Tag Archives: Family

Clinton, Oklahoma’s Acme Brick Park

My wife has family in western Oklahoma in the oilfield and farming town of Clinton. Clinton is right on I40 and Route 66 runs right through it and so it is town with a lot going on. My favorite part of Clinton are my wife’s family who are very friendly, open, and hospitable. My favorite place to hang out is a city park called Acme Brick Park. They have a recreation center, a small train, walking paths, lakes, and baseball fields and gets a lot of use and that is all great and anything but my favorite part of the park is the old brick building,now, the recreation center.

The building’s south side gets great sun and I just love the photographs. I know that I overdo them on Instagram but I can’t help it. Maybe it is the combination of the green roof and the red brick, I don’t know.

What about you, do you have something you photograph maybe way too much?

Weekend Roundup

Busy, busy, busy that was us this weekend. Friday was my 9/80 day. I work 80 hours over nine days and get every other Friday off. It makes for long hours when I’m working but I love having the extra days off. Friday, Heather and I dropped my car off to get tires and then we went to breakfast and then on to the movies. We decided to see The Revenant.

Heather went to see it as a favor to me and I don’t think she liked it as much as I did. The Revenant is a powerful movie and very raw and incredibly brutal at times. I was worn out by the time it was done and I can see why it was nominated for a bunch of Oscars. I can’t really say much about it because almost anything would be a spoiler. I’ve some research I need to do and then maybe a dedicated blog post.

Friday night Logan’s Improv group put on a new show. Logan loves Improv and I love watching him light up when he is onstage. It is great watching his fellow performers also, some of whom have been in the group for years and I love watching the kids grow up. Logan and several others are seniors this year so they will be aging out of the group. We’ll have to see how Logan can continue doing Improv.

The nature of Improv is that you have to have a quick wit and you have to move on. Some skits work and others don’t and you don’t look back, you just go on.

Saturday morning I went for a trail run on Turkey Mountain. It is a great place to get my head on straight.

I saw this note card stuck in a tree. It’s a nice gesture and all that but the first rain this will turn into mush or the wind will blow onto the ground. I’m such a cynic.

Saturday night Logan got all spiffed up for his school’s Winter Ball. Heather and I were the chauffeurs for the night. We drove him to a country club where the Senior Dinner was and then later picked him up and took him to the dance venue and then picked him up. We were glad to do it. It was great seeing the young men and women being all dressed up, excited, and glowing for the event.

Heather and I went first class. I took her to one of the finest convenience stores in the country and offered to get her anything she wanted. I was even prepared to get here the X Large Pizza. Nothing but the best for my wife. She opted for a bottle of water.

Back to the Grindstone!

My barber of 24 years finally retired so Logan and I now have the same one.

I took a lot of time off this Christmas. About two weeks in all.

I always love following Heather around the grocery store taking photos of her in action. She never seems to enjoy it as much as I do.

I didn’t do a whole lot, mainly just hung out the family, including my Mother-in-Law we watched movies, ate a lot of great meals and spent a lot of time together.

Ginger discovered the joys of the fireplace. She doesn’t like sharing it with LJ the cat though.

Our spoiled critters got even more spoiled.

We celebrated Christmas in almost all the senses, the spiritual,

and the Family.

So I had a good time and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.

Christmas 2015 – In the Books

Christmas happened this year. Hear you go a rare shot of me in my snuggie.

The kid with his Nana. The kid is getting taller and taller. Is there something we can spray him with to slow him down a little bit.

Heather and Nana, quite a team.

I got a candid shot of Heather. She said she hated it but then she made it her profile pic on facebook. Should I hit her up about royalties?

I captured Nana also.

Before the Christmas meal. We decided to have it more informally this year in the kitchen. Lots less work that way.

