Another Thom wedding

Dave and Cheryl's eldest daughter Natalie, got married last weekend in Redondo Beach. It's the second daughter to get married in 7 months! Natalie and Will are both law students in Chicago, and his family is from Texas, so there were some "Texas touches" to the wedding. The O'Shaughnessey's from Austin couldn't come, so we missed them, but a good time was had by all.

Sending lots of love to y'all and wishing you the blessings of Christmas!

Joan

two favorite people

Homecoming Dance and Halloween

Hello to all!!

Here are some pictures of Sydney's homecoming dance and a couple from Halloween. Sydney was so excited about her "Barbie Pink" heels! The "scary ghosts" are Paige and her girlfriend and yes, they went trick-or-treating! Her friend is just as tall as Paige so it was hysterical to see these 2 giant ghosts going up the street. I think they even scared some little kids:) FINALLY one of my kids dresses up as a ghost for Halloween! Only took 19 years to get one.

Love to you all!

Homecoming, Happy birthday, John!

Family

Here are 3 photos I took while at Dylan and Stacy's (formerly known as Uncle Paul and Aunt Lois's). I meant to take more family/group photos but got side tracked visiting.

Thanks to Dylan and Stacy for hosting, it was a lovely evening!

Love, Joan

Wilson's Creek

Over the weekend we made a last minute trip to Springfield, MO for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Wilson's Creek. Gene and his buddies reenacted this 20 years ago on the actual site, now days they have to use a local farmer's land so the archeologists can continue their research on the actual battlefield. Lots of folks came to the 3 day event, we just did Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Gene's friend Doug had a horse that was feeling poorly so in order to keep an eye on him, he just brought him into his tent. Of course.

Now I'm getting ready to head west, looking forward to seeing some of you!

Joan

Chrisco visit

Jane Chrisco and her 3 boys were in town and came over for the evening. These are the funniest boys I have ever met especially the youngest Sutton. What a character!!! Jane's got her oldest Brian (junior in h.s.) and Sydney practically married off and we are working on them going to Brian's school homecoming dance. Ha! Ha! Was a very funny night!!

We're home now, but here are a couple more photos. The top one is an attraction called Wind Walker Challenge. There were 3 different levels, with the top one hanging out over a 600 foot canyon. Obviously you're in a safety harness. That's Kate up there, she did great! I was tempted to join her, but I didn't see any other overweight, middle-aged women climbing around.

We visited The Royal Gorge, and it was okay. Pretty expensive I thought, but we walked over the bridge, saw rafters down below on the river, rode the tram, ate ice cream, listened to an Irish band and then a thunderstorm came in. We didn't get to the Air Force Academy or the Olympic Training Center. Maybe next time, and I would go back, Manitou Springs is lovely.

Gene continues to improve and is getting anxious to become more active. Fortunately for me, the excessive heat has helped keep him indoors. My band played a church picnic on Wednesday evening and it was 109 degrees on my car's thermometer. We were in the shade, but it was HOT! Last night a cool front came through and brought us 3/4" of rain and temps in the 70's. Wonderful! Today isn't too bad, but the heat is forecast to come back this weekend, into next week. I'm looking forward to fall.

More road trip

Yesterday we rode the cog railway to Pike's Peak. Fabulous! Besides the cool factor of the cog rail, I was so happy being back in an alpine environment, seeing wild flowers that I recognized and the smell was wonderful! I even enjoyed the thin air!

It was a perfect morning for our adventure, as we've had afternoon thunderstorms every day. After Pike's Peak, we visited Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, located above The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Great zoo! We drove around the hotel, but didn't go in, Gene was afraid I'd try to check in...

Road Trip, continued

Friday evening we went to the Flying W Ranch for a chuckwagon supper and western music show. They had a western village and this is Grandpa Gene trying to teach Kate how to rope. Not very successful...dang, I wish I knew how to control the positioning of these photos! Anyway, the music was very good, one of the guitar players was a flat-picking champion and the fiddle player was also a champion.

