80's Disco

Chelle and Greg went to retirement party for a lady at  church. They were to dress like it was their high school prom. They graduated in the 80's. I think she surely did get the hairstyle right.  

Unfortunately, life it not one big party. Chelle has experienced  quite a bit of bad luck since that party. There has been sickness in the family, water damage, overload while taking up the chores generally shared by her hubby while he handles two full time jobs for a while and now something that we should all take seriously and have a clear head for... the possibility of jury duty. Life goes on whether we are ready or not. 

This makes me sorry that  I can not live close to my children, so that  I could help in a physical way when times  get rough.

Itmakes me think of the great old hymn, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.  Thank you God for your guidance, your strength, your mercy. Help us do what we need to do.

Kitty Love

Brittanie and her sweet daughter Ava cuddle their kitty. True love is a wonderful thing. This kitty is well loved.

I feel badly for those who have not learned to love an animal. It is one of the gifts God gave us. And it is missing in many families.

There have been programs in prisons where the most hardened criminals have been given pets to care for. It has worked to soften many who have never known real love by parents or anyone else. 

Ava is a lucky girl.

Today or Not Today

Today our honored organization, ORU, met at Bahama Breeze.  Since the pictures have not yet been released for publication, I am running one that should have been taken at our last big gathering at Gervasi Vineyard on September the fifth of this year.

Yes, I did write that this picture should have been taken on September 5.  It was not. We wanted to take one of us with this big barrel, but because of several reasons including lighting, we did not get one.  

You might look at this and say it is proof that we did have our picture taken with that barrel at the vineyard...but sorry. WE DID NOT. Photoshop to the rescue. Well at least we were there at Gervasi Vineyard that day and we were wearing those clothes that day.

Hopefully by the end of this week we will be able to publish a picture taken today at Bahama Breeze. 

Fishing in the Tank

This is the first time Julia has fished. She seemed to get the hang of it all right. By the look on her face, I think she is pleased. Caleb is an old pro at this.  I'm not so sure of Oliver. But he did catch himself a big fish.

I remember when I, their grandmother, went fishing as a little girl. I caught 13 snapping turtles and no fish. That was my first and last time to fish. No surprise there.

Well, I am stopping  for tonight. I missed Tucker at 8:00,  so I MUST watch him now at midnight. Yes,  I'm a dedicated watcher.

Mammatus Clouds

Caleb points out the unusual Mammatus clouds that passed over Fort Collins in the evening after  the hail storm which damaged both the family cars and gave the kids some unusual play activities. The better picture is the smaller one that actually shows the colors of the clouds.

I  would encourage you to read about these unusual clouds. I am so glad to have these pictures because in all my 75 years, I had not seen any of these clouds.

Here are more  pictures that show the kids in  the bath tub  playing with some hail from that storm.

                                          

And  here are more fun pictures of them jumping on the trampoline littered with hail stones.


                              

Made Him Happy

What makes this 'old' man happy? Another tractor. That's it. Nothing elaborate, just an old tractor.

Doesn’t every man need a second tractor, twin of the first...one for this and one for that?

Combing through Craig’s list, Ron came upon a Steiner tractor, much like the one in his garage. It was a deal he was not willing to turn down... so he borrowed his brother’s cool trailer and went after it.

A lot of sanding and painting later, his tractor is a pretty good reward for the weight he has lost; much of which he has lost since he bought the tractor. 

This picture was taken the day he brought it home, August 16, 2018.

Fair Food

Part of the fun of going to the fair is getting special treats that one doesn't eat every day. This  bag    of  popcorn is quite festive!

I really loved the sunsetting sky in the pictures.  It shows up especially well behind Julia. I wanted to make the  picture very large, so that sun set would show up well. But as usual. I changed my mind when  I decided to use this background on which I changed the color a little and the hue quite a bit. I've sat here at the computer staring at the effect of that paper with the  sunset. I hope everyone else is as pleased with the mix as I am.

While we didn't get to taste their treat, it is a treat for me to see the pictures of these sweet kids...and much less fattening!

Party Girl

Of course if you had a princess dress, you would want to wear it! And when you are four, you definitely want to wear it, no matter where  you are going. So here is Ava dressed like a princess at the fair, doing all the things one does there. It surely does make cute pictures.

And to beat all that, the second picture shows three little kids, one dressed in pink.

