Christmas 2010

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Christmas 2010 was a really fun time.  We had turkey, ham, scalloped potatoes, dressing, 7 layer salad, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie and we all ate too much.  The kids got so many cute things.  JJ loved his DSI the most...Dom loved his cooker grill...Amara loved he babies and stroller and baby bed.  We played games and had a great time.  Kids are what make Christmas fun.  We also enjoyed planning our trip to New Mexico for the next week.  

Bedlam 2010

Life's A Dance: Bedlam 2010:

Love these grandkids and they love playing together and going to OSU athletic games. I hope they are always this close. JJ, Dominic and Amara.. They truly make my life special.

Bedlam 2010

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Thanksgiving at the Waterford 2010

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This Thanksgiving Wes, Krista and Dominic went to Enid to spend the day with the Graff family.  Mike, Amanda, JJ, Amara and I decided to do something different.  We made reservations for the brunch at the Waterford hotel in OKC.  The food was excellent and the kids had a great time.  The ice sculpture really caught JJ's eye, it was a large turkey.  He also loved all the desert choices.  We were proud of how well both kids acted.  We didn't go until 2:00p.m. so Amara was a little tired and probably needed a nap.  We may have to make this an annual event.  Time will tell.  I liked not having to cook and most of all not having to clean up. LOL

Dominic's 3rd Birthday Party

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We had Dominic's Birthday Party at the gym where Dominic takes gymnastics.  Dominic's cousins, friends and family were there to help him celebrate.  Bop took JJ and Dominic to the football game earlier that day and then to the party.  Dom had a great day.  Everyone loved his big 3 birthday cake with Spider Man on it.

OSU Homecoming 2010

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Dominic's 3rd Birthday...

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Dominic did so well in these pics.  We think he is a pretty handsome 3 year old.  He loved jumping in the water puddles.  We really had a good time taking these pics.

Oklahoma State University....A Family Tradition

Mike and I had parents who came to OSU. My dad was here in the 1940's before he went to WWII. Jack, my dad, graduated from high school when he was 16 years old. He came to OSU to school. My mom and dad both graduated from high school in 1940. Mom was 15 months older than dad. She went to Cameron and then on to a Business school in OKC. They were married in Lawton, OK on August 16, 1941. They lived in Stillwater while Dad went to school. Dad went back to the farm first and then was drafted into the Navy. Mervin was born in 1944 and Dad was sent to San Diego, CA for training. When he got out of the Navy after the war there were no places to live in Stillwater, so he did not ever get to go back and finish at OSU. He was busy farming and ranching on the Grandview Shorthorn Ranch between Oney and Fort Cobb.

Pat, Mike's Dad, went to OSU too. He was there in the 1950's. Mike is the oldest in his family and I was the youngest in my family so my parents were closer to his grandparents age than his parents. Mike and Butch were both born while Pat was in school at OSU. Pat graduated with a degree in Dairy Science.

My two brothers got their degree from OSU. Merv in Animal Science and David in Human Physiology. David went on the get his dental degree from Creighton. Mike has one brother Butch who is younger than him that got his degree in Ag Econ from OSU. Matt went to OSU Okmulgee in diesel mechanics in 1979 and graduated in 1981.

Mike and I both went to OSU. I got my degree in Family Relations Child Development in 1976. Mike did not finish his degree. He decided to go to OSU Okmulgee to become a carpenter. Well, to make a long story short we decided to come back to Caddo County and farm. The McComas/Deason/Rogers families are deep rooted in Oklahoma State University. Mike and I counted Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins one time who have attended school at OSU and we came up with around 70 family members who went to school there. 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to say that we have two daughters who have their degree from OSU. Krista and Amanda both have their degree in Sociology and Wes, Krista's husband also graduated from OSU. We also have 3 nieces and nephews who have OSU degrees.

I taught school for about 35 years. Students would walk into my room to find OSU posters all over the walls. Then they would ask why I was an OSU fan. I would explain that is where I went to school, and that is where all of my family had gone to school so of course we are OSU fans. So when people say, why aren't you OU fans, and I explain to them our family tradition and they still want to know Why? I just give up. Here's your sign. I am an OU fan for the most part as long as they are not playing OSU, but I have had a few people in my life that have made that hard to do. I try to be positive. I try to just cheer for my team and not put any other teams down. It is just more fun to be where everyone is for your team. In all the years I have been going to football games, I have only been to 1 away game. It was at Mississippi State. There were 40,000 cowbells ringing for the bulldogs. I hated it. Like I say, I just like going to the games where the crowd is mainly OSU. 

