Father's Day 2012 by Esther

Last Sunday was Father's day and I am just now getting around to writing a little about what we did. It was really a nice time. Mike and Reeda came Saturday and spent the night and Sunday morning they went to church with us. Nephew, Bobby Killion and his wife Marji also came over and joined us. Wayne and Beth had gone on earlier to Sunday school...Matt, Lori and children came in and we had two pews full.We had reservations at a neat resturant just west of Van Alstyne. The rest of the family that could came and met us there..we had 17 adults and three children..The food was great and after eating much too much we came on back to our house and made pictures...JoAnn has posted just a few here but it was a crazy time!! Cameras were flashing and three or four taking your picture at once..which explains why some have two people looking at different directions..oh well... David was being a clown and suggested that the three "in-laws" ..he, Beth and Reeda get their picture made together...we finally got a good one after getting pictures of them with their backs to us and leaning over the deck rail..for those of you who think David is quite and reserved I have a news bulletin for you..also, Beth and Reeda can have you in stitches when they have a mind too.. It was really a nice day and Leland said one of the nicest he can remember..Thank you, Lord he is still with us we were afraid he wouldn't be..

Wayne (Hale) woes

Wayne has had a problem with his pool leaking for quite sometime..he would have to add water to it each day..that was last year!.This year he decided to see if he could find the leak and thought he had a good idea where it was. The concrete around the pool had gotten a low spot there like the dirt was washed out under it. He rented a jack hammer and 'busted' it up..what a hot job! After he got all that broken up and started digging for the leak he found it...just outside where he tore up all the concrete...He had quite a mess and his little 5 year old granddaughter, Abby, saw him working and ask "what you doing" he told her he was repairing a leak..being the smart kid she is she noticed it wasn't under 'the mess' and ask him "well if the leak is there, why did you do all that ".......she is to get out of the hospital tomorrow..

College kids

When Amanda started college her parents bought a car for her. All through college she drove her Ford Explorer and it worked out well for her. She is out of college now, has a job so she recently bought a new car and asked Vicky did she want to buy her old one. Since Vicky is a remodeling contractor and has been driving her Mercedes she jumped at the chance to have one like that to drive around to jobs instead of her good car. When Vicky was telling her friend about it, the friend asked her "so you bought the car again." A light bulb came on and Vicky said "Yeah, I guess I did."

Note from Jo Ann: There is another post on this blog where another graduated college student (Jenny Pedigo Miller) asked her dad (David Pedigo) if he wanted to buy her "college" car because she was going to buy a new one. In that scenario her dad told her " no, I have already bought it once." Gotta watch those college kids, be alert.....

Can you imagine?

Seeing this from a distance, but it still would be too close.
This picture was found on the internet and assumed to be open for viewing. This image does not belong to me and it's use for commercial may be copyrighted.

Statue of Liberty Read info underneath image

This photo of the Statue of Liberty is composed of 18,000 men. Photo taken in 1918.

Copyright Mole & Thomas

915 Medinah Bldg

Chicago, Ill

Wayne & Beth's Memorial Weekend

Wayne and Beth's Memorial week-end.. Wayne and Beth left last Friday in their new camper for the week end at Lake Texoma..they carried their 4 grandchildren and also a friend of Blake's with them.. They had a great time with the kiddos letting them play and they rented a pontoon boat for 4 hours on the lake. Lori got all the kiddos Sunday..even though Wayne and Beth had enjoyed the time with the kids they were 'pooped' when everyone left..Beth said she and Wayne were just grungy dirty but wanted to go eat lunch somewhere and Wayne said he did not want to go through a drive through..he wanted to go inside someplace ..Beth told him they looked awful but decided on Braum's in Denison..Beth said "Wayne, we are going to have all these Church people come in all dressed up "..he sitll didn't care. When they drove into Braum's they noticed there was a pick up with a trailer loaded with cattle there.....They ordered and sure enough in came 'dressed up people'. This one woman walks over to them and announces.."By process of elemination, I guess you all the one's with the trailer out there with all those cattle..my mother-in-law is 100 and will be 101 soon wanted to know if she could pet the cows"..Beth told her" they were not the owners of the cattle but probably whoever was wouldn't mind if she petted them.".. Wayne told the lady "that as high as cattle are now she needed to be looking for some one in a 3 piece suit.".Chances are Wayne heard "I told you so"..I know that is what I would have said...anyway, two women left out and they are the ones that got in the truck with the trailer and cows...don't know if the lady got to pet them or not.. Note from Jo Ann: From the looks of the lady above it doesn't appear that she got to pet the cows. Just kidding. This is not a picture of that

lady. I got this off the internet.

