Surprise!

August 7-12, 2014

When Brian heard of Terry's death, an idea started to form in his mind. He decided to talk to the director of his anesthesia program and found out that he could take the time off and come to the funeral. They made plans with Cindy to pick her up and left Erie at about noon on Wednesday, August 7th and headed west, deciding to surprise us. They picked Cindy up at about 5:30pm and kept on driving through the night. They arrived here about 5:30pm on Thursday, August 8th. 

Blake was outside weed eating, I was inside in the office.  Blake didn't see them drive up, they parked over at Anderson's and Cindy and the kids got out of the car and just sat on the grass waiting for him to notice them.  He finally turned around and saw them, but wasn't sure what he was seeing. The kids ran to him telling him they came to visit.  I heard the small voices and thought it was someone at Anderson's, then I looked out the window and saw Maden running across the front lawn! I ran outside and couldn't believe my eyes that they were all here. I'm kind of glad that I didn't know they were coming and driving all night, or I wouldn't have slept either.

Here they are at our house. Maden wanted to go play "pool table", and Annie had a great time exploring the little house and toys.

Then we went out to swing, it must have felt really good to be out of that car!

Jared and Nikelle came down as soon as they heard we had surprise visitors. Annie and Maden had a great time dancing with Nikelle.

Friday morning, there was more swinging and hot tub time for Maden and Celia. Cindy, Brian, Celia and Randy went to play tennis for awhile too.

We went to Texas Roadhouse before the viewing. Blake and Annie had fun making up silly moves together.  Annie loves to steal my phone and take selfies!

The kids all went to the viewing early, then left with Jared to help him take care of the chores for Doug and Chet. They had a great time feeding the horses, milking the cow and feeding the calves. And of course they found some kittens.

I'm not sure what day it was that Brian and Celia went for a drive in the '65 and it ran out of gas, or so we thought, but I guess it was really just flooded.  On Saturday morning, Blake, Brian, Cindy and Randy went to play tennis, they came home about 8 am. Just as they got home, and Maden was having fun with the light bright, the power went off.  Cindy, Brian and Blake had to race into Randy and Courtney's to shower.  Good thing Celia and I were showered and had already done our hair!

The funeral was very good. Beckie and Brent did an excellent job with their talks, and it was very nice tributes to Terry. The weather was perfect at the cemetary.

After the funeral, Blake, Brian, Celia, Cindy, Randy and Jared went to play some more tennis, then we all met in Randy and Courtney's back yard to roast hot dogs and marshmallows.

I played "Mother May I" with the kids, Nikelle did some more dancing with them too. Cindy played in the fire for a bit.

Then everyone joined in on a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose". It was pretty funny.  When Blake got up to chase Maden, he slipped and fell on the grass. It was a great way to end the day.

On Sunday, we went to Randy and Courtney's Sacrament Meeting, then came home for dinner.  Blake had to go to Boise to work on Monday, so he left after dinner. The kids all played a rousing game of Egyptian Rat Screw, which is always a great time.

On Monday, Brian and Celia went to look at some houses and Cindy and I took the kids to Tautphus Park Zoo. We met Beckie, Porter and Paige and Nikelle there. We had lunch at the park and let the kids play at the park.  When Blake got home from Boise, we had dinner at Rupe's.

Tuesday morning there was some IPad playing, swinging, game playing and sitting in the flowers while Brian and Celia went to the temple.  Annie wanted her chair right in the flowers, so Cindy helped her out. We talked Randy into playing Phase 10, and he won the first hand he played without even giving Cindy or I a turn! All the while telling us he didn't know how to play.

Tuesday afternoon, we went to Courtney's school. Annie loved sitting in the desk, I hope the 3rd graders are taller than her! They taught Maden how to play 4Square.

They played some baseball out on the softball field.

Maden went down this big slide, so Annie had to go down too.  The first time Brian went up with her, but the next two times she did it all by herself!

They got up early on Wednesday morning and started the trek east. Maden won a prize at a Perkins. They stopped for the night in Kearney, Nebraska. They took this "corny" picture somewhere in Iowa. They stopped at Cindy's on Thursday night, then headed for home on Friday morning. The kids were really tired as they approached Erie. 

It was a fast, long trip, and they sure did surprise us! The funny thing is that their only deadline to get home was to pick Blake and I up at the Erie airport on Friday night at 10:00!

Too Much Rain

8-6-17

We started out with a really wet August. On August 6th, it started raining about 10 am and rained all day, sometimes it was a real downpour with thunder and lightning.

See it pouring out of the rain gutter in the top picture?

