End of Summer 2009

Well, summer is almost over. The summer began with me still recovering from my bout with viral menengitus although we did get to travel a lot. I've gotten a little stronger as the summer has gone on, and Susie has been very patient with me taking lots of naps and not doing too much. In June, Susie spent a couple of weeks baby sitting Amelia with Steve and his family, and took a trip to Nashville in the middle of her stay to visit Dave and Renee while getting to attend Aly's ballet recital. I took a PRAXIS test for renewal of my teacher's license, and did quite well thank you. We also spent a weekend camping with our Bluegrass friends in central Kansas. July found us heading to southeastern Oklahoma for the Parks reunion, and a weekend with my Uncle Bill, his wife Bonny, my cousin Mike Parks and his wife Cheryl. We laughed a lot. Then we headed to Nashville, where Susie spent a week baby sitting Aly and Hayden while Dave and I set out on a musical tour of Missouri and Kansas. Got to hang out with grandson Mik while on the music tour and make some memories. On the way home from Nashville Susie and I got to visit with some of her family in Tennessee. After getting home, Susie and I took a daytrip to see the historic water tower in Beaumont, Kansas. In August we spent another weekend with Mike and Cheryl, got to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial, then drove home on the Old Chisholm Trail. Another quick trip to Memphis for Susie's family, and now we are at home celebrating our 37th Anniversary while getting ready to put our trailer in line for the Winfield Music Festival. I've been able to get some reading in this summer as well. I read "Uncommon," by Tony Dungy, a book of Abraham Lincoln quotes, "Team of Rivals," by Doris Kearnes Goodwin, and "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark Levin. God has been so good to us. We are thankful for our friends and family, and looking forward to the school year ahead of us.