Christmas in The Woodlands

Matthew, Josh, Sam, and Monte prepare to jump into the freezing water of the pool! We had our own version of the polar bear club.

Sam and Monte take the plunge!

They got warm in the spa which was turned on. Lots of fun.

Christmas Breakfast with the family.

Mrs. Claus and Mr. Claus before the present opening extravaganza.

Becky showing off her new Dell laptop with artwork on the outside.

Dad, Matthew and Monte show off the picture of Mike and me when we were little.

Dad and Matthew .

Christmas eve dinner before going to church together. It was a great time this Christmas. A lot of good times with our family.

Trip to Charleston over Thanksgiving break

We were able to drive to Charleston, SC to eat lunch with my parents who were vacationing in Hilton Head for the week. Here is a picture of Nate, Kyle and Sam outside the restaurant. Charleston Harbor is in the background.

Ralph, Carolyn, our family, Steve and Sherri and their kids were glad to meet up with my parents and visit over supper. Here is a group picture. We think it has been since Nate's High school graduation since our parents had seen each other. We had a great family time.

Back from our Thanksgiving trip to SC

I am just getting back into the swing of things. We spent a week in SC with the Hendricks clan. Here is a snap of Kyle, Sam and Nate after church. Dick's parents are doing well and we had a great visit with everyone. I will blog more later.

Nate's grades

Nate called Dick this week, as he often does, to discuss life, etc. He is enjoying his senior year at Louisiana Tech. He just finished his finals and he has straight A's!!!!!!!!! We are so proud of him and his accomplishments.

Kyle's award winning poem

Eternal Eyes
Inspired by Untitled by James “Son” Thomas

written by Kyle Johnson November 2008

Skin flakes
A new layer waiting to replace
Hair constantly cut and changes color as a chameleon
That hair, just there to compliment the beauty of it all
The eye is not that fickle, not that faithless, not that flighty
Staying dependable throughout all of life’s many experiences
It’s been through the terror, the triumphs, and the temptations
Being the portal for sight since the day they first opened
Pools, no, crevices leading to the soul
They see all even when closed

Dreams experienced

Feeling a little thoughtful about fall...

The corn is so high that you cannot see over it in the corn maize!

The weather is starting to get cool here in Louisiana. The boys are still wearing shorts at times when it is in the 70s. We took Sam and his friends to a cornfield maze Friday night. It was a lot of fun. This is an aerial picture of the corn maize that we went through. it has our hometown hero, Terry Bradshaw. There was a haunted area, a hayride, and Sam's favorite---a corn bin. Sam said that he would like to work at the Corn Maize as a "corn cop" when he is older. The corn cops help the people that get lost in the maze. In other news, Kyle made the varsity soccer team at school. He is very excited and really amazes us sometimes.

Dick turns 46

A few weeks ago, Dick had his birthday. We had a party for him at the Louisiana Boardwalk. We ate at Fuddrucker's restaurant and invited several friends. After eating, we went to see a great movie, Fireproof, with everyone. It was a fun evening. Here are some pictures.
Singing "happy birthday".


Kyle, Carla and Terri.

Nova Dawn, John, Dick, Kenny, and Venetia.

Kyle and Hannah go to Homecoming Dance

Hannah and Kyle went to last weekend's homecoming dance together. They have been friends since grade school and have gone to church together for years.
Tina and Nate were in town for a visit last weekend and came with us when we came to take pictures of the homecoming couples. We had a good visit and they both seem to be doing well.

Hannah and Kyle, a handsome couple.

"The group" that they went with to the dance. Click on any picture to see it close up.

Adam and Kyle, best friends.

Kyle in the student section at Homecoming game

Kyle and Adam

Jack the Jacket, the mascot of Kyle's school

The student section flying their flags

Kyle again

Kyle and Dick after the game.

Kyle and Adam at the homecoming game

I snapped this picture of Kyle and his best friend Adam at Friday night's football game. They are in the student section of the stands called "the hive". Their team mascot is the yellowjacket. It is their senior year. The team won. More pics later

Colonial days for Sam at school

In seventh grade, they have colonial days and have to wear clothes to school that would be of that period. Here is Sam. What is interesting is that he is wearing a hat that belonged to his Uncle Matthew when he was little. He had a great time.
I found this picture of Kyle in 2003 at his Colonial days, see how we recycled the costume? It is nice to have all boys!!!!!!

Kyle and Sam

Here is one last picture from our Clemson visit. We have been busy with school this week. Kyle has Homecoming this weekend, so I plan on getting some pictures of that soon. Thanks to my Uncle Pat for the suggestion of Halloween songs! Hope you like them.

More pictures of our Clemson weekend

Here come the tigers down the ramp into "Death Valley" after touching Howard's rock. You can feel the excitement in this picture.

Here they come!

The crowd goes wild!

This picture was taken when we first got to the stadium. The teams were warming up.

Sam and Dick playing catch in the parking lot.

Me,Kyle,Dick in the back row. Matthew King and Sam in the front row. We are standing on the steps of the Admissions Hall. Matthew is a senior at Clemson and gave us "a cook's tour" of the campus.

Kyle looking at all the tiger merchandise in Knickerbocker's store. We spent a lot of money here.

Sam tried on the orange wig, and was trying to look tough.

Clemson Visit/Campus Tour

We took Kyle on a long weekend trip to Clemson University in South Carolina for a campus tour and football game. He has been wanting to go to Clemson since he was little. Dick and his dad, Ralph are both alumni, and Kyle has wanted to follow in their footsteps. These are some pictures of our trip. He loved the campus. Kyle's dad, Kevin was able to drive down from Ohio, to meet us there and take the tour also. So, I think we are going to have another Clemson tiger in the family next fall when he goes off to college.

Sam showing his Clemson pride.

Dick showing Kevin and Kyle the campus map of Clemson University.

Dick spotted his dad's picture in the yearbook.

Dick's dad, Ralph's picture in the 1960 Clemson yearbook at the visitor's center!

Sam with a tiger by the tail at Clemson

Here is Kevin, Kyle and Dick in the Clemson Visitor's Center

Playing Texas Hold 'em at Hilton Head

We learned how to play Texas Hold 'em. Thanks Monte. It was a blast to play back at the condo when it was raining outside. Here is Kyle and Dick with Matthew, Kent, and Monte.

Matthew was trying to be incognito, because he didn't have such a good poker face.


Sam and Kyle together.


Grandpa was the "card shark" of the group. Here is Sam marvelling at Ken't's pile of chips. He really showed us, young folks! Sorry, Dad.

Monte dealing: we learned what "the flop" and "the river" meant. We had a great time playing in the evenings and when it was raining on the beach.