6 Month Check-up!!!

Well, Brooks dropped from the 100th percentile in weight, all the way down to the 98th percentile, which is also his percentile for heighth. Doc said he's progressing beautifully and that the 6'6" Notre Dame quarterback prospect his daddy has visioned is certainly very possible. The 2 pics above are a couple hours before we went to see doc...notice the smile...5 shots will quickly change such a mood. ps we've been told by many that we're horrible bloggers...so...sorry, I guess. We'll try to post a bit more frequently. We're finally in the house, as of last weekend. We'll blog something about that later when we get some more things in place, and boxes unpacked, which should be soon...somewhere around October-November... (2009)

Happy 25th Jenn!!!

We wanted a pic of all of us standing around Brooks sitting on the giant chicken, but we were freezing our a....well, it was very cold, so I just got a shot of the sign. That said, the freezing cold and nasty drizzle wasn't going to kill tradition. We were going to Babe's in Sanger for Jenn's b-day come heck or high water. The big 25. Happy birthday Jenn

Wow, What a Christmas!

Brooks' first Christmas was a great one indeed. We spent the better part of the day Christmas eve in Denison at Bradley's parent's. Granny and papa, gramma and papa, David & Garrett, Caryn and Chad and all of their crew were there. Then we headed to Mineral Wells to hang out with Father Jeff and attend Midnight Mass. Brooks was very alert and very pleasant, as he always is (so far) during mass. Just like when he hears papa (Bradley's dad) during mass in Denison, his eyes lit up every time he heard FJ's voice through the mic, it was pretty funny. After mass we spent the night with FJ, woke up and headed to Mimi's in Ft. Worth for more Christmas fun. As you can see in the pictures, Brooks made out like a bandit, receiving a lot of "loot", and even more attention on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Thanks for all the goodies folks, and especially the hospitality.

The Piano Man!!!

Bradley once told me that "you haven't heard the piano sound the way God intended until you've heard Billy Joel play it in person". Unlike Bradley, last night was my first time to have that priviledge, and Billy was quite amazing. He can do anything he wants with that wood box of ivory keys; fast paced rock and roll to classical and everything in between. (He played several classical and Christmas interludes between his incredible songs) The piano was so loud and crisp it just gave you goosebumps to hear it. Unlike anything you'll ever hear from a piano. Thanks Gramma V for babysitting!

WOW, 60 Years!!!

Granny and Papa celebrated their 60th anniversary Sunday. We filled the back room at Garcia's and had us a grand old time. Needless to say they mean the world to all of us, and we couldn't be happier that they are such a big part of all of our lives. We love you Granny and Papa! (We now have over 120 years of marital bliss between Granny and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa Vogel)

God's Country

You could argue that there's a more beautiful campus than the University of Notre Dame, but you'd be wrong...so don't bother. From EASILY the most famous of all campus landmarks, The Golden Dome to the Famous Grotto and Library (Touchdown Jesus), walking on the campus gives a person chills every time they're lucky enough to do it. We had a die-hard Ohio State friend with us that stated several times that ND was unlike anything they had ever seen, and that seeing the campus on tv doesn't come close to doing the beauty of it all justice. ND is a large campus with about a 1/4 of the students of most major universities, so it's very peaceful, except on Saturdays of course. Couple that with the greatest band in the land practicing at any given time on football weekends, from Rakes of Mallow to the greatest of all university fight songs "The Notre Dame Victory March" and I gotta figure it's as close to heaven on earth as you can come. What would you expect from a school named after Jesus' mother...The beautiful lady on the Dome. I'm a little tardy w/this post. We actually went up there for the Navy weekend. Yes we witnessed the longest streak in history of one team over another end. Tough year for the boys, very young. Even with the tough season you'd have thought we were 8-0 with all of the usual enthusiam from the ND faithful.Had to throw this in. Brook's (and Garrett's too I believe) very first Irish jersey. Future Domers of course

More ND