House of Hope Hot Dog Fest!!

A combination of members from A&M CofC and Living Hope held a free hot dog dinner at the Lincoln Center House of Hope on Saturday. It was a blast! We probably had around 100 people from the community show up for hot dogs, sausage, watermelon and Blue Bell Ice Cream.
The House of Hope is a community outreach house located directly across the street from the Lincoln Center. It has been a vision of Dr. McCrady's for a really long time and it has finally come to fruition. A multitude of events take place at the house including; Bible study, WIC, GED classes, food bank food distribution and now hot dog dinners.
As you can tell from the pics, everyone was involved. While we were setting things up some kids from the neighborhood showed up and wanted to help. So they took the signs and stood out by the street yelling and waving at cars to get them to stop and eat. They were very successful. A lot of dogs, ice cream and watermelon were consumed.
At the end of the day we had a lot of lemonade left over so David and I had a little bit of Camp of the Hills type of fun. We told the two remaining kids - who are both going to COTH this year - that they could get 10,000 points by dunking their heads in the ice-cold lemonade. As you can tell from the videos below, they did it and it was awesome! Now all they have to do when they get to camp is remember to tell Mel that "Maddog" and "Reno" said to give them 10,000 points! :)

ENJOY!
Me, David and Doc McCrady.

Me and Jackie

Doc McCrady and Jackie.

Kid dunking his head in the lemonade - Funny!

Post-dunk.

Me, Doc, Mrs. McCrady, David and kids.

Vegas Baby!! Yeah!!

I just got back from four days in Vegas with Brianne, David and Sarah. We went out for a surprise 40th birthday party for our cousin Jeff and stayed a few extra days. We had a great time! We stayed at MGM Grand and took in Cirque du Soleil Mystere, layed by the pool, played golf, played the slots and Craps and ate some really good food. Reagan and Lindy were in town for their anniversary so we were able to hang out with them as well. The pics of the skyline are taken from a bar called Mix that is in the top of Mandalay Bay. We are on the outdoor patio overlooking the strip. Our cousin works their so we went up for appetizers before dinner at Nine Fine Irishmen that evening. NFI is in New York, New York and it was the best restaurant we went to all week. They had an irish band playing and had a lady dancing the Irish Jig (see video below). Good times were had by all!

View from Mix atop Mandalay Bay.

Brianne and I on the patio at Mix

David and Sarah in front of the Vegas skyline.

David and Sarah on the patio at Mix

Brianne and I and the Vegas skyline.

Enjoying a cigar at Nine Fine Irishmen

Dinner at Nine Fine Irishmen.

Playing the slots.

Gotta love the nickel slots.

At The Venetian's Canal Shops.

With Reagan and Lindy at Cirque du Soleil at TI. It was an amazing show.

In front of the Bellagio with Paris in the background.

Watching the water show at the Bellagio.

Catishin'

David Anderson, James Garner and myself bought a guided catfishing trip in the Rocky Mountaion Elk Foundation auction a few months ago and Friday night we were finally able to take the trip. We had a BLAST!! The guide, The Catfish Consultant and Bait Boy did absolutely everything except reel the fish in. We actually did that. We left around 5 p.m. and didn't get home until almost 3 a.m., having spent 8-plus hours on the boat. This trip redefined how fishing should be done. Our Bait Boy - I still can't remember what his real name was - took care of rigging all the poles and even casting them out. All we had to do was sit around and wait for a fish to hit. Then whoever could grab the pole first got to bring the fish in. The two of us who id not get on the pole would just LOUDLY cheer the "fisherman" on. We are already planning our next trip and will be enjoying a good fish-fry on Sunday evening.

With our yellow cat. I get to claim it because I was the first to grab the pole when the fish hit. It is the biggest yellow that the guide has ever brought in.

David reeling. It looks like he has a big fish on but he was just caught on a log.

David at sunset.

Our haul!

My big blue cat.

Enjoying a good cigar at sunset.

James celebrating his first catch.

James and I enjoying our cigars. Waiting for a fish to hit. It was a tough job.

The fishermen.

David astonished by his big blue.

Fighting another big one.

James is working hard while David cheers him on. Everything is funnier and more fun if you are loud!

David is actually catching a fish here. It wasn't a log this time.

Garden Update

Well, we are officially into the growing season and my garden has really taken off. Those of you that know me pretty well know that I tend to get a little overzealous about things and go all out. Well ... I've done it again. I definitely planted too many plants in my garden. It is so grown up that you can't even seen the dirt anymore. 16 tomato plants, 11 squash and 3 cantalope plants take up a lot of room. Here are some pics of my first batch of vegetables. I have over 30 tomatoes on the vine as well as 20 squash. I planted the cantalope late so they are not anywhere near ready to produce. I can't wait to eat my first tomato!!