Jack's First 4H Hogs

Make a Smilebox photobook

Family Pictures

November 2008

Jack - 10 years old, Travis - 18 years old, Kate - 3 1/2 years old

Autumn Days

Fall has set in here in Amarillo; I am soooo loving it. We have been busy with sports, 4-H, school, etc. Let's start with Jack...

Jack celbrated his 10th birthday at the first of September. We were thrilled that Aunt Amy(thanks for the great picture), Uncle Jamie, and Cousins Jesse and Kylee were able to make a visit that weekend. And to add to the excitement, one of our mama sheep had twins the morning before they left to head home.

A few weeks ago, Tracy and Jack started to get ready for Jack's first 4-H project. Tracy and our dear friend, Kyle Gray, made panels to accomidate the barn stall. Then Tracy and Jack installed them together...

The next week, we went to Kyle Stephens farm to pick up a couple of nice pigs. You might be interested to know that this man/opperation sends out 3,000 to 4,000 show hogs a year. That number does not include the hogs that are culled or sold to butcher. This is the same place where Travis got his hogs, one of which placed 7th in Ft.Worth Stockshow. Anyway, Mr. Stephens had a really nice Spotted Polland China and a Duroc chosen. We ended up with 2 Durocs and the Spot which weigh about 45 pounds each. I will keep you posted on their speedy gowth.

While we are on livestock, Tracy has been raising some Mouflon hybrid sheep over the last several years. He and our friend Kyle, will be guiding several hunts a year here in the Texas panhandle. Just thought I would throw in a couple of pictures of his big-horned sheep for fun.

I am so excited that I will be back in the Aussie (Australian Shepherd) business. We bought a new red-tri female puppy to breed with our male, Cooter. Cricket has been a joy...yes, even as a puppy. For those of you who knew Rockee, she is incredibly like him in many ways, with a little more spunk. Big, big thanks to Nancy of Ashley Kennels, for helping us pick her out!

Travis is staying busy this Senior year. He enjoys football more than any year prior. Besides school, his other time is consumed with friends, church and a little work. Unfortunately, when he is home it is spent eating or sleeping...so I don't have too many pictures of Travis other than football ones!

Travis plays pitchback...for those of you not familiar with 6-man football, he recieves the ball on the 'hike' then pitches it back to the player who playes 'quarterback'. The plays require Travis to usually make a block. Some plays put Travis in a receiver position. He was blessed to have scored his FIRST touchdown a week ago. Thus far, the Eagles record is 5 and 2. This weekend will start the first of three disctrict games. The goal is to go farther in the district playoffs than last year...they were bi-district champs!

As for little Miss. Kate, she really enjoys cheering at Travis' games. Having grown up with all the cheerleaders, they are more than willing to have a miniature cheerleader on their team. Kate also enjoys her weekly gymnastics class, our barn kitties, swinging high, and painting and coloring.

Lots of small pictures...remember you can click on any of them for a bigger shot.
During the month of August, we tried to squeeze in as much pool time as possible. Kate, with her friend Delaney and Jack in the "deep" end.

While Jack was at church camp, mommy took Kate to feed the ducks.

First day of school...Jack in the 4th grade...Travis, the final year, as a Senior.

First day of Mothers Day Out for Kate this year...painting at a local ceramic shop.


#14...Travis' first game of the year...HCA 68 vs. Lorenzo 20.

Travis in Taiwan

Much to our liking, but not surprise, Travis wanted to go with his church group to Taiwan. On June 1st, we sent our oldest (17 now) overseas for two weeks. He truly enjoyed the time and was not all too anxious to get back. Travis experienced many new relationships with other kids close to his age at a P.E. College (Physical Education...only sports and English at this institute.) The group of about 12 high school and college interns spent much time practicing English with over 400 students in Taichung. When they were not in a classroom working on English, they were SWEATING playing everything from basketball and badminton to tug-of-war and judo. Several opportunities were taken to visit Buddhist temples, funeral homes (the Taiwanese believe in after-life) and other ancestral temples.

Once he recovered from jetlag and our Florida vacation...more to come later...Travis got back to the real world working at our local grocery store, United, during the rest of the summer. Two-a-days starts on Aug. 4th for his last year of tackle football. Hopefully, a serious injury is not in Travis' future for this season. Being a Senior this year will hold some new challenges, I expect. Travis is looking into attending Amarillo College for two years. He is still liking the thought of nursing school...it will be exciting to see what God has in store for Travis.

Jacks Growing Up

Master Jack still loves the idea of becoming a pilot. When he was very young, like 4, he talked of becoming a pilot. At the young age of 5, is when he first mentioned to me "you know mom, that I will probably die at war." WHAT? What child thinks about that and then talks about it? War is all that Jack has know since he was only 2 when the twin towers attack occured. So now we talk about becoming a naval pilot to fly as a Blue Angel. He has some very thought provoking questions and comments.

When we are not talking of that, Jack is busy outdoors. He follows many of his daddy's footsteps in that he loves just about anything that has to do with camping, hunting, fishing, and nature. Jack has been making many trips to the ranch with his dad and Uncle Kyle to get their exotic hunting set-up going...more on that later...and treasures every moment. Jack received his very own 4 wheeler for Christmas and puts it to great use.

Jack is excited about starting 4th grade this year. It is kind of neat that he will have a distant cousin (Tracy's, mom's cousin) as his teacher at Heritage Classical Academy, Mrs. Srygley.

Kate Turns 3

Our sweet girl had a nice birthday party back in April. Several friends and moms came to celebrate, along with Mimi & Granddaddy, Aunt Steph & Uncle Kyle, and Dana Moore. They had a fun time playing the giant indoor play structure at our chuch.

To make matters quite memorable, Kate sprang her ankle only days prior while jumping on the trampoline with Jack. Being the sweet big brother that he can be, Jack was very disdressed and guilty feeling about hurting Kate. None the less, it did not slow her down one bit and she was back to normal in a matter of weeks.

Mimi and Graddaddy (my parents) stayed for a visit that weekend. We shared some good times simply relaxing. Mimi helped Kate put her new patio bench together and plant some tomato plants...one of Kate's favorites...for some fresh munchies later on in summer.