Firecracker Open Was a Bust, But Weekend was Outstanding

Well, we had a great July 4th weekend except for watching Hunter play in the Firecracker Open Golf Match.  Hunter shot 2 under in the qualifier the week prior so he went in with high hopes.  The temperature and humidity were both high and Cecile, Shelby, and I had to walk so it was brutal.  Hunter ended up shooting like +9 over the three rounds...OUCH!!

Update - Part Two

Some other updates to get you up to date is that Shelby is going to try out a new job.  They are asking folks to come in and do the job for a day or so before telling them they got the job.   Weird.

Cecile is looking to do some work for 6 or so months, so Cigna is looking for some call support assistance, so she may get that job soon.  While we are talking employment, Taylor got a promotion and raise at VMWare.  She also moved to a building that is closer to our house which is also good.

Hunter has entered into two golf tournaments:  The Austin Firecracker Open (City Amateur Championship), which as been going on since 1946!!  Let's hope he does well.  Hunter is also signed up for his first PGA qualifier match tournament in Dallas in a few weeks.  The competition there will be very high for sure.

Exiting news:  We broke ground last week on our new house that Cecile and I are building in the Travisso subdivision out 1431 towards Volente.  It should be ready to move in around January/February.  1-story and is smaller than what we have now...which is what we wanted.

Total Update for Everyone - Part 1

Where to I start.  Sorry for not posting anything to this blog almost 2 years.  We have had a bunch of great changes in our adventure.

Hunter graduated from Culver-Stockton College with a Sports Management degree.  He decided to pursue a career as a professional golfer, so he packed up his truck to the top and is now living with us in Austin.  He also convinced his girlfriend, Shelby to come down to Austin and she is very busy seeking work.  She is amazing and good for Hunter, she will not have a problem getting her career started again here.

Taylor and Brett are now engaged and have their wedding scheduled for late December of 2019.  They are right now going through the planning process and getting venues, catering, and so forth figured out and it is funny to see how everyone is handling the stress.

For a bit of bad news.  Both HG and Mary Hawthorne (Cecile's parents) have passed away.  HG was the first to pass after dealing with Dementia in 2018.  Mary was getting more and more fraile, had to have hip surgery, and she too at the end was dealing with Dementia.  She passed away in early 2019.

Derek has graduated high school.  Then he took 8 months or so and traveled throughout Europe.  I think the best country he liked was Germany.  After a good 9 months is going from job to job, he has landed a job that he really likes at MOD Pizza close to where we live.  Oh, did I mention that Derek is living with us so he can get on his feet.  One of the things he purchased was an electric scooter that he uses to get to work and around places.  With a little more life coaching, we feel he will be able to get out on his own...let's see.

More news to come soon.

Hunter is in Town for the Summer

Hunter completed his sophomore year at Lincoln College and played on the golf team for both years.  He managed to qualify for Nationals as an individual and did very well in those matches as well.

He is transferring to Culver Stockton College to play the next two years at a Division 1 school.  He is getting some coaching from his swing coach here in Austin.  He has also entered into 3 golf tournaments: Austin Mens City Championship, GC of Houston Championship, and the AT&T San Antonio Championship.  Let's see what he can do in these tournaments with some serious amateur competition.  His game has been getting very good...he is like a scratch golfer...makes me sick :)

Made a Career Move: Pace to Q2ebanking.com

After almost 8 years of working in the embedded firmware development and test environment, I determined that Pace Americas, who just got bought out by ARRIS will not be growing in technology and/or products and customer base, so I started looking for another opportunity.

I reached out to my contacts and as it turns out, Bill Elderton whom I worked with at Motive and 2Wire needed someone to come to Q2ebanking and help get the test engineering department turned around and I was up to the challenge.  It is very refreshing and I am charged up to help solve problems for such a great, high growth company.

Check them out at www.q2ebanking.com

My new ride...

See a Female Bald Eagle Nest With Her Eaglets

Here is a live UStream feed where you can see a Female Bald Eagle take care of her 2 Eaglets!! Pretty cool...

http://www.humwild.org/humboldt-bay-eagle-camera

Live video by Ustream

Jason and Mary Ellen's Wedding Reception - Feb. 8th, 2013

Jason Philps, Cecile's Nephew was getting married the weekend of February 8th in Houston, Texas.  Parker was in the wedding as the ring bearer...he did OK.  The night before, we went to the rehersal dinner at Don Shula's Steakhouse.  The room was amazing, there were tons of black and white photos of the dolphins players, trophies, and so forth.

Here are a few pictures:  One of me and Cecile and one with Taylor and Whitney all dressed up.  The last one is Thomas and Parker at the wedding all decked out.

Austin Kite Festival - Parker and Derek Had a Blast

On March 3, 2013, Parker, Derek, Thomas, Whitney, Cecile, and I went down to the annual Austin Kite Festival.  The day was outstanding...clear blue sky and temperatures in high 60s.  There were over 1000 folks flying kites and performance kite flying demonstrations and kite-making workshops...food and music too!!

