Love Sweet L-o-v-e

Pic Uncle Dick had on his "MySpace", caption: "I LOVE my job!"

Ok, so the memorial service was awesome. I am not sure I will ever be able to say that about another funeral in my lifetime.

Picture this, at least two hundred people- from all walks of life, lots of tears, lots of laughs, lots of smiles, lots of hugs, (which by the way- we have always had "hugs" but now we have "Uncle Dick hugs" which are the super squeezy type,) three guitars, one large bass, drums, keyboard, several amazing singers, great food, heartache, sorrow, shock, grief, anguish, extraordinary stories, amazement, glory, praise, rejoicing, thankfulness, peace, admiration, appreciation, honor, faithfulness, respect, joy, compassion, and l-o-v-e. That magical four letter word that sums up all of these words.

I have never been in a place where I saw and felt these emotions all at the same time. It was truly an amazing experience to see how one man affected so many people's lives- for the better.

I was asked to read the last blog at the service and when I walked up to the podium with my little paper, I looked around at all the people and just felt the cry coming on. It was really powerful and I couldn't speak. It was sheer awe, I'm sure. I looked over to the side at my family and shook my head- there was no way I was going to be able to read that at that moment. So, my dad said softly "I'll do it" and walked up. So I stood up there by him while he read all those words and he added in some stories as he went along. I was so proud to be by his side while he read it. I feel that because I was unable to read at that moment my dad rescued me and in that rescue he found the inner strength to get up and speak--in order to help me, but really I feel it helped him. The Lord gave him the "dad strength" at that moment. I knew there were things he wanted to share but I knew that day would be so difficult for him and as tough as it was to talk about his close brother, he did. I have a wonderful, strong dad.

After the service, we went to a reception and they had so many amazing pictures of Uncle Dick and his band mates throughout the years. After about an hour or so, the band decided to get up and play... and wow... we went through some Kleenex! BUT they were not tears from sadness- but glory. It was rockin' in there and so much fun! Towards the end of the reception, hours after the "rockin" had been going on, I heard Nancy's great laugh, (my aunt). I cried again, for thankfulness. Thankfulness she could feel the goodness her husband had left behind.

This year I am so thankful for so many different things. Life is precious and so good, even when it is bad, it's good.

Celebrate the celebration of thankfulness and l-o-v-e.

"Boom Boom" was his nickname, given to him by a fan because he primarily played the bass.

Deuteronomy 10:21

He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.

A New Angel

Brothers, L-R: Doug, Dick (other nickname was Cal), Bud (my dad)

Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.

My Uncle, Dick, born Robert Cal Arnold, went to be with our Lord on Friday. He went suddenly of a massive heart attack and did not have a lingering passing. We are thankful for that. I want to share some of his great photos I ran across. He was a truly amazing man who adored his wife, life, music and enjoying his time everyday. Nancy, his wife, is an amazingly loving and caring lady and needs infinite prayers for peace in her heart and mind. They were best friends and together since teenagers. The loss is more than extreme for her.

He loved the Lord and depended on him to guide him through his days here on earth. Uncle Dick was the best hugger I've ever experienced. When he would visit he'd walk in the door and he had a very powerful presence. His voice was strong and his smile was big. He would put both arms out big and then wrap them around you so tightly and just squeeze. He'd squeeze so hard it would make me smile bigger. He always made me feel like he was happy to see me and he did this with everyone he met, he never met a stranger. If you were in his presence he was your friend.

When he saw something that was good, he acknowledged it. Specifically, one Christmas, after watching the children play, he pulled my sister aside from the group simply to tell her how wonderful her children were and how great of a mom she was. We all see these things happening every day but most of the time fail to acknowledge them. My sister was so proud at that moment when he told her that, because he didn't have to. He appreciated life and all the good that was in it.

He also leaves behind two brothers who loved him so dearly. Dick was the oldest and my dad was the middle and Doug was the little brother. He was the leader of the pack and his memories will be so strong. He loved many and was loved by even more. He was one of those people you wish everyone could have met because he leaves such a positive impression, and when you walked away from him you felt great about life and wanted to do good. I can't think of a better way to have lived.

One of my favorite pictures of him, 1986. He was a true musician.
(He had a super long beard down to the middle of his chest for probably twenty five years or more, but back when he had cancer the chemo took it away.)

He was a cancer survivor- he beat that terrible disease with the Lord by his side and had been cancer free for a long while.

This is how I remember him. He was a SMILER and a laughter and one of the best story tellers of all time. When he laughed he would light up the room and you could not help but be happy and want to be around him and hear what he was saying. He spilled out such positive energy.


He had a wonderful sense of humor. There were no dull moments nor anything that could squash his spirit.

Music was his soul. He never sacrificed what he loved for anything less.

Far right
Bottom left.


To visit his MySpace page to learn more and hear his music, visit:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=279266948

Love life, it is full of blessings, we just have to acknowledge them to appreciate them.

Genesis 28:12 -He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

How mighty this must be at that moment to know you are headed to Heaven...

Funday Sunday-Nov 9th

Ken and I had a great Sunday (a week ago Sunday)! We grabbed the cameras and headed out on the town, here in big Sulphur Springs! :) Ken with the professional digital and me with good ol' the vintage Polaroid. We went to the train station, feed mill, and lake and got some really fun shots. Here is a recap of what we saw that day! First are the Polaroids, next are Ken's digitals. He has such a great eye! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Train station here in town. I love the light in this one.

