December Happenings

Leo dressed in his Christmas Finery






Thanksgiving isn't December, but I am going to start there anyway. We went to Christa's parents house and they had a new WII and we were all sore from playing tennis and bowling when we got back home. We were the only ones there her brother and his family had gone to Minnesota to be with his mother inlaw.
December weekends were filled with lots of activities. The first weekend the scouts caroled at the nursing home and we had a pizza party/Court of Honor followed immediately by Angel Food order time. Angel Food has really taken off it was the third month and we had 96 boxes ordered. We also found out that we will become an independent site in January. We also attended Christa's office party.
The second weekend we participated in the Hewitt Christmas parade. We got the trailer and decorated it, drove down to the IGA and then back to the Middle School and undecorated the trailer. That may sound pretty mundane and boring, but the boys had a great time!
On Sunday we had the children's musical at church and Greerson's ear was bothering him and he had to drop out at the last minute. On Wednesday that week his ear was hurting so much we took him to the emergency room and they found a little bead in his ear. We have no idea how long it has been there. The funny thing is that now that it is out he doesnt seem to hear us ask him to do things!
The third weekend was the party weekend it started with the Sunday School party on Friday night. When I arrived there was one couple there and Christa was in Goldthwaite on her way back from Muleshoe. Another couple arrived and Christa got their in time for dessert. Several of the other couples had trouble and couldnt make it at the last minute.
Saturday was Angel Food delivery day. We unloaded the truck by ourselves, but when we got to the church we were blessed to have about 20 people to help us unload it and sort it out. We wrapped that up and went shopping to make the appetizers for that night's party which was great, but we didnt get home until about 1:20 in the morning. And then bright and early we got up and headed to the ranch for Christa's grandmother's get together. We had a blast and Greerson got to target shoot with his cousins.
I went to my sisters to drop off presents and she had her dog dressed up like a reindeer. It was quite the sight.

Recipes from t...

By Daryl R Worley

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This is the cake for the arrow of light reception after the ceremony

Greerson is showing off his special arrow award

Greerson got his Arrow of Light Award in a special fireside ceremony. He is quite excited since it is the highest award you can receive in Cub Scouting. Kind of like an Eagle Scout. He is excited about going on to Boy Scouts and joining the troop that we helped establish last year. He will make the official transition next February

Morning Safari Expedition

Grandpa Woody's Hog that he shot

The elk

Loud bugling elk

Greerson checks out the animals

Christa checking her gun before we go

We got up this morning at let Greerson drive the Bad Boy Buggy and we went out looking for animals.We saw several elk and zebras and some other creatures. Grandpa Woody was proud of the Hog he shot so we stopped by to look at it. The buzzards had moved in to clean it up. He shot it close to the oil well, so the buzzards were perched on the tanks and other equipment there. We had a great birthday lunch for Grandpa Woody and then spent some time firing weapons! Christa tried out her mother's hand gun and then shot the semi automatice Hog gun.

Baylor Game

Proof that Baylor actually won!

The good old Baylor Line

Sic 'em Bears!

Greerson and some friends attended a Baylor game recently. It was really an amazing event. Baylor actually won the game! Unfortunately the picture of the mascot bears didn't turn out very good, but we saw them. Christa was upset since every time Greerson attends a game they win. She hasnt forgotten the year the Bears beat the Aggies and Greerson decided he wanted to attend Baylor.

Trifles and other activities

Trifles at Navarro College

Trifles at Navarro College

McKinney Falls (photo by Greerson)

Greerson's Boy Scout patrol at Mother Neff state park

Daryl directed Susan Glaspell's "Trifles" for Navarro College this Fall. It was a great success and marked the first time that the department had presented two one act plays along with a lecture about the playwrights. Christa and Greerson went camping with the Boy Scouts at Mother Neff state park near Moody and helped clean up after a storm. We also went camping at McKinney Falls state park in Austin.

Greersons Art Work

Greerson created this fall artwork at school.
We are really busy right now. If we are not camping with the Scouts we are working for the church. Daryl is in charge of the new Angel Food Ministry at our church. That takes two Saturdays a month. He is also directing a play for Navarro College. Once rehearsals are over everything will settle down again. We travelled to Austin and stayed at Mckinney Falls state park last weekend. It rained part of the time, but we enjoyed it. Cabella's makes a great place to escape the rain outside. Christa is camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend since Daryl has final preparations for his play. Greerson is adjusting to life in intermediate school, it was a bit rough at first.

Bob and Jerry Worley

Uncle Bob and his wife Jerry and son Robert at my Dad's funeral last Fall

We got sad news this week. Daryl's uncle Bob and his aunt Jerry died in a terrible accident.
Bob was the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Boyd, Texas and Jerry had taken someone home from church and apparently forgot to turn the car off when she parked in the garage upon returning. When they did not show up for evening services they were discovered in their house next to the church. Bob was already dead, but Jerry had a faint pulse. She lived until the next afternoon. Apparently carbon monoxide poisoning is a very common cause of death. Please consider a monitor for your home.
Bob and Jerry were Baptist Missionarys and had retired a few years ago and pastored the church in Boyd. When I was young they were in Spain and I only got to see my cousins every four years when they came home for a year on furlough. They had three boys and one daughter. Their second child was my age and one of my favorite memories was when we were about four years old and we all got a pillow with an animal appliqued on it. Mine had a cat and I really thought it was so cool. I remember posing with Bobby and Reuben with our animal pillows in the front room at Grandmother Worley's house. I am not sure, but I think maybe Jerry made the pillows.
Bob was my Dad's youngest brother. It is so odd that within just a little over a year we have lost two of his brother as well as my Dad.
Christa and I were fortunate to get to spend some time visiting with Bob and Jerry in August of 2008 at the cabin in Ruidoso. We also got to attend the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. After seeing how close they were in life it seems only fitting that they wouldn't have to suffer the loss of each other in death.

