For your In"FAIR"mation...

Well, we did make it to the the Oklahoma State Fair on Friday afternoon/night. From the pictures, you may think it is a Nascar event, but that is just because of our little redneck. Scottie found the Nascar ride and then we stumbled upon the Tony Stewart Home Depot car. Let's just say the majority of our time was taken up with these two things. We did, however, find time to partake in some good state fair grease. We had a great time and Maggie was a champ. In other news, we do have a new roof over our heads, I have run four times since my last post, and I paid $1 to see the world's smallest woman at the fair. Word to the wise, "Don't do this." I was traumatized. This poor woman is just sitting there like a caged animal staring at you. I meant no harm, but felt like a bad human after that little episode. Live and Learn. (But since you want to know, she was very small, but I think 29 inches was false advertising). Here are a few pics from the festivities. Enjoy.


What better way to start the State Fair than a $3 corndog.


The best looking ladies at the Fair. I know the competition at the Fair isn't great, but still.


Nascar Scottie and his friend, Luke, riding the rides. No Dale, Jr. car, so Scottie picked Dale, Sr. and if you can't find Jeff Gordon, at least go for Robbie Gordon's #4 Kodak car.


And for the Grandmas, here's your little girl after church on Sunday.

The Good Life!

Sorry about the delay in posts. Life is good, just been busy. Late August/Early September has been a little crazy. Nothing in particular, but just a lot going on. I will just give you a short list of happenings since my last post:

Maggie learned to roll over. Do 4 month olds do this? It drives her crazy, but she won't stop doing it
Scott started back to Mother's Day Out
Fantasy Football Draft/Dove hunt in Chillicothe, TX
I bought some running shoes, and I even started running
We are getting a new roof, and it is really loud
The Oklahoma City Thunder is our new NBA team
Football started--Woohoo
Three day business meeting in Dallas

That's the jist. Stay tuned as we are going to the State Fair sometime this week/weekend for some hot grease and good times. I will post after that. Until then, OUT

This is the way we bowl, we bowl...

What a better way to spend Labor Day than heading to the alley to teach Scottie a little bit about bowling. They have this sweet little ramp to help the kids play. Three steps to bowling success: Let Daddy line up the ramp, put the ball on top of the ramp, and push as hard as you can. Scottie was pretty successful and bowled a solid 123 in his first game. He had a great time and I'm sure we will go again. Maybe we have a young Pete Weber on our hands.

Now that Scottie has been bowling, he can officially be classified as a little redneck. As of late, he has gotten really into Nascar too. This has nothing to do with me, because as much of a sports freak as I am, I have never watched Nascar. For whatever reason, he loves it. As a matter of fact, the other night before bed, I asked him who he wanted to pray for, and he said, "Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr." So fellas, if you are reading this, know that the McNellis family is tossing a few up for ya.

I guess next week, I will take him deer hunting followed by a little noodling.




Proof of the little man's success.

Now we know where Scottie gets it. It's in the genes.

And Friends are Friends Forever...

Well, today sucked. After six great years, our best friends packed up and moved to Scottsdale. We are going to miss the Andersons dearly. They have been our OKC family and our families have grown together. They've been our 'emergency contact' number, our last minute babysitter, and were first on our 'must call' list. Matt has taken a senior pastor position at McDowell Mountain Community Church and we are excited for that. I know God has a plan, but He sure didn't ask my opinion on this matter.

I know we have truly been blessed with such a special frienship. It's not easy to find a couple where all four people really enjoy each other. We had that with the Andersons. I know change can be good, but I need to be better at accepting it.

This won't be an easy or fun change, but I guess it's just part of being grown up. We will get to visit and do vacations together, but we will miss the every day things that we enjoyed sharing with them.

We wish Matt, Robin, Connor, and Calvin the best as they begin their new journey. We love you guys and we will miss you very much.

Second Job??

Last week at the Lake of the Ozarks, I was awakened by the footsteps of three year olds at about 6:00 in the a.m. Instead of yelling at the top of my lungs, I stepped outside onto the back porch and captured these award winning photos. Now I used to be impressed with Ansel Adams, but now I realize photography is not that tough. You just have to wake up in the morning. Enjoy.


Notice the lighting as the fishing boat dances on the water.

The calmness of the water is so elegant at 6:00 in the morning

I slowed down the shutter speed to capture the essence of the landscape.

I wonder if Gettys will be sending the contract soon.

Thank you kids for waking me up and helping me find my hidden talents.

(And please recognize that the above comments are strictly sarcastic. I have no clue about photography.)

The Family Circus

Last week, we went out of town for a few days and got to see both of our families (except Kev and Tera). We went to Bartlesville because Allen was finished with camp for the summer and Jon, Amy and Ella had come down to see Maggie. We had a great weekend with some golf, swimming, backyard, and some serious food. Scott and Maggie had a good time with their cousin Ella. Scottie also loved the tractor ride he had with Papa on Sunday night. Who knew a riding lawnmower could be so sweet? Now that is some redneck fun there.

PS--Congratulations Amy, you made the blog..

On Monday we drove up to the Lake of the Ozarks where Ryan and Emily had rented a place for the week. Ann, Emily, and Mom went to the spa on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Ry's bro-in-law, Dad, Ry, and I went on a catfish guided tour. The fishing wasn't great as we only caught five, but we had a good time. The guide said the 70 degree August weather jacks with the fish. Scottie had a great time with Ava and Quin on the boat and playing around the house.

After 5 days away from home, we got back Wednesday night about 1:00 am. Although we had a great week, Thursday was a good day of recovery. (I am officially old now that I need a recovery day after vacation) I went back to work Friday and as the song says, we were "back to life, back to reality."

Happy Birthday to Me...

In honor of my 31st birthday, I will let you in on 31 of my life secrets.

31. I'm not a big fan of vegetables.
30. I have a fingernail cutting obsession.
29. My throat itches after I eat cantaloupe, watermelon, and tree nuts.
28. I have only lived in three states. Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma.
27. I have a sports sickness. Basketball, Football, Golf, Baseball, UFC, badminton, Slamball, Tennis. It doesn't matter to me.
26. My outfit of choice is shorts, long-sleeve T, and flip flops.
25. I'm too critical of people.
24. I don't feel that I'm great at anything, but decent at quite a few things.
23. I don't read enough.
22. I'd rather watch a Division II football game on TV than my favorite movie.
21. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 18.
20. My favorite color is red, but it used to be green.
19. I met my wife when I was 15, we started dating at 17, and got married at 23.
18. I need to be more serious more often.
17. Sweet tea is really good.
16. I wish I would have finished my thesis in grad school. Actually, I wish somebody else would have finished my thesis for me.
15. I spend too much time online.
14. Little League baseball was the most fun I ever had playing sports.
13. If I went to college now, I would major in Finance.
12. I hate small talk and dancing.
11. I wish I was more handy around the house.
10. I hate getting dressed up, but I have to wear a shirt and tie every freakin day.
9. Texas Country is my music of choice.
8. I worked as a camp counselor for two summers in college.
7. My lucky numbers are 4, 7, 14, 22, 33, 36, and 58.
6. I love my Texas Tech Red Raiders, but I am never very confident in them.
5. I don't think there is such thing as a 'dream job' for me. Dream and Job don't mix.
4. My wife is the smart, gifted, good looking one in our family. Thank goodness our kids take after her.
3. I consider myself a pretty laid back fella.
2. Late spring/early summer is the best time of year.
1. I'm glad this list is over, I was having trouble thinking of things about me. For next year, I need to work on being more intriguing.

Happy Birthday to me, From me. Later.