Rosie's Bass

Today we went fishing on Lake Balboa. Rosie caught her first bass from the new boat. Luckily Bob was able to take a picture with his trusty cell phone.

Hopefully this will be the first of many. Bob also caught two bass, but Rosie's was bigger than either of his. We had great weather--sunny with the temperature in the upper 70's and low 80's.

Giant Spider Web - Not A Sci-Fi Movie

We were eating breakfast on the deck one morning when we looked up and saw this giant spider web in the trees next door. It was really impressive. The web must have been 7-8 feet in diameter.

Here's a close-up of the web. The strands are thick compared to other webs we've seen. We don't know if the dot at the center is the spider or not. We didn't really hang around to find out. This is a "serious" looking web.

We bet this poor spider worked all night to complete this web; however, it was gone the next day. At least we got to enjoy it for one morning; hope it was profitable for the spider.

New Addition to the Family

After years of looking, fretting, studying, etc., we finally took the plunge and bought a bass boat - a Ranger 178 VS. Here are a few shots. The boat filled our garage more than I expected. We knew it would be tight, but it sure filled the place up.

We could actually close the garage door. However, Mini had to move to the third garage. Here are some pictures of the boat outside:

The motor is a 150 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. Ideally, it should be fairly quiet.

We then decided to rent a storage space for the boat. Here's our boat in it's new home.Now - if it will only help us catch fish. We'll see!

Our "PET" Deer

We've had a mother deer and her two fawns hanging around our area for the last month or so. They don't seem to be afraid of us or our dog, Sam. They just look at us and keep on eating when we walk close. Here are some pictures of the deer between our house and the golf course.

Well, it's time to visit another feeding place. See you later kids!

Gettin' To See The Kids!

The combination of Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie moving back to the US (yeah!) and Rosie's Dad dying resulted in us getting to see all three kids on the same day - if not in the same place (to be explained later).

Chris and family arrived in Austin, TX (via San Francisco) from Japan on 06-JULY. We were there to meet them and help get their stuff (8 bags plus dog crate) to the hotel. After staying in the hotel for a few days while Chris and Amy took care of business (new car, cell phones, etc.), we all drove to Hot Springs Village to get ready to go to Papa's funeral on Saturday. However, Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie all came down with the 24-hr vomiting and diarrhea bug - not fun. So they had to skip the funeral.

Doug flew into Little Rock from Michigan on Friday 10-AUG to attend Papa's funeral the next day. He stayed with US in HSV Friday and Saturday nights then returned to Michigan on Sunday. This was the first time Uncle Doug had seen his two nieces, Lottie and Kayleigh. Here are shots of Uncle Doug in action; isn't he a natural. Karen and Shane drove up from Dickinson for the funeral; we got to see them briefly at the funeral on Saturday. We didn't get a good family shot of Karen, Shane, Logan and Kayleigh at the funeral, but we got a great shot from Jennifer Stonecipher. Here are photos of the Houston gang. Aren't they cute!Chris's family stayed in HSV until Monday morning before heading down to Ft. Hood where Chris will be stationed. We had time to do some swimming and playing on the beach at Lake Balboa.Lottie enjoyed digging in the sand while Adam had fun getting his feet buried in the sand by Dad.

We also had time in the late afternoon to walk over to Lake Sophia which is right next to our house. Amy and Lottie found a good rock for throwing into the lake. They're ready to go.

Chris is showing Adam how to skip rocks across the water. Dad makes it look easy.

Nani had the best idea. She enjoyed cooling off with a little dip in the lake. She's a good swimmer.

We really enjoyed getting to see all the kids - if only briefly. We hope to get everyone together again at Thanksgiving in Dickinson.

Rosie's Dad - James L. Adams, Jr.

Rosie's Dad died on 03-JUL-09 at the ripe old age of 87. He was living at Stonegate Nursing home in Ft. Worth, Texas, when he died. He was loved by everyone who knew him and will be missed. But as we've continually said, "Our loss is his gain." We know he's having a great time in heaven.

Here are a few pics from the past - a short walk down memory lane. James served in Alaska during WWII. Here's a picture of Cpl. J.L. Adams. Doesn't he look great? Look at that hair!

Here's a picture of James with "that woman" - the love of his life - Elsie:
They were a great couple and really enjoyed each other. This picture of the entire family from around 1957 is priceless.Here's an updated photo of the 3 "kids" taken in 2008. Still looking good!Last summer Rosie, Karen, Logan and Bob had a good visit with Papa.
In December, 2008, Papa wasn't doing too well. Here's a picture of Julie, Rosie, Papa and Logan.
Papa did a good job of "bouncing back" from this low time and looked better for a while. Rosie's last visit with Papa was mid-April. Here's a picture of Rosie, Papa and Sam (who loved getting next to Papa). Papa always seemed to enjoy petting Sam.Papa's funeral was on Saturday, 11-JULY-09. He was buried in Magnolia Cemetery next to Elsie.

Papa will be missed but definitely not forgotten.

July 4th - a bit late!

We've been on a non-blogging streak recently - so it time to do a little "catch-up."

The John Stonecipher family came to visit us in HSV for the 4th of July. We had a great time. We went to the canoe races and paddle boat races on Saturday. Blayne and John are in the canoe race. They did a great job!

Whitney+Rosie and Savannah+Bob had fun in the paddle boats. We had to paddle out to a buoy and get a plastic duck from the middle. Here come Savannah and Bob with a duck in the net. Rosie and Whitney had a bit of trouble tracking down one of those sneaky ducks. It took them several passes to catch one. However, they made it home with their trophy duck!

We made a brief stop by Cortez beach to check out the water. The water was nice, but you did need shoes due to all the rocks. We just did a little wading at the water's edge.

On Saturday, July 4, the kids got to make crafts at the Desoto Center. Savannah and Whitney are decorating and personalizing their door mats. Blayne made a dinosaur sand painting. Reagan made a great looking necklace (with Dad's help) as well as painted a bird house.

On July 4, the HSV POA also gave away free watermelon at the Desoto Center. Jennifer is enjoying her slice of watermelon.We then went to the Desoto pool where everyone had a great time getting wet, sliding down the water slide and eating lunch. John did a great job in the splash contest winning second place.

On Saturday evening we went to some friends' house to watch the fireworks over Lake Balboa. Here's the gang watching the fireworks.

We also had time to visit the HSV overlook and get a great view of the surrounding area and Lake Balboa.We also took some pictures at the Lake Balboa dock. One of the culinary delights was the sugar cookies decorated for July 4th. Thanks to Rosie and the girls - they were yummy!