Andrew tells the 3 Little Pigs

Andrew and Seth tells the story of the Three Pigs while in Branson in June of 2011. Andrew just turned four and Seth just turned two.

Andrew - Goldilocks

Andrew tells us the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Branson.

Santa Claus

Andrew describes Santa to Grandpa

The year 2009 in review

During the year, when we got a chance we visited the local museums and zoo in Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Some of the places of interest were:

• Renaissance fair in Waxachie, Texas. The fair runs for about four weeks in the spring. Most people come in costume. There is lots of food, entertainment and fun. We really enjoyed the music and the jousting.
  
  

• Heritage Village in historic Old City Park in Dallas has collections of historic buildings and furnishings, representing the period 1840-1910. We learned a lot about the life style during this period in the Dallas area.
  
  

In June we made a trip to Tulsa. We saw the outdoor stage presentation of Oklahoma. We went to Oklahoma Aquarium and to a Drillers baseball game (AA). We went to the Philbrook Musuem which is housed in one the homes of the Phillips brothers of the Phillips 66 Oil company. The Philbrook house and gardens was just beautiful. Philbrook also houses a first class art museum.













In July we visited our grandchildren, Andrew and Seth, in Michigan. While Grandma Rebecca was helping Amanda with new born Seth, 'pa Rick got to take Andrew to the local carnival, feed the goats at Domino farms, play in the local parks and eat lots of mulberries from the trees. We all went and picked blueberries.











In August we went on our own private vacation to Disney World. We spent a day in each one of the major parks at the Disney resort. Rick was cast in a play of Romeo and 'Edna' at EPCOT. Rebecca did a guest performance of playing the cow bell for the local band in cover version of the Rolling Stone's Honky Tonk Woman. We stayed at the resort and paid for the dinner plan. We ate great and had a very enjoyable time.















In September we went with Michael and Meghan to the Brigham Young University versus Oklahoma University football game in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Michael had told us earlier about the game. So we put our money in the first day possible at BYU to get tickets. It was impossible for Michael to get tickets from OU. We were estatic to find that we had 11th row tickets (11th row from the grass). The seats were fantastic. It was a great game. Both Michael and Meghan graduated from OU. So they were pleased with the game except for the last minute.














Christmas was spent at home with Sarah, Michael and Meghan.

Paris

Instead of going to Italy, we met Sarah in Paris for her fall break. Sarah has seen most of Italy and thought Paris would be fun. The short video clips are a sampling of our 1800 pictures that we took in Paris.

We arranged for an apartment. However due to flooding in the building we were moved to a small hotel in the Latin quarter. We were a 5-minute walk from Notre Dame in the center of the museums of Paris. We purchased a museum pass where we averaged about 3 museums per day.

We found that people were very pleasant and polite. We had no problem with the language because English was widely spoken. All the museums (except for the Louvre) had everything written in French and English. In our part of town food was very expensive. A soft drink ordered with a meal was $5. Most meals in the cafés were more than $20. However sandwiches on the street corners were about $7.50.

Traffic was fast and furious with bikes, motorcycles, cars and trucks sharing imaginary lanes. After our taxi ride from the airport, we chose to walk everywhere except Versailles where we took the subway. The subway was quick and efficient.

Our first day we visited Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, Conciergerie (prison of Marie Antoinette) Cluny Museum (medieval art and sculpture), Pantheon (tombs of the great and noble people), Jardin du Luxembourg and St. Severin.

Our second day we saw the Orsay Museum (sculpture and art… our favorite), Rodin Museum(sculpture), the Dome Church (Napoleon’s tomb), the Army museum and the Eiffel tower.

On third day we visited the Louvre (twice), Tuileries garden and the Orangerie Museum.

The fourth day we saw the Pompidou Center (modern art) and the Carnavalet Museum (history of Paris).

Our last day we saw Versailles (the Royal Palace and grounds).

Summer's big finish

Lots of things going on around here.

First in July, Rebecca was called as 1st Counselor in the Relief Society at church. She is still a ward Family History consultant with Rick (although he really does all the work and she just tags along) and a Temple Preparation teacher too.

At the end of July Rick drove up to Oklahoma City and helped Michael and Meghan move back to Texas. They found an apartment in Plano, not far from us. Michael is studying law at SMU and Meghan is teaching at Apple Creek Private School in Allen. It's so nice to have them close by.

The first week in August we flew out to Michigan to visit Amanda, Katsu, and Andrew. Andrew has grown up so much since we saw them in February. He is running around and eating and so happy and playful. While we were there we went walking at a nature center and saw the new public library and visited the Detroit Institute of Art and Greek Town.

Sarah came home from College Station in mid-August. She was home for about 2 weeks, and we just sent her off to Italy where she will be doing a semester study abroad with Texas A&M.

Experimenting with our Garden

We thought that we would try many things this year to see what would grow well in Texas. We planted in March, one day before a snow storm.

Peas - They came on quickly, and died quickly. But for a few weeks we had fresh peas from the pod.

Carrots - They were an after thought, but taste good in soup.

Cucumbers - The bugs left us with one plant, but that plant filled its 4'x8' space. We have been averaging one or two large cucumbers everyday. Much more that we can use.

Tomatoes - Rebecca had me cut back on these because they take over the garden. We planted three, and they still took over the garden. Our first two tomatoes were 1.1 and .95 pounds. After producing a few score they have taken a break. We should be getting our second wave beginning next week.

Onions - Rick saw a bundle for a $1. He thought that he would try them. They have produced the cutest little onions. With the tomatoes, we make a great salsa thanks to Sarah and Rebecca experimenting with last year's crop.

Zucchini - One plant was giving us a zucchini about every three days. The perfect amount. In one day the plant went from healthy to dead. We found one worm that hollowed out the stem near the root. It was a tragedy to Rebecca our zucchini lover.

Blackberries - We planted a few roots last year. They have filled their space. Berries come on the second year plant. This was our first year. We received enough to make a few cobblers. We learned that you have to compete with the birds. We created a net for protection.

Strawberries - We started with a few starts from a church friend. They also filled their space in a year. We were able to get four large mixing bowls of berries before the birds discovered them. After the birds found them we couldn't even get a single berry to eat. Next year we will need to throw a net over the blackberries and strawberries.

Green onions - The seeds were small and I forgot to tell Rebecca that I planted some. Being disguised as weeds (we have problems with wild garlic) many didn't survive. Those that did tasted great.

Radishes - Came up quickly and were very good. They were over with before most plants began to even grow.

Lettuce (green leaf) - gave us salad everyday for about 1.5 months. However, when it got very hot they turned bitter. We will try planting a second crop in September

Lettuce (iceberg) - these never came to a head. We will not plant them again.

Peppers (green, banana, jalapeno) - they seem to do well in the heat. Last year the green peppers began to look like banana peppers. This year I don't think they cross pollinated.

Blueberry bushes - we lost one. The other two are struggling. We are trying to create a more alkaline soil. We will see if that helps.

Fruit trees - We lost a peach tree because we didn't protect it against the weed eater. Our nectarine tree produces a lot of fruit for the birds and insects. We have yet to enjoy any. I need to remedy that. Our two apple trees are slow to produce.