Amber at Christmas

After church one Sunday, we discovered this Gingerbread House near the restaurant we ate lunch at. Amber wanted me to take her picture by it. The house is cool enough on it's own but I think the clouds added a cotton candy feel to the photo.

We went to visit Santa at Leeker's Grocery Store, just like we do every year. This is Amber's letter to Santa. She's asking for some games for her Nintendo DS, but I was more impressed that she would be happy with whatever he wanted to leave her.

Grandma Budke gave Amber a snow globe. She really loves them and spent quite awhile here inspecting and studying this one.

Amber and her Christmas stocking at Grandma & Grandpa Budke's house. Her face sums up her attitude toward the entire Christmas season. Just yesterday, she said she wishes it was Christmas Eve again because she loves the season so much.

Andrew's 6th Grade Band Concert - Christmas

3 Christmas Carols

Angels We Have Heard On High

Amber's Church Christmas Performance

"The Sonbeams" sing to the tune of Elton John's "Step Into Christmas".

Kenny Loggins Concert

Here's the whole lot of shots I took at the concert in August of this year. There are some that are out of focus or blurry or dark or whatever, but the good ones make up for those shortfalls. It was also easier to embed a slideshow of the whole bunch rather than pick or choose particular shots and upload each one of them. So, I hope you enjoy the pictures half as much as we enjoyed the concert! If you would like to read about the concert click HERE.

Our pumpkins

Sara's

Andrew's

Amber's

Mike's

OSU WBB New Season

My brother-in-law and his love affair with an orange jacket have come to this. Everyone thinks he looks like a sharp-dressed man...sharp and very ORANGE! Good luck finding one of those at Men's Warehouse. This is a promo video for the new season of Cowgirl basketball. Fun video.

Amy Grant

Saddle Up Your Horses!

Wednesday night, before Andrew left for Kanakuk Kamp, he wanted to go out and eat at Chili's for the "last supper" as a family until I return next Friday from Orlando. I told him not only would we do that, but he could order ANYTHING off of the menu he wanted. So he chooses a sirloin steak. 'Atta boy! Your mom's buying!

I forgot the camera, so had to rely on the cell phone. This is Andrew with his cousin, Brett, from Stillwater. Brett's been to Kanakuk a couple of times before and he was as excited about bringing Andrew to Kamp as Andrew was about finally getting to go!

A picture of me and the bro. This picture was taken mere moments before the heat and humidity turned me into a walking sponge. We found our way onto the air-conditioned bus pretty fast.
This is Brett with his mom, Shelley. She played a HUGE role in helping us get Andrew to Kanakuk the same week Brett was going. She is awesome!

If my memory serves me correctly, this is a far cry from what a camp bus is supposed to be. Something like this is usually reserved for rock bands or NCAA sports teams. Today, it was filled with about 40 kids ranging from 7 yrs. old to 16 yrs. old. Each seat had its own air conditioning controls, lights, and there were video screens throughout the bus. Andrew and Brett sat in the very back on this side of the bus right next to the air-conditioned bathroom. Jealous?

These guys were ready to get going. Andrew was kind enough to give me a hug good-bye. I told him I loved him and to have the best week ever. With a twinkle in his eye (I'll stop short of calling them "tears") he said, "I will, Dad". And you know what? We both know he will. And they were off.

Independence Day - Pt. 3

Wanted to get these posted. Check back. I'll have descriptions later.

Independence Day - Pt. 2

The second part of the day was spent in Bel Aire. Andrew invited his friend, Cole, over to help him do some vegetation control. Michelle (Sara's sister) had some apple trees that needed thinning so the kids spent most of the afternoon making Black Cat Applesauce.

Sara's dad, John, wore the same shirt he wears every July 4th. I had to get a picture of him wearing it. I think it's pretty festive, and it even has part of his last name on it.

Sara's niece, Leah, brought her boyfriend, Tony, home to spend the weekend, as well as their new dog, Beasley, named for K-State's Michael Beasley. Everyone liked him...and we thought Tony was pretty cool, too.

Amber got to really experience fireworks this year. We ventured out on a limb and, under VERY CLOSE SUPERVISION, let her light some firecrackers. She did very good and was very safe for the most part, outside of this picture of her running away from a lit firecracker with a hot punk near her face. But, overall, I was impressed with how much care she took with things.

