Oliver Writes Book

This is the first time  I've had a four year old tell me he is writing a book. I tickled me to see him with his pencil 'writing' away on the blank pages of a bound book. It so happens he is making treasure maps. I don't know if he hides something before he starts his map, but they are clever and do lead to some type of 'prize'.

Oliver is also the one who told me that seagulls (we were watching one at the lake while swinging together) don't eat fish, when I told them the gull had just dived for a fish.  I asked him what they did  eat and he told me with such authority that they eat insects... I  told him he had taught me something new. Then I googled it on my phone and found out that they not only eat fish but even dead fish  and sometimes  they will even eat from dumpsters anything they can find.  So  I explained  it to him.  Later I head him telling his mother that seagulls will eat from dumpsters. 

Photo Books Keep Good Memories

As most of you know, I make lots of photo books. My enjoyment comes from the creativity of scrapbooking the pages with Photoshop Elements before I place them in the books on line. But even more joy comes from seeing those I love looking at those books. Here is Beth and her children checking  out the last book I had published with pictures  taken of them when they were here at Christmas time last year...just six months ago. 

Darling Subjects

It is so much fun to take pictures when the subjects are so darling!  It was great having them together a little bit recently. We were glad to have them around. Sorry to says the boys are back in Colorado... not that Colorado is a bad place to be, but it is really far from here.

Pick's at PLX

Pick's at PLX is new to the lakes this year.   It turned out to be the perfect place for lunch on the Saturday of the fireworks.  Tim, Brittanie and Ava asked John and his family to join them on our boat for a leisurely time on the lake and lunch.   It turned out to be a very good place to watch the annual  boat show which is held during the celebration of our Independence. 

While they saw the parade, we were at home and I missed it completely because I chose to take a nap. It isn't easy getting old...well I guess it is, when one can nap whenever he/she pleases. I just made a poor decision that day.

Although we missed trying out Pick's that day, we have done so since then. We took the boat, but ended up eating inside, which worked out well. We'll definitely do it again some time. We might even eat  outdoors if the weather ever brings us a day that isn't excessively hot.

Triple that Birthday

This is the first time the triplets have celebrated their birthdays separately. Two of them, Ashley and Aussie had events to attend. Aussie is the farthest from home...as in Salt Lake City for a Rubik's Cube Competition. Ashley is in Lebanon, TN at an anime weekend. Only Mason is at home. They did manage to get the traditional photos of themselves at the time of their birth. The pictures are below...

                                                                Ashley 10:34

                                                               
                                                                Mason 10:35 AM

Aussie 10:38

Gaming...

It was good to have the triplets here for a week, even though we really didn't get to do a lot. My major enjoyment was playing Rummy-O, which we seem to do best late at night, when the days' 'work' is done.  Chelle, Ashley and Mason like to play with me, and I am thankful to have opponents.

Aussie doesn't play that anymore. You can see by the second picture how he spends any extra time he has during the day/night.  With his Rubik's Cubes and his computer, he doesn't need any extra activity.

Aussie is on his way as I write this to another Rubik's Cube championship meet, Cubing USA Nationals in St Lake City, Utah. Go Aussie!

So there can be more to gaming than just video games.

Room for One More

This is the first times Ava was able to play with her cousins from Colorado. She and Oliver are both four. All four bounced around rambunctiously. A very good time was had by all four.

Back in Time

Because of our son's passing,  I have been  combing through all my pictures as well as his,  both of his grandmothers on this side and other relatives who have submitted them. All of that has kept me intrenched in memories for the last 6 months. I can say that most of them have been good.

The picture above has nothing to do with Mark, but I still paused to think about that day and many other things about our four years in Massachusetts. It was sooo different from what we grew up with in Ohio.  Above, my mom was there visiting and we were seeing some of the local historical sites. Of  course, I was still new enough to the area to need a map...and no GPS. Boy that was the old days.
The picture was taken in the late 1970's.

Very Good News

Last Saturday Lauren's long  time guy friend proposed to her in front of all their Crossfit friends at Kennett Square in Pennsylvania.  As her gramma, I'm quite pleased.  I like Pat very much.

Learner's Permits

Family life is hard on a person these days. There is so much to do. Bless the families that can find time to do things together.  I'm asking a special blessing for this, our youngest daughter's family. 

Triplets can make it even busier...especially when they have their driver's learning permits! Yes, ALL THREE at the same time.

Incredibles 2

The Incredibles was a hit with these three. Caleb had an old costume that he just had to wear.

I hear it was incredibly good. One of my adult friends saw it later and was highly recommending it for adults. Who knows, I might get to see it myself sometime. Maybe in the years to come when we can sit down  with a video from RedBox or something.

Bradenton, Florida

Brittanie visited her dad,  Tim in early May. Here they are at the beach in Bradenton,  Florida. I love the white sand. She had a great time there with her dad and her brother, Brandon.   

At the end of June,  Tim came to see her in Ohio and to attend a family reunion while  commemorating  the life of his younger brother, Mark. 

It was a good time to be here because of the Fourth of July fireworks at Portage Lakes, that were displayed this year on June 30. It is strange that we have them on another day besides the fourth. But there are reasons. We do it on a weekend night and another night besides the fourth because we get a sizable discount that way.  It is a great show for those of us who really like fireworks. It is like a 30 minute grand finale. WOW!!! It also leaves us free on July 4th to travel to another area where those big boomers are shown on July 4.

Company for Maggie

Maggie is usually dealing with two 'old' people day to day. She gets a little excitement during the week, but she is always looking for more. Anyone who comes...and looks like an adult to her...she LOVES!   

Of course, Ashley and Mason were missing the cats they left at home, so they were more that glad to pay some attention to little Maggie...and she loved every minute of it.

Riding Horseback

Julia follows the boys into the love of horseback riding, common in their family. This tickled me when I first saw it, with her sitting up tall on the big horse, while an older girl is on the pony.  The picture was taken at farm school, where these 'city' kids get to experience farm life, make friends and  learn a lot of valuable information throughout the year.

National Cemetery

We are so thankful for the National Cemetery. The respect shown to our servicemen is very encouraging.

Military Funeral

Funeral for Mark at  the  Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.

Grandchildren and A Great Granddaughter

We've been working hard to be ready for this day, a day devoted to celebrating the life of our son, Mark, who passed on to live with our God in heaven back in January of this year. We wanted to do this when all his brothers and sisters were able to be here. The military funeral service in the morning went exceedingly well thanks to all those who were available for this day. I'll tell more about that later..

This picture shows us with our three youngest grand children and our only great granddaughter, Ava. They were seeing each other for the first time this week.