Joshua's Vo-Tech

I just learned today that Joshua's Vo-Tech classes transfer to college credits. In fact, if he successfully passes all his Francis Tuttle classes, he will be getting 44 credits at Oklahoma City Community College. Therefore, he will only need another 14 credits to get an associates degree. PLUS, if he graduates from Western Heights High School, which is the high school he is currently attending, he will get free tuition at OCCC for 2 yrs. So basically, this means as long as he takes his 14 credits in the next 2 years, he will not have to pay tuition!!!!

I think this is AWESOME news!!

We went to visit Bryan & family in Tulsa

Tim & I went to Tulsa this past week. Tim went to attend the Paul McCartney concert with Bryan. Both wanted to see a Beatle before he dies, and we all know how old Paul McCartney is now. Plus, this was a father-son event. This was probably the most amount of time Tim has spent with Bryan at a time in years. I went to see my grandkids. Of course, Tim always looks forward to seeing the grandkids.

This is a great picture of Angelina. She has beautiful hair and an engaging smile. Angela & Bryan say she reminds them of Michael. (It is funny to compare Michael to a 2 yr old.) When I was doing pics after our trip, I noticed they both have the same problem with red eye. Other people have it too, but Michael & Lina's eyes glow red the same way!!!

Jeseika was getting ready to start Kindergarten when we were there. Her school is only 1-1/2 blocks from their house. So after Angela heals from having baby Bryan, she will be able to walk Jessie to and from school. Angela is actually looking forward to doing it.

Jeseika is so cute. When I was there, I was taking pictures of everyone. She went and put these clothes on, got her bear, and came back to the living room and asked me to take a picture of her. So this picture was her idea.

FYI - Care Bears are definantly one of Jessie's favorite toys.

Baby Bryan is so cute! Michael commented on how quiet he was being. I told Michael of course he is quiet. He is only 2 weeks old.

He has his daddy's eyes, nose, ears, and long fingers.

If he ever grows into those fingers & toes, he will be as tall as his daddy!

Compare those fingers & toes. They are long!

As much as I enjoy these grandkids, every once in a while, I get a wonderful parental moment too.

Watching my children do chores I used to beg, plead, threaten, punish, ground, and pull my hair out to get them to do is sureal!

Yes! That is Bryan doing dishes!

Baby Bryan Thomas!!!

I finally have a grandSON! My fabulous son, Bryan, and his superb wife, Angela, had a magnificent baby boy! My grandson looks like a little Bryan. So I think it is more than fitting they named him Bryan Jr! We have started calling him "Baby Bryan," because he looks and is named after Bryan!

Look at those long fingers he has. I remember Big Bryan had really long fingers, too.

Does he look like a proud father or what? I am happy for both Bryan and Angela. They have a beautifully amazing family.

Jeseika's Dog

This is a cute, but long story. Inga has been a member of our family since early 2000. She is a full blood German Shepard, and was born Dec 29, 1999. She is especially good around children. If you are outside our yard, she looks, sounds, and acts like she will eat you up. Conversely, when you are inside the fence, she is timid, shy, and gentle. However, she is EXTREMELY protective of all children, even children just visiting. IMO, she is the perfect dog.

Jeseika was born in 2004, and she was never around any dogs. The 1st time Jeseika ever saw a dog up close was here with Inga, and she was terrified. She screamed bloody murder and shook terribly. So, Bryan and Angela worked with Jessie everytime they came over, to help her not be so scared. Visit after visit Jessie would be fine until they showed her the dog, and then she would scream and tremble. Finally, she started to chill out. One time Bryan even was able to get Jessie to pet Inga. This was the turning point. Suddenly, when Jessie came over, she would want to see Inga, and would ask where Inga was. Then it became an activity Jeseika HAD to do every time she came. She had to go see, pet, and feed Inga.

Two years ago, Jeseika started preschool. She told her classmates and teachers she had a pet dog named Inga, however, Inga stayed at her grandmother's house. So now if you ask her, she will tell you Inga is her dog!
This is a cute story already. However, the cutest part of this story is this picture. The instructions on this paper reads, "Draw a picture of things you are thankful for. Ask an older family member to label the pictures." So Jeseika drew she was thankful for the sky, wind, sun, world, trees, and much more. She drew near the bottom under her fish named Pablo and inbetween being thankful for sunflowers and Daddy that she is thankful for Inga!!!

