Warrent Officer

Greg applied to Warrent Officer School before he left for Afghanistan in September. Sunday, during Thanksgiving dinner at mom's, Stephanie got the call that he'd been accepted! They'll let him know within 90 days when he'll be going to school. They'll be in Alabama for about 2 years while Greg trains to be a helicopter pilot. How exciting!

Congratulations Greg!

Famous Artist

Last year, 2nd grade had an art contest on the topic of Recycling. The winners were made into a 2009 calendar.

Does anyone know someone in this family that was a 2nd grader last year that could possibly have been one of those winners?

If the name Corley came to mind, you'd be correct! Not only was he one of the winners, his drawing is the cover art! Flip back to December and you'll see his artwork again for that entire month.

Congratulations Corley!!

Chief Petty Officer

Say congratulations to Chief Petty Officer Crouch.

Chief Petty Officer is an E7 and the "biggest deal" rank for an enlisted man in the Navy. You have to apply, be selected and be approved by Congress. Chris said the average time in the Navy when you make Chief is 12 to 14 years and Chris has been in 9.

Can you see the buttons popping off my chest?

I'm so proud of you Chris!

It's a Girl!

Jennifer had an ultrasound today and it's a girl!! They also moved her due date up a week so she's now due on December 30th.

We're really excited to have a pretty little girl to go with the 2 handsome boys!

You Need to Go Do This!

Last Saturday, we took Bailey and Rowdy to the Drive Thru Safari in Grapeland.

We had the best time! At one point, Jennifer and I were laughing hysterically because we were driving along with a camel running along behind us with his head in the back of their car and his mouth in the feed cup. It was great!

They have lots of animals that will come right up to your vehicle and eat out of the cup you're holding. We even got to hold 5 day old baby goats and feed goats out of our hand.

Make sure you go in a truck or a vehicle that has a back that opens up so you can really get up close and personal with the animals.

I highly recommend it!

It's a Small World After All

Jesse and Corley spent the night with us Friday and Saturday night. When we went to church Sunday morning, the lady that took the boys to their Sunday School class ended up being a long-time former neighbor of Uncle Robert and Aunt Jean in Sugarland.

When we dropped off Corley, I told the teacher his name. When we dropped off Jesse, they knew who he was. The lady showing us where to go said that she couldn't help but notice that I said Corley's last name was Crouch and was I Becky Crouch. Of course she knew more about my family than I did (isn't that the norm? eveyone knows more about my family than I do). She told me that Gay's daughter got married last month and Jan's got married last Saturday (or was it the other way around - I don't remember).

So - it's a small world once again...

Congratulations Rachael!

Any idea who the newest manager for the Texas A&M softball team might be? If you guessed Rachael, you'd be correct! It's a paid job even though the pay isn't that great. She has great perks though, basically the same ones the athletes have as well as a free all sports pass (~$300). She's really excited and I'm so happy for her. Congrats Rachael!!

Corley Family Reunion

Saturday was the Corley Family Reunion at the Bedias Civic Center. If you missed it, you missed good food and good fellowship.

Gail Jackson had great stories about Bedias back when it was a thriving metropolis. Diane came even though Stanley is not doing well at all. Shane came after work - he heads off to Tarleton this fall. Robert and Lynda were there for the first time in several years. They brought Donte, Nicole, Darlene and Darlene's 3 week old son (his name is totally escaping me right now). Nell was there again for the second year in a row. Johnny Wayne and Linda came after missing last year. Johnny and Justin came but Savannah said she didn't want to come where all those "old" people were - typical 14 year old. :) Elaine gave me great ideas about my "first year of teaching" quilt. Mom didn't have a load, hooray! (I know she needs to work but I was glad she got to come) Kurt and Zoriada have been coming faithfully for the last several years. Todd and Laura were there after a couple years' absence. Jennifer and Bailey were there for the first time (I know Jennifer's been there before but not since she got married). Rachael was there under duress but she came. :) The prize though, goes to Tommy Lynn and his wife who are not even related to us. They had a wreck on the way, totaled their truck but were unswayed. They rented a car and came right on. Tommy Lynn was hurting pretty badly so they left early.

You also missed looking at the 1947 Bedias annual that had pictures of my parents as well as all my aunts and uncles except one (she wasn't in school yet) and several of their cousins. If you'd been there, you'd have gotten to see that when my dad was in 2nd grade, he looked exactly like Cody when he was younger. It was amazing!

Don't know these people? Come to the family reunion and get to know them!

After the reunion I made my yearly trek to the cemetery. I had sandals on so I didn't visit every ancestor's graves like I usually do. I only visited the people I personally know - Grannie and PawPaw Corley, Grannie and PawPaw Crouch, Steven, Uncle Thaman and Aunt Rosie.

Corley Family Reunion - 2nd Saturday in June every year - mark your calendar!

For once a follower

Feeling left out and not having my own personal blog, I have created my own blog in cyberspace. You can view this by clicking on the following link.... www.chriscrouch.blogspot.com. I am not sure how much I will write on this but we will see. I guess it really depends on how many naps I take during the week.

Justin's Graduation

Yesterday was Justin's graduation. It was a really nice ceremony with a cool rose cutting ceremony tradition. He graduated in the top 10% of his class which is quite an accomplishment!
We went to Bob Luby's Seafood Restaurant to eat afterwards. Steven and I had just last week talked about going there to eat. The food was great and so was the company.
Congratulation Justin! We're very proud of you and excited for you as you begin this next chapter in your life.

duh

don't really know how to do this. arg!!!!!!

This is great

Thanks Becky

Now how do you get pics on here.

Yosemite

I have never posted on a blog or anything like that, but I think I can make an exception for this one. Audrey and I just got home from our vacation in Yosemite National Park. It was a very beautiful place. I recommend that everyone see this place, it was just amazing. We almost hit two deer and we saw two bears. One of the bears was from a distance while the other bear was pretty close. On our way up to Yosemite we stopped on the Kings River to go whitewater rafting. This was also a very cool experience. I will post some pictures if I can figure that out. Hopefully I will be seeing more of you guys within the next year, but only time will tell. All pictures are courtesy of Audrey.

Welcome!

I steal my best ideas from other people. :) This idea came from my cousin Cheryl who has a blog for her extended family to post to and keep up with each other. http://texashoustonfamily.blogspot.com/ I thought it was a great idea so here we are!