The top picture is down the street in Shoemaker's field.  The middle picture is the trees between our driveway and Anderson's, huge puddle there.  The bottom picture is the parking lot by McDonalds and Ridleys. (I did not take this picture, I found it on Facebook.) Definitely a lot of water in just a few hours!

This is my parents house, the rain gutter had a leak and allowed the water to drip into the window well and leaked into their basement.  Blake got it fixed the next day, so it won't leak like that again.  We have had more rain during the rest of August, over 3 1/2 inches, the average is about 1/2 inch for the month.

Terry

Blake's brother, Terry passed away on Tuesday August 5th after fighting a battle with lung and bone cancer.  He was 63 years old.  He fought a great battle, the cancer was mostly gone for awhile, and he had some good days where he could work, but the Lord saw fit to bring him home when the cancer returned to his bones, so he didn't have to suffer all over again with it.

Cindy took this picture of Terry in May 2013. It speaks volumes. Terry was a big tough guy on the outside, and soft on the inside.  

He was a great example to all of us. He was my Sunday School teacher when I was in High School, and probably the best Sunday School teacher I ever had. He had a very funny personality, and loved to tell stories.  Blake was able to spend time with him quite often this winter  when he was too sick to go out.  He also drove him around several times when he was in too much pain to drive. 

We will miss you, Terry. We will try to continue to follow your good example and work hard.

Dr. James summer party

August 2, 2014

Dr. Michael James had a summer staff party at his cabin in Island Park. I wish I would have got a picture of the cabin, it is beautiful and so different in the summer than in the winter.

Blake helped to take the jet skis to the dock with this 4 wheeler. We are all settled in watching the people out on the water.

Jared, Nikelle, Randy, Courtney and Ashely (Courtney's friend) along with Mike Adam's family went out on the 2nd run in the boat.  Courtney, Ashely, Nikelle and one of Mike's sons got on the tubes. The tubes got tipped, and somehow Courtney hurt her foot.  She sat on the dock using the cold water for ice.  

On the third trip out, Blake and I joined Jared and Nikelle and Michelle's family and some of Mike's kids.  It's a very nice boat, and Dr. James is a great driver. The lake was beautiful.

Jared and Nikelle went for a ride on the tube, because Dr. James promised he'd just drive slow and straight back to the dock.

Randy and Jared took the jet ski out for a little spin.

It was a very nice party, good food and fun on the lake.  Courtney's foot was not broken, but bruised very badly.  Thanks, Dr. James for the fun party and looking at Courtney's foot on Monday.

Floating Macks River

July 19, 2014

We took a little trip to Island Park to float down the Macks River.  We ended up renting a flat bottom boat and a canoe.  Jared and Nikelle were in the canoe, Nikelle got pretty good at rowing, even though she didn't think she could do it.

The bus ride up to the launch was very interesting, filled with interesting people and a rubber raft.

Sometimes it got shallow, this time Jared had to get out and pull the canoe to deeper water. Jared and Nikelle caught up so Courtney could hold onto the canoe and they got a free ride.

Now we need to be pulled to deeper waters.

It was a beautiful day to be on the river.

Randy needed a little rest.

From Cindy's to Brian's to be the Grandma Nanny

July 7- July 15, 2014

Early in the morning on Monday, July 7th, Cindy and I took Blake to the airport in Grand Rapids so he could fly home. Then, she and I headed for Brian and Celia's house.  Celia was going to girls camp on Tuesday for 5 days and I was going to be the nanny, or Grandma! Cindy stayed with us until Wednesday.

On Tuesday, we decided to go to the Erie Zoo.  It was a fun zoo, the kids liked playing on some of the fun things, we went on a little train ride around the zoo.  Unfortunately, we only saw about 1/3 of the animals because it started to rain. 

We had taken a picnic and had planned to eat at the park by the zoo, but the rain changed that idea. We explained to Maden that we had to change our plan, we decided to go home and eat our picnic on the living room floor. As we headed down the road, Cindy asked if we should go to Chic-fil-A? Maden thought that would be ok, then they could play on the toy there.  Well, when we got there, it was still raining too hard, so we changed our plan again and went through the drivethru and brought it home and ate on the living room floor.  We learned that day that you have to be a little flexible with your plans.  I was sure glad that Cindy was driving in the downpour!

After Cindy left on Wednesday, we were "carless" while Brian was at school. I was glad that Cindy had helped me plan some activities to help keep the kids busy.  Maden started calling them "Grandma Activities".  They made things with toothpicks and grapes, and played a game with numbered paper plates and beanbags.  Annie loves to grab your phone and try to take a picture, she's pretty good with selfies.

