Christmas Letter 2021

 Hello family and friends:

Looks like 2021 is coming to an end!  I hope this letter finds you enjoying the holidays and being excited about what next year brings.

I'm still working for TI, my team is working on some content evolution that will be fun to be part of probably the next few years.   We are likely going back to work more next year which I think will be good.  Still not much work travel being planned.

For volunteer work this year I'm managing the web site for high school PTSA and middle school PTA, co-leading Cadette Girl Scout troop, and the patches chair for the Allen Band.  This year has been back to more normal with more in person meetings and activities.   I've been volunteering with PTAs and 

Girl Scouts for years, but this was really the first year I got to volunteer with the band.   It's a lot of fun getting to volunteer and be around the kids.   I helped with fitting uniforms, volunteering at games and Kasey and I helped change out part of the band uniforms unbuttoning and buttoning probably hundreds of buttons.  

Greg is still stay at home dad helping get the kids everywhere and in charge of shopping and cooking.  He has picked up a new hobby that we are both enjoying.   He is part of some groups and goes some weeks lining (what we call waiting in line early at places like Specs to see what rare bourbons they have for sale).   We've enjoyed trying several different bourbons and learning more about them.

We went a few places this year.  We started out the year going to Miami to watch A&M play in the Orange Bowl.   A few friends went as well, and we ended up getting a suite for the game so it was just us.  We got to eat some good food and definitely saw some interesting people watching.   The kids weren't overly impressed with the attire.

For spring break we found crazy cheap airline flights to Hawaii so we went to the Big Island.  We had a pretty low key week.  We enjoyed exploring in the mornings, we ate some good food, enjoyed local breweries including our favorite Kona Brewery.  We also took a boat ride where we got to swim with lots of dolphins, and we got to swim with manta rays.  Overall a great trip.  

In May after the kids got out of school we all went on trips.  The boys went on high adventure Boy Scout trip to Sea Base.  They stayed on a sail boat off the coast of Florida for a week and helped work the boat.   While they were gone Kasey and I went to Universal Studios for 3 days.  Last time we took the kids Kasey was pretty young and had not read all of the Harry Potter books.   Kasey also rode all of the big roller coasters with me.  We also got to test run the new VelociCoaster before it had officially opened (one of the best roller coasters I've been on).

We also went as a family to Orange Beach over 4th of July.  We usually avoid traveling over the 4th but did this year.  We enjoyed hanging out at the beach, going to our favorite go cart place and having some good dinners.  On 4th of July we went out on the beach and got to see fire works in multiple directions.  Fun times.  

During football season we went to College Station for most of the games, and Greg and I went to Colorado with some friends to see the game.  We stayed downtown in Denver so we were able to walk most places.  As usual we had good food, and the Aggies won but just barely.

Kasey is now 13 and in 7th grade - she's now in middle school.  She had been telling me for close to a year that she was turning 13.  As of September this year Kasey is taller than me.  I'm now officially the shortest person in our house.  Kasey is taking hip hop, in Symphonic 1 band at the middle school and still in Girl Scouts.  In band Kasey made All City band and was able to participate in a day workshop with a visiting conductor.   In Girl Scouts Kasey has been working on her silver award where she and another girl scout prepared and taught art classes at a local 55+ independent living place.   She was also selected to be part of a Girl Scout older girl leadership group - 40 girls interviewed, 20 were selected.  This group is focused on product sales (cookies ;)), and they will do something each quarter of the next year.  In November they had a lock in with the girls and then led a cookie rally with a few hundred younger girls.  Several kids in Kasey's grade are in Cotillion this year.  The girls are taller than most of the boys but it's fun to hear them talk about it in the car.  Kasey still enjoys watching YouTube and playing Roblox, and she's gotten into the new Spiderman movies too. Kasey has started enjoying reading more - she usually gets a few books each time and sometimes reads through them really quickly.  She  has made some new friends in middle school that she texts with a lot.   Kasey mainly wears jeans to school and likes wearing black shirts mostly.  

