Thanksgiving 2010

As is our tradition, we try and get the entire clan together for Thanksgiving. This year we had everyone but Chris, who was in Afghanistan for Thanksgiving, at our house in HSV for Thanksgiving.

Karen, Shane, Logan and Kayleigh arrived on Monday. Since we had Shane and his truck here, we took the opportunity to add some rocks to the yard. We had a fun day - NOT - and moved about 6 truckloads of rocks. Luckily we had a cool and overcast day; nice day for working outside.

Amy, Adam and Lottie left Ft. Hood on Tuesday afternoon (driving) and arrived in HSV on Wednesday morning. Doug and Ashley flew into Little Rock on Thursday morning.

Obviously, since it was Thanksgiving, there was a lot of cooking going on. We had to have PIES. Karen made 2 pumpkin and an apple pie. They were delicious.

Rosie and Ashley, Doug's fiance, are cooking up something. Looks like they're having a good time.A Thanksgiving tradition around our house is "veggie pizza." Adam and Lottie are helping Gram make the pizza.Adam took over from Uncle Doug the job of making celery with peanut butter. Another delicious Thanksgiving morning treat. Great fodder for watching parades or football games.

Amy was in charge of mashed potatoes, a Thanksgiving necessity.

And Doug got to be the official turkey carver. What a great honor!

The four grandkids enjoyed playing together. We had to go over to Lake Sophia and throw rocks into the water - another tradition at our house. Thankfully, we didn't have any kids fall into the lake this time.

Bath time was great fun. Who can have the cutest hairdo? Adam wins for the spikiest do.We love those neat kid towels Gram has.The grandkids had fun playing with Bapa's old Lionel electric train. Bapa got this train for Christmas in about 1960. So it's about 50 years old and needs a bit of work. But it runs - thanks to some help from Shane.Before everyone left, we had to get a family picture. Here's the entire gang except for Chris:From left to right: Rosie, Bob, Karen, Kayleigh, Shane, Logan, Lottie, Doug, Ashley, Adam and Amy. Thanks everyone for coming; we had a great time. It only took us about a week to recover - such wimps!

Spa 5K/10K Hot Springs, AR

On Saturday, Rosie and I drove to Hot Springs, AR, to run in the Spa 5K/10K. We were joined by our HSV friends Bob and Ana MacKendrick. Rosie and Ana ran/walked the 5K; Bob M. and I ran the 10K (~6.1 miles). The four of us are staying warm inside before the race begins.

Rosie and Ana are waiting at the starting line for the race to begin. It was a cool morning - in the 40'sF.

Bob and I are headed toward the finish line. I typically speed up when the finish line gets close; I want to get the "pain" over with.

Thanks to Bob pushing me so hard, I had a personal best for the 10K with a time of 8:17/mile. I'm not speedy. I came in 1st in my age group (60-64) and got a medal; I was so surprised. Rosie came in third in her division without even trying. Maybe next year she'll train...

Rosie, Bob and I are picking up some snacks after the race.

Lake Ouachita - Fall Colors

On Thursday, 11-NOV, Wayne Jensen and I went fishing on Lake Ouachita with guide, Larry Hurley. We arrived at the Ouachita state park at about 6:20 AM and were heading across the lake at about 6:40 AM. The morning temperature was in the low 50s as we zipped across the lake at 60+ mph in Larry's boat. The wind was chilly. Luckily I had on multiple layers.

The fishing wasn't great on Thursday. However, the fall colors around the lake more than made up for the lack of fish (hey - I have to be positive about this). Here are some photos from around the lake. The lake is about 8-10 feet below normal due to this year's drought. Interestingly, we could see the tree stumps that you don't see when the lake is at it's normal level. Based on what I saw, I will be much more careful when motoring around the lake. I think I've been lucky so far.Hope you enjoy the photos. FYI - We saw one bald eagle on Thursday, but didn't get a picture.

Welcome Hunters!!!!

Rosie and I are always amused (or maybe a bit surprised) by the Welcome Hunters signs at the local liquor establishments. Here's a typical sign:We have visions of "liquored up" hunters roaming around the woods shooting anything in sight. Hopefully this doesn't happen. However, hunting and liquor don't seem to mix from our POV - sort of like drinking and driving.

To paraphrase a drinking/driving slogan:

If you Drink - don't Hunt. If you Hunt - don't Drink.

Maybe we're just a bit paranoid (hey - no agreeing out there!)

Have a great day!

Bull Shoals, AR

On Monday, 08-NOV, Rosie, Sam and I towed the boat up to Bull Shoals for its regular service. For those who don't know, Bull Shoals is very northern Arkansas. In fact, Bull Shoals lake is in Arkansas and Missouri. To get to Bull Shoals by 9 AM, we got up at 4 AM and left at 5 AM.

While we were waiting for the boat to be completed, we drove down to the Bull Shoals dam and the fairly new visitor center. Here are some pictures of the visitor center.The dam was impressive. Also, the water in the White river and Bull Shoals lake was very clear. The White River is well know for trout fishing - especially brown trout.We packed a picnic lunch and ate in a state park next to the lake. Sam enjoyed getting some "people food." Here's a picture of the dam from the park; the visitor center is in the background.

We also drove through Cotter - a small historical town. Rosie took pictures of an old train bridge and a car bridge (completed in 1933).We left Bull Shoals at about 3:30 PM for the trip home. We got home about 8:30 Monday evening. We were all glad to be home and ready to stand up for a while.

The Great Passion Play / Eureka Springs, AR

On Sunday, 24-OCT, Carol Hawkins - our friend from West Chester, OH, - and her friend, Dottie from Nashville, TN, arrived in Hot Springs Village. They were here for a visit and a trip to the Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, AR (about a 4 hr. drive from HSV).

We left early Monday morning for Eureka Springs. After our arrival, we got our tickets for the play, had a quick picnic lunch and headed to the Holy Land tour. On the tour we listened to docents talk about their Bible character; most discussed the impact of Jesus on their life. We were impressed with the passion all of the characters had regarding their faith and sharing their faith. It was neat! The tour contained David, the Woman at the Well, Hannah, the tabernacle priest, Ruth, Peter, Moses, Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Here's a picture of Peter in front of his boat.

The Holy Land tour also contained a full replica of the tabernacle the Israelites used as they wandered the desert. Here are some pictures of the tabernacle.

We also went to see the statue of The Christ of the Ozarks. The statue is seven stories high with an arm span of 65 feet. The statue was completed in 1966. Here's some pictures of Dottie and Carol and Rosie and me in front of the statue. Rosie and I are the small people on the left of the picture.

We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast in Eureka Springs. On Tuesday morning we started our drive back to HSV. We drove down scenic highway 7. It was a beautiful, fall drive. We arrived in Jesseville for a late lunch or early dinner at The Shack. Is that good planning or what?

Lake Greeson with Wayne and Delma Jensen

We spent October 11-13 at the Self Creek cottages/marina on Lake Greeson. Here's a picture overlooking the marina.

Wayne and Delma are on the back deck of the cottage.

Due to the year's drought, Greeson was down about 10-12 feet from normal level. Here's a picture of a seawall; it's well out of the water.

The rock formations around Greeson are pretty. Can you guess which one is called Chimney Rock?

Here I am getting the boat ready for fishing.

We spent most of our time bass fishing. Fishing wasn't great, but Rosie did manage to catch a 17.75" bass. It's a beauty. She said, "I'm hung" and then the fish jumped up out of the water. I grabbed the net. My fish looked like bait compared to hers. Oh well - better luck next time.

We had a great time with the Jensens. Thanks to Wayne and Delma for arranging the trip.