Dude. It’s another Friends Friday “Who would you do?”

By unrulyadmin, on July 8th, 2022

Hey. It’s Rick. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had a “Who would you do?” post, so I thought another would be fun. This time, it’s two dudes standing side-by-side in each pic and you get to pick the one you’d do. Honestly, in most cases we’d do them both – but it’s fun to pick one or the other 🙂


From David: We have lots to tell you about our July 4th celebration and the new “hawks nest.” I’ll start this out and let Ben finish it. We apologize if it’s too long, but that’s just how it is. Literally everyone was here for the 4th. All 12 of the guys – all 7 kids – all 6 dogs -the grandparents – Denise and Scott, Jim and Carol – Silas’ parents and sister – Dante’s father – Ms Evelyn – plus Nathan, Diana, Daniel and (little) Nathan. It was exactly the crowd we had in mind when we decided to buy/build the “hawks nest.” As you might expect, Alex has magically transformed the former dentists office/school into the gathering place of our dreams. There’s a beautifully appointed kitchen with just about every gadget and appliance you could imagine. Chad, Cal, Denise, Carol and I put them all to good use preparing various foods for our first get-together in the nest. There’s a large mensroom, a beautiful womens room and a storage room with racks for folding tables and chairs that seat up to 48 for dining. There are beautifully finished chairs for everyone… all with locking wheels for easy movement. There’s a 85″ Sony bravia high def tv, a climbing wall (with safety harnesses), a really long zip-line and 3 corn hole game areas. Alex’ big indoor surprise was a regulation-size pickleball court we can put in use by moving the furniture to the sidelines. We spent most of the day inside enjoying good company, good food and fun and games in air-conditioned comfort. It was perfect.
From Ben: Alex had been messing with us for several weeks… telling us he had a big outdoor surprise but refusing to tell anyone (other than Dub and Bella) what it was. As our 4th celebration inside “the nest” wound down and evening approached, Alex told us it was time to move the party outdoors. None of us had seen the “hawks plaza” out back and it was really cool. There’s a central area finished with concrete and river rock that’s 24′ x 24′ – surrounded with beautiful plantings. There are wooden benches on each side with wood and stainless steel covers to provide shade. Jim, Carol and the kids brought out the ice cream freezers and cakes and we were all talking while we ate dessert. Just then, a bunch of water jets started shooting up in the plaza. I counted 16 of them. They were all spurting water up about 4 or 5 feet high. We all sat watching while Daisy started barking… then went chasing after each jet. She’d jump on one and try to eat it… then move to another. Before long, Buzz the wonder dog joined her and they were barking and chasing the water and we were all laughing. Then, little Daniel waddled in. He’d take a few steps and go “plop” on his bottom and laugh while the dogs barked and chased the water jets. Before long, all the dogs – and all the kids were running around while the water jets sprayed them. Then the jets stopped… and another set of jets started. Long story short, there are 4 sets of 16 jets that Alex controls with his cell phone. Eventually, all of us were running around laughing and getting soaked.
As darkness approached, Alex told us we should sit on the benches because there’d be a show. So we sat and watched as music started and the “dancing waters” began. The first song was “Stars and Stripes forever” and it got us all pumped as the colored waters danced. Next there was “America the beautiful” which we all sang as we watched. Then, everything stopped… and we all just sat there on the benches while the dogs shook and darkness settled. Then, with a slow rhythm, the music started again – and the waters came to life as we heard Freddy Mercury begin belting out “We are the Champions.” Before long, we all stood with our arms locked as we sang “We are the Champions” – and you know what? We meant it! Gosh. It was amazing. And no matter what happens with America and the Supreme Court and the radical right… it doesn’t matter because we really ARE the champions!
We hope all of you are happy and in good health – and that your 4th of July celebration was memorable. xoxo Ben and David

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It’s another “Friends Friday” – “Who would you do?” mega-post.

By unrulyadmin, on May 23rd, 2020

Hey, guys. It’s Rick. Last week Ben did a “Dudes without razors” post – then a couple of days later, David followed it up with “Dudes with razors.” That got Keon and me thinking about joining pics of shaved and hairy guys and making them into a “Who would you do?”
It kind of works. A bunch of the men in these pics are “trimmed” or “manscaped” but we don’t really mind. Hope you have as much fun with these as we did putting them together.


