Kennedy Attends Cheer Camp

If you follow Vanessa on Facebook then you have already seen these pictures. I'm posting here for my benefit. This was the first week of June.

The Mineral Wells High School Cheerleaders Facebook page made this post with the following posts.

That’s a wrap for Cheer Camp!

These girls performed great all week and represented Mineral Wells with pride! We are excited to announce that they earned:

Top Team Cheer in the Large Varsity Division

A Spirit Stick

And a huge congratulations to Raylee Brock for being selected as an All American Cheerleader!

A special shoutout to Mrs. Jordan for chaperoning camp and helping us take on a bigger team this year. We were so grateful to have her with us—she is truly amazing!

I am so proud of this team and all the hard work they put in this week. Football season can't get here fast enough! This group is incredibly talented, and they are game day ready!

Go Rams!

Kennedy is on the backrow standing on the left side of the dark skinned girl.

Kennedy is in a different spot but on the back row.

Kennedy is on the back row about in the middle.

Kennedy is on the left in blue.

This was taken in front of Mineral Wells High School either before they left of after they returned.

Have a good one!

Rude Awakening

 We were awaken early Friday morning of June 19th to an alert for a Tornado Warning! Not how you want to be awakened!

There was not a visual but the storm indicated rotation so an alert was issued. It was coming from the Northwest and was tracking to go right through downtown Mineral Wells where highways 180 and 281 intersect.

I started praying as I was getting dressed. I asked Doyle if I should try to contact Mom. Then it occurred to me she charges her phone in the living room and wouldn't hear it anyway. It would require me going over to her house. He said lets just watch for a bit. The storm starting weaking as it approached Mineral Wells and the alert was canceled 16 minutes later.

We had a few limbs down but nothing more serious. This was the worst one and the only limb that was not dead. It came from the tree on the other side of the carport.

These limbs were dead.

This limb doesn't look very big in this photo. Our neighbor offered to cut it up for us.

Have a good one!

Northern California 052626-053126

 This is our second year to attend Igniting Hope Ministries "Abounding Hope and Joy" Conference held in Redding, California. This conference is much smaller than the ones we attend at Bethel Church. We arrived in Redding Tuesday May 2026.  It was cool and rainy Doyle and I chose to not do anything on Wednesday. Just relax. 

When we were in Redding in November for the Leaders Conference, we met a young woman from South Dakota. She came by herself to the conference. We had another couple with us (closer to her age). We invited her to hang around with us. We exchanged contact information and stayed in touch. Doyle invited her to come to the Abounding Hope and Joy Conference and to stay with us in our VRBO. She accepted.

She flew into the Redding airport on Wednesday and we picked her up. Thursday was a beautiful day and
we rode e-bikes along the Sacramento River. Her name is Elizabeth.

We encountered Canadian Geese with their goslings. I suspect that people feed them as they were not the least bit intimidated by us.

I never get tired of this view! So pretty. 

We rode a trail in Turtle Bay where the Sundial Bridge is. We had not ridden this part of the trail before. We actually rode it backwards

This is the view from the sign above.

We had a great time. It was our last free day as the conference started the next day.

Have a good one!

2026 Dance Recital 050926

Kennedy and Korin had dance recital May 9th. I was delaying posting as I was hoping to have the video. Kennedy had a solo this year. I will just post it separate.

I did however take a couple of short video clips to give you an idea. The first video is of Korin. She is on the back right side.

Below is a clip of Kennedy dancing. Although you don't see her much until toward the end as she's on the back row.

Kennedy in her solo dance.

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The lighting on Kennedy's group dance was very low and none of the pictures turned out.

After the dance we got a couple of  family pics.

One more in the books! 

Have a good one!

Weekend Trip 051526

Facebook is great for connecting with family and friends. I saw a post from a cousin of mine (my mother's side of the family) who lives in Rochester, NY. His post was that he would be working at an RV park in Texas through the winter and spring. Where he would be was less than 4 hours from me!

I had hoped he would be able to come through our town when he headed home but the timing wasn't good for us. I knew mother would want to see him and so did I so I made arrangements for us to travel to him.

Friday May 15th Mom and I left around 2pm. It was a beautiful drive. So many wild flowers. I didn't stop to take any pictures on the way down but I did on the way home the next day.

We were so wrapped up in visiting. I barely got this picture.

This is my cousin Scott visiting with Mother. He and I figured we haven't seen each other in at least 50 years! Scott is the son of mom's older sister Kay who lives in New Hampshire.
 

He also had his dog Ollie but I failed to get his picture. 

There was a Mexican Restaurant across the road from the RV park. We went there for dinner.

We made plans to have breakfast with Scott Saturday morning before we left. After breakfast we visited a long time in the parking lot. It was so good to see him and catch up.

Mom and Scott.

Cousins! 

On our way home I chose to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak.   

Pictures really don't do this justice to the vastness of yellow flowers I could see! It was stunning!

We had a great time.

Have a good one!

Red-Bellied Woodpecker 050626

I'm not a bird expert but I have learned some about them in taking pictures of them to put on calendars for my "bird loving" friends. One of the birds I have learned the sound they make is the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I heard the pecking sound. Then the vocal shrill. I followed it and spotted the bird in one of our trees that has a dead limb in it.

I watched the bird go into a hole in the limb and then stick it's head out.

I conclude that there must be a nest. I do a little research to see when they lay eggs and how long before they hatch.

I took the these photos with a 300mm lens. I couldn't get close enough or at the right angle to see into the hole when the bird wasn't there.

I watched it. Then I didn't see the woodpecker anymore. I think something may have happened to the eggs. I was sure hoping I would see babies.

Have a good one!

Arizona Trip Part 2

 Thursday, April 23rd we started the day enjoying Roxanne's patio watching birds and discovering cactus blooms that had opened.

Aunt Sandy wanted a picture of her with the bloom.

So pretty!

More blooms.

Roxanne's back yard.

I believe this is a female and male house finch.

Not 100% sure but I think this is a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Roxanne planned another excursion for us. She booked a 90 minute boat cruise on Lake Pleasant.

I didn't realize that this was the boat we would be on or I would have made sure I got all of it in the picture! 

This is a man-made lake that serves as a massive storage reservoir to balance water supply and meet peak agricultural and municipal demands in Central and Southern Arizona. When at capacity it covers 10,000 acres!

Looking at the menu for some refreshments.

We got to see some wildlife on the cruise. These are Great White Egrets that are nesting on a island in the lake.

Wild burros!

And we saw some deer! They often swim the lake to go to this island they were on.

I really enjoyed the cruise. It was delightful!

After the cruise we had lunch at a restaurant at the marina called Dillions.

After we return back to Roxanne's we sat on her patio again. Watching the sunset, some bunnies and
birds.

The woodpecker figured out how to eat from the hummingbird feeder.

We had another great day

Friday was going home day.

Got a picture with Pat, Roxanne's husband and their dog Jenny.

Me and Pat. 

I had a wonderful time with my cousin Roxanne and Aunt Sandy.

Have a good one!