Happy 4th of July!

We had a nice, busy day today.  First of all, Peyton is staying with us for the weekend so his mom and dad can go to a wedding up in Canada.  They went up there without passports – and are hoping they can get back across the border!  Peyton has been spending all his time with his Aunt Jess and Adam.

This morning, we went to Cortney’s wedding at a boy scout camp chapel. 

It’s been raining a lot recently, so we were lucky to have a nice day for an outside wedding.

This picture was taken as a reminder of the fun times we had when John and Kirby were singing as part of the Pennsylvania Preachers.  Each of the guys had a daughter around the same age, and the kids spent a lot of time together.

Tonight, we went into town to see the fireworks.  We always meet Jeremy, Lois, and Peyton, and Sonya and John there and shoot off little smoke bombs, etc.  This year, it was just John, Jessica, Adam, Peyton, and me, so Adam lit the fuses.  I love fireworks!

(This blurry picture was taken on my cell phone because I thought I didn’t have my camera with me.  After I got home, I realized I had my camera in my purse the whole time!)

Happy 7th Birthday, Megan!

Today is Megan’s seventh birthday.

It hasn’t been too long since she looked like this!  But she’s growing up fast.

We celebrated her birthday last Friday night at her house,

and then she had a sleepover with her friends, Ciara, Clara, Alexis, and of course, Abby, with Mommy sleeping nearby.

When it was dark, we roasted marshmallows, then the kids had fun with sparklers.

We had a very nice time, but missed her daddy, who had to work, and Grandpa John, who was riding his bicycle in Ohio, on GOBA.  (Here he is, resting after a hard day’s ride.)

Friday night, John, Brian, and Jeff won the GOBA talent show – the third time in three years!

Saturday, Jessica and I went to Fly to her future in-laws’ house then we went to a scenic rest area along the Ohio River where Adam’s cousin took some engagement pictures of them.  Of course, I took some pictures, too!

Later, we attended a bridal shower for Jessica,

then we went to Jessica and Adam’s new house to put everything away.  Jessica and I are staying here for a few days, arranging and cleaning up things around the house.  Today we got the wedding invitations addressed and ready to mail.

A Big 5 – 0 Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my baby brother, Dave!  (OOPS! – that gives away my age range)  I’ve recently started scanning old family pictures and will post some to honor Dave.

Our family favorite picture is the one where we were getting our pictures taken out in front of Grandpa and Grandma Gladwell’s house in Hamilton.  First, look at this one.  Look at Grandma looking down at Dave . . .

Dave did or said something to Leslie and got her to cry.  Look at their faces!

As kids, we sang songs and changed words to them.  The one I remember most is Jingle Bells – “oh what fun it is to ride in a three door Chevrolet” – one door wouldn’t open.

He was a pretty cute kid, wasn’t he!?!

I’ve Been AWOL

We had a very nice Memorial Day weekend with most of our family here and celebrated all our spring birthdays with our traditional favorite, ice cream cake.  I didn’t know how I wanted to word the saying on the cake, so John took care of that for me.

I did all right posting about our family’s April birthdays, but haven’t honored the May and June people yet.  First was my mom’s birthday on May 5th.

Mom and Leroy were here for the festivities on the Saturday before Memorial Day.

The next birthday was John’s on May 19th.

(I think he was just getting ready to blow out his candles when I took this picture.)  After his birthday dinner, we went to Peyton’s preschool graduation.  Six years ago, John almost got a very special birthday present.  We spent that evening at the hospital waiting for Peyton to be born.  I guess Peyton didn’t want to come on Grandpa’s birthday though, and waited three hours to be born on May 20th.

The next birthday to celebrate was Peyton’s sixth, on May 20th. 

His party was held the following Friday night in his backyard.

Jessica’s birthday came next, on May 27th.

Since her birthday usually takes place sometime around Memorial Day, we are used to celebrating it, along with Amy’s, on that holiday since Amy’s birthday is June 1st.

And that brings us up to date until a few days from now!

On May 29th, Jessica was honored with a bridal shower in Athens, held by her friends from church.

