Carl's Centennial Celebration

Before leaving Florida this year we cheered our Huskers on against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2012 Capitol One Bowl in Orlando.  Sadly, it was the Huskers on the short end of the 13-30 final score. 




But all was not in vain: the Runza folks came from Nebraska and that made the trip really worthwhile!!


We left Florida with Ashley and Nate, bound for Texas and another, but very unique celebration: the 100th birthday of Meg's Father Carl.
 
Enroute we visited the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

A special treat was meeting Frank Pitts, former NFL great who is now serving as a volunteer at the Capitol. Here he is with our family showing us his TWO Super Bowl Rings!  Impressive! 

The former LA capitol building, calling to mind a medieval castle, is now more of a museum and is used for official events, such as the inauguration of the new governor later that day.

Many members of Carl's family gathered in Deer Park, Texas where the Republic was born in 1836.  Meg is standing in front of the San Jacinto Monument, commemorating the victory of Sam Houston and his army over the Mexican dictator Santa Anna.  It's a very beautiful place and interesting to visit.  Stop by on your way through; it's not far off I-10.

We met together to honor Meg's Dad, on

his 100th Birthday!  

 His granddaughter Vanessa hosted the gathering.

Family from California made the long drive!

Carl and "his girls!"

Four generations of our family gathered from Texas, California, Oklahoma and Florida.  We owe so much to this great man, who has witnessed the development of automobiles, communications, airplanes and rockets, moon-landings and the internet! 

It was a joy to honor him as he enters his second century!!

Holidays with Stacey in Florida

As we had been invited to spend Thanksgiving with Stacey in Florida, and Ashley's visit with us was conditional on our getting her home for the holidays, we and our "Lincoln family" decided to have Thanksgiving early!  Shanna is a great cook and working together we all put on a pretty nice spread!    (I'm referring to what went on the table, not on our waists!!)The only thing missing was the Texas-Texas A&M football game, which they adamantly refused to reschedule for us!  But it was still great fun having "Thanksgiving" dinner with my Brother and the nieces/nephews that make up our Lincoln family!

We left Lincoln and headed for Branson, MO where veterans are highly esteemed and Veterans Day is treated like a national holiday! We stayed for a week, saw several shows and the Veterans Day parade. 

The Kilgore Rangerettes were a pleasant Texas surprise!

Some of our fellow SMART RV friends from Kansas marched in the parade.  We were a little surprised to see Gen. MacArthur riding in the parade, but I guess we shouldn't have been.  It was Branson, after all!

Tony Orlando has a large theater in Branson and he is a great supporter of our country and our vets.  He hosted a free variety show for us, along with Mike Huckabee, who then followed with the live  taping of his own weekly show.  So, we got "two-fers" and a wonderful evening of entertainment, thanks to these two patriots. 

Mike and Tony were joined in the fun by "Obama", a great impersonator often seen on SNL.

A fun musical theater production in Branson is "Smoke On The Mountain"; well-worth your visit!  During the holidays they put on a Christmas version: "Sanders Family Christmas."

Any trip to Missouri calls for another mandatory stop at Lambert's Cafe, the Home of the Throwed Rolls!  Wonderful food, always!

We moved on to Tupelo, Mississippi where we visited the Tupelo National Battlefield and had a chance to learn a little more Civil War history.

Then on to Little Rock, Arkansas for the night at a lovely little campground right on the river.  We visited the Arkansas State Capitol before moving on. 

Next on our list of capitols was the stately Montgomery, Alabama Capitol which we visited on a very rainy morning.  Our visit was interrupted by a tornado warning, which prompted a movement of all visitors and employees to the basement "crypt", where we entertained ourselves for about an hour.

This year we reversed our usual order: we spent the holidays in Florida with Stacey's family and Sabrina was able to fly in from California to be with us.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas with Stacey and Darren's family.  Lots of fun!!  And food!!

During the holidays we enjoyed a fun day at Homosassa Springs State Park, home to many rescued animals and also several manatees.

 

It's worth your visit if you're ever in that area of the Florida Gulf Coast.  Hope you enjoy your travels as much as we do.  We're so blessed to be able to travel this wonderful country of ours freely.

On To Lincoln and the Big Ten!

Following the MAPS National Convention in Illinois we drove to Lincoln, Nebraska for our annual reunion with friends and family there.  Our gracious hosts, Fred and Janet, once again welcomed us to live on their property.  Thank you!!

Ashley, our oldest Granddaughter, flew from Florida to Omaha to spend time with us and travel to Florida with us.  She arrived in time to attend her very first football game ever and witness Nebraska's first home game of the new Big Ten conference membership.  We had breakfast at this local cafe with some very dear friends: Barb, Woody, Pam and Dana. 

 We all had a great time together!  (except, of course, the Ohio State fans who left disappointed!) The Huskers erased a 6-20 halftime deficit with the greatest comeback victory in NU history, winning 34-27! 

One afternoon, we, along with our friend Linda, dressed up and enjoyed a "high tea" at the beautiful home of a local entrepreneur, Ruby, who hosts these events regularly.  Fine time and good food!

A most enjoyable afternoon that afforded Ashley a chance to try on some of Ruby's vintage wedding gowns. 

Our Lincoln visits allow us opportunity to renew old friendships, which include some friends  whom we have not seen for many years. Terri Elliott met us for lunch in Omaha at her favorite Mexican restaurant, Julio's, and Ruth and Jerry Holan drove from Iowa to have lunch with us at Valentino's Pizza (the best in the world, I might add!)  Two wonderful reunions that highlighted this year's visit!  We are so thankful for these, and many other, longtime friends from our Lincoln sojourn.  A real treasure!

Ashley's visit was full of excitement: not just her first football game, but first real snow in a loooooong time.  That was fun!  We spent a day or two wandering Lincoln, visiting the State Capitol and geocaching the neighborhoods with our friend Linda.

We all had fun dancing with the Lincoln Scottish Country dancing group on several occasions. 

Halloween gives Christ's Place Church an opportunity every year to minister to the neighborhood in the form of "Trunk 'n' Treat", where the kids (of all ages!) can have fun in a very safe and protected environment.  We all pitch in with serving drinks, popcorn and hot dogs. 

Ashley jumps right in wherever we are and becomes part of the action; a great quality!  She helped set up, tear down and hosted some games.

We counted several thousand folks there and everyone had a blast!

Some of the pastoral staff even got in on the act!!                 Popeye and Olive Oyl showed up for the hot dogs (sorry: no spinach!)

Hermione was there, too, from Harry Potter fame.

 When we're in Lincoln Roger volunteers his medical services at the People's City Mission Clinic. Here are some of the splendid staff members he works with, who serve the patients here as a ministry. 

 Meg and Ashley both spent time there, as well, working with records and even having a chance to do some physical therapy again.  We're very thankful this clinic opened two years ago and is serving a large number of Lincoln's less fortunate and homeless individuals.