Earlier in the day we went to Cave of the Winds. Not my favorite activity, small space, only one way out, funky smelling air...but I managed a 45 minute tour underground. I hope Gene and Kate enjoyed it. We also visited some cliff dwellings of the Anasazis.

Manitou Springs certainly has a lot to recomend itself (I don't see spell check here, so you'll have to forgive me). I would enjoy coming back here again. But right now, I'm going to find some breakfast. More later.

Joan

Garden of the Gods

I tired to download this photo last night...this was yesterday afternoon. What a spectacular place! We even drove through it again last night, after supper just to see it with different natural lighting. Just getting everyone moving this morning, still not sure what our itinerary is for today,lots to choose from!

Joan

Road Trip

We are on our road trip with Kate, 10 year old daughter of Carole. First stop after leaving Manhattan on Wednesday morning, was Dodge City, KS. Pretty disappointing. So we headed on to our first overnight stay, La Junta, CO. This morning we visited Bent's Fort which was the first stopping place for traders on the Sante Fe Trail after leaving Independence,MO. In this photo, Kate and Gene are in the carpenter's shop at the fort. Kate was thrilled that she found 2 peacock feathers (peacocks and chickens roaming free in the fort). Then we visited a Kashare Indian Museum and onto Pueblo,CO for lunch. Arrived in Manitou Springs (up the mountain from Colorado Springs) at the Silver Saddle Motel! The Gardens of the Gods were fabulous! Ive tried twice to download some more photos, but keep losing the connection (I'm using an old, used laptop with wi-fi at the motel), not too reliable,so I'll post more photos when we get home. Anyway, we got rained on and are delighted to have temps in the 80's instead of the 100's! Reservations for Pike's Peak Cog Railway on Saturday morning and a horse ride into Garden of the God's on Sunday morning. Tomorrow is up for grabs. Kate is such a smart little thing and so inquisitive. I really get a kick out of her. She's certainly inherited her grandpa's love of ice cream!

I keep getting weird little red notifications on the screen about my connection, so I'll quit for now. Try again tomorrow.

Love to all!

Nelson Family Weekend

The kids thought the jacuzzi was their personal swimming pool. That's Brody (4) and Sofe(8).

Maddy, age 12 a bathing beauty

The entire crew!

Kristin (Andy's wife) and Jenna (Gene's daughter)

We celebrated Sofe's 8th birthday, and her dad gave her an electric guitar! Sofe badgered me all weekend for guitar lessons, and I did the best I could. She didn't understand that she wasn't going to be Eric Clapton in 24 hours, most likely because she doesn't know who Eric Clapton is! (by the way, he's a guitar-god, in my book)

Everyone had a fun weekend, lots of swimming, boating, kyaking and water fights. Kyaking doesn't look right...oh well. Andy and Kristin liked the B & B so much, they've booked it for later in the summer and are inviting a bunch of their neighbors. I think we may do this again next summer.

Regarding Gene, he's still fighting to get better. Good days, not so good days. We just keep plugging along.

Dr. Gene Update

Today is a better day. Gene is now eating and has been awake most of the day. Will check in with his doctor Monday morning. I'm taking this week off from work so I can continue to keep an eye on him for a few more days.

The band had fun last night, we had a pedal steel/sax player sit-in with us. Even got paid an extra $100! Who woulda thunk, I'd be making money playing music at age 55?

Joan

At Our House

Here are Kate and Maddy with Boaz and Annie. Horse Camp 2011 got cut short due to Grandpa Gene falling ill on Father's Day. He toughed it out Monday and most of Tuesday, but this bug is kicking his cowboy butt. If you haven't heard, he's being treated for bacterial tick-borne disease and has been very sick. Today is a better day though, his temperature is starting to come down and he's been awake and vertical for the longest amount of time in 6 days! Little victories are better than none! Hopefully, we'll be able to reschedule with the girls for sometime in the fall after Gene gets healthy.

That's all for now, by band is playing a private party tonight so I may have a new photo tomorrow.

