The Pecan Trees

These are the pecan trees in the back yard. You can see the yellow color a little better in these shots. That's Bitsy and one of the puppies in the bottom of the photo.

Day After Thanksgiving

The pecan trees have alot of yellow color this year. It doesn't show up well in the photo though.
It was the day after Thanksgiving, time to put up the Christmas tree and start the decorating!
Here are the boys posing for a Christmas card photo.
The angel is on top so we must be done, right? Wrong, the train is not around the bottom yet. I think it's in the garage somewhere.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Lynne started early getting everything ready. We were expecting 11 people for lunch.
I got up at 7am to prep the turkey and get it cooking. You can't see it here, it's in the bag.
Here is the turkey when it came out of the bag. It was very moist and delicious.
Here is the table fully loaded. Brighton couldn't wait and dove into the asparagus early.
We ate and ate, and made a small dent in the bird. I guess I know what we'll have to eat for the next week.

Zoo Two

Who's watching who?

I guess someone left a gate open and these 3 primates escaped.










They have a train at the zoo, but we didn't ride it this time. Maybe when we go back next.
We went to Pendery's in downtown FtWorth for some spices. On the way out of town Jesse yells, "Hey! Look at these guys hanging off that building!" The weren't on a platform, just hanging from ropes.

Holiday Zoo Trip

I was off today, so we loaded up the kids and headed to the FtWorth Zoo.There were several Rhinos in the pen. This one had a prehensile upper lip. Was it a Black or White Rhino?
The Asian Elephants were standing around eating hay. They looked bored.
Lynne got to see her Hippos. They were swimming around, not just sitting on the bottom like usual.
The White Tiger was roaming her cage, jumping from rock to rock. She also chewed on a palm tree, just like our house cat does.
The Lion was showing off. He was strutting around his enclosure. Then he started roaring at the crowd. The kids loved it!


They had a walk in aviary that was full of the kind of birds you could get at the pet store. It was neat to see all of them able to fly around.













The Kangaroos were all enjoying the warm sunshine.













Jesse decided to become a Komodo Dragon wrangler.







The Flamingos were standing close enough to the fence you could reach out and touch them. Note: Flamingos don't like to be touched.

Train Show 2

Well, Blogger let me finish downloading my train pictures. Here they are.There were alot of Thomas' at the show. They were trying to appeal to the little kids I guess.
We showed this abandoned tractor to GranPa and he identified the make and model. I don't remember what he said it was.
Will caught this train leaving the tunnel.
These are a few more of the On30 locomotives. I really like this scale. They are small enough to not take up a lot of space and big enough for alot of detail.
The Locomotive at the back is a Shay. The type Jesse is named after.

Train Show

We went with the boys to the train show on Saturday. Here are a few pictures of what we saw.

This is an On30 locomotive.
Will took a picture of a load of LLVs for me.
Here is a firetruck for Uncle Alan.
Jesse liked the fossils modeled into the rocks.
This Frank Lloyd Wright house was on a N scale module. The whole house was about 2 inches across.
Another photo for Uncle Alan. I think I heard the horn.
Two old guys playing checkers on the porch.
The cast of Cars.
A carnival. The rides moved and were all lit up.

And then the bull got out and we all ran for cover. Blogger only let me download these 10 pictures. We'll share more later.

Maypearl vs Rio Vista

We went Friday night to the battle for last place in district between the Maypearl Panthers and the RioVista Beagles (or maybe it's the Eagles). It was a close game. Maypearl was up at the half 14-0.
OK, we thought this was funny. The RioVista mascot was also a trombone player. He marched in his costume and had to be real careful with those giant yellow feet on. It was like marching in flippers.
The Maypearl Band took the field next. Will got to march out with them and play on the field for the first time. They started with the school fight song.
It was the night to announce Band Sweetheart. It was won by Tiffany S.
The band didn't have time for their marching routing so they just did a quick rendition of Louie, Louie. It was a cold, fun night. Maypearl lost the game 14-21 to finish last in district. But, like our friend Ron said, "We beat Italy and won Homecoming, so it was a successfull season!"

A Cat Poem

Ode to Spot
By: Commander Data, United Fereration of Planets

Felix Catus, is your taxonomic nomenclature,
an endothermic quadruped carnivorous by nature?
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills, and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
a singular development of cat communications
that obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
for a rhythmic stroking of your fur, to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
you would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aide in locomotion,
it often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behaviour you display
connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

A Short Note from Lynne

I just wanted to blog a minute. I think it is exciting that I am going to have a new niece and a new ???? to play with. I love that both SueEllen and Nocona give of themselves so that I can buy girly stuff and play with babies especially since my youngest baby turned 10. If anyone in the family happens to be in the area around 1045am on November the 19th then I invite them to attend FBC Maypearl for either a disaster or a blessing. Depends on how much practice I get in before now and then. For now I will leave it as a surprise and I am sure that Jeff will blog it after it happens.

Maypearl at Grandview

We went to Grandview Friday night for the game between the Maypearl Panthers and the Grandview Striped Donkeys (see, I was nice).
The game was not pretty. But I went for the band. I sat in the cold to support my son. Lynne went grocery shopping at the nice warm store.
Notice that Will is in a t-shirt, Haden is in a parka, and there is another kid wrapped in a blanket. Will handles the cold well.
The Maypearl Band played well. They weren't facing us so we couldn't hear them that well. When Grandviews band took the field I thought, "They're HUGE!". Then they announced that it was band night and that was 6th through High School on the field.

Maypearl lost 56-0.