Picture of the Boys at the KC Chiefs Game

Thanks to my friend LaVon, here is the picture of boys at the Chiefs game. They look like they are ready for winter. It was pretty chilly that day, but at least the sun was out and they didn't get too cold. Marlin, Jack and Frank.

P.S. - The Chiefs didn't win (as usual) but it was a high scoring game - 44 - 37. We played the Cleveland Browns. The poor Chiefs have had a bad year so I guess we can just say they are re-building for next year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Sorry to be so slow with the blog but things have been really busy around here. We have had Christmas get-togethers; keeping the grandchildren; shopping & wrapping; and then in our spare time trying to get things organized for our trip to Florida. But we have had plenty of fun doing all these things so that makes it all worthwhile.

I attended two Christmas parties with some of my old co-workers which is always a lot of fun. Got to see some of the people I hadn't seen in a couple years and catch up with them and their families.

We had a card group in last weekend for a chili and soup dinner with Christmas goodies. Always have a good time with them.

On the 12th, I hosted along with one other neighbor, a brunch for the women of our neighborhood. We have a pretty small neighborhood - 21 houses - but we had 11 attend the brunch.

Jack went to the Kansas City Chief's' game with our friends, Marlin and Frank. Thanks to Marlin who had some tickets his son wasn't going to use so the guys had a day at the football game. They had a good time. Marlin took a picture of them and I was in hopes that I could post it but we couldn't figure out how to get it over to here. Sorry no picture. While they were at the game, Dora and I decided to go to the movies. We went to see the new George Clooney one. It was all right but for some reason it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Be better to rent it I think.

We are going to celebrate Christmas with our sons and their families on Christmas Day. The grandchildren are really getting excited about Santa coming. We had the two little ones on Monday and Bronson (3) was telling me I better go see Santa and tell him what I want!!

If the weather cooperates, we plan on pulling out of Kansas City on Sunday, 27th, and heading South to Florida. Right now they are calling for snow late tomorrow and on Christmas Day but then 26th and 27th are to be clear and cold. So we will see - hopefully we can get out of this cold weather.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and I'll blog when we get to Florida.

Girls Day Out - Thanksgiving

I'll try to catch up a little since last blogging.

On November 19, two of my friends, Dora and Linda, went on a Girls Day Out. We went to lunch to a really neat restaurant in Downtown Kansas City. It is called Webster House. It looks like a old schoolhouse - it has two floors. The first floor is like a boutique with all sorts of things to see and buy. It was all decorated for Christmas and had some unique gifts. The second floor is the restaurant. We had a lovely lunch - very good. After lunch we decided we needed to make a stop at the Old Pottery Store. We love to go to this store as it has anything and everything you can imagine for decorating; housewares; and just lots of stuff!! We had a great day. That us at the top of the blog at Webster House.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had a great time here. We had 18 people for dinner. Our friends Jeannene and Warren came in on Wednesday. They were a big help with getting things ready for for the dinner. Both our sons and families were here; my sister; my nephew and his family. The food was good and company was exceptional!!

Jeannene and Warren stayed until Saturday a.m. We had a lot of fun with them - playing cards and dominoes; going out to eat; checking out the Christmas lights at Zona Rosa; visiting the Independence Square.

Jack and I started putting up our Christmas decorations yesterday. We had put out the lights outside early last week as the weather was unseasonably warm. Yesterday we put up the tree and today I worked on getting the other decorations put out. Can't believe that December is going to be here in another day. The weather around here has been very nice for late November. But I think it will be changing by end of this week. It is time for us to start thinking of heading South before long. We won't be leaving until a couple days after Christmas.

We have some Christmas parties coming up over the next few weeks and that is always a lot of fun.

Pictures of Branson Trip

Bronson's 3rd Birthday & Branson, MO Trip

We celebrated Bronson's third birthday on Sunday, September 18. He is growing up so fast but is a sweetheart. He was big enough this year to really get into the party. This is Bronson blowing out his candles on his Big Bird Birthday Cake. He had a great time!!