There are many things about OSU that we love. The kids love Pistol Pete. All kids do. One time when Ryan was young we were sitting on the front row on the North side at a game and Pistol Pete came got Ryan and lifted him over the wall and took him down on the field with him. Now we also have Bullet and our grands can not wait for Bullet to come out on the field. They love singing the songs and watching the band. They love to go to the walk two hours before the game, to listen to the band and see Pistol Pete.

The McComas family loves wrestling and we very seldom miss a wrestling match at OSU either. Now I have been known to go to away wrestling matches. OSU has such a wonderful history and tradition in wrestling. They are the winning-est university in the nation. Krista still lives in Stillwater and works for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Ryan would have loved to wrestle for OSU, but was proud to wrestle for USMC, West Point, and serve his country. He loved his Cowboys though and stayed loyal to them, even in NY.

These three love coming to the games with us.  We get there early so they can see everything.

Amara is walking around like she owns the place. LOL

Amara is having a great time jumping.

The North side of the stadium has a Fun Zone.  The boys were interested in throwing the football and Amara was interested in the jump.  Here they are just looking around trying to decide what to do next.

Mike with Amara and Dominic ready to go to the first game.  Two, two year olds is fun.  They love going with us to the games though.  Mike and I have been going to the games since 1973 when we were both students.  We have had season tickets off and on since we moved from OSU.  Sometimes we just didn't have the money or the time to come.  We did the family fun zone for years.  We have had these four tickets for about 15 years now.  We love our seats and the people who we sit with.  Hope these kids love it as much as we do.. I think they do.

Bop the best Grandfather I know!

     I love my grandchildren more than anything else.  Yes, I think Mike knows this. LOL  I also have figured out that loving my family and putting their welfare first is what God wants and it is one way that I serve him.  I never could figure out how you put God infront of family.  It is God's plan for you to take care of your family and by doing so you are putting God first.  Of course this is just one way to serve God and glorify him, but it is ONE way.  That being said, Mike and I try to do all we can to spend time with our Grandchildren.  Mike has given up most of his other vices to be the best "Bop" I know.  When he could be out fishing, flying or playing golf, he is with his Grands.  Mike has days off in the middle of the week and sometimes works weekends.  He has used this time for the last 5 years to go see his grands.  He has been known to  drive 2 hours to see Dominic.  They go to the park, go to OSU to the dairy barn, or just play with his toys at home, but he makes sure he spends time with each one.  He did all of these things with JJ before he started to school.

     Now he has not done as well with Amara.  He asked me one day, "What do you do with a girl.?" I told him she would like to do the same things as the boys.  He is getting better with her and now that I am reatired we will be able to go together to see Dominic and also to go spend time with Amara by herself too.  She is older and he does better after they are at least 2.  Amara was 2 in July.  Amara used to look for me when we came to her house, but now she too has started to ask for Bop, just like the boys.
     Mike was so very busy while we were raising our own children and also working shift work that he did not get to do as much with them as he would have liked.  There were times when he was working 2 jobs plus trying to run a farm/ranch.  He did more than he thinks but not as much as he thinks he should.  Things are different with these Grands.  He has soooo much more patients with them. 

