The passing of Ann Pruden

This has got to be one of the hardest blog postings I've ever had to do...As some of you are aware, on November 12, we lost Ann Pruden suddenly.  She is pictured above with Kenny from a visit to the Monroe (Louisiana) Zoo in about 2008.  Ann was an infinitely kind and compassionate person who doted on her family, and she will be sorely missed!  The day after she passed away, we drove up to Michigan to be with Rick and the rest of the family and friends.  On Sunday, we had a memorial open house at the Pruden family home in Whitmore Lake.  As the picture shows below, the day was warm and sunny, just like Ann:

My brother Bob (pictured with Stephen below) also joined us:

Bob had gotten to know Rick and Ann pretty well through a number of visits he'd made to the area over the years, plus the holiday visits Rick and Ann often made with the Bragg Family in Wisconsin.  The house was a hub of activity most of the day, with many different family members and friends stopping by to offer their condolences, and share their memories of Ann:

Ann's death has been a particular struggle for Hope and Rick.  When we heard that he had never been there before, we took my brother Bob to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, as a distraction to the events swirling around us.  Below, Bob and Rick admiring one of Bob's favorite style of cars (a late 1960s Mercury Cougar):

Hope and Rick have greatly appreciated all of the condolences and well-wishes of those whose lives were also touched by Ann.

We stayed most of week in Michigan before returning to Arkansas.  The next weekend we traveled to Historic Washington State Park to help with some archeological testing of an area.  Below, Beth and Hope screened for artifacts while Stephen mostly played in the back dirt:

I also took advantage of the nice weather the Sunday before Thanksgiving to shoot my first antlered Arkansas buck, a decent-sized six pointer that now graces our freezer:

We had a low-key Thanksgiving holiday, with a nice turkey that Kenny helped to cook on the grill.  Speaking of which, Kenny turned 14 today--he is now about 2 inches taller than his mother, and only about 2 inches shorter than me!

Where has the time gone?