The weather has been much better here in November. Usually October is our great fall month but this year it has been November. It has been unseasonably warm, and sunny which has been great since October was so wet and cool. But I believe next week things will be going down hill but I guess that is to be expected since Thanksgiving is almost here.

I don't know where all the time goes - we have been busy with one thing or another. I have been volunteering at the hospital a little more and we have had our craft fair. Jack and I both got our flu shots so hopefully we will keep healthy this winter.

Last weekend we went to Branson, MO., to see all the Christmas lights. They start their Christmas season down there the first part of November. We went to a country music show on Friday night, Pierce Arrow. This is a good family show and we just love their comedian. So that started the weekend off to a good start. Then on Saturday we went out to Silver Dollar City. They have over 4 million Christmas lights shining. It was just beautiful. If you are not in the Christmas mood when you leave there you never will be. This was the first weekend for all the Christmas festivities so was a really large crowd. Also, with Veterans Day being the following week the crowds were big. Our friends, Jeannene and Warren, met us in Branson - we really met up at the restaurant in Ozark, MO - Lambert's for lunch on Friday. If you haven't been to this restaurant, it is quite a treat. They are known for their "throwed rolls" - which is what they do and all their "down home" cooking. Then they went with us to SDC on Saturday. We had a great time with them, as usual. On Sunday, we did some shopping at the outlets and at the Landing. On Monday, we came home. Overall, it was a great trip.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Jack and I are on the transition board for our housing area. We have been busy meeting with the other members trying to get things lined out for the coming year. It has been a challenge but we are making progress and hopefully it will all work out and we will have the necessary paperwork completed before 2010 begins.

Starting at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow we are going to be keeping our two littlest grandsons, Bronson and Nico, while their parents take an anniversary trip to Miami Beach. Chad and Cathy have not been on a trip by themselves since Bronson has been born so they definitely deserve one. Their 5th anniversary is tomorrow and they are going to come home on Monday. Chad and Cathy are really excited about their trip but also have some reservations leaving the kids. I know they are going to be so homesick by Monday (hopefully we can keep the kids busy and they won't get homesick too bad). Cathy's Mom is going to take over Saturday night so will just have them Friday and Saturday. Wish us good luck!!

Cold Weather in the Fall - October 2009

This is Jack's new hobby. He decided he wanted to build him some of these airplanes. He also found out it takes more time than he thought. This is the first one.

Bronson's First Birthday Party: (Grandma & Grandpa got him the dinosaur)

Cathy, Bronson, Nico, & Chad:

Nico says he would just as soon be somewhere else:

Well, you wouldn't know it was October in the Midwest by the weather. We have had unseasonably cool weather the last few weeks. Usually our Octobers' are sunny, nice and warm, but this year sure has been different. We have gloom, rain, and cold weather for the last three weeks. Maybe it will get it out of its system, and we will have warm, sunny weather for November. It has been down in the high 30s at night and maybe in the high 40s in the day with no sun. We are definitely ready for a change - tomorrow and Monday they (the weathermen) are saying it will be sunny and in the 60s - boy I hope they are right for a change.

We have been busy the last few weeks with doctor appointments, volunteering at the hospital, and with the family and friends.

We celebrated our grandson Nico's first birthday on September 26. I can't believe he is "one" already. They grow up so fast.

We celebrated our youngest son, Chad's birthday on October 8 (his birthday is really the 11th but we were going to be out of town). He turned 38 - where does the time go??

Our grandson, Zach, is playing Freshman Football this year and we have been going to his games. He is doing great - playing fullback, linebacker and is the kickoff kicker. Last week he made two touchdowns - boy did Grandma jump up and down on those!! His team has not lost a game - next week is his last game. Jack was saying if these kids stay together all thru high school by the time they are seniors they will really have a great team.