Landon is now 15 1/2, and a Sophomore in high school - he's at the main high school campus. Landon is almost as tall Greg now.  He's still in high school band.  This year the band went to Area marching competition and qualified as one of the 10 finalists.   I got to volunteer at several of the football games this season - it's fun and kids are good kids and have fun at the games.  Landon still enjoys hanging out with some of the older students that also play mellophone.  Most of his closer friends are also in band. Landon went on his first high adventure boy scout trip with Greg to Sea Base.  He also completed and was awarded his Eagle Scout rank - we are really proud.  We enjoyed celebrating with friends and family in August.   Landon also got his driving this permit and is driving us around town a good bit. He's started going to a gym multiple times a week with a friend, and even looking to buy some clothes to care a little more what he looks like.  Landon really enjoys playing online games and watching YouTube.   We enjoy watching all of the MCU and Star Wars series on Disney+

We hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May God Bless you this 
coming year.  

November 2021

 11/30 - Kasey had her winter band concert at the Lowery Freshman Center.  They were dressed in all black and its always fun to get to hear them play.

11/28 - Kasey turned 13 today.  We celebrated on Thanksgiving with family and I'm taking Kasey and a friend to see the new Spiderman movie.  Kasey let me put up Christmas trees on her birthday - usually she won't let us until after her birthday.

11/27 - The band playoff was at 2pm and ended up being a home game which is pretty easy.  I volunteered to help out.   Allen won.  We got home in time for the Aggie game against LSU.  Which sadly we lost.   We got to have some good drinks and pizza rolls.

11/25 - We had Thanksgiving in the evening.  Good and bad to that.   We got to relax in the morning which was nice then figure out how to time everything.  It all worked out.  We had great dinner, celebrated Kasey's birthday and then had some yummy dessert.

11/23 - Greg and I switched back our closets - good that we cleaned some things out but kind of made a mess doing it.   I filled 3 garbage bags with clothes to donate which is good.

11/20-21 - Landon went with friends to lake house so it was just Greg, Kasey and I.    None of us went to the Aggie game.  We watched at home instead.  We sold our tickets to a sorority sister and their friends so they could all sit together.  Greg took us to brunch at Rick's in downtown McKinney on Sunday morning.  It was really good.

11/19 - Landon's high school took the opportunity to make a 1/2 day of school into a day of service.   The PTSA helped get 600 loaves of bread (Thank you Kroger) + Greg got about $200 worth of jelly to donate from PTSA as well.  He had to go to 5 stores to get that much of the cheaper jelly.

Here are stats from their 1/2 day of service.

2052 student volunteers

3 full size plarned mattresses created

125 pet toys and pet beds made for Allen animal shelter

134 encouraging posters designed for AHS students

250 letters written to troops

600 busy bags created for children in hospital

1000 lunch bags decorated for homeless

4000 pom-poms prepped for art installation at Allen library

9000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made for homeless

14466 items donated to ACO 

That night the football team and band all went to Globe Life Stadium in Arlington.  They needed volunteers for the band.   Grammy and Gramps stayed with Kasey so both Greg and I could volunteer.   It was nice to be inside but the football field in a baseball stadium is weird and the acoustics aren't great.   The band was in a corner so security was easier than expected.

11/16 - After 20 months of COVID, we were finally able to deliver the stuffed animals that the Girl Scout troop made for their bronze award to the local fire department.   A few of the chiefs took a picture of some of them with in front of the fire truck,.

11/15 - Landon was inducted into National Honor Society tonight.   Several of his friends were as well.  Fun to see them dressed up.  Sadly we didn't get a picture of them.  

11/14 - Kasey had Cotillion today.  Not her favorite but fun to listen to the girls talk about it.   A few boys they know are in the class, and many others they don't know.  Several of the boys are shorter than most of the girls.  That will change in time.

11/12 - 13 - We had a very busy weekend.  Kasey was selected to be in an older girl leadership program in Girl Scouts.  40 girls were interviewed and 20 were selected.  She was one of the younger girls selected and the group will focus products like cookies.  The girls had a lock in then led several younger girls at a cookie rally.  The younger girls got to taste cookies and learn different parts of the cookie business.  The older girls also learned more about the back end of the cookie program.

