Thanksgiving 2012

While Samantha and Jake were relaxing with Beth on a houseboat at Lake Shasta in the beautiful Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California ...

we were hosted by Granny and Granddad to an elegant and tasty Thanksgiving Day lunch at Topeka Country Club. Dad wore his United States Constitution tie in celebration of this truly USA Holiday.  

Oma joined us ...

as did Eddie and Rae.  

Eddie has been a part of many Crow Family Holiday celebrations over the last 50 years.  It is fun to welcome Rae to the fold.  Somehow, the color of Eddie's car became a major topic of conversation.  Eddie insisted that it is Pearl Red while those of us who have seen it insisted that it is just plain Red.  Pearl Red.  Red. 

Please let Eddie know if see anything Pearl about his car.  I'm sure he'd be glad to hear from you.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012.

Halloween 2012

Halloween is always so much fun.  The kids politely and eagerly line up to get their treats.

But it seems that most of the parents ...

have much more fun than the kids ...

and that some of the kids ... never grow up.

Thank goodness.

Happy Halloween 2012.

Samantha's 32nd birthday

As my father has said many times .... "I can accept my age, but find it hard to believe that my child is that old."  I get it.  It is hard to believe that Samantha turned 32 this week.  We went to California to see for ourselves.

Yep, it's true.  Samantha is 32 years old.  Beth gave her a fancy lighted Tiara.

Very Royal.

Jake made her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY cake.

Very yummy.

Mayumi joined us as we exercised our brain cells by practicing our juggling.

Very comical.

The rest of Samantha's birthday weekend was spent admiring Jake's garden, going on a run/bike with Samantha, visiting 3 different Apple Stores in 15 hours ... including hanging out with Tim Cook at the new Palo Alto store with the incredibly cool glass roof ...

watching Samantha do magic tricks with her new Thunderbolt Display,

having dinner with Beth at Chow's Food Bar (where the sultry brunette in the red dress insisted on putting her arm around me while sneering at Helen) 

and experiencing my first Qigong treatment under the loving hands of Qigong by Quist. 

Happy Birthday Samantha.

(Samantha money from her 10th birthday party courtesy of Oma)  

Thanks for letting us celebrate with you.

A dozen weddings

Today I married Scott and Jamie.  Well, I served as the officiant at their wedding.  It marked my 12th wedding ceremony.  Jamie and Scott decided to wed at the beautiful and historic Ward-Meade Park and Gardens.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided otherwise.

While the rain was gentle, it was persistent ...

causing us to move inside the historic mansion where wedding number 12 took place.  Thanks to Scott and Jamie for letting me be a part of your lives.

Happy Wedding Day.

Family and Football and Funeral

On Thursday, September 27th, Samantha, the Gs and I drove to Springfield to visit family and to watch Anthony quarterback the Kickapoo (Fear the Poo) High School Chiefs to victory over previously unbeaten Hillcrest.

Anthony was fantastic!  He ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for 2 more.  No doubt, he was the star of the game. There were lots of Anthony fans in the stands.

Early the next morning, Andy joined me as we traveled to Hollister to join a couple of my buddies to play golf at Murder Rock Golf Club

before joining Samantha, the Gs, Donna and Hope at Lambert's Cafe ... "The Only Home of Throwed Rolls" ...

where we learned that Granny is a pretty good catch.

The Kickapoo High School Homecoming Dance was that night and while Anthony objected to us attending, he did allow us a family photo with his date.

After driving all night, Helen and Jake joined us early Saturday morning allowing us to attend the funeral of The Widow Crowder

who was a long-time Springfield resident and the mother of our dear friend, Sally Dinkel.  Helen introduced Sally and Mike Dinkel and takes full credit for the very lives of their 3 children.

The rest of the weekend was filled with fun family activities including a nice walk in the park, 

spending some quality time with the Gs,

watching old (late 1920s to early 1960s) home movies, witnessing an amazing Moon Halo, 

laughing through breakfast with Anton himself at quirky Anton's Coffee Shop (home of 124 different omelets) 

and of course ... enjoying the Granny and Hope Show.

Thanks to Samantha and Jake for joining us on this fun family adventure. 

Mega thanks to them for spending the next several days with us before catching a plane to Boston yesterday.

George Robert Quist dies

On September 6, 2012, George Robert Quist died from causes incident to old age.

He was in his 92nd year.

We joined Jake and Samantha in Salt Lake City to attend services and to show our respect.  George Quist was legendary.  His astute business intuition combined with his dedicated work ethic resulted in the creation of Security National Financial Corp., a multi-faceted company doing business in 40 states.  

We only knew him as Grandpa George.  We first met him at Samantha's and Jake's wedding in 2010 when Granddad Crow and Grandpa George instantly bonded like mischievous little boys.

