Bragg Family South

The huge smile on this lil' boy's face is because he is about to take his first plane ride ever!  Most of y'all probably know that we just returned from a week-long business/personal trip out west, and part of the mission was to give Stephen his first taste of flying...and one that Kenny would remember--Beth flew a couple years ago for her first time, so she kept telling her brothers of her "veteran" nature regarding flying... We drove to Dallas and then flew into Las Vegas, arriving late last Saturday night.  The next morning we went to Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church, where Hope's cousin Father Steve Hoffer is the pastor.  After a nice visit with Father Steve, we struck out on our first adventure of this trip--a day visit to Death Valley National Park!  Our first stop in the area was a ghost town just on the outskirts of Death Valley called "Rhyolite": The shell of the building pictured above was b...

After my quick trip to Wisconsin for a funeral and the summer dig the next week in western Arkansas, my summer actually got even busier...  First came a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. as a part of my leadership training I am receiving in the Forest Service.  Not surprisingly, then, I had a chance to get around the US Capitol (above) and other parts of the National Mall, including the Lincoln Monument: the new monument to Korean War veterans: the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool: the chambers of the US Supreme Court: among many other sites.  Most of the time I spent in DC was focused on learning how my agency operates at the national level, and how it interacts with the administration and Congress.  After quite an adventure getting back home to Arkansas following flight delays, Bragg Family South immediately piled into the minivan and headed out to a couple weeks of R&R (at least for some of us) in Wisconsin and Michigan.  I ...

Nothing says spring or early summer like flowers, and how about this large southern magnolia flower!  We've had plenty of moisture this spring, meaning things have been nicely green in southern Arkansas for a while...It has also made using our backyard a challenge, but as you can see from the picture below, we've managed to sneak in some activities, such as the evening campfire with Stephen's fellow Cub Scouts: One weekend when Hope and Kenny were at a swim meet, I took the younger kids to an antique mall we like to go to near Little Rock, and bought Beth an antique wardrobe to keep her clothes in: Early June brought some additional adventures and travel...The unfortunate death of a family friend back in Rhinelander spurred a last-minute trip to Wisconsin.  Hope had some 4-H commitments, so the kids and I headed north and met Rich Pruden in north-central Illinois at Starved Rock State Park, which we made a quick hiking tour of: We found a nice little roo...