Joan

Olsburg Farmer's Market

Thursday evening was the first farmer's market of the season, and the band performed "unplugged" for a couple of hours. Even got a paying job out of the deal! We've got a guy coming to our next rehearsal, former member of a local and very popular country band that has retired, and he plays fiddle, lap steel, banjo and horn. He likes our sound and wants to play with us, so I'm looking forward to that!

Wedding weekend

Here's the Goon Squad! Maureen, Cheryl, myself, Teresa and Alan the morning of the wedding. Cheryl's daughter, Rachel (age 21) was getting married to the minister's son later that day, so we were setting up the reception area at Redondo Beach. It was cold and VERY windy that day and made for some headaches, but everyone rolled with the punches and had a good time. I figured it has been about 16-17 years since we were all together, so it was great to see everyone. We just needed more time!

Photos from Nashville

Here are some photos from my recent jobs/ our yard/ etc! I went from a $10,000 landscape job to a $250,000 one. So fun! Jeff Fisher asked that I do the landscape for his farm. Oh boy! This week I'm picking out 66 tons of Tennessee boulders. Who knew? Next movie to come-- tour of John's "man cave"!

Click the bottom corner arrows to get a larger screen.

Sonic Wood

That's right, we bad! We finally got around to having a publicity photo done, then Tim joined us, so now we've got to do it again. I know it's not very good, hopefully the next one will be better...

It's a Zoo out there!

Yesterday, the band played at Sunset Zoo in Manhattan. They have a lovely outdoor amphitheater, and the weather was beautiful (nicer than I expected and neglected the sunscreen; paying for that omission today...). The zoo was celebrating Earth Day and had lots of special activities, including us. The zoo director and his wife loved us and promised to have us back, and...a booking agent happened to be there and he asked if we'd be interested in playing one of the Indian Casinos! All in all, a very good day!

Gene's birthday

Well, Gene is now 70 years old! On Saturday, we gathered 5 other couples to celebrate at a bed and breakfast at Lake Wabaunsee. The old stone fence you see, is very typical in this limestone rich area. The fences are much admired and protected. I prepared and served a prime rib supper, and everyone spent the night. During supper, Crystal stated that "her face hurt from laughing so much". Our hosts even commented that they'd never had such a jolly group before! We watched Jeremiah Johnson, again, while the guys recited all the lines from the movie. I don't know if their wives were impressed or appalled. It cracks me up! We stayed up too late, then lost an hour of sleep with the time change, so it was a very tired group the next morning. While our guests slept in Sunday morning, I took my coffee out to the hot tub and watched the geese, ducks and fog on the lake. Reminded me of similar mornings at Rainbow. And 10 years later, Andy STILL can't hang with the big boys! It really was a good time, and everyone was so grateful for the opportunity to spend time together. Seems like the only time we see each other anymore, is for weddings and funerals and you don't really get to visit much at those events. A good time was had by all!

Sunday night, out of the blue, we got 7" of snow! We were expecting rain! But by Thursday, the temp is forecast to be in the 70's. Kansas weather, go figure!

The band is playing a 2 hour Irish show this Thursday for St. Patrick's Day in Chapman, KS. Then back to Chapman Saturday night, to play the American Legion. Did I tell you, I bought a snare drum? It's pretty fun and adds an often needed background rhythm. We're considering selling an old banjo and buying me a mandolin to learn; we'll see...

That's all for now!

Love, Joan

Girl's Weekend

Girl's Weekend plus Alan for 24 hours. Every year we invite Alan, with tongue in cheek as he considers himself "one of the girls" (he lived with Maureen and Cheryl when I married Kurt). And this year he actually showed up! He tried to surprise us, but weather and delayed flights forced him to spill the beans. We had a great time, as usual.

On Sunday, we went to services at Cheryl's Presbyterian Church in Redondo Beach. This is a sign in their parking lot! Apparently, every year there is a lot of competition to raise the most money and win this coveted parking space. Cracked me up!