Lots happening here at the Lake. The furniture, equipment and files “DrC” sent for the new “schoolhouse” got here Wednesday and we all helped with getting everything unloaded and put in place. Ben said he told the kids it was time for “summer vacation” and a break from school. When he did that, he said Dub, Bella and Tra got upset and wanted to know why they had to have a vacation. They wanted to keep having school and the rest of the kids agreed… so they’ve decided to have summer school four days per week (Monday through Thursday) from 9:00 a.m. till noon. We’re really glad they enjoy learning and the shorter days will still give them a break.
We finally got the boats out of storage (also on Wednesday) so we all headed out on the lake Thursday afternoon. The water temp is a delightful 75 degrees so it’s perfect for boating fun on the lake.
Ty and Damien got here Thursday evening and got moved into their new “cabin.” You can’t imagine how happy Austin is to have them here. They brought their huge screen t.v. and popcorn machine and are having the kids over for a “movie night sleepover” tonight. It’s good to have the whole gang together again.
We’ll have a busy Memorial Day weekend with boating, cookouts and celebrating having everyone together. We have American Flags and bunting on all the cabins so we won’t forget the reason for “Memorial Day.” Hope you all have safe, healthy, happy Holiday weekends.
xoxo Rick and Keon

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It’s “Friends Friday” and, once again, we’re asking “Who would you do?”

By unrulyadmin, on April 28th, 2020

Hey guys. It’s Rick. When we did our last “Who would you do?” mega post, I said it would probably be our last. Then, I ran across Keon’s “Soft and hard” folder and thought “Hmmm. I bet we could turn a bunch of these into another “Who would you do?” So, with a TON of help from my amazing husband, we put this together. It’s quite large and I’m guessing it’ll force Jingle to increase his “Dark roast” budget. We had a blast putting it together and hope you’ll enjoy it. When this Covid thing is over we probably won’t have the time to put together posts like this 🙂


It’s Ben. I asked Rick and Keon if I could “tag on” to this post and they said “Please do.” I want to give you a report on David’s and my trip to Kansas City so I could get a CT scan to see if there was anything wrong with my brain (? !). We drove up on Sunday and I had the scan Monday morning. The people at the “Cancer center” where they did the scan were amazing. A nurse (gowned, gloved and masked) met us at the door. She told David she was sorry, but due to Covid 19, he’d have to wait outside. She gave me shoe covers, took me to a small room and told me to wash my face and hands thoroughly with surgical scrub. Then, I put on a gown, plastic hair cover, gloves and a mask. That done, we headed back for the scan. Before I lay down on the scan table, she wiped everything with disinfectant. The whole thing took about 30 minutes so David didn’t have to wait in the car too long. The nurse gave me a phone number and told me to call it “sometime before noon.” I did… and the PA I talked with asked if I had access to “Zoom”. I told him I did and was familiar with it. He said that due to the pandemic, the neurologist would like to “meet with me” by “Zoom” if that was satisfactory. I said that sounded great. So, at 2:00 p.m. I logged on to Zoom, clicked on “join meeting” and we were good to go. The “meeting” lasted about 20 minutes and I was very impressed with the Doctor. Long story short, he told me he didn’t know what had caused my “incident,” but he could assure me it wasn’t related to a TIA (mini-stroke). He said he didn’t think there was anything further I needed to do “at this time” but suggested if I should have another of these “events” I contact a Clinical psychologist. He said his nurse would text me names and contact information of psychologists he recommends.
So – with that behind us, David and I had a delightful Monday evening at home. David made a wonderful dinner… we had a lovely Napa valley cabernet… took our pipe and headed to the hot tub. And, yes. The sex was incredible!
This morning, we did a “Zoom” meeting with Rick, Keon, Cal, Alex, Scott and Denise. We decided since the only contact I’d had while in K.C. was in a safe, sterile environment, there wasn’t any need for “self quarantine”. We drove back to the Lake this afternoon and had a grand group dinner this evening.
Getting the scan done was a bit of a chore, but I’m glad I did it. I’m feeling great now (both physically and mentally) and am anxious to get back to our little classroom with the kids tomorrow morning. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers the past few days. We love you! xoxo Ben and David

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