Stars and Stripes

Al is a great shopper and this time he came up with a fantastic large USA flag...the starts and stripes forever!  He brought it  to the house so our group could see it. As you can see, he didn't completely unfold it, It would have been dragging on the floor.

Yes, it is big...especially for a private home flag. He now needs a very substantial tall flag pole. I wonder how long it will take him to find just the right one. I hope it is soon.

To go along with  Al's new flag, I'm posting a song that I really like written by George M. Cohan in 1906, You're a Grand Old Flag.

I prefer the chorus and verse 2. I guess that is because I am the daughter of a Rebel father and mother, but I am an honest to goodness Yankee. 

I've omitted verse one.  

Verse 2 I'm no cranky hanky panky, I'm a dead square, honest Yankee, And I'm mighty proud of that old flag that flies for Uncle Sam. Though I don't believe in raving Ev'ry time I see it waving, There's a chill runs up my back that makes me glad I'm what I am. Here's a land with a million soldiers, That's if we should need 'em, We'll fight for freedom! Hurrah! Hurrah! For ev'ry Yankee Tar,[N 4] And old G.A.R., ev'ry stripe, ev'ry star. Red, White and Blue, hats off to you! Honest, you're a grand old flag!

Chorus

You're a grand old flag,

You're a high-flying flag,

And forever in peace may you wave.

You're the emblem of the land I love,

The home of the free and the brave.^{[N 5]}

Ev'ry heart beats true

'Neath the Red, White and Blue,^{[N 6]}

Where there's never a boast or brag.

But should auld acquaintance be forgot,^{[N 7]}

Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Tom Boy Princess

This little one is dearly loved around here. She loves everyone and on the nights that we have our life group here, she is in her own little heaven with all the attention. To her daddy, she is a little tomboy who loves all vehicles, cars, trucks, tractors....boats. But to me, she is a little angel, my princess. She plays both roles very well.

The Space Cowboy

I can see a new movie brewing...The Space Cowboy.  Oliver really deserves to be the star.

Here he is practicing riding a horse in his space suit.  I can just see it now. Oliver on Mars or would it be Neptune or Jupiter. Well we will just have to wait and find out.

Phoenix the Horse

Caleb, Oliver and Julia love horses. Their friends Bryce and Cora have a beautiful horse named Phoenix. Recently they all went to the farm where Phoenix is boarded to visit. In the top layout they are walking single file  out to the pasture to see the horse. The pictures in the second layout were taken in the barn. They are all a little small to be horse groomers, but they all tried their hands at it.

Notice the braided mane on Phoenix.  

Dinner in PJs

This is the first time the triplets have celebrated their  birthdays separately. Ashley at an Anime Cosplay, Aussie at a Rubik's Cube Competition and Mason at home. Mason didn't feel slighted. He felt laid back and comfortable. Comfortable enough to go out to dinner in his pjs. Of course, in his generation, that is no big deal...it just is for the parent who happens to be along and paying the bill.

However, he was able to go without changing and had a great meal.

This was back in July, the 27th of this year. School has started and he has been dressing  a little more 'formally'.

And let's face it, pajamas or not, he's quite handsome.

Aggies

It was a special  game.  Could it  have been the first game of the season? I don't know, but it was quite an outing for these guys. Caleb and Oliver have on their Aggies shirts. I've included the history behind them calling themselves the Aggies when the team is the Rams. It goes back before 1957 when Colorado State was called Colorado Agriculture and Mechanical College or Colorado A & M.
Can't beat the game  being accompanied by face  painting and pop cycles.

It is well into the season now. And Caleb is on a team. They have not yet played a game, but  I imagine it will be soon.

One Cool Chick

Ava, you go girl. You are one cool chick.  Does she have it all or what? Look at her  outfit. Look at her bike. Is there anything missing? NO.  My only fear was that she might fly away with those wings on her shades.

As you can probably tell,  that picture was taken a while ago., two months ago.  Cooler weather has hit. She, thankfully, did not fly away.  

Prove It

I love this picture of Lauren. She looks so happy and so does her friend, Lindsay. I'm happy for her and for Pat. 

It has  been a great day for me today. I've spent way too much time sitting here at my computer, yet I've really not accomplished much.

I'm at a loss for words. Probably for the best. When I was a kid, sometimes my dad would tell me  "You talk just to hear your head rattle." It was not accurate, but I can understand his point. Sometimes it is just better to be quiet.

