Linda's Visit

I always look forward to Linda's annual visit to see us in the summer! She and I taught school together for many years and she became much like a sister to both me and Danny! This year was no exception, and she arrived on late Wednesday afternoon, July 20th. I had a full slate of fun things to do while she visited. Thursday was a relaxing day filled with talking and catching up on news. Friday night we had fun at the Natural's baseball game at the Arvest Ball Park. It's always a fun to watch the game and laugh at the family entertainment that takes place between the innings.

We spent some time at the Fayetteville Farmers Market on the Fayetteville square. This farmer's market is one of the best in th nation and has all types of vegetables, fruits, flowers and folk music performers and artists scattered around the square.

Early Monday morning, the three of us took off for a three night stay in Branson in our fifth wheel. We always like to stay at the Wilderness RV Park as it has a shuttle to carry you to Silver Dolar City where Danny and I have season passes. Here are a few photos of our RV and the three of us relaxing inside.

We did a little shopping that afternoon and headed to "The City" in the late afternoon to see the evening GAC Show. Boy! It was soooooo hot that we almost melted! The show was good, but hard to enjoy in the excessive heat.

Linda and I grew up reading the "Little House" books, and Linda is an elementary school librariean, so the next day we drove to Mansfield, Missouri, to tour Laura Ingalls Wilders' homeplace. It was here that she wrote those wonderful stories. It was a trip back in time and one we thoroughly enjoyed. We discovered that her daughter was also a well know author who purchased a nearby property and built her parents a new stone house. Alonzo and Laura lived there several years, but some years later they longed for their original home and return to live there until their deaths. I was surprised that Danny truly enjoyed the tour even though he has never read the books.

Upon returning to Branson, we spent four hours touring the Titantic museum/show. How fascinating it was! As you "Board" the ship, you are given a boarding pass with the name of one of the passengers. As you exit the museum, you find out if your passenger was a victim or a survivor. Linda's passenger survived, but Danny and my passengers lost their lives.













The next day, we returned to Silver Dollar City and enjoyed a day of rides, shows, arts and craft demonstrations, and a tour of the Marvel Cave! We enjoyed the "Lost River of the Ozarks" and cooling off from getting wet, that we rode it three times in a row (see photo below)!

Our week of fun was over, and Linda headed back to Tyler early Friday morning! Looking forward to next year, Linda!!

Brantley Family Reunion 2011

On July 15th, Danny and I left Les and Carolyn's house in Kansas City and headed toward Mississippi for my extended Brantley family's reunion on Sunday, July 17th. It's an annual affair and is now held in Starkville, Mississippi on each third Sunday of July. We've been meeting together each year since the early 1950's and we first cousins have changed from children into grandparents and great grandparents. This family comes from William Arnold and Maggie Applewhite Brantley who had seven children - all boys except for one girl. We now have only one aunt still living, and it is wonderful to have here there each year. I can't help but believe that our parents would be so happy to know that we still honor them by continuing the family reunion tradition .

Here's Bailey pointing to our Brantley Family reunion sign.On Saturday afternoon, the family began to arrive with lots of hugs and conversation!

That evening, we went out to eat together at a couple of local restaurants.

Sunday morning, most of our extended families began to gather. We had to wait until noon to get into our dining room, but we spent the time catching up on news and talking to each other.

Finally we were able to get into our meeting/dining room! If you notice in the following photos, I think you'll agree that we have a good looking family!

As you can see, we have a new family member to look forward to meeting. And on the right, you'll see the youngest family member at the 2011 reunion.

This photo shows my Aunt Polly with her great- grandchildren.

Here I am with a Kenny's wife, Lana.

We now have 3 Maggie's in our family! Pictured here are Apryl the mother of Maggie on the right; Me and my granddaughter, baby Maggie Lynn.

When we leave, we are reminded of how special it is to be part of our wonderful family.

West Point, Nebraska VBS

July 8, 2011, found us headed to West Point, Nebraska, to help the West Erwin church of Christ youth group while they held a VBS. We've been involved with this mission trip since 1993 and have so many good memories of our time with the Christians in West Point.

After a Saturday morning of preparing classrooms for Monday's VBS, we met with the local church at the minister and his wife's house on their farm. This part of Nebraska has rolling hills covered with fields and fields of corn and alfalfa. A lot of time on that Saturday afternoon and evening was spent catching up on news, playing Frisbee football, snipe hunting (that was a hoot!) and chowing down on delicious hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad, chips and brownies. YUM!

Here's a picture of the two of us on a hill overlooking the Elk River valley. So pretty!

Sunday morning was spent in worship with the church there in West Point followed by a fantastic covered dish dinner. VBS at the Cummin County Fair Grounds began on Monday morning and continued through Thursday. Danny likes to wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to welcome the kids each morning.

Danny helped the teens out in the 2's and 3's class - lots of toddlers needing extra hands and attention. I was one of the cooks for the week.

A service project is always done while on the mission trip. This year's project was to replace the roof on the church building and washing the bus and storage tubs. Hot and hard job!

On Tuesday afternoon, our group traveled to Omaha to tour the Henry Doorley Zoo! Highlights of the zoo include the aquarium, the primate village, the rain forest! Make sure you visit this zoo if you ever get an opportunity.

Thursday afternoon we left West Point and headed south. We parted ways with the Texas youth group after our evening meal in Kansas City. The youth group continued on the way to Branson for a day of fun and we two spent the night with our good friends who now live in Kansas City.

Friday morning Danny and I began our trek to my Brantley Family Reunion in Starkville, Mississippi. More on that in the next blog.