     I think God intended for grandparents be there for their grandchildren.  Parents have so many things to do and think about while they are raising their children.  I know that my mom was a huge help for us.  She tried her best to keep us grounded while we raised our kids.  She was really the only grandparent my kids had.  My dad died when Ryan was 3 months old, Mike's mom got sick when Krista was 3 months old, Mike's dad died when the kids were all still young, so I think my mom felt that she needed to be their for our kids.  She was great at it.  Amanda being the baby of all of her grandchildren may have gotten the most attention.  The kids stayed with Mom 1 at a time.  She kept all three one time and when we got back, she told me that she would still keep our kids, but 1 at a time. LOL  When you have 3 kids anywhere there is always an odd man out.  Of course it was always Ryan and one of the girls.  He was never odd man out.  Both girls thought he hung the moon.
     Bop, as JJ named Mike, decided when JJ was born that all the other things that he had done were not as important as spending time with his grandchildren.  I can tell you he has changed more diapers on these grands than he ever even thought about with his own children.  I am just glad he figured out how to do it.  If you have someone who needs help learning how to be a good Grandfather, send them to follow Mike around for a day.  His grands are spoiled, but he has not gotten so soft that he forgot how to correct a child when they need it.  Oh yes, I almost forgot, Mike has read more kids books in the past 5 years than anyone I know.  All three of our grands love books.  "Bop read to me", is heard over and over every day.  Who would have thought Mike would read Goodnight Moon until he had it almost memorized.  That is a fovorite of all three. 
     I just have to say it again.  If they give out an award for the best grandfather...Mike should win!

Dominic at the Park

When we got back from Arizona, we went straight to OKC to pick up Tino, but mainly to see JJ and Amara.  That was on Tuesday.  We rested one day and then took off to Stillwater to see Dominic.  Well, that was the plan, but Krista got stranded in Memphis for several hours and ended up coming into OKC airport after 10 PM, so we went to pick her up and we went to Stillwater on Wednesday night.  We took Dominic to eat pancakes and fruit for breakfast and then we were off to his favorite thing to do....Go to the park.  He is always so excited to see his Bop and go to the park.  I know this says I wrote this on Sept. 1, 2010, but the pics were taken on August 26, 2010.

Dominic and Mike aka "Bop" are best buds.  Don't they just look alike.  Dominic looks so much like his Bop that it isn't even funny.  He is built like him and has those beautiful baby blues.  The biggest difference is Mike never had blond hair.  His hair was almost black, before it turn white, LOL.

Mike teases this little boy so hard, and he has such a a good sense of humor.  He just says oh Bop, and smiles.  He gets so excited when he is telling us a story.  His favorite subject is his older cousin JJ.  He loves his cousins JJ and Amara. and he loves to talk about them.  Mike was known to some of his nieces as Uncle Tease.  No matter how hard he teases all of these kids they all just think he is great.  No one else on earth could do that but him.  That's just the way he is.

County Fair

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JJ and Amara spent the weekend with us this last weekend.  We took them to the Grady County Fair.  They like to ride on the rides at the carnival, but I think they also liked the gun fight with actors dressed up like they dressed in the old days.  We also took them in and let them watch the young exhibitors show their animals.  We got there just in time to see them slap the Grand Champion Steer.  We also watched the showmanship contest.  Then they wanted to get on the tractors and four wheelers to pretend they were driving.  What good clean entertainment and all but the carnival was free.  We also paid for them to ride the "live" ponies.

All this brought back memories of my family.  We raised Registered Shorthorn Cattle and I showed those cattle from the time I was 9 years old until I was 18 or so.  That was the bread and butter for our family.  We had some very good times and memories from those days.  The family that works together...that was us.

First Day of School 2010

We were gone on JJ's first day of Kindergarten at Nichols Hills Elementary, but Amanda took a picture for us and we are so proud of him.  He has gotten a smiley face every day of school so far.  He says he really likes his new school.  He is just growing up so quickly.  We really miss him this year.

The GRAND Canyon

West End of Canyon right above the Colorado River

     Mike has wanted to take me to the Grand Canyon, oh let me see, for the last 36 years.  This month we finally made it.  I booked a week at the Red Rocks...Sedona, AZ.  That was our home base.  We not only saw the Grand Canyon from the west end, which is part of an Indian reservation, we also drove the south and east end another day, and then finally made it to the North Rim.

At the bottom of the canyon on the barge.

Some of the Red Rock in Sedona.

     We finally made it to Sedona on Sunday night about 8 PM.  We drove to Tucumcari, NM Saturday night and then stopped in Albuquerque, NM for lunch Sunday.  We drove through the painted desert and The Petrified National Forest on our way to Sedona.

South Rim of Grand Canyon

     We looked at all the Red Rocks around Sedona, took day trips to Jerome, Prescott and in and out of several canyons.  We took the train through the Verde Valley.  If I mis-spell something forgive me.  These names are not familiar to me.  I am doing my best.

