June 12, 2010 - First Daylily Bloom & Yard Photos

Some friends and family asked to see our yard and flowers...so here are a few... The rain has made everything so lush and green....and most everything is blooming about a month ahead this year.

The first daylily to bloom is "James Spencer" given to me by Sandy L. last year from her collection. It's so beautiful...I wish they'd stay more than ONE DAY! That's why I have to take a picture of each one - so I can look at them on the computer any time I want.

The new additions to our yard are the play things we have for John..:) This area will be made into a new flower garden and the toys will be moved. We are moving ALL the plants that are close to the deck away from the deck... What a job this will be!!!!

We'll be moving the plants out to the new line of rocks...and there will be a walkway in front of the deck.
We have 1/3 of the digging completed as of Sunday June 13th. We worked until the rains came...and came...and really came. Tues might be the next time we work on it some more. I hope to keep a before and after photo log. More later...

June 9 & 10 - Fever

Got a call Tues night from Steve. John had a fever and couldn't go to school Wed. - Could we watch him from 7:30 til noon. SURE! We were glad to help out and John was so very good. You'd never know that he wasn't feeling well.

Steve called again Wed night and asked if we could watch John again on Thurs morning as he still had a fever...Of course we could help out. ...We made sure he kept drinking his water... He was such a trooper about not feeling well.

But you can see in his eyes that he's not feeling well...

I kept Steve's Fisher Price Garage from when he was little... Took it up to give John something new to play with and pass the time. He loved the garage and so did Papa:) Not happy that John didn't feel well, but happy to have time with him. He counts to ten, sings his ABC's, twinkle twinkle little star, the wheels on the bus, the itsy bitsy spider, and can say ANYTHING now. He'll be 2 in a few weeks.

Sat. June 5, 2010 - Hershey TT - Pickleball

Brad was ready at 7 a.m. and so we were off to drive the 50 min. to TT Hershey to play Pickleball. From left: Carlton, Carla, Dean, (his wife, Marge, came later) Keith, Karen, John and Brad... The courts are in GREAT shape...look and feel like new. Lots of players...enough to have 2 courts going all morning and so we only had to sit out a short time before we were playing again. A good workout.

Dean offered to take another photo so I would be included:) We played from 8:30 til 11....the storms were coming and...we had to get Brad home as he was playing for a wedding ...plus he and Vivien had 2 cake tastings going on at their house. Vivien makes wedding cakes for those of you that don't know.

It felt so good to play again.. We promised John and Carla that we'd drive over again when they are back at Hershey in a few weeks.

June 5, 2010 - Love my rocking chair.

We babysat for John. In the kitchen was the rocking chair that Becky, Tim and Cayton gave him before he was born. It's so fun to see John fit in it .....and like it so much. He's having a snack of pretzels while he rocks away.

This is the shy boy....RIGHT!

June 2, 2010 - Pickleball and Meatloaf!!!

We knew that John and Carla were coming into Hershey so we planned this day to drive over and play some ball... it was a perfect day to play...no wind, and a little overcast at first. It was humid but hey, you can't have everything... Carlton and Dawn invited us to visit with them after the morning of play.

Carlton took me up on using my camera. I don't usually get in any photos. The courts were lookin good and felt so good to play. We hadn't played since we left Conroe, TX..

Thanks again Carlton for the great photos...:)

Here's Karen, Nancy, and Tom... We sure had some good games... Several other players came but I didn't get their photo:(

I goofed and didn't get a picture of the GREAT looking meatloaf dinner we shared with Dawn and Carlton. It was a real team effort. I mixed my meatloaf recipe, Keith taught Dawn how to make his gravy...and Dawn made the mashed pot. and corn. When we were ready for dessert, Dawn brings out this choc. peanut butter pie...oh my gosh was it good.:) Sure did have fun. As always the day ended too quickly. We did manage to get home before dark... LET''S DO IT AGAIN!

Tues. June 1, 2010 - RHS Orchestra Banquet

Because we help out with Brad's orchestra whenever we're home, we were asked to join them at Shady Maple for the end of the year banquet and awards event. Keith, Vivien, and I met the buses at the restaurant. Shady really has their act tog...they make sure there's a "room" ready with microphone and podium.

I tried to get a shot of the food ...but everyone was eating so fast, I almost missed out. Look at Vivien's face to the right! I'm not sure what she's looking at.

This was the room we ate in. The students ASK to come to Shady Maple cause they can have ANY thing and EVERYTHING they'd like to eat and...as MUCH of it as they can eat. Some students boasted that they had 5 plates of food and...dessert too.

Students giving Brad a standing ovation.

This girl was so happy to recieve her award! Everyone got a good laugh from her reaction.
Well, Brad...another year under your belt...Hard to believe you've been teaching for 9 years.!!!!

Memorial Day Parade

The tradition continues: Every year we watch the Memoiral Day Parade in front of Steve, Di and John's house..Steve always makes breakfast for us and the parade starts at 9 a.m. It was a beautiful day this year. Mom, Michele and Larry joined us. This year John was able to get around much better and knew about the fire trucks, police dogs, and horses.

