Bragg Family South

Hope and the kids are enjoying the near completion of our main bathroom near the bedrooms. While functional, the old bathroom was showing its age, and the tub needed replacing. So, over the last few months, we've been updating the bathroom. It now has a new vanity and sink, new toilet, a new medicine cabinet, a new tub and shower, new tile floor, and a beautiful new tile tub surround. Hope's hard work and dedication towards getting the tile work done right is a tribute to her effort in this project--especially since she did most of the tiling while 6+ months pregnant! We have some small finish details left, but we are very pleased with how this has turned out--hopefully, y'all will visit soon, and get a chance to see it for yourselves!

After a two week hiatus, I have returned to Monticello to rejoin the working world. Over the last couple of weeks (with the exception of Father's Day weekend, when I returned home) I have been staying in a hotel in Malvern, Arkansas, assisting as a volunteer on an archeological dig (for a website with more details on this dig, go to: http://www.hsu.edu/content.aspx?id=7270 ). This effort began on Saturday, June 9. After a several hour orientation at a local community college, they immediately took us to a site in the city of Malvern itself (a location currently under construction for a city recreation facility). We then began digging an 8 meter (roughly 26 feet) long "trench" comprised of four 2 meter by 2 meter (6.5 feet by 6.5 feet) "test unit" that we dug down about 10 centimeters (4 inches) at a time. The dirt we removed was sifted through 1/4" wire mesh screens, and any artifacts larger than 1/4" were separated and placed into bags to be washed a...

We haven't had much to post on recently, so it's been quiet here at Bragg Family South. Later today, I'm heading out of town to start a volunteer stint with the Arkansas Archeological Survey. We're digging at a site near Malvern, Arkansas (about 2 hours from Monticello) that was used in prehistoric times as a site to prepare novaculite (a type of flint used for points and tools). I'll definitely have some pictures from this dig soon, but there may be a bit of a lag in postings to the blog site until I return--either next weekend, or the following weekend (it is a two week effort for me).

We had a quiet Memorial Day weekend here. On Saturday, we headed to Little Rock to purchase some remodeling supplies for the bathroom (almost done!). Like Lisa and her family, we also lounged around on Sunday afternoon. Monday, given that I didn't want to do too much on the house, we decided to drive down to Monroe, Louisiana, to see some friends that recently moved there and visit their zoo. The picture above is from the boat trip that you can take to see a number of the animal. A neat concept--if you can get past the color of the water! The "richness" of the water is probably due in large part to fertilization by the animals, which increases the algae content. So yes, it really is that green!! Last night (Tuesday) was picture day for the mightly Monticello Red Sox. Kenny, most of his teammates, and coaches lined up for a group picture (the picture's a little blurry, but Kenny's the third one kneeling from the left). There was also a series of pictures taken fo...

Watching the Weather Channel this morning and seeing the light snowflakes they had swirling around the flowering lilacs of Duluth, Minnesota, made me think of how much we tend to take the late spring of Arkansas for granted. We actually had cooler than normal temperatures last week, which really meant that our days were much more comparable to a Northwoods summer day--in other words, the weather was beautiful! This adorable picture of Kenny and Beth followed a first for them--we had an ice cream truck drive through the neighborhood yesterday (Sunday evening). Kenny is showing off his popsicle-stained fingers, while Beth is still working on her popsicle. The simple pleasures of summer are some of the best of all--whether it is getting a frozen treat, or just hanging out in mom's arms while watching big brother play T-ball... Don't worry, grand parents, the "tattoo" on Beth's arm is a temporary one that has long since washed off... Kenny's been doing very wel...

I'll be the first to admit it--my memory isn't what it used to be, so that is my lame excuse for forgetting to wish brother JoJo a happy 33rd birthday...better late than never!! And before I forget it as well, here's some birthday wishes for the glamorous Lulu--soon to be 31, and spectacular as ever!!

I returned from Alaska about midnight last night. What an adventure! I'm tired, but so glad I went--it was a great meeting, and Alaska is a really neat place. The trip didn't start out promising, though. I got to Little Rock the night before I was to depart because I had a very early flight the next morning. Hope and the kids followed me up to Little Rock (I took a unit vehicle) and we spent some time on the town and at the swimming pool at my hotel before they returned to Monticello. I had just turned in for the night when the phone rang. It was Hope, who had found a message on our answering machine when she returned to the house--the airline had called, telling me the early flight had been cancelled, and that I needed to call and book a new flight! I scrambled to get a new flight via our federal travel agency, which was able to book me into Ketchikan by late Sunday. Whew!! After some last minute schedule juggling at the Little Rock airport, I finally got out of town (three ho...