David Ruppert

On the way home from a wedding in Pearsall, TX this past weekend, we stopped near Johnson City to visit the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.

I snapped a few pictures while we were out there.

On the way into the ranch, there were whitetails roaming the property . . completely out in the open. We pulled right up, stopped and took a few pictures. It’s awesome to see these guys in this type of setting . . one where they’re not petrified of every noise, movement or scent.

The next stop is the show barn where President Johnson kept some of his prized animals. The park ranger told us that there was a calf in the barn that was just over a month old. This bugger looks a little big, but he’s the only calf in sight.

This hoss was in one of the holding pens by the barn.

At the end of the dirt road sat the last pen with this little fella.

As we walked through the barn, we noticed a sign asking visitors not to touch the animals. Anne did her best to follow directions, but she really can’t be trusted.

To be fair, the horse touched her first. But then she broke. She’s so predictable.

The last stop was the house itself. The house had previously been completely closed up while Lady Bird was living there. After her passing in July of 2007 they decided to begin opening portions of the house. In August of this year they opened the first room, the office.

The house itself sits on the banks of the Pedernales River. In front of the house sits the most awe-inspiring 400 year old live oak tree.

While driving out of the park, you pass right in front of the home.

Just a few shots from a July 4th party at my cousins house in Omaha, NE. We recently made a trip up to the great white north[ish] for a family reunion.

After that it was up to Sioux Falls, SD to stay with Anne’s family.

This is the power pole outside of her parents house. He’s taken all of these deer from the area. I’m jealous to say the least.

The ‘falls’ part of Sioux Falls. Honestly, I had no idea they existed, but I’m a bit of an idiot.

We spent this past weekend in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, just outside of Beavers Bend state park. We’ve spent a number of weekends in and around this park. It’s a beautiful area . . . tall trees, rolling hills, quick moving streams.

This weekend included the entire family . . . mom and dad, my brother and sister and their families. A total of 13 of us, including 5 young kids.

Our weekend wrapped up with some sandwiches for lunch, then some cleaning up and packing the cars for the trip home. The last order of duty was to zap the last ounce of energy out of these little ones before making the 3 hour trek home.

So . . . the torture of choice? Laps. That’s right Laps.

Borrowing the mentality of a high school football coach, we got these kids running laps around the cabin.

“Knees Up!”

“Just two more!”

“Feel the burn!”

First around one side of the cabin . . .

then looping around the other side . . .

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We visited some friends on Richland Chambers lake this weekend. I shot a few pictures on my phone [forgot my other camera at home].

Activities included eating, pre-nap movie dozing, sitting, eating, full blown nap, eating, puzzle contemplation and eating. Oh yeah, and drinking . . . we drank too.

Good times.

Well, I’m finally getting around to uploading some pictures from our trip to Cozumel last fall with Anne, Josh and Kimberly. View the entire set on Flickr.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to travel to New York for some good ol’ company training. I arrived on an overcast Sunday afternoon and stayed until the following Sunday.

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