Flying High

Saturday found me flying not so high but near and far. Sounds like a riddle? Well, it started out early with a group of women from our little Ashland Branch who drove up to Akron in the cold, rainy/snowy weather to attend a women's conference that is held each Spring. The theme was what this pic is showing...being held up on Eagles' wings..those wings being the Sisters who serve so diligently each day in all the Wards and Branches of the Church to hold up each other in good times and trial times of our lives.

The room was set up with the colors of green and black...very pretty

I thought the centerpieces were very clever.

This is my friend Gayle showing off the service project that each unit did. We made dinner scarves for alzheimer patients. There were a ton donated that were all different in patterns and colors. I know the nursing home where these were going was very appreciative. We're going to continue with this project and donate scarves to a nursing home in Wooster.

This was the schedule of the morning listing the 6 classes available. We were to choose 3 to attend.

This is an small part of the first class I attended. It was on entertaining and how to do it economically. She had a ton of fun ideas to share. This was the only pic that came out not blurry. It's a cupcake tower that she made herself and decorates it differently for different parties. I enjoyed this class the best since I'm always looking for some fun ways to make entertaining special but not always running to the Party store for supplies.

The classes started at 9 and ended around 11:30 and then it was lunch. I had to shoot a blurry pic of the lunch and I'm sure your looking at it going..what the heck is it? It was a layered taco number with meat, beans, veggies, all the fixings and it was really good. Very different from the usual chicken salad that's been served in the past. There was cake for dessert, but I'm not a big cake lover, so no pics..sorry! Then we all jumped back into the van and headed for home.

A few hours later I found myself at my Granddaughter's high school to watch the "grand march" for their prom. Here is Driana and her date. I haven't talked to her to find out if they had a good time, but knowing that the dinner was at the Ashland Country Club I know it was probably really nice. Then they had "post prom" at the University and use of the the facilities there. Swimming, rock climbing, games and tons of fun. So my Saturday was spent going from event to event. Jack filled in and went to our other Grandkiddos soccer game. Sorry I missed it but the thought of standing in the cold, rain/snow mix made me glad I was indoors...sorry Jack!

This Bud's For You

Our weather here in Ohio has been varied...to say the least. We had extremely warm weather all of March. No one complained because we never complain about warm air in Winter. However, it fooled the plants. We weren't fooled, we knew trouble would brew. Once March departed, April arrived..and so did cold, freezes galore and this week snow touched a few lake areas. It did not go well for Spring blossoms like my favorite Lilac. I had just a few blooms that survived the hard frosts. I decided I'd better pick the one and only bouquet I would be able to enjoy. So here it is in all it's glory. I have dark lilacs and the regular pale lilac and I even have white ones. The white didn't even produce a bloom. They must not have been fooled like their buddies were! Hopefully next year will yield a better vase full of joy. So these buds are for you...well, actually they were for me but I'm only to happy to share!

Ring In Spring

Yesterday after Jack and I had finished our errands we headed over to the fair grounds to see the United Way's annual "Ring In The Spring" event. The proceeds go to the United Way of Ashland county. My real interest was the flea market. However, the rain and cold forced everyone to pack up and go home. So we headed into one of the buildings to see what they had going on.

There was a silent auction that had many nice things being offered. Also basket raffles were going on.

Vendors with all kinds of merchandise had booths set up.

The flowers looked lovely but the cold weather didn't make me in the mood for planting or hanging any baskets outside!

I got the best deals at these tables. It was loaded with kids coloring and activity books. At first they were 4 for a $1.00..then it was 8..then it was 12..by the time I checked out it was 14 books for a $1.00! I know the Grandkiddos will enjoy these!

Later that evening Phil, Amanda and the girls came by for a visit and to pick up Addy's coat she left at Easter. The girls immediately picked out books that looked fun to them. Lexi found "Hello Kitty" stickers and Addy found some Disney ones to her liking!

Addy's approval was sealed with a big smile!

The one who enjoyed the visit almost as much as Jack and I was Eddy. If there's anything he loves, it's kiddos who like to play and fuss all over him! He's a good dog around kids!

Amanda..and Lexi

Phil

And these two monkeys...the livingroom looked like a tornado came through...Tornado Addy and Lexi...but that's one clean up I always enjoy doing..the one left by happy Grandkiddos who had fun visiting. Hey, what's with the tongue sticking out? I guess they were tired of YaYa following them around with the camera!

Wishes

I remember when I was little and making wishes on dandelion seeds was a great way to ask for the impossible. You just thought of what you wanted, picked the flower and blew the seeds everywhere! I could probably take care of all the dandelions in my yard with all the wishes I would send off into the air today.  Wishes for my family who need them.  Good health wishes for many who are hurting. Prosperity wishes for those hit by this economy. Wishes for good weather and no tornadoes to ruin a beautiful Spring. Wishes to be gathered with family and friends to celebrate and enjoy a good meal and share memories. Wishes that the sweet innocence of my Grandkiddos like little Cameron would hang on a bit longer. So take some time and make a wish...remember what it was like when you were little and had no doubt it would come true. You just never know, the seeds of those dandelions can travel forever on a good windy Spring day! Hope all your dreams and wishes come true! Thanks Cameron for stopping by to see me today. My wish would have been that you could have stayed longer!

