Purdue?

Matt went this past weekend to a by invitation basketball event at Purdue University. Grandpa and Rod went with him. We are Big Ten fans but we root for Illinois first - Matt said it was weird to be in a Purdue shirt! What a great experience! Marlin and Coach Matt Painter had a conversation about them both marrying Saluki (SIU) women! Matt and Coach Matt Painter , Purdue Head Basketball Coach

Grandpa stopped Robbie Hummel and told him that he (Robbie) was one of his favorite Big 10 players and would he get his picture made with his grandson! Robbie was more than happy to pose with Matthew.

Getting ready to head in for a game! Great learning times!

We always visit stadiums and basketball venues on trips - Marlin had to walk over and check our the Purdue football stadium! Saturday will be a "holy" day in the Henley house with the beginning of college football! Bring on the glory days!

Snaps of Jake and Matt from Lori

Jake and Matt getting ready to head out for their family "back to school" dinner. Jake is a sophomore at Northern Illinois University and Matt is a freshman at Monticello High School. Rod with Jake and Matt!

Lori is 6 ft but she looks short next to her "boys"!

Jake loves to rock climb - this is at a place in Bloomington, IL

Matt was selected to be in the NCAA First Team Program - he is modeling one of the many shirts he came back with after a weekend conference in Kansas City.

Happy 51st Anniversary

Happy 51st Anniversary to Marlin and Carolyn. They were married at the Christopher Church of Christ in Christopher, IL. Wishing them many more years together. We love you and appreciate how you have placed such a high value on our family!

Breckenridge, Colorado

Upper Peninsula, Michigan Nashville, TN (Can you hear the song, "You're Still the One"!

Silver Dollar City, Branson, MO

Here comes the bride . . . . . (and groom)

Mr. and Mrs. Jay Kuhn at their wedding, August 8, 2009. It was a beautiful wedding. Ashley is the daughter of our cousin, Cathy Dehnbostel English. Ashley and Jay are now enjoying their honeymoon in Maui (stay away hurricanes and storms). Don and Joyce Joplin (grandparents of Ashley)

A beautiful duo - mother of the bride and the bride! Let them eat cake . . .

Cathy and Matt (son and older brother of the bride)

Matt and his wife Lindsay with Lori. Matt was the ringbearer in Lori and Rod's wedding (will be 25 years in December)!

Proud parents of the bride, Kent (Smitty) and Cathy English.

Happy 15th Birthday Eric!

Happy 15th Birthday to Eric. Eric loves his birthday! We celebrated with the family at Lonestar yesterday - Eric's favorite food is steak! Eric begins his high school career on August 12th at St. Charles West High School! Eric - we love you and hope that 15 is a great year for you! Warning: he wants to study and get his permit!

Brickyard 400 Qualifying Trials

The Saturday we were in Indianapolis we went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - what an experience. None of us had ever been to a Nascar race -a whole culture of its own! The IMS is huge - pictures and TV don't do justice to how large the track is. It rained that morning and there was a 4 hour delay but we hung out at the museum and watched people (and there are some to watch!) We then were able to see the qualifying laps and then practice runs.

This is a portion of the original track - this is the bricks drivers kiss when they win.

We had a great view of the cars - we had to look in the program to see who they were!

In 1948 Cyril Henley (Marlin's Dad) went to the Indy 500 and below is the car that Mauri Rose drove and won with in 1947 and 1948. My Dad and Uncle Mike still have the metal cars their Dad brought them back from the race. They had cars like they have in the museum at the track.

I don't think I'll become "Nascar Nancy" anytime soon.

He can get his permit in a few days - watch out Speed Racer Eric is ready!

Matthew said he needs a little more leg room!

Getting ready to head into the speedway.

What a Great Day!

Nick and Nancy went to the Cardinal game today. The Cardinals lost but we were winners. Nick was visiting from Denver and this was something he wanted to do. At 9:45 the night before Lisa called with available tickets - woo hoo. Off we went for a day of all things baseball.

After running the bases! Thanks also to Lisa for giving us a Cardinal Crew pass that put us in a line for about 10 minutes vs the line that had thousand a more and was going to be 1.5 hours! Nick quickly ran the bases and then we posed for a few pics!

Nick demonstrating how he can stretch to catch a ball!

Enjoying his loaded burger in the Redbird Club!

Today was Build a Bear Day and the give away was a Cardinal puppy! Nick was so sweet that he gave his puppy to his sister Zoe! Note that Nick is sporting one shirt when we enter and soon is wearing a Holliday shirt - must be something that happens when you go to the game with Aunt Nancy.