Jannessa and Drew, Who Knew??

About a year and a half ago, I blogged about the "small world" we live in, in a post called, Coincidental Connections. One of these "coincidences" was the fact that my niece, Jackie at one time had a little boy named Joey as one of her first foster children, along with his younger sister, Kryssy. Joey eventually went to live with his father, here in P-town, and about 10 years later, I met him again at my church, after I moved here...but I didn't put two and two together at that time. Well, Joey just HAPPENS to be very good friends with Drew, who is the son of one of my very good friends, Lisa, (QTPies7).

And now, you're thinking, "Okay, but you've told us all of this before, you really ARE losing it now, aren't you? What's the big deal??" (I'm TRYING to make a long story short...but it's not working). Stick with me... after having had Joey and his sister, Kryssy in her care, my niece took in a set of three siblings, Tiffany, Jannessa and Timmy...and then she adopted them all, along with (eventually), Joey's two biological half-sisters, Kryssy and Lily. Anyway, before Joey left for the Marines, in July of 2008, Jackie had a party for him, and invited his friend, Drew. Here's a picture from that party:

For reference, the guy bending over, comforting the little girl in this photo, is my brother, Bob. Directly behind Bob, is Lisa's son, Drew. Then L to R, Kryssy and Joey. In the right-hand corner, (with the date across her chest), is my great-niece, Jannessa. I don't know if this was the very first day they met, (I think Jackie said Joey had brought Drew to their place for dinner before this), but it was right around that time. Now....the big deal is... almost exactly 1 year and 11 months later, Drew and Jannessa will become HUSBAND and WIFE!! Therefore, my friend, Lisa and I will soon be related...sort of... Here's the happy couple:

(I borrowed this pic from Lisa's blog)

Lisa is having a lot of fun helping the bride and groom get everything ready for the wedding, and I think it's pretty cool, knowing the entire wedding party myself. They're having all of their siblings involved in one way or another, and since I happen to know them all, it should be a very fun wedding for me to attend. Now, just one question...which side of the church do I sit on, the bride's, or the groom's??? Lol!

What's Black and White and Red All Over?

A "blushing bride" (or maybe a little sunburned?) in a black and white dress! My niece, Crystal is getting married on 9/25/09. She and her fiance had a combination shower/golf outing/bachelorette/bachelor party on Saturday. The guys went golfing, while we women were told to wear our "little black dresses". Alternatively, we could dress in black and white with red accents. Since I do not own a black dress, (and it certainly would NOT be little if I did), I wore the black and white sun dress that I got for my other niece's wedding in May.

Here are a few of the "little black dresses" All the ladies looked lovely.

One of the games we played, was to design wedding dresses out of really cheap toilet paper, that would rip if you looked at it too hard. We split into 4 teams by the tables we were sitting at:

This is my sister-in-law, Rose and my mother, Lenore working on my niece, Holly's dress. Holly just wore her REAL wedding dress a few months ago, in May. Looks good so far!

Above, was my team's model, my grand niece, Desiree. My sister, Connie is putting some of the finishing touches on her creation. I didn't do anything but watch, laugh and take pictures.

These are the 4 finished products. Don't they all look stunning in their new gowns? Crystal was the judge, and chose the 3rd one from the left. I believe it is her SIL-to-be. Maybe she was just making points with her new family?? BTW, those are rose petals on Holly's dress, that they took off of the table decorations...she's not actually wounded!

And then of course, there were gifts to open. Here, she's opening the "Slap Chop" that Jessica and I gave her. Now she can remember us every time she chops onions...but she won't have to with tears in her eyes!

After the games and gift opening were over, the guys joined us back at Crystal's for dinner. There were alcoholic, and non-alcoholic versions of punch to choose from at the shower...
My brother Bob, decided to wear the "alcohol" name tag from the punch. He also stole the clothespins that we had been using earlier for a game...Looks like he'd already had enough alcohol while out golfing, don'tcha think? JK, Bob is always kinda silly like that.

