HEY EVERYBODY

WHERRE ARE YOU ALL?  I LOOK ON HERE EVERYDAY AND SEE NO NEW POSTS!  I will keep putting pictures on here for you all to see, but i love hearing from you guys too!  Mom and Dad are getting back today from So Carolina.  Dougs new baby looks so cute, hopefully Jeri can get some pics on here for all of us to see.  If not, I will snag mom's pictures and somehow get them posted.

I hope all of you are having a great summer, We are full into football season, Jaden and Braxton are both playing, Kent and Clint are both coaching.  It is so fun to watch.  Both of them play on Saturday, but I have to work so I wont be there to watch.

Brinley celebrated her 2nd birthday on Saturday, we had a party for her on Sunday.  She is so cute, I am attaching a picture of her on this post.  

Hope to hear and see from all of you very soon.  I miss all of you very much.  Love, debbie  

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL IS HERE!!!

With the year round school, Brax and Brookie started school this week. Brookie is in Kindergarten and Brax is in 5th grade. Brookie loves school ( so far) and Brax likes his teacher this year. Here are a few pictures of the cute kids.

book reviews

Here are some of my recent good reads:

All the Shah's Men

This is an excellent read for any of you who are interested in why Iran is the way it is today. This is an overview of the recent history of that country (around the turn of the last century to the 1970's hostage crisis). It's a must read for any of you who are interested in the whys of the current Middle East. It is a relatively easy read, not terribly scholarly in that it is not bogged down in jargon or paragraph-long sentences.

Fiasco

For those of you who are puzzled as to what the h--- went down in Iraq! Whether you agreed with the invasion and aren't sure why we seem to be policing a civil war or you think it was a really sorry episode from the beginning, this book will broaden your understanding of the people involved and the critical decisions that were made and why. Don't let the title put you off, all you Republicans. It's not a howling finger-pointing rant but the story of the people on the ground doing an impossible job and how they got there.

The Assassins Gate

This is written by a guy who was there before and a couple of years after the invasion. It tries to portray the perspective of the Iraqis. Interesting read. Gives you some idea of what kind of country this really was...is?

The Bush Tragedy

Wow. This one was really fun to read. Very thought provoking. It explores the relationships within the Bush family and their collective and individual relationships to others outside the family circle. This book does not attempt to paint W as a villain; instead it attempts to explain who this man is and why he thinks and acts the way he does whether or not you agree with him. The author uses the word tragedy in the sense of Shakespeare and the Greeks. He draws upon Shakespeare's Prince Hal (sorry, I don't know which play that is off the top of my head and my library is still boxed up from a painting project) as a metaphor for understanding the dynamics that seem to inform this president.

For the ladies, may I recommend:

The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love

Oh my, how many times do you find a writer who makes you laugh out loud? There are several Sweet Potato Queen books but you MUST read this one first because you learn who Moon Pie, Lance Romance and Bo-Peep are as well as who the Sweet Potato Queens are and how they came into being. "The promise" is not for young readers but is the only thing likely to be not up to standards for anyone who needs a heads up. It is very funny in context and oh, so true. I could not read it in bed because I would laugh so hard I shook the bed and Kelly couldn't sleep. You can read all the other books in whatever order after this one and they are all just as funny.

What do y'all recommend? I love a good read whether it's non-fiction (especially current affairs or histories that shed light on current events) or the latest rollicking good book you devoured on the beach! I am in school but I'll still sneak over to the Columbus Library once in a while to check out something more interesting than Real Property or Probate...

FOOTBALL IS HARD WORK!!

THIS IS BRAXTON AFTER FOOTBALL PRACTICE,  IF YOU KNOW BRAX, YOU KNOW HE CAN FALL ASLEEP ANYWHERE, IN ANY POSITION, EVEN STANDING UP!  HERE ARE A FEW SHOTS OF HIM AFTER A HARD DAY AT FOOTBALL PRACTICE.

KAYLEE DANCING

this is our beautiful Kaylee, Clint and Cherises daughter, dancing for the Syracuse days celebration.  She loves dancing, and was even on Television a few weeks ago dancing on the news.  Its so fun watching her grow up.  Kaylee just turned 11 years old on July 29th.

