Mom and Dad's Visit and a Bike Ride

I am way behind in posting about our lives. Mom and dad came about two weeks ago and helped us tackle projects around the house. We played and worked and had a wonderful time.









My dad has taught all my kids how to ride a bike. Sinatra was no exception. He was so ready that dad never even had to run behind. He just started him and watched. By the end of the day the kid was even turning and starting by himself from the curb.









Mom snuggled with Sugar between coats of paint.

Wheel of My Sister-in-Law's Fortune

Watch my sister-in-law on last night's Wheel of Fortune!

Here's the first part:



Here's the second part:

Michigan Vacation

After Mom and Dad's anniversary wedding the whole family went to Brevort Lake in the UP of Michigan for a week. Mom and Dad rented a great cabin and we brought the RV. Lots of fishing, campfires, yard games, card games, board games, swimming, sailing, and kicking back.

Welcome to the U.P. of Michigan. Our lake was just 20 minutes past the Mackinac Bridge.




Here is the cabin and the gang. We took this picture just before leaving and the wind was whipping us everywhere. Also, no one had a tripod so we used a deck chair. Crooked, but everyone is there.



Claire and Sugar on the deck.




"Stop crowding me, Sugar."




More Cuties with "Antemily".




Lori and Claire at Claire's birthday party. I swear, that is a Segraves face! Lor, you've always fit right in.




Popcorn and Sinatra on the pier with their swimsuits on.




Mom and Sugar by the sailboat.



Sinatra in the sun.




Mark and Dad going sailing. The thousand-dollar boat got a workout this week.




Happy Sinatra.



A picture of Sugar and me!!! I tried to not leave me out. I really did.




Mom and Claire cuteness.




We went to Lake Michigan toward the end of the vacation. It was freezing cold on our lake and windy, but just a few miles south the warm breeze coming off the big lake and the plentiful sunshine was wonderful. We all enjoyed the waves and the dunes.


Emily, Me, Mark -- a rare picture of all of us together.




The dunes of Lake Michigan along Hwy. 2.




Beware, the Uncle Mark sand monster...



who chases dune jumpers.




Sinatra playing on the beach at Lake Michigan.




Jonny loves Star Wars, so naturally, he is a Sith Lord.




You might want to do a few laps around...




Never mind.




Sugar and Annie exploring the sand together.




"Antemily" coming back from playing on the dunes.



Shakespeare in the waves.




And that's all, folks.



For more pictures, check out my mom's blog entry.

Wedding Bliss

Mom and Dad got married--40 years ago on June 25. We celebrated with a grand event, a wedding in honor of their big day. Here are some shots from preparations and before the service. Because I was in the service I don't have any shots from the event.

Final touches before going to the church.



The lovely bride! Mom, you were gorgeous.




The little ones.



The kids rang bells with the 1812 overture as they walked down the aisle, announcing the couple. Didn't he look cute. Got to wear Easter outfits twice!



My brother, Mark, and Sister-in-law, Lori, with Claire, our first cousin on the Jones side.




A rare picture of my hubbs and me alone and looking good!




My beautiful sister, Emily, and her husband, Jonny.




The very happy couple, surrounded by 6 grandkids.

Of Wanderings and Wal-Mart

Merry Christmas!!!! Merry Christmas!!! Merry Christmas!!!

After I talked with you last, we converted this mobile bad boy into a sleeping machine and put the kids to bed. The three boys go in the compartment over our heads; Gem goes on the fold down sofa and Sugar goes in her pack-n-play on top of the converted dinette. That leaves the short queen for Jon and me--right? No. I ended up with Sinatra on the pull-out sofa and Jon ended up with Gem in the bed. Gem, honey, that's the last night of luxury for you.

Jon drove with all of us asleep. He pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot at about 11:30. The rattling and wind-whistling stopped. You could hear a pin drop. Peaceful sleep--well, except for Sinatra's feet in my face.

Now we're up and moving again. We'll reach Jon's parents' in about 45 min. Then we can get showers and eat biscuits and gravy and just lay on the couch, because that's all you can do after you eat Jon's dad's biscuits and gravy--Christmas tradition. I'm sure we'll do presents and all that other stuff too. I'm just partial to the biscuits and gravy part.

Much love and blessings and peace to your homes today. And may you never sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot with a three year old's feet in your face.

We're up to our eyeballs in apples--10 bushels. We're making applesauce like crazy.



Have you ever gone picking apples in an orchard? We do every year. It's such a nice fall tradition: "testing" apples to see if you like that tree's produce, the kids running under branches or yelling for mom and dad to "look at this one!," filling the baskets and pulling them and a kid in the wagon, looking at the bee hives, enjoying tromping through the orchard and being in the country and breathing a sigh of relief that time slowed down enough to allow you to amble. It's romantic and satisfying way down deep inside.

Then we come home and fill the house with wonderful apple smells for an entire week.



Well, this year we set out to repeat the experience. We hopped in the car with our sights set on an orchard 45 min. away. The crop in the area where we live was decimated by cold so we just decided that we would enjoy the drive to the distant orchard on such a beautiful day. An hour later we had not arrived at our destination. We followed the directions, but no orchard. We were in the country, still enjoying our trip, but decided to follow the road a bit longer. Of course, there were no gas stations or stores, so we stopped at 4 or 5 roadside pull-offs during the excursion to let the kids relieve themselves. When we finally did find a gas station they only had a port-a-potty out front. We pulled to the side of the road just down the way.

By now we were two hours into our road trip and ready to get there. The potty breaks were getting annoying and the roads were narrow and windy. I was nauseous and cranky. The kids were whiny. Jon was unsuccessfully looking for football games on the AM radio.

We had finally given up on the original orchard and had set our sights on one down the road. By the way, we were now in another state. We called a friend to Google the orchard we knew of. Three friends and six calls later we had our directions. He hung up and announced that it would be another 45 min. and that we would get there about thirty minutes from closing. Groan.

So this is the mindset we were in when we saw this:



They had one of these...



And one of these...



Oh, and did I mention that it was a gas station too. How convenient for us.



The guy in the red shirt owned the produce market, the gas station, and an orchard about 10 miles away in the country. No one ever ventured to his orchard so he bought this roadside spot. Well, the guy in the red shirt got rich off us. We bought 11 bushels on the spot and fed the carousel quarters until we ran out.

Maybe we'll go find a pumpkin patch next.

Welcome, Claire!

My brother and his wife just had their first child. Claire Lorraine was born on June 30, at 5pm, 8lbs. 5oz, 20 and a half inches long. Welcome, Claire!!! Congratulations, Mark and Lori!