Friday I volunteered with the band for the home game and Greg took Kasey to her lock in.   Saturday morning I was running errands, then went to Neath the Wreath craft fair in the afternoon.  I was bummed Kasey didn't get to go with me, but she was having a good time at her event.  I went to pick Kasey up because the Aggie game was starting about the time she needed to be picked up.  Kasey enjoyed her time, she got to know other girls.  in this group they will do something each quarter related to product sales with Girl Scouts.

Doug came over to watch the game.  We had some good drinks, but sadly the Aggies lost.

11/6 - All 4 of us day tripped the Auburn game.  2:30pm game so we left early, went down to have lunch before then went to the game.   A&M won then we drove back home.

11/5 - I volunteered to help with the band for a home game.   Landon actually came up to go to the restroom so I asked one of the photo dads to take a picture of us.   I was excited to get a picture with him in his uniform.

11/3 - I took both Kasey and Landon to get their hair cut with Larisa.   Landon got the sides cut more but kept the top longer and we all seemed to like that better.  Kasey's hair got a trim and she layered the front a little more.  It looked really good and Kasey was excited.

October 2021

 10/31 - Halloween.  Landon was going to a friends house to hang out and go trick or treating.  He had last minute costume to be a safari guy??   Kasey had convinced us to get her a big red blow up costume that was really fun but not so practical.  Anyway, she had asked a few friends to come over, then a few of her new friends also came over.  Kasey went to like 2 houses as the big red dog then decided it wasn't worth changing batteries so she had on underneath her shirt that says this is my human costume I'm really a chicken nugget.    5 girls ran around our neighborhood.  Greg and I sat outside with candy and watching the cowboy game with neighbor in his front yard

10/30 - today was a crazy day.  I went with the band to Mesquite for Regional marching contest.   We had call time at 6am, the band practiced before we left.  Then we got there and they got ready and performed in the morning.  We had Rudy's BBQ catered for lunch - yum.  Then we all headed to Forney high school for afternoon practice.   The volunteers sat in the shade and had some snacks :)   Then we went back to Mesquite to get results and Allen made the finals.   This is a big deal as they haven't done this in a few years.   We all had dinner, the directors talked to the kids about being proud of what they accomplished and not negative that they shouldn't make it.   They performed pretty well, but ended up getting 10th (out of 10) in the finals for Area.   At the end all finalist bands come on the field.  Because of the size of Allen it took our band the same amount of time to get on the field as 9 other bands competing.    It was a long day, but fun to be a part of.  I think we got back to the school after 11pm.

10/29 - Greg helped out with band and it was an away game so Kasey and I went to dinner with Grammy and Gramps.  We went to Chepas - yum!!

10/23 - Kasey made all city band so she got to go to a clinic with visiting director (who is actually someone that volunteers and has kids in the Allen band), learn new music in several hours then perform for the parents.   Proud of her for making it.  

Landon went to his first homecoming the same day.  He was going with a group of guy friends - they all agreed to wear collared shirts and slacks or suit pants - no tie, no coat.   They don't like planning at all.  They finally decided to get dinner at Black Walnut cafe.   I took a few of the boys up there.   Then after dinner I took them to the dance.    There was a huge line at the high school.  I told them to text me if they didn't want to stay.  They stayed for a while then went back to one of the boys houses.  They played basketball in their nice clothes - they had actually planned ahead for this taking tennis shoes :)

the only picture I was able to get of the group was after dinner when it was already mostly dark.  Not great, but I got a picture.

Greg went to A&M for South Carolina game with the boys.

10/22 - I volunteered with the band at home game.  They really needed extra people on the field to help so Kasey got to help hand out snacks to all the high schoolers after halftime while Greg helped in the field.   Pretty cool.

10/16 - I volunteered with the band for Regional marching contest.  We had call about 9am and were back around 2:30pm.  The band advanced to the next level of competition at Area marching competition.

