Catching Up--One year At A Time!!

Hey everyone!  We are back after nearly a year's absence.  Most of 2012 was a blur, a continuation from one thing to the next.  Some were great, like the birth of another grandson in Denver.  But, on the other hand it was a tremendously sad year marked by the passing of both of Beverly's parents within the span of a couple of months.  You are never prepared to lose your parents but to lose both so quickly took a toll on her and our family.

We hadn't even looked at the blog for months, but last night we decided to go back and review the entire blog contents. It brought back so many fun memories and pictures that we made the decision to get back into it.  It at least gives you a journal of things you have done over the past and captures it for the future.  So, we will try and catch up the past year and vow to stay current.  But this may take a while this time!

Starting in March we took a little trip to Denver.  We went, of course, to see the kids, especially since Jeremy and Annie were expecting their second child in May.  We wanted to spend time with Jane before her little brother arrived and do a little sight seeing, too.  Then we found out that Ree Drummond, also known as the Pioneer Woman, was going to be in nearby Littleton, Colorado promoting her latest cookbook at a book signing!  It was a good opportunity to buy her book and have her sign it.  She seems to be a down to earth rancher's wife, easy to relate to and really a funny speaker.  It took awhile to get through the long line but thanks to some luck, we were able to move up in line and cut a few hours off the wait.  It was really good to meet her and she even sent Danny a Drummond Ranch cap!

On a little different note, Jeremy took us to see the Columbine Memorial.  It is a beautiful tribute to those killed in the shootings at the Columbine High School in Littleton in 1999.  The memorial is near a park that overlooks the school and is a touching reminder of those that were killed.  If you are ever in the area you should go and see it.  We also took a look at the Colorado Judicial Center that Jeremy has been working on for the past couple of years.  It is going to be a beautiful  building and we are proud that he has been instrumental in designing the bottom floor and the rails around the balconies.

In April we had a lunch and Easter egg hunt at church.  Taylor and Presley had a good time and of course collected way too many goodies!  We attended Presley's preschool program and Jordan, Ashley and Leighton came to Hamilton for a visit and we enjoyed the pretty weather and getting out and playing with the grand kids.  Unfortunately Beverly's  dad collapsed at their apartment on April 17.  We spent the remainder of the month with him in several hospitals.  Ironically, it was just a week earlier that we had taken both her mom and dad to the doctor for checkups and everything was fine.

He eventually had to have a pacemaker.  He ended up getting a staph infection in his blood and was not able to overcome it and died on Mother's Day, May 13.  It was a shock to our entire family, especially since we had been preparing for the reality that Beverly's mother had a lot of health problems that weren't going to get any better.  It was a beautiful service and we are thankful for all of the support from our friends and family.

But, for every life that ends, another one begins.  Jack Paton Phillips was born May 12 to Jeremy and Annie and big sister Jane in Denver.  So, as soon as we were able, we headed to Denver again to see the latest addition to the family.  He is a precious, big boy!  He weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs , 11 ounces!  He was so cute and cuddly and helped us to not think about our sadness so much.  While there, we were able to help Jeremy install some new energy efficient windows in their house.

Jeremy and Annie always want to show you the sights when you come to visit.  On this visit we went west of Denver to hike up to St. Mary’s glacier.  It is actually a perpetual ice field but the scenery when you get there is well worth the effort.  Jeremy took Jane along with us but Annie and Jack stayed behind.  It was a rocky climb but as you reach the top it levels out to a beautiful alpine lake and the first views of the ice field.  It gave us some great opportunities for pictures.

In addition, Jeremy had arranged for a tour of the Judicial Center for us.  With hard hats and safety vests in tow, he gave us a wonderful behind the scenes tour of the project that he has been working on for a couple of years.  We are especially proud of the columbine (Colorado’s state flower) design in the rotunda floor and the ornate railing around the upper floors since Jeremy designed them.  He also showed us the justice’s chambers, court rooms and then he took us up on the roof.  It overlooks the state capitol building and has plants growing up there but will not be open to the public.  We were very lucky to be able to get this private tour.  We had lunch at Denver’s oldest restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange.  It hold’s liquor license Number 1 in Colorado but we went there for the great food!  It has an interesting history and we recommend it if you are ever in the area.

