Hoppy Easter 2014

Easter started off with an Easter egg hunt for the kindergarten class at the local park.  We were on our way out of town that morning but were able to stop by and see Presley hunt eggs.  It was an amazing sight as we watched about sixty kids move down the field like lawn mowers picking up the hundreds of eggs.  It looked like it only took about a minute to do it, too.

2014 was Jordan, Ashley, and Leighton's turn to be in Hamilton for Easter.  Jennifer, Toby, Taylor and Presley joined us for Easter lunch as well as our good friends Bubba and Shirley.  After lunch the kids had another Easter egg hunt in the back yard but with all the things going on we didn't do a very good job of capturing it with pictures.

This was Nana's.  Grand kids learn quickly it has jellybeans in it!

Anxiously awaiting the start!

Easter tree with egg garlands from Annie's Noonday Collection.

The girls watching The Wizard of Oz!  Looks like they were scared of the wicked witch!

Our Denver family after church in Littleton, Colorado.

Annie, Jane, Jack and Jeremy

Leighton Turns Three

We didn't have any good ideas this year for Leighton's birthday.  Jordan and Ashley thought she might want a swing added to her fort so we decided that was a great idea.  So, we went up one Saturday to get a swing built before her birthday.

She's excited!  A trampoline from her Mom and Dad.

Leighton is making friends with her neighbor.

She likes to go feed this goat some grass through the fence!

Helping Dad find some swing parts at Lowes.

Oops!  Looks like rain coming! 

Finished product!  Yea, she likes it.

Leighton had a pony birthday party with many friends and family at the end of March (a day after they moved into their house).  It was a fun day of riding ponies and a hay ride.  Later, Jordan got all of us to put the trampoline together while we were there.  We think it was planned!

Jordan and Ashley finally were able to move into their new house.  And here is one of the most important rooms in the house, Leighton's play room.

Wounded Warriors and Medal of Honor Recipients

For the past few years Hamilton has hosted a Wounded Warrior event to honor those that have bravely served our country and have been wounded in action.  This year's program at the local airport featured several planes from past conflicts as well as several helicopters which were used to allow any of these veterans to go feral hog hunting.  In addition, we were treated to a sky diving show and a few locals were able to tandem jump with the professionals.

Some of the elementary classes attended so I went out and met Taylor for the day.  This kind of thing is right up his alley and he and I had a great time looking at the planes, going aboard for a tour, and watching the sky diving.  However the highlight of the day for us was getting to meet three recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor.  I think there are currently only 80 living winners of the award, the highest United States military honor that is given. We visited with Donald Ballard who served in Vietnam as a medic and was cited for his bravery during a mission in the Quang Tri province.  It was an informative day for both of us and reminded us of the importance of honoring those that have served this country.

A Random Look At The Remainder of February

 In the interest of time here are a few random pictures from February of various activities.

Nothing pleases Taylor more than lunch with his Pawpaw and Bebe.

 Presley all dressed up for a Valentine party at Circle T.

 Presley, Maya and Lou posing for the camera.

 Listening intently to Mrs. Kneuper's instructions on returning to school.

 Time to get the garden ready for spring.

 Birthday girl Presley turns six.  This year it's been horses and guitars!

 A couple of cone headed dorks that showed up for the party.

 Pretty Presley in her Ariel dress.

Taylor wanted to eat lunch outside in the "fort".  The guy ate two burgers!

Remembering Ronnie

Ronnie was once married to Beverly's sister Deborah.  They married April 4, 1969 and Deborah died at age 26 from a congenital heart condition.  Ronnie and Deborah were married for six years.  She died in late September and we married three months later on her birthday, December 27, 1975.  For a while we stayed in contact but over time we all went our separate ways.  So, it was a shock to learn of his death this past February.  We regret not keeping up with his life over the years.  It's another one of those things that you say you aren't going to do, but over time, you get too busy with your own life and things fall through the cracks.

Some time you get the feeling that things are just meant to happen a certain way.  This was one of those times.  We have been going through Beverly's late parent's things over the past two years and one day Beverly decided to sort through some of her sister's things.  That night, about 11:00 p.m. while she was still going through a lot of keepsakes, I decided, for some unknown reason, to check the Stephenville obituaries, as I often do and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ronnie's obituary and the funeral was the next day! You think God had a part in that?

It was a wonderful service and we were able to visit with old friends and get reacquainted with new family members.  Ronnie had remarried and we met his sweet wife and son and daughter.  But now almost 40 years later, Ronnie is at rest, next to Deborah.