And He's Off!!

The Sube was officially finished last night!! Jody and Jordan have worked SOOO HARD on getting it ready, especially for this school year (the first that he could really drive to school). The last of the issues was a water pump, which apparently is a fairly easy fix, but the part had to be ordered!! Now that it is done... I am sure Jordan feels a great sense of freedom. Too Bad for him that gas is nearly 4 dollars a gallon. It was 75 cents when I started driving. So, his first trip in it was with his friend Eric to Office Depot, and was gone for 30 minutes tops!! and boy was Jody nervous! I was a little, but I think that I have stressed over it all for all of these months as they were getting the car ready, that I was pretty okay for this. My nerves will come out on the weekends, when he "goes out"!!

Here are the pictures as he was leaving for his first official trip alone in the Sube!

First Day of School

"Pickles"

Granny has for a long time related to the comic strip "Pickles". She says that it really reminds her of her and Papaw. I think that probably for the most part any couple in their "senior" years could relate to the couple in this comic. The neat thing about the couple that is drawn is that they actually favor Granny and Papaw. I think that this is what makes it even more of a draw for Granny.

Granny loves this so much that she as written Brian Crane, the writer and illustrator, several times. Each time he has returned a note to her or a special drawing. He seems to be a really kind person.

So, I check this strip out every once in a while because there are times that it really reminds me of Granny and Papaw. I did not check it out this weekend, but met up with Rhonda and Granny yesterday, and Granny told me that if I still had the paper I should look at it... It reminded her of Papaw and Beth (even though the girl is supposed to be the daughter in the strip) . I read it and it really did remind me of the two of them! Beth and her sweet, caring, gullable heart ( I love you , Beth) and Papaw in his sweet, caring, jovial, joshing heart.

HERE IT IS:

so whats all the fuss??

corey came back from montana with lots of really great neat pictures of wildlife. there was a black bear in a tree:There was some sort of ground squirrel (called a marmot):

and there were some grizzlies:

so alex an I went to st. louis with rhonda to visit beth (more from that trip later) and we saw:

a black bear in a tree:

a ground squirrel (called a ground hog):

and some grizzlies:

and bonus... we got a shot that corey did not get... a hippo underwater!! Top that Corey!!

I just dont understand why everyone thinks his pictures are so cool! It did not take us long to get similar shots in St. louis.

Funny Picture

I made corey and erin a sling for baby grayben. when we got ther erin was taking care of grayben so corey decided to try it on, and alex weight tested it... she thought it was so funny and they thought it would be even more funny with a bottle so I was just glad to know that it holds 50 lbs.
Bonus Picture: Another Alex and Grayben picture... one day we will have a picture of the two with Grayben with clothes on.

Fourth of July

We had fun on 4th of July. Mom had out two slip n slides and a sprinkler and a pool. And we all had a blast. Beth, Erin and I even did the the slip n slide. Alex liked to have races with everyone, so the first two pictures are Luke and Alex racing. Then, somehow Alex convinced Beth that it would be great fun to let her ride on her back down the slip n slide. At least they both have smiles on their faces in the picture, I guess that means that it did not kill Beth at the time. (Although... Beth, Rhonda, and I went shopping the next day and Beth and I talked about how sore we were from doing this... I had forgotten at the time that Alex had done this. Beth, maybe an extra fifty pounds on your back might make you a little more sore.) I also got some pictures of the great grandparents and Grayben. He is named for family on my dad's side (my grandfather that is holding him had family named Graben) and coincidentally my grandmother's mothers last name was Gray (she is holding him in the next picture). We had lots of fun for the day... and went to see fireworks that night... which I have to say is pretty impressive when you get in the right spot for viewing! Our favorite every year is the smiley faced ones... and it seemed that every time I tried to get a picture of one my camera would try to focus on something else. But finally I got one of one upside down and then one okay one of it right side up.

Early Return from the lake...

Alex and I came home a day or two early from the lake ( I will have pictures to post from that later) because Corey and Erin got the call on Monday!! They had been placed for an adoption of a little boy, born June 19th (2 weeks old today!). They got to bring home Grayben Andrew today and we got to go see too!!! Alex and I are with him right now so that Mommy and Daddy can get some sleep... they have not gotten a lot of sleep over the last several nights filled with excitement, anticipation, and I am sure a little stress, and they are looking ahead to many long sleepless nights. Here are a couple of pictures from today... I think he is absolutely gorgeous!!