We met our friends, Bruce and DeAnn Hoover, for dinner on the Kansas City Plaza. It is always great to see them and catch up with their family. We ate at Jack's Stack Bar-A-Que and it was so good. We plan on going back to this place.

On October 9, we went to Lake of the Ozarks for a few days. My sister went with us and we went into Lebanon (which is our home town) to a mini-family-reunion. I have an uncle that lives in San Diego who was going to be in town for a class reunion so we wanted to visit with him and his daughters. It turned out to be a nice visit with relatives that we hadn't seen in about 30 years. One of my cousins has traced our family back to the 1200s. That was pretty interesting. She has put together scrapbooks with old pictures of when we were all kids. We stayed at the Lake until Monday, October 12. The weather was not the best but at least it didn't rain just cool and cloudy. Jack did some fishing and caught a few Bass, so that was enough to make his trip worthwhile.

We had an homeowners meeting this last week as our homeowners association is being handed off from the developer to the homeowners. Well, this is a new experience since our little neighborhood is small and has not had the responsibility of this assignment. Well, guess who got elected to the Board the first year?? Oh well, somebody needed to do it so I guess we will learn as we go. The first year I'm sure will be the hardest but once we get things established it won't be so bad, maybe!! So keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we will need it!!!

Tomorrow we will be celebrating our grandson, Bronson's birthday. As you can tell October is a very busy birthday month for our family. He will be turning "3" and he keeps us on our toes. But we love it!!

Melvern Lake & Smithville Lake

(Still having problems with getting the pictures on here in order - so here they are up front)

Here are the Kansas flowers:

Here are the guys - Don, Dave & Jack:

Here are the girls - Becky, Cathy & Linda (and Brandy):

Our friends - Don and Linda:

Our friends - Bill and Donna:

Here is Melvern Lake at sunrise.

On Tuesday, September 15, Jack and I packed up the trailer and drove out to Melvern, Kansas, Lake. This was the first time we had been out to this lake. It is about 90 miles West of Kansas City. It is a beautiful lake - very well build and landscaped. It is a Corp of Engineer lake so it is very well maintained and beautiful.

Two couples that we met while in Florida last winter - Dave and Becky (from Illinois) and Don and Linda (from Alabama) were coming to Melvern also. Dave and Becky had some friends that were workkampers there and they had recommended the lake to them. So Dave sent out e-mails to everybody to see if we would want to have a reunion there for a few days.

Also, we have another couple who camp there a lot so I contacted them (Bill and Donna from Olathe) to see if they would like to go out at the same time.

As it turned out, we all were there for a few days. We had a really nice visit with everybody. The first night we were there, Dave and Becky had everybody over for chili and bar-a-que meat sandwiches. They were camped on the lake side so enjoyed the scene.

The second day we visited with Bill and Donna. We played games and caught up on our families. We met Bill and Donna in Arizona a couple years ago through mutual friends, Bruce and DeAnn.

The third day, Jack and I had everybody over for happy hour and snacks and then we went to Don and Linda's for chicken stew (Southern style)!! It was really good. Then we all played Yard Golf. We had a wonderful time and fellowship with all these great people.

Then on Friday, September 18, we packed up the trailer and headed back towards Kansas City. We had prior plans to camp out at Smithville Lake (just North of KC) over the weekend.

On Saturday, our granddaughter Emma, came out to spend the weekend with us. Also, on Saturday night our friends, Dora and Marlin, came out and we cooked out and build a camp fire. The weather was just great - sunny and no wind. Enjoyed the evening with them.

Emma went home on Sunday afternoon and Jack and I remained at Smithville until Monday afternoon. We could not have ask for any better fall weather than we had on these outings. Fall is great time to go camping!!

Stressful Three Weeks - Jack

We have had a stressful three weeks. When I last posted, we were waiting on the results of Jack's MRI on his left ear area. Well, we received the results on September 3, from his Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He said that the MRI showed a leison on his brain. He said since this was out of his expertise he was referring us back to Jack's internalist for further testing.

