Jason's Birthday

Bec soaked the whole chicken in a brine and cooked it in a roasting bag. Moist!
Roasted squash, mac n cheese, fresh tomatoes (my yard), green beans, spinach salad:)

My boy

Most of the time Austin was playing, but took a moment to sit beside his Uncle Jason.

Sunday, July 24th, was Jason Allen's 34th birthday. Having a child older than most of the people I work with seems strange. I think of many of them as my "friends" but honestly I have little in common with most of them. Saying that, it's OK! I love the age I am, the freedom to "go" at a moment's notice, having fewer responsibilities at home now that the kids are out (and of course have been for a long time), and love to do those things with the one person that I love being with. So, celebrating my kids birthdays is a celebration of our married life. A milestone for not only Jason (and Becky) but Clyde and I as well.

This year Becky (last year as well) had us over for a nice dinner. She cooked a moist, tasty chicken, great mac n' cheese (her brothers request), spinach tortellini salad, and I brought green beans, roasted vegetables, an appetizer & dessert. We invited mamaw & Kent and enjoyed a time of conversation while the kids were "wild & crazy".....here are a few pics.

All Stars

The boys are on the white team for t-ball. It is both 5 & 6 year olds. They missed the first weekend tournament, plus the coach knew some of the others players already, so they have a lot of making up to do. This weekend, they played in the BG State games. We played at 10:30 this morning and won for the first time! Matthew had trouble b/c he throws the bat out of the white circle. So he didn't get on that first game. He did better batting as the day goes. Austin takes several strikes before he hits a real hard hit sometimes. So, he had several good hits today and one strike out! During the season, you have five or more strikes. Today it was 3 only. I will try to download a video of Austin hitting.

More pictures from the track

Third from the front is Jeff Gordon #24. This is in the laps before the pace car peals off and the race is underway.

Pre-race festivities, skydivers & flag parachutes. Nice show.

Grandstands were full.....

On our way into the race, with Danica over Clyde's shoulder.

Logged me out after the photos below (in the previous post), so here are the ones from the track. In case my memory fails (ha) and I am wondering the outcome of the race, Kyle Busch held off Jimmie Johnson in a two lap shootout to become the first Cup Series winner at Kentucky Speedway.

Inaugural Race at Ky Speedway

In the background, you can see the Speedway. Here we are before the race. On the left, Chip & Mallary have been home a week from their year of teaching in China. Joe & Stefanie are our youngest, biggest fans & it all began with Chris & Sue.

For years we have followed Nascar. Not as closely as some, more so than others. It's a great American event and we like it. At the beginning, I was a Jeff Gordon fan. Clyde and I both are Dale Earnhart, Jr. fans and there are a few other drivers if they win, we are all for them. The fly overs (for me), Darryl Waltrip saying "boggity, boggity, boggity, let's go racing boys".....(or something like that!), the fireworks, the skydivers (USA parachutes), all that is what I like most! Clyde, of course, likes action on the track.

For our first NASCAR big race at Kentucky Speedway, Joe Wiley included us in his family's plans. He went all out and didn't miss a detail. He took backroads to get us into Sparta, we parked quite a way from the track in a field. Set up our tent, put out the food, cornhole, and waited until closer to the race to walk up. All in all, it was a great event for us. The night was "balmy" with a slight breeze (very nice). Our seats were good, the lines we waited in for fresh squeezed lemonade and kettle corn weren't so bad. Getting out was not easy. The walk back to our car was long with thousands of walkers fighting the traffic that we walked along beside. I felt like the settlers long ago walking beside their wagons to the west. However, that again could have been worse (according to the people/cars we saw on the side of the interstate on our way home). So, I am pleased to say (although we didn't want Kyle to win) that our experience was a very good one. Here are some pics.

4th of July

Tuesday, July 5th. Boys had t-ball scrimmage game (all stars) before paps birthday dinner.
Jacobson Park, Baker reunion. Granny is not in picture as she is weak from recent hospital stay.

Colby & Eric (above) Women before all the crowd arrived.

David (g daddy) and Cameron. Sweet baby!

Kelli & Colby, such a wonderful mommy.

We had a fun but busy 4th this year. We got home from our road trip on Friday evening. On Saturday, we started our picnicing with friends over for hamburgers, fixings & cornhole. Nice night, fun. Sunday we prepared for Transy and that turned out fun. Hot, but beautiful evening with a very good crowd (our party & the crowd in general). Monday, the 4th, we prepared food for yet another picnic. The Baker family reunion held at Jacobson Park. Ended the long day by going to Nicholasville to park at the high school for RJ Corman's fireworks display. Then on Tuesday was Clyde's birthday and we grilled out chicken. Great grilling CB! I made a peach & mango salsa that was served as a side or on top of chicken. We had fresh corn on the cob and Becky cooked fresh green beans & potatoes. Very good! Ended with peanut butter pie.

Driving the Blue Ridge

I thank God for the internet and weather updates! We planned to leave on our ride last Sunday, but it was raining and looked like it was "set in" where we were heading until Wed. So Tuesday morning (June 28th) we started out to get on the Blue Ridge at Fancy Gap, Virginia. We ate at Breaks Interstate Park before getting on. At first site I loved it. Very few signs, no overhead wires, poles, commericals. Just beauty. All around us. We drove it to Boone, N.C. and stayed the night. On Wednesday, the day could not have been more perfect, weatherwise, and otherwise. Just a great day to drive the ridge. There are tons of "pulloffs", lots of "vista views", enough hiking to sites for the hikers and benches along the way for those of us that need a rest. We loved the waterfalls at Linville and the best part of the trip for me.....the Rhododendrons were in bloom everywhere! These are the native ones, not planted ones that bloomed a month ago. Just glorious! Color all along the side of the mountains, roads, in and around everywhere. Thursday was just as beautiful, so our drive had perfect weather, perfect car to drive it in, and no traffic. Really ideal conditions for such a ride. I was thinking ahead (for once) and brought us some great fruit, those great crackers from Sams (multigrain, nutty ones), Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss that went SO GREAT on them, homemade chicken salad & bread, and yummy iced tea. For two days this was our "pull off" picnic and we were SO glad to have it. Ate too much at night! Great little four day get away!