Parker had a pirate ship kite and Derek had a penguin.  Parker's kite did not fly very well, but Derek's penguin kite flew great so we let parker fly it as well (picture of Parker and his Dad, Thomas).

Derek also got into a hula-hoop content and he did pretty good, he can keep it going for a long time!!

Derek Doing Volunteer Work -- Raising a Shed

The first week of April 2013, Derek spend the day helping out with his youth group build a shed to store tools and such.  He got quite a kick out of running a power tool!!!  He did not want to go at first since he had to be there at 8:00am on a Saturday, however, once he got there he got to eat donuts and breakfast tacos.

They managed to get the floor done and part of the walls.  Not bad for a bunch of teenagers.

Took Cecile To See The Nutcraker - San Antonio

Cecile has been always wanted to watch The Nutcracker and I have always said "No way that you will get me to go see that thing".  I surprised her and she really liked it.  It was in San Antonio at the Lila Cockrell Theatre inside of the convention center.  They had cocktails and sold actual nutcrackers and christmas ornaments.

Most of the main participants in the ballet are from Russia and they were very good.  The backdrops and effects were very good as well.  Not my cup of tea but it did not suck...

Closeup of a Nutcracker

Who is the Mascot???

It was a somewhat hot day and the mascot came by and got the crowd all wound up and hung out with kids that wanted to pet his head.  The mascot also hung out with cheerleaders...

It was Derek...

Parkers 4th Birthday Party

Parker had a wild Pirate Party with a cool custom cake, a treasure piñata  and he got a ton of Cars2 and Pirate toys.  Derek had a blast hanging out and flirting with one of the teenager girls that was there.

Whitney did a very good job of decorating the place for sure...she even dressed up as a tinker bell.

The custom cake had a jolly rodger on the top and had a treasure map design all on the sides.

WTC Memorial Visit was Awesome

This is a panoramic shot of Ground Zero where they are rebuilding the two towers as well as having a memorial where there are two pools where the original towers stood.  This place is amazing and very surreal.  So many people lost their lives and when you walk around this area you cannot help but feel very upset and respectful.

Cecile and I are very glad that we went to this place and that when all this is finished and the buildings are occupied, all Americans will be so proud and we will never forget.

Steve and Cecile at Times Square

I had to go to NYC and New Jersey on business and took Cecile along.  It was great.  We stayed at the Westin Times Square hotel and it was great.  While I drove to New Jersey, Cecile stood outside the set of Good Morning America.  She got to see Henry Winkler and got her picture with one of the Good Morning America co-host!!!  She liked it very much.

Derek Mets Jesse James

At the local hot rod show, Jesse James, from West Coast Choppers who has located here in Austin and building custom hot rods was signing autographs.  I brought my West Coast Choppers shirt and he signed it and then I asked if he would take a picture with Derek and he agreed.  Derek was very stoked.

Derek Saw the Solar Eclipse

Derek was really excited to see the Solar eclipse, so we all took him to the best place to see the event, The Oasis Reasturant on top of Lake Travis.  We all got there and had an early dinner and drinks.  BTW, it was extremely hot, like over 100 at 6:00pm!!

Here is a picture of Derek sitting at the table steaming along with everyone else waiting on the eclipse to go down.

Our Hawaii Trip Was Great!!!

This summer I went along with Cecile, Camille, Nan, Taylor, and Hunter to the island of Maui.  This was my first trip to Hawaii and I must tell you that I had a fantastic time.  It was very peaceful and also exciting.  The snorkeling was awesome (I tried to go everyday) and the water was beautiful.  I also learned how to surf, which at my age was an accomplishment!!  Taylor and Hunter were much better than I was at surfing but it was still fun.

Here is a picture from the balcony of the Hotel in Princeville, HI.

Steve Got Promoted

Pace finally recognized Steve for all the hard work that he has done for the past 4.5 years and promoted him from Director to Vice President of Engineering and QA - Telco CAT.  He has to travel a great deal more between San Jose, Austin, and now Boca Raton.

Let's hope that Steve's team of engineers will work hard for him and that they know that he works hard to make them feel good about coming to work and having some fun in the process while putting out great products.

Maile's First Yorkie Meetup

A few weeks ago, Maile and Hurley attended the Austin Yorkie Meetup group meeting so they could socialize. Let me tell you that standing around and in 25 or so little yappy dogs will make you have to pay close attention. Would not want to step on a pooch!!

Maile at first when there were not that many "friends" around did pretty well, however, when there were 20+ she wanted to just sit in the lap of mommy or daddy. Hurley on the other hand was quite the social butterfly sniffing everyone and everthing.

Here are some pictures. One with mommy and one close up picture of Maile.