Thanksgiving 2022

Thursday, November 24 –

Lots of food (esp. desserts) and lots of fun was had at Laredo & Andrea’s house at Afton. The weather wasn’t very nice but it was cozy inside by the woodstove.

Magnus with a big smile

 

The kids table was very active
Daniella very happy with her food!
Chocolate pies
Homemade pizza

We had an Italian theme this year. Lazagne and gnocci with sausage, homemade pizza, yummy sour dough rolls, ham and salad. Plus 8 pies and two cobblers! So no one went home hungry.

Time for pie!
So many choices…

Daniella with Aunt Courtney

Great Gran getting warm

Birthday Babies

Sunday, July 5 –

On Thursday, July 3, Carolina turned 17. Today, Stockton turned 19. It seems my babies are growing up. These two still spend a good amount of time together and enjoy a group of mutual friends. Lots of people over the years have asked me if they were twins because they always favored each other and had the same basic shape.

They’re still both tall and thin, but their shapes are a little different now which is good. But, they still favor each other I think.

Here’s a few pics of these two from over the years

 

Barton Springs Pool and Austin Quick Trip

Sunday, July 14 –

After church today we drove down to Austin for a really quick trip. I had been looking up famous Texas swimming holes and we thought it would be fun to visit one of the most famous. We could only stay one full day because this is the Well Service’s busiest time of year, but we squeezed in as much fun as we could. I think we did a pretty decent job of it, too!

I had rented a little house within walking distance of Barton Springs pool. It was the top floor of this house.

Barton Springs is on the Colorado river which runs through Austin not far from downtown. Four springs feed the pool which is crystal clear and very cold. It is named after the man who originally settled there years ago and had a grist mill powered by the rushing water. A subsequent owner donated the land to Austin which eventually built the large swimming pool incorporating the springs area. It’s an interesting story and some nice old photographs of the history of the pool can be found here.

One of the springs flowing in.

We took pictures Monday morning planning to come back and swim in the heat of the afternoon. After we left the springs, we visited Austin Aquarium, a privately owned aquarium and reptile house. Stockton especially enjoyed this outing since they allowed limited handling of some of the specimens.

They had a manta ray pool where you could pet and feed these amazing creatures. They were very friendly.

Check out this little video of some of the friendly fish ( and other critters) loving their treats from aquarium visitors.

Afterwards we picked up a few groceries and ate at whole foods market.

In the afternoon we made it back to the springs to swim. There were significantly more people now, but still plenty of room to have fun.

Before long, however, some storms built up and they closed the pool due to the possibility of lightning.

We left the pool, went back to the house to change clothes and then ended up stopping at a miniature golf place. Stockton and Carolina had somehow missed ever getting to participate in a game of mini-golf. I think they enjoyed it. I know we did. It was called Peter Pan Mini Golf and has been a place of family fun since the late forties.

To see the mini golf video, click here.

 

Another fun activity was car gazing. The whole family really likes vintage cars (but who doesn’t?) and we’re always pointing them out to each other. Here’s a few we managed to photograph.

The kids were especially thrilled to see this DeLorean since we’ve recently watched the “Back to the Future” movies with our clearplay player.

We also visited a used book and record store and found a few treasures before stopping for a hamburger at a really fun place called shady grove, aptly named for all the large pecan trees shading the tables.

This vintage trailer was fixed up to be the men’s and ladies’ rooms.

Inside the ladies side were vintage posters and even an old telephone (just for looks). Carolina said she always wanted to twirl a telephone cord. I guess that’s just one more thing my generation took for granted.

So the vintage car that has zoomed by us earlier was parked behind the restaurant later and we got a close-up view of it.

Tuesday, July 16 –

So by Tuesday morning we had figured out that the best time to swim is in the early morning. It’s free from 5 am – 8 am, and you practically have the pool to yourself. It’s also more family friendly then as some of the swimmers and sun bathers in the afternoon and evening are not exactly modest. Apparently, a lot of residents swim early to start their day with a little refreshing exercise. So, when in Rome…

This was at about 7:45 in the morning. It is definitely the best time to visit this pool for a swim. The residents said that they come at this time year round. There’s also a bath house up these stairs.

After a refreshing swim, we headed back to the rent house to pack up and head home. But before we left Austin, we took a side trip to the LBJ Library. There was a special exhibition there that Carolina was keen to see. It was an exhibit about the early days of Motown. Yes, you read that right, Carolina really loves the music of that era and wanted to spend some time checking it out.

On the way there we drove past the beautiful Texas capital. Sadly, we didn’t have time to tour it this time.

From the LBJ library you have a good view of the clock tower on the University of Texas campus. Perhaps the library is on the campus itself, I’m not sure.

Another nice vintage car. Pres. Johnson’s Lincoln Continental used after he left office.

 

Carolina’s found another vintage phone. She said she always wanted to sit in a telephone booth.

 

Finally we came to the Motown exhibit.

