Monday, December 26, 2005

Happy Boxing Day!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Chistmas, and that they were able to spend time with the people that they care for the most. We had a good day, gathering together, just the five of us, we opened presents in the morning and went to church, and then late last night had a Christmas dinner. Pictures from that are attached.

Staci got pictures of everyone's "Christmas Face" with her new digital camera.

Dad was tired...


Mom was content with her children at home...


Stephen was glad to not be working...


Staci was excited about Christmas...


Scott was a little 'sugared-up'...


Staci also wanted me to let everyone know that she is available to babysit, if you need someone dependable for New Year's Eve.



(Oh, that's sparkling grape juice, by the way.)

I hope that you had an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the season, the gift of Jesus Christ. Hope to see all of you soon and that you have a wonderful and safe New Year.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Happy Birthday Trish-Fish!!!

Kind of late with this post, but we had a small gathering last Tuesday night for Trish's birthday. Here are some pictures from that gathering. We knew that Hacker was coming, and our house only has so many windows,


so we had this one at Baris, next to a brick wall, just to be safe.

Tom, Hacker, Brittney and Krackuh.



Scott, Jan and Trish



Trish and Abby,



Staci and me,



and Cliff and Teresa.



Mindy joined us at the house later for cake... which Trish was wearing.



Jonathan and Ronda caught up with us later too.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Finally a Post

Forgive me Bloggers for I have sinned, it has been 2 weeks since my last blog...

OK, so I took a hiatus from posting, largely because I had nothing to say, and also because when I started to write things for the blog, they came out kind of gloomy. But now, WCC is over, and the world can return to some semblance of normalcy. (Just kidding Brittney, WCC was fine, I could have done without some (most) of the first hour, but it was entertaining in its own special way.)

For those of you who attend church with me, what was the deal with the applause yesterday morning? I mean, I was as excited as the next guy that O'Brien finished at 11:45, but that was not cause to applaud! Do you think that with all the staging and the lights in the sanctuary that some of the attendees got confused for a minute and thought they were on the 'Jerry Springer Show'? I guess we were lucky they didn't start chanting "Randall!, Randall!, Randall!"

Side Comment: I was fascinated to learn that Dr. O'Brien had written two books, I didn't know that we had so much in common, I have read two books! (Although not his books, the books I read were "The Pokey Little Puppy" and "Horton Hears A Who.")



Staci's Back!!! Staci has finished her first semester at Baylor, with, we think, a solid 3.0, which is so much better than my own first semester at Baylor. I remember that first (only) semester so well..... Computer Science, where we wrote programs and actually created punch cards to run them in the computer lab, Freshman English, where the teacher told us the first day of class that her job was to 'weed' us out, a History class I don't remember a great deal from, Old Testament with Dr. Cresson, (those last two honors courses) as well as a P.E. class thrown in for good measure. All told 15 hours with an additional class requirement for the religion class of a small group discussion once a week covering the lectures. For those of you that may not know, I was weeded out! (perhaps it was my reading that did me in?) So I am extremely proud of Staci, as she has now progressed farther along in her Baylor career than her old man!

On a much more serious note, Dad (my Dad) is in the hospital, recovering from the amputation of his right leg. He developed some problems from a sore on his right heel while recovering from his hip replacement surgery on the left leg, and due to very poor circulation he was not able to heal properly and lost the limb from above the right knee down. Please lift him up in your prayers, as he needs to build up his strength so that he can try to use a prosthesis to walk again, and so that they can do a bypass procedure on the other leg to avoid this happening again.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

My Thanksgiving List

Kind of late, but here are some of the things for which I am thankful.

My loving wife of almost 25 years.



Stephen, our oldest son.



Staci, my favorite biological daughter.



Scott, who gets to take care of us, now that we are getting older.



Trish, our basement dwelling 'other' daughter.



Oh, and of course, all of those friends that have made Tuesday nights so much fun these past months.



I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and that you all have a wonderful holiday season, and my prayer will continue to be that none of us get what we truly deserve.

- Steve

Midget Pirate Cousin turns 40!!!

















Yesterday was Roni Sue's, (she calls herself Roni, we all call her Raunchy), 40th Birthday!! Be sure to go by and leave her a message on her blog and leave her a Birthday Greeting.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Happy Turkey Day

I am a little behind on posting on the Blog. Cliff points out that he got a new internet-enabled phone so he can track changes in the blogs, and he chided me for not having any new posts.



I hope that you and your family had a blessed and safe Thansgiving. Ours was good. My brother Bill and his family came over, as did my Dad, and all of the kids, Scott, Staci, Stephen and Trish were all here as well. We had the huge meal, and then played some touch football in the front yard. It was a most excellent day.

