ALB: Dora Birthday Party

A rose from Emily to Elizabeth. :)










Dora Cake! Yummy!









Sticker time for Elizabeth.
Amazing how much little ones like this.









Cake time!
Elizabeth got up after the song and blew it out like a pro.







She was happy to get presents.









A little pin the tail on the donkey by Caleb. All the Nolen's were there and Elizabeth was very happy.










Here is the BD table. Dora all the way. Very nice.








Here are the party goers. I have two pictures since Julie did not get in the other one. She is littlest one there in front.







(L-R)
Emily, Margaret, Audrey, Sydney, Lexie, Caleb, and Nat.
Of course Elizabeth in the middle in purple.






Another sticker time picture.








Elizabeth was very happy. Thanks to all that came and made her day special. She asked when her next birthday party will be. ;)

Successful hunt by a friend

A buddy of mine who lives in AZ now went out yote calling and was successful. Actually called in two yotes but did not realize until he took this one. Nice job Mark.

Looks like Mark has had a haircut too. ;)

RWC: South Africa Wins It All!!!!

Well it was not pretty. All field goals from both sides.

SA 15 - England 6.

At least a side that has been worthy in recent times is World Champs. Actually as long as it was a southern hemisphere team then that is actually good enough since they have been strong for the last four years in the Tri-Nations.

"Kitty Tracks!"

High on the mountain what do I see,
Kitty tracks Kitty tracks looking back at me.
Better get your squirtgun before it is too late,
Kitty has his monkey and heading for the gate.
He is long down the middle and has a very narrow rump,
Running fast as kitties run and jump pretty big jumps.
He ain't never been caught and he ain't never been treed,
Some folks say he looks alot like Candycane...
Some folks say he looks alot like Candycane.

- To the music of Slew Foot.

This is my version of Slew Foot I sometimes sing to the girls.

"ScumBob ScarePants"

Elizabeth's words not mine. ;)

"Do You Know Where The Taco Box Is?"

The fall back question from Steve when giving directions in Clovis. If you cannot find the Taco Box then he may not actually be able to navigate you around Clovis. All roads lead to and from the Taco Box. LOL. ;)




The Taco Box is World Famous in Clovis.

RWC: Full of Suprises!

The English somehow beat the French so this is a huge surprise.

So it will be a ....

South Africa vs. England ... Final

South Africa is the favorite and I am pulling for them. I cannot imagine a side like England who could not beat their way out of a paper bag for the last four years be the "World Champs" so to speak. I now know that the RWC means little.

As recent articles say ....

"Kiwis are best in world" - Laporte (French Coach)

" England renaissance 'masks flaws' "


I feel that New Zealand should not worry about the World Cup unless the format is changed so that the top teams will rise to the top. England is not a top team and unless they continue to play for a few more years like they have in this tournment then the appearance in the finals is pointless.

Hi Colorado Grandpa in Nevada!

Since you are at the library looking at the blog then we wanted to say Hi!.

"Mitsubishi Airplane Skids", You Say !?

These puppies were long. That is yours truly walking away from the camera. The kid on the right is my good friend Joel. I am not sure who the other kid is .. really I have no clue. We were using hammers, pry bars, and wrenches to tear these skids apart.





What in the world would you use them for other to give the neighborhood kids something to do in the summer?







Here is what for ....

Dad built a nice roomy barn for storage and workspace.

Flashbacks !

A normal looking Christmas picture around our house. But if you look carefully straight down from the frog in the picture you can see one of the toys I got for Christmas. I blow the picture up and show it next.



















That is right .... SUPER TOE! Not to mention my John Deere Bike that was meant to be the start of my motor cross like bike. This was probably around 1973-1976. Hard to remember. The frog was my Mom's from Mexico. Dad carried I forget how many blocks back to the car after they purchased it down in Cuna. Gotta love my clothes. The cap is a John Deere cap. The jeans are bell bottoms ... probably at that time smallish flare to them.




