Floy Clark Welch

Floy Welch passed away in Wichita Falls, Texas on September 17, 2010. Floy was born on June 29, 1911 in Sagerton, Texas to Charles and Hattie Smith Clark. She moved to Holliday with her parents in 1913. Floy graduated from Holliday High School.
On August 16, 1926, she married J.B. Goble, the father of her three children. She also married Pete Moss and Dick Welch.
Floy worked as a telephone operator at Holliday and as a secretary for Talley Insurance Agency and Ayres Welding. She was a rancher and took great pride in taking care of her cattle.
Floy was an active member of the Holliday United Methodist Church, where she held many offices. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living member of her church. Floy was an avid quilter and a member of the ceramic club. In her 70's, she picked up oil painting and painted many picures for her family and friends.
Floy was always a contributing member of her community, volunteering for many civic duties. She was known for her beautiful smile, her concern for others, her upbeat and positive attitude, her willingness to serve where needed and for her inner and outer beauty. s was often said by her acquaintances and friends, "Who wouldn't love Floy Welch?" She leaves a large void in the lives of her family.
Floy was preceded in death by her mother and father, her sister, Allene Palmer, three husbands, son in law, Louis Percy Hodge, a step daughter, Patsy Welch Allen, and a grandson, Thomas Karsell. She is survived by her children, Jeannine Hodge of Austin, Texas, Mike Goble and wife Judy of Throckmorton, Texas and Elwanda Stone of Holliday, Texas. She is survived by grandchildren, Deborah Karsell and husband Bill of Lakewood, Colorado, Douglas and wife Dawnetta of Austin, Texas, Jon and wife Julie of Heidelberg, Germany, Brandi Menard and husband Richard of Throckmorton, Texas, Grant Goble of Flower Mound, Texas, Steve Stone of San Marcos, Texas, Greg Stone and wife Brenda of Holliday, Texas and Kyle Stone and wife Marla of Holliday, Texas. She is survived by great-grandchildren, Jeanne Elizabeth Karsell Horne and husband Troy, Heather, Holly, Hunter, Louis, Erin Hodge, Reagan, Chloe, McCrae, and Jack Menard, Joshua Goble, Casey Stone and wife Amie, Christopher Stone and wife Jessica, Kelly Stone Buck and husband Brendan, Chad Stone and wife Sara, Leslee Stone Pennywell and husband Drew, Kylee and Dylan Stone. She is survived by great, great grandchildren, Moses and Silas Horne, Kayleigh, Emily and Nathalie, Crockett and Rich Stone. She is survived by two step children, Ricky Welch and wife Barbara of Kountze, Texas and Peggy Moss Wood of Robstown, Texas and one nephew, Kelsey Palmer of Springerville, Arizona.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 24, 2010 at the First United Methodist Church in Holliday. Relatives and friends are welcome to join us to say good bye to our wonderful mother at the service and a reception to follow in the fellowship hall of the church. Burial will take place in the Holliday Cemetary, Holliday, Texas. The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials be made in her honor to the First United Methodist Church, Box 484, Holliday, Texas 76366.
The family wished to thank the Grace Care staff for years of loving care during her stay there with them. Tributes may be sent to the family at owensandbrumley.com.

What a special lady she was. It has been a long week, but the good that comes out of death, the appreciation of family, the kindness and love that is shown by so many others, and the thankfulness we feel for such a loving, giving, comforting God has been so evident to me. I am so honored to be a part of such a wonderful family and truly feel the loss, although I didn't get to know Grandma Welch as well as the others. She really did always have a smile on her face, even when she was asking Chris to take her back to Holliday. The stories that were shared this week gave me an even greater understanding of who she was and why she was such an important part of this family's legacy. As we left the funeral home last Sunday, Marla told Crockett to tell her "nite, nite", which he did. So, nite nite Grandma Welch, we will me you so much, but know you are in Heaven feeling better than you have in years. We love you.

WESTERN DAY!

Last Thursday was Western Day at TLC! I was one of the room mom's and was probably more excited than Crockett! Crockett dressed in his overalls and I tried to get his boots on him, but he wasn't having it. When we got to school, they had pony rides, a hay ride and a campfire with some marshmallows for roasting! It was SO MUCH FUN! Crockett DID NOT want anything to do with the ponies, but the rest of it was great! His whole class had cowboy hats on and they looked so cute :) I think they were the cutest class, but I am just a little biased. For a snack they had special cookies with boots and horseshoes on them and then Happy Meals for lunch! What a special day!!!

I got to his school, started to take pictures and realized that I did not put my battery in my camera. I was so mad at myself! Luckily the other room mom, Crystal Wright Johnson (she is a long time friend of my sis-in-law, Kelly), had hers! Her precious little girl, Savannah, is in Crockett's class. How fun is that?!? SO, thanks for sharing your pictures with me!!!

