Ft. Hood / Visiting Fort Croghan in Burnet, TX

On Saturday, 11-DEC, we again traveled to Burnet, TX, to visit Ft. Croghan's old time Christmas celebration. Ft. Croghan was an actual fort established in October 1849 to protect settlers from the local Indians. However, once the local settler population was large enough to protect itself, the fort was closed in December 1853.

Here's the Christmas tree in the main building.Chris, Amy and kids pose in front of the tree. We're all keeping warm.Gram, Adam and Lottie enjoyed some popcorn.Lottie and Bapa are having fun. We look so cute in our hats.Here's the dulcimer band with guitar accompaniment that played Christmas carols in the main building.We also got to see a blacksmith at work. At least it was warm in his shop.Here's a docent keeping warm in one of the log cabins.Adam and Lottie enjoyed sitting at desks in the one room school house. What! No computers? Yep - no paper and pencils either. Everything was done with chalk and slate tablets.Here's the local school marm.As usual, guys are always comparing things. Here are two docents comparing their guns.Fort Croghan was a fun place to visit!

Visiting Ft. Hood / Main Street Bethlehem

Rosie and I drove to Ft. Hood to visit Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie while Chris was on a brief TDY back to the US from Afghanistan. We drove down on Thursday, 09-DEC, and returned to HSV on Sunday. (We left as they were leaving for church).

On Friday, Amy had lined up a trip for all of us to Burnet, TX, to see Main Street Bethlehem sponsored by the First Baptist Church in Burnet. It was really neat! The Bethlehem area opened at about 6 PM, but folks (including us) started getting in line at about 4:30. By the time 6 PM came, the line was really long. Great planning by Amy to get us there early.

Here are Adam and Lottie at the sign near the entrance followed by a mural of the three wise men. Adam and Lottie had fun playing with other kids before Main Street Bethlehem opened.Next will come a lot of pictures from inside "Bethlehem." Here are some campers who have probably come to Bethlehem for the mandated census.
Adam enjoyed petting the goose that the lady had.Here is the local basket weaver.As expected Bethlehem also had a few Roman soldiers walking around.You could also pay your taxes while you were there. Here's the Bethlehem tax collector:I guess every small city had to have a tavern - especially for weary travelers. Here's the Bethlehem Tavern:Adam enjoyed talking to the lady who had smooth bamboo reeds to make into sleeping mats.The Bethlehem bread was delicious! It was tasty bread with a little sugar on top and right out of a warm oven. YUM!Here are some young women grinding meal. Looks like WORK to me; forget it - I'm retired.We also visited the local rope and carpenter shops.A walk through the local synagogue was really neat. The priest did an excellent job of singing the Shema from scripture.Lottie enjoyed petting the camel.Here are Amy and Adam from the balcony of the Inn (which was full to capacity).Shepherds shouted about the birth of the savior.The star shone brightly over the stable where the savior was born. Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus make a peaceful scene.
Finally, there's a small manger scene in front of the church. It's simplicity combined with the lighting made it even more beautiful.If you're ever in Burnet, TX, in early December (starts the first Friday in December and runs for two weekends), we can highly recommend Main Street Bethlehem. But get there early!

St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon and 5 K

This weekend, Rosie and I went with Bob and Ana MacKendrick to Memphis, TN, to participate in the St. Jude Memphis half marathon (Bob M. and Bob C.) and 5 K walk/run (Rosie and Ana). We arrived in Memphis on Friday afternoon. We checked into the hotel and picked up our race packets at the Memphis Convention Center. Bob M. flew into Memphis that afternoon after working all week in Indianapolis; we picked him up at the airport.

Friday evening Rosie and I walked down to the Memphis Peabody for dinner. The evening sky was beautiful.The Peabody lobby was really decorated for Christmas. The edible nutcracker and gingerbread house were really neat. Here's what they contain followed by pictures of each.Dinner at the Peabody was excellent. A great pre-race meal.

Friday morning, Rosie and Ana's race started at 7:15 am; wow, that's early! Here they are getting ready to start and staying warm before the race.The half marathon started at 8 am. Rosie caught a shot of Bob M and me running down 3rd street. Bob M. has the white cap on. This is early in the race and I'm not just trying to breath.The finish of the race was in Autozone Park - the local baseball park. The scoreboard was lit-up for the event.RESULTS. Rosie did her 5 K in 41:30. Ana was right behind her. Rosie placed 11th in her age group out of 67 women. Pretty good for taking an easy stroll approach to the 5K.

Bob M. and I finished 1st and 2nd in our age group, respectively - after the 4 master and grandmaster runners were factored out. I don't know why they put them into another grouping, but that's fine with me. Overall, I finished the 13.1 miles in 1:54:22 or 8:44/mile. Not as good as I did earlier this year in Little Rock (8:35), but at least I finished. In the entire half marathon (across all age groups), I finished 799 out of 6941 (who finished).

This was a well organized race. Everything worked well. Maybe we'll be back next year. By the way - the guy who said on his blog preview of the race that the last three miles of the half marathon were downhill - LIED. It was NOT downhill; at least not by my standards. Not that I'm whining or anything.

Thanksgiving 2010 - December Birthdays

We also take this time together to celebrate the December birthdays - Doug (03-DEC) and Logan (18-DEC). Logan was excited to open his birthday present.

Doug and Ashley hold up the queen-sized quilt Rosie made for Doug from his old t-shirts. It turned out great.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Doug and Logan. Happy birthday to you!

Thanksgiving 2010 - Opening Christmas Presents!

Since we get together at Thanksgiving and not Christmas, we take the opportunity to give gifts to the little kids. The adults don't need any more stuff!

Logan and Kayleigh got to help decorate the tree before everyone else arrived.

Logan enjoyed putting the red Christmas balls in a single spot. He thought it really looked colorful.

Adam and Lottie are ready for Christmas.

Kayleigh enjoys opening one of her Christmas gifts. Santa Karen is in the background taking photos.

Lottie opens a Christmas present. We love that hat. She looks like one of Santa's elfs (one of the cute ones).Logan is opening a present from Doug and Ashley (FYI - it's a guitar - at least it's not drums).Adam is opening his gift. It's a tool set. How neat is that!

Gram and Adam had fun playing with lightsabers. Adam has a lot more practice than Gram, but Gram is older and sneakier. Be careful Adam!

The kids has a great time opening and playing with presents; the adults had fun just watching them. It was a great time.

Thanksgiving 2010 - Garvan Woodland Gardens

Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, AR, has a fantastic Christmas light display. We took the gang over to Garvan Gardens on Friday night. We got there early to beat the crowd.

The lights overlooking the lake were beautiful.

The grandkids had fun standing on the bench. Looks like Adam is holding Lottie up. Great job Adam!

Amy, Adam and Lottie are in front of a Japanese lantern.

Here's the Flachman family near the gingerbread display.Doug and Ashley surrounded by lighted leaves.The kids had fun playing inside one of the displays.

The lighted James train was a big hit. It was new this year to the Garvan Gardens' display.

Finally, here Rosie and I are with the grandkids in front of the peacock.From here we went to get some hot chocolate and see the model train display before heading back to the cars. Then it was on to The Shack for burgers, fried green beans, fish, etc.