Champions

My grandson, Kyle Moore, is a senior this year at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas. Kyle has played on the High School Varsity Soccer Team all four of his high school years.

This year, the school soccer team played quite well advancing to the Elite Eight in Kansas State tournament play by beating Shawnee Mission South 5-2.



At the end of the game, the whole Shawnee Mission soccer team came over to the stands to accept the accolades of their fans. My grandson, Kyle, number 7, is leading the team in the photo below. That's my boy!


Nice going, guys! You are true "Champions".

The Allegro Choir

My granddaughter, Maddie Crowl, has been singing in the Allegro Children's Choir for seven or eight years. This afternoon Greg and I attended their Fall Concert. It was a great concert, as usual. The music is really beautiful with so may young voices joining together.

After the concert in the picture below, Maddie is flanked by her Uncle Greg on the left and me, her grandfather, on the right.



Of course, the proud Mom and Dad (Becky and John) were beaming in the photo below when they congratulated Maddie on the performance.



Keep up the good work with "The Allegro Choir", Maddie!

Real Stir Fry

I really enjoy stir-fry, especially experimenting with it at home. I try all kinds of different recipes and combinations with a variety of sauces. Carole's most favorite food is Chinese and we eat out at lot at Chinese restaurants.

But when it come to really authentic stir-fry, we don't know what is really good or how to properly prepare it. That's where my son, Greg, comes in. He has lived most of his adult life in the Western Pacific, in Guam for the past 20 years or so, and his work requires frequent travel to Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Japan as well as other Western Pacific locations. Much of the cooking in those countries is stir-fry, so he is very familiar with "Real Stir-Fry".

So when Greg comes home, one of the things on the agenda is always for him to prepare a stir-fry meal while he's here. This trip was no different . . . and it's very interesting to watch him stir the wok and throw everything around with a spatula. He stirs it almost continuously, almost like a professional.



Although it's fun to watch him with a wok, the real proof is in the final product. He cuts the vegetables differently and adds them to the wok in a different sequence. He mixes up unique spices and tosses them in at just the right time. And the finished stir-fry on the plate is wonderful.


It's too bad we can't keep him around a little longer. He sure does know how to cook stir-fry . . . and it's "Real Stir-Fry", not our Americanized version!.

A Family Gathering at the Crowl's

While Greg was home, John and Becky (my daughter) invited the whole family to gather at their house so everyone would have an opportunity to spend a little time with Greg.

Whenever our family gets together, we always eat . . . and Becky always has a nice spread. This time, John had grilled a brisket and a variety of sausages, Becky had salads, fruits, potatoes and corn. My son, Steve, is shown here loading up his plate.



Greg is pictured below soberly enjoying a glass of wine while waiting for the food line to get a little shorter.



. . . and two of my grandchildren, Alex and Madison, were the first through the food line and are busy eating while waiting for others to join them.



The food was very good, but we also had a great time getting the family together and spending some time with Greg. Of course, "A Family Gathering at the Crowl's" is always wonderful.

Liberty Memorial WW I Museum

The only museum in the entire world dedicated solely to the first World War, "The Great War", is in Kansas City at what is called The Liberty Memorial. It was recently completely remodeled and my son, Greg, wanted to visit the Memorial and Museum while he was home from Guam.

Greg, my daughter, Becky, and I got together today and made the trip to the "Liberty Memorial World War I Museum".

The Liberty Memorial tower is on the right in the left photo below and the museum building is on the left. It's a beautiful location setting on top of a hill overlooking the renovated Union Station, Crown Center (Hallmark Cards) and downtown Kansas City. The new entrance to the museum and the reflecting pool is shown in the right photo below.
















Inside, the museum is awesome. Yes, I know that word is grossly over used today, but this museum is truly awesome.

Inside the entrance is a field of Poppy's, one Poppy representing each US Soldier killed in "The Great War". This field of Poppy's is about 8'-10' below a glass floor which you walk over to enter the museum. They did have a carpet runner across as some people felt uneasy walking across that glass floor while 8'-10' feet in the air.

