Laura's Sweet 16 Birthday

Laura had her 16th birthday while we were in Idaho. She (well, really her parents!) had everyone over for a cookout. The weather was cold and windy and rainy--can you believe it even snowed a bit on her birthday?!-- so it turned into a cook-in! It was lots of fun, and the food was so good!

Laura had the kids decorate her cakes, and that was fun to watch. Except for Luci taking over one of the cakes, and she didn't want to share. Charlie taught my boys about Hertz Donuts (see the kids' blog for that one!). Thanks, Charlie. Humph.

Laura got some nice presents, including a Claddagh ring from her parents and a new car!! Okay, so it was a Hot Wheels car from Bryan.

Here are a couple of favorite pics from the special day.

Papa and Laura, the Birthday Girl

Papa and Cousin Tori

Aunt Janet (my sister) and Uncle Marty, parents of the birthday girl

John Had the House to Himself

for a few days while we were gone....His Army trip was over before our "Wild West" trip ended. He says this is true for him!

We're Home!

Even though the blog kept updating itself, the kids and I were on a long car trip to Idaho (more on that in future posts) while John was on his Army trip. Here are Luci and John re-uniting after 3 weeks apart! We met John at Cracker Barrel (my all-time favorite restaurant, I'm so glad they are in our town!), had a good supper and then on to home. Such a wonderful time at Mom and Dad's but so nice to be home, too. Mississippi River, June 15. On I-155 in Tennessee. It is way too full and is so brown. It looks scary. It was over its banks here near Dyersburg, TN. Pray for those folks in Iowa and other parts north who are in harm's way. This looked too scary. I can't imagine the damage and destruction. Double click on the photos to see more of the view that we saw. I was kind of afraid driving over these bridges.
Mississippi River, same bridge.
Missouri River, June 14. Also over its banks. This was from I-70 in the middle of the state of Missouri. The water is half-way up the trees. There is a tug boat in the water on the right side of the river.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to some pretty special Dads!

These men know how to make things FUN for their kids.

There never is a dull moment when Dad's around.

Thanks to our Fathers for teaching us so well.

Happy Father's Day!

.

.

Olen, John's DadCharles, my DadJohnHeath

Thom

Flag Day

June 14, 1777— Continental Congress adopts the following: Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

My Favorite Soldier

Flag Rules and Regulations click here

Timeline of U.S. Flags click here

Flag Trivia click here

You can't appreciate home till you've left it, money till it's spent, your wife until she's joined a woman's club, nor Old Glory till you see it hanging on a broomstick on a shanty of a consul in a foreign town.

~ O. Henry (1862-1919)

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day that my child might have peace.

~Thomas Paine 1780

Boys, Boys, Boys

Blast from the Past

Some sweet memories

Boys Working Together

The boys lost a birdie from the badminton set on the roof. I thought it was so nice how they worked together to get it down.

Movie Making

The boys are celebrating the beginning of summer by making their own blockbuster movie. Bryan and JT, along with Josh and Bradley (two friends from church), have been working on a movie that has bits and pieces of Indiana Jones, Narnia, High School Musical (??) and several other movies in it.

They spent the last days of May at our house filming Indy Jones (Bradley) unlocking a wardrobe in our basement and then finding himself in G'Narnia (the backyard), where he fought a Ninja. I think JT makes a cute Ninja, don't you? Oops. I mean, he's a tough cookie, showing off that Tang Soo Do form! I'm told that later in the movie he transforms into "Short Oval." They won't tell me more than that. I don't think I want to know more than that!

Moustaches!!

All the moustachioed men at the party.

Marty, Papa, Bryan, CalebBryan's moustache is helped along by chocolate icing.
JT had to get in on the act with a Cheetoh!

(sorry, Feingold friends...it is not a natural cheetoh)

Today is Laura's birthday. She's Janet's oldest daughter.

More pics on that in a future post. These were taken at her party.

Terrific Memories

Yellowstone
Mt. Rushmore
Yellowstone
7-11 Store...

JT and Bryan were 7 & 11 when this was taken

Winnie the Pooh signs a t-shirt for John, who was overseas on his first deployment. All the characters we met at Disney World signed his shirt!

This is SO Much Our House!

... especially after a day of homeschooling and Luci's had the run of the house.

John's Travel

John's been on an Army trip the past two weeks. He was hoping to get an earlier flight home but since it was a Monday morning, that looked pretty impossible. Busy business travel day. His orders were to travel in his army uniform. The people at the ticket desk saw his uniform and were so helpful and got him on a very early flight back home! Hooray for the airlines people!

Happy Anniversary!

Dad and Mom

56 years
John and Susan

17 years

We Must Spread the Word!

I can't believe I've been doing it wrong all these years.



Thanks, Micki, for the funny!

The Original Blogger

This man had the idea for blogging before Al Gore took the Internet public.

Here's the whole story:


Daily Polaroids Detail Last 18 Years of NYC Man's Life
Saturday, May 31, 2008 Fox News story


For 18 years Jamie Livingston kept a record of every day of his life, but this was no ordinary journal.

Livingston, a New York City-based cinematographer, amassed thousands of Polaroid photos, taken each day of his life during those years, and a collection of the photos has been posted online by friends for people to see and experience, according to a report by MyFOX National.
Many of the photos were of friends. The subject sometimes was as ordinary as a smile, a window or a household item. Another was taken on his wedding day.

Livingston's friend Risa Mickenberg told MyFOX National the photos are an essay on life.

"'Photo of the Day' is a work of light, color, laughter, pain, travel, beauty, wonton soup, afternoons, coffee, hanging out, love, life in its entirety," she said.

Livingston was born in New Jersey on Oct. 25, 1956, and died in New York City 41 years to the day in 1997.

In 1978 at Bard College he began to take photos with his Polaroid camera, according to MyFOX National. After a few weeks he realized he had taken almost an image a day. He then began to earnestly take one photo a day and continued the project until his death.

Luci in the Pool

JT taught Luci how to float on her back and kick a little to move around the pool. He was a great little teacher and is so proud of teaching this to Luci! This is in Rock Springs, Wyoming.



Luci had a great time with Bryan, too, learning how to jump into the pool.

Little Faces I Love

LuciJ.T.Bryan

More Painless School Review...Part 4

No explanation necessary on why this game is a good idea.

JT and I set the timer tonight (so the game wouldn't last forever). I thought I was going to really skunk him but he managed some triple word scores and when the timer went off, we had a tie! Good for you, JT!

I Love These Photos!

This was taken at the Army Reserves Christmas dinner in 2001. Santa just made an appearance. Wow, JT and Bryan--you've grown so much since then! Luci right before the family photo was taken at the Fire Department on Mother's Day. They raise funds by selling portraits.

Happy Birthday!

Guess Who has a birthday today?

?

Where's Luci?

After supper one night last week, we found Luci sitting in her little box, reading the funnies. Funny!


Later, she put her babies to bed with her and they took a nap...notice those pearls from her great-grandmother's house!