Golden Boy

Happy Golden Birthday to Adam today.

We were happy that we could spend the day with you! May you enjoy many more wonderful birthdays!

p.s. for those of you who may not know the term "golden birthday" it is when your age and the day of the month of your birthday coincide! I had never heard of a golden birthday before I came to the midwest. Of course, I was 2 when I celebrated my golden birthday since I was born on the second day of the month. Adam had a much longer wait for his golden birthday!

Ringbearer

Friday night was a special evening for Andrea's sister Emily who married Eric. Luke and Timothy were ringbearers - and Luke went down the aisle just like planned. The flower girls were a little harder to predict, though they did finally get to the end of the aisle. Timothy had second thoughts though and decided at the last minute that this was not something he really wanted to do! Oh well, he made it in the pictures beforehand!

Emily and Eric made a striking couple - very happy too! Adam performed the wedding and Andrea was the matron of honor. Adam did a fine job too. Can you see him up front?

Here is Adam with little Hannah Sophia.









Preston and Daniel are quite a pair.

Teatime in the tent...

Ah, a girl after my own heart! I just love afternoon tea! Doesn't this look inviting? It was!

What a cozy tea in a tent for me!

And we're off!!!!!

Yup, it's official - forward motion has been achieved! Wow, this is great stuff! Here's Preston's form - four on the floor...

This is great - following this ball - it can't get away now!

Another favorite - riding on Thomas! It makes the greatest sounds!

Crawling.... backwards...

Well, here we are at 10 months old! Little Preston has a wider area of mobility - he gets around now but the crawling is best only when going backwards.... and then, what does a fella do when you hit the furniture behind you? Help me out here Grandma!

The Girl Scene

This family was full of little boys for quite some time - John, Adam, Daniel and then Ben, Justin and Kyle.... but now the tables have turned and we have girls, girls, girls. Here is a picture that taken at my mom's in New Jersey - seated on the couch from left to right would be me, my mom, my Aunt Bea and my sister-in-law Debbie. In front, left to right is Jacqueline, Alison and Stephanie. Jackie and Stephanie are twins and the daughters of my youngest brother, Jeffrey. Alison is the daughter of Debbie and my middle brother Cordell. (Cordell is my brother who died in 2004.)



My mother's grand daughters range in age from 42 to 7! Here are the three youngest gals - twins Jacqueline and Stephanie are almost 8 and Alison (on the right) is 10. (We were missing my mom's great-grand daughter, Courtney, who is 6 and mom's adult grand daughters, Jill, Robyn and Stacey.)

Here is my handsome baby brother and my little mom!

On Palm Sunday I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Jacqueline and Stephanie sing with their children's choir in church. They, along with the adult choir, sang in swahili Fortunately they added some english as well! I restrained myself and did not bring my camera to church though I really wished I could have taken a picture of them in their little choir robes. They were adorable! (Jacqueline is in the pink flowered dress and Stephanie is in the blue dress.)

Days at the farm

Here I am up on a nice gentle horse, once owned by the Governor of the Cayman Islands. My brother, standing in front with my Aunt Bea, promised me this fellow was gentle. He was correct and I enjoyed a terrific trail ride through the woods of my brother's New Jersey farm. I think I'll take some horse riding lessons and keep this up!

John has two wonderful draft horses named Sam and Barney. They have provided us with many great wagon rides and today was no exception.













Many people are surprised to learn that New Jersey is called "the garden state" and think only of the New Jersey turnpike and traffic. Here is a picture of some of the beauty of north central New Jersey farmland - even with the trees bare the land is peaceful and lovely.

Here come the Haflingers - can you see the 4 horses pulling a cart? They are a small draft horse and it was a real treat to ride up front with the driver, Dick, when we went through the woods for an outing. The horses are heading up to the barn to pick us up for our ride.

Say Hi to Donny, Doug, Dock and Dirk, - or something like that. I just know the names of these Haflinger horses all began with a "D" and how they could tell them apart was a mystery to me. Perhaps they just acted like they knew who was who - how would I know if they were wrong?

Relaxing in the little wagon behind Dick and the four Haflingers (I got to sit up front with Dick) were my brother John, his girlfriend Laurie (Hi Laurie! You made the blog!), my Aunt Bea and Dick's wife Barbara. Notice even in New Jersey that day we needed warm jackets. (It was the end of March) Looks like fun, right? It was!

Easter visit

I got home from New Jersey just in time for us to head to Eagan to John & Sara's and then on to Eau Claire to celebrate the birthdays of Timothy (4), Luke (2) and Hannah (1). We also celebrated Easter so there was lots of celebration, lots of activity and lots of picture opportunities. Here are a few favorites.

For Stacey!

Hi, this post is for Stacey, my niece who lives in San Diego! HI Stacey!

Both Stacey and I had been in New Jersey last week and this picture is me, my mom and Stacey. I don't get to see Stacey very often and I thought it would be fun to post this.

Happy Easter to all, we are heading to Adam & Andrea's so when I get back I will for sure post pictures of Timothy, Luke and Hannah!