happy birthday, dad

Happy Birthday to this beautiful guy.

So lucky to have you for a dad. This whole family is lucky.

We love you like crazy.

Happy Birthday, Dad.   Love, Val and Jay and Everybody

 

last weekend in june

 Love, Grandma

monday night

So we're back at the lake on Monday night because the boat needs to go to the repair shop.

There was nothing happening on Sunday, but Monday John made a couple calls to a place he's used before, and we went back up to the lake to deal with that.

It was weird weather, storms coming in, windy with weird light.   Storms finally rolled in close to midnight.

When I came back from the bathroom, Elin had stolen my spot.

Psssht.

She's very afraid of storms.

So I went to the front porch and watched the lightening for a while.  The lightening was flashing all around, over and over like a light show, all around the cabin and over the lake, strange angles and bursts of light and color.  The thunder was far away, rumbling way in the distance, but I unplugged the computer anyway.

When I went back to bed, Elin slid right off with the leash and I hopped in.  Jay turned and saw what was happening and said, "That was the dog? I thought it was YOU."

"Really? Because I'm super hairy and smell like a dog?"

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me, "No, you do not."

And that brought us into Tuesday morning and a day of bright sunshine and 80 degrees. 

Love, MOM
 

saturday night

We taught these kids to play One Card Poker.

They had not played before, or if they had, they didn't remember.

They caught on quickly.

That's the Victory Dance of the ultimate winner, oh yeah.

This is a game Dannell taught to us all, a game from her own grandparents.

Bud and Elsie Houfer?  

I thank you for all the hours of hollering and arguing, strategizing and FUN you have provided to SO MANY kids.

Oh yeah, Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

(This is not something MY family ever said.)

And that brought us to the end of the weekend.

Onward.

Next time we will all be together, it'll be July.

Love you all, MOM aka Grandma
 

saturday in june

Weekend at the lake!

A few determined kids swam, even with the cloudy day.

Love you all, Grandma
 

grad party

The graduation party was perfect.  There's the graduate.  Looking good, Mister.

We could have taken more pictures, but don't want to be that obnoxious person sticking a camera in everyone's face, so this is what we've got.
 

The food was good, the company easy, not too hot or too cold, just right.

It was a perfect night to celebrate our guy, and a nice send off to this happy summer and looking forward to college in the fall.

Amazing.

Nothing but love, Grandma

one lone soccer picture

It was a beautiful evening to watch a soccer game and sit in the shade with John.

Perfection.

The child hugged us, as he always does and thanked us for coming to the game.  He's polite.

Beautiful evening.  Love, GRANDMA
 

bored on a hot afternoon

Love, MOM
 

hanging with his aunts

It's a tough life.

Love, Grandma
 

storm clouds

 

Love, Val

forty five years of you

It's your birthday!

Go, John!

It's your birthday!

 

I hope it was a great day.

 Honestly, it is impossible to imagine me without you.  Forty-five years?

It's a milestone, and here's hoping the year ahead is fantastic, watching your family growing up and changing every day--hang on for that ride.  

Thanks for being ours.

Happy Birthday, with love for always, Mom and Dad