Uncle Truett's Funeral

Today we gathered to celebrate the life of my uncle Truett. We met at the First Baptist Church of Roswell and enjoyed a wonderful lunch together as a family before the service. It was so good to see so many cousins that we havn't seen in many years. It was said that we wont see a family reunion like this again until we get to heaven. After the meal we went to the celebration service. Daryl's cousin John (Johnny, to all of his cousins) sang We Shall Behold Him to open the service. Many of the relatives including his mother were shocked to hear his beautiful singing voice. He hasn't performed in almost ten years and none of us had ever heard him sing. Truett's children put the whole service together and played two videos which were so moving. Daryl's cousin Marilyn said "it was like reliving my childhood". They had so many pictures of Truett and the rest of the family. It was very moving to see Daryl's mother and grandmother and uncle Rogene who have all gone on to be with Jesus. Reviewing Truett's life reviewed all of our lives in many ways, because we were all a part of it. Truett holds a special place in the heart of our family. Daryl always held a great admiration for him. His Dad was gifted in many ways like Truett when it came to figuring out a way to accomplish a task (such as building a part for something to fix it),but the key difference was that Truett was really interested in unique projects that were always on a grand scale. Like a cabin that was round and had walls that shot up at an angle. The new house (built in the late 70s and early 80s) was amazing. It had a doorbell that played music! It also was part round and had a very low profile reminiscent of a Frank Lloyd Wright design. The best thing about this house was the huge wind charger that towered over the house. This was not something new to Daryl since he had seen the wind charger at the cabin, but the sheer magnitude of the tower that supported that wind charger was absolutely amazing. In Daryl's young mind it would have been a great thing to climb and survey the territory. It was so tall that it might have posed a danger to aircraft!

Lottie and Willie Worley raised a family of boys that believed they could do anything. This was particularly evident in Truett and in Daryl's Dad, Ladson. It was always so reassuring to go see what new project the Truett Worleys had in the works. Daryl helped to paint their new house when he was in High School. It was kind of Tom Sawyer like, because Betty convinced him it was so much fun that he couldnt get enough. How many times do you get to paint a house with paint mixed in a huge outdoor trash can?

Most recently Truett has been the rock that Daryl and his siblings have turned to for advice concerning their Dad's situation. He will sorely be missed, but one funny consolation is the thought of Truett Worley dancing on the streets of gold. He was so straight laced and by the book (the Bible) that you just dont picture him dancing.

Truett set a great example for all of us and hopefully we all will have the great things said of us when we pass over to the other side.

Daryl's Aunt Freda and her Husband Ronald

Daryl's Dad and his oldest brother A.T.

Truett Worley February 22, 1927 - July 27, 2008

Truett and Betty Worley,
Worley Reunion 2007

Daryl's Dad's brother, Truett Worley passed away yesterday leaving a gaping hole in our family. We had just gotten home from church when Sheryl called to tell us that Truett had died that morning. This was so shocking, because we were supposed to meet at their cabin on Thursday for the Worley family reunion. Truett and his wife Betty were always so fun to visit, because they always had a fun project that they were working on. They built and designed the most unique houses. For instance their cabin has 16 sides! Truett was a true creative genius and I will miss his views and advice. He was a great help to our family in the past few years. When Daryl's Dad was stricken ill and not able to offer us the fatherly advice we had all grown up with,we turned to Truett who was always willing to help us out.
The last conversation that Daryl had with Truett was last week and they were discussing the new I-phone and Daryl was so looking forward to showing his uncle Truett how it worked. One thing about it there is no doubt that he is in heaven with his savior and is reunited with his brother Rogene and his parents.

Thousand Trails- Lake Medina

The intense fisherman on Lake Medina!
One group of deer that we saw this weekend. Their lack of fear is scary!
Christa and the new cooking table that we bought

The Museum is located in Nimitz Grandfathers Hotel which looks like a ship.
Greerson checks out a model ship

This is the garden of Peace that was given by the Japanese people
This is the focal point for the memorial garden honoring the men of the Pacific War

We headed south to Lake Medina, between Boerne and Bandera to the Thousand Trails resort. We were in a grouping of trees so the lack of an awning was not noticed particularly during the heat of the day. The weather was actually bearable (low 90s and very little humidity). We stopped at Cabelas in Buda and purchased a new table to use our dutch oven on. We tried it out and made chili Friday night and had frito pies. It actually worked very well sinced the coals were flat on a table and the dutch oven sat directly on top of them whith out much air in between. Saturday we travelled to Fredericksburg and toured the Admiral Nimitz museum of the Pacific. Greerson really enjoyed it since he was just at Pearl Harbor last week. It was amazing that such a comprehensive museum is located in Texas. Sunday we went fishing and packed up and stopped by the Guadalupe State Park to check out the camping area since our Cub Scout Pack will be camping there in August. We walked down to the river and it was amazing how low the river was. Apparently the drought is worse down there than it is in Waco. From there we went to San Marcos to the outlet stores. I have never seen so many Mexico license plates in my entire life. Needless to say after a couple of purchases we left and headed for home since it was so crowded. Greerson was really happy to be home. He has been gone for nearly two weeks!

