Sunday, March 19, 2017

A Celebration of 90 years

My dad has been known to celebrate his birthday with a big ole' party.  March is a busy month for our family and there usually was a March Birthday Bash complete with a live band.  The bar would be packed from wall to wall and all hands were on deck to keep the customers happy.  Today we celebrated dad's 90th birthday back at the bar.

Bud Light made him posters.  That's him in the photo on the poster.  From the best we can figure out (because it's my arm in the lower left corner washing glasses and I remember the shirt I was wearing and what year that would have been for me) dad was 54.  


Dad got behind the bar today for a quick picture.  This is still where his heart lies and if his legs would hold him he probably would have even served a few folks.  


The crowd started quickly.


The kids ate early, thank goodness because shortly after this moment the crowd was pushed to the back for more people to get in.  




A few time throughout the day I held my camera above my head and just pushed the shutter.  












Cindy, Virgil (the now bar owners) and Paul had the job of keeping everyone's glass full.  It was so nice to be on the other side of the bar this time.    They did a fantastic job, Dad's pretty proud of them bringing his bar back to the way him and Mom used to run it.  










It was an amazing day for everyone.  Dad had a wonderful time and really enjoyed seeing family and friends.  

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Caiden is ONE

This little man turned One last week, he is the last of the grandchildren (for now) and as he turns one we can't imagine what our lives would be like without him.  He may have been a surprise to all of us and a bit of an adjustment for many but in the end he's a child, a life, we share the same blood, he needed us and we needed him.  Some can still not adjust but we left them in the dust.  I come from a loving family of the more the merrier and we are more and we are merry and if we have challenges we take them head on and work through what needs to happen, pick ourselves up and move on.  

Okay enough on that let's get back to this cute little boy who turned one, a special day that only happens once.  When Adam and Monica brought him over he was napping.  Miss Andee has learned how to crawl out of her crib and into Caiden's crib so not much napping happened at home.  He was slow with the smiles but he soon recovered.



Here's the smiles little buddy.





This is Adam's old and very loved Tonka truck.  I love the missing paint and rust, however Caiden didn't think too much of it.  No buttons, no noises..... 


Caiden has beautiful blue eyes and a perfect laid back personality.  


Monica baked him a cake that looked like a donut, it was the cutest ever.  Jr and Andee thought we were having a birthday party at Grandma's house.  Caiden is ready for the cake smash photos.


It started out well.  Tasting the frosting.....


And then he moved his foot and it went right into the cake.....


It went down hill fast from here.  He does not like to be dirty, sticky, or in this case blue.


But he kept putting his foot into the cake the madder he got.  


I moved the cake so his foot wouldn't keep hitting it but he still wouldn't have anything to do with it.  I tried to get him to taste the sweet frosting but he couldn't get past the frosting foot.  


He was on the move to daddy to help him.  Game Over..... we gave him a bath in Grandma's sink and he was all smiles again.  Guess mud puddles will be off limits from this little man in the spring.  Don't worry I'm sure Jr and Andee will teach him to jump in them and enjoy the bath after.


Happy Birthday Caiden


Friday, January 20, 2017

busy week frosty weekend

It's been a week since I took these photos but life is busy..... it's busy for everyone, why and when did we fill up our lives with STUFF.  Lots of stuff that keeps us running every night and just when I think I can work on something that I've been slacking in {like my grandkids blocks, you don't want to know how far behind I am on them.... like Melanie, Andee, and Caiden don't even have any, that far behind, but....... those that aren't related to me are done.  Bad Grandma} and then my weeks become consumed with STUFF.

This week consisted on 2 meetings, 1 paint class, watching g-kids, and now were back to the weekend.  So let's see what happened last weekend out our windows.



Below zero temps, frosty trees and foggy mornings.  As soon as John opened the curtains he knew the front door was going to be hanging open cooling off the house as my camera captured this beautiful morning.









Back to the weekend but this weekend does not bring relaxation..... but I'm ready for my full calendar and can't wait to check things off my list.