June 2005 Pictures
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Devin performs at his school end of the year performance. |
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Swim lessons kicked back in. The kids are doing better than ever at Emler Swim School. |
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Our garden is growing like a weed...wait, that's not right.
We have four raised beds for our garden. Each of us is assigned a bed
to maintain. The kids are monitored on the amount of weeds in their
beds. At the beginning of each week I roll a die to determine which
day of the week I will inspect the beds. On that day, whomever has the
best kept bed gets a $2 award.
We have more food than we can eat including tomatoes, potatoes, onions, watermelons, onions, okra, green and yellow bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, okra and squash. If you would like some, please drop by! |
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We have a new addition in the Koi pond, an albino frog we named Cracker. |
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Caitlin loves to make Sno-Cones for us all. |
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Oreo hangs out in the oddest places. He steps into
his own prison inside the ornamental iron table in the foyer.
He rests atop the warm television while we view a movie, eerily staring us down. He probably thinks we're staring at him, too. Oreo can view two-dimensional images, like the mouse pointer on a computer screen, and react. Ginger on the other hand makes nothing of a full-screen shot of another dog, unless it barks. Then she barks back at the sound, wondering where it came from. |
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We purchased a pellet gun for me...I mean Devin. He
hit the target the first time he ever shot it. I lay that to hours of
XBox gaming.
Mom and Dad came over for a Father's Day dinner. Mom enjoyed shooting, too. |
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With the Summer Break, Angela has fun keeping the kids
busy. Here they feed the ducks at Red Kane Park in Arlington.
Devin shimmies up the tire swing rope.
Devin learns the intricacies of casting an open face spinning reel and how to ask Dad to untangle it. |
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Caitlin takes part in some church Vacation Bible School fun. |
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Ginger's such a lady. See how she crosses her legs when she rests. |
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Caitlin plunges in a belly-flop. |
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We were able to attend the Speed - Pitts family reunion this year. My 2nd cousin Lisa puts together a wonderful event each year. Angela was on the winning team for some fun activities that were planned. Along with her are my niece Sarah, nephew Ronny, and Sarah's husband Adam in the green shirt. |
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With Mamaw's passing recently, I received an awesome mandolin that she had stored at the top of a closet next to the heater (ack!). She had it refurbished to immaculate condition many years back. But years by the heater caused the surface lacquer to crack in places. This mandolin was originally purchased by my great-grandfather Timothy Tip Speed for my great uncle Jody (Bill) Speed as a young boy. At the reunion I showed the mandolin to Uncle Jody and asked him if he remembered it. He said he didn't. I told him the story and he replied, "Well I've had a few since then." I offered for him to keep it since it was his after all. He thanked me and said "I'm sure you'll give it a good home." Which I most certainly will. |
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Greg, Uncle Sam Speed, cousin fourth removed Chad Ferrell,
and Uncle Cleatus Speed sing some old gospel favorites. Uncle Cleatus was a preacher and a now barbers part-time. Uncle Sam still travels leading "Singings" in churches. |
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Ginger is in heat, so she is banished to the outside kennel during the day and the inside kennel by night. Oreo just thinks this is great, teasing Ginger as much as possible. In the middle of the night, Ginger will have had enough of that and uncharacteristically ferociously bark and growl at Oreo, startling us from our sleep. |
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The kids bask beneath a waterfall at a friend's pool, distorting their image through the sheer water. |
