For my locker

My locker is not big enough to display all the pictures I want, so I have to be creative. (This is one 4x6 picture - let me know if you want a copy.)

Dad's new status

With the title

"Grandfather,"

Dad enjoys new

status at work.

Let the Flowers Grow!!!

The hateful bushes are no more! Let the flowers grow! Hooray!!!

Getting started on the library

So many books, so little time! Carolyn must get started early. EB moves right into Magnificent Obsession while Brad shares the story of Yellow and Stripe. What do you think she likes better? It looks like she is sleeping with EB, but I think she was quietly contemplating something like "You can't pay me back --- I've already used it up!!!"

Water Hot is a noble thing!

Here in GR, there is Water Hot! I indulged in a deep, hot bath this morning, and I couldn't help but remember Bilbo's bath song sung by Pippin in The Fellowship of the Ring(in one of my very favorite chapters -"A Conspiracy Unmasked") :

"Sing hey! For the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water Hot is a noble thing!

O! Sweet is the sound of falling rain, and the brook that leaps from hill to plain; but better than rain or rippling streams Is Water Hot that smokes and steams.

O! Water cold we may pour at need down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed; But better is Beer, if drink we lack, And Water Hot poured down the back.

O! Water is fair that leaps on high in a fountain white beneath the sky; but never did fountain sound so sweet as splashing Hot Water with my feet!"

(Those who know me know I can skip the beer part, but everything else is perfect. Except I made no fountains like Pippin did!)

sainthood appeared certain. . .

Sainthood appeared all but certain this week when this individual insisted on staying home to meet the hot water heater man while sending the new grandmother to see the new granddaughter even though the grandmother was the primary user of the hot water for which the hot water heater was needed.

New Neighbor?

This little fellow was scouting out the firewood on the porch, where the doves often build a nest. I don't know if they have it up for sale, or he just saw it vacant. It might be interesting having a family of chipmunks for neighbors.

The Little Mummy

Swaddling is the latest thing. Swaddling will calm a crying baby. And it seems to work for Carolyn. Kind of hard for me to imagine being comfortable with my arms pinned down like that, but it is said to mimic the womb and babies like it. Carolyn certainly looks content enough, doesn't she?

The very latest in hot water heaters

Our not-so-new, not-so-efficient, not-so-improved hot water heater. Sure am glad our problems are just an inconvenience, not a real live honest-to-goodness disaster. HWH has an appointment Monday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!

Mom is 77 today! Wish I could give her a hug, but hugs don't really work across 1400 miles! As I drove to Grand Rapids, and thought about the fact that today is Mom's birthday, a song came on my ipod, "How Great Thou Art." I remembered how much Mom likes that song.

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee

How great thou art, how great thou art!

Bryan, Ryan, and the Tree

I know this looks like a photo of Bryan and Ryan who just subdued this tree, but actually it's a picture of two not-so-little boys playing in the aftermath of the thunderstorm when lightning downed the tree in the yard. Why does that not sound exciting to me?

The Night of the Tree- by Michelle

11:00pm, Monday night. We have just gone to bed and are finally trying to sleep. We had been watching the heat lightning out the window, and were speculating about when the rain would actually start. Lightning without thunder or rain is a very weird thing.

11:15pm- CRASH BOOM.... shake shake shake... we are awakened to what looks like an explosion outside the window and a massive shaking of the house. My first thought is, "this is a tornado, the windows are being sucked out and we are next!" but when I saw the fire, my next thought was that the air conditioner had been struck by lightning and was now on fire. We shook in our bed until the fire was gone and then Bryan got up to investigate. I was still shaking in the bed. Terrified actually. Still not knowing what had happened, Bryan was even a little nervous to touch anything, but when he made it to the kitchen window the words were "HOLY COW" and "NO WAY!". As you can see by the pictures, the big tree outside our window was struck by lightning and fell across our power lines, ripping them all out of the house and off the pole they were connected to. The next 45 minutes was a blur of activity- Get the neighbors! Let's go down, we gotta see this! Move your car into the garage! Hurry! Get back in the house, it's about to pour! UH OH- that power line must still be live! Stay away! Wake up Marianne! Call the power company! Pose for a picture boys! . That picture is actually on Amber's camera, so it will have to come at a later date.

12:00am- The firemen finally show up. They are stunned that we still have power. Can't possibly figure out how our lines are all over the place, but we still have power to run our air conditioners, for which we were very very thankful, seeing as we reached a heat index of 114 yesterday. We asked when the power company would come take care of it, and the fireman said there were multiple electrical fires tonight from the lightning, so we are below them on the list, but in his words, "This is a freaky weird thing, they'll come as soon as they can" . He told us we were incredibly lucky and we should all go play the lotto, b/c there is no reason why we should have power. As the firemen left they told us to make sure we called them immediately if we smelled smoke. Thanks guys, that makes me feel great.

12:00am-2:30am- We heard three more loud pops, that of course made me think that the whole mess was actually starting on fire now. At one point we got up and watched an episode of 24 because there was just no sleeping with that kind of excitement and wondering when it was all going to catch fire.

A famous runner- Dad's inspiration

Check out this article below. Click on the image to make it large enough to read. (From the Woodside News)

More Room

Do you think Carolyn likes having a little more room to spread out?

Scary

Michelle wonders if anyone else is really glad that millie and lucy were not able to create any offspring??? you too could have a dorkie running around..

How Do You Know You Really Love Your Dog?

You still have a dog after this!!! Ethel thinks she's a paper shredder.

What would Granny Buy?

Being a grandmother makes me miss my mother all over again! How I wish I could talk with her, and share with her my experiences. Did she feel like this when her daughter first became a mother? When it was time to go, was it hard to leave?

How much she would enjoy her new little great granddaughter! How she would marvel over each of her features! I am sure tears would come to her eyes if she could only see her and hold her in her arms. Though she is right now lost in the fog of Alzheimer's, I know that things will not always be this way. There will come a time when she will meet Little Carolyn, and there will doubtless be much joy in that day!

In the meantime, I must do what I know she would do were she able. SHOP!!! Using Mom & Dad's contribution, I spent a very long time in the store, listening to arguments in my head, The Practical Me (this is a better buy) and The How Cute is Too Cute Grandmother (the grandmother my girls knew). In the end, here is what Granny and Papa got for Little Carolyn. I am confident that in the end, I selected things that Granny indeed would have chosen.

First of all, there is the purple sleeper, size 6months so she can wear it when it's turning cooler. Then there is this little pink outfit for springtime (yes, it happens, even up here!) Then there is this little sundress for next summer. (There are little bloomers you can't see in the pic.)

And below, my favorite, this soft blue outfit, sized 6 months which should fit in the winter. Too bad there's no touchvision where you could feel how soft this is, almost like velveteen. It looks nice enough even for church.

THANK YOU GRANNY AND PAPA!!!

Check out Sleeping Beauty

1/2 Texan

"So,
Mom,
when
do
I
get
to
go
to
Texas?"

Carolyn is 1/2 Texan, being the daughter of a native born Texan. One never loses one's Texas citizenship, no matter where one lives.

When do babies start to smile?

So here is this smile. We were not expecting this quite yet. It was a fleeting little smile, but enough to thrill her fans!

Born Yesterday!

Carolyn was not especially happy about changing into the outfit of the day, but it was the one day she could really wear this!

The whole host

At less than 24 hours old, Carolyn Ann poses with the whole contingent of the northern branch of the family. Not for the last time!

Welcome, Carolyn Ann!

She's here!!!!
7 lb 3 oz
19 1/2"
June 30, 2006
8:15pm
Mom, Dad, and Baby all doing well!