My sister Ellen posted this on facebook today. She’s the cute one in the middle. I’m the good looking guy on the right and brother Bob is on the left. I’m guessing mid 1960’s in Price, Utah. We always had a great Christmas. Often we would load up afterward and head up to southern Idaho to see our relatives there. That was fun, or we would head down to Phoenix and see people down there. That was fun also. Bob and Ellen, with her husband Irvin, spent Christmas in Idaho with my dad this year.

She also posted this picture of her three girls. I’m guessing in the 1980’s. Dana is on the left. She and her husband Adam are in Australia visiting his family with their little girl who was born this year. Adam is an Australian citizen you see and their little girl has dual citizenship which I think is totally cool. Jillian in the middle is also visiting my dad, her Grandfather for Christmas in Idaho. Her husband Brian is in the Army serving his country overseas this season. Mary on the right spent Christmas in Colorado Springs with her son this year.

This isn’t a Christmas picture but it is Ellen and her Husband Irvin with Logan back at the turn of the century.

This is also not a Christmas pic but it shows my dad in between Logan and brother Bob.

And this is brother Bob and me with our mother a long time ago in Coyote, New Mexico. She is never far from our thoughts.

Hey you know, when we celebrate Christmas we celebrate it with the critters also. This is abby our sweet but not very smart mutt.

And Rascal, he is sweet and smart. You can see that he has been reading the paper.

And our sweet but perpetually cold mutt Ginger. My niece Dana pictured above lives in the Phoenix area and I think Ginger would like us to move there also.

And Nana’s dog Fiona. She always enjoys visiting us, but is ready to go home when that times comes also.

That was our Christmas this year or at least part of it. I’m big into Christmas not running into a huge stop on Christmas Day so I’m going to go ahead and everybody a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Memories

Digging through the files. This is Logan when he was two. He has always been a Christmas kid.

One year we got me Logan some Thomas the Tank Engine track and cars. I He loved it until ~~Heather took it away from me~~ he outgrew it. Sniff.

At least two out of the three of us can smile.

Boompa and Nana with Logan. Boompa, Charles, was the word’s greatest FIL and a heck of a great guy. He and Logan loved each other and were best friends. He was taken away from us suddenly years ago and we still miss him every day. Boompa loved Christmas and he loved his grandson.

This is my mother, Granny, with Logan when he was about six months or so. Nobody loved her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids like Granny did. She is also gone now.

We are moving forward though making new memories. We are confident that we will meet up with Boompa, Granny, and others again and the memories will be that much sweeter.

For new classic singers can anybody beat Michael Buble?

For great Christian Gospel Hymns check out my friend Driller's Christmas Music Marathon, going on now.

Philbrook Festival 2015

Last Sunday we grabbed up the world’s greatest mother-in-law, Nana, and took her off to the Philbrook Museum of Art to check out their Festival. It used to be “Festival of the Trees” with all sorts of decorated trees but they are not doing that anymore. Oh well, as we are told at work, we embraced change and pressed on. They have a wonderful Andy Warhol special exhibit going, so we checked that out and then went upstairs to see the gingerbread houses.

For some reason I love gingerbread houses.

This was one of my favorites because of its detailing.

They had a Santa on the roof.

And a parlor with a Christmas Tree and fireplace.

I also loved this Hobbit gingerbread house.

And here is another shot, this time with Heather behind the lens. Nana, Logan, and me with my cap. Do you like my cap? I love it; it is wool felt, water resistant and very warm. Us fat, bald headed guys love warm hats in the winter. I think that a good time was had by all, with or without the designer trees.

Lots Going on Here Lately

There has been lots going on these days. I have not been a very good blogging friend I am sorry to say.

Heather, Logan, and Nana after the play.

Let me see, first up this week, Logan was in a play at school. He plays Baloo the bear in the play “Just so Mr. Kipling” a drama based on Kipling’s characters in The Jungle Book.

It is a a great role for Logan with his deep booming voice. He makes a great bear. The kids all did great. For a one act play it has pretty large cast and you can tell the kids and the director really worked hard on it. They competed in a regional competition a couple weeks ago and won first place. So next week the State Championship so we are all loading up and heading down to Mustang, Oklahoma where the competition is being held.