10/13 - Kasey went with me to volunteer with the band.  We were changing a part of all of the uniforms to the show uniform.   Let's just say undoing and redoing a bunch of buttons was hard on the hands.

10/9 - All 4 of us went to College Station for the Alabama football game.  We ate at Copy Bridge for some burgers with friends.   We went to the game.  I figured this game we would either lose bad or win.   We beat the number 1 team in the country.   Right after the win we got a fun picture of the 4 of us.   Both of the kids were even into this game.  Fun times!  Gig'em

10-8 - Today was boo bowl where the band dresses up in Halloween costumes.  Landon and one of his friends dressed in Christmas sweaters and hats.   I had to borrow a sweater from a friend a work.

10/7 - Julie and I got to go to a Girl Scout VIP event  on behalf of TI.  It was a happy hour that was part of the Women of Distinction luncheon that honors a few Gold award recipients and a few key ladies in the community.  It's a great program.

Greg was at USA/Jamica soccer game.  Grammy and Gramps came over to have dinner with the kids until I got home.

10/5 - Kasey's middle school band planned at the football game today.   This was the only time they were doing it.  Greg volunteered to help out.    I came from work.   I think there were more parents taking pictures of the band than watching the game.  Fun times.   The director started talking to the kids about going down on the field at halftime.   They had never practiced before.  She was joking but several of the kids believed her.  It was funny that several parents volunteering  were the same parents that volunteer at the high school band often.

10/2 - Greg, Dave, Kasey and I took bus to day trip College Station to see A&M play Miss State.   Landon had Marching regional competition that day.   Grammy and Gramps hung out with Patch and were home when Landon got home late.  We got about around 1:30am but somehow we lost our car keys.  Dave brought us home and we had to drive back to get the car the next day.   We had a pretty fun day.   We might have had a little to much to drink on the bus, the aggies lost and we lost our keys, but still fun.

September 2021

9/29 - We put Grimmy up - Kasey's 12 foot Grim reaper blow up for Halloween.

9/26 - Kasey had her first cotillion class.  She rides with 3 other girls.   Its fun to listen to them.  Many of the boys are shorter than the girls and most of the boys don't know a lot what is going on so they have a lot to talk about.

9/25 - Kasey had a birthday party at a mall dave and busters.   I took her up there, did a little shopping at Sam moon and then went to the bar for a drink and to watch the Aggies not play Arkansas very well.  I got to chat with her friends mom for a little while

9/20 - It looks like Kasey is officially taller than me.  I'm the shortest person in the family now :)

9/18 - Landon drove me for the first time to church for a court of honor.  Greg went to the A&M game with Doug.  I stayed home with the kids.

9/17 - I had an onsite/offsite with my managers.  We were in a room most of the day wearing masks because of the rules.   It was good to see each other.

9/16 - we went to Addison Oktoberfest on Thursday because it was the only day we could go.   Greg, Kasey, Doug and I went.   Kasey talked us into getting her a chicken hat.   The new setup the big tent is still covered but totally open on the sides.  As usual we had good food and drinks.

9/10 - Grammy and Gramps stayed with the kids while Greg and I went to Colorado for the A&M game. 

Friday Kasey went to football game with friends.  Landon was there with the band and then went out with friends afterwards.

We had earlier flights and had a bite to eat and drink in Dallas before leaving.  There was a guy in the bar with us that ended up at the same place we went to after we arrived in Colorado.  Friday night we went to Elway's for dinner.  Steak house which was pretty good.  

Saturday we had early lunch - really good burgers before we went to the game.  It was actually really warm in the sun, but luckily our seats ended up in shade after a while.  The game was a little crazy.   Aggies ended up winning but barely.  The fans from the other team were pretty rude - lots of language that made us think the kids should not go to school there!

We had a few drinks at the bar near the hotel before getting ready for dinner.   Saturday dinner was much different - much more upbeat vibe and I liked the food better than Friday. 

Sunday we came back home.   We didn't have to get a car because we were staying downtown.  We took a train to the area, walked to where we needed to go including dinner and the game.   It was a fund short weekend away.