Daddy's 30!!

I have been looking forward to September 3 for almost 9 months now :) I turned 30 back in January and Chris LOVES to remind me how I "robbed the cradle." Well as of September 3, he can no longer tease me! He finally turned 30 too!!! WOO HOO! I think he was a little bummed out about this over-rated birthday... so we decided to make it a small, weekend-long affair.

On Friday, for his real birthday, we ate wings and then invited Grandmaw Elwanda over for a special ice cream cake (one of Chris' favorite things :)! Pretty low-key, but it was the birthday boy's decision. On Saturday, Josh and Brandi Luig drove Chris, Crockett and myself west to the Hub City where we continued the celebration! After a quick shopping trip to Red Raider Outfitter, we got dressed up for a childless, grown-ups only, night out on the town!(Thanks to LuLu & Papaw!) We all had a wonderful dinner at the Double Nickel Steakhouse and then continued on to one of our favorite old hangouts, The Spoon. It wasn't quite the hoppin' place that we remembered, but we still had a GREAT time! We played pool, danced a little bit, shared a pitcher of cherry bomb (paid for it the next morning!) and really had SO MUCH FUN! On Sunday we went to watch our Red Raiders beat SMU! (Thanks Monica and Ryan :) It was so hot, but a really good game!(WE WON!) We ate burgers and homemade ice cream at my mom and Les' house and then headed home. Brandi, Crockett and I slept the whole way home... It had been a LONG weekend! I think Chris had a good weekend and that made the whole 30th birthday a lot easier to take :)

The next day, we went out to Hotshot's (Chris' grandfather) to celebrate his 79th birthday, which was on September 2nd! (Chris' dad's birthday is also on September 2nd!) and Rich Stone's 1st birthday which is on September 10th! LOTS of September birthdays in this family!! We all had some cake and the kids played outside. We love going to visit Hotshot, but it is not very often that ALMOST everyone can get together with him at the same time. It was a special evening!

SO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET HUSBAND! Hope your 30th is the best yet! We love you SOOOOOOO much! Happy birthday to Hotshot, Steve and Rich too!! We will have to celebrate together EVERY year!

School Kid!

Last Tuesday, Crockett started Mother's Day Out at The Learning Center. We have been waiting for this day all summer long, although now that it is here, it is bittersweet! He will go every Tuesday and Thursday from 9-2 and is in Miss Alisha's class. As I made his lunch the night before the first day, I did get a bit teary eyed. I just can't believe my baby is old enough to be going to school (even if it is just Mother's Day Out!). The next morning, he wouldn't eat anything I fixed him for breakfast, didn't want me to change his diaper, and I chased him all over the house trying to get him dressed.... Thank goodness for Mother's Day Out! Nine o'clock couldn't come soon enough, and there were no tears shed by either one of us!

When we got to the Church, I walked him into his classroom and he immediately started playing with the toys. He didn't care if I was in there or not. So, I left and don't even think he noticed! I was so proud of him for not crying or whining. There were several cute little girls in his class and one other little boy. He loves being around other children and playing, so I know he is going to love school and learn so many new things!

As soon as 2:00 rolled around, I was there to pick him up! I couldn't wait to see him! He had done so great! Miss Alisha said he ate pretty good and even laid down for a nap. I was so relieved that he had a good time and was with Miss Alisha and Miss Loretta. They are already wonderful and we have only been twice! I know this is going to be so good for him.

Haircut!!

I finally decided to take Crockett for another haircut. His hair was out-of-control, and that is no way to start school! Since I was so traumatized by our last haircut experience, I just let it keep growing. It was so curly, ringlet curls, in the back, but soooo long. We went to Dawn in Holliday and she was FANTASTIC! I held him in my lap, Dawn cut and our friend, Margie, entertained! It definately took all 3 of us, but we were oh so successful! He didn't even look like the same child when she was done!

Papaw's 70th Birthday Party!!

On August 24, Les, aka Papaw, turned 70! To celebrate the special occasion, my mom threw him a party the Saturday before his birthday. Of course we wouldn't have missed it! Lots of people came, Les' daughter and grandsons, brothers and sisters, the Curry's, Rachey and many dear friends. We talked, ate some yummy barbeque with all the fixins and then cake (or cobbler) and ice cream. All the kids had a blast running wild in the backyard. It was so much fun to see many people come together to help celebrate!

Les has been a part of our family for more than 10 years now. He is someone who is always willing to lend a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on or a comforting word. He has a way with all of his grandsons, which is evident just by watching them interact. They love him and he loves them.

Les, we are so glad you are part of our family, and thank you for letting us be a part of yours. We love you, Papaw! Happy Birthday!