We took a picture of my mother with all of the granddaughters that were present, those that are pictured here range in age from 32 down to 12. L to R: Jenny, Mom, Holly, Crystal, Lacy, Jessica, Molly and Amber. Molly wasn't actually at the shower, she and her cousin Tanner were watching CJ and Shelby at my sister's house a couple of blocks away, and then they all joined us for dinner along with the guys.

Here's one of me and my sisters, sisters-in-law, and my mother. Unfortunately, two of my sisters couldn't make it. L to R: sisters, Connie and Sue, me, Mom, my sister Kathy and SIL's, Lori and Rose. Notice how Rose is standing on her tippy-toes. I didn't even see that when I took this picture.



After dinner, the "party bus" showed up. Some of the guests decided to participate in this part of the day's activities. We opted to play it safe and take Molly and Christian home after dinner.

Here, Crystal and Kathy pose in front of the bus. I'm pretty sure this is one of those things where, "what happens on the party bus STAYS on the party bus"... and I'm not even sure I WANT to know...so I'll just leave it to your imaginations ;-)

A Little Summer "Ketchup" ~ Highlights of the Past 2 weeks!

I've gotten a little behind in my blogging...I needed to "ketchup!"

On Friday, July 10, 2009 as we were packing up for a camping trip with a group from our church, my niece, Jennifer was in the hospital, preparing to give birth. They hadn't wanted to find out if it was a boy or girl ahead of time, so I was hoping to find out something before we left. After all, I wasn't going to have a computer with me at the campground...I couldn't even check facebook! Well, as luck would have it, I got a phone call, just as we were going out the door...it was a BOY! His name is Alex Michael, and he weighed in at 8lbs. 9 oz. and was 20" long. I have not yet seen him in person, since I wasn't around to go visit them in the hospital, but I'll go visit soon. Here is a picture of my sister, Sue (who is FINALLY a grandma), my niece Jen and of course, little Alex.

I have a grandson named Alexander James too, so now Sue and I each have a grandson named Alex. Welcome to the "Grandma club" Sue! Congratulations on your sweet little bundle of joy, Jen and Jason! Welcome to the world, baby Alex!

Okay, on to the camping trip. We didn't have far to go, just about 20 miles, in fact. That doesn't mean though, that you don't need a lot of stuff! I snapped this shot of CJ while we were waiting on the side of the road, to meet up with my stepdaughter, Sarah and her husband Brad, who were joining us.

He looks pretty cozy in there, don't you think?

Anyway, we had a great weekend, although it was a little chilly at night. Who would have figured it would drop down into the 50's in mid-July?? For those of you not from Minnesota, even around here that was a bit odd. We also had a couple of showers, the first being while we were eating our supper on Friday night. A friend lent us a tarp to throw over the picnic table, and we finished our meal UNDER it. Ahhh...the joys of camping.


But the real joys of camping, are the little things. Just hanging out with friends on the playground...

A little game of basketball...

Playing "Chubby Bunny." If you've never tried it, you take turns seeing how many marshmallows you can stuff in your mouth and still say "chubby bunny."

It was my friend, Padma against the teens and "tweens."

Here's Padma. Ain't she cute??

And a good friend of Molly's, Hope-Anne...she's also one of the famed "QTPies 7."

But the winner was my Molly...with SEVEN marshmallows! She makes a mother proud, (sniff sniff). Molly neglected to put sunscreen on her face and not enough on the rest of her either, and as she hung out in the pool most of the two days...she ended up much redder than the above picture. Ouch! She was hurtin' for certain, and peeling for the whole next week!

Some of the youngest campers played a rousing game of "Duck, Duck, Grey Duck" or "Duck, Duck, Goose" for those of you who didn't grow up in Minnesota. This was being discussed at the campfire next door, while the kids were playing.

After "chubby bunnying" the older kids decided to play "spoons" on the ground...with plastic spoons...and believe it or not, after that...they all went for a good old-fashioned "Snipe Hunt!"
It's amazing what they can find to entertain themselves with, when the TV, computer and the Wii are not available, isnt' it?

The Saturday night fire was a BLAST!, (if not a litte dangerous at times). See all that black grass around the fire ring?