To us, Grandpa George was a loving and distinguished patriarch who exuded joy.  We will miss his warm smile and firm hand shake.  But mostly, we will miss how he cherished family and loved life.  In that spirit, we move on ...

to live, love and laugh another day.

Thanks, Grandpa George for touching our lives in so many positive ways.

Peace be with you.

Another check from Google

My You Tube video of Cat Protects Old Dog continues to grow in popularity.

At more than 422,000 views, its popularity makes me money.  While probably not a viable retirement plan, 6 months after receiving my first check, I have now received my second.

Who knew that my cheap-o Blackberry video would bring so much fun to so many people?  

Keep watching.

Germany and France

Late Friday night we returned from a 12 day vacation that took us to Germany and France.  Lucky for us, Samantha was able to join us.  Unlucky for us, Jake was not.  The idea of the trip originated when we received a wedding invitation from Claus, our first exchange student from 1998.   We interpreted Claus' wedding invitation as an opportunity to also visit some of Helen's German family, including Jonas who we had not seen in over a year, and then travel on to France to see Phil, who we had not seen in almost 2 years and who was finishing an internship at the OECD in Paris.  

Our trip began in Hamburg where we were met by Cowboy Jonas and Samantha, whose flight had arrived before ours.

Hamburg is wonderful.  We took tons of pictures and explored all over.  More importantly, we got to meet/see Jonas' mother Ulrike and meet her partner, Christian.

We were also able to meet up with Helen's cousin David who took me to Berlin for a wonderful and educational tour of Berlin and Postdam.  I remain very impressed with the tour as evidenced by the gobs of photos and videos ... too numerous to post here.  I especially enjoyed my time with David and Annette 

and touring their wonderful home and gardens

 located in Spandau ... a wonderful borough of Berlin. 

While I was in Berlin, Helen and Samantha got to have dinner with Ulrike and Christian, tour Jonas' school and visit Jonas' house and meet his father, Robert.  Samantha took some great photos ...

Jonas took time off from school so he could join us in our travels.  He made the trip extra fun.  Here we are as we trek through Hamburg on our way to the train station.

We arrive in Cologne (Koln) greeted by the smiling faces of Like and Insa.

After a brief tour of the magnificent Cologne Cathedral, we enjoy savory refreshments in the company of our hosts under the Cathedral's glorious spires.

That evening brought together some of Helen's German family for a beautiful dinner and social gathering at the Seepavillon.  It was wonderful to finally meet these fun, interesting and loving members of Helen's family. 

  We are all still smiling.

The next morning we visited Like at her beautiful and artistic home where we savored a delicious brunch while Helen and Like chatted  

before waving goodbye ...

and meeting up with Frank who drove us to the Hotel Fit at Much, Germany in preparation for Claus' wedding.  We loved the Hotel Fit with all its outdoor activities, open fields, goats, cows and scenic views.  We got to see Claus ...

and meet the beautiful and joyous Steffi whose brilliant smile lights up the room when she walks in.  The wedding ceremony was held in a beautiful 16th Century Church in the charming village of Marienberg.

A short video of the processional is embedded below:

It was a picture-book perfect wedding.

The reception was at the Hotel Fit where Champagne toasts were made after which Steffi and Claus followed the German custom of sawing a log in two (Baumstamm Sagen) which is symbolic of a married couple accomplishing difficult tasks together.

The afternoon activities included archery lessons, oil painting, jewelry making and a form of lawn bowling (not bocce ball) that Claus called Viking Chess. The wedding dinner was attended by 100 people ... all of whom got a Kansas Sunflower pin.  Friends of the couple created games to embarrass the Bride and Groom.  It worked for Claus.  Steffi was unscathed. 

A wall climbing exhibition (staged by Claus' and Steffi's mountain climbing friends) followed dinner.   Dancing began and continued until 3:30 AM ... or so we were told.

The next day, Frank and Christa took us to their home in Moers where they showed us German hospitality at its finest.  Lunch in the old town square and dinner on the Rhine will never be forgotten.  They are the dearest people and displayed graceful patience as they endured the boisterous nature of the 4 of us.  

After a lovely breakfast with Frank and Christa, we headed back to Cologne to meet Claus and Steffi at the train station for a quick lunch and hug goodbye. 

We took the Thalys high speed train from Cologne to Paris. It was amazing. Smooth and clean and fast ... 186 miles per hour.  At the Paris train station, we were greeted by Phil and the wonderful and charming Hania. 

The next several days were filled with more adventure than I can describe.  Hania knows the heart and soul of Paris and was eager to share it.  Phil knows us and was astute in knowing what would please us.   Here is a small sample of our Paris adventures:

We also got a Phil tour of the OECD

and were inspired by the art and beauty of the Louvre Museum.

Oh yes ... the group hug at the Eiffel Tower will be forever special.

Thanks to all who made this trip possible.
Love to all.