What

What's New with the Youngbloods (2)

Amber got married on March 14, 2009 to AJ Benetz. We got to see a lot of family that we don't get to see very often. In this pic you can see Brian, Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, Doug, Rhonda, Shelley and some others.
Amber and our Grandfather Ertie Youngblood

Meet our two new family members, Lulu and Blackster. Santa Claus visited us and dropped off these two hamsters. Obviously we let the kids name them. Riley took her time and after much thought named hers Lulu. Hayden immediately landed on Blackster for his name. We couldn't talk him out of it.
Blackster wasted no time in escaping from their cage. He was AWOL for about a day before he showed up in a hall closet. He escaped 2 more times before we scrapped the wire cage and got two plastic cages. We had to separate them after finding out they didn't much care for each other.
Pinnacle State Park We liked Petit Jean so much we decided to try it again. This time at Pinnacle. This is a much different type of hike. Instead of walking along trails and exploring caves, we were actually climbing a mountain. I kept waiting for the kids to get scared and ask to turn around but it never happened. You can see from the pictures that we got up to the top and it's pretty high.	The second half of the trip up the mountain looks a lot like this. Walking on these big rocks all the way to the top.
Shelley and Riley at the top of Pinnacle	Hayden really didn't want to take pictures
I was amazed that neither of the kids were the least bit afraid of being up that high
Petit Jean State Park Shelley had a work retreat to Pinnacle state park where she hiked up the mountain. She decided that it might be something the whole family would enjoy, so we set out for Petit Jean State Park on Sunday. The kids weren't too excited as it involved walking and they weren't sure if they wanted to go. Fortunately they didn't get a vote in it. After we got there they were so happy to be there and didn't say a word about being tired. If you know the Youngblood kids that's a big deal. The only bad part was that Hayden didn't catch a lizard.



The FURST conference in Orlando I went to the FURST conference in Orlando FL in September '08. This is a conference for banks using the Metavante software. We learned a lot about banking and a lot more about our co workers while away from the office. This was my first FURST, but we had a fun group that knew all the best eating places in Orlando. On Friday night in a general session they gave away door prizes and they called my name for a Wii. I already have one, but I'm not one to complain about winning a prize. If you check Ebay in a week or so you can win a Wii too! Maybe the same one.	This is a woman I met in Orlando. They're a lot different than the women you might meet in Arkansas. Shelley has nothing to worry about, she wasn't my type.
The last night of the conference we had a portion of the Universal Studios blocked off for our group. This is a group shot of our crowd at the karaoke bar. This place had a live band with back up singers. Most people don't realize it, but bankers really know how to party! (compared to accountants)	Another shot of the HBI group at the karaoke bar.

First day of school at Ellen Smith Elementary 8/18/2008

Hayden was pretty excited about his first day of school. We were still at the apartment for the first day, but moved into the new house soon after.

Hayden had a friend from daycare starting kindergarden at the same time. He and Hogan have been friends for a long time.

Hayden's cousins Addison and Chandler both started at Ellen Smith elementary at the same time.

Riley started 3rd grade this year, but wasn't nearly as excited about it as Hayden. She really missed her old school.

Things started looking up a little when her good friend Megan showed up in her class.

Shannon had the kids over for breakfast before the first day of kindergarden.

Hayden with Mommy and with new teacher Mrs. Ortiz.

Shelley recently spent a week in Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. Windstream sponsored the pole night so she was working the whole time but also got to get behind the scenes at the racetrack. Kyle Busch won the pole night unfortunately, but Shelley had a good time.

She did get to meet and work with Bobby Allison who was there for Windstream to sign autographs.

Hayden's last soccer game

Hayden played his last game of the season on 4/25/08 at First State Bank Park. After starting the season with 7 kids on the team, we ended the season with Hayden, Chandler and Victoria. These three played the entire game for the final 3-4 games. I ended up coaching the team for the last 3-4 games also when the coach quit showing up at the games. They made a great improvement from the beginning of the season. Hayden finished the season scoring more goals for us than the other teams after starting off scoring several times for the other team.

Snow Day

March 4 we had a surprise snow day! The first time this year we had enough snow to let the kids go outside and play in it. It was gone in a few hours, but long enough for Shelley to get plenty of pictures. The kids all got to stay home from school, including Shelley.

Hayden and Chandler pose before their first game of the season.

Hayden didn't get to practice much before the game, but he's been playing a lot since then. By the next game he'll be scoring goals the whole game.

Hayden's first soccer game

3/1/08

Our coach was running late so I stepped in and coached our team to a 10-0 first quarter deficit.

After the game the kids run through the parent tunnel

This is about as close as Hayden came to scoring a goal, unless you count the goal he scored for the other team.

At one point Hayden had the ball in front of the goal and all he had to do was tap it in. He got nervous and tripped over his feet and fell down.

Chandler Stansell scored two of the teams three goals on the day. Notice the size difference, we were playing a team of 5 year olds. Ours are all four year olds.

Murder Mystery Party

December 29th we celebrated Holly's 40th birthday with a murder mystery party. Holly thought we were going to Benihana's up until the last minute. The theme was the 1980's in Texas. A rich oil family living on the Southspoon Ranch. There were about 14 guests, each playing a part. There were several mysteries throughout the evening, including the stealing of Twinkletoes the racehorse, the murder of RJ Harrington, and the disappearance of enough alcohol to sail a battleship.

I don't think we ever solved any of the mysteries. I do know that I killed RJ, but no one ever found out until two days later when I told them. Tim tried to arrest almost everyone at the party, but it was too late. Evelyn coordinated the whole show and put a lot of work into it.

Overall it was a great night. A 40th birthday to remember.....vaguely.

Sue Helen Butler (Billy Joe's wife) and Bobby Harrington (R.J.'s half brother and partner in Harrington oil)

Deputy Randy Coltrane (friend of Bobby's) and Lucille Harrington (R.J.'s half sister)

Left- Ali Fields (Crystal's sister and city lawyer) and Billy Joe Butler (Jack's best friend)

Right - Dolly Douglas (school friend of Lucille) and Dr Drew Morrison (a Dr. from Houston)

Jack Harrington (sophisticated oil tycoon and R.J.'s dad) and Crystal Harrington (Jack's wife and R.J.'s stepmom)

R.J. Harrington (Texas oil baron and generally mean guy) and Dixie Green (R.J.'s girlfriend)

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