Disney World Photos

We just happened to be wearing complementary colors this day and it made a great family portrait!

Our Official Disney World family photo.

Walt Disney World

No clue who these people are, but this was the slide at the pool at the resort

Greerson had a birthday party at the Coral Reef restaurant at EPCOT

The weary travellers take a break before a show at Animal Kingdom

Cinderella's Castle at night

"Little Chef" from Ratatouille visits guests at the French Restuarant

Christa and her mother enjoy lunch in France

The Port Orleans French Quarter

EPCOT by night

Ursula was selling jewelry

Greerson checks out the Legos at the Lego shop in Downtown Disney

Stone Mountain, Georgia was cool, but a huge tourist trap

This is the atrium at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta.

We visited Atlanta one more day and toured the Atlanta Zoo, a Natural History Museum and Stone Mountain. On Tuesday we drove to Orlando, Florida. Wednesday we met Christa's parents at the airport and started a five day stay at the Port Orleans French Quarter resort at Walt Disney World. I had commented that I wanted to see the fireworks at EPCOT since I had never seen them. Well, now I can say I have seen them, we were there three nights for "Illuminations". Actually we watched them only one night, but while we were eating (outside) we observed them a second night and the third night we were at Nine Dragons in China and the lights dimmed indicating it was beginning so we rushed to finish dessert and grab a monorail to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks over there. Considering that fireworks indicate the closing of EPCOT we made pretty good time to get to the Magic Kingdom in time for their show.

Some highlights of our trip were riding Mission Space and Soaring at EPCOT. Greerson really enjoyed Star Tours. Christa and Daryl did the Test Track the last day and had a blast! We ate in Japan, America, China and France and under the living seas at the Coral Reef. We all had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. Oh, one other eating hightlight was the restaurant in France and a visit from the Rat in Ratatouille (can't remember how to spell it). The rat was on a cart and would squeek and talk to the Matre'd who was wheeling him around. He was put off with us when he discovered we had a dog for a pet.

On Sunday we took Christa's parents to the airport and headed over to Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center. It was cool to see an actual space shuttle on the lauch pad. From there we went and packed up the camper and drove to Chattahoochi, Florida, then onto Pensacola the next morning to the National Naval Air Museum. It was really cool!!!!

Then we stayed in Gulf Shores, Alabama and stopped in Mobile, Alabama to see the battleship Alabama and spent the last night in Lafayette, Louisiana.

We had a great trip, but were glad to pull into Waco and be home.

Atlanta Georgia

There is a Coke bottle in that tower, but it didnt show up good in the picture. This is the World of Coca Cola

This is the CNN headquarters

Olympic Park was really nice

The Georgia Aquarium looks kind of like a ship docked in downtown Atlanta

This Manta Ray doesn't look like much here, but consider its wing span was over 10 feet long.

Christa wanted to know if she could choose this Lobster for lunch!

Cleaning the tank!

We arrived at Jellystone Park Campground mid afternoon on Saturday August 1 and got to set up camp in the rain. We went to Walmart for groceries then cooked dinner and chilled the rest of the evening. It rained almost all night, but was clear in the morning for us to travel into downtown Atlanta to the Georgia Aquarium. It was so neat, Greerson really enjoyed the Whale Sharks and the Beluga Whales. They were cleaning one of the tanks when we got there it was cool seeing the diver above us. We got to go behind the scenes and see the whale sharks from above before we went down below and saw them with the general public. We toured CNN after lunch and got to see the actual newsroom while they were airing a broadcast, then it was on to the World of Waiting . . . . I mean the World of Coca-Cola. We waited to be searched by security, then waited to wait for the waiting room for the film, then waited to be admited to the exhibits. It was interesting, but after all of that waiting we were a little grumpy. There were a lot of people there. Greerson particularly like the tasting room! We all watched them bottling Coke and we got a bottle off of the production line when we left. It decided to pour rain on us as we walked back to the parking garage. We were pretty muched soaked! We dried off a little and headed to the Varsity drive in and had great food! It is apparently the largest drive in around. I would agree it could serve almost 100 cars it looked like, besides the sit down service inside. They actually came to your car and took your order then came back with it. The only complaint was that the menu was difficult to read from inside the car.

Galveston and NASA

We travelled to Galveston for the weekend and stayed at Jamaica Beach in the camper. Friday night we went to the beach and Greerson had a blast in the waves. Early Saturday morning we hit the beach to look for seashells (6:30am). It was really cool! We were the only ones on the beach. We ate breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning at the shore. That afternoon we travelled over to the Johnson Space Center and met Pack 377 for a campout in Space. Greerson had a great time. We slept near Space Lab and around a robot prototype. Greerson was the only one that truly slept he didnt want to get up the next morning! After breakfast we headed back to Galveston for a Father's Day lunch at Gaido's. We met Christa's family there then we all headed back to the beach for an afternoon of fun in the waves of the Gulf. It was a great weekend and the Honda Pilot was covered in sand inside and out when we got home!


This truck was caught on the pier during hurricane Ike

Pack 377 at the Johnson Space Center Campout in Space

There was a special film exhibition there featuring George Lucas

Greerson with R2 and C3

The design team for Neil Eggstrong's space suit

Murdochs Bath house under construction after IKE

Christa and Greerson on the beach in Galveston

Greerson and his team demonstrate the protective suit they built for Neil Eggstrong!

The Tucker Automobile on Display at NASA