9/8 - Landon really needed a hair cut but didn't want the short cut that he has been getting for a while.    I took him to a friend who recently got her license to help him find a style that is cool for a teenager :).  It will be a journey but glad we have someone to go to.

9/4 - We went down to A&M for the first home game.  It was red, white and blue game since it was near the 20th anniversary of 9/11.   The students organized again just like they did 20 years ago to have different tiers of the stadium wear red/white or blue.   Pretty cool to see the stadium that way.  

We stayed at Best Western.   After the game the kids went to bed and Greg and I had a drink at the bar.   Cool bartender and we enjoyed some bourbon.

August 2021

 8/28 - Greg, Doug and I went to speak easy where they have good food, lots of bourbon and drinks and sometimes have live music.

8/27 - First Allen home football game.  I volunteered with the band.  We get to be security, help kids take jackets off when they go to the restroom and make sure no one sneaks away or into the band area.   Watching and listening to them step off as they walk from the practice field to the stadium is really cool.   I've volunteered with PTA for many years, but volunteering with the band is really fun because you get to be around the kids.  They are good kids and seem to appreciate us helping.

A few of the dads are photographers for the band and they are great at capturing the kids through the season.  It's fun to go through the pictures and find kiddos and friends.

Greg and Kasey came to the game.   Kasey sat in the middle school section with friends and Greg hung out at the top most of the time.

8/20 - Greg and Landon went on water sports campout.  Landon got to wake board once, but had fun.  Kasey and I hung out over the weekend.  I started cleaning out my closet which was a complete mess.

8/16 - Landon presented is Eagle project to the troop at the weekly meeting

8/15 - Landon and Greg went driving today.  Landon drove home from Ereckson - he said it felt really weird, but exciting.

8/11 - First day of school - Landon started big high school campus 10th grader and Kasey started middle school as 7th grader.

They both had pretty good days.   Kasey doesn't have to many friends in her classes but knows someone in all of them.  She has several friends in band, and has a few friends that she eats lunch with.   She likes her history, science and math teachers, but doesn't really like her PE coach.  She has PE + homeroom + lunch all together which she says is really long.  That might change when she has to change clothes for PE.  Kasey is growing up a lot.  She got a phone at the beginning of summer.  She has many text groups and chats on discord.  She still says boys are icky, but admitted to me she has her first celebrity crush - Tom Holland (spiderman).   After pine cove and being around several other girls Kasey started shaving end of July.  She also showed interest in make up at the end of July.  We got some mascara and lipgloss.  I've seen her wear lipgloss but don't think she liked the mascara.  They grow up so fast.

Landon has to leave at 6:15am to get to band before school.  Our neighbor is very nicely taking Landon to band since he's driving and going anyway.  Landon has A and B days.  A days he's at the high school all day and gets out before last period about 3:15pm.   B days he has to take a bus to a different campus around lunch time and has 15 minutes to eat.  Not his favorite but hopefully the engineering class will be good.  Landon really just likes talking to and playing video games with friends.  He wants to try growing his hair out (which Greg is against), but we'll see how it goes.

8/9 - Last silver award class at Larkspur - making little Chickens and accessories.  We only had a few ladies but they had fun and got to have some of Kasey's yummy chocolate chip cookies.   

8/7 - Landon Eagle Scout court of honor.   I think the court of honor went really well.   We had several family members there, Doug came, our neighbor Steve and several Scout families.  We are able to get a picture of Landon with 4 other scouts who have all been in scouts together since early elementary school.   In the ceremony we got to celebrate that Landon was a 3rd generation Eagle Scout.  Landon put mom pin on my, I put Landon's Eagle award on him, he put his dad's Eagle award on him and Greg put Pops Eagle award on him.  Landon achieved his goal of getting further than both his dad and grandfather.   He completed 36 merit badges which is 15 beyond the required number for Eagle.  This means he earned 3 Palms.  Pops earned 1 Palm and Greg just completed the required number of merit badges.  I had put together a slide show of Landon from cub scouts to now which is really fun to watch as these boys have grown up together.  Kasey did the music for the slideshow.  She found the songs and did the edits which took a good deal of time.  Thx Kasey. For the display we showed several things from cub scouts including some pinewood derby cars and Landon's first place trophy.   On the boy scout display we showed several of Landon's patches for trips, leadership and ranks.  We also showed some of the things from 3 generation of Eagles.  We had all 3 of their order of the Eagle Sash, Greg's Merit badges and Eagle project folder.  Very fun event and we got some great pictures.

