WP "Hands" Kueny

Will Parker, my precious little Mr. Mercy.  He has these amazing hands.  Hands that are soft to touch, hands that are adorable to hold, hands that have mastered Wii and puzzles.  I love Will's hands.
 
Last month, while looking through photo albums, I noticed one thing about Will, and that was how many of his pictures show him with "hands to the face".  That's a penalty in football, which I'm sure Will's coach will teach him.  But for now, here are some pics of this evidence.  AND, it started in the womb, as his first picture was with "hands to the face". :-)

P.S.  Please forgive my cave-man skills for scanning, saving, and posting.  After several attempts to scan just the picture, I gave up, and thus ended up with these various backgrounds.  Argh!

New Family Pics * Part 3 of 3

Emma Jo and Ava Corinne in one of their more loving poses.  Mom & Dad are watching in the background to make sure a knife fight does not break out. Or, in this case, a new chaper to 'gunfight at the O.K. corral.'

I love this picture of the Franco's. Totally sweet, pure, and genuine.

Our original family.  Man, those women are gorgeous!

Angela on the left.  (Hard to believe that when I had hair, that it was as black as hers.)  Jackie on the right.  Both are incredible Moms, wives, and daughters.  I am blessed.

This is a great picture of Joe and Angela.

Ava Corinne, sans most of her teeth.  Ava turns 6 in February, but has already lost 9 of her teeth (with 4 new ones almost in place). As with everything else in Ava's life, she is way ahead of the curve on this too.  Smile monster :-).

Marriage Victory!

How can the divorce rate in America really be 65%?  I live on the same planet as everyone else, and in my world of family and friends, the divorce rate for couples I know is almost zero.  Do I live in that much of a bubble?  In fact, here is a list of over two dozen couples that I know as friends, family, or good acquaintances that are all well into decades of marriage (their 1st marriage).

My parents have been the ultimate role model for me, married for over 56 years.  Our late Uncle Gene was married over 50 years, our late Uncle Lewis was married over 50 years.  Our Uncle Donnie and Uncle Dennis are approaching 50 years; if not there already.

We've made it to 34 years; the only future thing to slow us down being The Rapture.  Our good friends the Pittman's and Prather's are both well over 30 years.  Our Pastor is past 35 years of marriage, as are the Balthrop's and the Kueny's.

Other good friends of ours; the Moran's, Nail's, Carter's, Flowers, Chaffins, Mace's, Polston's, Mattox's, and the Hill's, are all over 20 years, some over 30 years.

My four best guy friends (Bertuzzi, McDonald, Vives, Politte) from High School are all still happily married, and all over 30 years.

Jackie, our daughter has been married 11 years, and several of her friends are too.  My brother Paul is 20 years.

The list begs the question "other than in the whacko world of California, where are all these people that comprise a 65% divorce rate?"  Does 65% mean that for every 10 couples, that 6.5 of them are divorced?  What about the same group of 10 couples, and 3 of them have been divorced twice?  By that method, that means the divorce rate would be 60%.  But if only 1 of the same 10 had been divorced five times (not uncommon in Hollywood), that means the divorce rate is 50%, but should be just 10% if including this one gigantic loser?

I just don't think that our country could possibly have a true divorce rate of 65%.  I think that is a fabricated number, made up or completely manipulated by the media that every day does everything in its power to denigrate marriage, women, and family values.

Congratulations to everyone that is married, good for you.  Love knows no bounds.

New Family Pics * Part 2 of 3

 

O'Mike, in one of my favorite photo's of him.  Not that there are very many anyway, the dude is only 28 months old!  But, this is a typical picture of him, loving to laugh, and playing with Dad.

My WP.  What a sweet, precious little boy.  Love those eyes and that smirk!

My son in law Steven, WP, O'Mike, and Jackie, my daughter.  They all look good in blue and blond. 

Not sure what the deal is here with O'Mike, though there is some trepidation in his face.

Great picture of Jackie and Steven. She needed a box, as the 10" height difference is obvious in this pose, but they still look great.

I'm telling you, is it any wonder why both of my daughters are so absolutely beautiful?

New Pics of "The Fam" Part 1

Going back many years ago, we began having outdoor family pictures made in the fall.  Not only is fall my favorite season; but the colors of fall are routinely more vibrant than those of spring.  This years 'crop' of family pictures is great, but because of the hellish hot summer, the leaves were not turning color this fall, or had already turned loose. 

Nothing compares yet with the beauty of the fall when we had our family pictures made on the OU campus, but last year in Woodward Park was a close 2nd.  Many thanks again to Jackie for organizing the shoot. 

Here is Part 1 of a 3 part blog with some of my favorite family pics.  I had to break it out into 3 parts for size and space limitations.  Hope you enjoy them.

This is Emma Jo; pure, sweet, and simply adorable.  She knows it too, and milks it for all she is worth.  She's got a sash in her future, and I've been trying to teach her the Miss America wave ~ as she's already nailed the answer about 'world peace'.

