We're On Our Own

Jon and Kelly left for Mexico early (5:00 a.m.) this morning, so Payne, Jackson and I are on our own until Sunday night.

The day starts before sun-up around here but it sure makes for a beautiful sight as we were eating breakfast.

Payne and I dealt with the pigs this morning; we gave Jack more breakfast eating time today...but wait until tomorrow! I may get my degree in "swineology" while I'm here...yesterday I got to witness the little piggies getting their tails cut off.

When the boys got home from school yesterday, they got to hold a couple of the tails so I could take a picture.

Spot seemed ready for a photo op, so I obliged him, or her, or it...I'm not sure...nor do I really care.

But back to today...we got everything done that was need to do before school and off we went. I came back and walked "on the dirt road" and it's just 9:00a.m. So I have plenty of time to work on my list of things to do today...running errands, going to lunch, calling a repairman, mending, etc. Soon it will be time to pick up the boys and do the afternoon routine. Maybe I'd better rest while I can!

Sunday

This morning Jon and Mike did not join us for church...they had to repair a fence that the cows had removed and had gotten out! The rest of us had a wonderful time at church and then went to lunch before Payne and Jackson had baseball games. Payne pitched, played 3rd and 1st. Jackson's team left most of the players in their same position and Jack was in center field. They both played well...Payne even had an in the park home run!

After we got home, Jon and Payne cooked us some delicious hamburgers for supper before they had to work with the pigs.

We're in Texas

We flew to Corpus yesterday and quickly got involved in Odem's Homecoming. We missed the parade but got to go to the Homecoming pep rally that was held in the football stadium. The senior football players spoke, there were cheers from cheerleaders, the nominees were introduced, etc.
Here are Payne and Jackson after school.

We got to see their new pigs that they will raising to "show" this winter. Payne had to give the 10 pigs shots for worms. Jon held the pig, Mike filled the syringe and Payne "shot".

We went to the football game and the Odem Owls beat the Poth Pirates.

This morning, Saturday, we left at 6:00a.m. for College Station and the Texas A&M -Army football game. Payne and Kelly did not go..they had to stay for a 4H banquet that started before we returned.

The fly-over today were Apache helicopters and we also had 4 Black Knights parachute guys come to the 50yard line of the field. What a sight!

The Aggies won the game 21-17 but the best part of the game was half-time and the Aggie band. I didn't want to put another picture of the block T so I'm showing the HUGE flag that was unfurled for Military Appreciation Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RHEAGAN

Today is Rheagan's 9th birthday. Wow! That's hard to believe. Karen has a very good picture on her blog, but this is what I took at school this morning.



Happy Birthday, Rheagan

I need to learn how to get her to tilt her head so that there's no glare off of her glasses.

Pre-Birthday Party

Tonight we got together with Rheagan for a pre-birthday party...too much going on Thursday...the real day! We had a great time at a Mexican restaurant with wonderful family and friends as well as good food.

It's hard to believe that she will be 9 in two days!

FALL is Here

Today is the first day of Fall and our temperatures are beginning to show it. Our lows this week will be in the mid to upper 50s and the highs will be in the middle to high 70s. Here are some pictures from past Falls and I know we'll have beautiful colors again this year.

Enjoy the new season...open a window or 2 if you can...air out your house...just enjoy!

Disappointing Loss

We drove to College Station this morning and met Kelly along with Liz, Payne, Colin, Jackson and Zane and went to the A&M campus. Jon is in Indiana getting pigs! The boys enjoyed playing on some of the blowup activities that were there.


After watching the band and the corps march in, we went into the stadium.

The fly-over today was by F18s...boy were they loud!

The game started off well...

but the final results did not go the Aggies way...Miami won 41-23.

Back in Texas

This morning we drove to Birmingham to catch a plane for Houston. We landed around noon and met Mark, Sonya and Elizabeth at Mo's for a delicious bar-b-que lunch. We dove into our food too quickly for me to get a picture. (David was working with a landscaping crew cleaning up yards, so we missed seeing him.) Mark took sandwiches, sides and dessert back to about 50 volunteers at Second Baptist Church (north campus) who were getting the church ready for week end services.

While we were visiting after we finished eating, a group of Border Patrol people came in and we learned that they were here to give assistance to the local group. They were from Miami, Tampa, NYC, and New Jersey and were told to come and get some great food! One of them was taking a variety of pictures for his blog!

When we left there, we stopped by Sam's Club to get some books to read and then went to Kingwood to see some of the damage from Hurricane Ike that hit last Saturday. WOW! There had been many hours spent cleaning up but so much left to be done.

This Taco Bell obviously isn't ready for any customers! Most of Kingwood did not have power as of his afternoon. None of the traffic lights were not working so they were like 4-way stops.

