It's a Boy!

We snapped this picture of son Tom and his family on Sunday afternoon. We were on our way home from the lake and had stopped to see their recently completed kitchen project. Hudson was all smiles and Steph was, well, still pregnant.

This is the same group two days later, yesterday the 22nd. The only difference is Hudson has a new baby brother. This was his first meeting with his little brother and he didn't offer to knock him down or take a toy back or any of that stuff that will be reserved for later. These are two loving, firm, but patient parents and two very lucky children.

This is one of the four lucky grandparents holding an as yet to be named boy. I am expecting a call about the name very soon. You can suggest a name but I can tell you that Cliff and even Ralph have been suggested and rejected. This in view of the fact that yesterday was also Ralph's birthday makes it even more... well, probably not surprising.
I don't know how long it will take for that smile to disappear from Grandma Marilyn's face but when it does, it will return everytime she picks up a grandchild.

UPDATE:

Cooper Leo

8# 9 OZ-

20.5" Tall

The Last of the Wedding

Let me explain something for those who asked. The reason the Campbells and the Morrow's know each other is that my bride Marilyn (L) and Char (Mrs Ralph) have known each other most of their lives. You know, same neighborhood and schools and such. I think the fact that Ralph and I both have an attraction to good looking women is why we're all friends. By him self, Ralph, like me, is nothing to write home about.

Ralph toasting his Son and new DIL Desiree and family. It was delivered with the eloquence we've come to expect from this man.

His new Grandaughter also thought it was touching...OR...she didn't much like it judging by her tears. It was the former btw. She is a lovely, mature young lady.

Me and my buddy Ralph. An umpire's uniform made me feel under dressed. However if anyone had mentioned it I would have ejected them from the party.

The cutting of the wedding cake by the Mr and Mrs Campbell.

This whole thing, the wedding, the reception, were all fun. I don't care who you are.

I sometimes wonder what kind of boring existence I would lead were it not for the Campbells. There doesn't seem to be a reason why we even know each other let alone having them be more than friends. I guess the mutual admiration comes mostly because of the entertainment value we find in each other.
If you can't find it in this picture then I guess I can't explain it. The Co-Best men posed for a picture with the 'officiant' as they are described by Colorado law. The officiant doesn't need to be an umpire but if the wedding is going to be on a baseball field, then it's okay. The umpire isn't really an umpire but he plays one during weddings.

Several months ago I got a call and was told that I was going to be asked to perform a wedding ceremony. One side of me wanted to say no. The thinking being that I didn't need the chance to mess up someone else's wedding. But the overwhelming sentiment from within was a feeling of honor that these two, Desiree and Nate, would think as much of me as I do of them. Nate is Ralph and Char's son and Desiree and her children have together become part of this farm family and we to theirs. All of this coupled with the fact that it was so far in advance of the wedding that it was really something that would never happen. Maybe with luck I would succumb to Blog Flu or perhaps cancer, well in advance of the event. No such luck.

Some of you know I do my best work when under extreme pressure and although I traveled to Denver with the words I wanted to say, all in my computer, the segments were not arranged in proper order, nor were they until game day morning. Err..the day of the wedding. The grooms mother, Char, who is a computer genius, and who had too much to do that day, calmly helped take product from my laptop, converted it into something that would work on her computer and then printed it out. Sorry Char for being such a pain at the last minute, but you are good.

You see, these two, Nate and Desiree, are ardent baseball fans and wanted to be married in a replica of Coors Field where the Rockies play. It indeed was a sceinic venue for a wedding. The grounds crew had done a marvelous job and had the field prepared for play, or a wedding, whichever came first.

The crowd was told to come dressed casually and fun was in the air.

I must say that the wedding had a good balance of fun and deep meaning. I had scores of folks come to me and say that it was the most meaningful and or best wedding they had ever attended sighting the venue, the message, the ballpark organ music and on and on. I am so happy for the couple and know this is done deal. What a great concept they started with.
I should have told them "There's no flowers in basefall." Here I am in the stands waiting for the wedding to begin.

I'm going to start with some photos in no particular order because, well, that's the way blogger treats me. I tell it to put the picture here and it ends up there.

The first pic is of the field in it's ready to go state.

Next is Bubba posing. The third pic was taken during the wedding vows.The last shot is of course the lighting of the "Unity Baseballs."

The lovely girl standing behind Desiree is her daughter. These three along with Bubba make the new family unit and I must say they are all winners.

My next post will be five photo's from the reception.

I'll leave you with the last paragraph from my message to the couple.

'Live, Laugh and Love, like there is no tomorrow, because eventually, that will be the case. Turn to God often, put your trust in him, and he will surely Bless this marriage from now until time immemorial. Be childlike, wonder at everything, Be in awe of Gods goodness.'

Disagreement

Marilyn opined that she thought I was 'Out of Shape.'

I said "No...you're incorrect;... Round IS a shape."