Leland on the riding lawn mower

Esther told me to tell everybody that their yard doesn't look like this. It is the pasture he is mowing. (I started to tell you all this is her front yard But she reads this and she might come after me.)

Heart tree

Live Oak

In and around San Antonio, Austin and the Hill country, we see a lot of live oaks. This one is in the Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arobretum in Austin. It is thought to be two that have grown together. A lot of the live oaks are old and have gnarled limbs. The limbs are so heavy sometimes the limbs have to be supported by wire. There is one like that on the grounds of the Alamo. Wonder how old this one is. Featured in the San Antonio Express News 5/19/2012

Big Baby

Brenda Evans (Wayne's neice in AZ) posted this on her facebook page. The owners were in a vet's office, she said the big puppy was scared so his "daddy" came to the rescue.
This was first posted by the New Jersey SPCA

Feel sad for Cassie and Sofie

Today I was in the news section of the internet when I noticed Will and Kate have named their new puppy Lupo. Sounds like you say "loophole" real fast. The point is when we brought each of puppies home and gave them names, not once did I see it in the news. That puzzles me.

Strange happenings on vacation

The other day I started thinking about some vacations that we have taken. Some of them were kind of strange so I thought I would write it on the blog.

Terri lives in California and when we go we usually go to some vacation spots. One time we went to Los Angeles and were on Sunset strip. At a bus stop we saw a man that had on a tall hat that looked like it was made from those old kind of cardboard egg carton and had some fleece on it. He had all kinds of things attached to it. One of the items was an old telephone receiver glued to it. There were all kinds of stuff he had stuck to it. While there we saw some other sites. One very tall guy was walking on the side walk with his hands up in the air making all kinds of noise. One man was dressed up to the hilt. Very expensive looking suit, tie and hat. Looked like what I imagine a pimp looks like.

Another trip we went to Venice Beach. If you have never been there it is a beach with a loooooong row of shops. A boardwalk I think it is called. Anyway there are some very strange people there. What we saw: One man riding in an open buggy with an unclothed mannequin sitting with him in the buggy. Another man wearing a long black coat or cloak, not sure which and he was walking around in a fashion that made it swirl around him. In the mean time he was talking a woman into going to his apartment. They had just met on the boardwalk and she is going home with him? Another strange encounter. This man and woman was on a pier and he was hawking for people to look at his wife or may have been his mother, not sure which. She looked much older than him. He had a container in front of them, encouraging people to put money in it. Some did and he would tell them to come closer, come closer and when they did he dropped the blanket that he was holding in front of the woman just a little bit so the paying customers could see behind the blanket. Some people that saw behind the blanket said she had removed her clothes and that was it. Move on for the next paying customers.

Here is another one. On our first trip to Las Vegas we rode a bus downtown. We were sitting in a bench like seat facing the aisle. Sitting behind a couple sitting across from of us there was an older woman yelling we are in SIN CITY! SIN CITY! A young man got on the bus and the only available seat was next to her. He sat down and she started in on him, inviting him to her house the whole time hollering SIN CITY! In a few moments she pulled out a knife. We didn't know if it was a real one or not, but it looked like it. She started pretending she was going to stab the man in front of her. The couple that were sitting in the aisle across from us facing the front of the bus. He didn't know about what was going on behind him. Wayne stuck his foot across the aisle and touched the man's foot trying to get his attention. He got his attention alright. He looked at Wayne with his eyes wide open like he thought Wayne was hitting on him and this lady behind him hollering SIN CITY. The bus stopped and a bunch of us got off including the man that thought Wayne was making passes at him. He took off down the street with his wife before Wayne could explain to him why he was trying to get his attention. What a town... I do not like that place. Terri moved to L.V. from California in 2005 and bought a house there. She didn't like it so she moved back to CA. She rented the house out and their teenage daughter hung herself in Terri's house. A tragic incident. No good memories there.

