Fall Foliage in the Ozarks

This past weekend we spent some time in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains and were able to see the fall foliage in its prime.

Our good friend, Carolyn Arnold, so graciously shared her lake home with us in Diamond City, Ark., on Bull Shoals Lake. The combination of the foliage with the autumn sky made for one amazing sunrise.

Further west in my hometown of Prairie Grove, Ark., the leaves where painting their own picture.

I always miss fall in the Ozarks. Out here in West Texas, only the elm trees actually change color, but they only change yellow. There aren't too many maple trees out here in the flatlands.

Tate

One of the many wonderful things that have accompanied getting married include getting nephews.


I mentioned before how much our nephew Tate resembles Byron in behavior. Obviously, I didn't know Byron as a kiddo, but I think this is about as close as I can get.



This kid is crazy about sports. He loves all of them.


Tuesday was Tate's fourth birthday, so we took him a Razorback football jersey to add to his collection of team jerseys. Of course, a football game broke out in the backyard.


You would expect most four year old kids to just run around and throw the ball with little to no accuracy.



However, Tate knows how to do the three point stance, he knows punt formations, and he can kick a football off a tee into the neighbor's yard.


I'm not sure who had the most fun - Uncle B or Tate.

Beneath the Lights of Texas

The weather this fall has been beautiful. While I would prefer slightly more jacket-conducive temperatures, I can't argue with the all-around pleasantness of this month's weather (despite the normal extremes that seem to happen out here, i.e. 39 degree days followed immediately by 93 degree days).

The fall sky in West Texas is a sight to behold. The mix of deep blues and purples with orange, red and yellow is breathtaking.


We had a Tech co-ed intramural softball game last night (I get to play Tech intramural sports again since Byron works for the Texas Tech University System - lots of excitement here). Our game started around sundown, and I was half tempted to take my camera to the outfield with me. I decided against it, because I could envision myself sticking a cleat through the LCD screen on the back of the camera, or something awful.


We won the game and no one was injured.

Pumpkin Carving

In the spirit of the fall season, we hosted the Second Annual Wine Not Pumpkin Carving. A cold front moved through right as we were beginning, and the temperature went from 83 to 58 in a short amount of time.

Regardless, it was a nice, chilly fall night, perfect for pumpkin carving.



Mary Jane and Nathan brought a battery powered pumpkin carver. They were well-prepared.



This is Byron's pumpkin. Impressive, huh? He's an impressive guy.


This is my pumpkin. Byron and I did pirate themed pumpkins in honor of Texas Tech's homecoming this weekend. (TTU head coach Mike Leach has a thing with pirates...)


Last night also marked exactly one year since Byron took me on our first date.


This is Erica's pumpkin. One eye fell out, so she had to support it with a toothpick. I would give this pumpkin the "Funniest Pumpkin" award.


This is Rachel's pumpkin. She's a big Twilight fan, so she was all about the vampire action.


This is Mary Jane and Nathan's pumpkin. I think it's the cutest.


As they would say in the Viney Grove News, "A good time was had by all."