Andrew and his cousins and his friend enjoyed making the Black Cat Applesauce.

It was pretty warm during the afternoon, so everyone came inside to relax, cool off, and listen to Sara's mom play the piano. Alex - our nephew from Oklahoma, Alyssa - our niece who just graduated from Notre Dame, sit behind Amber, who somehow got VIP seating. The video below shows Margie entertaining the rest of us while we cooled off and prepared for the evening extravaganza.

Independence Day - Pt. 1

The weather was perfect. 80 degrees...sitting under a shade tree...a cloudless sky...and the parade was about to begin. I got the camera warmed up by snapping this flower among the trees across the street.

It started with a parade. Every year, Park City has a parade to start the day's celebration. Here, the kids just heard the siren from the lead police car off in the distance signaling that the start of the parade was just up the hill.

There was an old airplane flying overhead. I zoomed in and gave a shaky click on the camera. I was amazed this shot came out at all. With all of my movement trying to dodge the power lines and shooting straight up over my head, I was sure this would be blurry. After thinking about it, I guess I got "plane" lucky!

This guy says he's been making appearances as Uncle Sam for ten years. You'd think after that long, he'd have a better beard. He usually only shows up on the 4th of July and never makes appearances at tax time. That's probably a good marketing plan.


After the parade, it was off to Sara's sister's house to light some firecrackers. Stay tuned.

A Night at the Drive-In

We went to the Starlite Drive-In a few weeks ago. I had only been a few times in my lifetime and I thought we should start taking the kids so they can experience watching a movie the way Grandpa and Grandma used to watch movies. Plus, it's so cheap! So, we got the kids hopped up on Mountain Dew and headed to the Drive-In. The first movie didn't start until 9:35 (way past bedtime) so they'd need that caffeine boost to keep them going.The weather was perfect....cool, hardly any breeze, barely a cloud in the sky...it was just perfect.

We were one of the first into the parking area so we had great seating/parking. Amber thought these speakers were pretty cool. I guess she wanted stereo sound.

The girls spent part of the evening watching the movies in the car using the FM radio signal for their sound (in stereo) and Andrew & I stayed outside and shared the headphones on my Zune for audio. The old relics above put out enough sound to cover the ear without a headphone.

While we were waiting for the movies to start, Andrew thought he'd test out his new red Chuck Taylor Converse shoes and jump over a puddle several times. I never knew sticking out your toungue could make you jump farther.

Here's where we started the night...sitting in front of the car waiting to see "Wall-E" and "Kung Fu Panda". They were both really fun movies to see. Did I mention how perfect the weather was? It was a great first experience for the kids and they really want to go back again soon. I'm sure we will.

And, here's how we finished the night...at 1:30/AM. Both kids stayed awake for both movies, which really impressed Sara and me. We were both pretty tired so were surprised the kids were doing OK. If you're ever in Wichita, you should really try and catch a movie at the Starlite Drive-In. Drive-In's are so few and far between that you'd be lucky to do this at all. If you're interested, here is their website for more information: www.starlitefun.com

KC Royals Caravan

The Kansas City Royals came to town in the middle of winter, so Andrew and I went to Heroes Sports Bar to see the boys of summer and get some autographs. The place was packed so we just found an out of the way place to stand until the players arrived. We were lucky because the guys from KFH had the line start right where we were standing. There was only one guy in front of us. I don't know if it was because we were standing in a convenient place or it it was because I used to work with the guys at the radio station. Either way, we did good and got out of there in decent time for Andrew to get his homework done. Here's Andrew with a few players, and a couple of legends.

Former Wichita Wrangler and current Kansas City Royal, Billy Butler, apparently looking at the cute waitress behind me.

The man who can jump over a car, Kansas City Royal Outfielder, Joey Gathright.

One of our favorite players, David DeJesus. He gave us tickets to a Royals game several years ago when we were at Worlds of Fun.

We were impressed with how friendly legendary pitcher Dennis Leonard was. He was very kind to Andrew and he made a huge impression on me. What a nice guy. Baseball needs more like him.

I didn't notice Andrew's eyes were closed until I got home but here's the picture anyway. Fred White, TV announcer for the Kansas City Royals, although busy talking to someone else, was more than happy to take time to let us snap a picture with Andrew. He told us that Andrew was the best looking guy in the photo. Another nice guy. We hope they come around next year so we can do it again.