Here I am one night watching TV (which I believe was our first color TV) but notice what is between the TV and the small light stand on the floor. Yes folks ... I was ahead of my time. That is a Pong game! I blowup a the picture of said Pong as can be seen in the next photo. :)










I am guessing this was circa 1973-1974. We lived on Sierra now which started on my BD 1973.
Who needs the Xbox or Wii when you have the Pong. ;)



Here is probably coolest bike I ever had ... it was a five-speed. This was taken about 1972 or 1973. We were still on Tulane. Elizabeth asked me what happened to it. :)






Of course one of my proudest gifts ever. I still have this too out in my guncabinet. The Winchester Model 70 25-06. This was circa 1977. What a rifle.

Notice the popular and ever cool fish net shirt. Not sure what was going on with the sweatpants. I pray I had rolled them up or something. ;)

One of My Beautiful Girls

Circa 2000 (not yet three)








Self portait 2007 (last night) :)

Cuzzins

Looks like Isabella and Cole are doing just fine. Two more beautiful cuzzins. They are growing like weeds. I try not to hold the Okie thing against them. ;)

Thanks for sharing Sheila and Mark.

Memories - Chili Piquins

Recently I was reading a blog where they mentioned that chili piquins were growing on their chuch property. They had a picture of the bush and a bit of history. This picture is from their blog at Covent Baptist Church.

Since mostly family views this blog then I do not have to say alot about piquins. Grandma had some growing on one side of her house in Sonora. There were lots of bushes and the peppers would be plentiful. I remember the ugliest looking salsa that had been can in jars. And the peppers sauce bottles filled with peppers and vinegar. Seems like alot of family liked that.

Never forget the time Ronnie crunched some up in his food using his hands then scratched himself in a delicate place and thought he was going to die and no amount of washing seemed to help. :)

Also remember taking some to school at Texas Tech and some of the Asian students tried them thinking they could handle hot and just about died from eating them. A different type of hot to say the least.

Though I do not like hot stuff and do not eat peppers much I miss those little bushes. I sometimes wish I had some here to grow for friends who enjoy Chiles here in New Mexico.

RWC: All-Blacks are out

This happened last Saturday but I was too depressed to blog it. No worries they were beaten by two points by the French who were one of the other favorites.

So the semifinals look like:

England vs. France, Sat (today)
South Africia vs. Argentina Sunday (tomorrow).

England pulled off a huge upset over Oz. I am still in shock more about that than NZ's loss.

I would say my prediction:

South Africa vs France Final. :)

With SA favorites to win it all.

But who really knows.

Full Of Hot Air! ABQ Balloon Festival

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta



Mass Ascension.

This is a small view of what was literally 100s if not thousands of balloons trying to lift off. We heard the number of balloons were near 7,000 that participated this year. Wow.







We got to the festival park and walked right up to this red balloon and watched as they prepared the balloon.







Then we watched it lift off and move into the mass of balloons heading south with the wind. With chase cars going to meet them when they land usually in ABQ itself.









The Little Bees

Joey and Lilly (l-r)






Their lift off brought cheers throughout the crowd. You could not miss their ascension if you can hear. :)

Later we realized it is not a given that you could get your balloon to lift off.





This is Darth Vader, from Belgium, who is making its USA debut right in front of us. Surprisingly depending on when you are allowed to start putting your balloon out then you may not get it to liftoff. Lord Vader was ready to go but the wind had picked up and the cool morning had warmed just a bit and they had to pack it back up literally right after this picture was taken. Too bad we were ready to go over and watch it ascend.




The Haunted Mansion too almost was ready to ascend but the wind and the amount of time and fuel it took to heat up the air in this huge balloon caused them to abort the liftoff. It too had to pack it in right after we took this picture.







Having to get up early and having a rough night at the hotel, More on the hotel later, we were a bit tried. It is about 9am but ALB was sleepy, cold, and congested. She was watching the Haunted Mansion while resting.










