Let’s start with the most important news first.

We had another grand-baby in September. The trip out to Colorado was quick, but full of wonderful memories. Baby Luke Alan Fillmer was born on September 17, 2011, at 10:07 am, in Longmont, Colorado. His hats and socks fit him reasonably well, but his momma and daddy really like the sleep sack that I made for him. He is in it constantly and it keeps him so warm. Important thing to have in Colorado in the Fall.  Here are the four Fillmer Boys (3 generations) within an hour or so of the birth.

Last time I posted, Scott was in Uganda on his first mission trip.  He has since gone back there again and the two trips could not have been more different.  Our church does mission work in such a unique way.  The focus is a personal connection with individuals, not church planting.  Therefore, the last trip Scott went on was an all male, soccer oriented trip.  The guys connected with individuals and, more importantly, the community, by going over and “hanging out” or spending time with those who shared the same interests.  Through this connection, the guys were able to share the love of Christ with many from the community who might not have been touched otherwise.

This second trip had nine members (4 guys and 5 gals) and was all about clean water and the kids.  The story of the trip can be found here: http://www.scottfillmer.com and the photos, as always, are astonishing!  Here are a couple of my favorites.

There are so many awesome photos from this trip that it is worth a jump over to Scott’s blog just to look at the photos.

Ok, SERIOUSLY?  I have to take a minor break here….my computer just bit the dust and the hard drive is DEAD, so this post will be continued when I am back up and running…stay tuned…

This year, the visit to Dallas was different in a lot of ways.  For the first time, I took a good look at the reasons for visiting this particular festival.  When I was growing up, we went to the NPF to visit with family and friends.  As any good Czech, Catholic family would be, my extended family was (is) huge.  I can remember many cousins, god-parents, grand-parents, aunts and uncles, all visiting and enjoying the atmosphere that felt so familiar complete with the food, beer, music, and dancing.  As time has gone by, many of the cousins have moved on.  Some of my grand-parents have passed away and some of them don’t care to come anymore.  My mother, the 100% Czech part of the family, has passed on and my God-mother, who was always the anchor of the dancing part of my family had a stroke a few years back and is in a home, not doing well, from what I’ve been told.

This year, the festival was fun, as it always is.  However, that is the interesting thing, this year, Scott and I realized that the NPF is always the same.  We always arrive the same day, go to the same venues, see the same art vendors downtown and the same bands in the halls.  The parade never changes and the menu at the dance-halls, although contains some authentic Czech fare, has not changed in at least 10 years.  Seriously, the menu consists of Barbeque Beef & Klobase, Parsley Potatoes, Green Beans (not sure what is Czech about that), Sauerkraut (German?), and Czech Pastries (Kolaches).  If you stay until Sunday, you get Pork Roast and Dumplings (Knedliky).  The tunes played are now 50% Czech and 50% Country and Western.  The one new thing the festival did this year was bring in a magician, yes, that is right, a magician, to entertain.  I think it was this last development that actually sealed our decision (see below).  Although we had a good time, we will not be attending the NPF for several years to come.  Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am actually impressed and pleased that the folks in Ennis can still keep a folk festival alive in today’s culture and society.  I know it is insanely difficult to reach the younger generation and I applaud them for trying to do things each year that will draw the younger crowd.  See this post for more information on how the NPF folks could better reach the younger crowd.  The beef I have with the management of this festival is that the young are being reached at the expense of the purity of the culture.  My question is this: WHAT IS CZECH ABOUT A MAGICIAN??

My reasons for taking my money and time elsewhere are not only due to the festival changing, but due to out growing this festival and a desire to see how other Czechs hold their festivals in other parts of this country and beyond.  Therefore, next year we will be heading for the Wilber Czech Festival in Wilber, Nebraska.  In an effort to start a new tradition with the younger folks in our family and to try to carry on the Czech heritage, we have asked our kids and grand-kids to join us in Wilber, as well as my parents.  All have agreed to wear costumes for the event.  I will be making those and posting progress photos throughout the next year on this blog.  It is nice to be excited again about attending a Czech festival.  I am sure the festival in Wilber has many of the same issues, namely, familiarity to those who attend every year, but it will be new to us and we are looking forward to it.

