Shipptown, Alabama

During the years we lived in Birmingham, I had the good fortune to work with Katheryn Shipp, and even more blessed that Charlcie and I became lifelong friends with Katheryn, her husband Franklin, and their family. Since our families were all back in Arkansas, the Shipps became almost like family to us while in Alabama. In fact, we have long dubbed Katheryn and Franklin as Ben's Alabama grandparents due to him spending a lot of time with them when Charlcie and I went away for week-ends or just to let Ben enjoy good country living and time spent with a great family. Their entire family and even some in their community treated Ben like family. We know that Ben has always appreciated the fun times he had with them and the mutual love that they have for each other. And we share that sentiment. Unfortunately, Franklin passed away a few years back, and we miss him. And also unfortunately, Katheryn has had a rough go of it the past year and is fighting like a real trooper. As she is embarking on another round of treatment, and with her birthday coming up, Charlcie and I decided we really wanted to go visit Katheryn and her family. And we are so glad we did! We had a great visit which reinforced our love for these folks. Hopefully we will be able to get back down there more often. We also took one day to visit our other great friends from Birmingham, Gene and Linda Murdock. Regrettably, I forgot to get the camera out for a pic.

 Sweet Katheryn with her Birthday cake

 Birthday dinner

 Eating is a great way to celebrate together

Who's going to cut the cake?

Hiking with Charlie and Tucker

Another beautiful March day to play with the boys. After we spent a couple of hours at the library, we went back to the Arboretum trail at Pinnacle Park where Ben met us for the trip around the trail. The boys enjoyed having their Daddy along for this outing! Of course, every time we crossed a stream we had to pause to throw rocks in the water. Has there ever been a boy, young or old, that does not seriously enjoy throwing rocks in the water? Didn't think so!

Spring in March! Trout Lilies in bloom

We had the unusual opportunity to name the two streets to our house off of the county road. The one to our front door we named Trout Lily Lane, to recognize the trout connection and a woodland wildflower that we have liked for some time. Due to the mild winter and early warming so far, the trout lilies appeared about a month earlier than we recall. This global warming thing does have some upsides!

Annual outing with our soccer ex-travel group

This was the 15th annual get-together of our group of friends that are stilk hanging together after our road trips following Comets Soccer ended. Some years we get together for a week in Colorado. A great time of fellowship with longtime friends - lots of serious laughing attacks, overconsumption of food, and most of the time a little physical activity,such as hiking,etc. This year we stayed in a lodge at Lake Ft. Smith State Park - this is a top notch facility in all aspects. We had access to a full-size outdoor basketball court so we had a fun few minutes of hotly contested roundball. No, we didn't play full-court nor did we compete for the regulation time periods. Luckily, we had no serious injuries and no fist fights broke out. A great week-end!

Group pic after the basketball game - thankfully no one was injured, even though it was a spirited contest!