 

In June, Beverly’s mom passed away, only six weeks after her Dad.  She had been suffering from a multitude of illnesses that were just too much for her frail little body.  She had Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and melanoma and the combination of all three of them, but especially the melanoma took her from us too quickly.  We were thankful that she knew all of us up until the very end and we were there with her when she died.   Jeremy and Annie and the kids were able to come for the funeral so we had a few days to be with them and get to know Jack a little better.  During all of this time, we were also busy in the pecan orchard spraying, irrigating and mowing so the summer was pretty busy for us.

The remainder of the summer was spent working in the orchard and taking care of all the little things that come up following the death of two parents.  We spent many days going through everything in Beverly’s parent’s house, being sure that we had everything we needed out of the house before we sold it.  In addition, we worked on “staging” the house according to some ideas the real estate agent gave us.  We saw Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder at the 4th of July in the park at Stephenville.  In August, Danny had surgery on his hand at Scott and White in Temple to remove a cyst.

Beverly’s parent's house sold in September which brought about a hurried and hectic few weeks trying to get everything out of the house.  We thought we had someone that was going to do an estate sale for us, but at the last minute he backed out!  So, between the two of us and Beverly's brother John and his wife, we did the sale ourselves.  Luckily we found a young man that would come and take everything that didn’t sell.  It was a relief in one way to sell the house and so sad in another way to let it go.  It had been Beverly’s home since she was in about the seventh grade.  It has been especially difficult for her to see it sell.

We decided to make a third trip to Denver in September since we had sold the house and it was before the pecan harvest started.  In addition we wanted to see a display at the Denver Art Museum on Flight.  It featured Fentress Architects, the firm that Jeremy works for, and their contribution in the design of several of the world’s most interesting airports.  We enjoyed the exhibit which featured airports in Denver, Seattle, San Jose, and the one in Korea.  We also went back to Buckhorn Exchange for lunch!  It’s becoming a tradition.

Jeremy and Annie gave Beverly her birthday present- dinner reservations for two at The Fort, a nice restaurant on the west side of Denver.  We had a great time, wonderful food and unique atmosphere.  It’s a little pricey, but I bet we go back whenever we can.

During the week, we helped Jeremy trim back some of his trees around the house but after a week long stay it was time to head back to Texas.  We stopped in Colorado Springs at the U.S. Air Force Academy so that we could go to the gift shop and pick up a few things for Taylor’s birthday.  He is convinced that he is going to go to the Academy after high school and hey, he just might do it.

The fall was filled with lots of work in the pecan orchard as the harvest began in early October and ended right before Christmas.  We have managed the orchard for the past five years but decided that this would be our final year.  We have enjoyed it but there are a lot of things we would like to do and the orchard takes a lot of time, especially in the fall.  This will give us a chance to travel a little if we want to and with the grand kids getting older and more involved in lots of activities, we want to be able to go see them.  We also have a list of things that need doing around here, too.

For instance, we have been working on the completion of the front bathroom for, well, lets just say, way too long.  We finally have the new LED lighting installed, the new vanity and granite top in and we are finishing the painting and trim.  More time should give us the opportunity to get some of these projects finished.

The entire family was here for Christmas and we had a great time.  The grand kids are getting old enough to play and entertain each other and it was fun to watch.  In January the County Stock Show was held and Presley showed in the Pee Wee swine division and Taylor showed his Angus heifers and 4 steers.  He made the premium sale and will show at Ft. Worth later.

Whew!!  If you are still with us after all of those pictures, thanks for hanging in there.  We hope to stay up to date in the future.  Hope you have a great year in 2013!!