8/6 - We had Fan Fest and Watters Creek for the band.   I was there helping to set up pop up shop on the green.  I also ended up helping with security as the band walked down streets.   It's pretty nostalgic being part of that and seeing all of the band walk through.   I also helped with handing out water before going back to the pop up shot.  Greg was sitting on patio and Lion and Crown and may or may not have had drinks for when we had down time.   Fan Fest was really fun.  Got to see the band play, they shared some new songs, and we got to yell for different sections.

8/5 - Landon went with a friend for most of the day to Hawaiian falls then had to come to school to get additional band uniform fittings.  I was helping kids get fit again.  That day the band walked to the stadium and played in their spot.  Landon will be bottom corner of the band during football games - which means he's sitting right behind the drill team.

8/4 - I took a day and a half off to help with Ereckson PTA meet the teacher - we were selling membership, spiritwear and donations and I was one of the only ones who had been involved in in person events the years prior.   I was also working on Landon's Eagle Court of honor and helped the next afternoon with extra band fitting.

8/3 - Kasey went with friends to cheer on Ereckson teachers and see a few norton teachers as all of the teachers and staff went to the Allen convention center for convocation.

June & July 2021

 July 31 - helped band fit uniforms all day - lots of kids had never worn uniforms before so we had to fit them, teach them about uniforms and teach them how to hang them up.  I had to get up and down on the floor several times to help get the leg snaps the right length.   My arthritic knees didn't like this much, but I enjoyed seeing kids coming in to get fit.

July 30 - Landon's first pep rally with band - they streamed it live which was fun.  Took boys to school for uniform fitting so they could go to the lake for the weekend.

July 29 - Kasey and Lucy had another art class  on bookmark making for their silver award.

July 26 - 30 - Landon had summer band camp from 7-3:45 each day this week.  Monday he had flight school to get to know the new campus some.  He said he didn't learn much.  Tuesday and Wednesday he decided not to go to the evening activities.  Thursday was an all high school event - the band played and they had food trucks and dunking tanks and such outside.  The boys stayed for a while but not the whole time.

July 25 -  A few of my managers and I donated a beer tasting to united way auction.  Today we had that tasting with several other colleagues.  Some of which we hadn't seen for almost a year and a half.  Very fun tasting, yummy snacks and great getting to see people in person.  Westlake Brewery is awesome.

July 22 - Kasey did silver award class making small notepad holders with multiple people at Larkspur.  She was asked to bring them back the next week as a few people weren't able to go that day and time.

July 19 - 22 - This week was kind of the end of the summer for me.  I had 2 PTA board meetings, band board meeting and a girls night where we talked about not believing how fast our kids were growing up.   This time of year is always crazy getting back to school.   I also started thinking about Girl Scouts for this year.  As a few of the girls have made great progress on their silver awards others weren't able to make as much progress.  This year we are looking to raise money for a trip next summer.  The girls are going to create badge work for younger girls.  We also want to try cabin camping again - its been a while.

During this week Kasey had art camp with some friends that she enjoyed.  

July 18 - Greg birthday celebration with Grandma/Pops.  We went to Spring Creek for yummy BBQ and had Greg's dessert back at their place.

July 17 - Travis was the first of boys that Landon joined boy scouts with to have his Eagle Court of Honor.  It was nice to see families and also get to see details of the court of honor.   That night we went out for Gramps & Greg Birthday. We went to AKA Japanese Hibatchi then back to the house for homemade cobbler and ice cream.  