Ken took this one out the truck window! This is one of my favorites of the day. It is the courthouse on the square.

A picture of my hunny taking a picture. :)

I got this one of the tracks- that yummy sunshine!

Trees at the lake.

My sweet Ken.

Look at this beautiful lily pad! I'd never actually seen one before this!

I could pick these feet out of a line-up of a thousand.

Love this shot of the train.



Saw this one and sent it to my Big Bro, Adam, who lives out in California and gets to experience the beautiful sunshine everyday! He has said he really misses the thunderstorms we have here because they don't have them out there!

Shot of the shore at the lake... pretty trash, huh? :)


This one is at the feed mill... really cool place.

Ken's shot of the lake- great texture!

Our moon delight

I love this shot he got- it is my desktop now. So pretty and great colors!

The lilypad- God's work is always amazing.

Love and peace.

Headline reads: "Tech Kicks Bootie"

This was right after the game had been won! Look at all the people on the field!!

Ken and I made it out to Texas Tech again for the Tech vs. Texas game and boy, was it a thriller.

We decided to take the fast lane out there this time and not do the long killer drive so Ken got us a Cirrus SR-22 small private plane to take out there. Cut our six hour drive to a one hour and forty-seven minute flight. No comparison!

Leaving Sulphur Springs AirportSomewhere between here and there...Ken and Iggy up front flying.

Marshmallows

When we arrived at the airport, the rental car place lost our SUV reservation and we ended up with a "Mr. Bean" car... or at least that is what we felt like, minus the yellow. We laughed a lot that weekend about our little car that even when Ken put the peddle to the floor it just kept the same speed for a couple seconds and then slowly sped up. Not exactly the one I'd want to be in if I ever needed a get-away car.

The Speed Mobile

That night was Halloween so we went and stuffed ourselves with delicious sushi/hibachi and then headed out to the corn maze. Last year Ken took me, his cousin Josh and Josh's wife, Mandi, to a corn maze in Denton and the poor corn was only three feet tall. Not a challenge for anyone over 36" inches tall. This corn maze in Lubbock was super! The corn was a giant 9' tall! Cheating was not an option. They offered several trivia card options that when you got to a certain turning point you answer the question correctly and it gives you the correct way to turn. We got some more difficult ones and I also snagged the one for "tots" as a back-up so we would be sure to get the right turns if we needed them. I was a little afraid of getting lost in there. I had tons of confidence in my professional map-reading husband, but no confidence in myself, who has managed to get lost several times driving despite the fact I have a navigation system in my car. Yes, I am pathetic when it comes to directions. I was really happy to have my "tot" trivia questions and we did use it one time with the question, "What does a chicken lay". We were headed in the right direction! The maze was huge and Ken mostly used an aerial map they provided of the maze to get us through it. It was really neat and took us about half an hour to get through. After that, we shot corn out a pressurized air gun, and went to their petting zoo to see the little piggies and cows. It was a fun night! I left my camera in the car for this whole event so no pics.

The next day was the big game and it was such a great game! (...and yes, we made it there prior to the game starting in contrary to the last game we attended.) Prior to the game Ken took me to the Prairie Dog park place. It is a historical landmark where lots of little prairie dog families live. Such cute creatures!! Look how chubby some of them are!

Talking about the upcoming day- probably betting on who's going to win.

Then was the game!! Tech stomped Texas throughout the first half but eased up on them the second. Texas managed to get ahead by one point right towards the end and Tech's Crabtree, #5, caught an extraordinary pass to sure up the win for Tech with one second left on the clock. The whole student body stormed the field three times and the announcer kept saying over the loud speaker, "GET OFF THE FIELD-- THERE IS STILL ONE SECOND LEFT!" When that one second was gone it was incredible to see and feel the excitement and thrill from everyone! The stands emptied onto the field and the goal post came down! It looked like ants on a mound scrounging around a piece of food. When Crabtree scored, Ken and I jumped up and were yelling and high-fiving and Ken slammed his shin against the chair in front of him but didn't complain about it until later when the pain set in over his excitement.

Waiting impatiently for the one second to run out! Storming!

"Guns up" everywhere!!

Coming down!

Guards surround it until the crowd clears.

The streets were unruly after the game! Students were flooding the roads and laying on their car horns waving their "guns up"! Some were standing on the hood, cab, or bed of trucks while it was DRIVING- every parent's nightmare to realize their kid might be doing that. It was the most energy I've felt in a long long time. When we were driving by some guys on the street corner they were waving their "guns up" at me sitting in our car. I just starred back and one of them moved forward and pushed his "guns up" at me, as if he were telling me, "come on- put it up"! So I did just to be safe! I thought he might kick our little car if I didn't. :)

We sat and watched the madness for about an hour and then sat in traffic for another hour... and then took back roads away from the crazy drunks scattering the whole town to get back to our hotel safely. It was the most fun game I've ever been to!

Sunday we packed up and headed back to Sulphur Springs via the Cirrus. We were home by noon, in time to enjoy most of the Sunday! I hope everyone had a great weekend, too!

Much love!

New Pretty Old

I just got a vintage Polaroid camera from the late 70's and it is so great! I love the way they each have a lighted glow about them. Just wanted to share! Palmer will forever be my favorite model!

Fence line at our home... it's wrapped in old vines.

A tree stump in Ken's firewood pile.

Sun glare on a plant in our front yard.

Plant growing in our front yard.

Glass bird

Blinds in a glass door.

This is so fun! A new world! :)