Happy Birthday To My Big Brother!

February 26 marks two important events in my life. Our only grand daughter turns one, and her great-uncle, my brother will celebrate his birthday as well. Lester Lee, alias Uncle Pester, Lester Bob, Plugger and Looney Lester will turn another year older and wiser. Being my older brother, Lester Lee has always been my mentor, teaching me the finer points of carpentry, plumbing, electricity and other not so formal skills such as philosophy, the art of falling off of a roof or out of a tree and not breaking a bone and the importance of a sense of humor. My big brother knows a lot about a lot of things. He was a well known wedding photographer in Tuscon, Arizona, an admired, successful elementary school teacher for over 30 years, a real estate developer (similar to Donald Trump), a ham radio operator and a funny uncle to our children.

I can't remember our early growing up years together, which is my memory's fault, until he went off to college at Abilene Christian College, which is now ACU. Lester always went on the wheat harvest during the summer vacation. For you that don't know what that is, it is where you hire out to a custom harvester and perform every job needed on the crew including but not limited to driving the combines, trucks and doing repairs. I later followed in his footsteps and learned that you also spend a lot of time waiting for the rain to stop, the field to dry out or moving on to the next location. He loved it and would do it today if he could.

I recall the time that he and a buddy of his were coming back into town from out in the country. The back seat of his car was loaded down with phonograph records. Here they were, sailing down a dirt road, not a care in the world. Until---they discovered they were one road over from the intended road and this one dead ended into a T. Results---broken records everywhere and the fence at the end of the road and his car were in a general state of disrepair. Thankfully, no body got hurt and the next day was spent fixing the fence. He had a thing for cars. No one could pack as much into the trunk of a Camaro as he could.

Later in life we would spend much more time together as we built his house together and worked on a number of apartments and rental property. I learned a lot from him that I continue to use today. Jennifer is especially close to Lester and now we have two reasons to celebrate February 26. Happy Birthday brother and many more.


Earlier in life; enjoying a big Frosty!

At a recent family get together; talking farming with Toby!

A quiet moment. Thanks brother for all you have done for me!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This past weekend my two brothers and three sisters, along with our extended family, celebrated our mother's 90th birthday. Ninety years of living, wondrously filled with the peaks and valleys of everyday life, seasoned with the joys and sorrows that come into all our lives, but one lived with grace, honor and love. Married at age 15 to my father, ten years her elder, delivering two stillborn babies by the age of 18, and dealing with the greatest economic depression of our time, most people would not have given the union much of a chance of surviving. It only lasted 64 years until my father passed away in 1998 at the age of 90!

Mom's life never got to be too glamorous. It dealt more with survival on the farm and all too often consisted of hard work and hard times. I can't remember many details of their early years, having come along in the middle of the birth order when times had become somewhat easier. But, I recall enough to know that we didn't have a lot, but we always had food on the table due in part to Mom's resourcefulness. Big gardens meant survival with food through the year, but it also meant plenty of work; growing, harvesting and canning the fruits of her labor. I recall chores of picking peas, harvesting okra (a hot and itchy job that I hated) and shucking corn. She made the best creamed corn ever, but the kitchen was a mess for a couple of days with corn "milk" splattered over everything in sight.

Hoeing cotton was also a "biggee". While daddy plowed, we kids and Mama hoed cotton. It was always hot and the rows were always too long, but I wish I could go back and experience it again, but not for long! We took a break after lunch (after Mom fixed something to eat) and would lay down in the floor in front of the evaporative cooler and take a nap, knowing all too well we had to go back to the field when it cooled off to a comfortable 100 degrees for a "few" mores rows later that evening.

Mom inherited her sewing and quilting skills from her mother, my MawMaw. Mom saved every scrap of fabric and turned them into quilted works of art with names like Log Cabin, Double Wedding Ring and Little Dutch Girl. We still use many of those quilts today and they are still warm and comforting. She even made me a red blazer for my high school choir group. Someone later borrowed it and it was never seen again. It's probably just as well. I don't wear much red, unlike my Daddy!

Ninety years seems like a long time in some ways. But when you think back on those growing up years, it seems to have flown. We lived in about 6 or 7 places growing up and they all hold special memories because of family. I miss my Daddy, but I am thankful to still have Mom around to remind me of my heritage (she's a big genealogy buff, too). We had a great celebration of her life complete with old stories (mostly true), laughter, food, and her favorite time, church service together and all of us together singing a lot of "church songs". Her favorite song has always been Farther Along.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Abilene Adventures

Last weekend we attended Jordan and Ashley's county livestock show. They are both involved in the Big Brothers program and their little's family had two pigs in the show. We got up early on Friday in order to be there on time. Of course, most of your time at stock shows is spent waiting. But, the pigs did well (one made the premium sale!!) and M did a great job showing. Thanks Ashley and Jordan for putting us up for the weekend. We had a good visit and enjoyed getting to see Morgan. We think she likes pigs pretty well, too. She'll probably need one some day!!


We tried out a couple of eating places (new to us), Rosa's and Joe Allen's. Both were very good and we enjoyed getting to spend time with Jordan and Ashley and being in Abilene. Next stop for the pig will be San Antonio in February. It will be a good experience, no matter what the outcome.