Laser Tag

While Mason was visiting Illinois with his family, he was able to see his friends from his home town who had moved there a few years ago. Mason, Braxton and Dalton were good friends.  It was really good to be able to see them again and enjoy laser tag as well.

Their mothers were good friends as well, so they also enjoyed getting together.

Ashley was  doing a cosplay. Greg was seeing that Ashley and Aussie were ok, while Chelle had Mason with her. It was a busy time in Illinois.

A Special Day at Cross Fit

I'm not sure how often someone proposes marriage at Cross Fit, but I would venture to say that it isn't often at least not when it is done with ring in hand. I'm still contemplating this happy day and think it is great that it was shared with so many friends. 

Here are two friends who were there...Lauren's good friend, Lindsay Case and her husband Jered Case. 

It was most definitely a special day, a very special day.Special Day

Gervasi Vineyard

This was a spur of the moment trip to Gervasi Vineyard in Stark County for lunch today. Phyllis, whose sisters will be visiting her next week from Texas wanted to check it out.  So, this morning she emailed  the northern contingency of ORU and asked  if we would like to join her. Well at the last minute like this, it was necessary for some to pass the opportunity, but three of us joined her. It was quite lovely and we've already planned a repeat visit in October when our Texas sisters come  to Ohio for an ORU reunion.  They won't be here long, but we are planning quite a celebration.

I  posted a correction on the post from yesterday about Ashley and her trip to cosplay Taiga Aisaka.

Back in July

Back in July, Ashley was  at  our house with her family. She was awaiting a wig to be delivered for her upcoming cosplay in Illinois. When it hadn't come the day before they had to leave here, they contacted the company who sold it to her. The sellers had the perfect solution and it worked out well. They sent it directly to Illinois and she was able to pick it up there. Her character, Taiga Aisaka, would not have worked out so well without that wig. Ashley looked great as you can see here. She looks really good as a blond.

Evidently the lighting was tricky at the hotel. The yellow in the blond shows up well in her picture with her sitting. However, out in the hall, it was lighter, less yellow. I'm not sure which was correct; however, I liked the more yellow one better and tried  to make it that way in the other two pictures... to no avail. Don't know why. Photoshop is generally really good at that, but  I failed to improve the color on these today.

I had forgotten how complicated it really got.  So this is the full account Ashley's mother, Chelle told me. "Well that was not at all the solution. We paid extra for the post office to stop mail and mail it to Illinois but then we were still tracking it and saw that it was at an Akron post office while we were on our way out of town. We went to two post offices, first the distribution center and they told us to go to another. They were really helpful though and wrote down the post office identification number and directions how to get there because the street that you would normally take was closed. Greg somehow talked them into getting the package for us!  So Ashley tried to style it on the road to Chicago."

But it did end with her having it.  

Meeting 1/2 Way

After staying with us a while the last of June and first of July, John and family drove to Columbus to visit with Beth's family.  John had to go back to work; so after some time, he jumped on a plane and was back on the job. Beth stayed a while before going back to Colorado. In the meantime, we realized they had forgotten some things at our house. It gave me the great opportunity to see them again before they left the state. The mid point between her location and mine was Bellville. So we planned to meet for lunch there  at Der Dutchman. It was great to get to see them one last time before they departed.  I just don't get to see them often enough.

That was July 12. I'm missing them  already. Thank God for FaceTime.

Inconvenient Appendectomy

This  picture makes me smile...the story on the page doesn't. However it does have a fairly good ending. Here is the story  I wrote on the layout:

This  picture  was taken of Aussie before this tramatic week. On Tuesday morning, the 28th of August, Chelle rushed him to the hospital with excrusiating abdominal pain. After waiting to get the right doctor on the job, they gave him an emergency appendectomy. Naturally, he had to spend the night in the hospital. The next night he was having side affects as if his appendix had burst. It had not. But he was running a fever and they kept him one more night. He was very concerned because he was the host for a Rubik’s Cube competition starting Friday night. 

He did make it Friday night to get things started. He also made it on Saturday. He was exhausted, but people chipped in and everything went as well as could be expected. 

Now we just pray he is well rested before he has to start back to his junior year of high school Tuesday morning and his college class Wednesday night.

His operation was on 8/28/18