On September 9, Jack had a CAT scan and bone scan done. We got the results back on this on September 11, and everything looked good. But his primary doctor still wanted us to go to a neuro-surgeon to let him reviews all the tests and determine that things were all right.

So we had to wait until today, September 22, to get into this doctor. So today we finally got a complete "A- O.K" from the neuro-surgeon. Boy were we excited. He said everything looked fine but there was a small abnormality but was nothing to worry about. He says these things show up different ways in the films but not to worry about it. We really liked the doctor - had a wonderful bedside manner. He said to go out and enjoy life every day and that is just what we are going to do!!

Thanks to everyone that had Jack in their prayers and thoughts over the last few weeks.

Fall Weather in KC

What great fall weather we are having in KC!! September came in this a.m. with 50 degrees on our porch. This is my favorite time of the year - cool mornings and warm afternoons. August in our area has been quite cool and wet this year which is really a big change from our typical August.

We haven't done any exceptional type activities here lately. We have had the little ones a couple of times and have enjoyed them.

We went to the KC Royals baseball game a week ago. This was a really nice treat as they have just renovated the stadium this last year. It is beautiful!! It has an updated scoreboard with running scoreboards all around the stadium. The lights are so brilliant. They have added a number of restaurants, bars, and other eateries all along the back field. It didn't seem like a stadium more like a large entertainment complex. Very nice!! Of course, it hasn't helped our poor Royals to win any more games. And now our Chiefs are not starting off any better......

We have been to two concerts at Crown Center (which is a large entertainment/hotel complex in the downtown area of KC). These concerts are free to the public - you just bring your lawn chairs and find you a place to sit. We have been going to these concerts for about 15 years or more. It is a nice place to go a relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Update on Jack's hearing problems. The doctor decided about a week ago he wanted him to get an MRI on his ear area. He is still not satisfied with the other two tests. So Jack had the MRI last Friday but we have not received the results on it yet. You know it seems like it takes forever to hear back on tests these days. Hopefully we will get something by tomorrow or Thursday.

Enjoy this nice fall weather!!

August 16, 2008

Where does the time go? It doesn't seem like it has been three weeks since I have updated the blog, but it has.

We have been busy with our routine activities - keeping the grand kids, playing cards with our friends, doctor's appointments, and volunteering at the hospital.

Our grandson, Bronson, who is going to turn three in October stayed all night with us for the first time. His parents thought that he wasn't old enough to spend the night away from them but we proved them wrong!! I had been wanting to keep him so we planned it for Friday, August 7. I thought maybe if Emma, our granddaughter, stayed too that he would be happier with her to play with. And it worked out just fine. He was just fine and didn't even ask for his parents - so we have passed that milestone!!!

Jack went to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist on August 6, to have his hearing checked. His hearing has really seem to go down the last couple of years in his left ear. He blamed it on him working around loud machinery over a lot of years but when he had his hearing test the Dr. thought that his left ear was a lot worse than his right one. So he is going back on August 20 to have another test done to determine that there isn't anything else causing this, i.e., growth/tumor. We don't think that is what it is but who knows so we need to rule it out. He had a bicycle wreck about 33 years ago and he hit the left side of his head on pavement and had to have corrective surgery on his cheek and eye orbit, so we think maybe that might be some of the cause. So we will find out after the test is completed.

On August 10, we went back to Lebanon, to take Aunt Dorothy to have her second cataract surgery. We stayed with her until Wednesday afternoon, and then went down to the Lake of the Ozarks for a couple of days. The weather was pretty nice and enjoyed that. Jack didn't have the best fishing but did catch one keeper bass.

Tomorrow we are getting new living room furniture delivered. We bought a new sofa, chair & ottoman. We got chocolate colored leather. Looking forward to that. We put our old furniture on Craig's List and sold it to a couple here in Liberty. Glad to get that done so we don't have to fool with it.