The displays were very well laid out explaining in detail what led up to the war, how and where the war was fought, who the combatants were, and the aftermath of the "war to end all wars". I hadn't realized before that the war was fought in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. I had always thought it had only been fought in Europe.

The large number of artifacts was astounding. I was amazed at the detailed information given about everything on display. Many of the uniforms on display were identified by the name of the soldier, sailor, or nurse who wore it . . . both allies and German. Also many of the individual guns on display, rifles and pistols, were identified with the name of the soldier who carried and used it.

Flash pictures were discouraged inside of the exhibits, but I did take one picture of the display of cannons and mortars.


This museum is really magnificent and I strongly recommend it to anyone who may have an opportunity to see it.

We spent the better part of the day touring this museum and were unable to cover it all . . . and some parts we did see, we kind of skimmed over. The next time Greg comes home for a visit, going back to the "Liberty Memorial World War I Museum" will be on our schedule. Maybe we'll even take two more days and really see all of it.

What a Sandwich!

My son, Greg, lives in Guam where really good meat isn't available. So when he comes home for a visit, he usually wants some good Kansas beef cooked on the grill. He's home for a week now and we had Kansas City Strip Steaks one night and then on another night just grilled some really nice burgers made from quality Kansas beef.

By the time Greg stacked on all of the trimmings, he had some burger!



Even after he squashed it down, he still had to open wide to take a bite!




"What a Sandwich". Mine was delicious . . . and Greg really enjoyed his too!

Hillsdale Presbyterian Church Fall Festival

Every year, our church, the Hillsdale Presbyterian Church of Hillsdale, Kansas, has a "Fall Festival". It runs from 8:00 AM to Noon on a Saturday morning and today was the day.

Outside we had plants and outdoor decorations for sale, inside we had lots of crafts and jewelery for sale along with a silent auction of donated items. Of course, this was a fund raising project. Shown here are the tables set up in the hallway displaying jewelery for sale.



We also served lunch; ham or beef sandwiches, potato salad, relishes, and an endless supply of home made desserts.

It was well attended. Church members and people from the community enjoyed setting around the tables visiting for quite some time.



. .. and best of all, we raised a considerable amount of money for the Church.

Senior Night

My grandson, Kyle Moore, plays varsity soccer for the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. He is a Senior this year and has played on the varsity soccer team and lettered all four years of high school.

At half time at tonight's soccer game, the seniors on the team were recognized. Shown here is Kyle (No. 7) being escorted by his proud Aunt Becky and Uncle John.



His proud grandfather (Me) was sitting in the bleachers cheering. I was very proud of all of them!

Morning Deer Valley

Our home in Kansas near the small unincorporated town of Hillsdale is in a rural development called "Morning Deer Valley" . . . an area of 18 home sites ranging in size from 3 to 7 acres.



In case anyone is wondering why this place is called "Morning Deer Valley", all they need to do is be here on almost any quiet morning or evening in the country.

Deer usually show up in our front yard, generally along the driveway where there are some old apple trees. They stop by to graze and munch on apples. Recently, a doe with two fawns stopped by . . .




As they were grazing, a neighbor came driving by, saw the deer and stopped to watch them. Of course that got Momma doe's attention and she raised her head to watch that car stopped out on the road. One of the fawns also took a look, but the other one didn't seem much interested.









Momma doe didn't like that car stopped out on the road with people in it watching her and her family . . . so she bolted. Time to get out of here!
Of course, it didn't take the two fawns long to follow Momma.










They ran across our front yard and disappeared into the woods across the road. Momma apparently wasn't too worried, however, as she didn't even raise her tail. The two fawns, however, knew Momma was in a hurry, so they both had their "flags" up.









But this is still "Morning Deer Valley". The next day the same Momma doe was back, along with her two fawns, quietly grazing in our front yard.



And that's why this is called "Morning Deer Valley"!