Utah visit - First days photos

Utah visit - First days photos

As we took our first full day here on the Mountain to recover from two long days in the car on the road across (MO, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CO?!?*, and UT, I decided to take some photos around the house. Larry had just uploaded some photos on Facebook of the big equipment they brought in to 'finish' the retaining wall by the garage. They built it out about ten feet, about 12 feet high, of boulders, big and small and lots of fill dirt, as well. They also widened the driveway and finally got a good gravel topping on the driveway. Very nice!

Here is one view of the rock wall:

Turning around, and looking at the rock wall more closely:

Going back down toward the end of the drive, looking back, to get a long view:

Above, you get a bit of a view of the widened drive, as well as the little 'indent' were the water and elecrical boxes are. It also turned out to be an ideal parking spot for the newest 'member of the family' - the RZR ATV. See below!

A closer look up by the garage:

Very impressive construction work by Jackson Excavating!

Larry has also been doing a fine job on the sidewalks and drainage areas:

I got up out of my chair (then took the photos), while Annette and Nancy went to town to get some groceries, and Larry was off on an errand, because of the birds making a lot of noise outside. Some of the Jays had decided to descend.

Larry returned from the post office in the ATV so I 'captured' his arrival to show where it was parked.

*Colorado is not normally on our itinerary, but Nancy had the TomTom GPS out, 'checking it out,' and it told us to north "too soon" in Arizona. We ended up going my the four corners monument! Into Colorado and then back west into Utah. I still prefer my own maps, thank you very much! ;-)


This evening, Annette and Larry went to a private party - invitation only - at the new Saddlery Cowboy Steakhouse Bar and Grill in Torrey. It opens to the public tomorrow. I caught them in their 'cowboy' attire, in front of the fireplace, as they were leaving:

More adventures tomorrow!  ;-)

Alex's week-early Birthday Celebration

Alex's week-early Birthday Celebration

Before we get to the "Birthday Celebration" we need to finish up the Saturday activities.

Here is the "Star Name Tag" Alex wore in the Math Pentathlon competition - the 5 star points representing the 5 games they compete in during the meet.

Alex came away with a bronze medal - Ben said that medals are awarded to about the top quartile of the 650 students competing. Alex didn't get the highest, didn't get the lowest in that range. Well done!  We are all proud of his work - and his Mom and Dad, as well! ;-)

Later on Saturday, Ben and Alex worked on a rocket to take to the big Municipal Park to fire one day.

Kaylee is generally very good, but from time to time not; here she is sulking over her food - she did eventually eat is... just has her times. How about that face?  ;-)

Later, about bedtime, she went to sleep watching television... isn't she sweet?!  ;-)

OK, on to the "8th Birthday" event - the ice cream cake decoration...

The candles are lit - and they were blown out... Kaylee actually let Alex do it, this year!

Kaylee wrote Alex's name on his card from her...

Alex liked the Target card (and Scooby Doo DVD) from aunt Allison. ;-)

Grandpa and Grandma Smith won't be here the following week after his actual birthday to help him celebrate his First Communion (his other Grandparents will be here then) so we wished Alex well with a special, combined gift he has been wanted: His own Kindle. He has become a very good reader and we want to encourage him. He is holding it up for Arrion to get the photo! ;-)

I have a few more photos of our visit, but this is enough for today, and a day late, at that. We go home on Wednesday. I'll share some more in another day or two.  ;-)

It has been a great week in Austin!  ;-)

A busy Saturday in Austin in April 2012

A busy Saturday in Austin in April 2012

Ben, Arrion, and Alex left early Saturday morning for the big Math Pentathlon contest in Austin, over 650 students from around the region competing. Arrion serves as coach and coordinator, Ben was a judge, and Alex was a participant as a second grader. Here they are, ready to go. Results, tomorrow.

Nancy and I got up early too, to look after Kaylee and get her to her Saturday Soccer practice and game. And, today was team and individual photo day. Nancy put Kaylee's hair in side ponytails, but the cold wind and sweater she needed to wear as we WAITED for photos to be taken took their toll.

Here is the team photo, from my camera (official photographer to my left); The Purple Dash, with coach Vince (Kaylee beside the coach):

Kaylee's individual photo, on my camera:

Kaylee was already for the team photo before some of the others...  ;-)

Little time left for practice, as photo-taking ran late; six teams on three fields.

Here, Coach Vince is encouraging Kaylee (center); short kid in black shorts is the one I mention below scoring goals... for both sides...  ;-)

Coaches meeting while Kaylee practices behind them; the blond boy was on our team, Cruz (hadn't changed his shirt to grey, yet), our most active and aggressive ball-mover - Kaylee probably second in that regard:

I didn't try to get any action shots. It was quite windy, and rather chilly. I think the score may have been a tie, with 3 or 4 goals between the teams. The little boy on the other team scored our first goal, going the wrong way. Then, he scored their goal, or two or three, going the right way. Kaylee nearly scored about three times, but the other kids blocked her each time. This seems to be the first time this season that a team had learned to block - Arrion thought it was against the rules of the league, when I told her, later. Guess she will find out next week!  ;-)

Before we left in the morning, Kaylee relaxed in her beanbag, watching cartoons.