Greerson's Trip To Hawaii

Greerson went snorkeling and saw a lot of fish close to shore

Tyler checks out a claw they found

Greerson took this picture of a bird of paradise

Greerson just returned from a week in Hawaii with his grandparents. He had a great time playing on the beach and touring the islands. The island they stayed on has a lot of wild chickens and ducks. Greerson chased them around the lanai at the resort. He also went snorkeling and saw a lot of cool fish. They finished up the vacation in Honolulu at the battleship Arizona.

National Scouting Museum

Notice that Norman Rockwell signed this twice the bottom signature didnt show up in the mock up for the printer so he signed it at the top
This shows all the different types of Scouts
This painting was on the cover of my Boy Scout Handbook

The lady in this painting looks like one of our Den mothers

This is the Lobby of the Museum

Daryl travelled with a group of Cub Scouts to the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas recently. It was a lot of fun, but very strange since Greerson wasn't with us. He is still in Hawaii with Mimi and Grandpa Woody. Daryl is the Chairman of the Committee that runs the Cub Scout Pack and Christa is the treasurer. We also are Den Leaders. It was so exciting to see the largest collection of Norman Rockwell Boy Scout paintings. They also had several paintings from the guy that replaced him when he died. They were very good also.

Greer Family Reunion

Greerson picking grapes on top of the Bad Boy Buggy
Christa getting the Bad Boy Buggy closer to the grapes
Kicking back after the big party!

Christa helps the grape pickers
The big deer that we saw

Picking grapes Sunday morning

Setting up for the big day!

We travelled to the ranch for the 4th of July to prepare for the Greer family reunion on July 5. We had fun setting up the canopy and preparing for the 100+ guests that we were expecting. The reunion went well and we recouporated the next day by picking grapes and checking out Grandpa Woody's zoo. Saturday night we had the privilege of seeing "Geoffrey" the giraffe next door. He was out in the open and it was about 8:30 in the evening and the sun was reflecting from his fur. He was absolutely amazing. He walked so gracefully for such a large creature. On Sunday we saw the biggest deer we have ever encoutered. They were so big they didnt even run from the Jeep when we pulled up by the fence. They are from Africa we think. We toured the ranch and Uncle Bill told the kids that not everyone can say they have a waterfall, it may not be big and it may not be pretty, but it's a waterfall. Needless to say we went to the waterfall and the kids checked it out. Bill drove Woody, Glynda and Daryl in the Jeep and Christa and Greerson, Lauren and Melanie all rode in the Bad Boy Buggie. We had great fun!!!

Ladson and Billie Worley Family Reunion

Soloman checks out the kids

Angie and Salem

Steve and the "K" girls pose for a picture
Regan and Steve waiting for the Birthday Cake!

Christa and Leo wait for the big show with the "K" girls

Daryl's family all got together at Sheryl's (his sister) house in late June. His older brother Steve's daughter Rachel put together a singing act with David's granddaughter Regan and Sheryl's granddaughter Anika. They sang all of Hannah Montana's songs and added a diving show similiar to Esther Williams. Greerson took great joy in trying to sabotage the act with water guns. It was good to see everyone and enjoy some time around the pool. We all got to visit with our Dad. This was really special since he had just gotten out of the hospital that week. The girls named their group the "K" girls. They were Kristina, Kristy and Krystal. Robin got them matching shirts to wear. June has a lot of birthdays: David, Todd, Angie, Robin, Regan, Steve and we added Salem this year. We celebrated Robin's, Regan's and Steve's birthdays while we were together. We finished the weekend by travelling to Dallas to see Angie and Todd and their new baby Salem.

Pictures from the Colorado River

Greerson relaxes after dinner

One of the Painted Churches

This was the welcome committee at our campsite

Thousand Trails- Colorado River

We travelled a couple of hours south on June 13 to Columbus, Texas to the Thousand Trails resort on the Colorado River. It rained on us as we passed through LaGrange, but was clear when we arrived. We found a beautiful campsite overlooking the river bank and there were a couple of deer there to greet us. In fact they were within 20 feet of us the entire time that we set the camper up. We went into Columbus for groceries and checked out the local HEB. Saturday we went on the painted churches tour. To be honest I figured you've seen one Catholic church you seen them all, but to my surprise these churches were really awesome. When you consider that they were all built over 100 years ago. We brought our bikes with us and rode around the campground. They had a very challenging miniature golf course, but we all made it through. Sunday on the way home we stopped by Washington on the Brazos to check out where Texas was founded. It was hotter than an oven and of course Greerson wanted to go to the living history farm rather than the air conditioned museum. After we met the farmers we went on to the ranch and ate dinner with the Shultz's.