The next day, John and I went to Caity’s high school graduation party at Daba’s house.  Bubba and Sayaka had a lot of fun with Maddy and Becca.

The next Thursday, we headed back to Toledo for Caity’s graduation!

Ever since I finished school/work for the year, Jessica and I have been immersed with wedding plans, getting invitations, and working on bridesmaids’ dresses and flower girls’ dresses.  We also met Adam in Pittsburgh to buy a headboard and frame for their bed.

What Happened to May?

(I’m trying to post on my phone – my first time – and haven’t figured out yet how to add pictures, so, sorry!)

I was doing pretty well, usually posting every week or so, and posting every family birthday – until May. I don’t know what happened, but the month seemed to fly and it’s already June. Tonight we’re in Toledo and just got back from Caity’s high school graduation! Emily and Becca will be done with school tomorrow and I will be done next Tuesday!!! Megan finished kindergarten last Monday, and Abby and Peyton finished preschool a couple weeks ago.

This summer will be a busy one for me with Jessica’s wedding coming up in August. I hope to get the house and yard spruced up, and need to get a lot of sewing done for the wedding. I’m making the four bridesmaids’ dresses and the three flower girls’ dresses.

While John and I were traveling to Toledo today in “Primetime”, our full-sized van, we were remembering last summer’s trip out West and my trip to Europe. We saw so many nice sites and had so much fun last summer, but I am very happy to spend most of this summer at home, catching up on everything I didn’t get done last year. (We are driving the big van because my Trailblazer is in the shop, and will probably be there for a month getting the deer damage fixed).

Last weekend, John and I went to Athens for Jessica’s bridal shower and got to see their new house. Then we drove to Toledo for Caity’s graduation party. This weekend’s trip is almost the same trip in reverse of last week’s – first Toledo, then Parkersburg, where Vocal Accord is going to sing Saturday night. Busy, busy, busy!

It’s Been a While

We just got back from a  nice weekend trip to Beckley, West Virginia.  John’s new quartet, Vocal A Chord did a nice time singing in a tent, in the cold!

I forgot to take my camera with me so I took pictures with my cell phone.  This picture is the guys practicing at the McClures’ house.  The McClures took us to New River Gorge National Park to see some nice views,

and

then we spent the night at their house and had a great visit with them.  Jeff and Bryan stayed next door at Janetta McClure’s sister’s house.

This is the great looking mantle Janetta and Sid have in their living room.  I love the looks of the arch and the nice shelf above the mantle.

Tonight, John and I had a very nice trip home.  We decided not to drive through Pittsburgh, and found out the road he wanted to take was closed.  We drove on farther and took a very scenic drive home on route 219.  It brought back memories of the bike riding trip we took with Brian a couple years ago.

And, Another Birthday!

Today is Jeremy’s 34th birthday!

Happy Birthday, Honey!  Where have all the years gone?

Since we were going to be busy tonight, we celebrated Jeremy’s birthday last Sunday by going out to eat at Pizza Hut with Jeremy, Lois, Peyton, and Pat Barr.  I remember one year when Jessica was little and we were going to celebrate Jeremy’s birthday on a day other than his actual birthday.  Jessica was very upset about it and insisted we had to celebrate it on the correct day   Fortunately, she’s outgrown that feeling since we can’t always celebrate her birthday on the correct day!

John and I attended Abby’s performance at her preschool program tonight, held at the church building across the street from the preschool.  She played Ducky Lucky in their performance of Henny Penny.

(We figured Abby couldn’t see if she didn’t have her glasses on to hold up her duck hat!) 

After the program, we went to the preschool for refreshments and to see Abby’s art projects.  

Afterward, we went to get ice cream and got to see a three day old baby Shetland pony. 

Abby wouldn’t go anywhere close to the pony, but Megan decided she was brave enough to pet her a little.

After we got ice cream, I went back to Amy’s house and watched a video on dinosaurs with the girls.  During the show, Abby said, “Dinosaurs are instinct!”  A couple weeks ago, after Peyton’s visit to the allergist, he asked his mom, “How many inches is me?”  I love the cute things little kids say!

This is the progress I’ve made on the shawl. 

