She's starting to look pretty good!

This 1976 SS El Camino has been in Kenneth's family since it was bought off the showroom floor by his Dad.  When Billy passed away in 1990, Kenneth inherited the truck and has had it ever since.  We put a $400 paint job on it about 25 years ago and it really didn't look too bad considering.  But we wanted to get her fixed up for her 40th birthday and to roll in the 2016 Hot Rod Power Tour this year so re-chroming, re-painting and interior work has been done.  Kenneth has been doing all of the "under the hood" repairs and we'll take it to the front end shop to have all that worked on.  We have new tires to put on still and some other things, but here she is so far!!  It's so much fun to watch the progress.  We picked the truck up at the interior shop yesterday and my goodness - what a difference!  The dash was cracked and faded, the carpet rotted and greasy, the door panels we so stained and tore up and all the plastic and seals around the door were rotted and broken or missing but no more!  The interior is awesome now!  I can't wait to hit the road in June!

Before we started the restoration

The $400 paint job actually held up well, I think!

But look at her now!!!  All shiny...:)

 

 



Bringing her home

Following behind

 

Still some work to do, but MUCH improved!



The headliner looks great...so does that guy sitting there... ;o)

Look what a sweet wife my boss has!

Today is Administrative Professional's Day, aka Secretary's Day, and I just got a delivery!  I thank God every day for the family I work for.  Thank you, Janey, for thinking about me!!

Beautiful flowers and a rustic picture fame for me!

Fishing tournament weekend!

This weekend was the Metro fishing tournament on Caddo Lake.  Kenneth and Daniel have fished this one for several years now and usually do pretty well.  They have been practicing for weeks, not that it mattered much because with all the rain and flooding we've had this year the lake is pretty messed up.  But they did place 14th out of 44 teams so I consider that a great day for them!  Meanwhile, back at the house, Mum and Haley came up with their box of Bisquick and we made pancakes for breakfast and were they ever fluffy and good! 

Mum LOVES her some pancakes with her syrup!

We found out Haley will sit on command...as long as you have a pancake in your hand!

It was a beautiful, sunny day and even though the pollen count was kind of high I couldn't resist...

And Haley got a bit curious about the pond and ended up IN it so she got to stand in the sunny driveway and get a hose bath!

Sunday was another beautiful day so Kenneth and I headed out early for about six hours of riding with a stop in Springhill, LA for some lunch at a great little grill in a truck stop.  We got home early enough for Kenneth to get this little borrowed trailer ready to haul the bike this summer when we go to Sturgis and we may need it in May when we go to Dallas.

His work clothes don't really go with the bike!

YIKES!!  Watch your head!

He got the chalk and tie downs done and it's ready for travel!!

Fits nice!

Burn Run

I got home from work Friday, the sun was shining and it was 76 degrees so Kenneth took me for a ride!  We went to a place he had heard about that sewed patches on leather and he had a few patches sewn on his vest.  We stopped for dinner and took the long way home...such a nice evening!  Saturday, April 16th (which would have been my Mom and Dad's 61st anniversary!), we got up and headed out around 8:30.  Stopped for a light breakfast and on to the Harley Davidson shop in Bossier City.  They had a swap meet, burgers and a band.

Setting up the band and tables

 

From there, we headed for Doyline, LA to Lake Bistineau for the Burn Run.  The firefighters have this fundraiser every year for their burn camps for kids.  They had a Poker Run, but we've never done one before.  I want to do one with someone first to learn the ropes before we try one!

Even though it was cloudy and threatening rain, the turnout was great!

From there, we went back through Haughton to look at Daniel's house.  He's got a carpenter working on it and it's starting to get back to normal.  Stopped for a burger and a beer at Chili's then headed to a car show in Jefferson, TX.  We've been to so many car shows in the area that we usually see all the same cars but there were so many we hadn't seen before!  Again, the weather was cloudy but the turnout was great!

Love this little church...

We even got home early enough for the guys to go fishing.

Thankfully, the Lord held off the rain all day Saturday for us and we were able to enjoy all of our outdoor activities.  Sunday church, Rotolo's pizza and UMW meeting were all wonderful so I'm happy to say another full weekend is in the books.

Random visit all the way from South Bend!

Mike's new job took him to Texarkana at the beginning of the week and he flew out early this morning so he stayed at the house last night.  It was like he just "dropped by" which is crazy because they live so far away!  Only wish Jenny could've come with him but it was nice to hang out with Mike.  Hope he has to visit Texarkana again to check on that project!

Visiting while we waited for the fryer to heat up



Telling his brother-in-law all about the new job

We just never get tired of this! Fish cleaned the night before so it was SO fresh!



Now to get to work...

Happy that Mike was here to help Kenneth with the back bumper - it's heavy!

Little by little, it's starting to shape up!

Grandma's Early Birthday Weekend!

Mum's birthday is May 3rd, but Spring Break in Georgia was the first week of April so John, Karen, Stephen and Emily drove over Saturday and we celebrated her 80th birthday a bit early!  We started Saturday lunch at Superior Grill with Curt and Lisa while we waited for the out-of-towners to roll in.  Afterward, we checked into Margaritaville Resort & Casino where we had a nice view of the river again.  Everyone showed up a little later in the evening - our Georgia family and Maggie and Kate from Dallas.  We had a wonderful weekend of family, friends, food and fun!  We ate, oh, my did we eat!  Some of the weekend events were walking, shopping, trolley riding, movie watching, bowling, gambling, IMAX, shooting bottles on the rooftop, pool side relaxing, visiting, laughing, and eating!  The weather was absolutely perfect and the celebration was great!  Who knows what we'll do on her actual birthday!!

We always have fun with these two!!

Great food and margaritas at Superior Grill

Katie and her Padre

Kenneth and Elaine



Fernando is our new favorite waiter!



Heading down the Boardwalk to Fuddrucker's for dinner Saturday evening

Emily looking for just the right things at Maurice's

GMa is all shopped out

Not really a trolley, it's a bus...but it was nice after walking all afternoon!

Hanging out at the 5 O'clock Somewhere Bar

Watching us play slots through the glass before they head out to the movie theater

Maggie ordered a treat and a song for the birthday girl!

Maggie and me taking pictures of each other

Grandma with her two youngest grandkids

Maggie never follows rules...she brought gifts!!!  We love her anyway...and Kate, too!

Emily, Stephen, Karen and John - what a great looking family we have!!

Love my little girl!!

Love this guy, too...:)

Hanging out at the riverfront

Watching a science experiment while waiting for the IMAX movie.

Stephen volunteered to help

High fives for making the bottle go all the way to the roof!

Waiting for the tornado to start

AHHHHHH!!!!

They survived!!!

Waiting to learn all about the Hubble telescope in the IMAX dome...

Cousins!!!

Cool cousins in shades...

Relaxing by the beautiful pool at Margaritaville

Katie doing a little nursing on her brother

Hollis, John, Jane, Daniel, Elaine, Kenneth, Katie, Karen, Emily, Stephen and Alene at Saltgrass Steakhouse

Katie, Uncle John and Daniel

Grandma and her grandchildren

My family!!

We love GMa!!

Katie and me rockin' the bowling shoes and socks!

Stephen won the first game!

S

Emily trying to get that last pin!

Katie throwing a strike!

This is how Kenneth and Daniel ended the long weekend.


Hope you had a wonderful weekend Grandma - we love you!!