And then Wednesday night was Corporate Night at Tulsa’s Oktoberfest. We took some customers to the event to drink beer, do the chicken dance, and wear funny hats. I didn’t take too many pics. Not good when you are with customers. I did get a pic of our VP of Operations holding two full beer steins. I am not sharing the pic with you guys though. At least not yet. Maybe after I retire, or he retires, or something like that.

The beer was great. This is Lagunitas IPA. Yum, yum, is what I say.

And then Thursday night the choir’s at Logan’s school gave a concert. Everybody from the first graders on up. Again they did a great job. Again, all I got is fuzzy pics from my cell phone. Sorry.

Saturday, Logan and I are heading out to the Wizard World at Tulsa’s Comicon. Fun, fun,fun exploration of the weirder side of our popular culture.. This pic is from last year’s event.

So that is what we have been doing. Kind of bouncing between Culture, Debauchery, Divine Music, and then Popular Culture. I’m really messing the kid up.

What have you been up to?

Our World – Off to Idaho

I have been off to Idaho to visit my Dad for a long weekend.

Here is me and my Dad in his very first every selfie!

This is in the Tulsa Airport using the Harris Effect App on my Ipod Touch. I love people watching. I flew to Denver and changed planes. United and their partners in crime Skywest fly the most uncomfortable cramped planes I have ever been in. Other than that, everything was great. Anyways I got in kind of late and needed a bite to eat. So we went an Idaho outlet of a good old Oklahoma company, Sonic.When I got home I saw that Dad had properly stocked his refrigerator. We can’t get Fat Tire beer in Oklahoma because our messed up liquor laws. Looking for a car? Dad’s neighbor has a low rider for sale. Let me know if you are interested. I went on a couple walks. Idaho, like Oklahoma is kind of rural. On a geocaching search I came across this old park. It is not maintained any longer for some reason but somebody put up a brand new net on the basketball goal. I took a walk along the Snake River and looked at the Falls that has given Idaho Falls its name.

And downstream a replica of one of the original bridges way back when.

Anyways, I head back home Monday, I’ve had a great weekend visiting with my father.

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Weekend Update

We had a lot going on this weekend.

Logan had his first riding lesson in a long time. He sprained his ankle back really badly back in May and had been in a boot and then on restriction since then. He was glad to get back in the saddle on a hot Saturday.

After the riding lesson we loaded up in the car and headed off to Livesay Orchards out in the boonies about 45 minutes southeast of Tulsa. We hadn’t been there since Logan was a baby and man is it popular. We ended up in a group of nine cars headed out there and when we got there we found out there was a line to get in. The line moved fast though. I mean they are selling mainly peaches so it doesn’t take long for people to pick out what they want and move on.

And man where their peaches, bushels, pecks, half pecks anything you wanted as long as it was peach related.

After that we headed cross country to the ‘burb of Bixby to Dotson’s Produce and picked out some Amish Tomatoes. I never did figure out if that was a type of tomato or the religion of the farmer that grew them.

Dotson’s had all sorts of other produce. We tend to go crazy in a place like that.

We decided to counterbalance all healthful vibe of the produce with some Hawaiian Ice which is Okie for ice cream cone at a place nearby. Part of the fun is waiting in the heat. Is it against the law for those places to provide shade for their customers?

Sunday was church, seeing the movie “Ant-Man” with one of Logan’s friends and then an historic occasion. Logan left with his friend, with his friend driving. First time that happened!

Then Heather and I had dinner and drinks with some friends and then out to pick up Logan out in the country.

So we ended the weekend with a nice crescent moon.

So our weekend was great, how was yours?

Linking with Our World Tuesday

Our World Tuesday – Crashing a Pool Party

This past weekend we ventured out to the big skies of western Oklahoma. We had lots of fun but let me tell you about one thing that happened. And I swear that it all happened just like I say below, more or less.