Finished ginning!

A lot has happened since my last post, so please bear with me....


First of all, WE FINISHED GINNING!! With a total of 37,857 bales, this was a record year for us. The weather was great for the harvest and the gin ran really well so it was definately a good year! We've really come a long way with the gin, and now looking back, we're very grateful for those hard times. Thanks God.

Second, Tac turned one! I have to admit, I did cry on his birthday. I love being a mom and I wish he could just stay little. He really is a lot of fun. Tac is in what Al and I call "the 'coon stage". Everything he comes in contact with gets opened up, emptied out, taken apart, and scattered everywhere. Disclaimer--- if you happen to stop by my house, don't expect it to be clean. In fact, don't expect to see the floor. I try to clean, I really do. But remember the "baby magic" I told about a few posts ago? It's incredible that someone so small can accomplish the things he does. Oh, and by the way, the term "child proof" is a myth. There's no such thing.

We've also been busy at our place at Duck Creek. Al keeps a constant project going and has done so many cool things. And, at New Years he killed his first buck on our very own place.....



I'm not sure which one was more excited. It was really a sweet time and we'll always remember that day.

"Did you see what my daddy brought me???"

Poor thing, he's already ruined. Don't all mothers let their babies play with deer heads?

Meet the newest member of our family, a beautiful white, blue-eyed lab. Tac loves his new puppy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

This was Christmas as Mom and Dad's. There's no trying to compete with grandparents. I counted 42 clips I took out of my hair when she was done. You can't even imagine how beautiful I was.

Christmas morning--

Isn't it funny how our Christmas pj's match our personalities-- Tac in cute polar bears, me in flannel snowflakes, and Al and the Grench. I figure I only have a few more years of them cooperating with me on that.

LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT!!

At the stock show--

I never got a good picture of him, but Tac was decked out in his boots, wranglers, pearl snap shirt, rhinestone belt, and cowboy hat. What a stud.

The animals were pretty neat, but the coolest part of the day was getting a trophy. He carried it around for hours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAC!!

We like cake. A lot.

We had his birthday party at Mom and Dad's. It took two cars to get all the presents back home.
Thanks everyone. Espcially for those presents that make noise everytime you look at them.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. I'll let you decided which is which.

This was at Tripp's birthday party. There were 5 little boys all within 3 months of each other. It'll be neat to watch them all grow up together. We decided at the party that instead of starting college funds we'll just start a bail fund.

This is Al's new toy.

I know this is an odd picture to post, but it just makes me laugh. I was unloading the dish washer and as I put the dishes away, Tac was taking any dishes he could carry and loading them in his Tonka truck. In addition to constantly cleaning up messes, we are also constantly searching for things. After going through several remote controls, we now have those tied to dumbbells.

Working at Duck Creek- Al, Dad, and Trever building a porch

Some of his 12 month pics that Crista did:

"help... I'm surrounded by girls."

These were at Addi's birthday party at Jumping Jungle

Tac and cousin Addi

Just ginning

December has just begun, and we've already ginned 25,000 bales!! This is a great season and we've ran really well! We are soooo thankful for such a great run, but I have to admit I'm getting worn out and am starting to look for that last bale to come through.

Tac is a mess. A big one. He gets whatever he wants, when he wants. Just yesterday, Dan was teaching him to throw rocks and Al was teaching him to climb the antenna. Al is also teaching him that naps are bad and so are vegetables. I have this vision of a few years down the road, people seeing us coming and turning around and running. DISCLAIMER--- I take no responsibility for the monster in the making. I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

In the last couple of weeks, Tac has decided that crawling is for babies and that Daddy is waaaay cooler than Mom. I have to admit it kind of hurts my feelings.... especially when he walks over to Al and then turns around and waves bye to me. See ya Mom, I'm going with Dad. It's like he's not even a baby anymore.

Also, in my last post I forgot to mention that, thanks to Tac, Al and I both have new phones. Mine was salvageable, but unfortunately Al lost all his numbers. So, if you haven't talked to Al in a while you might text or call so he can restore your number.

Below are a few pics of life with the Crisp's here lately:
Happy Turkey Day!! We shut down Thanksgiving and spent it up at Duck Creek. We had such a great time and didn't want to come back to the gin! To top it off, Dad caught 2 catfish and got a buck!!

Tac "helping" decorate the tree. We only had to throw away a few broken ones.

For those of you who don't know much about a gin, the ginner carries a stick in his back pocket so he can poke at the cotton that gets bunched up coming down the gin stand. Tac has seen this done a time or two and thinks he knows how. He also loves playing in the cotton from the overflow (below).

A couple more that Crista did.

Don took Dan and I up in the helicopter to take pictures of the cotton being stripped. There were modules as far as you could see in all directions. It really looks beautiful from the air.

Taegan loves being naked. He peed on the rug shortly after this. It's like having a puppy. I didn't rub his nose in it though.

Tac really loves Jose. They have lots of fun together.



Landree came to see us one day. Aren't they cute together? We're setting up an arranged marriage.

Al had him convinced there was something underneath the bed. No wonder he thinks Al is more fun than me. I could never think of some of this stuff.


Happy Halloween!!!

Tac was a moose for Halloween. He really liked holding the pumpkin. The candy wasn't too bad either.

Ginning season is here!! We've ginned almost 5,000 bales already and the gin is running really good. The weeks leading up to start-up were a whirlwind and I was really dreading getting started, but I have to admit it's nice to be in a routine finally. Something exciting we have this year is a new website for the gin. If you have time, go to http://www.punkincentergin.com/ and check it out.
Tac is going to be completely rotten after this gin season. Everyone that comes in the office either brings him something or plays with him. And, he thinks that everyone that walks through the door has to hold him. It doesn't matter if it's a customer, truck driver, or one of the gin hands, he crawls up to them and holds up his hands until they pick him up. And if there's not someone there to mess with him, he's got Dan taking him out to the gin or out riding on the golf cart. What a stinker.


Here's a few pics of some things going on with us lately:
Tac has his very own jersey that he wears to all the games. He' s #3 just like Dad.
This was at homecoming. Denise even made him a little garter to wear and it was really cute.

Al and I each got an antelope this year. His was in Borden County and mine was up near Panhandle. I know what you're wondering--....... his was bigger.

In Odem at Nana and Papa's house. He loves his Papa.

In San Angelo at Mimi's on the way to Odem. That's a really long drive for little man!!

Working on the place at Duck Creek. Tac always wants to help Dad, and sometimes I think Tac really believes he's helping.



It sure is a good thing we had someone to sample our dirt for us before we put in the water line.

This year marked Al's 10th year to own the gin. We went all out with a big party out in the gin. Some of the party attractions included: the world champion chuckwagon, a bounce house for the kids, live music, family portraits, and lots of door prizes. The party went really great and was a lot of fun. Thanks for celebrating with us!!

One neat surprise at the party was the presentation Al's parents made to him. Ten years ago, Al took a sample out of the very first bale he ginned and sent it off to have a miniature bale made out of it. He then presented it to his Papaw Crisp. Al always wanted Papaw to see the gin run, but he never made it, so this was Al's way of sending the gin to him. At the party, his parents presented the bale back to Al. Papaw Crisp died 2 weeks later.

Al also made a special presentation to our #1 man- Jose, for 10 years of working for him. Jose is amazing and I often wonder how other businesses make it without a Jose to keep things going.

Mama's recipe box. Lots of fun.

Life at the gin office.

I finally figured out how to post a video clip. I hope it makes you smile.

Happy baby.