Congratulations to Jordan!! He is now a licensed irrigator with the state of Texas and is also a certified commercial pesticide applicator. Way to go!!

We left in the afternoon Saturday and visited Danny's mother in Munday and went to church with her on Sunday. We enjoyed lunch with her and Danny's sister Dayle before heading home.

Morgan taking care of Wilbur the pig

Jordan, Morgan and Wilbur saying "Cheese"

Jordan and K--big buddies and pig buddies

Morgan and M give the pig some last minute advice

Jordan entertaining us singing "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band

Lacye modeling her Xmas sweater

It's official--I'm a licensed irrigator!!

Our Colorado Getaway

On New Year's day we left for a short vacation getaway to one of our favorite places, Durango, Colorado. With all of the snow, it was a beautiful winter wonderland. The overnight temperature dropped to 9 degrees one night, but like people say, it didn't seem that cold. Right!! With no set agenda, we decided to ride the narrow gauge Durango-Silverton Railroad train the first day. During the winter the train doesn't go all the way to Silverton due to the heavy snow and reduced passenger demand. However, it does go up to Cascade Canyon where we got off, warmed up by the fire pit, and enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery (we honestly believe the sky is bluer in Colorado). The train passes through the narrow canyon walls close enough that you can reach out and touch both sides of the steep bluffs. On our way back, we spotted a couple of bighorn sheep high on the rocks above the train.

Along the way we saw a number of isolated cabins and houses, one of which was used in a scene from the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." During the 5 hour trip, we got acquainted with some of our fellow passengers which for the most part were from Texas! We met people from Burleson, Austin and the Houston area. Part of the bunch departed the train on the way back to meet up with a group that would take them snowmobiling. We planned to go snowmobiling the next day, but a winter storm warning and falling snow changed our minds. We wished that we had known about the train/snowmobiling package earlier and we would have taken advantage of it.

We stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel on the banks of the Animas River. It was so nice and we would recommend it to anyone! We came back through Pagosa Springs and across northern New Mexico. The highway that goes across to Red River was closed due to snow drifts so we had to go further south and then back to Angel Fire and Eagles's Nest. The roads there were icy and the wind was blowing snow across them which made for a "fun" driving experience! It was a great getaway for our anniversary!

All aboard!! Leaving Durango

Watch out for that curve!!

At the stop in Cascade Canyon

Waiting to head back to Durango

I told her not to get too far away!!

A nice warm up by a great fire!

Starbucks coffee!! Yum...

Beverly at the train depot

Starting to snow...

A view from our hotel room

The drive home...filled with excitement!

Late evening after a long day...

Our One Year Blogging Anniversary

Today is not only the birthday of Elvis Presley, but it is also the one year anniversary of our blog "Jeepers Creepers." Ironically, our first post was about Elvis as well (I think that was Beverly's doing!). In the past year we have enjoyed sharing our blog with family and friends. We haven't posted as much as we originally thought we would but sometimes life is just too busy. Hats off to those of you that blog daily, but I just don't see that happening here.

We will try to do better in 2009 and we want to wish all of you a Happy New Year.

Happy Birthday, Elvis! You will always be the King of Rock n' Roll, man!

Happy Anniversary To My Sweetheart

On December 27, 2008 Beverly and I will be married 33 years! I tease her and tell her it's been the happiest 15 years of my life!! That is not true at all, of course. Each year has been different in its own way and the years have gone amazingly fast. It seems like yesterday that we were young newlyweds starting out in Eastland in a $100.00 a month frame house behind the fire station. I remember well the night the siren went off and a startled, sleepy Beverly jumped up from sleep asking "Mama, what is it?" I'm thinking "I'm not your Mama!" During the next three years there our first baby, Jennifer, was born and the rent went up $25.00.

Every since then, we have lived here in H-town, raised 3 children and grown older and wiser. The past 33 years are filled with so many memories and we often talk about those Alan Jackson "remember when" days. We have been fortunate in so many ways. We haven't grown wealthy by any means, but we are wealthy in terms of our family, our children, grandchildren and friends. God continues to bless us richly and we give him credit for all of the wonderful blessings we enjoy. Our children are all happily married now and are where we were those many years ago. I pray that they will have the same happiness we have experienced.

Beverly, you are the love of my life. You are my best friend, my confidant, my counselor, and a wonderful wife and mother to our children. I hope we can look forward to many more years together doing things like jeeping in Colorado and enjoying each other's company. Remember, I love you the most and always will!

Our Little Man Turns Five

It's hard to believe that it has already been five years since our grandson Taylor first came into our lives! But, this past week, Taylor turned five years old! Next year he will be in school and everyone knows how fast times goes once they start to school. As parents we all know how much we love our children, but like people say, there is something very special about grandchildren. He has filled our lives with so much enjoyment and love and is a constant source of laughter, awe and amazement. He loves his PawPaw and BeBe and we have spent a lot of hours together. We know that someday as he gets older he will find other things more exciting than being here with us, but we are hoping he will remember these days and look back on them with good memories. It has been a busy week with birthday celebrations at pre-school, with family and a birthday party with his friends on Saturday. Now we look forward to the next six birthdays in our immediate family from now until New Year's Day. Wow! Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Here are a few favorite pictures of Taylor. We had to include one of Presley as she tried on Taylors boots and hat!