Can't believe it is time for school to start again. The grandchildren (Zach and Emma) start their school year tomorrow. They are both excited to go as Zach is the big guy starting high school (can't believe that)!! Emma is going into 4th grade. Oh my, where does the time go. Zach has started football practices so he is excited to start playing.

Update on World Series & Lebanon Trip

We left for Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, July 15, to attend the USSSA World Series that Zach was going to be playing in. We started the games on Thursday, and played two games that day and won both of them. On Friday, we played two more games and won both of them. So by now, we were feeling really good about the team. There were 15 teams in the series from Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri. Then on Saturday, we only played one game, as we got a bye since we were undefeated, and we won this one. So Sunday started the final games - we played at 11:00 a.m. to a team that had only lost one game; we beat them so we were still undefeated. So we played in the Grand Championship Game at 3:45 to a team that was also undefeated. We lost this game in the seventh inning (we only play seven innings) by one run. Oh we were so disappointed but they placed second out of 15 teams so I guess that was really pretty good. The boys were so disappointed but they held their heads high anyway. It was a really good game - final score was 7 - 6. The team that won it was from a suburb of Des Moines.

We had a really nice time while we were in Des Moines. We all stayed at the same hotel so we got to know all the boys that Zach played with and that was fun. We did some site seeing while we were there and did some shopping, of course. Des Moines is really a nice town. Very clean and modern. One of the shopping centers we went to was as nice, and very modern, probably better than most we have in Kansas City. So overall the trip was great. Enjoyed spending time with the family.

Here are a few pictures Jack took while we were at the games. The blog would have been over loaded if I had put all of them on it!!

Here is Zach getting his trophy:




Here is Zach as one of the captains of the team for the coin toss (he is #22).

Here is Zach getting ready to bat:

Here is the team congratulating one of the boys after his home run: (Zach didn't get a home run but came really close - the ball bounced off the fence).

Zach batting:

Zach playing right field:

Another one batting:

We got back to Kansas City on Sunday, July 19, around 10:30 p.m. It had been a long five days as we were pretty busy the whole time we were there. Then on Monday, we left to go to Lebanon (our home town) to stay with Jack's sister-in-law as she was going to have cataract surgery early Tuesday morning and we had to drive her to Springfield for that. All went well with her surgery. We stayed with her again Tuesday night and then took her back to the doctor the next morning to remove the patch and have her eye checked out. Everything went well. So then we came back to Kansas City late Wednesday night. So we have been a busy bunch the last few weeks. So now I believe we will stay home a few days and catch up around here.

July Activities - Family & Friends

On July 4th, we went over to our friends, Linda and Frank's, to cook out and celebrate the 4th. We had a nice time and then went to the Gladstone's fireworks display.

We celebrated Emma's birthday on July 10, as her birthday (July 17) we all will be in Des Moines at Zach's baseball games. She is turning 9 which I can't believe how fast she is growing up on us. Here are a few pictures from her party:

Craig, Emma, and Maggie - watching Emma open her presents:

Chad & Bronson:

Grandma Cathy & Nico:

Shannon with Emma, Maggie and Addison:

On Friday, July 10, drove to the Lake of the Ozarks. DeAnn had called us a week or so ago, and said that some of our friends we had met in Arizona a couple of years ago were coming in for the weekend and she invited us to come over on Saturday to see them. So on Saturday morning, Bruce, DeAnn, Lavon, Don, Wendy and Rick came by to pick us up in their new pontoon boat. It was great to see everyone. We took a spin out on the Lake for a couple hours and then went back to DeAnn & Bruce's condo. We had a terrific visit with everyone - we ate, visited, went to the pool, and ate some more. What great fun!!

Here is Captain Bruce:

Don, LaVon, & DeAnn (and Lindi) on the boat ride:

Wendy, Rick & DeAnn at the table:

All of us around the table:

Hope everyone has a great week. We are headed to Des Moines, Iowa, tomorrow to go to Zach's baseball world series games. Looking forward to this. Will give you a report when we get back.