This is Emma Jo & Ava Corinne.  Emma takes MMA classes, and in this pose is demonstrating the dual move of a head lock paired with fist to the chest action.  She's even kind of got the scowl down.  Ava smiles through all the MMA action; knowing that her sister 'is going down' anytime she wants her to . . .

This is our family.  On the left is Angela, Joe, and their two daugthers Ava & Emma.  On the right is Jackie, Steven, and their two sons Owen & Will.  Nini & Pappy anchor the middle.

GOOD looking grandkids!  (Nini looks mighty fine too).  Here is Nini & Pappy with the boys and girls separated (made for less squabbles).

Here are the four Amigo's.  Left to right, O'Mike, WP, Emma Jo, Ava Corinne.

Pappy with the four Amigo's.

Headed home.

Pamela Jean * My First, My Last, My Everything

Pamela Jean, a.k.a., “Nini” was the cliché ‘high school sweetheart’ of mine.  We certainly have beaten the odds; as she has been my loving wife for 34+ years, on our way to eternity together (as Paul Harvey was fond of saying).  Today is Dec. 1st, 2011, and today is our 12,550th day of marriage.  Follow this simple math formula to verify: d335 - d203 = 132 + (34 x 365.25) = 12,550.  This automatically accounts for the leap year days that most folks would not include. 

I believe in eternity together and say this with complete confidence because we are both Christians; Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and when our days are ended here on earth, we will each have our own mansions in Heaven.  I do have a prayer request in; that our mansions will have adjoining side doors, and of course a shared master bedroom because I won’t snore with my new perfect body. 

I also personally believe and hope that we will be Raptured together, before our bodies expire at age 107, which is right around the time we’ll be celebrating our 89^th wedding anniversary.  I used to have a goal of living to age 100, but 107 sounds better.  How cool would it be though to celebrate a 100th wedding anniversary; I wonder if that has ever happened in modern times?

If you think otherwise, you need to think again.  Or, another way to say it is, if you think otherwise, you’ve got another think coming.  (Notice the emphasis on the k.  It’s not a ‘g’, its k; I have no idea how it started with people ever thinking it was, or is a ‘g’.  It’s always been a k.)  But, I digress, and will now end my English lesson. 

This particular blog is not the forum for me to recreate 34 years of marriage; as I know I’ll have several other opportunities to blog about specific stories and instances that touched my heart.  This one though is meant to be mainly about how we met, along with some highlights for where we are at today. 

Pam and I dated on/off/on throughout our years of high school together.  I was originally attracted by her blue polyester pants when she was but a young 'fox' of 16, and I was an old man of 17.  Blue has always been my favorite color, and when paired with those gorgeous brown eyes, and that long flowing blonde hair ~ oh!, look out!, I was hooked.

At the time, she was dating another one of her several interested suitors; I think it was the high school Marine-to-be at the time, as the 2^nd time it was the basketball jock star.  I’d already retired from high school sports to work full time by the time I reached my junior year in high school.  I would have been reticent to have stayed in sports with a work career waiting. 

Looking back, it is weird to think that I was working full time as a junior and senior, being promoted to Asst. Mgr. as a senior; and always having my DECA teacher seriously upset at each 9 week review because of the salary I received at age 18, while still in high school, being more than he made as a teacher.

Pam and I worked together for a while, and word eventually made it to me that she was attracted to me via my shiny work shoes, which actually were borrowed from my Dad.  Hey, whatever works right?  Besides, what teenager isn’t vain?  I was definitely more than a little slow in the girl department during my teen years, and I didn’t know from her form of S/M behavior that she was actually flirting with me.  I just thought she was crazy trying to sneak up on me to stick a hot French fry in my ear . . ., ouch, the pain is coming back to me now.
 
I was driving a ’71 Dodge Charger, which was a pretty cool car for a teen boy to be driving.  Pam though verbalized that she thought the car was ugly (which incidentally, I found out was/is a word that she’s always been quite fond of).  Just ask the pour soul she left in the dust at the stop light when she caught him ‘eyeing’ her while seated at the stop light.  Her response, a rather deafening “you’re ugly!, you’re ugly!!, you’re ugly!!!), as she raced away, and his look of bewilderment is forever etched in my brain. 

So anyway, one day at work, I asked her what car she liked.  She told me it was a shiny new red Firebird, with white seats (at the time they were only made in vinyl). 

I now only had one mission in life, and it was to buy that car, and then get her quite attractive butt in my front seat.  (It turned out to be the best investment that I have ever made in my life!) 

I traveled to Ernie Miller Pontiac in Tulsa and bought a new ’75 red Firebird Formula 400, with white bucket seats.  It was the only one they had in stock, and I paid $3,750 for it, which was a few hundred off sticker price.  Today, these cars are worth 10x that amount if properly maintained or restored.

