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!

 

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! 

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!

 



A New Day Dawning

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM

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!

 

The Day After

Sitting here on this December 26th morning enjoying the play of sun and shadows on the fireplace while reflecting on the good times of Christmas 2012. 

This year was a combination of old and new traditions.

   

Friday night we had chili and decorated sugar cookies.  There was one major departure from tradition; Josh did not make any inappropriate sugar cookies.  His creativity must have been limited because there were no bear or ginger man shaped cookies to be bloodied and mutilated.  Or perhaps it was because Sara beat him to the punch with her three dimensional teachers love winter break but miss their students cookie.  :)

 

Since Teresa and Charlie moved to the Lake of the Ozarks there will be no more Christmas Eves spent at their Lexington home.  Their new lake home was not quite ready for occupation so they rented a five bedroom home with plenty of room for everyone to gather. 
We joined them for the weekend. 
Heading out on a bright and sunny Saturday morning.      

Whether it's her own home or a rental house Teresa does Christmas magic to perfection!
 

Here it was a playhouse tent set up in the corner of the living room.  The playhouse was in constant use while we were there; as an overnight sleeping space for Clara, or a hiding spot and play spot for Lucas and Eli, or an afternoon nap spot for a tired college student!  FUN! 

A large table for everyone to gather and visit. 

And everyone's favorite foods being prepared in the kitchen.

Evan with a soon to be upside down Lucas!

Charlie enjoying the sunshine and 50 degree temps in his KC Chiefs snuggie he stole from Stephen in the gift exchange! 

This picture of Lucas and Eli was taken after we left but it was so cute I just had to steal it from Jenny's Facebook page!

We headed back home Sunday evening.

Christmas Eve afternoon we had runzas for lunch, exchanged gifts and had a good visit before the kids headed off to the Lawhorn's and the Rapp's for more food and fun!  Josh had to work Christmas day. Sara and Evan joined us for leftovers and a competitive game of Scrabble where Bobby got 64 points for the word 'jihad'!