2024 celebrations

A quick pic of the boys during our Christmas visit to Mema and Grandpa's house.  It was nice to have the young men at home for the holidays.  The month went by quickly, and now they are back at their respective institutes of higher learning.

Carson joined his parents for a fancy ceremony where Dad got a nice award for being around a long time.  Dad had to give a speech, and Carson had lots of questions afterwards because he is taking a public speaking class this semester.

One of many examples that the boys are growing up: the extreme noise of Allen Fieldhouse doesn't bother Conner anymore.  He joined Dad for a KU bball game.  Neither boy is a serious sports fanatic, but Conner and Dad have enjoyed the success of the KC Chiefs this year!

Happy Holidays '23-'24

Both boys are home for the holidays!  We celebrated by heading to our favorite restaurant, El Mezcal. It goes by a different name now, but it has been our favorite since the boys were tiny, so we get to call it what we want.

Poor Mema and Grandpa got Covid just before the holidays, so we delayed our usual Christmas Eve trip to their house till New Year's Eve.  Here is Conner getting cool Chuck Taylors on Christmas Day.

Mom had a busy holiday season as the Director of the Phoenix Gallery.  She started in the position last November, so this was her second holiday season as the boss.  It was a big success, but also very busy.

Christmas dinner with Grandma and the extended Marsh clan.  Nice to have the whole crew together, and there was a new addition too:  a sweet little puppy that Alex is holding in the front row.

A crazy tradition after the presents are opened: the kids get in a circle and try to unroll a ball of saran wrap that is filled with candy and gifts.  Conner is pictured doing the unraveling while Carson tries to roll doubles and take the ball.

 Conner helped Uncle Ted do some super cleaning of a rental home and was rewarded with steak dinner and some quality time with their ducks. The boys are home until mid January, then it is back to college for both of them.  Happy 2024!

A new era for the blog

First time in years we have missed a month.  The boys are off doing collegiate things, so it feels like the right time to transition to every other month or every third.  We'll see how it goes!  Got the whole crew together for Thanksgiving with Mema and Grandpa, and Aunt Linda.

Conner had the best holiday schedule, getting the whole week off.  He spent one day of vaca helping Grandpa put together a new firepit.  Pretty crafty to set it up around a stump he wanted to burn off...

Carson helped us Christmasize with his cool Santa collection that goes on the lit mantle.  Kind of looks like he stuck his finger in the light socket just before we took the pic...

Smink likes to cozy up to the warm vent when winter arrives.  Both kitties are doing well even though they miss their boys.  

These are two pictures that Carson took of Dad.  One proves that they are going to the gym together regularly, with Carson serving as Dad's personal trainer.  He may get certified over holiday break.  The other proves that he attended a Vets Day event on campus where Dad played Taps from atop the KU bell tower.  Thanks for the pics, Carson!

Dad is rather surprised to report that his book sales are going really well.  Do we dare dream that he might sell 1,000 copies before Christmas??  Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

The last teenage birthday

We have reached the time of year with a string of birthdays: Carson's this month, Conner's next month, Dad's the following month.  But first, a picture of a special event celebrating the 95th birthday of Aunt Anne Kyle.  She's wonderful!

Both boys are focused on school right now.  We did manage to grab Carson for a few birthday focused events.  He went with Mom, Dad and the grandparents to Limestone Pizza for a fun birthday dinner, and while Mom was on a rare trip to Chicago, Dad got to take Carson to dinner on his b-day.

Mom got the newly minted 19 year-old a new pair of kicks.  As you can see, his old ones were in serious need of replacement. Yes, he does still wear the old ones...

No pics of Conner this month, but we are excited to have him coming home soon for Fall Break, and we'll surely have some pics of him in the next entry as we celebrate his (gulp) 20th birthday!

This is happening.  Kind of a big deal for Dad.  Soon people will be able to get a copy of his book at KU-phoria.com and KUbookstore.com.  Rock Chalk!

 

Holy crap, empty nest!

This photo was taken 17 years ago today.  It was our first day home from Krasnoyarsk, and it felt like a good picture to start today's entry with.  Both boys are now out of the house.  We have an empty nest.

Conner joined us on our trek across town to move Carson into Ellsworth Hall.  This is the best picture we got of the move-in, mainly because neither boy was interested in having their picture taken.

This is the view out Carson's window. The building in the middle of the trees is where Dad works.  He claims this will allow him to keep tabs on Carson, but really it won't.

We tried to convince Carson not to take the shiny BMW with him to campus, since we are pretty sure it will get beat up in the dorm parking lot.  We were unsuccessful.  Here he is doing a selfie with Dad and heading off to work.

Conner had a rough start to Week 1 of Year 2.  He tested positive for Covid and had to miss his first week of classes.  He called us today to say he is ready for Week 2.  Here's hoping both boys do well in their respective schools.  We will miss them, but are very happy they are close by.

 

Harvey's Lake 2023

Another glorious trip to the Lake.  This time it was only Conner and Dad who ventured to northeast PA to enjoy the extended family.  We joined a sizable crew, for sure!

Conner helped Aiden catch his first fish.  In fact, Conner helped many of the youngsters get an introduction to the joys of fishing.

Dad helped too.  This is Aiden again, getting the one-person helicopter treatment.

Now here is what made this year's trip more exciting.  Two of the #cuzbros became first time dads.  Geoff is holding Nate's baby, so this picture is just a little misleading...

The #cuzbro dock chat was epic this year.  The weather is always lovely and the scenery divine, but this year on a whim the group chose to end the dock chat with a jump in the Lake.  Not pictured!

Important to note: Conner came to the Lake with a full week of required online coursework.  He managed very well, jumping on the wifi at the air b&b and on the neighbor's porch.  Even found time to go with the Lewis clan into town for some go-cart racing.

He also found time to do ample water activities and fishing.  This little row boat has entertained Marsh cousins since Dad was Conner's age and Winn and Rutherford were their dad's age.

New tradition: ukuleles on the porch.  Sometimes the music was exceptional, sometimes it was passable.  But it was always fun.

Thankfully, Conner also got some solo fishing time.  He even ventured past the Outlet on the paddleboard and fished Harvey's Creek.  Very impressive.  Another memorable trip to our special getaway spot.

Wait, summer is half over?!

Ok, maybe it is a little less than half over, but summer is certainly moving quickly. Can you see all six baby leopard frogs resting on our stone frog sculpture?  They are pretty dang cute.

Conner made this cool gift for Dad on Fathers Day.  This blog has become a pretty big archive of family activities, and Dad is nervous that it could electronically disappear someday.  Conner is just the guy to find a way to preserve it for posterity.

Hard to tell from the picture, but Mom is championing the Phoenix Gallery's presence at the Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk sale.  Mom is doing wonderful things as the new director of the Gallery.

Have we mentioned how tricky it is becoming to get decent pics of the boys?  Here is a quick shot of Conner meeting one of Uncle Ted's cool ducks.  They are still pretty young, which means they're willing to sit on our laps if we offer food.

This is a nice picture of Carson with some of his longtime friends.  Sadly, it was taken after a memorial service for the mother of one of the boys who lost her battle with cancer.  

Next month's entry should be filled with fun pics from Harvey's Lake.  Conner is the only one joining Dad this year.  Here's hoping things go well at home and we can continue to focus on a big upcoming academic year with two college boys.