16th in NOLA

Special contributor, Layne Henry, "I am Cadie's friend (as of now) who is "stuck with her" and has overall enjoyed this trip despite being quite injured! I am currently in the airport in severe pain, in need of a wheelchair, and sad. Overall, it has been a trip to remember for sure! I definitely will find myself remembering this trip for many years to come. From injuring myself in my sleep to an alligator climbing on our airboat tour, it has been so extremely fun! I am forever thankful to my friend and newfound family. 

We certainly had some unfortunate moments, but it did not bring down the trip at all. For my first time being in New Orleans, it lived up to my expectations and then some for sure. There are too many positive moments for me to even begin, but I am overwhelmingly happy with the trip, and I am so thankful that I came. Even being injured to the point I can hardly walk through the airport; it was so so worth it.

Happy 16th birthday Cadie!!"

Cadie's birthday trip summary, "My amazing mother agreed to take myself and a friend to New Orleans as a 16th birthday trip! My favorite part of this weekend has been having a jazz dinner on the Steamboat Natchez. Getting to hang out by the big red paddle while having a silly conversation was the perfect way to spend the evening! After arriving on Saturday morning, we went to the WWII Museum. We got a bit turned around while trying to find an exit and ended up going out a service stairwell into a restricted grassy patch at the back of the building. Dinner that night was at Arnaud's where my mom regaled us with wonderful stories such as catching her hair on fire & catching a malevolent possum. Afterwards, we explored Jackson Square in search of beignets from Cafe Du Monde. The next morning, we attempted to take a swamp tour to see some water t-rexes (alligators). Unfortunately, this didn't go as planned, and we had to take a private van back to downtown. Everything ended up turning out alright though, and we had a wonderful lunch at the Ruby Slipper. I took a much-needed nap after returning to the hotel. Dinner that night was the steamboat/jazz dinner. The swamp tour was rescheduled to this morning, and we had a wonderful time seeing all sorts of plants and wildlife. We're currently sitting in the airport waiting for the flight home, and Mom is saying no to going to the fair tonight. Overall, I had a fabulous time on this trip, and I hope everyone else did too!"

I would call our trip a success! We departed Saturday morning with no travel issues and easy check-in at the Hampton Inn Downtown. We were walking distance from most everything, but we did Uber a bit due to Layne's leg pain. We all got along well and we each had our own bed which made it extra comfortable. My favorite was the swamp tour this morning. We even saw a mama gator (who hissed at us!) and her little tiny babies that were only about 6 inches long. So long NOLA, thanks for the memories!

Ranger Cross Country

Ranger is so dedicated and I love watching him compete. While cross country isn't the most spectator friendly, I run all over the course to see him as much as possible. Big John and Papa also come to as many meets as they can.

At district, Ranger got 25th overall, 5th on his team and did a 12:10 time for a 3k. We are so proud of you Ranger!

Cadie is 16th!

On her birthday we had a beautiful celebration at Cadie's favorite restaurant, Rise. It was a beautiful celebration, with beautiful women, of a beautiful young lady. It was so special to have friends Mary, Avery, Layne, Eisley, Faith and Jess and family - DD, Nina, Winky at a table with fairy lights and delicious food. It was an unforgettable evening. And, of course, we all went over to DD and Big John's that morning to give hugs and donuts to our baby girl. We LOVE you so much Cadie!

Meeting George & Laura

Written by Cadie Walsh, "This past Wednesday, my dad took Big John and I to Harlan Crow's house to meet George W. Bush! Mr. Crow's mansion was the best house I've ever seen, and his library is what I picture heaven to be like. His home was filled with so many fascinating parts of the world's history, and his library stores important documents from the founding of our country. He even has a lifelike wax statue of Winston Churchill, which is equally interesting as it is creepy. Getting to shake hands with George Bush was a cool experience, and it was good to meet his wife, Laura Bush, for the second time. She read to my class in 2nd grade, and it was fun to see her again! After the reception in the library, Dad and I dropped off Big John at home so we could go get dinner together. We ended up going to Perry's Steakhouse, and it was one of the fanciest restaurants I've ever been to. The restaurant had an amazing view of the city, and I loved getting to spend an unforgettable evening with my dad!"

Sky Ranch Horn Creek

Another wonderful week at Horn Creek!

Saturday and Sunday: Drive with an overnight stop in Amarillo. Celebrated Westbrook's 5th birthday at the Big Texan. Cadie and Ranger rode with Nina and Papa and then Ranger rode with us on Sunday because we got a free Avis upgrade to a huge 12-passenger van. Thanks Avis!

• Monday: Exploring camp with lot of time at the rec center and zip lines.
• Tuesday: Bishop's Castle with a full van load. Once again, I thought I wanted to go, was nervous the entire time we were there, and was grateful once we were on the way back.
• Wednesday: Tubing hill, Nina and Cadie and I went into town do so some shopping.
• Thursday: Royal Gorge with our whole group including our 3 counselors. Grant, Julius and Ranger went early to do the Via Ferrada rock climbing. They all really liked it.
• Friday: Fun final day at camp.
• Saturday: We accidentally ended up driving all the way home. We had planned to stay overnight in Amarillo but when we went to check in to the hotel, they didn't have connecting rooms and we made a game-day decision to go straight through.

From Colton: "Horn Creek was so much fun. Kiyah and Rilyn came as well as all my cousins, but Sammers and Jody it was Wes' first time and on the way to the camp, he turned five. also, we went to bishops castle it was great I also went to the highest point possible and cadie got a ton of great picks. Julies was our consoler for the second time, and we were in the same cabin as last year."

From Cadie, "This past summer was filled with lots of fun adventures and family time! One of my favorite things from this summer was going to Horn Creek Family camp to spend time with my immediate family, grandparents, and cousins! We did lots of exciting things like zip lining, Bishop's Castle, western night, and more. I loved getting to know my cousins, Kiyah & Rilyn, better! They're amazing girls who I am thankful to be related to. On the way to camp, we stopped in Amarillo for the night, and Nina and I went to see Texas: The Musical (see separate blog post). I rode in Nina and Papa's car the whole road trip to camp, and the rest of the family rode in the 12 SEATER VAN that my dad rented!!! The van turned out to be very useful in ferrying around family and counselors throughout the week. The sleeping arrangements at camp were perfectly ideal from my perspective (meaning I had half of Nina and Papa's cabin to myself while everyone else had to share a few small rooms). Bishop's castle was phenomenal as always! I was the adult assigned to take care of Colton/be his buddy, and we had a wonderful time going to the highest places of the castle. Parker even joined us towards the end! I'm extremely grateful that everyone made the time to go to Colorado this year, and I hope we can have another amazing camp week next summer!"