Bragg Family South

As I indicated in our last blog entry, our beloved cat Mooch is no longer with us. When we returned from our last northern trip, we noticed that Mooch was almost constantly meowing and yowling, like she was suffering. We had suspected for a while that she was seriously ill--she had lost a lot of weight, would get sick on the floor, wasn't eating well but was drinking a lot, and was far more vocal than she'd ever been. Hope took her to the vet on Wednesday, and the vet confirmed our worst suspicions--Mooch had all the signs of kidney failure, and given her age and weakness, there was nothing we could do except have her suffering end. So, the vet put her down, and we buried her that afternoon after Kenny had come home from school. Needless to say, Hope and the kids were very upset (and even stern ol ' Don got choked up a couple times), but Mooch is at peace, and we're moving on. We had at least a decade of good years with Mooch (we got her as a fully grown cat while we w...

We just returned from our latest trip up north. Kenny was on spring break, and I had some training for work in Columbus, Ohio, so we figured we'd take advantage of the opportunity to sneak in a quick family visit. That, and pick up a new TV (thanks again, Kev!). So, after our quick but enjoyable visit from Mom and Dad Bragg, we joined them driving eastward to Houston, Mississippi, where we got in a quick visit with old family friend Bonnie Vance. We left Mom and Dad with Mrs. Vance, and then continued northward on the Natchez Trace into Tennessee. Along the way, we stopped at a few scenic spots, including this waterfall that Kenny and Beth were able to walk behind: Late that evening, we met up with Rick and Ann Pruden to continue the early grandparent theme to this trip. We met them in Bardstown, Kentucky, and stayed at the same hotel. The next day (Sunday), we traveled together for a while into Ohio, stopping at some Indian mound sites along the way. This picture shows Kenny stand...

Mom and Dad arrived in Monticello yesterday about noon. They've been having a good trip so far, with no problems to report. Had a beautiful, sunny, mid-70s afternoon yesterday here in Monticello, and looks like today will be nice as well.

Remember when you could chew your toes? No? Well, this picture will help ensure that Stephen does! Stephen has turned into quite the chewer--just about anything he can get into his mouth, he will gnaw on (including toes!). We hope this is a sign that he'll get teeth sooner than his older siblings--both were toothless until well over a year old. Speaking of older siblings--we feel blessed that Stephen's just love their little brother, and do not seem threatened by him...at least not yet, as he hasn't gotten to the stage of competing for toys. On the contrary, all of their old baby toys that Stephen now plays with and chews on have renewed interest for Kenny and Beth. Beth in particular seems to dote on Stephen--this picture has her "reading" him a story... Stephen is also like his " Bumpa " (grandfather Rich) in that he loves to lay in front of the fireplace and watch the wood burn. He will often be fussy and squirmy, but if we have a fire going and lay h...

We've slowly been replacing the old aluminum clad windows that were original to our house with new vinyl windows. This has dramatically cut down on some drafts, and helped improve both the efficiency and looks of our house. Each window has presented its own unique set of challenges. My look in the picture above accompanies the realization that I've now put a rather large hole in the weather-tightness of my home--on a rainy day, nevertheless! Actually, this window went in fairly smoothly, once we decided how we wanted to fit it. As you can see by the picture I took this morning (below), we had no problem reestablishing our house's seal last night, well before bedtime... The small window on the other side of our grill was our project from a few weeks back. We now only have two windows left to replace on our house--a small one in the kitchen, and a large one in our front computer room. I'm guessing the large one will be replaced later this spring, while the small one...