The Thanksgiving week always proves to be "interesting" for our family. This year it's been a little sad...not for us personally but the "circumstances". On Monday my niece, her husband and step-son were at their deer lease with another family. Mid-afternoon they noticed a helicopter in the area hearding cattle (a common practice on large Texas ranches). The chopper was flying low trying to get the cattle into a pen. Suddenly the tail brushed a power line and the blade became entangled. In the blink of an eye it had crashed and burned. The 25 year old pilot did not survive.

Her husband and his friend (both former police officers) rushed to the site but no chance of pulling the pilot to safety. After calling 911 the ranch filled with police officers, the fire department, TV reporters and photographers and all the government agency's that investigate crashes. My niece had gone to the entrance to the property to direct the officers to the site...that's her silver car...
They ALL have interviews scheduled at the beginning of next week with the government agency's...including the 17, 15 and 12 year old children.
We had a lovely dinner tonight, especially enjoying the company of our friend Paul's parents who have been visiting the States since June from Thailand (fascinating couple

). Shortly after dinner they left wanting to experience the "Thursday night blockbuster sales". Paul had planned on taking them to a huge outlet mall just outside of Waller off of Hwy. 290. About 30 minutes after they left DD's Facebook page "blew up" with reports of a manhunt in the Waller, Hwy 290 area. One of our State Highway Patrol Officers had been shot in the back about 100 miles north and had fled to the Houston area. He was spotted in Hempstead and the manhunt began.
Paul and his parents were driving directly into the area and we didn't have a way to contact him!

Anxious to hear how THAT "adventure" went for him and his parents.

The tracking dogs finally captured the suspect and he's "tucked into the nearest jail".
On the bright side...THAT CAKE WAS GOOD!