We then drove into some of the neighborhoods. Many of the homes had people working cleaning up the debris or already had their trees and leaves cleaned up and out to the curb ready to be picked up. Others were still in a state of disaster such as this house where we stopped and visited with the owner.

He and his wife were watching TV last Sat. morning when a tree fell on their roof and caused a roof member to come through a wall very close to where they we sitting. (This picture shows it after they had cut the lower half of it off.)

The force of the blow from the tree caused the house to shift on its foundation as you can see from the porch shot.

We continued to drive around and came to another house that we thought deserved a picture.

So much clean up has taken place and so much left to be done. Now these people need electricity.

We found our hotel, checked in ,and went to What-A-Burger for supper. One thing about the room, it has a cloud mural painted on the ceiling.

But considering all of the people needing rooms in this area...those from the coast who can't go back home yet and those from here who don't have electricity and can't or won't stay in their house...we are fortunate to have a room...even with the clouds and stars!

New Template

Fall is coming and I decided to change to a more appropriate theme. Hope it comes across OK.

Hurricane Ike

Please keep the people in the path of Hurricane Ike in your prayers for the next couple of days. Kelly and her family in Odem were spared when he turned and went on a more northerly route. But that leaves friends in the Houston area and family in Lufkin and Tyler who will still be in the path for winds and rains.

The hurricane has landed and is moving into East Texas. (This is Sat. morning.)

9-11

Let us not forget.

Heading Home

Another great breakfast at the hotel and then we enjoyed a few minutes in the wonderful 55 degree temperature while we were dealing with the rental car. The check in and security at Sunport, the Albuquerue airport went smoothly and since there in free Wi-Fi in the airport, I am able to write and send this before we get home!
We have had a great time here; we've seen some beautiful scenery, learned more about our country, eaten wonderful food, won a football game, and met some interesting people along the way.
But now it's back to the real world...whatever and where everthat may be. Hurricane Ike is making his presence known, but the family in South Texas doesn't want or need a visitor right now!

Sunday

This morning, after we ate breakfast at the hotel, we had to wait around so Mike could check in on line for our flight in the morning. We then went to Eastern Hills Baptist Church for their traditional service at 10:45 a.m. This is a church that has an active membership of about 350 according to what the pastor said. There was about 100 or so people in our service, most of whom were older that us! The music was good and he pastor preached on unity among Christians using Acts 2 as his scripture.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw a Whataburger, and Mike had to pull in! We weren't planning on eating lunch today...just an early supper. Oh, well, so much for those plans!

We had a short rest before going to the Sandia Mountains and taking a Tram to the peak. The tram is the longest in the world(2.7 miles) and it takes some 15 minutes to take the ride up some 5,000 feet. Once there we walked around enjoying the beauty of the area. Interestingly, the west side of the mountain is a hot desert area with steep slopes and granite outcroppings. However the east side has gentle slopes, ski runs, much cooler temperatures, and dense forests. After a couple of hours, we took the tram back down to the bottom of the mountain and made our way back to Albuquerque.

We were on the mountain during the time when the restaurant up there, High Finance, was between meals, so we ate after we came down...Mexican again, for the last time. The Carne Asada enchiladas as well as the beef tostados were very good.

Here is the sunset from our 2nd story room.

Happy Birthday, Mack

Today is a very important milestone for our son-in-law who is celebrating the big ....just put the number of people in his immediate family with a 0 and you'll have it! Have a great day, Mack...hit 'em straight!

A Ray of Sunshine

Before we get to the "ray of sunshine", let me tell you what we did prior to the football game. After another wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we went to Old Town Albuquerque.


We took a tour of the area on a bicycle carriage with a very informative guide. The Old Town was a walled city, founded in 1706, and was 5 blocks deep and 3 blocks wide. There was only one road in and out of the city...sort of a gated community but with no gate.

The church was built in 1793 after the original adobe one was collapsed in a rain storm. It has been in use continuously since the time it was built...the oldest church in America with continuous services.

We walked around the plaza where we saw many Aggies who were taking advantage of a little culture before the game. We shopped, listened to music and then ate another meal of Mexican food! We saw a group of Navajo gentlemen who had been Code Talkers during World War II. They were signing books and shirts.

We then went to the University of New Mexico--Texas A&M football game. Here are some pictures of the scenes we saw before and during the game. The final score was the "ray of sunshine" ...28-22. It was really not as close as the score would indicate.

We had eaten enough Mexican food for a while, so we stopped for a Lottaburger, which was very similar to an In and Out burger or a Whataburger. The addition that made it unique was the green chili sauce that was added to it...very tasty.