Too cute!

So proud of Jazz 1 from Fondy!

Elle's Jazz 1 group won the competition in Green Bay against 20 other jazz bands. Way to go Mr. Shipe for excellence in directing! They celebrated with pizza later. Elle and 2 others also won an award for best improv solos. Concert later was a big success.

back home

Tonight we relax a bit, that is after choir practice and dance practice for Elle. Mom gave me some nice basil from our plantings last year (and still thriving) so we'll have to include it with dinner. Otherwise Eva is headed to women's choir, and then sign language. She also landed a nice part time job at the Jesuit retreat, just south of Oshkosh. She'll be cantoring for various services for the Jesuits and their guests. Funny. These are silent retreats...my girls could never get through one:) Photo today is Baby Belle in her bumbo seat.

Greetings from Grandma Mare's house!

Today we say HI from Grandma Mare's house. Thanks to Koko and Andy for the great fajitas and guacamole. Kudos to friend Kim today. We always enjoy her visits. Gmare says (verbatim) "Hello and thank you for all the prayers that got me through this." To Aunty Koke, I'll take you on anytime in scrabble. No match girl:)

End of semester...new classes for all.

Today was a day off day from school. End of the semester is always nice. Elle looks forward to a new gym class. Eva has all new classes and is doing great with her sign language. I've signed up for yoga and have enjoyed it with the girls for the past 10 years. Pics are baby Belle. Such a blessing!

Oshkosh gig

Tonight Elle and Paul have a gig in Oshkosh doing jazz numbers. Nice for Elle who'll earn a little spending money. Also welcome home to Grandma Mare as she leaves the rehab...should be nice to be back home. Her dogs will be SO happy:) Photo today is a phone pic from Elise...Baby Belle at 2 months.

another cute phone pic from bowling

Today was busy...spent most of it at school, followed by several hours at work. Everything was running smoothly there with Sarah at the helm. We're busy shoring up plans for Krissy's baby shower. I have a few nice gifts already. Can't wait! Elle is busy dancing tonight until 9:30, and Eva just finished a class in sign language (hello Gretchie) and is relaxing here. She won't be graduating this year because she has 2 majors and will also go for the education aspect, so she'll have another year or so. Fine with me. I remember Stan telling me a story of his college years, and bringing eggs to the teacher (and fellow roomies) from home on the farm. My how times have changed. Sometimes I wonder if that's a good thing(?)

Ty and Elle pics today

Thanks to Elle's friend Emily for the second cute pic. Today I trained a new worker. She's very bright and caught on fast. It will be nice to have Erica on board. Later, I checked in on Patti's dogs as she's on vacation in Arizona. They are such friendly dogs, but very big:) They romp around and crash into things, and I'm afraid they trashed her house:( Will have to get there more often I suppose. Happy Birthday today to nephew Tyler as he celebrates his 33rd. First pic is our Ty with my dog Chugach (brought from Uncle Charlie's house in Kasilof, Alaska) and foster brother Michael.) I SO remember that sweater. Love you Ty.

Thanks to Elise for these cute pics:)

busy weekend

Eva and Elle found some time to bowl with a few friends over the weekend, and also squeezed in some Wii Fit and a wedding. At work we tried out a couple of new recipes, and took a resident to church. The weather was mild so we got in a few nice walks as well. We are busy preparing one of our rentals for the market, so today we meet with a realtor. This has been the long term plan since we started buying them, 17 years ago. We still will have 5 with special needs folks in them, so that won't change for a while. Also we ask our cyber friends to keep our long time friend John in their prayers, as he just found out he has lymphoma. We want to continue to pray for Eva's 4th. grade teacher Diane as well, as she battles breast cancer.

Nice day all around.

Today has been a nice day. I started out with Wii fit for 1/2 hour, and then 8 hours of work. Work was very pleasant...drove to Oshkosh and had other errands. Kudos to Elle today as she had her first sax lesson at Marian. She felt it went well. Eva and Steve are taking care of the kittens tonight. Special thanks to friend Patty tonight. She's been working very hard, in spite of a drawback. She's a gem. Today's pic is the baby Belle with a big smile:)

phone pics

I finally uploaded my phone pics of the baby. Thought they were very cute:) Had a wonderful lunch at Koko's, and a nice visit with Gmare in the rehab. The facility is very nice. Elle came along, as she started the day feeling very poorly, probably a JRA flare. She has never missed school, so this was hard for her, but she has several mandatory dance and music practices tonight and the next few nights, so we thought it would be best if she just relaxed today.

Happy Birthday to Eva!

Today we celebrate Eva's 22nd. birthday:) Lots planned today then off to Manitowoc to visit Grandma Mare tomorrow morning. Happy Birthday to Eva!

Oh no, my poor car!

A friend of Elle's dropped her off at home today after a birthday party. On the way out of the driveway, she was struggling to clear the snowbank, and smacked into my little Hyundai. BIG dent. We felt so sorry for the girl. These darn Wisconsin winters:(

Christmas past

Thanks to everyone for the prayers offered for Grandma Marilyn. She's recuperating nicely from her knee replacement. Just a few weeks of rehab and she should be back home. Got to visit with Jason's kids also, and play a little WII. They are such good kids:)While in Manitowoc, I found some photos from Christmas in the early 1960's. Liyah really enjoys the black and whites. Always fun to look into the past.

New Year Fun...

We've had several nice days since we've been home. Life is good. Enjoyed visiting and getting caught up with friends. Yesterday we hosted a party for the start of the New Year, and had some great food, including liver pate and Aunt Cele's broccoli salad. (I don't have an Aunt Cele...this was a great 15 year old recipe from Paul's friend who worked for a deli.) Thanks to Donna for an awesome dessert as usual. She is truly blessed with the ability to bake :) Eva and Steve ended the evening with a late movie, but unfortunately they both got a ticket for breaking the winter ordinance:( Photo is of Elle at the dance. Looks like she had a good time.

Happy New Year

Baby's so happy to usher in the new year!