Baseball Update - State Tournament

This is a short update on Zach's state tournament.

Zach's team played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday - two games each day. Out of the six games, they only lost one game. On Sunday they played the championship and won!! So his team, the Oak Grove Heat, was the winner of the state tournament.

Zack played great during the games. He got some good hits at the right time, and he made some great catches in right field. Manner of fact, he caught the last fly for the third out, that won the championship. Grandma and Grandpa are really proud of him.

We are going to go with them to Des Moines on July 15 to play in the USSSA World Series.

Winfield, Kansas Country Music Roundup

Main stage at the Winfield Country Roundup:

Doug and Mary enjoying the concert: (above)

Charlie Daniels on stage:

LoCash Cowboys performing:

Enjoying the campsite: (Jack, Cathy, & Mary - and "Happy")

Jack and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary on June 12. Can't believe we have been married that long - most of the time it doesn't seem to be more than 15 years but when we look back and see our children I guess time flies when you are having fun!! We went out to dinner at McCormick and Schmidt, a restaurant at the Country Club Plaza, and had a wonderful dinner and it was a beautiful evening to be out and about.

On Monday, June 15, we left with our trailer to go to Winfield, Kansas, to the Country Music Roundup. We had never been to it but some friends of ours, Mary And Doug, had called us and told us about it and invited us to go with them to it.

Winfield is about 35 miles southeast of Wichita. We camped right at the fairgrounds where the concerts were taking place. They had music entertainment some days for 12 hours. So we got our music fix. Here are a few of the acts that were there: Country Gold Tour - Leroy Van Dyke; Jim Ed Brown; Moe Brandy; LoCash Cowboys; Charlie Daniels; Outlaw Junkies; Cowboy Crush; Ronnie Milsap. In addition, to the headliners they also had another stage with amateur talent and they were good too.

They also had a burger contest as to who could cook the best burger. Jack and Doug decided they wanted to enter it and believe it or not they did win a prize. They received third place in the uniqueness category. Whatever that means!!

We were there until Sunday, June 21, and we enjoyed every day. We are thinking we might go back next year.

Our friends, Jeannene and Warren, came up on Tuesday, June 23, and stayed with us for a couple of days. On Wednesday, Jeannene and I met some of our former work friends for lunch - DeAnn, Sheila, and Diane. We had a great time with them - visiting and catching up with our families.

Our grandson, Zach, starts his baseball state tournament today. It is being held here in Liberty, which is close, and hopefully it will cool off some before it is over. Will let you know how things come out next post.

Bennett Spring State Park

Zach eating between games. He plays a double hitter on Tuesday nights.



He got a inside the park home run at this game.



The coach giving him some advice. He is as tall as his coach.

Grandpa and Emma fishing:

Breakfast of champions!

On June 1, Monday, we left Liberty for Bennett Spring State Park. This park is about 180 South of the KC area. It is close to the town, Lebanon, where Jack and I grew up and went to school, so we know the area real well. We both still have relatives that live around there.

Emma, our granddaughter, went with us on the trip. She loves to camp with us so we thought this would be a good trip for her as they have lots of things to do and see at the park.

We arrived around 2:00 p.m. and got checked in and set up. Emma was pretty excited as she had been riding for about 4 hours and just wanted to get out of the truck for a while. They have a nice campground and the park where we camped is right by the Spring and River so you can walk or ride bikes to about all the things you wanted to do.

Jack and Emma went fishing a couple days. As you all probably know, I'm not much of a fisherman - don't have the patience for it. But they both love it. Jack actually fished a day more than Emma. As you can see by the pictures, Emma actually caught the first fish and showed "Grandpa" how to do it!! But I believe he ended up with more than her.