Happy Birthday, Lois!

Today is Lois’s birthday and she, Jeremy, and Peyton came over for supper tonight to celebrate.  John made pizza – which was very yummy!

Peyton has been taking a lot of pictures and was taking a picture the same time I was taking his picture.  (sorry I forgot to take away his red-eyes)

He has gotten some nice pictures with their digital camera and took quite a few tonight, some with my camera.  I like the angle he takes them from – different than the way I take pictures.

Grandpa was cooking hot sausage for one of the pizzas.

I had forgotten to tell John that Jeremy was bringing an ice cream cake for Lois, so he bought her a tiny cake today which Lois thought was “cute”.  We let Peyton put the candles on her cake

- 14 of them – all the candles in the house!  I’ll have to buy more since this is just the beginning of our very busy birthday season.  Jeremy enjoys his cake. . .maybe he’s practicing for his birthday – in 9 days!

I’ve been doing some knitting and I’m really enjoying this project.  It’s a round shawl.

Happy Birthday to my baby!

Happy Birthday, Bubba!!!

(from 2006)

My baby is 23 years old today – where did the time go?  Bubba was a cute, calm baby and has always been easy-going and a good kid.  It’s hard to believe he’s already 23!

The weather has been gorgeous the last couple days, but I haven’t been able to take advantage of it since I haven’t been feeling well.  My nose is constantly dripping even though I’m taking all my allergy medicines and got my allergy shots this week.  I think it’s my sinuses, probably from cleaning up most of my flowerbeds Monday.  It was a nice day, so I decided to get a lot of yard work done and started with the flowerbeds.  I didn’t get to clean them up last fall since I was laid up with a broken ankle, so they were in pretty bad shape.  I’d like to have lots of extra flowers planted this year because of Jessica’s wedding and the family picnic she wants to have at our house after her reception.  I’m hoping to be home more this summer than I usually am, and hope to keep up with the yard more than I usually do.

John and I went to Toledo last weekend to see Brian, Michelle, and the girls.  I took Emily and Becca to see the new Hannah Montana movie (which we all liked very much), then we went to Build-A-Bear where the girls got nice, soft lambs with cute summer outfits.  The next day, Caity and I went to Barnes and Noble where she got several books and I went hog-wild buying books for myself!  I’ve prided myself in the fact I haven’t gone shopping – much – since Christmas, but I made up for it buying books.  John and Brian made shelves for Becca’s room to hold more of her stuffed animals.  Then she and John worked on a little pig cut-out. 

They etched it then she colored it with markers.  (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the finished product.

I knit a cowl for myself and finished it this week.  I’ve seen lots of patterns for cowls on Ravelry, the knitting site I visit often, so I decided I had to make one for me.

I had bought some really pretty yarn a few months ago that looked just perfect for a cowl.  Now I’m working on a shawl with less yarn than what the pattern calls for – I’m hoping I can mix some other yarn with it so I’ll have enough.

Family Time

The last weekend of February, Jessica and I went to see Becca and Emily compete in an Irish dancing feis.

Becca got a new wig and two first place medals.  John and Brian spent the day going to an auction where John bought a HUGE roll-top desk.  It’s currently taking up half of Jessica’s bedroom!  That evening we took a nice stroll through IKEA after dinner.

Last weekend Amy and her girls, Jeremy, Lois, and Peyton, and I went to Mom’s Friday night.  Saturday, we spent the afternoon at the nursing home celebrating Grandpa Fred’s 85th birthday. 

We took a lot of family photographs which will be precious keepsakes in the years to come, I’m sure.

John and his group, Vocal A Chord entertained us with a couple gospel songs. 

Adam was their unofficial manager since he was wearing an “almost matching” shirt.  

The kids enjoyed renewing their friendship with Hannah

and also got to know Caleb, who was too young to play with them before this gathering. 

It was nice to have all five of our kids together at the same time. 

Here’s most of our family.

Amy, Megan, Abby, and I spent Saturday night at Mom’s and came home late Sunday afternoon.  I got the “privilege” of sleeping with Abby Saturday night – what a wiggleworm – but she’s precious anyway!