Bragg Family South

The weather was beautiful last weekend, with several days in a row of nice temperatures, low humidity, and clear blue skies. We were glad, because we decided to go up to Little Rock to do some shopping and attend the annual Pinnacle Mountain State Park Mountain Man Rendezvous. There were plenty of people in character as "mountain men"--and women, and children, as these people really get into the parts. There were also some Indian dancers, who put on quite a show: Unfortunately, neither Kenny or Beth were very interested in most of the festivities, although they did seem to enjoy a quick pony ride: We finished our shopping and returned to Monticello. Sunday was also beautiful weather-wise, so Hope and I worked in the yard some. Monday turned to rain, and it has been cool and rainy every since--more like the fall weather we got accustomed to in the upper Midwest. Monday also happened to be Beth's third birthday, so we had some of her little friends over for cake and ice cre...

I'm still somewhat exhausted from our most recent marathon trip to Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin (the picture above was carved into a rock along a trail I had hiked in Indiana). We had a great time, though, and the kids traveled well, so it was well worth it! The last blog posting I made put us in Michigan after our initial long drive. That Sunday we drove a little more to a Pruden family reunion, where we got to visit with family that we don't see that often. Rick Pruden is standing furthest on the left (I don't remember the name of the gentleman in the white shirt standing next to him), then holding Stephen is Mary Ann Pruden (wife of Hope's uncle Dave Pruden ), Hope's grandmother Kay Pruden , and I think that's my elbow... The next day (Monday), we sort of lounged around the house most of the day, then went into Ann Arbor that evening for supper and visit with some close friends, Terry Sharik and Karen Macfarland . Terry was the forest ecology professor a...

I just can't start a blog without putting in a picture of at least some of our kids...Beth has been a big helper for her mom and I, helping with Stephen any way she can. I'm writing this from Hope's parents' house in Whitmore Lake, Michigan. We arrived yesterday evening after two fairly steady days of driving. Well, not completely straight-through: we did make a stop or two on the way. One of these stops was to look at a stand of mature hardwood timber in western Indiana, not far from the interstate we were driving on. One of my hobbies is to use a laser to precisely measure large trees, so I walked around the woods for an hour or two: The stand of timber was nice. Not quite old-growth, but some large oaks, yellow-poplar, sycamores, beech, etc. On the way out, Hope suggested driving a little further down the gravel road. This added adventure rewarded us with a trip across a covered bridge--the kids' first ever, and the first for us in a long time... Note ...