Flowers & Fire For Friday

No, I'm not participating in any A-Z challenge like a few of the blogs are. The F words just seem to fit perfect for tonight! It's been a week (almost) since Easter but I wanted to show some flowers that I put together for last Sunday. It's waaaaayyyy too early for flowers here but the trees are in bloom and I took a few branches of blossoms and put them in a vase and voila'...instant centerpiece!

Arts and crafts are not my forte...in fact I usually call my attempts "Arts and Crap"...but I think this little egg ditty turned out OK. I had to include this new bunny I found at my favorite little shop "Backdoor Primitives"..I thought he was cute too!

It was a beautiful day today..even though I spent most of it indoors at work..I kept thinking it would be the perfect night for a fire. It's been dry and no wind tonight plus the temps were nice. Jack put together a nice fire and when it burned down a bit it was time for these:

Mmmmm...these little steaks were so delish! We couldn't decide if they were that good or we were just that hungry! But I'm taking in the fact that I marinated them nicely and the wood fire added just the right amount of smoky goodness..plus they were so tender they almost melted in your mouth!

Maybe it was the Chef? Whatever...good job Jack!

Eddy just was waiting for his share!

Ok, so what it the glop next to the meat? Well, I was debating about what to make with it and Jack suggested just throwing a bunch of veggies and some mushroom soup together and it worked! It had a nice flavor from the fire too. Dessert? Well first I made some banana boats...you know what I mean right? You take bananas and slice down the middle and fill them with chocolate chips and then wrap them in foil and put them on the fire. I also filled one with peanut butter eggs left over from Easter. They sort of burned. So I did follow it up with a key lime pie I had in the freezer. All in all it was a nice Friday night fire. The food was great, the company (just Jack and I and Eddy) was greater, and the relaxing sizzle and warmth of the fire made it perfect Friday the 13th.

Happy Easter!

This Easter we were blessed with good weather, a wonderful Church service where Jack gave a very inspiring talk, and a great afternoon of my 3 favorite F's...Family, Food, and Fun! Driana arrived with Summer, Anthony, 2 friends and one very obvious minus...their parents and their little brother Cameron. They were spending the morning in the ER. Long story short...They arrived shortly after with Cameron who is doing just fine.

Summer, (on the left with her stylin' hat!) and her best friend Bailey. They look like they could be sisters!

Anthony spent most of his day playing with this kite! It was a perfect kite flying day..sunny and a bit windy. He struggled with the art of kite flying but never gave up...until a tree came between him and wild blue yonder.

Then these two cutie sisters...Lexi and Addy came flying in on winged feet!

They looked very cute in matching Easter outfits.

They brought me a beautiful centerpiece...and PawPaw got some yummy fudge. They know what we both really enjoy!

Cameron arrived and we decided to have the egg hunt before we ate in case he wasn't feeling up to staying late. He had been talking about this hunt all week and we didn't want him to be disappointed.

With baskets in hand and smiles on faces the annual egg hunt was a complete success!

After all the eggs were found it was time to belly up to the island for some grub!

Addy didn't even make it through the first course before she conked out.

Beside running around the Pines, hunting eggs, and playing with the other kiddos, she enjoyed tooling around with Lexi in a pretty pink jeep!

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside flying those kites...this time with parents helping and kiddos smiling!

It's days like this that bring out the "smiley" in me! Happy Easter everyone!

Faces

How does the song go?..."There are faces I remember..all my life.." Well this weekend I took many pictures to remember these faces forever. Not that I could really forget them since I grew up with a few of them. But I feel bad because when I see these I also see ones I didn't get..like my brother Phil, some of the other nieces and nephews and their kiddos. It's hard to capture everything when trying to participate in the activities also! (I guess that's why they hire professional photographers at weddings!) But more than anything it's the faces that I wish were here...the ones in Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and other spots on the map. And the ones embedded in our memory and on our hearts that I hope are looking down from heaven and smiling on this family get together. Their faces are never forgotten either. So here's the final snipets of faces that I remembered this weekend.
Oops! I guess this wasn't the first face we wanted to see! But the lamb was yummy!
Jack looks very contemplative doesn't he? He's probably thinking: 1) How in the heck did I end up in this crazy family..2) What should I eat first..3) Which one of the group wanted an adjustment..or finally 4) Why did I buy my wife a new camera for Christmas...Yep, I'm betting on #4.
My brother Greg and his wife Deidra. So cute!
My Mom and her cousin George. The only true Greeks left in our family because they actually can speak the language. Such a shame. Maybe I need that Rosetta Stone language tape to get me in the club!
Rick..My Brudda from the same Mudda...even though he lives in Wisconsin he still must love DA Bears!
My brother Greg and his family: Deidra his wife, Vicki his daughter and her daughters Megan, Rachael, and Meadow (twins) and then just for good measure my Mommo!
Mom with her great-granddaughter Megan.
My Sister's daughter Amy with her daughter Ella.
It was a bit chilly out so gathering around the fire to chat was a must. And chatting is something my family could get a gold medal for if it was an Olympic sport!
Where to find Mom? Deep in conversation as always!
Amy and her funny older Sister Katie!
Ok, one more time without the sillies getting in the way!
What did I say about Jack being the biggest kid of all? Need I say more?