Sunday, December 15, 2013

Pumpkin Carving 2013

Year two of the Lonesome Duck annual pumpkin carving contest!
 
I took this picture while waiting for everyone to arrive.  Love how the Fall evening sun comes through the front door windows and casts sunbeams on the fireplace and chair.
 
Hot dogs and chili were on the menu again.  Except this year Josh and Susan made a new recipe for chili that was awesome and very hot.  It had also won the first place award in Susan's office chili contest!  Sara brought a very refreshing white wine sangria and a yummy pumpkin cake with maple frosting.  Yvonne and Nichole rounded out the meal with cornbread muffins and fresh veggies.  
 The first carvers arrive!  This is the 'normal' posed picture and.....
...this is the 'silly' pose!


 We were excited to have Yvonne, Ben, Nichole, Dave, and Colby join us for Colby's first ever pumpkin carving experience!  Last year she was just a wee baby.  Colby was the star of the evening!

 And she's not afraid to get her hands dirty!

Teething?

We should have gotten a video of this fun; here is Evan giving Colby a shaky chair up in the air ride!  She was quite pleased with her Uncle Evan!
Time for a break with Mom and Grandma Yvonne!
 
Here are all the pumpkins lined up waiting their opportunity to shine!
 
 
And here they all are in their glowing candlelit glory! 
I think this years pumpkins all turned out great!
Mine was the witch silhouette in the back row to commemorate Sara's birthday gift to me this year of tickets to see Wicked (which was another fun day!) Next in the back row was Bob's pumpkin whose stem was the nose!  And rounding out the back row was Evan's K-State beats West Virgina pumpkin.
Front row; Josh continues his 2012 drinking theme with a beer stein.  Next is Sara's Franken-pumpkin and her white B-O-O pumpkin.  Dave's American flag design is very cool, see how it appears to be waving in the wind!  Next is Colby's handprint pumpkin.  How adorable is that?  And next is Susan's 1st place award winning really cool and intricate Tim Burton inspired design. 
 
The evening ended with a bang as Evan and his Dad blew up a pumpkin with a cherry bomb!
Good times!!!!!!!!!



Friday, August 9, 2013

Feels So Right

Hold me close and love me, give my heart a smile, feels so right. 

---Alabama song from the 80's

 

Twenty-eight years, also on a Friday evening, we were married!
This picture was taken in Teresa & Charlie's back yard.  I know we played mud volleyball that day, this picture must have been before the game!



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

2013 Blooms

Loving how the yard looks this year! 
The pots are all planted and the May rains really made them fill in fast! 

Hopefully we won't find any rattle snakes tucked away in the pots this summer!



The red flowers are blurry in this picture but I like the way the focus is on the topmost leaf and you can see the purple veins! 







Monday, April 8, 2013

Happy Times!

The State of Kansas has a brand new attorney!   

Congratulations Susan, we are very proud of you!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

March Madness

We spent an enjoyable Saturday afternoon at a local sports bar watching Michigan State beat Memphis State with Josh, Susan, Sara and Evan.  The snow had just started when we left the bar and it was coming down fast and furious.  It didn't take long for there to be enough for Sara to make snow balls to throw at Evan in the parking lot!  And by the time we got home this is what it looked like.  Once the snow had stopped there were eight inches on the ground!
 
Snow on March 23rd; that's the real March Madness!
 


Monday, March 18, 2013

Griff and the Coyote

 
Keeping an eye on each other. 
This little standoff went on for about 15 minutes.
 
 
And then the chase was on.
Luckily the coyote outran Griff!
Of course Griffy ran faster to get back in the house than she did while chasing the coyote!
 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Pumpkin Parties Past & Present

That silly little post about a Pick-the-Pope competition reminded me that I hadn't posted about our pumpkin carving party and competition.

We have borrowed another tradition from Teresa and her family;
the Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party & Contest!  
 
I'm guessing this picture is from 2001 or 2002.  The girl with the pretty smile is now in her second year of college, and that boy working so diligently on his pumpkin is in his third year of college and the cute little blonde in the middle is fourteen!

Same year; Sara campaigning for the adults to vote for her pumpkin while her young cousins look on!
 
 
This year we held the first annual Lonesome Duck pumpkin party!
We started the night with chili and grilled hot dogs in buns wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in the oven warmer, just like at the ballpark! 
The actual pumpkin carving took place in the shed.
 
 
The process of cleaning and carving!
 

 
Being silly!
 

 
The results!
 
Pictures were posted on Facebook for friends to vote for their favorite pumpkin!  And to be honest I don't remember which pumpkin won the most votes but I do remember my mummy pumpkin got more respect on Facebook then it did in the shed that night! :)
 
Sorry for all the blurry pictures taken with the phone.
 
It was a fun evening!  Can't wait for year two!
The day after! 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Gering Competition - The Papal Edition

You know how this family likes a little friendly competition right?
Remember the:
March Madness brackets
Fantasy Football
Halloween pumpkin carving (with Facebook voting!)
Thanksgiving pie competition
Password is Taco - our live trivia team Thursdays at 23rd Street Brewery

And now.....
 
Welcome to the latest Gering Competition - The Papal Edition
 
 
Disclaimer: this picture was staged just for fun. 
But the possibility of an actual Pick-the-Pope competition was discussed!
 


Monday, March 4, 2013

A New Day Dawning

Lyrics from Matt Redman's song 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord).

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Cardinal Happy Hour at the Bird Feeder





The New Manny Nanny

At Christmas time there was lots of kidding about Bobby moving to Colorado to become Matt and Kelli's new nanny.  He joked that he could be their manny!  After all, he's retired with plenty of time on his hands, loves Lucas and Eli, and loves the Colorado mountains! 
In February he traveled with Teresa and Charlie out to Steamboat Springs for the 100th year celebration of the Winter Carnival and to officially apply for the nanny position (just kidding on that second part).
 
Here's a picture of Bobby and Charlie snowshoeing on a portion of Matt & Kelli's 27 acres.  Dang, look at that gorgeous view, I want to be the manny's assistant!
As you can see, Bobby wears shorts in all kinds of weather!   
 A few days after they returned home Matthew posted the picture below on Facebook and said that Lucas and Eli were 'pulling a Bobby' by insisting that they too could wear shorts and sweatshirts in the Colorado Rockies!