The only picture we managed to take was the one of the table before we put the food out. Once we began eating, we failed to take any more pix.



Ella thinks that Thanksgiving smells REAL good!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Party in the hizouse!!

Yesterday I decided that I really needed to go to the Deacon's meeting. I haven't gone to a Deacon's meeting in months, and yesterday I was reminded why. All through the meeting Jan, Cliff and Jeff were texting me to tell me that I needed to get home for the Tuesday Night Family dinner, and I responded that they should go ahead and eat without me. I thought the meeting was nearly over several times, but it finally concluded a little after 8, and I headed home. On the way I called Jan's cell phone and Jonathan picked up, and I said I was on my way, and thought to myself "cool, Jonathan finally came to a Tuesday Night dinner". I pulled down 42nd Street, and noticed a whole lot more cars than I expected, and then, as I turned into my driveway, I encountered way more people than I thought should be there for Family Night. It was a Surprise Party for me! A week late, so it was a surprise for sure. After I got over the surprise, my next thought was, "Who is feeding all of these people?" There was cake and Birthday cards, and I had a great time, even though I had missed most of the party. Thanks so much for everyone who came, who made this birthday week such a memorable one. I am truly blessed to have friends that not only care enough to come to a surprise party for me, but even are willing to wait an hour and a half (or more) for me to show up. I wish I had pictures from last night to post, but I never even got to get my camera, but I believe that B. Hood has some pictures that she will (no doubt) be blogging in the very near future. Again thanks to everyone who came to wish me Happy Birthday, and to everyone who didn't come, but still wished me a Happy Birthday, and to everyone else who is just reading this for that matter.

45 is not nearly as bad as one might expect.

(For Mark, Alan and Trenton - Sorry that because of me you didn't get to miss the Deacon's Meeting, but at least we can look forward to the Spring Retreat!)

- Papa Steve

Friday, November 11, 2005

Happy Birthday Alan!



Today's Blog is dedicated to my Hero, Alan Bowden. He is the 'wind beneath my wings'.

Here's to you Alan, I hope that you have a great day, even though you have to share it with all those Veterans.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Birthday, Yesterday, That is all



Other than thanks for everyone who called, e-mailed, tried to e-mail (allegedly-Trish), mailed, etc.

I have a great family and friends.

Hey, come by the house sometime and we can play our "45's" on my new record player. (It's groovy!)

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Game Day!!

Yesterday was the Baylor-UT game, and I won't bore you with the score, but suffice to say that Baylor has some really cute girls in the Baylor Line!! Here are some pix that Staci took yesterday at the game. (Two blogs today, so be sure and not miss the one below.)

That Good Ole Baylor Line!



Crackuh Lips!!! It's sweeping the nation!!!



Staci's Hair was blown, but not blown out, unlike the football team. :(







More pix to come next game. Sic 'em Bears!!!

Good News!!!


Alan, my best friend in High School (not that there was a lot of competition, I think he was my only friend in High School) and his wife Kelly had their fifth child this week! His name is Dylan and for those of you who are concerned with such, he weighs 7lbs 4oz and is 19 1/2 inches long.
For those of you who might be wondering, Jan and I have no such plans in the immediate future.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween Party

We had a great time at the Gohring House.

There was the good witch Daphne Sidener... Her mom and dad brought her by.



We were also blessed with the presence of The Greek Goddess Raelee, and the famous Ballerina Kaylin.



Hannah B., came by just off of a three month engagement with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus



Evan, Drew and Lindsay M. came dressed as an old man, young boy, and kitty cat, respectively.



Mallory decided she was a ladybug, with attitude.



Oh, and the (alleged) grown-ups joined in the fun too.

Here is Steve showing his best "Crackuh" lips. )See earlier blog here.




More pictures like this can also be found on Cliff's blog here.



Cliff and Teresa refused to wear a costume.







Trish (the "Newsie") chillin' with Kaylin.



Abby (Bobby-soxer) and Teresa (bubba-teeth)



Abby makes a a point.



Brittney entertains John (and everyone else, as usual).



There are more pictures, and I will try to get them up here later. Hope everyone had a safe and happy day!

trick or treat

If you are working the Fall Festival tonight or if you are taking your kids to the church tonight and out to visit known friends for a fun time of trick or treating......please stop by the Gohring Party Pad and show off your costumes. We will be home with treats on hand NO TRICKS! Smile.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Who's that CELEB?



















You guessed it! It's Staci. Here you can see her famous face on a toy box that literally sells all over the USA and France.

Here she is this week at Collins on Trick or Treat night. She is the Cow-Girl.