Tonight I attended a gathering of friends known as the Kansas City Cigar Aficionado Club. We get together at local restaurants and enjoy a social hour with half-price appetizers and drink specials while partaking in premium hand-rolled cigars.
Great group of friends that provides for fantastic relaxation.
Linda’s paternal grandmother turned 95 years old the other day. We met today with some of the family to celebrate with her.
Congratulations, Neva. We had a wonderful afternoon with you – the chocolate cake was awesome!
Sally spends much of her day waiting for the girls to get home from whatever activity they’re doing. She waits patiently, saving an amazing amount of energy. When they arrive, you’d think she had the spirit of Tigger in her as she pounces in high gear – boy, is she happy to see them.
She is just about the sweetest, most loving dog I’ve ever seen. We love you, Sally.
Anna and Emily stayed up late and then got up early to finish up the banner that they hung over the entry into the kitchen.
They took every free moment they had yesterday to create cards on the computer. We really had a nice time before church.
The girls served as alter servers this morning, giving me and Linda the opportunity to sit quietly in the pew to enjoy the service…and then a family with 4 kids under age 5 sat right behind us. God sure has a great sense of humor.
We had lunch at Zardas (awesome barbecue) and dinner at Jose Peppers (even more awesome mexican) – mm, mm, good.
Finally, as a special gift, I mowed the lawn so Linda wouldn’t have to.
So, this blog has been up and running for a couple weeks now and there’s been very little mention of Linda. The real reason for this is that she’s usually not in the picture. Always busy and frequently behind the video camera – she rarely gets her picture taken.
However, she is the rock of this family. Full time mother, full time wife, full time piano teacher…she is always busy.
The end of her spring teaching semester is coming to a close, but the judging season has picked up. She’s out of town here and there listening to other kids play for her. Last week she judged in a small Missouri town and they requested a picture that could be given to the local paper so her picture could accompany the story about her coming to judge. The above picture is the one she gave.
Beautiful wife, adoring mother – we love you!
In a blatant attempt to make you smile, I’ll be posting some “Blast from the past” pictures.
Way back in July 2002, Linda took the girls to stand in 98-degree weather outside a Leawood restaurant to get the autograph of Mike Sweeny – their most beloved player. As you can see on Anna’s face, this was just right!
This picture is proudly displayed in our cabinet of Royals memorabilia. How we miss thee, Mike Sweeny.
We were back at Shawnee Mission South High School once again this week to watch Anna play violin with the rest of the 4th-12th graders in the South portion of the school district.
As noted on a recent blog post, Anna has really come a long way with her violin in just over 2 years of playing. She has been taking private lessons and seems to enjoy the challenge that it presents.
I’m very proud of her work with music, dance, and school. Seems the nut doesn’t fall far from either of the parental trees…
First – I apologize for any shock I may have caused you by forcing you to view my bare chest and flexed muscles. However, you need to understand how hard I’ve worked to be able to show this to you.
If you look at the very top of this page, you’ll see a “P90X” heading in the menu bar. Clicking there will show you all of the progress pictures throughout the 90-day program.
Thanks to all of my family and friends that supported and encouraged me through this adventure.
Next up? I’m planning on doing another 90-days of the same thing. Let’s see what I look like August!?!
So begins the many years of attending year-end band and orchestra concerts – by my estimation, about 8 years (unless you also count college). Emily participated in the Shawnee Mission South area band concert the other night – bands from the several elementary schools, the middle, and the high school.
Despite having the concert in the high school gym with the audience sitting on the bleachers, it was a very nice concert. We’ve attended Anna’s string concerts for the past 2 years, but now we get to enjoy both girls playing.
Emily has progressed at an amazing rate considering she only started the flute at the beginning of this school year. Her many years of piano have prepared her well. She’s anticipating starting private flute lessons this summer.
Anna participated in her first music festival with the school district. Standing alone in front of a judge with nothing between them except the music stand, she played her violin piece so well. Her accompanist was the woman who’s been with her all along – Linda, of course.
Her violin teacher, Mrs. Jensen, was also in attendance
I sat watching and listening to my oldest daughter play an instrument that she’s only played for just over 2 years…and she sounded awesome.
Obviously, the judge agreed because she gave her a “1” rating – the best one can get.
Great job, Anna!
