MERRY CHRISTMAS

from

Richardson, Texas

 

Christmas Eve as the presents were placed with care beneath the tree, grandson Everett could only guess what was in the boxes ... and what Santa might add to the collection.

 

 

After Ev was in bed the elves began assembling the massive race track set that took about 2 hours to get the 500 parts to sort of look like the picture on the box.

The next morning he attacked the gifts with a passion and expected to play with each item before unwrapping the next one.

Then Mom had him pose "one last time" times maybe twenty or so with one of the new outfits and he was probably saying, "if they ask me to say cheese one more time ..."

But the Santa offering of the car set was a huge hit for all generations with much hooting and cheering as the cars almost made it through the loop ... few did.

And finally how many new construction vehicles can one little guy fit into the sandbox at once ... and still get a kid in with them? Ev made it happen and enjoyed the sunny afternoon with the new machinery.

It was a great Christmas event for Bruce, Jo-Anne, Brooks, Leighanne, and Everett; and we hope it was tremendous for you and yours wherever you are!!

Animal Time in Grapevine

 

OK it's animal time as you know we love the critters. But here is the epitome of fat park pets ... I mean we just lie with our fat rolls spread on the ground on the elbows and graze on the grub.

 

 

Another shot of Mr. Fat Cheeks as he sat up to make more room for the generous grub provided by we the animal lovers.

And then there are some animals here at the Grapevine park that appear less than grateful at first meeting. The tongue treatment is pretty awesome but the hiss that accompanies it could be pretty scary if you didn't know better ... I mean if you are begging for a handout ... jeez.

But after the first aggressive confrontation they really are pretty sweet animals and very responsive to human interaction. We've been giving them dog food and a chicken scratch formula from the local feed store ... goose farmer Bruce eh.

Big Storm!

 

Of course as we had made plans to go up to Denton for RV repairs a massive ice storm pounded the area. We left Bryan in what had been one of the most colorful fall displays we had seen in many years and headed north on I-45 to the Denton area. It was a nice clear 45ish day when we left and the Flying Scotsman was particularly shiny.

 

A mere 200 miles later we arrived to WINTER. They had about 3 inches of ice and major power outages here starting on Sunday night. We arrived on Tuesday to the scene above ... pretty, but cold, slush, mush, mud, ice, sand, salt, and about 34 degrees. That is one dirty bus and HHR. As we came into the site the ice was thick enough in the rear that it took several attempts to get the RV to its present position as all 20 tons kept sliding backwards ... always something new.

But it was a nice setting at the Dallas Destiny RV Resort actually situated in the town of Corinth about 5 miles south of Denton proper and an evening walk about the park was really neat.

In the foreground of the pic above kids were building a bit of a snowman in the ice stuff and were doing some pretend figure skating on the frozen surface. Also in the picture above you can just see Venus to the right and above the office ... pretty night!

You had to be really careful as the surface was totally ice encrusted and slick, even the walkways up to the office.

And finally this guy seems to be welcoming us to northern Texas, eh? We hope.

Birthday Boy!

 

It is November and when the grandson was born in November it becomes a special month. While we were in the Dallas area we went over to the kid's place in Richardson where the BIG event was held ... Three years since we hauled our ol' bottoms the 200 miles up to Dallas from Bryan ... time goes fast!

 

And here is this year's masterpiece. The theme for this year was construction stuff so the cake is covered with yellow vehicles and a pile of rocks which they will move somewhere. The rocks were actually colored chocolate and very realistic looking ... and very good.

 

 

But as the guests arrived the birthday boy was a bit shy and hid in a corner by the front door. It didn't take long though for the star to understand that he was supposed to be the center of the action.

As dad lit the candles with what acted like a blowtorch Ev was amazed by the candle light. But a second later when Mom and Dad got him a bit too close to blow out the three big ones he almost singed his eyebrows.

Then Ev and a couple of friends, Vivian and Nick, and Mom in the background, all eyeing the newest piece of construction hardware. Let's see does it make noise and does it move dirt and rocks ... yes.

After the party on Sunday we said bye to the birthday boy and headed back to Grapevine in gradually worsening weather. It was about freezing and a bit of precip and the drive home was iffy but ok.

But as we left in the morning the ice formation was ominous as evident with the frosted trees you see below.

As this is November and as we normally celebrate Thanksgiving in Bryan with Bruce's parents we headed back to Bryan to do that again.

And again we went to La Riviera restaurant which we have gotten to really enjoy. Here's a shot of Mom and Dad Gunn on the way to dinner. Unfortunately the blogger was stuffing his face with turkey and all the other gourmet things on the buffet to get out the camera to show off the variety of dishes.

Another wonderful year with Mom (almost 95) and Dad (now 97) and brother Rich and sister-in- law Kerry ... really cool to be able to do this after so many years; here's to next year!