We Are Back

I first want to thank all of you who dropped in to watch the place while we were gone. I'm sorry I didn't 'school' any of you on how to operate our lawnmower, weed hooks, hoes, or on how to pick tomatoes.

We've been to a family reunion in Tennessee. Home for one day and then to Denver for a family wedding. I have a lot to say on these topics but will leave you for now with a pic from a view from our hotel suites', front room down in TN. It is of Lake Barkley or AKA the Tennessee River. (Notice the tug and barge in the photo) The State Park we were in was near the now under water, Fort Henry, of Civil War fame.

The other pic was thru the windshield of our car on last weeks trip to the foothills of the Rockies. A storm was moving in. (click to enlarge.)

I'm Leaving You To Watch The Farm

I'll be back later.

You Decide Which Is Which

One of these pics of the gauge cluster on my Allis D-14 is before the boys painted it, and the other one is after they painted it. Can you tell which is the before pic?
I'm going to have a tiny decal made that says "Spooky Old Allis" and place it on the front end of the hood. If you can tell me where that comes from without looking it up, then you are officially old.

View From The Porch And More

We've had 15 plus inches of rain since the beginning of June here in southeastern Burt County. I quit keeping track at the 13 1/2" mark. Keeping that in mind, it's not unusual that Marilyn could snap this pic from our front porch a few days ago. It's a common sight.
I think the 15 inches of rainfall this year will be averaged with the zero rainfall for the next two Junes to give us something to hope for.
Below is activity at Morrow Collision Center. Son Tom is seen here apparently hiding behind my 1958 Allis D-14 farm tractor. What he's really doing is applying a coat of primer to the sand blasted frame. The picture after that, was taken later that day. It shows the same tractor in all its freshly painted glory.

A Conversation In The Car

On the way home from Church we had our seven year old Grandaughter with us.
Grandma: Casey, do you want to go to the shower with me at church this afternoon?
Casey: What? (said meaning, "What are you talking about?")
Grandma: You know your Sunday School teacher?
Casey: Yeah
Grandma: Well her daughter is getting married and we're giving her a shower today in the church basement.
Casey: What?
Cliff quietly aside to Marilyn: Uh you should explain to her what a bridal shower is.
Grandma: You see Casey, when some girl in our church is going to get married all of the women in the church get together to give her a shower.
Casey: Oh GROSS! (pronounced GaaaROSS)
Give me credit here, I kept it on the road.

It Sounded Like A Good Idea

Addendum: Above is a picture of the float as requested.

Putting a float in the town's parade seemed like an obligation five years back. Our town was celebrating the tour of the Lewis and Clark Expedition through our area just 250 years prior. My wife runs a boarding and grooming kennel and when she fights the urge to deploy a float in our local parade, she will get questions like, "so, I didn't see a Morrow Kennels Float in the parade, did I?" From past experience, we know that a float, when properly prepared, is a joy to both behold, and to drive proudly down the street. People cheering, and you flinging candy as though you had been paid off by a Dentist. It's best to plan the float well in advance, gather the material to do the job, and then casually, over a week (the one before the 4th) put it together. There you will see the fruits of your artistic expression merge with physical talents into what surely will be a winner. Something, when seen by certain people in Pasadena, will put you on the fastrack to a permanent assignment there on New Years Day. Then reality sets in. On the Saturday morning, the 3rd of July of that year, my wife said "I want to put a float in the parade, for a change". The tone in her voice told me a float was in our near future. I said, "If you want a float, then we will make a float". I didn't realize until right then, that she had watched the movie "Dumb and Dumber", once to often. She wanted to make the Caravan look like a dog. At about 6 PM she starts. A dryer vent pipe covered with black cloth for a tail. Good. A red piece of construction paper sticking out from under the hood was a tongue. Good. Two large pieces of black cloth hanging out of the doors for ears. They did look more like large sunscreens. Four legs, white, outlined with black, taped to the side. Looked like two pieces of cardboard taped to the side of our van. Then she had a black garbage bag stuffed with trash, and taped to the hood. I said "what's that". She said, well actually screamed "It's a nose, what's it look like". Thinking back, I shouldn't have said "a black garbage bag stuffed with trash, taped to the hood of your van". I was able to duck the magic markers flying my way but she got me with the nose. Then I had to help remake a nose. Which with my help, I must admit, ended up looking like a piece of black construction paper, bent and taped to the hood of the van. It was time for me to put my talents to work. "Go make some signs for the van, and be sure to tie it in with the Lewis and Clark theme", she said. I already had an idea, but I was missing one important number. I thought I could get it off of the internet, which I did at about 2:30 am on the 4th of July. The number turned out to be 190. The sign read: LEWIS AND CLARK'S MEN ATE 190 DOGS IN 2 YEARS. WE AT MORROW KENNELS, HAVEN'T EATEN 1 DOG IN 25 YEARS. She heard some laughs, and a few young girls say "Oooh, poor dogs" Others said "I can't believe you actually put that on the float". I think all in all it was a successful float. I’ve been able to watch the parade from my Mother in-law’s yard since I made that sign.