Rare Pictures

One of the things I have noticed writing this blog, is I rarely take many pics of the boys. So I purposely took some extra pics of Michael and Joshua.

This is Michael chilling in the living room playing WOW.

This is Joshua playing XBOX 360 Oblivion.

What else would you expect from Josh??? I remember when it was a big deal to have 2 phones in a single house. Now we have 2 XBOXes!!!

As I sit here and type this, I can see both are accessing the router.

This is Joshua relaxing in my bedroom.

Camping with my Granddaughter

This was the 1st time Jeseika ever went camping. She had been to various lakes before this trip. However, she had never spent the night in a tent! We spent 3 days at Lake Ft. Cobb. Lillian came with us as well. Of course, if you read my blog much, you know Lillian is a GREAT camper!!! She is ALWAYS the one I want to take. Furthermore, I thought she might be able to help me keep an eye on Jeseika, who is 5 yr old.

Here Jeseika and Lillian are roasting marshmallows to make some-mores. BTW, Lilly made this fire all by herself!!! Seriously, she is awesome!

Here is Jeseika AFTER eating some-mores!

Here is Lillian AFTER eating some-mores!!!

We had a ton of fun!!! Tim ALWAYS wants the tent as close to the water as possible without the waves hitting the tent. The below picture was taken at a time when the lake had normal winds.
However, the last night we did NOT have normal winds. Luckily the water never got inside the tent. The waves definitely hit the tent, but they never got inside! Nevertheless, one of our tent poles did break in the 60+ mph winds!

Camping with the Bennetts is always an ADVENTURE!!! We camp in the "Primitive Sites." We sleep in a tent with no electricity, no running water, and the nearest toilet is a small hike away! Furthermore, the only supplies we take has to fit in our Nissan Maxima!

Watch the below video of Jessie dancing by our picnic table!

Notice, she REALLY starting dancing AFTER she learns I am video taping her!!! The lighting on this video is not very good. Please understand our equipment is limited.

Lilly's ROTC Awards Banquet

Tonight was Lilly’s ROTC Awards Banquet. Lilly won 3 awards!!! She won the award for Exemplary Conduct.

She won the award for Physical Fitness. She had to pass a test on the number of sit-ups in a specified time, the number of push-ups in a specified time, and run 1-1/2 mile in a specified time. There were only 3 freshmen to win this award!

Then she won the award for Participation. This was an award to the cadet who was always happy to participate in all the activities.

She received 3 ribbons for these awards and a certificate. She will also be getting another ribbon next week. The Commander said he just found out the whole unit won an award for excellence!

Lilly already had a ribbon, so now her ribbon count is 5!!!! She has so many ribbons, she will be getting a bar to mount them on next week. As soon as she gets them mounted, and on her uniform, I will take more pictures.

It was funny; she didn’t think she would win anything. At one point during the awards ceremony after she won the 3 awards, I turned and looked at Lilly and she was smiling. It seemed she had a permanent smile. So, I took a picture. She smiled for the rest of the ceremony. She smiled all the way out the door and to the car. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home. She smiled all through the store. She is happy and proud of herself!!

Lilly got her bars for her ranking up

My April 10th part 2

Lillian has been promoted in her ROTC!!!! She had to pass a test and an inspection!!! Now Lilly is a Platoon Comander!!!

------- WAY TO GO LILLIAN!!!!!! -----

PLUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joshua was selected and approved to go to Vo-Tech!!!!! He was selected to go into Regular Ed Vo-Tech!!!!!!!!!! He was approved for his 1st choice for Computer Networking!!!!!

--------WAY TO GO JOSHUA!!!!!!!!!!---------

This has been an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My April 10th part 1

You know the best shower you will ever have in your life??????

     ------ It will be the shower you have after you have replaced a toilet in your home!!!!!

Seriously, it was the BEST!!!

Lilly's Spring Break

Lillian went to Corpus Christie for Spring Break with her ROTC unit. The first night they stayed in a hotel, and the second night she stayed on the ship the USS Lexington. She received a patch for her stay on the USS Lexington. 

Jeseika's Picture

Jeseika and Angelina are spending the night with us. Here is a picture Jeseika made for me.



This is a picture from left to right: Me, Jeseika, and Tim. Then she taped a plant on the picture for a tree. Apparently from the picture, I have purple hair. Jeseika likes to give me hugs. Grandpa has a big head with big ears!!! I love children's pictures!!!!!!!!!!