July 13 - For the first time in many months, we had several people in the office for in-person meeting. I took a picture.

July 3-10 Saturday we left early about 6am to get on the road and drive to Orange Beach.  The drive wasn't too bad until we got close.  We stopped to get Papa Murphy pizza to cook at our place.  Traffic was crazy going to the shore.   We got there, had dinner and hung out.  On the 4th we spent some time on the beach and decided that night to go on the beach with a drink and watch fire works.  We could see bigger fireworks down both ends of the beach and there were people pretty close by also setting off fire works.   Pretty fun.   On the 5th we had some beach time, early showers and headed to Flora-Bama - fun restaurant on the border between the 2 states.  On the 6th we had some rain and stayed inside most of the day.  That night we ate on patio at Fresh off the Boat - which happened to be just below one of our favorite restaurants.   Yummy food and dessert.  Greg ended up teaching the waitress how to open a bottle of wine - I think the kids were embarrassed but we like to help people.   That night I went for a walk on the beach listening to one of my favorite pod casts - smartless.  On the 7th we did some putt putt golf, got some yummy milk shakes.  That night we ate on patio at GT's on the Bay.  They had live music which I love.  That day and night the water was pretty rough. We went outside to the water.  Greg and kids got in and I took some pictures and got my feet in the water. On the 8th we went to our favorite go-kart place and drove several times on different tracks.  Then we went to play putt putt again which is fun.  That night we went to Cobalt for dinner.  We had to wait a long time.  We all had a few drinks waiting, they had live music outside.  On the 9th we went to the beach since it was our last day.  That night Landon, Greg and I went to Louisiana Lagniappe - one of our favorites.  On the 10th we got up and left really early again to get home.  It was a nice trip.  We got to relax, enjoy  the beach, good food and some fun together.    

July 1-2 - We left after lunch and headed to see family for the first time in too long.  Thursday night we had a smaller group and went to get BBQ.   Friday we watched a movie together, had leftovers for lunch and got ready for more family to come over.   We missed a few cousins because one was sick and another was out of town.  We still had fun catching up, talking to teenagers as they are growing up looking at the next stage of their lives.  Younger kids played. It was great to see most of the family.

June 26 - Gabby Sixteenciera - since it was cancelled in 2020 we finally got to celebrate.  We got all dressed up - got some good pictures, we all did some dancing (even Landon).  Kasey had just gotten back from camp so we didn't stay late.   Fun gathering though.

June 20-26 - Kasey went to Pine Cove for the week.  She was in cabin with most of the same girls from last year.  These girls really bonded because they got to be together in 2020 with all of the crazy COVID stuff.  Interesting how getting girls together same age from different places with different rates of growing up.  Church camp friends brought up good discussions about dating, shaving, make up.   She's growing up so fast.

June 19 - We celebrated father's day with Gramps at Numero 28 - yummy italian restaurant not far.  There was an older gentleman who came by offering to take a picture of us.  He held the phone the wrong way and took a picture of himself.   Sweet man.

6/14-15 - Kasey's dance studio decided to do recital just a handful of classes at a time.  Kasey was in 2 different performance times and performed 3 times.  The grandparents were able to come and see her perform.  Next year she has decided just to do hip hop.  

6/8 - The girls had prepared and presented their first silver award class where they made bracelets.  The girls prepared the materials, made scripts, prepared kits for others who couldn't be there and taught about 13 ladies how to make them.

