…thankful for a very happy marriage and two beautiful children.  May the Lord continue to bless your marriage.

Kansas Hunting Trip

This year’s Kansas hunting trip bagged some birds, but also found the guys keeping busy with other activities.  Steve and DeWayne Taylor were found:

• shopping at a hunting supply store (lusting over new guns)
• going to a land auction
• eating multiple times at Big Ed’s
• harvesting soybeans and corn
• hunting for pheasant!
• playing Scattergories
• enjoying fellowship with brother Sam and family

This is a picture of our beautiful land in Kansas.

  The mighty hunters….They said they saw lots of pheasant.There was a snowstorm on Sunday, but they braved the elements and went hunting anyway!

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like…..

I know, I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving, but in the interest of time management I helped Melissa put up her tree and begin to decorate her house for Christmas!  While Steve was in Kansas hunting, I went down to Houston to visit David and Melissa.  Since they are going to be out-of-town for the next two weekends we went ahead and decorated.It kind of got me in the mood to maybe get out a few things next weekend and begin the process at my house as well.  Not too much will go up before Thanksgiving, but it really made me realize that the holidays are upon us.  First things first though….I need to be prepared for all my company at Thanksgiving.  So much to do, so little time.

Happy 9th Anniversary

Heather and Kevin have quite a long history.  I remember distinctly in 1989 when Heather came home from spending the night with her friend Tiffany announcing that she really liked someone.  “Who”, of course was the question, to which she promptly answered, “Kevin”.  I said “You mean Tiffany’s younger brother?”…..and here we are 21 years later.  The photo below is from Homecoming, October 1991.  Heather was a sophomore and Kevin a freshman in high school.  Heather was soon to be 16 in December and Kevin was turning 15 that month.  They look so young!Here is the happy couple on their wedding day, November 11, 2000.  The years between their early dating and their wedding are quite a story.  There is no doubt that God saw their end from their beginning, because many years in-between would not have given a clue that they would end up together.

And here they are nine years and three children later.  Their lives fuller than could be imagined so many years ago.  Our hope and prayers are for many more years together.  Happy Anniversary!

Kum bay ya

Singing songs around the campfire is a great childhood memory.  With the fabulous cool weather, we decided to have a campfire and cookout last weekend.  The Hodge family joined us for the evening.Austin and Nathan were Papa’s helpers in getting the fire started.  They helped with adding newspaper and some small sticks.

Ty and his dad took advantage of the waning light to play some football. Nathan paused with his sweet smile for the camera. The fire was toasty warm and the kids are always fascinated by it.

We roasted hot dogs and toasted marshmallows for s’mores.  They were delicious.  We are hoping to share a another campfire with the family around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Male Bonding

Steve always said that the best father-daughter bonding time was when he and the girls worked together.  Melissa especially has some very fond memories of helping her dad with outside work. This past weekend Steve asked our grandson, Austin, to come over on Saturday morning to help him clear and burn some brush.  Don’t know what they are looking at here.  I caught them for a photo while on break from their work.Steve had a pretty good brush fire going.Austin also made sure the flocks of blackbirds didn’t stay long in our trees…..don’t worry this was just a BB gun.Austin enjoys being outside and his papa enjoys having him around to help.  There will be more chances for some bonding this winter.