Greetings to our family and friends,

It has been a while since our last post - we've been burning the candle at both ends - and have had a lot of fun in the mean time.

My infusion schedule has stayed the same - every other Thursday - when I'm done in the infusion chair I walk out connected to a chemo ball for Friday and Saturday. After disconnecting from the ball I begin the recovery process that wraps up Monday meaning I feel pretty close to 100% on Monday/Tuesday. For those of you keeping count - last Thursday was chemo infusion #83 - I'm closing in on the numbers worn by dear friends - 96 and 99.

In the good times Holly and I have been super busy traveling and making the most of the good times. We even flew back to Florida to try to photograph the Sandhill Cranes and their two orange chicks. Unfortunately they weren't as excited to see us as we were to see them so I have shots but from a distance. No real keepers.

If I was frustrated in Florida I was going to be super excited about my Texas trip. I flew to San Antonio, rented a huge pickup truck (everything is bigger in Texas) and drove 3 hours south to Pharr TX. I met with a few new friends and two friends Holly and I met in Alaska this past November. Those two friends Tom and Cree Bol led a four day workshop that specialized in photographing the birds of the Rio Grande Valley. We saw over 40 different species and I'd say 30 were new to me and ones I'll probably never see outside southern Texas.

The reason I rented the car in San Antonio is so when the workshop ended I could keep the car for another three bonus days. Those bonus days kicked off when I picked up Holly at the airport and we drove to Brad and Dawna's house in Seguin. Brad was my upperclassman at the AF Academy, later we flew helicopters together in Utah and around the world - two missions we shared; Ron Brown's accident in Croatia and evacuating the American Embassy in Liberia.  Brad and I picked up guitars and meshed like we'd been practicing together for a long time - we had a great time singing and playing - a night to remember. In between songs we toured their 1907 mansion whose walls were lined with remembrances of a life well lived in the Air Force, To include an autographed picture of Brad in the Situation Room when Bin Laden was killed. Across the room from the picture I couldn't make out who signed the photo... Barack Obama, who else.

The special memories kept coming the next day when Holly and I toured around Gruene (Green) TX a town that boomed, busted and is again booming with cute little boutique stores. Their music/dance hall kept going the whole time (since 1878) and hosts big name country bands/personalities. Even better was when we drove to the east side of Seguin and met Larry (#62) and Tamaron on their riverfront acreage. Both Larry and Tamaron graduated from the AF Academy - Larry was a classmate and fellow football player - Tamaron was a year behind us and I thought they'd make a great couple so I suggested they date....four kids and nearly 40 years later it still seems like a good idea. They gave us a tour of their families vacation home which is under construction and fed us delicious Texas BBQ. Both Larry and Tamaron fly for Southwest Airlines so we shared funny stories and had plenty of laughs about the airline industry.

Our last full day arrived so we packed it full by visiting Brad and Dawna again to share music and BBQ. There is a certain level of familiarness when you spend time with treasured friends that is so very special - we felt that with Brad and Dawna, Larry and Tamaron and Mark and Andrea. Mark and Andrea? Mark was a classmate at the Academy and fellow football player, Andrea was his high school friend who he reconnected with in church and they too have been married nearly 40 years. After spending the morning with Brad we drove to the west side of San Antonio to visit with dear friends Mark (#78) and Andrea. Mark was a commander within the AF honor guard in Washington DC and gave us a detailed description of what his honor guard did during a Presidential inauguration, deaths of Presidents, visiting dignitaries and representing the Air Force when burying veterans at Arlington. It was a very interesting time for him and his family and we enjoyed hearing about it.

After a delicious dinner with Mark and Andrea we had to return to our hotel and pack for the trip home. The entire trip met or exceeded my expectations and allowed Holly and me to visit with and share quality time with great friends - a trip of treasured memories for sure.

Out of the 60,000 photos I took in those 4 days I picked just a few to share - a Cardinal taking off with feathers spread, a male Painted Bunting showing off his beautiful colors, a Caracara throwing his head back "gloating" over his perceived victory, a Golden-fronted woodpecker on his takeoff roll and lastly, a desert cardinal pronounced Fear o loxia. Obviously I am leaving out a ton of good shots maybe next post.

Holly is doing well, she continues to hear 'I love your haircut" whenever we are out and about, at home she hears "I love you" as often as I can say it.

Thank you to our Texas friends for a wonderful time - thank you all for keeping us in your prayers and good thoughts.

All our love,

Steve and Holly