One More of Our Good Friend Brian

Brian is on the road back to his home base in Maryland. We wish him safe passage. Come see us again soon Brian! You're always welcome in our home.

Our Favorite Marine is Back in Town

Brian has left the front lines long enough to visit his buddies in central Illinois:

Great to see you Brian. Semper Fi!

Good Times

We've had a lot of fun over the last few days catching up with all the peeps, and taking pictures, of course;

Brian is Back

Brian completed basic training, and has returned to central Illinois for 30 days leave. We had a small gathering of peeps last night to welcome him back, with another, much larger gathering planned for Tuesday.

More pictures coming soon.

Brian Joined the Marine Corps

Today we watched as Brian left for basic training. It felt like we were sending off one of our own kids, as Brian has been a part of our extended family since he was in kindergarten with our youngest son Nick.

Good luck Brian! Semper Fi!

Nick's Back at College

We spent this past weekend moving Nick into his new apartment at Missouri State. Naturally, I took the opportunity to take lots of photos with a wide angle lens that a friend is letting me play with:

Wishing Nick all the best as he continues his college adventure.

A Weekend with the Peeps

Nick was home last weekend, and that brought other peeps over to the house. It was great to chat and play cards, just like the old days.

With Nick back at school, this weekend is pretty quiet. Looking forward to Thanksgiving break.

Boot Camp

In early May of 1982, two of my closest friends and I boarded a plane destined for Florida. Our final destination; the Naval Training Center in Orlando. The 3 of us, along with 77 other guys, would become members of Company 136 in what used to be referred to as boot camp.

Our fellow recruits got a lot of mileage out of the fact that three of us had come from way up North in South Dakota. I don't know how many times I personally heard someone say something to the effect of "gee, I didn't know covered wagons traveled this far South". Ha. Ha. Hilarious ;)

The photo below was taken while the three of us were trying on our newly issued uniforms. That's me on the far right. Next to me is Steve Baker, and next to him is Brian Scholten. We were all smiles here, but that enthusiasm was short lived. Boot camp wasn't the picnic we thought it would be.

One of my favorite memories of the whole boot camp experience surrounds events that occurred on our first night, and which played out rather similarly on our last night. The contrast in what followed those events is what makes them memorable.

The first night was preceded by an entire day of shuffling from place to place and from line to line as we were vaccinated and issued our clothing and other supplies. When the lights in the barracks were turned out for the evening, many of us were eager to get some sleep, as we had been told that the next day would begin very early. For some however, the day wasn't over, and so a a dozen or so of the guys continued to talk and joke and laugh.

The horseplay continued for about 5 or 10 minutes after the lights were out, until, as I remember it, a loud booming voice with a thick Southern drawl yelled "have a little respect for your fellow shipmates, and shut the fuck up!"

The place went silent immediately. Not another peep was heard from anyone for the rest of that night. Nor do I recall any significant horseplay taking place after lights out from that point forward. I later learned that the loud booming voice belonged to one Marvin Hyde, one of my fellow recruits,

Now fast forward through 8 weeks of basic training. It was our last night in the barracks. The following morning would send the 80 of us in separate directions into futures that were big unknowns. The lights were out, and the silence on this night was deafening.

Suddenly, out of the silence, came a loud booming voice with a thick Southern drawl that yelled "have a little respect for your fellow shipmates, and shut the fuck up!"

The place erupted. Suddenly everyone was laughing hysterically. Then others began to shout out reminders of those things that had bonded us together as a group for the last 8 weeks. The reminiscing went on for probably an hour or more, and when it finally died down, I think it was exhaustion from laughing that put us all to sleep.

There were other interesting things that occurred during our 8 weeks of Boot Camp; like when one of our company commanders (William Brandon) got himself into trouble for shaving one of my fellow recruits with a cigarette lighter, or when one of my fellow recruits (Orlando Ward) dislocated his shoulder after slipping in his own sweat while doing 8 count body builders, or when four of my fellow recruits posed for a photograph wearing nothing but garbage cans on their heads to conceal their identities, then passed that photo off to some girls in our sister company. Those events were interesting, but none reached epic status like Hyde's respect comment did. Hyde had not only made our last night into our best night, he had elevated himself to legendary status.

If you're out there somewhere Marvin, my hat is off to you. Well played sir, well played.

Road Trip to SEMO

Most of yesterday was spent driving to and from SEMO, to bring Nick home for the weekend. The whole trip took over 9 hours, but since we were accompanied by two of Nick's good friends, it sure felt a whole lot shorter.

Nick first became aware that Drew and Brian were riding with us when he opened the door to the van, and boy was he pleasantly surprised!

The three amigos were happy to be reunited. The following photo was taken on SEMO's cardiac hill:

In a few days, we'll be doing the same road trip all over again.

Graduation Party

This weekend's graduation festivities came to a head at this afternoon's outdoor party. Luckily, the rain showers were minimal.

High School is Officially Over

Nick, Andrea, Brian and Drew graduated from High School yesterday, and naturally, I took lots of pictures.

We couldn't be more proud of our High School peeps. Congratulations peeps!

ISU Tailgate

Finally had an opportunity to look inside the newly renovated ISU stadium this past Saturday during the pre-game tailgate.

The place looks very nice. Can't wait to see the Redbirds take on South Dakota next weekend.

Road Trip - MSU

Justin, Brian, Nick and Kyle just prior to leaving on their road trip to Missouri State University to hang out with Alex over the long Labor Day weekend:

Halloween Fun

This year, Alex and Nick chose costumes that were much scarier than in previous years. Alex dressed up as an orc sword carrying crazed lunatic, while Nick chose to be a troll masked grim reaper. Definitely not your standard fare. They were joined by Danny (hockey player), Brian (Wrestler) and Sam (Dracula).

I dressed up this year also, well...not entirely.

I had a little accident while carving pumpkins. I've never been real handy with a knife, and on the night before Halloween I was attempting to slice open one of our gourds when my steak knife slipped...

Five stitches later...I became...

FRANKENTHUMB!

 

Here's another angle.

 

There wasn't much pain, just a lot of blood. I saw it as a good lesson for the kids, and for Dad too!

The kids ended up collecting more candy than they'll ever eat, just like last year, and the year before. And, as I did in those previous years, I'll step up as the father they can lean on...

...in these times of crisis.

Summer Vacation - Hot Harley Nights Part III

This year we ran into a few faces we hadn't seen in many years. Here's Brian Baker, whom I had not seen since the early 90's.

 

That's my cousin Tonya with her husband Darren.

 

John and Lu sharing a laugh.

 

That's Mike, putting down a cold one.