Happy Halloween!

School Photos

These boys are getting pretty handsome!  They're not my little babies anymore... but getting to be really handsome young men.

Ah, but then, I'm biased.

Distilling with George Washington

Becky and I had the very rare opportunity to distill apple brandy at George Washington's Distillery at Mount Vernon this week.  Acting as helpers to master distiller Dave Pickerell, former head distiller at Maker's Mark, and distilling consultant extraordinaire, we were THRILLED at the chance to work with Dave at Mount Vernon.

This week, we were doing apple brandy.  Becky got to help with the first distillations of the low wines, and I got to help with the final distillation and barrel fills.  At the end, we all signed our names on two 25 gallon barrels, and at the prices that Mount Vernon gets for their spirits, those two barrels represent about $150,000 in spirits!  Whoa!  Where's my flask?

Court of Honor

Luke's troop had its Court of Honor this week.  This is the awards ceremony for the past six months in scouting. 

Luke did a great job getting started in scouts.  He earned his Scout and Tenderfoot ranks, plus the Space Exploration, American Heritage, Basketry, and Swimming merit badges.  He also earned the Totin' Chit which allows him to handle axes and saws, and the Fireman's Chit, which allows him to build fires.

That's a great start.  I'm especially proud that he's earned the Swimming badge; that's not an easy badge to get.

Nice job, Luke!

July 1998

Eddie, Grandpa, Nana, and Scarlet

Blessing of the Animals and a Birthday

Today was our blessing of the animals day at church.  God knows, Frank needs it!  We asked for a special blessing this week to cure his breath!  It smells like he ate a basket of rotten old fishes!

The blessing of the animals (or St. Francis Day) is always a nice service.  Chaotic, yes, but good chaotic.  The music is more modern (which I like), and everybody is in such a happy mood.  Plus, we get Brother John  preaching, and his sermons are always full of warmth and humor.  It was a good service that soothed a stressed and tired soul, just when I needed it most.

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We're also celebrating Luke's birthday today.  Last night, Luke had four of his buddies over for pizza, a sleepover, and all the Xbox they could handle.  It was a rowdy evening, but the boys were very well behaved, if not a little noisy.

Today, we'll take Luke to Pen's Oriental Restaurant for some Hong Kong style fillet mignon (his favorite).  May have to indulge in some local sushi (local?!) with Eddie today as well.

Happy birthday, buddy!

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We just opened birthday presents, and Luke scored big.  Becky and I bought him a one month membership to a Parkour gym in Sterling.  He and his buddy, Ronan, will enjoy bruising themselves, I'm sure.

From Nana, he got a few excellent futbol jerseys, and from Grandpa and Grandma Duke, Uncle Chuck and Tio Adolfo, he got an awesome B.J. Raji Packer's jersey.  Raji is one of Luke's favorite players.  Last year, Raji, the nose tackle, made an unlikely interception against the Bears, and Luke just loved his end zone dance.

With the Amazon money from all the LeDucs and Diazes (enablers!), Luke exercised his 2nd Amendment rights to purchase a CO₂ powered semi-automatic Crosman C11 Airmag BB gun.  God help us all.  We'll be prying that from his cold dead fingers.