Left over from Friday night, Ben and Kaylee playing:

Arrion and Alex preparing for the math games on Saturday!

And, finally, the sprinklers in the backyard. I'd never been up early enough before, to see the spinklers running... quite an experience, for me, all around!  ;-)

It was a good, busy day - in the afternoon, the four of them also had a Fun Run and Carnival at Clayton Elementary... Nancy and I went for a ride in the car south of Austin.  ;-)

April Arrival in Austin

April Arrival in Austin

Here are four photos to get us started for our Austin trip:

Alex came home from school with the Ninja head-dress!  ;-)

Kaylee came and sat beside me, to take a chocolate pudding break!  ;-)

Kaylee working on the iPad...  ;-)

Grandpa and Grandma took Kaylee to Little Gym, but we forgot the camera.

Here she still has her outfit on - she is getting long...  ;-)

Having a great visit!  ;-)

Grandkids visited Wed pm thru Sat

Grandkids visited Wed pm thru Sat

Beautiful weather as Arrion, Ben, Alex and Kaylee arrived from Springfield, IL, for last half of their Spring Break with us here at the cabin. This is mostly to share a few photos, some by Arrion, some by me.

We'll start off with a 'typical' Kaylee photo - sitting in Grandma's big chair, playing on the iPad!  ;-)

Alex, with his new 3DS handheld game, showing it to Grandma:

Kaylee with Allison in the back seat of the Van, going for a ride and dinner:

Alex and Allison.... .... ... .... 

We drove all the way down Highway 76 to see the tornado damage... and not... then to Bob Evans for our meal:

I usually get left out of these, but today, taking a photo of myself worked - not too bad!  ;-)

We went to the John Denver Tribute show with James Garrett, Randy Plummer and the rest of the band.

I got out the train for a bit. Here we are, playing with it [see also: http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/03/treasure-chest-thursday-alex-and-train.html]:

Alex playing Wii Animal Crossing - it was the favorite game, this visit:

Below, I picked off a few of the photos Arrion took in Springfield: Kaylee in the woods (behind Rathsack's house):

Alex at the Diner with his Route 66 Route Beer bottle:

These next photos are when they visited the Lincoln library site:

Alex is trying to read Abe's notes:

And, finally, a really good photo of Kaylee:

Had a great time during their visit to the cabin; we plan to go to Austin last of week of April, just before Alex's birthday.

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Leap Day Tornado and More

Leap Day Tornado and More

Well, we had a tornado pass through Branson, right down The Strip, about 1:30 am on Leap Day, February 29, 2012.

We only got a bit of rain from the system going through, and the following day was 70 and sunny, as the folks who had tornado damage began the cleanup and recovery process. In the afternoon, Nancy and I took a drive around, and took some photos. I'll share a couple here. More can be seen on my Examiner.com slide shows here, here and here. Probably the signature photo event was the high-rise Hilton Hotel attached to the Conventions Center in downtown Branson next door to Branson Landing. These will be featured in the third article (not yet published as I write this...).

Since I had the camera out and in the car, I captured a couple of new views of local construction projects, for the record and later comparison.

This is the OTC campus from the southeast - a much better point of view. They are digging a lot of rock and moving the rock around. I'm sure it will all make good sense in the long run.  ;-)

Across the US 65 (in the foreground, above), and directly north of the hill I'm on to take the above photo, is another 'pad' being prepared for, I assume, another set of strip shops, like those just beyond this now 'pad.' I haven't read or heard who is doing it, except that South Town is starting to grow, again.

Nancy continues her at home rehab by regularly walking up and down our back deck - since the weather is so nice. At Acute Rehab, they had her walking the 'length of a football field' - 300 feet. Our back deck is 30 feet, so 10 trips equals 300 feet. Sometimes she does 12, 15, or 20 trips, but mostly 10, sometimes twice a day. 

Today, she thought she saw movement in the birdhouse hanging along the back fence. Don't know if it was the wind, or a small bird inside. Would be nice if it were a bird. We'll keep an eye on it.

And, finally, before he died last year, Rex, next door, had mounted a skull on a tree in the woods. It is still there, and stands as a neat reminder of our good friend, Rex. His wife, Lita, has moved to a nursing home in town, and the daughter is suggesting the place will likely be put up for sale in the spring.  [They have shown it once, that I know of.]

Today, March 1, was a very good day - and not just because it was sunny and in the mid-70s!  ;-)