HARD LUCK DINER

Yesterday morning, we went to the Hard Luck Diner for breakfast. It's on the main drag, near the Grand shops.

This was a little bit different experience, since the waitresses take turns singing to you.




Here our waitress is autographing her CD for Mulert.

All you need is a gimmick!

FUN IN BRANSON

I've accomplished a lot of things in Branson, such as cleaning, making progress on scrapbooking and finishing my Christmas cards except for the glitter. We've walked almost every day and done the laundry. But, we've also had fun. Judy Ehler from Don's former office called and said she was here for a week. We met her and her friends at The White River Fish House and had a great chat and a nice meal. One night we went to see the Gatlin Brothers and Debby Boone, who put on a very good show. They even had Santa in the lobby.

Here's a picture of everyone taking a picture of the Gatlins-sorry you can't really see them.

Last night we saw M-M-Mel Tillis and his two daughters, Pam and Carrie April. It was another good show. Mel's sure in good shape for 78. Once he ran across the stage. You can see the pride in each others faces.

Mel's first wife must have been pretty!

It's such a small world. The lady next to me is the neighbor of one of our friends in Arizona. I not only saw the show, I got some interesting stories about our friends!

SAD NEWS

Russ has been texting us from the football game. The Bulldogs were ahead 7-3 at halftime. Then no one scored until the other team broke out for a 75 yard TD with one minute to go, and they lost 10-7. It's a shame, but we're very proud of Jake and the bunch-we sure enjoyed watching them!

FURTHER SOUTH

On Friday, we drove to Columbus, NE, and watched Jake and the rest of the Bulldogs beat them 40-14. Yea!!! They are now in the semi-finals this Saturday, having to play the only team that beat them. If they win, they go to state on Monday, the 22nd-we'll drive up for that one and then stay for Thanksgiving. We left last Saturday and drove to Kansas City, and spent a little time at the genealogy library. On Monday, we drove to Branson, which is full of Veterans for the week. After Thanksgiving, we'll head to Arizona.

MORE HAPPY SPORTSMEN

Today the Jr. Bulldogs won 33-16 for a 7-0 season-Brian was happy. Last Friday his team got to wear their uniforms and sit together at the varsity game. At halftime, they were recognized on the field for their undefeated record. We've seen the varsity coaches at their games several times, doing a little scouting, and hoping for the future. We've had fun watching the boys. Speaking of last Friday-we were all happy! The varsity Bulldogs won their first playoff game 42-6. How could we possibly leave yet? So far the weather report doesn't include the words ice or snow, so we're hoping the weather saints are on our side. They play in Columbus, NE, Friday night, about 2 hours west. After that game, we'll head to Branson. If Jake and the guys make it to state, we'll drive up in the jeep to see them. Regardless how they do, we've sure enjoyed the games!!!

QUITE A WEEK

Other than the hacking incident, our week has been quite nice, with the ups and downs in the continuing saga of the Mulert grandchildren's sports events. Dan is done with cross country and currently has started wrestling practice. He had a successful season and improved his times. This is from his last run.

Joe finished his short season of soccer, winning three games and the fouth ended in a tie. You may be able to see a smile on #4.

Joe had his first basketball game yesterday and plays pretty good defense. Brian's football team is undefeated and some have been blowouts. He has another game today. He also has started playing basketball for a YMCA team. He's not the tallest, but he's a real scrapper. He's very happy, because he also made the the 8th grade basketball team at Beveridge Middle School-he's spending a lot of time at practices. His football team posed for a team picture in front of the containers of food they collected for the food bank-#42 is smiling.

Jenna finished her volleyball season yesterday as a freshman on the JV team. We saw her improve and do very well. Next month she starts playing again on her club team. She's behind #2.

A week ago it was Senior's night at Jake's varsity game. Here is #55 in the middle of his parents.

He really was happy later, after they won the game and the district championship. Happy enough to even hug grandma! The win also clinched a spot in the playoffs. This Friday, they got a little revenge on the #1 team in the state by beating them in overtime. Wow, were they happy! They're now seeded #1 in the playoffs which begin this coming Friday. We certainly plan on staying this week and then it's in the hands of the weather saints! (Thinking of saints-we're extremely blessed with 6 grandchildren who are not only good athletes and great scholars, but good kids. Who would of thunk it?)

QUITE A DAY

Well, it's been quite a day!!! Our phone has been ringing all day. For those who are worried, we're in Omaha, and we're just fine. It would be fun to be in London-I could do research on my mother's family. However, sad to say, it's a scam. Our e-mail account has been hijacked and we're unable to get into it, so, if any of you sent us e-mails today-we didn't get them. It happened to Don's brother last week. Don's working on it and we'll probably have a new address. Right now he's trying to figure out a way to retrieve our address book. We were at volleyball all evening and at the dentist in the morning, so his time has been limited. We hope this doesn't happen to any of you. But-trying to look at the bright side-we enjoyed hearing from all of you, especially the friends who were willing to send us money to get home. It's a nice feeling to know people care! We'll keep you posted.