Happy Birthday Egg!

Today is Craig's birthday and I thought I would embarrass him by showing a few pics of his life. First here's me at his baby shower. He's the lump under the red shirt...then of course here's his first pic ever...awww, so cute...then there's the time he fell in the tub after his bath, poor thing! Then he and his bro Jack with their Mommo...Last but not least is his audition picture for the movie BIG...unfortunately Tom Hanks won over him...Well, Happy Birthday Craigie Eggie! Let's see....who's birthday is next???Oh yea, Jackie. This is going to be good!

Labor Day weekend in Chicago

We went to Chicago this past weekend and Jack and I were able to visit my brother Phil's new house. We love it! It's in the cutest little town called Morris and it's on the Ill. river. It's an hour from Mom's and very country indeed! It's Phil and Bonnie's little piece of heaven after a busy work day in the city. We definitely have pole barn envy. It's huge inside and part of it has an office that house 2 very lucky cats with their own TV room! There's a "man room" complete with pool table.. The inside of the house is lovely and the sun room is a place I would never leave. We took a tour of downtown Morris but I left my camera at the house, so no pics...It's a very busy old fashion downtown with cute shops and people actually shop there without going to a strip mall or big shopping center. We had a yummy lunch and then on to icecream at the neatest little icecream and candy shop. I was so mad that I had left the camera. Thanks Phil and Bonnie for the fun Saturday complete with tour of your boat too! We'll be back! (just a warning)

Sorry this pic is sidewase... Jack and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on Sunday so we went to church with Mom at the church we were married in. Or as we called it: going back to the scene of the crime! Time sure goes fast, but I've loved every minute of it...Happy anniversary babe!

Fun times!

We went to Greg and Deidra's on Sunday and as you can see we had some yummy burgers and good food to chow on! Thanks guys, we really had a nice time. A trip home would not be complete without a side trip to my fav outdoor shopping center, Oakbrook.... I love that place... The flowers were very pretty and I think Mom looks good too! Katie stopped by in uniform to say hi, not to arrest her Gram!

Final summer poolout!

Well, school starts Wed. for these punks so a final before school swim was in order. Even tho the water was a bit "chilly", they seemed to enjoy it. Even Cam-man took time to lay back and relax with the floatie. Just chillin' dude! He and Anthony got the back to school buzz. Nice guys!



I had to ask what they wanted to be when they grew up. Driana is sticking with the lawyer route that she's talked about for the last few years. Summer wants to be a teacher. She's a natural with her love of kiddos. Actually she said she liked the idea of summers and holidays off and she thought that the retirement was good. She could retire, go back and get rehired and then have her pension and her job money too. Smart girl! Anthony said he wanted to be a "lazy boy". Not work, just play video games all day. He's well on his way to achieving his goals. I think I have him convinced to just invent a game, sell it for a million or two and then be "lazy boy". Have a good school year guys!

Memories

Saturday my Aunt Gwen passed away. I couldn't let this time pass without saying a few words about this lady. My childhood memories are intertwined with her and my Uncle Dave. They lived across the street from us. Last year Aunt Gwen had to move to a nursing home and her home was sold after over 50yrs of living there. Although I was sad at her passing, I know she is at peace and with my Uncle. I used to spend time at their home, sitting on the front porch with her eating apples or watermelon that she loved to add salt too. Never could acquire that habit! She always seemed interested in what I had to chatter about and I know that she loved me. She loved poetry, music and literature. She had deep respect for the nursing profession. She was health concious and always was in good shape. She loved gardening and had beautiful flowers and veggie gardens. I will always picture her mowing her lawn with shorts and flipflops on! She and my Uncle traveled the country with us when I was young and after my Uncle passed away she traveled the world with my Mom. Mom always says she was the best traveling companion. One thing that I will always remember is how, when Iwould be rushing home from her house, she would admonish me to "always look both ways before crossing the street!" To this day I can't cross a street without hearing her words. I'm sure as she passed through the veil from this life to the next she stopped and looked both ways. Seeing us here and those waiting on the other side. Till we see each other again, I love you Aunt Gwen and will keep you in my memories forever.

Family home evening at the Pines

For a fun family home evening we decided to smash the old pinata! Everyone had fun, no one was injured,execpt for the pinata of course. Candy was had by all. Even little Cameron had some!

Cousin visits and birthdays!

Cameron celebrated his first birthday on Wed. Aug 6th, but we celebrated on Sunday with all the guys and families. Craig and Amy and Katie and Taylor were here for a long weekend and we had a really fun time. It was nice to get all four boys together for a pic! Cameron enjoyed his first birthday cake .I think the picture with Jack and Cameron is great...hmmm....twinners! The weather has been awesome, very cool and almost like fall. A fire with tons of s'mores was just the ticket to end the day. We'll sure miss Craig and Ames and kiddos when they leave tomorrow. (sob, sob!)

Aren't babies cute?

Ok, my life is soooo boring I'm taking pics of veggies and flowers. But, hey my baby veggies are so cute! Now if they grow up big and strong they will be so yum! Except for the pumpkin babies, they will be so cute as jack-o-lanterns! Now here is my bi-polar hydrangea. The front of the bush produces beautiful pink and the back, lovely blue. No medication needed here! See what weird ph soil can do for you? Yesterday we had a bunch of baby turkeys in the yard. No, not grandkids, real turkeys! I'm not too good at sneaking up to them for pics, just take my word for it. They were cute too!

Ahhh, now this is summer fun!

Donna and Larry invited us for a lazy afternoon cruise on Mifflin lake. Thanks guys, the day was lovely and Jack even fished just a bit. The area is very nice and I wouldn't mind going down and hiking in the wooded areas sometime. It's only about 10 min. from Ashland. Easy, low gas using trip!

Almost a teenager

So what do you do when you're about to turn 13?? Have a Party of course!....dye your hair (on the ends) pink...smear yourself and friends with shaving cream hidden in balloons....blow out candles on a pretty cake. I can't believe our little Driana will turn 13 next week. She wanted to celebrate at the Pines with a few friends a week early, so I said "OK! Hope it doesn't rain, my track record isn't so good." Well, it didn't rain. A bit hot and muggy, but no rain. Or bugs! It was a fun night and I'm glad we could be there too. Happy almost Birthday Driana!

Damsel in distess?

Form your own opinion, but I think Jack is adorable!

Summer scenes at the Pines

Sure sign summer is really here are the blooming flowers at the Pines. Of course I was glad we finally got the pool up and running. It's not quite level but we were in a hurry to get it going. The water was finally delivered. Because we've been having a cool summer so far, the water is a bit chilly. But hey, that's never stopped us before! The kids christened it today but my camera was at boy scout camp with Jack. My new camera is getting fixed at a resort for cameras in Texas. I think the ghosts did it in on the ghost hunt in June! I just love my lilys, unfortunately they don't bloom all summer so I have to enjoy them while I can. The hydrangea decided to get hyper and bloom like crazy this year. Last year I got only one lonely bloom, so I'm really happy with it this year. Just a note of intrest: Our little Cameron (Jack and Steph's) had to make a trip to the ER this morning after having a seizure induced from a high fever. He stopped breathing and it was really scary for a bit. But he's home and doing fine. Get well CamMan!

A Boyscout is:

A Boyscout is very tired after a week at camp and Jack is no excemption. Here are a few pics of his adventure this, his 18th year. Brother Hatch from the Young Men's General Presidency came from Salt Lake to spend a few days with the campers and I understand he was awesome. This year they really incorporated the Duty to God in the camp. A good spirit prevailed! The tent pic is Jack's home away from home. The weather was cool and a bit rainy but they had fun anyway.