This is the other proud owner of the Forty Ford

It sure is a pretty car. Hard work, but Leland got 'er done. His boys helped too.

Forty Ford is running again and running good

Wayne is in the backseat, Leland in the passenger seat and I think that is Mike driving.
You all did good.

Chloe

One day as the soldier prepared to go on patrol in Afghanistan a dirty, sad-eyed mutt walked up and touched something in him. The shy, brown and white pooch, with a dark patch around the nose was something precious and good surrounded by poverty, hatred and war. "I had all my gear on and was about to go on patrol with 12 other marines when she just came up," Van Alstine said. "I looked at her and she looked at me. I pulled a Clif Bar out and set some down. After that it was like we were attached to the hip."

Van Alstine took Chloe into his tent, groomed her daily and fed her is own rations. She was always by his side on the base and walked next to him on every foot patrol. She couldn't come on the vehicles, but when we left she would sit right behind where the trucks park and lie down," he said. She'd still be lying in the same area when we came back, sometimes as long as 18 hours later."

Chloe began to guard the base and protect the troops. She was like the mascot, the moral booster. "She slept in my tent, but we all fed her." Even though no one from his platoon was killed, there were casualties. "Not everybody does well in those types of situations, I think all dogs have that sixth sense. If anybody wasn't doing well she would she would put her head on them and just close her eyes. She was the one thing that no matter how bad the day was she was our best friend."

Dogs are not respected in Afghanistan. There are hundreds of stray animals that must hunt and scrap for food, endure the scorching desert sun and freezing winters and generally live by their wits.

Ward Van Alstine started making arrangements to adopt the dog so we could bring her to the U.S.. He was going to be leaving for home and he worried about leaving Chloe behind. He had to leave Chloe at the base for her to be placed in the Nowzad kennel in Kabul. The day he left she definitely knew something was up. It was a sad day. "I got up extra early and just hung out with her for about two or three hours. She put her head in my lap and just laid there with me. It was one of the most difficult days of my life. When I got in the truck, she just went right back to her spot and looked at me. It was hard."

Chloe was flown to the United States with 15 other animals adopted by U.S. soldiers November 16th by American Airlines, free of charge.

Van Alstine said "Chloe knows exactly what I went through. Not everybody made it home in my mind until she made it back."

San Antonio Express News

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone enjoys the day with family & friends

GOP debate

I was wondering what others thought of the debate on "national security" last nite (Tuesday)
Who won in the debate?

Cement Injected into woman's rear

Police say a woman seeking plastic surgery at a cheap price found a woman posing as a doctor who filled her buttocks with cement, mineral oil and flat-tire sealant.

The suspect--who police say was born a man and identifies as a woman--performed the surgery on herself, and investigators say she may have other victims. Oneal Ron Morris, 30, was arrested Friday after a year on the lam and has been charged with practicing medicine with out a license with serious bodily injury.

Note from JoAnn
No Kidding!! This report comes out of Florida.
Maybe you don't want to go looking for the cheapest price when you are looking for surgery.
Gee Whiz.....lol

Woman to cross Antarctica on skis

Seems this 33 year old British adventurer is preparing for a SOLO crossing of Antarctica . She plans on it taking about 70 days. She plans on being the first woman to cross the Antarctica alone using only muscle power. She plans on arriving late January. She has been there before but says she is particularly thrilled that she will be climbing through the Transantarctic Mountains alone and onto the continent's vast central platform. I guess it isn't a problem taking supplies she needs for that long. How is she going to do that? She is going to be standing up a lot with a backpack on her back. What about sleeping out there all alone in the mountains without even the comfort for huskies could give her?

As of Sunday she was waiting at a base camp for the weather to improve for her journey to begin on skis.

My musing on this is why is she waiting for the weather to improve? It is going to get pretty bad where she is going so why don't she just strike out?