The fire kept escaping the ring, and it was up to Donnie (Mr.QTpies7) to put them out. It was a good thing we were over in our own little corner of the campground...there was a lot of loud laughter emanating from this group. I cannot go into details, since we've decided that what happens at the campfire...stays at the campfire ;0)


Now, fast-forward to the following weekend...

This past Saturday, was my good friend Lisa's daughter, Kaytlin's grad party. Of course I was one of those enlisted to help out. Another friend, Jody and I went grocery shopping with her on Thursday, Anna I helped her decorate some cakes on Friday, and three of us kept taco ingredients filled during the party on Saturday, although Jody and Anna (more bloggy friends) were pretty much on top of that.

We did some of the set-up for this party the night before, during our monthly Ladies' Night Out, and since my grandson was up way too late with Grandpa and Auntie Molly, he was quite tired and crabby. I made him lay down for a "rest." A few minutes later, this is what I found.

Last, but certainly not least...This past Sunday, was our church picnic. For the past few years, it has been held at the home of one of the families from our church, Chad and Andrea P. They've also added baptism in the river, for those of our congregation who haven't yet been baptized, and choose to publicly proclaim their faith.

Here's a couple of pictures of people enjoying each other's company and the kids waiting for a "hayride." There was no actual hay...but they had a great time anyway. (The following pictures look small, but if you double click on them, you can get the big picture and check out who's in them.)

Some wonderful people donated the food and their time and talents to prepare it...

We enjoyed pork chops, coleslaw, beans, lemonade and rootbeer floats...along with a plethora of desserts brought by everyone to share.

Then it was time to "Gather at the River" Here's the procession going down...

There were 7 or 8 people baptized in the river that day. They said the water was very cold...but none of them got "cold feet" except maybe Pastor Al, who was out there for quite some time...

Thanks, Chad and Andrea, for hosting and everyone else involved in making this a special day!

Memorial Weekend Happenings

Our Holiday weekend started out nice. Sarah called on Saturday morning, to ask if it was alright for them to come down for a visit for the weekend. They had planned on camping in Northern Minnesota, but the weather up there was not cooperating. We told her that would be just fine, we had planned on grilling and having our first campfire of the season that night anyway, so it would be great to have company for it. We invited my son Joel and Ray's other daughter, Ruth and her husband too, but unfortunately, Joel had to work and we never heard back from Ruth.

Meanwhile, while Sarah and Brad were on their way, I got Ray working on my "Honey-do" list. They were just minor little things that I wanted done, like hanging the American flag out on the front porch, putting a lock on the bathroom door, fixing my chair and attaching our bed to the headboard, so it wasn't always trying to fall on us in our sleep. He did end up getting most of that accomplished. I have one more project for him to do, but he said that one was a little more "involved" than he thought it would be. Of course, this is the same project that was left over from th last time I gave him a list of things I wanted done.

After Sarah and Brad arrived, we took them with us to the first grad party of the season. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor party, and CJ had lots of fun playing with his friends, Caleb, DJ and Charlie, who all happened to be there at the same time we were. When we got home, we made brats and hot dogs on the grill and got ready for our campfire.

Here are Jake, Molly (with Bart in her lap), Sarah, Brad, Buster, and Jess with CJ in her lap.

Here we are, enjoying the fire and roasting marshmallows for S'mores. You gotta have S'mores to make it an official holiday weekend, don't ya think?

Here is Molly, posing with Jake, Bart and Buster. We had ourselves a real "Three Dog Night"

On Sunday afternoon, we all headed out to my mom and dad's house for another "work day". Most of my siblings were there, and some of the grandkids. They were all doing odd jobs around the place that needed doing. Some of us were painting Mom and Dad's bedroom, while others were doing some painting outside. They even painted the basketball/flag pole! That's my brother Bob in the orange shirt, and the other one is my BIL, Steve. I believe my brother Mike is operating the equipment here:

While they were doing that, my sister Kathy was busy painting the old basketball backboard, too. She did a very nice job on it, but we were thinking it needed the script, "Don't even think about parking here", along with a painting of Felix the Cat playing basketball...or something like that. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if actually did that. She's one talented lady.