My brother, his wife, and my niece and her family all came down on Wednesday night for a cookout. We had a great time with them. My niece has three little boys all under the age of 5 so they definitely kept us entertained!!

We had a really nice time and the weather was pretty good all week except for one day it was cloudy and cooler with some rain but other than that it was ideal weather for our trip.

We have been going to our grandson, Zach's, baseball games. He is playing about two to three times a week now. Jack got some really nice pictures of him at last week's games.

On Monday, we had our little grandsons, Bronson and Nico, for the day. They are both so cute and are a pleasure to keep.

Next week we are going with our friends, Doug and Mary Christenson, on a camping trip to Winfield, Kansas, to a Country Roundup at the fairgrounds at Winfield. Will tell you about that trip when we get back.

Have a good week!!

P. S. As you can see I'm still having problems getting my pictures moved to the right place. They transfer fine but then when I try to move them it is like they are locked in place. If anyone has any suggestions, would love to hear from you.

End of May

For some reason I couldn't move these pictures down. They belong at the bottom of this blog. Sorry!

Where does the time go?? I don't know what we have been doing but we seem to be busy all the time. Let's see what been going on......

Since I last blogged - On May 13, we had DeAnn and Bruce Hoover; and Donna and Bill Rinne over for a night of eating and talking!! We had a wonderful time with them. We had a lot to catch up on and just enjoyed their company. Here is a picture of them and ,of course, Miss Lindi (Bruce & DeAnn's little dog). Lindi came to see Brandy, too.

On May 15, we had our card playing buddies in for a night of cards and dominoes. Linda and Frank Wilburn came over, our other friends, Dora and Marlin Ragain, didn't get to come as Dora has been having severe back problems. Also, this same day, we had severe thunderstorms and got over five inches of rain. All this rain came in about three hours so there was some big time flooding. In Liberty, which is the small town we live in (really just a suburb of Kansas City), there were over 10 intersections closed due to flooding. This is the first time I can remember having this much rain in such a short range of time.

On May 17, our granddaughter, Emma, had her first piano recital. She has only been taking lessons for about 8 months and she is doing very well. She loves playing the piano and has always liked anything music. Her father loves all kinds of music so I guess she got his gene for this. She had a nice presentation.

Our friend, Dora, had back surgery on May 18. She has had severe pain for over three months and it took almost this long to get the surgery scheduled. Jack and I went to the hospital to set with her husband during the surgery. It turned out to be over a five hour surgery but there were not any surprises and it turned out good. She got to come home the next day (can you believe how fast you get out of the hospital these days)!! I took some food over for them on Wednesday and was surprised to see Dora up and walking pretty good. She seems to be progressing along pretty good. She of course has some pain but it seems to be getting better each day. I do hope and pray she continues to get well and gets back to her ole self real soon.

On May 21, I met two of my previous co-workers, Kathi & Lois, for lunch. We had a great time talking and eating and catching up on our lives. It is always fun to see my co-workers as I really miss them (but not the work). Then on May 22, I met Shirley Duello, an old carpool member) for breakfast. This was definitely the week to catch up with my friends. We had a great visit.

Over Memorial Day weekend, our grandson, Zack, was in a competitive baseball tournament. So we were busy going to his games. There were over 60 teams here from all over the Midwest. It was a fun time and Zack did very well. He got a inside the park home run along with other good hits. We enjoy going to his games - it reminds us when our sons played baseball. (Sorry LaVon Jack forgot his camera but we will get some of Zack playing before summer is out).

Here are a few pictures of my flowers around our patio: (see picture above)

Here is a picture of next door neighbor - Doris and her dog, Sophie. Brandy and Sophie are the best of friends. And we are very lucky to have Doris as our neighbor. She is like our adopted Mother. Thank God for great neighbors. (see picture above)

Well, that catches us up for another time. Have a great week!!

Happy Mother's Day To All

Here wishing all the Mothers a Happy Mother's Day. We celebrated yesterday with our sons and their families. I had proposed to the boys that we celebrate on Saturday so that way the girls could have their day at home to do what they wanted and it worked out well.

