Ben's birthday week-end

We went to Little Rock to celebrate Ben's 35th and to spend time with the boys while Ben and Myka attended Don's Pharmacy Christmas party. We had a great dinner with Ben and Myka at Brave New Restaurant, but unfortunately didn't take pics. We did get Ben with his iron skillet - no, that's not all we got him :). We also did dinner one night with Charlie and Tucker; Chick-fil-a is excellent dinner spot with the bubbas as they love them some nuggets and waffle fries, topped off with an ice cream cone. We always enjoy our times together.

 I'm fixin' to demolish this thing! Our Charlie!

 Yummy! Our Tucker!

Birthday boy with his new iron skillet.  Steaks everyone?

More Christmas 2015 Fun

 I can run this train

 They love trains!

 

The White River at Buffalo City

Throwing rocks in the water - every boy's delight

Christmas 2015 on Trout Lily

We had our Christmas early with Ben, Myka, Charlie, and Tucker - in order to accommodate all the various family celebrations. We loved having them here for three days. Being able to spend so much time together is really a blessing - and we are so proud of all of them.

 Heavy frost creates a Christmas atmosphere

 Christmas is just more fun with younguns

 Clean-up crew.  These boys love vacuums and brooms

 Their most favorite activity is reading

 Look what I got!

 Fun times!

Look at all the loot!

Another visit to Crystal Bridges Museum

The exhibit of the Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian design opened this month. The home was completely disassembled and shipped to the Museum where it was reconstructed in a very beautiful setting on a wooded hill overlooking the museum grounds. We made it a point to return to Northwest Arkansas to see this as early as possilbe - we were not disappointed. Arkansas should be so proud of this resource that was made possible by the Walton family - it is world class!

 Giant sculpture at the entrance

 Another special exhibit; a great collection

 UofA architecure students designed this entry portal to the Frank Lloyd Wright house

 Usonian home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

A view of the patterned wood cut-outs covering the clerestory windows

Another day at Trout Lily Lane

 Morning view from the bedroom window

 This Tom just suddenly decided to fly up in the tree behind our house

 They've found our bird feeders

 Sunset from Fletcher Mountain near our home

Fletcher Mountain view a few minutes later

Pheasant hunting: 2015

This was my fourth year to pheasant hunt in Highmore, South Dakota. Was unusually warm this year, and with their record spring rains, the grass was head high in many pastures, which made for some very difficult walking to flush the birds. Thankfully the dogs do a lot of the work and us old farts somehow manage to make it through five physically demanding days of hunting - and every bit worth it. We had good numbers of birds this year, although my contribution was minimal. As with any outing of this nature, it's not always about the hunting or fishing - the whole experience with a bunch of great guys in the outdoors is hard to beat. Well, that and the steak dinner at Chef Louie's in Mitchell, S.D., and all the great meals at the farm house, and the fine hosts, Jim and Carol Faulstich.

Larry, Greg, Jess, Vic, Joe, Steve w/dogs and birds

 Sunrise in Highmore

Hard to beat the sunrises over the grasslands

Sprucing up the flower beds

With some new yard art from Pam Alexander of Mountain View, we decided we needed to spruce up the flower beds. About 30 bags of mulch later, we are pleased with the way it turned out.

Pumpkin Patch 2015

We kept Tucker and Charlie for a couple of days while Ben and Myka vacationed in San Francisco. We had a great time with the buddies. We met his class at the Pumpkin Patch for their annual visit. Farm animals, hay rides, picking pumpkins, etc. made for a fun time. We had an active few days with many fun activities and the twins were very well behaved and quite entertaining. We love those little fellas so much!

 Little Punkin' farmers

 Classmates and Ms Betsy

 Ms Betsy explaining Halloween charms on her bracelet

CiCi acting silly

Ponca o the Buffalo River

We haven't been over to the Upper Buffalo in some time, so we took a day to travel to Ponca/Boxley Valley area to hopefully view the elk herd. We woke early, but not early enough - we arrived too late to see the large numbers, but did see a few from a distance. Also got to have lunch at the Low Gap Cafe and spent a couple of hours in Jasper. A really nice day.

Steel Creek area

The iconic bluffs of the Buffalo

No bull

Don't know what this interesting structure is

Elk butt in the cane

White River Valley Estates Street Party

The First (and Last) Annual WRV Street Party to celebrate the paving of Fletcher Drive. Greg and Judy Hnedak know how to put on a party. Caterer, live music, etc. on top of Fletcher Mountain, with a view of the White River flowing through the valley below. Fantastic view on a perfect fall autumn evening. The event was to celebrate the new pavement paid for by the street's residents - They tired of waiting for the County to make much needed repairs. We have many fine neighbors!

Great view to watch the sunset over the river

 



North Fork of the White River, Missouri

The shoulder is finally able to handle fly-casting! Friends Daryl Ward and Bill Barksdale invited me and Monte Shore to go up the road about an hour away to fish the North Fork of the White River in Missouri. Had fished there before but didn't know the river well and had not been too productive. This time was a different story - a perfect fall day, river clear and at optimum flow for wade fishing, in a beautiful Ozark forest setting, and the fish were cooperative for a good part of the day. My first casting in months and the shoulder did fine, and many fish were caught, including several quality rainbows.

On the trail

Fantastic Ozarks stream

Bill working his magic

A sucker caught on a fly - gave a pretty good tussle

My catch of the day - stout, colorful, and 18"

Crystal Bridges Art Museum

Traveled to NW Arkansas to again visit Crystal Bridges, specifically to see the Jamie Wyeth and Andy Warhol exhibits. We were very impressed with the Wyeth works. Didn't take pics in their exhibit, but took one shot of one of my favorite areas of the museum. We look forward to many more return visits to this amazing resource in Arkansas.