I drove back to Bartlesville, got to McDonald’s just in time to see the 100’s of high school students emptying inside after the basketball game that had just ended, and saw Pam.  She was sitting with her boyfriend, the basketball jock star mentioned earlier.  I asked her if she wanted to go see my new car.  She said yes, got in the seat, and before the evening was over, I was her new boyfriend, and the old one nearly wiped out a whole row of mobile homes screeching out of the parking lot when he’d seen the coup d’état that I’d just pulled off J.  Sorry _______ (name withheld to protect the innocent), I just had to . . .

Looking back on my teenage pictures (the ones hidden from me because I have burned most of the others), I am glad that Pam was blind.  There is no debate needed if you accuse me of having an “extended period of geeky dorkiness.”  She had to have been suffering from temporary blindness, which I am thankful for.  I mean, I even let my Mom help me pick out my clothes until I was a sophomore; how dorky is that? 

But, Pam saw me as a challenge worth taking, and quickly brought me up to speed with a modern haircut, modern glasses, and some Levi 501’s that made it all the way to my shoes, and a shiny polyester print shirt.  (I didn’t unbutton it to the navel though like other seniors with chest hair were doing.)

We soon fell truly in love and were married in July, following her high school graduation in May.  Crazy?  Definitely.  Stupid?  Probably.  But, I knew she was the perfect one for me, so why not?

And now, after 12,550 days, wow, I love her more with every one.  Pam is my stabilizer, my voice of reason, and my balance.  I am the risk taker.  She is the risk avoider.  I love roller coasters, she doesn’t.  I love fast cars, she doesn’t want me to drive fast.  I love the country, she loves the city.  I love loud music, she wants it quiet.  I love to go to guy movies, (she thinks they are vulgar), but vulgar to me is sitting through a weepy chick-flick like "The Notebook".  I love OU football, she doesn’t like any football.  I get up early, she gets up late.  I go to bed early, she goes to bed late.  She is Miss Mercy; I am, well, just get the heck out of my way.  Can you imagine going through your whole life though wanting/needing to make sure you never did/said anything to hurt anyone’s feelings, ever?  Wow, that would be torture for me, but for Pam, it is her spiritual gift.  I don’t know how she does it.

But, with all those things, and many more that we differ on, we share many-many mutual likes and loves.  Our faith, family, friends, freedoms, and food.  Our time together, our travels, and our mutual disdain for paying too much in taxes.  All together, we are the definition of perfect simpatico!  

We also now share the love of exercise, eating right, and watching our carbs.  It hasn’t always been this way for me.  I was not born with an exercise gene like Pam was.  I still remember driving her to the local ladies gym when she was 17, and this part of her life has not changed several decades later. 

She was ‘Jane’, long before Jane Fonda made a few billion dollars off of it.  I only caught the bug 2.75 years ago; but I do now completely enjoy weightlifting, eating organic whenever possible, drinking only the purest water; and we rarely intentionally eat anything that is heavily carb-ridden.  We do have our food splurges, but try to limit those to no more than 1x a week.

Pam is my best friend.  I would rather talk to her on the phone than anyone else.  I would rather share a meal, a movie, or watch her enjoy a Latte than anyone else.  I would rather walk the streets of Rome again with her than do so with the Pope (and I don't mean anything bad about the Pope).  I just can’t imagine life without her, nor do I want to.

We have raised two awesome daughters, we have two great sons in laws.  We have grandchildren that love us with all of their hearts.  All of our family is healthy, lives within 20 minutes of each other, goes to the same church as we do, and they all love coming to Nini and Pappy's for any reason; be it Wii, a cookout, watercoloring, riding bikes, etc.

We are blessed, truly blessed in every sense of the word.  And it all started with those blue polyester pants.  I love you Pamela Jean. 

Here is Barry White performing "our song" live.  If you focus your eyes, and look really-really close, see if you recognize the two people seated in the 7th row, seats 1 & 2.  Incidentally, the song was #1 in America in 1974, the year I first 'saw' Pam!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcd3XuQwDQQ

These are the original lyrics (if you want to try and sing along):

Prelude:

We got it together didn't we?

We definitely got our thing together don't we baby?

Isn't that nice?  I mean really, when you really sit and think about it, isn't it really-really nice?

I could easily feel myself slipping more and more away to that simple world of my own,

Nobody but you and me.  We got it together baby.

Song:

My first, my last, my everything

And the answer, to all my dreams

You're my sun, my moon, my guiding star

My kind of wonderful, that's what you are

I know there's only, only one like you

There's no way God could have made two

You're, you're all I’m living for

Your love I'll keep for ever more

You're the first, you're the last, my everything

In you, I've found so many things

A love so new only you could bring

Can't see you if you, you'll make me feel this way

You're like a first morning dew, on a brand new day

I see, so many ways that I, can love you

'Till the day i die...

You're my reality, yet I’m lost in a dream

You're the first, my last, my everything

I know there's only, only one like you

There's no way God could have made two

Girl you're my reality, But I'm lost in a dream

You're the first, you're the last, my everything!