Red River ~ Day 4!!

Thursday was our last day in Red River. We still had a few more things we wanted to do before we left. One thing of those things was ride the BIG ski lift to the top of the mountain. We had been waiting to do it, thinking that we could leave the kids with each other and just the mommy and daddy could take the ride together. As the time passed, we realized it was either everyone rides it this morning or we wouldn't be able to. Chris was not happy with me that we were taking our 18 month old son, who squirms and is so restless, way up this mountain. He held on to Crockett as if his life depended on it... I guess it did :) However, much to my satisfaction, Crockett slept almost the entire way up and did great on the way down too. It was very high, but such a beautiful and peaceful way to admire God's handiwork. It was a bit chilly, especially as we got to the top, but it was definately worth it. Monica, Ryan, John and Braidy were all in one seat and Braidy did very good for the most part, and slept on the way down. John was pretty scared of falling, especially on the way up, but he did great on the way down.

After the ski lift, Monica and I had made appointments at a spa. We decided that after taking care of three (ahem, five...) boys all day, we deserved a little pampering. We were on vacation, after all! So Monica got a pre-natal massage and I got a massage and facial. What a wonderful, blissful way to spend the afternoon! We both left feeling refreshed and ready for the rest of the trip!

When I got back to the cabin, Chris, Ryan and John were making one last attempt at catching a fish while the little ones napped. When they returned, John proudly showed us 5 fish! He was so excited! The dad's were pretty excited too! And to think they had almost given up.

At 4:30 we had made reservations to go horseback riding. John got to ride his own horse while Chris and Ryan rode with the little boys. After watching them take off, all without any crying, incidents, etc. Monica and I went to browse around town for a while. We went back to watch them return. A good time was had by all. Crockett and Braidy both just rode along and took it all in. John did a great job too, all by himself! It even turned out that I had worked in Austin at Smith Barney with the other man, Austin Spencer, and his daughter that were riding in the group. Small world!

That night we went to eat at a nice restaurant and then came back to the cabin in time for SMORES! I think I probably gained about 5 lbs. from the smores alone! Ha! We got all packed up and ready to leave that night so we could just hop in the car and go the next morning.

We had so much fun all week. I hope that it will become a summer tradition. All of the boys has a great time and played together so well. And I always love spending time with my sister and her family. It is such a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives and spend some quality time without all of the distractions. Thanks Curry's for suggesting this, we can't wait until next time!!!

Red River ~ Day 3!!

On the third day of our mountain getaway, we woke up from a not-so-great night of sleep (thank you, Crockett and/in our queen size bed!) and ate some yummy french toast Aunt Mon made. After breakfast, we headed to the bunny slope where they had tubing. When we got there, we learned that you had to be 4 or older, which meant only John could do it. We were a little bummed, but as it turns out, it went pretty fast and I am not sure the little boys would have liked it too much! John went down the first time and his eyes were huge as he flew down the track... I think it went a little faster than he had expected! But after the first time, he loved it! He got to ride the little lift up then tube down 2 more times! He had a blast!

After tubing, we headed to the go-karts, but they were closed. We wandered around the river and played a little before going back to the cabin for lunch. After naptime, we went to try our luck at the go-karts again. Lucky for us, they had just opened! And so each of us, (me & Braidy, Crockett & Chris, John & Ryan, Monica taking pictures) got in our karts and went around and around the track. All 3 boys had SO MUCH FUN!

When go-karts were over, we headed to another playground one of our friends, Josh, who lives there, told us about. It was great! Not very many people, a little off the beaten track, shady, and tons of toys to play on! There were these really cool lounging swings that we all enjoyed and great slides... Kept everyone entertained for quite a while! The daddies even had a great time swinging... so much so that they reverted to their 10 year old selves and swung as high as possible and then JUMPED!!! Ryan did it first and jumped from so highed, caught some air and rolled when he hit the ground. Luckily, he wasn't hurt. Good thing because we were laughing SO, SO hard! Then it was Chris' turn... He jumped from so high up and immediately went straight down... hard. Monica thought he had broken a leg or an arm or both... but he didn't and it too was HILARIOUS! We laughed for about 10 minutes while they nursed their wounds. I think they were pretty sore that night! WOW. So funny. Before we went back to the cabin, we decided to drive up to the top of the mountain. Talk about beautiful. The views were breathtaking... literally. We were so high up and Monica and I (and Johnny too) were not real happy about driving up the fairly narrow road. After a little persuasion, Chris turned his pickup around so we could go back down, but not before we stopped and took some family pictures :)

That night we cooked fajitas with queso and had MORE smores for dessert. It was so good and a perfect way to end night #3 of our mountain adventure.