 

 

Here we were trying to learn the temptations special “walk”

Outfits of the Jackson 5

After viewing the Motown exhibit, we took a quick look through some of the rest of the LBJ library. There were a lot of interesting things from the 60’s and early 70’s America.

A reproduction of the oval office as it was during the LBJ presidency.

 

There was a large section detailing the moon landing even featuring this moon rock.

After leaving the library, we headed back to the panhandle. It was a fast trip but lots of fun, too.

I did snap this photo of a picture hanging on the wall at a convenience store in Goldthwaite. An amazing piece of history isn’t it?

Quick Camping Trip

Thursday, September 20 –

We wanted to get to the mountains as a family before it became too cold to go. We headed to the Cloudcroft area of New Mexico. It was a short trip but very enjoyable. We took a tent to sleep in and a few other things for cooking, but traveled pretty light. We just about had the place to ourselves although quite a few people came in Friday night and Saturday as we were leaving.

On the drive over the scenery was so pretty.

 

We were delayed setting up our camp because it began raining about the time we got to Cloudcroft. But we shopped around in town and waited for it to clear. When we finally pulled into this camping spot, we were surprised to see a few elk grazing peacefully.

It didn’t take long for the guys to set up camp. It did take a while to get the campfire going since the wood was wet, but they did it.

You gotta have bacon for breakfast when you’re in the mountains, right?

It was so nice to be in the mountains again. It smelled so good.

 

  

  

 

 

We managed to work in a couple of nice hikes on Friday.

  

 


This old train trestle bridge was at the end of our first hike. It was very impressive and dated back to the late 1800’s.

This scenic view shows the white sands near Alamogordo in the distance.

Besides deer and elk, apparently there were bear roaming about as well judging by the tracks we found.

When we returned to camp, the elk were back. I managed to sneak around and get a few closer shots.

Stockton and I had to make a run into town to pick up something at Allsups. The sky was so pretty we snapped these shots.

Carolina’s 14th Birthday

Monday, July 3 –

Can my baby actually be 14? Who sped up the world while I wasn’t looking?

Carolina and Stockton cute looking up

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She reads her own books now and is quite fond of music.

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She and big sister, Aspen, have gotten really close.

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Her birthday meal was her favorite turkey hotdogs with pasta, cheese and veggie and a new kind of cake, Mocha Chocolate, with chocolate goat’s milk ice cream.

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Happy Birthday, Carolina!

Here’s a video that Atlanta sent Carolina on her special day.

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Dinosaur Valley State Park and Creation Museum

Saturday, April 15 –

We took a little side trip on our way home from Dallas. We spent some time in the Glen Rose area. We went through the Creation Museum, ate lunch at a great BBQ place and then spent a few hours at nearby Dinosaur Valley State Park.

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The museum was great. They had some nice exhibits including a small scale Noah’s ark. We also had fun at an antique shop before stopping for lunch.

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Then we headed back out of town past the museum and on to Dinosaur Valley State Park. The only draw back was the fact that since it was Easter weekend and perfect weather, we weren’t the only people there. But it was fun and we definitely want to go back and explore further sometime. (when there are no crowds)

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Stockton and Carolina were able to cross the river and see the dinosaur tracks near the other bank in a place or two. They enjoyed getting to swim and cool off.

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Bible Bowl

Friday, April 14 –

A group of several adults and teenagers traveled to Dallas today for the annual North Texas Leadership Training for Christ convention. The kids were competing in the Bible Bowl competition which took place on Friday evening. This year’s study material encompassed the entire book of Acts. The competition consisted of four rounds of 25 multiple choice questions per round.

The kids had been practicing on Sunday afternoons for a while as well as lots of personal study on their own. The kids were divided into two teams of four. A boy’s team and a girl’s team. The competition between the two teams was pretty fierce.

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We left early and stopped along the way for lunch.

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Once we arrived, everyone split up to check out the other competitions and the vendor booths.

 

 

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As the start time drew near, our two teams were eager to begin. The girl’s team consisted of Carolina, Sarah Robertson, Anica Carolan and Kimber Robertson. The boys team was made up of Randall Robertson, Brance Boger, Luke Carolan and Stockton. The teams lined up in vertical rows.

 

 

 

 

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They all did very good. The girl’s team got a gold medal and Carolina a personal silver medal. Stockton got a personal gold medal and his team a silver. They made some new friends, too.

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Dragging Practice

Saturday, June 25 –

Nathan and the kids spent some time in the arena today riding horses. They had a lot of fun.

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Stockton practiced dragging a heavy piece of wood around to get his horse used to the idea.

 

 

Laundry the Old-Fashioned Way

Stockton, Carolina and Marian stayed busy doing laundry with Atlanta’s hand washer and hanging the clothes out on the line. They got quite good at it and made it fun.

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Marian even has her own clothes line.

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Summer Ride

Friday, August 21 –

A beautiful evening for a ride.

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Cousin Hannah Visits

Thursday, July 23 –
Cousin Hannah came over to spend the night and spend some time with Carolina.

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