East end of Grand Canyon

     The best trip was the day we flew in a plane to the West End of the Grand Canyon..hopped a helicopter down to the bottom of the canyon and then floated on a barge down the Colorado River.  It was an all day trip and we also walked out on the skywalk.  You must put on shoe covers to walk out there and NO electronic devices were allowed out there.  No cameras, phones, videos... nothing.  They have a photographer that is out there to take pics for you and you can purchase the disk for $100.00 and print your own pics.  I chose to get one picture that they took.
     Our favorite view of the Canyon was from the North.  We did have an encounter with a large Bull Bison who did not want to get off the road.  He even thought about charging our car.  We would have lost.  A ranger drove up behind us and blew a device that was supposed to scare the bison... it sort of worked, but only in the bulls own time.
      I kept seeing a beautiful picture of the Colorado River all over Arizona.  Postcards, posters, and just pictures of this beautiful place.  I finally found out it was called Horseshoe Bend  and it was a couple of miles south of Page, Arizona.  When Mike and I left the north rim we drove north to Utah and drove the southern border until we ended up in Page, AZ.  The next morning I got to walk 1 1/2 miles round trip half of which is up hill to see this wonderful view of the Colorado River.  I must say it was worth it.  I would do it all over again, even though it was hot, and I felt like I might not be able to make that last climb, I did and I have the pictures to prove it. LOL

North Rim at Angle Point by the Lodge

     We made it back to Albuquerque, NM in time for me to eat at my favorite Cafe in Old Town.  The Church Street Cafe is probably the BEST Mexican food I have ever eaten.  Someone asked me what made it the best in my mind.  I had a hard time answering the question.  I am not sure why it is the best..it just is!!!  I also go to eat there on the way to AZ.  Mike knows I love that place and I can even tell Mike how to drive to within a block of the Cafe.  It has been 3 or 4 years since we ate there last time.
      It was really good to get back home.  It has been almost a week since we got home, but I am good on the traveling thing for awhile.  The next trip we have planned is to Philly in March.  I know that is going to be fun too.

Bull Bison who wanted to say hello!

     Mike and I really do well traveling together.  We can be together for about 10 days non-stop before we start to need some space.  I think that is pretty good.

Horseshoe Bend, Page Arizona

Vacation with the boys!

JJ wanted to go with Mike and I to Hawaii this year.  We would have taken him, but didn't think he was ready to be gone two weeks and ride on an airplane for 8 hours.  Maybe we will take him in two years.  We did promise him a vacation.

We took JJ and Dominic to Tatanka Ranch for a mini vacation.  The boys had a blast.  It was hot, but we managed to have a good time.  The ranch has 10 cabins.  We stayed in cabin #5. The boys swam and swam and swam in the pool.  Mike took them on a canoe ride on the lake.  They rode horses, and went in a wagon to feed the animals, goats, deer, donkey and some long horn cows from a distance.  There was also a playground that had a little western town built inside it.  The huge swings reminded me of the swings on our playground at school when I was little.  You can get them to go so high.  They are big enough for adults to enjoy too.  We also drove over to  Stroud to eat at the Rock Cafe.  There is a cafe on "Cars" that looks like this cafe.  The food was good.  Next time I do hope to take the kids when it is cooler.. Late July is so hot.

We stayed two nights and three days.  I think the boys loved being together and we just love all the time we get to spend with our grands.

Indian Fair Parade 2010

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Mike loves parades and never misses the local Indian Expo Parade if we are in town.  JJ was here with us so he went with us to the parade. Some of his friends were in the parade, but he found Callie to stand with and watch the parade.  He loves getting all the candy that they throw out.  Every August people look forward to the Indian Expo.

Summer Fun 2010

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This is a look at some of the fun things that the grands did during the summer of 2010. JJ played T-ball.  He was so good.  They had him play 1st base most of the time because he could catch the ball.   They also had fun, all three of them, swimming in the back yard at Amanda's. Mike took both boys fishing at Fort Cobb Lake one at a time.  They both caught fish.  Anadarko opened a water park in 2010 which the grands loved going to.  We went out to my friend Rhonda's to swim in her pool and ride the four wheeler.  Also took JJ and Amara to the library to see the animals, including a very large snake.  Summer is always fun!