We have been busy with trying to catch up with our doctors' appointments and getting to the dentist for checkups. I have one more appointment this week and hopefully we will be done for a while. Jack has been fighting a cold ever since we were at the Lake three weeks ago. He thought it was getting better then it would come back so he finally gave up last week and went to the doctor to get some different medicine. He got a Z-pack and some other pills and finally he is getting over it.

Last week I got back in my routine of volunteering at our local hospital. I volunteer in the Surgery Waiting Room. Our surgery schedule was really light the day I was there but I'm wondering that things have not been as busy because of the economy. It sure has affected a lot of things around the KC area.

Our oldest grandson, Zack, has started his summer baseball season. We have been going to some of his games. I can't believe how much the boys have grown over the winter. They are 14 and 15 year old and that is definitely the years they grow up fast. We are enjoying going to the games.

Last Friday, I went with Emma on a school field trip. She is in the third grade and they went to Union Station. It was a fun trip. We toured the Station; went to a section called Science City which is a great place for wondering minds of children; attended a 3-D movie, "Fly Me to The Moon"; and saw a live theatre performance. It was definitely a full day but a fun way to spend time with my Emma.

This next week, on Wednesday, we are having DeAnn & Bruce Hoover and Donna & Bill Rinne over for dinner. We are looking forward to that as we haven't seen Donna & Bill for a long while and we always look forward to visiting with DeAnn and Bruce. Hope everyone has a good week!

Lake of the Ozarks and Branson Trips

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I blogged but we have been busy with one thing or another.

We have got the taxes figured, sent in and all is taken care of for another year. Sure glad to get that chore done. We celebrated Easter - didn't celebrate too much. We went to church and then out to eat. My sister went with us. The boys and their families went to their in-laws for Easter so we celebrated with the grand kids on Saturday.

The week of the 13th we baby sat the two little grandsons a couple times. We haven't had them all that much since we have been home. Our schedules have been full and they have not been feeling well. They have had ear infections and colds - it will be good to have good weather and hopefully get rid of all the bugs...

On Thursday night the 16th we met our good friends, Linda and Frank; and Dora and Marlin for dinner and then went to Linda and Frank's to play cards. We taught them how to play Wizard. This is a card game we learned to play while in Florida. Had a fun time.

On Friday the 17th we drove to Columbia, MO.., to stay the night at our good friends, Jeannene and Warren. Our granddaughter, Emma, was having her state competition in gymnastics in St. Louis on Saturday, so we were going to drive on there on Saturday. She did very well and got a medal and five ribbons. She loves her gymnastics. After the competition was over we drove back to Columbia to stay the night. Then on Sunday we drove on to Lake of the Ozarks.

On Tuesday the 21st, Jeannene came by the condo and picked me up and we went to Branson for three days. We had a wonderful time doing what "girls" do on their day out. Went to Silver Dollar City one day; saw a music show - "Six" - which was very good; did lots of shopping, eating, and visiting!! Here is a picture of Jeannene in front of the Fish House - a restaurant at the Landing Shopping area. This restaurant is owned by the Bass Pro Company. It had some very good food - would recommend it.

Jack stayed at the lake and did lots of fishing. He caught some big bass - a 7 pound one; a 6 - 3/4 pound one; and a lot of smaller ones. He was in high heaven.....here is a picture of the big one.

We got back to KC on Friday, the 24th. Jack caught a nasty cold while he was at the lake and is not feeling the best.

Today my nephew, Todd, was in KC with his baseball team playing at a local college. Todd is the head coach of the baseball team at the Missouri University - Rolla, Missouri. So we went out to the local college to watch his team play. It was a good game and they won.

So you can see we have been busy with lots of different things going on in our life. This next week we will be busy with doctor appointments; volunteering; having lunch with a couple friends.

Have a good week!