In Ft Collins Aug 9-19

Nana and I had a great time in Ft Collins in August with Alexa, Aaron, & Donovan. They are all special and we're glad things are going well for all of them. On "Faith Day" we went to a Rockies game with Nana's cousin's family. Speaker at Faith Day was former All-Star pitcher, Dave Dravecky and music was by five-time Grammy award winner Steven Curtis Chapman. We then went to Dave's BBQ after the game. Everything about the day put smiles on our faces. From left Sarah, Nick, & Lexy Stevens, Grandpa, Smokey with the sign, Alexa & Donovan, Nick Jr., Nana, & Aaron. Nana & I had a great time while there at Estes Park, Poudre River, the Fish Hatchery, Cheyenne, the Bud Brewery, on local trains, and even at the "Pouch Plunge" (dogs in the swimming pool at Ft. Collins).

With Jason in Austin, TX

Nana and I had a great time with Jason in Austin this past week. We really liked going to chilly 68 degrees Barton Spring when Austin was hitting 104 degrees. I liked watching (not joining in) as Jason swam laps in the 900 ft long pool. Imagine millions of gallons of cold water a day... The water is soooo cold it took my breath away. We also liked our trip over to Whole Food Market. I would weigh even more if I lived near one of those stores but I had to get the whole-wheat peanut-butter chocolate chip cookies. Monday evening we went to watch the bats come out of the bridge over Town Lake. It's eery seeing 1.5 million bats going out to eat 30,000 lbs. of insects a night. We also visited a couple organic gardens to get ideas. We especially liked the Boogy Creek Farm east of downtown. We wish we could get to see Jason more often, so we're scheming to bring him back to Texas.

Powell Family Reunion

Last weekend Nana and I went to the Powell Family Reunion in Wake Forest, NC. My great-grandmother was Lucy Powell Lloyd who's grandfather was Wiley Powell, seen in this picture on the left. The reunion has descendents of Wiley's eight children.

Wiley's g-g-g-g-g-grandfather was David Powell, a Welshman who came to Jamestown in 1615 where he had inherited land from the King of England. Wiley's wife was Alcy Peebles whose g-g-g-g-g-grandfather was Capt. David Peebles, a Scotsman who was paid Virginia land by the King. They came in 1647 on a smaller ship like those above on the right.

During the late 1700's many Virginians came to North Carolina in a northern section opened by the Earl of Grandville. The Powells, Peebles, and probably the Lloyds came to N.C. before 1800. Nana and I had a great time at the reunion, meeting all these 3rd, 4th, and 5th cousins who had stories of their ancestors. We especially liked touring Wiley's homestead which he purchased in 1843. We toured the Grandville County Historical Museum and Raleigh Natural History Museum (which had a special exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls).

Nana's New Pride & Joy

When I was younger I remember my parents saying they had a picture of their "Pride and Joy." I think they pulled the same trick on my brother and sister also. Here's their picture on the left.

I thought that was shocking. So I have been hestitant to ever use the words "pride and joy."

But I wanted to add a picture of Nana with her new Pride and Joy = Madison. We are very happy about our first granddaughter and looking forward to more time with her.

Here's Nana with her at about a week old. As you can see, Nana is gleaming and beaming. She just given little Madison a bath. Notice: No Tears! Nana had fun with everything she did with Madison.

Green Bay, WI

Well, after a long day of travel, here I am in Green Bay, at a cool 70 degrees (their high is colder than our low), close to the oldest continuously operating pro football Stadium. Yes "City Stadium", built in 1957, became "Lambeau Field" after Curly Lambeau died in 1965. It is so green up here since they've had a lot of rain. I have three days of training up here and go home on Friday (Green Bay to Cleveland to Houston to College Station -- only a 9 hour trip).

I met Nana at Love Field on July 15 and we drove home that night. She's missed her little Caleb and Madison ever since, so we'll have to go see them soon. Nana and I had to do a lot of watering during the past two weeks. We've watered every day since. The okra is starting to produce, while the squash is dying down.

Nana had a copperhead slither away just inches away a couple nights ago while we were unloading the mushroom mulch off the trailer. We now have a huge pile of mulch for the garden and other endeavors. I planted tomato seed from a rotten tomato in one of my old "coolers." Now I have a couple hundred "Early Girls" coming up to plant in August for this fall. I'll give away plants to whomever wants some.

Nana has been cleaning up the house. We never caught up from the last trailor load of her mom's stuff in May. Nana also wants to do a little painting in the next couple weeks.

Making Jam

I picked about two gallons of figs today. That's more than we've ever picked here. Since I can't eat that many and Nana's not going to be back until Wednesday, I'm going to try making one of my favorite jams - Strawberry-Fig Jam.

Speaking of "jamming," I have my first conference call with trainers in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines on Monday morning at 7-9 am (7-9 pm their time). So I've been studying "Creating Team Synergy," the program I'm teaching them to deliver. I'm making ideas jell on that also. I have about 30 phone calls with them over the next year, so I want the first one to make a great first impression.

Baby Madison's Arrival

The second half of June flew by. Nana and I worked hard to get ready to leave for Jimmy & Ashley's on June 23. Then we waited until Wednesday afternoon when Madison arrived. What a joyous time! Everyone there was so excited and happy to see Jimmy bring that healthy granddaughter out of the operation room and to the hospital nursery. We could tell immediately that she was doing great. And Ashley's recovery has been going well also.

I drove up to my 45th high school reunion June 28. It was so great to see all the friends I had at ole' Triad High. It was hard to get around and chat with everyone who was there, but great to see them. I'm now looking forward to the 50th.

I finished the 2000 mile road trip with a fast (but 32 mpg average) drive home July 3. It was great to see the dogs, cat, and garden again, but the 400 lb. black hog in the road sure surprised me. I was driving out into the field on the golf cart last night and startled two does about 100 feet away in the field. Instead of immediately running off, they stood still and looked at me for over a minute. And today I went down to the orchard to pick figs before the birds pecked them all. As I was picking, a male & female Cardinal dive bombed me to try to drive me away from their lunch. Sorry high flyers, I'm taking 'em all. Then Flash uncovered a rabbit in the field, and the barking chaos of the hunt ensued. And when I got back home, I saw another Whistling Duck fly up into the trees. I love nature.