Wedding in Hawaii

All is well in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Renee' and I were married last week in Kauai. What a great place. We had problems getting there (United Airlines) but once there we had a wonderful time.

This has been a really full summer so far and work is going 100 mph. I'll fill more in when I have time - just wanted to get this link posted for now. Aidios for now...

New Expanded Family

Well, so much has happened since my last note. Renee' and I are getting married in Hawaii on May 24th... We will be living at her house and selling my place to her daughter (Trish) and her new husband to be (Ryan). She has two other kids - Ryan and Charlie (yes two Ryans now - we call Trish's fiance' "Kels"). Actually they aren't kids - Trish is 24, Ryan is 22 and Charlie is Patrick's age.

Charlie and Patrick graduate this year. Patty got a full ride at Panhandle State Univerity and will be playing football for them next year. He was chosen as "All-Star Defensive Lineman" for Oklahoma last year and did really well in track - their 3200 relay team made it to state and finished 7th out of 16 teams. Patrick has been working at Hastings but just gave his notice because of all of the activities this Summer.

John is living with his Grandmother in Midland now. He was working at a steakhouse, but recently got a new job as a grounds-keeper. He will have better hours and make more money. He is going to continue school at Midland Community College this Fall.

Matthew will be playing football again for Turpin as a Junior next year. We will now have ball games every Friday and Saturday! He also was on the track team and ran several events, including the 800 with Patty. He is doing well and decided not to take the job as a grounds-keeper for the country club again since he has such a full schedule this summer.


Rachel goes into High School this Fall. She will be playing Basketball next year and is excited. She did really well this past season and started every game. She got a horse ("Molly") for her birthday in April. Molly was born the day before her birthday.

Trish is getting married July 1st and works for her Mom at American Title. She and Kels are doing wonders with the old house. I'll post "after" pictures when they get done.

Ryan co-owns a body shop that does car restorations - "Dream Ride Customz". He and his partner, Dave, take old cars and re-do them and sell them for jillions of dollars. The shop is out on the farm and they are staying really busy.

Charlie is working for me, learning the land business, and is going to Seward County Community College next fall. He was quarterback last year for Turpin and was catcher for baseball team.

Renee' & I are buying a new building and plan to move our businesses there. She has American Title and Abstract Specialists, Inc. w/ offices here and Ulysses. It will be late Summer or early Fall before we get in the new place if all goes well...

Leah and I went on a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel this past February. It was a lot of fun and the weather was great. I wish I had planned some scuba diving but at least got some snorkeling in.

I suppose that is it in a nutshell - I know I left several things out, but will add them later - just wanted to get caught up... I'll also post pictures of everyone when we get back from Kauai.

Pheasant Hunt

The hunt was great this year. Dad and Uncle John came up and my Houston folks came as well. My hat is off to Julie for braving the less than comfortable conditions in my far from finished house. We easily shot our limit the 1st 2 days and shot 6 on Saturday. It would not have been a problem getting a limit that day either if we weren't so cold and tired.

My good friend Harold Kuhn died Saturday from West Nile. His funeral is tomorrow and Selina asked John to sing in it. She said Harlod always liked his singing. We will miss him.

Patrick and rachel are both playing Baskeball this year which fills up 3 or 4 nights a week. I'm real proud of both of them. Everyones grades are good right now - hope they stay up...

Well enough for now - Merry Christmas everyone (no - I didn't say Happy Holidays).

New Weather Station

I got it hooked up and it works great! Take a look by going to my links page at www.haralson.net... The instruments are wireless and in the field south of the house so the trees don't interfere. The base unit is in the kitchen and connected to my computer. Updates the website every 20 minutes. I know - I need to get a life.

Football has been a lot of fun this year. Matthew and Patrick lined up together on the kick-off last game. Matt made 2 good tackles pretty deep and Patty made 2 or 3 himself. Games and results are on the Football link along with some newspaper articles. I'll get the other articles scanned and uploaded soon. We play our last regular game on Friday against Beaver - then on to the play-offs.

Rachel & McKenna spent the night on Halloween. They wanted to "sleep in a haunted house and watch scarry movies". My ghost didn't show up (as far as I know), butthey fell asleep during the movie so it must not have been too scarry.

The house is coming along nicely. I am in now and am getting the kitchen re-done. Should be finished in about a week. Got an estimate on my porch windows/screens yesterday. They should be in before the weather gets too bad (I hope).

John is doing good in school and working 2 jobs (Applebys and JC Pennys). He's talking about taking next semester off to save money so call him and talk him out of it if you get a chance. It is sure hard to go back when you lay out like that!

Thats all for now - stay tuned...

Homecoming King

OK - this isn't just "Patrick News", you other kids start doing something... Patty was paired with Stephanie Hamrick on Friday for Homecoming and she won homecoming queen... Doesn't that make him the homecoming king? After the ceremony, he dominated the defense with at least 6 solo tackles and many more assists. I couldn't count them all but his name dominated the PA system. The first play on defense he sacked their QB with an huge blow, knocking the guy 5 yards through the air. He made several great blocks on offense too. It was an exciting game that Turpin finally won 16 to 12.

Patty's ACT Scores

He is going to kill me for doing this, but I'm pretty proud of Patrick's ACT results. We just got them today. He scored a composite of 28 (top 7% in the nation). English was 30 (top 5%); Math - 28 (top 8%); Reading - 25 (top 25%) and Science - 28 (top 5%).

He isn't sure where he wants to go to college yet - looking at West Point and Oklahoma State right now.

Doves are still flying

I was headed out to work this morning but couldn't resist going back in for my shotgun. There were hundreds of dove flying over the new pond. Shot my limit in less than 10 minutes; cleaned the birds and was off to work 30 minutes late... Oh well. Gotta love it. It won't last too long - they will clear out pretty fast when the first cold front moves through so am shooting while I can.

I rented a floor sander, but after seeing how much work was involved made a bee line to the carpet store. I like the old hardwood floors, but the carpet will make the old house much warmer and easier to take care of. At least that is what I am telling myself. The electricians will be finished today. Concrete guys will be there in the morning to pour the porches and the carpet goes in next Wednesday. I see light at the end of the tunnel!

Back to work... M