Football is officially here!

Brighton started football last week and we are looking forward to cooler weather and tons of football. He's on a great team with an amazing coach...we expect it to be a great experience for him! He is no longer the smallest kid on the team, really, I'm serious, but there is one kid on the team that weighs more than Brian! Quite diverse! Looking forward to a great season :)

Travis's trip to Germany

I got back last week from a whirlwind trip to Germany. I was there on business and so didn't have time to see much, but I'll post a few pictures of the event. It was the first time for me back to Europe since my mission too many years ago. I went over to give the opening talk at the first EuroSciPy conference held in Leipzig Germany. I use the trip to meet a few contacts in Germany and give other talks at other companies (TI, Siemens, and the German equivalent of NASA).

The flight was not as long as I remember the cross-the-Atlantic flight being. Perhaps because of the in-seat movie theatre that allowed me to watch my own movies (3 of 'em). By the way "The Bucket List" is a good movie with a very touching ending that made me (almost) cry --- I mean couldn't really cry sitting there next to this burley man who just got back from hunting elephants in Africa --- he was quite cranky too.

I rented a car in Frankfurt, drove to Forchheim, back to Koln, down to Munich, and up to Leipzig all in the course of 3 days. I ended up driving a total of 2200 km and spent more time in the car than in my bed. So, I was very tired. Fortunately, you can drive as fast as you want in Germany. What a thrill to ride at 210km/h (that's 136 mph for those of you with cars that don't go that high). Nothing like a German-made Volkswagon with 6-speeds to really get you to own the road.


I had to use all my persuasive power to stop Amy from rescinding my license when I got home. She was very worried --- especially when I told her that I was driving at times with both eyes closed (trying to make up for the lack of sleep). Needless to say next time we go she's making me take the train.

I did get stopped once by a huge accident that shut-down the autobahn for about an hour. We all got out of our cars and enjoyed the scenery and each other's troubles...



I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the occassion. Fortunately, it didn't take too long to get us going again, but it sure lengthened my final drive to Leipzig (and meant I stayed up all night finishing my talk the next morning).















I did manage to capture a few pictures in Leipzig including pictures of the Church I attended on Sunday morning:


















My flight home, brought some beautiful views as well. The pilot took us low and over the southern tip of Greenland. The clear skies made the views incredible. Lest you think I live a charmed life, you see that most of my view was of the 767's massive engine and wing. I saw majestic peaks and deep fjords with floating ice-bergs and beautiful greenish-blue water. It reminded me of our cruise to Alaska.

MORE HAWAII PICTURES

BEAUTIFUL PALM TREE ON THE BEACH ON MAUI
  
    BELOW IS MOM DAD AND STACIE ON A WHALE WATCHING TRIP

Waterskiing at pineview

Clint, Cherise, Kaylee, Jade, Brax, and Brookie and I all went boating a few weeks ago.  It was a blast, we love CLint having a boat.  He also brought the boat up for us all to enjoy at our mini family reunion when Amy and the kids were here.  Here are a few shots of us on the lake.

at the cabin

Gae and I spent four days at the cabin and found everything in good shape except it was really overgroun with weeds. They arn't weeds but native plants to that altitude and area.Tommie Dee&family were up for a couple of days last week and left it in good shape.  It is nice to come into a clean and orderly cabin,

 I started putting in the horse  shoe pit so along with the sand box that Brian & Hillary put in a couple of years ago we have entertainment for everyone along with the basketball hoop.

We had a big cow moose grazing for awhile about 40 feet from the cabin.  She must have come up there for the salt lick.  We  put in a fresh block of salt since the old one was down to softball size.

  We  visited with Rod Citte and he voluntered to come over with his tractor and mower, so I took him up on it.  We worked on the 4 wheeler that we (Tommie,Brian and I bought from him) and tried to get it started but to no avail so I brought down to get it checked or to buy a new one.

Come on up to the cabin and have some fun.  

                                                -Dad