Stagecoach who also had trouble and did not ascend.










Not sure what this one is called. I call it Chickie. :)











Liftoff!










Let's watch a balloon get ready.

























As we stood and watch them ready this balloon the Classic Car Show started coming by on the way to the parking area so that folks would have a chance to visit them after the mass ascension. Gwen got a lot of pictures with some real classics in them.





























Liftoff !!!!!!!






It looks like he made it into the Ascension.











After all the balloons got up that could then we went back to the car and headed to the Aquarium for breakfast and a bit of fish watching. On the way there down in the southern part of town on Central Ave we watched as several balloons landed in parking lots and fields and so forth. Also there were a lot of chase cars driving around looking for their balloons. :)

We think Aunt TK, Marcia, and Rado Grandpa would really enjoy going to the Festival. Not that both Grandma's would not enjoy it but it is early, windy, and very cool. Not their usual cup of tea. If you are interested then you should start planning a trip here for next year. It is really cool.

More about breakfast and the hotel on the next post.

DIAL!

In the van we have an OnStar phone that is voice controlled. We push the button and it says, "OnStar Ready." Then we say, "Dial." Then OnStar says, "Number please?" Then we tell it the number.

Well our A Little Bit has a toy cell phone and she will play this script out with her cell phone. It is very cute. "Dial"....."669...667" ...... "Hi grandma" :) Are you listening grandmas?

Favre One More Time

4-0 !!! with TD records and more.

It would be great if they could have a playoff season to give Brett a great send off. It is fun watching him play especially when he is winning.

I may be torn when the Dallas-Green Bay game comes around.

How about those Cowboys 4-0 as well!!!!

RWC: Quarterfinal Matchups ! One off.

Quarterfinals

Date - Time			Result			Venue
06 Oct - 15:00		Australia	-	England		Marseille
06 Oct - 21:00		New Zealand	-	France		Cardiff
07 Oct - 15:00		South Africa	-	Fiji		Marseille
07 Oct - 21:00		Argentina	-	Scotland		Saint-Denis

Well I was off by one. Fiji pulled out a victory over Wales to move into the runner-up spot for that pool. Wales was a surprise and so was Ireland who missed out due to losing to Argentina and France. So it is 5 Southern Hemisphere sides to 3 Northern Hemispere sides. Very interesting and different WC play than ever before.

Scotland just hung on to their runner-up place by beating Italy 18-16 I believe.

I think France then Fiji look to be the best runner-ups and are playing the best. I am not sure which has the best odds of beating NZ or South Africa. Argentina is playing well and look to be in better shape than Scotland. England have no hope against Australia so I do not think it is even close.

We will see how it goes. The ABs really need a good test again France to win...it will be the first time they will play a side very close to their level. Luckily it is in Wales though it will be the same place as the famous French win over the ABs in the 99 WC. Who knows.

RWC: WALES 34-38 FIJI Upset!

Oh and I thought with England getting into the quarterfinals that my prediction was set. But Wales is not playing well and Fiji made them pay. Wow.

Another Southern Hemisphere side into the quarterfinals.

Deciding tests today and tomorrow will tell the story.

New Zealand - pool winner
South Africa - pool winner
Australia - Pool winner
Fiji - Runner up
England - Runner up

are all through to the quarterfinals. If Argentina can finish off the Irish then they too will be thru to the quarterfinals for sure.

1912 Carlisle vs. Army

This looks like a fascinating book about Jim Thorpe and Dwight Eisenhower. How a one game over ninety years ago could have changing effect on the future of a country.

Story at SI about Carlisle vs Army

RWC: Update!

It appears the South Pacific Islanders have come to play. Too bad Tonga could not pull this one out. This would have been an even bigger upset than the Argentina one over France.

South Africa 30 Tonga 25

England 39 - 22 Samoa at 71 minute mark.