On Thursday, our Grandma Activities included making snow in the summer with cornstarch and shaving cream, and a treasure hunt outside.

Friday, they painted a card to find a secret message. Maden made up a game outside using pots that he numbered and the bean bags. We also went down by the creek and played in the sand.  I had avoided the creek before then, because it had become a river with all the rain.

The last activity was smashing some rocks I had bought at the Grand Canyon to see what was inside them.  It looked like diamonds inside.  Maden had fun seeing if he could smash other rocks too.

We went outside for wagon and tricycle rides. Annie is such a little copy cat, she does everything  you do, puts her hands on her hips when you do, bends down like I was when I was trying to get an eye level picture.  Maden did some piano lessons so he could earn media time.  They were always glad when Brian came home, to have some Daddy time.

We went to the basement and played in the sandbox and with the trucks.

Saturday morning, we drove to girls camp to help Celia load up all her gear. I don't have a picture of Maden at camp, because he went off with his favorite Beehives. 

Annie is at the age that she loves to have her picture taken. She poses real cute, Maden on the other hand, kind of avoids getting his picture taken.  Annie thought she was really clever to sit at the "school" desk with Maden's notebook and pencil. They thought it was great to ride Brian's horsey legs.  Saturday night, Brian and Celia went on a little date and Maden wanted to wait up for them.  While we were waiting, we saw about a million fireflies! We went outside and caught two!

On Monday, Celia took us down to the Beach on Presque Isle. It was an overcast day, but nice and warm. Maden had to show me his muscles cause he was wearing his "muscle" shirt. It was a very nice day at the beach.

Annie is modelling the dress my friend Katie made for her, isn't she just a doll? Maden wanted the "pit" put together in case Annie needed to be caged up, looks like he wanted to be caged up.  What big eyes you have, Annie.  The top right, Annie and Maden are enjoying a yummy ice cream treat. The middle right picture is of the morning I left, Maden is getting one last time with the IPad, and Annie is supervising. The bottom right is how sad Annie was when she realized I was not getting back in the car at the airport. Just about broke my heart when Celia sent that picture as I was finishing up with security.  I had a great time being the Grandma nanny, I'll do it again any time! 

Quick trip to see the Mantei's

July 2 - 7, 2014

Blake does not have much time off work this year, and knew he would not be able to go to the Chambers Reunion, so he would not see Cindy and her family.  We got to thinking that since he would have July 4th off, he might be able to swing a trip to Michigan.  So, we flew out of Idaho Falls on July 2nd and arrived in South Bend, Indiana in time to see Cindy for a few minutes on her birthday.  We packed a lot of fun into those few days, of course including a dinner at Silver Beach Pizza. Here are some pictures of some of the fun.

Stormy always gets way excited when Blake comes to visit, and the cats always seem to find a time to jump up on him.  We thought it was funny how Cindy puts Stormy to bed.

Cindy and Sydney took us to Stover U-Pick farm to pick some red and black raspberries, blueberries and cherries.  We also went to their little market and bought some yummy cherry butter, about 3 different kinds of salsa and a blueberry pie.  We enjoyed the fruits of our labors the whole time we were there.

Cindy and I in our 4th of July attire, actually any day is a superman day for Cindy.

While we were waiting for our turn at the Sagautuck Dune Rides, we went to a flea market, it turned into a perfect place to take some pictures.  Syd is so cute and loves to pose for pictures, I love spending time with her.  I think the picture of the three of them all looking down is funny, it looks like maybe they don't trust the bench.  

Here we are on the Sagautuck Dune Ride.  I didn't get to go on it last summer because Annie was too young, so I stayed with her.  It was really fun, I liked it a lot.  We went really fast up and down the dunes and stopped and looked out over the lake. 

Blake found some antique farm equipment at the flea market.  Cindy and I got silly eating cherries out on her swing.

We found three frogs in the window well, Syd was very entertained with them, actually we all were.  She named them Alexander, Bay and Neal.

Cindy and Blake were able to play some good tennis. Ken came and played one day after he finished a workout on the track. I was a great spectator and picture taker.

We went fishing a couple of different times in different places, but did not catch any fish. Some people had built a fire and then left it burning.  Ken pushed the larger pieces of logs into the river, then Cindy and Blake used a plastic garbage bag to finish putting it out.

We went for a walk at Silver Beach down the pier. It was very windy, but fun to be out on the pier closer to the lighthouses.

Thanks Cindy, Ken and Sydney for the fun time!