a few pictures

 This week has flown by, lots of working.

Above is a picture of James and Kari's band concert.  It's the last one for James.

He's moving on--college in the fall.

Dang, that went fast.

This is Dan and Alicia's little girl who rolled over already.

This is going very fast too.

 This?  This, I'm sure, does not feel fast to HER.

We're on the baby count down.   It's bound to happen one of these days.

 Here's a dog who loves summer:

And here are some girls very happy to meet a big poodle puppy named Hansi, who is so dear and funny.  That's his transportation trailer for bike rides.  He was happy to share it with p.j.

And now it's the end of Wednesday, and what a fine Wednesday it was.

A great house is going on the market on Friday, and it's supposed to also be 80 degrees out.

Things are looking good.    love, Val

saturday in april

 Dan texted me this morning, offering to come over and help with our computer problems.  (That's a picture of him and Grandpa and the little guy in the plumbing office.)

I'm not saying no to that offer no matter what.

We had issues.

They are now resolved.  Already tonight, this was transformational.  A task that would have taken me probably 90 minutes before--not exaggerating--took two clicks tonight.

Praise God.

Daniel?  I love you.  (But I know you already knew that.)

Today I was not a stupid idiot. I found my camera and took at least a couple pictures of this incredibly brief moment.

This is our sweet little girl sleeping on her Aunt Kirsten.

 Grandpa gets too hot in the house and he has energy too, so these guys were happy out in the yard.

These are pictures he took with his phone, and they're great.

 Oh, Mr. Luminous, you little character.

How we love you.

We're in the last week of April, and what a fine month it' has been.

love forever, Val

the musical program

 It was a great program, a Sweetie singing.  His brothers and sister and parents were there too, and a cousin and an aunt and uncle.

We had fun.

 They sang crazy sons like On Top of Spaghetti.

 It was a great day.

After this program we went back over to their house for a while, and then met up with Alicia for lunch and some playtime for the cousins.

And I took zero pictures.  The camera was there, never touched, and that's just plain stupid because these baby girls are growing and changing and another chance to take pictures of sweet babies and funny children goes by in an instant.

The little girls are cooing and smiling now and just like when the little boys were born a couple years ago, John and Dannell's kids look nothing like Dan and Alicia's--they look entirely different, but are both so damned adorable.

So anyway, babies were hugged, kids pushed the boundaries, we laughed a lot.  It was a very great Friday.

I have stolen pictures from others who actually took some:

 Isn't that a great picture?

Then Kirsten took this picture of the doorway at my parents house last week at the birthday party:

 Awww.

And these cute people--they're getting ready for prom. The tuxedo was reserved last night and we saw pictures of her dress, very beautiful.

Onward.

Life is nothing but good.

Love you all always, Val

i just don't know

 Okay, who took these pictures?

And why?

 That's all right, and one reason I like digital so much--delete.  It's not like film camera where y ou have to develop nonsense like this.

 The last overgrown arborvitae went away.

It's better.

 But the new is kind of leaving me cold.

It's like the kitchen curtains.  Apparently I have a big problem with visual change.

Things that LOOK different really hit me wrong.  All the logic is there, the need for change, even being glad about doing it.  But then?

It looks weird.   I picked out that mulch. Now I wonder if red mulch would have been a better choice.

No big deal.

Next year get red.

Onward.  

love, Val

look who is three!

 Three years ago we were up at the cabin, waiting for updates on your arrival.

 In three years you have grown so much, and you are one of those guys who is smiling all the time:

Ear to ear grin, scrunched up eyes.

Just our best guy.

There's a frown.

And you do have those screams that could shatter glass.  I've heard them a couple times, even marveled to your mother how could a sound like that come out of such tiny vocal cords?

Here you are, right in the middle:

Which is exactly where you belong, right in the middle of this whole huge family who loves you so incredibly much.

There's nobody else who could ever be you.

Happy Birthday, Buddy.

This whole family is lucky having you.

love Grandma, and Grandpa and Everybody

wisconsin, april 2015

 We spent a couple nights up at the lake.

Lydia, always the cooperative photo subject, invited her friend Sofia along.  Sofia is an accommodating and easy-going kid. She can come with us anytime.

 Jay had wood cutting projects in mind.   Tim was hauled in to help.

But the afternoon was warm and sunny. It wasn't that bad.

 They threw all the wood from the field into the trailer and dragged it up to the woodpile near the yard.


And then unloaded and stacked it.  Maria also helped.

 I worked on painting the ceiling.

It was difficult, not gonna lie.

A week ago, I tripped carrying in groceries and landed my rib cage on a bag of Granny Smith apples and another of Fiji.

I couldn't breathe, but in a little while I could.  The ribs are still recovering.  Climbing on and off the chair and extending the roller overhead got really, really old very shortly.

I don't have time for this shit.

 I hope the ribs will be better this week.

There's a fine Maria Selfie.  She drove from the university and spent the weekend with us and it was lovely with her there.

 Breakfast!  Fried egg sandwiches with cheese.  Pancakes across the kitchen.

 And this little rug I bought at the antique shop.  It was caked with 100 years of dust, not expensive, but  also a bit disgusting.

I put it through the washer twice up at the lake and another time when we got home, also with Downy.

The colors are brightening. The texture is different as it's clean.   It's wool, so I don't want to involve too much detergent, but a little soap to loosen the grime has been extremely helpful.

And when we got home tonight, my sister and her daughter  picked up Kari to go to the Humane Society and volunteer to pet and socialize with cats.

I think it was a huge success.

What a weekend.

love, Val

mom's birthday

There was a party end of last week to celebrate Mom's birthday.

It was a well-attended occasion.

 We sang Happy Birthday to this little buddy too:

 That's Miss Cake-Cake under that sweashirt:

 This little girl of John and Dannell's was talking to us like crazy.

 Here's a mysterious and intriguing painting by my dad.  I recognize the church and cemetery, but this kind of takes on a life of its own.

 A photo by Dannell:

Mom?

Me and you been friends a long time:

 John, goofing around in your sunglasses:

I am so lucky to have you for a mom, and I never forget it.

Thank you for then.

Thank you for now.

And the future is ours, together.

love forever, Val