lots of fun in Bemidji!

We just got back from Bemidji, where we visited our oh-so-sweet Minnesota grandkids.

Colby is a very inquisitive, delightful and funny 2 yr. older who says to baby sister, when she knocks over his blocks, "You bad baby. You go to your Mama!"

Saige, age 1, is anything but a bad baby. She is a very sweet and happy natured baby who is trying to talk.

With such beautiful--much cooler than Houston--weather, we enjoyed outings in and around their beautiful resort-like town.

I was able to personally present to our son, 3 albums containing the first 23 years of his life. This was my big summer project.

Traveling home, minus the 3 albums, our load was lighter, but our hearts heavy, as the airplane took us further and further away from our Minnesota loved ones. We sure miss them. Thank goodness for Skype.

walking down memory lane



Emily and Lauren walking in R.I. with their Grandpa (1980)

While it's been too hot to do much outside, I've been taking some pretty sweet walks down memory lane via some of my journal entries from 1980, when my two oldest, Emily and Lauren were almost 5 & 3.

"Emily put her arms around Lauren, hugging her and saying,'I love you, you little monkey'."

Late one night, after we all were asleep, Lauren started throwing up. When I went into the girls' room, I found Lauren pathetically begging, "Emily, clean me up."  Emily was absolutely repulsed, and cringed in the furthest corner of her bed.

"Emily is getting concerned with her looks, wanting to look pretty all the time. The other day, she walked very proudly up to me to display a new hairdo.  She had wet the front part of her hair and parted it down the middle. She told me it was her "sweaty" hairdo."

Lauren, on the other hand, had her own concept of personal adornment. "She loved her library book, "Where the Wild Things Are", with illustrations of huge hairy monsters.  During naptime, she called down to me, saying that her hands needed washing.  I was shocked to discover that she had drawn black "hairs"  all over her arms, so she could look like her favorite monster."                

wrap-up of a hot, sweaty June

First of June, we said "good-bye" to Jessica and Lady as they headed off for a fun filled summer in the Carribean with Walter. You can see how much fun they're having here.

Then on Father's Day weekend (Sat.) Grandpa and I participated, along with 2,000 supporters, in the prostate cancer awareness 5k (3 mi.) race in downtown Houston.

Grandpa was awesome, winning a medal for a 3rd place finish in his age division. The triple digit heat really slowed me down, and I missed getting a medal in my age division by one place. I was so thrilled for Grandpa to get a medal; he sure is a winner in my eyes.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, we headed down I-10 to spend the rest of the day celebrating this sweet grandson's 7th birthday. (Love that boy!)

We wrapped up June with Jeremy flying in from Utah for a week's visit.  It had been a long time since he'd been home, and we've been really missing him. It was so good to hang out with him.  We took Jeremy, along with his brother Carl,  to the Jamail Skate boarding park overlooking downtown Houston, and had fun watching all the action.

We spent a day at Schlitterbahn in Galveston, where Jeremy persuaded his Dad to go on the most scary water rides, like the very tall waterslide. I hope Emily and Lauren's blogs have photos of our day on the beach at Galveston, where the grandkids (Jeremy's neices and nephews) had fun playing in the water with him, and throwing beach mud on him.) I had forgotten to bring my camera.

June bride

From this cutie of a baby girl ...

to this beautiful June bride ....

my neice, Kristyn (photo, courtesy of her cousin & wedding photographer, Lauren)

Memorial Day Musings

If it weren't for the war (WW II), these two would have never gotten together. They met in Salzburg, Austria in the months following the war.


My father was a Sargent in General Patton's Army in Europe. He directed artillary fire in France, helped liberate the concentration camps, and was part of the occupation army.  He loved serving his country.

My Mother was forced to work for the Nazi government (as a secretary) when Hitler occupied her country, Austria. She hated working for the Nazi's. 
So many people sacrificied so much for their country. Many gave all -- like my husband's Uncle Carl, for whom he is named.    A very brave paratrooper (Company "C", 517th Parachute Infantry)  Carl  had already recieved the Silver Medal for single handedly taking out a German machine gun nest in Italy, when he was killed in action in southern France, two months after the invasion of Normandy. He had just turned twenty, and never got the chance to marry his sweetheart back home and raise a family of his own.

Uncle Carl and his nephew Carl, photos taken when they were both about the same age. (My hubby Carl's photo is not a police mug shot, but his Texas Tech University I.D. photo.)

A week with Andy and Kay

It's so nice when  grown-up kids fly in for a visit. This was one last trip to Texas for Andy and KayLynn before moving to California at the end of May. We sure enjoyed hanging out with them and taking a little trip to San Antonio.

In spite of severe drought conditions, there was just enough water in the Guadalupe River for a little tubing.

           My big boys enjoyed the tree growing through the patio of our cabin. (This brought back memories of when Andy was a little boy, and I was always hollering at him to get down from the top of the tall pine tree in back of our house.)

                                              View of the Guadalupe from our cabin.

                                  It was fun to introduce KayLynn to Texas history at the Alamo.

After boat ride down the San Antonio River, we enjoyed lunch at one of the many restaurants on the Riverwalk.

Later on that  week, we joined with our other other Texas kids and grandkids for a day at the beach, Mother's Day, and a fun night at an Astros ballgame.

The grandkids really enjoyed playing with Andy and Kay (Emily's group had already headed for home, and missed getting in this picture.) The girls loved the "princess party" that KayLynn did for them. They will really miss her. Thanks for coming to visit us Andy and KayLynn!

the Easter Bunny's come and gone

All that's left are a few plastic egg shells lying around in the yard, and memories.

The Easter egg hunt was held early Saturday evening. (That's why the background is dark, and in case you're wondering about Avery's mini bangs, she gave herself a haircut, and tried to tape the  pieces back on with masking tape). Everything was  fun and games, as seen in these smiling faces, until ---

Avery got attacked by baby brother who wanted her plastic eggs, and is trying to hit her.

Looks like just a little love pat Evan is giving her, but Avery is very distressed. (In case you're wondering about this grandson's mismatched outfit, he insists on picking out his own clothes.)

The grandkids were in a delightful, sugary mood for their group pictures taken after church on Sunday. (In case you're wondering about that strange creature on Evan's lap, that's Jessica's pooch minus all her fluffy hair.) (And in case you're wondering, I sure do miss those 2 cute bunnies in Minnesota who should be in this group picture.)