favorite photos

There are those ones--you know the kind.  They capture something so splendid and perfect about that moment, that you can hardly pull your eyes away.

For me, this is one of them.

It's my mom's parents, both grinning ear to ear, and my mother, the serious baby seated in the middle.

The original is about 3 x 3 inches.

  Tiny.

 I have a cousin who is like the family keeper of the photos.   If you ask her, she can find it, and she's generous, would scan anything she has and send it.

Sometimes she sends things we didn't even know existed.  

I like the close up version above because those faces are so precious to my heart.

But I like the wide view one too because of the scenery behind them, the hilly Wisconsin farm country.  It's a black and white photo, and my mother was born in April and looks about six months old there, so I imagine the colors all turning to fall.  (click on any picture for a larger view)

My dad's parents were different again.  Older--my dad's a youngest child and my mom is the oldest in her family.

 Pam on the left, and me, perched on the arms of the chair.  I was three, Pam a  year and a half.

That's my dad and his parents.

His mother could grow plants.

There are pictures where it feels like you could just reach out and touch them.

That's Heidi and Jay's grandpa.

Oh my goodness.

Okay good night.

Love  always, Val

spring monday

It was a beautiful morning, cool and bright, with a meeting at the office and then fetching p.j. from preschool.

The front steps project is going well.   He's going to do a little more work on it and then we'll seal the whole thing with epoxy and hope for the best.

 And yard waste pick up starts this week, so maybe that old pumpkin will get thrown away finally.    It's too early still, but I'm itching to do the flower pots.   It's fun having an early spring for a change.

 One big arborvitae was pulled, and that even bigger one is going next.

What to plant in place of them?   We don't know.   Lucky for us, we know a landscaper we can ask.   These plants we're removing were planted in 1994.    They were little gallon size plants on sale for $6.99 each.

Hmm.   Twenty years, and a lot has changed, as anyone would expect.   But on the other hand, I'm happily surprised to say that a lot of things are still the same..

 Lunch with my squirrels:

I do that, and that's never going to change.

Happy Monday.

love, Val, aka Grandma, aka MOM

april friday

 We went shopping today and p.j. picked out that Batman t shirt, and Julia wanted some new summer clothes.   They're looking cute.  Too bad I didn't get their summer shoes in the picture.

Then when Jay came home, he tackled the front steps.  

They cracked all to pieces over the winter.  It's old, and this winter things went bad.

Tim helped, and James pitched in a little.

 He mixed up and poured fourteen 60 pound bags, and one 80 pound bag.  He has a  thing that attaches to the drill, kind of like a hand mixer and stirs it up.

 Still, that's a lot of cement to haul by hand and pour.  It's looking great now.

 I don't know who took this picture of Sidney, but that's the end of Friday.

Yesterday Alicia was here and brought lunch and I never took a single picture.  The kids were adorable and funny and yup, nada.

Tomorrow is going to be almost 70 degrees and sunny.

April?  Thanks for being a buddy.

love, Val

fifteen

It's been a long time we've known each other.  Fifteen years?

 You once were a young squirrel.

 Possibly even the nuttiest one.

You were a very entertaining child, creative, off-beat, hilarious.

 And then you became civilized and appropriate, but every once in a while that craziness comes peeping out again around the edges.

 Thank goodness.  I would never want you to leave that behind.

This has been an interesting year of growing up, going to school, seeing life move from one stage to another.

I hope the next year is even better.

Thank you for being our girl.   In the whole world, there's never been anyone like you and this whole big loud family is better because you're in it.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

Love forever, MOM and DAD and  EVERYBODY

easter, 2015

 Church was beautiful, the message inspiring.

Easter is my sister's holiday, so we went to their house for dinner and the afternoon.

John's family posed for a family picture.

That circle in the middle is where the trampoline used to be. Sadly, it fell apart over time and has been removed.

Yeah.

It's been over a decade that time and weather wore it out.

These are pictures taken in the upstairs family room.

My sister has such an enormous house that she has a main floor family room and an upstairs one.

My brother's wife snuggling John's baby:

t.c.

Desi cuddling Dan and  Alicia's baby:

Easter egg hunt!

My mom and Dan and Alicia's little girl:

Pinata:

The famous Toy Closet!

These are from today, an auntie and a niece:

Cousins in the stairway:

Back to Easter:

Good night.

Pam, thanks for another spectacular Easter celebration at your house.

2015 so far has not disappointed.

love forever, Val