Bragg Family South

Doesn't Beth's face say it all? Little girls about to embark on a big adventure... Beth and her preschool class went to the local pumpkin patch for an exciting trip. They got to play on all sorts of things, took a hay ride, and picked out their own pumpkins: We were happy to see the nice weather for this day, because the trip had been postponed a week earlier due to rain. We also enjoyed beautiful weather this last weekend, which really helped make our camping much more enjoyable. We left Friday afternoon for Petit Jean State Park ( http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/ ) in central Arkansas. We've done a blog posting on this park before--we visited it in August. The reason we were here was so that I could attend an archeology workshop (learning how to work in an indoor lab during a beautiful fall weekend). Fortunately, we did get to enjoy some of the outdoors, as you see with Kenny at this overlook: and here I am with the kids: Our goal for our first evening (Friday night) w...

Am I talking about the Packers, who spanked the Indianapolis Colts today? No--check out this video clip... He'd been getting closer and closer every day, and he finally made the first real effort this evening. We'll still have to convince him walking is more efficient than crawling, but watch out world!!

Here's a few more pictures from Rich and Ann's recent visit to us here in Monticello. The picture above shows Kenny and Ann enjoying a lighter moment at the church picnic (Kenny is wet because of a water balloon fight he had just participated in). Below, Beth was NOT pleased with how fast her Bumpa was running the boat on Lake Monticello... Today we celebrated Beth's 4 th birthday. Her actual birthday is Wednesday, October 22, but we're so busy that particular day (and the rest of the week), we figured it would be better to have her party and her little friends over this morning. The picture above shows Beau Kuttenkuler playing "pin the kiss on the frog" (her party had a princess theme...). They also spent time decorating cookie "wands" (above) and fighting a dragon by popping its bubbles with glow-stick "swords". Lil' Stephen was too small to participate in the games, but once he got used to strangers, he started have at least so...

October started for Bragg Family South with a weekend trip to Hot Springs. While I was giving a talk at the Arkansas Archeological Society's annual meeting, Hope took the kids up to a small festival near Little Rock. Above, Kenny fights gravity with an old-tyme game, and Beth rides a horse, one of her all-time favorite activities (below): My meeting went well, and the kids had a good time. I had another business trip to northwest Arkansas during the week, and I also went to that archeological site near Little Rock for another day's worth of digging. It was a beautiful fall day, and although I didn't find as much as I usually do (just a couple broken arrow points and some small sherds), it was nice to be there. I did get a good picture or two of a bee tree just to the side of where we are digging: Hope's parents had arrived the evening before (on Wednesday night). On Thursday, after I returned from digging, Rich, Kenny, Beth, and I went to a UAM football game. ...

You know it's the end of the summer in the South when the surprise lilies start appearing in the yards. The foliage of these intriguing flowers is really only visible in the spring, before the grass starts to green up (surprise lilies are "spring ephemerals " is some sense). Their leaves then disappear, and the plant goes unnoticed until the late summer/early fall, when it shoots up a flower stalk from its underground bulb with these curious but beautiful flowers: It is surprisingly difficult to find surprise lily bulbs at plant nurseries--most people apparently get them by sharing the bulbs, which split frequently. The surprise lily above is the first to appear in our yard since we transplanted a few out of our church's yard 2 or 3 years ago. Hopefully, we'll soon have more from other bulbs. You also know it is the end of the summer when the county fair rolls around, and all the events that go with it. Below are some pictures from the parade that celebrates the...

Do you remember what you were doing, 12 years ago on this very exact day? I was in the process of girding myself for what would be the biggest day of my life (at least to that point). On September 21, 1996, Hope and I were joined in holy matrimony, apparently to the consternation of Rich: Actually, I think they were pretty happy to see us married--Rich's dour face in this photo is more because people were actually getting to see him dressed up in a tux... I've always loved this picture of Bill, who is posing so formally for the photographer (Uncle Chuck Bayer). It's hard to believe Bill was only 12 when we got married--what a trooper! The "Parade" magazine that comes in our Sunday paper had a survey on the state of marriage in America. According to their polling, only 56% said they would definitely marry the same person all over again. This surprised me. After 12 blissful years of marriage, with far more good times than bad, I can honestly say that I'd ...

Here's the next contingent of big-time Packer fans getting ready to watch last week's Monday night win over the Vikings... Last Friday, I hit the big 3-8. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone, and it seems we've hit a new high gear with the arrival of the kids. As a child, I remember how the years seemed to drag on--now they fly by at light speed. Nothing like age to give you perspective... Here's a new perspective on cleanliness-- a baby with a birthday cupcake: Stephen and his siblings helped me celebrate my birthday on Friday with a tasty grilled tuna dinner prepared by my blushing bride, followed by frosting-laden cupcakes. We didn't do much on my birthday, just a quite evening home. On Saturday, we drove to Little Rock. Hope took the kids to the zoo and a museum while I returned to help on that archeological dig. I've made quite a few visits to help out on this dig, in part because of the urgency of the need--the company developing the land...