The Griffith Family

Our Trip to Lubbock

2005-04-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Lubbock over the weekend to see some folks we don't see enough of. The Henry's went with us (we also don't see enough of them). If you have any interest in viewing some of the photos, feel free. http://homepage.mac.com/griffithcattle/PhotoAlbum30.html

Report Card

2005-04-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Savanna received her 3rd Quarter report card yesterday. At the risk of being perceived as a bragging father (which I most certainly am), I'm posting the results. Holly and I truthfully take little credit for her success thus far in her still very young life. Credit must first be given to God (spoken like a true celebrity), whose hand on her life has been evident for many years. However, the people God has brought in and out of her life that have mentored her and befriended her have shaped the person she is becoming. People like (no particular order) Christy Glick, Cat Wayne, Megan Henry, Meredith L., Julie Smith, Cindy Henry, Jenni Perkins, Sally Doherty, Tom Morrisson, Audrey Adams, Master Bell, Master Camargo, and many, many more. Her family has been interested and supportive of all of her endeavors. The people of Colonial Hills Baptist Church helped nurture the God spirit as it was growing in her. The people of Restoration Community Church continue to be a huge source of spiritual affirmation in her life. I must also give much credit to the inspiring and educational parenting conversations I've had with Kent, Bob, Weldon, Brian, Dwayne, Matt, Ryan, and many others. Thank you to all for helping raise our child.

She is probably not a genius, a giant, or a phenom, but she seems to on her way to be the Godly creation she was intended to be. This is really everything a parent could ask for.
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Report Card - Quarter 3
Social Studies - 96
Reading - 99
Composition - 98
Mathematics - 96
Science - 99
Spanish - 97
Phys Ed - 94
Music - 100
Christian Ed - 100

Comments from Headmaster: "Savanna is so talented, bright, and capable. She excels in all of her academic pursuits, and has no peer in the areas of positive attitude and perseverance. She is the Canterbury Episcopal School poster child. Let's continue to keep her on the path."

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We're very proud of her. Canterbury is a very difficult school. I've been privy to the grades from other students, and many are in the "B" and "C" range. A few are in the "F" range. I hope she can continue her progress as we move to a new school in Tyler Texas.

2005 Texas State Championship at Loos Fieldhouse

2005-04-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Van won the title fight 10-2, making her the 2005 State of Texas Champion in the 10-11 year old female blackbelt level.

2005-04-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Van following the coaching of her instructer (Master Bell's son).

2005-04-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Main Event...blocking the kick of "the big girl"

2005-04-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

2005 Texas State Champion

2005-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Van getting tied up during a fight.

The Ultimate Grill

2005-03-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Coleman Roadtrip Grill

This is the ultimate grill for the RV type of family. I looked into the Thermos, RVQ II and Weber Q, but after much consideration and investigation, pulled the trigger on the Roadtrip. We've used it once now, and it was fast, hot and easy to clean up. I grilled burgers on one side and used the griddle on the other side to cook some onions. It's very hot (20K BTU compared to 8K BTU on most other models) and needs about 1 minute to reach operating temparture.

I highly recommend it for the RVer and/or single person living in a small home. It will easily fold up to fit in the trunk for tailgait cookouts or cookouts at the park.

Black Beauty Ranch

2005-03-18T07:37:00.000-08:00

We took Van and Luigi to the Black Beauty Ranch for a little tour. This ranch is about 5 miles from our farm and is comprised of close to 2,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary. The ranch was founded by a New York writer named Cleveland Amory. He had (since croaked) a passion for rescuing discarded animals. The ranch currently house over 500 horses, many of which are wild mustangs rescued from the Grand Canyon, and wild donkeys. They also are a safe haven for animals that have been used in medical testing situations (primarly apes and monkeys). Most of these animals have some material defect or disability (blindness, missing limbs, skin conditions, depression, psychosis, gender confusion, etc...). Many of the miniature donkeys came from circuses and/or amusement parks. They spent most of their life walking in circles with blinders on. Consequently, they are blind, have debilitating lopsided issues, and walk around the pasture in circles. No kidding. It's pretty strange.

That said, the image of a herd of wild mustangs running unabated atop a deep green meadow, is hard to effectively put into words. The ranch is only open on Saturdays and tours are free to the public. They do not advertise and the ranch is very difficult to find, unless you know the area. Perhaps one of the best kept secrets in East Texas.

I've got a few pictures at the "PICTURE" link.

Nights in the Cat

2005-03-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Since going mobile, evenings have changed the most. We are seldom in the camper during the day, thus the time between evening arrival and bedtime have held the most variability for us. For example, here are a couple of recent occurances.

This week we are in the Cedar Hill State Park. On Monday night about 9:30pm, we were startled with a knock on the door and a "Park Police" utterance on the other side. The Park Ranger had some concern related to the hand written park pass I (Scott) had affixed to the windshield of my truck. He ended up not making the arrest, but he did scold and instruct me to report to the office at 8am the next morning. We had a brief ego flurry prior to his departure. I'm sure he felt a bit Barney Fifish (that was my goal). It all worked out OK, but it made for an interesting evening.

The cold weather and winds have brought spring allergies to the Griffith camp. Rather than have a small camper full of wheezing people last night, Holly and Savanna elected to spend the night at my folks house, as they were out of town. About 1am, I awoke to see my breath taking on solid form and crystalizing about 12 inches from my face. A brief reading of the trusty Radio Shack wireless temperature control center revealed an outside temperature of 30 and an inside temp of 44. We had run out of propane and the central heating system was stalled. I settled in for the rest of the night with jeans, 2 shirts, jacket, shoes, and cap. It was a miserable night, but will most certainly make for a good memory as distance grows.

In 4 weeks of camping, we have yet to ride our bikes, unroll our awning, get out our lawn chairs, make a bonfire, or cook out on the grill. It doesn't much feel like camping.

2005-03-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

The Cat

Sell and Go

2005-03-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

On February 21, 2005, we sold our home in Duncanville. The home was built by my Grandfather over 30 years ago and has been in the family ever since...until now. We will ultimately move to our farm in East Texas, but not until Savanna finishes this school year. We also have a significant rennovation planned on a small brick house located on our farm land. The house is currently tenant occupied, but that will change in about 3 months. Our plan for the house is to "blow" the roof off and add a second story covered by a gambrel barn type roof. When we are complete, it should look like a very old school dairy barn from the outside, but hopefully have a few more creature comforts inside. It will require significant manpower and we plan on exhausting every friendship we've managed to accumulate over the last 40 years.

While we've been very resistant to attempt the whole blog thing, we've now decided to dive in headfirst. The day we sold our home in Duncanville, we took up residence in a dilapidated old camper, affectionately known as "blue doo". We'd made the decision to live in a camper until Savanna finishes the school year and the house at our farm is complete. Blue Doo was the intended domocile, however, we also recognized that it might be a prime time to look for a little better abode.

After one week in Blue Doo, we traded for a 2003 Wildcat, more commonly known among us as "The Cat". The Cat is a little longer than Doo and significantly better equipped to handle a full-time living situation. The camper has a bunkhouse for Savanna, a master bedroom for Scott & Holly, and a living/kitchen area with a galley slideout, making ample room for a family of three. What happened to Bugsy, you may be asking. Well, she's traded her allegience to us and is now part of my parents family. She's much happier there, and in some ways, we are happy for her.

As the days roll into weeks and the weeks roll into months, we'll make some stab at keeping this regularly promulgated with photos and updates of our complexly simple nomadic lifestyle. Please don't feel the need to read unless you are bored and/or curious.

If you want to see some more pictures.