The Eagles - Atlanta, Georgia 2008

It all started with a rough ride through high winds, thunder and lightning, and hail slamming into our windshield heading south on I-75 to see the 'infamous' Eagles band, the greatest band in America according to Advertising Age.

Active signs along the way up GA 400 warned of impending Tornadoes! We arrived to face a mud covered parking area with the rain still coming down. Umbrellas? Yeah our friends had a few. We brought none. We trudged our way through 1/2 to 1" water to get to the Verizon Amphatheatre near Alpharetta, GA. Luckily we had seats 'under the pavilion' and were able to fold up our umbrellas and just walk through water covered concrete walkways and streams of water flowing down the steps and aisles.

LET THERE BE LIGHT ! ! and there it was. Shortly after 8:20 PM the clouds cleared and the show began. Who are those old men dressed in suits walking onto the stage? Is this a business meeting or maybe a revival? WHO? The Eagles? Yeah! I can tell by the songs they're singing... DUH.... This was not a business meeting, but it was
One Heck of a Revival of OLD TIMES ! ! !

You may not be old enough to remember the beginning ... But you're surely old enough to remember the middle and now the end... Well the latter part of the middle.
The Eagles haven't lost their touch or their rhythm.

WOW. . A Fabulous night of entertainment!

Happy Mothers Day Judy & Paige & Dawn & Beth & Amber - To All the Girls I Loved Before and Still DO !

Congratulations to Paige for being the honored guest this Mothers Day. She go the "You Are Special Today" plate. The "You Are Special Today" plate is reserved for Only the Very Special. All of you deserve the "You Are Special Today". But you weren't here...

This is a Special Mothers Day for Paige. It is her FIRST!

Congratulations Go to ALL "MY GIRLS":
Judy - the Queen Mom
Dawn - the Old Pro with 6 wonderful children.
Amber - the Semi Pro with 2 great guys.
Beth - the Ultra Pro with 2 little ones and one big one to care for.
Paige - the Nu-Bee

We Love You All and Admire your Mothering work. Remember, MOM'S make a Difference in every child's life. Children tell mom things we'd tell NO ONE else.

Note the Mothers day 'get ready for snow gifts'. I heard northern Indiana is Very Cold in the winter.

Judy and Paige spent a relaxing day in our home this Mothers' day. We (Fred, Trey, & Logan) tried to give them the Royal Treatment. Dinner was prepared soley by the boys. Fresh frozen Salmon, asparagus fresh from the Jolly Green Giant, and Creamed Corn Right out of Libby's the can. Oh, yes and the Broccoli. It no doubt had a very unique flavor and texture after spending the last 3 years in the freezer and a couple of hours in the microwave oven. But with enough spray butter and a hungry pallet it worked out just fine. And to top it all off we had Strawberry Shortcake. The strawberries were Really Fresh and the shortcake was fresh out of the cellophane wrapper (Actually we think they might have expired about a year ago). Trey did a wonderful job of seasoning and cooking the salmon while Logan set the "ambiance" for the day with his table setting. Fred backed it all up with healthy vegetables.

We promised to keep all the Electronic Toys TURNED OFF. Mom Judy thought that might drive us boys Crazy. And I am aware of some CHEATING going on upstairs while the ladies visited in the family room. We played a game and created one of the most emotionally charged endings to Mothers' Day I have ever experienced. Trey is such a competitor. Wow.

I must now tell a story. You've probably already heard me tell this story but I can't help myself on this Mothers Day blog. When Judy and I were in Italy about 14 years ago, we were touring St Peters Basilica in Rome, actually Vatican City. We happened up on a tour group standing in front of Michael Angelo' Piata. The tour guide explained that Michael Angelo's mother had died when he was around 10 years old. Michael Angelo was commissioned to sculpt Mary holding the body of Jesus. When he presented the sculpture to the pope the pope was very displeased. He asked Michael Angelo why he had "sculpted Mary as such a young woman?" Michael Angelo answered that "she represented all mothers, and mothers have no age". Think about that. Mothers are Mothers, Period.
Mothers have the most important and most sacred role in the world, caring for and teaching ALL the children of the world. What you do lives on for Generations. You are given gifts from God to do your job of nurturing Heavenly Father's children. Men do not receive this special gift, only women with children.
Thank you Mom, from the bottom of my heart, you made me who I am.

Boat For Sale

Boat For Sale

Well, I guess there comes a time when boating becomes more 'challenging' than it's worth. Well that day came today! EEEEK...
You may recall that at the end of the season last year, we enjoyed a wonderful day on the river with the Ward family and their yacht. It ended in a tragedy, well a tragedy for the boat. After hitting a log broad side going about 20mph, we realized we had a serious 'issue' with steering and found the problem to be a broken gimbel ring. I'm not going to spend the time to explain what a gimble ring is. If you're interested look on A9.com or Google.

Well we got that repaired, thanks a lot to our boat insurance. Still not cheap though. The repairs were done. The engine was winterized by a team of professionals who did everything possible to prevent any water from freezing and causing engine or out-drive damage. We got all the hoses and plugs put back together to find the battery DEAD. Well, that's not too serious so we jumped it off and got the engine running just fine. We even had Darren, our next door neighbor's 'quick starter' with us to insure that we got the engine started once we got to the ramp.

Well, Judy likes the downtown area to boat, and the Chattanooga Ducks have a nice boat ramp down under the Ojeotte Bridge. So, after some serious debate, Logan and I decided to try the 'Duck' ramp.

We got the boat to the water and could not get the motor started. We took the battery out to charged it for 15 minutes. Then much to our surprise, a Big Duck shows up and toots his horn. He was loaded with Duck Riders ready for a thrill ride down the ramp into the Tennessee River. Yipee! So, we had to pull the boat out and let the Ducks roll. Hey, this ramp is about 2 miles long! Trey, the muscle man carried the battery to the new location of the boat. Then ANOTHER Duck shows up... Well, we connected the battery and UGH... It wouldn't crank the engine. By this time, I had HAD IT. I was ready to uh... Do what ever you do when you've had it..

I headed for the mountain to dump the boat while Judy, Trey, Logan, Paige and Brooklyn headed to McCallie for a nice swim and tower jumping contest...
Well, we ended the day with a nice Hamburger Challenge where Logan, Trey, and Brooklyn came out BIG winners. And here are the results.
P.S. We're not really selling the boat.. We're going to BURN IT if it doesn't behave!