We're having our upstairs bathroom spiffed up, the same couple that painted the exterior of the house and rebuilt our wood deck are doing it. Paint, taller vanity, new sink and faucet, stain my cabinet and level the floor in anticipation of new flooring. I really dislike the mess/disorder, but I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

My band has been recording. As soon as we get a final mix on a song, I'll see if I can't download it so you can have a listen. For me, this CD will be a marketing tool, and the boys want to sell them at shows. We'll be playing a 2 hour Irish show again on St. Patrick's Day in Chapman, KS (very Irish town, we played there last year). Today is my day to work the phone and get some shows booked for the spring/summer.

That's all for now, love you all!

Joan

Just saying HI

This little guy is not one of our local birds, Gene finally found him using Google and he's a Spotted Towhee. An out-of-towner.

Yesterday on my way to feed the horses breakfast, the thermometer on the car read -1. This morning it was 12, so we're headed in the right direction! By Monday, we're forecast to have a high of 61! I smell spring!

Gene and I had a date night last night, supper and an evening listening to a 3 piece acoustic band (sound familiar?) called The Waymores. 2 guys and a gal, and they were fabulous! Really tight harmonies, I could not have been happier. They're out of Nashville and all 3 are actually songwriters for "the beautiful people". We'd never heard of them, but went on the reccomendation of a friend, and now, I'm a fan!

That's all for now, just wanted to check in. Looking forward to seeing some of you next week, and I'm looking forward to wearing just one layer of clothes!

Joan

FYI

Hello to you all! Just an FYI, Mark Chrisco's oldest daughter, Clara, who is about Paige's age, has just been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She had a small cyst on her lower back which grew to be about the size of a walnut and turned black and blue underneath. They had it removed and tested and found it to be a very rare and fast growing cancer. She is taking a leave of absence from USD to undergo treatment. She has had a PET scan and the good news is that it doesn't appear to have metastasized. Ron and Gena are with them to help take care of their other daughter. Jane has asked for everyone to keep them in their prayers.

Hope all is well with everyone and that we all stay healthy:)

Love,
Janelle

More weather

The freezing mist finally turned to snow last night, about the same time the electricity went out. I had gone to check on the horses and when I came back, I thought it looked a little dark at the house. We waited an hour, had a glass of wine by lantern light, and finally cranked up the generator. You got to love a generator! About 3 hours later, the power came back, but it flickered on and off all night. This morning is bitterly cold and windy. While feeding horses this morning, I was completely covered except for my eyes (need to find my ski goggles) and had trouble just standing on the ice. The horses were all fine, wearing a blanket of snow on their backs, and happy to see me. K-State is closed again today, in the 15 years that I've been here, I've only known them to close the university once, so this is a big deal, 2 days in a row! And I'm not going to work again. Made oatmeal raisin cookies yesterday, considering bread or a cake today...

Joan

Snow Day

Actually, this photo is from the last snow storm. Today we're getting freezing rain/mist and it's really slick! I decided not to go to work, I can do my stuff later in the week after the storm is finished. The rain/mist is due to change over to snow later today, then Tuesday/Wednesday is when we're forecast to get about 8-9" of snow AND wind, which will make our temps drop to an expected -20degrees. Did I mention that the wind also blows up big snow drifts? I told Gene, the older I get, the more attractive winters in Texas look...He went out this morning to put another big round bale of hay out for the horses, and the hydraulics on his tractor were frozen. Eventually, he got things thawed and I'm sure the horses were happy to see new hay.

Since I'm home, I think I'll bake biscotti. Just seems like a good idea. Will keep you posted.

XOXXX, Joan

Mammoth!

Hello to you all! Here are a few pictures of our weekend in Mammoth. The girls and I went and had a "girls only" weekend since Ron was in Vegas for a company function and Ryan was in a show. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and no crowds! The snowman was HUGE and there was one at every lodge. Paige smacked her head pretty good on a faceplant, but other than that, no injuries. I did feel like I needed a shotgun however to keep the boys at bay. It was pretty funny! Love to everyone:)