Samoa just could not hold on. Too bad. I would have liked to see England crash out at the pool level. I guess it is up to Tonga to do the job.

Emily BD presents

Here are a few of Emily's BD presents she opened last night.

She was very excited to get a photography book Aunt TK. :)










And she loves to get box tops.













She is pensively reading what this book is about. It is a daily devotional from TX Grandma I think.











The creamer and sugar bowl from Rado grandparents was exciting.











Elizabeth was excited to help Emily open her presents. But not as excited to find that she too got a TTU T-Shirt.

"Oh I love it, I love it, I love it !!!!!!"
Jumping up and down. She was very excited.






Thanks Grandmas, Grandpa, and Aunt TK.

RWC: NZ 108 - Portugal 13 FULL TIME

The ABs lined up almost a completely different side than against Italy. It appears this might have been a good decision because the ABs looked a bit rusty and sloppy and could use the practice.

Of course the "minnow" pool tests and these kinds of scores do not mean much to who is really in form. Once you get to the single elimination part of the RWC )quarterfinals) then the sides there will provide much stiffer tests and the ABs have to be in form and playing well. Hard to say who is looking the best right now in pool play. Have one bad day on the pitch and you are out of the tournament. The ABs have crashed out just like that.... touch wood (ie, knock on wood).

By the way, Portugal are Los Lobos!

Full Time: Wales 20-32 Australia

As expected Australia is in control of their Pool. Wales most likely will play South Africa in the quarterfinals.

Tip Top Girl

Rachel Hunter in front of a poster of her Tip Top advertisement from 22 years ago in New Zealand. Tip Top is a brand of ice cream and this is an ad for the Trumpet which is basically a Drum Stick (USA) or Coronet (UK).

We watched a commercial while there for this where Rachel drove around in a convertible VW Beatle with the wind in her hair and a Trumpet in her hand. Sorta silly.
More about the story.

RWC: Quarterfinal Predictions

This is how I see it play out though I think I will be off by one or two:

Quarterfinals

Date - Time			Result			Venue
06 Oct - 15:00		Australia	-	England		Marseille
06 Oct - 21:00		New Zealand	-	France		Cardiff
07 Oct - 15:00		South Africa	-	Wales		Marseille
07 Oct - 21:00		Argentina	-	Scotland		Saint-Denis

The sides on the left will be the winners of their respective pools while the sides on the right will be the runners Up in their respective pools.

Of the Pool Winners only Argentina worries me. This the D Pool and they could lose to Ireland and Ireland lose to France. Then it is all about points. This leads to the runner Up in that pool which I predict is Ireland. You figure it. France was the favorite but with Argentina winning that then it means France has to step up and win the rest of its Pool tests which they could easily do.
Updated prediction to put France in QF since Ireland barely gets past Georgia (14-10). Ireland looks weak.

I believe that England and Wales could either one mess up and not get there as runners up too. Especially England they are looking very weak. Tonga and/or a Samoa might take them.

Not Enough Money To Get Me To Play Again! Really!

59 year old starting for Sul Ross University

"After missing two games with injuries, 59-year-old linebacker Mike Flynt will take the field for Sul Ross State on Saturday for the first time in 37 years."

Wholely Moley! Incredible and Bold. After 26 years, you could not pay me to go back and try to play at any level even Pee-Wees. What is this guy thinking. Grandfather and AARP member. I guess he is a West Texan...hard to get it out of your blood. He was a conditioning coach at Nebraska and A&M. Guess he is in great shape.

RWC: England 0-36 South Africa !!!

The defending world champs have been embarrassed. At this point we could see the four pools won by the top four southern hemisphere teams: South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. It would not be that long of a shot for all four to reach the semifinals either. Unless Frances rebounds or one of the other three UK sides step up then the SH will be looking good as always.

Happy 16th Anniversary My Love!

May we have many more.

Love,
Terry