Finally, I leave you with photos from this year’s festival.  I do have a video of Scott and I dancing, but am working out a deal for cash to keep it from being posted.  HaHa!  As I said, we did have a good time, but also a reflective one.  Enjoy ~ až později

The trip to the festival:

The King and Queen Competition:

Czech Musicians (one of these is my cousin:

Random photos of fun:

This year I decided to spruce up and adjust some of the current costume components.  Starting with my red skirt that I made for the festival two years ago.  This skirt had four huge bias panels in it and was ridiculously heavy to wear.  After about 2 hours work, one of the panels is now removed and it is much lighter.  When I made it I was unsure if there would be enough “swing” and so I put in the four panels.  After wearing it at the 2009 festival, I realized that three would have still provided plenty of swing without weighing me down quite as much as I moved.  So, the adjustment has been made.  I’ll be adding a little bling here and there to the red and the purple costumes, ironing, and fluffing, etc.  Then we pack them up and head out for the Memorial Day Weekend festivities in Ennis, TX.  If you actually read this blog and are anywhere in the area (and are not a stalker) come to the festival and see if you can find us.  Sort of a modern day “where’s Waldo”…

Quote of the week: “This is Serious!!” Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Driving through Lynchburg one last time on our way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina I snapped these shots.

We will be spending lots of time (and $$) here!

I had hoped to get a photo of Liberty Mountain with the giant LU on the side, but was unable to see the mountain for the trees. HA!  So, that photo will have to wait for another time.  We had an uneventful, yet scenic, drive across Virginia today.  Our journey for the day ended here.

View from our balcony in Kill Devil Hills, NC

Finally, one last photo for our son.  He lives in the Boulder/Longmont area of Colorado and is trying to start his own Crossfit gym.  The quest for clients is always ongoing, so if you are in the market for a personal trainer and are in the area, let me know and I can hook you up with him.  These photos are for him…

Cape Hatteras is on the agenda for tomorrow and then heading back toward the farm.  I have to head back soon, I am running out of knitting projects…

This is where I sit in the truck.

The drive from Clemson to Lynchburg is a pretty one and after arriving safely, yesterday afternoon, we took a quick tour of the city of Lynchburg, VA and the campus of Liberty University.  The roads here are amazingly confusing.  Everywhere you turn there is literally another set of railroad tracks or a river to navigate around.  Getting from point A to point B with any ease will require a little practice and a whole lot of patience.  We were so busy running around today that I only snapped a few photos.  However, I did manage to do the important things, like, locate a Michaels, A.C. Moore, JoAnns, Wal-mart, and even a cross stitch shop, squee!  About an hour from Lynchburg is the Yarn Barn, which will be a must do trip for me once we are settled.

The seminary is on the north side of the campus right next to the law school.  The south side of the campus seems to be all undergraduate studies.  There is an ice rink, a very nice basketball arena, a football stadium (Go Flames) and best of all, recreation wise, there is the new LU Snowflex, a year round outdoor ski area up on Liberty Mountain.

We really like the area and found an apartment complex that will work for us as well.  Now we are headed to Kill Devil Hills, NC for some beach R&R.  Tomorrow night a hotel room with a balcony overlooking the ocean awaits.  Look out east coast, here we come…

Ebby and me at the Mississippi border.

Closeup of the Chihuahua with an attitude!

Ebby and me at the Louisiana Border

Ebby and me at the Texas border.

The trip back was another story.  There were three of us, Me, Scott, and our three year old grandson William in the front cab of our little truck for the 14 hour trip back home.  Ebby lived in my lap the entire ride back.  All is well though.  We made it home without incident, unless you count the first hour in the truck when William turned to me and basically lost all his orange juice he had taken in before we left.  It was a mess, but we survived.

This year my dad and I competed in the King and Queen Dance again.  There were 21 couples competing this year and we didn’t even make it past the first cut.  We had fun though and the couple who won were far superior dancers and will represent the festival well in the year to come.

Pardon the No Smoking sign, the moment was right so the photo was taken.

It is so wonderful for a daughter to be able to dance with her father!

Are we having fun yet? or Will this song ever end?

My Daddy and Me!

All the contestants are positioned around the dance floor.

Here is the video of our 2009, meager attempt at stardom…

On Saturday, we went to the parade as usual, but the parade was a huge disappointment this year.  Not only did it start about an hour late because of an inadvertently parked train across the intersection, but there were bands included in the floats that had absolutely NOTHING with Czech heritage, except perhaps that the members were residents of the greater Ennis area.  These bands were beyond metal in flavor and there was not a polka to be found.  Sad, really.  If Ennis wants to do something to promote the Polka Festival in the future they might want to try updating the website and begin thinking “nationally” again.  They are, after all, the National Polka Festival.  Ok, rant is over…  The best part of the parade for me was seeing Ebby all decked out in her costume.  She is truly a Czech/Mex dog!  Ha Ha

This is why the parade is late!!

Am I handsome or what?

Nana, William, Bryan (my son), Sara (his wife), and Ebby waiting for the parade

We will not be attending this festival next year (or probably for a few years to come), mainly because we want to go visit some other festivals in other parts of the country.  Now that I have my supply of costumes, we can dance in style throughout Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Ohio, to name a few.  Stay tuned here for updates on our adventures to a polka festival near you.