Steve and John got into their seats and were ready for the parade to start. Mom is sitting to the right. The parade lasted an hour and was well attended. Pop Pop and Gram are smiling down on us from heaven, happy to know that Steve and Di are carrying on the family tradition.

Sat. May 29, 2010 - YARD SALE!

Our community has several yard sales each year. When we received the flyer I immediately made plans to get up in our attic and clean it out. Thankfully, it was a cool day the Monday I worked on the attic. Tues. We cleaned out the garage.. Above is Keith working on cleaning out the garage.I was so proud of him, selling lots of his catering equipment..Wed. we cleaned out the shed. Thurs. we were SO tried, we decided to put the prices on all the items..Ha. Friday was my Dad's 84th Birthday and Michele and I took him to Shady Maple for lunch...when I got home later in the afternoon we moved the tables in place and since we have the carport, were able to put many items on display. The sale was to start at 7 a.m....but we know from other years that buyers show up much earlier.

I almost forgot to take pictures so many of our items were gone by the time I took this shot. We were very pleased with what we sold. We really priced everything to SELL... You can see all the baby items in the front...well, I had 2 ladies fighting over them. Thankfully, it worked out that they split everything down the middle....I made out great.

Mom gathered all her items and I picked them up friday after Dad's lunch date. She was so pleased with all she sold...her prices were really low.

And Brad showed up with his STUFF...He did GREAT. There were at least 11 neighbors participating on our street alone, and that always brings a lot of buyers.

Nothing goes back in the house at the end of the 2 days....We back the van up the drive way and load everything into it. Then we take it to Jubilee, a Christian Second Hand shop where all the proceeds go to charities.

May 25th - Chaparoned for Brad's Orchestra

The Reading High School Orchestra was invited to play before the R-Phil's baseball game. Brad asked Keith and I to be at the stadium before 5 p.m. and pick up ALL the tickets.

We sat outside waiting for the buses to arrive...and while we sat there we couldn't help but think of ALL the times Keith and I played at this stadium when we were in Exeter High School Band. Keith played drums and I played trumpet. What great memories we have of those days. Our band was like a family, everyone taking care of each other.

Here are 2 R-Phil's pitchers answering questions from the fans before the game.

The orchestra played a medley of patriotic songs...on the field before the game. What a great bunch of kids...40 students and so well behaved. It was a pleasure to be with them.

Brad conducting as the TV crew video. It was a great game...Phil's won 7-1! The food was great too.

May 25th - Happy to have the Honda like NEW!!

The first Monday we were home, Keith had an appt. to take the Honda down to Jack and Sons to have ALL the work done to the fenders - painted and back tog. again. He hated that it looked so bad for our trip out west.

He was so happy....Just standing back and admiring how new it looked. Just a great car and can't beat it for a tow vehicle. Would like it to last at least 2 more years before we get something new. We love that it gets 38 - 40 mpg. Oh, it's a 92!

May 23rd - Fun with John

Spending time with John is always fun... Steve and Di needed us to sit for John and here a few fun shots to share... Above Papa and John are watching t.v....can you tell by the look?

What a good eater he is!

Boy, the toys that kids have today. This tent folds up in about 2 seconds and is flat as a pancake. Wish we had these great toys when the boys were little. They loved to play in tents but it took Keith so long to put them up.

First week home in May - Work Work Work

Just one of the jobs that has to be done is the cleaning out of the gutters. The front of the house has had The Gutter Guy Guards installed...but not the back of the house. This job has to be done before we can put the shade clothe over the deck. I can't believe I got keith to smile....he HATES this job.. and is ALWAYS happy when it's finished.
We weren't home but a few days and I got sick.... can't figure that out. We were gone for 7 months and neither of us were ill... I wasn't sure if it was alergies or if I was really sick with something...that is until Keith got sick a week later. It really knocked us for a loop. Once we felt better, we still got tired so quickly.
Also, the first week we were home I found out that Dad had another mini stroke. He didn't have to tell me...I could see it in his eye. He said he is very dizzy, but that has continued since the stroke he had 4 years ago. He says at almost 84 years old..he's not going to the hospital so they can poke and prod at him. I think I understand...
Keith and I have taken Mom and Dad to our favorite Chinese Buffet and Michele and I took Dad to Shady Maple for his 84th Birthday Free Lunch on May 28th.

Sunday - May 9th -Mother's Day

It was so much fun being with our family for Mother's Day.. John came in our door with holding flowers for me...what a memory I'll have forever.

Of course whenever our family gets tog. it includes FOOD...and Mother's Day was no different. John is eating out of the same dish I used when I was a little girl. Not to mention it's been thru all my sisters and brother ...and Steve and Brad too.

For fun we brought home 5 of the ice cream hats from Brenham's Creamery... At least John got a kick out of wearing it.

And here's Brad and Vivien....also known at Uncle Brad and Aunt Vivien:)