Monday morning, we all got up and Ray made his famous omelets for everyone. Sarah and Brad packed up and headed North around noon or so. Ray, CJ and I took a ride out to the campground that our church is going to for a weekend in July. It looks like a nice place, and is only about 20 miles from town, so even if some people didn't want to stay, they could still come out to visit for a day. The lady from the campground told Ray that he had to show me the "outhouses". I thought that was interesting. I'll post more about the campground later.

Mother's Day 2009

I had a very nice Mother's Day this year. To begin with, my husband brought me a dozen roses on Saturday. They're a very pretty yellow-orange color. He had also bought me a rechargeable battery pack and charger for my camera last week, because I told him that's what I wanted for Mother's day. Ray, Molly and I went to church on Sunday morning, where Molly and I took our turn watching the toddlers in the nursery. There were no kids in there to begin with though, so I was able to participate in most of the worship part of the service...which is my favorite part. There were also two baby dedications on Sunday. One of them was a little guy we watch in the nursery on Wednesday nights, "Little C." He's the Youth Pastor's youngest son, and is a sweetie!

(Little C, being pushed by Middle C last Wed)

After church, Jessica and CJ met us at "Shooters", which is a local bar and grill, but on this Mother's day morning, they had a special brunch set up. It was very good food, and the price wasn't bad. The cost for kids 12 and under was only $6.95, and I was afraid we'd have a hard time convincing them that my 5' 9 1/2" Molly was actually only 12 years old...but thankfully, they took my word for it.

(my 5' 9 1/2" 12 year old)

When we got home, I got a Happy Mother's Day phone message from Ruth. She was the first of the kids who don't live with us to call me. I felt bad that I missed her call and I wasn't exactly sure what number she had called from, since it had come up on my phone as "no number." Molly bought me a package of cantaloupe seeds...she's always loved cantaloupe!



My daughter, Jessica got me a gift from ebay. She hasn't received it yet, but she sent me an email of what it is. A couple of years ago, she had gotten me a blue Starbuck's travel mug that I just loved...but I lost it. She found one on ebay for me, to replace it. Everyone seems to think I collect travel coffee mugs, I really don't...I'm just always in search of the "perfect" one. The most important thing to me, is that if you happen to knock the thing over, it would be really nice if it wouldn't spill...or even slowly leak, like most of them do...even the one I got from Tupperware, but this one didn't. I can't wait to get it! After a bit, it was time to make my pasta salad and then head out to Mom and Dad's to celebrate with the rest of my family.



Jessica, Molly and CJ had driven out slightly ahead of us to my parents' house . This is what CJ was up to when we arrived. He was having a blast driving around in my nephew's battery operated "Gator." Here he is in the passenger seat with Tiegen doing the driving.



My siblings and I had all chipped in on a couple of things for my mom. We got her a large coffeemaker for when she has get-togethers, and a gift card to the nursery/greenhouse where she likes to buy her plants. Here she is opening the coffeemaker:

My mother watches my sister's two little boys, Tiegen and Grayson quite a bit, and Mom and I took a walk out to the "fort" they had made to look for something. I thought the fort was so cute, that I had to take a picture of it. The boys are 3 and 5 years of age. It looks pretty comfy, don't ya think?



While we were there, I got a call from my oldest son, Jeremy. He lives in Phoenix, AZ with his 6 year old son, Alex. He said they were doing fine, and that Alex is learning how to read and even doing some math! I was very happy to hear that. My grandson was once diagnosed as mildly autistic...so it was great news! Jeremy said that they and his cousin, Tonia (who lives near him), are thinking about coming to visit us in September this year. I can hardly wait! I haven't seen Jeremy or Alex since August of 2006! It sure would be nice to get to know my grandson again.


On our way home, at approximately 10:30 PM, my son Joel gave me a call, to say Happy Mother's Day. I told him he got in "just under the wire." Joel said he'd been having car trouble, and therefore didn't come out to his grandparents' house to join the party. However, he lives in a town that is on the way out there...so we could have picked him up if he'd called earlier. Oh well, I did get to see him a few weeks ago, and it was thoughtful of him to pick up the phone and call...even though the day was almost over.