May 2021

 5/24 - 28 - Kasey and I left for mother daughter trip to Universal Studios.   We flew in Monday, went to the parks Tuesday through Thursday and flew home Friday.  We went back and forth between the parks - walking and taking Hogwarts Express.   We ate dinner at the resorts most nights, and lunch in the park.   We tried the first 2 days to get a time for Hagrids new ride and didn't luck out.    The 3rd day we got up early and headed to the park.  We finally got in line to ride it.  Awesome ride.  We then later got a time to come back.  Sadly when we came back at that time we waited in line over an hour which was longer than anything we had waited for.   We stayed at Loews Portofino which is really nice and includes express pass which allows you to get in shorter lines - completely worth it.  Wednesday night we went to Margaritaville - at Kasey's request - we got there for our reservation and went into the store.   We got a few things and checking out the guy asked if we had gone on the new Velocicoaster.  We said no, we thought only season ticket holders could go.  He said no they were testing it and to definitely try it.  We decided after dinner we were going back to try and ride it.   We got in line and rode it - AWESOME ride so we tried to ride it again in single rider.   It closed down for a little while and we were stuck in an area that kept repeating the same videos over and over.  The story is that the ride is part of Jurassic world park and they are letting velociraptors out and the ride will safely keep you away from them.  The ride goes up to 70 miles and hour and has up to 12 seconds of being weightlessness.    Such a great ride, we were so excited that we got to ride it.  Our last day we got to ride it one more time.  Fun trip!

5/22 - Boys left for Sea Base high adventure - they flew to Florida, spent a day going on an airboat tour getting to see some of the marshes and got to hold a baby alligator.   On their Sea Base trip they sailed on a boat for a week working on the boat, cooking, snorkeling.  They got to see turtles and some nice sunsets along the way.

5/21 - Landon got his driving learners permit - after last day of school Greg took him to get his permit.   

5/18 - Band spring concert at the high school.  They had concerts by band, Landon was in Wind Ensemble (highest band for his grade).  This was the first band concert that didn't have designated seats for parents.  Greg and I were both able to go but we could only have 2 people per student.

5/17 - Landon turned 15.  Landon had his Eagle board of review tonight.   Grandparents, Kasey and I all went up there.  Greg and I got to hear the end of his review and then we took pictures of him, Landon and Travis who also had his Eagle BOR the week before and with the family.  We are all very proud of him.   Landon and Travis were also presented to the troop as newest Eagles, it was posted on facebook as latest double eagles - Eagle Scout and Allen Eagle.

5/15 - Landon solo and ensemble contest - he got a 2.  We had a big family dinner for Landon's birthday.  We went to Bavarian Grill - I don't think my parents had been before.  Greg and I go often - trying to help local businesses during COVID of course.  Yummy beer, food and we pre ordered the Black Forest cake which is always good.

5/14 - In and out burger dinner at Norton - our last event at the Elementary school.  We paid ahead and then went to get our burgers, chips and drinks.  We ate outside at a local park with friends.  Fun to watch the kids interact with each other and get to catch up with parents - in COVID world we didn't get to see much of this.

5/12 - Greg and Doug volunteered to help set up Coaches night.  I drove down after work.  We got our picture with Orange Bowl trophy and got to try some Aggie bonfire whisky and vodka.

5/9 - Mother's day with Grandma, we had lunch at Abuelos - a favorite for everyone.  We also had Mother's day with Grammy - yummy meal and BJs with dessert and all.

5/8 - had end of year girl scout event -  We want to Lupe Tortilla to eat, and then had nothing bundt cakes for dessert - we bought them during Norton Spirit wear week.  The girls shared their silver award plans and got to fill out a sheet on their moms to give to them for mothers day.

5/7 - Girl Scout leader awards - we had outdoor leader award meeting.   fun to see other leaders and appreciate awards for several friends and fellow leaders.

5/4 - Last Norton PTA meeting - 10 years in the making - I have been on the Norton PTA for 10 years.  This was my last meeting.  Kind of bitter sweet.  I will still be involved with PTA at other schools but no longer at Norton.

Also that day we spent several hours putting together rose bouquets in vases for teachers.  We use the roses as fundraiser to help pay for 6th grade graduation.  

5/1-5/2 - Great wolf lodge - I took Kasey and a friend to Great Wolf Lodge for Saturday and Sunday.  It was Girl Scout cookie award weekend and they didn't have enough girls to earn the award.   We got there in the afternoon and the girls went to ride rides in the water park.  They did several on their own and let me ride a few of the big rides where we all got into a big tube.  One of them was a big drop into a funnel that took us back and forth - I had to convince the girls to go on this.